pint milk; three medium-sized apples; a little suet; cinnamon to flavor;
sweeten to taste. Beat sugar, eggs, and milk together; stir in the meal,
and then add the other ingredients, the apples last, after reducing to
small pieces. Bake until well set. To be eaten with or without sauce.
Bread Pudding.
One loaf of stale bread, soaked in a pint of milk, and when soft, beat
with an egg-beater until very fine. Pour into this the yolks of four
eggs, well beaten, a tablespoonful of butter, some flavoring, and a
little salt, beating all well together. After baking until well set, let
it cool, and spread a nice jelly over the top, and on this put the
whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, returning to the oven to
brown.
Baked Corn-Meal Pudding.
Into a large cup of corn-meal stir 1 pint scalded milk; a small cup
suet, chopped fine; two-thirds of a cup of syrup or molasses; salt to
taste, and when cold, add 1 pint milk, and 2 eggs, well beaten, 1
teaspoonful cinnamon, and 1 cup raisins. Bake three hours.
Corn-Starch Pudding (Baked).
Four tablespoonfuls corn-starch; 1 quart of milk; 2 eggs; 3/4 coffee-cup
white sugar; adding butter size of an egg, with flavoring to taste.
After dissolving the corn-starch in a little cold water, heat the milk
to boiling and stir this in, and boil three minutes, stirring the
mixture all the time; next, stir in the butter, and set away until cold.
Beat the eggs until very light, when add the sugar and seasoning, and
then stir into the corn-starch, beating thoroughly to a smooth custard.
Put into a buttered dish, and bake not more than half an hour. This
pudding is best eaten cold, with sauce made of cream and sugar, flavored
with nutmeg or cinnamon, or both, or plain powdered sugar, as tastes may
prefer.
Delmonico Pudding.
One quart of milk; 3 tablespoonfuls corn-starch; put in hot water until
it thickens; to the yolks of 5 eggs, add three tablespoonfuls white
sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls vanilla, and a little salt. Pour on the
corn-starch, stir thoroughly, and bake fifteen minutes, but not long
enough to whey. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth; add 3
tablespoonfuls of sugar; 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla; put on top, and let
brown.
Peach Ice-Cream.
Pare and cut in pieces 1 dozen peaches, or more, if desired, and boil
with 1/2 pound loaf sugar. When reduced to a marmalade press through a
fine sieve, and when cool, add 1 pint cream and freeze. Serve with
halves or quarters of fresh peaches, half frozen, around the cream.
Apple Snow.
Reduce half a dozen apples to a pulp; press them through a sieve; add
1/2 cup powdered sugar and a teaspoonful lemon extract; take whites of 6
eggs and whip several minutes, and sprinkle 2 tablespoonfuls powdered
sugar over them; beat the apple-pulp to a froth and add the beaten eggs.
Whip the mixture well until it breaks like stiff snow, then pile it high
in rough portions, in a glass dish--garnish with a spoonful of currant
jelly.
Strawberry Sauce.
A delicious sauce for baked pudding: Beat 1/2 cup butter and 1 of sugar,
to a cream; add, stiff beaten, white of 1 egg and a large cupful of ripe
strawberries, thoroughly crushed.
Ambrosia.
Have ready a grated cocoanut and some oranges, peeled and sliced; put a
large layer of oranges in your dish, and strew sugar over them; then a
layer of cocoanut, then orange, and sprinkle sugar; and so on until the
dish is full, having cocoanut for the last layer. Pine-apple may be
substituted for the orange.
Farina Pudding.
Two tablespoonfuls farina, soaked in a little milk for two hours; 1
quart of milk. Set in a kettle of boiling water; when the milk boils,
add the farina, stirring four minutes. Then stir in the yolks of 5 eggs,
well beaten, 1 cup sugar, and a little salt. After boiling three or four
minutes, pour into a dish to cool. Flavor, and stir in the whites of the
eggs beaten to a foam. To be eaten cold.
Baked Corn-Meal Pudding.
Take 1 large teacupful of corn-meal; scald 1 pint of milk, and stir the
meal in slowly and thoroughly. Add a small cup of suet, chopped fine;
2/3 of a cup of molasses, salt to taste, and when cool add 1 pint milk,
with 2 eggs, well beaten, 1 teaspoonful of cinnamon and 1 cup of
raisins. Bake 3 hours.
Snow Pudding.
One box gelatine, 2 cups sugar, juice of 2 lemons, whites of 3 eggs, 1
quart of milk, 5 eggs, 5 tablespoonfuls sugar, and 1 vanilla. Dissolve
the gelatine in 1/4 pint of water and let stand for 2 hours; then add
1/4 pint of boiling water, the lemon juice, and sugar; strain and set
away to cool and thicken, and when quite stiff, add the whites of the 3
eggs, beaten to a stiff froth; stir these into the jelly until it looks
like snow--mould and set on ice.
For a similar custard; add 5 eggs, well beaten in a dish, with 5
tablespoonfuls white sugar.
Fruit Pudding.
One quart of flour, 2 teaspoonfuls yeast powder, a little salt, 1 cup
suet chopped fine, or a 1/4 pound butter or sweet lard; mix to soft
dough, and roll quite thin--spreading over any kind of cooked fruit,
sweetened to taste--rolling up nicely. This may be boiled, but is much
better steamed, as this makes it much lighter. This delicious pudding
should be eaten with brandy or wine sauce, liquid or solid.
Charlotte-a-Russe.
Take 1 pint rich milk, 1/2 ounce of gelatine, dissolved in a little hot
milk, the whites of 2 eggs beaten to a froth, and 1 cup sugar; flavoring
with vanilla. Mix the milk, eggs, sugar and flavoring; and when the
gelatine is cold, pour it in, stirring thoroughly. Line the dish or
mould with slices of sponge cake, fill with this mixture, and set on ice
to cool.
Solid Sauce.
Work well into 1/2 cup of the freshest butter, 1 cup of powdered white
sugar, adding the white of an egg, well beaten, and worked in with a
large spoonful of California brandy, or a couple of spoonfuls of good
sherry or California white-wine; working all of these well together,
that the ingredients may be thoroughly incorporated, and season with
nutmeg or cinnamon, or both, as may be preferred.
Liquid Sauce.
Take butter, the size of an egg, and sufficient flour or corn-starch,
and after adding boiling water to make thick drawn butter, boil two or
three minutes; add brandy, sherry or white-wine--according to
taste--with a little vinegar or juice of 1 lemon. Make quite sweet and
season to taste.
Currant, or Grape Jelly.
Wash the currants or grapes well in a pan of water; afterwards mash
thoroughly, and put in a preserving kettle, letting them simmer slowly
for fifteen or twenty minutes. Strain through a thin muslin bag, and,
for every pint of juice, add one pound of granulated sugar. Mix well
together, and boil five minutes, and put into glasses while warm. Cut
paper to fit the top, dip in brandy, and lay over the jelly, and when
quite cold tie a paper over the top, and put away in a dry, dark place.
Calves' Foot Jelly.
Boil 4 calves' feet in 4 or 5 quarts of water, until reduced to shreds;
strain, and let the liquid cool; after taking off the fat, put the jelly
in a kettle, with one pint of California sherry, or white wine, 3 cups
granulated sugar, the whites of 4 eggs, well beaten, the juice of 1
lemon, with half of the grated peel, 1 teaspoonful of ground cinnamon or
nutmeg; boil until clear, and strain into moulds or glasses.
Ice-Cream.
There are a thousand and one modes and recipes for making ice-cream.
But, after having tested the merits of a large number, I have found the
following formula, used by Mr. Piper, the former head cook of the
Occidental Hotel, of San Francisco, in all respects superior to any that
I have ever used:
One quart of Jersey, or best dairy milk, with the addition of a pint of
rich cream; 6 eggs, and 1 pound of best granulated white sugar,
thoroughly beaten and incorporated together; place the milk in a can,
set it in a vessel of boiling water, and let it come to a boiling heat,
stirring well at the same time. Then take from the fire, and add
vanilla, lemon, or such flavoring as you may prefer, after which set it
in ice-water to cool, and then freeze. Break the ice for the freezer of
a uniform size, mixing coarse salt with the mass. Stir the cream
constantly, and scrape thoroughly from the sides. The more the cream is
stirred, the more delicate the mixture will be.
Orange-Ice.
The juice of 6 oranges; after adding the grated rind of 1 mix the juice
of two lemons, and the grated rind of one; after adding 1 pint of
granulated white sugar, dissolved in a pint of cold water, freeze the
mixture the same as ice cream.
Lemon Jelly.
One pound sugar; 3 lemons, sliced, and put into the sugar; 1 ounce
gelatine, dissolved in cold water sufficient to cover; add a quart of
boiling water, and strain into moulds.
Wine Jelly.
One box Cox's gelatine, dissolved in a little warm water; add a large
goblet sherry wine, and 1-1/2 pints of boiling water; sweeten highly and
boil briskly. To be eaten with cream.
Peach Jelly.
Do not pare, but rub your peaches; place them in a porcelain lined
kettle, with just enough water to cover. Let them cook thoroughly--from
one to two hours--then strain through a jelly-bag. To every 4 cups of
juice, add 3 cups of sugar, and set on to boil again. Sometimes, when
the fruit is particularly fine and fresh, three-quarters of an hour or
less boiling is sufficient to make a jelly, but sometimes it takes
longer. To test it, drop some in a saucer and set on ice; if it does not
spread but remain rounded, it is done.
Roman Punch.
Take the juice of 4 oranges, and of the same number of lemons or limes.
Dissolve 1 pound of white sugar in a pint of water. Mix all these
together, and strain; after which add 1 pint of California champagne,
and 2 gills of good California brandy, if desirable. Freeze the same as
ice-cream.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Butter and Butter-Making.
With the exception of bread, which has been appropriately termed "the
staff of life," there is, perhaps, no other article of food more
universally used by mankind than butter. Notwithstanding this well
established fact, it is a lamentable reflection, that really good butter
is one of the rarest and most difficult articles to be procured.
Although the adulterations of this staple article of food are numerous,
the main cause of the quantities of bad butter with which the community
is burdened, is ignorance of the true methods, and slovenliness in the
preparation of this staple article, for which no reasonable excuse can
be urged. In the making of good butter, no process is more simple or
easily accomplished. The Quakers, living in the vicinity of
Philadelphia, more than a century ago, so thoroughly understood and
practised the art of making the best butter, that the products of their
dairies sold readily in that city for from five to eight cents per pound
more than that produced by any other class.
With these thrifty people, cleanliness was really regarded as "akin to
godliness," and the principal was thoroughly and practically carried out
in all their every day affairs. The most scrupulous attention being paid
to the keeping of all the utensils used scrupulously clean, and so
thoroughly work the mass, that every particle of milk is expelled. The
greatest evil to be guarded against, is the too free use of salt, which
for this purpose should be of the utmost purity and refined quality. I
am satisfied, from personal observation, that the butter made at the
Jersey Farm, at San Bruno, in the vicinity of San Francisco, in every
respect equals in quality the celebrated Darlington, Philadelphia.
For the keeping milk fresh and sweet, and the proper setting of the rich
cream, an old style spring-house is essentially requisite. Who that has
ever visited one of these clean, cool and inviting appendages of a well
conducted farm and well ordered household, at some home-farm of the
olden time, does not recall it in the mind's-eye, as vividly as did the
poet Woodworth when he penned that undying poem of ancient home-life,
"The Old Oaken Bucket that Hung in the Well."
Properly constructed, a spring-house should be built of stone, which is
regarded as the coolest--brick or concrete--with walls at least twelve
inches in thickness. The floor should be of brick, and not more than two
feet below the surface of the ground. The roof should be of some
material best adapted to warding off the heat, and keeping the interior
perfectly cool, while due attention should be paid to the allowance of a
free circulation of air, and provision be made for thorough ventilation;
only as much light as is actually necessary should be admitted, and
where glass is used for this purpose, it should invariably be shielded
from the sun. Walled trenches being constructed for this purpose, a
constant stream of cool running water should pass around the pans
containing the milk and cream, which, for the making of good butter,
should never be permitted to become sour. The shelving and other
furniture, and all wooden utensils used, should be of white ash, maple
or white wood, in order to avoid all danger of communicating distasteful
or deleterious flavors. As there is no liquid more sensitive to its
surroundings, or which more readily absorbs the flavor of articles
coming in contact with it, than pure milk, everything that has a
tendency to produce this deleterious result should be carefully
excluded. Neither paints or varnish should be used about the structure,
and the entire concern should be as utterly free from paint as the
inside of an old time Quaker meeting-house.
In making butter, the cream should be churned at a temperature of about
65 degrees. When the churning is finished, take up the lump and
carefully work out every particle of milk. Never wash or put your hands
in the mass. To each pound of butter work in a little less than an ounce
of the purest dairy salt. Set the butter away, and at the proper time
work the mass over until not a particle of milk remains.
A Word of Advice to Hotel and Restaurant Cooks.
I wish to say a word to the extensive brotherhood and ancient and
honorable guild constituting the Grand Army of Hotel and Restaurant
Cooks distributed throughout our country, on the all-important subject
of making coffee and heating milk. Some satirical writer has
sarcastically said that the way to make good coffee is to ascertain how
that beverage is prepared in leading hotels and restaurants, and then
make your coffee as they don't! There is no good reason why coffee
cannot be as well made in hotel and restaurant kitchens, as in private
families or anywhere else, if the berry is good, well-browned, and pains
are taken for the proper preparation of this popular beverage.
Twenty years ago the art of making coffee in large quantities, and of
properly heating milk for the same, was an unsolved problem--in fact, if
not numbered among the many lost arts, might be classed as among the
unknown in the culinary art. Twenty-one years ago, the late Mr.
Marden--a well-known citizen of San Francisco--and the author of this
work--produced, as the result of long practical experience, a form for
making a decoction of the ancient Arabian berry, which is now in general
use throughout the entire Union. True, attempts have been made to
improve upon the mode, which was the crowning triumph of the parties
alluded to, but they have invariably proved failures, and to-day Marden
& Clayton's coffee and milk urns stand pre-eminent in this important
department of cookery. These urns are simply two capacious stone-ware
jars, of equal capacity, and made precisely alike, with an orifice one
inch from the bottom, in which a faucet is firmly cemented. Each jar is
suspended in a heavy tin casing, affording an intervening space of two
inches, which is to be filled with hot, but not boiling water, as a too
high temperature would injure the flavor of the coffee, and detract from
the aroma of the fragrant berry. Suspend a thin cotton sack in the
centre, and half the height of the jar. After putting in this the
desired amount of coffee, pour on it sufficient boiling water to make
strong coffee. As soon as the water has entirely filtered through, draw
off the liquid through the stop-cock at the bottom of the jar, and
return it to the sack, passing it through, in the same manner, two or
three times. After five minutes raise the sack, pour in a cup of hot
water, and let it filter through, getting, in this manner, every
particle of the strength. Immediately after this remove the sack; for if
it is left remaining but a short time, the aroma will be changed for the
worse. Cover tightly, and keep the jar surrounded with hot, but not
boiling water. Next, put into the milk urn--also surrounded with hot
water--one-half the milk for the amount of coffee, and at the proper
time add the remaining half of the milk, having it, in this manner,
fresh, and not over-cooked. Should the milk become too hot, pour in a
cup of cold milk, stirring well at the same time.
The first of these urns for making coffee and heating milk, were those
used for the purpose at the opening of the Occidental Hotel of this
city--of which Mr. Piper was at that time the intelligent and
experienced head-cook. This mode of making coffee in large quantities is
still followed at this hotel, which, from the time of its opening to the
present, has maintained the reputation as one of the best of the
numerous excellent public houses of this city, and the entire Union.
Clayton's California Golden Coffee.
Let the coffee--which should be nicely browned, but not burned--be
ground rather fine, in order that you may extract the strength without
boiling--as that dissipates the aroma and destroys the flavor. Put the
coffee in a thin muslin sack--reaching less than half-way to the bottom
of the vessel--then place it in the pot, and pour over enough boiling
water to make strong coffee. Let it stand on the hot range two or three
minutes, when lift out the sack, pour the liquid in a vessel, and return
it through the sack the second time, after which, raising the sack
again, pour through a little hot water to extract all the strength from
the grounds. Next, pour into the liquid, cold, Jersey Dairy, or any
other pure country milk, until the coffee assumes a rich golden color,
and after it reaches a boiling-heat once more, set it back. Should the
milk be boiled separately, the richness, combined with its albumen, will
be confined to the top; whereas, if added cold, and boiled with the
coffee, it will be thoroughly incorporated with the liquid, adding
materially to its rich flavor and delicate aroma.
[Never substitute a woolen for the muslin strainer, as that fabric,
being animal should never come in contact with heat; while cotton or
linen, being of vegetable fibre, is easily washed clean and dried.
Neither should tin be used, as that lets the fine coffee through, and
clouds the liquid, which should be clear. To extract its full strength,
coffee should invariably be ground as fine as oatmeal or finely-ground
hominy, and protracted boiling dissipates the aroma and destroys its
fine flavor.]
The Very Best Way to Make Chocolate.
After grating through a coarse grater, put the chocolate in a stewpan
with a coffee-cup or more of hot water; let it boil up two or three
minutes, and add plenty of good rich country milk to make it of the
right consistency. Too much water tends to make this otherwise
delightful beverage insipid.
[Good Cocoa is made in the same manner.]
Old Virginia Egg-Nog.
Two dozen fresh eggs; 1 gallon rich milk; 1-1/2 pounds powdered sugar; 2
pints cognac brandy, or Santa Cruz rum--or 1/2 pint cognac and 1/2 pint
Jamaica, or Santa Cruz rum. Break the eggs carefully, separating the
whites from the yolks; add the sugar to the latter, and with a strong
spoon beat until very light, adding gradually 2 dessert spoonfuls of
powdered mace or nutmeg. Next, add the liquor, pouring in slowly,
stirring actively at the same time; after which add the milk in like
manner. Meanwhile--having whipped the whites of the eggs with an
egg-beater into a light froth--pour the egg-nog into a bowl, add the
white froth, and decorate with crimson sugar or nutmeg, and serve. The
foregoing proportions will be sufficient to make fourteen pints of very
superior egg-nog.
Clayton's Popular Sandwich Paste.
Take 2 pounds of Whittaker's Star ham, in small pieces--2/3 lean and 1/3
fat--the hock portion of the ham is best for this purpose. Have ready
two fresh calves tongues, boiled and skinned nicely, and cut like the
ham. Put these in a kettle, along with 2 good-sized onions, and cover
with cold water, boiling slowly until quite tender; when add 1 pound of
either fresh or canned tomatoes, stirring for half-an-hour, adding a
little hot water, if in danger of burning. Add to the mixture, at the
same time, these spices: plenty of best mustard, and a little ground
cloves, along with Worcestershire or Challenge sauce, allowing the
mixture to simmer five minutes. When cool enough, pour into a wooden
bowl, and after chopping fine, pound the mixture well, while it is warm,
with a potato-masher. After the mass has cooled it will spread like
butter. Should additional seasoning be desired, it can be worked in at
any desired time. If not rich enough to suit some palates, one-fourth of
a pound best butter may be worked in.
The bread used for the sandwiches must be quite cold and perfectly
fresh--cutting carefully in thin slices--using for this purpose a long,
thin-bladed and quite sharp knife. Take a thin shaving from the bottom
of the loaf, then from the top an inch-wide slice, after removing the
crust. Care must be taken to cut without either tearing or pressing the
bread. Spread on one side of each slice--as if using butter--and after
joining the slices, cut the same to suit the taste.
[As the best bread is the only kind to be used in making
sandwiches--without wishing to make invidious distinctions--I must say
that Engleberg furnishes from his bakery (on Kearney street), the best I
have ever used for this purpose, as it cuts without breaking, and does
not dry so soon as other breads I have made use of.]
Welsh Rabbit.
To prepare Welsh rabbit, or rare-bit--both names being used to designate
this popular and appetizing dish, which has ever been a favorite with
gourmands and good livers, both ancient and modern--take one-half pound
of best cheese--not, however, over nine months old--Davidson's, Gilroy,
California, or White's, Herkimer County, New York, and cut in small
pieces. Put over a slow fire, in a porcelain-lined kettle; when it
begins to melt pour in three tablespoonfuls rich milk or cream, and a
little good mustard. Stir from the time the cheese begins to melt, to
prevent scorching. Have ready a quite hot dish; cover the bottom with
toast, buttered upon both sides, upon which pour the melted cheese,
spreading evenly over. If you prefer, you may use as a condiment a
little mustard, pepper or any favorite sauce. This is a dish that must
be eaten as soon as taken from the fire.
Delicate Waffles.
Take 1/2 pound butter; 1/2 pound fine sugar; 9 eggs; 3 pints of milk;
1-1/2 ounces of best baking powder, and 2-1/4 pounds sifted flour. Beat
the butter and sugar to a cream; add the yolks of the eggs, the milk,
and half the flour; mix well, with the whites of the eggs, beaten to a
staunch snow, and add the remainder of the flour. Bake in waffle irons,
well greased and heated. When baked, the tops may be dusted well with
fine sugar, or with a mixture of sugar and powdered cinnamon.
Force-Meat Balls.
Mix, with 1 pound of chopped veal, or other meat, 1 egg, a little
butter, 1 cup, or less, of bread crumbs--moistening the whole with milk
or the juice of the stewed meat. Season with summer savory. Make into
small balls, and fry brown.
Beef-Tea.
Take 3 pounds of lean beef; chop as fine as coarse hominy, and put in a
vessel, covering the meat with cold water. Cover the vessel tightly, and
let boil for four hours, carefully keeping the beef just covered with
the water. Pass through a colander, pressing out all the juice with a
potato-masher, strain through a cotton cloth, and add a little salt. A
glass of sherry wine decidedly improves beef-tea.
Crab Sandwich.
Put 1/2 pound boiled crab meat in a mortar, and pound to a smooth paste,
adding the juice of a lemon. Season with pepper and salt, with a pinch
of curry powder, and mix the paste well with 6 ounces best butter. Cut
slices of bread rather thin, trim off the crust, and spread.
Something about Pork.--The Kind to Select, and Best Mode of Curing.