Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost.
JOHN vi. 12.
This is not intended to be a cookery book; but in order to help the
young housekeeper we shall give some hints as to _menus_ and a few
rare recipes.
The great line of seacoast from New York to Florida presents us with
some unrivalled delicacies, and the negroes of the State of Maryland,
which was founded by a rich and luxurious Lord Baltimore, knew how to
cook the terrapin, the canvas-back duck, oysters, and the superb wild
turkey,--not to speak of the well-fattened poultry of that rich and
luxurious Lorraine of America, "Maryland, my Maryland," which Oliver
Wendell Holmes calls the "gastronomical centre of the universe."
Here is an old Virginia recipe for cooking terrapin, which is rare and
excellent:--
Take three large, live, diamond-backed terrapin, plunge them
in boiling water for three minutes, to take off the skin, wipe
them clean, cook them in water slightly salted, drain them,
let them get cold, open and take out everything from the
shell. In removing the entrails care must be taken not to
break the gall. Cut off the head, tail, nails, gall, and
bladder. Cut the meat in even-size pieces, put them in a
sauce-pan with four ounces of butter, add the terrapin eggs,
and moisten them with a half pint of Madeira wine. Let the
mixture cook until the moisture is reduced one-half. Then add
two spoonfuls of cream sauce. After five minutes add the yolks
of four raw eggs diluted with a half-cup of cream. Season with
salt and a pinch of red pepper. The mixture should not boil
after the yolk of egg is added. Toss in two ounces of butter
before serving. The heat of the mess will cook egg and butter
enough. Serve with quartered lemon.
This is, perhaps, if well-cooked, the most excellent of all American
dishes.