MADE DISHES.
Under this general head we range our receipts for HASHES, STEWS, and
RAGOUTS,[106-*] &c. Of these there are a great multitude, affording the
ingenious cook an inexhaustible store of variety: in the French kitchen
they count upwards of 600, and are daily inventing new ones.
We have very few general observations to make, after what we have
already said in the two preceding chapters on _sauces_, _soups_, &c.,
which apply to the present chapter, as they form the principal part of
the accompaniment of most of these dishes. In fact, MADE DISHES are
nothing more than meat, poultry (No. 530), or fish (Nos. 146, 158, or
164), stewed very gently till they are tender, with a thickened sauce
poured over them.
Be careful to trim off all the skin, gristle, &c. that will not be
eaten; and shape handsomely, and of even thickness, the various articles
which compose your made dishes: this is sadly neglected by common cooks.
Only stew them till they are just tender, and do not stew them to rags;
therefore, what you prepare the day before it is to be eaten, do not
dress quite enough the first day.
We have given receipts for the most easy and simple way to make HASHES,
&c. Those who are well skilled in culinary arts can dress up things in
this way, so as to be as agreeable as they were the first time they were
cooked. But hashing is a very bad mode of cookery: if meat has been done
enough the first time it is dressed, a second dressing will divest it of
all its nutritive juices; and if it can be smuggled into the stomach by
bribing the palate with _piquante_ sauce, it is at the hazard of an
indigestion, &c.
I promise those who do me the honour to put my receipts into practice,
that they will find that the most nutritious and truly elegant dishes
are neither the most difficult to dress, the most expensive, nor the
most indigestible. In these compositions experience will go far to
diminish expense: meat that is too old or too tough for roasting, &c.,
may by gentle stewing be rendered savoury and tender. If some of our
receipts do differ a little from those in former cookery books, let it
be remembered we have advanced nothing in this work that has not been
tried, and experience has proved correct.
N.B. See No. 483, an ingenious and economical system of FRENCH COOKERY,
written at the request of the editor by an accomplished ENGLISH LADY,
which will teach you how to supply your table with elegant little made
dishes, &c. at as little expense as plain cookery.
FOOTNOTES:
[106-*] Sauce for ragoûts, &c., should be thickened till it is of the
consistence of good rich cream, that it may adhere to whatever it is
poured over. When you have a large dinner to dress, keep ready-mixed
some fine-sifted flour and water well rubbed together till quite smooth,
and about as thick as butter. See No. 257.
THE
COOK'S ORACLE.
BOILING.
[Read the first chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.]
_Leg of Mutton._--(No. 1.)
Cut off the shank bone, and trim the knuckle, put it into lukewarm water
for ten minutes, wash it clean, cover it with cold water, and let it
simmer _very gently_, and skim it carefully. A leg of nine pounds will
take two and a half or three hours, if you like it thoroughly done,
especially in very cold weather.
For the accompaniments, see the following receipt.
N.B. The _tit-bits_ with an epicure are the "knuckle," the kernel,
called the "_pope's eye_," and the "_gentleman's_" or "_cramp bone_,"
or, as it is called in Kent, the "CAW CAW," four of these and a bounder
furnish the little masters and mistresses of Kent with their most
favourite set of playthings.
A leg of mutton stewed _very slowly_, as we have directed the beef to be
(No. 493), will be as agreeable to an English appetite as the famous
"_gigot[108-*] de sept heures_" of the French kitchen is to a Parisian
palate.
When mutton is very large, you may divide it, and _roast the fillet_, i.
e. the large end, and _boil the knuckle end_; you may also cut some fine
cutlets off the thick end of the leg, _and so have two or three good hot
dinners_. See Mrs. MAKEITDO'S receipt how to make a leg of mutton last a
week, in "_the housekeeper's leger_," printed for Whittaker, Ave-Maria
Lane.
_The liquor the mutton is boiled in_, you may convert into good soup in
five minutes, (see N.B. to No. 218,) and Scotch barley broth (No. 204).
Thus managed, a leg of mutton is a most economical joint.
_Neck of Mutton._--(No. 2.)
Put four or five pounds of the best end of a neck (that has been kept a
few days) into as much cold soft water as will cover it, and about two
inches over; let it simmer very slowly for two hours: it will look most
delicate if you do not take off the skin till it has been boiled.
For sauce, that elegant and innocent relish, parsley and butter (No.
261), or eschalot (No. 294 or 5), or caper sauce (No. 274), mock caper
sauce (No. 275), and onion sauce (No. 298), turnips (No. 130), or
spinage (No. 121), are the usual accompaniments to boiled mutton.
_Lamb._--(No. 3.)
A leg of five pounds should simmer very gently for about two hours, from
the time it is put on, in cold water. After the general rules for
boiling, in the first chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery, we have
nothing to add, only to send up with it spinage (No. 122), broccoli (No.
126), cauliflower (No. 125), &c., and for sauce, No. 261.
_Veal._--(No. 4.)
This is expected to come to table looking delicately clean; and it is so
easily discoloured, that you must be careful to have clean water, a
clean vessel, and constantly catch the scum as soon and as long as it
rises, and attend to the directions before given in the first chapter of
the Rudiments of Cookery. Send up bacon (No. 13), fried sausages (No.
87), or pickled pork, greens, (No. 118 and following Nos.) and parsley
and butter (No. 261), onion sauce (No. 298).
N.B. For receipts to cook veal, see from No. 512 to No. 521.
_Beef bouilli_,--(No. 5.)
In plain English, is understood to mean boiled beef; but its culinary
acceptation, in the French kitchen, is fresh beef dressed without
boiling, and only very gently simmered by a slow fire.
Cooks have seldom any notion, that good soup can be made without
destroying a great deal of meat; however, by a judicious regulation of
the fire, and a vigilant attendance on the soup-kettle, this may be
accomplished. You shall have a tureen of such soup as will satisfy the
most fastidious palate, and the meat make its appearance at table, at
the same time, in possession of a full portion of nutritious
succulence.
This requires nothing more than to stew the meat very slowly (instead of
keeping the pot boiling a gallop, as common cooks too commonly do), and
to take it up as soon as it is done enough. See "Soup and bouilli" (No.
238), "Shin of beef stewed" (No. 493), "Scotch barley broth" (No. 204).
Meat cooked in this manner affords much more nourishment than it does
dressed in the common way, is easy of digestion in proportion as it is
tender, and an invigorating, substantial diet, especially valuable to
the poor, whose laborious employments require support.
If they could get good eating put within their reach, they would often
go to the butcher's shop, when they now run to the public-house.
Among the variety of schemes that have been suggested for bettering the
condition of the poor, a more useful or extensive charity cannot be
devised, than that of instructing them in economical and comfortable
cookery, except providing them with spectacles.
"The poor in Scotland, and on the Continent, manage much better. Oatmeal
porridge (Nos. 205 and 572) and milk, constitute the breakfast and
supper of those patterns of industry, frugality, and temperance, the
Scottish peasantry.
"When they can afford meat, they form with it a large quantity of barley
broth (No. 204), with a variety of vegetables, by boiling the whole a
long time, enough to serve the family for several days.
"When they cannot afford meat, they make broth of barley and other
vegetables, with a lump of butter (see No. 229), all of which they boil
for many hours, and this with oat cakes forms their dinner." COCHRANE'S
_Seaman's Guide_, p. 34.
The cheapest method of making a nourishing soup is least known to those
who have most need of it. (See No. 229.)
Our neighbours the French are so justly famous for their skill in the
affairs of the kitchen, that the adage says, "as many Frenchmen as many
cooks:" surrounded as they are by a profusion of the most delicious
wines and most seducing _liqueurs_, offering every temptation and
facility to render drunkenness delightful: yet a tippling Frenchman is a
"_rara avis_;" they know how so easily and completely to keep life in
repair by good eating, that they require little or no adjustment from
drinking.
This accounts for that "_toujours gai_," and happy equilibrium of
spirits, which they enjoy with more regularity than any people. Their
stomach, being unimpaired by spirituous liquors, embrace and digest
vigorously the food they sagaciously prepare for it, and render easily
assimilable by cooking it sufficiently, wisely contriving to get the
difficult part of the work of the stomach done by fire and water.
_To salt Meat._--(No. 6.)
In the _summer_ season, especially, meat is frequently spoiled by the
cook forgetting to take out the kernels; one in the udder of a round of
beef, in the fat in the middle of the round, those about the thick end
of the flank, &c.: if these are not taken out, all the salt in the world
will not keep the meat.
The art of salting meat is to rub in the salt thoroughly and evenly into
every part, and to fill all the holes full of salt where the kernels
were taken out, and where the butcher's skewers were.
A round of beef of 25 pounds will take a pound and a half of salt to be
rubbed in all at first, and requires to be turned and rubbed every day
with the brine; it will be ready for dressing in four or five
days,[111-*] if you do not wish it very salt.
In _summer_, the sooner meat is salted after it is killed the better;
and care must be taken to defend it from the flies.
In _winter_, it will eat the shorter and tenderer, if kept a few days
(according to the temperature of the weather) until its fibre has become
short and tender, as these changes do not take place after it has been
acted upon by the salt.
In frosty weather, take care the meat is not frozen, and warm the salt
in a frying-pan. The extremes of heat[111-+] and cold are equally
unfavourable for the process of salting. In the former, the meat changes
before the salt can affect it: in the latter, it is so hardened, and its
juices are so congealed, that the salt cannot penetrate it.
If you wish it red, rub it first with saltpetre, in the proportion of
half an ounce, and the like quantity of moist sugar, to a pound of
common salt. (See Savoury salt beef, No. 496.)
You may impregnate meat with a very agreeable vegetable flavour, by
pounding some sweet herbs (No. 459,) and an onion with the salt. You may
make it still more relishing by adding a little ZEST (No. 255), or
_savoury spice_ (No. 457).
_To pickle Meat._
"Six pounds of salt, one pound of sugar, and four ounces of saltpetre,
boiled with four gallons of water, skimmed, and allowed to cool, forms a
very strong pickle, which will preserve any meat completely immersed in
it. To effect this, which is essential, either a heavy board or a flat
stone must be laid upon the meat. The same pickle may be used
repeatedly, provided it be boiled up occasionally with additional salt
to restore its strength, diminished by the combination of part of the
salt with the meat, and by the dilution of the pickle by the juices of
the meat extracted. By boiling, the albumen, which would cause the
pickle to spoil, is coagulated, and rises in the form of scum, which
must be carefully removed."--See _Supplement to Encyclop. Britan._ vol.
iv. p. 340.
Meat kept immersed in pickle gains weight. In one experiment by Messrs.
Donkin and Gamble, there was a gain of three per cent., and in another
of two and a half; but in the common way of salting, when the meat is
not immersed in pickle, there is a loss of about one pound, or one and a
half, in sixteen. See Dr. Wilkinson's account of the preserving power of
PYRO-LIGNEOUS ACID, &c. in the Philosophical Magazine for 1821, No. 273,
p. 12.
An H-bone of 10 or 12 pounds weight will require about three-quarters of
a pound of salt, and an ounce of moist sugar, to be well rubbed into it.
It will be ready in four or five days, if turned and rubbed every day.
The time meat requires salting depends upon the weight of it, and how
much salt is used: and if it be rubbed in with a heavy hand, it will be
ready much sooner than if only lightly rubbed.
N. B. Dry the salt, and rub it with the sugar in a mortar.
PORK requires a longer time to cure (in proportion to its weight) than
beef. A leg of pork should be in salt eight or ten days; turn it and rub
it every day.
Salt meat should be well washed before it is boiled, especially if it
has been in salt long, that the liquor in which the meat is boiled, may
not be too salt to make soup of. (No. 218, &c. and No. 555.)
If it has been in salt a long time, and you fear that it will be too
salt, wash it well in cold water, and soak it in lukewarm water for a
couple of hours. If it is _very salt_, lay it in water the night before
you intend to dress it.
_A Round of salted Beef._--(No. 7.)
As this is too large for a moderate family, we shall write directions
for the dressing half a round. Get the tongue side.
Skewer it up tight and round, and tie a fillet of broad tape round it,
to keep the skewers in their places.
Put it into plenty of cold water, and carefully catch the scum as soon
as it rises: let it boil till all the scum is removed, and then put the
boiler on one side of the fire, to keep _simmering_ slowly till it is
done.
Half a round of 15lbs. will take about three hours: if it weighs more,
give it more time.
When you take it up, if any stray scum, &c. sticks to it that has
escaped the vigilance of your skimmer, wash it off with a paste-brush:
garnish the dishes with carrots and turnips. Send up carrots (No. 129),
turnips (No. 130), and parsnips, or greens (No. 118), &c. on separate
dishes. Pease pudding (No. 555), and MY PUDDING (No. 551), are all very
proper accompaniments.
N.B. The outside slices, which are generally too much salted and too
much boiled, will make a very good relish as potted beef (No. 503). For
using up the remains of a joint of boiled beef, see also Bubble and
Squeak (No. 505).
_H-Bone of Beef_,--(No. 8.)
Is to be managed in exactly the same manner as the round, but will be
sooner boiled, as it is not so solid. An H-bone of 20lbs. will be done
enough in about four hours; of 10lbs. in three hours, more or less, as
the weather is hotter or colder. Be sure the boiler is big enough to
allow it plenty of water-room: let it be well covered with water: set
the pot on one side of the fire to boil gently: if it boils quick at
first, no art can make it tender after. The slower it boils, the better
it will look, and the tenderer it will be. The same accompanying
vegetables as in the preceding receipt. Dress plenty of carrots, as cold
carrots are a general favourite with cold beef.
_Mem._--Epicures say, that the _soft_, fat-like marrow, which lies on
the back, is delicious when hot, and the _hard_ fat about the upper
corner is best when cold.
To make PERFECTLY GOOD PEASE SOUP in _ten minutes_, of the liquor in
which the beef has been boiled, see N.B. to No. 218.
_Obs._--In "Mrs. Mason's Ladies' Assistant," this joint is called
haunch-bone; in "Henderson's Cookery," edge-bone; in "Domestic
Management," aitch-bone; in "Reynold's Cookery," ische-bone; in "Mrs.
Lydia Fisher's Prudent Housewife," ach-bone; in "Mrs. M'Iver's Cookery,"
hook-bone. We have also seen it spelled each-bone and ridge-bone; and we
have also heard it called natch-bone.
N.B. Read the note under No. 7; and to make perfectly good pease soup of
the pot-liquor, in ten minutes, see _Obs._ to No. 218, No. 229, and No.
555.
_Ribs of Beef salted and rolled._--(No. 9.)
Briskets, and the various other pieces, are dressed in the same way.
"Wow-wow" sauce (No. 328,) is an agreeable companion.
_Half a Calf's Head._--(No. 10.)
Cut it in two, and take out the brains: wash the head well in several
waters, and soak it in warm water for a quarter of an hour before you
dress it. Put the head into a saucepan, with plenty of cold water: when
it is coming to a boil, and the scum rises, carefully remove it.
Half a calf's head (without the skin) will take from an hour and a half
to two hours and a quarter, according to its size; with the skin on,
about an hour longer. It must be _stewed very gently_ till it is tender:
it is then extremely nutritive, and easy of digestion.
Put eight or ten sage leaves (some cooks use parsley instead, or equal
parts of each) into a small sauce-pan: boil them tender (about half an
hour); then chop them very fine, and set them ready on a plate.
Wash the brains well in two waters; put them into a large basin of cold
water, with a little salt in it, and let them soak for an hour; then
pour away the cold, and cover them with hot water; and when you have
cleaned and skinned them, put them into a stew-pan with plenty of cold
water: when it boils, take the scum off very carefully, and boil gently
for 10 or 15 minutes: now chop them (not very fine); put them into a
sauce-pan with the sage leaves and a couple of table-spoonfuls of thin
melted butter, and a little salt (to this some cooks add a little
lemon-juice), and stir them well together; and as soon as they are well
warmed (take care they don't burn), skin the tongue,[115-*] trim off
the roots, and put it in the middle of a dish, and the brains round it:
or, chop the brains with an eschalot, a little parsley, and four
hard-boiled eggs, and put them into a quarter of a pint of bechamel, or
white sauce (No. 2 of 364). A calf's cheek is usually attended by a
pig's cheek, a knuckle of ham or bacon (No. 13, or No. 526), or pickled
pork (No. 11), and greens, broccoli, cauliflowers, or pease; and always
by parsley and butter (see No. 261, No. 311, or No. 343).
If you like it full dressed, score it superficially, beat up the yelk of
an egg, and rub it over the head with a feather; powder it with a
seasoning of finely minced (or dried and powdered) winter savoury or
lemon-thyme (or sage), parsley, pepper, and salt, and bread crumbs, and
give it a brown with a salamander, or in a tin Dutch oven: when it
begins to dry, sprinkle a little melted butter over it with a
paste-brush.
You may garnish the dish with broiled rashers of bacon (No. 526 or 527).
_Obs._--Calf's head is one of the most delicate and favourite dishes in
the list of boiled meats; but nothing is more insipid when cold, and
nothing makes so nice a hash; therefore don't forget to save a quart of
the liquor it was boiled in to make sauce, &c. for the hash (see also
No. 520). Cut the head and tongue into slices, trim them neatly, and
leave out the gristles and fat; and slice some of the bacon that was
dressed to eat with the head, and warm them in the hash.
Take the bones and the trimmings of the head, a bundle of sweet herbs,
an onion, a roll of lemon-peel, and a blade of bruised mace: put these
into a sauce-pan with the quart of liquor you have saved, and let it
boil gently for an hour; pour it through a sieve into a basin, wash out
your stew-pan, add a table-spoonful of flour to the brains and parsley
and butter you have left, and pour it into the gravy you have made with
the bones and trimmings; let it boil up for ten minutes, and then strain
it through a hair-sieve; season it with a table-spoonful of white wine,
or of catchup (No. 439), or sauce superlative (No. 429): give it a boil
up, skim it, and then put in the brains and the slices of head and
bacon; as soon as they are thoroughly warm (it must not boil) the hash
is ready. Some cooks egg, bread-crumb, and fry the finest pieces of the
head, and lay them round the hash.
N.B. You may garnish the edges of the dish with slices of bacon toasted
in a Dutch oven (see Nos. 526 and 527), slices of lemon and fried bread.
To make gravy for hashes, &c. see No. 360.
_Pickled Pork_,--(No. 11.)
Takes more time than any other meat. If you buy your pork ready salted,
ask how many days it has been in salt; if many, it will require to be
soaked in water for six hours before you dress it. When you cook it,
wash and scrape it as clean as possible; when delicately dressed, it is
a favourite dish with almost every body. Take care it does not boil
fast; if it does, the knuckle will break to pieces, before the thick
part of the meat is warm through; a leg of seven pounds takes three
hours and a half very slow simmering. Skim your pot very carefully, and
when you take the meat out of the boiler, scrape it clean.
Some sagacious cooks (who remember to how many more nature has given
eyes than she has given tongues and brains), when pork is boiled, score
it in diamonds, and take out every other square; and thus present a
retainer to the eye to plead for them to the palate; but this is
pleasing the eye at the expense of the palate. A leg of nice pork,
nicely salted, and nicely boiled, is as nice a cold relish as cold ham;
especially if, instead of cutting into the middle when hot, and so
letting out its juices, you cut it at the knuckle: slices broiled, as
No. 487, are a good luncheon, or supper. To make pease pudding, and
pease soup extempore, see N.B. to Nos. 218 and 555.
MEM.--Some persons who sell pork ready salted have a silly trick of
cutting the knuckle in two; we suppose that this is done to save their
salt; but it lets all the gravy out of the leg; and unless you boil your
pork merely for the sake of the pot-liquor, which in this case receives
all the goodness and strength of the meat, friendly reader, your oracle
cautions you to buy no leg of pork which is slit at the knuckle.
If pork is not done enough, nothing is more disagreeable; if too much,
it not only loses its colour and flavour, but its substance becomes soft
like a jelly.
It must never appear at table without a good pease pudding (see No.
555), and, if you please, parsnips (No. 128); they are an excellent
vegetable, and deserve to be much more popular; or carrots (No. 129),
turnips, and greens, or mashed potatoes, &c. (No. 106.)
_Obs._--Remember not to forget the mustard-pot (No. 369, No. 370, and
No. 427).
_Pettitoes, or Sucking-Pig's Feet._--(No. 12.)
Put a thin slice of bacon at the bottom of a stew-pan with some broth, a
blade of mace, a few pepper-corns, and a bit of thyme; boil the feet
till they are quite tender; this will take full twenty minutes; but the
heart, liver, and lights will be done enough in ten, when they are to be
taken out, and minced fine.
Put them all together into a stew-pan with some gravy; thicken it with a
little butter rolled in flour; season it with a little pepper and salt,
and set it over a gentle fire to simmer for five minutes, frequently
shaking them about.
While this is doing, have a thin slice of bread toasted very lightly;
divide it into sippets, and lay them round the dish: pour the mince and
sauce into the middle of it, and split the feet, and lay them round it.
N.B. Pettitoes are sometimes boiled and dipped in batter, and fried a
light brown.
_Obs._--If you have no gravy, put into the water you stew the pettitoes
in an onion, a sprig of lemon thyme, or sweet marjoram, with a blade of
bruised mace, a few black peppers, and a large tea-spoonful of mushroom
catchup (No. 439), and you will have a very tolerable substitute for
gravy. A bit of No. 252 will be a very great improvement to it.
_Bacon._--(No. 13.)
Cover a pound of nice streaked bacon (as the Hampshire housewives say,
that "has been starved one day, and fed another") with cold water, let
it boil gently for three-quarters of an hour; take it up, scrape the
under-side well, and cut off the rind: grate a crust of bread not only
on the top, but all over it, as directed for the ham in the following
receipt, and put it before the fire for a few minutes: it must not be
there too long, or it will dry it and spoil it.
Two pounds will require about an hour and a half, according to its
thickness; the hock or gammon being very thick, will take more.
_Obs._--See Nos. 526 and 527: when only a little bacon is wanted, these
are the best ways of dressing it.
The boiling of bacon is a very simple subject to comment, upon; but our
main object is to teach common cooks the art of dressing common food in
the best manner.
Bacon is sometimes as salt as salt can make it, therefore before it is
boiled it must be soaked in warm water for an hour or two, changing the
water once; then pare off the rusty and smoked part, trim it nicely on
the under side, and scrape the rind as clean as possible.
MEM.--Bacon is an extravagant article in housekeeping; there is often
twice as much dressed as need be: when it is sent to table as an
accompaniment to boiled poultry or veal, a pound and a half is plenty
for a dozen people. A good German sausage is a very economical
substitute for bacon; or fried pork sausages (No. 87).
_Ham_,--(No. 14.)
Though of the bacon kind, has been so altered and hardened in the
curing, that it requires still more care.
Ham is generally not half-soaked; as salt as brine, and hard as flint;
and it would puzzle the stomach of an ostrich to digest it.
MEM.--The salt, seasoning, and smoke, which preserve it before it is
eaten, prevent its solution after; and unless it be very long and very
gently stewed, the strongest stomach will have a tough job to extract
any nourishment from it. If it is a very dry Westphalia ham, it must be
soaked, according to its age and thickness, from 12 to 24 hours; for a
green Yorkshire or Westmoreland ham, from four to eight hours will be
sufficient. Lukewarm water will soften it much sooner than cold, when
sufficiently soaked, trim it nicely on the underside, and pare off all
the rusty and smoked parts till it looks delicately clean.
lb. oz.
A ham weighed before it was soaked 13
After 12 4
Boiled 13 4
Trimmed for table 10 12
Give it plenty of water-room, and put it in while the water is cold; let
it heat very gradually, and let it be on the fire an hour and a half
before it comes to a boil; let it be well skimmed, and keep it simmering
very gently: a middling-sized ham of fifteen pounds will be done enough
in about four or five hours, according to its thickness.
If not to be cut till cold, it will cut the shorter and tenderer for
being boiled about half an hour longer. In a very small family, where a
ham will last a week or ten days, it is best economy not to cut it till
it is cold, it will be infinitely more juicy.
Pull off the skin carefully, and preserve it as whole as possible; it
will form an excellent covering to keep the ham moist; when you have
removed the skin, rub some bread raspings through a hair-sieve, or grate
a crust of bread; put it into the perforated cover of the dredging-box,
and shake it over it, or glaze it; trim the knuckle with a fringe of cut
writing-paper. You may garnish with spinage or turnips, &c.
_Obs._ To pot ham (No. 509), is a much more useful and economical way of
disposing of the remains of the joint, than making essence of it (No.
352). To make soup of the liquor it is boiled in, see N.B. to No. 555.
_Tongue._--(No. 15.)
A tongue is so hard, whether prepared by drying or pickling, that it
requires much more cooking than a ham; nothing of its weight takes so
long to dress it properly.
A tongue that has been salted and dried should be put to soak (if it is
old and very hard, 24 hours before it is wanted) in plenty of water; a
green one fresh from the pickle requires soaking only a few hours: put
your tongue into plenty of cold water; let it be an hour gradually
warming; and give it from three and a half to four hours' very slow
simmering, according to the size, &c.
_Obs._ When you choose a tongue, endeavour to learn how long it has been
dried or pickled, pick out the plumpest, and that which has the
smoothest skin, which denotes its being young and tender.
The roots, &c. make an excellent relish potted, like No. 509, or pease
soup (No. 218).
N.B. Our correspondent, who wished us, in this edition, to give a
receipt to roast a tongue, will find an answer in No. 82.
_Turkeys, Capons, Fowls, Chickens, &c._--(No. 16.)
Are all boiled exactly in the same manner, only allowing time, according
to their size. For the stuffing, &c. (Nos. 374, 375, and 377), some of
it made into balls, and boiled or fried, make a nice garnish, and are
handy to help; and you can then reserve some of the inside stuffing to
eat with the cold fowl, or enrich the hash (Nos. 530 and 533).
A chicken will take about 20 minutes.
A fowl 40
A fine five-toed fowl or a capon, about an hour.
A small turkey, an hour and a half.
A large one, two hours or more.
Chickens or fowls should be killed at least one or two days before they
are to be dressed.
Turkeys (especially large ones) should not be dressed till they have
been killed three or four days at least, in cold weather six or eight,
or they will neither look white nor eat tender.[120-*]
Turkeys, and large fowls, should have the strings or sinews of the
thighs drawn out.
Truss them with the legs outward, they are much easier carved.
Fowls for boiling should be chosen as white as possible; if their
complexion is not so fair as you wish, veil them in No. 2 of No. 364;
those which have black legs should be roasted. The best use of the liver
is to make sauce (No. 287).
Poultry must be well washed in warm water; if very dirty from the
singeing, &c. rub them with a little white soap; but thoroughly rinse it
off, before you put them into the pot.
Make a good and clear fire; set on a clean pot, with pure and clean
water, enough to well cover the turkey, &c.; the slower it boils, the
whiter and plumper it will be. When there rises any scum, remove it; the
common method of some (who are more nice than wise) is to wrap them up
in a cloth, to prevent the scum attaching to them; which, if it does, by
your neglecting to skim the pot, there is no getting it off afterward,
and the poulterer is blamed for the fault of the cook.
If there be water enough, and it is attentively skimmed, the fowl will
both look and eat much better this way than when it has been covered up
in the cleanest cloth, and the colour and flavour of your poultry will
be preserved in the most delicate perfection.
_Obs._ Turkey deserves to be accompanied by tongue (No. 15), or ham (No.
14); if these are not come-at-able, don't forget pickled pork (No. 11),
or bacon and greens (Nos. 83, 526, and 527), or pork sausages (No. 87),
parsley and butter (No. 261); don't pour it over, but send it up in a
boat; liver (No. 287), egg (No. 267), or oyster sauce (No. 278). To warm
cold turkey, &c. see No. 533, and following.
To grill the gizzard and rump, No. 538. Save a quart of the liquor the
turkey was boiled in; this, with the bones and trimmings, &c. will make
good gravy for a hash, &c.
_Rabbits._--(No. 17.)
Truss your rabbits short, lay them in a basin of warm water for ten
minutes, then put them into plenty of water, and boil them about half an
hour; if large ones, three quarters; if very old, an hour: smother them
with plenty of white onion sauce (No. 298), mince the liver, and lay it
round the dish, or make liver sauce (No. 287), and send it up in a boat.
_Obs._ Ask those you are going to make liver sauce for, if they like
plain liver sauce, or liver and parsley, or liver and lemon sauce (Nos.
287 and 288).
N.B. It will save much trouble to the carver, if the rabbits be cut up
in the kitchen into pieces fit to help at table, and the head divided,
one-half laid at each end, and slices of lemon and the liver, chopped
very finely, laid on the sides of the dish.
At all events, cut off the head before you send it to table, we hardly
remember that the thing ever lived if we don't see the head, while it
may excite ugly ideas to see it cut up in an attitude imitative of life;
besides, for the preservation of the head, the poor animal sometimes
suffers a slower death.
_Tripe._--(No. 18.)
Take care to have fresh tripe; cleanse it well from the fat, and cut it
into pieces about two inches broad and four long; put it into a
stew-pan, and cover it with milk and water, and let it boil gently till
it is tender.
If the tripe has been prepared as it usually is at the tripe shops, it
will be enough in about an hour, (this depends upon how long it has been
previously boiled at the tripe shop); if entirely undressed, it will
require two or three hours, according to the age and quality of it.
Make some onion sauce in the same manner as you do for rabbits (No.
298), or boil (slowly by themselves) some Spanish or the whitest common
onions you can get; peel them before you boil them; when they are
tender, which a middling-sized onion will be in about three-quarters of
an hour, drain them in a hair-sieve, take off the top skins till they
look nice and white, and put them with the tripe into a tureen or
soup-dish, and take off the fat if any floats on the surface.
_Obs._ Rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and 527), or fried sausages (No. 87),
are a very good accompaniment to boiled tripe, cow-heels (No. 198), or
calf's feet, see Mr. Mich. Kelly's sauce (No. 311*), or parsley and
butter (No. 261), or caper sauce (No. 274), with a little vinegar and
mustard added to them, or salad mixture (No. 372 or 453).
Tripe holds the same rank among solids, that water-gruel does among
soups, and the former is desirable at dinner, when the latter is welcome
at supper. Read No. 572.
_Cow-Heel_,--(No. 18.*)
In the hands of a skilful cook, will furnish several good meals; when
boiled tender (No. 198), cut it into handsome pieces, egg and
bread-crumb them, and fry them a light brown; lay them round a dish, and
put in the middle of it sliced onions fried, or the accompaniments
ordered for tripe. The liquor they were boiled in will make soups (No.
229, 240*, or No. 555).
N.B. We give no receipts to boil venison, geese, ducks, pheasants,
woodcocks, and peacocks, &c. as our aim has been to make a useful book,
not a big one (see No. 82).
FOOTNOTES:
[108-*] The _gigot_ is the leg with part of the loin.
[111-*] _If not to be cut till cold_, two days longer salting will not
only improve its flavour, but the meat will keep better.
[111-+] In the West Indies they can scarcely cure beef with pickle, but
easily preserve it by cutting it into thin slices and dipping them in
sea-water, and then drying them quickly in the sun; to which they give
the name of _jerked beef_.--BROWNRIGG _on Salt_, 8vo. p. 762.
[115-*] This, _salted_, makes a very pretty supper-dish.
[120-*] BAKER, in his Chronicle, tells us the turkey did not reach
England till A. D. 1524, about the 15th of Henry the 8th; he says,
"_Turkies_, carps, hoppes, piccarell, and beere,
Came into England all in one year."
ROASTING.
N.B.--_If the time we have allowed for roasting appears rather
longer than what is stated in former works, we can only say, we
have written from actual experiments, and that the difference may
be accounted for, by common cooks generally being fond of too
fierce a fire, and of putting things too near to it._
_Our calculations are made for a temperature of about fifty degrees
of Fahrenheit._
SLOW ROASTING _is as advantageous to the tenderness and favour of
meat as slow boiling, of which every body understands the
importance. See the account of Count Rumford's shoulder of mutton._
_The warmer the weather, and the staler killed the meat is, the
less time it will require to roast it._
_Meat that is very fat_, requires more time than we have stated.
BEEF _is in proper season throughout the whole year._
_Sirloin of Beef._--(No. 19.)
The noble sirloin[122-*] of about fifteen pounds (if much thicker, the
outside will be done too much before the inside is enough), will require
to be before the fire about three and a half or four hours; take care to
spit it evenly, that it may not be heavier on one side than the other;
put a little clean dripping into the dripping-pan, (tie a sheet of paper
over it to preserve the fat,[123-*]) baste it well as soon as it is put
down, and every quarter of an hour all the time it is roasting, till the
last half hour; then take off the paper, and make some gravy for it (No.
326); stir the fire and make it clear: to brown and froth it, sprinkle a
little salt over it, baste it with butter, and dredge it with flour; let
it go a few minutes longer, till the froth rises, take it up, put it on
the dish, &c.
Garnish it with hillocks of horseradish, scraped as fine as possible
with a very sharp knife, (Nos. 458 and 399*). A Yorkshire pudding is an
excellent accompaniment (No. 595, or No. 554).
_Obs._ The inside of the sirloin must never be cut[123-+] hot, but
reserved entire for the hash, or a mock hare (No. 66*). (For various
ways of dressing the inside of the sirloin, No. 483; for the receipt to
hash or broil beef, No. 484, and Nos. 486 and 487; and for other ways of
employing the remains of a joint of cold beef, Nos. 503, 4, 5, 6).
_Ribs of Beef._--(No. 20).
The first three ribs, of fifteen or twenty pounds, will take three
hours, or three and a half: the fourth and fifth ribs will lake as long,
managed in the same way as the sirloin. Paper the fat, and the thin
part, or it will be done too much, before the thick part is done enough.
N.B. A pig-iron placed before it on the bars of the grate answers every
purpose of keeping the thin part from being too much done.
_Obs._ Many persons prefer the ribs to the sirloin.
_Ribs of Beef boned and rolled._--(No. 21.)
When you have kept two or three ribs of beef till quite tender, take out
the bones, and skewer it as round as possible (like a fillet of veal):
before they roll it, some cooks egg it, and sprinkle it with veal
stuffing (No. 374). As the meat is more in a solid mass, it will require
more time at the fire than in the preceding receipt; a piece of ten or
twelve pounds weight will not be well and thoroughly roasted in less
than four and a half or five hours.
For the first half hour, it should not be less than twelve inches from
the fire, that it may get gradually warm to the centre: the last half
hour before it will be finished, sprinkle a little salt over it; and if
you wish to froth it, flour it, &c.
_MUTTON._[124-*]--(No. 23.)
As beef requires a large, sound fire, mutton must have a brisk and sharp
one. If you wish to have mutton tender, it should be hung almost as long
as it will keep;[124-+] and then good eight-tooth, _i. e._ four years
old mutton, is as good eating as venison, if it is accompanied by Nos.
329 and 346.
The leg, haunch, and saddle will be the better for being hung up in a
cool airy place for four or five days at least; in temperate weather, a
week; in cold weather, ten days.
If you think your mutton will not be tender enough to do honour to the
spit, dress it as a "_gigot de sept heures_." See N.B. to No. 1 and No.
493.
_A Leg_,--(No. 24.)
Of eight pounds, will take about two hours: let it be well basted, and
frothed in the same manner as directed in No. 19. To hash mutton, No.
484. To broil it, No. 487, &c.
_A Chine or Saddle_,--(No. 26.)
(_i. e._ the two loins) of ten or eleven pounds, two hours and a half:
it is the business of the butcher to take off the skin and skewer it on
again, to defend the meat from extreme heat, and preserve its
succulence; if this is neglected, tie a sheet of paper over it (baste
the strings you tie it on with directly, or they will burn): about a
quarter of an hour before you think it will be done, take off the skin
or paper, that it may get a pale brown colour, then baste it and flour
it lightly to froth it. We like No. 346 for sauce.
N.B. Desire the butcher to cut off the flaps and the tail and chump end,
and trim away every part that has not indisputable pretensions to be
eaten. This will reduce a saddle of eleven pounds weight to about six or
seven pounds.
_A Shoulder_,--(No. 27.)
Of seven pounds, an hour and a half. Put the spit in close to the
shank-bone, and run it along the blade-bone.
N.B. The blade-bone is a favourite luncheon or supper relish, scored,
peppered and salted, and broiled, or done in a Dutch oven.
_A Loin_,[125-*]--(No. 28.)
Of mutton, from an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters. The
most elegant way of carving this, is to cut it lengthwise, as you do a
saddle: read No. 26.
N.B. Spit it on a skewer or lark spit, and tie that on the common spit,
and do not spoil the meat by running the spit through the prime part of
it.
_A Neck_,--(No. 29.)
About the same time as a loin. It must be carefully jointed, or it is
very difficult to carve. The neck and breast are, in small families,
commonly roasted together; the cook will then crack the bones across the
middle before they are put down to roast: if this is not done carefully,
they are very troublesome to carve. Tell the cook, when she takes it
from the spit, to separate them before she sends them to table.
_Obs._--If there is more fat than you think will be eaten with the lean,
cut it off, and it will make an excellent suet pudding (No. 551, or No.
554).
N.B. The best way to spit this is to run iron skewers across it, and put
the spit between them.
_A Breast_,--(No. 30.)
An hour and a quarter.
To grill a breast of mutton, see _Obs._ to No. 38.
_A Haunch_,--(No. 31.)
(_i. e._ the leg and part of the loin) of mutton: send up two
sauce-boats with it; one of rich mutton gravy, made without spice or
herbs (No. 347), and the other of sweet sauce (No. 346). It generally
weighs about 15 pounds, and requires about three hours and a half to
roast it.
_Mutton, venison fashion._--(No. 32.)
Take a neck of good four or five years old Southdown wether mutton, cut
long in the bones; let it hang (in temperate weather) at least a week:
two days before you dress it, take allspice and black pepper, ground and
pounded fine, a quarter of an ounce each; rub them together, and then
rub your mutton well with this mixture twice a day. When you dress it,
wash off the spice with warm water, and roast in paste, as we have
ordered the haunch of venison. (No. 63).
_Obs._--Persevering and ingenious epicures have invented many methods to
give mutton the flavour of venison. Some say that mutton, prepared as
above, may be mistaken for venison; others, that it is full as good. The
refined palate of a grand gourmand (in spite of the spice and wine the
meat has been fuddled and rubbed with) will perhaps still protest
against "Welch venison;" and indeed we do not understand by what
conjuration allspice and claret can communicate the flavour of venison
to mutton. We confess our fears that the flavour of venison (especially
of its fat) is inimitable; but believe you may procure prime
eight-toothed wether mutton, keep it the proper time, and send it to
table with the accompaniments (Nos. 346 and 347, &c.) usually given to
venison, and a rational epicure will eat it with as much satisfaction as
he would "feed on the king's fallow deer."
_VEAL._--(No. 33.)
VEAL requires particular care to roast it a nice brown. Let the fire be
the same as for beef; a sound large fire for a large joint, and a
brisker for a smaller; put it at some distance from the fire to soak
thoroughly, and then draw it near to finish it brown.
When first laid down, it is to be basted; baste it again occasionally.
When the veal is on the dish, pour over it half a pint of melted butter
(No. 256): if you have a little brown gravy by you, add that to the
butter (No. 326). With those joints which are not stuffed, send up
forcemeat (No. 374, or No. 375) in balls, or rolled into sausages, as
garnish to the dish, or fried pork sausages (No. 87); bacon (No. 13, or
No. 526, or No. 527), and greens, are also always expected with veal.
_Fillet of Veal_,--(No. 34.)
Of from twelve to sixteen pounds, will require from four to five hours
at a good fire; make some stuffing or forcemeat (No. 374 or 5), and put
it in under the flap, that there may be some left to eat cold, or to
season a hash;[127-*] brown it, and pour good melted butter (No. 266)
over it, as directed in No. 33.
Garnish with thin slices of lemon and cakes or balls of stuffing, or No.
374, or No. 375, or duck stuffing (No. 61), or fried pork sausages (No.
87), curry sauce (No. 348), bacon (No. 13), and greens, &c.
N.B. Potted veal (No. 533).
_Obs._--A bit of the brown outside is a favourite with the epicure in
roasts. The kidney, cut out, sliced, and broiled (No. 358), is a high
relish, which some _bons vivants_ are fond of.
_A Loin_,--(No. 35.)
Is the best part of the calf, and will take about three hours roasting.
Paper the kidney fat, and the back: some cooks send it up on a toast,
which is eaten with the kidney and the fat of this part, which is as
delicate as any marrow. If there is more of it than you think will be
eaten with the veal, before you roast it cut it out; it will make an
excellent suet pudding: take care to have your fire long enough to brown
the ends; same accompaniments as No. 34.
_A Shoulder_,--(No. 36.)
From three hours to three hours and a half; stuff it with the forcemeat
ordered for the fillet of veal, in the under side, or balls made of No.
374.
_Neck, best end_,--(No. 37.)
Will take two hours; same accompaniments as No. 34. The scrag part is
best made into a pie, or broth.
_Breast_,--(No. 38.)
From an hour and a half to two hours. Let the caul remain till it is
almost done, then take it off to brown it; baste, flour, and froth it.
_Obs._--This makes a savoury relish for a luncheon or supper: or,
instead of roasting, boil it enough; put it in a cloth between two
pewter dishes, with a weight on the upper one, and let it remain so till
cold; then pare and trim, egg, and crumb it, and broil, or warm it in a
Dutch oven; serve with it capers (No. 274), or wow wow sauce (No. 328).
Breast of mutton may be dressed the same way.
_Veal Sweetbread._--(No. 39.)
Trim a fine sweetbread (it cannot be too fresh); parboil it for five
minutes, and throw it into a basin of cold water. Roast it plain, or
Beat up the yelk of an egg, and prepare some fine bread-crumbs: when the
sweetbread is cold, dry it thoroughly in a cloth; run a lark-spit or a
skewer through it, and tie it on the ordinary spit; egg it with a
paste-brush; powder it well with bread-crumbs, and roast it.
For sauce, fried bread-crumbs round it, and melted butter, with a little
mushroom catchup (No. 439), and lemon-juice (Nos. 307, 354, or 356), or
serve them on buttered toast, garnished with egg sauce (No. 267), or
with gravy (No. 329).
_Obs._--Instead of spitting them, you may put them into a tin Dutch
oven, or fry them (Nos. 88, 89, or 513).
_LAMB_,--(No. 40.)
Is a delicate, and commonly considered tender meat; but those who talk
of tender lamb, while they are thinking of the age of the animal, forget
that even a chicken must be kept a proper time after it has been killed,
or it will be tough picking.
Woful experience has warned us to beware of accepting an invitation to
dinner on Easter Sunday, unless commanded by a thorough-bred _gourmand_;
our _incisores_, _molares_, and _principal viscera_ have protested
against the imprudence of encountering young, tough, stringy mutton,
under the _misnomen_ of grass lamb. The proper name for "Easter grass
lamb" is "hay mutton."
To the usual accompaniments of roasted meat, green mint sauce (No. 303),
a salad (Nos. 372 and 138*), is commonly added; and some cooks, about
five minutes before it is done, sprinkle it with a little fresh gathered
and finely minced parsley, or No. 318: lamb, and all young meats, ought
to be thoroughly done; therefore do not take either lamb or veal off the
spit till you see it drop white gravy.
Grass lamb is in season from Easter to Michaelmas.
House lamb from Christmas to Lady-day.
Sham lamb, see _Obs._ to following receipt.
N.B. When green mint cannot be got, mint vinegar (No. 398) is an
acceptable substitute for it; and crisp parsley (No. 318), on a side
plate, is an admirable accompaniment.
_Hind-Quarter_,--(No. 41).
Of eight pounds, will take from an hour and three-quarters to two hours:
baste and froth it in the same way as directed in No. 19.
_Obs._--A quarter of a porkling is sometimes skinned, cut, and dressed
lamb-fashion, and sent up as a substitute for it. The leg and the loin
of lamb, when little, should be roasted together; the former being lean,
the latter fat, and the gravy is better preserved.
_Fore-Quarter_,--(No. 42.)
Of ten pounds, about two hours.
N.B. It is a pretty general custom, when you take off the shoulder from
the ribs, to squeeze a Seville orange over them, and sprinkle them with
a little pepper and salt.
_Obs._--This may as well be done by the cook before it comes to table;
some people are not remarkably expert at dividing these joints nicely.
_Leg_,--(No. 43.)
Of five pounds, from an hour to an hour and a half.
_Shoulder_,--(No. 44.)
With a quick fire, an hour.
See _Obs._ to No. 27.
_Ribs_,--(No. 45.)
About an hour to an hour and a quarter: joint it nicely, crack the ribs
across, and divide them from the brisket after it is roasted.
_Loin_,--(No. 46.)
An hour and a quarter.
_Neck_,--(No. 47.)
An hour.
_Breast_,--(No. 48.)
Three-quarters of an hour.
_PORK._--(No. 49.)
The prime season for pork is from Michaelmas to March.
Take particular care it be done enough: other meats under-done are
unpleasant, but pork is absolutely uneatable; the sight of it is enough
to appal the sharpest appetite, if its gravy has the least tint of
redness.
Be careful of the crackling; if this be not crisp, or if it be burned,
you will be scolded.
For sauces, No. 300, No. 304, and No. 342.
_Obs._--Pease pudding (No. 555) is as good an accompaniment to roasted,
as it is to boiled pork; and most palates are pleased with the savoury
powder set down in No. 51, or bread-crumbs, mixed with sage and onion,
minced very fine, or zest (No. 255) sprinkled over it.
N.B. "The western pigs, from Berks, Oxford, and Bucks, possess a decided
superiority over the eastern, of Essex, Sussex, and Norfolk; not to
forget another qualification of the former, at which some readers may
smile, a thickness of the skin; whence the crackling of the roasted pork
is a fine gelatinous substance, which may be easily masticated; while
the crackling of the thin-skinned breeds is roasted into good block tin,
the reduction of which would almost require teeth of iron."--MOUBRAY _on
Poultry_, 1816, page 242.
_A Leg_,--(No. 50.)
Of eight pounds, will require about three hours: score the skin across
in narrow stripes (some score it in diamonds), about a quarter of an
inch apart; stuff the knuckle with sage and onion, minced fine, and a
little grated bread, seasoned with pepper, salt, and the yelk of an egg.
See Duck Stuffing, (No. 61.)
Do not put it too near the fire: rub a little sweet oil on the skin with
a paste-brush, or a goose-feather: this makes the crackling crisper and
browner than basting it with dripping; and it will be a better colour
than all the art of cookery can make it in any other way; and this is
the best way of preventing the skin from blistering, which is
principally occasioned by its being put too near the fire.
_Leg of Pork roasted without the Skin, commonly called_ MOCK
GOOSE.[131-*]--(No. 51.)
Parboil it; take off the skin, and then put it down to roast; baste it
with butter, and make a savoury powder of finely minced, or dried and
powdered sage, ground black pepper, salt, and some bread-crumbs, rubbed
together through a colander; you may add to this a little very finely
minced onion: sprinkle it with this when it is almost roasted. Put half
a pint of made gravy into the dish, and goose stuffing (No. 378) under
the knuckle skin; or garnish the dish with balls of it fried or boiled.
_The Griskin_,--(No. 52.)
Of seven or eight pounds, may be dressed in the same manner. It will
take an hour and a half roasting.
_A Bacon Spare-Rib_,--(No. 53.)
Usually weighs about eight or nine pounds, and will take from two to
three hours to roast it thoroughly; not exactly according to its weight,
but the thickness of the meat upon it, which varies very much. Lay the
thick end nearest to the fire.
A proper bald spare-rib of eight pounds weight (so called because almost
all the meat is pared off), with a steady fire, will be done in an hour
and a quarter. There is so little meat on a bald spare-rib, that if you
have a large, fierce fire, it will be burned before it is warm through.
Joint it nicely, and crack the ribs across as you do ribs of lamb.
When you put it down to roast, dust on some flour, and baste it with a
little butter; dry a dozen sage leaves, and rub them through a
hair-sieve, and put them into the top of a pepper-box; and about a
quarter of an hour before the meat is done, baste it with butter; dust
the pulverized sage, or the savoury powder in No. 51; or sprinkle with
duck stuffing (No. 61).
_Obs._--Make it a general rule never to pour gravy over any thing that
is roasted; by so doing, the dredging, &c. is washed off, and it eats
insipid.
Some people carve a spare-rib by cutting out in slices the thick part at
the bottom of the bones. When this meat is cut away, the bones may be
easily separated, and are esteemed very sweet picking.
Apple sauce (No. 304), mashed potatoes (No. 106), and good mustard (No.
370,) are indispensable.
_Loin_,--(No. 54.)
Of five pounds, must be kept at a good distance from the fire on account
of the crackling, and will take about two hours; if very fat, half an
hour longer.
Stuff it with duck stuffing (No. 378). Score the skin in stripes, about
a quarter of an inch apart, and rub it with salad oil, as directed in
No. 50. You may sprinkle over it some of the savoury powder recommended
for the mock goose (No. 51).
_A Chine._--(No. 55.)
If parted down the back-bone so as to have but one side, a good fire
will roast it in two hours; if not parted, three hours.
N.B. Chines are generally salted and boiled.
_A Sucking-Pig_,[133-*]--(No. 56.)
Is in prime order for the spit when about three weeks old.
It loses part of its goodness every hour after it is killed; if not
quite fresh, no art can make the crackling crisp.
To be in perfection, it should be killed in the morning to be eaten at
dinner: it requires very careful roasting. A sucking-pig, like a young
child, must not be left for an instant.
The ends must have much more fire than the middle: for this purpose is
contrived an iron to hang before the middle part, called a pig-iron. If
you have not this, use a common flat iron, or keep the fire fiercest at
the two ends.
For the stuffing, take of the crumb of a stale loaf about five ounces;
rub it through a colander; mince fine a handful of sage (_i. e._ about
two ounces), and a large onion (about an ounce and a half[133-+]). Mix
these together with an egg, some pepper and salt, and a bit of butter as
big as an egg. Fill the belly of the pig with this, and sew it up: lay
it to the fire, and baste it with salad oil till it is quite done. Do
not leave it a moment: it requires the most vigilant attendance.
Roast it at a clear, brisk fire at some distance. To gain the praise of
epicurean pig-eaters, the crackling must be nicely crisped and
delicately lightly browned, without being either blistered or burnt.
A small, three weeks old pig will be done enough[133-++] in about an
hour and a half.
Before you take it from the fire, cut off the head, and part that and
the body down the middle: chop the brains very fine, with some boiled
sage leaves, and mix them with good veal gravy, made as directed in No.
192, or beef gravy (No. 329), or what runs from the pig when you cut its
head off. Send up a tureenful of gravy (No. 329) besides. Currant sauce
is still a favourite with some of the old school.
Lay your pig back to back in the dish, with one half of the head on each
side, and the ears one at each end, which you must take care to make
nice and crisp; or you will get scolded, and deservedly, as the silly
fellow was who bought his wife a pig with only one ear.
When you cut off the pettitoes, leave the skin long round the ends of
the legs. When you first lay the pig before the fire, rub it all over
with fresh butter or salad oil: ten minutes after, and the skin looks
dry; dredge it well with flour all over, let it remain on an hour, then
rub it off with a soft cloth.
N. B. A pig is a very troublesome subject to roast; most persons have
them baked. Send a quarter of a pound of butter, and beg the baker to
baste it well.
_Turkey, Turkey Poults, and other Poultry._--(No. 57.)
A fowl and a turkey require the same management at the fire, only the
latter will take longer time.
Many a Christmas dinner has been spoiled by the turkey having been hung
up in a cold larder, and becoming thoroughly frozen; _Jack Frost_ has
ruined the reputation of many a turkey-roaster: therefore, in very cold
weather, remember the note in the 5th page of the 3d chapter of the
Rudiments of Cookery.
Let them be carefully picked, &c. and break the breast-bone (to make
them look plump), twist up a sheet of clean writing-paper, light it, and
thoroughly singe the turkey all over, turning it about over the flame.
Turkeys, fowls, and capons have a much better appearance, if, instead of
trussing them with the legs close together, and the feet cut off, the
legs are extended on each side of the bird, and the toes only cut off
with a skewer through each foot, to keep them at a proper distance.
Be careful, when you draw it, to preserve the liver, and not to break
the gall-bag, as no washing will take off the bitter taste it gives,
where it once touches.
Prepare a nice, clear, brisk fire for it.
Make stuffing according to No. 374, or 376; stuff it under the breast,
where the craw was taken out, and make some into balls, and boil or fry
them, and lay them round the dish; they are handy to help, and you can
then reserve some of the inside stuffing to eat with the cold turkey, or
to enrich a hash (No. 533).
Score the gizzard, dip it into the yelk of an egg or melted butter, and
sprinkle it with salt and a few grains of Cayenne; put it under one
pinion and the liver under the other; cover the liver with buttered
paper, to prevent it from getting hardened or burnt.
When you first put a turkey down to roast, dredge it with flour; then
put about an ounce of butter into a basting-ladle, and as it melts,
baste the bird therewith.
Keep it at a distance from the fire for the first half hour, that it may
warm gradually; then put it nearer, and when it is plumped up, and the
steam draws in towards the fire, it is nearly enough; then dredge it
lightly with flour, and put a bit of butter into your basting-ladle, and
as it melts, baste the turkey with it; this will raise a finer froth
than can be produced by using the fat out of the pan.
A very large turkey will require about three hours to roast it
thoroughly; a middling-sized one, of eight or ten pounds (which is far
nicer eating than the very large one), about two hours; a small one may
be done in an hour and a half.
Turkey poults are of various sizes, and will take about an hour and a
half; they should be trussed, with their legs twisted under like a duck,
and the head under the wing like a pheasant.
Fried pork sausages (No. 87) are a very savoury and favourite
accompaniment to either roasted or boiled poultry. A turkey thus
garnished is called "an alderman in chains."
Sausage-meat is sometimes used as stuffing, instead of the ordinary
forcemeat. (No. 376, &c.)
MEM. If you wish a turkey, especially a very large one, to be tender,
never dress it till at least four or five days (in cold weather, eight
or ten) after it has been killed. "No man who understands good living
will say, on such a day I will eat that turkey; but will hang it up by
four of the large tail-feathers, and when, on paying his morning visit
to the larder, he finds it lying upon a cloth prepared to receive it
when it falls, that day let it be cooked."
Hen turkeys are preferable to cocks for whiteness and tenderness, and
the small fleshy ones with black legs are most esteemed.
Send up with them oyster (No. 278), egg (No. 267), bread (No. 221), and
plenty of gravy sauce (No. 329). To hash turkey, No. 533.
MEM. Some epicures are very fond of the gizzard and rump, peppered and
salted, and broiled. (See No. 538, "how to dress a devil with _véritable
sauce d'enfer_!!")
_Capons or Fowls_,--(No. 58.)
Must be killed a couple of days in moderate, and more in cold weather,
before they are dressed, or they will eat tough: a good criterion of the
ripeness of poultry for the spit, is the ease with which you can then
pull out the feathers; when a fowl is plucked, leave a few to help you
to ascertain this.
They are managed exactly in the same manner, and sent up with the same
sauces as a turkey, only they require proportionably less time at the
fire.
A full-grown five-toed fowl, about an hour and a quarter.
A moderate-sized one, an hour.
A chicken, from thirty to forty minutes.
Here, also, pork sausages fried (No. 87) are in general a favourite
accompaniment, or turkey stuffing; see forcemeats (Nos. 374, 5, 6, and
7); put in plenty of it, so as to plump out the fowl, which must be tied
closely (both at the neck and rump), to keep in the stuffing.
Some cooks put the liver of the fowl into this forcemeat, and others
mince it and pound it, and rub it up with flour and melted butter (No.
287).
When the bird is stuffed and trussed, score the gizzard nicely, dip it
into melted butter, let it drain, and then season it with Cayenne and
salt; put it under one pinion, and the liver under the other; to prevent
their getting hardened or scorched, cover them with double paper
buttered.
Take care that your roasted poultry be well browned; it is as
indispensable that roasted poultry should have a rich brown complexion,
as boiled poultry should have a delicate white one.
_Obs._ "The art of fattening poultry for the market is a considerable
branch of rural economy in some convenient situations, and consists in
supplying them with plenty of healthy food, and confining them; and
ducks and geese must be prevented from going into water, which prevents
them from becoming fat, and they also thereby acquire a rancid, fishy
taste. They are put into a dark place, and crammed with a paste made of
barley meal, mutton-suet, and some treacle or coarse sugar mixed with
milk, and are found to be completely ripe in a fortnight. If kept
longer, the fever that is induced by this continued state of repletion
renders them red and unsaleable, and frequently kills them." But
exercise is as indispensable to the health of poultry as other
creatures; without it, the fat will be all accumulated in the cellular
membrane, instead of being dispersed through its system. See MOUBRAY
_on breeding and fattening domestic Poultry_, 12mo. 1819.
Fowls which are fattened artificially are by some epicures preferred to
those called barn-door fowls; whom we have heard say, that they should
as soon think of ordering a barn-door for dinner as a barn-door fowl.
The age of poultry makes all the difference: nothing is tenderer than a
young chicken; few things are tougher than an old cock or hen, which is
only fit to make broth. The meridian of perfection of poultry is just
before they have come to their full growth, before they have begun to
harden.
For sauces, see No. 305, or liver and parsley, No. 287, and those
ordered in the last receipt. To hash it, No. 533.
_Goose._--(No. 59.)
When a goose is well picked, singed, and cleaned, make the stuffing with
about two ounces of onion,[137-*] and half as much green sage, chop them
very fine, adding four ounces, _i. e._ about a large breakfast-cupful of
stale bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a walnut, and a very
little pepper and salt (to this some cooks add half the liver,[137-+]
parboiling it first), the yelk of an egg or two, and incorporating the
whole well together, stuff the goose; do not quite fill it, but leave a
little room for the stuffing to swell; spit it, tie it on the spit at
both ends, to prevent its swinging round, and to keep the stuffing from
coming out. From an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters, will
roast a fine full-grown goose. Send up gravy and apple sauce with it
(see Nos. 300, 304, 329, and 341). To hash it, see No. 530.
For another stuffing for geese, see No. 378.
_Obs._ "Goose-feeding in the vicinity of the metropolis is so large a
concern, that one person annually feeds for market upwards of 5000." "A
goose on a farm in Scotland, two years since, of the clearly ascertained
age of 89 years, healthy and vigorous, was killed by a sow while sitting
over her eggs; it was supposed she might have lived many years, and her
fecundity appeared to be permanent. Other geese have been proved to
reach the age of 70 years." MOUBRAY _on Poultry_, p. 40.
It appears in Dr. STARK'S _Experiments on Diet_, p. 110, that "when he
fed upon roasted goose, he was more vigorous both in body and mind than
with any other diet."
The goose at Michaelmas is as famous in the mouths of the million, as
the minced-pie at Christmas; but for those who eat with delicacy, it is
by that time too full-grown.
The true period when the goose is in its highest perfection, is when it
has just acquired its full growth, and not begun to harden. If the March
goose is insipid, the Michaelmas goose is rank; the fine time is between
both, from the second week in June to the first in September: the leg is
not the most tender part of a goose. See Mock Goose (No. 51).
_Green Goose._--(No. 60.)
Geese are called green till they are about four months old.
The only difference between roasting these and a full-grown goose,
consists in seasoning it with pepper and salt instead of sage and onion,
and roasting it for forty or fifty minutes only.
_Obs._ This is one of the least desirable of those insipid premature
productions, which are esteemed dainties.
_Duck._--(No. 61.)
Mind your duck is well cleaned, and wiped out with a clean cloth: for
the stuffing, take an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage;
chop them very fine, and mix them with two ounces, _i. e._ about a
breakfast-cupful, of bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a
walnut, a very little black pepper and salt, (some obtuse palates may
require warming with a little Cayenne, No. 404,) and the yelk of an egg
to bind it; mix these thoroughly together, and put into the duck. For
another stuffing, see No. 378. From half to three-quarters of an hour
will be enough to roast it, according to the size: contrive to have the
feet delicately crisp, as some people are very fond of them; to do this
nicely you must have a sharp fire. For sauce, green pease (No. 134),
bonne bouche (No. 341), gravy sauce (No. 329), and sage and onion sauce
(No. 300).
To hash or stew ducks, see No. 530.
N.B. If you think the raw onion will make too strong an impression upon
the palate, parboil it. Read _Obs._ to No. 59.
To ensure ducks being tender, in moderate weather kill them a few days
before you dress them.
_Haunch of Venison._--(No. 63.)
To preserve the fat, make a paste of flour and water, as much as will
cover the haunch; wipe it with a dry cloth in every part; rub a large
sheet of paper all over with butter, and cover the venison with it; then
roll out the paste about three-quarters of an inch thick; lay this all
over the fat side, and cover it well with three or four sheets of strong
white paper, and tie it securely on with packthread: have a strong,
close fire, and baste your venison as soon as you lay it down to roast
(to prevent the paper and string from burning); it must be well basted
all the time.
A buck haunch generally weighs from 20 to 25 pounds; will take about
four hours and a half roasting in warm, and longer in cold weather: a
haunch of from 19 to 18 pounds will be done in about three or three and
a half.
A quarter of an hour before it is done, the string must be cut, and the
paste carefully taken off; now baste it with butter, dredge it lightly
with flour, and when the froth rises, and it has got a very light brown
colour, garnish the knuckle-bone with a ruffle of cut writing-paper, and
send it up, with good, strong (but unseasoned) gravy (No. 347) in one
boat, and currant-jelly sauce in the other, or currant-jelly in a side
plate (not melted): see for sauces, Nos. 344, 5, 6, and 7. MEM. "_the
alderman's walk_" is the favourite part.
_Obs._ Buck venison is in greatest perfection from midsummer to
Michaelmas, and doe from November to January.
_Neck and Shoulder of Venison_,--(No. 64.)
Are to be managed in the same way as the haunch; only they do not
require the coat or paste, and will not take so much time.
The best way to spit a neck is to put three skewers through it, and put
the spit between the skewers and the bones.
_A Fawn_,--(No. 65.)
Like a sucking-pig, should be dressed almost as soon as killed. When
very young, it is trussed, stuffed, and spitted the same way as a hare:
but they are better eating when of the size of a house lamb, and are
then roasted in quarters; the hind-quarter is most esteemed.
They must be put down to a very quick fire, and either basted all the
time they are roasting, or be covered with sheets of fat bacon; when
done, baste it with butter, and dredge it with a little salt and flour,
till you make a nice froth on it.
N.B. We advise our friends to half roast a fawn as soon as they receive
it, and then make a hash of it like No. 528.
Send up venison sauce with it. See the preceding receipt, or No. 344,
&c.
_A Kid._--(No. 65*.)
A young sucking-kid is very good eating; to have it in prime condition,
the dam should be kept up, and well fed, &c.
Roast it like a fawn or hare.
_Hare._--(No. 66.)
"_Inter quadrupedes gloria prima lepus._"--MARTIAL.
The first points of consideration are, how old is the hare? and how long
has it been killed? When young, it is easy of digestion, and very
nourishing; when old, the contrary in every respect.
To ascertain the age, examine the first joint of the forefoot; you will
find a small knob, if it is a leveret, which disappears as it grows
older; then examine the ears, if they tear easily, it will eat tender;
if they are tough, so will be the hare, which we advise you to make into
soup (No. 241), or stew or jug it (No. 523).
When newly killed, the body is stiff; as it grows stale, it becomes
limp.
As soon as you receive a hare, take out the liver, parboil it, and keep
it for the stuffing; some are very fond of it. Do not use it if it be
not quite fresh and good. Some mince it, and send it up as a garnish in
little hillocks round the dish. Wipe the hare quite dry, rub the inside
with pepper, and hang it up in a dry, cool place.
Paunch and skin[141-*] your hare, wash it, and lay it in a large pan of
cold water four or five hours, changing the water two or three times;
lay it in a clean cloth, and dry it well, then truss it.
To make the stuffing, see No. 379. Do not make it too thin; it should be
of cohesive consistence: if it is not sufficiently stiff, it is good for
nothing. Put this into the belly, and sew it up tight.
Cut the neck-skin to let the blood out, or it will never appear to be
done enough; spit it, and baste it with drippings,[141-+] (or the juices
of the back will be dried up before the upper joints of the legs are
half done,) till you think it is nearly done, which a middling-sized
hare will be in about an hour and a quarter. When it is almost roasted
enough, put a little bit of butter into your basting-ladle, and baste it
with this, and flour it, and froth it nicely.
Serve it with good gravy (No. 329, or No. 347), and currant-jelly. For
another stuffing, see receipt No. 379. Some cooks cut off the head and
divide it, and lay one half on each side the hare.
Cold roast hare will make excellent soup (No. 241), chopped to pieces,
and stewed in three quarts of water for a couple of hours; the stuffing
will be a very agreeable substitute for sweet herbs and seasoning. See
receipt for hare soup (No. 241), hashed hare (No. 529), and mock hare,
next receipt.
_Mock Hare._--(No. 66.*)
Cut out the fillet (_i. e._ the inside lean) of a sirloin of beef,
leaving the fat to roast with the joint. Prepare some nice stuffing, as
directed for a hare in No. 66, or 379; put this on the beef, and roll it
up with tape, put a skewer through it, and tie that on a spit.
_Obs._ If the beef is of prime quality, has been kept till thoroughly
tender, and you serve with it the accompaniments that usually attend
roast hare (Nos. 329, 344, &c.), or stew it, and serve it with a rich
thickened sauce garnished with forcemeat balls (No. 379), the most
fastidious palate will have no reason to regret that the game season is
over.
To make this into hare soup, see No. 241.
_Rabbit._--(No. 67.)
If your fire is clear and sharp, thirty minutes will roast a young, and
forty a full-grown rabbit.
When you lay it down, baste it with butter, and dredge it lightly and
carefully with flour, that you may have it frothy, and of a fine light
brown. While the rabbit is roasting, boil its liver[142-*] with some
parsley; when tender, chop them together, and put half the mixture into
some melted butter, reserving the other half for garnish, divided into
little hillocks. Cut off the head, and lay half on each side of the
dish.
_Obs._ A fine, well-grown (but young) warren rabbit, kept some time
after it has been killed, and roasted with a stuffing in its belly, eats
very like a hare, to the nature of which it approaches. It is nice,
nourishing food when young, but hard and unwholesome when old. For
sauces, Nos. 287, 298, and 329.
_Pheasant._--(No. 68.)
Requires a smart fire, but not a fierce one. Thirty minutes will roast a
young bird, and forty or fifty a full-grown pheasant. Pick and draw it,
cut a slit in the back of the neck, and take out the craw, but don't cut
the head off; wipe the inside of the bird with a clean cloth, twist the
legs close to the body, leave the feet on, but cut the toes off; don't
turn the head under the wing, but truss it like a fowl, it is much
easier to carve; baste it, butter and froth it, and prepare sauce for it
(Nos. 321 and 329). See the instructions in receipts to roast fowls and
turkeys, Nos. 57 and 58.
_Obs._ We believe the rarity of this bird is its best recommendation;
and the character given it by an ingenious French author is just as good
as it deserves. "Its flesh is naturally tough, and owes all its
tenderness and succulence to the long time it is kept before it is
cooked;" until it is "_bien mortifiée_," it is uneatable[142-+].
Therefore, instead of "_sus per col_," suspend it by one of the long
tail-feathers, and the pheasant's falling from it is the criterion of
its ripeness and readiness for the spit.
Our president of the committee of taste (who is indefatigable in his
endeavours to improve the health, as well as promote the enjoyment, of
his fellow-students in the school of good living, and to whom the
epicure, the economist, and the valetudinarian are equally indebted for
his careful revision of this work, and especially for introducing that
salutary maxim into the kitchen, that "the salubrious is ever a superior
consideration to the savoury," and indeed, the rational epicure only
relishes the latter when entirely subordinate to the former), has
suggested to us, that the detachment of the feather cannot take place
until the body of the bird has advanced more than one degree beyond the
state of wholesome _haut-goût_, and become "_trop mortifiée_;" and that
to enjoy this game in perfection, you must have a brace of birds killed
the same day; these are to be put in suspense as above directed, and
when one of them _drops_, the hour is come that the spit should be
introduced to his companion:--
"_Ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum._"
_Mock Pheasant._--(No. 69.)
If you have only one pheasant, and wish for a companion for it, get a
fine young fowl, of as near as may be the same size as the bird to be
matched, and make game of it by trussing it like a pheasant, and
dressing it according to the above directions. Few persons will discover
the pheasant from the fowl, especially if the latter has been kept four
or five days.
The peculiar flavour of the pheasant (like that of other game) is
principally acquired by long keeping.
_Guinea and Pea Fowls_,--(No. 69*.)
Are dressed in the same way as pheasants.
_Partridges_,--(No. 70.)
Are cleaned and trussed in the same manner as a pheasant (but the
ridiculous custom of tucking the legs into each other makes them very
troublesome to carve); the breast is so plump, it will require almost as
much roasting; send up with them rich sauce (No. 321*), or bread sauce
(No. 321), and good gravy (No. 329).
*.* If you wish to preserve them longer than you think they will keep
good undressed, half roast them, they will then keep two or three days
longer; or make a pie of them.
_Black Cock_ (No. 71), _Moor Game_ (No. 72), _and Grouse_, (No. 73.)
Are all to be dressed like partridges; the black cock will take as much
as a pheasant, and moor game and grouse as the partridge. Send up with
them currant-jelly and fried bread-crumbs (No. 320).
_Wild Ducks._--(No. 74.)
For roasting a wild duck, you must have a clear, brisk fire, and a hot
spit; it must be browned upon the outside, without being sodden within.
To have it well frothed and full of gravy is the nicety. Prepare the
fire by stirring and raking it just before the bird is laid down, and
fifteen or twenty minutes will do it in the fashionable way; but if you
like it a little more done, allow it a few minutes longer; if it is too
much, it will lose its flavour.
For the sauce, see No. 338 and No. 62.
_Widgeons and Teal_,--(No. 75.)
Are dressed exactly as the wild duck; only that less time is requisite
for a widgeon, and still less for a teal.
_Woodcock._--(No. 76.)
Woodcocks should not be drawn, as the trail is by the lovers of "_haut
goût_" considered a "_bonne bouche_;" truss their legs close to the
body, and run an iron skewer through each thigh, close to the body, and
tie them on a small bird spit; put them to roast at a clear fire; cut as
many slices of bread as you have birds, toast or fry them a delicate
brown, and lay them in the dripping-pan under the birds to catch the
trail;[144-*] baste them with butter, and froth them with flour; lay
the toast on a hot dish, and the birds on the toast; pour some good beef
gravy into the dish, and send some up in a boat, see _Obs._ to No. 329:
twenty or thirty minutes will roast them. Garnish with slices of lemon.
_Obs._--Some epicures like this bird very much under-done, and direct
that a woodcock should be just introduced to the cook, for her to show
it the fire, and then send it up to table.
_Snipes_,--(No. 77.)
Differ little from woodcocks, unless in size; they are to be dressed in
the same way, but require about five minutes less time to roast them.
For sauce, see No. 338.
_Pigeons._--(No. 78.)
When the pigeons are ready for roasting, if you are desired to stuff
them, chop some green parsley very fine, the liver, and a bit of butter
together, with a little pepper and salt, or with the stuffing ordered
for a fillet of veal (No. 374 or No. 375), and fill the belly of each
bird with it. They will be done enough in about twenty or thirty
minutes; send up parsley and butter (No. 261,) in the dish under them,
and some in a boat, and garnish with crisp parsley (No. 318), or fried
bread crumbs (No. 320), or bread sauce (No. 321), or gravy (No. 329).
_Obs._--When pigeons are fresh they have their full relish; but it goes
entirely off with a very little keeping; nor is it in any way so well
preserved as by roasting them: when they are put into a pie they are
generally baked to rags, and taste more of pepper and salt than of any
thing else.
A little melted butter may be put into the dish with them, and the gravy
that runs from them will mix with it into fine sauce. Pigeons are in the
greatest perfection from midsummer to Michaelmas; there is then the most
plentiful and best food for them; and their finest growth is just when
they are full feathered. When they are in the pen-feathers, they are
flabby; when they are full grown, and have flown some time, they are
tough. Game and poultry are best when they have just done growing, _i.
e._ as soon as nature has perfected her work.
This was the secret of Solomon, the famous pigeon-feeder of Turnham
Green, who is celebrated by the poet Gay, when he says,
"That Turnham Green, which dainty pigeons fed,
But feeds no more, for _Solomon_ is dead."
_Larks and other small Birds._--(No. 80.)
These delicate little birds are in high season in November. When they
are picked, gutted, and cleaned, truss them; brush them with the yelk of
an egg, and then roll them in bread-crumbs: spit them on a lark-spit,
and tie that on to a larger spit; ten or fifteen minutes at a quick fire
will do them enough; baste them with fresh butter while they are
roasting, and sprinkle them with bread-crumbs till they are well covered
with them.
For the sauce, fry some grated bread in clarified butter, see No. 259,
and set it to drain before the fire, that it may harden: serve the
crumbs under the larks when you dish them, and garnish them with slices
of lemon.
_Wheatears_,--(No. 81.)
Are dressed in the same way as larks.
_Lobster._--(No. 82.)
See receipt for boiling (No. 176).
We give no receipt for roasting lobster, tongue, &c. being of opinion
with Dr. King, who says,
"By roasting that which our forefathers boiled,
And boiling what they roasted, much is spoiled."
FOOTNOTES:
[122-*] This joint is said to owe its _name_ to king Charles the Second,
who, dining upon a loin of beef, and being particularly pleased with it,
asked the name of the joint; said for its merit it should be _knighted_,
and henceforth called _Sir-Loin_.
[123-*] "In the present _fashion_ of FATTENING CATTLE, it is more
desirable to roast away the fat than to preserve it. If the honourable
societies of agriculturists, at the time they consulted a learned
professor about the composition of manures, had consulted some competent
authority on the nature of animal substances, the public might have
escaped the overgrown corpulency of the animal flesh, which every where
fills the markets."--_Domestic Management_, 12mo. 1813, p. 182.
"Game, and other wild animals proper for food, are of very superior
qualities to the tame, from the total contrast of the circumstances
attending them. They have a free range of exercise in the open air, and
choose their own food, the good effects of which are very evident in a
short, delicate texture of flesh, found only in them. Their juices and
flavour are more pure, and their _fat_, when it is in any degree, as in
venison, and some other instances, differs as much from that of our
_fatted_ animals, as silver and gold from the grosser metals. The
superiority of WELCH MUTTON and SCOTCH BEEF is owing to a similar
cause."--_Ibid._, p. 150.
If there is more FAT than you think will be eaten with the meat; cut it
off; it will make an excellent PUDDING (No. 554); or clarify it, (No.
84) and use it for frying: for those who like their meat done
thoroughly, and use a moderate fire for roasting, the fat need not be
covered with paper.
_If your beef is large_, and your family small, cut off the thin end and
salt it, and cut out and dress the fillet (_i. e._ commonly called the
inside) next day as MOCK HARE (No. 66*): thus you get _three good hot
dinners_. See also No. 483, on made dishes. For SAUCE _for cold beef_,
see No. 359, cucumber vinegar, No. 399, and horseradish vinegar, Nos.
399* and 458.
[123-+] "This joint is often spoiled for the next day's use, by an
injudicious mode of carving. If you object to the outside, take the
brown off, and help the next: by the cutting it only on one side, you
preserve the gravy in the meat, and the goodly appearance also; by
cutting it, on the contrary, down the middle of this joint, all the
gravy runs out, it becomes dry, and exhibits a most unseemly aspect when
brought to table a second time."--From UDE'S _Cookery_, 8vo. 1818, p.
109.
[124-*] DEAN SWIFT'S _receipt to roast mutton_.
To GEMINIANI'S beautiful air--"_Gently touch the warbling lyre_."
"Gently stir and blow the fire,
Lay the mutton down to roast,
Dress it quickly, I desire,
In the dripping put a toast,
That I hunger may remove;--
Mutton is the meat I love.
"On the dresser see it lie;
Oh! the charming white and red!
Finer meat ne'er met the eye,
On the sweetest grass it fed;
Let the jack go swiftly round,
Let me have it nicely brown'd.
"On the table spread the cloth,
Let the knives be sharp and clean,
Pickles get and salad both,
Let them each be fresh and green.
With small beer, good ale, and wine,
O, ye gods! how I shall dine!"
[124-+] See the chapter of ADVICE TO COOKS.
[125-*] _Common cooks very seldom brown the ends of necks and loins_; to
have this done nicely, let the fire be a few inches longer at each end
than the joint that is roasting, and occasionally place the spit
slanting, so that each end may get sufficient fire; otherwise, after the
meat is done, you must take it up, and put the ends before the fire.
[127-*] To MINCE or HASH VEAL see No. 511, or 511*, and to make a RAGOUT
of cold veal, No. 512.
[131-*] _Priscilla Haslehurst_, in her _Housekeeper's Instructor_, 8vo.
Sheffield, 1819, p. 19, gives us a receipt "to goosify a shoulder of
lamb." "Un grand Cuisinier," informed me that "_to lambify_" the leg of
a porkling is a favourite metamorphosis in the French kitchen, when
house lamb is very dear.
[133-*] MONS. GRIMOD designates this "_Animal modeste, ennemi du faste,
et le roi des animaux immondes_." Maitland, in p. 758, of vol. ii. of
his _History of London_, reckons that the number of _sucking-pigs_
consumed in the city of London in the year 1725, amounted to 52,000.
[133-+] Some _delicately sensitive_ palates desire the cook to _parboil_
the sage and onions (before they are cut), to soften and take off the
rawness of their flavour; the older and drier the onion, the stronger
will be its flavour; and the learned EVELYN orders these to be
_edulcorated_ by gentle maceration.
[133-++] An ancient culinary sage says, "When you see a pig's eyes drop
out, you may be satisfied he has had enough of the fire!" This is no
criterion that the body of the pig is done enough, but arises merely
from the briskness of the fire before the head of it.
[137-*] If you think the flavour of raw onions too strong, cut them in
slices, and lay them in cold water for a couple of hours, or add as much
apple or potato as you have of onion.
[137-+] Although the whole is rather too luscious for the lingual nerves
of the good folks of Great Britain, the livers of poultry are considered
a very high relish by our continental neighbours; and the following
directions how to procure them in perfection, we copy from the recipe of
"_un Vieil Amateur de Bonne Chère_."
"The liver of a duck, or a goose, which has submitted to the rules and
orders that men of taste have invented for the amusement of his
sebaceous glands, is a superlative exquisite to the palate of a Parisian
epicure; but, alas! the poor goose, to produce this darling dainty, must
endure sad torments. He must be crammed with meat, deprived of drink,
and kept constantly before a hot fire: a miserable martyrdom indeed! and
would be truly intolerable if his reflections on the consequences of his
sufferings did not afford him some consolation; but the glorious
prospect of the delightful growth of his liver gives him courage and
support; and when he thinks how speedily it will become almost as big as
his body, how high it will rank on the list of double relishes, and with
what ecstasies it will be eaten by the fanciers "_des Foies gras_," he
submits to his destiny without a sigh. The famous _Strasburg pies_ are
made with livers thus prepared, and sell for an enormous price."
However incredible this _ordonnance_ for the obesitation of a goose's
liver may appear at first sight, will it not seem equally so to
after-ages, that in this enlightened country, in 1821, we encouraged a
folly as much greater, as its operation was more universal? Will it be
believed, that it was then considered the _acme_ of perfection in beef
and mutton, that it should be so _over_-fattened, that a poor man, to
obtain one pound of meat that he could eat, must purchase another which
he could not, unless converted into a suet pudding: moreover, that the
highest premiums were annually awarded to those who produced sheep and
oxen in the most extreme stale of _morbid obesity_?!!
----"expensive plans
For deluging of dripping-pans."
[141-*] This, in culinary technicals, is called _casing_ it upon the
same principle that "eating, drinking, and sleeping," are termed
_non-naturals_.
[141-+] Mrs. Charlotte Mason, in her "_Complete System of Cookery_,"
page 283, says, she has "tried all the different things recommended to
baste a hare with, and never found any thing so good as _small beer_;"
others order _milk_; drippings we believe is better than any thing. To
roast a hare nicely, so as to preserve the meat on the back, &c. juicy
and nutritive, requires as much attention as a sucking-pig.
Instead of washing, a "_grand Cuisinier_" says, it is much better to
wipe a hare with a thin, dry cloth, as so much washing, or indeed
washing at all, takes away the flavour.
[142-*] Liver sauce, Nos. 287 and 288.
[142-+] "They are only fit to be eaten when the blood runs from the
bill, which is commonly about 6 or 7 days after they have been killed,
otherwise it will have no more savour than a common fowl."--_Ude's
Cookery_, 8vo. 1819, page 216.
"Gastronomers, who have any sort of aversion to a peculiar taste in
game, properly kept, had better abstain from this bird, since it is
worse than a common fowl, if not waited for till it acquires the _fumet_
it ought to have. Whole republics of maggots have often been found
rioting under the wings of pheasants; but being _radically_ dispersed,
and the birds properly washed with vinegar, every thing went right, and
every guest, unconscious of the culinary ablutions, enjoyed the
excellent flavour of the Phasian birds."--_Tabella Cibaria_, p. 55.
[144-*] "This bird has so insinuated itself into the favour of _refined
gourmands_, that they pay it the same honours as the grand Lama, making
a ragoût of its excrements, and devouring them with ecstasy."--Vide
_Almanach des Gourmands_, vol. i. p. 56.
That exercise produces strength and firmness of fibre is excellently
well exemplified in the _woodcock_ and the _partridge_. The former flies
most--the latter walks; the wing of the woodcock is always very
tough,--of the partridge very tender hence the old doggerel distich,--
"If the _partridge_ had but the _woodcock's_ thigh,
He'd be the best bird that e'er doth fly."
The _breast_ of all birds is the most juicy and nutritious part.
FRYING.
_To clarify Drippings._--(No. 83.)
PUT your dripping into a clean sauce-pan over a stove or slow fire; when
it is just going to boil, skim it well, let it boil, and then let it
stand till it is a little cooled; then pour it through a sieve into a
pan.
_Obs._--Well-cleansed drippings,[147-*] and the fat skimmings[147-+] of
the broth-pot, when fresh and sweet, will baste every thing as well as
butter, except game and poultry, and should supply the place of butter
for common fries, &c.; for which they are equal to lard, especially if
you repeat the clarifying twice over.
N.B. If you keep it in a cool place, you may preserve it a fortnight in
summer, and longer in winter. When you have done frying, let the
dripping stand a few minutes to settle, and then pour it through a sieve
into a clean basin or stone pan, and it will do a second and a third
time as well as it did the first; only the fat you have fried fish in
must not be used for any other purpose.
_To clarify Suet to fry with._--(No. 84.)
Cut beef or mutton suet into thin slices, pick out all the veins and
skins, &c., put it into a thick and well-tinned sauce-pan, and set it
over a very slow stove, or in an oven, till it is melted; you must not
hurry it; if not done very slowly it will acquire a burnt taste, which
you cannot get rid of; then strain it through a hair-sieve into a clean
brown pan: when quite cold, tie a paper over it, and keep it for use.
Hog's lard is prepared in the same way.
_Obs._--The waste occasioned by the present absurd fashion of
over-feeding cattle till the fat is nearly equal to the lean, may, by
good management, be in some measure prevented, by cutting off the
superfluous part, and preparing it as above, or by making it into
puddings; see Nos. 551 and 554, or soup, No. 229.
_Steaks._--(No. 85.)
Cut the steaks rather thinner than for broiling. Put some butter, or No.
83, into an iron frying-pan, and when it is hot, lay in the steaks, and
keep turning them till they are done enough. For sauce, see No. 356, and
for the accompaniments, No. 94.
_Obs._ Unless the fire be prepared on purpose, we like this way of
cooking them; the gravy is preserved, and the meat is more equally
dressed, and more evenly browned; which makes it more relishing, and
invites the eye to encourage the appetite.
_Beef-steaks and Onions._--(No. 86. See also No. 501.)
Fry the steaks according to the directions given in the preceding
receipt; and have ready for them some onions prepared as directed in No.
299.
For stewed rump-steaks, see Nos. 500 and 501.
_Sausages_,--(No. 87.)
Are best when quite fresh made. Put a bit of butter, or dripping (No.
83), into a clean frying-pan; as soon as it is melted (before it gets
hot) put in the sausages, and shake the pan for a minute, and keep
turning them (be careful not to break or prick them in so doing); fry
them over a very slow fire till they are nicely browned on all sides;
when they are done, lay them on a hair-sieve, placed before the fire for
a couple of minutes to drain the fat from them. The secret of frying
sausages is, to let them get hot very gradually; they then will not
burst, if they are not stale.
The common practice to prevent their bursting, is to prick them with a
fork; but this lets the gravy out.
You may froth them by rubbing them with cold fresh butter, and lightly
dredge them with flour, and put them in a cheese-toaster or Dutch oven
for a minute.
Some over-economical cooks insist that no butter or lard, &c. is
required, their own fat being sufficient to fry them: we have tried it;
the sausages were partially scorched, and had that piebald appearance
that all fried things have when sufficient fat is not allowed.
_Obs._ Poached eggs (No. 548), pease-pudding (No. 555), and mashed
potatoes (No. 106) are agreeable accompaniments to sausages; and
sausages are as welcome with boiled or roasted poultry or veal, or
boiled tripe (No. 18); so are ready-dressed German sausages (see _Mem._
to No. 13); and a convenient, easily digestible, and invigorating food
for the aged, and those whose teeth are defective; as is also No. 503.
For sauce No. 356; to make mustard, Nos. 369 and 370.
N.B. Sausages, when finely chopped, are a delicate "_bonne bouche_;" and
require very little assistance from the teeth to render them quite ready
for the stomach.
_Sweetbreads full-dressed._--(No. 88.)
Parboil them, and let them get cold; then cut them in pieces, about
three-quarters of an inch thick; dip them in the yelk of an egg, then in
fine bread-crumbs (some add spice, lemon-peel, and sweet herbs); put
some clean dripping (No. 83) into a frying-pan: when it boils, put in
the sweetbreads, and fry them a fine brown. For garnish, crisp parsley;
and for sauce, mushroom catchup and melted butter, or anchovy sauce, or
Nos. 356, 343, or 343*, or bacon or ham, as Nos. 526 and 527.
_Sweetbreads plain._--(No. 89.)
Parboil and slice them as before, dry them on a clean cloth, flour them,
and fry them a delicate brown; take care to drain the fat well from
them, and garnish them with slices of lemon, and sprigs of chervil or
parsley, or crisp parsley (No. 318). For sauce, No. 356, or No. 307, and
slices of ham or bacon, as No. 526, or No. 527, or forcemeat balls made
as Nos. 375 and 378.
*.* Take care to have a fresh sweetbread; it spoils sooner than almost
any thing, therefore should be parboiled as soon as it comes in. This is
called blanching, or setting it; mutton kidneys (No. 95) are sometimes
broiled and sent up with sweetbreads.
_Veal Cutlets._--(No. 90 and No. 521.)
Let your cutlets be about half an inch thick; trim them, and flatten
them with a cleaver; you may fry them in fresh butter, or good drippings
(No. 83); when brown on one side, turn them and do the other; if the
fire is very fierce, they must change sides oftener. The time they will
take depends on the thickness of the cutlet and the heat of the fire;
half an inch thick will take about fifteen minutes. Make some gravy, by
putting the trimmings into a stew-pan with a little soft water, an
onion, a roll of lemon-peel, a blade of mace, a sprig of thyme and
parsley, and a bay leaf; stew over a slow fire an hour, then strain it;
put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as soon as it is melted, mix
with it as much flour as will dry it up, stir it over the fire for a few
minutes, then add the gravy by degrees till it is all mixed, boil it for
five minutes, and strain it through a tamis sieve, and put it to the
cutlets; you may add some browning (No. 322), mushroom (No. 439), or
walnut catchup, or lemon pickle, &c.: see also sauces, Nos. 343 and 348.
_Or_,
Cut the veal into pieces about as big as a crown-piece, beat them with a
cleaver, dip them in eggs beat up with a little salt, and then in fine
bread-crumbs; fry them a light brown in boiling lard; serve under them
some good gravy or mushroom sauce (No. 307), which may be made in five
minutes. Garnish with slices of ham or rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and
527), or pork sausages (No. 87).
_Obs._ Veal forcemeat or stuffing (Nos. 374, 375, and 378), pork
sausages (No. 87), rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and 527), are very
relishing accompaniments, fried and sent up in the form of balls or
cakes, and laid round as a garnish.
_Lamb, or Mutton Chops_,--(No. 92.)
Are dressed in the same way, and garnished with crisp parsley (No. 318)
and slices of lemon.
If they are bread-crumbed and covered with buttered writing-paper, and
then broiled, they are called "maintenon cutlets."
_Pork Chops._--(No. 93.)
Cut the chops about half an inch thick; trim them neatly (few cooks have
any idea how much credit they get by this); put a frying-pan on the
fire, with a bit of butter; as soon as it is hot, put in your chops,
turning them often till brown all over, they will be done enough in
about fifteen minutes; take one upon a plate and try it; if done,
season it with a little finely-minced onion, powdered sage, and pepper
and salt. For gravy and sauce, see Nos. 300, 304, 341, and 356.
_Obs._ A little powdered sage, &c. strewed over them, will give them a
nice relish, or the savoury powder in No. 51, or forcemeat sausages like
No. 378.
Do not have them cut too thick, about three chops to an inch and a
quarter; trim them neatly, beat them flat, have ready some sweet herbs,
or sage and onion chopped fine, put them in a stew-pan with a bit of
butter about as big as a walnut, let them have one fry, beat two eggs on
a plate with a little salt, add to them the herbs, mix it all well
together, dip the chops in one at a time all over, and then with
bread-crumbs fry them in hot lard or drippings till they are a light
brown.
_Obs._ Veal, lamb, or mutton chops, are very good dressed in like
manner.
To fry fish, see No. 145.
N.B. To fry eggs and omelets, and other things, see No. 545, and the
Index.
FOOTNOTES:
[147-*] MRS. MELROE, in her _Economical Cookery_, page 7, tells us, she
has ascertained from actual experiments, that "the _drippings_ of roast
meat, combined with wheat flour, oatmeal, barley, pease, or
potato-starch, will make delicious soup, agreeable and savoury to the
palate, and nutritive and serviceable to the stomach; and that while a
joint is roasting, good soup may be made from the drippings of the FAT,
which is the _essence of meat_, as seeds are of vegetables, and
impregnates SOUP _with the identical taste of meat_."
"Writers on cookery give strict directions to carefully _skim off the
fat_, and in the next sentence order butter (a much more expensive
article) to be added: instead of this, when any fat appears at the top
of your soup or stew, _do not skim it_ off, but unite it with the broth
by means of the vegetable mucilages, flour, oatmeal, ground barley, or
potato-starch; when suspended the soup is equally agreeable to the
palate nutritive to the stomach," &c.
"Cooks bestow a great deal of pains to make gravies; they stew and boil
lean meat for hours, and, after all, their cookery tastes more of pepper
and salt than any thing else. If they would add the bulk of a chesnut of
solid fat to a common-sized sauce-boatful of gravy, it will give it more
sapidity than twenty hours' stewing lean meat would, unless a larger
quantity was used than is warranted by the rules of frugality." See Nos.
205 and 229.
"The experiments of _Dr. Stark_ on the nourishing powers of different
substances, go very far to prove that three ounces of the fat of boiled
beef are equal to a pound of the lean. _Dr. Pages_, the traveller,
confirms this opinion: 'Being obliged,' says he, 'during the journey
from North to South America by land, to live solely on animal food, I
experienced the truth of what is observed by hunters, who live solely on
animal food, viz. that besides their receiving little nourishment from
the leaner parts of it, it soon becomes offensive to the taste; whereas
the fat is both more nutritive, and continues to be agreeable to the
palate. To many stomachs fat is unpleasant and indigestible, especially
when converted into oil by heat; this may be easily prevented, by the
simple process of combining the fat completely with water, by the
intervention of vegetable mucilage, as in melting butter, by means of
flour, the butter and water are united into a homogeneous fluid.'"--From
_Practical Economy, by a Physician_. Callow, 1801.
[147-+] See note at the foot of No. 201.
BROILING.
_Chops or Steaks._[151-*]--(No. 94.)
To stew them, see No. 500, ditto with onions, No. 501.
Those who are nice about steaks, never attempt to have them, except in
weather which permits the meat to be hung till it is tender, and give
the butcher some days' notice of their wish for them.
If, friendly reader, you wish to entertain your mouth with a superlative
beef-steak, you must have the inside of the sirloin cut into steaks. The
next best steaks are those cut from the middle of a rump, that has been
killed at least four days in moderate weather, and much longer in cold
weather, when they can be cut about six inches long, four inches wide,
and half an inch thick: do not beat them, which vulgar trick breaks the
cells in which the gravy of the meat is contained, and it becomes dry
and tasteless.
N.B. If your butcher sends steaks which are not tender, we do not insist
that you should object to let him be beaten.
Desire the butcher to cut them of even thickness; if he does not, divide
the thicker from the thinner pieces, and give them time accordingly.
Take care to have a very clear, brisk fire; throw a little salt on it;
make the gridiron hot, and set it slanting, to prevent the fat from
dropping into the fire, and making a smoke. It requires more practice
and care than is generally supposed to do steaks to a nicety; and for
want of these little attentions, this very common dish, which every body
is supposed capable of dressing, seldom comes to table in perfection.
Ask those you cook for, if they like it under, or thoroughly done; and
what accompaniments they like best; it is usual to put a table-spoonful
of catchup (No. 439), or a little minced eschalot, or No. 402, into a
dish before the fire; while you are broiling, turn the steak, &c. with a
pair of steak-tongs, it will be done in about ten or fifteen minutes;
rub a bit of butter over it, and send it up garnished with pickles and
finely-scraped horse-radish. Nos. 135, 278, 299, 255, 402, 423, 439, and
356, are the sauces usually composed for chops and steaks.
N.B. Macbeth's receipt for beef-steaks is the best--
----"_when 't is done, 't were well
If 't were done quickly._"
_Obs._ "_Le véritable_ BIFTECK, _comme il se fait en Angleterre_," as
Mons. Beauvilliers calls (in his _l'Art du Cuisinier_, tom. i. 8vo.
Paris, 1814, p. 122) what he says we call "_romesteck_," is as highly
esteemed by our French neighbours, as their "_ragoûts_" are by our
countrymen, who
----"post to Paris go,
Merely to taste their soups, and mushrooms know."
KING'S _Art of Cookery_, p. 79.
These lines were written before the establishment of Albion house,
Aldersgate Street, where every luxury that nature and art produce is
served of the primest quality, and in the most scientific manner, in a
style of princely magnificence and perfect comfort: the wines, liqueurs,
&c. are superlative, and every department of the business of the
banquet is conducted in the most liberal manner.
The French author whom we have before so often quoted, assures _les
amateurs de bonne chère_ on the other side of the water, it is well
worth their while to cross the channel to taste this favourite English
dish, which, when "_mortifiée à son point_" and well dressed, he says,
is superior to most of the subtle double relishes of the Parisian
kitchen. _Almanach des Gourmands_, vol. i. p. 27.
Beef is justly accounted the most nutritious animal food, and is
entitled to the same rank among solid, that brandy is among liquid
stimuli.
The celebrated TRAINER, Sir Thomas Parkyns, of Bunny Park, Bart., in his
book on _Wrestling_, 4to. 3d edit. 1727, p. 10, &c., greatly prefers
beef-eaters to sheep-biters, as he called those who ate mutton.
When Humphries the pugilist was trained by Ripsham, the keeper of
Ipswich jail, he was at first fed on beef, but got so much flesh, it was
changed for mutton, roasted or broiled: when broiled, great part of the
nutritive juices of the meat is extracted.
The principles upon which training[153-*] is conducted, resolve
themselves into temperance without abstemiousness, and exercise without
fatigue.
_Kidneys._--(No. 95.)
Cut them through the long way, score them, sprinkle a little pepper and
salt on them, and run a wire skewer through them to keep them from
curling on the gridiron, so that they may be evenly broiled.
Broil them over a very clear fire, turning them often till they are
done; they will take about ten or twelve minutes, if the fire is brisk:
or fry them in butter, and make gravy for them in the pan (after you
have taken out the kidneys), by putting in a tea-spoonful of flour; as
soon as it looks brown, put in as much water as will make gravy; they
will take five minutes more to fry than to broil. For sauce, Nos. 318,
355, and 356.
_Obs._ Some cooks chop a few parsley-leaves very fine, and mix them with
a bit of fresh butter and a little pepper and salt, and put a little of
this mixture on each kidney.
_A Fowl or Rabbit, &c._--(No. 97.)
We can only recommend this method of dressing when the fire is not good
enough for roasting.
Pick and truss it the same as for boiling, cut it open down the back,
wipe the inside clean with a cloth, season it with a little pepper and
salt, have a clear fire, and set the gridiron at a good distance over
it, lay the chicken on with the inside towards the fire (you may egg it
and strew some grated bread over it), and broil it till it is a fine
brown: take care the fleshy side is not burned. Lay it on a hot dish;
pickled mushrooms, or mushroom sauce (No. 305), thrown over it, or
parsley and butter (No. 261), or melted butter flavoured with mushroom
catchup (No. 307).
Garnish it with slices of lemon; and the liver and gizzard slit and
notched, seasoned with pepper and salt, and broiled nicely brown, with
some slices of lemon. For grill sauce, see No. 355.
N.B. "It was a great mode, and taken up by the court party in Oliver
Cromwell's time, to roast half capons, pretending they had a more
exquisite taste and nutriment than when dressed whole." See JOAN
CROMWELL'S _Kitchen_, London, 1664, page 39.
_Pigeons_,--(No. 98.)
To be worth the trouble of picking, must be well grown, and well fed.
Clean them well, and pepper and salt them; broil them over a clear, slow
fire; turn them often, and put a little butter on them: when they are
done, pour over them, either stewed (No. 305) or pickled mushrooms, or
catchup and melted butter (No. 307, or No. 348 or 355).
Garnish with fried bread-crumbs or sippets (No. 319): or, when the
pigeons are trussed as for boiling, flat them with a cleaver, taking
care not to break the skin of the backs or breasts. Season them with
pepper and salt, a little bit of butter, and a tea-spoonful of water,
and tie them close at both ends; so that when they are brought to table,
they bring their sauce with them. Egg and dredge them well with grated
bread (mixed with spice and sweet herbs, if you please); then lay them
on the gridiron, and turn them frequently: if your fire is not very
clear, lay them on a sheet of paper well buttered, to keep them from
getting smoked. They are much better broiled whole.
The same sauce as in the preceding receipt, or No. 343 or 348.
VEAL CUTLETS (No. 521 and No. 90). PORK CHOPS (No. 93).
FOOTNOTES:
[151-*] The season for these is from the 29th of _September_ to the 25th
of _March_; to ensure their being tender when out of season, STEW THEM
as in receipt No. 500.
TO WARM UP COLD RUMP-STEAKS.
Lay them in a stew-pan, with one large onion cut in quarters, six
berries of allspice, the same of black pepper, cover the steaks with
boiling water, let them stew gently one hour, thicken the liquor with
flour and butter rubbed together on a plate; if a pint of gravy, about
one ounce of flour, and the like weight of butter, will do; put it into
the stew-pan, shake it well over the fire for five minutes, and it is
ready; lay the steaks and onions on a dish and pour the gravy through a
sieve over them.
[153-*] See "THE ART OF INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING LIFE," by the editor
of "THE COOK'S ORACLE." Published by G. B. Whittaker, No. 13, Ave-Maria
Lane.
VEGETABLES.
_Sixteen Ways of dressing Potatoes._[155-*]--(No. 102.)
The vegetable kingdom affords no food more wholesome, more easily
procured, easily prepared, or less expensive, than the potato: yet,
although this most useful vegetable is dressed almost every day, in
almost every family, for one plate of potatoes that comes to table as it
should, ten are spoiled.
Be careful in your choice of potatoes: no vegetable varies so much in
colour, size, shape, consistence, and flavour.