wine, and you have a very delicious punch for festive occasions.
DELICATE PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK AND CONVALESCENT
BARLEY WATER
Take four large tablespoonfuls of picked and washed pearl barley,
and put it into a porcelain-lined kettle with two quarts of boiling
water; let it boil slowly until the water is reduced one half, then
strain it and season with salt, lemon, or sugar as may be agreeable
to the sick.
TOAST WATER
Cut two or three slices from a loaf of wheat bread, toast them very
brown; while hot, put them in a small pitcher, and pour over them a
pint and a half of water. Sugar may be added if liked, but when the
stomach is affected it is better without it.
TO MAKE WATER GRUEL OF CORN MEAL OR OAT MEAL
Put a quart of water on to boil in a stew-pan. Take a tablespoonful
of sweet corn meal, or oatmeal, make it into a batter with milk and
salt, stir it in the boiling water and let it boil gently for half an
hour. When served it may be sweetened and nutmeg grated over it. If
wanted for a strengthening nourishment, a bit of butter and a glass
of wine or brandy may be added. This is generally given after a dose
of castor oil, or an emetic. Use very little salt.
BEEF TEA FOR INVALIDS
Cut tender lean beef into small pieces, free it from fat and strings,
fill a junk bottle with it, cork it tight and put it in a kettle of
boiling water; let it boil three hours. In that way you obtain the
juices of the meat undiluted. This is especially nourishing and good
when the stomach can bear but little liquid.
MILK PUNCH AS A RESTORATIVE
Take a large tumbler (it should hold a pint), half fill it with
chopped ice, add to it a large tablespoonful of white sugar, beat it
a little with the ice, then pour on it a wineglass of gin, rum or
brandy, and fill up with fresh milk. It is generally very acceptable
to an invalid who refuses other stimulants.
APPLE TEA, OR WATER, FOR INVALIDS
Cut some ripe apples into thin pieces, add the peel of a fresh lemon;
pour boiling water over them and let it stand till cold, then sweeten
with loaf sugar. This is a grateful and cooling drink.
BAKED APPLES
Bake them in a tin roaster, as iron discolors them; pour molasses
over them and bake until soft. This is good for opening the bowels of
patients who are a little constipated.
ARROW-ROOT BLANC MANGE FOR THE SICK
Put a pint of new milk to boil; make a smooth batter with an ounce
of Bermuda arrow-root and cold milk; add a little salt, and when the
milk is boiling stir in the batter; let the fire be gentle or it will
scorch; sweeten this with fine white sugar, and let it boil a few
minutes; flavor with lemon, or orange water, or if lemon is objected
to, boil a vanilla bean in the milk before the arrow-root is put in.
Take it off the fire, pour it in a mould and set it on ice; serve
jelly or jam with the blanc mange, or eat it with cream if it agrees
with the invalid.
ARROW-ROOT BLANC MANGE
Mix in a little cold water, two tablespoonfuls of arrow-root; sweeten
a pint of milk with white sugar and put the arrow-root in the milk.
Let it boil a few minutes, stirring it constantly; take it off, and
if desired, you can let it cool and mould it in a bowl or jelly
form; or it is nice to be eaten warm. Colored jelly over it is an
improvement when moulded.
ARROW-ROOT GRUEL
Mix a tablespoonful of arrow-root, or for an infant, half as much;
when mixed with cold water, stir in it half a pint of boiling water.
Season with salt, sugar or nutmeg.
MILK PORRIDGE
Make a quart of milk boiling hot; make a tablespoonful of flour
into a batter with cold milk, add a little salt and stir it in the
boiling milk, stirring it constantly for five minutes while it boils;
flavor with anything agreeable. Sweetened with loaf sugar, and nutmeg
grated plentifully over it, it will make a most excellent remedy for
looseness or dysentery.
TAPIOCA MILK
Wash and soak a large tablespoonful of tapioca, put it to a quart of
sweet milk, add a little salt, cover it, and set it over a gentle
fire for an hour. Take it up, add sugar and nutmeg, or cinnamon to
taste.
TAPIOCA PUDDING
Put a coffee-cup of tapioca (soak it well first) into a pint and a
half of milk, set it where it will get hot slowly, take it off when
it boils, and when cool add four well-beaten eggs; flavor with lemon
and peach, sweeten it to taste, and bake for an hour in a hot oven.
If this is wanted for one person, take half the quantity of tapioca
and milk.
WHITE WINE SYLLABUB
Season a pint of milk with sugar and wine, but not enough wine to
curdle the milk. Fill your glasses nearly full, and crown them with
sweetened whipped cream. Season the cream with extract of lemon.
SYLLABUB
Take the juice of a large lemon, and the yellow rind pared thin; one
glass of brandy, two glasses of white wine, and a quarter of a pound
of powdered sugar. Put these ingredients into a pan, and let them
remain one night; the next day add a pint of thick cream, and the
whites of two eggs beaten together; beat them all together to a fine
froth, and serve in jelly glasses.
WINE SANGAREE OF PORT OR MADEIRA
Take half a glass of water, sweeten it with a tablespoonful of white
powdered sugar, and stir well until dissolved; add a gill of Madeira
or Port, some nutmeg grated and pounded ice. Serve with lady-cake or
pound-cake, cut small.
STEWED PRUNES FOR SICKNESS
Wash the prunes, put them in a stew pan, cover them with water, and
to each pound of prunes put a cupful of clear brown sugar. Cover the
stew-pan and let them boil slowly, until the syrup is thick and rich.
WINE JELLY FOR THE SICK
Take one pint of Madeira wine, one pint of water, and one ounce of
isinglass dissolved in a teacupful of water. Let the wine and water
be boiling hot, then stir into it the dissolved isinglass, and
sugar to taste; make it quite sweet; let it come to a boil, try it
by taking a little in a saucer, and if not a good jelly when cold,
boil it until it is so; if lemon is allowed, use the juice of two to
flavor this jelly.
JAUNE MANGE
Break up and boil an ounce of isinglass in rather more than half a
pint of water until it is melted; strain it; then add the juice of
two large oranges, a gill of white wine, and the yolks of four eggs
beaten and strained; sweeten to taste, and stir it over a gentle
fire till it boils up; dip a mould into cold water and pour the
preparation into it.
CARRIGEEN MOSS FOR INVALIDS
Wash and pick a tablespoonful of Irish moss and put it into a tin
cup; pour on it half a pint of boiling water, and set it on the coals
for a short time; when it is all dissolved add sugar and nutmeg to
taste. This may be made with milk, to resemble custard, and is very
nourishing. Delicate infants may be fed on it when they will take no
other nourishment.
TARTARIC ACID AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEMONS
If lemons cannot be obtained to make either a lemonade or jellies
for the sick, tartaric acid is a good substitute, and if used in
conjunction with the extract of lemon, is a very agreeable one.
LEMON JELLY WITHOUT LEMONS
Take a box of Cox’s gelatine, pour over it one quart of boiling
water, and stir until it is dissolved. Add a teaspoonful of tartaric
acid, and four cups of sugar; let it dissolve and bring it to a boil;
while boiling, stir in the beaten whites of three eggs; let this
boil up once again and take it off the fire; when nearly cool, add
to it a tablespoonful of good extract of lemon. Strain the mixture
into moulds or cups, and set it in a cool place, or on ice, to become
firm. It must be cool, or it will not jelly.
ORANGE SHERBET
Squeeze the juice from a dozen oranges; pour boiling water on the
peel, and cover it closely. Boil water and sugar (a pint to a pound)
to a syrup; skim it clear; when all are cold, mix the syrup, juice
and peel with as much water as may be necessary to make a rich
orangeade; strain it, and set the vessel containing it on ice. Or it
may be made the same as lemonade, using one lemon with half a dozen
oranges.
STRAWBERRY SHERBET
Take fifteen ounces of picked strawberries, crush them in a mortar,
then add to them a quart of water; pour this into a basin, with
a sliced lemon, and a teaspoonful of orange-flower water; let
it remain for two or three hours. Put eighteen ounces of sugar
into another basin, cover it with a cloth, through which pour the
strawberry juice; after as much has run through as will, gather
up the cloth, and squeeze out as much juice as possible from it;
when the sugar is all dissolved, strain it again. Set the vessel
containing it on ice, until ready to serve.
ALMOND CUSTARD
Blanch and beat four ounces of almonds fine, with a spoonful of
water; beat a pint of cream with two spoonfuls of rose water, add
them to the yolks of four eggs and as much sugar as will make it
pretty sweet; stir it over a slow fire till it is of a proper
thickness, but do not boil. Pour it into custard glasses.
SPONGE CAKE PUDDING
Stale sponge or other plain cake may be made into a nice pudding by
crumbling it into a little more than a pint of milk and two or three
beaten eggs, and baking it. Sauce--sugar and butter beaten together.
GERMAN LADIES’ FINGERS
Beat one hour the yolks of five eggs with half a pound of sugar; add
half a pound of blanched almonds pounded fine, the yellow part of one
lemon grated. Mix well; add half a pound of flour very gradually.
Roll out the paste, and cut it into strips the length and size of the
forefinger; beat lightly the whites of two eggs, and wet the fingers.
DIMPLES
Beat the whites of three eggs very stiff, add gradually three
quarters of a pound of sugar, and beat till it is well mixed. Blanch
almonds, and cut them into pieces--as small as peas, and stir them
into the egg and sugar--three quarters of a pound of almonds for
three eggs. Drop the mixture in spots as large as a half penny on
white paper upon a tin, and bake in a cool oven.
DELICATE RUSKS FOR CONVALESCENTS
Half a pint of new milk, and one cup of hop yeast; add flour to make
a batter, and set the sponge at night. In the morning add half a pint
of milk, one cup of sugar, one of butter, one egg, one nutmeg, and
flour to make it sufficiently stiff. Let it rise, then roll it, and
cut it out; let it rise again, and then bake.
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
Half a pound of chocolate, three pounds of dark brown sugar,
one-eighth pound of butter, a small teacup of milk; season with
vanilla, or grated lemon or orange-peel. Boil it very quickly over a
hot fire, stirring constantly. When it becomes hard on being dropped
into water, take it off the fire and stir for a few moments before
pouring into buttered dishes. Before it is quite cool, cut into
little squares. Those who like the caramel very hard need not stir
it, as this makes it “sugary.” The grated peel should not be put in
till the caramel is taken from the fire.
COFFEE, TEA, CHOCOLATE, ETC.
TO MAKE CHOCOLATE
Scrape the best chocolate; allow for each square, or large spoonful
of ground chocolate, half a pint of milk or milk and water; let it
boil a few moments, then put it on the back part of the stove, and it
is ready when wanted.
TO MAKE CHOCOLATE ANOTHER WAY
Scrape or grate the chocolate, take a heaping tablespoonful for each
cup to be served; allow half a pint of milk or milk and water to each
heaping spoonful of chocolate. Make the milk hot, rub the chocolate
to a smooth paste with the cold milk, then stir it in the boiling
milk. Let it boil up once; cover it and set it back in a place where
it will keep warm. It is now ready to serve. Toasted biscuit or rolls
should be served with it. Sweeten the chocolate unless you use the
prepared chocolate.
TEA--GREEN AND BLACK
Scald your tea-pot _always_ before putting in the tea; throw out
the scalding water and allow a teaspoonful of tea to each person
expected to drink it; turn on half a pint of boiling water at first,
and let it steep--green tea requires about five minutes, black tea
ten minutes. After this, pour on more boiling water, according to the
number of persons. Mixed black and green tea is considered a more
healthful drink than green tea alone.
COFFEE CREAM
Take three cups of good clear coffee, sweeten it well and boil with
it a pint of cream until reduced one-third.
COFFEE
Old Java and Mocha are the best coffees. A coffee roaster is the best
thing to roast coffee in, but an iron pot is very good; coffee should
be dried gradually before being roasted. “Dripped” coffee is the
French mode, but many make it in the old-time way by boiling. It is a
matter of personal taste, not to be interfered with in this “land of
the free.” To make dripped coffee we grind a cupful for four persons,
put this ground coffee in the top of the dripper and pour on half a
pint of boiling water. It is served with boiling milk at breakfast.
CANDIES AND CREAM DROPS
CREAM CANDY
To make cream candy take two pounds of light brown sugar, one teacup
of water, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one of vinegar, and two of
flavoring extract. Dissolve the sugar in the water, but do not stir
it. Set it on to boil, let it boil briskly for twenty minutes, then
try it by dropping a spoonful in a glass of cold water. If cooked
enough to pull, butter some dishes and pour it into them; when cool
enough to handle, pull it until it becomes as white as cream.
ANOTHER CREAM CANDY
Three cups of sugar, half a cup of vinegar, and one-third of a cup of
water. Boil together until it is thick and will harden when dropped
into a cup of water. Butter some dishes, and just before filling
them, add to the candy some flavoring essence; if you put this in
earlier it will boil out. Pour the candy on the buttered dishes, and
when a little cool prepare to pull it until it is white and light,
which it will be if made by these directions.
POP-CORN CANDY
Take a cup of molasses, one and a half cups of brown sugar, a
tablespoonful of vinegar and a lump of butter the size of an egg.
Boil until thick. Chop two cups of popped corn rather fine, put it
into the boiling candy, and pour it all on the buttered plates. Cut
in squares to be eaten without pulling.
CHOCOLATE PASTE FOR CAKE
Boil one-half a cup of chocolate in one-half cup of milk, add a cup
of sugar, and boil, until it is a thick paste.
LOUISIANA ORANGE FLOWER MACAROONS
Take a coffee cup of the freshly gathered petals of the orange, cut
them with a pair of scissors into two pounds of dry, sifted white
sugar; this keeps their color fresh. Beat the whites of seven eggs
to a stiff froth, and add to the orange flowers and sugar. Drop this
mixture on white paper in small cakes, and bake in a slow oven; do
not let them brown.
MOLASSES CANDY
Take two quarts of molasses and one pound of brown sugar, and the
juice of two lemons. Let the molasses and sugar boil moderately,
without stirring it, for two hours; if not thick enough to pull then,
let it boil a little longer; then put in your extract, for if this
is put in earlier the flavor will boil away. When the candy is cool
enough to handle, put into the pot a pint of parched pinders, or
pecan meats, or almonds cut up. Butter two large dishes and pour out
the candy.
MOLASSES CANDY OF OUR GRANDFATHERS’ TIME
One quart of molasses, and butter the size of an egg. Stew over a
brisk fire till it will harden on being dropped into cold water. A
teaspoonful of essence of wintergreen should be added when it is
almost done. Pull it while warm, with buttered hands, and cut in
sticks.
SUGAR CANDY
Six cups of sugar, one of vinegar, one of water, one spoonful of
butter, and one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot
water. Boil all together without stirring, for half an hour. Flavor
with lemon or vanilla. This is very good when “pulled” like the
old-fashioned molasses candy, or it may be cooled on a buttered plate.
TO BLANCH ALMONDS
Pour boiling water on them and let them remain in it a few minutes.
Remove the skins, throw the almonds into cold water, drain them from
the water, but do not wipe them.
EVERTON TOFFY
In a shallow vessel, melt together one pound of brown sugar and
one-quarter of a pound of butter. Stir well together for fifteen
minutes, or until the mixture becomes brittle when dropped in water.
Lemon or vanilla flavoring should be added before the cooking is
complete. Butter a flat plate, pour the toffy on it to cool, and when
partly cold, mark it off in squares with a knife; it can then be
easily broken.
LEMON DROPS
Upon half a pound of finely powdered sugar pour just enough lemon
juice to dissolve it, and boil to the consistency of thick syrup.
Drop this in plates, and put in a warm place to harden. Or pour four
ounces of lemon juice on one pound of loaf sugar, with four ounces of
rose water. Boil to a syrup, add grated lemon peel and proceed as in
the first recipe. By adding raspberry syrup, instead of lemon juice,
you have raspberry drops.
POP-CORN BALLS
To six quarts of pop corn boil one pint of molasses about fifteen
minutes; then put the corn into a large pan, pour the boiled molasses
over it, and stir it briskly until thoroughly mixed. Then with clean
hands make into balls of the desired size.
COCOANUT CANDY
Four cups of water, two and a half cups fine white sugar, four
spoonfuls of vinegar, and a piece of butter as large as an egg; boil
till thick, or about three quarters of an hour. Just before removing,
stir in one cup of desiccated cocoanut, and lay in small, flat cakes
on buttered plates, to cool and harden.
MARSH-MALLOW PASTE
Dissolve one-half pound of gum arabic in one pint of water; strain
it, add half a pound of fine sugar and place over the fire, stirring
constantly till the sugar is dissolved and all is the consistency of
honey, then add gradually the whites of four eggs, well beaten; stir
the mixture till it becomes somewhat thin and does not adhere to the
finger; pour all into a pan slightly dusted with powdered starch, and
when cool divide into small squares. Flavor to the taste, just before
pouring out to cool.
CHOCOLATE CREAM DROPS
Mix one-half a cup of cream with two of white sugar, boil and stir
fully five minutes; set the dish into another of cold water, and
stir until it becomes hard; then make into small balls about the
size of marbles, and with a fork roll each one separately in the
chocolate, which has in the meantime been put in a bowl over the
boiling teakettle and melted. Put on brown paper to cool. Flavor with
vanilla, if desired. This amount makes about fifty drops.
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
Two cups of sugar, one of molasses, one of milk, one spoonful of
butter, one of flour, and half a pound of bakers’ chocolate. Butter
your saucepan, put in the sugar, molasses and milk, boil fifteen
minutes; add butter and flour, stirred to a cream, and boil five
minutes longer; then add the chocolate grated, and boil until quite
thick. Butter tin flat pans, and pour in the mixture half an inch
thick, and mark it in squares before it gets hard.
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
One pint of new milk, quarter of a pound of grated chocolate, and one
cup and a half of white sugar. Boil all these together until it will
pull like candy; try a little, and if stiff enough to pull, pour it
on a buttered dish, and mark it off in squares with a knife as it
cools. It will break easily when cold.
CHOCOLATE KISSES
One-half pound of sugar, one ounce of finely-powdered chocolate. Mix
the sugar and chocolate together, and then mix it with the whites of
four eggs well beaten. Drop on buttered paper, and bake.
BOSTON CARAMELS
One pint bowl of bakers’ chocolate grated, two bowls of yellow sugar,
one bowl of New Orleans molasses, one half a cup of milk, a piece
of butter the size of a small egg and vanilla flavoring; boil about
twenty-five minutes. It should not be so brittle as other candies.
Pour in buttered tins, and mark deeply with a knife.
KISSES, OR SUGAR DROPS
Rub to a cream half a cup of butter, with one cup of sugar. Add three
well-beaten eggs, half a pound of sifted flour, and half a grated
nutmeg. Drop this mixture on buttered tins, by the spoonful; let
them be two or three inches apart; sprinkle sugar over them and bake
quickly.
SUGAR KISSES
Beat the whites of three eggs to a froth, then stir in powdered white
sugar, a little at a time, till you have formed a very thick batter.
Add two or three drops of essence of lemon. Wet a sheet of white
paper, lay it on a tin and drop this mixture upon it in lumps about
the size and shape of a walnut. Set them in a cool oven, and as soon
as their surface is hardened, take them out and remove them from the
paper with a broad-bladed knife. Let the oven cool still more, then
place these little cakes, laying the flat part of two together, on a
sieve and return them to the oven, where they must remain for fifteen
minutes before they are done.
CHEFS D’OEUVRE
THE SERVICE OF WINES
Cosmopolite Louisiana is undoubtedly the wine drinking section of the
Union, and a word as to the manner of serving the wines which play no
small part in the discussion of “La Cuisine Creole,” will not be out
of place.
The inherited French taste of the greater portion of the population,
and the education by contact of the American element, makes claret
the universal table wine. The climate, too, renders this wine
particularly palatable, and during the long heated term it is seldom
absent from the table of even the most economical. At the restaurant
it is the exception to see a person dining without a bottle of _vin
ordinaire_, while for breakfast, during hot weather, white wines of
the lighter kinds are much used.
As to the manner of serving wines at dinner the following menu will
convey the most adequate idea:
With Soup, Sherry
“ Fish, White Wine
“ Entrees, } Claret, vin Ordinaire
“ Entremets, }
“ Roast, } Champagne
“ Salad, }
“ Dessert, Fine Claret or Burgundy
“ Cafe Noir, Cognac
At large dinners in New Orleans a great deal of wine is served, and
you will be expected to drink with your raw oysters, a light white
wine; with soup and hors d’œuvre, sherry or Madeira; with fish and
entrees, a heavy white wine; with releves and entremets, a good
claret followed by a _Ponche Romaine_, which is the turning point
of the feast, or rest; after which will be served with the roast,
champagne; game and salad, fine claret or burgundy, and with dessert
cafe noir and liqueurs.
The most acceptable distribution of wines at a plain dinner--which
we think should never be over five, or six courses at most--is given
below. It is one which has the endorsement of the best authorities:
With Oysters, White Wine
“ Soup, Sherry or Madeira
“ Fish, Heavy White Wine (not absolutely necessary)
“ Entrees, Champagne
“ Salad, } Fine Claret
“ Roast or Game, }
with the usual after-dinner wines as preferred.
GRAND BRULE A LA BOULANGER
(_From a Gourmet._)
The crowning of a grand dinner is a brule. It is the _piece de
resistance_, the grandest _pousse cafe_ of all. After the coffee
has been served, the lights are turned down or extinguished, brule
is brought in and placed in the centre of the table upon a pedestal
surrounded by flowers. A match is lighted, and after allowing the
sulphur to burn entirely off is applied to the brandy, and as it
burns it sheds its weird light upon the faces of the company, making
them appear like ghouls in striking contrast to the gay surroundings.
The stillness that follows gives an opportunity for thoughts
that break out in ripples of laughter which pave the way for the
exhilaration that ensues.
Pour into a large silver bowl two wineglasses of best French brandy,
one half wineglass of kirsh, the same of maraschino, and a small
quantity of cinnamon and allspice. Put in about ten cubes of white
sugar; do not crush them, but let them become saturated with the
liquor. Remove the lumps of sugar, place in a ladle and cover with
brandy. Ignite it as before directed, then lift it with the contents
from the bowl, but do not mix. After it has burned about fifteen
minutes serve in wine glasses. The above is for five persons, and
should the company be larger add in proportion. Green tea and
champagne are sometimes added.
PETIT BRULE
Take an ordinary-sized, thick-skinned orange; cut through the peel
entirely around the orange like the line of the equator, then force
off the peel by passing the handle of a spoon between it and the
pulp. Into the cup thus formed put two lumps of sugar and some
cinnamon, and fill with fine French brandy (cognac), and ignite it
the same as the above and pour into glasses. The brule will be found
to have a pleasant flavor given to it by the orange.
GIN FIZ--NO. 1