little mace, cinnamon and lemon peel. When cold, mix the yolks of three
eggs, and sweeten the custard. Make the cups or paste nearly full, and
bake them ten minutes.
BAKED HERRINGS. Wash and drain, without wiping them; and when drawn,
they should not be opened. Season with allspice in fine powder, salt,
and a few whole cloves. Lay them in a pan with plenty of black pepper,
an onion, and a few bay leaves. Add half vinegar and half small beer,
enough to cover them. Put paper over the pan, and bake in a slow oven.
If it be wished to make them look red, throw a little saltpetre over
them the night before.
BAKED MILK. A very useful article may be made for weakly and consumptive
persons in the following manner. Put a gallon of milk into a jar, tie
white paper over it, and let it stand all night in the oven when baking
is over. Next morning it will be as thick as cream, and may be drank two
or three times a day.
BAKED PEARS. Those least fit to eat raw, are often the best for baking.
Do not pare them, but wipe and lay them on tin plates, and bake them in
a slow oven. When done enough to bear it, flatten them with a silver
spoon; and when done through, put them on a dish. They should be baked
three or four times, and very gently.
BAKED PIKE. Scale and open it as near the throat as possible, and then
put in the following stuffing. Grated bread, herbs, anchovies, oysters,
suet, salt, pepper, mace, half a pint of cream, four yolks of eggs; mix
all over the fire till it thickens, and then sow it up in the fish.
Little bits of butter should be scattered over it, before it is sent to
the oven. Serve it with gravy sauce, butter and anchovy. In carving a
pike, if the back and belly be slit up, and each slice drawn gently
downwards, fewer bones will be given at table.
BAKED SOUP. A cheap and plentiful dish for poor families, or to give
away, may be made of a pound of any kind of meat cut in slices, with two
onions, two carrots sliced, two ounces of rice, a pint of split peas, or
whole ones if previously soaked, seasoned with pepper and salt. Put the
whole into an earthen jug or pan, adding a gallon of water: cover it
very close, and bake it.
BALM WINE. Boil three pounds of lump sugar in a gallon of water; skim it
clean, put in a handful of balm, and boil it ten minutes. Strain it off,
cool it, put in some yeast, and let it stand two days. Add the rind and
juice of a lemon, and let it stand in the cask six months.
BALSAMIC VINEGAR. One of the best remedies for wounds or bruises is the
balsamic or anti-putrid vinegar, which is made in the following manner.
Take a handful of sage leaves and flowers, the same of lavender, hyssop,
thyme, and savory; two heads of garlic, and a handful of salt. These are
to be infused in some of the best white-wine vinegar; and after
standing a fortnight or three weeks, it will be fit for use.
BANBURY CAKES. Work a pound of butter into a pound of white-bread dough,
the same as for puff paste; roll it out very thin, and cut it into bits
of an even form, the size intended for the cakes. Moisten some powder
sugar with a little brandy, mix in some clean currants, put a little of
it on each bit of paste, close them up, and bake them on a tin. When
they are taken out, sift some fine sugar over them.
BARBERRIES, when preserved for tarts, must be picked clean from the
stalks, choosing such as are free from stones. To every pound of fruit,
weigh three quarters of a pound of lump sugar; put the fruit into a
stone jar, and either set it on a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of water,
and let them simmer very slowly till soft. Then put them and the sugar
into a preserving-pan, and boil them gently fifteen minutes.--To
preserve barberries in bunches, prepare some fleaks of white wool, three
inches long, and a quarter of an inch wide. Tie the stalks of the fruit
on the stick, from within an inch of one end to beyond the other, so as
to make them look handsome. Simmer them in some syrup two successive
days, covering them each time with it when cold. When they look clear,
they are simmered enough. The third day, they should be treated like
other candied fruit. See CANDIED.
BARBERRY DROPS. Cut off the black tops, and roast the fruit before the
fire, till it is soft enough to pulp with a silver spoon through a sieve
into a china bason. Then set the bason in a saucepan of water, the top
of which will just fit it, or on a hot hearth, and stir it till it grows
thick. When cold, put to every pint a pound and a half of double refined
sugar, pounded and sifted through a lawn sieve, which must be covered
with a fine linen, to prevent waste while sifting. Beat the sugar and
juice together three hours and a half if a large quantity, but two and a
half for less. Then drop it on sheets of white thick paper, the size of
drops sold in the shops. Some fruit is not so sour, and then less sugar
is necessary. To know when there is enough, mix till well incorporated,
and then drop. If it run, there is not enough sugar; and if there be too
much, it will be rough. A dry room will suffice to dry them. No metal
must touch the juice but the point of a knife, just to take the drop off
the end of the wooden spoon, and then as little as possible.
BARLEY BROTH. Wash three quarters of a pound of Scotch barley in a
little cold water, put it in a soup pot with a shin or leg of beef, or a
knuckle of veal of about ten pounds weight, sawn into four pieces. Cover
it with cold water, and set it on the fire; when it boils skim it very
clean, and put in two onions. Set it by the side of the fire to simmer
very gently about two hours; then skim off all the fat, put in two heads
of celery, and a large turnip cut into small squares. Season it with
salt, let it boil an hour and a half longer, and it is done. Take out
the meat carefully with a slice, cover it up and keep it warm by the
fire, and skim the broth well before it is put into the tureen. This
dish is much admired in Scotland, where it is regarded, not only as
highly nutricious, but as a necessary article of domestic economy: for
besides the excellent soup thus obtained, the meat also becomes an
agreeable dish, served up with sauce in the following manner. Reserve a
quart of the soup, put about an ounce of flour into a stewpan, pour the
liquor to it by degrees, stirring it well together till it boils. Add a
glass of port wine or mushroom ketchup, and let it gently boil up;
strain the sauce through a sieve over the meat, and add to it some
capers, minced gherkins, or walnuts. The flavour may be varied or
improved, by the addition of a little curry powder, ragout, or any other
store sauces.
BARLEY GRUEL. Wash four ounces of pearl barley, boil it in two quarts of
water and a stick of cinnamon, till reduced to a quart. Strain and
return it into the saucepan with some sugar, and three quarters of a
pint of port wine. It may be warmed up, and used as wanted.
BARLEY SUGAR. This well known article of confectionary is made in the
following manner. Put some common or clarified syrup into a saucepan
with a spout, such as for melting butter, if little is wanted to be
made, and boil it till it comes to what is called carimel, carefully
taking off whatever scum may arise; and having prepared a marble stone,
either with butter or sweet oil, just sufficiently to prevent sticking,
pour the syrup gently along the marble, in long sticks of whatever
thickness may be desired. While hot, twist it at each end; and let it
remain till cold, when it will be fit for immediate use. The rasped rind
of lemon, boiled up in the syrup, gives a very agreeable flavour to
barley sugar; and indeed the best is commonly so prepared.
BARLEY WATER. Wash a handful of common barley, then simmer it gently in
three pints of water, with a bit of lemon peel. Or boil an ounce of
pearl barley a few minutes to cleanse it, and then put on it a quart of
water. Simmer it an hour: when half done, put into it a piece of fresh
lemon peel, and one bit of sugar. If likely to be thick, add a quarter
of a pint of water, and a little lemon juice, if approved. This makes a
very pleasant drink for a sick person; but the former is less apt to
nauseate.
BASIL VINEGAR. Sweet basil is in full perfection about the middle of
August, when the fresh green leaves should be gathered, and put into a
wide-mouthed bottle. Cover the leaves with vinegar, and let them steep
for ten days. If it be wished to have the infusion very strong, strain
out the liquor, put in some fresh leaves, and let them steep for ten
days more. This is a very agreeable addition to sauces and soups, and to
the mixture usually made for salads.
BASILICON. Yellow basilicon is made of equal quantities of bees-wax,
white rosin, and frankincense. Melt them together over a slow fire, add
the same weight of fresh lard, and strain it off while it is warm. This
ointment is used for cleansing and healing wounds and ulcers.
BASKET SALT. This fine and delicate article is chiefly made from the
salt springs in Cheshire, and differs from the common brine salt,
usually called sea salt, not only in its whiteness and purity, but in
the fineness of its grain. Some families entertain prejudices against
basket salt, notwithstanding its superior delicacy, from an idea, which
does not appear warranted, that pernicious articles are used in its
preparation; it may therefore be proper to mention, that by dissolving
common salt, again evaporating into dryness, and then reducing it to
powder in a mortar, a salt nearly equal to basket salt may be obtained,
fine and of a good colour, and well adapted to the use of the table.
BATH BUNS. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of fine flour, with
five eggs, and three spoonfuls of thick yeast. Set it before the fire to
rise; then add a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, and an ounce of
carraway seeds. Mix them well in, roll it out in little cakes, strew on
carraway comfits, and bake on tins.
BATTER PUDDING. Rub by degrees three spoonfuls of fine flour extremely
smooth, into a pint of milk. Simmer till it thickens, stir it in two
ounces of butter, set it to cool, and then add the yolks of three eggs.
Flour a wet cloth, or butter a bason, and put the batter into it. Tie it
tight, and plunge it into boiling water, the bottom upwards. Boil it an
hour and a half, and serve with plain butter. If a little ginger,
nutmeg, and lemon peel be added, serve with sweet sauce.
BEAN BREAD. Blanch half a pound of almonds, and put them into water to
preserve their colour. Cut the almonds edgeways, wipe them dry, and
sprinkle over them half a pound of fine loaf sugar pounded and sifted.
Beat up the white of an egg with two spoonfuls of orange-flower water,
moisten the almonds with the froth, lay them lightly on wafer paper, and
bake them on tins.
BEAN PUDDING. Boil and blanch some old green-beans, beat them in a
mortar, with very little pepper and salt, some cream, and the yolk of an
egg. A little spinach-juice will give a finer colour, but it is as good
without. Boil it an hour, in a bason that will just hold it; pour
parsley and butter over, and serve it up with bacon.
BEE HIVES. Common bee hives made of straw are generally preferred,
because they are not likely to be overheated by the rays of the sun;
they will also keep out the cold better than wood, and are cheaper than
any other material. As cleanliness however is of great consequence in
the culture of these delicate and industrious insects, the bottom or
floor of the hive should be covered with gypsum or plaster of Paris, of
which they are very fond; and the outside of their habitation should be
overspread with a cement made of two-thirds of cow-dung, and one-third
of ashes. This coating will exclude noxious insects, which would
otherwise perforate and lodge in the straw; it will also secure the bees
from cold and wet, while it exhales an odour which to them is very
grateful. The inner part of the hive should be furnished with two thin
pieces of oak, or peeled branches of lime tree, placed across each other
at right angles, which will greatly facilitate the construction of the
combs, and support them when filled with honey. A good bee-hive ought to
be so planned as to be capable of enlargement or contraction, according
to the number of the swarm; to admit of being opened without disturbing
the bees, either for the purpose of cleaning it, of freeing it from
noxious insects, or for the admission of a stock of provision for the
winter. It should also admit of the produce being removed without injury
to the bees, and be internally clean, smooth, and free from flaws. A
hive of this description may easily be made of three or four open square
boxes, fastened to each other with buttons or wooden pegs, and the
joints closed with cement. The whole may be covered with a moveable
roof, projecting over the boxes to carry off the rain, and kept firm on
the top by a stone being laid upon it. If the swarm be not very
numerous, two or three boxes will be sufficient. They should be made of
wood an inch thick, that the bees and wax may be less affected by the
changes of the atmosphere. This hive is so easily constructed, that it
is only necessary to join four boards together in the simplest manner;
and a little cement will cover all defects. Within the upper part of the
boxes, two bars should be fixed across from one corner to another, to
support the combs. At the lower end of each box in front, there must be
an aperture, or door, about an inch and an half wide, and as high as is
necessary for the bees to pass without obstruction. The lowest is to be
left open as a passage for the bees, and the others are to be closed by
a piece of wood fitted to the aperture. A hive thus constructed may be
enlarged or diminished, according to the number of boxes; and a
communication with the internal part can readily be effected by removing
the cover.
BEE HOUSE. An apiary or bee house should front the south, in a situation
between the extremes of heat and cold. It should stand in a valley, that
the bees may with greater ease descend loaded on their return to the
hive; and near a dwelling-house, but at a distance from noise and
offensive smells; surrounded with a low wall, and in the vicinity of
shallow water. If there be no running stream at hand, they ought to be
supplied with water in troughs or pans, with small stones laid at the
bottom, that the bees may alight upon them and drink. They cannot
produce either combs, honey, or food for their maggots, without water;
but the neighbourhood of rivers or ponds with high banks ought to be
avoided, or the bees will be blown into the water with high winds, and
be drowned. Care should also be taken to place the hives in a
neighbourhood which abounds with such plants as will supply the bees
with food; such as the oak, the pine, the willow, fruit trees, furze,
broom, mustard, clover, heath, and thyme, particularly borage, which
produces an abundance of farina. The garden in which the bee house
stands, should be well furnished with scented plants and flowers, and
branchy shrubs, that it may be easy to hive the swarms which may settle
on them. See BEES, HIVING, &c.
BEEF. In every sort of provisions, the best of the kind goes the
farthest; it cuts out with most advantage, and affords most nourishment.
The best way to obtain a good article is to deal with shops of
established credit. You may perhaps pay a little more than by purchasing
of those who pretend to sell cheap, but you will be more than in
proportion better served. To prevent imposition more effectually,
however, it is necessary to form our own judgment of the quality and
value of the articles to be purchased. If the flesh of ox-beef is young,
it will show a fine smooth open grain, be of a good red, and feel
tender. The fat should look white rather than yellow, for when that is
of a deep colour, the meat is seldom good. Beef fed with oil cakes is
generally so, and the flesh is loose and flabby. The grain of cow-beef
is closer, and the fat whiter, than that of ox-beef; but the lean is not
so bright a red. The grain of bull-beef is closer still, the fat hard
and skinny, the lean of a deep red, and a stronger scent. Ox-beef is the
reverse; it is also the richest and the largest; but in small families,
and to some tastes, heifer-beef as better still, if finely fed. In old
meat there is a horny streak in the ribs of beef: the harder that is,
the older: and the flesh is not finely flavoured.
BEEF BOUILLI. A term given to boiled beef, which, according to the
French fashion, is simmered over a slow fire, for the purpose of
extracting a rich soup, while at the same time the meat makes its
appearance at table, in possession of a full portion of nutricious
succulence. This requires nothing more than to stew the meat very
slowly, instead of keeping the pot quickly boiling, and taking up the
beef as soon as it is done enough. Meat cooked in this manner, affords
much more nourishment than when dressed in the common way, and is easy
of digestion in proportion to its tenderness. The leg or shin, or the
middle of a brisket of beef, weighing seven or eight pounds, is best
adapted for this purpose. Put it into a soup pot or deep stewpan with
cold water enough to cover it, and a quart over. Set it on a quick fire
to get the scum up, which remove as it rises; then put in two carrots,
two turnips, two leeks, or two large onions, two heads of celery, two
or three cloves, and a faggot of parsley and sweet herbs. Set the pot by
the side of the fire to simmer very gently, till the meat is just tender
enough to eat: this will require four or five hours. When the beef is
done, take it up carefully with a slice, cover it up, and keep it warm
by the fire. Thicken a pint and a half of the beef liquor with three
table spoonfuls of flour, season it with pepper, a glass of port wine or
mushroom ketchup, or both, and pour it over the beef. Strain the soup
through a hair sieve into a clean stewpan, take off the fat, cut the
vegetables into small squares, and add them to the soup, the flavour of
which may be heightened, by adding a table-spoonful of ketchup.
BEEF BROTH. If intended for sick persons, it is better to add other
kinds of meat, which render it more nourishing and better flavoured.
Take then two pounds of lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound
of scrag of mutton, some sweet herbs, and ten pepper corns, and put the
whole into a nice tin saucepan, with five quarts of water. Simmer it to
three quarts, clear it from the fat when cold, and add an onion if
approved. If there be still any fat remaining, lay a piece of clean
blotting or writing paper on the broth when in the bason, and it will
take up every particle of the fat.
BEEF CAKES, chiefly intended for a side-dish of dressed meat. Pound some
beef that is under done, with a little fat bacon or ham. Season with
pepper, salt, a little shalot or garlick; mix them well, and make the
whole into small cakes three inches long, and half as wide and thick.
Fry them to a light brown, and serve them in good thick gravy.
BEEF CECILS. Mince some beef with crumbs of bread, a quantity of onions,
some anchovies, lemon peel, salt, nutmeg, chopped parsley, pepper, and
a bit of warmed butter. Mix these over the fire a few minutes: when cool
enough, make them into balls of the size and shape of a turkey's egg,
with an egg. Sprinkle them with fine crumbs, fry them of a yellow brown,
and serve with gravy, as for Beef Olives.
BEEF COLLOPS. Cut thin slices of beef from the rump, or any other tender
part, and divide them into pieces three inches long: beat them with the
blade of a knife, and flour them. Fry the collops quick in butter two
minutes; then lay them into a small stewpan, and cover them with a pint
of gravy. Add a bit of butter rubbed in flour, pepper and salt, a little
bit of shalot shred very fine, with half a walnut, four small pickled
cucumbers, and a tea-spoonful of capers cut small. Be careful that the
stew does not boil, and serve in a hot covered dish.
BEEF FRICASSEE. Cut some thin slices of cold roast beef, shred a handful
of parsley very small, cut an onion into quarters, and put them all
together into a stewpan, with a piece of butter, and some strong broth.
Season with salt and pepper, and simmer very gently for a quarter of an
hour. Mix into it the yolks of two eggs, a glass of port wine, and a
spoonful of vinegar: stir it quick, rub the dish with shalot, and turn
the fricassee into it.
BEEF GRAVY. Cover the bottom of a stewpan, clean and well-tinned, with a
slice of good ham or lean bacon, four or five pounds of gravy beef cut
in pieces, an onion, a carrot, two cloves, and a head of celery. Add a
pint of broth or water, cover it close, and simmer it till the liquor is
nearly all exhausted. Turn it about, and let it brown slightly and
equally all over, but do not suffer it to burn or stick to the pan, for
that would spoil the gravy. Then put in three quarts of boiling water;
and when it boils up, skim it carefully, and wipe off with a clean
cloth what sticks round the edge and inside of the stewpan, that the
gravy may be delicately clean and clear. Let it stew gently by the side
of the fire for about four hours, till reduced to two quarts of good
gravy. Take care to skim it well, strain it through silk or muslin, and
set it in a cold place.
BEEF HAMS. Cut the leg of beef like a ham; and for fourteen pounds
weight, mix a pound of salt, a pound of brown sugar, an ounce of
saltpetre, and an ounce of bay salt. Put it into the meat, turn and
baste it every day, and let it lie a month in the pickle. Then take it
out, roll it in bran, and smoke it. Afterwards hang it in a dry place,
and cut off pieces to boil, or broil it with poached eggs.
BEEF HASH. Cut some thin slices of beef that is underdone, with some of
the fat; put it into a small stewpan, with a little onion or shalot, a
little water, pepper and salt. Add some of the gravy, a spoonful of
vinegar, and of walnut ketchup: if shalot vinegar be used, there will be
no need of the onion nor the raw shalot. The hash is only to be simmered
till it is hot through, but not boiled: it is owing to the boiling of
hashes and stews that they get hard. When the hash is well warmed up,
pour it upon sippets of bread previously prepared, and laid in a warm
dish.
BEEF HEART. Wash it carefully, stuff it as a hare, and serve with rich
gravy and currant-jelly sauce. Hash it with the same, and add a little
port wine.
BEEF OLIVES. Take some cold beef that has not been done enough, and cut
slices half an inch thick, and four inches square. Lay on them a
forcemeat of crumbs of bread, shalot, a little suet or fat, pepper and
salt. Roll and fasten them with a small skewer, put them into a stewpan
with some gravy made of the beef bones, or the gravy of the meat, and a
spoonful or two of water, and stew them till tender. Beef olives may
also be made of fresh meat.
BEEF PALATES. Simmer them in water several hours, till they will peel.
Then cut the palates into slices, or leave them whole, and stew them in
a rich gravy till they become as tender as possible. Season with
cayenne, salt and ketchup: if the gravy was drawn clear, add also some
butter and flour. If the palates are to be dressed white, boil them in
milk, and stew them in a fricassee sauce; adding cream, butter, flour,
mushroom powder, and a little pounded mace.
BEEF PASTY. Bone a small rump or part of a sirloin of beef, after
hanging several days. Beat it well with a rolling pin; then rub ten
pounds of meat with four ounces of sugar, and pour over it a glass of
port, and the same of vinegar. Let it lie five days and nights; wash and
wipe the meat very dry, and season it high with pepper and salt, nutmeg
and Jamaica pepper. Lay it in a dish, and to ten pounds add nearly one
pound of butter, spreading it over the meat. Put a crust round the
edges, and cover with a thick one, or it will be overdone before the
meat is soaked: it must be baked in a slow oven. Set the bones in a pan
in the oven, with no more water than will cover them, and one glass of
port, a little pepper and salt, in order to provide a little rich gravy
to add to the pasty when drawn. It will be found that sugar gives more
shortness and a better flavour to meat than salt, too great a quantity
of which hardens; and sugar is quite as good a preservative.
BEEF PATTIES. Shred some dressed beef under done, with a little fat;
season with salt and pepper, and a little shalot or onion. Make a plain
paste, roll it thin, and cut it in shape like an apple puff. Fill it
with mince, pinch the edges, and fry them of a nice brown. The paste
should be made with a small quantity of butter, egg and milk.