feed and rest in one place, to prevent their straggling too far to lay.
Places near the water to lay in are advantageous, and these might
consist of small wooden houses, with a partition in the middle, and a
door at each end. They generally begin to lay in the month of February.
Their eggs should be daily taken away except one, till they seem
inclined to set, and then they should be left with a sufficient quantity
of eggs under them. They require no attention while setting, except to
give them food at the time they come out to seek it; and water should be
placed at a convenient distance, that their eggs may not be spoiled by
their long absence in seeking it. Twelve or thirteen eggs will be
sufficient. In an early season it is best to place them under a hen,
that the ducks may have less time for setting, for in cold weather they
cannot so well be kept from the water, and would scarcely have strength
to bear it. They should be placed under cover, especially in a wet
season; for though water is the natural element of ducks, yet they are
apt to be killed by the cramp before they are covered with feathers to
defend them. Ducks will eat any thing; and when to be fatted, they
should have plenty of food, however coarse it may be, and in three weeks
they will be ready.
DUCK PIE. Bone a full-grown young duck and a fowl. Wash and season them
with pepper and salt, and a small proportion of mace and allspice in the
finest powder. Put the fowl within the duck, and in the former a calf's
tongue, boiled very tender and peeled. Press the whole close, and draw
the legs inwards, that the body of the fowl may be quite smooth. The
space between the sides of the crust may be filled with fine forcemeat,
the same as for savoury pies. Bake it in a slow oven, either in a raised
crust or pie dish, with a thick ornamented crust. Large Staffordshire
pies are made as above, but with a goose outwards, then a turkey, a duck
next, then a fowl; and either tongue, small birds, or forcemeat in the
middle.
DUCK SAUCE. Put a rich gravy into the dish, and slice the breast. Cut a
lemon, put on it some pepper and salt, squeeze it on the breast, and
pour a spoonful of gravy over the meat, before it is sent round.--See
ROAST DUCK.
DUN BIRDS. Roast and baste them with butter, and sprinkle a little salt
before they are taken up. Pour a good gravy over them, and serve with
shalot sauce in a boat.
DUNELM OF VEAL. Stew a few small mushrooms in their own liquor and a bit
of butter, a quarter of an hour. Mince them fine, and put them with
their liquor to some cold minced veal. Add a little pepper and salt,
some cream, and a bit of butter rubbed in less than half a tea-spoonful
of flour. Simmer the mince three or four minutes, and serve it on thin
sippets of bread. Cold fowl may be treated in the same manner.
DUTCH BEEF. Take a lean piece of beef, rub it well with treacle or brown
sugar, and let it be turned often. In three days wipe it, and salt it
with common salt and saltpetre beaten fine: rub these well in, and turn
it every day for a fortnight. Roll it tight in a coarse cloth, and press
it under a large weight: hang it to dry in a wood smoke, but turn it
upside down every day. Boil it in pump water, and press it: it will then
grate or cut into shivers, like Dutch beef.
DUTCH FLUMMERY. Boil two ounces of isinglass in a pint and half of water
very gently half an hour; add a pint of white wine, the juice of three
lemons, and the thin rind of one. Rub a few lumps of sugar on another
lemon to obtain the essence, and add with them a sufficient quantity of
sugar to sweeten. Beat up the yolks of seven eggs, mix it with the
above, and give them together one scald. Keep the flummery stirring all
the time, pour it into a bason, stir it till half cold, let it settle,
and then put it into a melon shape.
DUTCH PUDDING. Melt a pound of butter in half a pint of milk; mix it
into two pounds of flour, eight eggs, and four spoonfuls of yeast. Add a
pound of currants, and a quarter of a pound of sugar beaten and sifted,
and bake it an hour in a quick oven. This is a very good pudding hot,
and equally so as a cake when cold. If for the latter, carraways must be
used instead of currants.
DUTCH RICE PUDDING. Soak four ounces of rice in warm water half an hour;
drain away the water, put the rice into a stewpan, with half a pint of
milk, and half a stick of cinnamon, and simmer it till tender. When
cold, add four eggs well beaten, two ounces of butter melted in a
tea-cupful of cream; and add three ounces of sugar, a quarter of a
nutmeg, and a good piece of lemon peel. Put a light puffpaste into a
mould or dish, or grated tops and bottoms, and bake in a quick oven.
DUTCH WAFFLES. These form a delicious article in the shape of puff
cakes, which are instantly prepared and exhibited for sale in stalls or
tents, in the fairs of Holland, where they are eaten hot as they come
from the plate or baking pan, with fine sugar strewed over them. Mix
together three pounds of fine flour, a dozen eggs, a pound of melted
butter, half a pint of ale, some milk, and a little yeast. Beat it well,
till it forms a thick paste, and let it stand three or four hours before
the fire to rise. Lay it in small pieces on a hot iron or fryingpan,
with a pair of buttered tongs, till it is lightly browned. Eat the
waffles with fine sugar sifted over, or a little sack and melted butter.
DYEING. Nankeen dye is made of equal parts of arnetto and common potash,
dissolved in boiling water. To dye cotton, silk, woollen, or linen of a
beautiful yellow, the plant called weld, or dyer's weed, is used for
that purpose. Blue cloths dipped in a decoction of it will become green.
The yellow colour of the Dutch pink is obtained from the juice of the
stones and branches of the weld. Black dye is obtained from a strong
decoction of logwood, copperas, and gum arabic. Oak saw-dust, or the
excrescences on the roots of young oaks, may be used as a substitute for
galls, both in making ink and black dye.
E.
EARTHENWARE. An ounce of dry lean cheese grated fine, and an equal
quantity of quicklime mixed well together in three ounces of skim milk,
will form a good cement for any articles of broken earthenware, when the
rendering of the joint visible is reckoned of no consequence. A cement
of the same nature may be made of quicklime tempered with the curd of
milk, but the curd should either be made of whey or buttermilk. This
cement, like the former, requires to be applied immediately after it is
made, and it will effectually join any kind of earthenware or china.
EARWIGS. These insects are often destructive in gardens, especially
where carnations, nuts, or filberts, pears and apples are reared. Their
depredations on the flowers may be prevented by putting the bowl of a
tobacco-pipe on the sticks which support them, into which they will
creep in the day time, and may be destroyed. Green leaves of elder laid
near fruit trees, or flower roots, will prevent their approach. Large
quantities may be taken by placing short cuts of reed, bean or wheat
straw, among the branches of fruit trees, and laying some on the ground
near the root. Having committed their depredations in the night, they
take refuge in these in the day time; the reed or straw may be taken
away and burnt, and more put in its stead.--If unfortunately one of
these disagreeable insects have crept into the ear, from their running
so frequently about our garments, let the afflicted person lay his head
upon a table, while some friend carefully drop into the ear a little
sweet oil, or oil of almonds. A drop or two will be sufficient to
destroy the insect, and remove the pain. An earwig may be extracted by
applying a piece of apple to the ear, which will entice the insect to
come out.
EDGEBONE OF BEEF. Skewer it up tight, and tie a broad fillet round it,
to keep the skewers in their places. Put it in with plenty of cold
water, and carefully catch the scum as it rises. When all the scum is
removed, place the boiler on one side of the fire, to keep simmering
slowly till it is done. A piece weighing ten pounds will take two hours,
and larger in proportion. The slower it boils the better it will look,
and the tenderer it will be: if allowed to boil quick at first, no art
can make it tender afterwards. Dress plenty of carrots, as cold carrots
are a general favourite with cold beef.
EEL BROTH. Clean half a pound of small eels, and set them on the fire
with three pints of water, some parsley, a slice of onion, and a few
peppercorns. Let them simmer till the eels are broken, and the broth
good. Add salt, and strain it off. The above should make three half
pints of broth, nourishing and good for weakly persons.
EEL PIE. Cut the eels in lengths of two or three inches, season with
pepper and salt, and place them in a dish with some bits of butter, and
a little water. Cover the dish with a paste, and bake it.
EEL SOUP. Put three pounds of small eels to two quarts of water, a crust
of bread, three blades of mace, some whole pepper, an onion, and a bunch
of sweet herbs. Cover them close, stew till the fish is quite broken,
and then strain it off. Toast some bread, cut it into dice, and pour the
soup on it boiling hot. Part of a carrot may be put in at first. This
soup will be as rich as if made of meat. A quarter of a pint of rich
cream, with a tea-spoonful of flour rubbed smooth in it, is a great
improvement.
EGGS. In new-laid eggs there is a small division of the skin at the end
of the shell, which is filled with air, and is perceptible to the eye.
On looking through them against the sun or a candle, they will be
tolerably clear; but if they shake in the shell, they are not fresh.
Another way to distinguish fresh eggs, is to put the large end to the
tongue; if it feels warm, it is new and good. Eggs may be bought
cheapest in the spring, when the hens first begin to lay, before they
set: in Lent and at Easter they become dear. They may be preserved fresh
for some time by dipping them in boiling water, and instantly taking
them out, or by oiling the shell, either of which will prevent the air
from passing through. They may also be kept on shelves with small holes
to receive one in each, and be turned every other day; or close packed
in a keg, and covered with strong lime water. A still better way of
preserving eggs in a fresh state is to dip them in a solution of
gum-arabic in water, and then imbed them in powdered charcoal. The
gum-arabic answers the purpose of a varnish for the eggs, much better
than any resinous gum, as it can easily be removed by washing them in
water, and is a much cheaper preparation than any other. If eggs are
greased the oily matter becomes rancid, and infallibly hastens the
putrefaction of the eggs. But being varnished with gum water, and
imbedded in charcoal, they will keep for many years, and may be removed
from one climate to another.
EGGS AND BACON. Lay some slices of fine streaked bacon in a clean dish,
and toast them before the fire in a cheese-toaster, turning them when
the upper side is browned; or if it be wished to have them mellow and
soft, rather than curled and crisp, parboil the slices before they are
toasted and do them lightly. Clear dripping or lard is to be preferred
to butter for frying the eggs, and be sure that the fryingpan is quite
clean before it is put in. When the fat is hot, break two or three eggs
into it. Do not turn them; but while they are frying, keep pouring some
of the fat over them with a spoon. When the yolk just begins to look
white, which it will in about two minutes, they are enough, and the
white must not be suffered to lose its transparency. Take up the eggs
with a tin slice, drain the fat from them, trim them neatly, and send
them up with the bacon round them.
EGGS AND ONIONS. Boil some eggs hard, take out the yolks whole, and cut
the whites in slices. Fry some onions and mushrooms, put in the whites,
and keep them turning. Pour off the fat, flour the onions, and add a
little gravy. Boil them up, then put in the yolks, with a little pepper
and salt. Simmer the whole about a minute, and serve it up.
EGGS FOR SALLAD. Boil a couple of eggs for twelve minutes, and put them
into a bason of cold water, to render the yolks firm and hard. Rub them
through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and mix them with a spoonful of
water, or fine double cream, and add two table-spoonfuls of oil or
melted butter. When these are well mixed, add by degrees a tea-spoonful
of salt, or powdered lump sugar, and the same of made mustard. Add very
gradually three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, rub it with the other
ingredients till thoroughly incorporated, and cut up the white of the
egg to garnish the top of the sallad. Let the sauce remain at the bottom
of the bowl, and do not stir up the sallad till it is to be eaten. This
sauce is equally good with cold meat, cold fish, or for cucumbers,
celery, and radishes.
EGGS FOR THE SICK. Eggs very little boiled or poached, when taken in
small quantities, convey much nourishment. The yolk only, when dressed,
should be eaten by invalids. An egg divided, and the yolk and white
beaten separately, then mixed with a glass of wine, will afford two very
wholesome draughts, and prove lighter than when taken together. An egg
broken into a cup of tea, or beaten and mixed with a bason of milk,
makes a breakfast more supporting than tea only.
EGGS FOR TURTLE. Beat in a mortar three yolks of eggs that have been
boiled hard. Make it into a paste with the yolk of a raw one, roll it
into small balls, and throw them into boiling water for two minutes to
harden.
EGG BALLS. Boil the eggs hard, and put them in cold water. Take out the
yolks, and pound them fine in a mortar, wetting them with raw yolks,
about one to three. Season them with salt and white pepper, dry them
with flour, and roll them into small balls, as they swell very much in
boiling. When dressed, boil them in gravy for a minute.
EGG PIE. Boil twelve eggs hard, and chop them with one pound of marrow,
or beef suet. Season with a little cinnamon and nutmeg finely beaten,
adding one pound of currants clean washed and picked, two or three
spoonfuls of cream, a little sweet wine, and rose water. Mix all
together, and fill the pie: when it is baked, stir in half a pound of
fresh butter, and the juice of a lemon.
EGG MINCE PIES. Boil six eggs hard, shred them small, and double the
quantity of shred suet. Then add a pound of currants washed and picked,
or more if the eggs were large; the peel of one lemon shred very fine,
and the juice; six spoonfuls of sweet wine, mace, nutmeg, sugar, a very
little salt; orange, lemon, and citron, candied. Cover the pies with a
light paste.
EGG SAUCE. Boil the eggs hard, chop them fine, and put them into melted
butter. If thrown into cold water after being boiled, the yolks will
become firmer, will be easier to cut, and the surface be prevented from
turning black. Egg sauce will be found an agreeable accompaniment to
roast fowl, or salt fish.
EGG WINE. Beat up an egg, and mix it with a spoonful of cold water. Set
on the fire a glass of white wine, half a glass of water, with sugar and
nutmeg. When it boils, pour a little of it to the egg by degrees, till
the whole is mixed, and stir it well. Then return the whole into the
saucepan, put it on a gentle fire, stir it one way for about a minute.
If it boil, or the egg be stale, it will curdle. The wine may be made
without warming the egg; it is then lighter on the stomach, though not
so pleasant to the taste. Serve it with toast.
ELDER. The foetid smell of the common elder is such, especially of the
dwarf elder, that if the leaves and branches be strewed among cabbage
and cauliflower plants, or turnips, it will secure them from the ravages
of flies and caterpillars; and if hung on the branches of trees, it will
protect them from the effects of blight. Or if put into the
subterraneous paths of the moles, it will drive them from the garden. An
infusion of the leaves in water, and sprinkled over rose-buds and other
flowers, will preserve them from the depredations of the caterpillar.
ELDER ROB. Clear some ripe elder-berries from the stalks, bake them in
covered jars for two hours, and squeeze the juice through a strainer. To
four quarts of juice put one pound of sugar, and stir it over the fire
till reduced to one quart. When cold, tie it down with a bladder, and
keep it in a dry place. It is very good for sore throats and fevers.
ELDER SYRUP. Pick off the elder berries when fully ripe, bake them in a
stone jar, strain them through a coarse sieve, and put the juice into a
clean kettle. To every quart of juice add a pound of fine soft sugar,
boil and skim it well: when it is clear, pour it into a jar, cool it,
and cover it down. Half a pint of this syrup added to a gallon of new
made wine, will give it a very rich flavour, or it may be used for other
purposes.
ELDER WINE. Pick the berries from the stalk, and to every quart allow
two quarts of water. Boil them half an hour, run the liquor and break
the fruit through a hair sieve, and to every quart of juice put three
quarters of a pound of moist sugar. Boil the whole a quarter of an hour,
with some peppercorns, ginger, and a few cloves. Pour it into a tub, and
when of a proper warmth, into the barrel, with toast and yeast to work,
which there is more difficulty to make it do than most other liquors.
When it ceases to hiss, put a quart of brandy to eight gallons, and stop
it up. Bottle it in the spring, or at Christmas.--To make white elder
wine, very much like Frontiniac, boil eighteen pounds of white powder
sugar with six gallons of water, and two whites of eggs well beaten.
Skim it clean, and but in a quarter of a peck of elder flowers from the
tree that bears white berries, but do not keep them on the fire. Stir it
when nearly cold, and put in six spoonfuls of lemon juice, four or five
spoonfuls of yeast, and beat it well into the liquor. Stir it every day,
put into the cask six pounds of the best raisins stoned, and tun the
wine. Stop it close, and bottle it in six months. When well kept, this
wine will pass for Frontiniac.
ELDER FLOWER WINE. To six gallons of spring water put six pounds of sun
raisins cut small, and a dozen pounds of fine sugar: boil the whole
together for about an hour and a half. When the liquor is cold, put in
half a peck of ripe elder flowers, with about a gill of lemon juice, and
half the quantity of ale yeast. Cover it up, and after standing three
days, strain it off. Pour it into a cask that is quite clean, and that
will hold it with ease. When this is done, add a quart of Rhenish wine
to every gallon of liquor, and let the bung be lightly put in for twelve
or fourteen days. Then stop it down fast, and put it in a cool dry place
for four or five months, till it is quite settled and fine: then bottle
it off.
ENGLISH BAMBOO. About the middle of May, cut some large young shoots of
elder; strip off the outward peel, and soak them all night in some
strong salt and water. Dry them separately in a cloth, and have in
readiness the following pickle. To a quart of vinegar put an ounce of
white pepper, an ounce of sliced ginger, a little mace and pimento, all
boiled together. Put the elder shoots into a stone jar, pour on the
liquor boiling hot, stop it up close, and set it by the fire two hours,
turning the jar often to keep it hot. If not green when cold, strain off
the liquor, pour it on boiling again, and keep it hot as before.--Or if
it be intended to make Indian pickle, the addition of these shoots will
be found to be a great improvement. In this case it will only be
necessary to pour boiling vinegar and mustard seed on them, and to keep
them till the jar of pickles shall be ready to receive them. The cluster
of elder flowers before it opens, makes a delicious pickle to eat with
boiled mutton. It is prepared by only pouring vinegar over the flowers.
ENGLISH BRANDY. English or British brandy may be made in smaller
quantities, according to the following proportions. To sixty gallons of
clear rectified spirits, put one pound of sweet spirit of nitre, one
pound of cassia buds ground, one pound of bitter almond meal, (the
cassia and almond meal to be mixed together before they are put to the
spirits) two ounces of sliced orris root, and about thirty or forty
prune stones pounded. Shake the whole well together, two or three times
a day, for three days or more. Let them settle, then pour in one gallon
of the best wine vinegar; and add to every four gallons, one gallon of
foreign brandy.
ENGLISH CHAMPAIGNE. Take gooseberries before they are ripe, crush them
with a mallet in a wooden bowl; and to every gallon of fruit, put a
gallon of water. Let it stand two days, stirring it well. Squeeze the
mixture with the hands through a hop sieve, then measure the liquor, and
to every gallon put three pounds and a half of loaf sugar. Mix it well
in the tub, and let it stand one day. Put a bottle of the best brandy
into the cask, which leave open five or six weeks, taking off the scum
as it rises. Then stop it up, and let it stand one year in the barrel
before it is bottled.
ENGLISH SHERRY. Boil thirty pounds of lump sugar in ten gallons of
water, and clear it of the scum. When cold, put a quart of new alewort
to every gallon of liquor, and let it work in the tub a day or two. Then
put it into a cask with a pound of sugar candy, six pounds of fine
raisins, a pint of brandy, and two ounces of isinglass. When the
fermentation is over, stop it close: let it stand eight months, rack it
off, and add a little more brandy. Return it to the cask again, and let
it stand four months before it is bottled.
ENGLISH WINES. During the high price of foreign wine, home-made wines
will be found particularly useful; and though sugar is dear, they may be
prepared at a quarter of the expence. If carefully made, and kept three
or four years, a proportionable strength being given, they would answer
the purpose of foreign wines for health, and cause a very considerable
reduction in the expenditure. Sugar and water are the principal basis
of home-made wine; and when these require to be boiled, it is proper to
beat up the whites of eggs to a froth, and mix them with the water when
cold, in the proportion of one egg to a gallon. When the sugar and water
are boiled, the liquor should be cooled quickly; and if not for wines
that require fermenting, it may be put into the cask when cold. If the
wine is to be fermented, the yeast should be put into it when it is
milk-warm; but must not be left more than two nights to ferment, before
it is put into the cask. Particular care should be taken to have the
cask sweet and dry, and washed inside with a little brandy, before the
wine is tunned, but it should not be bunged up close till it has done
fermenting. After standing three or four months, it will be necessary to
taste the wine, to know whether it be fit to draw off. If not sweet
enough, some sugar should be added, or draw it off into another cask,
and put in some sugar-candy: but if too sweet, let it stand a little
longer. When the wine is racked, the dregs may be drained through a
flannel bag; and the wine, if not clear enough for the table, may be
used for sauce.
ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE. Take a dram of the oil of pimento, and mix it by
degrees with two ounces of strong spirit of wine. A few drops will give
the flavour of allspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine.
ESSENCE OF ANCHOVY. Put into a marble mortar ten or twelve fine mellow
anchovies, that have been well pickled, and pound them to a pulp. Put
this into a clean well-tinned saucepan, then put a table-spoonful of
cold water into the mortar, shake it round, and pour it to the pounded
anchovies. Set them by the side of a slow fire, frequently stirring them
together till they are melted, which they will be in the course of five
minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a dram of good cayenne, and let it
remain by the fire a few minutes longer. Rub it through a hair sieve
with the back of a wooden spoon, and keep it stopped very closely: if
the air gets to it, it is spoiled directly. Essence of anchovy is made
sometimes with sherry, or madeira, instead of water, or with the
addition of mushroom ketchup.
ESSENCE OF CAYENNE. Put half an ounce of cayenne pepper into half a pint
of wine or brandy, let it steep a fortnight, and then pour off the clear
liquor. This article is very convenient for the extempore seasoning and
finishing of soups and sauces, its flavour being instantly and equally
diffused.
ESSENCE OF CELERY. Steep in a quarter of a pint of brandy, or proof
spirit, half an ounce of celery seed bruised, and let it stand a
fortnight. A few drops will immediately flavour a pint of broth, and are
an excellent addition to pease, and other soups.