heads of shallots, a little whole pepper, mace, grated nutmeg, and salt;
let them stew over the fire, then beat it up with butter, and put it
under the wild fowl, which being a little roasted, will afford gravy to
mix with this sauce.
* * * * *
SAUCE FOR BOILED RABBITS.
Boil the livers, and shred them very small, chop two eggs not boiled
very hard, a large spoonful of grated white bread, some broth, sweet
herbs, two spoonsful of white wine, one of vinegar, a little salt, and
some butter; stir all together, and take care the butter does not oil.
* * * * *
GRAVY.
Take a rasher or two of bacon, and lay it at the bottom of a stew pan,
putting either veal, mutton, or beef, cut in slices, over it; then add
some sliced onions, turnips, carrots, celery, a little thyme, and
alspice. Put in a little water, and set it on the fire, stewing till it
be brown at the bottom, which you will know from the pan's hissing; then
pour boiling water over it, and stew it an hour and a half; but the time
must be regulated by the quantity. Season it with salt and pepper.
* * * * *
FORCEMEAT BALLS.
Take half a pound of veal, and half a pound of suet cut fine, and beat
in a marble mortar or wooden bowl; add a few sweet herbs shred fine, a
little mace pounded fine, a small nutmeg grated, a little lemon peel,
some pepper and salt, and the yelks of two eggs; mix them well together,
and make them into balls and long pieces--then roll them in flour, and
fry them brown. If they are for the use of white sauce, do not fry them,
but put them in a sauce-pan of hot water and let them boil a few
minutes.
* * * * *
SAUCE FOR BOILED DUCKS OR RABBITS.
Pour boiled onions over your ducks, or rabbits, prepared in this manner:
peel some onions, and boil them in plenty of water; then change the
first water, and boil them two hours: take them up and put them in a
colander to drain, and afterwards chop them on a board; then put them in
a sauce-pan, sprinkle a little flour over them, and put in a large piece
of butter, with a little milk or cream. Set them over the fire, and when
the butter is melted, they will be done enough. This is a good sauce for
mutton also.
* * * * *
LOBSTER SAUCE.
Boil a little mace, and whole pepper, long enough to take out the strong
taste of the spice; then strain it off, and melt three quarters of a
pound of butter in it. Cut the lobster in very small pieces, and stew it
till it is tender.
* * * * *
SHRIMP SAUCE.
Wash half a pint of shrimps very clean--mince and put them in a
stew-pan, with a spoonful of anchovy liquor, and a pound of thick melted
butter; boil it up for five minutes, and squeeze in half a lemon. Toss
it up, and put it in a sauce-boat.
* * * * *
OYSTER SAUCE FOR FISH.
Scald a pint of oysters, and strain them through a sieve; then wash some
more in cold water, and take off their beards; put them in a stew-pan,
and pour the liquor over them; then add a large spoonful of anchovy
liquor, half a lemon, two blades of mace, and thicken it with butter
rolled in flour. Put in half a pound of butter, and boil it till it is
melted--take out the mace and lemon, and squeeze the lemon juice into
the sauce; boil it, and stir it all the time, and put it in a boat.
* * * * *
CELERY SAUCE.
Wash and pare a large bunch of celery very clean cut it into little
bits, and boil it softly till it is tender; add half a pint of cream,
some mace, nutmeg, and a small piece of butter rolled in flour; then
boil it gently. This is a good sauce for roasted or boiled fowls,
turkeys, partridges, or any other game.
* * * * *
MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Clean and wash one quart of fresh mushrooms, cut them in two, and put
them into a stew-pan, with a little salt, a blade of mace, and a little
butter; stew them gently for half an hour, and then add half a pint of
cream, and the yelks of two eggs beat very well--keep stirring it till
it boils up. Put it over the fowls or turkies--or you may put it on a
dish with a piece of fried bread first buttered--then toasted brown, and
just dipped into boiling water. This is very good sauce for white fowls
of all kinds.
* * * * *
COMMON SAUCE.
Plain butter melted thick, with a spoonful of walnut pickle or catsup,
is a very good sauce; but you may put as many things as you choose into
sauces.
* * * * *
TO MELT BUTTER.
Nothing is more simple than this process, and nothing so generally done
badly. Keep a quart tin sauce-pan, with a cover to it, exclusively for
this purpose; weigh one quarter of a pound of good butter; rub into it
two tea-spoonsful of flour; when well mixed, put it in the sauce-pan
with one table-spoonful of water, and a little salt; cover it, and set
the sauce-pan in a larger one of boiling water; shake it constantly till
completely melted, and beginning to boil. If the pan containing the
butter be set on coals, it will oil the butter and spoil it. This
quantity is sufficient for one sauce-boat. A great variety of delicious
sauces can be made, by adding different herbs to melted butter, all of
which are excellent to eat with fish, poultry, or boiled butchers' meat.
To begin with parsley--wash a large bunch very clean, pick the leaves
from the stems carefully, boil them ten minutes in salt and water, drain
them perfectly dry, mince them exceedingly fine, and stir them in the
butter when it begins to melt. When herbs are added to butter, you must
put two spoonsful of water instead of one. Chervil, young fennel,
burnet, tarragon, and cress, or pepper-grass, may all be used, and must
be prepared in the same manner as the parsley.
* * * * *
CAPER SAUCE.
Is made by mixing a sufficient quantity of capers, and adding them to
the melted butter, with a little of the liquor from the capers; where
capers cannot be obtained, pickled nasturtiums make a very good
substitute, or even green pickle minced and put with the butter.
* * * * *
OYSTER CATSUP.
Get fine fresh oysters, wash them in their own liquor, put them in a
marble mortar with salt, pounded mace, and cayenne pepper, in the
proportions of one ounce salt, two drachms mace, and one of cayenne to
each pint of oysters; pound them together, and add a pint of white wine
to each pint; boil it some minutes, and rub it through a sieve; boil it
again, skim it, and when cold, bottle, cork, and seal it. This
composition gives a fine flavour to white sauces, and if a glass of
brandy be added, it will keep good for a considerable time.
* * * * *
CELERY VINEGAR.
Pound two gills of celery seed, put it into a bottle ind fill it with
strong vinegar; shake it every day for a fortnight, then strain it, and
keep it for use. It will impart a pleasant flavour of celery to any
thing with which it is used. A very delicious flavour of thyme may be
obtained, by gathering it when in full perfection; it must be picked
from the stalks, a large handful of it put into a jar, and a quart of
vinegar or brandy poured on it; cover it very close--next day, take all
the thyme out, put in as much more; do this a third time; then strain
it, bottle and seal it securely. This is greatly preferable to the dried
thyme commonly used, during the season when it cannot be obtained in a
fresh state. Mint may be prepared in the same way. The flavour of both
these herbs must be preserved by care in the preparation: if permitted
to stand more than twenty hours in the liquor they are infused in, a
coarse and bitter taste will be extracted, particularly from mint.
* * * * *
VEGETABLES.
TO DRESS SALAD.
To have this delicate dish in perfection, the lettuce, pepper grass,
chervil, cress, &c. should be gathered early in the morning, nicely
picked, washed, and laid in cold water, which will be improved by adding
ice; just before dinner is ready to be served, drain the water from your
salad, cut it into a bowl, giving the proper proportions of each plant;
prepare the following mixture to pour over it: boil two fresh eggs ten
minutes, put them in water to cool, then take the yelks in a soup plate,
pour on them a table spoonful of cold water, rub them with a wooden
spoon until they are perfectly dissolved; then add two spoonsful of oil:
when well mixed, put in a tea-spoonful of salt, one of powdered sugar,
and one of made mustard; when all these are united and quite smooth,
stir in two table spoonsful of common, and two of tarragon vinegar; put
it over the salad, and garnish the top with the whites of the eggs cut
into rings, and lay around the edge of the bowl young scallions, they
being the most delicate of the onion tribe.
* * * * *
TO BOIL POTATOS.
Wash them, but do not pare or cut them, unless they are very large; fill
a sauce-pan half full of potatos of equal size, (or make them so by
dividing the large ones,) put to them as much cold water as will cover
them about an inch; they are sooner boiled, and more savoury, than when
drowned in water; most boiled things are spoiled by having too little
water, but potatos are often spoiled by having too much; they must
merely be covered, and a little allowed for waste in boiling, so that
they must be just covered when done. Set them on a moderate fire till
they boil, then take them off, and set them by the fire to simmer
slowly, till they are soft enough to admit a fork; (place no dependence
on the usual test of their skin's cracking, which, if they are boiled
fast, will happen to some potatos when they are not half done, and the
inside is quite hard,) then pour off the water, (if you let the potatos
remain in the water a moment after they are done enough, they will
become waxy and watery,) uncover the sauce-pan, and set it at such a
distance from the fire as will secure it from burning; their superfluous
moisture will evaporate, and the potatos will be perfectly dry and
mealy. You may afterwards place a napkin, folded up to the size of the
sauce-pan's diameter, over the potatos, to keep them dry and mealy till
wanted, this method of managing potatos, is, in every respect, equal to
steaming them, and they are dressed in half the time.
* * * * *
TO FRY SLICED POTATOS.
Peel large potatos, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut
them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them
well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that
your fat and frying-pan are quite clean; put it on a quick fire, watch
it, and as soon as the lard boils and is still, put in the slices of
potatos, and keep moving them till they are crisp; take them up, and lay
them to drain on a sieve; send them up with very little salt sprinkled
on them.
* * * * *
POTATOS MASHED.
When the potatos are thoroughly boiled, drain and dry them perfectly,
pick out every speck, and rub them through a colander into a clean
stew-pan; to a pound of potatos put half an ounce of butter, and a
table-spoonful of milk; do not make them too moist; mix them well
together. When the potatos are getting old and specked, and in frosty
weather, this is the best way of dressing them--you may put them into
shapes, touch them over with yelk of egg, and brown them very slightly
before a slow fire.
* * * * *
POTATOS MASHED WITH ONIONS.
Prepare some onions by putting them through a sieve, and mix them with
potatos; in proportioning the onions to the potatos, you will be guided
by your wish to have more or less of their flavour.
* * * * *
TO ROAST POTATOS.
Wash and dry your potatos, (all of a size,) and put them in a tin Dutch
oven, or cheese toaster; take care not to put them too near the fire, or
they will get burned on the outside before they are warmed through.
Large potatos, will require two hours to roast them. To save time and
trouble, some cooks half boil them first.
* * * * *
TO ROAST POTATOS UNDER MEAT.
Half boil large potatos, drain the water from them, and put them into an
earthen dish or small tin pan, under meat that is roasting, and baste
them with some of the dripping; when they are browned on one side, turn
them and brown the other; send them up around the meat, or in a small
dish.
* * * * *
POTATO BALLS.
Mix mashed potatos with the yelk of an egg, roll them into balls, flour
them, or cover them with egg and bread crumbs, fry them in clean
dripping, or brown them in a Dutch oven. They are an agreeable vegetable
relish, and a supper dish.
* * * * *
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.
Are boiled and dressed in the various ways we have just before directed
for potatos. They should be covered with thick melted butter, or a nice
white or brown sauce.
* * * * *
CABBAGE.
Pick cabbages very clean, and wash them thoroughly; then look them
carefully over again; quarter them if they are very large; put them into
a sauce pan with plenty of boiling water; if any skum rises, take it
off, put a large spoonful of salt into the sauce pan, and boil 'them
till the stalks feel tender. A young cabbage will take about twenty
minutes, or half an hour; when full grown, nearly an hour; see that they
are well covered with water all the time, and that no or smoke arises
from stirring the fire. With careful management, they will look as
beautiful when dressed as they did when growing. It will much ameliorate
the flavour of strong old cabbages, to boil them in two waters, _i.e._
when they are half done, to take them out, and put them into another
sauce pan of boiling water.
* * * * *
SAVOYS.
Are boiled in the same manner; quarter them when you send them to table.
* * * * *
SPROUTS AND YOUNG GREENS.
The receipt written for cabbages will answer as well for sprouts, only
they will be boiled enough in fifteen minutes.
* * * * *
ASPARAGUS.
Set a stew-pan with plenty of water on the fire, sprinkle a handful of
salt in it, let it boil, and skim it; then put in the asparagus prepared
thus: scrape all the stalks till they are perfectly clean; throw them
into a pan of cold water as you scrape them; when they are all done, tie
them in little bundles, of a quarter of a hundred each, with bass, if
you can get it, or tape; cut off the stalks at the bottom, that they may
be all of a length; when they are tender at the stalk, which will be in
from twenty to thirty minutes, they are done enough. Great care must be
taken to watch the exact time of their becoming tender; take them just
at that instant, and they will have their true flavour and colour; a
minute or two more boiling destroys both. While the asparagus is
boiling, toast a slice of a loaf of bread, about a half an inch thick;
brown it delicately on both sides; dip it lightly in the liquor the
asparagus was boiled in, and lay it in the middle of a dish; pour some
melted butter on the toast, and lay the asparagus upon it; let it
project beyond the asparagus, that the company may see there is a toast.
Do not pour butter over them, but send some in a boat.
* * * * *
SEA-KALE.
Is tied up in bundles, and dressed in the same way as asparagus.
* * * * *
TO SCOLLOP TOMATOS.
Peel off the skin from large, full, ripe tomatos--put a layer in the
bottom of a deep dish, cover it well with bread grated fine; sprinkle on
pepper and salt, and lay some bits of butter over them--put another
layer of each, till the dish is full--let the top be covered with crumbs
and butter--bake it a nice brown.
* * * * *
TO STEW TOMATOS.
Take off the skin, and put them in a pan with salt, pepper, and a large
piece of butter--stew them till sufficiently dry.
* * * * *
CAULIFLOWER.
Choose those that are close and white, and of a middle size--trim off
the outside leaves, cut off the stalk flat at the bottom, let them lie
in salt and water an hour before you boil them. Put them in boiling
water, with a handful of salt in it--skim it well, and let it boil
slowly till done, which a small one will be in fifteen minutes, a large
one in twenty--and take it up the moment it is enough: a few minutes
longer boiling will spoil it.
* * * * *
RED BEET ROOTS.
Are not so much used as they deserve to be; they are dressed in the same
way as parsnips, only neither scraped nor cut till after they are
boiled; they will take from an hour and a half to three hours in
boiling, according to their size; to be sent to the table with salt
fish, boiled beef, &c. When young, small and juicy, it is a very good
variety, an excellent garnish, and easily converted into a very cheap
and pleasant pickle.
* * * * *
PARSNIPS.
Are to be cooked just in the same manner as carrots; they require more
or less time, according to their size; therefore match them in size, and
you must try them by thrusting a fork into them as they are in the
water; when this goes easily through, they are done enough: boil them
from an hour to two hours, according to their size and freshness.
Parsnips are sometimes sent up mashed in the same way as turnips.
* * * * *
CARROTS.
Let them be well washed and scraped--an hour is enough for young spring
carrots; grown carrots will take from an hour and a half to two hours
and a half. The best way to try if they are done enough, is to pierce
them with a fork.
* * * * *
TURNIPS.
Peel off half an inch of the stringy outside--full grown turnips will
take about an hour and a half gentle boiling; try them with a fork, and
when tender, take them up, and lay them on a sieve till the water is
thoroughly drained from them; send them up whole; to very young turnips,
leave about two inches of green top; the old ones are better when the
water is changed as directed for cabbage.
* * * * *
TO MASH TURNIPS.
When they are boiled quite tender, squeeze them as dry as possible--put
them into a sauce pan, mash them with a wooden spoon, and rub them
through a colander; add a little bit of butter, keep stirring them till
the butter is melted and well mixed with them, and they are ready for
table.
* * * * *
TURNIP TOPS.
Are the shoots which grow out, (in the spring.) from the old turnip
roots. Put them in cold water an hour before they are dressed; the more
water they are boiled in, the better they will look; if boiled in a
small quantity of water, they will taste bitter; when the water boils,
put in a small handful of salt, and then your vegetables; they are still
better boiled with bacon in the Virginia style: if fresh and young, they
will be done in about twenty minutes--drain them on the back of a sieve,
and put them under the bacon.
* * * * *
FRENCH BEANS.
Cut off the stalk end first, and then turn to the point and strip off
the strings; if not quite fresh, have a bowl of spring water, with a
little salt dissolved in it, standing before you; as the beans are
cleansed and trimmed, throw them in; when all are done, put them on the
fire in boiling water, with some salt in it; when they have boiled
fifteen or twenty minutes, take one out and taste it; as soon as they
are tender, take them up, and throw them into a colander to drain. To
send up the beans whole, when they are young, is much the best method,
and their delicate flavour and colour is much better preserved. When a
little more grown, they must be cut lengthwise in thin slices after
stringing; and for common tables, they are split, and divided across;
but those who are nice, do not use them at such a growth as to require
splitting.
* * * * *
ARTICHOKES.
Soak them in cold water, wash them well, then put them into plenty of
boiling water, with a handful of salt, and let them boil gently till
they are tender, which will take an hour and a half, or two hours: the
surest way to know when they are done enough, is to draw out a leaf;
trim them, and drain them on a sieve, and send up melted butter with
them, with some put into small cups, so that each guest may have one.
* * * * *
BROCOLI.
The kind which bears flowers around the joints of the stalks, must be
cut into convenient lengths for the dish; scrape the skin from the
stalk, and pick out any leaves or flowers that require to be removed;
tie it up in bunches, and boil it as asparagus; serve it up hot, with
melted butter poured over it. The brocoli that heads at the top like
cauliflowers, must be dressed in the same manner as the cauliflower.
* * * * *
PEAS.
To have them in perfection, they must be quite young, gathered early in
the morning, kept in a cool place, and not shelled until they are to be
dressed; put salt in the water, and when it boils, put in the peas; boil
them quick twenty or thirty minutes, according to their age; just before
they are taken up, add a little mint chopped very fine; drain all the
water from the peas, put in a bit of butter, and serve them up quite
hot.
* * * * *
PUREE OF TURNIPS.
Pare a dozen large turnips, slice them, and put them into a stew-pan,
with four ounces of butter and a little salt; set the pan over a
moderate fire, turn them often with a wooden spoon; when they look
white, add a ladle full of veal gravy, stew them till it becomes thick;
skim it, and pass it through a sieve; put the turnips in a dish, and
pour the gravy over them.
* * * * *
RAGOUT OF TURNIPS.
Peel as many small turnips as will fill a dish; put them into a stew pan
with some butter and a little sugar, set them over a hot stove, shake
them about, and turn them till they are a good brown; pour in half a
pint of rich high seasoned gravy; stew the turnips till tender, and
serve them with the gravy poured over them.
* * * * *
RAGOUT OF FRENCH BEANS, SNAPS, STRING BEANS.
Let them be young and fresh gathered, string them, and cut them in long
thin slices; throw them in boiling water for fifteen minutes; have ready
some well seasoned brown gravy, drain the water from the beans, put them
in the gravy, stew them a few minutes, and serve them garnished with
forcemeat balls; there must not be gravy enough to float the beans.
* * * * *
MAZAGAN BEANS.
This is the smallest and most delicate species of the Windsor bean.
Gather them in the morning, when they are full grown, but quite young,
and do not shell them till you are going to dress them. Put them into
boiling water, have a small bit of middling, (flitch,) of bacon, well
boiled--take the skin off, cover it with bread crumbs, and toast it; lay
this in the middle of the dish, drain all the water from the beans--put
a little butter with them, and pour them round the bacon. When the large
Windsor beans are used, it is best to put them into boiling water until
the skins will slip off, and then make them into a puree as directed for
turnips--they are very coarse when plainly dressed.
* * * * *
LIMA, OR SUGAR BEANS.
Like all other spring and summer vegetables, they must be young and
freshly gathered: boil them till tender, drain them, add a little
butter, and serve them up. These beans are easily preserved for winter
use, and will be nearly as good as fresh ones. Gather them on a dry day,
when full grown, but quite young: have a clean and dry keg, sprinkle
some salt in the bottom, put in a layer of pods, containing the beans,
then a little salt--do this till the keg is full; lay a board on with a
weight, to press them down; cover the keg very close, and keep it in a
dry, cool place--they should be put up as late in the season, as they
can be with convenience. When used, the pods must be washed, and laid in
fresh water all night; shell them next day, and keep them in water till
you are going to boil them; when tender, serve them up with melted
butter in a boat. French beans (snaps) may be preserved in the same
manner.
* * * * *
TURNIP ROOTED CABBAGE.
The cabbage growing at the top is not good; cut the root in slices an
inch thick, peel off the rind, and boil the slices in a large quantity
of water, till tender, serve it up hot, with melted butter poured over
it.
* * * * *
EGG PLANT.
The purple ones are best; get them young and fresh; pull out the stem,
and parboil them to take off the bitter taste; cut them in slices an
inch thick, but do not peel them; dip them in the yelk of an egg, and
cover them with grated bread, a little salt and pepper--when this has
dried, cover the other side the same way--fry them a nice brown. They
are very delicious, tasting much like soft crabs. The egg plant may be
dressed in another manner: scrape the rind and parboil them; cut a slit
from one end to the other, take out the seeds, fill the space with a
rich forcemeat, and stew them in well seasoned gravy, or bake them, and
serve up with gravy in the dish.
* * * * *
POTATO PUMPKIN.
Get one of a good colour, and seven or eight inches in diameter; cut a
piece off the top, take out all the seeds, wash and wipe the cavity,
pare the rind off, and fill the hollow with good forcemeat--put the top
on, and set it in a deep pan, to protect the sides; bake it in a
moderate oven, put it carefully in the dish without breaking, and it
will look like a handsome mould. Another way of cooking potato pumpkin
is to cut it in slices, pare off the rind, and make a puree as directed
for turnips.
* * * * *
SWEET POTATO.
Take those that are nearly of the same size, that they may be done
equally--wash them clean, but do not peel them--boil them till tender,
drain the water off, and put them on tin sheets in a stove for a few
minutes to dry.
* * * * *
SWEET POTATOS STEWED.