Old ling and backlio, must be laid in water for ten or twelve hours,
then taken out, and scaled very clean; wash the fish, and let it lay out
of water till you want to use it; if it is the next day, it will be the
better. When you dress it, put it into cold water, and let it do as
gently as possible; let it be boiled so tender, that you may put a fork
into any part of it without sticking, then it is enough. Lay a clean
napkin over your dish, take up the fish, lay it upon the napkin, and
throw the corners over each other. Send it to table with egg sauce in a
basin, parsnips sliced, and butter and mustard in a boat.
SALT FISH WITH CREAM. Soak and boil some good barrel cod, till about
three parts done. Divide it into flakes, put them into a saucepan with
some cream, a little pepper, and a handful of parsley scalded and
chopped. Stew it gently till tender, thicken the sauce with two or three
yolks of eggs, and serve it up.
SALT FISH PIE. Boil a side of salt fish as you would for eating; cut a
square bit out of the middle, about the bigness of your hand; take the
skin off the other, and take out all the bones; mince this very small
with six eggs boiled hard; season it with pepper, nutmeg, and beaten
mace, then slice the crumb of French rolls thin into a pan, pour over it
a quart of boiling milk, and let it stand to soak; in the mean time,
make a good puff paste, and sheet the dish all over; have in readiness
the quantity of two spoonfuls of parsley shred very fine, beat the bread
well together, then put in the fish and eggs, and chopped parsley; stir
all well together; melt about three quarters of a pound of butter, and
stir it into the ingredients, with a gill of Mountain; pour this into
the dish, lay the square piece of fish in the middle; lay on the lid,
and bake it an hour, or a little more.--You may make ling, or stock-fish
pie in this manner; but you are to observe, that all the skin is to be
taken off, and not to put a piece whole into the pie, according to this
receipt; but mince all the fish with the yolks of hard eggs, leaving out
the whites, and adding a large spoonful of made mustard when you stir
the ingredients together, before you put them into the pie.
SALT PORK. To a hundred weight of pork or beef, take ten pounds of
common salt, and half a pound of saltpetre. Let the meat be well cleaned
from those particles of blood which hang about it when cut into four
pound pieces: this is best done by washing it in salt and water, or
brine that has been used, provided it be sweet. Lay the meat in rows,
and rub the upper side moderately with salt; then place another layer of
meat, and repeat the operation as on the first layer. In this manner
continue the same proportion of salt and saltpetre, till the whole
quantity is heaped up in a tub, or some other vessel, not of lead, in
order to preserve the pickle from issuing from it. In this state it must
remain for three days, then turn it into another tub, sprinkling it
with salt in the act of turning the meat. When all is turned and salted,
let the pickle procured by the first salting, be slowly poured about the
meat. In this state let it remain for a week, and it will be excellent
for home use. If wanted for exportation, pack it in this state into
casks. But as the greatest care is required for its preservation, when
sent abroad, a layer of salt must first be put into the barrel, and then
a layer of meat, till the cask is full, taking care to use the hand only
in packing in the pieces. When the barrel is headed, the pickle must be
filtered through a coarse cloth; and when perfectly fine, fill up the
cask with the pickle to the bung hole. Let it remain in this state till
the next day, in order to ascertain whether the cask be quite tight, and
then bung it up. Beef or pork cured in this manner will not fail to keep
any reasonable length of time. The too great rubbing of meat will not
keep it the better, it frequently retards the operation of the salt by
filling the outward pores of the meat only to the destruction of the
middle of the piece, which frequently perishes.
SALTING OF BUTTER. After the butter is well worked up and cleared from
the milk, it is ready for salting. The tub in which it is to be
preserved being perfectly clean, should be rubbed in the whole inside
with common salt; and a little melted butter should be poured into the
cavity between the bottom and the sides, before the butter is put in.
Although common salt is generally employed on this occasion, yet the
following composition not only preserves the butter more effectually
from taint, but also makes it look better, taste sweeter, richer, and
more marrowy, than if it had been cured with common salt only. Take of
best common salt two parts, saltpetre one part, lump sugar one part,
and beat them up together in a mortar, so that they may be completely
blended. To every pound of butter, add one ounce of this composition:
mix it well in the mass, and close it up for use. Butter prepared in
this manner will keep good for three years, and cannot be distinguished
from that which is recently salted; but it does not taste well till it
has stood a fortnight or three weeks. To preserve butter for winter use,
take some that is fresh and good in the month of August or September,
and put it into an unglazed jar, in layers about two inches thick, till
the jar is full, within three inches of the top. Make a strong brine of
salt and water, boil and skim it; and when it is quite cold, pour a
sufficient quantity over the butter, so that the brine may be an inch
deep. Tie paper over it, and set it in a cool place. When wanted for
use, cut it no deeper than the first layer till that is all used. Then
cut the second in the same manner, and so on to the bottom of the tub or
jar. By this means there will be no more than a part of one layer that
is not covered with the brine. To make it eat like fresh butter, dip
each piece into water when it is cut out of the jar; or work it over
again in fresh buttermilk or milk, and make it into shapes like fresh
butter. It will eat much better with toast, than most of the fresh
butter that is made in winter. It is a false idea, that butter, to be
preserved for winter use, requires a greater quantity of salt:
experience has proved the contrary. Butter salted in the common way, and
put in pots with brine over the top, retains its flavour, and is better
preserved than by an additional quantity of salt. One more observation
on the preservation of butter is necessary. It is universally allowed
that cleanliness is indispensible, but it is not generally suspected,
that butter from being made in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or in
glazed earthenware pans, which glaze is principally composed of lead, is
too apt to be contaminated by particles of that deleterious metal. If
the butter is in the least degree rancid, this can hardly fail to take
place, and it cannot be doubted, that during the decomposition of the
salts, the glazing is acted on. It is better therefore to use tinned
vessels for mixing the preservative with the butter, and to pack it
either in wooden vessels, or in jars of the Vauxhall ware, which being
vitrified throughout, do not require an inside glazing.
SAMPHIRE. This should be boiled in plenty of water, with a good deal of
salt in it. Put it in when the water boils, and let it boil till quite
tender. Serve it up with melted butter.
SANDWICHES. Properly prepared, these form an elegant and convenient
luncheon; but they have got much out of fashion, from the bad manner in
which they are commonly made. They have consisted of any offal or odd
ends, that cannot be sent to table in any other form, merely laid
between slices of bread and butter. Whatever kind of meat is used
however, it must be carefully trimmed from every bit of skin and
gristle, and nothing introduced but what is relishing and acceptable.
Sandwiches may be made of any of the following materials. Cold meat,
poultry, potted meat, potted shrimps or lobsters, potted cheese; grated
ham, beef, or tongue; anchovy, sausages, cold pork; hard eggs, pounded
with a little butter and cheese; forcemeats, and curry powder. Mustard,
pepper, and salt, are to be added, as occasion requires.
SAVOURY BEEF. The tongue side of a round of beef is best adapted for the
purpose; and if it weighs about fifteen pounds, let it hang two or
three days. Then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coarse
sugar, a quarter of an ounce of black pepper, some minced herbs, and
three quarters of a pound of salt. Incorporate these ingredients by
pounding them together in a mortar; and if approved, add a quarter of an
ounce of ginger. Take out the bone, and rub the meat well with the above
mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a fortnight. When it is
to be dressed, put it into a pan with a quart of water. Cover the meat
with about three pounds of mutton suet chopped, and an onion or two
minced small. Put the whole into a pan, cover it with a flour crust, and
bake it in a moderate oven for six hours. Instead of baking it may be
covered with water, and stewed very gently for about five hours; and
when sent to table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley. The
gravy will be excellent for sauce or soup, or making of soy, or
browning; and being impregnated with salt, it will keep several days.
That the suet may not be wasted, when the dish comes from the oven, take
out the beef, and strain the contents of the pan through a sieve.
Clarify the fat when cold, and it will do for frying. The meat should
not be cut till it is cold, and then with a sharp knife to prevent
waste, and keep it smooth and even. This is a most excellent way of
preparing savoury beef for sandwiches, and for other elegant and
economical purposes.
SAVOURY JELLY. If to put over cold pies, make it of a small bare knuckle
of veal, or of a scrag of mutton. If the pie be of fowl or rabbit, the
carcases, necks, and heads, added to any piece of meat, will be
sufficient, observing to give it a consistence by adding cow heel, or
shanks of mutton. Put the meat into a stewpan that shuts very close,
adding a slice of lean ham or bacon, a faggot of different herbs, two
blades of mace, an onion or two, a small bit of lemon peel, a
tea-spoonful of Jamaica pepper bruised, and the same of whole pepper,
with three pints of water. As soon as it boils skim it well, let it
simmer very slowly till it is quite strong, and then strain it. When
cold take off the fat with a spoon first, and then, to remove every
particle of grease, lay on it a clean piece of blotting paper. If not
clear, after being cold, boil it a few minutes with the whites of two
eggs, but do not add the sediment. Pour it through a clean sieve, with a
napkin in it, which has been dipped in boiling water, to prevent waste.
SAVOURY PIES. Few articles of cookery are more generally approved than
relishing pies, if properly made; and there are various things adapted
to this purpose. Some eat best cold, and in that case, no suet should be
put into the forcemeat that is used with them. If the pie is either made
of meat that will take more dressing, to make it quite tender, than the
baking of the crust will allow; or if it is to be served in an earthen
pie-form, the following preparation must be observed. For instance, take
three pounds of a veiny piece of beef, that has fat and lean; wash it,
and season it with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice, in fine powder,
rubbing them in well. Set it by the side of a slow fire, in a stewpot
that will just hold it. Add about two ounces of butter, cover it quite
close, and let it just simmer in its own steam till it begins to shrink.
When it is cold, add more seasoning, forcemeat, and eggs. If in a dish,
put some gravy to it before baking: if in a crust only, the gravy must
not be added till after it is cold, and in a jelly. Forcemeat may be put
both under and over the meat, if preferred to balls.
SAVOURY RICE. Wash and pick some rice quite clean, stew it very gently
in a small quantity of veal or rich mutton broth, with an onion, a blade
of mace, pepper and salt. When swelled, but not boiled to a mash, dry it
on the shallow part of a sieve before the fire, and either serve it dry,
or put it in the middle of a dish, and pour hot gravy round it.
SAVOURY VEAL PIE. Make a good puff-paste, and sheet your dish; cut the
veal into pieces, season it with pepper, mace, and nutmeg, finely beat,
and a little salt; lay it into the crust, with lambstones, sweetbreads,
the yolks of hard eggs, an artichoke bottom boiled, and cut in dice, and
the tops of asparagus; put in about half a pint of water, lay pieces of
butter over the top, put on the lid, and ornament it to your fancy. In a
quick oven about an hour and an half will bake it. Make a caudle for it
thus: take half a pint of strong veal broth, a gill of white wine, and
the yolks of three eggs; set this over the stove, and keep it stirring;
put in some grated nutmeg, and a little salt; when it boils, if there is
any scum, take it off; pour in a gill of cream, keep it stirring till it
simmers, then take the lid of your pie off carefully, and pour the
caudle over it, shake it round, lay on the lid as exact as you can, and
send it to table. You may do lamb this way.
SAVOURY VEGETABLES. Wash a dish with the white of eggs. Make several
divisions with mashed potatoes and yolks of eggs mixed together and put
on the dish, and bake it of a nice colour. In the first division put
stewed spinach, in the second mashed turnips, in the third slices of
carrots, in the fourth some button onions stewed in gravy, or any other
kind of vegetables to make a variety.
SAVOY BISCUITS. Take six eggs, separate the yolks and whites, mix the
yolks with six ounces of sugar finely powdered, and the rind of a
grated lemon. Beat them together for a quarter of an hour, then whisk
the whites up in a broad dish till they are well frothed, and mix them
with the yolks, adding five ounces of flour well dried. Stir the whole
well together; then, with a piece of flat ivory, take out the batter,
and draw it along clean white paper to the proper size of the biscuit.
Sift some sugar over them, and bake them in a very hot oven. They must
however be carefully watched, for they are soon done, and a few seconds
over the proper time will scorch and spoil them.
SAVOY CAKE. Put four eggs into a scale, and then take their weight in
fine sugar, powdered and sifted, with the weight of seven eggs in flour
well dried. Break the eggs, putting the yolks into one basin, and the
whites into another. Mix with the yolks the sugar that has been weighed,
a little grated lemon peel, and a little orange-flower water. Beat them
well together for half an hour, then add the whites whipped to a froth,
and mix in the flour by degrees, continuing to beat them all the time.
Then put the batter into a tin well buttered, and bake it an hour and a
half. This is a very delicate light cake for serving at table, or in a
dessert, and is pretty when baked in a melon mould, or any other kind of
shape. It may be iced at pleasure.
SAUCE FOR BOILED MEAT. The sauces usually sent to table with boiled
meat, not poured over the dish, but put into boats, are the following.
Gravy, parsley and butter, chervil, caper, oyster, liver and parsley,
onion, celery, shalot, and curry. The ingredients for compound sauces
should be so nicely proportioned, that no one may be predominant, but
that there may be an equal union of the combined flavours. All sauces
should be sent to table as hot as possible, for nothing is more
unsightly than the surface of a sauce in a frozen state, or garnished
with grease on the top.
SAUCE FOR BRAWN. Take a peck of bran, seven gallons of water, a pound of
salt, a sprig of bay and rosemary. Boil the whole half an hour, strain
it off, let it stand till it is cold, and then put it in the brawn.
SAUCE FOR CARP. Rub half a pound of butter with a tea-spoonful of flour,
melt it in a little water, and add nearly a quarter of a pint of thick
cream. Put in half an anchovy chopped fine, but not washed; set it over
the fire, and as it boils up, add a large spoonful of real India soy. If
that does not give it a fine colour, add a little more. Turn it into the
sauce tureen, and put in some salt and half a lemon. Stir it well to
keep it from curdling.
SAUCE FOR CHICKENS. An anchovy or two boned and chopped, some parsley
and onion chopped, adding pepper, oil, vinegar, mustard, and walnut or
mushroom ketchup. These mixed together will make a good sauce for cold
chicken, partridge, or veal.
SAUCE FOR CHOPS. To make a relishing sauce for steaks or chops, pound an
ounce of black pepper, and half an ounce of allspice, with an ounce of
salt, and half an ounce of scraped horseradish, and the same of shalot
peeled and quartered. Put these ingredients into a pint of mushroom
ketchup, or walnut pickle; let them steep for a fortnight, and then
strain off the liquor. A tea-spoonful or two mixed with the gravy
usually sent up for chops and steaks, or added to thick melted butter,
will be found an agreeable addition.
SAUCE FOR FISH. Simmer very gently a quarter of a pint of vinegar, and
half a pint of soft water, with an onion, a little horseradish, and the
following spices lightly bruised: four cloves, two blades of mace, and
half a tea-spoonful of black pepper. When the onion becomes tender, chop
it small, with two anchovies, and boil it for a few minutes with a
spoonful of ketchup. Beat the yolks of three eggs, strain them, and mix
the liquor with them by degrees. When well mixed, set the saucepan over
a gentle fire, keeping the basin in one hand, into which toss the sauce
to and fro, and shake the saucepan over the fire that the eggs may not
curdle. The sauce must not be boiled, but made hot enough to give it the
thickness of melted butter.--The following sauces for fish will be found
excellent.--Lobster sauce. Take a lobster, bruise the body and spawn,
that is in the inside, very fine, with the back of a spoon, mince the
meat of the tail and claws small, melt your butter of a good thickness,
put in the bruised part, and shake it well together, then put in the
minced meat with a very little nutmeg grated, and a spoonful of white
wine; let it just boil up, and pour it into boats, or over your
fish.--Shrimp sauce. Put half a pint of shrimps, clean picked, into a
gill of good gravy; let it boil up with a lump of butter rolled in
flour, and a spoonful of red wine.--Oyster sauce. Take a pint of oysters
that are tolerably large; put them into a saucepan with their own
liquor, a blade of mace, a little whole pepper, and a bit of lemon peel;
let them stew over the fire till the oysters are plump; pour all into a
clean pan, and wash them carefully, one by one, out of the liquor;
strain about a gill of the liquor through a fine sieve, add the same
quantity of good gravy, cut half a pound of fresh butter in pieces, roll
up some in flour, and then put all to your oysters; set it over a clear
fire, shake it round often till it boils, and add a spoonful of white
wine: let it just boil, and pour it into your bason or boat.--Anchovy
sauce. Strip an anchovy, bruise it very fine, put it into half a pint
of gravy, a quarter of a pound of butter rolled in flour, a spoonful of
red wine, and a tea-spoonful of ketchup; boil all together till it is
properly thick, and serve it up.--Another. Half a pint of water, two
anchovies split, a clove, a bit of mace, a little lemon peel, a few
peppercorns, and a large spoonful of red wine; boil all together, till
your anchovy is dissolved; then strain it off, and thicken it with
butter rolled in flour. This is the best sauce for skate, maid, or
thornback.
SAUCE FOR FISH PIES. Take equal quantities of white wine, not sweet; of
vinegar, oyster liquor, and mushroom ketchup. Boil them up with an
anchovy, strain the liquor, and pour it through a funnel into the pie
after it is baked. Or chop an anchovy small, and boil it up with three
spoonfuls of gravy, a quarter of a pint of cream, and a little butter
and flour.
SAUCE FOR FOWLS. Cut up the livers, add slices of lemon in dice, scalded
parsley, some hard eggs, and a little salt. Mix them with butter, boil
them up, and pour the sauce over the fowls. This will be found an
excellent sauce for rabbit or fowl, especially to hide the bad colour of
fowls. Or boil some veal gravy, with pepper and salt, the juice of a
Seville orange and a lemon, and a little port wine. Pour it into the
dish, or send it up in a boat.
SAUCE FOR GOOSE. Mix a table-spoonful of made mustard, and half a
tea-spoonful of cayenne, in a glass and a half of port wine. Heat and
pour it hot into the inside of a roast goose when it is taken up, by a
slit made in the apron. What is sauce for a goose will not make bad
sauce for a duck. It must be understood that this is not adapted to
green geese or ducklings.
SAUCE FOR HASHES. Chop the bones and fragments of the joint, put them
into a stewpan, and cover them with boiling water. Add six peppercorns,
the same of allspice, a handful of parsley, half a head of celery cut in
pieces, and a small sprig of savoury, lemon thyme, or sweet marjoram.
Cover it up, and let it simmer gently for half an hour. Slice half an
ounce of onion, put it into a stewpan with an ounce of butter, and fry
it over a quick fire for two or three minutes, till it takes a little
colour. Thicken it with flour, and mix with it by degrees the gravy made
from the bones. Let it boil very gently for a quarter of an hour, till
it acquires the consistence of cream, and strain it through a fine sieve
into a basin. Return it to the stewpan, season it a little, and cut in a
few pickled onions, walnuts, or gherkins. Add a table-spoonful of
ketchup or walnut pickle, or some capers and caper liquor, or a
table-spoonful of ale, a little shalot, or tarragon vinegar. Cover the
bottom of the dish with sippets of bread, to retain the gravy, and
garnish with fried sippets. To hash meat in perfection, it should be
laid in this gravy only just long enough to get properly warmed through.
SAUCE FOR LENT. Melt some butter in a saucepan, shake in a little flour,
and brown it by degrees. Stir in half a pint of water, half a pint of
ale, an onion, a piece of lemon peel, two cloves, a blade of mace, some
whole pepper, a spoonful of ketchup, and an anchovy. Boil it all
together a quarter of an hour, strain it, and it will make good sauce
for various dishes.
SAUCE FOR LOBSTER. Bruise the yolks of two hard boiled eggs with the
back of a wooden spoon, or pound them in a marble mortar, with a
tea-spoonful of water, and the soft inside and the spawn of the lobster.
Rub them quite smooth with a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two
table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of vinegar. Season it with a
very little cayenne, and some salt. Tarragon vinegar, or essence of
anchovy, may be added occasionally.
SAUCE FOR MINCED VEAL.
Take the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with
flour, and put them into a stewpan. Add a pint and a half of weak broth,
a small onion, a little grated or finely minced lemon peel, half a
tea-spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace. Thicken it with a
table-spoonful of flour rubbed into half an ounce of butter, stir it
into the broth, and let it boil gently for about half an hour. Strain it
through a tammis or sieve, and it is ready to put to the veal to warm
up, which is to be done by placing the stewpan by the side of the fire.
Squeeze in half a lemon, cover the bottom of the dish with sippets of
toasted bread cut into triangles, and garnish the dish with slices of
ham or bacon. A little basil wine gives an agreeable vegetable relish to
minced veal.
SAUCE FOR PARTRIDGE.
Rub down in a mortar the yolks of two eggs boiled hard, an anchovy, two
dessert-spoonfuls of oil, three of vinegar, a shalot, cayenne if
approved, and a tea-spoonful of mustard. All should be pounded before
the oil is added, and strained when done. Shalot vinegar is preferable
to the shalot.
SAUCE FOR POULTRY. Wash and pick some chervil very carefully, put a
tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water, boil the chervil
about ten minutes, drain it on a sieve, mince it quite fine, and bruise
it to a pulp. Mix it by degrees with some good melted butter, and send
it up in a sauce boat. This makes a fine sauce for either fish or fowl.
The flavour of chervil is a strong concentration of the combined taste
of parsley and fennel, but is more aromatic and agreeable than either.