cold roast, or of cold boiled fowls, clear it from the skin, and keep it
covered from the air until it is wanted for use. Boil the bones well
bruised, and the skin, with three quarters of a pint of water until
reduced quite half; then strain the gravy and let it cool; next, having
first skimmed off the fat, put it into a clean saucepan, with a quarter
of a pint of cream, an ounce and a half of butter well mixed with a
dessertspoonful of flour, and a little pounded mace, and grated
lemon-rind; keep these stirred until they boil, then put in the fowl,
finely minced, with three or four hard-boiled eggs chopped small, and
sufficient salt, and white pepper or cayenne, to season it properly.
Shake the mince over the fire until it is just ready to boil, stir to it
quickly a squeeze of lemon-juice, dish it with pale sippets of fried
bread, and serve it immediately. When cream cannot easily be obtained,
use milk, with a double quantity of butter and flour. To make an English
mince, omit the hard eggs, heat the fowl in the preceding sauce or in a
common _béchamel_, or white sauce, dish it with small delicately poached
eggs (those of the guinea-fowl or bantam for example), laid over it in a
circle and send it quickly to table. Another excellent variety of the
dish is also made by covering the fowl thickly with very fine
bread-crumbs, moistening them with clarified butter, and giving them
colour with a salamander, or in a quick oven.[90]
Footnote 90:
For minced fowl and oysters, follow the receipt for veal, page 231.
FRITOT OF COLD FOWLS.
Cut into joints and take the skin from some cold fowls lay them into a
deep dish, strew over them a little fine salt and cayenne, add the juice
of a lemon, and let them remain for an hour, moving them occasionally
that they may all absorb a portion of the acid; then dip them one by one
into some French batter (see Chapter V.), and fry them a pale brown over
a gentle fire. Serve them garnished with very green crisped parsley. A
few drops of eschalot vinegar may be mixed with the lemon-juice which is
poured to the fowls, or slices of raw onion or eschalot, and small
branches of sweet herbs may be laid amongst them, and cleared off before
they are dipped into the batter. Gravy made of the trimmings, thickened,
and well flavoured, may be sent to table with them in a tureen; and
dressed bacon (see page 259), in a dish apart.
SCALLOPS OF FOWL AU BÉCHAMEL. (ENTRÉE.)
Raise the flesh from a couple of fowls as directed for cutlets in the
foregoing receipt, and take it as entire as possible from either side of
the breast; strip off the skin, lay the fillets flat, and slice them
into small thin scallops; dip them one by one into clarified butter, and
arrange them evenly in a delicately clean and not large frying-pan;
sprinkle a seasoning of fine salt over, and just before the dish is
wanted for table, fry them quickly without allowing them to brown; drain
them well from the butter, pile them in the centre of a hot dish, and
sauce them with some boiling _béchamel_. This dish may be quickly
prepared by taking a ready-dressed fowl from the spit or stewpan, and by
raising the fillets, and slicing the scallops into the boiling sauce
before they have had time to cool.
Fried, 3 to 4 minutes.
GRILLADE OF COLD FOWLS.
Carve and soak the remains of roast fowls as for the _fritot_ which
precedes, wipe them dry, dip them into clarified butter, and then into
fine bread-crumbs, and broil them gently over a very clear fire. A
little finely-minced lean of ham or grated lemon-peel, with a seasoning
of cayenne, salt, and mace, mixed with the crumbs will vary this dish
agreeably. When fried instead of broiled, the fowls may be dipped into
yolk of egg instead of butter; but this renders them too dry for
broiling.
FOWLS À LA MAYONNAISE.
Carve with great nicety a couple of cold roast fowls; place the inferior
joints, if they are served at all, close together in the middle of a
dish, and arrange the others round and over them, piling them high in
the centre. Garnish them with the hearts of young lettuces cut in two,
and hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise. At the moment of serving, pour
over the fowls a well-made _mayonnaise_ sauce (see Chapter VI.), or, if
preferred, an English salad-dressing, compounded with thick cream,
instead of oil.
TO ROAST DUCKS.
[Ducks are in season all the year, but are thought to be in their
perfection about June or early in July. Ducklings (or half-grown ducks)
are in the greatest request in spring, when there is no game in the
market, and other poultry is somewhat scarce.]
[Illustration:
Ducks trussed.
]
In preparing these for the spit, be careful to clear the skin entirely
from the stumps of the feathers; take off the heads and necks, but leave
the feet on, and hold them for a few minutes in boiling water to loosen
the skin, which must be peeled off. Wash the inside of the birds by
pouring water through them, but merely wipe the outsides with a dry
cloth. Put into the bodies a seasoning of parboiled onions mixed with
minced sage, salt, pepper, and a slice of butter when this mode of
dressing them is liked; but as the taste of a whole party is seldom in
its favour, one, when a couple are roasted, is often served without the
stuffing. Cut off the pinions at the first joint from the bodies, truss
the feet behind the backs, spit the birds firmly, and roast them at a
brisk fire, but do not place them sufficiently near to be scorched;
baste them constantly, and when the breasts are well plumped, and the
steam from them draws towards the fire, dish, and serve them quickly
with a little good brown gravy poured round them, and some also in a
tureen; or instead of this, with some which has been made with the
necks, gizzards, and livers well stewed down, with a slight seasoning of
browned onion, some herbs, and spice.
Young ducks, 1/2 hour: full sized, from 3/4 to 1 hour.
_Obs._—Olive-sauce may be served with roast as well as with stewed
ducks.
STEWED DUCK. (ENTRÉE.)
A couple of quite young ducks, or a fine, full-grown, but still tender
one, will be required for this dish. Cut either down neatly into joints,
and arrange them in a single layer if possible, in a wide stewpan; pour
in about three quarters of a pint of strong cold beef stock or gravy;
let it be well cleared from scum when it begins to boil, then throw in a
little salt, a rather full seasoning of cayenne, and a few thin strips
of lemon-rind. Simmer the ducks very softly for three quarters of an
hour, or somewhat longer should the joints be large; then stir into the
gravy a tablespoonful of the finest rice-flour, mixed with a
wineglassful or rather more of port wine, and a dessertspoonful of
lemon-juice: in ten minutes after, dish the stew and send it to table
instantly.
The ducks may be served with a small portion only of their sauce, and
dished in a circle, with green peas _à la Française_ heaped high in the
centre: the lemon-rind and port wine should then be altogether omitted,
and a small bunch of green onions and parsley, with two or three young
carrots, may be stewed down with the birds, or three or four minced
eschalots, delicately fried in butter, may be used to flavour the gravy.
The turnips _au beurre_, prepared by the receipt of Chapter XVII., may
be substituted for the peas; and a well made _Espagnole_ may take the
place of beef stock, when a dish of high savour is wished for. A duck is
often stewed without being divided into joints. It should then be firmly
trussed, half roasted at a quick fire, and laid into the stewpan as it
is taken from the spit; or well browned in some French thickening, then
half covered with boiling gravy, and turned when partially done: from an
hour to an hour and a quarter will stew it well.
TO ROAST PIGEONS.
[In season from March to Michaelmas, and whenever they can be had
young.]
[Illustration:
Pigeons for roasting.
]
These, as we have already said, should be dressed while they are very
fresh. If extremely young they will be ready in twelve hours for the
spit, otherwise in twenty-four. Take off the heads and necks, and cut
off the toes at the first joint; draw them carefully, and pour plenty of
water through them: wipe them dry, and put into each bird a small bit of
butter lightly dipped into a little cayenne (formerly it was rolled in
minced parsley, but this is no longer the fashionable mode of preparing
them). Truss the wings over the backs, and roast them at a brisk fire,
keeping them well and constantly basted with butter. Serve them with
brown gravy, and a tureen of parsley and butter. For the second course,
dish them upon young water-cresses, as directed for roast fowl _aux
cressons_, page 272. About twenty minutes will roast them.
18 to 20 minutes; five minutes longer, if large; rather less, if _very_
young.
BOILED PIGEONS.
Truss them like boiled fowls, drop them into plenty of boiling water,
throw in a little salt, and in fifteen minutes lift them out, pour
parsley and butter over, and send a tureen of it to table with them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XV.
=Game.=
TO CHOOSE GAME.
[Illustration]
BUCK venison, which is in season only from June to Michaelmas, is
considered finer than doe venison, which comes into the market in
October, and remains in season through November and December: neither
should be cooked at any other part of the year. The greater the depth of
fat upon the haunch the better the quality of the meat will be, provided
it be clear and white, and the lean of a dark hue. If the cleft of the
hoof, which is always left on the joint, be small and smooth, the animal
is young; but it is old when the marks are the reverse of these.[91]
Although the haunch is the prime and favourite joint of venison, the
neck and shoulder are also excellent, dressed in various ways, and make
much approved pies or _pasties_ as they are usually called. If kept to
the proper point, and well dressed, this is the most tender of all meat;
but care is necessary to bring it into a fitting state for table without
its becoming offensive. A free current of air in a larder is always a
great advantage, as it assists materially in preserving the sweetness of
every thing which is kept in it, while a close damp atmosphere, on the
contrary, is more destructive of animal food of all kinds even than
positive heat. The fumes of creosote are said to be an admirable
preservative against putrescence, but we have not ourselves yet had
experience of the fact. All moisture should be wiped daily, or even more
frequently, from the venison, with soft cloths, when any appears upon
the surface; and every precaution must be taken to keep off the flies,
when the joint is not hung in a wire-safe. Black pepper thickly powdered
on it will generally answer the purpose: with common care, indeed, meat
may always be protected from their attacks, and to leave it exposed to
them in warm weather is altogether inexcusable in the cook.
Footnote 91:
It must be observed that venison is not in perfection when young: like
mutton, it requires to be of a certain age before it is brought to
table. The word _cleft_ applies also to the thickest part of the
haunch, and it is the depth of the fat on this which decides the
quality of the joint.
Hares and rabbits are stiff when freshly killed, and if young, the ears
tear easily, and the claws are smooth and sharp. A hare in cold weather
will remain good from ten to fourteen days; care only must be taken to
prevent the inside from becoming musty, which it will do if it has been
emptied in the field. Pheasants, partridges, and other game may be
chosen by nearly the same tests as poultry: by opening the bill, the
staleness will be detected easily if they have been too long kept. With
few exceptions, game depends almost entirely for the fine flavour and
the tenderness of its flesh, on the time which it is allowed to hang
before it is cooked, and it is never good when very fresh; but it does
not follow that it should be sent to table in a really offensive state,
for this is agreeable to few eaters and disgusting to many, and nothing
should at any time be served of which the appearance or the odour may
destroy the appetite of any person present.
TO ROAST A HAUNCH OF VENISON.
[Illustration]
To give venison the flavour and the tenderness so much prized by
epicures, it must be well kept; and by taking the necessary precautions,
it will hang a considerable time without detriment. Wipe it with soft
dry cloths wherever the slightest moisture appears on the surface, and
dust it plentifully with freshly-ground pepper or powdered ginger, to
preserve it from the flies. The application of the pyroligneous or
acetic acid would effectually protect it from these, as well as from the
effects of the weather; but the joint must then be, not only well
washed, but _soaked_ for some considerable time, and this would be very
detrimental. To prepare the venison for the spit, wash it slightly with
tepid water or merely wipe it thoroughly with damp cloths, and dry it
afterwards with clean ones; then lay over the fat side a large sheet of
thickly-buttered paper, and next a paste of flour and water about three
quarters of an inch thick; cover this again with two or three sheets of
stout paper, secure the whole well with twine, and lay the haunch to a
sound clear fire; baste the paper immediately with butter or clarified
dripping, and roast the joint from three hours and a half to four and a
half, according to its weight and quality. Doe venison will require half
an hour less time than buck venison. Twenty minutes before the joint is
done remove the paste and paper, baste the meat in every part with
butter, and dredge it very lightly with flour; let it take a pale brown
colour, and send it to table as hot as possible with gravy in a tureen,
and good currant jelly. It is not now customary to serve any other
sauces with it; but should the old-fashioned sharp or sweet sauce be
ordered, the receipt for it will be found at page 100.
3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.
_Obs._—The kind of gravy appropriate to venison is a matter on which
individual taste must decide. When preparations of high savour are
preferred to the pure flavour of the game, the _Espagnole_ (or Spanish
sauce) of Chapter IV. can be sent to table with it; or either of the
rich English gravies which precede it. When a simple unflavoured one is
better liked, some mutton cutlets freed entirely from fat, then very
slightly broiled over a quick fire, and stewed gently down in a light
extract of mutton prepared by Liebeg’s directions, Chapter I., for about
an hour, will produce an excellent plain gravy: it should be seasoned
with salt and pepper (or fine cayenne) only. When venison abounds, it
should be used for the gravy instead of mutton.
TO STEW A SHOULDER OF VENISON.
Bone the joint, by the directions given for a shoulder of veal or mutton
(see Chapter XI.); flatten it on a table, season it well with cayenne,
salt, and pounded mace, mixed with a very small proportion of allspice;
lay over it thin slices of the fat of a loin of well-fed mutton, roll
and bind it tightly, lay it into a vessel nearly of its size, and pour
to it as much good stock made with equal parts of beef and mutton as
will nearly cover it; stew it as slowly as possible from three hours to
three and a half or longer, should it be very large, and turn it when it
is half done. Dish and serve it with a good _Espagnole_, made with part
of the gravy in which it has been stewed; or thicken this slightly with
rice-flour, mixed with a glass or more of claret or of port wine, and as
much salt and cayenne as will season the gravy properly. Some cooks soak
the slices of mutton-fat in wine before they are laid upon the joint;
but no process of the sort will ever give to any kind of meat the true
flavour of the venison, which to most eaters is far finer than that of
the wine, and should always be allowed to prevail over all the
condiments with which it is dressed. Those, however, who care for it
less than for a dish of high artificial savour can have eschalots, ham,
and carrot, lightly browned in good butter added to the stew when it
first begins to boil.
3-1/2 to 4 hours.
TO HASH VENISON.[92]
Footnote 92:
Minced collops of venison may be prepared exactly like those of beef;
and venison-cutlets like those of mutton: the neck may be taken for
both of these.
For a superior hash of venison, add to three quarters of a pint of
strong thickened brown gravy, Christopher North’s sauce, in the
proportion directed for it in the receipt of page 295.[93] Cut the
venison in small thin slices of equal size, arrange them in a clean
saucepan, pour the gravy on them, let them stand for ten minutes or
more, then place them near the fire, and bring the whole very slowly to
the _point_ of boiling only: serve the hash immediately in a hot-water
dish.
Footnote 93:
Having been inadvertently omitted from its proper place, this receipt
is transferred to the end of the present Chapter.
For a plain dinner, when no gravy is at hand, break down the bones of
the venison small, after the flesh has been cleared from them, and boil
them with those of three or four undressed mutton-cutlets, a slice or
two of carrot, or a few savoury herbs, and about a pint and a half of
water or broth, until the liquid is reduced quite one third. Strain it
off, let it cool, skim off all the fat, heat the gravy, thicken it when
it boils with a dessertspoonful or rather more of arrow-root, or with
the brown _roux_ of page 107, mix the same sauce with it, and finish it
exactly as the richer hash above. It may be served on sippets of fried
bread or not, at choice.
TO ROAST A HARE.
[In season from September to the 1st of March.]
[Illustration:
Hare trussed.
]
After the hare has been skinned, or cased, as it is called, wash it very
thoroughly in cold water, and afterwards in warm. If in any degree
overkept, or musty in the inside, which it will sometimes be when
emptied before it is hung up and neglected afterwards, use vinegar, or
the pyroligneous acid, well diluted, to render it sweet; then again
throw it into abundance of water, that it may retain no taste of the
acid. Pierce with the point of a knife any parts in which the blood
appears to have settled, and soak them in tepid water, that it may be
well drawn out. Wipe the hare dry, fill it with the forcemeat No. 1,
Chapter VIII., sew it up, truss and spit it firmly, baste it for ten
minutes with lukewarm water mixed with a very little salt; throw this
away, and put into the pan a quart or more of new milk; keep it
constantly laded over the hare until it is nearly dried up, then add a
large lump of butter, flour the hare, and continue the basting steadily
until it is well browned; for unless this be done, and the roast be kept
at a proper distance from the fire, the outside will become so dry and
hard as to be quite uneatable. Serve the hare when done, with good brown
gravy (of which a little should be poured round it in the dish), and
with fine red currant jelly. This is an approved English method of
dressing it, but we would recommend in preference, that it should be
basted plentifully with butter from the beginning (the strict economist
may substitute clarified beef-dripping, or marrow, and finish with a
small quantity of butter only); and that the salt and water should be
altogether omitted. First-rate cooks merely wipe the hare inside and
out, and rub it with its own blood before it is laid to the fire; but
there is generally a rankness about it, especially after it has been
many days killed, which, we should say, renders the washing
indispensable, unless a coarse game-flavour be liked.
1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.
ROAST HARE.
(_Superior Receipt._)
A hare may be rendered far more plump in appearance, and infinitely
easier to carve, by taking out the bones of the back and thighs, or of
the former only: in removing this a very sharp knife should be used, and
much care will be required to avoid cutting through the skin just over
the spine, as it adheres closely to the bone. Nearly double the usual
quantity of forcemeat must be prepared: with this restore the legs to
their original shape, and fill the body, which should previously be
lined with delicate slices of the nicest bacon, of which the rind and
edges have been trimmed away. Sew up the hare, truss it as usual; lard
it or not, as is most convenient, keep it basted plentifully with butter
while roasting, and serve it with the customary sauce. We have found two
tablespoonsful of the finest currant jelly, melted in half a pint of
rich brown gravy, an acceptable accompaniment to hare, when the taste
has been in favour of a sweet sauce.
To remove the back-bone, clear from it first the flesh in the inside;
lay this back to the right and left from the centre of the bone to the
tips; then work the knife on the upper side quite to the spine, and when
the whole is detached except the skin which adheres to this, separate
the bone at the first joint from the neck-bone or ribs (we know not how
more correctly to describe it), and pass the knife with caution under
the skin down the middle of the back. The directions for boning the
thighs of a fowl will answer equally for those of a hare, and we
therefore refer the reader to them.
STEWED HARE.
Wash and soak the hare thoroughly, wipe it very dry, cut it down into
joints dividing the largest, flour and brown it slightly in butter with
some bits of lean ham, pour to them by degrees a pint and a half of
gravy, and stew the hare _very gently_ from an hour and a half to two
hours: when it is about one third done add the very thin rind of half a
large lemon, and ten minutes before it is served stir to it a large
dessertspoonful of rice-flour, smoothly mixed with two tablespoonsful of
good mushroom catsup, a quarter of a teaspoonful or more of mace, and
something less of cayenne. This is an excellent plain receipt for
stewing a hare; but the dish may be enriched with forcemeat (No. 1,
Chapter VIII.) rolled into small balls, and simmered for ten minutes in
the stew, or fried and added to it after it is dished; a higher
seasoning of spice, a couple of glasses of port wine, with a little
additional thickening and a tablespoonful of lemon-juice, will all serve
to give it a heightened relish.
Hare, 1; lean of ham or bacon, 4 to 6 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; gravy, 1-1/2
pint; lemon-rind: 1 hour and 20 to 50 minutes. Rice-flour, 1 large
dessertspoonful; mushroom catsup, 2 tablespoonsful; mace, 1/3 of
teaspoonful; little cayenne (salt, if needed): 10 minutes.
TO ROAST A RABBIT.
[Illustration:
Rabbit for roasting.
]
This, like a hare, is much improved by having the back-bone taken out,
and the directions we have given will enable the cook, with very little
practice, to remove it without difficulty. Line the inside, when this is
done, with thin slices of bacon, fill it with forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter
VIII), sew it up, truss, and roast it at a clear, brisk fire, and baste
it constantly with butter. Flour it well soon after it is laid down.
Serve it with good brown gravy, and with currant jelly, when this last
is liked. For change, the back of the rabbit may be larded, and the bone
left in, or not, at pleasure; or it can be plain roasted when more
convenient.
3/4 to 1 hour; less, if small.
TO BOIL RABBITS.
[Illustration:
Rabbit for boiling.
]
Rabbits that are three parts grown, or, at all events, which are still
quite young, should be chosen for this mode of cooking. Wash them well,
truss them firmly, with the heads turned and skewered to the sides, drop
them into sufficient boiling water to keep them quite covered until they
are cooked, and simmer them gently from thirty to forty-five minutes:
when _very_ young they will require even less time than this. Cover them
with rich white sauce, mixed with the livers parboiled, finely pounded,
and well seasoned with cayenne and lemon-juice; or with white onion
sauce, or with parsley and butter, made with milk or cream instead of
water (the livers, minced, are often added to the last of these), or
with good mushroom sauce.
30 to 45 minutes.
FRIED RABBIT.
After the rabbit has been emptied, thoroughly washed and soaked, should
it require it to remove any mustiness of smell, blanch it, that is to
say, put it into boiling water and let it boil from five to seven
minutes; drain it, and when cold or nearly so, cut it into joints, dip
them into beaten egg, and then into fine bread-crumbs, seasoned with
salt and pepper, and when all are ready, fry them in butter over a
moderate fire, from twelve to fifteen minutes. Simmer two or three
strips of lemon-rind in a little gravy, until it is well flavoured with
it; boil the liver of the rabbit for five minutes, let it cool, and then
mince it; thicken the gravy with an ounce of butter and a small
teaspoonful of flour, add the liver, give the sauce a minute’s boil,
stir in two tablespoonsful of cream if at hand, and last of all, a small
quantity of lemon-juice. Dish the rabbit, pour the sauce _under_ it, and
serve it quickly. If preferred, a gravy can be made in the pan as for
veal cutlets, and the rabbit may be simply fried.
TO ROAST A PHEASANT.
[In season from the beginning of October to the end of January. The
licensed term of pheasant shooting commences on the 1st of October, and
terminates on the 2nd of February, but as the birds will remain
perfectly good in cold weather for two or three weeks, if from that time
hung in a well-ventilated larder, they continue, correctly speaking, _in
season_ so long as they can be preserved fit for table after the regular
market for them is closed: the same rule applies equally to other
varieties of game.]
[Illustration:
Pheasant trussed
without the head.
]
Unless kept to the proper point, a pheasant is one of the most tough,
dry, and flavourless birds that is sent to table; but when it has hung
as many days as it can without becoming really tainted, and is well
roasted and served, it is most excellent eating. Pluck off the feathers
carefully, cut a slit in the back of the neck to remove the crop, then
draw the bird in the usual way, and either wipe the inside very clean
with a damp cloth, or pour water through it; wipe the outside also, but
with a dry cloth; cut off the toes, turn the head of the bird _under_
the wing, with the bill laid straight along the breast, skewer the legs,
which must not be crossed, flour the pheasant well, lay it to a brisk
fire, and baste it constantly and plentifully with well flavoured
butter. Send bread-sauce and good brown gravy to table with it. The
entire breast of the bird may be larded by the directions of Chapter IX
When a brace is served, one is sometimes larded, and the other not; but
a much handsomer appearance is given to the dish by larding both. About
three quarters of an hour will roast them.
3/4 hour; a few minutes less, if liked very much underdone; five or ten
more for _thorough_ roasting, with a _good_ fire in both cases.
BOUDIN OF PHEASANT À LA RICHELIEU. (ENTRÉE.)
Take, quite clear from the bones, and from all skin and sinew, the flesh
of a half-roasted pheasant; mince, and then pound it to the smoothest
paste; add an equal bulk of the floury part of some fine roasted
potatoes, or of such as have been boiled by Captain Kater’s receipt (see
Chapter XVII.), and beat them together until they are well blended; next
throw into the mortar something less (in volume) of fresh butter than
there was of the pheasant-flesh, with a high seasoning of mace, nutmeg,
and cayenne, and a half-teaspoonful or more of salt; pound the mixture
afresh for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, keeping it turned from
the sides of the mortar into the middle; then add one by one, after
merely taking out the germs with the point of a fork, two whole eggs and
a yolk or two without the whites, if these last will not render the
mixture too moist. Mould it into the form of a roll, lay it into a
stewpan rubbed with butter, pour boiling water on it and poach it gently
from ten to fifteen minutes. Lift it out with care, drain it on a sieve,
and when it is quite cold cover it equally with beaten egg, and then
with the finest bread-crumbs, and broil it over a clear fire, or fry it
in butter of a clear golden brown. A good gravy should be made of the
remains of the bird and sent to table with it; the flavour may be
heightened with ham and eschalots, as directed in Chapter IV., page 96,
and small mushrooms, sliced sideways, and stewed quite tender in butter,
may be mixed with the _boudin_ after it is taken from the mortar; or
their flavour may be given more delicately by adding to it only the
butter in which they have been simmered, well pressed, from them through
a strainer. The mixture, which should be set into a very cool place
before it is moulded, may be made into several small rolls, which will
require four or five minutes’ poaching only. The flesh of partridges
will answer quite as well as that of pheasants for this dish.
SALMI OF PHEASANT.
(_See page 292._)
PHEASANT CUTLETS.
(_See page 275._)
TO ROAST PARTRIDGES.
[In season from the first of September to the second of February, and as
long as they can be preserved fit for table from that time.]
[Illustration:
Partridge trussed.
]
Let the birds hang as long as they can possibly be kept without becoming
offensive; pick them carefully, draw, and singe them; wipe the insides
thoroughly with a clean cloth; truss them with the head turned under the
wing and the legs drawn close together, not crossed. Flour them when
first laid to the fire, and baste them plentifully with butter. Serve
them with bread sauce, and good brown gravy, a little of this last
should be poured over them. In some counties they are dished upon fried
bread-crumbs, but these are better handed round the table by themselves.
Where game is plentiful we recommend that the remains of a cold roasted
partridge should be well bruised and boiled down with just so much
water, or unflavoured broth, as will make gravy for a brace of other
birds: this, seasoned with salt, and cayenne only, or flavoured with a
few mushrooms, will be found a very superior accompaniment for roast
partridges, to the best meat-gravy that can be made. A little eschalot,
and a few herbs, can be added to it at pleasure. It should be served
also with boiled or with broiled partridges in preference to any other.
30 to 40 minutes.
_Obs._—Rather less time must be allowed when the birds are liked
underdressed. In preparing them for the spit, the crop must be removed
through a slit cut in the back of the neck, the claws clipped close, and
the legs held in boiling water for a minute, that they may be skinned
the more easily.
BOILED PARTRIDGES.
This is a delicate mode of dressing young and tender birds. Strip off
the feathers, clean, and wash them well; cut off the heads, truss the
legs like those of boiled fowls, and when ready, drop them into a large
pan of boiling water; throw a little salt on them, and in fifteen, or at
the utmost in eighteen minutes they will be ready to serve. Lift them
out, dish them quickly, and send them to table with white mushroom
sauce, with bread sauce and game gravy (see preceding receipt), or with
celery sauce. Our own mode of having them served is usually with a slice
of fresh butter, about a tablespoonful of lemon-juice, and a good
sprinkling of cayenne placed in a very hot dish, under them.
15 to 18 minutes.
PARTRIDGES WITH MUSHROOMS.
For a brace of young well-kept birds, prepare from half to three
quarters of a pint of mushroom-buttons, or very small flaps, as for
pickling. Dissolve over a gentle fire an ounce and a half of butter,
throw in the mushrooms with a slight sprinkling of salt and cayenne,
simmer them from eight to ten minutes, and turn them with the butter on
to a plate; when they are quite cold, put the whole into the bodies of
the partridges, sew them up, truss them securely, and roast them on a
vertical jack with the heads downwards; or should an ordinary spit be
used, tie them firmly to it, instead of passing it through them. Roast
them the usual time, and serve them with brown mushroom sauce, or with
gravy and bread sauce only. The birds may be trussed like boiled fowls,
floured, and lightly browned in butter, half covered with _rich_ brown
gravy and stewed slowly for thirty minutes; then turned, and simmered
for another half hour with the addition of some mushrooms to the gravy;
or they may be covered with small mushrooms stewed apart, when they are
sent to table. They can also be served with their sauce only, simply
thickened with a small quantity of fresh butter, smoothly mixed with
less than a teaspoonful of arrow-root and flavoured with cayenne and a
little catsup, wine, or store sauce.
Partridges, 2; mushrooms, 1/2 to 3/4 pint; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; little
mace and cayenne: roasted 30 to 40 minutes, or stewed 1 hour.
_Obs._—Nothing can be finer than the game flavour imbibed by the
mushrooms with which the birds are filled, in this receipt.
BROILED PARTRIDGE.
(_Breakfast Dish._)
“Split a young and well-kept partridge, and wipe it with a soft clean
cloth inside and out, but do not wash it; broil it delicately over a
very clear fire, sprinkling it with a little salt and cayenne; rub a bit
of fresh butter over it the moment it is taken from the fire, and send
it quickly to table with a sauce made of a good slice of butter browned
with flour, a little water, cayenne, salt, and mushroom-catsup, poured
over it.” We give this receipt exactly as we received it from a house
where we know it to have been greatly approved by various guests who
have partaken of it there.
BROILED PARTRIDGE.
(_French Receipt._)
After having prepared the bird with great nicety, divided, and flattened
it, season it with salt, and pepper, or cayenne, dip it into clarified
butter, and then into very fine bread-crumbs, and take care that every
part shall be equally covered: if wanted of particularly good appearance
dip it a second time into the butter and crumbs. Place it over a very
clear fire, and broil it gently from twenty to thirty minutes. Send it
to table with brown mushroom sauce, or some _Espagnole_.
THE FRENCH, OR RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE.
This is dressed precisely like our common partridge, and is excellent
eating if it be well kept; otherwise it is tough and devoid of flavour.
It does not, we believe, abound commonly in England, its hostility to
the gray partridge, which it drives always from its neighbourhood,
rendering it an undesirable occupant of a preserve. It was at one time,
however, plentiful in Suffolk,[94] and in one or two of the adjoining
counties, but great efforts, we have understood, have been made to
exterminate it.
Footnote 94:
Brought there by the late Marquis of Hertford, to his Sudbourne
estate.
TO ROAST THE LANDRAIL OR CORN-CRAKE.
This delicate and excellent bird is in its full season at the end of
August and early in September, when it abounds often in the poulterers’
shops. Its plumage resembles that of the partridge, but it is of smaller
size and of much more slender shape. Strip off the feathers, draw and
prepare the bird as usual for the spit, truss it like a snipe, and roast
it quickly at a brisk but not a fierce fire from fifteen to eighteen
minutes. Dish it on fried bread-crumbs, or omit these and serve it with
gravy round it, and more in a tureen, and with well made bread sauce.
Three or even four of the birds will be required for a dish. One makes a
nice dinner for an invalid.
TO ROAST BLACK COCK AND GRAY HEN.
In season during the same time as the common grouse, and found like them
on the moors, but less abundantly.
These birds, so delicious when well kept and well roasted, are tough and
comparatively flavourless when too soon dressed. They should hang
therefore till they give unequivocal indication of being ready for the
spit. Pick and draw them with exceeding care, as the skin is easily
broken; truss them like pheasants, lay them at a moderate distance from
a clear brisk fire, baste them plentifully and constantly with butter,
and serve them on a thick toast which has been laid under them in the
dripping-pan for the last ten minutes of their roasting, and which will
have imbibed a high degree of savour: some cooks squeeze a little
lemon-juice over it before it is put into the pan. Send rich brown gravy
and bread sauce to table with the birds. From three quarters of an hour
to a full hour will roast them. Though kept to the point which we have
recommended, they will not offend even the most fastidious eater after
they are dressed, as, unless they have been _too long_ allowed to hang,
the action of the fire will remove all perceptible traces of their
previous state. In the earlier part of the season, when warm and close
packing have rendered either black game or grouse, in their transit from
the North, apparently altogether unfit for table, the chloride of soda,
well-diluted, may be used with advantage to restore them to a fitting
state for it; though the copious washings which must then be resorted
to, may diminish something of their fine flavour.
3/4 to 1 hour.
TO ROAST GROUSE.
Handle the birds very lightly in plucking off the feathers; draw them,
and wipe the insides with clean damp cloths; or first wash, and then dry
them well; though this latter mode would not be approved generally by
epicures. Truss the grouse in the same manner as the black game above,
and roast them about half an hour at a clear and brisk fire, keeping
them basted, almost without intermission. Serve them on a buttered toast
which has been laid under them in the pan for ten minutes, or with gravy
and bread sauce only.
1/2 hour to 35 minutes
_Obs._—There are few occasions, we think, in which the contents of the
dripping-pan can be introduced at table with advantage; but in dressing
moor game, we would strongly recommend the toast to be laid in it under
the birds, as it will afford a superior relish even to the birds
themselves.
A SALMI OF MOOR FOWL, PHEASANTS, OR PARTRIDGES. (ENTRÉE.)
This is an excellent mode of serving the remains of roasted game, but
when a superlative _salmi_ is desired, the birds must be scarcely more
then half roasted for it. In either case carve them very neatly, and
strip every particle of skin and fat from the legs, wings, and breasts;
bruise the bodies well, and put them with the skin and other trimmings
into a very clean stewpan. If for a simple and inexpensive dinner,
merely add to them two or three sliced eschalots, a bay leaf, a small
blade of mace, and a few peppercorns; then pour in a pint or rather more
of good veal gravy or strong broth, and boil it briskly until reduced
nearly half; strain the gravy, pressing the bones well to obtain all the
flavour, skim off the fat, add a little cayenne and lemon-juice, heat
the game very gradually in it, but do not on any account allow it to
boil; place sippets of fried bread round a dish, arrange the birds in
good form in the centre, give the sauce a boil, and pour it on them.
This is but a homely sort of salmi, though of excellent flavour if well
made; it may require perhaps the addition of a little thickening, and
two or three glasses of dry white wine poured to the bodies of the birds
with the broth, would bring it nearer to the French _salmi_ in flavour.
As the spongy substance in the inside of moor fowl and black game is apt
to be extremely bitter when they have been long kept, care should be
taken to remove such parts as would endanger the preparation.
FRENCH SALMI, OR HASH OF GAME. (ENTRÉE.)
Prepare underdressed or half-roasted game by the directions we have
already given, and after having stripped the skin from the thighs,
wings, and breasts, arrange the joints evenly in a clean stewpan, and
keep them covered from the air and dust till wanted. Cut down into dice
four ounces of the lean of an unboiled ham, and put it, with two ounces
of butter, into a thick well-tinned saucepan or stewpan; add three or
four minced eschalots (more, should a high flavour of them be liked),
two ounces of sliced carrot, four cloves, two bay leaves, a dozen
peppercorns, one blade of mace, a small sprig or two of thyme, and part
of a root of parsley, or two or three small branches of the leaves. Stew
these over a gentle fire, stirring or shaking them often, until the
sides of the saucepan appear of a reddish-brown, then mix well with them
a dessertspoonful of flour, and let it take a little colour. Next, add
by degrees, making the sauce boil as each portion is thrown in, three
quarters of a pint of strong veal stock or gravy, and nearly half a pint
of sherry or Madeira; put in the well-bruised bodies of the birds, and
boil them from an hour to an hour and a half; strain, and clear the
sauce quite from fat; pour it on the joints of game, heat them in it
slowly; and when they are near the point of boiling, dish them
immediately with delicately fried sippets round the dish. When mushrooms
can be obtained, throw a dozen or two of small ones, with the other
seasonings, into the butter. The wine is sometimes added to the
vegetables, and one half reduced before the gravy is poured in; but
though a sauce of fine colour is thus produced the flavour of the wine
is entirely lost.
TO ROAST WOODCOCKS OR SNIPES.
[In season during the winter months, but not abundant until frost sets
in.].
Handle them as little and as lightly as possible, and pluck off the
feathers gently; for if this be violently done the skin of the birds
will be broken. _Do not draw them_, but after having wiped them with
clean soft cloths, truss them with the head under the wing, and the bill
laid close along the breast; pass a slight skewer through the thighs,
catch the ends with a bit of twine, and tie it across to keep the legs
straight. Suspend the birds with the feet downwards to a bird-spit,
flour them well, and baste them with butter, which should be ready
dissolved in the pan or ladle. Before the trail begins to drop, which it
will do as soon as they are well heated, lay a thick round of bread,
freed from the crust, toasted a delicate brown, and buttered on both
sides, into the pan under them to catch it, as this is considered finer
eating even than the flesh of the birds; continue the basting, letting
the butter fall from them into the basting-spoon or ladle, as it cannot
be collected again from the dripping-pan should it drop there, in
consequence of the toast or _toasts_ being in it. There should be one of
these for each woodcock, and the trail should be spread equally over it.
When the birds are done, which they will be, at a brisk fire, in from
twenty to twenty-five minutes, lay the toasts into a very hot dish,
dress the birds upon them, pour a little gravy round the bread, and send
more to table in a tureen. Woodcock, 20 to 25 minutes; snipe, 5 minutes
less.
TO ROAST THE PINTAIL, OR SEA PHEASANT.
[All wild-fowl is in full season in mid-winter: the more severe the
weather, the more abundant are the supplies of it in the markets. It may
be had usually from November to March.].
This beautiful bird is by no means rare upon our eastern coast, but we
know not whether it be much seen in the markets generally. It is most
excellent eating, and should be roasted at a clear quick fire, well
floured when first laid down, turned briskly, and basted with butter
almost without cessation. If drawn from the spit in from twenty-five to
thirty minutes, then dished and laid before the fire for two or three
more, it will give forth a singularly rich gravy. Score the breast; when
it is carved sprinkle on it a little cayenne and fine salt, and let a
cut lemon be handed round the table when the bird is served; or omit the
scoring, and send round with it brown gravy, and Christopher North’s
sauce made hot. (For this, see the following page.)
20 to 30 minutes.
TO ROAST WILD DUCKS.
A bit of soft bread soaked in port wine, or in claret, is sometimes put
into them, but nothing more. Flour them well, lay them rather near to a
very clear and brisk fire, that they may be quickly browned, and yet
retain their juices. Baste them plentifully and constantly with butter,
and, if it can be so regulated, let the spit turn with them rapidly.
From fifteen to twenty minutes will roast them sufficiently for the
generality of eaters; but for those who object to them much
underdressed, a few additional minutes must be allowed. Something less
of time will suffice when they are prepared for persons who like them
scarcely more than heated through.
Teal, which is a more delicate kind of wild fowl, is roasted in the same
way: in from ten to fifteen minutes it will be enough done for the
fashionable mode of serving it, and twenty minutes will dress it _well_
at a good fire.
A SALMI, OR HASH OF WILD FOWL.
Carve the birds very neatly, strip off the skin, and proceed as for the
salmi of pheasants (page 292), but mix port or claret, instead of white
wine, with the gravy, and give it a rather high seasoning of cayenne.
Throw in the juice of half a small lemon before the salmi is served,
place fried sippets round the dish, and send it to table as hot as
possible.
For a common hash boil the skin and trimmings of the wild-fowl in some
good broth, or gravy (with a couple of lightly fried eschalots or not,
at choice), until their flavour is imparted to it; then strain, heat,
and thicken it slightly, with a little brown roux, or browned flour; add
a wineglassful of port wine, some lemon-juice, and cayenne; or
sufficient of Christopher North’s sauce to flavour it well; warm the
birds slowly in it, and serve them as soon as they are thoroughly hot,
but without allowing them to boil.
--------------
[_The following receipt having, from inadvertence, been omitted from the
chapter to which it properly belongs—as the reader has already been
informed—a place is given to it here._]
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; 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 three tablespoonsful, or 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 use 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._
_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 when mixed with the brown gravy of
a hash or stew, or with that which is served with game or other dishes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVI.
=Curries, Potted Meats, &c.=
[Illustration]
THE great superiority of the oriental curries over those generally
prepared in England is not, we believe, altogether the result of a want
of skill or of experience on the part of our cooks, but is attributable
in some measure, to many of the ingredients, which in a _fresh and green
state_ add so much to their excellence, being here beyond our reach.
With us, turmeric and cayenne pepper prevail in them often far too
powerfully: the prodigal use of the former should be especially avoided,
as it injures both the quality and the _colour_ of the currie, which
ought to be of a dark green, rather than of a red or yellow hue. A
couple of ounces of a sweet, sound cocoa-nut, lightly grated and stewed
for nearly or quite an hour in the gravy of a currie, is a great
improvement to its flavour: it will be found particularly agreeable with
that of sweetbreads, and may be served in the currie, or strained from
it at pleasure. Great care however, should be taken not to use, for the
purpose, a nut that is rancid. Spinach, cucumbers, vegetable marrow,
tomatas, acid apples, green gooseberries (seeded), and tamarinds
imported _in the shell_—not preserved—may all, in their season, be
added, with very good effect, to curries of different kinds. Potatoes
and celery are also occasionally boiled down in them. The rice for a
currie should always be sent to table in a separate dish from it, and in
serving them, it should be first helped, and the currie laid upon it.
MR. ARNOTT’S CURRIE-POWDER.
Turmeric, eight ounces.[95]
Coriander seed, four ounces.
Cummin seed, two ounces.
Fœnugreek seed, two ounces.
Cayenne, half an ounce. (More or less of this
last to the taste.)
Footnote 95:
We think it would be an improvement to diminish by two ounces the
proportion of turmeric, and to increase that of the coriander seed;
but we have not tried it.
Let the seeds be of the finest quality. Dry them well, pound, and sift
them separately through a lawn sieve, then weigh, and mix them in the
above proportions. This is an exceedingly agreeable and aromatic powder,
when all the ingredients are perfectly fresh and good, but the preparing
is rather a troublesome process. Mr. Arnott recommends that when it is
considered so, a “high-caste” chemist should be applied to for it.
MR. ARNOTT’S CURRIE.
“Take the heart of a cabbage, and nothing but the heart, that is to say,
pull away all the outside leaves until it is about the size of an egg;
chop it fine, add to it a couple of apples sliced thin, the juice of one
lemon, half a teaspoonful of black pepper, with one large tablespoonful
of _my_ currie-powder, and mix the whole well together. Now take six
onions that have been chopped fine and fried brown, a garlic head, the
size of a nutmeg, also minced fine, two ounces of fresh butter, two
tablespoonsful of flour, and one pint of strong mutton or beef gravy;
and when these articles are boiling, add the former ingredients, and let
the whole be well stewed up together: if not hot enough, add cayenne
pepper. Next put in a fowl that has been roasted and nicely cut up; or a
rabbit; or some lean chops of pork or mutton; or a lobster, or the
remains of yesterday’s calf’s head; or anything else you may fancy; and
you will have an excellent currie, fit for kings to partake of.
“Well! now for the rice! It should be put into water which should be
frequently changed, and should remain in for half an hour at least; this
both clears and soaks it. Have your saucepan full of water (the larger
the better), and when it boils rapidly, throw the rice into it: it will
be done in fifteen minutes. Strain it into a dish, wipe the saucepan
dry, return the drained rice into it, and put it over a gentle fire for
a few minutes, with a cloth over it: every grain will be separate. When
served, do not cover the dish.” _Obs._—We have already given testimony
to the excellence of Mr. Arnott’s currie-powder, but we think the currie
itself will be found somewhat too acid for English taste in general, and
the proportion of onion and garlic by one half too much for any but well
seasoned Anglo-Indian palates. After having tried his method of boiling
the rice, we still give the preference to that of Chapter I., page 36.
A BENGAL CURRIE.
Slice and fry three large onions in two ounces of butter, and lift them
out of the pan when done. Put into a stewpan three other large onions
and a small clove of garlic which have been pounded together, and
smoothly mixed with a dessertspoonful of the best pale turmeric, a
teaspoonful of powdered ginger, one of salt, and one of cayenne pepper;
add to these the butter in which the onions were fried, and half a
cupful of good gravy; let them stew for about ten minutes, taking care
that they shall not burn. Next, stir to them the fried onions and half a
pint more of gravy; add a pound and a half of mutton, or of any other
meat, free from bone and fat, and simmer it gently for an hour, or more
should it not then be perfectly tender. Fried onions, 3 large; butter, 2
oz.; onions pounded, 3 large; garlic, 1 clove; turmeric, 1
dessertspoonful; powdered ginger, salt, cayenne, each 1 teaspoonful;
gravy, 1/2 cupful: 10 minutes. Gravy 1/2 pint; meat, 1-1/2 lb.: 1 hour
or more.
A DRY CURRIE.
Skin and cut down a fowl into small joints, or a couple of pounds of
mutton, free from fat and bone, into very small thick cutlets; rub them
with as much currie-powder, mixed with a teaspoonful of flour and one of
salt, as can be made to adhere to them: this will be from two to three
tablespoonsful. Dissolve a good slice of butter in a deep, well-tinned
stewpan or saucepan, and shake it over a brisk fire for four or five
minutes, or until it begins to take colour; then put in the meat, and
brown it well and equally, without allowing a morsel to be scorched. The
pan should be shaken vigorously every minute or two, and the meat turned
in it frequently. When this is done, lift it out and throw into the
stewpan two or three large onions finely minced, and four or five
eschalots when these last are liked; add a morsel of butter if needful,
and fry them until they begin to soften; then add a quarter of a pint of
gravy, broth, or boiling water, and a large acid apple, or two
moderate-sized ones, of a good boiling kind, with the hearts of two or
three lettuces, or of one hard cabbage, shred quite small (tomatas or
cucumbers freed from their seeds can be substituted for these when in
season). Stew the whole slowly until it resembles a thick pulp, and add
to it any additional liquid that may be required, should it become too
dry; put in the meat, and simmer the whole very softly until this is
done, which will be in from three quarters of an hour to an hour.
Prawns, shrimps, or the flesh of boiled lobsters may be slowly heated
through, and served in this currie sauce with good effect.
A COMMON INDIAN CURRIE.
For each pound of meat, whether veal, mutton, or beef, take a heaped
tablespoonful of good currie powder, a small teaspoonful of salt, and
one of flour; mix these well together, and after having cut down the
meat into thick small cutlets, or dice, rub half of the mixed powder
equally over it. Next, fry gently from one to four or five large onions
sliced, with or without the addition of a small clove of garlic or half
a dozen eschalots, according to the taste; and when they are of a fine
golden brown, lift them out with a slice and lay them upon a sieve to
drain; throw a little more butter into the pan and fry the meat lightly
in it; drain it well from the fat in taking it out, and lay it into a
clean stewpan or saucepan; strew the onion over it, and pour in as much
boiling water as will almost cover it. Mix the remainder of the
currie-powder smoothly with a little broth or cold water, and after the
currie has stewed for a few minutes pour it in, shaking the pan well
round that it may be smoothly blended with the gravy. Simmer the whole
very softly until the meat is perfectly tender: this will be in from an
hour and a quarter to two hours and a half, according to the quantity
and the nature of the meat. Mutton will be the soonest done; the brisket
end (gristles) of a breast of veal will require twice as much stewing,
and sometimes more. A fowl will be ready to serve in an hour. An acid
apple or two, or any of the vegetables which we have enumerated at the
commencement of this chapter, may be added to the currie, proper time
being allowed for cooking each variety. Very young green peas are liked
by some people in it; and cucumbers pared, seeded, and cut moderately
small, are always a good addition. A richer currie will of course be
produced if gravy or broth be substituted for the water: either should
be boiling when poured to the meat. Lemon-juice should be stirred in
before it is served, when there is no other acid in the currie. A dish
of boiled rice must be sent to table with it. A couple of pounds of meat
free from bone, is sufficient quite for a moderate-sized dish of this
kind, but three of the breast of veal are sometimes used for it, when it
is to be served to a large family-party of currie-eaters; from half to a
whole pound of rice should then accompany it. For the proper mode of
boiling it, see page 36. The small grained, or Patna, is the kind which
ought to be used for the purpose. Six ounces is sufficient for a not
large currie; and a pound, when boiled dry, and heated lightly in a
dish, appears an enormous quantity for a modern table.
To each pound of meat, whether veal, mutton, or beef, 1 heaped
tablespoonful of good currie-powder, 1 small teaspoonful of salt, and a
large one of flour, to be well mixed, and half rubbed on to the meat
before it is fried, the rest added afterwards; onions fried, from 1 to 4
or 5 (with or without the addition of a clove of garlic, or half a dozen
eschalots); sufficient boiling water to nearly cover the meat:
vegetables, as in receipt, at choice; stewed, 1-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours: a
fowl, 1 hour, or rather less; beef, 2 lbs., 1-1/2 hour, or more; brisket
of veal, 2-1/2 to 3 hours.
_Obs._—Rabbits make a very good currie when quite young. Cayenne pepper
can always be added to heighten the pungency of a currie, when the
proportion in the powder is not considered sufficient.
SELIM’S CURRIES.
(_Captain White’s._)
These curries are made with a sort of paste, which is labelled with the
above names, and as it has attracted some attention of late, and the
curries made with it are very good, and quickly and easily prepared, we
give the directions for them. “Cut a pound and a half of chicken, fowl,
veal, rabbit, or mutton, into pieces an inch and a half square. Put from
two to three ounces of fresh butter in a stewpan, and when it is melted
put in the meat, and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon; add from
two to three dessertspoonsful of the currie-paste; mix the whole up well
together, and continue the stirring over a brisk fire from five to ten
minutes, and the currie will be done. This is a dry currie. For a gravy
currie, add two or three tablespoonsful of boiling water after the paste
is well mixed in, and continue the stewing and stirring from ten to
twelve minutes longer, keeping the sauce of the consistency of cream.
Prepare salmon and lobster in the same way, but very quickly, that they
may come up firm. The paste may be rubbed over steaks, or cutlets, when
they are nearly broiled; three or four minutes will finish them.”[96]
Footnote 96:
Unless the meat be _extremely_ tender, and cut small, it will require
from ten to fifteen minutes stewing: when no liquid is added, it must
be stirred without intermission, or the paste will burn to the pan. It
answers well for cutlets, and for mullagatawny soup also; but makes a
very mild currie.
CURRIED MACCARONI
Boil six ounces of ribband maccaroni for fifteen minutes, in water
slightly salted, with a very small bit of butter dissolved in it; drain
it perfectly, and then put it into a full pint and a quarter of good
beef or veal stock or gravy, previously mixed and boiled for twenty
minutes, with a small tablespoonful of fine currie-powder, a teaspoonful
of arrow-root, and a little lemon-juice. Heat and toss the maccaroni
gently in this until it is well and equally covered with it. A small
quantity of rich cream, or a little _béchamel_, will very much improve
the sauce, into which it should be stirred just before the maccaroni is
added, and the lemon-juice should be thrown in afterwards. This dish is,
to our taste, far better without the strong flavouring of onion or
garlic, usually given to curries; which can, however, be imparted to the
gravy in the usual way, when it is liked.
Ribband maccaroni, 6 oz.: 15 to 18 minutes. Gravy, or good beef or veal
stock, full pint and 1/4; fine currie-powder, 1 small tablespoonful;
arrow-root, 1 teaspoonful; little lemon-juice: 20 minutes. Maccaroni in
sauce, 3 to 6 minutes.
_Obs._—An ounce or two of grated cocoa-nut, simmered in the gravy for
half an hour or more, then strained and well pressed from it, is always
an excellent addition. The pipe maccaroni, well curried, is extremely
good: the sauce for both kinds should be made with _rich_ gravy,
especially when the onion is omitted. A few drops of eschalot-vinegar
can be added to it when the flavour is liked.
CURRIED EGGS.
Boil six or eight fresh eggs quite hard, as for salad, and put them
aside until they are cold. Mix well together from two to three ounces of
good butter, and from three to four dessertspoonsful of currie-powder;
shake them in a stewpan or thick saucepan, over a clear but moderate
fire for some minutes, then throw in a couple of mild onions finely
minced, and fry them gently until they are tolerably soft: pour to them,
by degrees, from half to three quarters of a pint of broth or gravy, and
stew them slowly until they are reduced to pulp; mix smoothly a small
cup of thick cream with two teaspoonsful of wheaten or of rice-flour,
stir them to the currie, and simmer the whole until the raw taste of the
thickening is gone. Cut the eggs into half inch slices, heat them quite
through in the sauce without boiling them, and serve them as hot as
possible.
CURRIED SWEETBREADS.
Wash and soak them as usual, then throw them into boiling water with a
little salt in it, and a whole onion, and let them simmer for ten
minutes; or, if at hand, substitute weak veal broth for the water. Lift
them out, place them on a drainer, and leave them until they are
perfectly cold; then cut them into half-inch slices, and either flour
and fry them lightly in butter, or put them, without this, into as much
curried gravy as will just cover them; stew them in it very gently, from
twenty to thirty minutes; add as much lemon-juice or chili vinegar as
will acidulate the sauce agreeably,[97] and serve the currie very hot.
As we have already stated in two or three previous receipts, an ounce or
more of sweet freshly-grated cocoa-nut, stewed tender in the gravy, and
strained from it, before the sweetbreads are added, will give a
peculiarly pleasant flavour to all curries.
Footnote 97:
We find that a small portion of Indian pickled mango, or of its
liquor, is an agreeable addition to a currie as well as to
mullagatawny soup.
Blanched 10 minutes; sliced (fried or not); stewed 20 to 30 minutes.
CURRIED OYSTERS.
“Let a hundred of large sea-oysters be opened into a basin without
losing one drop of their liquor. Put a lump of fresh butter into a
good-sized saucepan, and when it boils, add a large onion, cut into thin
slices, and let it fry in the uncovered stewpan until it is of a rich
brown: now add a bit more butter, and two or three tablespoonsful of
currie-powder. When these ingredients are well mixed over the fire with
a wooden spoon, add gradually either hot water, or broth from the
stock-pot; cover the stewpan, and let the whole boil up. Meanwhile, have
ready the meat of a cocoa-nut, grated or rasped fine, put this into the
stewpan with a few sour tamarinds (if they are to be obtained, if not, a
sour apple, chopped). Let the whole simmer over the fire until the apple
is dissolved, and the cocoa-nut very tender; then add a cupful of strong
thickening made of flour and water, and sufficient salt, as a currie
will not bear being salted at table. Let this boil up for five minutes.
Have ready also, a vegetable marrow, or part of one, cut into bits, and
sufficiently boiled to require little or no further cooking. Put this in
with a tomata or two; either of these vegetables may be omitted. Now put
into the stewpan the oysters with their liquor, and the milk of the
cocoa-nut, if it be perfectly sweet; stir them well with the former
ingredients; let the currie stew gently for a few minutes, then throw in
the strained juice of half a lemon. Stir the currie from time to time
with a wooden spoon, and as soon as the oysters are done enough serve it
up with a corresponding dish of rice on the opposite side of the table.
The dish is considered at Madras the _ne plus ultra_ of Indian
cookery.”[98]
Footnote 98:
Native oysters, prepared as for sauce, may be curried by the receipt
for eggs or sweetbreads, with the addition of their liquor.
We have extracted this receipt, as it stands, from the Magazine of
Domestic Economy, the season in which we have met with it not permitting
us to have it tested. Such of our readers as may have partaken of the
true Oriental preparation, will be able to judge of its correctness; and
others may consider it worthy of a trial. We should suppose it necessary
to beard the oysters.
CURRIED GRAVY.
The quantity of onion, eschalot, or garlic used for a currie should be
regulated by the taste of the persons for whom it is prepared; the very
large proportions of them which are acceptable to some eaters,
preventing others altogether from partaking of the dish. Slice, and fry
gently in a little good butter, from two to six large onions (with a bit
of garlic, and four or five eschalots, or none of either), when they are
coloured equally of a fine yellow-brown, lift them on to a sieve
reversed to drain; put them into a clean saucepan, add a pint and a half
of good gravy, with a couple of ounces of rasped cocoa-nut, or of any of
the other condiments we have already specified, which may require as
much stewing as the onions (an apple or two, for instance), and simmer
them softly from half to three quarters of an hour, or until the onion
is sufficiently tender to be pressed through a strainer. We would
recommend that for a delicate currie this should always be done; for a
common one it is not necessary; and many persons prefer to have the
whole of it left in this last. After the gravy has been worked through
the strainer, and again boils, add to it from three to four
dessertspoonsful of currie-powder, and one of flour, with as much salt
as the gravy may require, the whole mixed to a smooth batter with a
small cupful of good cream.[99] Simmer it from fifteen to twenty
minutes, and it will be ready for use. Lobster, prawns, shrimps,
maccaroni, hard-boiled eggs, cold calf’s head, and various other meats
may be heated and served in it with advantage. For all of these, and
indeed for every kind of currie, acid of some sort should be added.
Chili vinegar answers well when no fresh lemon-juice is at hand.
Footnote 99:
This must be added only just before the currie is dished, when _any
acid_ fruit has been boiled in the gravy: it may then be first blended
with a small portion of arrow-root, or flour.
Onions, 2 to 6 (garlic, 1 clove, or eschalots, 4 to 5, _or neither_);
fried a light brown. Gravy, 1-1/2 pint; cocoa-nut, 2 oz. (3, if very
young): 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Currie-powder, 3 to 4 dessertspoonsful; flour,
1 dessertspoonful; salt, as needed; cream, 1 small cupful: 15 to 20
minutes.
_Obs_.-In India, curds are frequently added to curries, but that may
possibly be from their abounding much more than sweet cream in so hot a
climate.
POTTED MEATS.
Any tender and well-roasted meat, taken free of fat, skin, and gristle,
as well as from the dry outsides, will answer for potting admirably,
better indeed than that which is generally baked for the purpose, and
which is usually quite deprived of its juices by the process. Spiced or
_corned_ beef also is excellent when thus prepared; and any of these
will remain good a long time if mixed with cold fresh butter, instead of
that which is clarified; but no addition that can be made to it will
render the meat eatable, unless it be _thoroughly pounded_; reduced, in
fact, to the smoothest possible paste, free from a single lump or a
morsel of unbroken fibre. If _rent_ into fragments, instead of being
quite cut through the grain in being minced, before it is put into the
mortar, no beating will bring it to the proper state. Unless it be
_very_ dry, it is better to pound it for some time before any butter is
added, and it must be long and patiently beaten after all the
ingredients are mixed, that the whole may be equally blended and well
mellowed in flavour.
The quantity of butter required will depend upon the nature of the meat;
ham and salted beef will need a larger proportion than roast meat, or
than the breasts of poultry and game; white fish, from being less dry,
will require comparatively little. Salmon, lobsters, prawns, and shrimps
are all extremely good, prepared in this way. They should, however, be
perfectly fresh when they are pounded, and be set immediately afterwards
into a very cool place. For these, and for white meats in general, mace,
nutmeg, and cayenne or white pepper, are the appropriate spices. A small
quantity of cloves may be added to hare and other brown meat, but
allspice we would not recommend unless the taste is known to be in
favour of it. The following receipt for pounding ham will serve as a
general one for the particular manner of proceeding.
POTTED HAM.[100]
Footnote 100:
See Baked Ham, Chapter XIII., page 258.
(_An excellent Receipt._)
To be eaten in perfection this should be made with a freshly cured ham,
which, after having been soaked for twelve hours, should be wiped dry,
nicely trimmed, closely wrapped in coarse paste, and baked very tender.
When it comes from the oven, remove the crust and rind, and when the ham
is perfectly cold, take for each pound of the lean, which should be
weighed after every morsel of skin and fibre has been carefully removed,
six ounces of cold roast veal, prepared with equal nicety. Mince these
quite fine with an exceedingly sharp knife, taking care to _cut_ through
the meat, and not to tear the fibre, as on this much of the excellence
of the preparation depends. Next put it into a large stone or marble
mortar, and pound it to the smoothest paste with eight ounces of fresh
butter, which must be added by degrees. When three parts beaten, strew
over it a teaspoonful of freshly-pounded mace, half a large, or the
whole of a _small_ nutmeg grated, and the third of a teaspoonful of
cayenne well mixed together. It is better to limit the spice to this
quantity in the first instance, and to increase afterwards either of the
three kinds to the taste of the parties to whom the meat is to be
served.[101] We do not find half a teaspoonful of cayenne, and nearly
two teaspoonsful of mace, more than is generally approved. After the
spice is added, keep the meat often turned from the sides to the middle
of the mortar, that it may be seasoned equally in every part. When
perfectly pounded, press it into small potting-pans, and pour clarified
butter[102] over the top. If kept in a cool and dry place, this meat
will remain good for a fortnight, or more.
Footnote 101:
Spice, it must be observed, varies so very greatly in its quality that
discretion is always necessary in using it.
Footnote 102:
This should never be poured _hot_ on the meat: it should be less than
milk-warm when added to it.
Lean of ham, 1 lb.; lean of roast veal, 6 oz.; fresh butter, 8 oz.;
mace, from 1 to 2 teaspoonsful; 1/2 large nutmeg; cayenne, 1/4 to 1/2
teaspoonful.
_Obs._—The roast veal is ordered in this receipt because the ham alone
is generally too salt; for the same reason butter, fresh taken from the
churn, or that which is but slightly salted and quite new, should be
used for it in preference to its own fat. When there is no ready-dressed
veal in the house, the best part of the neck, roasted or stewed, will
supply the requisite quantity. The remains of a cold boiled ham will
answer quite well for potting, even when a little dry.
POTTED CHICKEN, PARTRIDGE, OR PHEASANT.
Roast the birds as for table, but let them be thoroughly done, for if
the gravy be left in, the meat will not keep half so well. Raise the
flesh of the breast, wings, and merrythought, quite clear from the
bones, take off the skin, mince, and then pound it very smoothly with
about one third of its weight of fresh butter, or something less, if the
meat should appear of a proper consistence without the full quantity;
season it with salt, mace, and cayenne only, and add these in small
portions until the meat is rather highly flavoured with both the last;
proceed with it as with other potted meats.
POTTED OX-TONGUE.
Boil tender an unsmoked tongue of good flavour, and the following day
cut from it the quantity desired for potting, or take for this purpose
the remains of one which has already been served at table. Trim off the
skin and rind, weigh the meat, mince it very small, then pound it as
fine as possible with four ounces of butter to each pound of tongue, a
small teaspoonful of mace, half as much of nutmeg and cloves, and a
tolerably high seasoning of cayenne. After the spices are well beaten
with the meat, taste it, and add more if required. A few ounces of any
_well-roasted_ meat mixed with the tongue will give it firmness, in
which it is apt to be deficient. The breasts of turkeys, fowls,
partridges, or pheasants, may be used for the purpose with good effect.
Tongue, 1 lb.; butter, 4 oz.; mace, 1 teaspoonful; nutmeg and cloves
each, 1/2 teaspoonful; cayenne, 5 to 10 grains.
POTTED ANCHOVIES.
Scrape the anchovies very clean, raise the flesh from the bones, and
pound it to a perfect paste in a Wedgwood or marble mortar; then with
the back of a wooden spoon press it through a hair-sieve reversed. Next,
weigh the anchovies, and pound them again with double their weight of
the freshest butter that can be procured, a high seasoning of mace and
cayenne, and a small quantity of finely-grated nutmeg; set the mixture
by in a cool place for three or four hours to harden it before it is put
into the potting pans. If butter be poured over, it must be only
lukewarm; but the anchovies will keep well for two or three weeks
without. A very small portion of rose-pink may be added to improve the
colour, but unless it be sparingly used, it will impart a bitter flavour
to the preparation. The quantity of butter can be increased or
diminished in proportion as it is wished that the flavour of the
anchovies should prevail.
Anchovies pounded, 3 oz.; butter, 6 oz.; mace, third of teaspoonful;
half as much cayenne; little nutmeg.
LOBSTER BUTTER.
(_For this see_ page 138, Chapter VI.)
POTTED SHRIMPS, OR PRAWNS.
(_Delicious._)
Let the fish be quite freshly boiled, shell them quickly, and just
before they are put into the mortar, chop them a little with a very
sharp knife; pound them perfectly with a small quantity of fresh butter,
mace, and cayenne. (See also page 92.)
Shrimps (unshelled), 2 quarts; butter, 2 to 4 oz.; mace, 1 small
saltspoonful; cayenne, 1/3 as much.
POTTED MUSHROOMS.
The receipt for these, which we can recommend to the reader, will be
found in the next Chapter.
MOULDED POTTED MEAT OR FISH.
(_For the second course._)
Press very closely and smoothly into a pan or mould the potted ham, or
any other meat, of the present chapter, pour a thin layer of clarified
butter on the top, and let it become quite cold. When wanted for table,
wind round it for a moment a cloth which has been dipped into hot water,
loosen the meat gently from it with a thin knife, turn it on to a dish,
and glaze it lightly; lay a border of small salad round it, with or
without a decoration of hard eggs, or surround it instead with clear
savoury jelly cut in dice. The meat, for variety, may be equally sliced,
and laid regularly round a pile of small salad. A very elegant second
course dish may be made with potted lobsters in this way, the centre
being ornamented with a small shape of lobster butter. (_See page_ 138.)
POTTED HARE.
[Illustration:
Wedgwood Pestle and Mortar.
]
The back of a well-roasted hare, and such other parts of the flesh as
are not sinewy, if potted by the directions already given for ham and
other meat, will be found superior to the game prepared as it usually is
by baking it tender either with a large quantity of butter, or with
barely sufficient water or gravy to cover it; but when the old-fashioned
mode of potting is preferred, it must be cleansed as for roasting, wiped
dry, cut into joints, which, after being seasoned with salt, cayenne (or
pepper), and pounded cloves and mace or nutmeg well mingled, should be
closely packed in a jar or deep pan, and slowly baked until very tender,
with the addition of from half to a whole pound of fresh butter laid
equally over it, in small bits, or with only so much water or other
liquid as will prevent its becoming hard: the jar must be well covered
with at least two separate folds of thick brown paper tied closely over
it. It should then be left to become perfectly cold; and the butter
(when it has been used) should be taken off and scraped free from
moisture, that it may be added to the hare in pounding it. All skin and
sinew must be carefully removed, and the flesh minced before it is put
into the mortar. Additional seasoning must be added if necessary; but
the cook must remember that all should be well blended, and no
particular spice should be allowed to predominate in the flavour of the
preparation When water or gravy has been added to the hare, firm fresh
butter should be used in potting it: it will not require a very large
proportion, as the flesh will be far less dry and firm than when it is
roasted, though more of its juices will have been withdrawn from it; and
it will not remain good so long. The bones, gravy, head, and ribs, will
make a small tureen of excellent soup. Thick slices of lean ham are
sometimes baked with the hare, and pounded with it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVII.
=Vegetables.=
[Illustration]
THE quality of vegetables depends much both on the soil in which they
are grown, and on the degree of care bestowed upon their culture; but if
produced in ever so great perfection, their excellence will be entirely
destroyed if they be badly cooked.
With the exception of artichokes, which are said to be improved by two
or three days’ keeping, all the summer varieties should be dressed
before their first freshness has in any degree passed off (for their
flavour is never so fine as within a few hours of their being cut or
gathered); but when this cannot be done, precaution should be taken to
prevent their withering. The stalk-ends of asparagus, cucumbers, and
vegetable-marrow, should be placed in from one to two inches of cold
water; and all other kinds should be spread on a cool brick floor. When
this has been neglected, they must be thrown into cold water for some
time before they are boiled to recover them, though they will prove even
then but very inferior eating.
Vegetables when not sufficiently cooked are known to be so exceedingly
unwholesome and indigestible, that the custom of serving them _crisp_,
which means, in reality, only half-boiled, should be altogether
disregarded when health is considered of more importance than fashion;
but they should not be allowed to remain in the water after they are
quite done, or both their nutritive properties and their flavour will be
lost, and their good appearance destroyed. Care should be taken to
_drain them thoroughly_ in a warm strainer, and to serve them very hot,
with well-made sauces, if with any.
Only dried peas or beans, Jerusalem artichokes, and potatoes, are put at
first into cold water. All others require plenty of fast-boiling water,
which should be ready salted and skimmed before they are thrown into it.
TO CLEAR VEGETABLES FROM INSECTS.
Lay them for half an hour or more into a pan of strong brine, with the
stalk ends uppermost; this will destroy the small snails and other
insects which cluster in the leaves, and they will fall out and sink to
the bottom. A pound and a half of salt to the gallon of water will
answer for this purpose, and if strained daily it will last for some
time.
TO BOIL VEGETABLES GREEN.
After they have been properly prepared and washed, throw them into
plenty of boiling water which has been salted and well skimmed; and keep
them uncovered and boiling fast until they are done, taking every
precaution against their being smoked. Should the water be very hard, a
_small_ half-teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, may be added with the
salt, for every two quarts, and will greatly improve the colour of the
vegetables; but if used in undue proportion it will injure them; green
peas especially will be quickly reduced to a mash if boiled with too
large a quantity.
Water, 1 gallon; salt, 2 oz.; soda, 1/4 oz.; or carbonate of soda, 1
teaspoonful.
POTATOES.
(_Remarks on their properties and importance._)
There is no vegetable commonly cultivated in this country, we venture to
assert, which is comparable in value to the potato when it is of a good
sort, has been grown in a suitable soil, and is properly cooked and
served. It _must_ be very nutritious, or it would not sustain the
strength of thousands of people whose almost sole food it constitutes,
and who, when they can procure a sufficient supply of it to satisfy
fully the demands of hunger, are capable of accomplishing the heaviest
daily labour. It may not be wise to depend for subsistence on a root of
which the crop unhappily is so frequently in these days destroyed or
greatly injured by disease, and for which it is so difficult to find a
substitute that is equally cheap, wholesome and satisfying; but we can
easily comprehend the predilection of an entire people for a tuber which
combines, like the potato, the solidity almost of bread, with the
healthful properties[103] of various other fresh vegetables, without
their acidity; and which can also be cooked and served in so many
different forms. The wretched manner in which it is dressed in many
English houses renders it comparatively valueless, and accounts in a
measure for the prodigality with which it is thrown away when cold, even
in seasons when its price is highest.[104]
Footnote 103:
The late Dr. Pereira has stated in his excellent work on diet, page
370, that Dr. Baly, who has published some interesting observations on
the anti-scorbutic quality of the potato, says, “_As ordinarily
cooked, it is an admirable preservative_ against the scurvy,” for
which it appears to be also a cure, see the same work.
Footnote 104:
We cannot refrain from a few words of remark here on the daily waste
of wholesome food in this country which constitutes one of the most
serious _domestic_ abuses that exist amongst us; and one which it is
most painful to witness while we see at the same time the
half-starvation of large masses of our people. It is an evil which the
steady and resolute opposition of the educated classes would soon
greatly check; and which ought not vainly to appeal to their good
sense and good feeling, augmenting, as it must, the privations of the
scantily-fed poor; for the “_waste_” of one part of the community
cannot fail to increase the “_want_” of the remainder.
TO BOIL POTATOES.
(_As in Ireland._)
Potatoes, to boil well together, should be all of the same sort, and as
nearly equal in size as may be. Wash off the mould, and scrub them very
clean with a hard brush, but neither scoop nor apply a knife to them in
any way, even to clear the eyes.[105] Rinse them well, and arrange them
compactly in a saucepan, so that they may not lie loose in the water,
and that a small quantity may suffice to cover them. Pour this in cold,
and when it boils, throw in about a large teaspoonful of salt to the
quart, and simmer the potatoes until they are nearly done, but for the
last two or three minutes let them boil rapidly. When they are tender
quite through, which may be known by probing them with a fork, pour all
the water from them immediately, lift the lid of the saucepan to allow
the steam to escape, and place them on a trivet, high over the fire, or
by the side of it, until the moisture has entirely evaporated; then
peel, and send them to table as quickly as possible, either in a hot
napkin, or in a dish, of which the cover is so placed that the steam can
pass off. There should be no delay in serving them after they are once
taken from the fire. Irish families always prefer them served in their
skins. Some kinds will be sufficiently boiled in twenty minutes, others
in not less than three quarters of an hour.
Footnote 105:
“Because,” in the words of our clever Irish correspondent, “the water
through these parts is then admitted into the very heart of the
vegetable; and the latent heat, after cooking, is not sufficient to
throw it off; this renders the potatoes very unwholesome.”
20 minutes to 1 hour, or more.
_Obs. 1._—The water in which they are boiled should barely cover the
potatoes. After it is poured off, they should be steamed for twenty
minutes or _half an hour_, if large.
_Obs. 2._—Habitual potato-eaters know well that this vegetable is never
so good as when served in _the skin_ the instant it is taken from the
fire, dished in a hot napkin, or sent to table without a cover over it.
It should also be clean and dry that it may at pleasure be taken in the
fingers and broken like bread, or held in the dinner napkin while the
inside is scooped out with the fork, thus forming it into a sort of cup.
The large Yorkshire Regents dressed and eaten in this way afford in
themselves an almost sufficient meal. We have found from long daily
experience, that those which averaged three, or at the utmost four to
the pound, were the best in quality, and remained so to quite the end of
their season: they required as the spring advanced, an hour’s boiling or
more.
TO BOIL POTATOES.
(_The Lancashire way._)
Pare the potatoes, cover them with cold water, and boil them slowly
until they are quite tender, but watch them carefully, that they may not
be overdone; drain off the water entirely, strew some salt over them,
leave the saucepan uncovered by the side of the fire, and shake it
forcibly every minute or two, until the whole of the potatoes appear dry
and floury. Lancashire cooks dress the vegetable in this way to
perfection, but it is far from an economical mode, as a large portion of
the potato adheres to the saucepan; it has, however, many admirers.
TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.
These are never good unless freshly dug. Take them of equal size, and
rub off the skins with a brush or a very coarse cloth, wash them clean,
and put them without salt into boiling, or at least, quite hot water;
boil them softly, and when they are tender enough to serve, pour off the
water entirely, strew some fine salt over them, give them a shake, and
let them stand by the fire in the saucepan for a minute; then dish and
serve them immediately. Some cooks throw in a small slice of fresh
butter, with the salt, and toss them gently in it after it is dissolved.
This is a good mode, but the more usual one is to send melted butter to
table with them, or to pour white sauce over them when they are very
young, and served early in the season.
Very small, 10 to 15 minutes: moderate sized, 15 to 20 minutes.
_Obs._—We always, for our own eating, have new potatoes steamed for ten
minutes or longer after the water is poured from them, and think they
are much improved by the process. They should be thoroughly boiled
before this is done.
NEW POTATOES IN BUTTER.
Rub off the skins, wash the potatoes well and wipe them dry; put them
with three ounces of good butter, for a small dish, and with four ounces
or more for a large one, into a well-tinned stewpan or Keep them well
shaken or tossed, that they may be equally done, and throw in some salt
when they begin to stew. This is a good mode of dressing them when they
are very young and watery.
TO BOIL POTATOES.
(_Captain Kater’s Receipt._)
Wash, wipe, and pare the potatoes, cover them with cold water, and boil
them gently until they are done, pour off the water, and sprinkle a
little fine salt over them; then take each potato separately with a
spoon, and lay it into a clean _warm_ cloth, twist this so as to press
all the moisture from the vegetable, and render it quite round; turn it
carefully into a dish placed before the fire, throw a cloth over, and
when all are done, send them to table quickly. Potatoes dressed in this
way are mashed without the slightest trouble; it is also by far the best
method of preparing them for puddings or for cakes.
TO ROAST OR BAKE POTATOES.
Scrub and wash exceedingly clean some potatoes nearly assorted in size;
wipe them very dry, and roast them in a Dutch oven before the fire,
placing them at a distance from it, and keeping them often turned; or
arrange them in a coarse dish, and bake them in a moderate oven. Dish
them neatly in a napkin, and send them very hot to table; serve cold
butter with them. 1-3/4 to upwards of 2 hours.
SCOOPED POTATOES. (ENTREMETS.[106])
Footnote 106:
Or second course dish.
[Illustration]
Wash and wipe some large potatoes of a firm kind, and with a small scoop
adapted to the purpose,[107] form as many diminutive ones as will fill a
dish; cover them with cold water, and when they have boiled very gently
for five minutes pour it off, and put more cold water to them; after
they have simmered a second time for five minutes, drain the water quite
away, place the cover of the saucepan so as to leave an inch or more of
open space for the moisture to evaporate, and let them steam by the side
of the fire from four to five minutes longer. Dish them carefully, pour
white sauce over them, and serve them in the second course. Old potatoes
thus prepared, have often been made to pass for _new_ ones, at the best
tables, at the season in which the fresh vegetable was dearest.[108] The
time required to boil them will of course vary with their quality; we
give the method which we have found very successful.
Footnote 107:
This may be procured of any ironmonger.
Footnote 108:
Vegetables and fruit are now so generally forced and brought so early
into our markets, that there is little need of these expedients at
present.
CRISPED POTATOES, OR POTATO-RIBBONS. (ENTREMETS.)
(_Or to serve with Cheese._)
Wash well, and wipe, some potatoes of good flavour; cut them up into
slices of from half to a whole inch thick, free them from the skins, and
then pare them round and round in very thin, and very long ribbons. Lay
them into a pan of cold water, and half an hour before they are wanted
for table lift them on to a sieve that they may be well drained. Fry
them in good butter, which should be very hot when they are thrown in,
until they are quite crisp, and lightly browned; drain and dry them on a
soft cloth, pile them in a hot dish, strew over them a mixed seasoning
of salt and cayenne in fine powder, and serve them without delay. For
the second course, dress them in the same manner, but omit the cayenne.
Five or six minutes will fry them.
FRIED POTATOES. (ENTREMETS.)
(_A Plainer Receipt._)
After having washed them, wipe and pare some raw potatoes, cut them in
slices of equal thickness, or into thin shavings, and throw them into
plenty of boiling butter, or very pure clarified dripping. Fry them of a
fine light brown, and very crisp; lift them out with a skimmer, drain
them on a soft warm cloth, dish them very hot, and sprinkle fine salt
over them. This is an admirable way of dressing potatoes, very common on
the Continent, but less so in England than it deserves to be. Pared in
ribbons or shavings of equal width, as in the receipt above, and served
dry and well fried, lightly piled in a dish, they make a handsome
appearance, and are excellent eating. If sliced they should be something
less than a quarter of an inch thick.
MASHED POTATOES.
Boil them perfectly tender quite through, pour off the water, and steam
them very dry by the directions already given in the receipt of page
310, peel them quickly, take out every speck, and while they are still
hot, press the potatoes through an earthen cullender, or bruise them to
a smooth mash with a strong wooden fork or spoon, but never pound them
in a mortar, as that will reduce them to a close heavy paste. _Let them
be entirely free from lumps_, for nothing can be more indicative of
carelessness or want of skill on the part of the cook, than mashed
potatoes sent to table full of these. Melt in a clean saucepan a slice
of good butter with a few spoonsful of milk, or, better still, of cream;
put in the potatoes after having sprinkled some fine salt upon them, and
stir the whole over a gentle fire with a _wooden_ spoon, until the
ingredients are well-mixed, and the whole is very hot. It may then be
served directly; or heaped high in a dish, left rough on the surface,
and browned before the fire; or it may be pressed into a well buttered
mould of handsome form, which has been strewed with the finest
bread-crumbs, and shaken free from the loose ones, then turned out, and
browned in a Dutch or common oven. More or less liquid will be required
to moisten sufficiently potatoes of various kinds.
Potatoes mashed, 2 lbs.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; milk
or cream, 1/4 pint.
_Obs._—Mashed potatoes are often moulded with a cup, and then equally
browned: any other shape will answer the purpose as well, and many are
of better appearance.
ENGLISH POTATO BALLS, OR CROQUETTES.
Boil some floury potatoes very dry, mash them as smoothly as possible,
season them well with salt and white pepper, warm them with about an
ounce of butter to the pound, or rather more if it will not render them
too moist, and a few spoonsful of good cream. Boil them very dry; let
them cool a little, roll them into balls, sprinkle over them vermicelli
crushed slightly with the hand, and fry them a fine light brown. They
may be dished round a shape of plain mashed potatoes, or piled on a
napkin by themselves. They may likewise be rolled in egg and fine
bread-crumbs instead of in the vermicelli, or in ground rice, which
answers very well for them.
POTATO BOULETTES. (ENTREMETS.)
(_Good._)
Boil some good potatoes as dry as possible, or let them be prepared by
Captain Kater’s receipt; mash a pound of them very smoothly, and mix
with them while they are still warm, two ounces of fresh butter, a
teaspoonful of salt, a little nutmeg, the beaten and strained yolks of
four eggs, and last of all the whites thoroughly whisked. Mould the
mixture with a teaspoon and drop it into a small pan of boiling butter,
or of very pure lard, and fry the _boulettes_ for five minutes over a
moderate fire: they should be of a fine pale brown, and very light.
Drain them well and dish them on a hot napkin.
Potatoes, 1 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; eggs, 4: 5 minutes.
_Obs._—These _boulettes_ are exceeding light and delicate, and make an
excellent dish for the second course; but we think that a few spoonsful
of sweet fresh cream boiled with them until the mixture becomes dry,
would both enrich them and improve their flavour. They should be dropped
into the pan with the teaspoon, as they ought to be small, and they will
swell in the cooking.
POTATO RISSOLES.
(_French._)
Mash and season the potatoes with salt, and white pepper or cayenne, and
mix with them plenty of minced parsley, and a small quantity of green
onions, or eschalots; add sufficient yolks of eggs to bind the mixture
together, roll it into small balls, and fry them in plenty of lard or
butter over a moderate fire, or they will be too much browned before
they are done through. Ham, or any other kind of meat finely minced, may
be substituted for the herbs, or added to them.
POTATOES À LA MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL.
Boil in the usual manner some potatoes of a firm kind, peel, and let
them cool; then cut them equally into quarter-inch slices. Dissolve in a
very clean stewpan or saucepan from two to four ounces of good butter,
stir to it a small dessertspoonful of flour, and shake the pan over the
fire for two or three minutes; add by slow degrees a small cupful of
boiling water, some pepper, salt, and a tablespoonful of minced parsley;
put in the potatoes, and toss them gently over a clear fire until they
are quite hot, and the sauce adheres well to them: at the instant of
serving add a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice. Pale veal gravy
may be substituted for the water; and the potatoes after being thickly
sliced, may be quickly cut of the same size with a small round cutter.
POTATOES À LA CRÈME.
Prepare the potatoes as above, and toss them gently in a quarter of a
pint or more of thick white sauce or of common _bechamel_, with or
without the addition of the minced parsley.
KOHL CANNON, OR KALE CANNON.
(_An Irish Receipt._)
Mix in about equal proportions (these can be varied to suit the
convenience of the moment) some smoothly mashed potatoes, and some young
sprouts or greens of any kind, first boiled quite tender, pressed very
dry, and chopped a little if needful. Mash up the whole well together,
add a seasoning of pepper and salt, a small bit of butter, and a
spoonful or two of cream or milk; put a raw onion into the middle of the
mass, and stir it over a clear fire until it is very hot, and
sufficiently dry to be moulded and turned out for table, or dished in
the usual manner. Take out the onion before the kohl cannon is served.
In Ireland mashed parsneps and potatoes are mingled in the same way, and
called _parsnep cannon_. A good summer variety of the preparation is
made there also with Windsor beans boiled tender, _skinned_, and bruised
to a paste, then thoroughly blended with the potatoes. Turnips, too, are
sometimes substituted for the parsneps; but these or any other _watery_
vegetable should be well dried over a gentle fire as directed for mashed
turnips in this chapter, before they are added to the potatoes.
TO BOIL SEA-KALE.
Wash, trim, and tie the kale in bunches, and throw it into plenty of
boiling water with some salt in it. When it is perfectly tender, lift it
out, drain it well from the water, and send it to table with good melted
butter. When fashion is not particularly regarded we would recommend its
being served upon a toast like asparagus. About twenty minutes will boil
it, rather less for persons who like it crisp.
18 to 20 minutes.
SEA-KALE STEWED IN GRAVY. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil the kale for ten minutes in salt and water; drain it well, and put
it into a saucepan with as much good brown gravy as will nearly cover
it; stew it gently for ten minutes or until it is tender, and send it to
table in the gravy very hot. Another excellent mode of serving this
vegetable is, to boil it in salt and water, and to pour over it plenty
of rich white sauce after it is dished.
SPINACH. (ENTREMETS.)
(_French Receipt._)
Pick the spinach leaf by leaf from the stems, and wash it in abundance
of spring water, changing it several times; then shake it in a dry cloth
held by the four corners, or drain it on a large sieve. Throw it into
sufficient well-salted boiling water to allow it to float freely, and
keep it pressed down with a skimmer that it may be equally done. When
quite young it will be tender in from eight to ten minutes, but to
ascertain if it be so, take a leaf and squeeze it between the fingers.
If to be dressed in the French mode, drain, and then throw it directly
into plenty of fresh water, and when it is cool form it into balls and
press the moisture thoroughly from it with the hands. Next, chop it
extremely fine upon a clean trencher; put two ounces (for a large dish)
of butter into a stewpan or bright thick saucepan, lay the spinach on
it, and keep it stirred over a gentle fire for ten minutes, or until it
appears dry; dredge in a spoonful of flour, and turn the spinach as it
is added; pour to it gradually, a few spoonsful of very rich veal gravy,
or, if preferred, of _good_ boiling cream (with the last of these a
dessertspoonful or more of pounded sugar may be added for a
second-course dish, when the true French mode of dressing the vegetable
is liked.) Stew the whole briskly until the liquid is entirely absorbed;
dish, and serve the spinach very hot, with small, pale fried sippets
round it, or with leaves of puff paste fresh from the oven, or well
dried after having been fried. For ornament, the sippets may be
fancifully shaped with a tin cutter. A proper seasoning of salt must not
be omitted in this, or any other preparation of the spinach.
SPINACH A L’ANGLAISE. (ENTREMETS.)
(_Or, English fashion._)
Boil the spinach as already directed, and after it has been well
squeezed and chopped, stir it over a moderate fire until it is very dry;
moisten it with as much thick rich gravy as will flavour it well, and
turn and stew it quite fast until it is again very dry; then press it
into a hot mould of handsome form, turn it into a dish and serve it
quickly. Two or three ounces of fresh butter may be laid into the
saucepan with the spinach at first, as a substitute for the gravy. When
a perforated tin shape, ordinarily used for moulding spinach, is not at
hand, one of earthenware, slightly buttered, will serve nearly as well.
SPINACH.
(_Common English mode._)
Boil the spinach very green in plenty of water, drain, and then press
the moisture from it between two trenchers; chop it small, put it into a
clean saucepan, with a slice of fresh butter, and stir the whole until
well mixed and very hot. Smooth it in a dish, mark it in dice, and send
it quickly to table.
ANOTHER COMMON ENGLISH RECEIPT FOR SPINACH.
Take it leaf by leaf from the stalks, and be very careful to clear it
from any weeds that may be amongst it, and to free it by copious and
repeated washings from every particle of sand, or earth. Put it into a
large well-tinned stewpan or saucepan, with the water only which hangs
about it; throw in a small spoonful of salt, and keep it constantly
pressed down with a wooden spoon, and turned often for about a quarter
of an hour, or until it is perfectly tender. Drain off the superfluous
moisture, chop the spinach quickly on a hot trencher; dish and serve it
immediately. Fried sippets of bread should always be served round this
vegetable, unless it be prepared for an invalid.
TO DRESS DANDELIONS LIKE SPINACH, OR AS A SALAD.
(_Very wholesome._)
This common weed of the fields and highways is an excellent vegetable,
the young leaves forming an admirable adjunct to a salad, and much
resembling endive when boiled and prepared in the same way, or in any of
the modes directed for spinach. The slight bitterness of its flavour is
to many persons very agreeable; and it is often served at well-appointed
tables. It has also, we believe, the advantage of possessing valuable
medicinal qualities. Take the roots before the blossom is at all
advanced, if they can readily be found in that state; if not, pluck off
and use the young leaves only. Wash them as clean as possible, and boil
them tender in a large quantity of water salted as for sprouts or
spinach. Drain them well, press them dry with a wooden spoon, and serve
them quite plain with melted butter in a tureen; or, squeeze, chop, and
heat them afresh, with a seasoning of salt and pepper, a _morsel_ of
butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful or two of gravy or cream. A very
large portion of the leaves will be required for a dish, as they shrink
exceedingly in the cooking. For a salad, take them very young and serve
them entire, or break them quite small with the fingers; then wash and
drain them. Dress them with oil and vinegar, or with any other sauce
which may be preferred with them.
BOILED TURNIP-RADISHES.
These should be freshly drawn, young and white. Wash and trim them
neatly, leaving on two or three of the small inner leaves of the top.
Boil them in plenty of salted water from twenty to thirty minutes, and
as soon as they are tender send them to table well drained, with melted
butter or white sauce. Common radishes when young, tied in bunches, and
boiled from eighteen to twenty-five minutes, then served on a toast like
asparagus, are very good.
BOILED LEEKS.
Trim off the coarser leaves from some young leeks, cut them into equal
lengths, tie them into small bunches, and boil them in plenty of water
which has been previously salted and skimmed; serve them on a toast, and
send melted butter to table with them.
20 to 25 minutes.
STEWED LETTUCES.
Strip off the outer leaves, and cut away the stalks; wash the lettuces
with exceeding nicety, and throw them into water salted as for all green
vegetables. When they are quite tender, which will be in from twenty to
thirty minutes, according to their age, lift them out and press the
water thoroughly from them; chop them a little, and heat them in a clean
saucepan with a seasoning of pepper and salt, and a small slice of
butter; then dredge in a little flour and stir them well; add next a
small cup of broth or gravy, boil them quickly until they are tolerably
dry, then stir in a little pale vinegar or lemon-juice, and serve them
as hot as possible, with fried sippets round them.
TO BOIL ASPARAGUS.
With a sharp knife scrape the stems of the asparagus lightly but very
clean, from within one to two inches of the green tender points; throw
them into cold water as they are done, and when all are ready, tie them
in bunches of equal size, cut the large ends evenly, that the asparagus
may be all of the same length, and put it into plenty of boiling water
prepared by the directions of page 309. Cut a round of bread quite half
an inch thick, and after having pared off the crust, toast it a delicate
brown on both sides. When the stalks of the asparagus are tender, lift
it out directly, or it will lose both its colour and its flavour, and
will also be liable to break; dip the toast quickly into the water in
which it was boiled, and dish the vegetable upon it, with the points
meeting in the centre. Send rich melted butter to table with it. In
France, a small quantity of vinegar is stirred into the sauce before it
is served; and many persons like the addition. Asparagus may be
preserved for a day or two sufficiently fresh for use, by keeping the
stalks immersed in an inch-depth of cold water; but it is never so good
as when dressed directly it is cut, or within a few hours after.
20 to 25 minutes.
_Obs._—Abroad, boiled asparagus is very frequently served cold, and
eaten with oil and vinegar, or a sauce Mayonnaise.
ASPARAGUS POINTS DRESSED LIKE PEAS. (ENTREMETS.)
This is a convenient mode of dressing asparagus, when it is too small
and green to make a good appearance plainly boiled. Cut the points so
far only as they are perfectly tender, in bits of equal size, not more
than the third of an inch in length; wash them very clean, and throw
them into plenty of boiling water, with the usual quantity of salt and a
_few_ grains of carbonate of soda. When they are tolerably tender, which
will be in from ten to twelve minutes, drain them well, and spread them
on a clean cloth; fold it over them, wipe them gently, and when they are
quite dry put them into a clean stewpan with a good slice of butter,
which should be just dissolved before the asparagus is added; stew them
in this over a brisk fire, shaking them often, for eight or ten minutes;
dredge in about a small teaspoonful of flour, and add half that quantity
of white sugar; then pour in boiling water to nearly cover the
asparagus, and boil it rapidly until but little liquid remains: stir in
the beaten yolks of two eggs, heap the asparagus high in a dish, and
serve it very hot. The sauce should adhere entirely to the vegetable as
in green peas _à la Française_.
TO BOIL GREEN PEAS.
To be eaten in perfection these should be young, very freshly gathered,
and shelled just before they are boiled; should there be great
inequality in their size, the smaller ones may be separated from the
others, and thrown into the saucepan four or five minutes later. Wash,
and drain the peas in a cullender, put them into plenty of fast-boiling
water, salted by the directions of page 309; keep the pan uncovered, and
let them boil rapidly until they are tender; drain them well, dish them
quickly, and serve them very hot, with good melted butter in a tureen;
or put a slice of fresh butter into the midst of the peas, heap them
well over it in the centre of the dish, and let it dissolve before they
are disturbed. Never, on any account, boil or mix mint with them unless
it be expressly ordered, as it is particularly distasteful to many
persons. It should be served in small heaps round them, if at all.
15 to 25 minutes, or more if _old_.
GREEN PEAS À LA FRANÇAISE, OR FRENCH FASHION. (ENTREMETS).
Throw a quart of young and freshly-shelled peas into plenty of spring
water with a couple of ounces of butter, and with the hand work them
together until the butter adheres well to the peas; lift them out, and
drain them in a cullender; put them into a stewpan or thick saucepan
without any water, and let them remain over a gentle fire, and be
stirred occasionally for twenty minutes from the time of their first
beginning to simmer; then pour to them as much boiling water as will
just cover them; throw in a small quantity of salt, and keep them
boiling quickly for forty minutes: stir well amongst them a small lump
of sugar which has been dipped quickly into water, and a thickening of
about half an ounce of butter very smoothly mixed with a teaspoonful of
flour; shake them over the fire for two minutes, and serve them directly
heaped high in a very hot dish; there will be no sauce except that which
adheres to the peas if they be properly managed. We have found
marrowfats excellent, dressed by this receipt. Fresh and good butter
should be used with them always.
Peas, 1 quart; butter, 2 oz.: 20 minutes. Water to cover the peas;
little salt: 40 minutes. Sugar, small lump; butter, 1/2 oz.; flour, 1
teaspoonful: 2 minutes.
GREEN PEAS WITH CREAM. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil a quart of young peas perfectly tender in salt and water, and drain
them as dry as possible. Dissolve an ounce and a half of butter in a
clean stewpan, stir smoothly to it when it boils a dessertspoonful of
flour, and shake these over the fire for three or four minutes, but
without allowing them to take the slightest colour; pour gradually to
them a cup of rich cream, add a small lump of sugar pounded, let the
sauce boil, then put in the peas and toss them gently in it until they
are very hot: dish, and serve them quickly.
Peas, 1 quart: 18 to 25 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1
dessertspoonful: 3 to 5 minutes. Sugar, 1 saltspoonful; cream, 1 cupful.
TO BOIL FRENCH BEANS.
When the beans are very small and young, merely take off the ends and
stalks, and drop them into plenty of spring water as they are done; when
all are ready wash and drain them well, throw them into a large saucepan
of fast-boiling water, salted as usual (see page 309), and when they are
quite tender, which will be in from twelve to eighteen minutes, pour
them into a cullender, shake the water from them, dish, and send them
quickly to table with good melted butter in a tureen. When from half to
two parts grown, cut the beans obliquely into a lozenge form, or, when a
less modern fashion is preferred, split them lengthwise into delicate
strips, and then cut them once across: the strings should be drawn off
with the tops and stalks. No mode of dressing it can render this
vegetable good when it is old, but if the sides be pared off, the beans
cut thin, and boiled tender with rather more than the ordinary
proportion of soda, they will be of excellent colour, and tolerably
eatable.
FRENCH BEANS À LA FRANÇAISE. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil, and drain them thoroughly; then put them into a clean stewpan, or
well-tinned iron saucepan, and shake them over the fire until they are
very dry and hot; add to them from two to four ounces of fresh butter
cut into small bits, some white pepper, a little salt, and the juice of
half a lemon; toss them gently for a few minutes over a clear fire, and
serve them very hot. Should the butter turn to oil, a spoonful or two of
veal gravy or boiling water must be added.
AN EXCELLENT RECEIPT FOR FRENCH BEANS À LA FRANÇAISE.
Prepare as many young and freshly-gathered beans as will serve for a
large dish, boil them tender, and drain the water well from them. Melt a
couple of ounces of fresh butter, in a clean saucepan, and stir smoothly
to it a small dessertspoonful of flour; keep these well shaken, and
gently simmered until they are lightly browned, add salt and pepper, and
pour to them by degrees a small cupful of good veal gravy (or, in lieu
of this, of sweet rich cream), toss the beans in the sauce until they
are as hot as possible; stir quickly in, as they are taken from the
fire, the beaten yolks of two fresh eggs, and a little lemon-juice, and
serve them without delay. The eggs and lemon are sometimes omitted, and
a tablespoonful of minced parsley is added to the butter and flour; but
this, we think, is scarcely an improvement.
Beans, 1 to 2 quarts: boiled 15 to 20 minutes. Butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1
dessertspoonful; salt and pepper; veal gravy, _small_ cupful; yolks of
eggs, 2; lemon-juice, a dessertspoonful.
TO BOIL WINDSOR BEANS.
When young, freshly gathered, and well dressed, these beans, even with
many persons accustomed to a luxurious table, are a favourite
accompaniment to a dish of streaked bacon, or delicate pickled pork.
Shell them only just before they are wanted, then wash, drain, and throw
them into boiling water, salted as for peas. When they are quite tender,
pour them into a hot cullender, drain them thoroughly, and send them to
table quickly, with a tureen of parsley and butter, or with plain melted
butter, when it is preferred. A boiled cheek of bacon, trimmed free of
any blackened parts, may be dished over the beans, upon occasion.
20 to 30 minutes; less, when _very_ young.
_Obs._—When the skin of the beans appears wrinkled, they will generally
be found sufficiently tender to serve, but they should be tasted to
ascertain that they are so. This vegetable is often _skinned_ after it
is boiled, and then gently tossed up with a little butter before it is
dished.
DRESSED CUCUMBERS.
Pare and slice them very thin, strew a little fine salt over them, and
when they have stood a few minutes, drain off the water, by raising one
side of the dish, and letting it flow to the other; pour it away, strew
more salt, and a moderate seasoning of pepper on them, add two or three
tablespoonsful of the purest salad-oil, and turn the cucumbers well,
that the whole may receive a portion of it; then pour over them from one
to three dessertspoonsful of chili vinegar, and a little common, should
it be needed; turn them into a clean dish and serve them.
_Obs._—If very young, cucumbers are usually dressed without being pared,
but the tough rind of full-grown ones being extremely indigestible,
should be avoided. The vegetable, though apt to disagree with persons of
delicate habit, when sauced in the common English mode, with salt,
pepper, and vinegar only, may often be eaten by them with impunity when
dressed with plenty of oil. It is difficult to obtain this perfectly
fresh and pure here; and hence, perhaps, arises in part the prejudice
which, amongst us, is so often found to exist against the use of this
most wholesome condiment.
MANDRANG, OR MANDRAM.
(_West Indian Receipt._)
Chop together very small, two moderate-sized cucumbers, with half the
quantity of mild onion; add the juice of a lemon, a saltspoonful or more
of salt, a third as much of cayenne, and one or two glasses of Madeira,
or of any other dry white wine. This preparation is to be served with
any kind of roast meat.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR MANDRAM.
Take three or four cucumbers, so young as not to require paring; score
the ends well, that when they are sliced they may fall into small bits;
add plenty of young onions, cut fine, the juice of half a lemon, a glass
of sherry or Madeira, and a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar.
DRESSED CUCUMBERS.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Cut into lengths of an inch or rather more, one or two freshly gathered
cucumbers, take off the rind, and then pare them round and round into
thin ribbons, until the watery part is reached:—this is to be thrown
aside. When all are done, sprinkle them with cayenne and fine salt, and
leave them to drain a little; then arrange them lightly in a clean dish,
and sauce them with very fine oil, well mixed with chili vinegar, or
with equal parts of chili and of common vinegar.
Cucumbers, 2 or 3; salt, 1 to 2 saltspoonsful; little cayenne; oil, 6 to
8 tablespoonsful; chili vinegar, or equal parts of this and common
vinegar, 2 to 4 tablespoonsful.
_Obs._—When the flavour of eschalots is much liked, a teaspoonful or
more of the vinegar in which they have been steeped or pickled may be
added to this dish.
STEWED CUCUMBERS.
(_English mode._)
Pare, and split into quarters, four or five full-grown but still young
cucumbers; take out the seeds and cut each part in two; sprinkle them
with white pepper or cayenne; flour and fry them lightly in a little
butter, lift them from the pan, drain them on a sieve, then lay them
into as much good brown gravy as will nearly cover them, and stew them
gently from twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until they are quite
tender. Should the gravy require to be thickened or flavoured, dish the
cucumbers and keep them hot while a little flour and butter, or any
other of the usual ingredients, is stirred into it. Some persons like a
small portion of lemon-juice, or of chili vinegar added to the sauce;
cucumber vinegar might be substituted for these with very good effect,
as the vegetable loses much of its fine and peculiar flavour when
cooked.
25 to 30 minutes.
_Obs._—The cucumbers may be left in entire lengths, thrown into
well-salted boiling water, and simmered for ten minutes, then thoroughly
drained upon the back of a sieve, and afterwards stewed very quickly
until tender in some highly-flavoured brown gravy, or in the Spanish
sauce of page 101.
CUCUMBERS À LA POULETTE.
The cucumbers for this dish may be pared and sliced very thin; or
quartered, freed from the seeds, and cut into half-inch lengths; in
either case they should be steeped in a little vinegar and sprinkled
with salt for half an hour before they are dressed. Drain, and then
press them dry in a soft cloth; flour them well, put a slice of butter
into a stewpan or saucepan bright in the inside, and when it begins to
boil throw in the cucumbers, and shake them over a gentle fire for ten
minutes, but be careful to prevent their taking the slightest colour;
pour to them gradually as much strong, but very pale veal stock or gravy
as will nearly cover them; when it boils skim off the fat entirely, add
salt and white pepper if needed, and when the cucumbers are quite
tender, strew in a large teaspoonful of finely-minced parsley, and
thicken the sauce with the yolks of two or three eggs. French cooks add
the flour when the vegetable has stewed in the butter, instead of
dredging it upon them at first, and this is perhaps the better method.
CUCUMBERS À LA CRÊME.
Boil them tolerably tender in salt and water, drain them well, then stew
them for a few minutes in a thick _béchamel_, and serve them in it.
FRIED CUCUMBERS TO SERVE IN COMMON HASHES AND MINCES.
If very young they need not be pared, but otherwise, take off the rind,
slice, and dredge them lightly with pepper and flour, but put no salt at
first; throw them into very hot butter or clarified dripping, or they
will not brown; when they are nearly done sprinkle some salt amongst
them, and as soon as they are quite tender, lift them out with a slice,
drain them well, and place them lightly over the hash or mince. A small
portion of onion may be fried with them when it is liked.
MELON.
This in France and in other parts of the Continent is served and eaten
with the _bouilli_ (or beef boiled tender in the soup-pot), with a
seasoning of salt and pepper only; but the fruit is there far more
abundant, and of infinitely finer growth than with us, and requires so
little care, comparatively, that it is planted in many places in the
open fields, where it flourishes admirably.
TO BOIL CAULIFLOWERS.
Trim off the outside leaves, and cut the stems quite close to the
cauliflowers; let them lie for an hour in plenty of cold water with a
handful of salt in it, to draw out any insects that may be amongst them;
then wash them very thoroughly, and examine them well, to be assured
that none remain in any part of them; throw them into a large pan of
boiling water salted as for asparagus, and quite cleared from scum; for
this, if not removed, will adhere to the cauliflowers and spoil their
appearance. When the stalks are tender lift them out, dish them neatly,
and send good melted butter to table with them.
20 to 30 minutes.
CAULIFLOWERS.
(_French Receipt._)
Cut the cauliflowers into small handsome tufts, and boil them until
three parts done, drain them well, toss them for a moment in some
_thick_ melted butter or white sauce, and set them by to cool. When they
are quite cold, dip them separately into the batter of Chapter V., fry
them a light brown, arrange them neatly in a dish, and serve them very
hot.
CAULIFLOWERS WITH PARMESAN CHEESE.
Take all the green leaves from two or three fine white cauliflowers, and
cut the stalks off very closely, so that they will stand upright in the
dish in which they are served; boil them tolerably tender, but not
sufficiently so as to hazard their breaking; drain them well, and dish
them, so as to give the whole the appearance of one cauliflower; pour a
little good white sauce equally over the tops, and on this strew grated
Parmesan cheese, drop over it a little clarified butter, add another
layer of cheese, and cover the whole with the finest bread-crumbs;
moisten these with more clarified butter, and brown them with a
salamander, or set the dish into the oven, to give them colour; pour
white sauce round the cauliflowers, and send them very hot to table.
CAULIFLOWERS À LA FRANÇAISE.
Strip away all the green leaves, and divide each cauliflower into three
or four parts, trimming the stalks quite close; put them, with the heads
downwards, into a stewpan which will just hold them, half filled with
boiling water, into which an ounce of good butter and some salt have
previously been thrown; so soon as they are quite tender, drain the
water from them, place a dish over the stewpan and turn it gently upside
down; arrange the vegetables neatly in the form of one large cauliflower
and cover it with good melted butter, into which a little lemon-juice
has been stirred.
12 to 18 minutes.
BROCCOLI.
This is boiled, and served in the same manner as cauliflowers when the
heads are large; the stems of the branching broccoli are peeled, and the
vegetable, tied in bunches, is dressed and served, like asparagus, upon
a toast.
10 to 20 minutes.
TO BOIL ARTICHOKES.
After they have been soaked and _well_ washed, cut off the stems quite
close, trim away a few of the lower leaves, and clip the points of all;
throw the artichokes into plenty of fast-boiling water, ready salted and
skimmed, with the addition of the proportion of soda directed in page
309, as this will greatly improve the colour of the vegetable. When
extremely young, the artichokes will be tender in from half to three
quarters of an hour, but they will require more than double that time
when at their full growth: when the leaves can be drawn out easily they
are done. Send good melted butter to table with them. They should be
boiled always with the stalk-ends uppermost.
Very young, 1/2 to 3/4 hour; full-grown, 1-1/4 to 2 hours.
_Obs._—French cooks lift the tops from the artichokes before they are
served, and replace them after having taken out the chokes: this is an
excellent plan, but it must be expeditiously done to prevent the
vegetable from cooling.
FOR ARTICHOKES EN SALADE
(_See Chapter VI._)
VEGETABLE MARROW.
It is customary to gather this when not larger than a turkey’s egg, but
we should say that the vegetable is not then in its perfection. The
flesh is whiter and of better flavour when the gourd is about six inches
long; at least we have found it so with the kinds which have fallen
under our observation. It may either be boiled in the skin, then pared,
halved, and served upon a toast; or quartered, freed from the seed, and
left until cold, then dipped into egg and fine crumbs of bread, and
fried; or it may be cut into dice, and re-heated in a little good white
sauce; or stewed tender in butter, and served in well-thickened veal
gravy, flavoured with a little lemon-juice. It may likewise be mashed by
the receipt which we have given for turnips, and in that form will be
found excellent. The French make a fanciful dish of the marrows thus:
they boil them tender in water, and halve them lengthwise as is usual,
they then slice a small bit off each to make them stand evenly in the
dish, and after having hollowed the insides, so as to leave a mere
shell, about half an inch thick, they fill them with a thick rich mince
of white meat, and pour white sauce round them; or they heap fried
bread-crumbs over the tops, place the dish in the oven for a few
minutes, and serve them without sauce.
Size of turkey’s egg, 10 to 15 minutes; moderate-sized, 20 to 30; large,
3/4 to 1 hour.
ROAST TOMATAS.
(_To serve with roast leg, loin, or shoulder of mutton._)
Select them nearly of the same size, take off the stalks, and roast them
gently in a Dutch oven, or if more convenient, place them at the edge of
the dripping-pan, taking care that no fat from the joint shall fall upon
them, and keeping them turned that they may be equally done. From ten to
fourteen minutes will roast them.
STEWED TOMATAS.