the stones slip out, (and can be easily removed with a spoon, when taken
from the fire,) make them very sweet by stirring in a large portion of
brown sugar.
Damsons, cranberries, and gooseberries require more sugar than any other
fruit.
FINE PRUNE SAUCE.--Wash a pound of prunes, and stew them in orange
juice, adding the yellow rind of an orange, pared so fine as to be
transparent--or grate it. Stir them up frequently, and when quite done,
and the stones are all loose, sweeten the prunes with plenty of sugar.
Prune sauce is eaten with venison, or any sort of game; or with roast
kid or fawn--or with roast pig.
CHESTNUT SAUCE.--Take the large Spanish chestnuts. Cut a slit in the
side of each, and roast them well. Peel them, and put them into a
saucepan of very rich melted butter. If you use American chestnuts, boil
them till quite soft, (trying two or three to ascertain,) then peel, and
thicken your melted butter with them. American chestnuts are too small
to roast.
PEA-NUT SAUCE.--Having roasted and shelled a pint of pea-nuts, or
ground-nuts, remove the thin brown skin, and simmer the nuts in melted
or drawn butter; adding some fine fresh oysters, omitting the gristle.
VEGETABLES.
All vegetables are best when fresh, as can easily be discovered by the
difference between those newly brought from the garden, and those that
have been kept in a provision shop till next day, (and perhaps longer,)
imbibing the atmosphere of meat, fish, poultry, and a variety of things,
each becoming impure from the same causes; not to mention the rats,
mice, and insects which run over them at night. You cannot have
vegetables in perfection without a country garden. But if obliged to
depend upon the market or the provision shops, always have your
vegetables washed and laid in cold water before cooking. Some are best
when put on to boil in cold water; others require boiling water at the
beginning, to give them what the cooks call a quick start. All should be
thoroughly done throughout. If hard in the centre they are unpalatable,
and very unwholesome; even worse than underdone meat. Use but very
little salt in cooking vegetables; too much renders them hard, and
overpowers their real taste. Also, it is easy for the lovers of salt to
add more when at table. When vegetables are done, and taken out the pot,
drain them well through a cullender or sieve, carefully pressing out all
the water that is about them. There is generally, in our country, too
much water allowed to the vegetables. Merely enough to cover them well,
and keep them from burning, is in most cases sufficient. In France, so
little water is used in cooking vegetables, that they are rather stewed
than boiled, and are the better for it. A puddle of greasy water in the
bottom of every vegetable dish is a disgusting sight; and yet how
frequently it is seen. If of every-day occurrence, it is a certain
indication of a bad cook, or an inefficient mistress, or both.
Almost all green vegetables should be thrown into fast-boiling water,
and cooked rapidly; first washing them carefully, and laying them for
half an hour in a large pan of cold water. If found frozen in the
winter, be sure to thaw them in cold water. Continue the boiling till
they are thoroughly done, and with a steady heat, taking off the scum
as it rises.
It is very usual in the spring to bring early vegetables from the south,
for the markets of Philadelphia and New York. By the time they reach us
they are faded, withered, tough and unwholesome. It is better to wait a
week or two longer till the season is a little more advanced, and the
farms and gardens of our neighborhood can supply our own markets, at a
far less cost, and with fresher and better vegetables.
The water in which vegetables have been boiled becomes very unwholesome,
and should be thrown out immediately.
BOILED POTATOS.--To have boiled potatos in perfection they should all be
of a good sort and as nearly as possible of the same size. Till it is
time to cook them, let the slight mould or earth that has adhered to the
potatos in digging, be carefully washed off, even scrubbing them with a
hard brush. This can be done very conveniently, by laying them under the
hydrant or pump, washing them there with a broom, and letting the water
run on them.
An iron pot is the best of all things for boiling potatos, as it retains
the heat longer than any other utensil. Lay them in it, closely and
compactly, and pour in barely sufficient cold water to cover them well,
adding a tea-spoonful of salt. Simmer them till nearly done, which you
may ascertain by probing all through with a fork. You may quicken the
fire for the last five minutes. Pour off all the water from them as soon
as they are tender all through. Lift the lid of the pot at one side to
allow the steam to pass off, and set them beside the fire, or on a
trevet far above it, till the moisture has escaped; the potatos will
then be dry and mealy. Then peel them; or if preferred, send them to
table with the skin on, which will keep them hot longer.
If the potatos are old, cut a piece of skin (about the size of a
sixpence) from the top and bottom before boiling; or, take off a long
slip from each side. In the spring, when quite old, cut out all the
blemishes, pare the potatos, and always boil them for mashing.
ROAST POTATOS.--Potatos for roasting should always be large and fine. If
small, "they go all to skin." Select those that are nearest of a size,
and wash them very clean, and wipe every one with a cloth. Put them into
an oven, and let them roast or bake for more than two hours, turning
them with a fork. Dish them in the skins, and send only cold butter to
table with them. Bake sweet potatos in the same manner, but much longer.
Small sweet potatos should be boiled; as, when small, they are not worth
cooking in any other way; and when roasted there is scarcely any thing
of them, but tough shriveled skin.
BAKED POTATOS.--Pare some fine potatos all about the same size, and
cover with them the whole bottom of a large deep earthen dish; lay them
close together so that they all touch. Bake them under a nice piece of
beef, veal, or pork, raised above them on a trivet. The gravy from the
meat will drip upon them as soon as it begins to bake. They must bake
till they are nicely browned, and till a fork will easily go through
them. Have a smaller dish of potatos baked without meat, in a dish by
themselves, as potatos pared before baking are much liked. Lay some bits
of fresh butter among those that are cooked without any meat.
TO BOIL NEW POTATOS.--Rub each one with a coarse cloth to clear off the
skin, it being too thin for paring. Wash them well, and cut a small
piece off the top and bottom of each potato, to make them boil tender
all through. Put no salt in the water, and boil them till soft. Serve
them plain, and eat them with cold butter--or, put them into a
sauce-pan, and stew them in butter.
MASHED POTATOS.--Having boiled the potatos till tender all through,
drain them very dry in a cullender, and mash them smoothly with a potato
beetle, a large wooden spoon, or a short-handled wooden ladle. When all
are nicely mashed, add gradually plenty of fresh butter, and some cream
or rich milk. On no account spoil the potatos by putting any water to
them, when mashing. Put them into a deep dish or mould, and brown them
with a salamander.
POTATO CAKES.--After the mashed potatos are mixed with butter in a deep
earthen pan, beat them with a wooden spoon to render them very light.
Then make them up into thick flat cakes, about the size of a muffin, and
brown each with a salamander.
COUNTRY POTATOS.--Having boiled and peeled some fine newly-dug potatos,
melt some butter in a sauce-pan, with cream, instead of flour and water,
and pour it plentifully into the dish of potatos; seasoning with black
pepper and sweet marjoram leaves. Where cream is plenty, this is a very
nice way of cooking. Serve them up with the sauce poured over them, and
around them. They must be well boiled, and tender all through.
FRIED POTATOS.--The potatos must be raw, large, unblemished, and of a
good round shape. First take off a thin paring of the skin. Then, pare
the whole potato round and round, (not too thin,) till you have gone
through it all, and nothing is left unpared but a little lump in the
centre. Then put these continuous rings of potato into a frying-pan, in
which is boiling plenty of fresh butter, or butter and lard mixed. Fry
them brown and tender, and arrange them handsomely in a dish for
breakfast.
_Another Way._--Slice thin a sufficiency of fine raw potatos, and lay
them in a pan of cold water to soak for an hour or more. Then pour off
that water entirely, and replace it with fresh. Let them remain in this
for another hour, or till it is time to cook them. Put them into a
frying-pan that has in it plenty of fresh butter or lard, enough, while
frying, to keep the potatos near the surface. Fry them till perfectly
well done and tender.
Attempting to re-cook cold potatos renders them more hard and tough.
When once cold, potatos always remain indigestible, cook them as you
will.
STEWED POTATOS.--Having pared some fine raw potatos, quarter them, and
put them into a stew-pan with a little salt, pepper, and some green
sweet marjoram stripped from the stalks, and scattered among the
potatos. Put them into a stew-pan with milk enough to prevent their
burning, and some fresh butter--no water. If you can get cream
conveniently, add some to the milk. Cover the pan, and let the potatos
stew, till, on trying them with a fork, you find them thoroughly cooked,
and soft and tender all through. If not sufficiently done, they are
hard, tough, leathery, and unfit to eat.
They are very good stewed entirely in the dripping of cold gravy of
roast beef, veal, or pork--but not mutton, as that will give them the
taste of tallow. This is a nice breakfast dish. Cold potatos re-cooked
never again become good. After potatos once become cold, no cooking can
restore them.
STEWED SWEET POTATOS.--These should first be scraped or pared. Then cut
into pieces, and stewed as above.
BOILED CABBAGE.--All cabbage should be well washed, and boiled in a
large quantity of water with a little salt; the loose or faded leaves
being stripped from the outside. They should always be cut or split in
two, or in four pieces if very large. Cut the stalk short, and split it
up to where the leaves begin. Put it on in boiling water, and keep it
boiling steadily till quite done, which will not be till the stalk is
tender throughout. If a young summer cabbage, split it in half, and when
well boiled, and drained and pressed in a cullender, serve it up with a
few bits of cold fresh butter, laid inside among the leaves. Season it
with pepper. This is a much nicer and easier way, than to make drawn
butter, and pour over the outside of the cabbage.
Sprouts and very young greens, require nothing more than to be well
washed, boiled and drained. In the country, cabbage sprouts are commonly
boiled with bacon.
Savoy cabbage is considered the finest sort. It is a late autumn and
winter cabbage. If very large, split it in four. Do not boil it with
meat. The fat will render it strong and unwholesome. Still worse, when
melted butter is added to a cabbage already saturated with the fat of
corned beef.
AN EXCELLENT WAY OF BOILING CABBAGE.--Having trimmed the cabbage, and
washed it well in cold water, (examining the leaves to see that no
insects are lurking among them,) cut it almost into quarters, but do not
divide it entirely down at the stem, which should be cut off just below
the termination of the leaves. Let it lie an hour in a pan of cold
water. Have ready a pot _full_ of boiling water, seasoned with a small
tea-spoonful of salt. Put the cabbage into it, and let it boil for an
hour and a half, skimming it occasionally. Then take it out; put it into
a cullender to drain, and when all the hot water has drained off; set it
under the hydrant. Let the hydrant run on it, till the cabbage has
become perfectly cold all through. If you have no hydrant, set it under
a pump, or keep pouring cold water on it from a pitcher. Then, having
thrown out all the first water, and washed the pot, fill it again, and
let the second water boil. During this time the cabbage under the
hydrant will be growing cold. Then put it on again in the second water,
and boil it two hours, or two and a half. Even the thickest part of the
stalk must be perfectly tender all through. When thoroughly done, take
up the cabbage, drain it well through the cullender, pressing it down
with a broad ladle to squeeze out all the moisture; lay it in a deep
dish, and cut it _entirely_ apart, dividing it into quarters. Lay some
bits of fresh butter among the leaves, add a little pepper, cover the
dish, and send it to table hot.
Cooked in this manner it will be made perfectly wholesome, and the
usually unpleasant cabbage smell will be rendered imperceptible. We
recommend it highly.
CALE CANNON.--Boil in one pot a fine large cabbage, and when done, drain
and press it in a cullender till all the water is squeezed out. Have
boiled in another, four or five large mealy potatos. Peel and mash the
potatos, and chop the cabbage small. Mix the cabbage and the potatos
evenly, in one large dish, and season them with black pepper; adding
some bits of nice butter. Cale cannon is a plain family dish, but is
very good, when all the dinner corresponds.
FRIED CABBAGE.--Parboil a fine cabbage. When half-boiled, take it out,
drain it, and lay it awhile in cold water, to remove the cabbage smell.
Next put it into a clean pot of fresh water, and boil it again till
thoroughly done. Afterwards, chop it small, season it with pepper and
salt, and fry it in fresh butter.
A less delicate way is to fry it in boiling lard, taking care to drain
it well. It should be eaten only by people in good health.
FORCED CABBAGE--(_Choux farcie._)--This is for dinner company. Take two
fine fresh cabbages, and examine them well to see that there are no
insects hidden among the leaves. Wash the cabbages in cold water, and
drain them. Take out the heart or inside cluster of leaves in the centre
of each cabbage, leaving a circle of them standing. Cut off the stalk
near the bottom, but not so close as to cause the cabbage to fall apart.
You may leave a double circle of leaves. Have ready plenty of stuffing,
or forcemeat, made of veal or fresh pork minced finely, cold ham or
smoked tongue minced also, grated bread-crumbs, fresh butter, powdered
mace, sweet marjoram and sweet basil, grated lemon-peel, and two
hard-boiled yolks of egg, crumbled fine. Fill the cabbages full with
this stuffing, and to keep them in shape, tie them firmly round in
several places, with strings of twine or bass. They must be tied in the
form of a round ball. Put them into a stew-pot, with water enough to
cover them well, and let them stew till thoroughly done. Take them up
immediately before they are wanted, and remove the strings that have
kept them in shape while cooking. Red cabbages may be done in this way.
FRENCH SOUR CROUT.--This may be made fresh every day, and has none of
the objections generally alleged against the German saur-kraut. Having
taken out the stalks or cores, split into quarters, four large
white-heart cabbages. Shred them fine with a cabbage-cutter. Wash them
well in two waters, and drain them in a cullender. Next lay the shred
cabbages in a large earthen pan, add a table-spoonful of salt, and a
pint of the best cider vinegar. Stir and toss the cabbage in this, and
let it steep for three hours. Then wash and drain it, and put it into a
large stew-pan, with half a pound of nice sweet butter, or a quarter of
a pound of lard. Season it with a little black pepper, and three
table-spoonfuls of French mustard, or a jill of tarragon vinegar. Cover
the whole with a buttered white paper, and stew it slowly for two hours
longer. Take off the paper, and send the sour crout to table in a
covered dish.
You may lay on the top of the stew, a pound of sausage meat, or of
sausage cakes. Or a thin slice or two of cold ham.
DRESSING FOR SLAW.--Mix a small pint of real cider vinegar with four
large table-spoonfuls of nice fresh butter, divided into four bits, and
each bit rolled in flour; a tea-spoon of salt, and a salt-spoon of
cayenne. Being well stirred, and mixed thoroughly, boil this in a
porcelain-lined sauce-pan; and, as soon as it has come to a fast boil,
remove it from the fire, and stir in the beaten yolk of four eggs. Have
ready a nice fresh white cabbage, that has been washed, drained, and
cut, or shaved, into small shreds with a cabbage cutter. Lay the shred
cabbage in a deep dish or bowl, while you prepare the above dressing.
Having taken it from the fire, and stirred in, gradually, the beaten
yolk of egg, pour the dressing hot over the cabbage: mixing it all with
a large boxwood salad-spoon or fork. Set it out of doors to cool; or
cool it quickly on ice or snow.
Or if preferred warm, place it on the top of a stove, and cover it
closely till wanted. It may be made of red cabbage.
This slaw (either cold or warm) will be found very superior to all
others, if this receipt is exactly followed.
SALSIFY FRITTERS.--Having washed and scraped the salsify roots, and cut
off the extreme joints, stand them up and grate them. Beat three eggs
very light, and stir them gradually into a pint of milk, with sufficient
flour to make a stiff batter. Instead of grating the salsify you may cut
it into pieces, and boil it till quite soft, so that you can mash it
easily. Add a little pepper. Have ready over the fire a deep frying-pan
or skillet, with plenty of boiling lard. Put in a large spoonful of the
batter, and into the middle of each drop a spoonful of the mashed
salsify. Fry these fritters of a light brown on both sides, and take
them out with a perforated skimmer, draining off the lard through its
holes.
You may fry the mashed salsify without the batter, taking large
spoonfuls, and dipping each in beaten egg first, and afterward twice
over in grated bread-crumbs, so as to resemble fried oysters.
Or you may first boil the roots merely split in two, and then fry them
in fresh butter, or bake them brown in an oven.
SALSIFY OYSTERS.--Get some fine salsify roots, (called also
oyster-plant,) and wash and scrape them well. Boil them in sufficient
fresh oyster liquor to cover them well, and when they are soft take them
out, split them, and cut them into pieces about two inches long. Then
put them into a stew-pan, with the oyster liquor, some pieces of fresh
butter rolled in flour, and some blades of mace and some grated nutmeg,
with a few whole pepper-corns. Let them cook between five and ten
minutes, having stirred among them the beaten yolks of two or three
eggs. Serve them up hot, as a side dish.
MELONGINA OR EGG-PLANT.--Take a large fine egg-plant, and see that there
are no blemishes about it. Having cut it into thin round slices,
(without paring off the skin,) sprinkle between the slices a very little
salt and pepper, cover them with a plate, and let them rest an hour
more. Then wipe the pieces dry. Have some beaten egg in one deep plate,
and some bread-crumbs, finely grated, in another. Dip each slice of
egg-plant first into the beaten egg, and then into the bread-crumbs, and
fry them brown in a pan full of boiling lard, or else lard and fresh
butter mixed in equal quantities. Take them out with a perforated
skimmer, and drain them well.
They will be much better if each slice is dipped _twice_ in the egg, and
twice in the crumbs.
They may be fried very plainly, simply dredged with flour, and then put
into a pan with plenty of boiling lard, the lard drained well from each
slice when it is done. They should be fried brown on both sides. If
underdone, and left greenish or whitish, they have a raw bitter taste.
BAKED EGG-PLANTS.--Prepare several fine large unblemished egg-plants, by
scooping out the inside or pulp with a spoon, leaving the rind standing.
To do this you must cut off very nicely and evenly a round piece from
the top, (afterwards to be tied on again.) Make a sufficient quantity of
forcemeat or stuffing of soaked bread, pressed and dried slightly; fresh
butter; minced sweet marjoram leaves; a little pepper and salt; and some
powdered mace, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated off very fine. Mix
all these with the pulp or inside of the egg-plant. When thoroughly
mixed, stuff with it the rind or outside into a perfectly round shape,
and with a packthread tie on the top-piece which was cut off. Put the
egg-plants into a dish, the bottom covered with thin slices of cold ham.
Bake them for an hour or more, and then send them to table whole, with
the slices of ham laid round on the dish. Remove the strings.
FRIED BANANAS.--The bananas should be perfectly ripe and yellow all
over. Peel them, split them into long slips, and dredge them slightly
with flour. Have ready a frying pan filled with boiling lard. Put in the
bananas, and fry them well. When done, take them up on a perforated
skimmer, and drain back the lard into the frying pan. Dish, and send
them to table with powdered sugar to eat with them.
In the West Indies, the large green bananas that are exported from
thence, are by no means in favor, compared with a _very small_ yellow
sort, the only banana eaten at the best tables. The little ones are
fried in the above manner.
ONION CUSTARD.--Peel and slice ten or twelve mild onions, and fry them
in fresh butter, draining them well when you take them up. Then mince
them as fine as possible. Beat four eggs till very thick and light, and
stir them gradually into a pint of milk, in turn with the minced onion.
Season the whole with plenty of grated nutmeg, and stir it very hard.
Then put it into a deep white dish, and bake it about a quarter of an
hour. Send it to table as a side dish, to be eaten with poultry. It is a
French preparation, and will be found very nice, by those who have no
dislike to onions.
CAULIFLOWERS.--Choose large fine white cauliflowers. Wash them well, and
lay them in a pan of cold water, having divided each cauliflower into
quarters. Trim off the outside green leaves. Put on the cauliflowers in
boiling water with a little salt in it. It is still better to boil them
in milk. Let them cook till tender throughout, flower and stalk. When
quite done, put some bits of fresh butter among the flowers, or pour
over them drawn butter sauce, made with milk and seasoned with powdered
nutmeg or mace. Serve them up hot, and covered.
BROCCOLI--Is drest in the same manner. It is very good with toast under,
though inferior to cauliflower.
CAULIFLOWER OMELET.--Take the white part of a boiled cauliflower after
it is cold; chop it very small, and mix with it a sufficient quantity of
well beaten-egg, to make a very thick batter. Then fry it in fresh
butter in a small pan, and send it hot to table.
FRIED CAULIFLOWER.--Having laid a fine cauliflower in cold water for an
hour, put it into a pot of boiling water that has been slightly salted,
(milk and water will be still better,) and boil it twenty-five minutes,
or till the large stalk is perfectly tender. Then divide it, equally,
into small tufts, and spread it on a dish to cool. Prepare a sufficient
quantity of batter made in the proportion of a table-spoonful of flour,
and two table-spoonfuls of milk to each egg. Beat the eggs very light,
then stir into them the flour and milk alternately; a spoonful of flour,
and two spoonfuls of milk at a time. When the cauliflower is cold, have
ready some fresh butter in a frying-pan over a clear fire. When it has
come to a boil and has done bubbling, dip each tuft of cauliflower twice
into the pan of batter, and fry them a light brown. Send them to table
hot.
Broccoli may be fried in this manner.