The best calves' feet for jelly are those that have had the hair
removed by scalding, but are not skinned; the skin containing a great
deal of glutinous matter. In Philadelphia, unskinned calves' feet are
generally to be met with in the lower or Jersey market.
Boil a set of feet in four quarts of cold water; (if the feet have been
skinned allow but three quarts;) they should boil slowly till the
liquid is reduced to two quarts or one half the original quantity, and
the meat has dropped in rags from the bone. Then strain the liquid;
measure and set it away in a large earthen pan to get cold; and let
it rest till next morning. Then if you do not find it a firm cake of
jelly, boil it over again with an ounce of isinglass, and again set it
away till cold and congealed. Remove the sediment from the bottom of
the cake of jelly, and carefully scrape off all the fat. The smallest
bit of fat will eventually render it dull and cloudy. Press some clean
blotting paper all over it to absorb what little grease may yet remain.
Then cut the cake of jelly into pieces, and put it into a porcelain
kettle to melt over the fire. To each quart allow a pound of broken
up loaf-sugar, a pint of Madeira wine, and a large glass of brandy;
three large sticks of the best Ceylon cinnamon broken up, (if common
cinnamon, use four sticks,) the grated peel and juice of four large
lemons; and lastly, the whites of four eggs strained, but not beaten.
In breaking the eggs, take care to separate them so nicely that none
of the yellow gets into the white; as the smallest portion of yolk of
egg will prevent the jelly from being perfectly clear. Mix all the
ingredients well together, and put them to the jelly in the kettle. Set
it on the fire, and boil it hard for twenty minutes, but do not stir
it. Then throw in a tea-cup of cold water, and boil it five minutes
longer; then take the kettle off the fire, and set it aside, keeping it
closely covered for half an hour; this will improve its clearness. Take
a large white flannel jelly-bag; suspend it by the strings to a wooden
frame made for such purposes, or to the legs of a table. Pour in the
mixture boiling hot, and when it is all in, close up the mouth of the
bag that none of the flavour may evaporate. Hang it over a deep white
dish or bowl, and let it drip slowly, but on no account squeeze the
bag, as that will certainly make the jelly dull and cloudy. If it is
not clear the first time, empty the bag, wash it, put in the jelly that
has dripped into the dish, and pass it through again. Repeat this till
it is clear. You may put it into moulds to congeal, setting them in a
cold place. When it is quite firm, wrap a cloth that has been dipped in
hot water, round the moulds to make the jelly turn out easily. But it
will look much better, and the taste will be more lively, if you break
it up after it has congealed, and put it into a glass bowl, or heap it
in jelly glasses. Unless it is broken, its sparkling clearness shows to
little advantage.
After the clear jelly has done dripping, you may return the ingredients
to the kettle, and warm them over again for about five minutes. Then
put them into the bag (which you may now squeeze hard) till all the
liquid is pressed out of it into a second dish or bowl. This last jelly
cannot, of course, be clear, but it will taste very well, and may be
eaten in the family.
A pound of the best raisins picked and washed, and boiled with the
other ingredients, is thought by many persons greatly to improve the
richness and flavour of calves' feet jelly. They must be put in whole,
and can be afterwards used for a pudding.
Similar jelly may be made of pigs' or sheep's feet: but it is not so
nice and delicate as that of calves.
By boiling two sets, or eight calves' feet in five quarts of water,
you may be sure of having the jelly very firm. In damp weather it is
sometimes very difficult to get it to congeal if you use but one set of
feet; there is the same risk if the weather is hot. In winter it may be
made several days before it is to be eaten. In summer it will keep in
ice for two days; perhaps longer.
TO PRESERVE CREAM.--Take four quarts of new cream; it must be of
the richest quality, and have no milk mixed with it. Put it into a
preserving kettle, and simmer it gently over the fire; carefully taking
off whatever scum may rise to the top, till nothing more appears. Then
stir, gradually, into it four pounds of double-refined loaf-sugar
that has been finely powdered and sifted. Let the cream and sugar
boil briskly together half an hour; skimming it, if necessary, and
afterwards stirring it as long as it continues on the fire. Put it into
small bottles; and when it is cold, cork it, and secure the corks with
melted rosin. This cream, if properly prepared, will keep perfectly
good during a long sea voyage.
ITALIAN CREAM.--Put two pints of cream into two bowls. With one bowl
mix six ounces of powdered loaf-sugar, the juice of two large lemons,
and two glasses of white wine. Then add the other pint of cream, and
stir the whole very hard. Boil two ounces of isinglass with four small
tea-cups full of water, till it is reduced to one half. Then stir the
isinglass lukewarm into the other ingredients, and put them into a
glass dish to congeal.
CHOCOLATE CREAM.--Melt six ounces of scraped chocolate and four ounces
of white sugar in one pint of boiling milk. Stir in an ounce of
dissolved isinglass. When the whole has boiled, pour it into a mould.