kind permission by taking from his 'Gastronomic Regenerator' a very
simple receipt, it is true, but one which, in my estimation, has a
great deal more merit than that of a sumptuous dish--a new mutton
chop; yes, dearest, that is all. Many will very likely laugh at me,
and think I am joking to take notice of a dish of such trifling
importance, but, indeed, I assure you that I am far from that,
because I have tried it for my dinner to-day, and in my opinion it
is as far superior to the other as silver is to copper; and it was
only in an enlightened era of wonders like ours that such a novelty
in the culinary department could have been produced; where steam,
gas, railways, electric light, suspended bridges, which seem to fly
like zephyrs across the bosom of our mighty, wealthy, old Father
Thames, and the subterranean promenade under his gutta-percha bed,
where, as the French say, the fishes from their windows make faces
at the English while walking below, as well as (and more wonderful
still) the electric telegraph, which, even more freely than
free-trade itself, carries like lightning the flashes of the genius
of a Cobden from our great commercial town of Manchester to
Printing-house square and various offices the sparks of a speech,
which, if printers were careless, might set the paper on fire, by
acquainting the metropolis not only of his love for freedom, but of
his enthusiastic action, motion, commotion, and almost his
thoughts; even the cheerings of the _convives_ are actually in
print, and read with the greatest anxiety by the multitude in town,
while the report of the last and most powerful line just put to
press is still roaring with echo throughout the vast cupola of the
Free Trade Hall as well as in the ears of thousands of guests
present who have been favored by partaking of the monster banquet;
and as well, but not so wonderful, the invention, insurrection, and
demolition of the Chartists--the last effected by special order and
special constables; the Satanic bottle, double sight, and
ethérienne suspension of the inimitable Robert le Diable, by
mistake called Robert Houdin; Banyard's Yankee cabinet picture,
3000 miles long, out of which 2999 and three quarters are out of
sight; more so than all, the discovery of rocky dust, called gold,
in the barbarian land of California, where the humble and
convalescent potato would be worth its weight of the precious
metal, a loaf of bread three times as much, and a basin of poor
man's soup a guinea instead of a penny as here. Have we not also
heard of the great sea serpent, which a very serious American, who
appears to have been in company with him, says that he was so
tarnation long, that whilst engaged in dining out upon 4000 or 5000
turtles in Honduras, the end of his tail was at the same time
hunting the white bear in the crystallized mountains of the North
Pole for his supper, being something of an epicure, and
consequently fond of a change? These, dearest, are FACTS that no
one can deny," I guess; "and still it was to be among all these
marvellous wonders that the innovation of a new mutton chop should
emanate from the brain of a simple individual, while, for a century
previous, the ancestors of our great grandfathers were, as we were
till the present day, often obliged to satisfy their voracious
appetite with a fat and clumsy mutton chop. Even now, dear, you
will hardly be able to comprehend the meaning of my enthusiasm for
this simple innovation: it is then for its great simplicity and
cheapness, and that if in general use (as I sincerely hope it will
be), thousands will be able to partake of it and enjoy it, and
probably will keep a friendly remembrance of the name of its
inventor, because any one who invents, or tries so to do, attempts
to conquer the greatest difficulty to obtain fame and wealth, and
which by others is always envied and tried to be surpassed; such is
the world. While here, the humble, unassuming, disinterested
inventor of the said mutton chop will not even have the honor of
opposition, though he may be copied. Believe me, dearest, that is
the only cause of my admiration. Now for this wonder.
[Illustration]
434. _Soyer's New Mutton Chop._--Trim a middling-sized saddle of mutton,
which cut into chops half an inch in thickness with a saw, without at
all making use of a knife (the sawing them off jagging the meat and
causing them to eat more tender), then trim them to the shape
represented in the drawing, season well with salt and pepper, place them
upon a gridiron over a sharp fire, turning them three or four times;
they would require ten minutes cooking; when done, dress them upon a hot
dish, spread a small piece of butter over each (if approved of), and
serve: by adding half a tablespoonful of Soyer's Gentlemen's or Ladies'
Sauce to each chop when serving, and turning it over two or three times,
produces an excellent entrée; the bone keeping the gravy in whilst
cooking, it is a very great advantage to have chops cut after the above
method. At home when I have a saddle of mutton, I usually cut two or
three such chops, which I broil, rub maître d'hôtel butter over, and
serve with fried potatoes round, using the remainder of the saddle next
day for a joint. The above are also very excellent, well seasoned and
dipped into egg and bread-crumbs previous to broiling. Lamb chops may be
cut precisely the same, but require a few minutes less broiling.
You must remark that, by this plan, the fat and lean are better
divided, and you can enjoy both; whilst the other is a lump of meat
near the bone and fat at the other end, which partly melts in
cooking, and is often burnt by the flame it makes; the new one not
being divided at the bone, keeps the gravy in admirably. If well
sawed it should not weigh more than the ordinary one, being about
half the thickness. Do try them, and let me know your opinion.
Ever yours,
HORTENSE.
LETTER No. XIV
DEAR HORTENSE,--Yours of last night was received at our
supper-table, which was surrounded by a few of our best friends,
and I need not tell you the merriment it has created respecting
your fantastic ideas of this age of wonders. A very sedate old
gentleman, who happened to have met you at Mr. H.'s party about a
week or two ago, and wished to be very courteous to you, and
perhaps you did not notice his compliments, not only would he not
give a smile to our hearty laugh, but actually swore that such
comical nonsense was very dangerous to expose before the public,
and especially if we intended to give publicity to it with the
Receipts, the last of which he very much approved of. But
respecting your fun on the review of our century,--"A woman," said
he, "ought never to interfere with politics!" "Politics!" we all
exclaimed, "where do you see anything political in it?" "In almost
every word," replied he. "But in what part?" said we; "explain
yourself." Unfortunately our hero stuttered very much. "Now,
it-it-it is not one of-of-of you here, perhaps, who-who-who
a-a-a-ve been in ann-y-pu-pu-public office like me in ma-ma-my
youth. I was cla-cla-cla-clerk of the second cla-cla-clerk of the
first cla-cla-cla-clerk of the private secretary's
cla-cla-cla-clerk of the Home of-of-of----" Here, dear, we all
burst out laughing, which made the old gentleman so mad that he
rushed from the room into the passage, to the street-door, and out
of the house, without his hat, Welsh wig, great coat, and umbrella,
while the servant had a regular race to get hold of him. She at
last found him talking to himself under one of our willow-trees in
the garden, coming back for his tackle with his two hands over his
red wig, and his thick head underneath. Being a wet night, after
inquiring of the servant what he had said to her--"Ma-ma-ma-rie,"
said he, "you are a ve-ve-ve-very good girl indeed, very good girl,
and I-I-I-I am ve-ve-ve-very sorry I have no money with me to
gi-gi-gi-gi-give you something for your trouble, especially as you
will ne-ne-ne-never see me here again, no, ne-ne-never." "Never
mind, sir, about the money," said she to him, "I am no more
disappointed than usual. Good night, sir." "Mary, you are a
ve-ve-very sau-saucy huzzy, a ve-very saucy huzzy," was his answer.
He then gradually disappeared in the fog. In a few seconds after,
she heard some one sneezing most fearfully in the direction he was
gone, which she believed to be our stuttering friend. So, you see,
dear, there is quite an event on a mutton chop. But let me tell you
that, though your receipt came rather late, we still had some for
supper, and very good they were; every one was delighted with them;
in fact, we did not eat hardly anything else, being so comically
introduced to us. I had them brought up at three different times
broiling hot from the gridiron. I made twelve chops out of a
middle-sized saddle of mutton, weighing about seven pounds: is that
right? and I have about three pounds of chump remaining, which, of
course, I intend making broth, Irish stew, or pies with. But,
dearest, let us go through the remainder of the Receipts without
any more interruption.
My husband begs to be kindly remembered to you both. Ever yours,
ELOISE.
[Illustration]
435. _Mutton Cutlets_.--Trim a neck of mutton by cutting away the scrag
and sawing off three inches of the rib-bone, then cut about ten cutlets
out of the neck, shape them by chopping off the thick part of the
chine-bone, beat them flat to about a quarter of an inch in thickness
with a cutlet-chopper, dipped in cold water, detach an inch of fat from
the top of the rib-bone, and trim it like the following cut, season with
a little salt and pepper, then well beat up one egg, dip a brush into
it, and rub it lightly over the chop, dip it into bread-crumbs, form it
into shape again, and dress in the following ways:--
Put two ounces of butter into a sauté-pan or very clean omelette-pan,
melt it, and put the cutlets in; put it on the fire for five minutes
till it is of a nice yellow color; turn them, let them remain four
minutes longer, try if they are done by pressing with the finger, they
ought to be firm and full of gravy; lay them on a clean cloth, and dress
them in the form of a crown, that is, by keeping the thick part at the
bottom, and the scraped part of the bone at the top, and each one
resting half-way on the other. Every dish of cutlets must be served
thus.
436. _Cutlets with Mushrooms._--If for ten or twelve cutlets take about
twenty fresh mushrooms, cut off the tails, wash them, and dry on a
cloth, put two pats of butter in a stewpan, half a gill of water, the
juice of a lemon, a little salt and pepper, set on the fire; boil for a
few minutes, then add two tablespoonfuls of white sauce, when very hot
add a liaison of the yolk of an egg made as follows:
Put the yolk in a cup, and mix well with two tablespoonfuls of milk,
stir well for one minute, put it in the middle of your pan, if no white
sauce, add a little milk to the mushrooms, and mix a little flour with
half a pat of butter, and put it in, keep stirring until boiling; dish
up the cutlets, add the liaison, and serve; or still plainer, take the
same number of mushrooms, wash well, cut in thin slices, put into a
stewpan, with two pats of butter, half a teaspoonful of flour, a little
salt and pepper, the juice of a lemon, and a little water; stew gently
for ten minutes, serve, pouring the sauce over, or in the middle of the
cutlets.
They can be served as cutlets à la jardinière, with peas, with tomatoes,
with artichokes, with spinach, à la poiverade, à la sauce piquante, with
Brussels sprouts, and à la Soubise.
437. _Cutlets à la Maître d'Hôtel._--When the cutlets are done, dish
them up, put two ounces of maître d'hôtel butter in a clean sauté-pan,
keep it moving until melted: put two spoonfuls of cream when very hot,
pour over, and serve with fried potatoes in the middle.
438. _Cutlets, plainer way._--Cut them from the neck, beat them down
roughly without trimming, put them on the gridiron, when warm through,
add salt, pepper, and very fine chopped onions, turn several times, they
will take about ten minutes broiling; dish very hot, and serve. They may
also be served on very white mashed potatoes.
439. _Sheep's Tongue, Demi-Glaze._--For one dish, take six, put them in
water to disgorge, then dry them, put them in a stewpan with two onions,
half a large carrot, a bouquet of two bay-leaves, one sprig of thyme, a
quart of broth if handy, or water, half a spoonful of salt, put them on
to boil, and simmer for two hours till done; try if tender with a
pointed knife, if so take them out, skin them, trim out all the roots,
cut the tongue in two, lengthwise, giving it a little of the shape of
cutlets, skim the fat from the stock, reduce the whole or part to a
demi-glaze, put your pieces on a dish, when ready to serve, make a thin
roll of mashed potatoes, and dish them round it, add a little sugar to
the demi-glaze, and a small piece of butter, stir round till melted, add
the juice of half a lemon, pour boiling hot over the tongue, the sauce
ought to adhere thickly to the back of the spoon. Observe, dear, how
cheaply this dish may be procured, and I assure you it is very
excellent: I have tried it with almost all the sauces I have described
for cutlets, and have found it good with all; they are also very good in
papillote, like veal cutlets.
440. _Sheep's Hearts._--Proceed exactly as with the calf's heart, only
diminish the time of cooking in proportion to the size, about thirty
minutes will be sufficient; serve with any kind of sharp sauce, or any
ragout of vegetables.
DISHES WITH THE REMAINS OF LAMB.
441. _Mince Lamb._--(See Veal.) Serve with poached eggs over.
442. _Remains of roast or boiled Lamb with Peas._--Cut up about two
pounds, bones included, in rather small pieces, put into a
convenient-sized stewpan, add to it two teaspoonfuls of flour, one of
chopped onions, one of salt, a quarter ditto of pepper, half a pint of
water, stir gently until near boiling, add one bay-leaf, and one pint of
very green peas already boiled, simmer and serve. Half an hour is
sufficient to prepare this dish; peas left from a previous day can be
used, also cauliflower if not too much broken, and gently simmered, also
a few mushrooms, or if no vegetables, add a little liaison, and the
juice of half a lemon.
443. _Lamb's Feet_ are much more delicate than sheep's trotters, but
they are cooked and dressed the same, only in less time. If there are
any left cold, cut them in two, put them in a basin, pour over a glass
of vinegar, half of ditto of oil, one onion sliced, salt, pepper, fry
them for twenty minutes, dip each piece in a batter, and fry a nice
yellow color in fat; serve on a napkin.
444. _Lamb's Heart._--Six will make a nice dish; stuff like calf's
heart, only adding to it some bits of ham or red tongue; stew and serve
with any kind of sauce.
445. _Lamb Cutlets._--Ten cutlets would be sufficient for a dish, and
might be cut from one neck, as described for mutton cutlets (page 182),
but leaving them as large as possible; that is, about one third less
than the mutton, season them lightly with salt and pepper, egg and
bread-crumb them over, afterwards beating them gently with a knife, to
put them again into shape; then have a little clarified butter upon a
plate, into which dip each cutlet separately, afterwards throwing them
into bread-crumbs, giving them another coat, and beat again. Then if
wanted of a very nice color, put four spoonfuls of salad oil into a
sauté-pan, lay in the cutlets and set them over a sharp fire, turning
when required, six or eight minutes would be sufficient to do them
nicely; when done, lay them upon a cloth a moment to drain, glaze, and
dish them in crown upon your dish, and serve with cucumbers stewed in
the centre.
Lamb cutlets may also be served with stewed peas, French beans,
spinach, asparagus points, sauce jardinière, reforme, poiverade,
piquante, or maître d'hôtel, which will be found in the series of
sauces, or lamb cutlets may be broiled instead of fried, or served à la
Maintenon, as directed for veal cutlets.
446. _Lamb Chops._--Select a fine loin of lamb with the kidney in it,
trim off the flap, and with a very sharp knife cut your chops from half
to three quarters of an inch in thickness, cutting about eight chops
from the loin, three of which should have a piece of the kidney
attached. I also cut two chops from the chump, which are very excellent
eating, although clumsier in shape. Lay three of them upon a gridiron
over a rather brisk but very clear fire, for if smoky it would entirely
spoil the look and flavor of the lamb; and when just warmed through,
season upon each side with a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter of that
quantity of pepper; broil of a nice yellow color, and serve with fried
parsley over if convenient. Or lay some nice mashed potatoes upon your
dish, and serve the chops upon it.
447. _Lamb Chops in paper, with fine herbs._--Cut a piece of foolscap
paper in the shape of a heart (and sufficiently large to fold a lamb
chop in), rub a little oil over the paper, then season the chop with a
teaspoonful of chopped eschalots, one of chopped parsley, a little
pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg, wrap the chop in the paper, which plait
down at the edges, lay it upon a gridiron over a slow fire, turning it
frequently; it will take about twenty minutes to broil properly, when
done serve in the paper very hot.
448. _Lamb Chop sauté._--Put a piece of butter into a clean sauté- or
frying-pan, and when melted lay in a chop rather highly seasoned with
pepper and salt; fry it until thoroughly done and but lightly browned,
and serve. Should gravy be required, pour off the greater part of the
fat, and then stir in half a tablespoonful of flour, add a gill of broth
or water, and a little coloring; stir with a wooden spoon, boiling five
minutes, finish with an ounce of fresh butter and the juice of half a
lemon; shake the pan over the fire until the sauce becomes rather thick,
when pour over and serve.
449. _Pork Cutlets._--Choose a small neck, cut eight cutlets out of it
of the same shape as the mutton, only leaving a little more fat on it,
season, egg and bread-crumb, fry in pan, serve with either sauces
Robert, poiverade, piquante, tartare.
450. _Pork Cutlets with Pickle._--Sauté, broil or fry, the chops, as in
the preceding; make about a gill of melted butter, add to it two
tablespoonfuls of liquor of piccalilly, and six or eight pieces of the
pickle cut small; when very hot put on your dish, and dress your cutlets
over, or if for a large dish, dress cutlets in a crown, and sauce in the
middle.
451. _Pork Cutlets sauté._--Cut six or eight good-sized cutlets from the
neck of the same shape as the mutton, lay them in a buttered sauté-pan,
season well with pepper and salt, place over the fire; when done lay
them upon a plate, pour some of the fat from the sauté-pan, add a good
tablespoonful of chopped onions, pass over the fire a minute, then add a
teaspoonful of flour; moisten with half a pint of broth or water, with a
piece of glaze added, season a little more, add a bay-leaf and a
teaspoonful of vinegar, with one of mustard, mix well, lay in the
cutlets until quite hot, when dress upon a dish, sauce over, and serve.
This sauce is good with any kind of cutlets, but especially pork.
452. _Pork Cutlets aux Cornichons._--Cut six or eight cutlets from a
middling-sized neck of pork, season well with pepper and salt, dip in
eggs well beaten upon a plate, and then into grated crust of bread (not
too brown) put two ounces of lard or butter into a sauté- or frying-pan,
lay in the cutlets and fry very slowly; when done place them upon a
dish; keep hot, pour some of the fat from the pan, add a good
teaspoonful of flour, mix well, moisten with half a pint of broth or
water with a piece of glaze, add half a wineglassful of vinegar, a
little salt, pepper, and six gherkins in slices, place the cutlets in
the pan to warm gently in the sauce, then dress them upon a dish, sauce
over, and serve.
453. _Pork Cutlets sauce demi-Robert._--Cut eight cutlets from a neck as
before, season well with pepper and salt, sprinkle chopped onions and
parsley over upon both sides, beating the cutlets lightly to make them
adhere, then dip them into eggs well beaten upon a plate, and then into
bread-crumbs; pat them lightly, have some clarified butter in a stewpan,
into which dip the cutlets, and again into bread-crumbs, well covering
them, place them upon a gridiron over a moderate fire, broiling a nice
light brown color; when done dress them upon a dish; have ready the
following sauce: cut two large onions into very small dice, put them
into a stewpan with an ounce of butter, fry of a light yellow color, add
a teaspoonful of flour, mix well, moisten with half a pint of broth and
a spoonful of vinegar, season well, let boil, skim and reduce until
rather thick, when add a spoonful of mixed mustard, a little coloring;
sauce in the centre of the cutlets and serve.
454. _Excellent Sausage Cakes._--Chop some lean pork very fine, having
previously detached all the skin and bone, and to every pound of meat
add three quarters of a pound of fat bacon, half an ounce of salt, a
saltspoonful of pepper, the quarter of a nutmeg grated, six young green
chopped onions, and a little chopped parsley; when the whole is well
chopped put into a mortar and pound well, finishing with three eggs;
then have ready a pig's caul, which cut into pieces large enough to fold
a piece of the above preparation the size of an egg, which wrap up,
keeping the shape of an egg, but rather flattened, and broil very gently
over a moderate fire.
455. _Pigs' Feet._--Procure six pigs' feet nicely salted, which boil in
water, to which you have added a few vegetables, until well done, cut
each one in halves, take out the long bone, have some sausage-meat as in
the last, and a pig's caul, which cut into pieces each large enough to
fold half a foot, well surrounded with sausage-meat, when well wrapped
up broil slowly half an hour over a moderate fire, and serve. Or, when
the pig's feet are well boiled, egg over, and throw them into some
grated crust of bread, with which you have mixed a little parsley, broil
a nice color and serve with a little plain gravy. This is called à la
Ste. Menéhould.
456. _Pig's Kidneys._--Cut them open lengthwise, season well with pepper
and salt, egg over with a paste-brush, dip into bread-crumbs, with which
you have mixed some chopped parsley and eschalot, run a skewer through
to keep them open, and broil for about a quarter of an hour over a good
fire; when done place them upon a dish, have ready an ounce of butter,
with which you have mixed the juice of a lemon, a little pepper and
salt, and a teaspoonful of French or common mustard, place a piece upon
each of the kidneys, place in the oven for one minute, and serve. Pig's
kidneys may also be sautéd as directed for ox kidneys.
457. _Hashed Pork._--Put two spoonfuls of chopped onions into a stewpan
with a wineglassful of vinegar, two cloves, a blade of mace, and a
bay-leaf, reduce to half, take out the spice and bay-leaf, add half a
pint of broth or water, cut some pork previously cooked into thin small
slices, season well upon a dish with pepper and salt, shake a good
teaspoonful of flour over, mix all together, and put into the stewpan;
let simmer gently ten minutes, pour out upon your dish, and serve with
slices of gherkins in it; a little mustard may be added if approved of,
or a little piccalilly with the vinegar is excellent.
The remains of salt pork, though very palatable cold, if required hot
may be cut into large thin slices, and placed in a buttered sauté- or
frying-pan, with a little broth, or merely fried in the butter, and
served with a purée of winter peas, made by boiling half a pint of peas
until tender (tied up in a cloth); when done put them into a stewpan
with two ounces of butter; season with pepper and salt, add a gill of
milk or cream, pour into the dish, and dress the pork over.
It may also be cut into thin slices and put into a soup plate, and pour
some catsup or Harvey sauce over it, and let it remain for half an hour;
butter the inside of a pudding basin, and lay some of the remains of
peas pudding round it, and then place in the pork, cover it with some of
the pudding, place it in a saucepan with a little water to get hot for
about half an hour, and then turn it out and serve. Should you not have
quite pork enough, you may make it up with a little sausage-meat, or any
other kind of meat.
458. _Fritadella (twenty receipts in one)._--Put half a pound of crumb
of bread to soak in a pint of cold water, take the same quantity of any
kind of roast or boiled meat, with a little fat, chop it up like sausage
meat, then put your bread in a clean cloth, press it to extract all the
water, put into a stewpan two ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of
chopped onions, fry for two minutes, then add the bread, stir with a
wooden spoon until rather dry, then add the meat, season with a
teaspoonful of salt, half the same of pepper, a little grated nutmeg,
the same of lemon peel, stir continually until very hot; then add two
eggs, one at a time, well mix together, and pour on a dish to get cold.
Then take a piece as big as a small egg, and roll it to the same shape,
flatten it a little, egg and bread-crumb over, keeping the shape, do all
of it the same way, then put into a sauté-pan a quarter of a pound of
lard, or clean fat, or oil; when hot, but not too much so, put in the
pieces, and sauté a very nice yellow color, and serve very hot, plain,
on a napkin, or on a border of mashed potatoes, with any sauce or
garniture you fancy. These can be made with the remains of any kind of
meat, poultry, game, fish, and even vegetables; hard eggs or cold mashed
potatoes may be introduced in small quantities, and may be fried instead
of sautéd, in which case put about two pounds of fat in the frying-pan,
and if care is used it will do several times. This is an entirely new
and very economical and palatable dish, and fit for all seasons, and if
once tried would be often repeated; the only expense attending it is the
purchase of a small wire sieve for the bread-crumbs. The reason I call
it twenty receipts in one is, that all kinds of food may be used for it,
even shrimps, oysters, and lobsters.