order. Set the fish in cold water sufficient to cover it completely,
throw a handful of salt and a glass of vinegar into it, and let it
gradually boil. Be very careful that no blacks fall into it; but skim it
well, and preserve the beautiful colour of the fish. Serve it garnished
with a complete fringe of curled parsley, lemon and horse-radish. The
sauce must be the finest lobster, anchovy and butter, and plain butter,
served plentifully in separate tureens.--If necessary, turbot will keep
two or three days, and be in as high perfection as at first, if lightly
rubbed over with salt, and carefully hung in a cold place.
BOILED TURKEY. A turkey will neither boil white nor eat tender, unless
it has been killed three or four days. Pick it clean, draw it at the
rump, cut off the legs, stick the end of the thighs into the body, and
tie them fast. Flour the turkey, put it into the water while cold, let
it boil gently half an hour or more, take off the scum, and cover the
kettle close. Make the stuffing of grated bread and lemon peel, four
ounces of shred suet, a few chopped oysters, two eggs, and a little
cream. Fill the craw with stuffing, and make the rest into balls, which
are to be boiled and laid round the dish. The stuffing may be made
without oysters; or force-meat or sausage may be used, mixed with crumbs
of bread and yolks of eggs. Celery sauce or white sauce is very proper.
BOILED VEAL. Dredge it with flour, tie it up in a cloth, and put it in
when the water boils. A knuckle requires more boiling in proportion to
its weight, than any other joint, to render the gristle soft and tender.
Parsley and butter, bacon and greens, are commonly eaten with it.
BOILERS. Copper boilers and saucepans are apt to become leaky, when they
have been joined or mended, or from bruises, which sometimes render them
unfit for use. In this case a cement of pounded quicklime, mixed with
ox's blood, applied fresh to the injured part, will be of great
advantage, and very durable. A valuable cement for such purposes may
also be made of equal parts of vinegar and milk mixed together so as to
produce a curd: the whey is then put to the whites of four or five eggs
after they have been well beaten, and the whole reduced to a thick paste
by the addition of some quicklime finely sifted. This composition
applied to cracks or fissures of any kind, and properly dried, will
resist the effects of fire and water.
BOLOGNA SAUSAGES. Cut into small pieces four pounds of lean beef, and
add to it a pound of diced suet, with the same quantity of diced bacon.
Season with allspice, pepper, bay salt, saltpetre, and a little powder
of bay leaves. Mix the whole together, tie the meat up in skins about
the thickness of the wrist, dry the sausages in the same manner as
tongues, and eat them without boiling.
BOLOGNA SOUP. Bind close with packthread, fifteen pounds of brisket of
beef, and put it into a pot with water sufficient to cover it. Then add
three large carrots, some good turnips, four onions, a bunch of sweet
herbs, and half a white cabbage sliced and fried in butter. The pot must
be well scummed before the herbs are put in. It must boil very slowly
for five or six hours; and when half boiled, prepare three or four
pounds of loin of mutton, with all the fat taken off, and put it into
the pot. Flavour the soup with whole pepper, and a head of celery; and
to make it of a good colour, draw the gravy from a pound of lean beef
over a slow fire, and add a ladleful to the soup, first carefully taking
off all the fat. Having cut and dried the crust of a French roll, lay it
in a stewpan with a little soup; and after stewing it over a slow fire,
place it with a slice in the soup tureen. The beef must be untied, and
served up with chopped parsley strewed over it; accompanied also with
gravy sauce, a few capers, and some chopped carrots, thickened with the
yolk of an egg. Add a little seasoning to the soup.
BOOTS. Persons who travel much, or are often exposed to the weather,
must be sensible of the importance of being provided with boots that
will resist the wet. The following is a composition for preserving
leather, the good effects of which are sufficiently ascertained. One
pint of drying oil, two ounces of yellow wax, two ounces of spirit of
turpentine, and half an ounce of Burgundy pitch, should be carefully
melted together over a slow fire. With this mixture, new shoes and boots
are to be rubbed in the sun, or at some distance from the fire, with a
sponge or brush. The operation is to be repeated as often as they become
dry, and until they are fully saturated. In this manner the leather
becomes impervious to the wet: the boots or shoes last much longer than
those of common leather, acquire such softness and pliability that they
never shrivel or grow hard, and in that state are the most effectual
preservation against wet and cold. It is necessary to observe, however,
that boots or shoes thus prepared ought not to be worn till they become
perfectly dry and flexible: otherwise the leather will be too soft, and
the boots unserviceable.
BOOT TOPS. Many of the compositions sold for the purpose of cleaning and
restoring the colour of boot tops, are not found to answer, and are
often injurious to the leather. A safe and easy preparation is made of a
quart of boiled milk, which, when cold, is to be mixed with an ounce of
the oil of vitriol, and an ounce of the spirit of salts, shaken well
together. An ounce of red lavender is then to be added, and the liquid
applied to the leather with a sponge. Or, mix a dram of oxymuriate of
potash with two ounces of distilled water; and when the salt is
dissolved, add two ounces of muriatic acid. Shake together in another
vial, three ounces of rectified spirits of wine, with half an ounce of
the essential oil of lemon, and unite the contents of the two vials,
keeping the liquid closely corked for use. It is to be applied with a
clean sponge, and dried gently; after which the tops may be polished
with a proper brush, so as to appear like new leather. This mixture will
readily take out grease, or any kind of spots, from leather or
parchment.
BOTTLES. The common practice of cleaning glass bottles with shot is
highly improper; for if through inattention any of it should remain,
when the bottles are again filled with wine or cider, the lead will be
dissolved, and the liquor impregnated with its pernicious qualities. A
few ounces of potash dissolved in water will answer the purpose much
better, and clean a great number of bottles. If any impurity adhere to
the sides, a few pieces of blotting paper put into the bottle, and
shaken with the water, will very soon remove it. Another way is to roll
up some pieces of blotting paper, steep them in soap and water, then put
them into bottles or decanters with a little warm water, and shake them
well for a few minutes: after this they will only require to be rinsed
and dried.
BOTTLING LIQUORS. Here the first thing to be attended to is, to see that
the bottles be perfectly clean and dry; if wet, they will spoil the
liquor, and make it turn mouldy. Then, though the bottles should be
clean and dry, yet if the corks be not new and sound, the liquor will be
damaged; for if the air can by any means penetrate, the liquor will grow
flat, and never rise. As soon as a cask of liquor begins to grow vapid,
and to lose its briskness, while it is on the tap, it should be drawn
off immediately into bottles; and in order to quicken it, put a piece of
loaf sugar into every bottle, about the size of a walnut. To forward the
ripening, wrap the bottles in hay, and set them in a warm place; straw
will not answer the purpose. When ale is to be bottled, it will be an
improvement to add a little rice, a few raisins, or a tea-spoonful of
moist sugar to each bottle. In the summer time, if table beer is bottled
as soon as it has done working, it will soon become brisk, and make a
very pleasant and refreshing drink.
BOTTLED CURRANTS. See that the bottles be perfectly clean and dry, and
let the fruit be gathered quite ripe, and when the weather is dry. The
currants should be cut from the large stalks, with the smallest bit of
stalk to each, and care taken not to wound the fruit, that none of the
moisture may escape. It would be best indeed to cut them under the
trees, and let them drop gently into the bottles. Stop up the bottles
with cork and rosin, and trench them in the garden with the neck
downwards: sticks should be placed opposite to where each sort of fruit
begins. Cherries and damsons may be kept in the same way.
BOTTLED GOOSEBERRIES. Pick some smooth gooseberries before they are
quite full grown, put them into gooseberry bottles lightly corked, and
set them up to their necks in a copper of cold water. Put a little hay
round the bottles to prevent their breaking, make a fire under them, and
let the heat increase gradually; let them simmer ten minutes, but not
boil. Take out the fire, and let them remain in the copper till cold.
Then take them out, dry the bottles, rosin down the corks close, and set
them in dry saw-dust with their necks downward.
BRAISING. To braise any kind of meat, put it into a stewpan, and cover
it with fat bacon. Then add six or eight onions, a bundle of herbs,
carrots, celery, any bones or trimmings of meat or fowls, and some
stock. The bacon must be covered with white paper, and the lid of the
pan must be kept close. Set it on a slow stove; and according to what
the meat is, it will require two or three hours. The meat is then to be
taken out, the gravy nicely skimmed, and set on to boil very quick till
it is thick. The meat is to be kept hot; and if larded, put into the
oven for a few minutes. Then put the jelly over it, which is called
glazing, and is used for ham, tongue, and various made-dishes. White
wine is added to some glazing. The glaze should be of beautiful clear
yellow brown, and it is best put on with a nice brush.
BRAISED CHICKENS. Bone them, and fill them with forcemeat. Lay the bones
and any other poultry trimmings into a stewpan, and the chickens on
them. Put to them a few onions, a handful of herbs, three blades of
mace, a pint of stock, and a glass or two of sherry. Cover the chickens
with slices of bacon, and then white paper; cover the whole close, and
put them on a slow stove for two hours. Then take them up, strain the
braise, and skim off the fat carefully: set it on to boil very quick to
a glaze, and lay it over the chicken with a brush. Before glazing, put
the chicken into an oven for a few minutes, to give it a colour. Serve
with a brown fricassee of mushrooms.
BRAISED MUTTON. Take off the chump end of a loin of mutton, cover it
with buttered paper, and then with paste, as for venison. Roast it two
hours, but let it not be browned. Have ready some French beans boiled,
and drained on a sieve; and while you are glazing the mutton, give the
beans one heat-up in gravy, and lay them on the dish with the meat over
them.
BRAISED VEAL. Lard the best end of a neck of veal with bacon rolled in
chopped parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Put it into a tosser, and
cover it with water. Add the scrag end of the neck, a little lean bacon
or ham, an onion, two carrots, two heads of celery, and a glass of
Madeira. Stew it quickly for two hours, or till it is tender, but not
too much. Strain off the liquor: mix a little flour and butter in a
stewpan till brown, and lay the veal in this, the upperside to the
bottom of the pan. Let it be over the fire till it gets coloured: then
lay it into the dish, stir some of the liquor in and boil it up, skim
it nicely, and squeeze orange and lemon juice into it.
BRANDY CREAM. Boil two dozen of blanched almonds, and pounded bitter
almonds, in a little milk. When cold, add to it the yolks of five eggs
beating well in cream; sweeten, and put to it two glasses of good
brandy. After it is well mixed, pour to it a quart of thin cream; set it
over the fire, but not to boil. Stir it one way till it thickens, then
pour into cups or low glasses, and when cold it will be ready. A ratafia
drop may be added to each cup; and if intended to keep, the cream must
be previously scalded.
BRANDY PUDDING. Line a mould with jar-raisins stoned, or dried cherries,
then with thin slices of French roll; next to which put ratafias, or
macaroons; then the fruit, rolls and cakes in succession, till the mould
is full, sprinkling in at times two glasses of brandy. Beat four eggs,
add a pint of milk or cream lightly sweetened, half a nutmeg, and the
rind of half a lemon finely grated. Let the liquid sink into the solid
part; then flour a cloth, tie it tight over, and boil one hour; keep the
mould the right side up. Serve with pudding sauce.
BRASS. Culinary vessels made of this metal, are constantly in danger of
contracting verdigris. To prevent this, instead of wiping them dry in
the usual manner, let them be frequently immersed in water, and they
will be preserved safe and clean.
BRAWN. Young brawn is to be preferred, the horny part of which will feel
moderately tender, and the flavour will be better; the rind of old brawn
will be hard. For Mock Brawn, boil a pair of neat's feet very tender;
take the meat off, and have ready a belly-piece of salt pork, which has
been in pickle for a week. Boil this almost enough, take out the bones
if there be any, and roll the feet and the pork together. Bind it tight
together with a strong cloth and coarse tape, boil it quite tender, and
hang it up in the cloth till cold. Keep it afterwards in souse till it
is wanted.
BREAD. Two very important reasons urge the propriety and necessity of
using home-baked bread, in preference to baker's bread, wherever it can
be done with tolerable convenience; these are, its superior quality, and
its cheapness. A bushel of wheat, weighing sixty pounds, will make
sixty-five pounds of household bread, after the bran has been taken out;
and if the pollard be separated also, to make a finer article, a bushel
of ground wheat will then make fifty-eight pounds of fine white bread,
free from any foreign mixture, leaving from ten to fifteen pounds of
bran and pollard, which may be applied to useful purposes. The
calculation then will be easy, and the difference between purchasing and
making bread will be seen at once. A bushel of ground wheat weighing
sixty pounds will produce thirteen quartern loaves and a half of fine
bread, after the bran and pollard have been taken out; add to the price
of the wheat, nine-pence a bushel for grinding, three-pence for yeast,
four-pence for salt and the expence of baking; and from this deduct
six-pence at least for the value of the bran and pollard, and it gives
the price of the quartern loaves made and baked at home. In general it
will be found that there is a saving of one third of the expense, if the
business be properly conducted. Then the wholesome and nutricious
quality of the bread is incomparably superior; there is no addition of
alum, ground potatoes, whiting, or any other ingredient to give weight
or colour to the bread, as is too often the case with baker's bread; but
all is nutricious, sound, and good. But supposing their bread to be
equal in quality, there is still a considerable saving in the course of
a year, especially in a large family; and if household bread be made
instead of fine bread, every bushel of good heavy wheat will produce
nearly fifteen quartern loaves. Besides this, rye, and even a little
barley mixed with the wheat, will make very good bread, and render it
cheaper still. Rye will add a sweetness to the bread, and make it cut
firmer, so as to prevent the waste of crumbs, and is unquestionably an
article of good economy. The addition of potatoes is by no means to be
approved, though so often recommended; any of the grains already
mentioned have in them ten times the nutrition of potatoes, and in the
end will be found to be much cheaper. Making bread with skim milk,
instead of water, where it can be done, is highly advantageous, and will
produce a much better article than can be purchased at a baker's
shop.--On the subject of making bread, little need be said, as every
common maid-servant is or ought to be well acquainted with this
necessary part of household work, or she is good for nothing. To make
good bread however, the flour should be kept four or five weeks before
it is baked. Then put half a bushel of it into a kneading trough, mix
with it between four and five quarts of warm water or skim milk, and a
pint and a half of good yeast, and stir it well together with the hand
till it become tough. Let it rise before the fire, about an hour and a
half, or less if it rise fast; then, before it falls, add four quarts
more of warm water, and half a pound of salt. Work it well, and cover it
with a cloth. Put the fire into the oven; and by the time it is heated,
the dough will be ready. Make the loaves about five pounds each, sweep
out the oven very clean and quick, and put in the bread; shut it up
close, and two hours and a half will bake it. In summer the water should
be milk warm, in winter a little more, and in frosty weather as hot as
the hand will bear, but not scalding, or the whole will be spoiled.
Bread is better baked without tins, which gives to the crust an
unnatural degree of hardness.--Those who are under the necessity of
purchasing baker's bread, for want of other convenience, may detect the
adulteration of alum by macerating a small piece of the crumb of
new-baked bread in cold water, sufficient to dissolve it; and the taste
of the alum, if it has been used, will acquire a sweet astringency. Or a
heated knife may be thrust into a loaf before it has grown cold; and if
it be free from that ingredient, scarcely any alteration will be visible
on the blade; but, in the contrary case, its surface, after being
allowed to cool, will appear slightly covered with an aluminous
incrustation.
BREAD CAKE. To make a common bread cake, separate from the dough, when
making white bread, as much as is sufficient for a quartern loaf, and
knead well into it two ounces of butter, two of Lisbon sugar, and eight
of currants. Warm the butter in a tea-cupful of good milk. By adding
another ounce of butter or sugar, or an egg or two, the cake may be
improved, especially by putting in a tea-cupful of raw cream. It is best
to bake it in a pan, rather than as a loaf, the outside being less hard.
BREAD CHEESECAKES. Slice a penny white loaf as thin as possible, pour
over it a pint of boiling cream, and let it stand two hours. Beat up
eight eggs, half a pound of butter, and a grated nutmeg. Put in half a
pound of currants, well washed and dried, and a spoonful of brandy or
white wine. Bake them in pattipans, or raised crusts.
BREAD PUDDING. Grate some white bread, pour over some boiling milk, and
cover it close. When soaked an hour or two, beat it fine, and mix with
it two or three eggs well beaten. Put it into a bason that will just
hold it, tie a floured cloth over it, and put it into boiling water.
Send it up with melted butter poured over: it may be eaten with salt or
sugar. Prunes, or French plums, make a fine pudding instead of raisins,
either with suet or bread pudding.--Another and richer. Pour half a pint
of scalding milk, on half a pint of bread crumbs, and cover it up for an
hour. Beat up four eggs, and when strained, add to the bread, with a
tea-spoonful of flour, an ounce of butter, two ounces of sugar, half a
pound of currants, an ounce of almonds beaten with orange-flower water,
half an ounce of orange, of lemon, and of citron. Butter a bason that
will exactly hold it, flour the cloth, tie it tight over, and boil the
pudding an hour.
BREAD SAUCE. Boil a large onion quartered, with some black pepper and
milk, till the onion is quite a pap. Pour the milk on white stale-bread
grated, and cover it. In an hour put it into a saucepan, with a good
piece of butter mixed with a little flour: boil the whole up together,
and serve with it.
BREAD SOUP. Boil some pieces of bread crust in a quart of water, with a
small piece of butter. Beat it with a spoon, and keep it boiling till
the bread and water be well mixed: then season it with a little salt.
[Illustration: _PATENT BREWING MACHINE._
A _The Machine ready for use, with the Cover raised._
B _Moveable Fire place._
C _Cylindrical Boiler to be placed on_ B, _with its Cover_ D.
E _Extracting perforated Cylinder to be placed within_ C.
F _Centre for ditto._
G. G _Coolers, one to pack within the other._]
BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING. Spread some butter on slices of bread, and lay
them in a dish, with currants between each layer. To make it rich, add
some sliced citron, orange, or lemon. Pour over an unboiled custard
of milk, two or three eggs, a few corns of pimento, and a very little
ratifia, two hours at least before it is to be baked, and lade it over
to soak the bread. A paste round the edge makes all puddings look
better, but it is not necessary.
BREAD AND RICE PUDDING. Boil a quarter of a pound of rice in some milk
till it is quite soft, put it into a bason, and let it stand till the
next day. Soak some sliced bread in cold milk, drain it off, mash it
fine, and mix it with the rice. Beat up two eggs with it, add a little
salt, and boil it an hour.
BREAKFAST CAKES. Take a pound and a half of flour, four ounces of
butter, a spoonful of yeast, and half a pint of warm milk. Rub the
butter into the flour, and mix the eggs, yeast, and milk together. Put
the liquid into the middle of the flour, and let it stand to rise for
two hours. Make it into cakes, let them stand to rise again, and wash
them over with skimmed milk before they are put into the oven.
BREAST OF LAMB. Cut off the chine-bone from the breast, and set it on to
stew with a pint of gravy. When the bones would draw out, put it on the
gridiron to grill; and then lay it in a dish on cucumbers nicely stewed.
BREAST OF MUTTON. Pare off the superfluous fat, and roast and serve the
meat with stewed cucumbers; or to eat cold, covered with chopped
parsley. Or half-boil, and then grill it before the fire: cover it with
bread crumbs and herbs, and serve with caper sauce. Or if boned, take
away a good deal of the fat, and cover it with bread, herbs, and
seasoning. Then roll and boil it; serve with chopped walnuts, or capers
and butter.
BREAST OF VEAL. Before roasting it, take off the two ends to fry and
stew, if the joint be large, or roast the whole together, and pour
butter over it. If any be left, cut it into regular pieces, put them
into a stewpan, and pour some broth over it. If no broth, a little water
will do: add a bunch of herbs, a blade or two of mace, some pepper, and
an anchovy. Stew till the meat be tender, thicken with flour and butter,
and add a little ketchup. Serve the sweetbread whole upon it, which may
either be stewed or parboiled, and then covered with crumbs, herbs,
pepper and salt, and browned in a Dutch oven. The whole breast may be
stewed in the same way, after cutting off the two ends. A boiled breast
of veal, smothered with onion sauce, is also an excellent dish, if not
old nor too fat.
BRENTFORD ROLLS. Mix with two pounds of flour, a little salt, two ounces
of sifted sugar, four ounces of butter, and two eggs beaten with two
spoonfuls of yeast, and about a pint of milk. Knead the dough well, and
set it to rise before the fire. Make twelve rolls, butter tin plates,
and set them before the fire to rise, till they become of a proper size,
and bake them half an hour.