Hand-Book of Practical Cookery, for Ladies and Professional Cooks
by Pierre Blot · English · Gutenberg #35646 · 805,870 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hand-Book of Practical Cookery, for Ladies and Professional Cooks
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Hand-Book of Practical Cookery, for Ladies and Professional Cooks
Author: Pierre Blot
Release date: March 21, 2011 [eBook #35646]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35646
Credits: Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at
http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet
Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAND-BOOK OF PRACTICAL COOKERY, FOR LADIES AND PROFESSIONAL COOKS ***
Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at
http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet
Archive/American Libraries.)
HAND-BOOK
OF
PRACTICAL COOKERY,
FOR
LADIES AND PROFESSIONAL COOKS.
CONTAINING
_THE WHOLE SCIENCE AND ART OF PREPARING HUMAN FOOD._
BY
PIERRE BLOT,
PROFESSOR OF GASTRONOMY, AND FOUNDER OF THE NEW YORK COOKING ACADEMY.
"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."
NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
1, 3, and 5 BOND STREET.
1884.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by
D. APPLETON & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
PREFACE.
Food is the most important of our wants; we cannot exist without it. The
man who does not use his brain to select and prepare his food, is not
above the brutes that take it in its raw state. It is to the physique
what education is to the mind, coarse or refined. Good and well-prepared
food beautifies the physique the same as a good and well-directed
education beautifies the mind. A cook-book is like a book on chemistry,
it cannot be used to any advantage if theory is not blended with
practice. It must also be written according to the natural products and
climate of the country in which it is to be used, and with a perfect
knowledge of the properties of the different articles of food and
condiments.
Like many other books, it is not the size that makes it practical; we
could have made this one twice as large as it is, without having added a
single receipt to it, by only having given separate ones for pieces of
meat, birds, fishes, etc., that are of the same kind and prepared
alike. All cook-books written by mere compilers, besides giving the same
receipt several times, recommend the most absurd mixtures as being the
best and of the "latest French style."
Although cookery has made more progress within two or three years, in
this country as well as in Europe, than it had since 1830, and although
all our receipts are complete, practical, wholesome, and in accordance
with progress, still they are simple. Our aim has been to enable every
housekeeper and professional cook, no matter how inexperienced they may
be, to prepare any kind of food in the best and most wholesome way, with
economy, celerity, and taste; and also to serve a dinner in as orderly a
manner as any steward can do.
We did not intend to make a book, such as that of CAREME, which cannot
be used at all except by cooks of very wealthy families, and with which
one cannot make a dinner costing less than twenty dollars a head. Such a
book is to housekeepers or plain cooks what a Latin dictionary is to a
person of merely elementary education.
If we give so many different ways of preparing the same article of food,
it is not with a view to complicate cookery, but people's taste is in
food as in dress, differing not only in the selection of colors, but
also in shape; therefore, by our variety of dishes and our different
styles of decorating them; by the ease that they can be prepared in the
cheapest as well as in the most costly way, we think we have met all
wants and all tastes. The wealthy, as well as those in limited
circumstances, can use our receipts with the same advantage.
Our division of cookery and the system of arranging _bills of fare_,
contained in these pages, solve that great and perplexing question,
especially for ladies, how to arrange a bill of fare for every season,
to suit any number of guests, at a greater or less expense, as they may
desire. Every one knows that money alone cannot make good dishes;
however good the raw materials may be, they require proper preparations
before being palatable and wholesome.
TO HOUSEKEEPERS AND COOKS.
A cook-book cannot be used like a dictionary; a receipt is like a rule
of grammar: to comprehend it thoroughly, it is indispensable to
understand others. The author, therefore, earnestly recommends to his
readers to begin by perusing carefully the directions, etc., at the
beginning of the book, and also the explanations given on and heading
the different articles of food, before attempting the preparation of a
dish for the first time. They will thus soon be able to prepare any dish
by merely reading the receipt. If all the explanations necessary were
given at every receipt, this work would have filled more than ten
volumes like the present.
We are aware that the study of cookery is as uninviting and dry as the
study of grammar at first; so is the study of every science and even
art; but it becomes comparatively easy and interesting after a while.
Mere flourish in a receipt would have the same effect as in a rule of
grammar.
TO COOKS.
We think the following friendly recommendations will not be out of place
here. They are in the interest of both the housekeeper and the cook:
Make use of every thing good.
Waste nothing, however little it may be.
Have no prejudices.
Be careful, clean, and punctual.
Always bear in mind that routine is the greatest enemy of
progress, and that you have agreed to faithfully perform your
daily duties for a certain consideration.
PIERRE BLOT.
New York, _August_, 1867.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
COOKING, 9
DIRECTIONS, EXPLANATIONS, ETC., 16
DIVERS RECEIPTS, 44
POTAGES OR SOUPS, 61
SAUCES, 97
FARCES AND GARNITURES, 113
FISH, 125
BEEF, 162
MUTTON, 184
VEAL, 202
PORK, 226
POULTRY, 237
GAME, 276
VEGETABLES, 305
EGGS, MACARONI, AND RICE, 356
SWEET DISHES, 376
PASTRY, 409
BILLS OF FARE, 459
INDEX, 465
COOKING.
The science and art of cooking may be divided into ten principal parts;
the rest is all fancy. These ten parts are: Baking, Boiling, Broiling,
Frying, Mixing, Roasting, Sauteing, Seasoning, Simmering, and Stewing.
Tasting is an adjunct to all.
_Baking._--In baking, see that the furnace or oven be properly heated;
some dishes require more heat than others. Look at the object in process
of baking from time to time, and especially at the beginning, turn it
round if necessary, in case it be heated more on one side than on the
other, to prevent burning.
In baking meat and fish, besides keeping the bottom of the pan covered
with broth or water, place a piece of buttered paper over the object in
the pan; it not only prevents it from burning, but acts as a
self-basting operation, and keeps the top moist and juicy.
If the top of cakes bake faster than the rest, place a piece of paper on
it.
In most of our receipts, we give the degree of heat necessary to bake
the different objects; it will, no doubt, be found valuable information.
_Boiling._--This is the most abused branch in cooking; we know that many
good-meaning housewives and professional cooks boil things that ought
to be prepared otherwise, with a view to economy; but a great many do it
through laziness. Boiling requires as much care as any other branch, but
they do not think so, and therefore indulge in it.
Another abuse is to boil fast instead of slowly. Set a small ocean of
water on a brisk fire and boil something in it as fast as you can, you
make much steam but do not cook faster; the degree of heat being the
same as if you were boiling slowly.
If the object you boil, and especially boil fast, contains any flavor,
you evaporate it, and cannot bring it back.
Many things are spoiled or partly destroyed by boiling, such as meat,
coffee, etc.
Water that has been boiled is inferior for cooking purposes, its gases
and alkali being evaporated.
_Broiling._--Whatever you broil, grease the bars of the gridiron first.
Broiling and roasting is the same thing; the object in process of
cooking by either must be exposed to the heat on one side, and the other
side to the air.
Bear in mind that no one can broil or roast in an oven, whatever be its
construction, its process of heating, or its kind of heat. An object
cooked in an oven is baked.
It is better to broil before than over the fire. In broiling before the
fire, all the juice can be saved.
In broiling by gas, there is a great advantage. The meat is placed under
the heat, and as the heat draws the juice of the meat, the consequence
is, that the juice being attracted upward, it is retained in the meat.
A gas broiler is a square, flat drum, perforated on one side and placed
over a frame.
Broiling on live coals or on cinders without a gridiron is certainly not
better than with one, as believed by many; on the contrary, besides not
being very clean, it burns or chars part of the meat.
That belief comes from the fact that when they partook of meat prepared
that way, it was with a sauce that generally accompanies hunters,
fishermen, etc.,--_hunger_--the most savory of all savory sauces.
_Frying._--That part of cooking is not as difficult as it is generally
believed, and properly fried objects are good and do not taste greasy.
To fry requires care, and nothing fried will taste greasy if it has been
dropped in fat properly heated and in enough of it to immerse the
object.
When an object tastes greasy, it is not because it has been fried in
grease, but because there was not enough of it, or because it was not
properly heated; for, if heated enough it closes the pores of the object
and carbonizes the exterior, so that it cannot absorb any.
_Directions for Frying._--Prepare what you intend to fry according to
the directions given in the different receipts.
Have fat, lard, or oil in a pan, enough to immerse the object or objects
intended to be fried.
When the fat is hot enough (see below), place the object in a kind of
wire basket made for that purpose, which drop in the fat and take off
when the object is fried. It is handy, and there is no danger of
breaking the object in taking it off.
There are objects that require to be stirred or turned over while
frying.
Every time you fry any thing, take the fat from the fire, let it stand
in a cool place for about five minutes, then turn it gently into a
stone jar or pot through a strainer; let cool and put away. In turning
the fat, lard, or oil into the jar, pour so that the dregs will be kept
in the pan.
To ascertain with accuracy when the fat, lard, or oil is hot enough to
lay the things in the pan, dip a fork in cold water, the prongs only; so
as to retain but one or two drops of water, which drops you let fall in
the fat, and if it crackles, it is hot enough.
Another way is, when jets of smoke come out of the fat.
There are objects that require more heat than others, some that are more
sightly when brown, and others when of a pale-yellow hue.
If the object is desired brown, leave the pan on a brisk fire while it
is frying; if otherwise, remove it to a slow or less brisk fire.
Fat is not like water, which, no matter how fast you boil it, you cannot
augment the degree of heat, while you can that of fat. If water, by
boiling it fast, could be heated as much as fat, it would be used to fry
in its stead, being cheaper.
_Mixing._--In mixing, pay due attention to the quantities we give in the
receipts; but as everybody has not the same taste, it is very easy to
augment or diminish the quantity of salt, pepper, sugar, butter, etc.,
so as to suit one's own taste.
When the quantity is left to the judgment or taste of the cook, that is,
when the expression _about so much_ is made use of, it is not necessary
then to have the exact quantity; a little more or a little less cannot
spoil or partly destroy the dish.
_Roasting._--When an object is placed on the spit according to
directions, remember that it cannot be basted too often.
The time necessary for roasting a piece of meat or any thing else,
depends as much upon the fire as upon the nature of the meat. Meat
especially requires to be placed very near the fire at first, and then
put back by degrees.
There is nearly as much difference between roasted and baked meat as
there is between broiled and fried meat.
It is generally admitted here, that English roast-beef is so superior to
American roast-beef that it cannot be compared to it. It is not in the
quality of the meat that the difference lies, but in the process of
cooking.
Meat cannot be roasted in an oven, be it in an ordinary or in a patented
one.
That peculiar flavor in roasted meat is produced by the air coming
constantly in contact with the heated meat while revolving on the spit.
Cold roasted meat, when desired to be served warm, is enveloped in
buttered paper and placed on the spit just long enough to warm it.
_Sauteing._--There is no word, that we know, in the English language,
corresponding to the French word _saute_. It differs from frying in
this: that to fry any object requires fat enough to immerse that object;
while to _saute_ it, requires just enough to prevent it from scorching.
Vegetables, omelets, etc., are _sauted_, and not fried.
Meat or fish cooked in a frying-pan with a little butter or fat, is
_sauted_, and not fried; but the term fried is most generally used, the
other being only known to practitioners.
To _saute_ requires a brisk fire; the quicker an object is cooked by
_sauteing_ the better.
_Seasoning._--This is the most difficult part in the science of cooking.
To season is not difficult, but to season properly is quite another
thing.
It is not only necessary to know well how to stew or roast a peace of
meat or any thing else, but to know how to season it, to be able to
judge what quantity and what kind of spices can be used to season such
or such a dish, to what extent all the spices used agree together, and
what taste and flavor they will give to the object with which they are
cooked; for, if not properly used, they may just as likely destroy the
taste and flavor of the object as improve it.
Some dishes require high and much seasoning, others just the contrary.
With a good fire and a good spit, it is not necessary to be a thorough
cook to roast a piece well, but the cook is indispensable to mix the
gravy or sauce with the proper seasonings.
_Simmering._--Simmering differs from boiling only in the amount of heat
allowed under the boiler, kettle, or pan. To simmer, is to boil as
gently and slowly as possible.
_Stewing._--To stew properly it is necessary to have a moderate fire and
as even as possible. A brisk fire would cause much steam to evaporate,
which steam is the flavor of the object stewed.
_Tasting._--This is the most difficult, and at the same time the most
delicate, part of seasoning; it is by tasting that we ascertain if we
have seasoned properly.
In this only two of the senses are engaged, and one of those much more
than the other.
A person may have good feeling, hearing, and sight, and for all that
would not be fit for preparing the simplest dish; the senses of smelling
and tasting are the ones most required, and without which no one can
cook properly.
For these reasons we will take the liberty to recommend to housekeepers,
when they have new cooks, to instruct them on their taste, and always
let them know when they have seasoned too much or too little. To the
cooks we will say, do not season according to your own taste, if the
persons for whom you cook do not like it.
If the housekeeper would give his or her candid and frank opinion of the
dishes to the cook, and if the latter be not stubborn, the best results
might be obtained and both would be benefited by it. That ought to be
done every day while making the bill of fare.
To taste a sauce, as well as to know if a thing is good to eat, we
cannot trust either our eyes, fingers, or ears; we then have recourse,
first to our smelling, and then to our tasting: so do most animals.
We always commence by smelling, and when that sense is satisfied as far
as it is concerned, we then apply our tasting qualities; and if that
last one is, in its turn, satisfied also, we proceed, that is, we
masticate, if mastication is necessary, and then swallow.
DIRECTIONS, EXPLANATIONS, ETC.
ANISE.
Anise comes from Egypt, and is used as a spice.
APRICOT.
This is a native of Armenia. It is served like plums and peaches; in
salad, compote, etc.
BACON.
Never use smoked bacon or ham, except when especially directed. The
smoky taste would spoil the dish.
BAIN-MARIE.
A bain-marie is a large vessel of hot or boiling water, in which
saucepans, kettles, moulds, etc., are placed to prepare or warm food. It
is also used to keep any kind of food warm, when something is ready to
serve, and the time has not come; the utensil containing it is placed in
hot water, and it not only keeps it warm, but there is almost no
evaporation while in it. It does not boil away either.
There are things that are much more delicate when prepared or warmed in
hot water.
One utensil made for that purpose, and of brass, with compartments, is
more handy, but a large saucepan may be used in its stead.
When any thing is in the bain-marie, the water should not be allowed to
boil fast enough either to upset the pans or get into them.
BAKE-PANS.
A bake-pan for baking meat, fish, or any other object that requires
liquor of any kind, must have borders in order to hold that liquor; but
a bake-pan for cakes or any other object that does not require any
liquor, or that does not turn liquid in baking, is better without
borders--that is, a simple piece of sheet iron of a size to go easily in
the oven.
BAY-LEAF.
This is known also under its French name laurier.
It is used as a spice; it is exceedingly cheap and is excellent to
flavor sauces, gravies, etc.
It comes especially from Italy, where it is used to pack figs, oil, and
different fruits.
BEETS.
The red beet is much used to decorate different dishes.
It is boiled, then pickled, cut in fancy shapes, either with a knife or
with paste-cutters, and tastefully placed on or around the object it is
used to decorate.
It is served as a _hors-d'oeuvre_, pickled, and cut in slices.
_To boil._--Set it on a good fire in a pan, covered with cold water, and
boil gently till done.
The beet must not be touched at all with any thing rough, for if the
skin or root is cut or broken, all the color goes away in boiling, it is
not fit to decorate, and loses much of its quality.
When you buy beets, see that they are not bruised, and that the root is
not broken.
BRAISING.
Braising, in cookery, means to cook any thing with fire under and upon
the pan, kettle, or other utensil.
A good oven is by far more easy, and answers perfectly the purpose. An
oven not only warms the under and upper parts of the utensil, but all
around it also.
BUNCH OF SEASONINGS.
It is composed of parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, and cloves, and sometimes a
clove of garlic is added. Place the sprigs of parsley in the left hand,
rather spread, lay the others on and in the middle of the parsley, and
envelop them in it as well as possible, then tie the whole with twine.
As all these seasonings are never served except when chopped, they are
more easily taken out than if they were not tied together.
BUTTERED PAPER.
Dip in lukewarm butter a piece of white paper of the size you want, and
envelop the piece to broil or roast with it. Tie the paper around with
twine or coarse thread.
OILED PAPER.
The only difference between oiled and buttered paper is, that it is
dipped in sweet or olive oil instead of butter.
CATSUP.
Beware of what is sold under the name of catsups and pickles; many cases
of dyspepsia, debility, and consumption come from using such stuff.
CAVIARE.
It is made with the roes, hard and soft, of the sterlet. It is imported
from Russia, and is served as a _hors-d'oeuvre_, with slices of lemon
and toast.
CERVELAS, SAUCISSONS, ETC.
Cervelas, saucissons, as well as smoked sausages, are pork-butchers'
preparations, cut slantwise in very thin slices, and served as
_hors-d'oeuvre_, with parsley in the middle of the dish.
CHEESE.
Cheese is the first plate of _dessert_ to be partaken of. "A dinner
without cheese is like a handsome lady with but one
eye."--_Brillat-Savarin_.
"Cheese takes away all the taste that might be left from preceding
dishes, and by that means prepares the palate for the appreciation of
the good things, the delicate flavors of the dessert and wines."
COCHINEAL.
Cochineal, or carmine. Buy the cochineal in powder, prepared for cooking
purposes, mix some (say the size of half a split pea) with a few drops
of cold water and mix that again with what you wish to color. The
quantity of cochineal is according to the quantity of mixture and also
according to how deep the color is desired.
CHERVIL.
This comes from Italy, and is used in salad and as a spice.
COLANDER.
Besides the ordinary colander, it is necessary to have a fine one. We
mean, by a fine colander, one with holes half the size of the ordinary
ones, that is, just between the colander and strainer. A colander
should not have holes on the sides; it is handier and more clean with
holes at the bottom only.
CURRY.
We think that curry is very good and necessary on the borders of the
Ganges River, and for that very reason we think also that it ought to be
eschewed on the borders of the Hudson, Delaware, Ohio, and thereabouts.
We cannot describe curry better than by giving here the answer
(_verbatim et literatim_) of a gentleman who has lived a few years in
Java, to a question on the properties and qualities of curry. He said
that he thought it good and even necessary to use some there on account
of the climate, but every time he had eaten it he thought he was
swallowing boiling alcohol or live coals.
DINING-ROOM.
It must be well ventilated and lighted. The best degree of temperature
is about 66 degrees Fahr.
DISH.
A dish ought to be charming to the eye, flattering to the smell, and
delicious to the taste.
DRAINING.
To drain, is to put in a colander any thing that has been soaked,
washed, or boiled, etc., in water or any other liquid, in order to dry
it, or at least to let drop from it the water or other liquid that may
be in it.
Salads of greens, as a general thing, are drained after being washed,
before putting them in the salad-dish; they must be drained as dry as
possible, but without pressing on them, as it would wilt the leaves, and
give the salad an unsightly appearance.
DUSTING.
A pan, after being buttered or greased, is dusted with flour, sugar, or
even bread-crumbs, to prevent the mixture that is put in it from
sticking. Sugar, etc., may also be sprinkled over dishes with a dredger.
DRINKING.
When weary, or cold, or warm, or exhausted, we drink in preference to
eating, because we feel the effect instantaneously; while after eating
even the most substantial food, we do not feel the effect for some time.
When exhausted and when immediate relief is necessary, the best drinks
are broth, chocolate, milk, or water sweetened with sugar. It is more
than a mistake to drink wines or liquors at such a time; it is really
committing slow suicide.
When only thirsty, without exhaustion, we ought to drink cold water with
a teaspoon. When thirsty and heated, the first thing to do is to dip the
hands in cold water deep enough just to cover the wrists; then dip a
towel in the water, lay it on the forehead, and then drink cold water
with a teaspoon.
A few drops of vinegar or lemon-juice may be added to the water. If
exceedingly hot, keep your hands in cold water and the towel on your
forehead at least one minute before drinking.
HOT WEATHER.
A remark or two on eating and drinking in hot weather are always in
season. Green vegetables, properly cooked, are certainly healthful in
warm weather; but it is a mistake to think that meat should be excluded
from summer diet. The hotter the weather, the more the system wastes,
and therefore the more we must supply.
In order to keep the body in a healthful condition, meat ought to be
eaten at least once a day in summer-time. It would be well to vary this
programme by taking one meal of fish on every other day.
Fat should be disused as much as possible. A very little good butter
with your fresh radishes at breakfast is as much fat as is necessary.
COLD WEATHER.
Fat meat is good in winter and is relished; so are dry vegetables and
saccharine substances.
FOOD.
Nature has provided man with a mind, in order that he should study what
kind of food suits his constitution; he who does not do it, is not above
the lower animals.
"Good things have been made by the Creator for good people, flowers have
certainly not been made for brutes, either quadruped or
biped."--_Jefferson._
"It is from good things that, in a human point of view, we derive the
strength necessary to our limbs, let us partake of the same and be
thankful."--_Rev._----_Chadband._
Have your food selected and prepared according to constitution,
occupation, climate, age, and sex.
Waste in females is greater than in males.
Animals, generally, are very careful in selecting their food.
A temporary bloatedness may be obtained, especially with the young, by
eating much farinaceous food, such as pancakes, etc., but it does not
last, and is sure to bring on disease or sickness, or both.
Man is omnivorous, and must be fed accordingly.
Extreme leanness comes from want of proper food, either in youth or old
age.
It is not the amount that is eaten which nourishes, but the amount that
is digested; an excess of food is as bad as a lack of it.
Good and well-baked bread is nutritious and healthful, while unbaked
bread is heavy and difficult of digestion.
Take at least half an hour's rest after a hearty meal, for mind and
stomach cannot work at the same time.
Never eat when angry, or tired, or when heated; but be as cool and as
gay as possible, for food being exposed to a heat of about 100 degrees
Fahr, in the stomach, would ferment instead of digesting.
Take a hearty but by no means heavy dinner.
Eat slowly, at regular hours, and masticate well, but do not bolt your
food, or eat any thing that does not taste good.
Drink slowly, moderately, and always taste before swallowing.
Vary your food as much as possible.
Always have at least one dish of vegetables for dinner, besides meat,
and also ripe fruit.
See that every thing you eat or drink is of a good quality, wholesome
and properly prepared.
ECONOMY.
There is not a word so much misused in cooking as the word economy.
Prejudice comes for a large share in the use of it.
How many things are thrown away, or wasted by mere prejudice or
ignorance!
It is often from economy that a woman washes meat, because some part of
it does not look clean. Instead of washing it, do not buy it; or, if
bought, cut off a thin slice and throw it away: it is more economical
than washing the whole piece, which you partly destroy by the process.
It is with a view to economy, that an old, bad custom prevails of
boiling coffee. What an economy of sending the best part of the coffee
(the aroma) to the attic, and the rest to the dining-room. A bad drink
can be made cheaper with many things than with coffee.
Tea is also boiled with an eye to economy.
EGG-BEATER.
We have tried five different kinds in Boston, before a large audience
and on the demand of an inventor of one, but none could beat eggs as
well as a common hand-beater. The whites of the eggs could not be raised
with any of the others much more than half as much as with the common
one; and besides, could not be beaten stiff.
Many persons do not succeed in making cakes of different preparations in
which whites of eggs beaten to a stiff froth are used, because the eggs
are not properly beaten.
Any tinsmith can make an egg-beater. It is generally made with tin-wire,
but may be made with brass-wire.
With the cut below, as a model, it can be easily made.
[Illustration]
The handle _a_ is of tin, into which the tin wires _b_ are fastened and
soldered.
ERRORS IN COOKING.
Ignorance produces abuse or error, or both. Blissful ignorance may be a
fine thing in some cases, but either in preparing or partaking of food,
it is certainly more than an abuse, it is a dangerous error.
It is by ignorance or disease that man abuses wine or any other liquor.
It is by ignorance or prejudice that many eschew the best and most
healthful of condiments, such as garlics, onions, etc. They dislike them
on account of their pungent taste when raw, not knowing that when cooked
it is all evaporated. Their pungent taste comes from the volatile oil
they contain, and which evaporates in cooking; it cannot be retained,
but their sugar is retained, and gives such a good flavor to gravies and
sauces.
FENNEL.
This is said to be a native of the Canary Islands; it has a very strong
taste, and is used as a spice, especially in blood pudding. The Romans
used a great deal of it.
FIG.
The fig-tree comes from Mesopotamia. Figs are generally served as
_hors-d'oeuvre_, or used in puddings, etc.
FINES HERBES.
Parsley and cives chopped fine, and used for omelets, or with cold meat,
sauces, etc., are called thus.
FLOUR.
In cooking, new flour is not as good as old; it does not thicken as well
and as fast.
FOIES GRAS.
_Foies_, or _pates de foies gras_ are made with geese-livers, fresh fat
pork, truffles, ham, _fines herbes_, and spices.
They are always served cold as a _releve_ or _entree_, but most
generally they are used for lunch or supper.
FRUIT-CORER.
There are many sizes in the set, to core from a pineapple to a cherry.
[Illustration]
GALANTINE.
The word galantine means a _boned bird_, or a boned shoulder of veal.
GLAZING.
Glazing is generally done by means of a brush or with feathers. A beaten
egg, or syrup, or jelly, or egg and sugar, etc., are used to glaze
cakes, etc. It is done by dipping the brush into the egg or jelly, and
by spreading it on the cake or other object before baking or before
serving, as directed in the different receipts. It is also done by
sifting powdered sugar on cakes which are put back in the oven for a
short time--that is, the time necessary to melt the sugar.
INDIGESTION.
A cup of tea and camomile, half of each, with a few drops of
orange-flower water, and the whole well sweetened and taken warm, is
very good after having eaten something difficult to digest.
ITALIAN PASTES.
Macaroni, vermicelli, and the like dry pastes, are called Italian
pastes, whatever the shape--round, oval, or star-like.
ISINGLASS.
It is sometimes used instead of gelatine to make jellies.
JELLY-BAG.
Make a conical bag of good white flannel, about twenty inches long,
fifteen inches broad at one end when spread on a flat surface, or about
thirty inches in circumference, the other end being the point. Sew to it
four pieces of white tape at the large end, and at equal distances, so
that two sticks may be run into them. The sticks are placed on chairs or
something else, in order to have the point of the bag about one foot
from the floor. It is then ready to pass the jellies through it.
[Illustration]
KITCHEN UTENSILS.
Gastronomists use, in preference to any thing else, crockery or earthen
pans; or, for want of these, block-tin pans.
Copper is, in the end, the cheapest of all; but American cooks do not
like them because they require too much care and must be examined every
day; to prevent any accident, it is necessary to keep the inside
properly lined.
Many indispositions are caused by food prepared in copper not properly
lined; even food allowed to cool in a well-lined pan would be dangerous.
Pans lined with porcelain are excellent, but the trouble with them is,
that they crack, and after that cannot be cleaned; something will
always remain between the lining and the iron, and spoil every thing
cooked in them.
The tin-lined are preferable, on account of being easily cleaned by
means of a small birch-broom, washing-soda, and boiling water.
LAIT DE POULE.
Mix well in a tumbler a yolk of egg and a teaspoonful of sugar; then add
a few drops of orange-flower water (_eau de fleur d'oranger_); pour
boiling water on the whole, little by little, stirring the while, and
drink warm.
The quantity of water is according to taste.
A gill of water to a yolk of egg makes it thick enough.
It makes an excellent drink, to be taken just before retiring, for
persons with cough.
LARD.
Never buy lard ready made if you can help it, but take hog's fat, the
part enveloping the kidneys, or leaf lard, and chop it fine, put it in a
cast-iron or crockery kettle with a bay-leaf and a stalk of thyme to
every two pounds of fat; set on a moderate fire, and as soon as it
begins to melt, take the melted part out with a ladle, and put it in a
stone jar or pot; be careful not to take any pieces of fat not yet
melted. Continue that process till it is all melted.
The dry or hard part that remains at the bottom of the kettle when done
is no good.
Lard made thus is as white as snow, and may be kept a long time.
When there is water in lard, it flies all over the fire; in that case,
boil it a few minutes with a cover on the pan, and then use.
FAT FOR FRYING.
Take beef suet, the part around the kidneys, or any kind of fat, raw or
cooked; remove as much as possible fibres, nerves, thin skin, or bones;
chop it fine, put it in a cast-iron or crockery kettle; add to it the
fat you may have skimmed from the top of broth, sauces or, gravies. Set
the pan on a moderate fire; boil gently for about fifteen minutes, skim
it well during the process; take from the fire, let it stand about five
minutes, and then strain.
Put it in a stone jar or pot, and keep it in a dry and cool place. Cover
the jar when perfectly cold.
It is as good as lard and more handy; it does not fly over the pan like
lard.
A careful cook seldom buys fat; generally there is enough coming from
skimming of broth, sauces, and gravies, for every purpose.
TO CLARIFY FAT.
Set the fat on a moderate fire in a pan, and as soon as it commences to
boil, place a slice of bread dried in the oven in it, boil gently for
about half an hour; take from the fire, let it settle for a few minutes;
remove the bread, turn gently into a jar or pot, leaving the dregs in
the pan.
_Chicken_, _Turkey_, _and Goose Fat._--The fat of the above birds is
never used to fry, but to _saute_ instead of butter. To make omelets it
is excellent; an omelet is whiter and more sightly made with chicken-fat
than when made with butter. It is clarified as directed above.
GAME-FAT.
Game-fat can be used instead of other fat and also instead of butter, to
_saute_, or what is generally called partly fry, game; it may also be
used, instead of butter to bake game.
It must be clarified longer than other fat, but in the same way.
The boiling of fat with water, as indicated in some cook-books, is only
a fancy and extra work, it has no effect whatever on the fat. It is the
same by keeping it for hours in a _bain-marie_; it does not change it in
the least.
BATTER FOR FRYING.
_For frying Vegetables._--Put three tablespoonfuls of flour in a bowl
with two yolks of eggs, and cold water enough to make a kind of thin
paste, then add salt and half a teaspoonful of sweet oil; mix well. Beat
the two whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and mix them with the rest.
Put the batter away in a cold place for at least two hours, and use.
It must not be put away longer than for half a day.
_Another._--Proceed as above in every particular, except that you use
milk instead of water.
_For frying Fish._--Make it exactly as the above, except that you do not
use any oil.
_For frying Fritters._--Mix well together in a bowl three tablespoonfuls
of flour with two yolks of eggs and cold water enough to make a thin
paste; add a pinch of sugar, rum or brandy, or any other liquor,
according to taste, from one to three or four tablespoonfuls, mix well
again, and put away for at least two or three hours, but not longer than
twelve hours.
_Eggs and Crumbs for frying._--The eggs are beaten as for omelets, with
a little salt. The objects to be fried are dipped in the eggs first,
then rolled in bread-crumbs and fried.
_Another._--When rolled in bread-crumbs as above; dip again in the eggs,
roll again in bread-crumbs and fry.
_Another._--Dip the object in melted butter, then in eggs, and roll in
bread-crumbs; fry.
LARDING.
All pork-butchers sell salt pork for larding. Cut it in slices and then
by cutting the slices across it makes square strips or fillets.
The strips must be of a proper size to be easily inserted into the
larding-needle, and are about two inches and a half long.
When the needle is run half way through the meat, insert the salt pork
into it, pull the needle off and leave the salt pork inside of the meat,
both ends of it sticking out.
If it were running through, that is, if the salt pork were pulled off
with the needle, most likely the strips are too small; then pull slowly,
and when the salt pork is far enough into the meat, press on it with the
finger and pull the needle, it will then stay in its proper place. It is
better to cut a few strips first and try if they are of a proper size.
If, in pulling off the needle, the salt pork does not enter the meat,
the strips are too large.
If the strips are of a proper size and break while pulling the needle
off, then the pork is not good.
_Fricandeau_, sweetbreads, birds, etc., are larded in the same way.
For beef _a la mode_, it is described in the receipt.
LARDING-NEEDLE.
The best are made of brass. Those that are sold for steel are generally
of iron, and break easily.
Those for beef _a la mode_ are of steel, and must be flat near the
point, in order to cut the meat.
LEAVEN.
Knead four ounces of flour with baker's yeast, enough to make a rather
thick dough; give it the shape of a rather flat apple; with a sharp
knife make two cuts on the top and across, and through about one-third
of the paste; put the paste in a pan of lukewarm water. In a few minutes
it will float; take it off and use then after it has floated about two
minutes.
MEAT.
The time it takes to cook meat depends as much on the quality of the
meat as on the fire. Some persons like meat more done than others; in
many cases you must consult your own taste or that of your guests.
Beef, lamb, mutton, and game, may be eaten rather underdone, according
to taste; domestic fowls must be properly cooked; but pork and veal must
always be overdone, or else it is very unwholesome, if not dangerous.
The following table may be used as a guide:
Bear and Buffalo, a five-pound piece, 5 to 7 hrs.
Wild Boar and Woodchuck, Do. do. 3 to 4 hrs.
Beef, Do. do. 1 hr. 30 m.
Do. a ten pound piece, 2 hrs. 30 m.
Capon, a large one, 1 hour.
Chicken, a middling-sized one, 45 min.
Duck, a large one, 45 min.
Do. a small one, 30 min.
Goose, a large one, 2 hours.
Do. a small one, 1 hr. 30 m.
Grouse, Heathcock, Snipe, and W'dcock, a fat one, 30 min.
Do. do. do. do. a lean one, 20 min.
Guinea Fowl, a middling-sized one, 1 hour.
Hare, an old one, 1 hr. 30 m.
Do. a young one, about 1 hr.
Lamb and Kid, a large quarter, 1 hour.
Do. do. a small one, 45 min.
Mutton, a four-pound piece, 1 hour.
Do. a six " " 1 hr. 30 m.
Partridge, Pheasant, and Prairie-Hen, a middling-sized one, 30 to 45 m.
Pigeon, one, 30 min.
Pork, a two-pound piece, 1 hr. 15 m.
Do. a four " " 2 hours.
Quail, one, 20 min.
Sucking-Pig, a large one, 2 hrs. 30 m.
Do. do. a small one, 2 hours.
Rabbit, a middling-sized one, 30 to 45 min.
Robin, Blackbird, Fig-pecker,
High-holder, Lapwing, Meadow Lark,
Plover, Reed-bird, Thrush,
Yellow-bird, and other small birds, 15 to 20 min.
Turkey, a large one, 1 hr. 30 m.
Do. a small one, about 1 hour.
Veal, a two-pound piece, 1 hr. 15 m.
Venison, a four " " about 1 hour.
The following table may be used as a guide to know how long meat may be
kept, in a cool, dry, and dark place; and protected from flies or other
insects:
In Summer. In Winter.
Bear and Buffalo, 3 to 4 days. 10 to 15 days.
Wild Boar and Woodchuck, 3 to 4 " 8 to 10 "
Beef and Pork, 2 to 4 " 6 to 10 "
Capon, 2 to 3 " 4 to 8 "
Chicken, old one, 3 to 4 " 4 to 10 "
Do. young one, 1 to 2 " 2 to 6 "
Deer, Partridge, Pheasant, Prairie-Hen, Quail,
Guinea-Fowl, and Turkey, 2 to 3 " 6 to 10 "
Duck and Goose, 3 to 4 " 4 to 8 "
Hare and Rabbit, 2 to 3 " 4 to 8 "
Grouse, Heathcock, Snipe, and Woodcock, 3 to 4 " 8 to 15 "
Lamb, Kid, Sucking Pig, and Veal, 2 to 3 " 3 to 6 "
Mutton, 2 to 3 " 6 to 10 "
Pigeons, Blackbirds, Fig-peckers, High-holders,
Lapwings, Meadow Larks,
Plovers, Reed-birds, Robins, Thrushes,
Yellow-birds, and other small birds, 2 to 3 " 6 to 10 "
The time must be reduced one-half in summer, in stormy or damp weather,
and one-third in winter, in thawing or rainy weather.
_Fish._--When cleaned and prepared as directed, place it in a crockery
stewpan, cover it with cold water, add a little salt, two or three
sprigs of thyme, and one or two bay-leaves. It will keep thus for some
time.
MOULDS.
_Mould for Meat Pies._--A mould for meat pies may be round or oval; it
must be in two pieces, fastened together by a kind of hinge. When the
pie is baked, the wire pin holding the mould is pulled, and the mould
removed.
[Illustration]
_Mould for Pies_, _Jellies_, _etc._--This mould may be used for any
thing that requires a mould; it may also be round, oval, or of any other
shape.
[Illustration]
OLIVES.
Fresh and ripe they are served as dessert with other fruit. Preserved,
they are served as a _hors-d'oeuvre_, and used to flavor and decorate
different dishes.
Olives as well as sardines are healthful and considered one of the best
_hors-d'oeuvre_.
OSMAZOME.
Osmazome is found in beef, mutton, full-grown domestic fowls, venison,
and game; in the latter, when the bird or animal is adult.
In meat soup, the osmazome is the soluble part of the meat that
dissolves in boiling, and makes nutritious broth.
In broiled or roasted pieces, it is that part which makes a kind of
brown crust on the surface of the meat, and also the brownish part of
the gravy.
Chicken, lamb, sucking-pig, veal, etc., do not contain any osmazome.
PARSLEY, CHERVIL, THYME, CELERY, SAGE, ETC.,--FOR WINTER USE.
Hang in the shade, under a shed, or in a garret, and in a clean and dry
place, some small bunches of parsley, chervil, celery, etc., the roots
upward; leave them thus till perfectly dry, then place them in your
spice-box for winter use.
The best time for drying them is at the end of October or the beginning
of November; dig them up in fine and dry weather, so as to have them
clean without washing.
Soak in cold water half an hour before using.
WHITE PEPPER.
This is black pepper decorticated.
Put peppercorns in a bowl, cover with cold water, and leave thus till
the skin is tender; then drain. Take the skin off, let it dry, grind it;
place with your other spices, and use where directed. It takes many days
for the skin to become tender.
QUALITY OF MEAT, FISH, VEGETABLES, FRUIT, ETC.
The quality of meat depends entirely on the quality of food with which
the animal has been fed.
For fish, the taste or quality is according to the kind of water in
which they have lived; fish from a muddy pond smell of mud, while fish
from a clear brook are delicious.
The same difference exists in vegetables and fruit; their quality is
according to the quality or nature of the ground in which they have been
grown.
PASTRY-BAG.
A bag for pastry is made with thick, strong linen; of a conical shape,
about one foot long, eight inches broad at one end when spread on a flat
surface, and which makes about sixteen inches in circumference, and only
one inch and a quarter at the other end, and in which latter end a tin
tube is placed, so that the smaller end of the tin tube will come out of
the smaller end of the bag. Putting then some mixture into the bag and
by pressing from the upper end downward, the mixture will come out of
the tin tube.
RAW MATERIALS.
If American cookery is inferior to any other generally, it is not on
account of a want of the first two requisites--raw materials and money
to buy them; so there is no excuse for it, both are given to the cooks.
Here, where markets rival the best markets of Europe and even surpass
them in abundance, it is really a pity to live as many do live.
SCALLOPED KNIFE.
This knife is used to cut beets, carrots, turnip-rooted celery,
potatoes, radishes, and turnips; in slices, round, oblong, or of any
other shape; either to decorate dishes, or to be served alone or with
something else, or to be fried.
[Illustration]
The annexed cuts will give an idea of what can be done with it. It is
understood that the vegetables are peeled first.
[Illustration]
SHALLOTS.
Shallots come from Syria. Shallot is stronger than garlic and onion; a
real Tartar sauce cannot be made without shallot. The small, green onion
is a good substitute for it.
SKEWERS.
The cuts below are skewers. The common ones are used to fasten pieces of
meat together; to roast or bake small birds, liver in _brochette_, etc.,
etc.
[Illustration]
Those to decorate are only used with different flowers or vegetables,
and stuck inside of different pieces of meat as a decoration. They are
removed just before carving.
The use of them is explained in the different receipts. They may be
different from those seen in the cuts.
SPICES.
The cooks of this country generally have a queer idea of what they call
French cookery and French spices.
Some honestly believe that to make a French dish a great deal of pepper
and other strong seasonings must be put in.
Many other persons, who have not been in Europe, really believe also,
that French cookery is what is called highly-seasoned. There never was a
greater mistake.
If French cooks use several kinds of spices, and may-be more than
American cooks, they are not the same; or if some are the same, such as
pepper, they use them in much smaller proportions.
They generally use thyme, parsley, bay-leaf, chervil, tarragon, etc.,
which are aromatic; but never use (in this climate) ginger, curry,
cayenne pepper, pimento, catsups, variegated colored pickles made with
pyroligneous acids, etc., and which are very exciting and irritating.
Some of our readers may naturally ask: How is it that French cookery is
believed by many to be the contrary of what it really is?
Because every eating-house, of no matter what size, pretends to be a
first-rate one or a fashionable one--and to be first-rate or fashionable
must, as a matter of course, have French cooks, or at least cook French
dishes.
You enter the place, ask for a French dish; or, ask if you can have such
a dish, _a la Francaise_?
You are politely and emphatically answered in the affirmative; and very
often the polite waiter says that a French cook presides in the kitchen.
Result!--the cook, be he from the Green Isle or of African descent,
receiving the order to prepare a French dish, puts a handful of pepper
in the already too much peppered, old-fashioned prepared dish, and sends
it to the confident customer as a genuine French dish.
Said customer never asks a second time for a French dish, and pronounces
French cookery to be--abominable!
STIRRING.
Never use any spoon but a wooden one to stir any thing on the fire or in
a warm state.
STRAINING.
To strain, is to pass a sauce or any thing else through a sieve, a
strainer, or a piece of cloth, in order to have it freed from particles
of every kind.
Broth is strained to make soup, so as to remove the small pieces of
bones that may be in it, etc.
SUGAR.
Sugar plays a very important part in cooking. It is added to cereals,
vegetables, and fruit, many of which would almost be unpalatable without
it, and which are rendered not only palatable but wholesome by its
action.
It is the sugar of the carrot and that of the onion, or of the garlic,
that gives such a peculiar and delicious flavor to gravies and sauces,
to _beef a la mode_, _fricandeau_, etc.
_Pulverized._--When pulverized or powdered sugar can be had pure, it
saves the trouble to do it; but often there are foreign matters in it
and therefore it is better to make it; you know then what you have.
Break loaf sugar into small lumps, pound it and sift it. With a fine
sieve, you can make it as fine as you please.
It was not used in Europe until about the middle of the seventeenth
century.
For the cooking of sugar, see Preserves.
TARRAGON.
The French name of tarragon is _estragon_. It is excellent in vinegar
and in many fish sauces. It is aromatic, sudorific, and stomachic, and
grows very well in this country. It grows at least twice as large here
as in Europe.
TIN TUBES.
These tubes are put in the pastry-bag, at the smaller end of it, to make
_meringues_, ladies' fingers, etc.; they are of tin, and can be made by
any tinsmith.
They have the shape of a trapezoid or frustum. Two are enough for any
purpose.
No. 1. One inch and a half long; one inch and three-eighths in diameter
at one end, and nine-sixteenths of an inch at the other end.
No. 2. One inch and a half long; one inch and a half in diameter at one
end, and six-eighths of an inch at the other.
TRUFFLES.
Truffles are found in Europe and Africa, where they were first
discovered.
The truffle is neither an animal nor a vegetable, although it has been
classed among the fungi, which has root, and the truffle has neither
root nor stem.
The truffle is used for stuffing and flavoring only otherwise it is not
of much value. On account of their scarcity, and the difficulty in
finding them, they are rather costly.
We think truffles may be compared to lace--both are dear, and neither
has an intrinsic value.
VANILLA.
Is a native of America, extensively used for seasoning creams, pastry,
etc., to which it gives a delicious flavor.
Although a native of America, all the extracts of vanilla, as well as
others, were formerly imported; but within a few years Americans have
found out that they are able to distil also, and "Burnett's Extract of
Vanilla" is better known to-day all over the country than any other.
VEGETABLE SPOONS.
Vegetable spoons are used to cut potatoes, carrots, and turnips; there
are different shapes, round, oval, carrot-shape, plain, and scalloped.
We give here only two, being sufficient to explain their use.
The first (_a_) is of an oval shape, and makes the cut _c_; the second
(_b_) is round, and makes the cut _d_.
[Illustration]
When the vegetable is peeled, place the spoon on it, the convex side up;
holding the vegetable in your left hand, press on the spoon with your
left thumb, and in order to cause it to cut the vegetable while turning
it with the right hand, first half way or rather when the half of it is
inside of the vegetable, stop, turn it the other way, causing it to cut
the vegetable also, then raise it up without turning at all and you
have in the spoon a piece of vegetable of the shape of the spoon, and as
seen in the cuts.
WATER.
Rain-water is for cooking purposes, as for other purposes, the best, but
is seldom used, especially in large cities, where it is difficult to
procure it. Another difficulty is, when procured it soon gets foul.
The next best is river-water, or water from lakes.
By boiling, water evaporates its gases and alkali, and is inferior
afterward for cooking purposes, especially for boiling vegetables;
therefore, we earnestly recommend to use the water at the first boiling.
When foul water has to be used for want of other, if no filter,
charcoal, sand, or paper can be had to filter it, it will improve by
boiling it and then exposing it to the air for some time.
WINES.
Native wines, when pure, are just as good as any other for cooking
purposes.
It is wrong and a great mistake to underrate native wines; they have a
little more acerbity than foreign wines, but are not inferior. It cannot
be otherwise, being grown in a virgin soil, or nearly so. The richer the
soil or the younger the vineyard, the more acid the wine.
Cold nights during the ripening of the fruit make the wine more acid,
not ripening so perfectly.
Wine is a healthy drink, and many invalids would recover much quicker by
a judicious use of it.
Different wines are used in cooking, and we give the names of the best
ones in the different receipts.
A little vinegar may be used as a substitute for wine, but it is very
inferior, and in many dishes it cannot be used at all.
A few dollars spent during the year in wine for cooking purposes, makes
much better and more wholesome dishes.
White wine contains little tannin; it retains nitrogenous matters, and
is free from essential oils; hence the superior flavor and quality of
brandy made with white wines.
It is more aperient and less nutritive than red wine.
Essential oils pass in red wine while it is fermenting.
Wine and sugar with certain fruits are excellent, and are known to
neutralize the crudity of the fruit, such as straw-berries, pears,
peaches, currants, etc.
MOTTO.
The motto of the New York Cooking Academy is--
_Since we must eat to live, let us prepare our food in such a manner,
that our physical, intellectual, and moral capacities may be extended as
far as is designed by our CREATOR._
DIVERS RECEIPTS.
ALMONDS.
Two kinds are used in cooking, the sweet and the bitter.
They are shelled first, then by pouring boiling water on them and
leaving them in it for two or three minutes, they are easily skinned.
They are sometimes used as soon as skinned, and sometimes dried after
being skinned and just before using.
When wanted dried, place them in a pan in a slow oven with the door
open, and turn them occasionally.
LEMONADE OR ORANGEADE.
Put two ounces of loaf sugar in a quart of water, also the rind of an
orange or one of lemon. Half an hour after strain the whole, and press
into it the juice of the orange, and a few drops of lemon-juice. If
found too strong, add water and sugar. It is a very good drink in
summer, or for evening parties. A little currant jelly may be added to
make a variety.
LEMONADE WITH BARLEY.
To the above lemonade or orangeade you add, instead of water and sugar,
some barley-water and sugar; it is very good and very refreshing.
Barley-water is made by soaking in lukewarm water a pint of barley,
drain it two or three minutes after; put the barley in a crockery pan,
cover it with cold water (about three quarts), set it on the fire, and
boil till the barley is perfectly cooked; skim off the scum during the
cooking, drain, let cool, and use the water.
BARLEY SUGAR FOR CHILDREN.
Soak a quart of barley in lukewarm water for two or three minutes, and
drain. Put the barley in a crockery stewpan, with four or five quarts of
water, and set it on a good fire, boil till the barley is overdone, and
then take from the fire, mash it as well as possible and strain,
throwing away what there is in the strainer, and if the remainder does
not make a kind of jelly when cool, the barley has not been boiled
enough.
Mix that jelly with sugar and fry it; it is better than any other candy,
barley being refreshing, and the principal substance of it.
BAVAROISE WITH CHOCOLATE.
Put in a tin pan a pint of milk, with one ounce of chocolate, and two of
sugar; set it over the fire, but do not allow it to boil; stir well with
a wooden spoon during the process, and when the whole is well mixed,
serve warm in cups.
It is an excellent and wholesome drink in the evening.
_The same with Coffee or Tea._--Proceed as above in every particular,
except that you put in the pan a small cup of coffee or tea instead of
chocolate, and a little more sugar.
BICHOF.
Put in a crockery tureen two bottles of white wine, with an orange and a
lemon, both cut in slices; cover, and place it in a warm place for about
ten hours; then strain into a vessel, and mix well with the liquor
about a pound of loaf sugar, and a little grated cinnamon.
It may be served warm or cold.
_Another way._--Melt a pound of loaf sugar in half a pint of cold water,
and then mix with it two bottles of white wine, a pinch of grated
cinnamon, the juice of an orange, and that of a lemon, and use. It takes
only a few minutes to make it.
If found too strong, add water and sugar.
TO PRESERVE BIRDS.
Broil or roast, according to our directions, chickens, ducks, geese,
turkeys, partridges, pheasants, prairie hens, quails, etc.; then carve
them; take the bones out of the pieces, place them in a crockery pot,
which you fill with melted butter or lard, and cover well when cold.
Place the pot in a cool and dry place, and they will keep for months.
When you wish to eat them, take out the quantity you want, and place it
in a frying-pan, with the butter or lard that is around; fry till warm,
and serve.
BREAD-CRUMBS.
Put slices of stale bread in a slow oven till they are perfectly dried
up. Break them in pieces and reduce them to coarse powder with a rolling
pin; sift them, and they are ready for use.
Bread-crumbs are better than cracker-crumbs; the latter, when reduced to
powder, are too floury, and besides, there is always stale bread enough
in a kitchen to make crumbs.
The above crumbs are rather brown.
_White crumbs._--Cut in rather large dice the soft part of stale bread,
put the pieces in a new and coarse towel, rub between the hands so as
to reduce the pieces of bread to crumbs; pass through a colander or
through a sieve, according to need, coarse or fine, and use.
BURNT SUGAR.
Take an old tin ladle and place it over a sharp fire, with two ounces of
loaf sugar in it; stir with a stick or skewer till it is thoroughly
black and burnt. Then add, little by little, about one gill of water;
stir a little, boil about four minutes, but not fast, lest it should
boil over the ladle; strain, and it is made.
As soon as cold, bottle it and use when wanted.
It keeps any length of time.
It is used to color broth, sauces, gravies, etc.
It is called _caramel_ in French.
COFFEE.
It is simple to make coffee. Of course, when properly made, with good
berries, the liquor is good.
When good roasted coffee can be bought, it saves the trouble of roasting
it, and is, or rather ought to be, cheaper than it can be done in a
family.
If coffee is roasted a long time before being used it loses much of its
aroma, therefore a family ought not to roast more than it can use in
about a week, while twenty or twenty-five pounds can be roasted at one
time and by one person.
Three or four different kinds, roasted separately, and properly mixed,
make better coffee than one kind alone.
A good proportion is: to one pound of Java add about four ounces of
Mocha, and four ounces of one or two other kinds.
Good coffee, as well as tea, is said to possess exhilarating
properties.
Its use was not known in Europe before 1650. Neither was the use of
sugar, tobacco, and brandy.
Good coffee cannot be made but by leaching.
The easiest utensil is what is called a filter, or coffee-pot, or
biggin, according to locality, with a top to diffuse the water.
[Illustration]
The coffee-pot called "the French balance" makes the best-flavored
coffee, but it is an expensive one.
[Illustration]
There are several good filters, but the great majority or the people
find them too complicated for daily use.
The bottom of the filter should be of silvered brass-gauze instead of
perforated tin, as it is generally.
Gauze-holes being much smaller than those of perforated tin, the coffee
can be ground much finer, and therefore, all the strength and aroma can
be had; while if ground coarse, it is utterly impossible.
Good coffee cannot be made in a utensil often but wrongly called a
_coffee-pot_, which is nothing but a pot, and something like a tea-pot.
With such a utensil, the grounds must be boiled; and as no liquor can be
boiled without allowing the steam to escape (the steam made by boiling
coffee being its aroma), therefore the best part of the coffee is
evaporated before it is served.
Never grind your coffee until ready to make it.
No matter how air-tight you keep it, the aroma evaporates or is
absorbed.
Coffee can be ground and made as soon as cool; but it is better to let
it stand for about twenty-four hours after being roasted.
If kept as air-tight as possible in a tin-box, it will keep very well
for about a week.
Never buy ground coffee except when you cannot help it.
By taking a pinch of ground coffee and rolling it between wetted
fingers, it will remain in grains, if pure; and will form in a ball if
foreign matters are mixed with it.
TO ROAST.
In roasting, good coffee swells about thirty-three per cent., and loses
about sixteen per cent. in weight.
Roast once a week or oftener.
Put coffee in the apparatus (cylinder, or drum, or roaster), the
quantity to be according to the size of the roaster, or according to how
much is needed. Have a rather slow fire at first; when the coffee has
swollen, augment the fire, turning, shaking, tossing the roaster,
sometimes fast, sometimes slowly, and take from the fire a little
before it is roasted enough; the roasting will be finished before the
coffee gets cold and before taking it from the roaster, which you
continue turning and shaking as if it were yet on the fire.
A charcoal fire is the handiest, and more easily regulated.
It is well roasted when it evaporates a pleasing odor and when of a
brownish color.
Then take it from the roaster, spread it on a matting or on a piece of
cloth, and put it in a tin-box as soon as cold.
It is exceedingly difficult, if not utterly impossible, to roast coffee
properly by machinery, and for two reasons: in the first place, there is
too much of it in the cylinder to roast evenly, some berries are burned,
others not roasted enough; the other is, that being turned by machinery,
the cylinder is turned regularly and is neither shaken nor tossed; and
even if there were not too much coffee in it, some berries would be much
more roasted than others.
TO MAKE.
Set a kettle of cold water on the fire. Place the ground coffee in the
filter, and as soon as the water begins to boil, pour just enough of it
over the coffee to wet it. Put the kettle back on the fire, and again,
at the first boiling, pour it over the coffee rather slowly, and till
you have poured enough water to furnish the quantity of coffee required.
If the water does not pass through fast enough, just stop pouring for a
few seconds, that is, long enough to put the kettle back on the fire and
start the boiling again. As soon as the water has passed through, the
coffee is made. The quantity of coffee must be according to the strength
you wish it, and the quantity wanted, or according to age and
constitution.
Four teaspoonfuls make a quart of very good coffee for breakfast. It
would be rather strong for children, but can be diluted to a proper
state with milk.
No matter what quantity of coffee is put in the filter, the liquor must
be clear; the more is used, the blacker the substance is, but it must
never be muddy. If muddy at all, be sure you have not used good coffee.
One pound of good coffee to a quart of water, should make black but
clear coffee.
CAFE AU LAIT.
This is coffee and milk for breakfast. The milk is set on the fire in a
tin saucepan, and taken off when it rises; then mixed with the coffee,
either in the cup or any kind of vessel. The proportions are pint for
pint.
CAFE NOIR.
_Cafe noir_ is the name given to the coffee taken after dinner. It is
generally made rather strong. Gentlemen sometimes put liquor in it--a
glass of brandy, or rum, or kirschwasser; and ladies, a little cold
milk.
Taken fifteen or twenty minutes after dinner, it helps digestion. It
excites the faculties of the mind, and gives what physiologists call
"agreeable sensations."
Coffee is nutritious, and to a certain extent prevents waste of the
system.
CHOCOLATE.
The quantity of chocolate for a certain quantity of milk is according to
taste. Two ounces of chocolate make a good cup of it, and rather thick.
Break the chocolate in pieces, put it in a tin saucepan with a
tablespoonful of water to an ounce of chocolate, and set it on a rather
slow fire. Stir now and then till thoroughly melted.
While the chocolate is melting, set the quantity of milk desired in
another tin saucepan on the fire, and as soon as it rises and when the
chocolate is melted, as directed above, turn the milk into the
chocolate, little by little, beating well at the same time with an
egg-beater. Keep beating and boiling after being mixed, for three or
four minutes; take off and serve.
If both chocolate and milk are good, it will be frothy; and no better or
more nutritious drink can be had.
CHOCA.
Choca is nothing more nor less than one cup of coffee and milk mixed
with a cup of chocolate, and for breakfast.
COCOA.
Put in a tea or coffee cup one or two tablespoonfuls of ground cocoa,
pour boiling water or boiling milk on it, little by little, stirring
with a spoon the while; sweeten it to taste. A few drops of essence of
vanilla may be added, according to taste.
ESSENCE OF SPINACH, OR GREEN ESSENCE.
Put two handfuls of very green and fresh spinach in a mortar and pound
it well. Then put it in a saucepan, set on a rather slow fire, and when
on the point of boiling take it off, pass it through a sieve and use. It
may be kept for some time with a little sugar.
ESSENCE OF BEEF.
The essence of beef of commerce is well known.
To make essence of beef used in cooking and called _glace_ in French,
set three or four quarts of broth on a slow fire, in a saucepan and
reduce it to jelly. Keep it simmering all the time; it may take twenty
hours to reduce. When properly reduced, it is of a very dark-brown
color and has a very pleasant odor.
When cold, it must be rather hard.
When essence of beef tastes like glue and has an unpleasant odor, it is
not made properly, or with good beef.
If properly made, it will keep any length of time.
It is used to thicken sauces, to decorate boned birds, etc.; when in a
hurry, it may be used to make soup, but, like every thing preserved, is
of course inferior to fresh broth.
ICING.
Put about three tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar in a bowl with the
white of a small egg; and then mix and work well for at least five
minutes with a piece of wood. When done it is perfectly white and rather
thick.
Make a kind of funnel with thick, white paper; put the mixture in it,
and by squeezing it out, you make decorations according to fancy, on
cakes, charlotte russe, etc. You make the decorations of the size you
please, by cutting the smaller end of the paper-funnel of the size you
wish.
The mixture may also be spread on cakes with a knife, according to what
kind of decoration is desired.
A charlotte russe may be decorated in the same way, with the same cream
as that used to fill it.
MEAT JELLIES.
Put in a saucepan two ounces of gelatine with three eggs and shells, a
tablespoonful of salt, the rind of half a lemon, a liquor-glass of rum
or brandy, or a wine-glass of sherry, port, or madeira wine; mix well
the whole. Add one quart of broth, twelve pepper-corns; beat the whole
well with an egg-beater and set on a good fire; stir gently till it
comes to a boil; then move it on a rather slow fire; boil slowly for
about eight minutes and turn into the jelly-bag. Have two bowls at hand
to be used alternately; have one under the bag before turning the jelly
into it; and when it has passed through the bag once, turn it into the
bag again, putting the other bowl under; repeat this three or four
times, and it will be perfectly clear. Just before turning into the bag
the first time, a few drops of burnt sugar are added to give the jelly
an amber color. Use the jelly immediately if wanted in liquid form, as
to fill a meat-pie, etc., or put it on ice to congeal.
_Boned-turkey Jelly._--As soon as the water in which you have boiled a
boned turkey is cold, skim off the fat and strain it. Then proceed
exactly as for meat jelly, except that you take one quart of the above
instead of one quart of beef broth.
_Boned-chicken Jelly._--Prepare the water in which the boned chicken has
been cooked, the same as above; take a quart of it and proceed as for
meat jelly for the rest.
For jelly to decorate any boned bird, the water in which it has been
cooked may be used, as described above.
_Calves'-feet Jelly._--Scald well four calves' feet, and split each in
two lengthwise. Put them in a saucepan with about three pints of water,
two onions, two cloves, two cloves of garlic, six sprigs of parsley, one
of thyme, a stalk of celery if handy, salt, and half a dozen
pepper-corns. Set on the fire, boil gently till well cooked. Serve the
feet with a _poulette_ or _vinaigrette_.
Strain the liquor; put in it two eggs with their shells, salt, rum or
wine, as in meat jelly; beat the whole well with an egg-beater; set on a
good fire, and finish like meat jelly.
_Calf's-head Jelly._--Proceed as for the above in every particular,
except that you use four eggs, having about twice as much liquor,
therefore making twice as much jelly. A little gelatine may be added, if
not found firm enough.
MEAT GRAVY.
When you are short of gravy, cut a little piece of veal, say half a
pound of the breast or neck piece, or trimmings of veal-cutlets; set on
the fire with about an ounce of butter, and half of a rather small
carrot cut in slices; stir, and when the meat is turning rather brown,
add two or three onions in slices also; stir again till the onions are
nearly fried; when covered with broth or water, add salt, a dozen whole
peppers, a bay-leaf, and two stalks of thyme; boil gently for two or
three hours, and strain.
If it is boiling away, add water to fill up.
Trimmings of mutton, lamb, beef, chicken, or turkey, may be added to the
veal.
In case of hurry, it may be done quickly and by boiling rather fast, but
it is not as good, and there is less of it with the same quantity of
meat.
For a grand dinner, the gravy may be made one or two and even three days
in advance; then simmer it for five or six hours.
MELONS.
Musk-melons are always served as a _hors-d'oeuvre_, but must be eaten
immediately after soup, or the first thing of all if no soup is served.
It is a great mistake to serve melons as a dessert.
Water-melons, though eaten abundantly, are considered very unwholesome
by the great majority of doctors, chemists, and physiologists.
Musk-melons are served in slices with sugar, or with salt and pepper,
according to taste.
MEUNIERE.
Mix well together in a cup one teaspoonful of flour with a tablespoonful
of cold water.
It is used to thicken sauces and different dishes.
MINT.
Put four sprigs of mint into a quart of brandy, cork well, or cover
air-tight if in a pot, and leave thus forty-eight hours; then strain
through a cloth. Put half a pound of loaf sugar in a stewpan with a pint
of water, set it on the fire, and, at the first boiling, pour it into
the quart of brandy; cover with a cloth, let it cool, and again strain
the whole through a fine cloth. Bottle and cork carefully, and use when
wanted.
A small liquor-glass of it is very good for stomach-ache; it is also
useful after having eaten any thing difficult of digestion.
PANADE.
Break in pieces the soft part of a small stale loaf of bread; put it in
a tin saucepan, cover it with cold water, and leave thus about an hour;
then mash it well, set it on the fire, add salt, butter, and sugar, to
taste; simmer about an hour, then add again two yolks of eggs beaten
with two tablespoonfuls of cream or milk; mix the whole well together,
and serve.
It makes an excellent food for infants.
PAP.
Put an ounce of butter in a tin saucepan, set it on the fire, and when
melted, turn into it two tablespoonfuls of flour, thoroughly mixed with
half a pint of milk; stir with a wooden spoon, boil gently for about
twelve minutes, stirring the while; take off, turn into a bowl, add salt
and sugar to taste, and use.
If wanted richer, an egg may be mixed with the flour and milk, or a yolk
of egg may be added as soon as taken from the fire.
RAISINS.
When the stems of raisins or of currants are removed, put them in a
bowl, dust them well with flour, move them round a little, then turn
them into a sieve and shake them well. This process will remove the sand
as well as washing them, and will not take away the sweetness.
SANDWICHES.
These are too well known to require any direction.
SAUSAGE-MEAT.
Butchers generally, with an eye to economy, make sausage-meat of bad or
tainted pork.
We recommend our readers, as far as possible, never to buy sausage-meat
ready made, but to make it themselves, or have it made according to
their directions.
A chopping-machine costs very little, and saves a great deal of work,
besides chopping much better than can be done by hand.
The proportions are: one pound of lean pork and one pound of lean veal,
chopped very fine, well mixed, and both very fresh. Season with salt,
pepper, nutmeg and clove grated, and with cinnamon, if liked.
A yolk of egg may be added to a pound of meat.
It may also be made with one pound of veal and half a pound or less of
pork, or with veal only or pork only, according to taste.
SOUSE.
Put three ounces of butter in a saucepan, and set it on the fire; when
melted, add two carrots and two onions sliced, stir now and then till
they begin to turn brown; then add about three pints of warm water, half
a pint of vinegar, one clove of garlic, four sprigs of parsley, one of
thyme, a clove, a bay-leaf, six pepper-corns, a little grated nutmeg,
and salt. Simmer about an hour, strain, and it is ready for use.
_Another._--Put two quarts of vinegar and about ten quarts of water in a
stone or crockery vessel, with four cloves of garlic, a handful of
parsley, six cloves, four stalks of thyme, four bay-leaves, half a
nutmeg grated, three or four carrots, and three or four onions sliced, a
little salt, and two dozen pepper-corns. Stir and mix the whole well,
and it is ready for use.
Pieces of mutton, beef, pork, venison, and bear-meat, may be soaked in
one of the above preparations from four to six days before cooking them.
A piece of tough meat will be more tender and juicy after being soaked.
More or less may be made, according to the size of the piece of meat.
TEA.
There are many ways of making tea; we might say that every one makes it
in his own way; but, after many experiments and much information, we
have found the following to be the best:
Warm the teapot either by pouring boiling water in it and emptying it,
or by placing it on a corner of the range.
Then put good tea in it (the quantity to be according to the strength
and also to the quantity you want), and pour boiling water on the
leaves, just enough to wet them; leave thus about one minute, then pour
on all the water you want.
Let it steep no longer than about six minutes, and not less than four
minutes, before drawing it.
If allowed to steep longer than six minutes, all the astringency of the
tea is extracted, and it acts and has a bad effect on the nervous
system, besides losing most of its aroma.
Chemists and physiologists generally recommend black tea, as not
affecting the nervous system as much as green tea.
Tea being naturally very astringent, should never be served at
breakfast.
Taken after dinner, instead of _cafe noir_, it has the same effect, and
brandy may be mixed with it as in coffee.
Tea is excellent in damp climates and marshy countries, but it must be
taken after a substantial meal.
Drinking warm tea while eating causes the food to pass through the
system without nourishing it, or supplying its waste.
TOAST.
Cut several slices of bread of even size, and spread some anchovy-butter
on them; cut anchovies in small strips, lengthwise, lay them on the
bread also, and then spread over some hard-boiled egg chopped fine, and
on it some parsley also chopped fine, finish with capers here and there.
Place the toast or slices of bread on a dish, tastefully arranged all
around, a few sprigs of parsley in the middle, and you have a fine
_hors-d'oeuvre_.
Sardines, Dutch herrings, or red herrings may be used the same as
anchovies.
WELSH RAREBIT.
This dish is not generally understood. It is thought by many to be Welsh
rabbit, that is, a rabbit prepared _Welsh fashion_.
It is not a rabbit, but Welsh cheese (a certain kind only, and prepared
for that purpose), melted to a certain degree, and then spread on toast
of Welsh bread.
Grate some Gloucester or Gruyere cheese and pepper it with Cayenne
pepper. Fry some slices of bread with a little butter, but on one side
only, until perfectly yellow, then spread a thick coat of grated cheese
on the fried side of the bread, place the slices in a baking-pan, put
them in a pretty warm oven, take off when it begins to melt, and serve
warm.
Then you have as good a Welsh rarebit as can be made here. The receipt
was given to us by an English lady.
POTAGES OR SOUPS.
Potage is the modern word for soup, and is used in bills of fare
everywhere.
Three kinds of liquor are used to make potages: broth, milk, and water.
Besides the liquor, meat, fish, and vegetables are used.
The richest potages are made with _consomme_ and some other compounds;
such as bread, Italian pastes, vegetables, etc.
_Consomme_ means rich broth; literally, it means consumed, perfect, that
is, properly reduced and partly consumed, as it is the case in making
it. _Consomme_ is broth reduced to a certain point, according to want or
taste.
_Broth._--Broth is to good cooking what wheat is to bread. Dishes (with
some exceptions) prepared without broth are, to those prepared with it,
what rye or corn bread is to wheat bread. Broth, and especially
_consomme_, are to old age what milk is to the infant. Broth is called
_bouillon_ in France, and _stock_ in England. The word _pot-au-feu_
means the meat, vegetables, seasonings, spices, and the "pot" or
soup-kettle itself, _i. e._, every thing made use of in making broth.
The popular meaning of the term in France is, the soup and the beef and
vegetables served as _releves_; and, with the working-classes, the only
thing (with bread, wine, and fruit) composing the family dinner. The
French army is fed on this _pot-au-feu_ three hundred and sixty days in
the year.
It is a great mistake to believe that bones or veal make good broth; by
boiling or simmering bones or veal, you obtain a gelatinous liquid, but
not a rich broth with a pleasant flavor. When properly made, broth is
clear. If milky, it has been made with bones, veal, or very inferior
beef.
_Broth for Potages._--Take three pounds of good, lean, fresh beef, from
any part except the shin. There must not be more than two ounces of bone
to a pound of meat, and the less bone the better. Place the meat in a
soup-kettle or iron saucepan lined with tin, with three quarts of cold
water and salt, and set it on a good fire. After about thirty minutes,
the scum or albumen of the meat will gather on the surface, and the
water will commence boiling. Now place the kettle on a more moderate
fire, add one gill of cold water, and begin to skim off the scum, which
will take only a few minutes. Then add one middle-sized carrot, half as
much turnip, one middle-sized leek, a stalk of celery, one of parsley, a
bay-leaf, one onion with two cloves stuck in it, and two cloves of
garlic. Keep the kettle between simmering and boiling heat for about
five hours. Dish the meat with carrot, turnip, and leek around it, and
serve it as a _releve_. Strain the broth, and it is ready for use.
If the broth is required to be richer, use more beef and less water, but
follow the same process; if weaker, use more water and less beef, but
still follow the same process.
_Broth for Sauces and Gravies._--Place in a soup-kettle or saucepan
fresh bones of beef, mutton, lamb, veal, or poultry--of either, or of
all; also, bones of the same meats from roasted pieces; also trimmings
of the same, if very fresh, with one quart of cold water to every pound
of bones or meat; skim it like the preceding, add the same vegetables
and seasonings, and simmer for at least six hours. Then skim off very
carefully all the fat on the surface, pass the remainder through a
strainer or a sieve, and it is ready for use. This broth is certainly
very inferior to the preceding one, but it is excellent for sauces and
gravies, and is very cheaply made. It may be used for potages also; but,
as we have said above, it is very gelatinous, and cannot be compared
with the highly nutritious beef-broth.
Broth that is not to be used immediately must be cooled quickly after
being strained, as the quicker it is cooled the longer it keeps. As soon
as cold, put it in a stone jar or crockery vessel, and place it in a
cool, dry, and dark place. It will keep three or four days in winter,
but only one day in summer. If the weather is stormy, it will not keep
even for twelve hours; it turns sour very quickly.
I do not put parsnips or thyme in broth, the taste of these two
vegetables being too strong. They really neutralize the fine aroma of
broth. Even in this nineteenth century there are some pretty good cooks
who put thyme and parsnip in broth, but they do it by routine. Routine
is in every thing the greatest enemy of progress. Ancient cookery used
to put in the _pot_ (old name for soup-kettle) a burnt onion to give an
amber color to the broth. This has exactly the same effect as thyme and
parsnip, giving it a bad taste, and neutralizing the flavor given to the
broth by the osmazome of the meat. When broth of an amber color is
desired, add to it a few drops of burnt sugar, the receipt for making
which will be found elsewhere.
_Consomme._--There are two ways of making _consomme_: one is to make
broth as above, with the exception that five pounds of lean beef,
instead of three, are used with three quarts of water, and simmered from
seven to eight hours, instead of five, the vegetables and seasonings
being the same; or by boiling broth gently till properly reduced.
The other way is to roast, until they are only one-third done, one, two,
or three fowls, not under two years old; then place them in a
soup-kettle with three pounds of lean beef; wet with three quarts of
cold water; skim off as above directed; add the same vegetables and
seasonings as for broth for potages. After having simmered the whole for
three hours, the fowl or fowls must be taken out of the kettle, and the
rest is to be simmered for about three hours longer. The meat,
vegetables, and seasonings are then taken from the kettle or saucepan;
the liquor is strained, and that liquor is the best _consomme_ that can
be made; or by boiling the same, gently, in three quarts of good broth,
you make _consomme_ also.
The reason for directing to use one, two, or three fowls is, that the
more fowls used, the better and richer the broth. The fowls after having
been thus used may be prepared in salad, and make a very excellent dish.
One pound of beef is enough to make broth for a potage for three or four
persons.
Always use fresh meat; meat with a venison taste or tainted would spoil
if not entirely destroy the broth.
_To clarify Broth._--If not as clear as wanted, beat the white of an egg
with a gill of cold broth, and turn into the broth; boil gently about
ten minutes, and strain through a cloth or towel.
Any kind of potage made with broth may be made with _consomme_. It may
also be made with water, adding butter. With _consomme_ it is richer,
and with water much inferior, than with broth.
When a rump-piece is used to make broth, it is better to bone it first,
and take it from the soup-kettle after three or four hours; it is served
as a _releve_, or prepared as cold beef. The broth is finished as
directed; the bones and vegetables being kept on the fire longer than
the meat.
Chicken and turkey broth are often called _potage de sante_ (potage of
health).
_Chicken._--Roast or bake till turning yellow, a chicken over two years
old. Put it in a soup-kettle with three pints of water, and set it on a
rather slow fire; skim off the scum, add a middling-sized onion, a leek,
a few stalks of chervil if handy, a middling-sized head of lettuce, and
salt; simmer about three hours. Take out the chicken and vegetables,
skim off the fat, strain, and use. This broth is excellent for a weak
stomach, and is easy of digestion. The chicken is served in salad.
_Turkey._--Procure a rather old turkey and roast or bake it till about
one-third done; put it in a soup-kettle with about a pint of water to a
pound of meat, and set it on a rather slow fire. As soon as the scum
comes on the surface, skim it off carefully; then add two onions, two
leeks, two or three heads of lettuce, a small handful of chervil if
handy, and salt. Simmer about five hours.
Use the broth as chicken-broth above, and serve the turkey in salad.
_Fish_ (also called _a la Lucullus_).--Slice three middling-sized
onions and fry them with one ounce of butter till turning yellow; add
three or four pounds of fish (bass, pike, trout, salmon, and the like),
any fish having a firm and compact flesh, of one or several kinds; add
also two carrots, two onions, and one leek, all sliced; four stalks of
parsley, one of thyme, one clove of garlic, a bay-leaf, one clove, six
pepper-corns, salt; cover the whole with cold water, set on a good but
not brisk fire, boil gently for about two hours. If the water is boiling
away, add some more; then strain, and use.
This broth may be used for _bisque_ and fish sauces, instead of
beef-broth.
It may be made rich; for instance, instead of three pounds of fish, use
six, seven, eight pounds, or more, and seasonings in proportion.
Louis XV. was on a visit to the monastery of Saint Denis one day during
Lent; after having walked all over the grounds and gardens, he was
offered a cup of broth by the superior.
Being a little fatigued, he took the cup and drank the whole at one
draught.
In going back to Versailles, one of his suite, who did not like the
monk-superior, adroitly alluded to the cup of broth, and managed to
persuade the king that the monk had done it on purpose; that is, had
made the king partake of meat-broth, when it was forbidden by the
Church.
The next day the monk-superior was sent for and brought before the king.
On hearing the object of the summons, he asked the king if the broth had
indisposed him. Being answered in the negative, he begged to be allowed
to prepare the same broth before the king himself, which he did, and
from that time till his death the king used to send several hundred
pounds of fish during Lent to the monks of Saint-Denis.
_Frog._--Skin and put the hind-legs of two dozen of frogs in cold water
for an hour; drain and put them in a saucepan, and set it on a slow
fire; stir now and then till they are turning yellow, then take them off
and chop the flesh rather fine; put back in the pan with a carrot
sliced, a stalk of celery and one leek, both chopped, a little salt, and
cover the whole with water. Simmer for about two hours; mash the whole
through a colander, add butter which you stir and mix in, and it is
ready for use.
This broth, taken warm before retiring, is excellent for persons having
a cough or cold.
It is also excellent for consumptive persons, and is only second to
snail-broth.
_Another._--Take the hind-legs of fifty well-skinned green frogs, put
them in cold water and a little salt for half an hour--drain them; then
put them in a crockery kettle, with a leek, half a carrot, two stalks of
celery, a middling-sized parsnip, a turnip, two onions, one clove of
garlic, two ounces of fat bacon, a little salt, and white pepper; cover
the whole well with cold water, set on the fire, simmer gently about
four hours; strain, pour on _croutons_, and serve.
The hind-legs of the frogs are taken from the strainer, placed on a
dish, and served at breakfast the next day, with a white sauce, or in
fricassee, as a chicken.
_Game._--Roast or bake, till about one-third done, two prairie-hens, and
put them in a soup-kettle with about one pound of lean beef, salt, and
five pints of water. Set the kettle on a rather slow fire, skim off the
scum when it gathers on the surface, and then add half a carrot, two
stalks of parsley, one of celery, one onion with a clove stuck in it, a
bay-leaf, six pepper-corns, and two cloves of garlic. Simmer about three
hours, and take the birds out of the kettle; simmer then two hours
longer; strain, and the broth is ready for use.
Game-broth is warming and stimulating; it may be taken alone, or
prepared with _croutons_, rice, vermicelli, or other Italian pastes, the
same as beef-broth.
The prairie-hens are served in _salmis_, and the beef is served as
boiled beef.
_Snail._--Clean and prepare twenty-five snails as directed. Put them in
a saucepan, with a carrot, an onion, and a head of lettuce, all chopped,
a small handful of chervil, a few leaves of sorrel, and a little salt;
cover the whole with three pints of cold water. Boil slowly for about
three hours, strain the broth, add a little butter to it, and it is
ready for use.
A tumblerful of this broth, taken warm before retiring, is certainly the
best thing for a consumptive person.
It is also excellent for a cough.
Just salt the snails to taste, and eat them as they are, warm or cold.
_Veal._--Procure two pounds of veal, from the neck or breast piece. Put
the meat in a soup-kettle with two quarts of cold water and a little
salt; set it on a good fire, and skim off the scum as soon as it gathers
on the surface. When skimmed, add a head of lettuce, a leek (and a few
stalks of chervil if handy); simmer for about three hours; strain, and
use.
This broth, as well as chicken and turkey broth, is excellent for
convalescent persons.
It may be made richer by putting a little more meat, according to taste;
but generally the physician gives directions.
_Another._--Soak a calf's liver in cold water for two hours, clean and
wash it well; put it in a soup-kettle with about three pints of cold
water, salt, boil gently for an hour and a half, and then add a handful
of water-cresses; simmer fifteen minutes longer, strain and use.
_Another._--Proceed as above in every particular, except that you use a
handful of chervil instead of water-cresses.
_Another._--Use three or four leeks instead of water-cresses, and
proceed as above for every other particular.
The last three especially make a very refreshing drink, and are a great
relief in some cases of fever.
_Vegetable Broth_ (called also _Bouillon Maigre_).--Scrape, clean, and
slice three carrots and three turnips, peel three onions; fry the whole
with a little butter till it turns rather yellow; and then add two
plants of celery cut in pieces, three or four leeks, also cut in pieces;
stir and fry the whole for about six minutes. When fried, add also one
clove of garlic, salt, pepper, two cloves, two stalks of parsley, a
little nutmeg grated; cover with about three quarts of water. Keep on a
rather slow fire, skim off the scum carefully, and then simmer for about
three hours. Strain, and use.
This liquor is called vegetable broth, and is used instead of broth in
time of Lent by persons who do not want to use beef-broth.
_Another._--Proceed as above, and with the same vegetables till they are
fried. Then add salt, pepper, two cloves of garlic, four stalks of
parsley, three cloves, a little nutmeg grated, two quarts of white beans
previously soaked in cold water for twenty-four hours, and five or six
quarts of water. Skim it as above; simmer for about four hours; strain,
and use.
The beans, carrots, turnips, and leeks may be mashed through a colander
and served in _puree_.
_Another._--Proceed as above in every particular, with the exception
that instead of using beans, you use peas, lentils, chestnuts, or samp.
Peas and lentils are soaked in water only for four or five hours.
Chestnuts must be shelled. Some other vegetables may be added, according
to taste, and also according to the nature of the vegetables.
_Another._--Clean and put in a bowl a head of lettuce, a handful of
sorrel, same of chervil, same of purslane, and all chopped fine; pour
over nearly a quart of boiling water, add two ounces of butter, cover
the bowl with a wet towel; leave thus half an hour, and strain.
When cold it makes a very refreshing drink, and is taken morning and
evening with salt, to taste.
It may also be taken warm.
_A la Minute, or made quickly._--Cut four ounces of fat salt pork in
dice and set it on the fire in a saucepan; stir, and when it is turning
rather brown add one onion chopped, and half a middling-sized carrot,
sliced; stir, and when they are partly fried, add also two pounds of
lean beef cut in small dice; stir and fry for five minutes. Then pour in
it about three pints of boiling water, salt, boil gently about forty
minutes. Strain, and use.
The beef may be served with the broth, or separately as an _entree_,
with a _piquante_, _ravigote_, or Robert sauce.
_Bisque of Lobster._--Boil one or several lobsters as directed, and when
cold split the tail in two, lengthwise, take the flesh out of the shell,
remove the black vein that is on the back, take out the meat of the two
large claws, and keep the flesh of the claws and tail for the following
day's breakfast.
For a _bisque_, nothing is thrown away but the head, stomach, and black
vein. The head is the part immediately under the eyes; the stomach is a
small, round pouch immediately behind the head; and the vein runs from
the stomach to the end of the tail.
Put all the rest, shell, small claws, all the matter found in the large
shell (green, white, or yellow), in a mortar and pound well. Then put a
tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, set it on the fire, and when the
butter is melted, put what is in the mortar in, stir with a wooden spoon
for about ten minutes, then add one pint of warm broth, stir for about
twenty minutes, and strain. Put the liquor back on the fire with about
four ounces of toasted bread, boil five minutes, and mash through a
colander. Put the liquor back again on the fire, add one quart of broth,
boil gently ten minutes, and turn into the soup-dish.
While it is boiling, chop fine the coral-piece of the lobster or
lobsters, knead it with a piece of butter of about the same bulk, then
rub both through a wire sieve; put them in the soup-dish with _croutons_
and about two or three ounces of the flesh of the lobster cut in very
small dice. Turn the broth into the soup-dish also, and as directed
above, and serve warm.
When there is no coral in the lobster or lobsters, knead a hard-boiled
yolk of egg with butter in its stead.
Use one, two, three, or more lobsters, according to how much soup is
wanted. It is not costly, because the flesh, or most of it, is kept to
make a salad the next day, for breakfast or lunch.
The salad might be served the same day at dinner, but lobster is a
rather heavy food, and it is more prudent not to eat any late in the
day.
_Bisque of Lobster a la Colbert._--Make a _bisque_ as above, and while
it is on the fire, poach as directed as many eggs as there will be
persons at dinner; put them in the soup-dish instead of _croutons_, and
serve as above.
_Of Crabs._--Proceed as for a bisque of lobster in every particular,
except that you use hard-shell crabs instead of lobster.
_The same a la Colbert._--Add to the above as many poached eggs as you
have guests.
_Of Craw-fish (Bisque d'Ecrevisses)._--Our readers who have been in
Europe will certainly remember the name of one of the best soups that
can be made. It is made of craw-fish the same as with lobster, and is
certainly more delicate than a _bisque_ of lobster or of crabs. (See
Craw-fish for other particulars.)
A _bisque_ of craw-fish may also be served _a la Colbert_ the same as a
_bisque_ of lobster.
_Bouillabaisse._--The real _bouillabaisse_ is made in Marseilles; they
make an imitation of it in Bordeaux, and in many other parts of France
and the Continent; but, like a Welsh rarebit prepared out of Wales, it
is very inferior to the real one. However, we will give the receipt to
make it here, and as good as possible with the fish that can be
procured.
Put a gill of sweet-oil in a tin saucepan and set it on a sharp fire;
when hot, add two onions and two cloves of garlic sliced; stir so as to
partly fry them, and then take from the fire. Put also in the pan three
pounds of fish, such as haddock, halibut, turbot, white-fish--of all if
possible, but at least of two kinds; also a dozen muscles, just blanched
and taken from the shell (some put them whole, properly cleaned). The
fish is cut in pieces about two inches long. Then add one gill of
Catawba or Sauterne wine, a bay-leaf, two cloves, two slices of lemon,
the juice of a tomato, salt, pepper, a pinch of saffron, cover with
cold water, and set the pan back on a brisk fire. After about thirty
minutes add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley; boil ten minutes longer,
and it is done.
The pieces of fish are then placed on a dish and served.
Put in a deep dish, and to be served at the same time, some slices of
bread, over which you turn the sauce through a strainer.
One slice of bread and one piece of fish is served to each person, also
some sauce.
It is put in two different dishes, to avoid breaking the pieces of fish.
There are over a hundred ways of making a _bouillabaisse_; the above is
one of the best.
There are also about as many ways of spelling the same.
A _bouillabaisse_ is served as a soup.
POTAGES.
_A la Colbert._--Scrape carrots and turnips and cut them in small dice
or with a vegetable spoon; add green peas and string-beans, if handy,
the beans cut in pieces; set them on the fire in a pan with cold water
and salt; boil gently till done, and drain. Put them back on the fire,
covered with warm broth, salt to taste, boil gently about two or three
minutes, and turn into the soup-dish, in which you have put as many
poached eggs as there are or will be persons at table. A poached egg
with soup is served to every person. Proportions of broth and vegetables
according to taste.
_Julienne._--Scrape two carrots and two turnips and cut them in pieces
about an inch and a half long; cut slices lengthwise about one-eighth of
an inch thick, then cut again across, so as to make square strips. Put
them in a saucepan with about two ounces of butter, three tablespoonfuls
of cabbage chopped fine, and half a middling-sized onion, also chopped;
set on the fire and stir till about half fried. Add broth to make it as
you wish, thin or thick; boil gently till done; salt to taste, skim off
the fat, and serve. It takes about two hours.
_Julienne with Rice._--Boil two ounces of rice in water and a little
salt, till about three-quarters done; drain and put in the julienne
after having added the broth; finish as above.
_Julienne with Barley._--Boil barley till done; add it to the _julienne_
at the same time the broth is added, and serve as the above.
_Julienne aux Croutons._--Put some _croutons_ in the soup-dish, and when
the _julienne_ is done, pour it over them, and serve.
_Brunoise._--Put an ounce of butter in a saucepan on the fire, and when
melted, add one carrot, one turnip, a little celery, all cut in dice;
stir till they turn yellow, then add about a quart of broth, a
middling-sized leek cut in pieces, a few leaves of lettuce and of
sorrel, if handy, and a pinch of sugar. Simmer about two hours; skim off
the fat; add a few drops of burnt sugar to color.
Have _croutons_ in the soup-dish, turn the potage over them, and serve.
_Brunoise with Rice._--Proceed as above, except that you add from two to
four ounces of boiled rice to the potage ten minutes before taking from
the fire. Serve without croutons.
_Another._--Use boiled barley instead of boiled rice.
_A la Monaco._--Put some thin slices of stale bread in the soup-dish,
sprinkle pulverized sugar and orange-rind grated all over. Pour boiling
milk over; cover the dish for five minutes, and serve.
_A la Regence._--Put about two dozen _quenelles_ made with chicken into
the soup-dish with half a pint of boiled green peas; turn boiling
_consomme_ over, and serve warm.
_A la Royale._--Make a custard with a dozen yolks of eggs, about the
same volume of good cream, season with sugar, salt, and a little nutmeg;
cook, and when perfectly cold, cut it in slices and again cut in fancy
shapes with paste-cutters or with a knife; place it in the soup-dish,
pour boiling consomme gently over, and serve warm.
_Potage Printanier_ (called also _Jardiniere_ and _a la Paysanne_).--It
is a potage _julienne_, to which is added the top or eatable part of six
asparagus, six turnip-rooted red radishes, and two or three
tablespoonfuls of green peas. They are fried, boiled, and served with
the other vegetables.
_Veloute._--Put yolks of eggs in the soup-dish and beat them a little
with cold or lukewarm broth; then pour boiling broth over them, little
by little, stirring the while, and serve warm.
It is made thin or thick, according to taste.
_With Arrow-root._--Set broth in a saucepan on the fire, and as soon as
it boils, sprinkle some arrow-root into it, stirring the while with a
wooden spoon; boil gently for about half an hour, stirring now and then
the while, and serve warm, adding salt to taste.
Milk or _consomme_ may be used instead of broth.
If you use milk, add a very little salt and sugar, to taste.
The proportion of arrow-root to a certain quantity of broth is according
to taste; it can be made thick or thin.
_With Corn-starch._--Proceed as for arrow-root.
_With Bread._--This is the simplest of all. Dry some slices of bread,
either stale or fresh, in the oven, place them in the soup-dish, pour
boiling broth over them, cover the dish for two or three minutes, and
serve.
_With Fecula._--Proceed as for arrow-root. Being finer, it does not
require more than about twelve or fifteen minutes.
_With Barley._--Wash the barley in cold water, then drop it in boiling
broth, little by little, stirring the while; when in, keep simmering
till perfectly done, which you ascertain easily by tasting; add then
salt to taste, a pinch of sugar, and serve warm.
It must be stirred occasionally while on the fire.
_With Gruel_ (_French Gruau_).--It is made as with arrow-root.
_With Indian Meal._--Proceed as with arrow-root.
_With Sago._--Sago must be boiled gently about an hour; but for the
rest, proceed as with arrow-root in every particular.
_With Semoule._--With _semoule_ it is the same as with arrow-root,
except that it is boiled only about fifteen minutes.
_With Tapioca._--Tapioca is prepared like arrow-root, but must be boiled
about forty-five minutes.
All the above, like arrow-root, may be prepared with _consomme_, or with
milk, as well as with broth.
_With Giblets._--Throw the giblets in boiling water and a little salt,
boil for ten minutes, take off and drain. Drop them in broth, boil
gently till done, and turn the whole into the soup dish, in which you
have some leeks, boiled and cut in pieces. Serve warm.
Some _croutons_ may be added, and chervil chopped fine, just before
turning into the soup-dish; or they may be placed in the soup-dish
before pouring in the broth.
_With Mackerel._--Clean, prepare, and cut in pieces about one inch and a
half long, a mackerel weighing about one pound and a half; fry it with
two ounces of butter till it turns rather brown, then cover with nearly
a quart of water; add a few slices of carrot, same of turnip, a small
onion, two or three stalks of parsley, salt, pepper, a clove of garlic,
and a stalk of celery if handy; boil slowly for about an hour; mash
gently through a colander, put what has passed through the colander back
on the fire, add a little butter, give one more boil, turn into the soup
dish over _croutons_, and serve.
_With new Carrots._--Take small, young carrots, clean and wash them,
then blanch them for about five minutes. Set them on the fire, cover
with broth or _consomme_; boil gently till done, and serve.
_Another._--With carrots and peas. Proceed as above till the carrots are
half done, then add blanched green peas; finish the cooking, and serve.
_Another._--Make as the above, but using one or two heads of
cabbage-lettuce, blanched for two minutes, instead of green peas.
_Fancy Potage._--Take twelve very small rolls; cut off one end and
remove all the soft part of it; fill them with _quenelles_ of chicken;
replace the piece cut off as well as possible; place them in the
soup-dish; pour boiling _consomme_ or good broth over them; cover the
dish for ten minutes, and serve warm.
_With Vermicelli._--Drop the vermicelli in boiling water, and in which
you have put a little salt; boil ten minutes, drain, drop again in cold
water, drain again and put it in boiling broth; boil ten minutes; add
salt to taste, and serve.
_With Macaroni._--Proceed as for vermicelli in every particular, except
that it takes twice as long to cook.
_With Macaroni and Cheese._--Proceed as for the above, and when done,
put grated cheese in the soup-dish, turn the macaroni over it, and
serve.
_With Italian Pastes._--No matter of what shape are the pastes, proceed
as for vermicelli; the only difference is in the time of cooking, which
depends on the size.
_Consomme_ may be used instead of broth. If milk is used, sugar must be
added.
_With Macaroni a la Corinne._--Set two quarts of cold water on the fire,
with an ounce of salt, and two ounces of butter; at the first boil, drop
into it four ounces of macaroni; boil five minutes, and drain.
Immediately drop the macaroni in boiling _consomme_, and boil gently
till done. Drain it again and place a layer of it in the soup-dish, over
the macaroni; place a thin layer of Parmesan cheese grated; then a layer
of _macedoine_ of vegetables; then again, a layer of macaroni, one of
cheese, etc.; pour _consomme_ to taste on the whole, and serve warm.
_With Macaroni a la Medici_ (also called _a la Napolitaine_).--Proceed
as for macaroni _a la Corinne_ in every particular, with the exception
that you put also in the soup-dish a layer of _quenelles_ of chicken
over that of _macedoine_ of vegetables, and serve in the same way.
The _quenelles_ are boiled till done, in broth in which you put a few
sprigs of mignonette.
_Another._--Add to the above about a gill of thick tomato-sauce, just
before pouring the _consomme_ over the macaroni, etc.
_Macaroni a la Romulus._--Prepare eight ounces of macaroni as directed
for macaroni _a la Corinne_; place a layer of it in the soup-dish; then
over it a layer of _quenelles_ of chicken; over the _quenelles_, a thin
layer of grated Parmesan cheese; then a layer of thin slices of salt
beef tongue, boiled and skimmed; over the latter a layer of sweetbreads
boiled in broth and cut in thin slices also; and lastly a layer of thin
slices of boiled flounders. Several layers of each of the above may be
placed in the soup dish, in the same order; then boiling _consomme_ is
poured over the whole; the dish is covered, put in a warm place for ten
minutes, and served.
Although this dish is a regular potage, and served as such, still many
Italians make a meal of it.
_With Macaroni a La Rossini._--Proceed as for macaroni _a la Corinne_
above, with two exceptions: first, that you add a layer of _quenelles_
of partridge; and second, that you use _consomme_ of partridge.
_With Macaroni a la St. Pierre._--Proceed also as for potage macaroni _a
la Corinne_ as far as placing a layer of macaroni in the soup-dish; then
put over it a layer of boiled soft roe of fish; over which put a thin
layer of grated Parmesan cheese; then a layer of _quenelles_ of fish;
another layer of macaroni; over it, a layer of boiled thin slices of
salmon; macaroni again, etc. Pour boiling _consomme_ over the whole, and
serve.
Although bearing the name of Saint Pierre (St. Peter), the above dish
has not been devised by the saint; but, like all the above, save that _a
la Corinne_, it has been invented by monks.
_With Nouilles._--Set broth on the fire in a saucepan, and at the first
boiling take the _nouilles_ from the water with a skimmer and put in the
broth, stir occasionally and boil gently till done. The proportions are
according to taste. The more broth used for a certain quantity of
_nouilles_ the thinner the soup will be, and _vice versa_. Salt to
taste, and serve.
_With Potatoes._--Cut about half a pint of potatoes with a vegetable
spoon (it is understood half a pint when cut, the rest being used to
make mashed potatoes), and blanch them for three minutes, drain and put
them in boiling broth; boil gently till about half done, add then two or
three tablespoonfuls of green peas; finish the cooking; and just before
serving add a pinch of sugar, salt to taste, turn into the soup-dish,
and serve with or without croutons.
_With Quenelles._--Drop _quenelles_ in broth; boil gently till done, and
serve.
The proportion according to taste. Half a dozen _quenelles_ for each
person, and about half a pint of broth, make a good proportion.
_With Rice._--Put boiled rice in the soup-dish, turn boiling broth over
it, and serve warm.
_With Turnips._--When clean, cut the turnips in slices, drop them in
boiling water, add a little salt, boil for five minutes, and drain. Set
them on the fire in a saucepan, cover them with milk, and boil gently
till done. Mash them through a colander, put them back on the fire with
milk, butter, a little sugar and salt; stir and boil gently a few
minutes; then add a yolk of egg for two turnips, stir in also two or
three tablespoonfuls of cream; stir, but do not boil; put some
_croutons_ in the soup-dish, turn the turnips over, and serve.
_Puree of Split Peas._--The proportions vary according to taste; the
more peas that are used with a certain quantity of broth, the thicker
the potage will be, and _vice versa_.
Soak one pint of split peas in cold water over night and drain. Put them
in a saucepan with a few slices of carrot, same of turnip, same of onion
and salt. Cover with cold water, set on the fire and boil till done.
Drain, and then mash through a colander. Put back on the fire with warm
broth to taste--that is, to make the potage thin or thick, season with
salt or pepper; boil gently for five minutes, stirring the while; turn
into the soup-dish over _croutons_, and serve warm. It may be served
without _croutons_.
_Puree of Green Peas._--It is sometimes called _a la Chantilly_, or _a
la Francaise_. Put cold water and a little salt on the fire, and at the
first boiling throw the peas in; if they are very tender, leave them in
only a few seconds; if large and rather hard, boil one or two minutes;
drain, mash them through a colander, and finish as the above.
_Puree of Dry Beans._--White and dry beans have several names, but no
matter what kind, they are prepared alike. If you are not sure that the
beans are new, soak them in cold water for about twenty-four hours, and
drain. Cook, mash, and serve them the same as split peas.
_Puree of Lentils._--Wash the lentils in cold water and proceed as for
split peas for the rest.
_Puree of Peas._--Proceed as for split peas.
_With Lima Beans._--Proceed as with green peas.
_With Potatoes._--Steam potatoes, then peel and mash them through a
colander. Put them back on the fire with broth, butter, and salt to
taste; stir, boil a few minutes, and serve with _croutons_. Water or
milk may be used instead of broth.
_With Pumpkins._--Peel, take away the seed and cut the pumpkin in small
pieces; put them in a stewpan with water just enough to cover them, a
little salt and white pepper, set on the fire and take off when cooked;
throw away the water, mash and strain the pumpkin, put it back in the
stewpan, cover with milk, add a little sugar, set it again on the fire,
and take off at the first boiling; pour a little of it on _croutons_ in
the soup-dish, and keep covered in a warm place for ten minutes; then
pour also the remainder in, and serve.
_Another._--Prepare as above, throw the pieces in boiling water with a
little salt for five minutes, mash and drain; put butter in a stewpan,
set it on the fire; when melted put the pumpkin in, stir about five
minutes; have ready in your soup-dish some slices of bread fried in
butter, and dusted with sugar, pour on them some boiling milk, keep
covered in a warm place two or three minutes; then turn the pumpkin on,
at the same time mixing the whole gently, and serve.
_With Squash._--It is made as with pumpkin.
_With Asparagus._--Proceed as for green peas.
_With Jerusalem Artichokes._--It is made like that of potatoes.
_With Carrots._--When made with young carrots, it is called potage
_puree Crecy_, or _a la Crecy_. Add broth to taste to a _puree_ of
carrots, turn into the soup-dish over _croutons_, and serve.
_With colored Beans._--When made with colored beans, it is called _a la
Conde_. Proceed as with beans.
The Prince of Conde devised this potage, and besides cooking the beans
in broth, he used to put in one or two partridges also, to give, as he
used to say, "a good taste to the beans."
_With Cauliflowers._--Make a _puree_ of cauliflowers, to which you add
broth to taste, and serve with _croutons_.
_With Chestnuts._--Add broth and _croutons_ to a _puree_ of chestnuts,
and serve warm.
_With Turnips._--It is made as with carrots.
_With Wheat._--Cut ears of wheat when full, but not ripe, and put them
away to dry. Shell the wheat; wash it in cold water, put it in a
saucepan, cover it with broth and boil gently till done. Mash through a
colander, put back on the fire with a little butter; add broth if too
thick, stir now and then for about fifteen minutes; take from the fire,
add two or three yolks of eggs beaten with a little cream and a pinch of
sugar; mix them well with the rest, and serve warm.
_With Sweet Corn._--Proceed as with wheat in every particular. It makes
a healthy and excellent potage.
Water may be used instead of broth, but it is not as nutritive.
_With Swallows' Nests, or Chinese Soup._--The nests are made a
mucilaginous substance of, and built by the species of swallows called
_Hirundo esculenta_; it would require several pages to describe them,
together with their compound material, and would be out of place in a
receipt book. Suffice it to say, that they sell for $100 a pound in
London and Paris (gold of course), and the cheapest potage for one
person costs about three dollars.
Soak about four ounces of it in cold water for ten hours, drain and
clean. Put it in a saucepan, cover well with chicken-broth, place the
saucepan in boiling water for about two hours, add salt to taste, and
then drain again. Place the nests in the soup-dish, pour boiling
_consomme_ over them, and serve warm.
The Chinese are said to use very rich _consomme_ of chicken to prepare
them.
_With Tomatoes and Rice._--Blanch half a dozen tomatoes, and skin them.
Put them in a saucepan with a quart of broth, season with an onion
sliced, three or four sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, half a dozen
pepper-corns, a bay-leaf, two cloves, two cloves of garlic; salt and
pepper. Boil gently till reduced to about two-thirds, then mash gently
through a colander. It is understood by mashing gently, to mash so that
all the liquid part shall pass through the colander, and the seeds and
spices shall be retained in it and thrown away.
While the tomatoes are on the fire boiling, set four ounces of rice on
the fire with cold water and salt, and boil it till tender. Drain the
rice, put it in a saucepan with the tomato-juice after being mashed, set
the saucepan on the fire, add one ounce of butter, a teaspoonful of
sugar, both according to taste; to make the potage thin or thick, boil
gently fifteen minutes, turn into the soup-dish, and serve warm.
The same may be done with canned tomatoes; in that case, set a can of
tomatoes on the fire with the same seasonings, and proceed exactly as
for the above in every other particular.
_The same with Croutons._--Fry some _croutons_ with a little butter, put
them in the soup-dish; turn the potage, or rather the same mixture as
above, over them; cover the soup-dish for two or three minutes, and
serve.
_With Tomatoes and Croutons only._--Fry the _croutons_ and put them in
the soup-dish; turn the tomatoes only over them, after being prepared as
above; cover the soup-dish for two or three minutes, and serve.
_Puree a la Reine._--Procure a rather old chicken and cut it in pieces
as for fricassee; set it on the fire in a saucepan with about a quart of
cold water, salt, and boil gently about one hour. Then add about four
ounces of rice, washed in cold water, continue boiling until the chicken
is overdone and tender. Take the pieces of chicken from the pan, scrape
the flesh off the bones; cut the white flesh (the flesh that is on both
sides of the breast-bone) in dice, and put it in the soup-dish; chop
fine all the other flesh, and then mash it through a sieve or strainer,
together with the rice. If it be rather too thick to mash through,
moisten it with broth. A large iron spoon is the best utensil to mash
through with. Then set the rice and flesh back on the fire in a saucepan
with broth to taste, stir and add immediately from two to four ounces of
butter, a gill of cream, or, if not handy, a gill of milk. Keep stirring
on a slow fire for five or six minutes; salt to taste, turn into the
soup-dish, and serve.
There is no danger of curdling if kept on a slow fire and not allowed to
boil.
_The same with Broth._--To make the potage richer, cook the chicken and
rice in broth instead of water, and proceed as above for the rest.
_The same with consomme._--The chicken and rice may also be cooked in
_consomme_, and when mashed through the sieve, add _consomme_ also
instead of broth, and you have an exceedingly rich soup. This is
excellent for persons having throat diseases; it is easily swallowed,
and very nutritious.
_The same a la Francaise._--The potage _puree a la francaise_ is the
same as that a la reine, with the addition of _quenelles_ of chicken.
_The same a la Princesse._--Add to that _a la reine_, the white flesh of
a roasted chicken, cut in dice, and put in the soup-dish.
Puree of Game.--Proceed as for potage _puree a la reine_, with the
exception that you use prairie-hen, instead of chicken.
SOUPS.
_Maigre, or Vegetable Soup._--Proceed as for _julienne_ in every
particular, except that water is used instead of broth. Four ounces of
butter may be used instead or two.
_Beef and Mutton Soup._--Take three pounds of beef and two pounds of
breast of mutton; put both pieces in a crockery kettle with four quarts
of cold water, salt, and pepper, set on a slow fire; skim carefully,
then add half a carrot, two turnips, two onions with one clove stuck in
each, two stalks of celery, two leeks, one sprig of parsley, and one
clove of garlic. Simmer four or five hours; dish the meat with carrots,
turnips, and leeks around, to be served after the soup if you choose;
strain the broth, skim the fat off, put back on the fire, give one boil;
have _croutons_ in the soup-dish, pour over them, and serve.
_Mock Turtle._--Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan and set it on the
fire, when melted, add a tablespoonful of flour, stir, and when turning
brown, add three pints of broth (either beef-broth or broth made by
boiling a calf's head, according to taste); boil five minutes then add a
liquor glass of brandy or rum, from one to three glasses of Madeira,
Port, or Sherry wine, about four ounces of calf's-head (the skin only)
cut in dice, mushrooms or truffles, or both, also cut in dice; boil five
minutes. While it is boiling, cut two hard-boiled eggs and half a lemon
in dice and put them in the soup-dish; turn the broth over, and serve.
Made with beef broth it is certainly richer than when made with
calf's-head broth, the latter is gelatinous but less nourishing than the
former.
_Mock Turtle with consomme._--Use _consomme_ instead of broth, and you
have as rich a soup as can be made.
Mock turtle is an English soup, very rich and very good.
_Au Chasseur (Hunter's or Sportsman's Soup)._--A potage _au chasseur_ is
always made with game, such as rabbit, prairie-hen, grouse, venison,
wild turkey, wild pigeon, etc., but never with aquatic birds. It might
be made with quail, but that bird is really too delicate to make soup
with. A whole bird or animal is never used, but the bones and trimmings
only. After having cut off the fleshy parts, the bones are cracked and
used to make the potage.
Take the bones of two prairie-hens after having cut off the flesh on
both sides of the breast-bone, also the legs; cut the bones in pieces
about half an inch long and set them on the fire with half an ounce of
butter, stir for two or three minutes, cover with broth, or game broth,
and boil gently till well cooked, or about two hours.
Put in another pan, and set it on the fire at the same time as the
above, half a head of cabbage, one carrot, one turnip, and one onion,
all cut fine; about half a pound of lean salt pork; cover with cold
water, and boil gently for about two hours also.
In case the water or broth should boil away, add a little more.
After having boiled both vegetables and bones about two hours, take off
the salt pork from the pan in which the vegetables are, and turn what
you have in the other pan over the vegetables, through a strainer; add
some broth if it is too thick; boil ten minutes, and serve.
Proceed as above with the bones and trimmings of other birds.
_Turtle or Terrapin._--Cut the turtle in dice, throw it in boiling water
for two or three minutes, and drain; put it in a stewpan with onions and
ham, also cut in dice; season with thyme, parsley, bay-leaf, salt,
pepper, and a wine-glass of Madeira wine or of good brandy; wet with
_Espagnole_ sauce or with _consomme_, set on a good fire, boil about
half an hour. Ten minutes before taking from the fire, chop the eggs of
the turtle, after having boiled them, and put them in a stewpan; if the
turtle has none, chop and use hard-boiled eggs instead. When done, throw
away parsley, thyme, and bay-leaf, turn into bowls, add a little chopped
chervil, and a quarter of a rind of lemon, also chopped; the latter is
enough for six persons. Serve warm.
It may be strained before putting it in bowls, according to taste.
Turtle-steaks are prepared like beef-steaks.
_With Rice and Milk._--Wash half a pound of rice in cold water. Set it
on the fire with about one pint of milk, boil gently till done, filling
with more milk, so as to keep the rice always covered. When cooked, add
a little butter, milk according to taste, sugar or salt, or both, and
serve. It will not take more than two quarts of milk.
The French name for the above is _riz au lait_.
_With Okra._--Okra or gumbo is little known here; yet it is good in
pickles, used like cucumbers. It is much used for soup in the Southern
States and in the West Indies.
When green and tender, cut it very fine, cook it in broth, add a few
tomatoes or tomato-sauce, according to taste; season with salt, pepper,
and a pinch of sugar. When the tomatoes are cooked, serve warm.
If dry, make a potage like that of tapioca, to which you add a little
tomato-sauce and pepper.
_With Onions._--Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan, and when melted
add a tablespoonful of flour, stir, and when turning rather yellow add
also four or five onions sliced, stir till fried, when you add broth to
taste (about one quart); boil gently about fifteen minutes; mash through
a colander, put back on the fire; give one boil, salt and pepper to
taste; turn into the soup-dish, in which you have some _croutons_, and
serve.
More or less onions may be used, according to taste.
_Ox-Tail._--Chop the ox-tail in pieces about one inch long, set them on
the fire, with about one ounce of butter, stir till it turns rather
brown, and turn the fat off. Then add broth to taste, boil slowly till
the pieces of tail are well done; add salt, pepper, and when handy add
also three or four tomatoes whole; boil gently about fifteen minutes
longer, turn into the soup-dish, and serve meat and all.
Some add wine and liquor, the same as to the mock-turtle soup, but this
is according to taste. The soup is excellent served without wine or
liquor.
When no tomatoes are used, it is not necessary to boil fifteen minutes
longer, serve as soon as done.
_Simple._--Use water instead of broth; season with carrot, turnip,
parsley, leek, onions, cloves, salt, and pepper. Serve as the above.
_Ox-cheek._--An ox-cheek soup is made the same as an ox-tail soup. The
broth is made with ox-cheek instead of with other parts of the beef, and
the potage or soup made with the broth. A little wine--Madeira, Port, or
Sherry--is sometimes added, as for mock-turtle.
_Sheep's-tail._--Proceed as for ox-tail in every particular.
_Sheep's-neck._--Made the same as ox-cheek soup.
_Sorrel._--Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan, set it on the fire,
and as soon as melted, put a good handful of sorrel in, stir for about
one minute; then add a pint and a half of water, salt; boil two or three
minutes; add again a little butter, give one boil and turn into the
soup-dish in which you have _croutons_.
As soon as taken from the fire, two, three, or four yolks of eggs,
beaten with a tablespoonful of water, may be added.
Broth may be used instead of water.
_Oyster._--Put one quart of oysters with their liquor in a saucepan,
with one pint of cold water, and set it on a good fire. Take from the
fire at the first boil, and skim off the scum. Take the oysters from the
pan with a skimmer and put them in the soup-dish. By keeping the
soup-dish in a warm but not hot place, the oysters will not harden. Add
to the juice in the saucepan a gill of white wine; give one boil, and
take from the fire. Mix two ounces of butter with two tablespoonfuls of
flour in a bowl; turn the juice and wine into the bowl also, and mix the
whole well; put the mixture back in the saucepan, and set it on the
fire, adding about half a dozen mushrooms, two or three stalks of
parsley, and pepper to taste. Boil two minutes, turn over the oysters
through a strainer, and serve.
The mushrooms may also be turned into the soup-dish.
_Cabbage._--Put in a kettle with two quarts and a half of water a pound
of salted pork, same of breast of mutton; also, if handy, the remains of
a roasted piece; set on a slow fire; skim before it boils, and then boil
for about an hour and a half; strain, to remove the small bones, if any;
put back in the kettle broth and meat, also one middling-sized cabbage,
which you must have previously thrown in boiling water and boiled ten
minutes; add then two carrots, one turnip, two leeks, half a head of
celery, one onion with a clove stuck in it, a little salt and pepper,
and about half a pound of sausage (not smoked); then boil gently about
two hours, strain the broth, pour it on _croutons_ in the soup-dish, and
serve.
The pork, mutton, and sausage, with the cabbage around, may be served
on a dish after the soup at a family dinner, or kept for breakfast the
next day.
_Cauliflower._--Clean and cut in small pieces three middling-sized
cauliflowers. Put in a stewpan two ounces of butter, and set it on a
moderate fire; when hot put the cauliflowers in; stir now and then till
it turns brown, then add a sprig of thyme, same of parsley, a bay-leaf,
one onion with a clove stuck in it, salt, and white pepper; simmer
gently till the whole is well cooked, throw away the onion, clove,
thyme, and bay-leaf; mash well the cauliflowers, strain and put back on
the fire with the broth; give one boil, pour on _croutons_, and serve.
_Cheese._--Put four ounces of butter in a soup-kettle, with an onion
chopped fine; set on a brisk fire, stir now and then till it has a
yellow color, then sprinkle on it half a tablespoonful of flour, keep
stirring till it turns brown; then add two quarts of water, salt, and
pepper; boil about five minutes. Have prepared in the soup-dish the
following: a thin layer of grated cheese, Gruyere or pine-apple cheese;
on it a layer of thin slices of bread, then another of cheese, again
another of bread, etc., three or four of each; strain, and pour the
liquor in the kettle on the whole; keep in a warm place five minutes,
and serve.
_Milk._--Put a quart of milk in a tin saucepan and set it on the fire;
when it begins to rise, sweeten it to taste; give one boil, pour on
toasted bread, or on _croutons_, or on two ounces of boiled rice, and
serve.
Yolks of eggs may be stirred in, just before turning the milk into the
soup-dish, and when taken from the fire.
_Maigre_ (called _Soup aux Herbes_, _Herb-Broth_, etc.).--Wash, drain,
and chop fine a handful of sorrel, a dozen sprigs of chervil, and half a
head of lettuce; put an ounce of butter in a stewpan, set it on a good
fire; when melted, put the sorrel, chervil, and lettuce in, add salt
and pepper, stir till the whole is cooked; then cover with lukewarm
water; boil three minutes, beat well three yolks of eggs with a
tablespoonful of water, take from the fire and put the eggs in while
stirring; pour immediately on _croutons_, and serve.
_With Leeks._--Clean six leeks; cut them in pieces about half an inch
long, then fry them with a little butter till turning rather yellow; add
then about a pint and a half of water, boil gently till the leeks are
perfectly cooked, salt to taste, and it is ready for use.
This broth may be taken warm or cold.
It is a demulcent, and at the same time the most refreshing drink that
can be taken.
_With Clams._--Wash and clean the clams well. Then put them in a
saucepan with half a pint of water (say one quart of clams), set on the
fire, and at the first boil, take off and drain. Put the pan back on the
fire with two ounces of butter in it; when melted, fry a chopped onion
in the butter, add then the liquor drained, a pint of water, salt,
pepper, parsley chopped fine, and the clams; boil two minutes, add also
a little butter, and when melted and mixed, turn over some _croutons_ in
the soup-dish, and serve warm.
_With Muscles._--Proceed as for clams in every particular.
_Allemande, or German Soup._--Soak four ounces of pearl-barley in tepid
water for eight or ten hours, and strain. Put it in a saucepan with one
quart of broth, a piece of leek, one of celery, and boil gently about
one hour and a half. While it is boiling, mix well together in a bowl
one tablespoonful of flour and half a gill of broth, which turn into the
saucepan, also grated nutmeg and sugar to taste; boil ten minutes
longer, and serve.
_Another, called a la Maria Theresa._--Proceed as for the above, except
that you mix in a bowl six yolks of eggs with half a gill of broth, and
no flour; and finish as in the preceding.
_Another way._--Instead of using pearl-barley, use flour that you have
dried in a bakepan till it turns yellow.
_Indian, or Curry._--Put in a saucepan one ounce of butter and set it on
the fire; when melted, fry in it two large onions, one carrot, and half
a turnip, all sliced; also one leek, a stalk of celery, and four of
parsley, all cut fine. When the whole is fried, cover with about one
quart of broth, season with two cloves, a bay-leaf, half a teaspoonful
of cayenne pepper, same of pimento, two stalks of thyme; boil gently
about one hour and a quarter, and drain. Put the liquor back in the
saucepan and add four ounces of boiled rice, a little saffron to color,
simmer about fifteen minutes longer, and serve.
This soup is good and healthy for southern countries, but is too highly
spiced for this climate.
_Polish, or Barscz._--Peel and clean fifteen or twenty red beets, split
them in two or four lengthwise, and put them in an earthen vessel with a
pail of water and about a pound of rye bread; cover the vessel as
air-tight as possible, and set it in a warm place (about 80 degrees
Fahr.) for about eight days. After that time the liquor is rather sour,
then drain.
Put in a saucepan four pounds of lean beef, one pound of smoked pork,
half a pound of ham, four onions, two leeks, and about four quarts of
the liquor made as above. Simmer till the whole is done; skim off the
scum that may gather on the surface, and then strain.
Roast till half done, three chickens, or one chicken and one rabbit, or
one chicken and one duck; put them on the fire in a saucepan with the
liquor strained from the beef, pork, etc., as described above. Boil
gently about half an hour, strain the liquor again. Then cut the beef,
smoked pork, and ham, in small dice, put the whole in the soup-dish,
with the strained liquor, and serve warm, as soup.
The chicken, or chicken and rabbit, or chicken and duck, are generally
served separately, with some of the beets used to make the liquor, and
with the addition of mushrooms, parsley, celery, onions, and sausages,
raw or cooked, according to taste; and salt, pepper, and spices,
according to taste also.
The poorer classes make this soup with water instead of beet-juice, and
very often with mutton instead of beef; but proceed as described above
in every other particular.
_Russian, or Uka._--The _uka_ is made in Russia with sterlets. It may be
made here with the sturgeon of the lakes, or with salmon or trout.
Cut the fish in pieces about two inches long, and put them in salt water
for one hour, and drain. Cut in small pieces two roots of parsley and
two of celery, throw them into boiling water five minutes and drain
them. Then fry them with a little butter till they turn yellow, when add
a gill of broth, and boil gently till it becomes rather thick. Put the
pieces of fish in also, add salt and pepper, to taste, cover the whole
with fish-broth, boil gently till the fish is cooked, and serve warm.
Some _caviare_ may be added just before serving.
_Another, or Tstchy._--Put four pounds of beef in a soup-kettle (the
poorer classes always use mutton), with a chicken or a duck, half a
pound of smoked pork, same of smoked sausages, four carrots, four
cloves, twelve pepper-corns, salt, two leeks, two onions, four stalks of
parsley, and one of celery; cover the whole with fish-broth, and set on
a good fire. Skim off the scum carefully, and boil gently till the whole
is done. As soon as either the chicken or duck, etc., is done, take it
from the kettle. When the whole is cooked, drain.
Put the liquor back in the kettle with a middling-sized head of cabbage
cut in four, or about the same quantity of sour-krout, slices of carrots
and onions, pearl-barley, _semoule_, or gruel; simmer about three hours,
and it is done.
It is served in two ways: first, all the meat and vegetables are cut in
small pieces and served with the broth as soup; second, the broth is
served with the vegetables cut up, and the meat is served after and
separately, as a _releve_.
Nothing is thrown away but the pepper-corns and cloves.
_Spanish, or Olla Podrida._--Put four ounces of lean and fat salt pork
into a saucepan and set it on a good fire; when partly fried, add half a
pound of beef, same of mutton, same of veal (occasionally a chicken or
partridge is added also), and four ounces of ham. Just cover the whole
with cold water, and skim carefully as soon as the scum comes on the
surface. When skimmed, add a gill of dry peas, previously soaked in
water for an hour, half a small head of cabbage, pimento to taste, one
carrot, one turnip, two leeks, three or four stalks of celery, same of
parsley, two of thyme, two cloves, two onions, two cloves of garlic, ten
pepper-corns, and some mace; fill up with water so that the whole is
just covered, and simmer for about five hours.
In case the water should simmer away too much, add a little more.
When done, dish the pork, beef, mutton, veal, ham, and chicken. Put the
peas, cabbage, carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, and onions on another
dish.
Strain the liquor, pour it on _croutons_ in the soup-dish, and serve the
three dishes at the same time.
The Spanish peasantry and the lower classes in cities, serve the whole
in the same dish, and generally omit the beef and veal. The better class
serve the soup first, and then the meat and vegetables afterward.
_Another._--Chop very fine two onions, one cucumber peeled and seeded, a
little pimento, two cloves of garlic, four sprigs of parsley, same of
chervil, and mix the whole in a bowl with the juice of four tomatoes,
and to which add two or three tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs. Then
season with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, and water to taste, and
serve.
The Spanish call it a cool and refreshing soup.
SAUCES.
There is no good cooking possible without good sauces. Many excellent
pieces of meat, etc., are spoiled by being served with a poor sauce.
Let every one bear in mind that water is no substitute for broth; that
vinegar or water is no substitute for wine, etc.
There is no place where the old proverb can be better applied than in
the kitchen, "Waste not, spare not."
The _French_, _Italians_, _Spaniards_, and _Germans_, use broth and wine
in their cooking, and do not spend as much as the _Americans_ for their
food; they could not afford it; but they waste not, neither do they lose
any thing good through carelessness or prejudice.
Good sauces are not as difficult to make as is generally believed.
This general belief comes from the fact that many, after having partaken
of a certain dish somewhere, and liking it much, ask of their own cook
to prepare the same.
The cook, most probably, has never heard of it, but nevertheless
prepares a dish which is hardly eatable, and is to the other what a
crab-apple is to a raspberry.
The most important thing in making a sauce is for the cook to put his or
her whole attention and care to it.
Most sauces must be stirred continually while on the fire, and
especially white sauces, such as _Bechamel_, _Bechamel_ with cream or
cream sauce, and white sauce.
It is necessary to stir all sauces now and then, to prevent the forming
of a kind of skin on the surface.
The onions, shallots, garlics, and vinegar, used in sharp sauces, may be
prepared as described for _piquante_ sauce.
Sauces can always be made to suit the taste. A thousand can be made as
well as a hundred, by merely adding or subtracting one or more of the
compounds, or by proceeding differently. An idea of what can be done in
that line can be formed by reading our directions for Supreme Sauce.
HOW TO MAKE A SAUCE THICKER WHEN IT IS TOO THIN, AND THINNER WHEN TOO
THICK.
Take two fresh eggs, break them gently, and separate the white part from
the yolk; be careful to have the yolk free from any white (there is in
every yolk a little white spot, which you cannot detach without using a
fork, knife, or spoon); mix well the two yolks with two or three
tablespoonfuls of the sauce that is too thin, and a piece of butter the
size of a pigeon's egg; then take the sauce from the fire, pour the
mixture in it, little by little, stirring all the time; when the whole
is in, put back on the fire for three or four minutes, but do not allow
it to boil; take away and use. When too thick, add broth.
_Allemande._--Chop fine and fry in butter four or five mushrooms; then
add a little flour, and four or five tablespoonfuls of broth; reduce it
to a sauce; put a piece of butter the size of an egg in it, also a sprig
of white parsley chopped fine, one of thyme, a clove, a bay-leaf, a
clove of garlic, a little nutmeg grated fine, the juice of a quarter of
a lemon, and three well-beaten yolks of eggs, boil two or three minutes,
and use. If found too thick, add a little broth.
_Anchovy Butter._--Strain essence of anchovy through a fine sieve, and
knead it with fresh butter, or salt butter that you have kneaded in cold
water previously, and it is ready for use.
_Anchovy Sauce._--Use butter without salt; if salty, work it in cold
water. Set three ounces of butter in a saucepan on the fire, and melt it
slowly; then add about two teaspoonfuls of essence of anchovy; stir a
few seconds, and it is done. More anchovy may be used if liked. It is
served in a boat.
_Apple._--Peel, quarter, and core four or six apples, and set them on
the fire in a small saucepan, with two tablespoonfuls of water; stir now
and then till done; when done, mash through a fine colander; add a
little sugar, and it is ready for use.
If found too thin, keep on the fire for some time. If too thick, add a
little water.
_Cranberry._--Put a quart of cranberries in a saucepan and set it on a
rather slow fire; stir occasionally till done; mash gently through a
fine colander, or through a strainer; add a little sugar, and use.
_Currant._--Proceed as for a cranberry-sauce in every particular, except
that it must be mashed through a strainer or through a towel.
_Peach._--Stone about a quart of peaches, and proceed as for apple-sauce
for the rest.
_Raspberry._--Made the same as currant-sauce.
The five sauces above are served with roasted game.
_Bechamel._--Mix cold, and well together, in a tin saucepan, two ounces
of butter and a tablespoonful of flour; then add a pint of milk, and
set on the fire; stir continually, and when turning rather thick, take
off; beat a yolk of egg in a cup with a teaspoonful of water; turn it
into the sauce, and mix well again; salt and white pepper to taste, and
it is ready for use.
_Blonde._--Proceed exactly as for white sauce, using broth instead of
water.
_Bread._--Take the soft part of half a ten-cent loaf of bread; break it
in pieces, which put in a saucepan with a quart of good fresh milk, six
pepper-corns chopped fine, and a little salt; set on the fire and boil
five or six minutes, stirring the while; take off, mash through a
strainer or a sieve, and it is ready for use.
A bread-sauce is really a very poor sauce. Its insipidity is concealed
by the great amount of pepper that it contains.
_Brown Butter, or Beurre Noir._--This is butter set on the fire in a
frying-pan and left till it turns perfectly brown, then a few sprigs of
parsley are dropped in it, fried half a minute, and it is ready for use.
It is sometimes used with vinegar, but in that case it is described in
the receipts.
_Caper._--Mix well together, cold, in a small saucepan, two ounces of
butter and a tablespoonful of flour; then add a pint of broth, set on
the fire, stir, and when thickening, add capers to taste, whole or
chopped; give another boil, take from the fire, add salt, the yolk of an
egg beaten with a teaspoonful of water, mix and serve.
_Celery._--Proceed as for a caper-sauce in every particular except that
you add three or four stalks of celery chopped fine, and then boil ten
or twelve minutes, and strain it before using.
_Colbert._--Set half a pint of meat gravy on the fire, in a small
saucepan with half a dozen mushrooms and one or two truffles chopped
fine (the latter, if handy), boil gently five minutes, add one ounce of
butter, stir, and when the butter is melted and mixed with the rest, it
is ready for use.
_Coulis of Fish_, _or Fish Gravy_, is one and the same thing.
Boil hard four eggs, and put the yolks in a mortar. Take a pike weighing
about two pounds, clean, prepare, and broil it as directed; split it
open, take all the bones and skin off, put the flesh in the mortar with
the yolks, and pound the whole, and knead it with a little butter. Place
a little butter, of the size of a walnut, in a stewpan, and set it on a
good fire; when melted, fry in it till of a golden color, two carrots
and two onions cut in slices; after that add also a piece of bay-leaf,
two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a little isinglass, the eggs and
fish, and cover with water; simmer gently about one hour and a half, and
strain.
If found too thin after it is strained, set it back on the fire, add a
little more isinglass, and simmer fifteen minutes longer.
_Coulis of Veal._--Place in a stewpan about one pound of veal, fillet or
knuckle, with four ounces of bacon, not smoked, and cut fine; also a
carrot cut fine, a little pepper, and grated nutmeg; set on a slow fire,
cover well; half an hour after augment the fire, and as soon as you see
the meat sticking to the pan, subdue it, leave it so ten minutes, then
take from the fire, put the bacon, veal, and carrot on a dish; put
butter about the size of an egg in the pan; when melted, sprinkle in it
a teaspoonful of flour, stir with a wooden spoon, then put the meat back
into it. Cover with warm broth and set on a slow fire for about two
hours; take off, throw in it a few drops of cold water, skim off the
fat, strain, and use.
_Cream._--A cream-sauce is a _Bechamel_ made with cream instead of milk.
It is often called _a la creme_, its French name.
_Cucumber._--Proceed as for caper-sauce, using pickled cucumbers,
chopped fine, instead of capers.
_Egg._--Proceed as for caper-sauce in every particular, except that you
use two hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, instead of capers.
_Diplomat._--Make a cream-sauce with one pint of cream. When made, put
in it nearly half a pound of lobster butter, stir, and when the whole is
well mixed, add also about a tablespoonful of essence of anchovy and mix
again; pepper to taste, and use.
It is a rich sauce, used with boiled fish and baked or roasted meat.
_Espagnole._--This sauce is very seldom made in the kitchen of a family,
except of a large and wealthy family, being a rather expensive one. In
the kitchen of a family, gravy or even broth is used in its stead; but,
when preparing an extra dinner, it should be made, and a little of it
used in all the brown sauces, either for meat, fish, or vegetables.
Spread about half a pound of butter in the bottom of a stewpan, lay in
it lean ham and veal, partridge, wild rabbit, pheasant, or fowl of any
kind, about four ounces of each, a small carrot cut in dice, one onion
with a clove stuck in it, half a turnip, and a sprig of thyme; cover the
pan and set it on the fire; let it simmer till reduced to a jelly, then
mix in it two tablespoonfuls of flour, a wine-glass of white wine, cover
with broth, add salt, pepper, a clove of garlic, a sprig of parsley, one
clove, a bay-leaf, and two mushrooms cut in pieces; simmer from three
to four hours, skim off the scum as soon as it comes on the surface;
when done, take it from the fire, throw a few drops of cold water in,
and skim off the fat, then strain and use.
It will keep for some time if kept air-tight in a pot or bottle, and in
a cool, dry place.
_Essence of Spinage, or Spinach._--Soak in water, drain, dry, and pound
well two or three handfuls of spinach, put them in a coarse towel and
press the juice out, put it in a pan on a moderate fire, and when nearly
boiling, take it off, strain, and add to it a little fine-crushed sugar,
stir a little, and bottle when cold; it may be kept for months; use it
where directed.
_Sauce for every kind of Fish, boiled, baked, or roasted_.--Boil hard
two eggs, take the yolks and pound them well, and place them in a bowl.
Have boiling water on the fire, and put in it cives, burnet, chervil,
tarragon, and parsley, four or five sprigs of each; boil five minutes,
take off, drain and pound them well, then strain them on the eggs, add
two tablespoonfuls of cider vinegar, two of French mustard, salt,
pepper, and four tablespoonfuls of sweet-oil, which you pour in, little
by little, at the same time mixing the whole well with a boxwood spoon,
and it is ready for use.
_Fines Herbes._--Chop very fine a small handful of parsley, shallots,
and chives; and proceed as for making a caper-sauce, except that you use
the chopped spices instead of capers.
_Genoise._--Put two ounces of butter in a small saucepan, set it on the
fire, and when melted, mix in it a tablespoonful of flour; stir for one
minute, add one-fourth of a carrot, sliced, stir now and then, and when
nearly fried, add also a pint of broth, half a pint of claret wine, a
small onion, and a clove of garlic, chopped; two cloves, a bay-leaf, two
stalks of parsley, one of thyme, salt, and pepper; boil gently about one
hour and forty minutes, and strain. If it boils away, add a little
broth. Put it back on the fire with about half an ounce of butter, boil
gently for about ten minutes, and it is ready for use.
This sauce is excellent with any kind of boiled fish, but especially
with trout, pike, and pickerel.
A trout served with a _genoise_ sauce is considered a _recherche_ dish.
_Hollandaise._--Set one ounce of butter on the fire in a saucepan, and
when melted, add half a tablespoonful of flour, stir, and when turning
rather yellow, add half a pint of broth, stir for one minute; add also
four sprigs of parsley and four mushrooms chopped fine (one truffle
sliced, if handy, would be excellent), a liquor-glass of Madeira, Port,
or Sherry wine; boil gently ten minutes, stirring the while, and serve.
_Indian._--This sauce may be used with fish, in summer and in southern
places.
Have a stewpan on a moderate fire, with two ounces of butter in it; when
melted, add a teaspoonful of pimento, salt, a pinch of saffron, and one
of grated nutmeg, also one and a half tablespoonfuls of flour--the
latter you sprinkle in, little by little, stirring the while; cover with
broth, boil twelve minutes and strain; afterward add two ounces of
butter, stir a little, and use.
_Italian._--Tie together two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, and a
bay-leaf; put them in a stewpan with two or three mushrooms cut fine,
one shallot, a small onion with a clove stuck in it, a piece of butter
the size of a walnut, and half a pint of white wine; set on a gentle
fire, and reduce it half; then add about one tablespoonful of olive-oil
and half a pint of broth, simmer forty minutes, strain, and use.
_Lobster._--Chop very fine or pound some of the flesh of a boiled
lobster. Take a white or blonde sauce, and instead of taking it from the
fire when done, turn the chopped flesh into it with a little piece of
butter; stir, give one boil, and it is ready for use.
_Craw-fish, prawn, shrimp,_ and _crab_ sauces are made the same as
_lobster_ sauce.
_Madeira._--Mix cold in a saucepan two ounces of butter with a
tablespoonful of flour, set on the fire and stir till it turns rather
brown; when add nearly a pint of gravy, stir till it is becoming thick;
then add half a pint of Madeira wine, little by little, stirring the
while, give one boil only, salt to taste, and then strain and use.
_Champagne_ sauce is made in the same way, except that it must be poured
in faster and used immediately.
All wine sauces may be made in the same way. We mean wine sauces for
meat or fish.
_Maitre d'Hotel._--This sauce is sometimes called _butter_ _maitre
d'hotel_. Mix and knead well together in a bowl, two ounces of butter, a
tablespoonful of chopped parsley and the juice of a half lemon; salt to
taste and use.
Pepper, grated nutmeg, and chopped chives, may be added if liked. Using
vinegar instead of lemon-juice makes an inferior sauce.
_Mayonnaise._--In warm weather it is necessary to put the bowl on ice
while making it. Put one or two yolks of fresh eggs in a bowl with a
small pinch of salt; commence stirring with a box-wood spoon, or, what
is still better, a stone or marble pestle. Stir without interruption,
always in the same way and describing a circle. It is more easily done
if the bowl is held steady. After having stirred about half a minute,
commence pouring the oil in, drop by drop, and as soon as you see that
it is thickening pretty well, add also a few drops of vinegar and same
of lemon-juice; then continue with the oil in the same way. Every time
that it becomes too thick, add a little vinegar, but continue stirring.
You put as much oil as you please; two bottles of oil might be used and
it would still be thick. Spread it on chicken salad, etc.
_Tartar._--Chop some capers and shallots very fine, mix them well with a
_mayonnaise_ when made, and you have a Tartar sauce.
_Mushroom._--Proceed exactly as for caper-sauce, using chopped mushrooms
instead of capers.
_Piquante._--Take a small saucepan and set it on the fire with two
ounces of butter in it, and when melted add a small onion chopped; stir,
and when nearly fried add a tablespoonful of flour, stir, and when
turning rather brown, add half a pint of broth, salt, pepper, a pickled
cucumber chopped, four stalks of parsley, also chopped, and mustard;
boil gently about ten minutes, add a teaspoonful of vinegar; give one
boil, and serve.
_Another way._--Set the chopped onion on the fire with one gill of
vinegar, and boil gently till the vinegar is entirely absorbed, or
boiled away. Make the same sauce as above in another pan, omitting the
onion and vinegar, and when done mix the two together, and it is ready
for use.
_Another._--Add three shallots, chopped fine, to the chopped onion, and
proceed as above for the rest.
_Parisienne._--Make a bunch of seasonings with six sprigs of parsley,
one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and two cloves; put it in a saucepan with half
a pint of chopped truffles, and about a pint of white wine; set on the
fire and boil gently till about half reduced, strain, put back on the
fire, turn into it, little by little, stirring the while, nearly a pint
of gravy or _consomme_; continue stirring now and then till it begins to
turn rather thick, add pepper to taste, strain, and use with fish and
game.
_Poivrade._--Put a piece of butter the size of an egg in a stewpan, and
set it on the fire; when melted, sprinkle in it, little by little, about
a tablespoonful of flour, stirring the while; when of a proper
thickness, and of a brownish color, take from the fire, add a
tablespoonful of vinegar, a wine-glass of claret wine, a glass of broth,
a shallot cut in two, a middling-sized onion, also cut in two, with a
clove stuck in each piece, a sprig of thyme, one of parsley, a bay-leaf,
a clove of garlic, a little salt, and two pepper-corns; boil about
twenty minutes, strain and use.
The vinegar, shallot, and onion may be boiled separately as for a
_piquante_ sauce.
_Polonaise._--Put four ounces of butter in a saucepan on the fire, and
when melted add two or three tablespoonfuls of the soft part of bread,
bruised in a coarse towel; stir for about one minute, salt to taste, and
use.
Like the _Parisienne_, it is used with game.
_Poulette._--Set a stewpan on the fire with a piece of butter the size
of an egg in it; when melted, sprinkle in it a tablespoonful of flour,
stirring the while; pour gently in it also, and little by little, a
glass of warm water, and a wine-glass of white wine, or broth instead of
both, salt, pepper, a sprig of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, a
chopped shallot, a little nutmeg, four small white onions, and two or
three mushrooms (the latter cut fine and fried in butter before using
them); simmer till the whole is well cooked, strain and use.
In case it should be found too light, add when done, and before taking
from the fire, two or three yolks of eggs, and the juice of a lemon.
_Princesse._--Make a cream-sauce with one pint of cream and set it on a
moderate fire; immediately turn into it, stirring the while, about half
a pint of reduced, good meat gravy; when thoroughly mixed, add two or
three ounces of butter, stir for a couple of minutes longer, strain and
use immediately.
It is a very rich sauce, used with boiled fish and roasted or baked
meat.
_Provencale._--Chop fine two or three mushrooms, and two shallots; put
the whole in a stewpan with a clove of garlic, and two tablespoonfuls of
olive-oil; set on a moderate fire, and leave till half fried; then
sprinkle in it half a teaspoonful of flour, stirring the while; add also
half a pint of white wine, and as much broth, and two small onions, two
sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, half a bay-leaf, salt, and pepper;
simmer about half an hour, take from the fire, and a few minutes after
skim off the fat; take out the garlic, onions, parsley, thyme, and
bay-leaf, and it is then ready for immediate use.
_Ravigote._--Chop fine, and in equal proportion, two tablespoonfuls of
chervil, tarragon, and pepper-grass, also, in equal proportion, one
teaspoonful of burnet and table celery; place the whole in a stewpan
with salt and pepper, cover with broth, set on the fire, and boil twenty
minutes; after which take from the fire, and strain. Mix two ounces of
butter with flour enough to make a paste, put it with the sauce on the
fire, add a tablespoonful of cider vinegar; simmer till of a proper
thickness, and use.
_Robert._--Put about four ounces of butter in a stewpan, set it on a
moderate fire; when melted, sprinkle in it about a tablespoonful of
flour, stirring the while; when of a brownish color, add three small
onions chopped fine, salt, and pepper; stir, and leave on the fire till
the whole is turning brown, then add a glass of broth, boil about thirty
minutes, and strain; mix well in a cup one teaspoonful of vinegar, one
of sugar, and one of mustard, which mix again with the sauce, and it is
ready to be used.
_Remolade._--Chop very fine a small handful of chervil, tarragon, and
burnet, in equal proportion, and put them in a saucer or boat; add salt,
pepper, nutmeg grated, and mustard, to taste; also one or two
hard-boiled eggs cut in dice; mix the whole gently and well; then add
the vinegar, and lastly the oil. The two latter ones are put in little
by little, stirring gently the while. Serve as it is.
_Another._--Proceed as for the above, except that you chop fine with the
chervil, etc., some parsley, shallot, and garlic; the five spices in
equal proportion.
When finished, add also a pinch of sugar.
_Roux._--Set a small saucepan on a moderate fire, with two ounces of
butter in it; sprinkle into it, when melted, a tablespoonful of flour;
stir, and when turning brown, use.
_Shallot._--Chop the shallots, and proceed as for caper-sauce, using
them instead of capers.
_Soubise._--Put about half a pint of good meat gravy in a saucepan; set
it on the fire, and when boiling add half a gill of Madeira wine; when
well mixed, add also two or three tablespoonfuls of _puree_ of white
onions, salt, and pepper; boil five minutes, stirring now and then, and
it is made.
A _soubise_ is an excellent sauce for baked or boiled fish, also for
roasted meat.
_Supreme._--This sauce is made in several ways. We will give here the
three principal ones:
1. Make an _Allemande_ sauce; and when done, add to it two ounces of
butter and half a gill of _consomme_; stir and mix, and place on a brisk
fire to start it boiling at once; take it from the fire as soon as it
becomes thick; then add a few drops of lemon-juice, and use.
2. Make a _roux_; add to it about half a pint of chicken gravy; stir or
boil five or six minutes; then add two ounces of butter, the juice of a
lemon, a pinch of parsley chopped fine; give one boil, and use.
3. This is made like No. 2, except that you use an _Allemande_ sauce
instead of a _roux_, and besides the pint of chicken gravy, etc., you
add also half a gill of white wine.
It is used especially with roasted chicken and game.
_Tomato._--If you use fresh tomatoes, blanch them first; if preserved,
use them as they are in the can. Put one pint of tomatoes in a saucepan
with a small onion and a clove of garlic sliced; also two stalks of
parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, one clove, six pepper-corns, and
salt; boil gently till reduced about one-third, when mash gently through
a strainer or sieve; all the tomato-seed and seasonings must remain in
the strainer; put back on the fire, with a little piece of butter; give
one boil, and it is done.
_Truffle._--This sauce is made like a caper-sauce, using chopped or
sliced truffles instead of capers.
_Veloute._--This and gravy is nearly the same thing. It is gravy made as
directed for gravy, with the addition of a dozen mushrooms chopped fine;
and is used for sauces, like gravy, to make sauces richer than with
broth.
_Vinaigrette._--Put salt and pepper in a saucer (and mustard, if it is
to be used with butcher's meat; but with fish, chicken, or birds, it is
really too strong; it neutralizes the delicate flavor of the object),
and pour vinegar over, little by little, beating with a fork at the
same time; then pour the oil, also little by little, and while beating;
a little chopped parsley is also added; and serve with cold meat, fish,
or vegetables.
It is quickly made, is good, and makes an excellent dish for breakfast,
served as we said above.
_White._--Put two ounces of butter in a small saucepan and set it on the
fire, stir a little, and as soon as melted, remove on a rather slow
fire; add a tablespoonful of flour, stir continually till thoroughly
mixed (two or three minutes); then add again about a pint of boiling
water, pouring gently, and stirring the while, take off when it begins
to turn thick; add a yolk of egg beaten with a teaspoonful of cold
water, mix it well with the rest, and it is ready for use; after having
mixed, also salt and white pepper to taste.
_Oyster._--Add to a white sauce some oysters blanched; then stir and mix
with the whole the juice of half a lemon.
_Muscle._--Boil the muscles about one minute and make as oyster-sauce.
SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS.
_Milk._--Put in a block-tin saucepan four tablespoonfuls of sugar, one
of flour, four yolks of eggs, one pint of milk; essence to flavor, and
mix the whole well; set on a good but not sharp fire, stir continually
till it begins to become rather thick; take off, turn over the pudding,
and serve.
_Madeira._--Set a saucepan on the fire with one ounce of butter in it;
as soon as melted, add half a tablespoonful of flour, stir till it turns
rather yellow, and add also one pint of water, four ounces of sugar, and
a few drops of burnt sugar; boil gently, about twenty-five minutes; add
nearly a gill of Madeira wine, boil again ten minutes, and serve in a
boat.
_Rum._--Proceed as for Madeira-sauce, except you use half a gill of rum
instead of Madeira.
_Brandy._--Proceed as for rum-sauce, using the same proportion of
brandy.
FARCES AND GARNITURES,
CALLED ALSO GARNISH AND GARNISHING, USED TO DECORATE OR ORNAMENT DISHES.
_With Bread._--Put in a tureen about a pound of the soft part of bread,
and cover with broth; when it has absorbed the broth, place it in a
stewpan, set it on a slow fire, and leave till it becomes a thick paste;
stir now and then, then mix well with it three yolks of eggs, and it is
ready for use.
_With Cabbage._--Throw into boiling water a little salt and a
middling-sized cabbage; boil it half an hour, take it from the kettle
with a skimmer, throw it in cold water, and drain it, pressing it a
little in the drainer to force the water out; cut off the stump, and
chop the cabbage fine. Have in a stewpan on the fire, three or four
ounces of fresh butter; put the cabbage in when the butter is half
melted, sprinkling on while stirring a teaspoonful of flour; pour on it,
little by little, some broth, stirring the while, and when it has a fine
brownish color, wet with broth enough to boil it; season with salt, a
little grated nutmeg, and four pepper-corns; boil gently till the sauce
is thick enough, take away the pepper-corns, and use.
_With Combs of Chicken._--Soak the combs over night in cold water, and
then clean them well by wiping roughly with a coarse towel, wetted and
salted; wash and drain them; put a dozen of them in a saucepan with two
sweetbreads blanched, cover the whole with broth, and boil till done;
then add salt, pepper, a few drops of lemon-juice, and it is ready for
use.
_With Cauliflowers._--Proceed as for cabbage in every particular, except
that it does not require as long doing.
With _Croutons._--Cut pieces of soft part of stale bread in different
shapes, and fry them on both sides in butter or fat.
For potage, they are cut in dice, but for decorating dishes, they are
cut either round, square, oblong, or of a heart, star-like, half moon,
butterfly, or flower shape, and about one-quarter of an inch thick. Take
them off with a skimmer, and turn into a colander to drain.
[Illustration]
The cut _d_ is used for potage, and _a_, _b_, _c_, etc., are used to
decorate.
_Duxelle._--Make a _fines-herbes_ sauce, and when ready to be used, add
half a gill of gravy, and give one boil; add also two or three yolks of
eggs, simmer one minute, and use warm.
Mushrooms, whole or in slices, may be added at the same time the yolks
of eggs are added.
_With Eggs._--Mash and mix well together six hard-boiled yolks of eggs
with three yolks not cooked, salt and pepper. Put the mixture in parts
on the paste-board, which must be previously dusted with flour; roll
each part and give it the shape of a small egg (a pigeon's egg or a
little larger). When the whole is thus prepared, drop in boiling water,
boil till cooked, and use to decorate meat or fish.
_Financiere._--A garniture _financiere_ is the same as a garniture with
combs of chicken, to which are added some mushrooms and truffles, both
cut in slices.
It is generally served with a roast chicken.
_With Livers._--Geese livers are the best, being the fattest. Drop two
geese livers in boiling water and a little salt, boil three minutes and
drain. Put in a saucepan one gill of broth, same of white wine, Sauterne
or Catawba, a tablespoonful of gravy, six pepper-corns, two or three
stalks of parsley, salt, and the livers; set on the fire and boil gently
for about twenty-five minutes. Take off the livers, boil a few minutes
longer to thicken the sauce, turn it over the livers through a strainer,
and it is ready.
The same may be done with the livers of poultry or any other kind of
birds; the seasonings are the same, and the proportion is according to
the size or to the number of livers.
Besides being used as garnishing, it may be served as a breakfast dish.
_Macedoine._--Blanch a dozen of Brussels cabbages. Blanch also half a
dozen asparagus cut in pieces about an inch long. Put four ounces of
butter in a saucepan on the fire, and when melted put it into a gill of
carrots, same of turnips, both cut with a vegetable spoon, also a dozen
small onions; stir now and then till the whole is about half done, when
add a little over a pint of broth and the Brussels cabbages; boil about
ten minutes. Then add again the blanched asparagus, half a dozen
mushrooms, broth just enough to cover the whole, simmer till every thing
is done, salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of sugar and it is ready for
use.
Water may be used instead of broth, but is inferior.
A _macedoine_ may be served with any meat--roasted, baked, or broiled.
_With Mushrooms._--Chop fine half a pint of fresh mushrooms and two
tablespoonfuls of parsley. Set a saucepan on the fire with two ounces of
fat grated salt pork in it, as much butter, and as soon as the butter is
melted put the mushrooms and parsley in; season with salt, pepper, a
little grated nutmeg, and a quarter of a pint of white wine; let boil
gently till reduced to a jelly, and use.
When done, three or four yolks of eggs may be mixed with it.
_With Onions._--Put a dozen onions in a crockery saucepan and half cover
them with broth. Cover the pan as well as possible, simmer till cooked,
then add a teaspoonful of sugar, salt, simmer again for about ten
minutes, basting now and then, and serve warm with beef, mutton, or
venison.
_Quenelles._--Chop fine one pound of fresh veal, half lean and half
fat--the fat nearest the kidney is the best; then pound it well and mash
it through a sieve. Mix two yolks of eggs with it, and season to taste
with salt, pepper, nutmeg grated, and powdered cinnamon. Spread flour on
the paste-board, put a teaspoonful of meat here and there; roll gently
each part into small balls, using as little flour as possible. They may
also be rolled of an olive shape. Throw the balls into boiling broth or
boiling water at the first boiling, boil five minutes and drain. As soon
as cold they are ready for use.
_Boulettes_, _fricadelles_, _godiveau_, and _quenelles_ are one and the
same thing.
Whole eggs may be used instead of the yolks only, add also a few
bread-crumbs. To the seasonings above some parsley chopped fine may be
added.
Make _quenelles_ with any kind of meat--butcher's meat, poultry, and
game, also with fish well boned.
To the lean meat add the same weight of fat veal, as above directed, or,
in its stead, beef suet.
Truffles or mushrooms, or both, may be added to the mixture, either of
meat or of fish.
_Quenelles_ are used for garnitures, etc. They may be fried instead of
boiled.
_Salpicon._--Cut in dice an equal quantity of each, and to weigh
altogether about one pound and a half, calf sweetbreads, livers, or
flesh of fowls, and ham--three kinds in all; also two mushrooms and two
truffles; all must be nearly cooked in water beforehand. Put them in a
stewpan, season with salt, pepper, a bay-leaf, a clove of garlic, an
onion, a sprig of parsley, and one of thyme; cover with half a pint of
broth, and as much of white wine; set on a slow fire; it must not boil,
but simmer gently; stir now and then till the whole is well cooked; take
out the bay-leaf, onion, garlic, parsley, and thyme. In case the sauce
should not be thick enough, add a little fecula, stir, and leave awhile
longer on the fire, and it is ready for use.
_With Truffles._--Slice the truffles and put them in a saucepan with a
pinch of sugar, broth and claret wine enough to cover them, half of
each, simmer for about twenty minutes, add a little potato starch, boil
gently till it begins to thicken, and use.
_Lobster Butter._--Put the flesh of the two large claws of a boiled
lobster with a little of the inside, about a tablespoonful, in a mortar
and pound well. Add about the same volume of good butter and pound again
till the whole is well mixed. It is then mashed through a fine sieve,
and is ready for use. When the lobster has coral, it is pounded with the
rest, and gives a fine color to the butter.
If the lobster has no coral, a piece of the reddest part of the shell is
pounded with the rest, when the butter is to be colored.
This butter may be used instead of ordinary butter for fish-sauces, or
for making a _maitre d'hotel_ for boiled fish, or for garnishing the
same.
To clarify it, just put the butter into a bowl when made, put the bowl
in a boiling _bain-marie_ for about half an hour, take off and
immediately turn it through a cloth into a bowl half full of cold water.
The cloth must be rather twisted, to cause the butter to run through.
When it is in the bowl, stir it till rather hard; work it in a ball, and
wipe it dry.
Thus clarified it is finer than when used merely mixed.
The same butter may be made, and in the same way, with _craw-fish_,
_prawns_, and _shrimps_.
_Horse-radish Butter._--Grate some horse-radish and mix it well with
about the same volume of butter, mash through a sieve, and it is ready
for use.
_Tarragon_ and _garlic_ butter are made as the above.
If the butter be found too strong, use more butter and less of garlic,
etc.
_Ravigote Butter_ (called also _Beurre de Montpellier_).--Blanch the
following spices: parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil--parsley and
chervil in equal proportion and about half as much of the two others,
about two handfuls altogether--drain dry and put them in a mortar with
two anchovies boned, one shallot chopped and bruised in a coarse towel,
half a dozen capers, a rather small piece of pickled cucumber, four
ounces of butter, two hard-boiled yolks of eggs, and the juice of half a
lemon. Pound the whole well together, then add a tablespoonful of
essence of spinach, mix well, mash through a sieve, and use.
This butter is excellent to decorate and to eat with cold fish. It is
sometimes used with cold birds.
_Hazel-nut Butter._--Pound some hazel-nuts or filberts and then mix
throughly with good butter, mash through a sieve, and use as ordinary
butter. The proportion according to taste. It is easily prepared, and is
delicious.
Do the same with _pea-nuts_, or any other nut.
_Melted Butter._--Put butter in a crockery vessel and place it above a
pan of water or some other liquid, heated but not boiling, so that the
butter will melt slowly and gradually. Sometimes the butter may be
wanted soft only, or what is called melted soft, or thoroughly melted.
It is easy to obtain those different states above with heated liquor,
and the butter, though melted, is more firm than when melted on the
fire.
_Scented Butter._--Whenever a certain flavor is desired with butter, put
a piece of firm and good butter in a bowl with a few drops of essence,
knead well, and then mash through a sieve.
PUREES.
_Purees_ are made with vegetables, but when the flesh or poultry or
other birds is mashed through a sieve after being cooked, it is
sometimes called a _puree_ also.
The bones of a ham, after the flesh is disposed of, is the most
excellent thing you can put with the vegetables to boil them in order to
make _purees_.
One-third of the bones of a middling-sized ham is enough for about a
quart of vegetables.
When you have no ham bones, use four ounces of good salt pork, as lean
as possible; but never use smoked pork, it gives a disagreeable taste to
the puree.
_Of Dry Beans, white or colored, Kidney, Lima, or any other kind._--Dry
beans must be soaked in cold water, or even in lukewarm water, when in a
hurry. According to the nature of the beans, they must be soaked for
from six to twenty-four hours.
Soak a quart of beans as directed above; drain and put them in a
saucepan with one-third of the bones of a ham, or about four ounces of
salt pork; cover with cold water, season with a bay-leaf, a sprig of
thyme, two of parsley, two middling-sized onions, with two cloves stuck
in them, and a carrot cut in pieces; when the whole is well cooked,
throw away thyme, bay-leaf, onions, and cloves; mash well through a
colander all the rest except the bacon.
While mashing them through the colander, wet them with some of the water
in which they have boiled, else it would be difficult and long.
When mashed, put them in a saucepan with a little broth or water, salt,
and two ounces of butter; stir now and then till the butter is melted
and thoroughly mixed with the rest, and it is ready for use. The
quantity of broth or water is according to how thick or thin they are
wanted. The salt pork is good to eat.
_Of Lentils._--It is made in the same way as that of beans, except that
they do not require to be soaked more than five or six hours in cold
water.
_Of Peas (dry or split)._--Proceed as for lentils in every particular.
_Of Chestnuts._--Remove the skin of a quart of chestnuts and drop them
in boiling water, with a little salt. As soon as the under skin comes
off easily, take them from the fire, drain, drop them in cold water, and
then remove the under or white skin; put them in a saucepan with about
one quart of broth, set on the fire and boil gently till well done, and
mash through a colander.
Then put the chestnuts, and what is left of the broth, in a saucepan,
set on the fire, stir, add a pinch of sugar and an ounce of butter; give
one boil, and it is made.
_Of Green Peas._--Wash a quart of green peas in cold water, and drain;
put two quarts of cold water on the fire in a saucepan, with a little
salt, and at the first boil throw the peas in, season with three or four
sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, two onions, and two cloves, a carrot in
slices, salt, and pepper; boil till tender. It may take only two
minutes, or it may require half an hour, according to how tender the
peas are.
Mash through a colander, and finish like puree of beans, using either
broth or water. With broth it is richer and better.
_Of Lima Beans._--Proceed for green Limas as for green peas.
_Of Sweet Corn._--It is made like that of green peas.
_Of Asparagus._--Cut the eatable part of the asparagus in pieces, and
proceed as for _puree_ of green peas.
_Of Potatoes._--Steam a quart of potatoes, and then mash them well; put
them in a saucepan with half a pint of milk, two ounces of butter, and
salt; set on the fire, stir now and then, take off and use. It takes
about fifteen minutes after being set back on the fire.
_Another way._--Proceed as above, using broth or water instead of milk.
_Of Jerusalem Artichokes._--Prepared as potatoes.
_Of Carrots._--Clean well, and cut in slices, a dozen middling-sized
carrots; put them in a stewpan with four ounces of butter, and set on
the fire; when about half fried, cover with broth or water; season with
half a bay-leaf, a small sprig of thyme, one of parsley, a small onion,
and a clove stuck in it; when the whole is well cooked, throw away
onion, clove, bay-leaf, and thyme, mash the rest through a colander;
then put back on the fire, with a little butter; simmer for about two
hours, stirring occasionally, and it is made.
In case it should turn too thick, add broth or water.
The longer they are simmered, the better the taste.
_Of Turnips._--Proceed as with carrots in every particular.
_Of Celery._--It is always made with turnip-rooted celery. Clean the
celery well, wash and cut it in pieces, and prepare as _puree of
carrots_, adding a teaspoonful of sugar.
_Of Cauliflowers._--Separate the branches, and throw them in boiling
water and salt; boil two minutes and drain. Put them on the fire with
broth or water, enough just to cover them, two or three stalks of
parsley, and salt to season.
Boil gently till tender; remove the parsley; mash through a colander;
put back on the fire with a little butter and white pepper, simmer about
ten minutes, stirring now and then the while, and it is ready for use.
Instead of butter, some cream may be added.
_Of Pumpkin._--Made exactly the same as that of cauliflowers, after the
pumpkin is peeled and cut in pieces.
_Of Squash._--Same as pumpkin.
_Of Spinach._--Clean the spinach, and cut off the stem; the leaf only is
good; wash and drain it; put cold water and a little salt on the fire,
and throw the spinach in at the first boil. When tender, drain and drop
immediately in cold water; drain again, and then chop it very fine.
After being chopped, it may be mashed through a sieve, to have it finer;
put it back on the fire without any water at all, and when it gets
rather dry, add a little flour; stir and mix; add again a little gravy
or good broth; stir, then salt to taste, and it is ready for use.
If the spinach is young and tender, it takes only two or three minutes
boiling before chopping it.
From the time it is put back on the fire, it takes about five or six
minutes to finish it.
_Of Sorrel._--Proceed as with spinach in every particular.
_Of Mushrooms._--Clean well and cut in pieces a quart of fresh
mushrooms; soak them in cold water, in which you have put the juice of a
lemon; drain, and chop them fine. Put a stewpan on the fire, with a
piece of butter the size of a duck's egg; when melted, put your
mushrooms in; when half fried, add the juice of a lemon, finish frying,
then cover with some roux-sauce; let simmer till it becomes rather
thick, strain and use.
_Of Onions._--Peel, quarter, and blanch for eight minutes, a dozen
onions. Drain and put them in a saucepan with four or six ounces of
butter, according to the size of the onions; set on a slow fire, stir
now and then till well done; then season with salt, a little flour, stir
for two minutes to cook the flour, and mix it thoroughly with the rest;
take from the fire; add cream, little by little, stirring the while. It
does not require much cream to make the _puree_ of a proper thickness.
Mash through a sieve or fine colander, add a pinch of sugar, and it is
ready for use.
It makes an excellent _puree_, and is good served with nearly every kind
of meat.
Made with white onions, and properly mashed through a sieve, it looks
like cream, and is almost as white as snow.
FISH.
The Indians bleed the fish as soon as caught, because the flesh is
firmer when cooked.
The Dutch and the French bleed the cod, which accounts for the better
quality and whiteness of their cod-fish.
_To select._--To be good, fish must be fresh. It is fresh when the eyes
are clear, the fins stiff, the gills red, hard to open, and without bad
odor.
_To clean and prepare for boiling._--The sooner fish is cleaned the
better. Cut the belly open, take the inside out, wash well and wipe dry
immediately with a clean towel, inside and out. Place the eggs or soft
roes inside, and tie with twine. It is then ready to be boiled.
If not cooked as soon as cleaned and prepared, keep it on ice.
_To clean and prepare for baking, frying, roasting, and to cut in
pieces, etc._--Scale the fish well, holding it by the head or tail; cut
the belly open and take the inside out; trim off the fins, gills, and
tail; wash well inside and out, and wipe dry immediately.
Keep it on ice if not used immediately.
_Same Family, or Kind._--We give only one receipt for all the fishes of
the same family, or having the same kind of flesh, as they are cooked
alike, and require the same spices.
Almost every kind of fish is boiled, broiled, fried, or stewed. Some are
better boiled than broiled, others better fried than stewed, etc. With
few exceptions, any eatable fish may be cooked in these four ways. Few
are roasted.
_To know when cooked enough._--It is very difficult, if not entirely
impossible, to tell how long it takes to cook fish, as it depends as
much on the size, kind, or quality of the fish as on the fire; but as
soon as the flesh comes off the bones easily, the fish is cooked; this
is very easy to be ascertained with a knife.
_To improve._--Clean the fish as for baking, etc., and lay it in a
crockery vessel with the following seasonings under and upon it: parsley
and onions chopped fine, salt, pepper, thyme, bay-leaves, and vinegar or
oil; turn it over occasionally, and leave thus for two or three hours.
_To bone._--Slit the fish on one side of the backbone and fins, from
head to tail; then run the knife between the bones and the flesh so as
to detach the whole side from the rest; do the same for the other side.
For a flounder, or any other flat fish, slit right in the middle of both
sides of the fish so as to make four instead of two pieces.
The head, bones, and fins are not used at all, and are left in one
piece.
_To serve, when boiled._--The fish is placed on a napkin and on a dish
or platter, surrounded with parsley, and the sauce served in a saucer.
_To skin._--Take hold of the piece of fish by the smaller end, and with
the thumb and forefinger of the left hand; run the knife between the
flesh and skin, moving the knife to and fro as if you were sawing.
Throw away the skin, and the fish is ready for cooking.
If the skin were breaking, as it happens sometimes, take hold of it
again, and proceed as before.
_To decorate._--Fish may be decorated with jelly, but it is easier and
more sightly with craw-fish. The skewers are stuck in the fish as they
are in a _fillet of beef_.
The craw-fish when boiled are red like the lobster, and, besides using
them with skewers, some may be placed all around the fish; it is
delicate eating as well as sightly. Skewers are never used with fish in
_vinaigrette_, or when the fish is cut in pieces. The craw-fish has only
to be boiled before using it for decorating fish.
_Shrimps_ and _prawns_ are used the same as craw-fish.
_Oysters_ are also used, raw or blanched; run the skewer through a large
oyster or craw-fish, then through a slice of truffle; again through an
oyster, truffle, etc.; through two, three, or more of each, according to
the size of the skewer or of the fish.
[Illustration]
_Fish-kettle._--A fish-kettle must have a double bottom. It is more
handy to take the fish off without breaking it, and there is no danger
of having it spoiled while cooking. Fish-kettles are found in every
house-furnishing store.
_Baked._--Clean and prepare the fish, as directed for baking; put it in
a baking-pan with salt, pepper, and butter spread all over it; just
cover the bottom of the pan with water or broth; place a piece of
buttered paper over it and bake. Baste two or three times; take off when
done, and serve warm with a sauce.
While the fish is baking you prepare the sauce, put it in a boat, and
serve warm with the fish.
A baked fish may be served with its gravy only, adding a few drops of
lemon-juice or vinegar, or with any kind of sauce, according to taste.
_Balls._--Fish-balls are often called _fish-cakes_ or _fish-croquettes_.
They are generally made with cold fish, but it may be cooked especially
to make balls.
Fish, full of bones, like shad, is not fit to make balls; cod is the
easiest.
Commence by chopping the flesh very fine, then chop fine also a small
piece of onion and fry it with butter (half a middling-sized onion with
two ounces of butter are enough for half a pound of fish); when fried
stir in it a tablespoonful of flour, and about half a minute after turn
the fish in with about a gill of broth or water, salt, pepper, and a
pinch of nutmeg; stir till it turns rather thick, which will take two or
three minutes; take from the fire, mix two yolks of eggs with it; put
back on the fire for about one minute, stirring the while; then add two
or three mushrooms or one truffle, or both, chopped fine. Turn the
mixture into a dish, spread it, and put it away to cool for two or three
hours, or over night.
Before cooking, mix the whole well, the upper part being more dry than
that which is under; put it in parts on the paste-board, roll each part
to the shape you wish, either round, oval, or flat; the paste-board must
be dusted with bread-crumbs or flour to help in handling the mixture,
then boil or fry, according to taste.
It may also be baked in cakes.
When fried, they may be dipped in beaten egg, rolled in bread-crumbs,
and then fried in hot fat. (_See_ Frying.)
_Boiled._--Clean and prepare the fish as directed, and put it in a
fish-kettle; cover it with cold water (sea-water is the best); add the
following seasonings to a pound of fish: two stalks of parsley, one of
tarragon if handy, one tablespoonful of vinegar, and half a
middling-sized onion sliced; salt if boiled in fresh water. Set on the
fire, and, for a fish weighing two pounds or under, take off at the
first boiling--it is done enough. For a fish weighing five pounds, boil
five minutes, etc., that is, about one minute for each pound. If it were
a thick slice of fish instead of a whole one, weighing two or three
pounds, it should be boiled two or three minutes longer, etc., according
to thickness.
_Broiled._--Slit the fish on the back and clean it; salt and pepper it;
have a little melted butter and spread it all over the fish, on both
sides, with a brush, and broil it. (_See_ Broiling.)
While the fish is broiling, prepare a _maitre d'hotel_ sauce, spread it
on the fish as soon as dished, and serve.
It may also be served with anchovy butter.
_Fried._--Any small fish of the size of a smelt, or smaller, is better
fried than prepared in any other way.
Clean and prepare the fish as directed, wipe it dry. Dip it in milk,
place in a colander for five minutes, then roll in flour, and fry. It
may also be fried just rolled in flour.
_Another way._--When wiped dry, dip in beaten egg, roll in bread-crumbs,
and fry.
_Another._--When wiped dry, dip the fish in butter, and fry. Then the
fish is dropped in hot fat (_see_ Frying), turned into a colander,
salted, and served hot, with fried parsley around or in the middle,
according to how the fish is arranged in the dish.
Fry the following as above: _carp_, _tench_, _frost_, _bass_, _perch_,
_black and blue fish_, _gold_, _loach_, _mullet_, _porgy_, _weak_,
_flounder_, _pike_, _pickerel_, _smelt_, _sun_, _herring_, and
_white-fish of the lakes_.
_A la Orly._--If it is small fish, like the smelt, it is prepared whole;
if the fish is larger, it must be boned and skinned, and cut in pieces
about two inches long. Roll the fish, or pieces of fish, slightly in
flour; dip it in beaten egg, and roll it again in bread-crumbs; then fry
it in hot fat as above.
When fried, serve it with a tomato-sauce.
The fish may be served on a napkin in a dish, and the sauce in a boat or
saucer.
_Roasted._--The following fishes only are roasted: _eel_, _salmon_,
_shad_, _pike_, _turbot_.
Clean and prepare as directed, and then tie with twine. Spread salt,
pepper, and melted butter (with a brush) all over the fish, and then
envelop it in buttered paper; set on the spit and roast. Baste with a
little melted butter, and remove the paper about five minutes before it
is done.
When on the dish the twine is cut off and removed, and it is served as
hot as possible with the following sauces, to which tarragon is added in
making them, if handy: _caper_, _Hollandaise_, _Mayonnaise_, _piquante_,
_poivrade_, and _remolade_. A roast fish is served after roast meat.
_Another way._--Clean, and cut in slices half an inch thick, or leave
entire, as it suits you; skin it well; lay it in a crockery vessel,
spread over it some chopped parsley, grated nutmeg, salt, pepper, and
two gills of white wine (this is for about three pounds), leave thus
two hours; then take the fish only, envelop it in buttered paper, fix it
on the spit before a good fire, baste with the wine and seasonings from
the crockery dish, and when nearly done take the paper off; finish the
cooking, basting the while, and serve with the drippings, to which you
may add a little vinegar, sweet-oil, and mustard.
If there is any left, you can serve it cold the next day with an
oil-sauce.
_Saute._--Scale, clean, and prepare the fish as directed. For one pound
of fish put about one ounce of butter in a frying-pan on the fire, and
when melted put the fish in; fry it on both sides, and serve it with a
_maitre d'hotel_.
_Stewed._--Clean and prepare as directed three pounds of fish, cut it in
pieces about two inches long. Put in a fish-kettle four ounces of
butter, kneaded with a teaspoonful of flour, and the same of chopped
parsley, add two or three mushrooms cut in pieces, salt and pepper, then
the fish and a glass of claret wine, or a wine-glass of vinegar; cover
with water, set on a good fire, boil gently till cooked; dish the pieces
of fish, strain the sauce on them, spread the pieces of mushrooms over,
and serve.
_Stuffed._--When cleansed, cut out the backbone from the head to within
two inches of the tail, and fill its place with the following mixture:
soak stale bread in cold water and then squeeze the water out; put one
ounce of butter into a saucepan and set it on the fire; as soon as
melted, fry in it one middle-sized onion, chopped fine; then add the
bread; stir for two minutes, add also salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg,
two or three tablespoonfuls of broth; stir again two or three minutes;
take the pan from the fire, add a yolk of egg, put back on the fire for
half a minute, stirring the while, take off again, add a teaspoonful of
chopped parsley, and use. When full, tie the fish with twine; place it
in a baking-pan, salt and pepper it; spread a little butter on it also;
cover the bottom of the pan with cold water, bake and serve with its
gravy.
If there is not gravy enough, or if it has dried away, add a little
broth a few minutes before taking from the oven.
_Fish au Gratin._--Bone and skin the fish as directed. For a fish
weighing about two pounds, spread one ounce of butter on a tin plate or
baking-pan, spread over it half an onion, chopped; place the pieces of
fish on them; add salt, pepper, a tablespoonful of vinegar or a
wine-glass of white wine, and half an ounce of butter; spread over and
bake.
While it is baking, put in a small saucepan one ounce of butter, and set
it on the fire; when melted, add half a tablespoonful of flour, stir,
and, when it is turning yellow, add also about one gill of broth, two
tablespoonfuls of meat-gravy, the juice of the fish when baked (if the
fish be not done when the time comes to put the juice in the pan, keep
the pan in a warm place, and wait), salt, and pepper; boil gently about
five minutes, stirring occasionally. Place the fish in a tin or silver
dish, spread three or four mushrooms sliced over it; turn the sauce
gently over the whole, dust with bread-crumbs; put half an ounce of
butter, in four or five pieces, on the whole; bake ten or twelve
minutes, and serve in the dish in which it is.
_In Matelote._--Every kind of fish is good in _matelote_, but the
following are the best: _bass_, _black-fish_, _blue-fish_, _carp_,
_eel_, _perch_, _pickerel_, _pike_, _porgy_, _tench_, _trout_, and
_craw-fish_.
A _matelote_ may be made of eels alone, but it is better with eels and
one, two, or three other kinds of fish.
Eels tasting of mud are not good. There is a sure way of taking away the
muddy taste, but it is a rather expensive one. Boil them a few minutes
in claret wine and a little salt, before using them.
Clean, and prepare as directed, one pound of eels, one pound of pike,
and one pound of trout, or one pound of any of the fishes named
above--in all, three pounds. Cut the fish in pieces about two inches
long, fry it slightly with a little butter, and put it away for awhile.
Put four ounces of butter in a saucepan and set it on the fire; when
melted, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, stir, and, when the flour is
turning rather brown, add also about a quart of broth, a pint of claret,
a bunch of seasonings, composed of half a dozen stalks of parsley, two
of thyme, two bay-leaves, and two cloves, also salt, pepper, two cloves
of garlic, and six button onions; boil gently for about half an hour.
Then put the fish in with from six to twelve mushrooms, broth enough to
cover the whole, if the broth and wine already in do not cover it; boil
gently for about half an hour, or till the fish is cooked, tossing the
saucepan now and then; dish the fish; place the mushrooms and onions all
over; sprinkle the sauce over it through a strainer, and serve warm.
_Croutons_ may be served around.
_Another, or Mariniere._--Prepare and cut the fish as for the above, but
instead of frying it put it in a saucepan, into which you have put
previously about half a dozen sprigs of parsley, two of thyme, two
bay-leaves, two cloves of garlic, twelve small onions, two cloves, salt,
and pepper; when the fish is placed over the above seasonings, cover
entirely with claret wine. Set the saucepan on a sharp fire, and, as
soon as it boils, throw into it a glass of French brandy, set it on
fire, and let it burn. It will not burn very long, but enough to give a
good taste to it. As soon as it stops burning, knead four ounces of
butter with a tablespoonful of flour, and put it in the pan; toss the
pan gently now and then till done. It takes about forty minutes with a
good fire.
When done, dish the fish carefully, place the mushrooms all over it, the
onions all around, strain the sauce over the whole, and serve warm.
_Croutons_ may also be served with the rest; put around the fish one
_crouton_, then an onion, and so on, all around.
_Another._--Proceed as for the above, in every particular, except that
you cover the fish and seasonings with broth and white wine, half of
each, instead of claret. Serve in the same way.
A _matelote_ may be made three or four days in advance, and then warmed
in boiling water (_bain-marie_) just before serving it.
Many prefer a _matelote_ made four days before eating it, and prepared
in the following way: When made, put it away to cool as quickly as
possible; twenty-four hours after that, warm it in boiling water; cool,
and warm again in the same way once a day. If the sauce becomes thick,
add a little broth. Serve warm.
_Vinaigrette_.--Boil a fish as directed, take it from the kettle and let
cool; then dish it. Chop fine the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs; do the
same with the two whites; chop also a handful of parsley. Put a string
of the yolks on both sides of the fish, then along that a string of the
whites, and along these a string of the parsley; along the parsley, and
about half an inch apart, a string of capers. Cut a lemon in sixteen
slices, and in the following way: first split the lemon in two
lengthwise, then split again each half in two and lengthwise also; by
splitting fou
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/35646