in the bottom of your pie dish, cut up over the veal a slice of fat
ham; on this place your chickens; place hard-boiled yolks of eggs in
among the chicken. Take half a pint of white sauce, made with butter,
flour, and milk or water; pour this over the chickens, season with a
cup of chopped mushrooms, some parsley, pepper and salt (a good pie
can be made if you omit the mushrooms and ham, but not so rich as
this recipe); now cover your pie with a good paste, and bake for an
hour or two.
PLAIN CHICKEN PIE
Take two nice chickens, or more if they are small, cut them up as for
frying, and put them in a pot to stew with some slices of fat meat.
Let them cook for half an hour, then add a few onions and four Irish
potatoes sliced small, so that in cooking they may be thoroughly
dissolved in the gravy. Season with pepper, salt, a little parsley,
and a quarter of a pound of sweet butter. When it is cooked well
there should be gravy enough to cover the chickens. If you want it
very nice, beat up two eggs, and stir into the stew with half a pint
of milk. Line a five-quart pan with a crust made like soda biscuit,
only more shortening; put in the chickens and gravy; then cover with
a top crust. Bake until the crust is done and you will have a good
chicken pie.
CHICKEN POT PIE
Cut up a chicken, parboil it, save the liquor it was boiled in. Wash
out the kettle, or take another one, and in it fry three or four
slices of fat salt pork, and put it in the bottom of the dish in
which the pie is to be made; then put in the chicken and the liquor,
also a piece of butter the size of a teacup, and sprinkle in some
pepper; cover with a light crust and bake an hour.
BONED TURKEY
Chop up one pound of white veal, with a pound of fat bacon; season
high with chopped mushrooms, parsley, pepper, salt, and a bunch of
sweet herbs; when chopped fine, pound them in a mortar or pass them
through a sausage grinder; add to this the yolks of three eggs,
and place it by in a basin for use. Peel a pound of truffles, and
cut up a boiled smoked tongue, a pound of fat bacon, or a pound of
calf’s udder or veal. Next bone a turkey, or two fine capons, or
fowls, and draw the skin from the legs and pinions inside. Take
the turkey on a napkin--it is now limp and boneless--cut slices
from the thick breast and place it on the skin where it seems to
be thin, distribute the flesh of the fowl as evenly as you can on
the skin; season it slightly with pepper and salt. Spread a layer
of the prepared force-meat in the basin, let it be an inch thick;
then place the cut-up tongue, bacon and veal, lay a row of chopped
truffles and a layer of the force-meat until the skin is covered,
or as full as it will hold. It must be sewed up the back, the ends
tied, like a cushion, or roly-poly; to do this you must butter a
cloth and put it tightly over the turkey skin, as it will be quite
too tender to stand the cooking, etc., unless supported by a napkin.
Tie it up tightly and place it in a round stewpan with the bones and
any trimmings of veal or poultry at hand, add to it two boiled calf’s
feet, or an ounce of gelatine, two onions stuck with four cloves, a
bunch of parsley, six green onions, a bunch of sweet basil, and a
bunch of thyme, two blades of mace, and a dozen pepper corns, or
whole peppers; moisten all with half a pint of wine or brandy. Warm
this up and put in your tied-up gelatine, pour over it as much white
veal stock as will cover it well, put it back in the stove to simmer
gently for two hours and a half; let the gelatine get cold in its
own seasoning, and then take it out and put it under a weight while
you remove the stock or gravy; take off all the cold grease from the
surface and clarify with eggs in the usual way. When the gelatine
is quite cold, remove the weight, take it from its napkin, wipe it
and glaze it, and place it on a dish. Decorate it with the strained
gravy, which should have been placed on ice as soon as clarified and
strained. It will now be a firm jelly; if not, put it on ice again,
and trim the boned turkey or fowls with it.
Gelatines of turkeys, geese, capons, pheasants, partridges, etc., are
made in the same way. This is from the finest source, and will repay
any one who tries to make this magnificent dish. It has never, to my
knowledge, been given in an American cook-book, as it was obtained
from one who was _Chef de Cuisine_ to a crowned head of Europe.
WILD TURKEY
If the turkey is old, or tough, it must be boiled one hour before
being stuffed for baking. Then stuff it with oysters, bread and
butter, and season with pepper and salt; baste with butter, and the
juice of the turkey. Make the gravy by putting in the pan a pint of
oysters, or button mushrooms, throw in a cup of cream, or milk, salt
and pepper, and send to table hot, with the turkey.
A PLAIN WAY TO COOK A TURKEY BY ROASTING
Make a dressing to suit you; there are several to choose from in
this book, made from bread, or forcemeat. Stuff the turkey, season
it with salt, pepper, and a little butter, dredge it with flour and
put it in the oven; let the fire be slow at first, and hotter as it
begins to cook. Baste frequently with butter; when the turkey is well
plumped up, and the steam draws toward the fire, it is nearly done;
then dredge again with flour, and baste with more butter until it is
a nice brown. Serve with gravy and bread sauce; some like chestnuts
stewed in the turkey gravy, and served with it. A very large turkey
will take three hours to roast, one of eight pounds will take two
hours.
ROAST TURKEY A LA PERIGORD
For this purpose choose a fine young hen turkey; make an incision
at the back of the neck, and through this take out the entrails, as
the turkey looks so much nicer than when otherwise cut. Cut away the
vent, and sew up the place with coarse thread; singe off the hairs
and scald the legs to get off the black skin, if the skin is black,
as it sometimes is. The neck should be cut off close into the back,
and the crop left entire; some cooks can do this and some think it
too much trouble. Break the breast bone and take it out. Lay a little
salt on the turkey, and cover it up, while you prepare the stuffing.
Wash three pounds of truffles, if the hen turkey is a large one; if
it is small two pounds will do. Peel the truffles and slice them;
throw them into water, and scald them; add two pounds of fat ham, or
bacon, also the turkey liver, and a quarter of a pound of veal liver;
season this with pepper, salt, nutmeg, chopped thyme, and a clove of
garlic. Set the stew-pan, containing all these ingredients, on a
slow fire, and let them cook for an hour, stirring them occasionally,
with a wooden spoon. Mash them all up and let it get cool; when cool,
stuff the turkey full of the truffle dressing, and fill the crop
also; sew it up carefully, and tie it with a string, then truss the
turkey, and if time allows, put it away for the next day. It should
then be roasted, keeping it well basted with the liquor the truffles
were boiled in, and butter added to it.
BOILED TURKEY AND CELERY SAUCE
Draw a fine, young turkey hen, and remove the angular part of the
breast bone; take two pounds of fat veal dressing and stuff the
turkey with it. Put over the fire to cook the veal, bones, and turkey
giblets, to make some white soup stock; season this and let it boil
until you want to put the turkey on to cook. Now truss your turkey
and put it in a boiling pot with a carrot, two onions, a head of
celery, and a bunch of sweet herbs; now pour over the turkey the
stock from the veal and giblets; cover with it, if enough; if not,
put in water to cover it and set it to boil; when it has boiled one
hour, put it on the back of the stove, and let it simmer and braise,
until dinner. Take off any strings that may look badly; dish it up.
Pour over it a well-made _puree_ of celery, or oyster sauce, and send
to table. This is an elegant mode of serving turkey.
BOILED TURKEY WITH OYSTER SAUCE
Clean and truss it the same as for baking. Stuff the turkey with
oysters, bread crumbs, butter and mace, all mixed and seasoned. Put
it on the fire in a kettle of water not hot, but slightly warm; do
not drop it into boiling water or it will break the skin and spoil
the appearance of the turkey. Cover it close, and when the scum rises
take it off. Let the boiling continue for one hour, then put the pot
containing the turkey on the coolest part of the stove, and let it
simmer for half an hour. Serve with oyster sauce in a sauce boat.
DUCK ROASTED
Pick, draw and singe the duck; wash it out carefully and stuff it
with potatoes, mashed with butter, onions, and parsley. Put it down
to a good fire or in a hot oven, pour in a cup of water; let it roast
for half an hour if it is fat and tender, longer if tough. As soon as
the duck is cleaned, boil the giblets, and before serving, chop them
up fine with some of the gravy from the duck, two tablespoonfuls of
catsup, a lump of butter, and a little brown flour. Have lemons cut
on side dishes, or serve with brown duck sauce No. 1. See sauces for
meats, ducks, etc.
DUCKS, TAME AND WILD
Tame ducks are prepared for the table the same as young geese, that
is, stuffed with bread, butter, pepper and onion, or with mashed and
seasoned Irish potatoes. Wild ducks should be fat, the claws small
and supple; the hen is the more delicate. Do not scald wild ducks,
but pick them clean and singe over a blaze. Draw and wipe them well
inside with a cloth; rub pepper and salt inside and out; stuff each
duck well with bread and butter stuffing. If the ducks are at all
fishy, use onion in the stuffing, and baste very freely. It is well
to parboil them in onion and water before stuffing; throw away the
water and then proceed to stuff and roast them. Put in the pan a
teacup of butter, baste well with this, and when nearly done, dredge
flour over the ducks, and brown them nicely. For the gravy you must
boil the giblets; while the ducks are cooking mince these fine; add
pepper, salt, and a teaspoonful of browned flour. Take a glass of
wine and a large spoonful of currant jelly; heat them and serve with
the ducks, mixed with the giblets, or serve it in a dish alone; as
you like.
CANVAS-BACK DUCKS
These are cooked the same as wild ducks, without onion however, in
the basting, as they have no disagreeable taste. Serve wine and
currant jelly with canvas-back ducks.
TO STEW DUCKS WITH GREEN PEAS
Truss the ducks as for baking and boiling, and put them away in the
pantry; then put two ounces of butter in a stew-pan on the fire, stir
in two tablespoonfuls of flour, stir until it becomes brown or a fawn
color; then pour in a pint of broth or gravy made from veal, or from
water in which the ducks or chickens have been boiled. Stir this
while cooking, and when it boils, put in the ducks; let them cook for
half an hour, or until done or nearly so, then add a quart of green
peas, an onion chopped, and a sprig of parsley; allow these to stew
gently until done; remove the parsley and the ducks, and if there is
too much sauce, cook it down a little; dish up, pour the peas and
gravy over the ducks and serve.
ROASTED DUCK
Clean, draw and truss the duck, or ducks, wash them nicely, salt
and pepper them, and get ready a sage and onion stuffing (see roast
goose) or stuff with mashed potatoes, or bread, butter, onions,
pepper and salt mixed, and bound together with an egg.
BROILED TEAL DUCK
Split the duck like a partridge down the back, broil on clear coals,
butter freely, and serve on buttered toast; pepper and salt when
broiled, just before putting on the butter; if salted before it
extracts the fine flavor.
WILD DUCKS
There are several kinds of ducks South, and some are very fine. Truss
wild ducks and lay them in a pan to bake with a small onion in the
body; put butter over them, with a bunch of celery, a little pepper
and salt; cook slowly and garnish with lemon. Wild ducks should be
wiped dry after they are drawn, and rubbed on the inside with pepper
and salt, except the canvas-back, which should be left to its own
delicious flavor.
WILD GEESE
Wild geese should be cooked rare, and stuffed with a dressing of
bread, butter, and a small quantity of pungent seasoning, such as
onion, cayenne, or mustard.
ROAST GOOSE, WITH SAGE AND ONION
Draw a fine fat goose, stuff it with a seasoning of the following
mixture: Take four onions, peel them and boil them ten minutes in
plenty of water to take from them the strong taste. When the onions
have boiled take them from the fire, chop fine, and add to them a
large spoonful of sage leaves dried and powdered, then add a cupful
of stale white bread crumbs, a teaspoon of black pepper, a little
cayenne, and a teaspoon of salt. Mix all together with a cup of milk
or beef water, and stuff the goose with it. Put it in the oven and
brown it nicely; baste often with butter; when done dish it with its
own rich brown gravy, and send to table with a boat of apple sauce.
GOOSE, WITH CHESTNUTS A LA CHIPOLITA
Get the goose ready as usual. To prepare the stuffing take sixty
large chestnuts, peel them by scalding, then put them in a stew pan
with two ounces of butter, one onion chopped fine, and a sprig of
parsley; chop and mix all together and stuff the goose with it; mix
with the chestnuts one pint of good broth, and stew them down in it
before stuffing the goose. Boil down the gravy very much, and when
the goose is served, add the juice of two oranges, half a pound of
currant jelly, and a lemon peel in the gravy. Pour this over the
goose when it goes to the table.
GAME, VENISON, ETC.
Venison is the finest game we have South. The haunch or saddle is
always roasted; it requires constant attention, and should be turned
and basted frequently while cooking. Cover the fat with thick white
paper while cooking; when nearly done, take off the paper and baste
well with claret wine, butter and flour. Currant jelly is the usual
accompaniment of roasted venison, and is preferred by some to wine,
in cooking it.
VENISON STEAK
Venison steak is good fried or broiled. If to be broiled, season with
pepper, salt, and butter, and cook quickly on a hot gridiron. If the
meat is not fat, make a gravy for it of wine, flour, and butter.
Serve hot.
VENISON PASTY
This is a pie made from the bones, meat, etc., of venison, after the
steak and haunch are taken off. Cut up and stew, or braise the parts
of meat intended for the pie; season with pepper, salt, port wine,
butter, and if liked, mushrooms; stew all until tender, then make a
paste and finish like chicken pie. This is better to eat cold than
hot and should be rich enough to be a solid jelly when cold.
SQUIRREL, OR YOUNG RABBIT PIE
Cut up two or three young squirrels or rabbits; put them in a
saucepan to cook with two ounces of butter, a handful of chopped
mushrooms, a bunch of parsley and two shallots chopped; season with
pepper and salt, and a little thyme or sweet herbs; cook them a light
brown. Throw in a glass of white wine, a half cup of brown gravy from
veal or chicken, and the juice of half a lemon. Toss all up on the
fire fifteen or twenty minutes, and it is ready to be put in the pie.
If you have no gravy on hand, add to the rabbits a cup of sweet milk,
and a piece of butter, as large as a hen’s egg. Make a nice paste,
line the sides of the pan, pour in the stewed rabbit, and cover with
paste. Bake until a light brown, and eat cold or hot. It is almost as
good as venison pie.
HARE OR RABBIT ROASTED
If the hares and rabbits are young, the ears will be tender. Clean
the rabbits and wash them through several waters. If to be roasted,
they must be stuffed with grated bread crumbs, suet or butter, a
chopped onion, the liver of the rabbit chopped, and a lemon peel
grated. Moisten with eggs and a little claret. Put this in the rabbit
and sew it up; baste with butter, and cook for two hours. Make the
gravy with the drippings in the pan, a little cream or milk, and
flour. If the rabbits are old, they are good stewed slowly with sweet
herbs, wine, water, and chopped onions, and thickened with flour and
butter.
CEDAR, OR CAROLINA RICE BIRDS
These are very small, but make a delicious pie by stewing them with
butter and sweet herbs, and baking them in a light paste, with plenty
of gravy.
PARTRIDGE OR QUAILS
Are nice roasted or broiled, and served on toast. If baked they
require constant basting.
PIGEON PIE. VERY NICE
Take six pigeons, truss them, and stuff them with their own livers,
a little bacon, some butter, parsley, and rolled cracker or a small
piece of bread; salt to taste; cover the bottom of the baking dish
with slices of veal or beef; season with chopped parsley, mushrooms,
pepper, salt, and butter. Place the pigeons on this, and cover with a
nice pie crust. When the pigeons are placed in the pan, lay between
each two pigeons the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. Be sure and have
enough gravy to keep the pie very moist. This can be done by adding
plain beef-stock or water as the pie bakes. Parboil the pigeons a
little, also the beef, before putting them in the pan, and then keep
the water they were boiled in to fill up the pie.
ROAST PIGEONS
Truss them when plucked and drawn, lay thin slices of fat bacon on
their breasts; bake them three-quarters of an hour, and then make
a gravy with their giblets, which should have been boiling for the
purpose. Chop up the livers, etc., brown them and serve with the
pigeons. Thin the gravy with the stock the liver was boiled in.
TO ROAST A SUCKING PIG
In selecting a pig for the table, one four weeks old is to be
preferred. Let the pig be prepared in the usual way by the butcher,
that is scalded, drawn, etc. Stuff it with a mixture of two or three
onions, say half a pint when sliced and chopped, and a dozen leaves
of sage, pepper and salt; set this to simmer on the fire, then throw
in half a pint of bread crumbs if the pig is small--if a large one,
put a pint of crumbs--a quarter of a pound of butter, and the yolks
of four eggs. Cook this and stuff the pig with it; sew the pig up
and put it in the oven to roast; baste it often with a brush or
swab dipped in olive oil, dust a little sugar over it, and brown it
evenly. Take off the head before serving, take out the brains, put
them in a stew pan; add to them some chopped parsley, pepper, and
salt, a cup of the gravy from the pig, and the juice of a lemon. Stir
this over the fire, and send it to the table hot in a separate boat.
VEGETABLES
IRISH POTATOES, MASHED AND BROWNED
Boil them without peeling; peel them while hot, mash them up with
sweet butter, a little milk, pepper and salt. Many like them better
when mashed and smoothed over with a knife blade, and slightly
browned in the oven. They can be kept hot in this way if the meal is
kept back for a guest, which is convenient on some occasions.
STEWED IRISH POTATOES. A NICE BREAKFAST DISH
Wash, peel, and slice six potatoes; throw them for a few moments into
cold, salted water, take them out in five minutes and place them in a
stew pan on the fire; cover them with cold water; when tender, throw
off all the water, pour over them half a cup of sweet milk, a little
salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, and thicken them with a spoonful
of butter, rolled in flour, or a teaspoonful of flour, beaten in
carefully to prevent it from lumping; stew a few moments and serve in
a covered dish.
PUFFS
Very nice potato puffs may be made by mashing seven or eight
potatoes smoothly, and mixing in with them two well-beaten eggs, two
tablespoonfuls of melted butter, also well-beaten, and a cup of milk.
Pour it into a pan and bake in a hot stove.
FRIED POTATOES
Wash and pare a sufficient quantity for the meal. Slice them in the
machine, taking care to bear down lightly, so as to have the slices
very thin. Have ready a vessel of very hot lard, and drop the sliced
potatoes into it, letting them remain till they begin to brown. Take
them out with a wire ladle, scatter a little fine salt over them, and
serve while hot. Success depends almost entirely upon having the lard
sufficiently hot. If the potatoes do not brown, but absorb fat, and
are limp and greasy, be sure the lard must be made hotter. Properly
fried, they may be eaten with relish when cold, as they are crisp and
palatable.
FRIED POTATOES
Pare and cut the potatoes in thin slices; throw them as you cut them
into salted water to cool, and make them crisp. Put them piece by
piece on a dry towel and wipe dry, then drop them into boiling fat,
enough to float them. As they brown dip them out with a skimmer, and
salt them a little.
POTATO CROQUETS
Take six boiled potatoes (cold mashed potatoes will do), add three
tablespoonfuls of grated ham, a little pepper, salt, and chopped
parsley, also, the yolks of three eggs; form into balls, dip in egg
and roll in bread crumbs; fry in hot lard; garnish with parsley.
SWEET POTATOES
Are good baked plain in their skins; or boiled, peeled and sliced,
served with butter; or boiled, and then sliced in a pan, butter and
sugar thrown over them, and baked in the stove. Some persons like
them boiled and mashed with butter, and browned in the oven like
Irish potatoes.
TURNIPS, TO COOK
Boil or steam them after peeling; when they are quite tender, you
must mash them like potatoes, and season with pepper, salt and butter.
ONIONS BOILED AND FRIED
Trim and peel them, and boil them in water until quite tender, then
dish them. Season with salt, pepper and butter. Many like them cut
in slices and fried a light brown; they are good on a beefsteak when
washed in two or three waters after being sliced, then put into hot
lard and some of the beefsteak gravy, fried gently until a light
color, and served around the steak.
GREEN CORN ON THE COB
Get it as fresh from the field as possible, and if you desire it
boiled on the cob you must (when it is well silked) throw it into
boiling salted water. Corn requires only fifteen minutes boiling; too
long boiling takes out the sweetness from the grain.
STEWED GREEN CORN
Take a dozen fresh, tender ears of corn; cut it off the cob, and put
it in a stew pan with a quart of cold water. No salt at first. Let it
cook half an hour and then stir in a lump of fresh butter, a spoonful
of flour, and salt and pepper to taste. If too dry, add a cup of
sweet milk, or water, if the milk is not convenient.
GREEN CORN FRITTERS
Beat three eggs with a cup of milk; to this add a pint of boiled
green corn grated; throw in flour enough to make a batter thick
enough to drop from a spoon; salt and pepper to taste, beat it very
hard, and drop into boiling lard one spoonful at a time. This is a
great luxury and a good substitute for oysters during the hot season.
SUCCOTASH, OR CORN AND BEANS MIXED
Boil for half an hour two pints of green shelled beans, or the same
amount of string beans; then pour off the water, cut the corn from
two dozen ears, put it in the pot among the beans; add salt and
pepper, and cover them with boiling water. Let it boil for half an
hour, and add a lump of butter as big as a hen’s egg, rolled in
flour; let this boil up once and it is done.
CORN OYSTERS
One pint of grated green corn, one cup of flour, one dessertspoonful
of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper and an egg. Mix all together, and
drop and fry in hot lard. This is a nice breakfast dish.
ROASTING EAR PUDDING
Cut as much corn from the cob as you require; a dozen ears make
a large pudding. To every three ears allow an egg, a spoonful of
butter, a little pepper and salt, to suit your taste; fill and cover
it with sweet milk. Let this bake an hour.
OKRA AND CORN FRICASSEE
Put a pint of cut okra in a frying pan in which there is a cupful of
hot lard, or the fat of side meat; let it fry a little, then cut
into it a pint and a half of corn; fry it until it is thoroughly
cooked, pour off some of the grease, and dredge in a little flour,
and a half cup of milk; pepper and salt, to taste, must be added just
before dishing it up.
A NICE WAY TO COOK OKRA OR GOMBO
Take a pint of young tender okra, chop it up fine, add to it half
as much skinned, ripe tomatoes, an onion cut up in slices, a
tablespoonful of butter, a little salt and pepper, and a spoonful of
water; stew all together till tender, and serve with meat or poultry.
SALSIFY FRIED IN BATTER
Scrape the salsify, throw it for a few moments into cold water, then
parboil it, drain it and cut into lengths of three inches; allow it
now to steep until cold, in a bowl with two tablespoonfuls of olive
oil, one of French vinegar, pepper and salt; let it remain in this,
occasionally turning it until ready to fry it. Then make a batter
with eggs, milk, and flour; dip the salsify in this batter, and fry
in hog’s lard; fry parsley with it and serve.
TOMATOES STUFFED