ON THE PREPARATION OF HASHES, GRAVIES, AND SAUCES.
There is nothing worse for the health, or for the palate, than _a
poor hash_, while a _good_ hash is not only a favorite dish in most
families, but an essential article of economy and convenience. For this
reason, a separate article is devoted to this subject.
The following are the ways in which hashes are spoilt.
The first is by _cooking them_. Meat, when once cooked, should only be
_heated_. If it is again stewed or fried, it tends to make it hard and
tough, and diminishes its flavor.
The second is by _frying_ the _butter_ or _gravy_ in which they
are prepared. It has been shown that this is very injurious to the
healthfulness of food. Butter and oils may be _melted_ without changing
their nature, but when _cooked_, they become much more indigestible and
injurious to weak stomachs.
The third mode of injuring hashes is by putting in flour in such ways
that it is not properly cooked. Flour dredged on to hashes while they
are cooking generally imparts the raw taste of dough.
The fourth mode is by putting in so much water as to make them vapid,
or else so much grease as to make them gross.
The fifth is by seasoning them with so little care, that they either
have very little savory taste, or else are so hot with pepper and spice
as to be unhealthy.
If a housekeeper will follow these directions, or give them to a cook
who will follow them exactly, she will always have good and healthful
hashes.
_To prepare Gravy for a Cold Beef Hash, or Steak Hash._
For a small dish for six persons, put a tea-cup and a half of boiling
water into a small sauce-pan, and make a thin paste with a heaping
teaspoonful of flour, wet with a great spoonful of cold water. Stir it
in, and boil it three minutes. Then put in half a teaspoonful of black
pepper and rather more salt, and let it stand where it will be kept
hot, but not boiling, till fifteen minutes before it is to be used.
Then cut the beef into half-inch mouthfuls and take as many mouthfuls
of cold boiled potato, and half as many of cold turnip. Put these all
together into a tin pan the size of a dining plate. Then stir in two
great spoonfuls of butter into the gravy till melted, and, if you like
tomato catsup, add a great spoonful, and pour it over the hash, and
cover it with a plate and let it heat on the stove, or trivet, ten
minutes, and then serve it.
If the hash is made without vegetables, take only a tea-cup full of
water, and a teaspoonful of flour, and a little less pepper and salt.
If you have the beef gravy of yesterday, use it instead of butter, and
put in less pepper, salt, butter, and water, and only one spoonful of
butter.
If tomatoes are liked, peel and slice two large ones, and add with the
potatoes and turnips.
Let a housekeeper try this, and then vary it to her own taste, or the
taste of her family, and then write the exact proportions for the use
of all the future cooks of her family.
_Gravy for a Mutton Hash, or Venison Hash._
For a dish for six persons, take a tea-cup and a half of boiling water,
and slice fine one small onion (say one an inch in diameter) into it,
to give a slight flavor of onion, and thus hide the strong mutton
taste. Mix a thin paste made with a heaping teaspoonful of flour, wet
with a great spoonful of water, stir it in, and let it boil three
minutes, adding a half a teaspoonful of black pepper, and rather more
salt. Then set it where it will keep hot, but not boil, till wanted.
Cut the mutton into half-inch mouthfuls, leaving out most of the fat.
Cut up the same number of mouthfuls of cold boiled potatoes, and half
as much cold boiled turnips, and slice in two large peeled tomatoes,
or cold boiled parsnip, or both. Mix them in a tin pan the size of a
dining plate, stir two great spoonfuls of butter into the gravy, and,
if you like, a great spoonful of tomato catsup, and pour it on to the
hash. Cover it with a plate, and set it to heat ten minutes on the
stove, or on a trivet over coals.
If you do not put in vegetables, take less water, salt, and pepper. If
you do not put in onion, put in a wine-glass of currant, plum, or grape
jelly, or squeeze in some lemon juice when you add the butter, and
leave out the catsup, or not, as you like. Modify to suit your taste,
and then write the proportions exactly, for all future cooks of your
family.
_To prepare a Veal Hash._
Take a tea-cup of boiling water in a sauce-pan, and mix in an even
teaspoonful of flour wet with a spoonful of cold water, and let it boil
five minutes. Then add, not quite half a teaspoonful of black pepper,
as much salt, and two great spoonfuls of butter, and set it where it
will keep hot, but not boil.
Chop the veal very fine, and mix with it, while chopping, half as much
stale bread crumbs. Put it in a tin pan and pour the gravy on to it,
and let it heat on a stove or trivet ten minutes.
Toast some bread and cut it into triangular pieces, and lay it on the
bottom of a dish. Spread the hash over, and pour on the gravy. Cut
slices of lemon to lay on the top and around the edge of the platter.
If you like a seasoning of sweet herbs with this hash, the nicest way
is to tie some in a rag and boil it in the water of the gravy when you
first mix it.
_Common Gravies._
Pour out the drippings of the tin roaster through a gravy strainer,
into a pan, and set it away till cold. Next day, scrape the sediment
from the bottom and then use it to make gravy in place of butter, for
hashes. Mutton drippings must never be used for cooking.
It is not fashionable to have gravy made for roast beef or mutton, as
the juice of the meat is preferred, which, on the plate, is mixed with
catsup or whatever is preferred.
Gravies for poultry are made as directed in the article on roasting
meats.
_Drawn butter_ is the foundation of most common gravies, and is to be
prepared in either of the two ways described below.
_Drawn Butter, or Melted Butter._
Rub in two teaspoonfuls of flour into a quarter of a pound of butter.
Add five tablespoonfuls of cold water. Set it into boiling water and
let it melt, and heat until it begins to simmer, and it is done. Never
simmer it on coals, as it fries the oil and spoils it. Be careful not
to have the flour in lumps. If it is to be used with fish, put in
chopped eggs and nasturtions, or capers.
If used with boiled fowl, put in oysters while it is simmering, and let
them heat through.
_Another Mode of preparing Drawn Butter._
Make three teaspoonfuls of flour into a thin batter, and stir it
into a tea-cup of boiling water in a sauce-pan, and let it boil five
minutes. Then take it off, and cut up a quarter of a pound of butter
into pieces, and put in and keep it hot till it is melted. This is
the easiest way, and if it is for very rich cooking more butter may be
added.
_Drawn Meat Gravies, or Brown Gravies._
Put into a sauce-pan fresh meat cut in small pieces, seasoned with salt
and pepper and a bit of butter, and heat it half an hour, till brown,
stirring so that it shall not stick.
Pour on boiling water, a pint for each pound--simmer three hours and
skim it well. Settle and strain it, and set it aside to use. Thicken,
when you need it, with brown flour, a teaspoonful to a half pint.
_A Nice Article to use for Gravy, or Soup._
Take butter the size of an egg, add a tablespoonful of sugar, put it in
a skillet, and stir it till a dark brown, then dredge in flour, and use
it to darken gravy or soup.
_Burnt Butter for Fish, or Eggs._
Heat two ounces of butter in a frying-pan, till a dark brown, then add
a tablespoonful of vinegar, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a
dozen shakes from the pepper box.
_Sauce for Salad, or Fish._
Take the yolk of two eggs boiled hard, mash them with a mustard
spoonful of mustard, a little black pepper, a little salt, three
tablespoonfuls of salad oil, and three of vinegar. A tablespoonful of
catsup would improve it for many.
_Wine Sauce for Mutton, or Venison._
Take half a pint of the liquor in which the meat was cooked, and when
boiling, put in pepper, salt, currant jelly, and wine to your taste;
add about a teaspoonful of scorched flour, mixed with a little water.
_Oyster Sauce._
Take a pint of oyster juice, add a little salt and pepper, and a stick
of mace, boil it five minutes, and then add two teaspoonfuls of flour,
wet up in half a tea-cup of milk. Let this boil two minutes, then put
in the oysters and a bit of butter the size of an egg; in two minutes
take them up.
_Lobster Sauce._
Mix in six tablespoonfuls of vinegar, the yolks of two boiled eggs,
some of the lobster spawn, a mustard spoonful of mustard, two
tablespoonfuls of salad oil or melted butter, and a little salt and
pepper.
_Apple Sauce._
Boil peeled and quartered tart apples, and put in butter and sugar to
your taste. If boiled in cider with quinces, it will keep a long time.
The fresh-made is best.
_Celery Sauce for Boiled Fowls._
Take four or five celery heads, and cut up all but the green tops into
small pieces, and boil it in half a pint of water till tender. Mix
two teaspoonfuls of flour with a little milk and put in, with a salt
spoonful of salt, and butter the size of an egg. When it boils, take it
up.
_Celery Vinegar._
This is fine to keep in the castor stand. Pound two gills of celery
seed, and add sharp vinegar. Shake every day for a week or two. The
flavor of sweet herbs and sage can be obtained by pouring vinegar on to
them, and for three successive days taking them out, and putting in a
fresh supply of herbs. It must be kept corked and sealed.
_Essence of Celery, to flavor Soup._
Bruise celery seed, and steep it in brandy for a fortnight. An ounce to
half a pint of brandy is enough. Half a teaspoonful will flavor soup.
_Herb Spirit._
It is convenient sometimes to use herb spirit instead of the herbs.
It is made thus. Take all the sweet herbs, as thyme, marjoram, sweet
basil, and summer savory, dry, pound, sift, and steep in brandy for a
fortnight; an ounce to half a pint.
_Soup Powder._
The following is a very convenient article for soups. Dry, pound, and
sift the following ingredients together. Take one ounce each, of lemon,
thyme, basil, sweet marjoram, summer savory, and dried lemon peel, with
two ounces of dried parsley, and a few dried celery seeds. Bottle it
tight. Horseradish can be sliced thin, dried and pounded, and kept in
a bottle for use. Mushrooms can be dried in a moderately warm oven,
then powdered with a little mace and pepper, and kept to season soup or
sauces.
_Soy._
One pound of salt, two pounds of sugar, fried half an hour over a slow
fire, then add three pints of boiling water, half a pint of essence of
anchovies, a dozen cloves, and some sweet herbs. Boil till the salt
dissolves, then strain and bottle it.
_Tomato Catsup._
Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, let them stand until you can rub
off the skin, then cover them with salt, and let them stand twenty-four
hours. Then strain them, and to two quarts put three ounces of cloves,
two ounces of pepper, two nutmegs. Boil half an hour, then add a pint
of wine.
_Mushroom Catsup._
Put the mushrooms in layers, with salt sprinkled over each layer, and
let them stand four days. Then mash them fine, and to every quart add
two-thirds of a teaspoonful of black pepper, and boil it in a stone jar
set in boiling water two hours. Strain it without squeezing, boil the
liquor, let it stand to cool and settle, then bottle, cork, and seal
it, and set it in a cool place.
_Walnut Catsup._
Bruise ten dozen young walnuts, add a quart of vinegar, and
three-fourths of a pound of fine salt. Let them stand two weeks,
stirring every day. Strain off the liquor, and add half an ounce of
black pepper whole, thirty cloves, half an ounce of bruised nutmeg,
half an ounce of ginger, and four sticks of mace. Boil the whole an
hour, then strain and bottle tight.