centre out of each potato leaving a wall of about a quarter of an inch
thick all round. Mince finely any cold beef, mutton, or veal you may
have by you with one large ring of Spanish onion chopped very small,
pepper and salt, and a little mushroom if possible. Moisten slightly
with a little meat juice. Fill in each potato with this mixture. Melt
in a baking tin sufficient beef dripping, a quarter of a pound to every
six or eight potatoes would be right, and when boiling, but not beyond
boiling point, stand the potatoes in it. The baking tin should be small
enough to allow the dripping to come well up the sides of the potatoes.
Cook in a fairly quick oven from thirty to forty minutes. When cooked
brush very lightly over the top with the beaten white of an egg. Dish
very carefully so as not to take up the fat.
_143. French Fried Potatoes_
Cut your peeled potatoes into long strips about half an inch in
thickness and leave them in the cold water. Melt about half a pound of
tub lard (not bladder lard as this has always flour mixed with it which
causes the things to burn in the frying pan). When the lard is hot,
drop a small crumb into it and if the fat sizzles round it is ready for
the potatoes. Put the pan over a brisk fire and drop the potatoes as
you take them out of the water straight into the pan. If the pan is not
large enough to take them all flat, cook in two lots.
_144. Savoury Potatoes_
Have the potatoes boiled and not broken. Cut into dice some fat bacon.
Put a piece of butter into a small enamelled frying pan and when melted
put the bacon fat into it and let it brown slightly. Pour over the
potatoes in the dish and serve at once. This is a good way to serve
potatoes with cold meat.
_145. Potato Croquettes_
Have ready about two or three breakfast-cups of nicely mashed potato.
Form into either small round cakes or sausage-shaped ones. Roll in a
plate of well-beaten egg and some fine crumbs made from rolled rusk
crumbs; fry a light brown in some good dripping or lard, and serve
piled up in a dish, garnished with a little fresh parsley.
_146. Baked Potatoes_
Cut your peeled potatoes in four pieces lengthwise. Melt in a baking
tin half a pound of beef or veal dripping (mutton dripping will not
do) on the top of the stove, and when boiling put the potatoes into
it. Turn them once and only then sprinkle with a little salt. Place in
a brisk oven and bake for twenty minutes or half an hour. Dish with a
slice.
_147. Green Peas_
Put into a saucepan of boiling water half a vegetable dish of green
peas. Add two lumps of loaf sugar, a small sprig of mint, a pinch of
soda, and a flat teaspoonful of salt. Young peas should cook from
twenty to thirty minutes over a clear fire with the saucepan lid
off. Strain through a cullender and when dished sprinkle with a good
dessertspoonful of powdered sugar; add a piece of butter about the size
of a walnut and turn over with a spoon several times before serving.
Bottled peas treated in this manner very closely resemble fresh peas.
They must be washed in three waters before cooking.
_148. Scarlet Runner and Broad Beans_
Have four pounds of beans, trim them all round with a knife to remove
all the string and cut them lengthwise into thin slices. Do not put
them into cold water. Have ready the saucepan three parts full of
boiling water. Put in the beans with a little salt and a tiny piece
of soda. Boil for twenty minutes if the beans are young and a little
longer if they are not quite fresh. Strain into a cullender then into a
vegetable dish.
Broad beans should be treated in the same way after shucking them. Add
a piece of butter when dished and sprinkle over with a little chopped
parsley.
Never allow vegetables of any kind to be prepared over night. It will
be found that peas or beans will be hard, cabbage or other greens
offensive, and potatoes become flabby.
_149. Cauliflower_
Take a young cauliflower with a firm head. Take off the thick outside
leaves and cut a cross on the bottom of the stump. Stand it in boiling
water with the flower uppermost allowing the water to come right over
it. Add some salt and a tiny bit of soda. Boil until tender (from
fifteen to twenty minutes). Dish without breaking, upright in the dish.
Pour half a teacupful of clarified butter over the cauliflower and dust
a few rolled breadcrumbs, which have been browned in the oven, over the
top.
_150. Boiled Onions and White Sauce_
Cut eight Spanish onions into rings. Put them into a saucepan three
parts full of boiling water with a dessertspoonful of salt and boil for
one hour. Strain into a cullender.
Take two large tablespoonfuls of flour and mix smoothly with one and
a half tablespoonfuls of butter. Add boiling milk to the paste, about
half a pint, return it to the saucepan and stir till it boils; then
turn the onions into the sauce and serve very hot.
_151. Mushroom Rissoles_
Cut half a pound of fresh mushrooms into very small pieces. Put into a
small enamelled saucepan with one slice of Spanish onion chopped very
fine, a pinch of salt and a little pepper. Add a little meat juice and
a teacup of water and stew gently until the mushrooms have absorbed all
the moisture. Turn out into a plate and allow to cool. Prepare some
light paste, cut out with a teacup into rounds, brush the rims of each
round with a little milk. Put a small teaspoonful of the mushrooms into
each and fold over into lozenge shape. Take the shelf out of the oven
while it is hot and lay upon it a sheet of paper (white) which has been
previously buttered. As soon as the butter has melted lay the rissoles
on and bake in quick oven from fifteen to twenty minutes. To be eaten
hot.
_152. Stuffed Tomatoes_
Cut a thin slice off eight large tomatoes. Remove part of the inside
with a teaspoon. Put half an ounce of fresh butter into a frying pan
(must be fresh butter). Take one large rasher of bacon, fat and lean,
and half a Spanish onion; chop very fine, add a pinch of mixed herbs,
pepper and salt, and the inside of the tomatoes. Make the butter hot
in the pan and place the tomatoes (the cut side downwards) in it and
stand on the stove with the top on. Leave for one minute and a half.
Turn them and place the stuffing in the corner of the pan. Cook both
together in this way for ten minutes more taking care not to let
burn. Take out the tomatoes with a slice and place on a fairly deep
meat dish; fill them with the stuffing, having carefully taken it up
with the slice so as to avoid grease. Pour over all about half a small
teacupful of meat juice.
_153. Bubble and Squeak_
Chop lightly with a knife in a dish any cold greens and potatoes you
may have left. Melt in an enamelled frying pan one ounce more or less
of fresh butter. Turn the vegetables into it. While cooking use a large
dinner fork to press the vegetables into a smooth paste, turning it
over and over with the fork all the time to prevent it sticking to the
pan. Vegetables so treated should work into a perfectly smooth, stiff
paste and leave the pan as clean as when they went into it. Add a
little pepper and salt.
Be careful to remove all stumps of cabbage before using.
_154. To Use up Cold Vegetables_
Cold boiled French beans, cold carrots, cabbage, and a little chopped
onion may be put into an enamelled frying pan in which one and a
half ounces of fresh butter has been melted. Fry the vegetables very
lightly, not making them brown. Turn into a deep dish and pour a
little meat gravy over them. This may be served as a dish by itself or
with cold meat.
_155. Spinach as a Separate Dish_
Wash through several waters, into which a little salt has been added,
four pounds of fresh spinach after having removed all stalks. The last
water should be without salt. The spinach would have absorbed enough
moisture to cook it in but nevertheless have ready a saucepan half full
of boiling water and put the spinach into it. This will prevent a most
disagreeable smell being emitted while the spinach is cooking. Boil for
twenty minutes, keeping the spinach pressed down with a fork. It should
then be quite tender; if it is not so, boil for five minutes longer.
Strain through a cullender, pressing hard with a plate or wooden
vegetable press to get all the water out; put into a bowl and beat well
with a fork and then work it into another bowl through a hair sieve
using a large wooden spoon. Then work in half a gill of cream, a small
piece of butter and a little milk. The spinach ought then to have the
consistency of thick cream. Put it into a dish and serve with croutons
of lightly fried French roll or garnished with hard-boiled eggs cut in
quarters.
PASTRIES, SWEETS, AND CAKES
_General Remarks_
For Tarts the fruit of all kinds must always be cooked first by itself.
Bottled fruits should also be brought to a boil with sugar before being
put into the pastry, except for baked apple dumplings.
For Puddings the fruit should not be cooked before. Suet crust should
be mixed with water with just the chill off but not hot.
Milk puddings always require to be cooked in a very slow oven.
Never use brown sugar for sweetening except for Christmas pudding and
apple pudding.
_156. Pastry for Meat Pies_
For meat pies, sausage rolls, etc., the following pastry is
recommended. Put two and a half cupfuls of flour into a bowl and work
into it a quarter of a pound of butter. Mix with a little tepid water.
Roll out on the board and spread it thickly with a quarter of a pound
of lard (half at a time). Turn over the ends of the pastry, roll out
again and spread the rest of the lard. Turn in the ends again and roll
finally for the crust of your pie.
_157. Pastry for Puddings_
Put into the pastry bowl two and a half to three breakfast-cupfuls of
flour and half a teaspoonful of baking powder (unless self-raising
flour is being used in which case no baking powder is necessary). Have
a quarter of a pound of beef suet carefully separated from all skin
and chopped very finely. Work the suet smoothly into the flour, add a
pinch of salt, and mix to a good stiff paste with a little tepid water.
Roll out on the board to the thickness required. Carefully butter the
basin before putting the pastry into it, and moisten the edge of the
paste at the top of the basin to make the top crust adhere and thus
enclose the meat or fruit securely. Place over the basin a wet pudding
cloth and tie firmly with a string. Use always a pudding basin that has
a good groove round it to prevent the string from slipping off. The
best material for a pudding cloth is a new piece of unbleached calico
that has been well scalded to remove all the dressing from it, and the
easiest way to keep it clean is to place it in a bowl of cold water to
soak each time it has been used. Scrape off with a knife any particles
of paste that may remain on it and rinse well through several warm
waters. No soap must be used. Dry thoroughly and pass through a mangle.
_158. Pastry for Pies and Tarts_
Three breakfast-cupfuls of self-raising flour, a quarter of a pound of
fresh butter, and two ounces of lard. Work the butter and lard into
the flour with a good pinch of salt and mix to a smooth elastic paste
with milk (sour milk may be used with advantage). Roll the paste on
the board about half an inch thick. Rub a little butter lightly round
the rim of the dish and put a border of paste round it. Brush a little
milk on the top of that to allow the other crust to stick to it. Roll
out an amount of paste sufficient to form a crust over the top, press
the edges well together, allowing plenty of room in the paste so that
it does not slip off at the edges. Pare with a floured knife round the
rim the edges of the pastry and cook for three quarters of an hour in a
brisk oven.
_159. Chocolate Pudding_
A nice, fresh moulded sponge cake, half a pound of chocolate, in
blocks, the whites of four eggs, and half a small teacupful of powdered
sugar. Put half the chocolate into a stone or enamelled saucepan, just
cover it with cold water and let it cook for ten minutes. Then add two
tablespoonfuls of water, place on the stove and work it with a dessert
spoon to a stiff paste. Turn this into a small bowl to get cold. Cut
the sponge cake into slices and spread between the pieces all of the
chocolate paste. Beat then the whites of the four eggs in a plate with
a knife to a stiff froth and, after having added the sugar to the
remaining chocolate which has been grated into powder, work it smooth,
pour it with the whites into the bowl, stir for fifteen minutes and
then pour over the moulded cake.
_Note._ The four yokes can be used either for custard or mayonnaise on
the same day. They would keep till next day if covered closely in a cup.
_160. Apples in Syrup_
Take a half pound tin of golden syrup, put it in an enamelled saucepan,
rinse the tin with half a tin of boiling water. Bring to a boil, add
two teaspoonfuls of raspberry essence. Carefully peel and core six or
seven sound apples. Drop them, cut in halves, into the boiling syrup
and stew gently without the lid for a good half hour or longer if not
quite soft. The pieces should remain whole and be almost transparent.
_161. Pears in Syrup_
Make your syrup of one and a half breakfast-cupfuls of powdered sugar
and the same quantity of hot water, to which must be added eight good
cloves. When boiling add your peeled pears which should retain their
stalks and should not be cored. A small glass of claret or any red wine
will greatly improve both taste and appearance. Cook for an hour and a
half or till tender.
_162. Plum Dumplings_
Take one and a half pounds of sound big plums and make paste for
dumpling as follows: One large breakfast-cup of flour mixed with a
little butter, make into a stiff paste with a little water. Wrap each
plum in its case using a little milk to cause the edges to stick close.
Boil in a large saucepan of boiling water fifteen or twenty minutes. If
care is taken the dumplings should remain whole. Dish carefully into a
flat dish and serve very hot with a large bowl of well-beaten cream and
sifted sugar.
_163. Boiled Apple Dumplings_
Make a good pudding crust of a large breakfast-cupful of flour and a
quarter of a pound of beef suet rubbed into it. Mix to a stiff paste
and roll out on a board in thin pieces. Put into each a small peeled
apple, moisten the edges with a little milk, taking care that the apple
is completely encased in the paste. Drop into a saucepan of boiling
water and boil gently for two to three minutes. Serve very hot with a
bowl of beaten cream and another of finely sifted sugar.
_164. Baked Apple Dumplings_
Make a nice piecrust as for tarts. Have ready the apples required and
put one into each piece of crust. Bake in a steady oven from three to
four minutes. Serve with cream and sugar.
_165. Pancakes_
Beat together two eggs, add a teacupful of milk. Mix into it one and a
half ounces of flour and work it with a spoon to a smooth paste with a
pinch of salt. Have your fire nice and hot and perfectly clear. Keep
the top of the stove on all the time. Take a piece of best tub lard
and melt it in a frying pan (kept for pancakes only), run it well over
the surface of the pan when it is quite hot. Turn the fat out and pour
about a third of a teacupful of the batter into the pan taking care
that it runs all over the pan, which should be only about the size of
a pudding plate. Loosen the edges with the blade of a knife and shake
it from time to time to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Turn with
a slice if unable to toss. Tossing is perfectly easy but requires some
practice. It is done by a turn of the wrist, and if these directions
are carefully followed the pancake should leave the pan perfectly
clean. Turn on to a flat dish and serve either with jam or sugar, or if
savoury pancakes are desired the following hint is a good one: Melt in
a cup on the stove about an ounce of fresh butter with a little finely
shredded onion in it; put it into a hot sauce boat and serve with the
pancakes.
Each pancake takes from five to seven minutes to cook.
_166. Apple Pudding_
Take about a quarter of a pound of finely chopped beef suet, two and a
half breakfast-cupfuls of self-raising flour, a little pinch of salt.
Mix with chilled water to a stiff paste. Roll three parts of this into
a large piece on the pastry board. Have ready a pudding basin buttered
by putting a piece of butter the size of a walnut into it and standing
it on the stove to melt. Then let it run over every part of the inside
of the basin. This will prevent the paste sticking. Line the basin
with the paste. Peel, say eight apples, and cut them all round the
core. Fill the basin with them. Add three cloves or, if preferred,
a little rind of lemon, sweeten with brown sugar (about four or five
good tablespoonfuls), cover with another layer of the paste, working
the ends together well so as to prevent the apples coming through. Tie
a wet cloth over and stand the basin in a saucepan of boiling water to
boil for three hours.
_167. Treacle or Jam Pudding in a Basin_
Have the paste ready as for apple pudding and the basin buttered as
above. Roll the pastry in thin layers and line the basin with one
layer, then add a layer of golden syrup or jam and repeat until the
basin is full. Cover with paste, tie up in cloth and boil in a saucepan
of boiling water for three and a half hours.
_168. Apple Soufflé_
Pare and cut up say eight nice-sized apples. Put them in a stone
casserole with a breakfast-cupful of sugar and a piece of fresh butter
the size of a nutmeg. Stir gently now and then and, when cooked, beat
with a fork to break up the lumps and make all quite smooth. Take the
whites of four fresh eggs and place them on a large dinner plate; beat
these with a freshly _cleaned_ knife to a stiff froth which should
stand up. Put the whites into the apples in the saucepan (from which
the moisture should have been drained as much as possible) and stir
well with a large spoon. Turn the soufflé into a rather deep dish,
sprinkle about a teaspoonful of powdered sugar over the top, and place
in a moderate oven. Care must be taken not to slam the oven door or
place anything heavily on the top of the stove for fear the soufflé
will go down. It must not remain in the oven for more than ten to
fifteen minutes. Serve in the dish in which it was cooked.
_169. Apple Charlotte_
Prepare the apples as for the soufflé. Take about four rather thin
slices of nice bread and cut them into diamond shapes. Put about one
ounce of fresh butter in an enamelled frying pan and lightly fry the
bread to a golden brown. Dust with a little powdered sugar and place
the bread on the dish to form a pyramid with the apples in the centre.
Put into the oven for about half an hour (slow oven) and serve on a
flat dish.
_170. Apple Tart_
Take about six apples and pare finely. Do not core them but cut them
in slices round the core. Put a teacupful of powdered sugar in a stone
saucepan. Add a very little cold water. Stew gently for half an hour
to three-quarters and turn into a pie-dish. Pastry as recipe No. 177.
Fresh fruit is always better cooked first before putting into the
pastry.
_171. Apple Fritters_
Pare, core, and cut into thin rings two good-sized apples. This should
not be done before they are wanted as they would quickly turn brown
if left standing. Have ready in a pastry bowl about a teacupful of
flour mixed with milk, smooth but very slack. Put about a quarter of a
pound of fresh tub lard in a frying pan and melt it over the fire till
hot, but guard against burning. Dip each slice of apple into the mixed
flour and then drop it into the hot lard. The fire should be hot enough
to allow these to cook with the top of the stove on. Turn over each
fritter once, and after three minutes dish them with a slice into a
dish with a strainer underneath. Dust over with a little powdered sugar
and serve. If they have to be kept hot till wanted, take care that the
dish is not covered or the oven door shut, as in that case they will
lose their crispness.
_172. Boiled Custard_
Mix with milk two tablespoonfuls of flour till perfectly smooth. Add
three beaten eggs, whites and yolks together, and about a pint of milk
with sugar to taste. Turn into a stone jar, and place the jar in a
saucepan three parts full of boiling water. Stir the mixture always one
way, till it thickens. Serve in custard cups.
_173. Tapioca or Sago Pudding_
Put the tapioca or sago about an inch thick at the bottom of the
pie-dish. Pour boiling milk on to it to about half a dishful and leave
it to soak for about half an hour. When cold add a beaten egg, sugar to
taste, and fill up the dish with cold milk. Put a little grated nutmeg
over the top and bake for two hours in a slow oven.
_174. Compote of Fresh Fruit_
Put six large pears, cut into quarters, into boiling syrup made of half
a pint of water and two breakfast-cupfuls of white sugar. Let the pears
stew for about twenty minutes and then put in six apples, cut in eight
pieces each, taking care not to core them before cutting but after.
Stew gently for another twenty minutes. Add three bananas cut in rings
just before dishing the compote. Serve cold in a glass dish.
_175. Rice Pudding_
Cover the bottom of a pie-dish with rice about an inch thick, and add
sugar to taste. Beat an egg in a cup and add it to the rice, mixing
it all together. Fill the dish with cold milk and add a little grated
nutmeg or several small pieces of lemon peel if preferred. Cook in a
slow oven for not less than two and a half hours.
_176. Stewed Prunes_
Put half a pound of prunes into a large pudding basin with cold water
and rub them gently with the fingers till thoroughly cleansed. Leave
them in the water for about ten minutes. Then turn the prunes with half
a teacup of powdered sugar into a saucepan and just cover them with hot
water. Cook from thirty to forty minutes. The juice should be perfectly
clear when cooked and the prunes whole.
_177. Christmas Pudding_
Take one and a half pounds of finely chopped beef suet, one quartern of
best pastry white (_not_ self-raising) flour, three pounds of stoned
raisins, two pounds of sultanas and two pounds of currants carefully
washed and picked, one and a half pounds of the best mixed peel, ten
well-beaten eggs, and four pounds of brown sugar. Stir all these
ingredients together with a pint of ale and half a bottle of brandy.
Stir fairly slack. This should make six very large puddings. Fill as
many buttered pudding basins as required, taking care that each basin
is full. Tie a wet cloth over each, and boil for twelve hours. Pour a
little neat brandy over the top of each and these puddings will then
keep for six months. Always boil again for four hours to make hot.
_178. Coffee Cream_
Let a half pint of freshly made coffee cool thoroughly. Mix three
tablespoonfuls of flour in milk till quite smooth. Turn three eggs well
beaten together into the milk and flour. Add the cold coffee and half a
pint of milk, sugar to taste. Cook as for custard.
_179. Plums or Damsons for a Tart or as Stewed Fruit_
Carefully look over one pound of plums or damsons, removing any unsound
ones. Put them into an earthenware saucepan with a teacupful of cold
water and two teacupfuls of sugar to the plums or three teacupfuls to
the damsons. Stew for one hour the damsons, or forty minutes the plums.
_180. Jam Tarts_
A breakfast-cupful and a half of self-raising flour, three ounces
of fresh butter, a well-beaten egg, and a little salt. Mix these
ingredients with milk into a stiff paste. Roll it very thin and have
ready a plate greased with hot butter and when cool lay a thin layer of
pastry on the plate, rub a little milk round the rim and spread the jam
over it not too thick. Cut some pastry in thin strips and lay across
like the spokes of a wheel. Bake in a quick oven for twenty minutes. Be
careful the jam is not too juicy.
_181. Stewed Rhubarb_
Remove the leaves and cut the other end of the rhubarb crosswise and
skin it. Cut it into pieces of about two inches long. Put it into a
saucepan (either earthenware or enamelled) and allow a small teacupful
of sugar to each three or four sticks of rhubarb. Add half a teacupful
of water, put over a brisk fire for forty minutes, when the rhubarb
should attain a rich red colour. This can be used either as stewed
rhubarb or put into a pie.
_182. Stewed Gooseberries_
Carefully pick a quart of gooseberries, discarding the unsound ones.
Put them into an earthenware saucepan with a teacupful of cold water
and three teacupfuls of sugar. Boil for about an hour, stirring now
and then to prevent them from burning. Serve either as stewed fruit or
for a pie.
_183. Macaroons_
Take half a pound of almonds peeled and dried in the oven, half a pound
of powdered sugar, three or four whites of eggs, one grated lemon.
Pound the almonds, moistening them from time to time with the beaten
whites of eggs. When they are reduced to a fine paste add the lemon
and sugar; work all perfectly together. Form the macaroons by putting
small pieces the size of a walnut upon a buttered baking tin. Cook in
a moderate oven till they have taken a beautiful brown tint. Let them
cool before taking them off the tin. Pass a thin-bladed knife under
them to remove them from the tin.
_184. Swiss Roll_