back as directed for turbot; lay them into cold spring water; add salt
and saltpetre in the same proportion as for cod fish, and let them just
simmer for four or five minutes after the water first begins to boil, or
longer should their size require it, but guard against their being
broken. Serve them with plain melted butter. 4 to 5 minutes; longer if
needful.
TO FRY PLAICE OR FLOUNDERS.
Sprinkle them with salt, and let them lie for two or three hours before
they are dressed. Wash and clean them thoroughly, wipe them very dry,
flour them well, and wipe them again with a clean cloth; dip them into
egg, and fine bread-crumbs, and fry them in plenty of lard. If the fish
be large, raise the flesh in handsome fillets from the bones, and finish
them as directed for fillets of soles. _Obs._—Plaice is said to be
rendered less watery by beating it gently with a paste-roller before it
is cooked. It is very sweet and pleasant in flavour while it is in the
best season, which is from the end of May to about September.
TO ROAST, BAKE, OR BROIL RED MULLET.
[In best season through the summer: may be had all the year.]
[Illustration:
Red Mullet.
]
First wash and then dry the fish thoroughly in a cloth, but neither
scale nor open it, but take out the gills gently and carefully with the
small intestine which will adhere to them; wrap it closely in a sheet of
thickly buttered paper, tie this securely at the ends, and over the
mullet with packthread, and roast it in a Dutch oven, or broil it over a
clear and gentle fire, or bake it in a moderate oven: from twenty to
twenty-five minutes will be sufficient generally to dress it in either
way. For sauce, put into a little good melted butter the liquor which
has flowed from the fish, a small dessertspoonful of essence of
anchovies, some cayenne, a glass of port wine, or claret, and a little
lemon-juice. Remove the packthread, and send the mullet to table in the
paper case. This is the usual mode of serving it, but it is dished
without the paper for dinners of taste. _The plain red mullet_, shown at
the commencement of this receipt, is scarcely ever found upon our coast.
That which abounds here during the summer months is the striped red
mullet, or _surmullet_, which, from its excellence, is always in
request, and is therefore seldom cheap. It rarely exceeds twelve, or at
the utmost fourteen, inches in length.
20 to 30 minutes.
TO BOIL GREY MULLET.
[Illustration:
Grey Mullet.
]
This fish varies so much in size and quality, that it is difficult to
give exact directions for the time of cooking it. When quite young and
small, it may be boiled by the receipt for whitings, haddocks, and other
fish of about their size; but at its finest growth it must be laid into
cold water, and managed like larger fish. We have ourselves partaken of
one which was caught upon our eastern coast, that weighed ten pounds, of
which the flesh was quite equal to that of salmon, but its weight was,
we believe, an unusual one. Anchovy, or caper fish sauce, with melted
butter, may be sent to table with grey mullet.
THE GAR-FISH.
[Illustration:
Gar-Fish.
]
This is a fish of very singular appearance, elongated in form, and with
a mouth which resembles the bill of the snipe, from which circumstance
it is often called the snipe-fish. Its bones are all of a _bright green_
colour. It is not to be recommended for the table, as the skin contains
an oil of exceedingly strong rank flavour; when entirely divested of
this, the flesh is tolerably sweet and palatable. Persons who may be
disposed from curiosity to taste it will find either broiling or baking
in a gentle oven the best mode of cooking it. It should be curled round,
and the tail fastened into the bill. As it is not of large size, from
fifteen to twenty minutes will dress it sufficiently. Anchovy sauce,
parsley and butter, or plain melted butter, may be eaten with it.
SAND-LAUNCE, OR, SAND-EEL.
[Illustration:
Sand-Eel.
]
The sand-launce, which is abundant on many parts of our coast, and the
name of which is derived from its habit of burrowing in the sands when
the tide retires, may be distinguished from the larger species, the true
_sand-eel_, by its lighter colour and more transparent appearance, as
well as by its inferior size. The common mode of dressing the fish,
which is considered by many a great delicacy, is to divest them of their
heads, and to remove the insides with the gills, to dry them well in a
cloth with flour, and to fry them until crisp. They are sometimes also
dipped in batter like smelts. We have not ourselves had an opportunity
of testing them, but we have received the particulars which we have
given here from various friends who have resided where they were
plentiful. The _sand-eels_ are not so good as the smaller kind of these
fish called _launces_.
TO FRY SMELTS.
[In season from beginning of November to May.]
Smelts when quite fresh have a perfume resembling that of a cucumber,
and a peculiarly delicate and agreeable flavour when dressed. Draw them
at the gills, as they must not be opened; wash and dry them thoroughly
in a cloth; dip them into beaten egg-yolk, and then into the finest
bread-crumbs, mixed with a very small quantity of flour; fry them of a
clear golden brown, and serve them crisp and dry, with good melted
butter in a tureen. They are sometimes dipped into batter and then
fried; when this is done, we would recommend for them the French batter
of Chapter V.
3 to 4 minutes.
BAKED SMELTS.
Prepare them as for frying; pour some clarified butter into the dish in
which they are to be sent to table, arrange them neatly in it, with the
tails meeting in the centre, strew over them as much salt, mace, and
cayenne, mixed, as will season them agreeably, cover them smoothly with
a rather thick layer of very fine bread-crumbs, moisten them equally
with clarified butter poured through a small strainer, and bake the fish
in a moderately quick oven, until the crumbs are of a fine light brown.
A glass of sherry, half a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and a
dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, are sometimes poured into the dish
before the smelts are laid in.
About 10 minutes.
TO DRESS WHITE BAIT.
(_Greenwich Receipt._)
[In season in July, August, and September.]
This delicate little fish requires great care to dress it well. Do not
touch it with the hands, but throw it from your dish or basket into a
cloth, with three or four handsful of flour, and shake it well; then put
it into a bait sieve, to separate it from the superfluous flour. Have
ready a very deep frying-pan, nearly full of boiling fat, throw in the
fish, which will be done in an instant: they must not be allowed to take
any colour, for if browned, they are spoiled. Lift them out, and dish
them upon a silver or earthenware drainer, without a napkin, piling them
very high in the centre. Send them to table with a cut lemon, and slices
of brown bread and butter.
WATER SOUCHY.
(_Greenwich Receipt._)
This is a very simple and inexpensive dish, much served at the regular
fish-dinners for which Greenwich is celebrated, as well as at private
tables. It is excellent if well prepared; and as it may be made with
fish of various kinds when they are too small to present a good
appearance or to be palatable dressed in any other way, it is also very
economical. Flounders, perch, tench, and eels, are said to answer best
for water souchy; but very delicate soles, and several other varieties
of small white fish are often used for it with good effect: it is often
made also with slices of salmon, or of salmon-peel, freed from the skin.
Throw into rather more than sufficient water to just cover the quantity
of fish required for table, from half to three quarters of an ounce of
salt to the quart, a dozen corns of white pepper, a small bunch of green
parsley, and two or three tender parsley roots, first cut into inch
lengths, and then split to the size of straws. Simmer the mixture until
these last are tender, which will be in from half to a whole hour; then
lay in the fish delicately cleaned, cleared from every morsel of brown
skin, and divided into equal portions of about two inches in width. Take
off all the scum as it rises, and stew the fish softly from eight to
twelve minutes, watching it that it may not break from being overdone.
Two minutes before it is dished, strew in a large tablespoonful or more
of minced parsley, or some small branches of the herb boiled very green
in a separate saucepan (we prefer the latter mode); lift out the fish
carefully with a slice, and the parsley roots with it; pour over it the
liquor in which it has been boiled, but leave out the peppercorns. For a
superior water souchy, take all the bones out of the fish, and stew down
the inferior portions of it to a strong broth: about an hour will be
sufficient for this. Salt, parsley, and a little cayenne may be added to
it. Strain it off clear through a sieve, and use it instead of water for
the souchy. The juice of half a good lemon may be thrown into the stew
before it is served. A deep dish will of course be required for it. The
parsley-roots can be boiled apart when more convenient, but they give an
agreeable flavour when added to the liquor at first. Slices of brown or
white bread and butter must be sent to table always with water souchy:
the first is usually preferred, but to suit all tastes some of each may
be served with it.
SHAD, TOURAINE FASHION.
(_Alose à la mode de Touraine._)
[In season in April, May, and early part of June.]
Empty and wash the fish with care, but do not open it more than is
needful; fill it either with the forcemeat No. 1, or No. 2 of Chapter
VIII., and its own roe; then sew it up, or fasten it securely with very
fine skewers, wrap it in a thickly buttered paper, and broil it gently
for an hour over a charcoal fire. Serve it with caper sauce, or with
chili vinegar and melted butter.
We are indebted for this receipt to a friend who has been long resident
in Touraine, at whose table the fish is constantly served thus dressed,
and is considered excellent. It is likewise often gently stewed in the
light white wine of the country, and served covered with a rich
_béchamel_. Many fish more common with us than the shad might be
advantageously prepared in the same manner. The charcoal fire is not
indispensable: any one that is entirely free from smoke will answer. We
would suggest as an improvement, that oyster-forcemeat should be
substituted for that which we have indicated, until the oyster season
ends.
Broiled gently, 1 hour, more or less, according to the size.
STEWED TROUT.
(_Good common Receipt._)
[In season from May to August.]
[Illustration:
Trout.
]
Melt three ounces of butter in a broad stewpan, or well tinned iron
saucepan, stir to it a tablespoonful of flour, some mace, cayenne, and
nutmeg; lay in the fish after it has been emptied, washed very clean,
and wiped perfectly dry; shake it in the pan, that it may not stick, and
when lightly browned on both sides, pour in three quarters of a pint of
good veal stock, add a small faggot of parsley, one bay leaf, a roll of
lemon-peel, and a little salt: stew the fish _very gently_ from half to
three quarters of an hour, or more, should it be unusually fine. Dish
the trout, skim the fat from the gravy, and pass it through a hot
strainer over the fish, which should be served immediately. A little
acid can be added to the sauce at pleasure, and a glass of wine when it
is considered an improvement. This receipt is for one large or for two
middling-sized fish. We can recommend it as a good one from our own
experience.
Butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 tablespoonful; seasoning of mace, cayenne, and
nutmeg; trout, 1 large, or 2 moderate-sized; veal stock, 3/4 pint;
parsley, _small_ faggot; 1 bay-leaf; roll of lemon-rind; little salt:
1/2 to 3/4 hour.
_Obs._—Trout may be stewed in equal parts of strong veal gravy, and of
red or white wine, without having been previously browned; the sauce
should then be thickened, and agreeably flavoured with lemon-juice, and
the usual store-sauces, before it is poured over the fish. They are also
good when wrapped in buttered paper, and baked or broiled: if very
small, the better mode of cooking them is to fry them whole. They should
never be plain boiled, as, though naturally a delicious fish, they are
then very insipid.
TO BOIL PIKE.
[In best season from September to February.]
[Illustration:
Pike.
]
Take out the gills, empty and clean the fish very thoroughly, and soak
it for half an hour with a cup of vinegar thrown into as much water as
will cover it well, should there be any danger of its having a muddy
taste.[49] Wipe the inside dry, and fill it with oyster-forcemeat, or
with common veal forcemeat made either with butter or with suet (for
which see Chapter VIII.); curl the fish round, and fasten it with the
tail in the mouth, lay it on a fish-plate, cover it well with cold
water, throw in some salt as soon as it boils, skim it well, and boil
the fish gently from half to a whole hour according to its size. Some
persons prefer the scales taken off the pike when it is prepared for
this mode of dressing; and many cooks still put the fish into _boiling_
water well salted and skimmed. Serve it with plain melted butter, or
anchovy sauce.
Footnote 49:
Soaking fish is always better avoided when it can be so; well washing
the inside with strong vinegar would perhaps remove the objectionable
flavour without it.
Moderate sized, 1/2 hour; large, 1 hour.
_Obs._—We must repeat that it is impossible to give for fish which
varies so much in quality as well as in size, directions for the exact
time which is required to cook it; a few minutes, more or less, must
often be allowed; and it should always be watched attentively, and
lifted from the water as soon as it is done.
TO BAKE PIKE.
(_Common Receipt._)
Pour warm water over the outside of the fish, and wipe it very clean
with a coarse cloth drawn from the head downwards, that the scales may
not be disturbed; then wash it well in cold water, empty, and cleanse
the inside with the greatest nicety, fill it either with the common
forcemeat No. 1, or with No. 4 of Chapter VIII., sew it up, fasten the
tail to the mouth, give it a slight dredging of flour, stick small bits
of butter thickly over it, and bake it from half to three quarters of an
hour, should it be of moderate size, and upwards of an hour, if it be
large. Should there not be sufficient sauce with it in the dish, melted
butter and a lemon, or anchovy sauce may be sent to table with it. When
more convenient the forcemeat may be omitted, and a little fine salt and
cayenne, with some bits of butter, put into the inside of the fish,
which will then require rather less baking. A buttered paper should
always be laid over it in the oven, should the outside appear likely to
become too highly coloured or too dry before the fish is done; and it is
better to wrap quite small pike in buttered paper at once before they
are sent to the oven.
Moderate-sized pike, 30 to 45 minutes; large pike, 1 to 1-1/4 hour.
TO BAKE PIKE.
(_Superior Receipt._)
Scale and wash the fish, take out the gills, then open it just
sufficiently to allow the inside to be emptied and _perfectly cleansed_,
but not more than is necessary for that purpose. Wipe it as dry as
possible in every part, then hang it for an hour or two on a hook in a
cool larder, or wrap it in a soft cloth. Fill the body with the
forcemeat No. 1 or 3, or with the oyster forcemeat of Chapter VIII.; sew
it up very securely, curl it round, and fasten the tail into the mouth
with a thin skewer, then dip it into the beaten yolks of two or more
eggs, seasoned with nearly half a teaspoonful of salt and a little
pepper or cayenne; cover it equally with the finest bread-crumbs, dip it
a second time into the egg and crumbs, then pour some clarified butter
gently over it, through a small strainer, and send it to a well heated
oven for an hour and a quarter or more, should it be _very_ large, but
for less time if it be only of moderate size. As it is naturally a very
dry fish, it should not be left in the oven after it is thoroughly done,
but it should never be sent to table until it is so. The crumbs of bread
are sometimes mixed with a sufficient quantity of minced parsley to give
the surface of the fish a green hue. Send plain melted butter, and brown
caper, or Dutch sauce to table with it.
TO STEW CARP.
(_A common Country Receipt._)
[Illustration:
Carp.
]
Scale and clean the fish with exceeding care, lay it into a stewpan, and
cover it with good cold beef or veal broth; add one small onion stuck
with a few cloves, a faggot of savoury herbs, three or four slices of
carrot, and a little salt, and stew the carp as gently as possible for
nearly an hour. Have ready some good brown gravy, mixed with a couple of
glassesful of port wine; add a squeeze of lemon-juice, dish the carp
very carefully, pour the sauce over, and serve it immediately. We would
recommend the Genevese Sauce, of Chapter V., as superior to any other
for this dish.
This receipt is for a fish which averages from five to six pounds in
weight, but the carp sometimes attains to a very large size; and
sufficient time to cook it perfectly should always be allowed for it.
TO BOIL PERCH.[50]
Footnote 50:
The figure of this fish is very disproportioned in size to that of the
carp and other kinds inserted here, as it is _quite small_ at its
fullest growth compared with the carp, which sometimes attains to a
great weight.
[Illustration:
Perch.
]
First wipe or wash off the slime, then scrape off the scales, which
adhere rather tenaciously to this fish; empty and clean the insides
perfectly, take out the gills, cut off the fins, and lay the perch into
equal parts of cold and of boiling water, salted as for mackerel: from
eight to ten minutes will boil them unless they are very large. Dish
them on a napkin, garnish them with curled parsley, and serve melted
butter with them, or _Maître d’Hôtel Sauce Maigre_.
Very good French cooks put them at once into boiling water and keep them
over a brisk fire for about fifteen minutes. They dress them also
without taking off the scales or fins until they are ready to serve,
when they strip the whole of the skin off carefully, and stick the red
fins into the middle of the backs; the fish are then covered with the
Steward’s sauce, thickened with eggs.
In warm water, 8 to 10 minutes; in boiling, 12 to 15 minutes.
TO FRY PERCH OR TENCH.
Scale, and clean them perfectly; dry them well, flour and fry them in
boiling lard. Serve plenty of crisped or fried parsley round them.
TO FRY EELS.
[In season all the year, but not so well-conditioned in April and May as
in other months.]
First kill, then skin, empty, and wash them as clean as possible; cut
them into four-inch lengths, and dry them well in a soft cloth. Season
them with fine salt, and white pepper, or cayenne, flour them thickly,
and fry them a fine brown in boiling lard; drain and dry them as
directed for soles, and send them to table with plain melted butter or
anchovy sauce. Eels are sometimes dipped into batter and then fried; or
into egg and fine bread-crumbs (mixed with minced parsley or not, at
pleasure), and served with plenty of crisped parsley round, and on them.
It is an improvement for these modes of dressing the fish to open them
entirely; and remove the bones: the smaller parts should be thrown into
the pan a minute or two later than the thicker portions of the bodies or
they will not be equally done.
BOILED EELS.
(_German Receipt._)
Pare a fine lemon, and strip from it entirely the white inner rind;
slice it, and remove the pips with care; put it with a blade of mace, a
small half-teaspoonful of white peppercorns, nearly twice as much of
salt, and a moderate-sized bunch of parsley, into three pints of cold
water, bring them gently to boil, and simmer them for twenty minutes;
let them become quite cold; then put in three pounds of eels skinned;
and cleaned with great nicety, and cut into lengths of three or four
inches; simmer them very softly from ten to fifteen minutes, lift them
with a slice into a very hot dish, and serve them with a good Dutch
sauce, or with parsley and butter acidulated with lemon-juice, or with
chili vinegar.
For boiled eels with sage (German Receipt), _see Chapter of Foreign
Cookery_.
EELS.
(_Cornish Receipt._)
Skin, empty, and wash as clean as possible, two or three fine eels, cut
them into short lengths, and just cover them with cold water; add
sufficient salt and cayenne to season them, and stew them very softly
indeed from fifteen to twenty minutes, or longer should they require it.
When they are nearly done, strew over them a teaspoonful of minced
parsley, thicken the sauce with a teaspoonful of flour mixed with a
slice of butter, and add a quarter of a pint or more of clotted cream.
Give the whole a boil, lift the fish into a hot dish, and stir briskly
the juice of half a lemon into the sauce; pour it upon the eels, and
serve them immediately: Very sweet thick cream is, we think, preferable
to clotted cream for this dish. The sauce should be of a good
consistence, and a dessertspoonful of flour will be needed for a large
dish of the stew, and from one and a half to two ounces of butter. The
size of the fish must determine the precise quantity of liquid and of
seasoning which they will require.
RED HERRINGS, À LA DAUPHIN.
Take off the heads, open the backs of the fish, and remove the
backbones: soak the herrings, should they be very dry, for two or three
hours in warm milk and water, drain and wipe them. Dissolve a slice of
fresh butter, and mix it with the beaten yolks of a couple of eggs and
some savoury herbs minced small: dip the fish into these, and spread
them thickly with fine bread-crumbs; broil them of a light brown, over a
moderate fire, and serve them on hot buttered toasts, sprinkled with a
little cayenne.
RED HERRINGS, COMMON ENGLISH MODE.
This fish is rendered infinitely more delicate by pouring boiling water
on it before it is dressed, and leaving it to soak for half an hour, or
more, should it be highly dried. The fresh Yarmouth bloaters do not
require this. Cut off the heads and tails, open the herrings at the
back, and warm them through before the fire, or upon the gridiron. They
may be rubbed with a bit of cold butter, and seasoned with a slight
sprinkling of pepper or cayenne, when these are liked, or served quite
plain.
ANCHOVIES FRIED IN BATTER.
Scrape very clean a dozen or more of fine anchovies, and soak them in
plenty of spring water from two to six hours: then wipe them dry, open
them, and take out the backbones, without dividing the fish. Season the
insides highly with cayenne, close the anchovies, dip them into the
French batter of Chapter V., or into a light English batter, and fry
them a pale amber-colour: in from four to five minutes they will be
quite sufficiently done.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER III.
=Dishes of Shell-Fish=
[Illustration]
OYSTERS.
[In season from September to April.]
THE old-fashioned plan of _feeding_ oysters with a sprinkling of oatmeal
or flour, in addition to the salt and water to which they were
committed, has long been rejected by all genuine amateurs of these
nutritious and excellent fish, who consider the plumpness which the
oysters are supposed to gain from the process, but poor compensation for
the flavour which they are sure to lose. To cleanse them when they first
come up from the beds, and to keep them in good condition for four or
five days, they only require to be covered with cold water, with five
ounces of salt to the gallon dissolved in it before it is poured on
them; this should be changed with regularity every twenty-four hours. By
following this plan with exactness they may be kept alive from a week to
ten days, but will remain in perfect condition scarcely more than half
that time. Oysters should be eaten always the instant they are opened.
Abroad they are served before the soup in the first course of a dinner,
arranged usually in as many plates as there are guests at table. In
England they are sometimes served _after_ the soup. A sense of
_appropriateness_ must determine how far the variations of fashion
should be followed in such matters.
_Obs._—We were accustomed formerly to have the brine which was supplied
to oysters intended to be kept for some days, changed twice in the
twenty-four hours; but we were informed by an oyster merchant in an
extensive business that once was sufficient.
TO SCALLOP OYSTERS.
Large coarse oysters should never be dressed in this way. Select small
plump ones for the purpose, let them be opened carefully, give them a
scald in their own liquor, wash them in it free from grit, and beard
them neatly. Butter the scallop shells and shake some fine bread-crumbs
over them; fill them with alternate layers of oysters, crumbs of bread,
and fresh butter cut into small bits; pour in the oyster-liquor, after
it has been strained, put a thick, smooth layer of bread-crumbs on the
top, moisten them with clarified butter,[51] place the shells in a Dutch
oven before a clear fire, and turn them often until the tops are equally
and lightly browned: send them immediately to table.
Footnote 51:
Common cooks merely stick small bits of butter on them.
Some persons like a little white pepper or cayenne, and a flavouring of
nutmeg added to the oysters; others prefer pounded mace. French cooks
recommend with them a mixture of minced mushrooms stewed in butter till
quite tender, and sweet herbs finely chopped. The fish is sometimes laid
into the shells after having been bearded only.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS À LA REINE.
Plump and beard the oysters, after having rinsed them well in their own
strained liquor; add to this about an equal quantity of very rich white
sauce, and thicken it, if needful, with half a teaspoonful of flour,
mixed with a small slice of butter, or with as much arrow-root only; put
in the oysters, and keep them at the point of simmering for three or
four minutes: lay them into the shells, and cover the tops thickly with
crumbs fried a delicate brown and well dried; or heap over them instead,
a layer of fine crumbs; pour clarified butter on them, and brown them
with a salamander.
TO STEW OYSTERS.
A pint of small plump oysters will be sufficient for a quite
moderate-sized dish, but twice as many will be required for a large one.
Let them be very carefully opened, and not mangled in the slightest
degree; wash them free from grit in their own _strained_ liquor, lay
them into a very clean stewpan or well-tinned saucepan, strain the
liquor a second time, pour it on them, and heat them slowly in it. When
they are just beginning to simmer, lift them out with a slice or a bored
wooden spoon, and take off the beards; add to the liquor a quarter of a
pint of good cream, a seasoning of pounded mace, and cayenne, and a
little salt, and when it boils, stir in from one to two ounces of good
butter, smoothly mixed with a large teaspoonful of flour; continue to
stir the sauce until these are perfectly blended with it, then put in
the oysters, and let them remain by the side of the fire until they are
very hot: they require so little cooking that, if kept for four or five
minutes nearly simmering, they will be ready for table, and they are
quickly hardened by being allowed to boil, or by too much stewing. Serve
them garnished with pale fried sippets.
Small plump oysters, 1 pint: their own liquor: brought slowly to the
point of simmering. Cream, 1/4 pint; seasoning of pounded mace and
cayenne; salt as needed; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; flour, 1 large teaspoonful.
_Obs._—A little lemon-juice should be stirred quickly into the stew just
as it is taken from the fire. Another mode of preparing this dish, is to
add the strained liquor of the oysters to about an equal quantity of
rich _bechamel_, with a little additional thickening; then to heat them
in it, after having prepared and plumped them properly. Or, the beards
of the fish may be stewed for half an hour in a little pale gravy, or
good broth, and this, when strained and mixed with the oyster-liquor,
may be brought to the consistency of cream with the French thickening of
Chapter V., or, with flour and butter, then seasoned with spice as
above: the process should be quite the same in all of these receipts,
though the composition of the sauce is varied. Essence of anchovies,
cavice, chili vinegar, or yolks of eggs can be added to the taste.
For Curried Oysters see Chapter XVI.
OYSTER SAUSAGES.
(_A most excellent Receipt._)
Beard, rinse well in their strained liquor, and mince but not finely,
three dozens and a half of plump native oysters, and mix them with ten
ounces of fine bread-crumbs, and ten of beef-suet chopped extremely
small; add a saltspoonful of salt, and one of pepper, or less than half
the quantity of cayenne, twice as much pounded mace, and the third of a
small nutmeg grated: moisten the whole with two unbeaten eggs, or with
the yolks only of three, and a dessertspoonful of the whites. When these
ingredients have been well worked together, and are perfectly blended,
set the mixture in a cool place for two or three hours before it is
used; make it into the form of small sausages or sausage cakes, flour
and fry them in butter of a fine light brown; or throw them into boiling
water for three minutes, drain, and let them become cold, dip them into
egg and bread-crumbs, and broil them gently until they are lightly
coloured. A small bit should be cooked and tasted before the whole is
put aside, that the seasoning may be heightened if required. The
sausages thus made are extremely good: the fingers should be well
floured in making them up.
Small plump oysters, 3-1/2 dozens; bread-crumbs, 10 oz.; beef suet, 10
oz.; seasoning of salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg; unbeaten eggs
2, or yolks of 3.
TO BOIL LOBSTERS.
[In full season from April to October: may be had all the year.]
Choose them by the directions given at the commencement of this chapter,
and throw them into plenty of _fast-boiling_ salt and water, that life
may be destroyed in an instant.
To 1 gallon of water, 5 ounces salt: moderate sized lobster, 15 to 20
minutes; large lobster, 30 to 40 minutes; _very_ large, 1 hour or more.
COLD DRESSED LOBSTER AND CRAB.
[Illustration:
Dressed Lobster.
]
Before a lobster is sent to table take off the large claws, hold each of
them firmly with the edge upwards, and with a quick light blow from a
cutlet bat or ought else convenient for the purpose, crack the shell
without disfiguring the fish. Split the tail open with a very sharp
knife and dish the lobster in the manner shown in the engraving, either
with, or without a napkin under it. When the soft part of the body is
required to mix with the dressing, take it out before it is served, and
add it to the _remoulade_, or other sauce with which it is to be
mingled. The shrimp _chatney_ of Chapter VI. is a wholesome
accompaniment to this fish; which we must remark here should be
sparingly eaten, or altogether avoided, by persons in delicate health,
and especially at night. It is too much the fashion to serve it as a
supper dish at parties; and it sometimes produces dangerous attacks of
indigestion and other illness. The flesh of the crab is much lighter.
This is served in the shell, which should be entirely emptied and nicely
cleaned out; the sides filled with the white flesh divided into small
flakes, and the centre with the soft part or _cream_ as it is called.
[Illustration:
Dressed Crab.
]
The flesh of two crabs can be served in one shell when a dish of
handsome appearance is required, and the sauce can be mixed with it the
instant before it is sent to table, though it will be whiter, and of
better appearance without it. The centre may be filled with a red
Imperial _Mayonnaise_, when a good effect is wanted. For other
appropriate sauces see Chapter VI.
LOBSTERS, FRICASSEED, OR AU BÉCHAMEL. (ENTRÉE.)
Take the flesh from the claws and tails of two moderate-sized lobsters;
cut it into small scallops or dice; heat it slowly quite through in
about three quarters of a pint of good white sauce or _béchamel_; and
serve it when it is at the point of boiling, after having stirred
briskly to it a little lemon-juice just as it is taken from the fire.
The coral, pounded and mixed gradually with a few spoonsful of the
sauce, should be added previously. Good shin of beef stock made without
vegetables (see page 97), and somewhat reduced by quick boiling, if
mixed with an equal proportion of cream, and thickened with arrow-root,
will answer extremely well in a general way for this dish, which is most
excellent if well made. The sauce should never be thin; nor more than
sufficient in quantity to just cover the fish. For a second course dish,
only as much must be used as will adhere to the fish, which after being
heated should be laid evenly into the shells, which ought to be split
quite through the centre of the backs in their entire length, without
being broken or divided at the joint, and nicely cleaned. When thus
arranged, the lobster may be thickly covered with well dried, fine, pale
fried crumbs of bread, or with unfried ones, which must then be equally
moistened with clarified butter, and browned with a salamander. A small
quantity of salt, mace, and cayenne, may be required to finish the
flavouring of either of these preparations.
HOT CRAB, OR LOBSTER.
(_In season during the same time as Lobsters._)
Slice quite small, or pull into light flakes with a couple of forks, the
flesh of either fish; put it into a saucepan with a few bits of good
butter lightly rolled in flour, and heat it slowly over a gentle fire;
then pour over and thoroughly mix with it, from one to two teaspoonsful
or more of common or of chili vinegar; if with the former, add to it a
tolerable seasoning of cayenne. Grate in a little nutmeg, and when the
whole is well heated serve it immediately, either in the shell of the
crab or lobster, or in scallop-shells, and serve it plain, or with
bread-crumbs over, as in the preceding receipt. A spoonful or so of good
meat jelly is, we think, a great improvement to this dish, for which an
ounce and a half of butter will be quite sufficient.
This is sometimes called _Buttered Crab_.
POTTED LOBSTERS.
Separate carefully the flesh of freshly-boiled lobsters from the shells,
and from the tough red skin of the tails, mince the fish up quickly with
a very sharp knife, turn it immediately into a large mortar, and strew
over it a mixed seasoning of fine cayenne, pounded mace, lightly grated
nutmeg, and salt: this last should be sparingly used in the first
instance, and it should be reduced to powder before it is added. Pound
the lobsters to a perfect paste with from two to three ounces of firm
new butter to each fish if of large size, but with less should it be
small; and the lobster-coral previously rubbed through a sieve, or with
a portion of it only, should any part of it be required for other
purposes. When there is no coral, a fine colour may be given to the
mixture by stewing the red skin of the tails very softly for ten or
twelve minutes in part of the butter which is used for it, but which
must be strained and left to become perfectly cold before it is mingled
with the fish. The degree of seasoning given to the mixture can be
regulated by the taste; but no flavour should predominate over that of
the lobster itself; and for all delicate preparations, over-spicing
should be particularly avoided. A quart or more of fine brown shrimps,
if very fresh and quickly shelled at the instant of using, may be
chopped up and pounded with the lobsters with excellent effect. Before
the mixture is taken from the mortar it should be placed in a cool
larder, or set over ice for a short time, to render it firm before it is
pressed into the potting-pans or moulds. In putting it into these, be
careful to press it into a compact, even mass; smooth the surface, run a
little clarified butter over, when it is only _just liquid_, for if hot
it would prevent the fish from keeping—and send the lobster to table,
neatly garnished with light green foliage; or with ornamentally-cut
paper fastened round the mould; or with a small damask napkin tastefully
arranged about it.
_Obs._—By pounding separately part of the white flesh of the fish, freed
from every particle of the skin, and by colouring the remainder highly
with the coral of the lobster, and then pressing the two in alternate
and regular layers into a mould, a dish of pretty appearance is
produced, which should be turned out of the mould for table. Ham and
turkey (or any other white meat) are often potted in this way.
LOBSTER CUTLETS.
(_A Superior Entrée._)
Prepare and pound with exceeding nicety, by the preceding receipt for
Potted Lobsters, about three quarters of a pound of the flesh of a
couple of fine fresh lobsters, of which one must be a hen lobster; add
to it, when it is partially beaten, an ounce and a half of sweet new
butter, a saltspoonful of salt, and about two-thirds as much of mixed
mace and cayenne, with a dessertspoonful of the inside coral, the whole
of which should be rubbed with a wooden spoon through a hair sieve, to
be in readiness for use. When all these ingredients are well blended,
and beaten to the finest and smoothest paste, the mixture should be
tested by the taste, and the seasoning heightened if needful; but, as
the preparation is very delicate, it should not be over-spiced. Mould it
into the form of small cutlets about the third of an inch thick, stick
into each a short bit of the smallest claws, strew the coral lightly
over them so as to give them the appearance of being crumbed with it,
arrange them round the dish in which they are to be sent to table, place
them in a very gentle oven for eight or ten minutes only to heat them
through, or warm them in a Dutch or American oven, placed at some
distance from the fire, that the brilliant colour of the coral may not
be destroyed; and pour into the centre some good _béchamel_ (see page
108), or the Lady’s Sauce, or the Cream Sauce of Chapter IV. A very
white sauce best contrasts with the colour of the cutlets. This is an
excellent and elegant dish, of which an admirable variety is made by the
addition of three or four ounces of the freshest shrimps, quickly
shelled, and chopped before they are thrown into the mortar, with half
an ounce of butter and a little spice. All the coral can be added to the
cutlets at pleasure; but it is generally in request for many purposes,
and is required for this one only in part.
_Obs._—As lobsters are well known to be the most indigestible of shell
fish, and as they sometimes prove dangerously so to persons out of
health, these pounded preparations are the best and safest forms in
which they can be served: they should at all times be beaten to a
smooth, _fibreless_ paste, before they are taken from the mortar; and no
fish that is not entirely _fresh_ should ever be used for them. Prawns
may be advantageously served in the same manner.
For Indian Lobster Cutlets, see Chapter of Foreign Cookery.
LOBSTER SAUSAGES.
Let the fish be pounded as for the cutlets above or for _boudinettes_,
but mix half or more of the coral with the flesh of the lobsters; shape
it like small sausages, sprinkle them with the powdered coral, and heat
them through in a Dutch or American oven. They may be brushed with
clarified butter before the coral is strewed over them, but they
scarcely need it. A fierce degree of heat will destroy the excellence of
_all_ these preparations.
BOUDINETTES OF LOBSTERS, PRAWNS, OR SHRIMPS. (ENTRÉE).
(_Author’s Receipt._)
When the fish has been prepared as above, mould it in as many _very
small_ round cups as will suffice for a dish; heat them gently through
at the mouth of the oven or before the fire, and serve them dry, or with
a little rich white sauce, coloured with lobster-coral poured round, but
not upon them. These _boudinettes_ are delicious, made entirely of
shrimps or prawns, which it is an advantage to have prepared as follows,
either for this purpose or for potting simply, as they will then be
firmer, and will also remain good much longer:—Shell them quickly, and
touch them as little as possible in the process; put them into an
enamelled saucepan with about three ounces of butter to the quart, and
strew the spice upon them; place them by the side of a gentle fire that
they may heat through very gradually, and shake the saucepan round
occasionally to mingle the seasoning equally with them. Do not allow
them to boil, as that would render them tough, but when they are heated
quite through and the butter approaches the point of simmering, draw
them from the fire; let them remain for a few minutes in the saucepan,
then lay them very evenly and closely into the pans and pour the butter
on them; but let it be clear from sediment, or from any liquid which may
be perceptible at the bottom of the saucepan. When merely required for
_boudinettes_, the fish may be turned into a large pan or basin and left
until thoroughly cold, then chopped small upon a dish with the butter in
which they are imbedded, and pounded as usual; no additional butter will
be required for them, and part of that in which they have been heated
may be set aside for fish-sauce when the proportion of it directed here
is considered too large. As it should cover the shrimps entirely when
they are potted whole, sufficient to do so should be melted with them.
It is an excellent plan to dissolve it in a separate saucepan, to skim
it well, and after it has stood to become clear, to pour it gently over
the shrimps, leaving all the buttermilk behind. They should not be
placed immediately by the fire, or they will heat too quickly: they
should be set away from it until the butter has cooled upon them. If
carefully prepared, and agreeably seasoned, they will be excellent, and
can be sent to a great distance without detriment if packed so as to be
kept cool. The red shrimps may be substituted for the brown, when they
can be more easily procured.
_Obs._—Lobsters and shrimps, or prawns, in equal proportions, answer
_extremely_ well for _boudinettes_ as for potting.
TO BOIL SHRIMPS OR PRAWNS.
Throw them into plenty of fast boiling water, to which salt has been
added in the proportion of from five to six ounces to the gallon; take
off all the scum, boil the shrimps for five or six minutes, or rather
less should they be very small, and the prawns for about two minutes
longer. The shrimpers[52] of the coast frequently cook them in
sea-water, but the flavour is not then so agreeable as when fresh brine
is used for them. They are always unwholesome when not sufficiently
boiled; and even more so when they are stale. As soon as they are
tender, drain them well in a cullender, and spread them out on a soft
cloth to cool; or dish them on a napkin, and send them hot to table when
they are liked so. The large brown shrimps are considered the best, and
they are more easily shelled than the red ones: these last, however, are
sometimes preferred to them. Prawns, though superior to shrimps only in
_size_, are always much higher in price.
Footnote 52:
Or _pandlers_, as they are often called.
Shrimps, 5 to 6 minutes if large. Prawns, 6 to 8 minutes.
_Obs._—Ready-dressed shrimps or prawns may be preserved fit for eating
at least twelve hours longer than they would otherwise keep, by throwing
them for an instant into boiling salt and water, when they first begin
to lose their freshness, and then draining them as above.
TO DISH COLD PRAWNS.
When they are quite cold, dish them singly upon a very white napkin
neatly arranged over a saucer or small basin reversed in a dish, and
garnish the base with a wreath of curled parsley, or with small leaves
of the purple endive.
TO SHELL SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS QUICKLY AND EASILY.
This, though a most simple process, would appear, from the manner in
which it is performed by many people, to be a very difficult one; indeed
it is not unusual for persons of the lower classes, who, from lack of a
little skill, find it slow and irksome, to have resource to the
dangerous plan of eating the fish entire. It need scarcely be remarked
that very serious consequences may accrue from the shells being
swallowed with them, particularly when they are taken in large
quantities. Unless the fish be stale, when they are apt to break, they
will quit the shells easily if the head be held firmly in the right hand
and the tail in the other, and the fish be straightened entirely, then
the two hands pressed quickly towards each other, and the shell of the
tail broken by a slight vibratory motion of the right hand, when it will
be drawn of with the head adhering to it: a small portion, only will
then remain on at the other end, which can be removed in an instant.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER IV.
=Gravies.=
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
[Illustration:
Gravy Kettle.
]
GRAVIES are not often required either in great variety, or in abundant
quantities, when only a moderate table is kept, and a clever cook will
manage to supply, at a trifling cost, all that is generally needed for
plain family dinners; while an unskilful or extravagant one will render
them sources of unbounded expense.[53] But however small the proportions
in which they are made, their _quality_ should be particularly attended
to, and they should be well adapted in flavour to the dishes they are to
accompany. For some, a high degree of savour is desirable, but for
fricassees, and other preparations of delicate white meats, this should
be avoided, and a soft, smooth sauce of refined flavour should be used
in preference to any of more piquant relish.
Footnote 53:
We know of an instance of a cook who stewed down two or three pounds
of beef to make gravy for a single brace of partridges; and who
complained of the meanness of her employers (who were by no means
affluent) because this was objected to.
Instead of frying the ingredients for brown gravies, which is usually
done in common English kitchens, French cooks pour to them at first a
small quantity of liquid, which is reduced by rapid boiling to what is
technically called _glaze_; particular directions for which will be
found in the next receipt to this, and also at pages 10 and 104. When
the glaze has acquired the proper colour, boiling broth should be added
in small portions, and well shaken round the stewpan to detach it
entirely; the meat may then be stewed gently for three or four hours
with a few mushrooms, should they be at hand, a bunch of parsley, and
some green onions, or with a Portugal onion instead.
A thick slice or two of an unboiled ham, is an almost indispensable
addition to rich soup or gravy, and to supply it in the most economical
manner, a large, highly cured one, or more, not over fatted, should be
kept for the purpose, and cut as required. The bones of undressed meat
will supply almost, or quite as good gravy-stock as the meat itself, if
well boiled down, particularly those of the loin, or neck of veal; and
as the flesh of these may be dressed in many ways advantageously without
them, the whole joint may be turned to excellent account by so dividing
it.
The necks of poultry, with the feet properly skinned, a few herbs, a
morsel or two of ham or of lean bacon, and such slight flavourings
beside as the spice-box can supply, with a few drops of good mushroom
catsup, will of themselves, if well managed, produce sufficient gravy to
serve with the birds from which they are taken; and if not wanted for
the purpose, they should always be stewed down, or thrown into the stock
pot, for which the shank bones of legs of mutton, and all trimmings of
meats should likewise be reserved. Excellent broth for the sick or for
the needy, may also be made of them at little cost, when they are not
required for other uses.
To deepen the colour of gravies, the thick mushroom _pressings_ of
Chapter VII., or a little soy (when its flavour is admissible), or
cavice [TN: illegible], or Harvey’s sauce, may be added to it; and for
some dishes, a glass of claret, or of port wine.
Vermicelli, or rasped cocoa-nut, lightly, and _very_ gently browned in a
small quantity of butter, will both thicken and enrich them, if about an
ounce of either to the pint of gravy be stewed gently in it, from half
an hour to an hour, and then strained out.
All the ingredients indicated at page 4, for giving consistency to
soups, will answer equally for gravies, which should not, however, be
too much thickened, particularly with the unwholesome mixture of flour
and butter, so commonly used for the purpose. Arrow-root or rice-flour,
or common flour gradually browned in a slow oven, are much better suited
to a delicate stomach. No particle of fat should ever be perceptible
upon them when they are sent to table; and when it cannot be removed by
skimming, they should be allowed to become sufficiently cold for it to
congeal, and be taken off at once without trouble. It may be cleared
from such as have not been thickened by passing them through a closely
woven cloth, which has previously been laid into, and well wrung from,
some cold water.
JEWISH SMOKED BEEF.
(_Extremely useful for giving flavour to soup and gravy._)
This beef, of which we have more fully spoken in Chapter XXXIV.[TN:
chapter missing], imparts a remarkably fine flavour to soup or gravy;
but great care must be taken in using it to cut _quite away_ all the
external parts which have been discoloured in the drying: the whole of
the surface, indeed, should be rather thickly pared off, or it will give
a _smoky_ taste to the gravy. An ounce or two of the lean thus cleared
from the outsides and from all skin and fat, and divided first into
thick slices, and then into small squares, will flavour a pint or more
of stock of any kind: it may be added to the meat in making Liebeg gravy
when it is first put into the stewpan.
TO HEIGHTEN THE COLOUR AND THE FLAVOUR OF GRAVIES.
This is best done by the directions given for making _Espagnole_. An
ounce or two of the lean of unboiled ham, cut into dice and coloured
slowly in a small stewpan, or smoothly-tinned iron saucepan, with less
than an ounce of butter, a blade of mace, two or three cloves, a
bay-leaf, a few small sprigs of savoury herbs, and an eschalot or two,
or about a teaspoonful of minced onion, and a little young parsley root,
when it can be had, will convert common shin of beef stock, or even
strong broth, into an excellent gravy, if it be gradually added to them
after they have stewed slowly for quite half an hour, and then boiled
with them for twenty minutes or more. The liquid should not be mixed
with the other ingredients until the side of the stewpan is coloured of
a reddish brown; and should any thickening be required, a teaspoonful of
flour should be stirred in well, and simmered for three or four minutes
before the stock is added; the pan should be strongly shaken round
afterwards, to detach the browning from it, and this must be done often
while the ham is stewing.
_Obs._—The cook who is not acquainted with this mode of preparing or
enriching gravies, will do well to make herself acquainted with it; as
it presents no difficulties, and is exceedingly convenient and
advantageous when they are wanted in small quantities, very highly
flavoured and well coloured. An unboiled ham, kept in cut, will be
found, as we have already said, a great economy for this, and other
purposes, saving much of the expense commonly incurred for gravy-meats.
As eschalots, when sparingly used, impart a much finer savour than
onions, though they are not commonly so much used in England, we would
recommend that a small store of them should always be kept.
BARON LIEBEG’s BEEF GRAVY.
(_Most excellent for hashes, minces, and other dishes made of cold
meat._)
For particulars of this most useful receipt, for extracting all its
juices from fresh meat of every kind in the best manner, the cook is
referred to the first part of the chapter on soups. The preparation, for
which minute directions are given there, if poured on a few bits of lean
ham lightly browned, with the other ingredients indicated above, will be
converted into gravy of fine flavour and superior quality.
With no addition, beyond that of a little thickening and spice, it will
serve admirably for dressing cold meat, in all the usual forms of
hashes, minces, _blanquettes_, &c., &c., and convert it into dishes as
nourishing as those of meat freshly cooked, and it may be economically
made in small quantities with any trimmings of _undressed_ beef, mutton,
or veal, mixed together, which are free from fat, and not sinewy:
flavour may be given to it at once by chopping up with them the lean
part only of a slice or two of ham, or of highly-cured beef.
SHIN OF BEEF STOCK FOR GRAVIES.
There is no better foundation for strong gravies than shin of beef
stewed down to a jelly (which it easily becomes), with the addition only
of some spice, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a moderate proportion of
salt; this, if kept in a cool larder, boiled softly for two or three
minutes every second or third day, and each time put into a clean,
well-scalded pan, will remain good for many days, and may easily be
converted into excellent soup or gravy. Let the bone be broken in one or
two places, take out the marrow, which, if not wanted for immediate use,
should be clarified, and stored for future occasions; put a pint and a
half of cold water to the pound of beef, and stew it very gently indeed
for six or seven hours, or even longer should the meat not then be quite
in fragments. The bones of calf’s feet which have been boiled down for
jelly, the liquor in which the head has been cooked, and any remains of
ham quite freed from the smoky parts, from rust, and fat, will be
serviceable additions to this stock. A couple of pounds of the neck of
beef may be added to six of the shin with very good effect; but for
white soup or sauces this is better avoided.
Shin of beef, 6 lbs.; water, 9 pints; salt, 1 oz.; large bunch of
savoury herbs; peppercorns, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2 blades.
RICH PALE VEAL GRAVY, OR CONSOMMÉ.
The French, who have always at hand their stock-pot of good _bouillon_
(beef soup or broth), make great use of it in preparing their gravies.
It is added instead of water to the fresh meat, and when this, in
somewhat larger proportions, is boiled down in it, with the addition
only of a bunch of parsley, a few green onions, and a moderate seasoning
of salt, a strong and very pure-flavoured pale gravy is produced. When
the best joints of fowls, or of partridges have been taken for
fricassees or cutlets, the remainder may be stewed with a pound or two
of veal into a _consommé_, which then takes the name of chicken or of
game gravy. For a large dinner it is always desirable to have in
readiness such stock as can easily and quickly be converted into white
and other sauces. To make this, arrange a slice or two of lean ham in a
stewpan or saucepan with three pounds of the neck of veal once or twice
divided (unless the thick fleshy part of the knuckle can be had), and
pour to them three full pints of strong beef or veal broth; or, if this
cannot conveniently be done, increase the proportion of meat or diminish
that of the liquid, substituting water for the broth; throw in some salt
after the boiling has commenced, and the gravy has been well skimmed,
with one mild onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, a little celery, a
carrot, a blade of mace, and a half-saltspoonful of peppercorns; stew
those very gently for four hours; then, should the meat be quite in
fragments, strain off the gravy, and let it become sufficiently cold to
allow the fat to be entirely cleared from it. A handful of nicely
prepared mushroom-buttons will much improve its flavour; and the bones
of boiled calf’s feet, or the fresh ones of fowls, will be found
excellent additions to it. A better method of making it, when time and
trouble are not regarded, is to heat the meat, which ought to be free of
bones, quite through, with from a quarter to half a pint of broth only,
and when on probing it with the point of a knife no blood issues from
it, and it has been turned and equally done, to moisten it with the
remainder of the broth, which should be boiling.
Lean of ham, 6 to 8 oz.; neck or knuckle of veal, 3 lbs.; strong broth,
3 pints (or veal, 4 lbs., and water, 3 pints); salt; bunch of savoury
herbs; mild onion, 1; carrot, 1 large or 2 small; celery 1/2 small head;
mace, 1 large blade; peppercorns, 1/2 saltspoonful; 4 hours or more. Or:
ham, 1/2 lb.; veal, 4 lbs.; broth, third of a pint; nearly 1 hour.
Additional broth, 3 pints: 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.
RICH DEEP-COLOURED VEAL GRAVY.
Lay into a large thick stewpan or saucepan, from half to three quarters
of a pound of undressed ham, freed entirely from fat, and from the
smoked edges, and sliced half an inch thick; on this place about four
pounds of lean veal, cut from the best part of the knuckle or from the
neck (part of the fillet, which in France is often used for it instead,
not being generally purchasable here, the butchers seldom dividing the
joint); pour to them about half a pint of good broth,[54] and place the
pan over a brisk fire until it is well reduced; then thrust a knife into
the meat, and continue the stewing more gently until a glaze is formed
as we have described at page 10. The latter part of the process must be
_very slow_; the stewpan must be frequently shaken, and the gravy
closely watched that it may not burn: when it is of a fine _deep_ amber
colour, pour in sufficient boiling broth to cover the meat, add a bunch
of parsley, and a few mushrooms and green onions. A blade or two of
mace, a few white peppercorns, and a head of celery, would, we think, be
very admissible additions to this gravy, but it is extremely good
without. Half the quantity can be made, but it will then be rather more
troublesome to manage.
Footnote 54:
When there is no provision of this in the house, the quantity may be
made with a small proportion of beef, and the trimmings of the veal,
by the directions for _Bouillon_, Chapter I.
Undressed ham, 8 to 12 oz.; lean veal, 4 lbs.; broth, 1/2 pint; 1 to 2
hours. Broth, 3 to 4 pints: bunch of parsley and green onions, or 1
Portugal onion; mushrooms, 1/4 to 1/2 pint: 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
GOOD BEEF OR VEAL GRAVY. (ENGLISH RECEIPT.)
Flour and fry lightly in a bit of good butter a couple of pounds of
either beef or veal; drain the meat well from the fat, and lay it into a
small thick stewpan or iron saucepan; pour to it a quart of boiling
water; add, after it has been well skimmed and salted, a large mild
onion sliced, very delicately fried, and laid on a sieve to drain, a
carrot also sliced, a small bunch of thyme and parsley, a blade of mace,
and a few peppercorns; stew these gently for three hours or more, pass
the gravy through a sieve into a clean pan, and when it is quite cold
clear it entirely from fat, heat as much as is wanted for table, and if
not sufficiently thick stir into it from half to a whole teaspoonful of
arrow-root mixed with a little mushroom catsup. Beef or veal, 2 lbs.;
water, 2 pints; fried onion, 1 large; carrot, 1; small bunch of herbs;
salt, 1 small teaspoonful or more; mace, 1 blade; peppercorns, 20: 3 to
3-1/2 hours.
A RICH ENGLISH BROWN GRAVY.
Brown lightly and carefully from four to six ounces of lean ham, thickly
sliced and cut into large dice; lift these out, and put them into the
pan in which the gravy is to be made; next, fry lightly also, a couple
of pounds of neck of beef dredged moderately with flour, and slightly
with pepper; put this, when it is done, over the ham; and then brown
gently and add to them two or three eschalots, or a Portugal onion;
should neither of these be at hand, one _not_ large common onion must be
used instead. Pour over these ingredients a quart of boiling water, or
of weak but well-flavoured broth; bring the whole slowly to a boil,
clear off the scum with great care, throw in a saltspoonful of salt,
four cloves, a blade of mace, twenty corns of pepper, a bunch of savoury
herbs, a carrot, and a few slices of celery: these last two may be fried
or not as is most convenient. Boil the gravy very softly until it is
reduced to little more than a pint; strain, and set it by until the fat
can be taken from it. Heat it anew, add more salt if needed and a little
mushroom catsup, cayenne-vinegar, or whatever flavouring it may require
for the dish with which it is to be served; it will seldom require any
thickening. A dozen small mushrooms prepared as for pickling, or two or
three morels, previously well washed and soaked, may be added to it at
first with advantage. Half this quantity of gravy will be sufficient for
a single tureen, and the economist can diminish a little the proportion
of meat when it is thought too much.
PLAIN GRAVY FOR VENISON.
Trim away the fat from some cutlets, and lay them into a stewpan; set
them over a clear fire, and let them brown a little in their own gravy;
then add a pint of boiling water to each pound of meat. Take off the
scum, throw in a little salt, and boil the gravy until reduced one half.
Some cooks broil the cutlets lightly, boil the gravy one hour, and
reduce it after it is strained. For appropriate gravy to serve with
venison, see “Haunch of Venison,” Chapter XV.
A RICH GRAVY FOR VENISON.
There are few eaters to whom this would be acceptable, the generality of
them preferring infinitely the flavour of the venison itself to any
which the richest gravy made of other meats can afford; but when the
flavour of a well-made _Espagnole_ is likely to be relished, prepare it
by the receipt of the following page, substituting plain _strong_ mutton
stock for the veal gravy.
SWEET SAUCE, OR GRAVY FOR VENISON.
Add to a quarter-pint of common venison gravy a couple of glasses of
port wine or claret, and half an ounce of sugar in lumps. Christopher
North’s sauce, mixed with three times its measure of gravy, would be an
excellent substitute for this.
ESPAGNOLE (SPANISH SAUCE).
_A highly-flavoured Gravy._
Dissolve a couple of ounces of good butter in a thick stewpan or
saucepan, throw in from four to six sliced eschalots, four ounces of the
lean of an undressed ham, three ounces of carrot, cut in small dice, one
bay leaf, two or three branches of parsley, and one or two of thyme, but
these last must be small; three cloves, a blade of mace, and a dozen
corns of pepper; add part of a root of parsley, if it be at hand, and
keep the whole stirred or shaken over a moderate fire for twenty
minutes, then add by degrees one pint of very strong veal stock or
gravy, and stew the whole gently from thirty to forty minutes; strain
it, skim off the fat, and it will be ready to serve.
Butter, 2 oz.; eschalots, 4 to 6; lean of undressed ham, 4 oz.; carrots,
3 oz.; bay leaf, 1; little thyme and parsley, in branches; cloves, 3;
mace, 1 blade; peppercorns, 12; little parsley root: fried gently, 20
minutes. Strong veal stock, or gravy, 1 pint: stewed very softly, 30 to
40 minutes.
ESPAGNOLE, WITH WINE.
Take the same proportions of ingredients as for the preceding
_Espagnole_, with the addition, if they should be at hand, of a dozen
small mushrooms prepared as for stewing; when these have fried gently in
the stewpan until it appears of a reddish colour all round, stir in a
tablespoonful of flour, and when it is lightly browned, add in small
portions, letting each one boil up before the next is poured in, and
shaking the pan well round, three quarters of a pint of hot and _good_
veal gravy, and nearly half a pint of Madeira or sherry. When the sauce
has boiled gently for half an hour, add to it a small quantity of
cayenne and some salt, if this last be needed; then strain it, skim off
the fat entirely should any appear upon the surface, and serve it very
hot. A smaller proportion of wine added a few minutes before the sauce
is ready for table, would perhaps better suit with English taste, as
with longer boiling its flavour passes off almost entirely. Either of
these _Espagnoles_, poured over the well bruised remains of pheasants,
partridges, or moor fowl, and boiled with them for an hour, will become
most admirable game gravy, and would generally be considered a
superlative addition to other roast birds of their kind, as well as to
the hash or salmi, for which see Chapter XV.
Ingredients as in preceding receipt, with mushrooms 12 to 18; Madeira,
or good sherry, 1/4 to 1/2 pint.
JUS DES ROGNONS, OR, KIDNEY GRAVY.
Strip the skin and take the fat from three fresh mutton kidneys, slice
and flour them; melt two ounces of butter in a deep saucepan, and put in
the kidneys, with an onion cut small, and a teaspoonful of fine herbs
stripped from the stalks. Keep these well shaken over a clear fire until
nearly all the moisture is dried up; then pour in a pint of boiling
water, add half a teaspoonful of salt, and a little cayenne or common
pepper, and let the gravy boil gently for an hour and a half, or longer,
if it be not thick and rich. Strain it through a fine sieve, and take
off the fat. Spice or catsup may be added at pleasure.
Mutton kidneys, 3; butter, 2 oz.; onion, 1; fine herbs, 1 teaspoonful:
1/2 hour. Water, 1 pint; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; little cayenne, or black
pepper: 1-1/2 hour.
_Obs._—This is an excellent cheap gravy for haricots, curries, or hashes
of mutton; it may be much improved by the addition of two or three
eschalots, and a small bit or two of lean meat.
GRAVY IN HASTE.
Chop fine a few bits of lean meat, a small onion, a few slices of carrot
and turnip, and a little thyme and parsley; put these with half an ounce
of butter into a thick saucepan, and keep them stirred until they are
slightly browned; add a little spice, and water in the proportion of a
pint to a pound of meat; clear the gravy from scum, let it boil half an
hour, then strain it for use.
Meat, 1 lb.; 1 small onion; little carrot, turnip, thyme, and parsley;
butter, 1/2 oz.; cloves, 6; corns of pepper, 12; water, 1 pint: 1/2
hour.
CHEAP GRAVY FOR A ROAST FOWL.
When there is neither broth nor gravy to be had, nor meat of which
either can be made, boil the neck of the fowl after having cut it small,
in half a pint of water, with any slight seasonings of spice or herbs,
or with a little salt and pepper only; it should stew very softly for an
hour or more, or the quantity will be too much reduced. When the bird is
just ready for table, take the gravy from the dripping-pan, and drain
off the fat from it as closely as possible; strain the liquor from the
neck to it, mixing them smoothly, pass the gravy again through the
strainer, heat it, add salt and pepper or cayenne, if needed, and serve
it extremely hot. When this is done, the fowl should be basted with good
butter only, and well floured when it is first laid to the fire. Many
cooks always mix the gravy from the pan when game is roasted, with that
which they send to table with it, as they think that it enriches the
flavour; but to many persons it is peculiarly distasteful.
Neck of fowl; water, 1/2 pint; pepper, salt (little vegetable and spice
at choice): stewed gently, 1 hour; strained, stirred to the gravy of the
roast, well cleared from fat.
ANOTHER CHEAP GRAVY FOR A FOWL.
A little good broth added to half a dozen dice of lean ham, lightly
browned in a morsel of butter, with half a dozen corns of pepper and a
small branch or two of parsley, and stewed for half an hour, will make
excellent gravy of a common kind. When there is no broth, the neck of
the chicken must be stewed down to supply its place.
GRAVY OR SAUCE FOR A GOOSE.
Mince, and brown in a small saucepan, with a slice of butter, two ounces
of mild onion,. When it begins to brown, stir to it a teaspoonful of
flour, and in five or six minutes afterwards, pour in by degrees the
third of a pint of good brown gravy; let this simmer fifteen minutes;
strain it, bring it again to the point of boiling, and add to it a
teaspoonful of made mustard mixed well with a glass of port wine. Season
it with cayenne and pepper and _salt_, if this last be needed. Do not
let the sauce _boil_ after the wine is added, but serve it _very_ hot.
Onions, 2 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 to 15 minutes. Flour, 1
teaspoonful: 5 to 6 minutes. Gravy, 1/3 pint: 15 minutes. Mustard, 1
teaspoonful; port wine, 1 glassful; cayenne pepper; salt. See also
Christopher North’s own sauce, page 119.
ORANGE GRAVY FOR WILD FOWL.
Boil for about ten minutes, in half a pint of rich and highly-flavoured
brown gravy, or _Espagnole_, half the rind of a Seville orange, pared as
thin as possible, and a small strip of lemon-rind, with a bit of sugar
the size of a hazel-nut. Strain it off, add to it a quarter pint of port
or claret, the juice of half a lemon, and a tablespoonful of Seville
orange-juice: season it with cayenne, and serve it as hot as possible.
Gravy, 1/2 pint; 1/2 the rind of a Seville orange; lemon-peel, 1 small
strip; sugar, size of hazel-nut: 10 minutes. Juice of 1/2 a lemon;
Seville orange-juice, 1 tablespoonful; cayenne. See also Christopher
North’s own sauce, page 119.
MEAT JELLIES FOR PIES AND SAUCES.
A very firm meat jelly is easily made by stewing slowly down equal parts
of shin of beef, and knuckle or neck of veal, with a pint of cold water
to each pound of meat; but to give it flavour, some thick slices of lean
unboiled ham should be added to it, two or three carrots, some spice, a
bunch of parsley, one mild onion, or more, and a moderate quantity of
salt; or part of the meat may be omitted, and a calf’s head, or the
scalp of one, very advantageously substituted for it, though the
flavouring must then be heightened, because, though very gelatinous,
these are in themselves exceedingly insipid to the taste. If rapidly
boiled, the jelly will not be clear, and it will be difficult to render
it so without clarifying it with the whites of eggs, which it ought
never to require; if very gently stewed, on the contrary, it will only
need to be passed through a fine sieve, or cloth. The fat must be
carefully removed, after it is quite cold. The shin of beef recommended
for this and other receipts, should be from the middle of the leg of
young heifer beef, not of that which is large and coarse.
Middle of small shin of beef, 3 lbs.; knuckle or neck of veal, 3 lbs.;
lean of ham, 1/2 lb.; water, 3 quarts; carrots, 2 large, or 3 small;
bunch of parsley; 1 mild onion, stuck with 8 cloves; 2 small bay-leaves;
1 large blade of mace; small saltspoonful of peppercorns; salt, 3/4 oz.
(more if needed): 5 to 6 hours’ very gentle stewing.
_Obs._—A finer jelly may be made by using a larger proportion of veal
than of beef, and by adding clear beef or veal broth to it instead of
water, in a small proportion at first, as directed in the receipt for
_consommé_, see page 98, and by pouring in the remainder when the meat
is heated through. The necks of poultry, any inferior joints of them
omitted from a fricassee or other dish, or an old fowl, will further
improve it much; an eschalot or two may at choice be boiled down in it,
instead of the onion, but the flavour should be scarcely perceptible.
A CHEAPER MEAT JELLY.
One calf’s foot, a pound and a half or two pounds of neck of veal or
beef, a small onion, a carrot, a bunch of parsley, a little spice, a bit
or two of quite lean ham, dressed or undressed, and five half pints of
water, boiled _very_ slowly for five or six hours will give a strong,
though not a highly-flavoured jelly. More ham, any bones of unboiled
meat, poultry, or game will, in this respect, improve it; and the liquor
in which fowls or veal have been boiled for table should, when at hand,
be used for it instead of water. These jellies keep much better and
longer when no vegetables are stewed down in them.
GLAZE.
This is merely _strong_, clear gravy or jelly boiled quickly down to the
consistence of thin cream; but this reduction must be carefully managed
that the glaze may be brought to the proper point without being burned;
it must be attentively watched, and stirred without being quitted for a
moment from the time of its beginning to thicken; when it has reached
the proper degree of boiling, it will jelly in dropping from the spoon,
like preserve, and should then be poured out immediately, or it will
burn. When wanted for use, melt it gently by placing the vessel which
contains it (see article _Glazing_, Chapter IX.) in a pan of boiling
water, and with a paste-brush lay it on to the meat, upon which it will
form a sort of clear varnish. In consequence of the very great reduction
which it undergoes, salt should be added to it sparingly when it is
made. Any kind of stock may be boiled down to glaze; but unless it be
strong, a pint will afford but a spoonful or two: a small quantity of
it, however, is generally sufficient, unless a large repast is to be
served. Two or three layers must be given to each joint. The jellies
which precede this will answer for it extremely well; and it may be made
also with shin of beef stock, for common occasions, when no other is at
hand.
ASPIC, OR CLEAR SAVOURY-JELLY.
Boil a couple of calf’s feet, with three or four pounds of knuckle of
veal, three quarters of a pound of lean ham, two large onions, three
whole carrots, and a large bunch of herbs, in a gallon of water, till it
is reduced more than half. Strain it off; when perfectly cold, remove
every particle of fat and sediment, and put the jelly into a very clean
stewpan, with four whites of eggs well beaten; keep it stirred until it
is nearly boiling; then place it by the side of the fire to simmer for a
quarter of an hour. Let it settle, and pour it through a jelly-bag until
it is quite clear. Add, when it first begins to boil, three blades of
mace, a teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and sufficient salt to flavour
it properly, allowing for the ham, and the reduction. French cooks
flavour this jelly with tarragon vinegar when it is clarified; cold
poultry, game, fish, plovers’ eggs, truffles, and various dressed
vegetables, with many other things often elaborately prepared, and
highly ornamental, are moulded and served in it, especially at large
_dejeuners_ and similar repasts. It is also much used to decorate raised
pies, and hams; and for many other purposes of the table.
Calf’s feet, 2; veal, 4 lbs.; ham, 3/4 lb.; onions, 2; carrots, 3;
herbs, large bunch; mace, 3 blades; white whole pepper, 1 teaspoonful;
water, 1 gallon: 5 to 6 hours. Whites of eggs, 4: 15 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER V.
=Sauces.=
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
[Illustration:
_Bain Marie_, or Water Bath.
]
THE difference between good and bad cookery can scarcely be more
strikingly shown than in the manner in which sauces are prepared and
served. If well made, appropriate to the dishes they accompany, and sent
to table with them as hot as possible, they not only give a heightened
relish to a dinner, but they prove that both skill and taste have been
exerted in its arrangements. When coarsely or carelessly prepared, on
the contrary, as they too often are, they greatly discredit the cook,
and are anything but acceptable to the eaters. Melted butter, the most
common of all—the “_one sauce of England_,” as it is called by
foreigners, and which forms in reality the basis of a large number of
those which are served in this country—is often so ill prepared, being
either oiled or lumpy, or composed principally of flour and water, that
it says but little for the state of cookery amongst us. We trust that
the receipts in the present chapter are so far clearly given, that if
strictly followed they will materially assist the learner in preparing
tolerably palatable sauces at the least. The cut at the commencement of
the chapter exhibits a vessel called a _bain marie_, in which saucepans
are placed when it is necessary to keep their contents hot without
allowing them to boil: it is extremely useful when dinners are delayed
after they are ready to serve.
TO THICKEN SAUCES.
When this is done with the yolks of eggs, they should first be well
beaten, and then mixed with a spoonful of cold stock should it be at
hand, and with one or two of the boiling sauce, which should be stirred
very quickly to them, and they must in turn be stirred briskly to the
sauce, which may be held over the fire, and well shaken for an instant
afterwards, but never placed upon it, nor allowed to boil.
To the _roux_ or French thickening (which follows), the gravy or other
liquid which is to be mixed with it should be poured boiling and in
small quantities, the saucepan being often well shaken round, and the
sauce made to boil up after each portion is added. If this precaution be
observed, the butter will never float upon the surface, but the whole
will be well and smoothly blended: it will otherwise be difficult to
clear the sauce from it perfectly.
For invalids, or persons who object to butter in their soups or sauces,
flour only mixed to a smooth batter, and stirred into the boiling liquid
may be substituted for other thickening: arrow-root also used in the
same way, will answer even better than flour.
FRENCH THICKENING, OR BROWN ROUX.
For ordinary purposes this may be made as it is wanted for use; but when
it is required for various dishes at the same time or for cookery upon a
large scale, it can be prepared at once in sufficient quantity to last
for several days, and it will remain good for some time. Dissolve, with
a very gentle degree of heat, half a pound of good butter, then draw it
from the fire, skim it well, give time for it to settle, pour it gently
from the sediment into a very clean frying-pan, and place it over a slow
but clear fire. Put into a dredging box about seven ounces of fine dry
flour; add it gradually to the butter, shake the pan often as it is
thrown in, and keep the thickening constantly stirred until it has
acquired a clear light brown colour. It should be very slowly and
equally done, or its flavour will be unpleasant. Pour it into a jar, and
stir a spoonful or two as it is needed into boiling soup or gravy. When
the butter is not clarified it will absorb an additional ounce of flour,
the whole of which ought to be fine and dry. This thickening may be made
in a well-tinned stewpan even better than in a frying-pan, and if
simmered over a coal fire it should be placed high above it, and well
guarded from smoke.
WHITE ROUX, OR FRENCH THICKENING.
Proceed exactly as for the preceding receipt, but dredge in the flour as
soon as the butter is in full simmer, and be careful not to allow the
thickening to take the slightest colour: this is used for white gravies
or sauces.
SAUCE TOURNÉE, OR PALE THICKENED GRAVY.
Sauce tournée is nothing more than rich pale gravy made with veal or
poultry (see _Consommé_, Chapter IV.) and thickened with delicate white
_roux_. The French give it a flavouring of mushrooms and green onions,
by boiling some of each in it for about half an hour before the sauce is
served: it must then be strained, previously to being dished. Either
first dissolve an ounce of butter, and then dredge gradually to it
three-quarters of an ounce of flour, and proceed as for the preceding
receipt; or blend the flour and butter perfectly with a knife before
they are thrown into the stewpan, and keep them stirred without ceasing
over a clear and gentle fire until they have simmered for some minutes,
then place the stewpan high over the fire, and shake it constantly until
the _roux_ has lost the raw taste of the flour; next, stir very
gradually to it a pint of the gravy, which should be boiling. Set it by
the side of the stove for a few minutes, skim it thoroughly, and serve
it without delay.
Butter, 1 oz.; flour, 3/4 oz.; strong pale gravy, seasoned with
mushrooms and green onions, 1 pint.
_Obs._ 3.—With the addition of three or four yolks of very fresh eggs,
mixed with a seasoning of mace, cayenne, and lemon-juice, this becomes
_German sauce_, now much used for fricassees, and other dishes; and
minced parsley (boiled) and chili vinegar, each in sufficient quantity
to flavour it agreeably, convert it into a good fish sauce.
BÉCHAMEL.
This is a fine French white sauce, now very much served at good English
tables. It may be made in various ways, and more or less expensively;
but it should always be thick, smooth, and rich, though delicate in
flavour. The most ready mode of preparing it is to take an equal portion
of very strong, pale veal gravy, and of good cream (a pint of each for
example), and then, by rapid boiling over a very clear fire, to reduce
the gravy nearly half; next, to mix with part of the cream a
tablespoonful of fine dry flour, to pour it to the remainder, when it
boils, and to keep the whole stirred for five minutes or more over a
slow fire, for if placed upon a fierce one it would be liable to burn;
then to add the gravy, to stir and mix the sauce perfectly, and to
simmer it for a few minutes longer. All the flavour should be given by
the gravy, in which French cooks boil a handful of mushrooms, a _few_
green onions, and some branches of parsley before it is reduced: but a
good _béchamel_ may be made without them, with a strong _consommé_ (see
pale veal gravy, page 98) well reduced.
Strong pale veal gravy (flavoured with mushrooms or not), 1 pint:
reduced half. Rich cream, 1 pint; flour, 1 tablespoonful: 5 minutes.
With gravy, 4 or 5 minutes.
_Obs._—_Velouté_, which is a rather thinner sauce or gravy, is made by
simply well reducing the cream and stock separately, and then mixing
them together without any thickening.
BÉCHAMEL MAIGRE.
(_A cheap White Sauce._)
A good _béchamel_ may be made entirely without meat, when economy is an
object, or when no gravy is at hand. Put into a stewpan, or a
well-tinned and thick saucepan, with from two to three ounces of butter,
a carrot, and a couple of small onions, cut in slices, with a handful of
nicely-cleaned mushroom buttons, when these last can be easily procured;
and when they have stewed slowly for half an hour, or until the butter
is nearly dried up, stir in two tablespoonsful of flour, and pour in a
pint of new milk, a little at a time, shaking the stewpan well round,
that the sauce may be smooth. Boil the _béchamel_ gently for half an
hour; add a little salt, and cayenne; strain, and reduce it, if not
quite thick, or pour it boiling to the yolks of two fresh eggs.
ANOTHER COMMON BÉCHAMEL.
Cut half a pound of veal, and a slice of lean ham or smoked beef, into
small dice, and stew them in butter, with vegetables, as directed in the
foregoing receipt: stir in the same proportion of flour, then add the
milk, and let the sauce boil very gently for an hour. It should not be
allowed to thicken too much before it is strained.
_Obs._—Common _béchamel_, with the addition of a spoonful of
made-mustard, is an excellent sauce for boiled mutton.
RICH MELTED BUTTER.
This is more particularly required in general for lobster sauce, when it
is to be served with turbot or brill, and for good oyster sauce. Salmon
is itself so rich, that less butter is needed for it than for sauce
which is to accompany a drier fish. Mix to a very smooth batter a
dessertspoonful of flour, a half-saltspoonful of salt, and half a pint
of cold water: put these into a delicately clean saucepan, with from
four to six ounces of well-flavoured butter, cut into small bits, and
shake the sauce strongly round, almost without cessation, until the
ingredients are perfectly blended, and it is on the point of boiling;
let it simmer for two or three minutes, and it will be ready for use.
The best French cooks recommend its not being allowed to _boil_, as they
say it tastes less of flour if served when it is just at the point of
simmering.
Cold water, 1/2 pint; salt, 1/2 spoonful; flour, 1 dessertspoonful: 3 to
4 minutes. Butter, 4 to 6 oz.
MELTED BUTTER.
(_A good common Receipt._)
Put into a basin a large teaspoonful of flour, and a little salt, then
mix with them very gradually and very smoothly a quarter of a pint of
cold water; turn these into a small clean saucepan, and shake or stir
them constantly over a clear fire until they have boiled a couple of
minutes, then add an ounce and a half of butter cut small, keep the
sauce stirred until this is entirely dissolved, give the whole a
minute’s boil, and serve it quickly. The more usual mode is to put the
butter in at first with the flour and water; but for inexperienced or
unskilful cooks the safer plan is to follow the present receipt.
Water, 1/4 pint; flour, 1 teaspoonful: 2 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; 1
minute.
_Obs._—To render this a _rich_ sauce, increase or even _double_ the
proportion of butter.
FRENCH MELTED BUTTER.
Pour half a pint of good but not very thick, boiling melted butter to
the well-beaten yolks of two or three fresh eggs, and stir them briskly
as it is added; put the sauce again into the saucepan, and shake it high
over the fire for an instant, but do not allow it to boil or it will
curdle. Add a little lemon-juice or vinegar, and serve it immediately.
NORFOLK SAUCE, OR RICH MELTED BUTTER WITHOUT FLOUR.
Put three tablespoonsful of water into a small saucepan, and when it
boils add four ounces of fresh butter; as soon as this is quite
dissolved, take the saucepan from the fire, and shake it round until the
sauce looks thick and smooth. It must not be allowed to boil after the
butter is added.
Water, 3 tablespoonsful; butter, 4 oz.
WHITE MELTED BUTTER.
Thicken half a pint of new milk with rather less flour than is directed
for the common melted butter, or with a little arrow-root, and stir into
it by degrees after it has boiled, a couple of ounces of fresh butter
cut small; do not cease to stir the sauce until this is entirely
dissolved, or it may become oiled, and float upon the top Thin cream,
substituted for the milk, and flavoured with a few strips of lemon-rind
cut extremely thin, some salt, and a small quantity of pounded mace, if
mixed with rather less flour, and the same proportion of butter, will
make an excellent sauce to serve with fowls or other dishes, when no
gravy is at hand to make white sauce in the usual way.
BURNT OR BROWNED BUTTER.
Melt in a frying-pan three ounces of fresh butter, and keep it stirred
slowly over a gentle fire until it is of a dark brown colour; then pour
to it a couple of tablespoonsful of good _hot_ vinegar, and season it
with black pepper and a little salt. In France this is a favourite sauce
with boiled skate, which is served with plenty of crisped parsley, in
addition, strewed over it. It is also often poured over poached eggs
there: it is called _beurre noir_.
Butter, 3 oz.; vinegar, 2 tablespoonsful; pepper; salt.
CLARIFIED BUTTER.
Put the butter into a very clean and well-tinned saucepan or enamelled
stewpan, and melt it gently over a clear fire; when it just begins to
simmer, skim it thoroughly, draw it from the fire, and let it stand a
few minutes that the buttermilk may sink to the bottom; then pour it
clear of the sediment through a muslin strainer or a fine hair-sieve;
put it into jars, and store them in a cool place. Butter thus prepared
will answer for all the ordinary purposes of cookery, and remain good
for a great length of time. In France, large quantities are melted down
in autumn for winter use. The clarified butter ordered for the various
receipts in this volume, is merely dissolved with a gentle degree of
heat in a small saucepan, skimmed, and poured out for use, leaving the
thick sediment behind.
VERY GOOD EGG SAUCE.
Boil four fresh eggs for quite fifteen minutes, then lay them into
plenty of fresh water, and let them remain until they are perfectly
cold. Break the shells by rolling them on a table, take them off,
separate the whites from the yolks, and divide all of the latter into
quarter-inch dice; mince two of the whites tolerably small, mix them
lightly, and stir them into the third of a pint of rich melted butter or
of white sauce: serve the whole as hot as possible.
Eggs, 4: boiled 15 minutes, left till cold. The yolks of all, whites of
2; third of pint of good melted butter or white sauce. Salt as needed.
SAUCE OF TURKEYS’ EGGS.
(_Excellent._)
The eggs of the turkey make a sauce much superior to those of the common
fowl. They should be gently boiled in plenty of water for twenty
minutes. The yolks of three, and the whites of one and a half, will make
a very rich sauce if prepared by the directions of the foregoing
receipt. The eggs of the guinea fowl also may be converted into a
similar sauce with ten minutes’ boiling. Their delicate size will render
it necessary to increase the number taken for it.
COMMON EGG SAUCE.
Boil a couple of eggs hard, and when quite cold cut the whites and yolks
separately; mix them well, put them into a very hot tureen, and pour
boiling to them a quarter of a pint of melted butter, stir, and serve
the sauce immediately.
Whole eggs, 2; melted butter, 1/4 pint.
EGG SAUCE FOR CALF’S HEAD.
This is a provincial sauce, served sometimes with fish, and with calf’s
head likewise. Thicken to the proper consistence with flour and butter
some good pale veal gravy, throw into it when it boils from one to two
large teaspoonsful of minced parsley, add a slight squeeze of
lemon-juice, a little cayenne, and then the eggs.
Veal gravy, 1/2 pint; flour, 1-1/2 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; minced parsley, 1
dessertspoonful; lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful; little cayenne; eggs, 3 to
4.
ENGLISH WHITE SAUCE.
Boil softly in half a pint of well-flavoured pale veal gravy a few very
thin strips of fresh lemon-rind, for just sufficient time to give their
flavour to it; stir in a thickening of arrow-root, or of flour and
butter, add salt if needed, and mix with the gravy a quarter of a pint
of boiling cream. For the best kind of white sauce, see béchamel, page
107.
Good pale veal gravy, 1/2 pint; third of 1 lemon-rind: 15 to 20 minutes.
Freshly pounded mace, third of saltspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; flour,
1 teaspoonful (or arrow-root an equal quantity); cream, 1/4 pint.
VERY COMMON WHITE SAUCE.
The neck and the feet of a fowl, nicely cleaned, and stewed down in half
a pint of water, until it is reduced to less than a quarter of a pint,
with a thin strip or two of lemon-rind, a small blade of mace, a small
branch or two of parsley, a little salt, and half a dozen corns of
pepper, then strained, thickened, and flavoured by the preceding
receipt, and mixed with something more than half the quantity of cream,
will answer for this sauce extremely well; and if it be added, when
made, to the liver of the chicken, previously boiled for six minutes in
the gravy, then bruised to a smooth paste, and passed through a sieve,
an excellent liver sauce. A little strained lemon-juice is generally
added to it when it is ready to serve: it should be stirred very briskly
in.
DUTCH SAUCE.
Put into a small saucepan the yolks of three fresh eggs, the juice of a
large lemon, three ounces of butter, a little salt and nutmeg, and a
wineglassful of water. Hold the saucepan over a clear fire, and keep the
sauce stirred until it _nearly_ boils: a little cayenne may be added.
The safest way of making all sauces that will curdle by being allowed to
boil, is to put them into a jar, and to set the jar over the fire in a
saucepan of boiling water, and then to stir the ingredients constantly
until the sauce is thickened sufficiently to serve.
Yolks of eggs, 3; juice, 1 lemon; butter, 3 oz.; little salt and nutmeg;
water, 1 wineglassful; cayenne at pleasure.
_Obs._—A small cupful of veal gravy, mixed with plenty of blanched and
chopped parsley, may be used instead of water for this sauce, when it is
to be served with boiled veal, or with calf’s head.
FRICASSEE SAUCE.
Stir briskly, but by degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of two large or
of three small fresh eggs, half a pint of common English white sauce;
put it again into the saucepan, give it a shake over the fire, but be
extremely careful not to allow it to boil, and just before it is served
stir in a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice. When meat or chickens
are fricasseed, they should be lifted from the saucepan with a slice,
drained on it from the sauce, and laid into a very hot dish before the
eggs are added, and when these are just set, the sauce should be poured
on them.
BREAD SAUCE.
Pour quite boiling, on half a pint of the finest bread-crumbs, an equal
measure of new milk; cover them closely with a plate, and let the sauce
remain for twenty or thirty minutes; put it then into a delicately clean
saucepan, with a small saltspoonful of salt, half as much pounded mace,
a little cayenne, and about an ounce of fresh butter; keep it stirred
constantly over a clear fire for a few minutes, then mix with it a
couple of spoonsful of good cream, give it a boil, and serve it
immediately. When cream is not to be had, an additional spoonful or two
of milk must be used. The bread used for sauce should be _stale_, and
lightly grated down into extremely small crumbs, or the preparation will
look rough when sent to table. Not only the crust, but all heavy-looking
or imperfectly baked portions of it, should be entirely pared off, and
it should be pressed against the grater only so much as will reduce it
easily into crumbs. When stale bread cannot be procured, the new should
be sliced thin, or broken up small, and beaten quite smooth with a fork
after it has been soaked. As some will absorb more liquid than others,
the cook must increase a little the above proportion should it be
needed. Equal parts of milk and of thin cream make an excellent bread
sauce: more butter can be used to enrich it when it is liked.
Bread-crumbs and new milk, each 1/2 pint (or any other measure); soaked
20 to 30 minutes, or more. Salt, small saltspoonful; mace, half as much;
little cayenne; butter, 1 oz.; boiled 4 to 5 minutes. 2 to 4 spoonsful
of good cream (or milk): 1 minute. Or: bread-crumbs, 1/2 pint; milk and
cream, each 1/4 pint; and from 2 to 4 spoonsful of either in addition.
_Obs._—Very pale, strong veal gravy is sometimes poured on the
bread-crumbs, instead of milk; and these, after being soaked, are boiled
extremely dry, and then brought to the proper consistence with rich
cream. The gravy may be highly flavoured with mushrooms when this is
done.
BREAD SAUCE WITH ONION.
Put into a very clean saucepan nearly half a pint of fine bread-crumbs,
and the white part of a large _mild_ onion cut into quarters; pour to
these three-quarters of a pint of new milk, and boil them very gently,
keeping them often stirred until the onion is perfectly tender, which
will be in from forty minutes to an hour. Press the whole through a
hair-sieve, which should be as clean as possible; reduce the sauce by
quick boiling should it be too thin; add a seasoning of salt and grated
nutmeg, an ounce of butter, and four spoonsful of cream; and when it is
of a proper thickness, dish, and send it quickly to table.
Bread-crumbs, nearly 1/2 pint; white part of 1 large mild onion; new
milk, 3/4 pint: 40 to 60 minutes. Seasoning of salt and grated nutmeg;
butter, 1 oz.; cream, 4 tablespoonsful: to be boiled till of a proper
consistence.
_Obs._—This is an excellent sauce for those who like a _subdued_ flavour
of onion in it; but as many persons object to any, the cook should
ascertain whether it be liked before she follows this receipt.
COMMON LOBSTER SAUCE.
Add to half a pint of good melted butter a tablespoonful of essence of
anchovies, a small half-saltspoonful of freshly pounded mace, and less
than a quarter one of cayenne. If a couple of spoonsful of cream should
be at hand, stir them to the sauce when it boils; then put in the flesh
of the tail and claws of a small lobster cut into dice (or any other
form) of equal size. Keep the saucepan by the side of the fire until the
fish is quite heated through, but do not let the sauce boil again: serve
it very hot. A small quantity can be made on occasion with the remains
of a lobster which has been served at table.
Melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 1 tablespoonful; pounded
mace, small 1/2 saltspoonful; less than 1/4 one of cayenne; cream (if
added), 2 tablespoonsful; flesh of small lobster.
GOOD LOBSTER SAUCE.
Select for this a perfectly fresh hen lobster; split the tail carefully,
and take out the inside coral; pound half of it in a mortar very
smoothly with less than an ounce of butter, rub it through a hair-sieve,
and put it aside. Cut the firm flesh of the fish into dice of not less
than half an inch in size; and when these are ready, make as much _good_
melted butter as will supply the quantity of sauce required for table,
and if to be served with a turbot or other large fish to a numerous
company, let it be plentifully provided. Season it slightly with essence
of anchovies, and well with cayenne, mace, and salt; add to it a few
spoonsful of rich cream, and then mix a small portion of it very
gradually with the pounded coral; when this is sufficiently liquefied
pour it into the sauce, and stir the whole well together; put in
immediately the flesh of the fish, and heat the sauce thoroughly by the
side of the fire without allowing it to boil, for if it should do so its
fine colour would be destroyed. The whole of the coral may be used for
the sauce when no portion of it is required for other purposes.
CRAB SAUCE.
The flesh of a fresh well-conditioned crab of moderate size is more
tender and delicate than that of a lobster, and may be converted into an
excellent fish sauce. Divide it into small flakes, and add it to some
good melted butter, which has been flavoured as for either of the sauces
above. A portion of the cream contained in the fish may first be
smoothly mingled with the sauce.
GOOD OYSTER SAUCE.
At the moment they are wanted for use, open three dozen of fine plump
native oysters; save carefully and strain their liquor, rinse them
separately in it, put them into a very clean saucepan, strain the liquor
again, and pour it to them; heat them slowly, and keep them from one to
two minutes at the simmering point, without allowing them to _boil_, as
that will render them hard. Lift them out and beard them neatly; add to
the liquor three ounces of butter smoothly mixed with a large
dessertspoonful of flour; stir these without ceasing until they boil,
and are perfectly mixed; then add to them gradually a quarter of a pint,
or rather more, of new milk, or of thin cream (or equal parts of both),
and continue the stirring until the sauce boils again; add a little
salt, should it be needed, and a small quantity of cayenne in the finest
powder; put in the oysters, and keep the saucepan by the side of the
fire until the whole is thoroughly hot and begins to simmer, then turn
the sauce into a well-heated tureen, and send it immediately to table.
Small plump oysters, 3 dozen; butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 large
dessertspoonful; the oyster liquor; milk or cream, full 1/4 pint; little
salt and cayenne.
COMMON OYSTER SAUCE.
Prepare and plump two dozen of oysters as directed in the receipt above;
add their strained liquor to a quarter of a pint of _thick_ melted
butter made with milk, or with half milk and half water; stir the whole
until it boils, put in the oysters, and when they are quite heated
through send the sauce to table without delay. Some persons like a
little cayenne and essence of anchovies added to it when it is served
with fish; others prefer the unmixed flavour of the oysters.
Oysters, 2 dozens; their liquor; melted butter, 1/4 pint. (Little
cayenne and 1 dessertspoonful of essence of anchovies when liked.)
SHRIMP SAUCE.
The fish for this sauce should be very fresh. Shell quickly one pint of
shrimps and mix them with half a pint of melted butter, to which a few
drops of essence of anchovies and a little mace and cayenne have been
added. As soon as the shrimps are heated through, dish, and serve the
sauce, which ought not to boil after they are put in. Many persons add a
few spoonsful of rich cream to all shell-fish sauces. Shrimps, 1 pint;
melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 1/4
teaspoonful; cayenne, very little.
ANCHOVY SAUCE.
To half a pint of good melted butter add three dessertspoonsful of
essence of anchovies, a quarter of a teaspoonful of mace, and a rather
high seasoning of cayenne; or pound the flesh of two or three fine
mellow anchovies very smooth, mix it with the boiling butter, simmer
these for a minute or two, strain the sauce if needful, add the spices,
give it a boil, and serve it.
Melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 3 dessertspoonsful; mace,
1/4 teaspoonful; cayenne, to taste. Or, 3 large anchovies finely
pounded, and the same proportions of butter and spice.
CREAM SAUCE FOR FISH.
Knead very smoothly together with a strong-bladed knife, a _large_
teaspoonful of flour with three ounces of good butter; stir them in a
very clean saucepan or stewpan over a gentle fire until the butter is
dissolved, then throw in a little salt and some cayenne, give the whole
one minute’s simmer, and add, very gradually, half a pint of good cream;
keep the sauce constantly stirred until it boils, then mix with it a
dessertspoonful of essence of anchovies, and half as much chili vinegar
or lemon-juice. The addition of shelled shrimps or lobsters cut in dice,
will convert this at once into a most excellent sauce of either. Pounded
mace may be added to it with the cayenne; and it may be thinned with a
few spoonsful of milk should it be too thick. Omit the essence of
anchovies, and mix with it some parsley boiled very green and minced,
and it becomes a good sauce for poultry.
Butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 _large_ teaspoonful: 2 to 3 minutes. Cream, 1/2
pint; essence of anchovies, 1 large dessertspoonful (more if liked);
chili vinegar or lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful; salt, 1/4 saltspoonful.
SHARP MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE.
(_English Receipt._)
For a rich sauce of this kind, mix a dessertspoonful of flour with four
ounces of good butter, but with from two to three ounces only for common
occasions; knead them together until they resemble a smooth paste, then
proceed exactly as for the sauce above, but substitute good pale veal
gravy, or strong, pure-flavoured veal broth, or shin of beef stock
(which if well made has little colour), for the cream; and when these
have boiled for two or three minutes, stir in a tablespoonful of common
vinegar and one of chili vinegar, with as much cayenne as will flavour
the sauce well, and some salt, should it be needed; throw in from two to
three dessertspoonsful of finely-minced parsley, give the whole a boil,
and it will be ready to serve. A tablespoonful of mushroom catsup or of
Harvey’s sauce may be added with the vinegar when the colour of the
sauce is immaterial. It may be served with boiled calf’s head, or with
boiled eels with good effect; and various kinds of cold meat and fish
may be re-warmed for table in it, as we have directed in another part of
this volume. With a little more flour, and a flavouring of essence of
anchovies, it will make, without the parsley, an excellent sauce for
these last, when they are first dressed.
Butter, 2 to 4 oz.; flour, 1 dessertspoonful; pale veal gravy or strong
broth, or shin of beef stock, 1/2 pint; cayenne; salt, if needed; common
vinegar, 1 tablespoonful; chili vinegar, 1 tablespoonful. (Catsup or
Harvey’s sauce, according to circumstances.)
FRENCH MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL,[55] OR STEWARD’S SAUCE.
Footnote 55:
The Maître d’Hôtel is, properly, the _House Steward_.
Add to half a pint of rich, pale veal gravy, well thickened with the
white _roux_ of page 108, a good seasoning of pepper, salt, minced
parsley, and lemon-juice; or make the thickening with a small
tablespoonful of flour, and a couple of ounces of butter; keep these
stirred constantly over a very gentle fire from ten to fifteen minutes,
then pour the gravy to them boiling, in small portions, mixing the whole
well as it is added, and letting it boil up between each, for unless
this be done the butter will be likely to float upon the surface. Simmer
the sauce for a few minutes, and skim it well, then add salt should it
be needed, a tolerable seasoning of pepper or of cayenne in fine powder,
from two to three teaspoonsful of minced parsley, and the strained juice
of a small lemon. For some dishes, this sauce is thickened with the
yolks of eggs, about four to the pint. The French work into their sauces
generally a small bit of fresh butter just before they are taken from
the fire, to give them mellowness: this is done usually for the _Maître
d’Hôtel Sauce_.
MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE MAIGRE,[56] OR WITHOUT GRAVY.
Footnote 56:
Maigre, made without meat.
Substitute half a pint of good melted butter for the gravy, and add to
it the same seasonings as above. A double quantity of these sauces will
be needed when they are required to cover a large fish; in that case
they should be thick enough to adhere to it well. Melted butter, 1/2
pint; seasoning of salt and pepper, or cayenne; minced parsley, 2 to 3
teaspoonsful; juice, 1 small lemon.
For COLD MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE, see Chapter VI.
THE LADY’S SAUCE.
(_For Fish._)
Pound to a very smooth paste the inside coral of a lobster with a small
slice of butter, and some cayenne; rub it through a hair-sieve, gather
it together, and mix it very smoothly with from half to three-quarters
of a pint of _sauce tournée_ or of cream fish-sauce, previously well
seasoned with cayenne and salt, and moderately with pounded mace; bring
it to the _point_ of boiling only; stir in quickly, but gradually, a
tablespoonful of strained lemon-juice, and serve it very hot. When
neither cream nor gravy is at hand, substitute _rich_ melted butter
mixed with a dessertspoonful or two of essence of anchovies, and well
seasoned. The fine colour of the coral will be destroyed by boiling.
This sauce, which the French call _Sauce à l’Aurore_, may be served with
brill, boiled soles, gray mullet, and some few other kinds of fish: it
is quickly made when the lobster butter of Chapter VI. is in the house.
Coral of lobster, pounded; cream sauce, or _sauce tournée_ (thickened
pale veal gravy), 1/2 to 3/4 pint; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful; salt,
cayenne, and mace, as needed. Or: _rich_ melted butter, instead of other
sauce; essence of anchovies, 2 dessertspoonsful; other seasoning, as
above.
_Obs._—The proportion of spices here must, of course, depend on the
flavouring which the gravy or sauce may already have received.
GENEVESE SAUCE, OR SAUCE GÉNÉVOISE.
Cut into dice three ounces of the lean of a well-flavoured ham, and put
them with half a small carrot, four cloves, a blade of mace, two or
three very small sprigs of lemon thyme and of parsley, and rather more
than an ounce of butter, into a stewpan; just simmer them from
three-quarters of an hour to a whole hour, then stir in a teaspoonful of
flour; continue the slow stewing for about five minutes, and pour in by
degrees a pint of good boiling veal gravy, and let the sauce again
simmer softly for nearly an hour. Strain it off, heat it in a clean
saucepan, and when it boils, stir in a wineglassful and a half of good
sherry or Madeira, two tablespoonsful of lemon-juice, some cayenne, a
little salt if needed, and a small tablespoonful of flour very smoothly
mixed with two ounces of butter. Give the whole a boil after the
thickening is added, pour a portion of the sauce over the fish (it is
served principally with salmon and trout), and send the remainder very
hot to table in a tureen.
Lean of ham, 3 oz.; 1/2 small carrot; 4 to 6 cloves; mace, 1 large
blade; thyme and parsley, 3 or 4 _small_ sprigs of each; butter, 1 to
1-1/2 oz.: 50 to 60 minutes. Veal gravy, 1 pint: 3/4 to 1 hour. Sherry
or Madeira, 1-1/2 glassful; lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful; seasoning of
cayenne and salt; flour, 1 tablespoonful; butter, 2 oz.: 1 minute.
_Obs._—A teaspoonful or more of essence of anchovies is usually added to
the sauce, though it is scarcely required.
SAUCE ROBERT.
Cut four or five large onions into small dice, and brown them in a
stewpan, with three ounces of butter and a dessertspoonful of flour.
When of a deep yellow brown, pour to them half a pint of beef or of veal
gravy, and let them simmer for fifteen minutes; skim the sauce, add a
seasoning of salt and pepper, and at the moment of serving, mix a
dessertspoonful of made mustard with it.
Large onions, 4 or 5; butter, 3 oz.; flour, dessertspoonful; 10 to 15
minutes. Gravy, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes. Mustard, dessertspoonful.
SAUCE PIQUANTE.
Brown lightly in an ounce and a half of butter a tablespoonful of minced
eschalots or three of onions; add a teaspoonful of flour when they are
partially done; pour to them half a pint of gravy or of _good_ broth,
and when it boils add three chilies, a bay-leaf, and a very small bunch
of thyme. Let these simmer for twenty minutes; take out the thyme and
bay-leaf, add a high seasoning of black pepper, and half a wineglassful
of the best vinegar. A quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne may be
substituted for the chilies.
Eschalots, 1 tablespoonful, or three of onions; flour, 1 teaspoonful;
butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 to 15 minutes. Gravy or broth, 1/2 pint; chilies,
3; bay-leaf; thyme, small bunch: 20 minutes. Pepper, plenty; vinegar,
1/2 wineglassful.
EXCELLENT HORSERADISH SAUCE.
(_To serve hot or cold with roast beef._)
Wash and wipe a stick of _young_ horseradish, scrape off the outer skin,
grate it as small as possible on a fine grater, then with two ounces (or
a couple of large tablespoonsful) of it mix a small teaspoonful of salt
and four tablespoonsful of good cream; stir in briskly, and by degrees,
three dessertspoonsful of vinegar, one of which should be chili vinegar
when the horseradish is mild. To heat the sauce, put it into a small and
delicately clean saucepan, hold it over, but do not place it _upon_ the
fire, and stir it without intermission until it is near the point of
simmering; but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle instantly.
Horseradish pulp, 2 oz. (or 2 _large_ tablespoonsful); salt, 1
teaspoonful; good cream, 4 tablespoonsful; vinegar, 3 dessertspoonsful
(of which one should be chili when the root is mild).
_Obs._—Common English salad-mixture is often added to the grated
horseradish when the sauce is to be served cold.
HOT HORSERADISH SAUCE.
(_To serve with boiled or stewed meat or fish._)
Mix three ounces of young tender grated horseradish with half a pint of
good brown gravy, and let it stand by the side of the fire until it is
on the point of boiling; add salt if required, a teaspoonful of made
mustard, and a dessertspoonful of garlic or of eschalot vinegar; or the
same quantity of chili vinegar, or twice as much common vinegar.
Some cooks stew the horseradish in vinegar for ten minutes, and, after
having drained it from this, mix it with nearly half a pint of thick
melted butter.
Horseradish, grated, 3 oz.; brown gravy, 1/2 pint; made mustard, 1
teaspoonful; eschalot or garlic vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful (or chili
vinegar, the same quantity, or common vinegar twice as much).
CHRISTOPHER NORTH’S OWN SAUCE FOR MANY MEATS.
Throw into a small basin a heaped saltspoonful of _good_ cayenne pepper,
in very fine powder, and half the quantity of salt;[57] add a small
dessertspoonful of well-refined, pounded, and sifted sugar; mix these
thoroughly; then pour in a tablespoonful of the strained juice of a
fresh lemon, two of Harvey’s sauce, a teaspoonful of the very best
mushroom catsup (or of cavice), and a small wineglassful of port wine.
Heat the sauce by placing the basin in a saucepan of boiling water, or
turn it into a jar, and place this in the water. Serve it directly it is
ready with geese or ducks, tame or wild; roast pork, venison, fawn, a
grilled blade-bone, or any other broil. A slight flavour of garlic or
eschalot vinegar may be given to it at pleasure. Some persons eat it
with fish. It is good cold; and, if bottled directly it is made, may be
stored for several days. It is the better for being mixed some hours
before it is served. _The proportion of cayenne may be doubled when a
very pungent sauce is desired._
Footnote 57:
_Characteristically, the salt_ of this sauce ought, perhaps, to
prevail more strongly over the _sugar_, but it will be found for most
tastes sufficiently _piquant_ as it is.
_Good_ cayenne pepper in fine powder, 1 _heaped_ saltspoonful; salt,
half as much; pounded sugar, 1 small dessertspoonful; strained
lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful; Harvey’s sauce, 2 tablespoonsful; best
mushroom catsup (or cavice), 1 teaspoonful; port wine, 3 tablespoonsful,
or small wineglassful. (Little eschalot, or garlic vinegar at pleasure.)
_Obs._—This sauce is exceedingly good mixed with the brown gravy of a
hash or stew, or with that which is served with game or other dishes.
GOOSEBERRY SAUCE FOR MACKEREL.
Cut the stalks and tops from half to a whole pint of quite young
gooseberries, wash them well, just cover them with cold water, and boil
them very gently indeed, until they are tender; drain and mix them with
a small quantity of melted butter, made with rather less flour than
usual. Some eaters prefer the mashed gooseberries without any addition;
others like that of a little ginger. The best way of making this sauce
is to turn the gooseberries into a hair-sieve to drain, then to press
them through it with a wooden spoon, and to stir them in a clean stewpan
or saucepan over the fire with from half to a whole teaspoonful of
sugar, just to soften their extreme acidity, and a bit of fresh butter
about the size of a walnut. When the fruit is not passed through the
sieve it is an improvement to seed it.
COMMON SORREL SAUCE.
Strip from the stalks and the large fibres, from one to a couple of
quarts of freshly-gathered sorrel; wash it very clean, and put it into a
well-tinned stewpan or saucepan (or into an enamelled one, which would
be far better), without any water; add to it a small slice of good
butter, some pepper and salt, and stew it gently, keeping it well
stirred until it is exceedingly tender, that it may not burn; then drain
it on a sieve, or press the liquid well from it; chop it as fine as
possible, and boil it again for a few minutes with a spoonful or two of
gravy, or the same quantity of cream or milk, mixed with a
half-teaspoonful of flour, or with only a fresh slice of good butter.
The beaten yolk of an egg or two stirred in just as the sorrel is taken
from the fire will soften the sauce greatly, and a saltspoonful of
pounded sugar will also be an improvement.
ASPARAGUS SAUCE, FOR LAMB CUTLETS.
Green cut the tender points of some young asparagus into half-inch
lengths, or into the size of peas only; wash them well, then drain and
throw them into plenty of boiling salt and water. When they are quite
tender, which may be in from ten to fifteen minutes, turn them into a
hot strainer and drain the water thoroughly from them; put them, at the
instant of serving, into half a pint of thickened veal gravy (see _sauce
tournée_, page 106), mixed with the yolks of a couple of eggs, and well
seasoned with salt and cayenne, or white pepper, or into an equal
quantity of good melted butter: add to this last a squeeze of
lemon-juice. The asparagus will become yellow if reboiled, or if left
long in the sauce before it is served.
Asparagus points, 1/2 pint: boiled 10 to 15 minutes, longer if not quite
tender. Thickened veal gravy, 1/2 pint; yolks of eggs, 2. Or: good
melted butter, 1/2 pint; lemon-juice, small dessertspoonful, seasoning
of salt and white pepper.
CAPER SAUCE.
Stir into the third of a pint of good melted butter from three to four
dessertspoonsful of capers; add a little of the vinegar, and dish the
sauce as soon as it boils. Keep it stirred after the berries are added:
part of them may be minced and a little chill vinegar substituted for
their own. Pickled nasturtiums make a very good sauce, and their flavour
is sometimes preferred to that of the capers. For a large joint,
increase the quantity of butter to half a pint.
Melted butter, third of pint; capers, 3 to 4 dessertspoonsful.
BROWN CAPER SAUCE.
Thicken half a pint of good veal or beef gravy as directed for _sauce
tournée_, and add to it two tablespoonsful of capers, and a
dessertspoonful of the pickle liquor, or of chili vinegar, with some
cayenne if the former be used, and a proper seasoning of salt.
Thickened veal, or beef gravy, 1/2 pint; capers, 2 tablespoonsful; caper
liquor or chili vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful.
CAPER SAUCE FOR FISH.
To nearly half a pint of very rich melted butter add six spoonsful of
_strong_ veal gravy or jelly, a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies,
and some chili vinegar or cayenne, and from two to three tablespoonsful
of capers. When there is no gravy at hand substitute a half wineglassful
of mushroom catsup, or of Harvey’s sauce; though these deepen the colour
more than is desirable.
COMMON CUCUMBER SAUCE.
Pare, slice, dust slightly with pepper and with flour, two or three
young cucumbers, and fry them a fine brown in a little butter, or
dissolve an ounce and a half in a small stewpan or iron saucepan, and
shake them in it over a brisk fire from twelve to fifteen minutes; pour
to them by degrees nearly half a pint of strong beef broth, or of brown
gravy; add salt, and more pepper if required; stew the whole for five
minutes, and send the sauce very hot to table. A minced onion may be
browned with the cucumbers when it is liked, and a spoonful of vinegar
added to them before they are served.
Cucumbers, 2 or 3; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; broth or gravy, nearly 1/2 pint;
salt, pepper.
ANOTHER COMMON SAUCE OF CUCUMBERS.
Cucumbers which have the fewest seeds are best for this sauce. Pare and
slice _two_ or _three_, should they be small, and put them into a
saucepan, in which two ounces, or rather more, of butter have been
dissolved, and are beginning to boil; place them high over the fire,
that they may stew as softly as possible, without taking colour, for
three-quarters of an hour, or longer should they require it; add to them
a good seasoning of white pepper and some salt, when they are half done;
and just before they are served stir to them half a teaspoonful of
flour, mixed with a morsel of butter; strew in some minced parsley, give
it a boil, and finish with a spoonful of good vinegar.
WHITE CUCUMBER SAUCE.
Quarter some young quickly-grown cucumbers, without many seeds in them;
empty them of these, and take off the rinds. Cut them into inch lengths,
and boil them from fifteen to eighteen minutes in salt and water; press
the water from them with the back of a spoon, and work them through a
sieve; mix them with a few spoonsful of _béchamel_, or thick white
sauce; do not let them _boil_ again, but serve them very hot. A sauce of
better flavour is made by boiling the cucumbers in veal gravy well
seasoned, and stirring in the beaten yolks of two or three eggs, and a
little chili vinegar or lemon-juice, at the instant of serving. Another
also of cucumbers sliced, and stewed in butter, but without being at all
browned, and then boiled in pale veal gravy, which must be thickened
with rich cream, is excellent. A _morsel_ of sugar improves this sauce.
Cucumbers, 3: 15 to 18 minutes. White sauce, 1/4 pint.
WHITE MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Cut off the stems closely from half a pint of small button mushrooms;
clean them with a little salt and a bit of flannel, and throw them into
cold water, slightly salted, as they are done; drain them well, or dry
them in a soft cloth, and throw them into half a pint of boiling
_béchamel_ (see page 108), or of white sauce made with very fresh milk,
or thin cream, thickened with a tablespoonful of flour and two ounces of
butter. Simmer the mushrooms from ten to twenty minutes, or until they
are quite tender, and dish the sauce, which should be properly seasoned
with salt, mace, and cayenne.
Mushrooms, 1/2 pint; white sauce, 1/2 pint; seasoning of salt, mace, and
cayenne: 10 minutes.
ANOTHER MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Prepare from half to a whole pint of very small mushroom-buttons with
great nicety, and throw them into an equal quantity of _sauce tournée_;
when they are tender add a few spoonsful of rich cream, give the whole a
boil, and serve it. Either of these sauces may be sent to table with
boiled poultry, breast of veal, or veal cutlets: the _sauce tournée_
should be thickened rather more than usual when it is to be used in this
receipt.
Mushrooms and _sauce tournée_ each, 1/2 to whole pint: stewed till
tender. Cream, 4 to 8 tablespoonsful.
BROWN MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Very small flaps, peeled and freed entirely from the fur, will answer
for this sauce. Leave them whole or quarter them, and stew them tender
in some rich brown gravy; give a full seasoning of mace and cayenne, add
thickening and salt if needed, and a tablespoonful of good mushroom
catsup.
COMMON TOMATA SAUCE.
Tomatas are so juicy when ripe that they require little or no liquid to
reduce them to a proper consistence for sauce; and they vary so
exceedingly in size and quality that it is difficult to give precise
directions for the exact quantity which in their unripe state is needed
for them. Take off the stalks, halve the tomatas, and gently squeeze out
the seeds and watery pulp; then stew them softly with a few spoonsful of
gravy or of strong broth until they are quite melted. Press the whole
through a hair-sieve, and heat it afresh with a little additional gravy
should it be too thick, and some cayenne, and salt. Serve it very hot.
Fine ripe tomatas, 6 or 8; gravy or strong broth, 4 tablespoonsful: 1/2
to 3/4 hour, or longer if needed. Salt and cayenne sufficient to season
the sauce, and two or three spoonsful more of gravy if required.
_Obs._—For a large tureen of this sauce, increase the proportions; and
should it be at first too liquid, reduce it by quick boiling. When
neither gravy nor broth is at hand, the tomatas may be stewed perfectly
tender, but very gently, in a couple of ounces of butter, with some
cayenne and salt only, or with the addition of a very little finely
minced onion; then rubbed through a sieve, and heated, and served
without any addition, or with only that of a teaspoonful of chili
vinegar; or, when the colour is not a principal consideration, with a
few spoonsful of rich cream, smoothly mixed with a little flour to
prevent its curdling. The sauce must be stirred without ceasing should
the last be added, and boiled for four or five minutes.
A FINER TOMATA SAUCE.
Stew very gently a dozen fine red tomatas, prepared as for the preceding
receipt, with two or three sliced eschalots, four or five chilies or a
capsicum or two (or in lieu of either, with a quarter of a teaspoonful
of cayenne pepper), a few small dice of lean ham, and half a cupful of
rich gravy. Stir these often, and when the tomatas are reduced quite to
a smooth pulp, rub them through a sieve; put them into a clean saucepan,
with a few spoonsful more of rich gravy, or _Espagnole_, add salt if
needed, boil the sauce stirring it well for ten minutes, and serve it
very hot. When the gravy is exceedingly good and highly flavoured, the
ham may be omitted: a dozen small mushrooms nicely cleaned may also be
sliced and stewed with the tomatas, instead of the eschalots, when their
flavour is preferred, or they may be added with them. The exact
proportion of liquid used is immaterial, for should the sauce be too
thin it may be reduced by rapid boiling, and diluted with more gravy if
too thick.
BOILED APPLE SAUCE.
Apples of a fine cooking sort require but a very small portion of liquid
to boil down well and smoothly for sauce, if placed over a gentle fire
in a close-shutting saucepan, and simmered as softly as possible until
they are well broken; and their flavour is injured by the common mode of
adding so much to them, that the greater part must be drained off again
before they are sent to table. Pare the fruit quickly, quarter it, and
be careful entirely to remove the cores; put one tablespoonful of water
into a saucepan before the apples are thrown in, and proceed, as we have
directed, to simmer them until they are nearly ready to serve: finish
the sauce by the receipt which follows.
Apples, 1/2 lb.; water, 1 tablespoonful; stewed very softly: 30 to 60
minutes.
_Obs._—These proportions are sufficient only for a small tureen of the
sauce, and should be doubled for a large one.