milk and eggs,) the day before it is wanted. Seed and cut in half one
pound of the best bloom raisins; and pick, wash, and dry before the
fire, a pound of Zante currants, (commonly called plums.) Dredge the
fruit well with flour, to prevent its sinking or clogging. Take one
pound of fresh beef suet, freed from the skin and strings, and chopped
_very fine_; a pint of grated bread-crumbs, and half a pint of sifted
flour; a large quarter of a pound of the best sugar, a large
table-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed, and two powdered
nutmegs--all the spice steeped in a half pint of mixed wine and brandy.
Put away these ingredients separately, closely covered, and let them
stand undisturbed all night. Next morning proceed to finish the pudding,
which requires at least six hours boiling. Beat nine eggs till very
thick and smooth, then add gradually a pint of rich milk, in turn with
the bread-crumbs and flour. Mix with the sugar the grated yellow rind
and juice of two large lemons or two oranges, and add gradually to the
mixture all the ingredients, stirring very hard. If you find it too
thick, add by degrees some more milk; if too thin, some more
bread-crumbs. But take care not to have too much bread or flour, or the
pudding will be solid and heavy. Dip a large strong cloth in boiling
water; shake it out, and spread it in a large pan. Dredge it lightly
with flour, and pour in the mixture. Tie it tightly, but leave
sufficient space for the pudding to swell in boiling. Put it into a pot
of fast-boiling water, and boil it steadily six hours or more, not
taking it up till wanted for table. Before turning it, dip the cloth for
a moment in cold water to make the pudding come out easily. Have ready
some slips of citron or of blanched sweet almonds, or both, and stick
them, liberally, all over the surface of the pudding after you have
dished it. Serve it up with wine sauce highly flavored, or with butter
and sugar beaten to a cream, and seasoned with nutmeg and rose. Do not
set the pudding on fire to burn out the liquor; that practice has had
its day, and is over. It was always foolish.
If you wish to send it to a distant place, (for instance, to some part
of the world where plum puddings are not known or not made) you may
preserve it, (after boiling it well,) by leaving it tied up in the cloth
it was cooked in; hanging it up in a cool dry place, and then packing it
well in a tin vessel having a close fitting cover. Paste a band of thick
white paper all around the place where the lid shuts down, and put into
a tight box the vessel that contains the pudding. When it arrives at its
destination, the friend who receives it will pare off thinly the
outside, and tying up the pudding in a fresh clean cloth, will boil it
over again for an hour or more; and when done the surface may be then
decorated with slips of citron or almond. It has been said that in this
way a plum pudding can be kept for _six_ months, as good as ever. It
cannot. But it may keep six _weeks_. Do not _fry_ or _broil_ plum
pudding that is left at dinner. The slices will be greasy and heavy. But
tie the piece that remains in a small cloth, and _boil_ it over again
for an hour. It will then be nearly as good as on the first day. Believe
in no wonders that you hear, of the long keeping of either plum pudding,
plum cake, or mince meat, which are all of the same family. However long
they may be preserved from absolute decomposition, these things are
always best when fresh.
MINCE PIES.--The best mince meat is made of fresh beef's tongue boiled,
peeled, and when quite cold, chopped very fine. The next best is of
beef's heart boiled and chopped. The next of cold roast beef. And the
next, of the lean of cold boiled beef, quite fresh, and cooked
especially for the purpose. All the meat must be fresh, and not minced
till entirely cold. To two large pounds of lean meat allow two small
pounds of nice kidney suet, cleared from skin and strings, and chopped
very small; two pounds of fine juicy apples, pared, cored, and minced;
two pounds of Zante currants, washed, and picked clean; two pounds of
fine bloom raisins, seeded and chopped, or of seedless sultana raisins
cut in half; two pounds of the best sugar; two large nutmegs, powdered;
a table-spoonful of ground cinnamon; the same quantity of ground ginger,
with the juice and grated yellow rind of six large lemons, or the juice
of six oranges, and their grated rind; a pint of Madeira or sherry, and
half a pint of brandy; lastly, half a pound of citron cut into slips,
rather large. If the citron is chopped small it cannot be distinguished
among the other ingredients, and its flavor is lost. When all is
prepared, mix well in a large pan the chopped meat, suet, and fruit.
Then, gradually add the spice, having steeped it in the liquor all the
preceding night, mixing the whole thoroughly, and putting in the citron
at the last. Line with fine puff-paste deep pie-dishes, or patty-pans.
Fill them, quite full of the mince, heaping it higher towards the
centre; and put on a lid, handsomely decorated with puff-paste
ornaments, and having a cross slit in the centre surrounded with paste
leaves or flowers. Set the pies immediately into a moderately brisk
oven, and bake them a light brown. Eat them warm. If baked the preceding
day, heat them again before they go to table. The foolish custom of
setting the pies on fire after they come to table, and causing a blue
blaze to issue from the liquor that is in them, is now obsolete, and
considered ungenteel and tavern-like. If this practice originated in a
polite desire to _frighten the ladies_, its purpose is already a
failure, for the ladies are not frightened; that is, not really.
Mincemeat will taste more fresh and pleasant if the apples are not added
till the day the pies are made. It should be kept well-secured from air
and damp, in stone jars closely covered. Whenever a jar is opened to
take out some for immediate use, pour in a large glass or two of brandy,
and stir it about. It is not true that mincemeat will keep all winter,
even by this preservative. It is sure to become musty (or worse,) before
two months. It is best to make fresh mincemeat at least three times
during the season. When the cold weather is over, do not attempt it,
unless a little for immediate use.
Mincemeat, with a double portion of excellent raisins, (cut in half,)
will do very well without currants, which are very troublesome to
prepare; and those imported of late years are rarely of good quality.
We have heard of West India mincemeat made with cold roast turkey;
chopped pine-apple; grated cocoa-nut; preserved ginger chopped, and
moistened with its own syrup; and seasoned with nutmeg and noyau.
The above mince pies are for company.
CALF'S FEET JELLY.--Select the largest and best calf's feet. Four is
called a set. Choose those that, after the hair has been well scalded
and scraped off, are prepared with the skins left on. There is much
glutinous substance in the skin itself, therefore it adds to the
strength and firmness of the jelly. The feet being made perfectly clean,
split them upwards as far as you can, and put them to boil in a gallon
of _very clear_ soft water. Boil them till they have all gone to pieces,
and the flesh is reduced to rags, and the liquid to one half. Strain the
liquid through a fine sieve into a white-ware pan, and set it away to
cool. When quite cold, it should be a cake of firm jelly. Take it out,
and scrape from it all the fat at the top and sediment at the bottom.
Press on the surface, some clean blotting paper, to remove any grease
that may yet remain about it. Cut the cake of jelly into pieces, and put
it into a _very clean_ porcelain kettle, with a large pint of sherry,
(inferior wine will spoil it,) a pound of the best loaf sugar, broken
small; the yellow rind of six lemons, pared so thin as to be
transparent, and their juice squeezed over the sugar through a strainer;
the _whites_ of six or seven eggs, with their shells mashed small. If
the jelly is to be moulded, add a quarter ounce of the best Russia
isinglass. Boil together all these ingredients for near twenty minutes.
Then take it off the fire, and let it stand undisturbed for about five
minutes, to settle. Next, have ready a pointed jelly bag, made of clean
white flannel. Spread it open, suspended by strings to a table edge. Set
a large tureen or white-ware pan beneath it, and let the jelly drip as
long as it will; but on no account squeeze or press the bag, as that
will spoil all, rendering the whole jelly cloudy or streaked. If it is
not quite clear at the first straining, empty the contents of the bag
into a basin, wash the bag clean, hang it up again, pour the jelly back,
wash the tureen or pan, and let the jelly pass into it again. Repeat
this straining if necessary. When quite clear, shape the jelly in
white-ware moulds, which have been setting two hours in cold water. When
the jelly is wanted, wrap round the moulds for a moment, a cloth dipped
in warm water, and turn it out on glass dishes. The ingredients that are
left in the bag may be boiled and strained over again for children. If
the jelly is _not_ to be moulded, you may omit the isinglass. In that
case break it up, and serve it in a glass bowl. It is now the general
opinion that jellies have a more lively taste when broken up, from the
numerous acute angles they present to the tongue and palate. We think
this opinion correct; and also they look brighter and more glittering,
and _go farther_.
_Apple Jelly_--Is far less expensive than that of calf's feet, and if
well made looks beautifully. It requires the very best and most juicy
apples, (for instance, two dozen large pippins or bell-flowers.) Wash
and wipe them well, (removing all blemishes,) pare, core, and slice or
quarter them. Put them into a _bain-marie_ or double kettle, with the
water outside, and let them boil till broken and dissolved, putting in
with them the grated yellow rind of four large lemons. Press and mash
the stewed apples through a very clean sieve, till you have extracted
all the juice. Measure it while warm, and allow to each quart a pound of
the finest powdered and sifted loaf sugar well mixed in, and the juice
of the lemons. Transfer it to a clean white flannel jelly bag, and let
it drip into a large white-ware pan. When quite clear, put it into
moulds, and set it on ice to congeal. When wanted, turn it out of the
moulds, (loosened by wrapping round their outsides cloths dipped a
minute in warm water) and serve it up in glass dishes.
_Siberian Jelly._--A fine pink-colored jelly may be made in the above
manner, of the red Siberian crab-apple, but it requires an _additional_
quarter of a pound of sugar to a pint of juice. Instead of lemon you may
flavor it, (after all the juice has done dripping) by mixing with
extract of rose, or strong rose-water, allowing a wine-glassful to each
quart of jelly. Rose-water, or extract of rose, evaporates so speedily
when over the fire, that it should never be added till the very last.
_Orange Jelly_--Is made in the proportion of a pint of strained orange
juice to a pound of loaf sugar, boiled with an ounce of isinglass, that
has first been melted over the fire by itself in a very little water.
Add the _yellow_ rind of the oranges pared from the white as thin as
possible. Give it one boil up, and strain it into the jelly-bag. When
clear, transfer it to moulds. Twelve large oranges will generally yield
a pint of juice. Lemon jelly is made in the same manner, but with more
sugar.
CURRANT JELLY.--The currants should be large, fine, and fully ripe. The
best and sweetest currants grow in the shade; and the largest, also. If
exposed to the full heat of our American sun, it turns them sour, dries
up the juice, and withers their growth. Gather them when fully ripe,
strip them from the stems into a cullender, and wash and drain them.
Transfer them to a large pan, and mash them well with a wooden beetle.
Then put the currants, with their juice, into a _bain-marie_ or double
kettle, and cook them with the water outside, stirring them hard to
bring out the juice. Simmer them for a quarter of an hour, and then
transfer them to a very clean sieve, and press them over a pan till no
more juice appears. Measure the juice, and to each pint allow a pound of
broken-up loaf sugar. Mix the sugar with the juice, put all into a
porcelain kettle, and boil it till the scum ceases to rise. If the sugar
is of excellent quality, (the best double-refined should be used for all
nice sweetmeats) it will need but little skimming, and leave no sediment
when poured off. Boil it twenty minutes with the sugar. To try if it is
done, take up a spoonful and hold it out in the open air. If it congeals
very soon, it is cooked enough. Put it warm into glass tumblers. Cut out
some white tissue paper into double rounds, exactly fitting the glasses.
Press these papers lightly on the surface of the jelly; and, next day,
tie over the top thick papers dipped in brandy, and set them in the sun
all that day if the weather is bright and warm.
All jellies of small fruit may be made in a similar manner; first
boiling the fruit by itself, and mashing it to get out all the juice.
Then boiling the berries again, _with the sugar_, for about twenty
minutes. The above receipt is equally good for grapes, blackberries, and
gooseberries. Black currant jelly (excellent for sore throats,) requires
but three quarters of a pound of sugar, the juice being very thick of
itself. Peaches, plums, damsons, and green gages, must be scalded,
peeled, and stoned, before boiling for jelly, and they require, at
least, a pound and a half of sugar to a pint of juice. It is better to
preserve them as marmalade than as jelly. Strawberries and raspberries
require no previous cooking; mash out the juice, strain it, allow a
pound of sugar to every pint of juice, and then boil them together
(skimming carefully) for about a quarter of an hour, or till they
congeal on being tried in the air.
WINE JELLY.--Wine jellies are seldom made except for company. The wine
must be of excellent quality; either port, madeira, or champagne. To a
quart of wine allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf sugar, and
an ounce of the best Russian isinglass. Melt the sugar (broken small) in
the wine. Melt the isinglass by itself in as much warm water as will
just cover it, and when quite dissolved, stir it into the mixed wine and
sugar. Boil all together, till on trial it becomes a firm jelly, which
will be very soon. If it does not congeal well, add some more dissolved
isinglass, and more sugar. Serve in moulds, and eat it on saucers. Jelly
is made in this manner of any nice sort of _liqueur_ or cordial. Also of
strong green tea, or very strong coffee; first made as usual, and then
boiled with loaf sugar and isinglass till they congeal. We do not
recommend them, except as some exhilaration to the fatigue of a party.
TRIFLE.--This is a very nice and very elegant party dish, and is served
in a large glass bowl. Put into the bottom of the bowl a pound of bitter
almond maccaroons. Pour on sufficient madeira or sherry to dissolve
them. Let them soak in it till soft and broken. Have ready a very rich
custard, flavored with vanilla bean (broken up and boiled by itself in a
little milk), and then strained into the quart of milk prepared for the
custard, which should be of ten eggs, (_using only the yolks_) and
sweetened with a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf sugar. It is best
and easiest to _bake_ the custard. It will be very rich and soft with
yolk of egg only. When the custard is cold lay it on the dissolved
maccaroons. Then add a thick layer of very nice marmalade. Rub off the
yellow rind of a large lemon or two on some pieces of loaf sugar, and
add to it some powdered sugar mixed with the lemon juice. Whip to a
strong froth a large quart (or more) of rich cream, gradually mixing
with it the lemon and sugar. Lastly, pile up the frothed cream high on
the glass bowl, and keep it on ice till it is sent to table. Instead of
lemon you may flavor the whipt cream with rose-water; it will require,
if not very strong, a wine-glassful. To give the cream a fine pink
color, tie up some alkanet chips in a thin muslin bag; lay the bag to
infuse in a tea-cup of plain cream, and then add the pink infusion to
the quart of cream as you froth it.
BLANCMANGE.--The best and finest blancmange is made with a set of
calves' feet, (singed but not skinned) boiled slowly in a gallon of
water till the meat drops from the bone; then strain it, and set it away
till next day, in a broad white-ware pan. Skim it well while boiling.
Next day it should be a solid cake of clear jelly. Scrape off all the
fat and sediment from the outside, cut the jelly into small bits, and
melt it over again. Boil in a porcelain kettle a pint of cream, and
when it has come to a boil, stir in six ounces of loaf sugar, and
whatever you intend for flavoring; either the milk, in which a handful
of bitter almonds has been boiled, (first being blanched and broken up)
or a vanilla bean split and cut to pieces, and boiled in a little milk
and strained. Or, it may be mixed with three ounces of chocolate,
(Baker's prepared cocoa is the best) scraped fine. When the flavoring
has had a boil with the sugar, stir into it, gradually, the melted
jelly, and transfer it to white-ware moulds that have set in cold water,
and are still damp. Stir it well, and when the blancmange is thickening,
and becoming hard to stir, set the moulds on ice, or in pans of cold
water in the cellar, and cease stirring. When quite congealed, dip the
moulds in lukewarm water, and turn out the blancmange on glass dishes.
You may color almond or vanilla blancmange a fine pink, by putting into
the cream chips of alkanet root tied in a small thin muslin bag, to be
removed as soon as the cream is highly colored. Or, it may be made green
by the infusion of spinach juice, obtained by pounding in a marble
mortar, and then boiling and straining.
Gelatine is now frequently used for blancmange and jelly, instead of
calves' feet or isinglass. It has no advantage but that of being more
speedily prepared than calves' feet, which must be boiled the day
before. Four cakes of gelatine are equal to four calves' feet. Before
using, they must be soaked for an hour or more in a pan of cold water,
then boiled with the other ingredients. Some persons think they
perceive an unpleasant taste in gelatine; perhaps they have heard of
what it is made.
When calves' feet cannot be obtained, pigs' feet will do very well, if
nobody knows it. Four feet of calves are equal to eight of pigs. They
are very glutinous, and have no perceptible taste.
FINEST BLANCMANGE.--Break up a half pound of the best double-refined
loaf sugar. On some of the pieces rub off the yellow rind of two large
lemons, having rolled them under your hand to increase the juice. Then
powder all the sugar, and mix with it, gradually, the juice of the
lemons, a pint of rich cream, and a large half pint (not less) of sherry
or madeira. Stir the mixture very hard till all the articles are
thoroughly amalgamated. Then stir in, gradually, a _second_ pint of
cream. Put into a small sauce-pan an ounce of the best Russia isinglass,
with one jill (or two common-sized wineglasses) of cold water. Boil it
till the isinglass is completely dissolved, stirring it several times
down to the bottom. When the melted isinglass has become lukewarm, stir
it gradually into the mixture, and then give the whole a hard stirring.
Have ready some white-ware moulds that have just been dipped and rinsed
in cold water. Fill them with the mixture, set them on ice, and in two
or three hours the blancmange will be congealed. When it is perfectly
firm, dip the moulds for a minute in lukewarm water, and turn out the
blancmange on glass dishes. This, if accurately made, is the finest of
blancmange. For company, you must have double, or treble, or four times
the quantity of ingredients; each article in due proportion.
FARINA.--Farina is a very fine and delicate preparation, made from the
inner part of the grain of new wheat. It is exceedingly nutritious, and
excellent either for invalids or for persons in health. It is now much
in use, and is to be had, in packages of a pound or half a pound, of the
best grocers and druggists, and is highly recommended by physicians for
gruel and panade. It also makes an excellent pudding, either boiled or
baked, prepared in the same manner as any flour pudding. For boiling
farina, nothing is so good as a _bain-marie_ or double kettle.
_For Farina Blancmange._--From a quart of rich milk take out a half
pint. Put the half pint into a small sauce-pan, and add to it a handful
of bitter almonds broken up; or a bunch of fresh peach leaves, or a
vanilla bean split, cut up, and tied in a thin muslin bag. When this
milk has boiled till very highly flavored, strain it into the pint and a
half, and set it over the fire in a porcelain kettle or a _bain-marie_.
When the milk has come to a boil, sprinkle in, gradually, a large half
pint or more (or four large heaping table-spoonfuls) of farina, stirring
it well--also sprinkling in and stirring, as if making thick mush. Let
it boil slowly a quarter of an hour after the farina is all in. When
done, remove it from the fire, and stir in two large table-spoonfuls of
sugar, and a wineglass of rose-water, or one of white wine. Transfer it
to a blancmange mould, (previously wet with cold water,) set it on ice,
and turn it out when ready for dinner. Eat it with sauce of wine, sugar,
and nutmeg.
FINE MARROW PUDDING.--Mince very small a quarter of a pound of nice beef
marrow, and grate or crumble half a pound of almond sponge cake. Cut in
half, a quarter of a pound of sultana or seedless raisins, chop two
peels of candied citron, mix them with the raisins, and dredge both
thickly with flour. Add a large heaped table-spoonful of loaf sugar, a
small nutmeg grated, and a wineglass of mixed wine and brandy. Mix all
these ingredients well, put them into a deep dish, lay a border of
puff-paste all round the rim, and fill the dish up to the top with a
nice custard made in the proportion of four eggs to a pint of
well-sweetened milk, flavored with either bitter almonds, rose-water,
peach-water, or vanilla. Bake this pudding half an hour. When cool, sift
sugar over it.
OMELETTE SOUFFLÉ.--Break six eggs, separating the yolks and whites. Give
them a slight stir, and strain the whites into one pan and the yolks
into another. Add to the yolks three large table-spoonfuls of powdered
loaf sugar, a heaped tea-spoonful of arrow-root flour, and twelve drops
of strong orange-flower water, and beat it till very thick and smooth.
Then beat the whites to a stiff froth, beginning slowly at first, but
gradually beating faster. Then add the beaten yolk very gently to the
whites. Have ready a silver or plated dish well-buttered. Use tin for
want of better, but it will not look well, as the omelette has to be
served up in the dish it was baked in. Place the dish with the mixture
in a hot oven, and watch it while baking. When it has well risen, and
seems very light, take it out of the oven for a moment; run a knife
round it, sift some sugar over it, set it again in the oven, and when
raised to its utmost take it out again, and serve it up as hot as
possible, with a spoon on the plate beside it. When once broken, it will
sink immediately. It is usual to send round the omelette soufflé at the
very last of the pastry course; the cook not beginning to make it till
the dinner has commenced. If not light when baked, give it up, and do
not send it to table at all. It is safest for an inexperienced housewife
to engage a French cook to come to the house with his own ingredients
and utensils, and make and bake the omelette soufflé while there. Still
though very fashionable, it is less delicious than many other desserts.