an hour; then take them up, and let them stand to cool. Clear the gravy
from the fat, and put into it four ounces of boiled rice, an onion stuck
with cloves, and a blade of mace. Boil them till the rice is thick. Wash
the rumps with yolks of eggs well beaten, and strew over them crumbs of
bread, a little pepper and salt, chopped parsley and thyme, and grated
lemon peel, fried in butter, of a fine brown. While the rumps are
stewing, lard the kidneys, and set them to roast in a Dutch oven. When
the rumps are ready, the grease must be drained from them before they
are put in the dish; the pan being cleared likewise from the fat, warm
up the rice in it. Lay the latter on the dish, place the rumps round
upon the rice, the narrow ends towards the middle, and the kidneys
between. Garnish with hard eggs cut in halves, the white being left on,
or with different coloured pickles.
MUTTON SAUCE. Two spoonfuls of the liquor in which the mutton is boiled,
the same quantity of vinegar, two or three shalots finely shred, with a
little salt, put into a saucepan with a bit of butter rolled in flour,
stirred together and boiled once, will make good sauce for boiled
mutton.
MUTTON SAUSAGES. Take a pound of the rawest part of a leg of mutton that
has been either roasted or boiled; chop it quite small, and season it
with pepper, salt, mace, and nutmeg. Add to it six ounces of beef suet,
some sweet herbs, two anchovies, and a pint of oysters, all chopped very
small; a quarter of a pound of grated bread, some of the anchovy liquor,
and two eggs well beaten. When well mixed together, put it into a small
pot; and use it by rolling it into balls or sausages, and fry them. If
approved, a little shalot may be added, or garlick, which is a great
improvement.
MUTTON STEAKS. These should be cut from a loin or neck that has been
well kept; if a neck, the bones should not be long. Broil them on a
clear fire, season them when half done, and let them be often turned.
Take them up into a very hot dish, rub a bit of butter on each, and
serve them up hot and hot the moment they are done.--To do them
Maintenon, half fry them first, then stew them while hot, with herbs,
crumbs, and seasoning. Rub a bit of butter on some writing paper, to
prevent its catching the fire, wrap the steaks in it, and finish them on
the gridiron.
N.
NANKEEN DYE. The article generally sold under this title, and which
produces a fine buff colour so much in use, is made of equal parts of
arnetto and common potash, dissolved and boiled in water. The yellow
colour called Dutch Pink, is made from a decoction of weld or dyer's
weed; and if blue cloths be dipped in this liquid, they will take the
colour of a fine green.
NASTURTIONS, if intended for capers, should be kept a few days after
they are gathered. Then pour boiling vinegar over them, and cover them
close when cold. They will not be fit to eat for some months; but are
then finely flavoured, and by many are preferred to capers.
NEAT'S TONGUE. If intended to be stewed, it should be simmered for two
hours, and peeled. Then return it to the same liquor, with pepper, salt,
mace, and cloves, tied up in a piece of cloth. Add a few chopped capers,
carrots and turnips sliced, half a pint of beef gravy, a little white
wine, and sweet herbs. Stew it gently till it is tender, take out the
herbs and spices, and thicken the gravy with butter rolled in flour.
NECK OF MUTTON. This joint is particularly useful, because so many
dishes may be made of it; but it is not esteemed advantageous for a
family. The bones should be cut short, which the butchers will not do
unless particularly desired. The best end of the neck may be boiled, and
served with turnips; or roasted, or dressed in steaks, in pies, or
harrico. The scrags may be stewed in broth; or with a small quantity of
water, some small onions, a few peppercorns, and a little rice, and
served together. When a boiled neck is to look particularly nice, saw
down the chine bone, strip the ribs halfway down, and chop off the ends
of the bones about four inches. The skin should not be taken off till
boiled, and then the fat will look the whiter. When there is more fat
than is agreeable, it makes a very good suet pudding, or crust for a
meat pie if cut very fine.
NECK OF PORK. A loin or neck of pork should be roasted. Cut the skin
across with a sharp penknife, at distances of half an inch. Serve with
vegetables and apple sauce.
NECK OF VEAL. Cut off the scrag to boil, and cover it with onion sauce.
It should be boiled in milk and water. Parsley and butter may be served
with it, instead of onion sauce. Or it may be stewed with whole rice,
small onions, and peppercorns, with a very little water. It may also be
boiled and eaten with bacon and greens. The best end of the neck may
either be roasted, broiled as steaks, or made into a pie.
NECK OF VENISON. Rub it with salt, and let it lie four or five days.
Flour it, and boil it in a cloth, allowing to every pound a quarter of
an hour. Cauliflower, turnips, and cabbages, are eaten with it, and
melted butter. Garnish the dish with some of the vegetables.
NELSON PUDDINGS. Put into a Dutch oven six small cakes, called Nelson
balls or rice cakes, made in small teacups. When quite hot, pour over
them boiling melted butter, white wine, and sugar.
NEW CASKS. If not properly prepared before they are used, new casks are
apt to give beer and other liquor a bad taste. They must therefore be
well scalded and seasoned several days successively before they are
used, and frequently filled with fresh water. The best way however is to
boil two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, and pour it
hot into the cask; then stop it up close, let it stand two days, wash it
out clean, and let the cask be well dried.
NEWCASTLE PUDDING. Butter a half melon mould or quart basin, stick it
all round with dried cherries or fine raisins, and fill it up with
custard and layers of thin bread and butter. Boil or steam it an hour
and a half.
NEWMARKET PUDDING. Put on to boil a pint of good milk, with half a lemon
peel, a little cinnamon, and a bay leaf. Boil it gently for five or ten
minutes, sweeten with loaf sugar, break the yolks of five and the whites
of three eggs into a basin, beat them well, and add the milk. Beat it
all up well together, and strain it through a tammis, or fine hair
sieve. Prepare some bread and butter cut thin, place a layer of it in a
pie dish, and then a layer of currants, and so on till the dish is
nearly full. Pour the custard over it, and bake it half an hour.
NORFOLK DUMPLINS. Make a thick batter with half a pint of milk and
flour, two eggs, and a little salt. Take a spoonful of the batter, and
drop it gently into boiling water; and if the water boil fast, they will
be ready in a few minutes. Take them out with a wooden spoon, and put
them into a dish with a piece of butter. These are often called drop
dumplins, or spoon dumplins.
NORFOLK PUNCH. To make a relishing liquor that will keep many years, and
improve by age, put the peels of thirty lemons and thirty oranges into
twenty quarts of French brandy. The fruit must be pared so thin and
carefully, that not the least of the white is left. Let it infuse
twelve hours. Prepare thirty quarts of cold water that has been boiled,
put to it fifteen pounds of double-refined sugar, and when well
incorporated, pour it upon the brandy and peels, adding the juice of the
oranges and of twenty-four lemons. Mix them well, strain the liquor
through a fine hair sieve, into a very clean cask, that has held
spirits, and add two quarts of new milk. Stir the liquor, then bung it
down close, and let it stand six weeks in a warm cellar. Bottle off the
liquor, but take care that the bottles be perfectly clean and dry, the
corks of the best quality, and well put in. Of course a smaller quantity
of this punch may be made, by observing only the above proportions.--Another
way. Pare six lemons and three Seville oranges very thin, squeeze the
juice into a large teapot, put to it three quarts of brandy, one of
white wine, one of milk, and a pound and a quarter of lump sugar. Let it
be well mixed, and then covered for twenty-four hours. Strain it through
a jelly bag till quite clear, and then bottle it off.
NORTHUMBERLAND PUDDING. Make a hasty pudding with a pint of milk and
flour, put it into a bason, and let it stand till the next day. Then
mash it with a spoon, add a quarter of a pound of clarified butter, as
many currants picked and washed, two ounces of candied peel cut small,
and a little sugar and brandy. Bake it in teacups, turn them out on a
dish, and pour wine sauce over them.
NOSE BLEEDING. Violent bleeding at the nose may sometimes be prevented
by applying lint dipped in vinegar, or a strong solution of white
vitriol, with fomentations of the temples and forehead made of nitre
dissolved in water. But as bleeding at the nose is often beneficial, it
should not be suddenly stopped.
NOTICE TO QUIT. The usual mode of letting houses is by the year, at a
certain annual rent to be paid quarterly: therefore unless a written
agreement can be produced, to show that the premises were engaged for a
shorter period, the law considers the tenant as entered for one whole
year, provided the rent exceeds forty shillings per annum, and this
consideration must govern the notice to quit. Every tenant who holds
from year to year, which is presumed to be the case in every instance
where proof is not given to the contrary, is entitled to half a year's
notice, which must be given in such a manner that the tenant must quit
the premises at the same quarter day on which he took possession: so
that if his rent commenced at Michaelmas, the notice must be served at
or before Lady-day, that he may quit at Michaelmas. If a tenant come in
after any of the regular quarter days, and pay a certain sum for the
remainder of the quarter, he does not commence annual tenant until the
remainder of the quarter is expired; but if he pay rent for the whole
quarter, he is to be considered as yearly tenant from the commencement
of his rent, and his notice to quit must be regulated accordingly.
Should it happen that the landlord cannot ascertain the precise time
when the tenancy commenced, he may enquire of the tenant, who must be
served with notice to quit at the time he mentions, and must obey the
warning agreeably to his own words, whether it be the true time or not.
If he refuse to give the desired information, the landlord, instead of
'on or before midsummer next,' must give in his notice, 'at the end and
expiration of the current year of your tenancy, which shall expire next
after the end of one half year from the date hereof.' If notice be
given up to a wrong time, or a quarter instead of half a year, such
warning will be sufficient, if the party make no objection at the time
he receives it. When premises are held by lease, the expiration of the
term is sufficient notice to quit, without giving any other warning for
that purpose. The following is the form of a landlord's notice to his
tenant:--'I do hereby give you notice to quit the house and premises you
hold of me, situate in the parish of ------ in the county of ------ on
or before midsummer next. Dated the ------ day of ------ in the year
------ R. C.'--The following is a tenant's notice to his landlord:--'Sir,
I hereby give you warning of my intention to quit your house in the
parish of ------ on or before Michaelmas next. Dated the ------ day of
------ in the year ------ C. R.'--These forms will also serve for
housekeepers and lodgers, if 'apartment' be added instead of house or
premises. Care however must be taken to give the address correctly: 'R.
C. landlord of the said premises, to C. R. the tenant thereof.' Or, 'To
Mr. R. C. the landlord of the said premises.'
NOTTINGHAM PUDDING. Peel six large apples, take out the core with the
point of a small knife or an apple scoop, but the fruit must be left
whole. Fill up the centre with sugar, place the fruit in a pie dish, and
pour over a nice light batter, prepared as for batter pudding, and bake
it an hour in a moderate oven.
NUTMEG GRATERS. Those made with a trough, and sold by the ironmongers,
are by far the best, especially for grating fine and fast.
NUTS. Hazel nuts may be preserved in great perfection for several
months, by burying them in earthen pots well closed, a foot or two in
the ground, especially in a dry or sandy place.
O.
OAT CAKES. These may be made the same as muffins, only using fine
Yorkshire oatmeal instead of flour. Another sort is made of fine
oatmeal, warm water, yeast and salt, beat to a thick batter, and set to
rise in a warm place. Pour some of the batter on a baking stone, to any
size you please, about as thick as a pancake. Pull them open to butter
them, and set them before the fire. If muffins or oat cakes get stale,
dip them in cold water, and crisp them in a Dutch oven.
OATMEAL. This article has undergone a very considerable improvement,
since the introduction of what are termed Embden Groats, manufactured in
England it is true, out of Dutch oats, but of a quality superior to any
thing before known in this country under the name of oatmeal, and which
may now be had of almost all retailers at a moderate price.
OATMEAL FLUMMERY. Put three large handfuls of fine oatmeal into two
quarts of spring water, and let it steep a day and a night. Pour off the
clear water, put in the same quantity of fresh water, and strain the
oatmeal through a fine sieve. Boil it till it is as thick as hasty
pudding, keep it stirring all the time, that it may be smooth and fine.
When first strained, a spoonful of sugar should be added, two spoonfuls
of orange flower-water, two or three spoonfuls of cream, a blade of
mace, and a bit of lemon peel. When boiled enough, pour the flummery
into a shallow dish, and serve it up.
OATMEAL PUDDING. Pour a quart of boiling milk over a pint of the best
oatmeal, and let it soak all night. Next day beat two eggs, and mix a
little salt. Butter a bason that will just hold it, cover it tight with
a floured cloth, and boil it an hour and a half. Eat it with cold butter
and salt. When cold, slice and toast it, and eat it as oat-cake,
buttered.
OLD WRITINGS. When old deeds or writings are so much defaced that they
can scarcely be deciphered, bruise and boil a few nut galls in white
wine; or if it be a cold infusion, expose it to the sun for two or three
days. Then dip a sponge into the infusion, pass it over the writing that
is sunk, and it will instantly be revived, if the infusion be strong
enough of the galls. Vitriolic or nitrous acid a little diluted with
water, will also render the writing legible; but care must be taken that
the solution be not too strong, or it will destroy the paper or the
parchment which contains the writing.
OINTMENTS. An excellent ointment for burns, scalds, chilblains, and
dressing blisters, may be made in the following manner. Take eight
ounces of hog's lard quite fresh, one ounce of bees' wax, and one of
honey. Put them into a kettle over the fire, and stir it together till
it is all melted. Pour it into a jar for keeping, add a large spoonful
of rose water, and keep stirring it till it is cold.--Bad scalds and
burns should first have a poultice of grated potatoes applied to them
for several hours, and then a plaster of the ointment, which must be
renewed morning and evening.--For blisters, a plaster of this should be
spread rather longer than the blister, and put on over the blister
plaster when it has been on twenty-four hours, or sooner if it feel
uneasy. By this means the blister plaster will slip off when it has done
drawing, without any pain or trouble.--For chilblains, it has never been
known to fail of a cure, if the feet have been kept clean, dry, and
warm.--An emollient ointment, for anointing any external inflammations,
may be made as follows. Take two pounds of palm oil, a pint and a half
of olive oil, half a pound of yellow wax, and a quarter of a pound of
Venice turpentine. Melt the wax in the oil over the fire, mix in the
turpentine, and strain off the ointment.
OINTMENT FOR BURNS. Scrape two ounces of bees' wax into half a pint of
sallad oil, and let it simmer gently over the fire till the whole is
incorporated. Take it off the fire, beat up the yolks of three eggs with
a spoonful of oil, and stir up all together till it is quite cold.
OINTMENT FOR THE EYES. This is made of four ounces of fresh lard, two
drams of white wax, and one ounce of prepared tutty. Melt the wax with
the lard over a gentle fire, and sprinkle in the tutty, continually
stirring them till the ointment is cold.
OINTMENT OF LEAD. This should consist of half a pint of olive oil, two
ounces of white wax, and three drams of the sugar of lead finely
powdered. Rub the sugar of lead with some of the oil, add to it the
other ingredients, which should be previously melted together, and stir
them till the ointment is quite cold. This cooling ointment may be used
in all cases where the intention is to dry and skin over the wound, as
in burns and scalds.
OINTMENT OF MARSHMALLOWS. Take half a pound of marshmallow roots, three
ounces of linseed, and three ounces of fennugreek seed. Bruise and boil
them gently half an hour in a quart of water, and then add two quarts
of sweet oil. Boil them together till the water is all evaporated: then
strain off the oil, and add to it a pound of bees' wax, half a pound of
yellow rosin, and two ounces of common turpentine. Melt them together
over a slow fire, and keep stirring till the ointment is cold.
OINTMENT OF SULPHUR. This is the safest and best application for the
itch, and will have no disagreeable smell, if made in the following
manner. Take four ounces of fresh lard, an ounce and a half of flour of
sulphur, two drams of crude sal-ammoniac, and ten or a dozen drops of
lemon essence. When made into an ointment, rub it on the parts affected.
OLIVES. This foreign article, sent over in a state of preservation,
requires only to be kept from the air. Olives are of three kinds,
Italian, Spanish, and French, of different sizes and flavour. Each
should be firm, though some are most fleshy.
OMLET. Make a batter of eggs and milk, and a very little flour. Add
chopped parsley, green onions, or chives, or a very small quantity of
shalot, a little pepper and salt, and a scrape or two of nutmeg. Boil
some butter in a small frying-pan, and pour the above batter into it.
When one side is of a fine yellow brown, turn it and do the other:
double it when served. Some lean ham scraped, or grated tongue, put in
at first, is a very pleasant addition. Four eggs will make a pretty
omlet, but some will use eight or ten, and only a small proportion of
flour, but a good deal of parsley. If the taste be approved, a little
tarragon will give a fine flavour. Ramakins and omlet, though usually
served in the course, would be much better if they were sent up after,
that they might be eaten as hot as possible.
ONION GRAVY. Peel and slice some onions into a small stewpan, with an
ounce of butter, adding cucumber or celery if approved. Set it on a slow
fire, and turn the onion about till it is lightly browned; then stir in
half an ounce of flour, a little broth, a little pepper and salt, and
boil it up for a few minutes. Add a table-spoonful of port wine, the
same of mushroom ketchup, and rub it through a fine sieve. It may be
sharpened with a little lemon juice or vinegar. The flavour of this
sauce may be varied by adding tarragon, or burnt vinegar.
ONION SAUCE. Peel the onions and boil them tender. Squeeze the water
from them, chop and add them to butter that has been melted rich and
smooth, with a little good milk instead of water. Boil it up once, and
serve it for boiled rabbits, partridges, scrag or knuckle of veal or
roast mutton. A turnip boiled with the onions makes them milder.
ONION SOUP. Put some carrots, turnips, and a shank bone, into the liquor
in which a leg or neck of mutton has been boiled, and simmer them
together two hours. Strain it on six onions, sliced and fried of a light
brown; simmer the soup three hours, and skim it carefully. Put a small
roll into it, or fried bread, and serve it up hot.
ONIONS. In order to obtain a good crop of onions, it is proper to sow at
different seasons. On light soils sow in August, January, or early in
February: on heavy wet soils in March, or early in April. Onions however
should not be sown so soon as January, unless the ground be in a dry
state, which is not often the case at that time of the year: otherwise,
advantage should be taken of it. As this valuable root is known
frequently to fail by the common method of culture, the best way is to
sow the seed successively, that advantage may be taken of the seasons as
they happen.
ORANGE BISCUITS. Boil whole Seville oranges in two or three waters,
till most of the bitterness is gone. Cut them, and take out the pulp and
juice; then beat the outside very fine in a mortar, and put to it an
equal weight of double-refined sugar beaten and sifted. When extremely
well mixed to a paste, spread it thin on china dishes, and set them in
the sun, or before the fire. When half dry, cut it into what form you
please, and turn the other side up to dry. Keep the biscuits in a box,
with layers of paper. They are intended for desserts, and are also
useful as a stomachic, to carry in the pocket on journeys, and for gouty
stomachs.
ORANGE BRANDY. Steep the peels of twenty Seville oranges in three quarts
of brandy, and let it stand a fortnight in a stone bottle. Boil two
quarts of water with a pound and a half of loaf sugar nearly an hour,
clarify,it with the white of an egg, strain it, and boil it till reduced
nearly one half. When cold, strain the brandy into the syrup.
ORANGE BUTTER. Boil six hard eggs, beat them in a mortar with two ounces
of fine sugar, three ounces of butter, and two ounces of blanched
almonds beaten to a paste. Moisten with orange-flower water; and when
all is mixed, rub it through a cullender on a dish, and serve with sweet
biscuits between.
ORANGE CHEESECAKES. Blanch half a pound of almonds, beat them very fine,
with orange-flower water, half a pound of fine sugar beaten and sifted,
a pound of butter that has been melted carefully without oiling, and
which must be nearly cold before it is used. Then beat the yolks of ten
and the whites of four eggs. Pound in a mortar two candied oranges, and
a fresh one with the bitterness boiled out, till they are as tender as
marmalade, without any lumps. Beat the whole together, and put it into
pattipans.
ORANGE CHIPS. Cut oranges in halves, squeeze the juice through a sieve,
and soak the peels in water. Next day boil them in the same till tender;
then drain and slice the peels, add them to the juice, weigh as much
sugar, and put all together into a broad earthen dish. Place the dish at
a moderate distance from the fire, often stirring till the chips candy,
and then set them in a cool room to dry, which commonly requires about
three weeks.
ORANGE CREAM. Boil the rind of a Seville orange very tender, and beat it
fine in a mortar. Add to it a spoonful of the best brandy, the juice of
a Seville orange, four ounces of loaf sugar, and the yolks of four eggs.
Beat them all together for ten minutes; then by gentle degrees, pour in
a pint of boiling cream, and beat it up till cold. Set some custard cups
into a deep dish of boiling water, pour the cream into the cups, and let
it stand again till cold. Put at the top some small strips of orange
paring cut thin, or some preserved chips.
ORANGE-FLOWER CAKES. Soak four ounces of the leaves of the flowers in
cold water for an hour; drain, and put them between napkins, and roll
with a rolling-pin till they are bruised. Have ready boiled a pound of
sugar to add to it in a thick syrup, give them a simmer until the syrup
adheres to the sides of the pan, drop it in little cakes on a plate, and
dry them in a cool room.
ORANGE FOOL. Mix the juice of three Seville oranges, three eggs well
beaten, a pint of cream, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, and sweeten it to
taste. Set the whole over a slow fire, and stir it till it becomes as
thick as good melted butter, but it must not be boiled. Then pour it
into a dish for eating cold.
ORANGE JAM. Lay half a dozen oranges in water four or five days,
changing the water once or twice every day. Take out the oranges, and
wipe them dry. Tie them up in separate cloths, and boil them four hours
in a large kettle, changing the water once or twice. Peel off the rinds
and pound them well in a marble mortar, with two pounds of fine sugar to
one pound of orange. Then beat all together, and cover the jam down in a
pot.
ORANGE JELLY. Grate the rind of two Seville and two China oranges, and
two lemons. Squeeze the juice of three of each, and strain it; add a
quarter of a pound of lump sugar dissolved in a quarter of a pint of
water, and boil it till it nearly candies. Prepare a quart of jelly,
made of two ounces of isinglass; add to it the syrup, and boil it once
up. Strain off the jelly, and let it stand to settle before it is put
into the mould.