ever introduced to table, and anything but appreciated as it deserves to
be. To prove to you that I am a great admirer of it, you will find it
very often mentioned in my receipts. In using them for a second course,
I choose about twelve of the same size, peel them and shape them like a
pear, but flat at the bottom, wash them well, boil gently in three pints
of water, one ounce of salt, one of butter, and a few sliced onions;
when tender, I make a border of mashed potatoes on a dish, fix them on
it point upwards, sauce over with either cream sauce (No. 280), white
sauce (No. 130), melted butter (No. 264), maître d'hôtel, and place a
fine Brussels sprout between each, which contrast is exceedingly
inviting, simple, and pretty.
649. _Cucumbers_ are most delicious stuffed and stewed, but very
difficult to dress, and consequently chiefly used for entrées, in which
series they will be found. They may, however, be treated like vegetable
marrow.
650. _Artichokes._--Pull the tail off four or six small artichokes, trim
the bottom slightly with a knife, cut the point of every leaf, wash well
in plain water, put them on in plenty of water, with a little salt, to
boil, let them thus remain about half an hour, or until the leaves are
easy to be removed, take them out and lay on a sieve to drain, and serve
on a napkin, with melted butter separate.
651. _Beet-root._--This is a very good dish, and, as I believe it has
never been noticed in cookery, I must lay claim to its parentage; I have
given the receipt to some friends, who highly approve of it. Take two
nice young boiled beet-roots, which will take about from two to three
hours to simmer in plenty of boiling water, peel when cold, cut in
slanting direction, so as to make oval pieces, peel and cut in small
dice two middling-sized onions, put in a pan, with two ounces of
butter, fry white, stirring continually with a spoon; add a spoonful of
flour, and enough milk to make a nice thickish sauce, add to it three
saltspoonfuls of salt, four of sugar, one of pepper, a spoonful of good
vinegar, and boil a few minutes; put in the slices to simmer for about
twenty minutes, have ready some mashed potatoes, with which make a neat
border in your dish one inch high, then put the beet-root and sauce,
highly season in the centre, and serve.
652. _French Beans._--These are also a great favorite with many. To
dress it, head and tail them, drawing off the back string, cut in long
diamonds, boil till tender in water in which salt has been placed, a
quarter of a pound to a gallon, try them after a quarter of an hour's
boiling, drain them, lay them on a dish one inch thick, sprinkle with a
little salt, pepper, and two pats of butter, then put in the remainder,
proceed the same at top; serve very quickly, to prevent the butter
oiling.
653. _The same, à la Maître d'Hôtel._--When boiled as above, put in a
stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of maître d'hôtel butter, when melted
serve. They may be also served with white sauce thus: put in a stewpan
eight spoonfuls of melted butter, season well, simmer gently, add the
yolk of an egg, two ounces of butter, juice of half a lemon, and serve.
654. _Kidney Beans._--Head and tail them, string and slit them down the
middle, place them for half an hour in salt and water in which you have
thrown a little culinary alkali, boil until tender, and serve with
melted butter, or à la maître d'hôtel.
655. _Broad or Windsor Beans._--Boil in salt and water: when done, serve
with parsley and butter, or with a piece of bacon.
656. _Brussels Sprouts._--Trim, wash, and boil about forty small
Brussels sprouts; when tender, drain, dish, and sprinkle a little salt,
pepper, and two ounces of butter over, and serve. Serve also in sauce,
or with maître d'hôtel, like French beans. These are also very good for
soups, sauces, or garnish.
657. _Spinach._--This vegetable is very light and very good for
invalids. It must be washed in several waters, after having been well
picked; then put a quarter of a sieve of spinach to a gallon of water
and three ounces of salt, boil for ten minutes till tender, drain on
sieve, press a little with your hands to extract part of the water, chop
it up fine, put in a stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of butter, a
teaspoonful of salt, half ditto of pepper, put on a fire with a drop of
warm broth for a few minutes, and serve.
658. _Spinach with Gravy._--Proceed as before, but add a tablespoonful
of flour and half a pint of strong gravy in it, as No. 177; serve with
sippets of bread round.
659. _Spinach with Cream._--Proceed as before, but putting half a pint
of milk or cream instead of gravy, and the addition of a tablespoonful
of sugar, cut three slices of bread, lay on dish, sift sugar over, put
in oven, salamander over, cut in various shapes, and serve under or over
the spinach.
660. _Young Haricot Beans._--Take a pint, boil in two quarts of water,
with a small piece of butter, and half an ounce of salt; when done,
which will take only a few minutes, dish and serve; put butter over,
sprinkle a little salt, and when on the dish, a gill of maître d'hôtel
sauce or fennel sauce may be served over the larger one, or it is very
delicious plain boiled, and with a piece of ham or bacon.
661. _White Haricot Beans._--Nothing so cheap or so solid a food as
haricot beans; get a pint of fine white beans, called the dwarf--I buy
them for fourpence a quart. I put them into half a gallon of cold soft
water, with one ounce of butter; they take about three hours to cook,
and should simmer very slowly, drain them and put into a stewpan with a
little salt, pepper, chopped parsley, two ounces of butter, and the
juice of a lemon, place on the fire for a few minutes, stir well, and
serve. The water in which it is boiled will not make a bad soup by
frying four onions in butter in a stewpan, adding a little flour, then
the water poured over, and a slice of toasted bread, cut in pieces, and
served in a tureen. Should the water in boiling reduce too fast, add a
little more. They may be dressed for second course, à la Bretonne, as
for leg. The longer sort requires to be soaked a few hours before
boiling.
662. _Mushrooms._--These are good every way when fresh; for a dish take
about fifty button, cut the roots off, wash and rub the skin off with a
cloth, cut them in slices the size of a shilling, tail and all, put them
in a stewpan, with two ounces of butter, a small teaspoonful of salt,
two pinches of pepper, and the juice of half a lemon, put them on the
fire, simmer till tender, and dish them up on a nice crisp toast; should
you require any sauce, add, when nearly done, half a spoonful of flour,
a gill of broth, milk, or cream, or even water, stew a few minutes
longer, pour over toast and serve.
_If very large_, they should have been carefully picked, for if the dirt
should have got into the under part it is difficult to remove it; cut
off the end of the tail and peel the top, put them on a gridiron, season
moderately with salt and pepper, turn them, and when done serve them on
a very hot dish, and put on each a piece of butter the size of a nut,
and a squeeze of a lemon, put in a hot oven for a minute, or before the
fire, and serve; a little Harvey's or Soyer's sauce is an improvement.
They may also be put in an oven, by laying them in a sauté-pan or tin
dish, put a little butter and season over each, and a drop of Harvey's
sauce, and let them remain twenty minutes, and serve with gravy over.
663. _Lentils._--Put into a stewpan one quart, add two quarts of cold
water, one ounce of butter, a little salt, one onion sliced, a bouquet
of parsley, set on the fire, simmer till tender, which may be in two
hours; when done, drain in a sieve, and save the liquor, which can be
made into a soup like the haricots (see receipt No. 661); put the
lentils in a stewpan, with two ounces of butter, a little salt, sugar,
pepper, and a tablespoonful of chopped eschalots, set it on the fire,
put in butter and flour, mix well, boil ten minutes gently, and dish in
a border of potatoes or in a deep dish. It may also be done thus: by
frying till brown one onion, sliced in a stewpan, put in the boiled
lentils, with two ounces of butter, a little flour, a gill of gravy, and
season as above, stir well, boil, and serve hot.
Gabanza or Egyptian bean may be cooked in the same way.
664. _English Truffles._--Put twelve of them to soak for four hours in
lukewarm water; then with a hard hair-brush remove all the earth from
them; then wash again, put them into a stewpan, with a few slices of
bacon, two onions, half a head of celery, half a carrot, a clove of
garlic, two bay-leaves, a sprig of thyme, four of parsley, a teaspoonful
of salt, one of sugar, a half of pepper, two glasses of sherry, and a
pint of broth; let them simmer for half an hour or more, but till
tender; place them in the oven for twenty minutes longer, remove the
truffles and place them on a dish; have a little mashed potatoes, and
make a border, and place the truffles on in pyramid to prevent them
moving, strain the gravy they were in, skim off the fat, reduce it to
about a gill, put in a teaspoonful of arrow-root in a cup, with a
spoonful of water, mix it, and put to the gravy, boil a few minutes,
pour over, and serve.
I peeled some of them, cooked the same way, they eat better; but they
did not look so well.
665. _Sauté of the same._--After having washed them, I peel them and cut
into thin slices, and put about one pound of them into a stewpan; I then
add a quarter of a pound of butter, a teaspoonful of salt, half one of
sugar, a quarter ditto of nutmeg, warm over the fire, add a gill of
broth, a little flour, mixed with a little butter, stir in, boil, and
serve on toast;--or proceed as above, adding a gill of demi-glaze. They
can be served with any entrées when properly done, and in all cases can
be used instead of mushrooms.
666. _To cook Sourcrout._--Put a quart of sourcrout, with a fat piece
of bacon or pork, into an _earthen_ pan, with sufficient water to cover
it, stew for four or five hours, and serve with pork or fried sausages;
it is better the second day. It may be procured in any good oil-shop in
the winter.
667. _Sourcrout, Bavarian way._--Well wash one quart of sourcrout, and
put it into an earthen pan with a quarter of a bottle of Rhenish wine or
any other light wine, and stew it for three hours; then add some veal
gravy, well seasoned, and stew for three hours longer, and serve with
sausages, or when you add the veal stock, put in a duck or a goose, and
serve with it.
668. _Laver_ is a marine plant (the _Ulvoe Lactuca_), which is
obtained, in London, from the West of England; in Dublin, from
Malahide; Edinburgh, from Aberdeen. It is merely washed, boiled,
pulped, and potted by the fishermen's wives. It is considered
wholesome, but I see nothing particular in it that can make it so
unless it is the small quantity of iodine that it contains. It
should be dressed like spinach (No. 658), and sent up very hot in a
dish over a spirit-lamp, and is generally served with mutton. The
following is a new plan I have introduced for cooking it, which has
been liked by those persons who formerly disliked it.
Have some mashed potatoes as No. 672, roll it out the thickness of a
quarter of an inch, cover it with some cold stewed laver nicely
seasoned, put another layer of mashed potatoes over, and allow it to get
quite cold, when cut it in square pieces, egg, bread-crumb, and proceed
as for ramifolles.
POTATOES.--This root still bears its original American name,
signifying earth-apple, and is divided into many species. Amongst
those most common in use are the regent, ash-leaf, kidney; but, in
the sister kingdom, Ireland, many other varieties are in use; as
the lumper, reds, and blacks. There are as many different ways of
cooking them as there are different species, which I will now
describe.
669. _Plain Boiled or Steamed Potatoes._--Well wash the potatoes and
peel them, and throw them into cold water (that depends upon the kind,
if new or young, or a kidney, they should be cooked immediately after
they are peeled, whilst others require to remain a long time in soak);
have ready a steamer with boiling water in it, put the potatoes on the
top, and steam for twenty to thirty minutes, and serve. Should you not
have a steamer, and are obliged to boil them, do so by putting them into
plenty of boiling water, and boil till tender or breaking, then pour
them out into a colander, put a cloth over them, and put them in the
screen, or before the fire, until you are ready to serve them; they
ought always to be sent to table very hot.
670. _Baked Potatoes._--This is a very favorite dish with many persons;
they ought to be of a large size, called Regents, and when cooked very
floury. Mr. B. tells me he sometimes lunches at a house in the city
where the proprietor grows that sort in particular for the use of his
customers, and he finds them better if he leaves them in the ground
where they grow until wanted, and he has about three days' consumption
taken up at a time. They are merely well washed, and put into a slow
oven for about thirty minutes, or longer if large, and served with a pat
of butter in a plate.
671. _Fried Potatoes._--The long kidney potato is the best for this
purpose; they should be washed and peeled, and cut into very thin
slices, and thrown into boiling fat until a nice light brown color; dish
up very hot, throwing a little salt over. The remains of cold ones may
be cut into slices and fried in the same way, or they may be dipped into
batter, and fried like fritters.
672. _Mashed Potatoes._--Steam about ten fine potatoes for about
thirty-five minutes, put them into a stewpan or bowl, with two ounces of
butter, one teaspoonful of salt, a smaller spoonful of pepper, and half
a pint of milk, and beat them very well up with a large fork, then add
by degrees a gill of milk, and continue beating, and dish them lightly
on a dish. Should you require to keep them warm, do so in a stewpan. I
do not approve of putting them into moulds and then in the oven, as it
makes them heavy.
673. _Potatoes à la Maître d'Hôtel._--With young potatoes they are
excellent. Boil ten middle-sized ones cut in slices of a quarter of an
inch thick, put in the stewpan half a pint of milk or the same of broth,
a little salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and a tablespoonful of fresh
chopped parsley, then simmer on fire; when boiling, add a quarter of a
pound of fresh butter, the juice of a lemon, stir well for a few
minutes; when each piece is well covered with the sauce, dish up, and
high in the centre, as they must appear light.
674. _Lyonnaise._--The remains of cold potatoes may be used thus:--Put
three ounces of butter in an omelette pan, in which you fry rather white
three sliced onions; put on the potatoes, cut in thin slices about the
size of half a crown, and sauté them now and then until they have a nice
yellow color; add a spoonful of chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and the
juice of a lemon, sauté well that it should mix well together, dish and
serve very hot; they are excellent to serve with chop, steak, or any
joint.
675. _Irish way of boiling._--In Ireland, where this root has been for
so long a period the chief nourishment of the people, and where it takes
the place of bread and other more substantial food, it is cooked so that
it may have, as they call it, a bone in it; that is, that the middle of
it should not be quite cooked. They are done thus:--Put a gallon of
water with two ounces of salt, in a large iron pot, boil for about ten
minutes, or until the skin is loose, pour the water out of the pot, put
a dry cloth on the top of the potatoes, and place it on the side of the
fire without water for about twenty minutes, and serve. In Ireland turf
is the principal article of fuel, which is burnt on the flat hearth; a
little of it is generally scraped up round the pot so as to keep a
gradual heat, by this plan the potato is both boiled and baked. Even in
those families where such a common art of civilized life as cooking
ought to have made some progress, the only improvement they have upon
this plan is, that they leave the potatoes in the dry pot longer, by
which they lose the _bone_. They are always served up with the skins on,
and a small plate is placed by the side of each guest.
676. _To blanch Macaroni._--Have half a gallon of water in a stewpan, in
which put two ounces of butter and an ounce of salt; when boiling,
throw in a pound of macaroni, which boil until tender, being careful
that it is not too much done; the time of boiling depends principally
upon the quality, the Genoa macaroni taking the longest time, and the
Neapolitan the shortest, which last, if too much done, will fall in
purée.
677. _Macaroni à l'Italienne._--Boil half a pound of macaroni as above;
when done, lay it on a sieve to dry for one minute, put it in a pan,
with four spoonfuls of white sauce, add half a teaspoonful of salt, a
quarter ditto of pepper, a little cayenne, toss the macaroni over the
fire; when boiling, add two ounces each of grated Parmesan and Gruyère
cheese, toss round and round until well mixed, then serve with a gill of
very strong gravy around it.
678. _Macaroni au Gratin._--Proceed the same as above; but after you
have put the macaroni on the dish, omit the gravy, and cover it slightly
with bread-crumbs, and about the same quantity of Parmesan cheese
grated, a little butter, and then put in a hot oven for a quarter of an
hour; if not hot enough, pass the salamander over it, and serve very
hot.
679. _Macaroni à la Napolitaine._--Boil half a pound of the best quality
of macaroni for half an hour, as at No. 736; when tender, lay one
quarter of it on the dish you intend to serve; have ready two ounces of
grated Parmesan cheese, which you divide into four parts to lay over
each layer of macaroni, then put over it two tablespoonfuls of strong
gravy, made of half glaze and consommé, put the dish in the oven for ten
minutes, and serve very hot.
680. _The real Italian method (called à l'Estoufade)._--Boil and proceed
as before, but make the gravy as follows, and use it instead of the
preceding. Take two pounds of rump of beef larded through, put in a
small stewpan, with one quarter of a pound of butter, fry gently for one
hour, turning almost continually; when forming a glaze add half a pint
of broth, let simmer another hour, take the fat off, and use that gravy
instead of that above described; a little tomato may be introduced if
handy, serve the beef at the same time in a separate dish.
681. _Fried Mashed Potatoes in various shapes._--Roast twelve fine
potatoes; when done, take out the interior, which form into a ball; when
cold, put them into a mortar, with a piece of butter half the size of
the ball; pound them well together, season with a little salt, pepper,
chopped eschalots, chopped parsley, and grated nutmeg, mix them with the
yolks of six, and two whole eggs; then form them into croquettes about
the size and shape of a small egg, and bread-crumb them twice over, and
fry them to a light brown color in a stewpan of hot lard, and serve as
garniture where required.
682. _To boil Rice._--Wash well in two separate waters a pound of the
best Carolina rice, then have two quarts of water _boiling_ in a
stewpan, into which throw your rice, boil it until three parts done,
then drain it on a sieve; butter the interior of a stewpan, in which put
your rice, place the lid on tight, and put it in a warm oven upon a
trivet until the rice is perfectly tender, or by the side of the fire;
serve it separate with curry, or any other dish where required. Prepared
thus, every grain will be separate and quite white.
683. _Chopping of Herbs, &c._--This may appear a very simple thing to do
well, yet it is often done badly, by which the flavor is lost. They
should be well washed and dried, and then take the leaves in the left
hand, pressing upon the leaves with your fingers, and chop as fine as
possible, not by placing the point of the knife on the board and raising
it and letting it fall, but with a good sharp cut, so that they are cut,
not pressed. Onions should be peeled, and cut in halves lengthwise, and
then with a thin knife cut each half in slices, leaving them joined at
the root; again cut into slices contrarywise, and then from top to
bottom; thus having cut into very small squares, chop it with both hands
with the knife. You may also wash them; when half-chopped press them in
a cloth, and chop them still finer.
OF DIFFERENT SORTS OF PASTRY.
The variety of pastes is to the pastry what first stocks are to
soups and sauces, and must be very properly first described,
particularly as it is here I must refer my readers for paste even
used for the hors-d'oeuvre and entrées; to succeed you must be
particular in your proportions, and very careful in the mixing;
for, although there is nothing more simple if pains be taken, so
will the least neglect produce a failure, nor is it only with the
making of the paste that pains must be taken, but likewise with the
baking, for as paste badly made would not improve in baking,
neither will paste, however well made, be good if badly baked;
should the oven be too hot the paste will become set and burn
before it is done; and, again, if too cold it would give the paste
a dull heavy appearance, but an oven properly heated (which can be
readily known by a little attention on the part of those in the
habit of using it) will give it a clear brilliant appearance.
For every description of pastry made from puff paste, try if the
oven is hot by placing your hand about half-way in, and hold it
there about a quarter of a minute, if you can hold it there that
time without inconvenience it would not be hot enough; but if you
cannot judge of the heat, the safest method would be, try a piece
of the paste previous to baking the whole; I apply these few
observations to all my friends, but particularly to the
uninstructed, as a person of continual practice cannot fail to be
aware of the truth of them.
684. _Puff Paste._--Put one pound of flour upon your pastry slab, make a
hole in the centre, in which put the yolk of one egg and the juice of a
lemon, with a pinch of salt, mix it with cold water (iced in summer, if
convenient) into a softish flexible paste, with the right hand dry it
off a little with flour until you have well cleared the paste from the
slab, but do not work it more than you can possibly help, let remain two
minutes upon the slab; then have a pound of fresh butter from which you
have squeezed all the buttermilk in a cloth, bringing it to the same
consistency as the paste, upon which place it; press it out with the
hand, then fold over the edges of the paste so as to hide the butter,
and roll it with the rolling-pin to the thickness of a quarter of an
inch, thus making it about two feet in length, fold over one third, over
which again pass the rolling-pin; then fold over the other third, thus
forming a square, place it with the ends top and bottom before you,
shaking a little flour both under and over, and repeat the rolls and
turns twice again as before; flour a baking-sheet, upon which lay it,
upon ice or in some cool place (but in summer it would be almost
impossible to make this paste well without ice) for half an hour; then
roll twice more, turning it as before, place again upon the ice a
quarter of an hour, give it two more rolls, making seven in all, and it
is ready for use when required, rolling it whatever thickness (according
to what you intend making) directed in the following receipts. When I
state that upwards of a hundred different kinds of cakes may be made
from this paste, I am sure it will be quite sufficient to urge upon
every cook the necessity of paying every attention to its fabrication,
as it will repay for the study and trouble.
685. _Puff Paste, with Beef Suet._--Where you cannot obtain good butter
for making paste, the following is an excellent substitute; skin and
chop one pound of kidney beef suet very fine, put it into a mortar and
pound it well, moistening with a little oil, until becoming as it were
one piece, and about the consistency of butter, proceed exactly as in
the last, using it instead of butter.