months and two years; and as it is always attended with evident signs of
weakness and relaxation, the chief aim in the cure must be to brace and
strengthen the solids, and to promote digestion and the due preparation
of the fluids. These important ends will be best answered by wholesome
nourishing diet, suited to the age and strength of the patient, open dry
air, and sufficient exercise. The limbs should be rubbed frequently with
a warm hand, and the child kept as cheerful as possible. Biscuit is
generally reckoned the best bread; and pigeons, pullet, veal, rabbits,
or mutton roasted or minced, are the most proper meat. If the child be
too young for animal food, he may have rice, millet, or pearl barley,
boiled with raisins, to which may be added a little wine and spice. His
drink may be good claret, mixed with an equal quantity of water. Those
who cannot afford claret, may give the child now and then a wine glass
of mild ale, or good porter. The disease may often be cured by the
nurse, but seldom by the physician. In children of a gross habit, gentle
vomits and repeated purges of rhubarb may sometimes be of use, but they
will seldom carry off the disease; that must depend chiefly upon such
things as brace and strengthen the system; for which purpose, besides
the regimen mentioned above, the cold bath, especially in the warm
season, is highly recommended. It must, however, be used with prudence,
as some ricketty children cannot bear it. The best time for using the
cold bath is in the morning, and the child should be well rubbed with a
dry cloth immediately after he comes out of it.
RING WORM. This eruption, which generally appears on the head, in a
circular form, attended with painful itching, is sometimes removed by
rubbing it with black ink, or mushroom ketchup. The following
preparation is also recommended. Wash some roots of sorrel quite clean,
bruise them in a mortar, and steep them in white wine vinegar for two or
three days. Then rub the liquor on the ring worm three or four times a
day, till it begin to disappear.
ROASTING. The first requisite for roasting is to have a clear brisk
fire, proportioned to the joint that is to be roasted; without this
every attempt must prove abortive. Next to see that the spit is properly
cleaned before it enters the meat, and the less it passes through it the
better. Neck and loins require to be carefully jointed before they are
put on the spit, that the carver may separate them easily and neatly.
The joint should be balanced evenly on the spit, that its motion may be
regular, and the fire operate equally on every part; for this purpose
cook-holds and balancing skewers are necessary. All roasting should be
done open to the air, to ventilate the meat from its own fumes, and by
the radiant heat of a glowing fire; otherwise it is in fact baked, and
rendered less wholesome. Hence what are called Rumford roasters, and the
machines invented by economical gratemakers, are utterly to be rejected.
If they save any thing in fuel, which is doubtful, they are highly
injurious to the flavour and best qualities of the meat. For the same
reason, when a joint is dressed, it is better to keep it hot by the
fire, than to put it under a cover, that the exhalations may freely
escape. In making up the fire for roasting, it should be three or four
inches longer at each end than the article on the spit, or the ends of
the meat cannot be done nice and brown. Half an hour at least before the
roasting begins, prepare the fire, by putting on a few coals so as to be
sufficiently lighted by the time the fire is wanted. Put some of them
between the bars, and small coals or cinders wetted at the back of the
fire; and never put down meat to a burnt up fire. In small families, not
provided with a jack or spit, a bottle jack, sold by the ironmongers, is
a valuable instrument for roasting; and where this cannot be had, a
skewer and a string, or rather a quantity of coarse yarn loosely
twisted, is as philosophical as any of them, and will answer the purpose
as well. Do not put meat too near the fire at first. The larger the
joint, the farther it must be kept from the fire: if once it gets
scorched, the outside will become hard, and acquire a disagreeable
taste. If the fire is prevented from penetrating into it, the meat will
appear done, before it is little more than half ready, besides losing
the pale brown colour which is the beauty of roast meat. From ten to
fourteen inches is the usual distance at which it is put from the grate,
when first laid down; and afterwards it should be brought nearer by
degrees. If the joint is thicker at one end than the other, lay the spit
slanting, with the thickest part nearest the fire. When the article is
thin and tender, the fire should be small and brisk; but for a large
joint the fire should be strong, and equally good in every part of the
grate, or the meat cannot be equally roasted, nor possess that uniform
colour which is the test of good cooking. Give the fire a good stirring
before the meat is laid down, keep it clear at the bottom, and take care
that there are no smoky coals in the front, to spoil the look and taste
of the meat. If a jack be used, it should be carefully oiled and kept
clean, and covered from the dust, or it will never go well. The dripping
pan should be placed at such a distance from the fire as just to catch
the drippings; if it be too near, the ashes will fall into it, and spoil
the drippings. If too far from the fire to catch them, the drippings
will not only be lost, but the meat will be blackened, and spoiled by
the fetid smoke, which will arise when the fat falls on the live
cinders. The meat must be well basted, to keep it moist. When it does
not supply dripping enough for this purpose, add some that has been
saved on former occasions, and nicely prepared, which answers as well or
better than butter. Meat should not be sprinkled with salt till nearly
done, as it tends to draw out the gravy. Basting with a little salt and
water, when the meat is first laid down, is often done, but the
practice is not good. Where the fat is very fine and delicate, it is
best to cover it with writing paper to prevent its wasting; but in
general it is as well to expose it to the action of the fire, and let it
fall into the dripping pan. Half an hour before the meat is done,
prepare some gravy if necessary; and just before it is taken up, put it
nearer the fire to brown it. If it is to be frothed, baste and dredge it
carefully with flour. The common fault is that of using too much flour;
the meat should have a fine light varnish of froth, not the appearance
of being covered with a paste; and those who are particular about the
froth, use butter instead of dripping. When the roast is quite done, it
is best to take it up directly, as every moment beyond doing it enough
does it an injury. If it cannot be sent to table immediately, which is
most desirable, it should be kept hot, but so as to suffer the fumes to
escape. With respect to the time required for roasting, the general rule
of a quarter of an hour to a pound of meat, is a pretty fair one, but it
will not do for all kinds of joints. The use of a meat screen must also
be considered, as it tends materially to assist the operation, by
concentrating the heat, and excluding the cold drafts of air. Attention
must be paid to the nature of the joint, whether thick or thin, the
strength of the fire, the nearness of the meat to it, and the frequency
with which it is basted. The more it is basted the less time it will
take, as it keeps the meat soft and mellow on the outside, and the fire
acts upon it with greater force. Much will depend on the time the meat
has been kept, and on the temperature of the weather. The same weight
will be twenty minutes or half an hour longer in cold weather, than it
will be in warm weather; and when the meat is fresh slain, than when it
has been kept till it is tender. If meat get frozen, it should be thawed
by lying some time in cold water; and then be well dried in a clean
cloth, before it is laid down to the fire. A sirloin of BEEF, weighing
from twenty-five to thirty pounds, will generally take four hours; a
part of it, from twelve to fifteen pounds, two hours and three quarters,
or three hours. A piece of ribs of the same weight, much the same time,
and a rump four hours. A sheet of paper should be tied over the thin
part, or it will burn before the thick part is done enough. A leg of
MUTTON, weighing eight or nine pounds, will require two hours and a
quarter; a shoulder of seven pounds, an hour and three quarters; a chine
of ten or eleven pounds, two hours and a half; a loin, rather more than
an hour and a half; a neck, the same; a breast, an hour. A haunch of
mutton should be dressed like venison, only in proportion as it may be
less, it must not roast quite so long. A fillet of VEAL, from twelve to
fourteen pounds weight, requires three hours and twenty minutes. This is
usually stuffed, either in the place of the bone, when that is taken
out, or under the flap. A loin takes two hours and a half, a shoulder
two hours and twenty minutes, a neck nearly two hours, and a breast an
hour and a half. These directions suppose the joints to be of a common
size. If they are very thick, a little more time must be allowed. When
veal is quite small, the time must be reduced accordingly. A quarter of
LAMB, of a moderate size, will require two hours; a leg, an hour and
forty minutes; a shoulder, an hour and twenty minutes; a loin, the same;
a neck, an hour and ten minutes; a breast, three quarters of an hour;
and ribs, an hour and a half. A leg of PORK, weighing seven pounds, will
require nearly two hours; a loin of five pounds, an hour and twenty
minutes. Both these should be scored across in narrow stripes, before
they are laid down to the fire. A sparerib of eight or nine pounds, will
take an hour and three quarters; a griskin of six or seven pounds, an
hour and a quarter; a chine, if parted down the back-bone so as to have
but one side, two hours; if not parted, it will take four hours.--The
BASTINGS proper for roast meat, are fresh butter, clarified suet, salt
and water, yolks of eggs, grated biscuit, and orange juice. For mutton
and lamb, minced sweet herbs, butter and claret; and for roast pig,
melted butter and cream. The DREDGINGS, are flour mixed with grated
bread; sweet herbs dried and powdered, and mixed with grated bread;
lemon peel dried and pounded, or orange peel mixed with flour; sugar
finely powdered, and mixed with pounded cinnamon, and flour, or grated
bread; fennel seeds, corianders, cinnamon, sugar finely powdered, and
mixed with grated bread or flour; sugar, bread, and salt mixed. For
young pigs, grated bread or flour mixed with pounded nutmeg, ginger,
pepper, sugar, and yolks of eggs.
ROAST BEEF. Take care that your spit and dripping-pan be very clean; and
to prepare your fire according to the size of the joint you have to
dress. If it be a sirloin or chump, butter a piece of writing paper, and
fasten it on to the back of your meat, with small skewers, and lay it
down to a good clear fire, at a proper distance. As soon as your meat is
warm, dust on some flour, and baste it with butter; then sprinkle some
salt, and at times baste with what drips from it. About a quarter of an
hour before you take it up, remove the paper, dust on a little flour,
and baste with a piece of butter, that it may go to table with a good
froth, but not look greasy. A piece of ten pounds requires about two
hours and a half, and others in proportion. Salad and vegetables are
eaten with it, also mustard and horseradish.
ROAST CALF'S HEAD. Wash the head very clean, take out the brains, and
dry it well with a cloth. Make a seasoning of pepper, salt, nutmeg, and
cloves; add a slice of bacon finely minced, and some grated bread. Strew
the seasoning over the head, roll it up, skewer and tie it close with
tape. Roast and baste it with butter. Make veal gravy thickened with
butter rolled in flour, and garnish the edge of the dish with fried
brains.
ROAST CALF'S LIVER. Cut a hole in the liver, and stuff it with crumbs of
bread, mixed with chopped onions and herbs, salt, pepper, butter, and an
egg. Sew up the liver, wrap it up in a veal caul, and roast it. Serve it
up with brown gravy, and currant jelly.
ROAST CHEESE. Grate three ounces of fat Cheshire cheese, mix it with the
yolks of two eggs, four ounces of grated bread, and three ounces of
butter. Beat the whole well in a mortar, with a dessert-spoonful of
mustard, and a little salt and pepper. Toast some bread, cut it into
proper pieces, lay the above paste thick upon them, and lay them into a
Dutch oven covered with a dish till they are hot through. Remove the
dish, to let the paste brown a little, and serve it up as hot as
possible, immediately after dinner.
ROAST CHICKENS. Being cleaned and trussed, put them down to a good fire.
Singe them, dust them with flour, and baste them well with butter. Make
gravy of their necks and gizzards, or of beef. Strain the gravy, and
pour it into the dish, adding parsley and butter, or egg sauce.
ROAST COLLARED BEEF. Take out the inside meat from a sirloin of beef,
sprinkle it with vinegar, and let it hang till the next day. Prepare a
stuffing as for a hare, put this at one end of the meat, roll the rest
round it, bind it very close, and roast it gently for an hour and three
quarters, or a little more or less, proportioned to the thickness. Serve
it up with gravy the same as for hare, and with currant jelly.
ROAST COLLARED MUTTON. If a loin of mutton has been collared, take off
the fat from the upper side, and the meat from the under side. Bone the
joint, season it with pepper and salt, and some shalot or sweet herbs,
chopped very small. Let it be rolled up very tight, well tied round, and
roasted gently. About an hour and a half will do it. While this is
roasting, half boil the meat taken from the under side, then mince it
small, put it into half a pint of gravy; and against the time that the
mutton is ready, heat this and pour it into the dish when it is served
up.
ROAST COLLARED PORK. When a neck of pork has been collared, and is
intended for roasting, the bones must be taken out. Strew the inside
with bread crumbs, chopped sage, a very little pounded allspice, some
pepper and salt, all mixed together. Roll it up very close, bind it
tight, and roast it gently. An hour and a half or little more, according
to the thickness, will roast it enough. A loin of pork with the fat and
kidney taken out and boned, and a forehand of pork boned, are very nice
dressed in the same way.
ROAST DUCK. If two are dressed, let one of them be unseasoned, in order
to suit the company. Stuff the other with sage and onion, a
dessert-spoonful of crumbs, a bit of butter, with pepper and salt. Serve
them up with a fine gravy.
ROAST EEL. Take a good large silver eel, draw and skin it, and cut it in
pieces of four inches long. Spit them crossways on a small spit, with
bay leaves, or large sage leaves between each piece. When roasted, serve
up the fish with butter beaten with orange or lemon juice, and some
grated nutmeg. Or serve it with venison sauce, and dredge it with
pounded carraway seeds, cinnamon, or grated bread.
ROAST FOWL. A large barn-door fowl, well hung, should be stuffed in the
crop with sausage meat. The head should be turned under the wing, as a
turkey. Serve with gravy in the dish, and bread sauce. Roast fowl in
general may be garnished with sausages, or scalded parsley. Egg sauce or
bread sauce are equally proper.
ROAST GOOSE. After the fowl is picked, the plugs of the feathers pulled
out, and the hairs carefully singed, let it be well washed and dried.
Put in a seasoning of shred onion and sage, pepper and salt. Fasten it
tight at the neck and rump, and then roast it. Put it first at a
distance from the fire, and by degrees draw it nearer, and baste it
well. A slip of paper should be skewered on the breast-bone; when the
breast is rising, take off the paper, and be careful to serve it before
the breast falls, or it will be spoiled by coming flat to the table.
Send up a good gravy in the dish, with apple and gravy sauce. For a
green goose, gooseberry sauce.
ROAST GRISKIN. Put a piece of pork griskin into a stewpan, with very
little more water than will just cover it. Let it boil gradually, and
when it has fairly boiled up, take it out. Rub it over with a piece of
butter, strew it with a little chopped sage and a few bread crumbs, and
roast it in a Dutch oven. It will require doing but a little while.
ROAST HARE. After it is skinned, let it be extremely well washed, and
then soaked an hour or two in water. If an old hare, lard it, which will
make it tender, as also will letting it lie in vinegar. But if put into
vinegar, it should be very carefully washed in water afterwards. Make a
stuffing of the liver, with an anchovy, some fat bacon, a little suet,
all finely minced; adding pepper, salt, nutmeg, a little onion, some
sweet herbs, crumbs of bread, and an egg to bind it all. Then put the
stuffing, a pretty large one, into the belly of the hare, and sew it up.
Baste it well with milk till half done, and afterwards with butter. If
the blood has settled in the neck, soaking the part in warm water, and
putting it to the fire, will remove it, especially if the skin be nicked
a little with a small knife to let it out. The hare should be kept at a
distance from the fire at first. Serve it up with a fine froth, some
melted butter, currant-jelly sauce, and a rich gravy in the dish. The
ears being reckoned a dainty, should be nicely cleaned and singed. For
the manner of trussing a hare or rabbit, see Plate.
ROAST HEART. Take some suet, parsley, and sweet marjoram, chopped fine.
Add some bread crumbs, grated lemon peel, pepper, salt, mustard, and an
egg. Mix these into a paste, and stuff the heart with it. Whether baked
or roasted, serve it up with gravy and melted butter. Baking is best, if
it be done carefully, as it will be more regularly done than it can be
by roasting. Calf's or bullock's heart are both dressed in the same way.
ROAST LAMB. Lay the joint down to a good clear fire, that will want
little stirring; then baste it with butter, and dust on a little flour;
after that, baste it with what falls from it; and a little before you
take it up baste it again with butter, and sprinkle on a little salt.
ROAST LARKS. Put a dozen larks on a skewer, and tie both ends of the
skewer to the spit. Dredge and baste them, and let them roast ten
minutes. Take the crumb of a penny loaf, grate it, and put it into a
fryingpan, with a little bit of butter. Shake it over a gentle fire till
it becomes brown; lay it between the birds on a dish, and pour melted
butter over it.
ROAST LEG OF PORK. Choose a small leg of fine young pork, cut a slit in
the knuckle with a sharp knife, fill the space with chopped sage and
onion, mixed together with a little pepper and salt. When half roasted,
score the skin in slices, but do not cut deeper than the outer rind. Eat
it with potatoes and apple sauce.
ROAST LOBSTER. When the lobster is half boiled, take it out of the
water; and while hot, rub it with butter, and lay it before the fire.
Continue basting it with butter till it has a fine froth.
ROAST MUTTON AND LAMB. These require to be well roasted, before a quick
clear fire. A small fore quarter of lamb will take an hour and a half.
Baste the joint as soon as it is laid down, and sprinkle on a little
salt. When nearly done, dredge it with flour. In dressing a loin or
saddle of mutton, the skin must be loosened, and then skewered on; but
it should be removed before the meat is done, and the joint basted and
made to froth up. When a fore quarter is sent to table, the shoulder may
be taken off, the ribs a little seasoned with pepper and salt, and a
lemon squeezed over them. Serve up the joint with vegetables and mint
sauce. For a breast of mutton, make a savoury forcemeat, if the bones
are taken out, and wash it over with egg. Spread the forcemeat upon it,
roll it up, bind it with packthread, and serve it up with gravy sauce.
Or roast it with the bones in, without the forcemeat.
ROAST ONIONS. They should be roasted with all the skins on. They eat
well alone, with only salt and cold butter; or with beet root, or roast
potatoes.
ROAST PHEASANTS. Dust them with flour, baste them often with butter, and
keep them at a good distance from the fire. Make the gravy of a scrag of
mutton, a tea-spoonful of lemon pickle, a large spoonful of ketchup, and
the same of browning. Strain it, and put a little of it into the dish.
Serve them up with bread sauce in a basin, and fix one of the principal
feathers of the pheasant in its tail. A good fire will roast them in
half an hour. Guinea and pea fowls eat much like pheasants, and are to
be dressed in the same way.
ROAST PARTRIDGES. Partridges will take full twenty minutes. Before they
are quite done, dredge them with flour, and baste them with fresh
butter; let them go to table with a fine froth, and gravy sauce in the
dish, and bread sauce in a tureen. The bread sauce should be made as
follows. Take a good piece of stale bread, and put it into a pint of
water, with some whole pepper, a blade of mace, and a bit of onion: let
it boil till the bread is soft; then take out the spice and onion; pour
out the water, and beat the bread with a spoon till it is like pap; put
in a good piece of butter, and a little salt; set it over the fire for
two or three minutes.
ROAST PIG. A sucking pig for roasting, should be put into cold water for
a few minutes, as soon as it is killed. Then rub it over with a little
rosin finely powdered, and put it into a pail of scalding water half a
minute. Take it out, lay it on a table, and pull off the hair as quickly
as possible: if any part does not come off, put it in again. When quite
clean from hair, wash it well in warm water, and then in two or three
cold waters, that no flavour of the rosin may remain. Take off all the
feet at the first joint, make a slit down the belly, and take out the
entrails: put the liver, heart, and lights to the feet. Wash the pig
well in cold water, dry it thoroughly, and fold it in a wet cloth to
keep it from the air. When thus scalded and prepared for roasting, put
into the belly a mixture of chopped sage, bread crumbs, salt and pepper,
and sow it up. Lay it down to a brisk fire till thoroughly dry; then
have ready some butter in a dry cloth, and rub the pig with it in every
part. Dredge over it as much flour as will lie on, and do not touch it
again till it is ready for the table. Then scrape off the flour very
carefully with a blunt knife, rub it well with the buttered cloth, and
take off the head while it is at the fire. Take out the brains, and mix
them with the gravy that comes from the pig. The legs should be skewered
back before roasting, or the under part will not be crisp. Take it up
when done, and without drawing the spit, cut it down the back and belly,
lay it into the dish, mince the sage and bread very fine, and mix them
with a large quantity of good melted butter that has very little flour.
Pour the sauce into the dish after the pig has been split down the back,
and garnish with the ears and the two jaws: take off the upper part of
the head down to the snout. In Devonshire it is served up whole, if very
small; the head only being cut off to garnish the dish.--Another way.
Spit your pig, and lay it down to a clear fire, kept good at both ends:
put into the belly a few sage leaves, a little pepper and salt, a little
crust of bread, and a bit of butter, then sew up the belly; flour him
all over very well, and do so till the eyes begin to start. When you
find the skin is tight and crisp, and the eyes are dropped, put two
plates into the dripping pan, to save what gravy comes from him: put a
quarter of a pound of butter into a clean coarse cloth, and rub all over
him, till the flour is clean taken off; then take it up into your dish,
take the sage, &c. out of the belly, and chop it small; cut off the
head, open it, and take out the brains, which chop, and put the sage and
brains into half a pint of good gravy, with a piece of butter rolled in
flour; then cut your pig down the back, and lay him flat in the dish:
cut off the two ears, and lay one upon each shoulder; take off the under
jaw, cut it in two, and lay one on each side; put the head between the
shoulders, pour the gravy out of the plates into your sauce, and then
into the dish. Send it to table garnished with a lemon.
ROAST PIGEONS. Stuff them with parsley, either cut or whole, and put in
a seasoning of pepper and salt. Serve with parsley and butter. Peas or
asparagus should be dressed to eat with them.
ROAST PIKE. Clean the fish well, and sew up in it the following
stuffing. Grated bread crumbs, sweet herbs and parsley chopped, capers
and anchovies, pepper, salt, a little fresh butter, and an egg. Turn it
round with the tail in its mouth, and roast it gently till it is done of
a fine brown. It may be baked, if preferred. Serve it up with a good
gravy sauce.