Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book
by Eliza Leslie · English · Gutenberg #40943 · 922,592 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book
Author: Eliza Leslie
Release date: October 5, 2012 [eBook #40943]
Most recently updated: November 27, 2024
Language: English
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MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY BOOK.
One Volume, 652 pages, bound. Price $1.25.
T. B. Peterson, No. 102 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, has just
published MISS LESLIE'S "NEW COOKERY BOOK." It comprises new and
approved methods of preparing all kinds of Soups, Fish, Oysters, Beef,
Mutton, Veal, Pork, Venison, Ham and Bacon, Poultry and Game, Terrapins,
Turtle, Vegetables, Sauces, Bread, Pickles, Sweetmeats, Plain Cakes,
Fine Cakes, Pies, Plain Desserts, Fine Desserts, Preparations for the
Sick, Puddings, Confectionery, Rice, Indian Meal Preparations of all
kinds, Miscellaneous Receipts, etc. etc. Also, lists of all articles in
season suited to go together for breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, to
suit large or small families, and much useful information and many
miscellaneous subjects connected with general housewifery.
This work will have a very extensive sale, and many thousand copies will
be sold, as all persons that have had Miss Leslie's former works, should
get this at once, as _all the receipts in this book are new_, and have
been fully tried and tested by the author since the publication of her
former books, _and none of them whatever are contained in any other work
but this_. It is the most complete Cook Book published in the world; and
also the latest and best, as in addition to Cookery of all kinds and
descriptions, its receipts for making cakes and confectionery are
unequalled by any other work extant.
This new, excellent, and valuable Cook Book is published by T. B.
Peterson, under the title of "MISS LESLIE'S NEW COOKERY BOOK," and is
entirely different from any other work on similar subjects, under any
other names, by the same author. It is an elegantly printed duodecimo
volume, of 652 pages; and in it there will be found _hundreds of
Receipts_--all useful--some ornamental--and all invaluable to every
lady, miss, or family in the world.
Read what the Editors of the Leading Newspapers say of it.
_From the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper._
"This is a large, well-bound volume of near seven hundred
pages, and includes in it hundreds of receipts never before
published in any of Miss Leslie's other works, accompanied by a
well-arranged index, by which any desired receipt may be turned
to at once. The receipts are for cooking all kinds of meats,
poultry, game, pies, &c., with directions for confectionery,
ices, and preserves. It is entirely different from any former
work by Miss Leslie, and contains new and fresh accessions of
useful knowledge. The merit of these receipts is, that they
have all been tried, and therefore can be recommended
conscientiously. Miss Leslie has acquired great reputation
among housekeepers for the excellence of her works on cookery,
and this volume will doubtless enhance it. _It is the best book
on cookery that we know of_, and while it will be useful to
matrons, to young housewives we should think it quite
indispensable. By the aid of this book, the young and
inexperienced are brought nearly on a footing with those who
have seen service in the culinary department, and by having it
at hand are rendered tolerably independent of _help_, which
sometimes becomes very refractory. The best regulated families
are sometimes taken a little by surprise by the untimely
stepping in of a friend to dinner--to such, Miss Leslie is the
friend indeed, ready as her book is with instructions for the
hasty production of various substitutes for meals requiring
timely and elaborate preparation."
_From the Philadelphia Daily News._
"To the housekeeper, the name of Miss Leslie is a guaranty that
what comes from her hand is not only orthodox, but good; and to
the young wife about to enter upon the untried scenes of
catering for a family, _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_ may be
termed a blessing. It presents receipts, (and practical ones
too,) for preparing and cooking all kinds of soups, fish,
oysters, meats, game, cakes, pastry, and indeed everything
which enters into the economy of housekeeping. Their
recommendations are that they are all practical, and the novice
of the culinary art may enter upon her important duties with
'_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_' by her side, with perfect
confidence that the 'soup' will not be spoiled, and that the
dinner will be what is designed. How many disappointments could
be avoided, how many domestic difficulties prevented, and how
many husbands made happy, instead of miserable, by the use of
this '_vade mecum_,' we shall not pretend to say; but as we
have a sincere regard for every lady who reads the _News_, our
advice to them all is, by all means to buy _Miss Leslie's New
Cookery Book_. Mr. Peterson has done admirably in getting up
this work: it is handsomely and substantially bound in cloth,
gilt, and does credit to his business skill; the low price at
which the work is sold, when we take the size of it into
consideration, One Dollar and Twenty-five cents only, will
doubtless give it an immense sale."
_From the Philadelphia Saturday Courier._
"With such a book as _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,
published by Mr. Peterson, it is inconceivable what a vast
extent of palate is destined to be astonished, and what a
gastronomic multitude is to be made happy, by the delicious
delicacies and substantial dishes so abundantly provided. Miss
Leslie has in previous works shown how great an adept she has
been in all culinary matters, and in all that relates to the
comforts and the social enjoyment of the table around which
cluster the good things of life. Literature is very good in its
way; but such dishes as Miss Leslie gives a foretaste of, come
up to a more delicious standard. Her authorship is exquisite,
and is destined to diffuse the very essence of good taste among
the fortunate people who sit down to good dinners and suppers,
not one of whom will rise from the table without a blessing on
_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_. And every taste is sure to be
pleased, for all the receipts in this book are new, and to be
found nowhere else, _and it is the best Cook Book ever
published_--one which, with its hundreds of receipts, ought to
be in the hands of every woman who has the slightest
appreciation of convenience, comfort and economy."
_From the Philadelphia Daily Sun._
"About one thousand new receipts, never before printed, appear
in this work, all of which have been tried before they are
recommended by the author. All kinds of cooking and pastry;
rules for the preparation of dinners, breakfasts, and suppers;
appropriate dishes for every meal; and a vast quantity of other
useful information, are embraced in the book. It is very
comprehensive, and is furnished with an index for the use of
the housewife. By the aid of Miss Leslie's peculiar happy
talent in giving culinary directions, our girls can acquire a
branch of useful information which is generally sadly neglected
in their education, and thus become fitted for their duties as
wives. One great advantage in _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,
is the economy which it teaches in the management of a
household, as regards the preparations for the table. Peterson
has done this book up in beautiful style, and it will be sent
to any part of the Union, postage paid, upon the receipt of One
Dollar and Twenty-five Cents. Those who know how much of the
happiness of home depends upon well-cooked viands, neatly
served up, will thank the accomplished authoress for this
valuable contribution to domestic science."
_From the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Gazette._
"Miss Leslie's 'New Receipts for Cooking' is perhaps better
known than any similar collection of receipts. The very elegant
volume before us, entitled '_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,'
is designed as a sequel and continuation to it, and should be
its companion in every family, as the receipts are all new, and
in no instance the same, even when their titles are similar. It
contains directions for plain and fancy cooking, preserving,
pickling; and commencing with soups, gives entirely new
receipts for every course of an excellent dinner, to the
jellies and confectionery of the dessert. Our readers are not
strangers to the accuracy and minuteness of Miss Leslie's
receipts, as, since the first number of the Gazette, she has
contributed to our housekeepers' department. The new receipts
in this volume are admirable. Many of them are modified from
French sources, though foreign terms and designations are
avoided. The publisher has brought it out in an extremely
tasteful style, and no family in the world should be without
it."
_From the Pennsylvania Inquirer._
"Mr. T. B. Peterson has just published '_Miss Leslie's New
Cookery Book_.' This will be a truly popular work. Thousands of
copies will very soon be disposed of, and other thousands will
be needed. It contains directions for cooking, preserving,
pickling, and preparing almost every description of dish: also
receipts for preparing farina, Indian meal, fancy tea-cakes,
marmalades, etc. We know of a no more useful work for
families."
_From the Public Ledger._
"As every woman, whether wife or maid, should be qualified for
the duties of a housekeeper, a work which gives the information
which acquaints her with its most important duties, will no
doubt be sought after by the fair sex. This work is '_Miss
Leslie's New Cookery Book_.' Get it by all means."
_From the Boston Evening Traveler._
"We do not claim to be deeply versed in the art of cookery; but
a lady, skilled in the art, to whom we have submitted this
work, assures us that there is nothing like it within the
circle of her knowledge; and that having this, a housekeeper
would need no other written guide to the mysteries of
housekeeping. It contains hundreds of new receipts, which the
author has fully tried and tested; and they relate to almost
every conceivable dish--flesh, fish, and fowl, soups, sauces,
and sweetmeats; puddings, pies, and pickles; cakes and
confectionery. There are, too, lists of articles suitable to go
together for breakfasts, dinners and suppers, at different
seasons of the year, for plain family meals, and elaborate
company preparations; which must be of great convenience.
Indeed, there appears to be, as our lady friend remarked,
everything in this book that a housekeeper needs to know; and
having this book she would seem to need no other to afford her
instruction about housekeeping."
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY
BOOK.
"As every woman, whether wife or maid, should be qualified for
the duties of a housekeeper, a work which gives the information
which acquaints her with its most important duties will no
doubt be sought after by the fair sex. This work is '_Miss
Leslie's New Cookery Book_.' Get it by all means."--_Public
Ledger._
PHILADELPHIA:
T. B. PETERSON NO. 102 CHESTNUT STREET.
1857.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
ELIZA LESLIE,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
I have endeavored to render this work a complete manual of domestic
cookery _in all its branches_. It comprises an unusual number of pages,
and the receipts are all practical, and _practicable_--being so
carefully and particularly explained as to be easily comprehended by the
merest novice in the art. Also, I flatter myself that most of these
preparations (if faithfully and liberally followed,) will be found very
agreeable to the general taste; always, however, keeping in mind that
every ingredient must be of unexceptionable quality, and that good
cooking cannot be made out of bad marketing.
I hope those who consult this book will find themselves at no loss,
whether required to prepare sumptuous viands "for company," or to
furnish a daily supply of nice dishes for an excellent family table; or
plain, yet wholesome and palatable food where economy is very expedient.
ELIZA LESLIE.
_Philadelphia, March 28th, 1857._
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Tested and Arranged by Miss Leslie.
Wheat flour one pound of 16 ounces is one quart.
Indian meal one pound 2 ounces is one quart.
Butter, when soft one pound 1 ounce is one quart.
Loaf sugar, broken up, one pound is one quart.
White sugar, powdered, one pound 1 ounce is one quart.
Best brown sugar, one pound 2 ounces is one quart.
Eggs ten eggs weigh one pound.
LIQUID MEASURE.
Four large table-spoonfuls are half a jill.
Eight large table-spoonfuls are one jill.
Two jills are half a pint.
A common-sized tumbler holds half a pint.
A common-sized wine-glass holds about half a jill.
Two pints are one quart.
Four quarts are one gallon.
About twenty-five drops of any thin liquid will fill a
common-sized tea-spoon.
Four table-spoonfuls will generally fill a common-sized
wine-glass.
Four wine-glasses will fill a half pint tumbler, or a large
coffee-cup.
A quart black bottle holds in reality about a pint and a half;
sometimes not so much.
A table-spoonful of salt is about one ounce.
DRY MEASURE.
Half a gallon is a quarter of a peck.
One gallon is half a peck.
Two gallons are one peck.
Four gallons are half a bushel.
Eight gallons are one bushel.
Throughout this book, the pound is avoirdupois weight--sixteen
ounces.
GENERAL CONTENTS.
PAGE
SOUPS, 33
FISH, 77
SHELL-FISH, 108
BEEF, 138
MUTTON, 173
VEAL, 188
PORK, 216
HAM AND BACON, 235
VENISON, 252
POULTRY AND GAME, 265
SAUCES, 309
VEGETABLES, 343
BREAD, PLAIN CAKES, ETC., 401
PLAIN DESSERTS, 444
FINE DESSERTS, 469
FINE CAKES, 516
SWEETMEATS, 543
PICKLES, 568
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK, 581
MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS, 595
WORTH KNOWING, 645
ANIMALS
FIGURES EXPLANATORY OF THE PIECES INTO WHICH THE FIVE LARGE ANIMALS ARE
DIVIDED BY THE BUTCHERS.
[Illustration: _Beef._]
1. Sirloin.
2. Rump.
3. Edge Bone.
4. Buttock.
5. Mouse Buttock.
6. Leg.
7. Thick Flank.
8. Veiny Piece.
9. Thin Flank.
10. Fore Rib: 7 Ribs.
11. Middle Rib: 4 Ribs.
12. Chuck Rib: 2 Ribs.
13. Brisket.
14. Shoulder, or Leg of Mutton Piece.
15. Clod.
16. Neck, or Sticking Piece.
17. Shin.
18. Cheek.
[Illustration: _Veal._]
1. Loin, Best End.
2. Fillet.
3. Loin, Chump End.
4. Hind Knuckle.
5. Neck, Best End.
6. Breast, Best End.
7. Blade Bone.
8. Fore Knuckle.
9. Breast, Brisket End.
10. Neck, Scrag End.
[Illustration: _Mutton._]
1. Leg.
2. Shoulder.
3. Loin, Best End.
4. Loin, Chump End.
5. Neck, Best End.
6. Breast.
7. Neck, Scrag End.
_Note._--A Chine is two Loins; and a Saddle is two Loins and two
Necks of the Best End.
[Illustration: _Pork._]
1. Leg.
2. Hind Loin.
3. Fore Loin.
4. Spare Rib.
5. Hand.
6. Spring.
[Illustration: _Venison._]
1. Shoulder.
2. Neck.
3. Haunch.
4. Breast.
5. Scrag.
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY BOOK.
SOUPS.
It is impossible to have good soup, without a sufficiency of good meat;
thoroughly boiled, carefully skimmed, and moderately seasoned. Meat that
is too bad for any thing else, is too bad for soup. Cold meat recooked,
adds little to its taste or nourishment, and it is in vain to attempt to
give poor soup a factitious flavor by the disguise of strong spices, or
other substances which are disagreeable or unpalatable to at least one
half the eaters, and frequently unwholesome. Rice and barley add to the
insipidity of weak soups, having no taste of their own. And even if the
meat is good, too large a proportion of water, and too small a quantity
of animal substance will render it flat and vapid.
Every family has, or ought to have, some personal knowledge of certain
poor people--people to whom their broken victuals would be acceptable.
Let then the most of their cold, fresh meat be set apart for those who
can ill afford to buy meat in market. To them it will be an important
acquisition; while those who indulge in fine clothes, fine furniture,
&c., had best be consistent, and allow themselves the nourishment and
enjoyment of freshly cooked food for each meal. Therefore where there is
no absolute necessity of doing otherwise, let the soup always be made of
meat bought expressly for the purpose, and of one sort only, except when
the flavor is to be improved by the introduction of ham.
In plain cooking, every dish should have a distinct taste of its natural
flavor predominating. Let the soup, for instance, be of beef, mutton, or
veal, but not of all three; and a chicken, being overpowered by the
meat, adds nothing to the general flavor.
Soup-meat that has been boiled long enough to extract the juices
thoroughly, becomes too tasteless to furnish, afterwards, a good dish
for the table; with the exception of mutton, which may be eaten very
well after it has done duty in the soup-pot, when it is much liked by
many persons of simple tastes. Few who are accustomed to living at
hotels, can relish hotel soups, which (even in houses where most other
things are unexceptionable), is seldom such as can be approved by
persons who are familiar with good tables. Hotel soups and hotel hashes,
(particularly those that are dignified with French names), are
notoriously made of cold scraps, leavings, and in some houses, are the
absolute refuse of the kitchen. In most cases, the sight of a hotel
stock-pot would cause those who saw it, to forswear soup, &c.
If the directions are _exactly_ followed, the soups contained in the
following pages will be found palatable, nutritious, and easily made;
but they require plenty of good ingredients.
We have heard French cooks boast of their soup being "delicate." The
English would call it "soup meagre." In such a country as America, where
good things are abundant, there is no necessity of imbibing the
flatulency of weak washy soups.
All soups should be boiled slowly at first, that the essence of the meat
may be thoroughly drawn forth. The lid of the pot should be kept close,
unless when it is necessary to remove it for taking off the scum, which
should be done frequently and carefully. If this is neglected, the scum
will boil back again into the soup, spoil it, and make it impure or
muddled. When no more scum arises, and the meat is all in rags, dropping
from the bones, it is time to put in the vegetables, seasoning, &c., and
not till then; and if it should have boiled away too much, then is the
time to add a little _hot_ water from another kettle. Add also a large
crust of bread or two. It may now be made to boil faster, and the
thickening must be put in. This is a table-spoonful or more of flour
mixed to a smooth paste with a little water, and enriched with a
tea-spoonful of good butter, or beef-dripping. This thickening is
indispensable to all soups. Let it be stirred in well. If making a rich
soup that requires wine or catchup, let it be added the last thing, just
before the soup is taken from the fire.
When all is quite done and thoroughly boiled, cover the bottom of a
tureen with small squares of bread or toast, and dip or pour the soup
into it, leaving all the bones and shreds of meat in the pot. To let any
of the sediment get into the tureen is slovenly and vulgar. Not a
particle of this should ever be found in a soup-plate. There are cooks
who, if not prevented, will put all the refuse into the tureen; so that,
when helped, the plates are half full of shreds of meat and scraps of
bone, while all the best of the soup is kept back for the kitchen. This
should be looked to. Servants who cannot reconcile it to their
conscience to steal money or any very valuable articles, have frequently
no hesitation in purloining or keeping to themselves whatever they like
in the way of food.
Soup may be colored yellow with grated carrots, red with tomato juice,
and green with the juice of pounded spinach--the coloring to be stirred
in after the skimming is over. These colorings are improvements both to
its look and flavor. It may be browned with scorched flour, kept ready
always for the purpose. Never put cloves or allspice into soup--they
give it a blackish ashy dirt color, and their taste is so strong as to
overpower every thing else. Both these coarse spices are out of use at
good tables, and none are introduced in nice cookery but mace, nutmeg,
ginger, and cinnamon.
The meat boiled in soup gives out more of its essence, when cut off the
bone, and divided into small pieces, always removing the fat. The bones,
however, should go in, as they contain much glutinous substance, adding
to the strength and thickness of the soup, which cannot be palatable or
wholesome unless all the grease is carefully skimmed off. Kitchen grease
is used chiefly for soap-fat.
In cold weather, good soup, if carefully covered and kept in a cool
place, and boiled over again for half an hour _without_ any _additional
water_, will be better on the second day than on the first.
It is an excellent way in winter to boil the meat and bones on the first
day, without any vegetables. Then, when very thick and rich, strain the
liquid into a large pan; cover it, and set it away till next morning--it
should then be found a thick jelly. Cut it in pieces, having scraped off
the sediment from the bottom--then add the vegetables, and boil them in
the soup.
MUSHROOM SOUP.--Cut a knuckle of veal, or a neck of mutton, (or both, if
they are small,) into large pieces, and remove the bones. Put it into a
soup-pot with sufficient water to cover the whole, and season with a
little salt and cayenne. Let it boil till the meat is in rags, skimming
it well; then strain off the soup into another pot. Have ready a large
quart, or a quart and a pint of freshly-gathered mushrooms--cut them
into quarters, having removed the stalks. Put them into the soup, adding
a quarter of a pound (or more) of fresh butter, divided into bits and
rolled in flour. Boil the whole about half an hour longer--try if the
mushrooms are tender, and do not take them up till they are perfectly
so. Keep the pot lid closely covered, except when you remove the lid to
try the mushrooms. Lay at the bottom of the tureen a large slice of
buttered toast, (cut into small squares,) and pour the soup upon it.
This is a company soup.
SWEET CORN SOUP.--Take a knuckle of veal, and a set of calf's feet. Put
them into a soup-pot with some cold boiled ham cut into pieces, and
season them with pepper only. Having allowed a quart of water to each
pound of meat, pour it on, and let it boil till the meat falls from the
bone; strain it, and pour the liquid into a clean pot. If you live in
the country, or where milk is plenty, make this soup of milk without any
water. All white soups are best of milk. You may boil in this, with the
veal and feet, an old fowl, (cut into pieces,) that is too tough for any
other purpose. When the soup is well boiled, and the shreds all strained
away, have ready (cooked by themselves in another pot) some ears of
sweet corn, young and tender. Cut the grains from the cob, mix the corn
with fresh butter, season it with pepper, and stir it in the strained
soup. Give the whole a short boil, pour it into the tureen, and send it
to table.
VENISON SOUP.--Is excellent, made as above, with water instead of milk,
and plenty of corn. And it is very convenient for a new settlement.
TOMATO SOUP.--Take a shin or leg of beef, and cut off all the meat. Put
it, with the bones, in a large soup-pot, and season it slightly with
salt and pepper. Pour on a gallon of water. Boil and skim it well. Have
ready half a peck of ripe tomatos, that have been quartered, and pressed
or strained through a sieve, so as to be reduced to a pulp. Add half a
dozen onions that have been sliced, and a table-spoonful of sugar to
lessen a little the acid of the tomatos. When the meat is all to rags,
and the whole thoroughly done, (which will not be in less than six hours
from the commencement) strain it through a cullender, and thicken it a
little with grated bread crumbs.
This soup will be much improved by the addition of a half peck of
ochras, peeled, sliced thin, and boiled with the tomatos till quite
dissolved.
Before it goes into the tureen, see that there are no shreds of meat or
bits of bone left in the soup.
FAMILY TOMATO SOUP.--Take four pounds of the lean of a good piece of
fresh beef. The fat is of no use for soup, as it must be skimmed off
when boiling. Cut the meat in pieces, season them with a little salt and
pepper, and put them into a pot with three quarts of water. The tomatos
will supply abundance of liquid. Of these you should have a large
quarter of a peck. They should be full-grown, and quite ripe. Cut each
tomato into four pieces, and put them into the soup; after it has come
to a boil and been skimmed. It will be greatly improved by adding a
quarter of a peck of ochras cut into thin round slices. Both tomatos and
ochras require long and steady boiling with the meat. To lessen the
extreme acid of the tomatos, stir in a heaped table-spoonful of sugar.
Add also one large onion, peeled and minced small; and add two or three
bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. The soup must boil till the meat
is all to rags and the tomatos and ochras entirely dissolved, and their
forms undistinguishable. Pour it off carefully from the sediment into
the tureen, in the bottom of which have ready some toasted bread, cut
into small squares.
FINE TOMATO SOUP.--Take some nice fresh beef, and divest it of the bone
and fat. Sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper, and pour on water,
allowing to each pound of meat a pint and a half (not more) of water,
and boil and skim it till it is very thick and clear, and all the
essence seems to be drawn out of the meat. Scald and peel a large
portion of ripe tomatos--cut them in quarters, and laying them in a
stew-pan, let them cook in their own juice till they are entirely
dissolved. When quite done, strain the tomato liquid, and stir into it a
little sugar. In a third pan stew an equal quantity of sliced ochras
with a very little water; they must be stewed till their shape can no
longer be discerned. Strain separately the meat liquor, the tomatos, and
the ochras. Mix butter and flour together into a lump; knead it a
little, and when all the liquids are done and strained put them into a
clean soup-pan, stir in the flour and butter, and give the soup one boil
up. Transfer it to your tureen, and stir altogether. The soup made
precisely as above will be perfectly smooth and nice. Have little rolls
or milk biscuits to eat with it.
This is a tomato soup for dinner company.
GREEN PEA SOUP.--Make a nice soup, in the usual way, of beef, mutton, or
knuckle of veal, cutting off all the fat, and using only the lean and
the bones, allowing a quart of water to each pound of meat. If the meat
is veal, add four or six calf's feet, which will greatly improve the
soup. Boil it slowly, (having slightly seasoned it with pepper and
salt,) and when it has boiled, and been well skimmed, and no more scum
appears, then put in a quart or more of freshly-shelled green peas, with
none among them that are old, hard, and yellow; and also a sprig or two
of green mint, and a little loaf sugar. Boil the peas till they are
entirely dissolved. Then (having removed all the meat and bones) strain
the soup through a sieve, and return it to the soup-pot, (which, in the
mean time, should have been washed clean,) and stir into it a tea-cupful
of green spinach juice, (obtained by pounding some spinach.) Have ready
(boiled, or rather stewed in another pot) a quart of young fresh peas,
enriched with a piece of fresh butter. These last peas should be boiled
tender, but not to a mash. After they are in, give the soup another boil
up, and then pour it off into a tureen, in the bottom of which has been
laid some toast cut into square bits, with the crust removed. This soup
should be of a fine green color, and very thick.
EXCELLENT BEAN SOUP.--Early in the evening of the day before you make
the soup, wash clean a large quart of dried white beans in a pan of cold
water, and about bedtime pour off that water, and replace it with a
fresh panful. Next morning, put on the beans to boil, with only water
enough to cook them well, and keep them boiling slowly till they have
all bursted, stirring them up frequently from the bottom, lest they
should burn. Meantime, prepare in a larger pot, a good soup made of a
shin of beef cut into pieces, and the hock of a cold ham, allowing a
large quart of water to each pound of meat.
Season it with pepper only, (no salt,) and put in with it a head of
celery, split and cut small. Boil the soup (skimming it well) till the
meat is all in rags; then take it out, leaving not a morsel in the pot,
and put in the boiled beans. Let them boil in the soup till they are
undistinguishable, and the soup very thick. Put some small squares of
toast in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the soup upon it.
There is said to be nothing better for making soup than the camp-kettle
of the army. Many of the common soldiers make their bean soup of
surpassing excellence.
SPLIT PEA SOUP.--In buying dried or split peas, see that they are not
old and worm-eaten. Wash two quarts of them over night in two or three
waters. In the morning make a rich soup of the lean of beef or mutton,
and the hock of a ham. Season it with pepper, but no salt. When it has
boiled, and been thoroughly skimmed, put in the split peas, with a head
of celery cut into small pieces, or else two table-spoonfuls of celery
seed. Let it boil till the peas are entirely dissolved and
undistinguishable. When it is finished strain the soup through a sieve,
divesting it of the thin shreds of meat and bits of bone. Then transfer
it to a tureen, in which has been laid some square bits of toast. Stir
it up to the bottom directly before it goes to table.
You may boil in the soup (instead of the ham) a good piece (a rib
piece, or a fillet) of corned pork, more lean than fat. When it is done,
take the pork out of the soup, put it on a dish, and have ready to eat
with it a pease pudding boiled by itself, cut in thick slices and laid
round the pork. This pudding is made of a quart of split peas, soaked
all night, mixed with four beaten eggs and a piece of fresh butter, and
tied in a cloth and boiled three or four hours, or till the peas have
become a mass.
ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Make in the usual way a nice rich soup of beef or
mutton, seasoned with salt and pepper. After it has been well boiled and
skimmed, and the meat is all to pieces, strain the soup into another
pot, or wash out the same, and return to it the liquid. Have ready a
large quantity of fine fresh asparagus, with the stalks cut off close to
the green tops or blossoms. It should have been lying in cold water all
the time the meat was boiling. Put into the soup half of the asparagus
tops, and boil them in it till entirely dissolved, adding a tea-cupful
of spinach juice, obtained by pounding fresh spinach in a mortar. Stir
the juice well in and it will give a fine green color. Then add the
remaining half of the asparagus; having previously boiled them in a
small pan by themselves, till they are quite tender, but not till they
lose their shape. Give the whole one boil up together. Make some nice
slices of toast, (having cut off the crust.) Dip them a minute in hot
water. Butter them, lay them in the bottom of the tureen, and pour the
soup upon them. This (like green peas) will do for company soup.
CABBAGE SOUP.--Remove the fat and bone from a good piece of fresh beef,
or mutton--season it with a little salt and pepper, put it into a
soup-pot, with a quart of water allowed to each pound of meat. Boil, and
skim it till no more scum is seen on the surface. Then strain it, and
thicken it with flour and butter mixed. Have ready a fine fresh cabbage,
(a young summer one is best) and after it is well washed through two
cold waters, and all the leaves examined to see if any insects have
crept between, quarter the cabbage, (removing the stalk) and with a
cabbage-cutter, or a strong sharp knife, cut it into shreds. Or you may
begin the cabbage whole and cut it into shreds, spirally, going round
and round it with the knife. Put the cabbage into the clear soup, and
boil it till, upon trial, by taking up a little on a fork, you find it
quite tender and perfectly well cooked. Then serve it up in the tureen.
This is a family soup.
RED CABBAGE SOUP.--Red cabbages for soup should either be quartered, or
cut into shreds; it is made as above, of beef or mutton, and seasoned
with salt, pepper, and a jill of strong tarragon vinegar, or a
table-spoonful of mixed tarragon leaves, if in summer.
FINE CABBAGE SOUP.--Remove the outside leaves from a fine, fresh, large
cabbage. Cut the stalk short, and split it half-way down so as to divide
the cabbage into quarters, but do not separate it quite to the bottom.
Wash the cabbage, and lay it in cold water for half an hour or more.
Then set it over the fire in a pot full of water, adding a little salt,
and let it boil slowly for an hour and a half, or more--skimming it
well. Then take it out, drain it, and laying it in a deep pan, pour on
_cold_ water, and let it remain till the cabbage is cold all through.
Next, having drained it from the cold water, cut the cabbage in shreds,
(as for cold-slaw,) and put it into a clean pot containing a quart and a
pint of boiling milk into which you have stirred a quarter of a pound of
nice fresh butter, divided into four bits and rolled in flour, adding a
little pepper and a very little salt. Boil it in the milk till
thoroughly done and quite tender. Then make some nice toast, cut it into
squares, lay it in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the soup on it. This
being made without meat is a good soup for Lent. It will be improved by
stirring in, towards the last, two or three beaten eggs.
CAULIFLOWER SOUP.--Put into a soup-pot a knuckle of veal, and allow to
each pound a quart of water. Add a set of calf's feet that have been
singed and scraped, but not skinned; and the hock of a cold boiled ham.
Boil it till all the meat is in rags, and the soup very thick, seasoning
with cayenne and a few blades of mace, and adding, towards the last,
some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Boil in another pot, one or
two fine cauliflowers. They are best boiled in milk. When quite done and
very tender, drain them, cut off the largest stalks, and divide the
blossoms into small pieces; put them into a deep covered dish, lay some
fresh butter among them, and keep them hot till the veal soup is boiled
to its utmost thickness. Then strain it into a soup-tureen, and put into
it the cauliflower, grating some nutmeg upon it. This soup will be found
very fine, and is an excellent white soup for company.
For Lent this soup may be made without meat, substituting milk, butter,
and flour, and eggs, as in the receipt for fine cabbage soup. Season it
with mace and nutmeg. If made with milk, &c., put no water on it, but
boil the cauliflower in milk from the beginning. This can easily be done
where milk is plenty.
FINE ONION SOUP.--Take a fine fresh neck of mutton, and to make a large
tureen of soup, you must have a breast of mutton also. Let the meat be
divided into chops, season it with a little salt, and put it in a
soup-pot--allow a quart of water to each pound of mutton. Boil, and skim
it till no more scum arises, and the meat drops in rags from the bones.
In a small pot boil in milk a dozen large onions, (or more,) adding
pepper, mace, nutmeg, and some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. The
onions should previously be peeled and sliced. When they are quite soft,
transfer them to the soup, with the milk, &c., in which they were
cooked. Give them one boil in the soup. Then pour it off, or strain it
into the tureen, omitting all the sediment, and bones, and shreds of
meat. Make some nice slices of toast, dipping each in boiling water, and
trimming off all the crust. Cut the toast into small squares, lay them
in the bottom of the tureen, and pour the soup upon them. Where there is
no objection to onions it will be much liked.
If milk is plenty use it instead of water for onion soup. White soups
are always best when made with milk.
TURNIP SOUP.--For a very small family take a neck of mutton, and divide
it into steaks, omitting all the fat. For a family of moderate size,
take a breast as well as a neck. Put them into a soup-pot with
sufficient water to cover them, and let them stew till well browned.
Skim them carefully. Then pour on more water, in the proportion of a
pint to each pound of meat, and add eight or ten turnips pared and
sliced thin, with a very little pepper and salt. Let the soup boil till
the turnips are all dissolved, and the meat in rags. Add, towards the
last, some bits of butter rolled in flour, and in five minutes
afterwards the soup will be done. Carefully remove all the bits of meat
and bone before you send the soup to table. It will be found very good,
and highly flavored with the turnips.
Onion soup may be made in the same manner. Parsnip soup also, cutting
the parsnips into small bits. Or all three--turnips, onions and
parsnips, may be used together.
PARSNIP SOUP.--The meat for this soup may either be fresh beef, mutton,
or fresh venison. Remove the fat, cut the meat into pieces, add a little
salt, and put it into a soup-pot, with an allowance of rather less than
a quart of water to each pound. Prepare some fine large parsnips, by
first scraping and splitting them, and cutting them into pieces; then
putting them into a frying pan, and frying them brown, in fresh butter
or nice drippings. When the soup has been boiled till the meat is all in
rags, and well skimmed--put into it the fried parsnips and let them boil
about ten minutes, but not till they break or go to pieces. Just before
you put in the parsnips, stir in a table-spoonful of thickening made
with butter and flour, mixed to a smooth paste. When you put it into the
tureen to go to table, be sure to leave in the pot all the shreds of
meat and bits of bone.
CARROT SOUP.--Take a good piece of fresh beef that has not been
previously cooked. Remove the fat. It is of no use in making soup; and
as it must all be skimmed off when boiling, it is better to clear it
away before the meat goes into the pot. Season the beef with a very
little salt and pepper, and allow a small quart of water to each pound.
Grate half a dozen or more large carrots on a coarse grater, and put
them to boil in the soup with some other carrots; cut them into pieces
about two inches long. When all the meat is boiled to rags, and has left
the bone, pour off the soup from the sediment, transferring it to a
tureen, and sending it to table with bread cut into it.
POTATO SOUP.--Pare and slice thin half a dozen fine potatos and a small
onion. Boil them in three large pints of water, till so soft that you
can pulp them through a cullender. When returned to the pot add a very
little salt and cayenne, and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter,
divided into bits, and boil it ten minutes longer. When you put it into
the tureen, stir in two table-spoonfuls or more of good cream. This is a
soup for fast-days, or for invalids.
CHESTNUT SOUP.--Make, in the best manner, a soup of the lean of fresh
beef, mutton, or venison, (seasoned with cayenne and a little salt,)
allowing rather less than a quart of water to each pound of meat,
skimming and boiling it well, till the meat is all in rags, and drops
from the bone. Strain it, and put it into a clean pot. Have ready a
quart or more of large chestnuts, boiled and peeled. If roasted, they
will be still better. They should be the large Spanish chestnuts. Put
the chestnuts into the soup, with some small bits of fresh butter rolled
in flour. Boil the soup ten minutes longer, before it goes to table.
PORTABLE SOUP.--This is a very good and nutritious soup, made first into
a jelly, and then congealed into hard cakes, resembling glue. If well
made, it will keep for many months in a cool, dry place, and when
dissolved in hot water or gravy, will afford a fine liquid soup, very
convenient to carry in a box on a journey or sea voyage, or to use in a
remote place, where fresh meat for soup is not to be had. A piece of
this glue, the size of a large walnut, will, when melted in water,
become a pint bowl of soup; or by using less water, you may have it much
richer. If there is time and opportunity, boil with the piece of soup a
seasoning of sliced onion, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, or any herbs you
choose. Also, a bit of butter rolled in flour.
To make portable soup, take two shins or legs of beef, two knuckles of
veal, and four unskinned calves' feet. Have the bones broken or cracked.
Put the whole into a large clean pot that will hold four gallons of
water. Pour in, at beginning, only as much water as will cover the meat
well, and set it over the fire, to heat gradually till it almost boils.
Watch and skim it carefully while any scum rises. Then pour in a quart
of cold water to make it throw up all the remaining scum, and then let
it come to a good boil, continuing to skim as long as the least scum
appears. In this be particular. When the liquid appears perfectly clear
and free from grease, pour in the remainder of the water, and let it
boil very gently for eight hours. Strain it through a very clean hair
sieve into a large stoneware pan, and set it where it will cool quickly.
Next day, remove all the remaining grease, and pour the liquid, as
quickly as possible, into a three-gallon stew-pan, taking care not to
disturb the settlings at the bottom. Keep the pan uncovered, and let it
boil as fast as possible over a quick fire. Next, transfer it to a
three-quart stew-pan, and skim it again, if necessary. Watch it well,
and see that it does not burn, as that would spoil the whole. Take out a
little in a spoon, and hold it in the air, to see if it will jelly. If
it will not, boil it a little longer. Till it jellies, it is not done.
Have ready some small white ware preserve pots, clean, and quite dry.
Fill them with the soup, and let them stand undisturbed till next day.
Set, over a slow fire, a large flat-bottomed stew-pan, one-third filled
with boiling water. Place in it the pots of soup, seeing it does not
reach within two inches of their rims. Let the pots stand uncovered in
this water, hot, but without boiling, for six or seven hours. This will
bring the soup to a proper thickness, which should be that of a stiff
jelly, when hot; and when cold, it should be like hard glue. When
finished turn out the moulds of soup, and wrap them up separately in new
brownish paper, and put them up in boxes, breaking off a piece when
wanted to dissolve the soup.
Portable soup may be improved by the addition of three pounds of nice
lean beef, to the shins, knuckles, calves' feet, &c. The beef must be
cut into bits.
If you have any friends going the overland journey to the Pacific, a box
of portable soup may be a most useful present to them.
PEPPER-POT.--Have ready a small half pound of very nice white tripe,
that has been thoroughly boiled and skinned, in a pot by itself, till
quite soft and tender. It should be cut into very small strips or
mouthfuls. Put into another pot a neck of mutton, and a pound of lean
ham, and pour on it a large gallon of water. Boil it slowly, and skim
it. When the scum has ceased to rise, put in two large onions sliced,
four potatos quartered, and four sliced turnips. Season with a very
small piece of red pepper or capsicum, taking care not to make it too
hot. Then add the boiled tripe. Make a quart bowlful of small dumplings
of butter and flour, mixed with a very little water; and throw them into
the pepper-pot, which should afterwards boil about an hour. Then take
it up, and remove the meat before it is put into the tureen. Leave in
the bits of tripe.
NOODLE SOUP.--This soup may be made with either beef or mutton, but the
meat must be fresh for the purpose, and not cold meat, re-cooked. Cut
off all the fat, and break the bones. If boiled in the soup they improve
it. To each pound of meat allow a small quart of water. Boil and skim
it, till the meat drops from the bone. Put in with the meat, after the
scum has ceased to rise, some turnips, carrots and onions, cut in
slices, and boil them till all to pieces. Strain the soup, and return
the liquid to a clean pot. Have ready a large quantity of noodles, (in
French _nouillés_,) and put them into the strained soup; let them boil
in it ten minutes. The noodles are composed of beaten eggs, made into a
paste or dough, with flour and a very little fresh butter. This paste is
rolled out thin into a square sheet. This sheet is then closely rolled
up like a scroll or quire of thick paper, and then with a sharp knife
cut round into shreds, or shavings, as cabbage is cut for slaw. These
cuttings must be dredged with flour to prevent their sticking. Throw
them into the soup while boiling the second time, and let it boil for
ten minutes longer.
CHICKEN SOUP.--Cut up two large fine fowls, as if carving them for the
table, and wash the pieces in cold water. Take half a dozen thin slices
of cold ham, and lay them in a soup-pot, mixed among the pieces of
chicken. Season them with a very little cayenne, a little nutmeg, and a
few blades of mace, but no salt, as the ham will make it salt enough.
Add a head of celery, split and cut into long bits, a quarter of a pound
of butter, divided in two, and rolled in flour. Pour on three quarts of
milk. Set the soup-pot over the fire, and let it boil rather slowly,
skimming it well. When it has boiled an hour, put in some small round
dumplings, made of half a pound of flour mixed with a quarter of a pound
of butter; divide this dough into equal portions, and roll them in your
hands into little balls about the size of a large hickory nut. The soup
must boil till the flesh of the fowls is loose on the bones, but not
till it drops off. Stir in, at the last, the beaten yolks of three or
four eggs; and let the soup remain about five minutes longer over the
fire. Then take it up. Cut off from the bones the flesh of the fowls,
and divide it into mouthfuls. Cut up the slices of ham in the same
manner. Mince the livers and gizzards. Put the bits of fowl and ham in
the bottom of a large tureen, and pour the soup upon it.
This soup will be found excellent, and may be made of large old fowls,
that cannot be cooked in any other way. If they are so old that when
the soup is finished they still continue tough, remove them entirely,
and do not serve them up at all.
Similar soup may be made of a large old turkey. Also, of four rabbits.
DUCK SOUP.--Half roast a pair of fine large tame ducks, keeping them
half an hour at the fire, and saving the gravy, the fat of which must be
carefully skimmed off. Then cut them up; season them with black pepper;
and put them into a soup-pot with four or five small onions sliced thin,
a small bunch of sage, a thin slice of cold ham cut into pieces, a
grated nutmeg, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated. Add the gravy of
the ducks. Pour on, slowly, three quarts of boiling water from a kettle.
Cover the soup-pot, and set it over a moderate fire. Simmer it slowly
(skimming it well) for about four hours, or till the flesh of the ducks
is dissolved into small shreds. When done, strain it through a tureen,
the bottom of which is covered with toasted bread, cut into square dice
about two inches in size.
FRENCH WHITE SOUP.--Boil a knuckle of veal and four calves' feet in five
quarts of water, with three onions sliced, a bunch of sweet herbs, four
heads of white celery cut small, a table-spoonful of whole pepper, and a
_small_ tea-spoonful of salt, adding five or six large blades of mace.
Let it boil very slowly, till the meat is in rags and has dropped from
the bone, and till the gristle has quite dissolved. Skim it well while
boiling. When done, strain it through a sieve into a tureen, or a deep
white-ware pan. Next day, take off all the fat, and put the jelly (for
such it ought to be) into a clean soup-pot with two ounces of
vermicelli, and set it over the fire. When the vermicelli is dissolved,
stir in, gradually, a pint of thick cream, while the soup is quite hot;
but do not let it come to a boil after the cream is in, lest it should
curdle. Cut up one or two French rolls in the bottom of a tureen, pour
in the soup, and send it to table.
COCOA-NUT SOUP.--Take eight calves' feet (two sets) that have been
scalded and scraped, but not skinned; and put them into a soup-kettle
with six or seven blades of mace, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated.
Pour on a gallon of water; cover the kettle, and let it boil very slowly
(skimming it well) till the flesh is reduced to rags and has dropped
entirely from the bones. Then strain it into a broad white-ware pan, and
set it away to get cold. When it has congealed, scrape off the fat and
sediment, cut up the cake of jelly, (or stock,) and put it into a clean
porcelain or enameled kettle. Have ready half a pound of very finely
grated cocoa-nut. Mix it with a pint of cream. If you cannot obtain
cream, take rich unskimmed milk, and add to it three ounces of the best
fresh butter divided into three parts, each bit rolled in arrow-root or
rice-flour. Mix it, gradually, with the cocoa-nut, and add it to the
calves-feet-stock in the kettle, seasoned with a small nutmeg grated.
Set it over the fire, and boil it, slowly, about a quarter of an hour;
stirring it well. Then transfer it to a tureen, and serve it up. Have
ready small French rolls, or light milk biscuit to eat with it; also
powdered sugar in case any of the company should wish to sweeten it.
ALMOND SOUP is made in the above manner, substituting pounded almonds
for the grated cocoa-nut. You must have half a pound of shelled sweet
almonds, mixed with two ounces of shelled bitter almonds. After
blanching them in hot water, they must be pounded to a smooth paste (one
at a time) in a marble mortar; adding frequently a little rose-water to
prevent their oiling, and becoming heavy. Or you may use peach-water for
this purpose; in which case omit the bitter almonds, as the peach-water
will give the desired flavor. When the pounded almonds are ready, mix
them with the other ingredients, as above.
The calves' feet for these soups should be boiled either very early in
the morning, or the day before.
SPRING SOUP.--Unless your dinner hour is very late, the stock for this
soup should be made the day before it is wanted, and set away in a
stone pan, closely covered. To make the stock take a knuckle of veal,
break the bones, and cut it into several pieces. Allow a quart of water
to each pound of veal. Put it into a soup-pot, with a set of calves'
feet,[A] and some bits of cold ham, cut off near the hock. If you have
no ham, sprinkle in a tea-spoonful of salt, and a salt-spoon of cayenne.
Place the pot over a _moderate_ fire, and let it simmer slowly (skimming
it well) for several hours, till the veal is all to rags and the flesh
of the calves' feet has dropped in shreds from the bones. Then strain
the soup; and if not wanted that day, set it away in a stone pan, as
above mentioned.
[A] In buying calves' feet always get those that are singed, not
skinned. Much of the glutinous or jelly property resides in the skin.
Next day have, ready boiled, two quarts or more of green peas, (they
must on no account be old,) and a pint of the green tops cut off from
asparagus boiled for the purpose. Pound a handful of raw spinach till
you have extracted a tea-cupful of the juice. Set the soup or stock over
the fire; add the peas, asparagus, and spinach juice, stirring them well
in; also a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided into four bits,
and rolled in flour. Let the whole come to a boil; and then take it off
and transfer it to a tureen. It will be found excellent.
In boiling the peas for this soup, you may put with them half a dozen
sprigs of green mint, to be afterwards taken out.
Late in the spring you may add to the other vegetables two cucumbers,
pared and sliced, and the whitest part or heart of a lettuce, boiled
together; then well drained, and put into the soup with the peas and
asparagus. It must be very thick with vegetables.
SUMMER SOUP.--Take a large neck of mutton, and hack it so as nearly to
cut it apart, but not quite. Allow a small quart of water to each pound
of meat, and sprinkle on a tea-spoonful of salt and a very little black
pepper. Put it into a soup-pot, and boil it _slowly_ (skimming it well)
till the meat is reduced to rags. Then strain the liquid, return it to
the soup-pot, and carefully remove all the fat from the surface. Have
ready half a dozen small turnips sliced thin, two young onions sliced, a
table-spoonful of sweet marjoram leaves picked from the stalks, and a
quart of shelled Lima beans. Put in the vegetables, and boil them in the
soup till they are thoroughly done. You may add to them two
table-spoonfuls of green nasturtion seeds, either fresh or pickled. Put
in also some little dumplings, (made of flour and butter,) about ten
minutes before the soup is done.
Instead of Lima beans, you may divide a cauliflower or two broccolis
into sprigs, and boil them in the soup with the other vegetables.
This soup may be made of a shoulder of mutton, cut into pieces and the
bones cracked. For a large potful add also the breast to the neck,
cutting the bones apart.
AUTUMN SOUP.--Begin this soup as early in the day as possible. Take six
pounds of the lean of fine fresh beef; cut it into small pieces;
sprinkle it with a tea-spoonful of salt, (not more); put it into a
soup-pot, and pour on six quarts of water. The hock of a cold ham will
greatly improve it. Set it over a moderate fire, and let it boil slowly.
After it comes to a boil, skim it well. Have ready a quarter of a peck
of ochras cut into very thin round slices, and a quarter of a peck of
tomatos cut into pieces; also a quart of shelled Lima beans. Season them
with pepper. Put them in; and after the whole has boiled three hours _at
least_, take four ears of young Indian corn, and having grated off all
the grains, add them to the soup and boil it an hour longer. Before you
serve up the soup remove from it all the bits of meat, which, if the
soup is sufficiently cooked, will be reduced to shreds.
You may put in with the ochras and tomatos one or two sliced onions. The
soup, when done, should be as thick as a jelly.
Ochras for soup may be kept all winter, by tying them separately to a
line stretched high across the store room.
WINTER SOUP.--The day before you make the soup, get a leg or shin of
beef. Have the bone sawed through in several places, and the meat
notched or scored down to the bone. This will cause the juice or essence
to come out more freely, when cooked. Rub it slightly with salt; cover
it, and set it away. Next morning, early as possible, as soon as the
fire is well made up, put the beef into a large soup-pot, allowing to
each pound a small quart of water. Then taste the water, and if the salt
that has been rubbed on the meat is not sufficient, add a very little
more. Throw in also a tea-spoonful of whole pepper-corns; and you may
add half a dozen blades of mace. Let it simmer slowly till it comes to a
boil; then skim it well. After it boils, you may quicken the fire. At
nine o'clock put in a large head of cabbage cut fine as for cold-slaw;
six carrots grated; the leaves stripped from a bunch of sweet marjoram;
and the leaves of a sprig of parsley. An hour afterwards, add six
turnips, and three potatoes, all cut into four or eight pieces. Also two
onions, which will be better if previously roasted brown, and then
sliced. Keep the soup boiling steadily, but not hard, unless the dinner
hour is very early. For a late dinner, there will be time to boil it
slowly all the while; and all soups are the better for long and slow
boiling. See that it is well skimmed, so that, when done, there will be
not a particle of fat or scum on the surface. At dinner-time take it up
with a large ladle, and transfer it to a tureen. In doing so, carefully
avoid the shreds of meat and bone. Leave them all in the bottom of the
pot, pressing them down with the ladle. A mass of shreds in the tureen
or soup-plate looks slovenly and disgusting, and should never be seen at
the table; also, they absorb too much of the liquid. Let the vegetables
remain in the soup when it is served up, but pick out every shred of
meat or bone that may be found in the tureen when ready to go to table.
In very cold weather, what is left of this soup will keep till the
second day; when it must be simmered again over the fire, till it just
comes to a boil. Put it away in a tin or stone vessel. The lead which is
used in glazing earthen jars frequently communicates its poison to
liquids that are kept in them.
VEGETABLE SOUP--(_very good_.)--Soak all night, in cold water, either
two quarts of yellow split peas, or two quarts of dried white beans. In
the morning drain them, and season them with a very little salt and
cayenne, and a head of minced celery, or else a heaped table-spoonful of
celery seed. Put them into a soup-pot with four quarts of water, and
boil them slowly till they are all dissolved and undistinguishable. Stir
them frequently. Have ready a profuse quantity of fresh vegetables, such
as turnips, carrots, parsnips, potatos, onions, and cauliflowers; also,
salsify, and asparagus tops. Put in, first, the vegetables that require
the longest boiling. They should all be cut into small pieces. Enrich
the whole with some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Boil these
vegetables in the soup till they are all quite tender. Then transfer it
to a tureen, and serve it up hot.
The foundation being of dried peas or beans, makes it very thick and
smooth, and the fresh vegetables improve its flavor. It is a good soup
for Lent, or for any time, if properly and liberally made.
All vegetable soups can be made in Lent without meat, if milk is
substituted for water, and with butter, beaten eggs and spice, to flavor
and enrich it.
FRENCH POT AU FEU.--This is one of the national dishes of France. The
following is a genuine French receipt, and it would be found very
palatable and very convenient if tried in our own land of plenty. The
true French way to cook it is in an earthen pipkin, such as can be had
in any pottery shop. The French vessel has a wide mouth, and
close-fitting lid, with a handle at each side, in the form of circular
ears. It is large and swelling in the middle, and narrows down towards
the bottom. The American pipkin has a short thick spout at one side, and
stands on three or four low feet. No kitchen should be without these
vessels, which are cheap, very strong, and easily kept clean. They can
sit on a stove, or in the corner of the fire, and are excellent for slow
cooking.
The wife of a French artisan commences her pot au feu soon after
breakfast, prepares the ingredients, puts them, by degrees, into the
pot, attends to it during the day; and when her husband has done his
work she has ready for him an excellent and substantial repast, far
superior to what in our country is called a _tea-dinner_. Men frequently
indemnify themselves for the poorness of a tea-dinner by taking a dram
of whiskey afterwards. A Frenchman is satisfied with his excellent pot
au feu and some fruit afterwards. The French are noted as a temperate
nation. If they have eaten to their satisfaction they have little
craving for drink. Yet there is no country in the world where so much
good eating might be had as in America. But to live well, and
wholesomely, there should also be good cooking, and the wives of our
artisans must learn to think more of the comfort, health, and
cheerfulness of him who in Scotland is called the _bread-winner_, than
of their own finery, and their children's uncomfortable frippery.
_Receipt._--For a large pot au feu, put into the pipkin six pounds of
good fresh beef cut up, and pour on it four quarts of water. Set it near
the fire, skim it when it simmers, and when nearly boiling, add a
tea-spoonful of salt, half a pound of liver cut in pieces, and some
black pepper. Then add two or three large carrots, sliced or grated on a
coarse grater; four turnips, pared and quartered; eight young onions
peeled and sliced thick, two of the onions roasted whole; a head of
celery cut up; a parsnip split and cut up; and six potatos, pared,
sliced, or quartered. In short any good vegetables now in season,
including tomatos in summer and autumn. Also a bunch of sweet herbs,
chopped small. Let the whole continue to boil slowly and _steadily_;
remembering to skim well. Let it simmer slowly five or six hours. Then,
having laid some large slices of bread in the bottom of a tureen, or a
very large pan or bowl, pour the stew or soup upon it; all the meat, and
all the vegetables. If you have any left, recook it the next morning for
breakfast, and _that day_ you may prepare something else for dinner.
For beef you may substitute mutton, or fresh venison, if you live in a
venison country, and can get it newly killed.
WILD DUCK SOUP.--This is a company soup. If you live where wild ducks
are abundant, it will afford an agreeable variety occasionally to make
soup of some of them. If you suspect them to be sedgy or fishy, (you can
ascertain by the smell when drawing or cleaning them,) parboil each
duck, with a carrot put into his body. Then take out the carrot and
throw it away. You will find that the unpleasant flavor has left the
ducks, and been entirely absorbed by the carrots. To make the soup--cut
up the ducks, season the pieces with a little salt and pepper, and lay
them in a soup-pot. For a good pot of soup you should have four wild
ducks. Add two or three sliced onions, and a table-spoonful of minced
sage. Also a quarter of a pound of butter divided into four, and each
piece rolled in flour. Pour in water enough to make a rich soup, and
let it boil slowly till all the flesh has left the bones,--skim it well.
Thicken it with boiled or roasted chestnuts, peeled, and then mashed
with a potato beetle. A glass of Madeira or sherry will be found an
improvement, stirred in at the last, or the juice and grated peel of a
lemon. In taking it up for the tureen, be careful to leave all the bones
and bits of meat in the bottom of the pot.
VENISON SOUP.--Take a large fine piece of freshly killed venison. It is
best at the season when the deer are fat and juicy, from having plenty
of wild berries to feed on. I do not consider winter-venison worth
eating, when the meat is poor and hard, and affords no gravy, and also
is black from being kept too long. When venison is fresh and in good
order it yields a fine soup, allowing a small quart of water to each
pound of meat. When it has boiled well, and been skimmed, put in some
small dumplings made of flour and minced suet, or drippings. Also,
boiled sweet potatos, cut into round thick slices. You may add boiled
sweet corn cut off the cob; and, indeed, whatever vegetables are in
season. The soup-meat should boil till all the flesh is loose on the
bones, and the bits and shreds should not be served up.
The best pieces of buffalo make good soup.
GAME SOUP.--Take partridges, pheasants, grouse, quails, or any of the
birds considered as game. You may put in here as many different sorts as
you can procure. They must all be fresh killed. When they are cleaned
and plucked, cut them in pieces as for carving, and put them into a
soup-pot, with four calves' feet and some slices of ham, two sticks of
celery, and a bundle of sweet herbs chopped small, and water enough to
cover the whole well. Boil and skim well, till all the flesh is loose
from the bones. Strain the liquid through a sieve into a clean pot, then
thicken it with fresh butter rolled in flour. Add some force-meat balls
that have been already fried; or else some hard-boiled yolks of eggs;
some currant jelly, or some good wine into which a half-nutmeg has been
grated; the juice of two oranges or lemons, and the grated yellow peel
of one lemon. Give the soup another boil up, and then send it to table,
having bread rolls to eat with it.
This is a fine soup for company. Venison soup may be made in this
manner. Hare soup also.
SQUATTER'S SOUP.--Take plenty of _fresh-killed_ venison, as fat and
juicy as you can get it. Cut the meat off the bones and put it (with the
bones) into a large pot. Season it with pepper and salt, and pour on
sufficient water to make a good rich soup. Boil it slowly (remembering
to skim it well) till the meat is all in rags. Have ready some ears of
young sweet corn. Boil them in a pot by themselves till they are quite
soft. Cut the grains off the cob into a deep dish. Having cleared the
soup from shreds and bits of bone left at the bottom of the pot, stir in
a thickening made of indian meal mixed to a paste with a little fresh
lard, or venison gravy. And afterwards throw in, by degrees, the cut
corn. Let all boil together, till the corn is soft, or for about half an
hour. Then take it up in a large pan. It will be found very good by
persons who never were squatters. This soup, with a wild turkey or a
buffalo hump roasted, and stewed grapes sweetened well with maple sugar,
will make a good backwoods dinner.
MOCK TURTLE SOUP.--Boil together a knuckle of veal (cut up) and a set of
calves' feet, split. Also the hock of a cold boiled ham. Season it with
cayenne pepper; but the ham will render it salt enough. You may add a
smoked tongue. Allow, to each pound of meat, a small quart of water.
After the meat has come to a boil and been well skimmed, add half a
dozen sliced parsnips, three sliced onions, and a head of celery cut
small, with a large bunch of sweet marjoram, and two large carrots
sliced. Boil all together till the vegetables are nearly dissolved and
the meat falls from the bone. Then strain the whole through a cullender,
and transfer the liquid to a clean pot. Have ready some fine large
sweetbreads that have been soaked in warm water for an hour till all
the blood was disgorged; then transferred to boiling water for ten
minutes, and then taken out and laid in very cold water. This will
blanch them, and all sweetbreads should look white. Take them out; and
remove carefully all the pipe or gristle. Cut the sweetbreads in pieces
or mouthfuls, and put them into the pot of strained soup. Have ready
about two or three dozen (or more) of force-meat balls, made of cold
minced veal and ham seasoned with nutmeg and mace, enriched with butter,
and mixed with grated lemon-peel, bread-crumbs, chopped marjoram and
beaten eggs, to make the whole into smooth balls about the size of a
hickory nut. Throw the balls into the soup, and add a fresh lemon,
sliced thin, and a pint of Madeira wine. Give it one more boil up; then
put it into a tureen and send it to table.
This ought to be a rich soup, and is seldom made except for dinner
company.
If the above method is _exactly_ followed, there will be found no
necessity for taking the trouble and enduring the disgust and
tediousness of cleaning and preparing a calf's head for mock turtle
soup--a very unpleasant process, which too much resembles the horrors of
a dissecting room. And when all is done a calf's head is a very insipid
article.
It will be found that the above is superior to any mock turtle. Made of
shin beef, with all these ingredients, it is very rich and fine.
FISH SOUP.--All fish soups should be made with milk, (if unskimmed so
much the better,) using no water whatever. The best fish for soup are
the small sort of cat-fish; also tutaug, porgie, blue fish, white fish,
black fish or sea-bass. Cut off their heads, tails, and fins, and remove
the skin, and the backbone, and cut the fish into pieces. To each pound
of fish allow a quart of rich milk. Put into the soup-pot some pieces of
cold boiled ham. No salt will then be required; but season with cayenne
pepper, and a few blades of mace and some grated nutmeg. Add a bunch of
sweet marjoram, the leaves stripped from the stalks and chopped. Make
some little dumplings of flour and butter, and put them in when the soup
is about half done. Half an hour's steady boiling will be sufficient.
Serve up in the tureen the pieces of fish and ham. Also some toast cut
in dice.
Soup may be made in this manner, of chickens or rabbits, using always
milk enriched with bits of butter rolled in flour and flavored with bits
of cold ham.
LOBSTER SOUP.--This is a fine soup for company. Take two or three fine
fresh lobsters, (the middle sized are the best.) Heat a large pot of
water, throwing in a large handful of salt. When it is boiling hard put
in the lobsters, head foremost, that they may die immediately. They will
require at least half an hour's fast boiling; if large, three quarters.
When done, take them out, wipe off the scum that has collected on the
shell, and drain the lobster. First break off the large claws, and crack
them, then split the body, and extract all the white meat, and the red
coral--nothing else--and cut it into small pieces. Mash the coral into
smooth bits with the back of a large spoon, mixing with it plenty of
sweet oil; and, gradually, adding it to the bits of chopped lobster. Put
into a clear soup-pot two quarts, or more, of good milk, and thicken it
with half a dozen crackers or butter-biscuit, pounded fine; or the
grated crumbs of two or three small rolls, and stir in a quarter of a
pound of fresh butter made into a paste with two spoonfuls of flour. Put
in the chopped lobster, seasoned with nutmeg, a few blades of mace
powdered, and a little cayenne. Let all boil together, slowly, for half
an hour, keeping it closely covered. Towards the last, stir in two
beaten eggs. Lay some very small soda biscuit in the bottom of a tureen,
and pour the soup upon them. Nasturtion flowers strewed at the last
thickly over the surface of this soup, when in the tureen, are an
improvement both to its appearance and flavor. So is peppergrass.
CRAB SOUP.--Take the meat of two dozen boiled crabs, cut it small, and
give it a boil in two quarts of milk. Season it with powdered mace,
nutmeg, and a little cayenne, and thicken it with butter mixed in flour;
or, make the flour and butter into little dumplings. Have ready half a
dozen yolks of hard-boiled eggs, and crumble them into the soup just
before you take it from the fire. Add the heart of a fresh green
lettuce, cut small and strewed over the surface of the soup, after it is
poured into the tureen.
OYSTER SOUP.--Strain the liquor from one hundred oysters, and carefully
remove any bits of shell or particles of sea-weed. To every pint of
oyster liquor allow an equal quantity of rich milk. Season it with whole
pepper and some blades of mace. Add a head of celery, washed, scraped,
and minced small. Put the whole into a soup-pot, and boil and skim it
well. When it boils put in the oysters. Also, a quarter of a pound of
fresh butter; divide into four pieces, each piece rolled in flour. If
you can procure cream, add a half-pint, otherwise boil some six eggs
hard, and crumble the yolks into the soup. After the oysters are in give
them but one boil up, just sufficient to plump them. If boiled longer
they will shrink and shrivel and lose their taste. Take them all out and
set them away to cool. When the soup is done, place in the bottom of the
tureen some small square pieces of nicely toasted bread cut into dice,
and pour on the soup; grate in a nutmeg and then add the oysters. Serve
it up very hot.
Another way is to chop or cut small the oysters, omitting the hard part.
Make the soup as above, and put in the minced oysters at the last,
letting them boil but five minutes. Mix the powdered nutmeg with them.
This is a good way, if you make but a small quantity of soup.
CLAM SOUP.--Having washed clean the outside shells of a hundred small
sand clams, (or scrubbed them with a brush,) put them into a large pot
of boiling water. When they open their shells take them out with a
ladle, and as you do so, put them into a cullender to drain off the
liquor. Then extract the clams from the shells with a knife. Save a
quart of the liquor, putting the clams in a pitcher by themselves. Mix
with the quart of liquor, in a clean pot, two quarts of rich milk. Put
in the clams, and add some pepper-corns and some blades of mace. Also, a
bunch of sweet marjoram, the leaves stripped off and minced. After all
has boiled well for an hour, add half a pound, or more, of nice fresh
butter, made into little dumplings with flour; also a pint of grated
bread-crumbs. Let it boil a quarter of an hour longer. Then pour the
soup off from the clams and leave them in the bottom of the pot. They
will not now be worth eating. If you cannot obtain small clams, you may
cut large ones in pieces, but they are very coarse and tough.
FAST-DAY SOUP.--_For winter._--Having soaked all night two quarts of
split peas, put them into a soup-pot, adding a sliced onion, two heads
of celery, the stalks split and cut small; a table-spoonful of chopped
mint, another of marjoram, and two beets, that have been previously
boiled and sliced. Mix all these with half a pound of fresh butter cut
into pieces and dredged with flour. Season with a little salt and
pepper. Pour on rather more than water enough to cover the whole. Let
them boil till all the things are quite tender, and the peas dissolved.
When done, cover the bottom of a tureen with small square bits of toast,
and pour in the contents of the soup-pot.
It is a good way to boil the split peas in a pot by themselves, till
they are quite dissolved, and then add them to the ingredients in the
other pot.
Vegetable soups require a large portion of vegetables, and butter
always, as a substitute for meat.
FRIDAY SOUP.--_For summer._--This is a fast-day soup. Pare and slice six
cucumbers, and cut up the white part or heart of six lettuces; slice two
onions, and cut small the leaves of six sprigs of fresh green mint,
unless mint is disliked by the persons that are to eat the soup; in
which case, substitute parsley. Add a quart of young green peas. Put the
whole into a soup-pot, with as much water as will more than cover them
well. Season slightly with salt and a little cayenne, and add half a
pound of nice fresh butter, divided into six, each piece dredged well
with flour. Boil the whole for an hour and a half. Then serve it up,
without straining; having colored it green with a tea-cup of pounded
spinach juice.
When green peas are out of season, you may substitute tomatos peeled and
quartered.
This soup, having no meat, is chiefly for fast days, but will be found
good at any time.
BAKED SOUP.--On the days that you bake bread, you may have a dish of
thick soup with very little trouble, by putting into a large earthen jug
or pipkin, or covered pan, the following articles:--Two pounds of
_fresh_ beef, or mutton, cut into small slices, having first removed the
fat; two sliced onions and four carrots, and four parsnips cut in four;
also, four turnips, six potatos pared and cut up, and half a dozen
tomatos, peeled and quartered. Season the whole with a little salt and
pepper. A large beet, scraped and cut up, will be an improvement. To
these things pour on three quarts of water. Cover the earthen vessel,
and set it in the oven with the bread, and let the soup bake at the same
time.
If the bread is done before the dinner hour, you must keep the soup
still longer in the oven.
Do not use _cold_ meat for this or any other soup, unless you are very
poor.
FISH.
TO CLEAN FISH.--This must always be done with the greatest care and
nicety. If sent to table imperfectly cleaned, they are disgraceful to
the cook, and disgusting to the sight and taste. Handle the fish
lightly; not roughly so as to bruise it. Wash it well, but do not leave
it in the water longer than is needful. It will lose its flavor, and
become insipid, if soaked. To scale it, lay the fish flat upon one side,
holding it firmly in the left hand, and with the right taking off the
scales by means of a knife. When both sides are done, pour sufficient
cold water over it to float off all the loose scales that may have
escaped your notice. It is best to pump on it. Then proceed to open and
empty the fish. Be sure that not the smallest particle of the entrails
is left in. Scrape all carefully from the backbone. Wash out all the
blood from the inside. A dexterous cook can draw a fish without
splitting it entirely down, all the way from head to tail. Smelts and
other small fish are drawn or emptied at the gills.
All fish should be cleaned or drawn as soon as they are brought in, and
then kept on ice, till the moment for cooking.
TO BOIL FISH.--No fish can be fit to eat unless the eyes are prominent
and lively, the gills very red, and the body firm and stiff, springing
back immediately when bent round to try them. Every scale must be
carefully scraped off, and the entrails entirely extracted; not the
smallest portion being carelessly left sticking to the backbone.
Previous to cooking, fish of every kind should be laid in cold water,
and the blood thoroughly washed from the inside. Few fish are not the
better for being put on to boil in cold water, heating gradually with it
till it comes to a boil. If you put it on in boiling water, the outside
becomes boiling hot too soon; and is apt to break and come off in
flakes, while the inside still remains hard and underdone: halibut,
salmon, cod, and other large thick fish must be boiled slowly and
thoroughly throughout, taking nearly as long as meat. Always put salt
into the water at the commencement, and a little vinegar towards the
last. In every kitchen should be a large oval kettle purposely for
boiling fish. This kettle has a movable strainer inside. The fish lies
on the strainer. To try if it is done, run a thin sharp knife in it,
till it reaches the backbone; and see if the flesh will loosen or
separate easily. If it adheres to the bone it requires more boiling.
When quite done, leave it no longer in the kettle, or it will lose its
flavor and get a woolly look. Take out the strainer with the fish upon
it. Drain off the water through the strainer, cover the fish with a
folded napkin or fine towel, doubled thick; transfer it to a heated
dish, and keep it warm and dry till it goes to table, directly after the
soup. In the mean time prepare the sauce to be served up along with the
fish.
FRYING FISH.--Fish should be fried in _very good_ fresh butter, or nice
beef drippings; or else in lard, which last, is the most usual method. A
large allowance of lard should be put into the pan, and held over a
clear fire, till it becomes so hot as to boil fast in the pan. Till the
lard hisses and bubbles do not put in the fish. They must first be dried
separately in a clean cloth, and then scored on the back in deep
incisions, or gashes, and slightly dredged with flour. Unless the lard
is amply sufficient in quantity to cover the fish well, and bear them up
towards the surface, they will sink heavily to the bottom of the pan,
and perhaps stick there and burn. Also, if there is not fat enough, the
fish will absorb the whole of what there is, and become dark-colored and
greasy.
BAKED FISH.--This is a dish for company. You may bake in the same manner
a shad, a fresh codfish, a sheep's head, a white fish, or a blue fish,
or a pair of large black fish. Trout also are considered fish for
baking. Cut off the head, and split the fish nearly down to the tail.
For a stuffing, cut two slices of nice light wheat bread, of shape and
size to fit easily into the inside of the fish, and spread them thickly
with very new fresh butter. Season them with cayenne and powdered mace,
and moisten them with port wine or sherry. Add the juice and yellow rind
of a lemon, grated; and sufficient powdered white sugar to take off the
extreme acid of the last. Fill the body of the fish with this stuffing,
kept in by tying round the fish, carefully, a white cotton cord, or
tape, so as to confine it in several places. Lay bits of fresh butter
over the outside, at equal distances. Place the fish on a trivet, in a
bake pan, and pour round it a pint of wine and water mixed. Baste it
with this frequently while baking. It will require at least an hour in a
quick oven. If the basting does not leave sufficient gravy, add half a
pint more of wine mixed with a little hot water.
When you have taken up the fish, keep it hot while you are finishing the
gravy, which you should thicken and enrich by stirring in smoothly a
piece of butter mixed slightly into a paste with flour, and seasoned
with grated nutmeg. Serve up the gravy in a sauce-boat, and lay slices
of lemon along the back of the fish, having, of course, removed the
string that was wound around it to confine the stuffing. Send to table
with the baked fish, a dish of potatos mashed with milk and butter, and
browned on the surface with a salamander, or a red hot shovel. Always
remove the seeds of lemon slices. Fresh mackerel may be baked thus.
Fish may be baked plainly, with a stuffing of sweet marjoram, minced
sage, and onion, (previously boiled and drained,) a little butter, or
finely chopped beef suet, and plenty of grated bread crumbs, seasoned
with a little black pepper. Or instead of crumbs you may put in slices
of bread and butter soaked in milk, and secured as above from falling
out while the fish is baking.
STEWED FISH.--Take any nice fresh fish of moderate size, and when it is
drawn and washed, cut it into three or four pieces, and put them into a
stew-pan with amply sufficient hot water to keep them from burning.
Season them with a little salt and cayenne. After it has simmered
steadily for half an hour, and been skimmed, have ready a quarter of a
pound of fresh butter, mixed into a smooth paste with a heaped
table-spoonful of flour. Add this to the stew, with a bunch of sweet
marjoram chopped fine, and a sprig of chopped parsley. If approved, add
a small onion pared and sliced very thin. Cover it closely, and let it
stew another half hour. Then send it to table. This is a family dish.
Any fresh fish may be stewed thus.
SPICED FISH.--Cold fish that has been left at dinner is very nice to put
away for the supper table. It should be fresh salmon, fresh cod,
rock-fish, halibut, or the remains of any other large fine fish. Take
out the back bone, and cut the flesh into moderate sized pieces. Lay it
in a deep dish that has a cover. Season the fish with cayenne pepper, a
little salt, some grated nutmeg, and some blades of mace; also some
whole black pepper-corns, and pour over it plenty of good cider vinegar.
Tarragon vinegar will be an improvement. Cover it closely, and set it in
a cold place till wanted. If in spring or summer, set it in ice.
We do not recommend cloves or allspice. The taste of those coarse spices
is so overpowering, (and to many persons so unpleasant,) that they are
now nearly out of use at good tables.
Nutmeg, mace and ginger, will be found much better, and with cinnamon
occasionally, are sufficient for all spice seasonings. Nevertheless, for
those who like them, a few cloves will relieve the insipidity of
halibut.
FISH CAKES.--Take codfish (either fresh or salt) that has been boiled
the day before. Carefully remove the bones, and mince the flesh. Mix
with it a quantity of warm mashed potatos, (mashed with butter and milk)
in the proportion of one third codfish, and two thirds mashed potatos.
Add sufficient beaten egg to make the whole into a smooth paste. Season
it with cayenne; and, if the mixture seems dry, moisten and enrich it
with a little butter. Make it into cakes about an inch thick, and as
large round as the top of a common sized tea-cup. Or into round balls.
Sprinkle them well with flour.
Fry them in lard, or beef-drippings. When one side is done turn them
over. Drain them, and send them to the breakfast table. If approved, you
may add to the mixture two or three onions boiled and minced. Any large
cold fish may be dressed in this manner for next morning's breakfast.
ROCK-FISH.--Rock-fish are generally plain boiled, (with the heads and
tails left on,) and they are eaten with egg sauce, (hard boiled eggs
chopped, and mixed with melted or drawn butter,) seasoned with a little
cayenne. Put on the side of your plate, any nice fish sauce from the
castors. Some serve up rock-fish with hard boiled eggs, cut into halves,
and laid closely in a row along the back of the fish; half an egg being
helped to each person. Cold butter is then eaten with it. We think this
a very nice way.
Blue fish, white fish, and black fish, may be drest in this manner.
Also, sea-bass.
BLACK FISH AND SEA-BASS--Are all boiled in the same manner, having first
carefully scaled, and drawn, and well washed them. In drawing fish take
care that the whole of the inside is nicely scraped from the back-bone,
all along. When ready, dredge a clean soft cloth with flour, wrap the
fish in it; lay it on the strainer of a fish-kettle, and put it in
plenty of water, into which has been thrown a small table-spoonful of
salt. Keep it steadily boiling near half an hour. Take it carefully out
of the cloth, drain it on the strainer, and keep it warm. Send to table
with it egg-sauce.
Eat mashed potatos with it.
_Frying._--To fry the above fish,--cut them in two or three pieces; wash
them and wipe them dry; score them with deep cuts, and season with
cayenne and a little salt--dredge them with flour, and fry them brown in
a pan nearly full of boiling lard.
Any fish may be fried in this manner.
FRESH COD.--A fine codfish should be very thick about the neck; the eyes
lively; the gills red; and the flesh firm and white. If flabby, it is
not good. It is in season from October till May. After scaling,
emptying, washing, and drying, cover it, and let it rest for an hour.
Then put it on in a fish-kettle of _cold_ water, (hard water if you can
procure it,) throw in a small handful of salt, and let the cod heat
gradually, skimming it well. Boil it gently, but steadily, till
thoroughly done. Then, take it out of the kettle, drain it, and keep it
warm till ready to go to table. No fish should be allowed to remain in
the water after the boiling is quite over. Serve it up with oyster or
lobster sauce.
You may broil fresh cod in steaks, or fry it in cutlets. For frying
fish, you may use beef or veal drippings, with the fat skimmed off
carefully. Mutton fat (which is tallow) is unfit for all cookery.
TROUT.--Trout is considered a very nice fish, and is in season in the
summer. When fresh it is a fine flesh color, and its spots are very
bright. To fry trout, dry them in a cloth. Score them deeply, and touch
each incision or cut with a little cayenne. Dredge them with flour.
Grate some bread-crumbs very fine, and in another pan beat some eggs
very light and thick. Dip each fish twice in the egg, and twice in the
crumbs, and fry them in plenty of boiling lard, or in a mixture of lard
and fresh butter. When done, drain them, and send them to table with a
dish of cucumbers sliced and dressed in the usual way, with vinegar,
pepper and salt.
If boiled, serve them up with egg sauce. If broiled, eat them with cold
butter and cayenne.
STEWED TROUT.--This is a dish for company. Mix together as much cold
water and sweet white wine, in equal quantities, as will well cover the
fish. When done, take them out of the stew pan, drain them, and keep
them hot while you prepare the gravy. For this, thicken the liquid with
a piece of fresh butter divided into four, each bit rolled in flour; and
add two or more well-beaten eggs, and season with powdered mace and
nutmeg. Mix all this together, give it one boil up, and pour it over the
trout, after they are dished for table.
BAKED TROUT.--Having cleaned the trout, wrap each fish in a very thin
slice of bacon, sprinkled with minced sweet marjoram, and seasoned with
cayenne and mace. Inclose each fish in a white paper, cut larger than to
fit exactly. Fasten the papers with strings or pins, to be removed
before the fish goes to table. Lay the trout in a square tin pan, and
bake them in the papers, which must be taken off when the fish are done;
but serve them up with the bacon round them or not, as you please.
SALT COD.--The afternoon before the fish is to be eaten, put it to soak
in plenty of cold water. Cover it, and let it stand in a warm place all
night. In the morning pour off that water, wash the fish clean, and
scrub the outside with a brush. Put it into a kettle with cold water
sufficient to cover it well; and let it boil fast till near dinner time,
skimming it well. About half an hour before dinner, pour off this
boiling water, and substitute a sufficiency of cold. In this last water
give the fish one boil up. Send it to table with egg sauce, made with
plenty of butter, and hard-boiled eggs cut in half, and laid closely
along the back of the fish, to be helped with it. Accompany the cod with
a plate of sliced beets drest with vinegar.
Next morning you may take what is left, and having removed all the bone,
mince the fish, and mix it with an equal quantity of mashed potatos,
adding some butter, pepper, and raw egg. Make the whole into balls or
flat cakes, and fry them in drippings or lard. They are good at
breakfast. On every one put a small spot of pepper.
FRIED SMELTS.--The smelt is a very nice little fish, which has a
peculiarly sweet and delicate flavor of its own, that requires, to be
tasted in perfection, no other cooking than plain broiling or frying in
fresh lard. Do not wash them, but wipe them dry in a clean cloth; having
opened and drawn them, (they should be drawn through the gills,) and cut
off the heads and tails, dredge them with flour. The frying-pan must be
more than two-thirds full of boiling lard; boiling hard when the smelts
are put in, so as to float them on the surface. If there is not
sufficient lard, or if it is not boiling, the fish will sink and be dark
colored, and greasy. About ten minutes are sufficient for the small
ones, and fifteen for those of a larger size. When done, drain off the
lard and send them to the breakfast table on a hot dish.
If you prefer retaining the heads and tails, dish them, alternately,
with the heads up and tails down.
FRIED CAT-FISH.--The best cat-fish are the small ones. If too large,
they are generally coarse and strong. They must be cooked quite fresh;
if possible, directly out of the water. They are very popular at fishing
parties. Wash and clean them, cutting off their heads and tails, and
removing the upper part of the back-bone, near the shoulders. Score them
along the back, with deep gashes or incisions. Dredge them with flour,
and fry them in plenty of lard, boiling fast when the cat-fish are put
into the pan. Or, you may fry them in the drippings or gravy saved from
roast beef, or veal. They are very nice dipped in a batter of beaten egg
and grated bread-crumbs, or they may be done in a plain, though not so
nice a way, with indian meal instead of bread-crumbs. Drain off the lard
before you dish them. Touch each incision or cut, _very slightly_, with
a little cayenne before they go to table.
Cat-fish are a breakfast dish, and are also eaten at supper. Porgie and
tutaug are cooked in this manner.
Any fish may be fried as above, when not split open.
FINE CHOWDER.--This is Commodore Stovens's receipt:--Take four
table-spoonfuls of minced onions that have been fried with slices of
salt pork; two pilot-biscuits broken up; one table-spoonful of minced
sweet marjoram, and one of sweet basil; a quarter of a bottle of
mushroom catchup; half a bottle of port wine; half a nutmeg grated; a
few cloves, and mace, and pepper-corns; six pounds of fresh cod, and
sea-bass, cut in slices. Put the whole into a pot, with water enough to
cover it about an inch. Boil it steadily for an hour, carefully stirring
it. Serve it up hot in a large deep dish.
Chowder may be made as above, substituting clams for the cod. The clams
must be chopped small. You may, for variety, make chowder with oysters,
or with boiled lobsters, or crabs; always beginning the mixture with
pork fried with onions.
YANKEE CHOWDER.--Having sliced very thin some salt fat pork, season it
with pepper, lay it in the bottom of a large iron pot, set it over the
fire, and let it fry. When done, take out the pork, leaving the liquid
fat in the bottom. Next, peel and slice some onions, and lay them on the
fat. Pour in sufficient clam or oyster liquor to stew the onions. Have
ready a sufficient quantity of sea-bass, black fish, tutaug, porgie,
haddock, or fresh cod. Cut the fish in small pieces, and put it into the
pot. Add plenty of potatos pared and quartered. Then some clam liquor;
and lastly, some crackers, (soaked and split,) or some soda biscuit; the
crackers to cover the top. If you wish to fill a large pot, repeat all
these ingredients, arranging them in layers. If there is not gravy
enough, add some boiling milk, poured in at the last, and enriched with
bits of butter mixed with flour. Cover the pot closely, and let it stew
half an hour, or more, till all the contents are thoroughly done. You
may bake the chowder in an iron oven, over a wood fire, heaping live
coals on the oven lid.
CLAM CHOWDER.--Put into boiling water from fifty to a hundred of the
small sand clams; and when all their shells have opened, take them out,
as they are then sufficiently boiled. Extract all the hard, or tough,
uneatable part, and throw it away. Slice thin as much salt pork as, when
fried in the bottom of a large pot, will produce half a pint of liquid
or gravy. Take out all the pork, leaving the liquid in the pot. Add to
it a layer of clams. Then a layer of biscuit soaked in milk or warm
water. Next another layer of clams; then another layer of soaked
biscuit; then more clams. Season it with pepper and mace. If there is no
objection to onions, add three or four boiled and sliced, and some
minced marjoram. Also, some potatos, boiled, peeled, and quartered. Let
the last layer be clams, and then cover the whole with a good paste, and
bake it in an iron oven, or boil it in an iron pot.
Chowder of fresh codfish, halibut, sea-bass, or any other good fish, is
made as above. Halibut requires a much larger portion of seasoning, and
a little more pork. Though very large and therefore very profitable, it
is in itself the most tasteless of all fish. Plain boiled halibut is not
worth eating.
SALMON.--In choosing a salmon, see that the gills are a fine red, the
eyes full, the scales clear, and the whole fish stiff; the flesh being
of the peculiar red known as salmon-color. Between the flakes is a
substance called the curd, which gives it firmness. By keeping, this
substance melts down and the flesh becomes soft. A salmon can only be
eaten in perfection on the sea-coast where it was caught, and on the
same day. To transport it any distance, it must be enclosed in a box,
and well packed in ice. In America, salmon is found in the greatest
perfection on the coast of Maine, in the Kennebec. Very fine ones are
brought to Boston market. They also abound on the coasts of California
and Oregon. The American salmon is much larger than those of Europe. It
is so fine a fish that its own flavor is better than any that can be
communicated except by the most simple sauce. It requires as much
boiling as meat, that is, a quarter of an hour for every pound. It is in
season from May till August or September.
The lake salmon is good, but inferior to that of the ocean, in size,
richness, and color.
In boiling a large fish, to judge if it is done, draw up the strainer or
fish-plate, and with a thin knife try if the flesh separates easily from
the bone. If you can loosen it immediately, it is cooked enough. It
injures a fish to let it get cool in the water.
BOILED SALMON.--After carefully emptying the salmon, wash it very clean
from the blood inside, and remove the scales. To preserve the fine color
of the salmon, or to set the curd or creamy substance between the
flakes, it should be put into boiling water, allowing to a gallon of
water a handful of salt. After the water has been boiling a few minutes,
and has been skimmed, put in the fish, (laying it on the drainer,) and
let it boil moderately fast, skimming it well. It must be thoroughly
boiled. Underdone fish of every kind is disgusting and unwholesome.
Before it is taken from the fish kettle ascertain if it is sufficiently
cooked, by trying if the back-bone easily loosens from the flesh. A
quarter of an hour may be allowed for each pound, for a large thick
salmon requires as much cooking as meat. When you take it up, drain it
well, and serve it up immediately. Have ready some lobster sauce, or
shrimp, if more convenient. To make it, mince the meat of a boiled
lobster, mashing the coral with it, and mix it with melted or drawn
butter, made very thick, and having but a very small portion of water.
For shrimp sauce, boil the shrimps, take off their heads, and squeeze
out their bodies from the shells. Thicken with them the drawn butter.
Nothing should go with salmon that will interfere with the flavor of
this fine fish, or give it any taste that will overpower or weaken its
own.
Many prefer salmon with nothing more than cold butter spread on after it
is helped. We think, ourselves, that when the butter is very good, it is
not improved (for salmon) by the addition of flour and water; and a very
little is sufficient. You need use nothing from the castors except
cayenne.
It is usual to eat cucumbers with salmon, and no other vegetables; the
cucumbers to be pared, sliced, laid in cold water, and dressed, and
served up by themselves, with a little plate for each person, that the
vinegar, &c., of the cucumbers may not impart too much acid to the
salmon.
In places remote from the sea, a whole salmon is seldom seen at table
but at dinner parties, or at good hotels. In a very hot climate it
should not be seen at all. When in season, it can be bought in any
quantity by the pound, for a small family. For a small dinner company,
from four to six pounds will suffice.
Cook salmon-trout in the same manner. Large fish should be helped with a
silver fish trowel.
ROASTED SALMON.--Take a large piece of fine fresh salmon, cut from the
middle of the fish, well cleaned and carefully scaled. Wipe it dry in a
clean coarse cloth. Then dredge it with flour, put it on the spit, and
place it before a clear bright fire. Baste it with fresh butter, and
roast it well; seeing that it is thoroughly done to the bone. Serve it
up plain; garnishing the dish with slices of lemon, as many persons like
a little lemon-juice with salmon. This mode of cooking salmon will be
found excellent. A small one, or a salmon-trout, may be roasted whole.
BAKED SALMON.--A small salmon may be baked whole. Stuff it with
forcemeat made of bread-crumbs; chopped oysters, or minced lobster;
butter, cayenne, a little salt, and powdered mace,--all mixed well, and
moistened with beaten yolk of egg. Bend the salmon round, and put the
tail into the mouth, fastening it with a skewer. Put it into a large
deep dish; lay bits of butter on it at small intervals; and set it into
the oven. While baking, look at it occasionally, and baste it with the
butter. When one side is well browned, turn it carefully in the dish,
and add more butter. Bake it till the other side is well browned. Then
transfer it to another dish with the gravy that is about it, and send it
to table.
If you bake salmon in slices, reserve the forcemeat for the outside. Dip
each slice first in beaten yolk of egg, and then in the forcemeat, till
it is well coated.
BROILED SALMON.--Wash carefully all traces of blood from the inside of
the fish. Cut it into rather thick slices, or fillets. Dry them in a
clean cloth, and dredge them with flour. Chalk the bars of the gridiron,
or grease them with lard or suet, or the dripping of beef or veal, to
prevent the fish from sticking. Let the fire be a bed of clear bright
hot coals. Broil the slices well on both sides; and when done, transfer
them to a hot dish, and lay a bit of fresh butter on each, and season
them a little with cayenne.
Fresh codfish may be cut into steaks, and broiled as above.
Also halibut, or any other large fish.
Serve up shrimp or lobster sauce, with all cutlets or steaks of large
fish.
FRIED SALMON CUTLETS.--Having washed, dried and floured the cutlets, put
near a pound of fresh lard into a frying pan, set it over a clear brisk
fire till it boils fast. Have ready a marinade or dressing made of
grated bread-crumbs, chopped sweet-marjoram, beaten yolks of eggs, and
powdered mace--all well mixed. Dip each cutlet into this marinade twice
over, and fry them. There must be plenty of lard, so that the cutlets
may float on its surface instead of sinking to the bottom, and becoming
dark, heavy, and greasy. When they are done, take them up with a
perforated skimmer, draining off the lard as you do so. Lay them on a
hot dish, and keep them hot till wanted. Serve up with them mashed
potatos made into flat cakes, and browned with a salamander or red hot
shovel.
Fresh codfish cutlets may be fried in this manner.
You may broil halibut as above. Halibut is too insipid for boiling.
PICKLED SALMON.--Clean a fine fresh salmon, and remove the bones. Cut
off the head, fins, and tail. Fish, to be pickled, should (instead of
washing) be wiped, and rubbed with a clean dry cloth. Cut it into steaks
or cutlets. Put it into a stone-ware jar with a close cover. A broad low
jar will be best. Sprinkle it with salt, and cayenne. Add some grains of
whole black pepper, and some blades of mace, seasoning it highly to make
it keep well. Fill up the jar with the best cider vinegar, set it in a
moderate oven, and bake it till thoroughly done; adding more vinegar, if
it seems too dry. Then cover the jar very closely, with the lid--if
there is the smallest crack, paste all round a fillet of strong, white
paper. Whenever you open the jar to take out some of the salmon for use,
add some fresh vinegar. Keep the jar in a dry cool place. If properly
done, and well seasoned, it will keep several months.
BROILED FRESH MACKEREL.--Mackerel cannot be eaten too fresh, as no fish
spoils so soon; for which reason in England mackerel is permitted to be
sold on Sundays. We have heard in London the fishwomen crying it about
the streets on Sunday morning before church time. And even then it is
far inferior to mackerel taken immediately out of the sea, at the places
on the coast. It is generally broiled, as no other cooking seems to suit
it, and draw forth its true flavor. Split your mackerel, remove the
bone, and cut off the heads and tails. Dredge them on both sides with
flour, and sprinkle the inside with black pepper and a little salt. Have
your gridiron very hot, over a clear fire, and grease the bars with
lard, or chalk them to prevent the fish from sticking. Broil them well
on both sides, and when they are done, and very hot, lay some bits of
fresh butter upon them. Cover to keep them warm, and send them to table
as soon as possible. They are a fine breakfast fish, and good at a plain
dinner. For sauce, cold butter is all that is necessary, but you may mix
with it, chopped parsley, or minced fennel. At the best English tables,
stewed _gooseberries_, pulped through a sieve and sweetened, is the
fashionable sauce for broiled mackerel, or lemon-juice is squeezed
profusely over the fish. To this the lovers of fruit with every thing,
will not object.
If a mackerel is fresh, the eyes will be full and lively, the gills very
red, and the stripes or bars on the back a very dark color, (nearly
black,) and strongly marked; and the body thick. If thin and flat below
the shoulders, the eyes sunk, the gills pale, and the dark stripes dull
and indistinct, the fish is unfit to eat.
FRIED MACKEREL.--For frying, take small mackerel, as fresh as possible.
Wash them, dry them in a clean cloth, and score them deeply in the back,
making several deep cuts. Season them with a little salt and pepper. Go
over them with beaten egg, and then cover them thickly with grated
bread-crumbs; which, for this purpose, are superior to indian meal or
pounded crackers. Fry them in boiling lard, and dish them hot. Send them
to table with a dish of potatos sliced and fried in butter.
Any fish may be fried in this manner. If large, cut it into pieces.
FRIED HALIBUT.--There is a great deal of eating in a halibut, as it is a
fish of immense size, and has only the back bone. It is sold in pieces
of any weight or quantity, and is exceedingly white and delicate in
appearance. But it is so very insipid, that when _boiled_ it has no
taste at all. Therefore it is always broiled or fried, except at tables
where economy is the chief consideration. If broiled, it is done in the
same manner as any other large fish, but to make it palatable requires
something to give it a little taste.
To fry halibut--take a piece from the middle of the fish, wash it very
carefully, and dry it in a clean cloth. Then cut it into thick fillets,
extracting the bone, which is easily done with a sharp knife, loosening
the flesh from the bone, and raising it as you proceed. Remove the skin.
You may also cut the fillets into slices about an inch thick. Season
with cayenne, and a very little salt. Cover them slightly with nice
butter. Have ready in one pan plenty of grated bread-crumbs; in another
a sufficiency of beaten yolk of egg, seasoned with powdered mace and
nutmeg. Dip the slices first into the egg, then into the pan of
bread-crumbs. Do this twice over, to every slice. Have ready over the
fire a hot frying pan full of _boiling_ lard. Put in the slices and fry
them well. When one side is done, turn the other. When all are done,
take them from the frying pan with a perforated skimmer, and drain them.
Keep them hot between two heated dishes.
Cooked in this manner, the halibut will be sufficiently flavored and is
a profitable fish.
Instead of frying, the halibut steaks may be broiled over a clear fire,
on a grooved gridiron. Having first buttered it, dip each steak, as
above, in bread-crumbs and egg, and lay upon each steak a large tomato
opened, and stuffed with a forcemeat of bread-crumbs seasoned with
butter, pepper, and mace. This will be found a very nice way of cooking
halibut. Fresh cod may be done in the same manner.
Cold halibut is sometimes drest as salad for the tea-table.
BOILED TURBOT OR SHEEP'S-HEAD FISH.--Having cleaned and washed the fish,
soak it an hour or two in salt and water to draw off the slime. Then let
it lie half an hour or more in cold water. Afterwards drain, and wipe it
dry. Score the back deeply with a knife. The whiteness of the fish will
be improved by rubbing it over with a cut lemon. The fish kettle must be
large, and nicely clean. Lay the fish with its back downward, on the
strainer of the kettle. Cover it well with cold water, (milk and water
in equal portions will be better still,) and add a small spoonful of
salt. Do not let it come to a boil too fast, and skim it carefully. When
the scum has ceased to rise, diminish the heat under the kettle, and let
it simmer for about half an hour or more; not allowing it to boil hard.
When the fish is done, take it up carefully with a fish-slice; and
having prepared the sauce, pour it over the fish and send it to table
hot.
For the sauce, mix together very smoothly, with a broad-bladed knife, a
quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and two table-spoonfuls of flour.
Put them into a clean sauce-pan, and hold it over the fire, and stir
them till melted. Then add a large salt-spoonful of powdered mace, and
as much cayenne as will lie on a sixpence. It will be much improved by
the addition of some boiled lobster, chopped small. When the sauce has
simmered five minutes, add very gradually half a pint of rich cream, and
let it come almost to a boil, stirring all the time. After the fish is
taken up, pour the sauce over it hot. Or you may send it to table in a
sauce-boat. In this case ornament the fish with the coral of the lobster
put on in a handsome figure.
Another way of dressing this fish is, after it has been boiled, to set
it on ice to get cold; and then, having carefully removed the bones, cut
the flesh into small squares, put it into a stew-pan, and having mixed
the above sauce, add it to the fish, and let it stew slowly in the
sauce; but do not let it come to a boil. When thoroughly hot, take it
up, and send it to table in a deep dish.
BAKED TURBOT OR SHEEP'S-HEAD FISH.--Having cleaned the fish, soak it an
hour or two in salt and water, and afterwards wash it well through two
or three fresh waters. Then dry it in a clean towel. Score it deeply
across the back; and then lay it in a deep white baking-dish. Mix
together a large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg; add a
salt-spoon of cayenne; a few sprigs of sweet marjoram and sweet basil,
finely minced; two large table-spoonfuls of fresh butter; and two
table-spoonfuls of grated bread-crumbs. Stir this mixture into a pint of
rich cream. Pour this marinade over the fish, cover it, and let it stand
half an hour. Then bake it in the marinade; and send it hot to table.
If the fish is too large to be baked whole, cut it into fillets,
extracting the bone.
Salmon-trout may be baked in this manner.
SEA BASS WITH TOMATOS.--Take three large fine sea-bass, or black-fish.
Cut off their heads and tails, and fry the fish in plenty of lard till
about half done. Have ready a pint of tomatos, that have been pickled
cold in vinegar flavored with a muslin bag of mixed spices. Drain the
tomatos well from the vinegar; skin them, and mash them in a pan;
dredging them with about as much flour as would fill a large table-spoon
heaped up. Pour the mixture over the fish while in the frying pan; and
continue frying till they are thoroughly done.
Cutlets of halibut may be fried in this manner with tomatos: also, any
other pan-fish.
Beef-steaks or lamb-chops are excellent fried thus with tomatos.
BAKED SALMON-TROUT.--Having cleaned the fish, and laid it two hours in
weak salt and water, dry it in a cloth, and then rub both the inside and
outside with a seasoning of cayenne pepper, powdered mace, nutmeg, and
a little salt, mixed well together. Then lay it in a deep baking-pan,
turn the tail round into the mouth, and stick bits of fresh butter
thickly over the fish. Put it into an oven, and bake it well; basting it
frequently with the liquid that will soon surround it. When you suppose
it to be nearly done, try it by sticking down to the backbone a
thin-bladed knife. When you find that the flesh separates immediately
from the bone, it is done sufficiently. Serve it up with lobster-sauce.
Any large fresh fish may be baked in this way.
CREAM TROUT.--Having prepared the trout very nicely, and cut off the
heads and tails, put the fish into boiling water that has been slightly
salted, and simmer them for five minutes. Then take them out, and lay
them to drain. Put them into a stew-pan, and season them well with
powdered mace, nutmeg, and a little cayenne, all mixed together. Put in
as much rich cream as will cover the fish, adding the fresh yellow rind
of a small lemon, grated. Keep the pan covered, and let the fish stew
for about ten minutes after it has begun to simmer. Then dish the fish,
and keep them hot till you have finished the sauce. Mix, very smoothly,
a small table-spoonful of arrow-root, the juice of the lemon, and two
table-spoonfuls of sugar, and stir it into the cream. Pour the sauce
over the fish, and then send them to table.
Turbot or sheep's-head fish may be dressed as above; of course it will
require a larger proportion of seasoning, &c., and longer time to cook.
Carp is very nice stewed in this manner.
STEWED CODFISH.--Take fine _fresh_ cod, and cut it into slices an inch
thick, separated from the bones. Lay the pieces of fish in the bottom of
a stew-pan: season them with grated nutmeg; half a dozen blades of mace;
a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper; and a small saucer full of chopped
celery; or a bunch of sweet herbs tied together. Add a pint of oyster
liquor, and the juice of a lemon. Cover it close, and let it stew gently
till the fish is almost done, shaking the pan frequently. Then take a
piece of fresh butter the size of an egg; roll it in flour, and add it
to the stew. Also, put in two dozen large fine oysters, with what liquor
there is about them. Cover it again; quicken the fire a little, and let
the whole continue to stew five minutes longer. Before you send it to
table, remove the bunch of sweet herbs.
Rock-fish may be stewed in this manner. Fresh salmon also.
FRIED CODFISH.--Take the middle or tail part of a fresh codfish, and cut
it into slices not quite an inch thick, first removing the skin. Season
them with a little salt and cayenne pepper. Have ready in one dish some
beaten yolk of egg, and in another some grated bread-crumbs. Dip each
slice of fish twice into the egg, and then twice into the crumbs. Fry
them in fresh butter, and serve them up with the gravy about them.
Halibut may be fried as above.
STEWED HALIBUT.--Cut the fish into pieces about four inches square, of
course omitting the bone. Season it very slightly with salt, and let it
rest for half an hour. Then take it out of the salt, put it into a large
deep dish, and strew over it a mixture of cayenne pepper, ground white
ginger, and grated nutmeg. Lay among it some small bits of fresh butter
rolled in grated bread. Add half a pint of vinegar, (tarragon vinegar if
you have it.) Place the dish in a slow oven, and let the halibut cook
till thoroughly done, basting it very _frequently_ with the liquid. When
nearly done, add a large table-spoonful or more of capers, or pickled
nasturtions.
Halibut is a very insipid fish; but this mode of cooking will give it
taste.
STEWED ROCK-FISH.--Take a large rock-fish, and cut it in slices near an
inch thick. Sprinkle it _very slightly_ with salt, and let it remain for
half an hour. Slice very thin half a dozen large onions. Put them into a
stew-pan with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, cut into bits. Set
them over a slow fire, and stir them continually till they are quite
soft, taking care not to let them become brown. Then put in the sliced
fish in layers; seasoning each layer with a mixture of white ground
ginger, cayenne pepper, and grated nutmeg; add some chopped parsley, and
some bits of butter rolled in flour. Pour in a pint of water, and, if
you choose, a wine-glass of vinegar, (tarragon vinegar will be best.[B])
Set it over a good fire and let it cook about an hour. When done, take
out the fish carefully, to avoid breaking the slices. Lay it in a deep
dish that has been made hot, and cover it immediately. Have ready the
beaten yolks of two eggs. Stir them into the gravy. Give it one boil up;
and then either pour it over the fish, or serve it up in a sauce-boat.
[B] To make this vinegar--half fill a bottle with tarragon leaves, and
fill it quite up with the best cider vinegar. Cork it tightly, and do
not remove the tarragon, but let it remain always at the bottom. The
flavor is very fine.
Halibut, fresh cod, or any other large fish may be stewed in this
manner.
TO KEEP A SHAD FRESH.--By the following process, (which we can highly
recommend from experience,) a shad may be kept twenty-four hours, or
indeed longer, so as to be perfectly fresh in taste and appearance. For
instance, if brought _fresh_ from market on Saturday morning, it may be
broiled for breakfast on Sunday, and will seem like a fresh shad just
from the water. Immediately on bringing it in, let it be scaled,
cleaned, washed, split, and wiped dry; cutting off the head and tail.
Spread the shad open on a large flat dish. Mix well together in a cup, a
heaped table-spoonful of brown sugar; a heaped tea-spoonful of cayenne
pepper, and a tea-spoonful of fine salt; and then rub the mixture,
thoroughly and evenly, all over the inside of the fish; which, of
course, must be spread with the skin or outside downward. Cover it
closely with a large tin cover or with another dish, and set it
immediately on ice or in a very cold place, and let it rest till next
morning, or till it is wanted for cooking. Immediately before you put it
on the gridiron, take a clean towel and carefully wipe off the _whole of
the seasoning_, not letting a particle of it remain round the edges, or
anywhere else. Then put the shad on a previously heated gridiron, over
hot coals, and broil it well. Butter it, and send it hot to table, where
every one can season it again, according to their taste.
PLANKED SHAD.--This is the best way of cooking shad when in perfection,
just out of the river; and it is much in use at fishing party dinners. A
board or plank, about three inches thick and two feet square, must be
provided for the purpose. This plank should be of well-seasoned oak or
hickory, and very clean. A pine board will very soon catch fire and
burn; besides communicating to the fish a taste of turpentine or rosin.
Take a very fine shad, and (having cut off the head and tail,) split it
down the back, clean it, wash it well, and wipe it dry. Sprinkle it
with salt, and cayenne. Stand up the board before the fire till it
becomes very hot, and almost begins to char. Then nail to the hot board
the spread-open shad, with the back or skin-side next to the plank,
securing it with a few nails, not driven in so hard that they cannot
easily be drawn out. Begin to roast it with the head downward. After a
while turn the other end of the plank, so as to place the tail downward.
Turn it frequently up or down, that the juices of the fish may be
equally dispersed throughout. When done, butter it with fresh butter,
and send it to table on the board; under which, place a large dish or
tray. Help it to the company off the plank. This mode of cooking a shad
will be found superior to all others; and is so generally liked, that
two at least will be required, one at each end of the table. It is much
enjoyed by parties who have dinners on the banks of the river, and
bespeak of the fishermen shad just out of the water.
Lake salmon may be cooked in this manner on a plank. Also, blue fish,
and the lake white fish.
At the principal household stores, shad-boards of oak are now to be
purchased ready made. The cost is from a dollar to seventy-five cents.
They are very strong and smooth, and furnished with thick wires crossing
the board diagonally. Behind these the fish is to slip in without
nailing. They are much used, and we advise every house-keeper to get
one. We see very nice ones at Carryl's Furnishing Store, Chestnut
street, Philadelphia.
SHELL FISH.
TO CHOOSE OYSTERS.--Insert a knife, and if the shell instantly closes
firmly on the knife, the oysters are fresh. If it shuts slowly and
faintly, or not at all, they are dying, or dead. When the shells of raw
oysters are found gaping open they are fit for nothing but to throw
away, and should not have been seen in the market, as they are quite
dead and decomposition has commenced. Clams the same.
TO FEED OYSTERS.--When it is necessary to keep oysters a day or two
before they are cooked, they must be kept clean and fed, otherwise they
will die and spoil. Put them into a large tub of clean water; wash from
them the mud and sand, and scrub them with a birch broom. Then pour off
_that_ water, and give them a clean tubful, placing the oysters with the
deep or large side downward, and sprinkling them well, with salt mixed
with it, allowing about a pint of salt to every two gallons of water.
But if you have a very large quantity of oysters, add to the salt and
water several handfuls of indian meal. Repeat this every twelve hours,
with fresh water and meal. Always at the time of high water, oysters may
be seen to open their shells, as if in expectation of their accustomed
food. If this is carefully continued, they will remain plump and
healthy for two days.
Terrapins also, and other shell fish, should have the salt and water
changed every twelve hours, and be fed with corn meal.
Turtle must also be well fed, and allowed salted water to swim in.
STEWED OYSTERS.--Get two hundred or more fine large fresh oysters. Drain
them from their liquor, (saving it in a pitcher,) and put them into a
stew-pan with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and set them over
the fire. When they have simmered, and have almost come to a boil,
remove them from the fire; and have ready a pan of very cold water. Take
out the oysters, (one at a time, on a fork,) and put them into the cold
water. This will plump them, and render them firm. Having saved about
half their liquor, put it into the stew-pan, seasoned well with blades
of mace, grated nutmeg, whole pepper-corns, and a little cayenne. Stir
in half a pint or more of thick rich cream; and if you cannot procure
cream, an equal quantity of nice fresh butter divided into bits,
slightly dredged with a very little flour. Boil the liquor by itself,
and when it comes to a boil, take the oysters out of the cold water, and
put them into the boiling liquor. In five minutes remove the pan from
the fire, (the oysters having simmered,) and transfer them to a tureen
or deep dish, in the bottom of which has been laid a buttered toast,
that has previously been dipped a minute in hot water or milk.
FRENCH STEWED OYSTERS.--Wash fifty fine large oysters in their own
liquor, then strain it into a stew-pan, putting the oysters in a pan of
cold water. Season the liquor with a large glass or half a pint of white
wine, (sherry or Madeira,) the juice of two lemons, six or seven blades
of mace, and a small grated nutmeg. Boil the seasoned liquor; and skim,
and stir it well. When it comes to a boil, put in the oysters. Give them
one good stir, and then immediately take them from the fire, transfer
them to a deep dish, and send them to table. They are not to boil.
Many persons consider this the finest way of cooking oysters for
company. Try it. The oysters must be of the very best.
FRIED OYSTERS.--For frying, take only the largest and finest oysters.
They should be as fresh as you can get them. Salt oysters are not good
for frying. Take them out of their liquor, carefully, with a fork,
picking off whatever bits of shell may be about them. Dry them in a
clean napkin. Prepare some grated bread-crumbs, or pounded cracker, or
soda biscuit, seasoned with cayenne pepper. Have ready plenty of yolk of
egg beaten till very light; and to each egg allow a large tea-spoonful
of rich cream, or of the best fresh butter. Beat the egg and cream
together. Dip each oyster first into the egg, &c., and then into the
crumbs. Repeat this twice till the oysters are well-coated all over.
Have ready boiling, in a frying-pan, an equal mixture of fresh butter
and lard. It must come nearly to the edge or top of the frying-pan, and
be boiling fast when the oysters go in; otherwise they will be heavy and
greasy, and sink to the bottom. Fry them of a yellow brown on both
sides. Send them to table very hot.
Oysters will be found much the best when fried in grated bread-crumbs.
Cracker-crumbs form a hard, tough coating that is very indigestible, and
also impairs the flavor. Use no salt in making the batter. Omit it
entirely. It overpowers the taste of the oysters.
OYSTER FRITTERS.--Allow to each egg a heaped table-spoonful of flour,
and a jill or small tea-cupful of milk. Beat the eggs till very light
and thick; then stir them, gradually, into the pan of milk, in turn with
the flour, a little at a time. Beat the whole very hard. Have ready the
oysters, that you may proceed immediately to baking the fritters. The
oysters should be fresh, and of the largest size. Having drained them
from their liquor, and dried them separately in a cloth, and dredged
them with flour, set over the fire a frying-pan nearly full of lard.
When it boils fast, put in a large spoonful of the batter. Then lay an
oyster upon it, and cover the oyster with another spoonful of batter.
Fry the fritters of a nice yellow. As they are done, take them up, drain
off the lard from the oysters, and keep them hot till they go to table.
This will be found a very fine receipt if _exactly_ followed.
CLAM FRITTERS.--Put a sufficient quantity of clams into a pot of boiling
water. The small sand-clam will be best. When the shells open wide, take
them out, extract the clams from the shells, and put them into a
stew-pan. Strain their liquor, and pour about half of it over the clams;
adding a little black pepper. They will require no salt. Let them stew,
slowly, for half an hour; then take them out; drain off all the liquor;
and mince the clams as fine as possible, omitting the hardest parts. You
should have as many clams as will make a large pint when minced. Make a
batter of seven eggs, beaten till very thick and light, and then mixed
gradually with a quart of milk, and a pint of sifted flour, stirred in
by degrees, and made perfectly smooth and free from lumps. Then,
gradually, mix the minced clams with the batter, and stir the whole very
hard. Have ready in a frying-pan over the fire, a sufficiency of boiling
lard. Put in, with a spoon, the batter so as to form fritters, and fry
them light brown. Drain them well when done and serve them up hot.
Oyster fritters may be made as above: except that the oysters must be
minced raw, and mixed into the batter without having been stewed.
_Soft-crab Fritters._--Use only the bodies of the crabs, and proceed as
above.
SCOLLOPED CLAMS.--Having boiled a quantity of small sand-clams till they
open of themselves, remove them from the shells. Drain away the liquor,
and chop them small, omitting the hardest parts. Season them with black
pepper and powdered mace, and mix them with grated bread-crumbs and
fresh butter. Get some large clean clam-shells, and fill them to the
edge with the above mixture, moistened with _a very little_ of the
liquor. Cover the surface with grated crumbs, and add to each one a
small bit of butter. Set them in an oven, and bake them light brown.
Send them to table in the shells they were baked in, arranged on large
dishes. They are eaten at breakfast and supper. Clams must always have
the shells washed before they are boiled.
Oysters are frequently scolloped in this manner, minced, and served up
in large _clam_ shells.
Boiled crabs, also, are cooked, minced, and prepared in this way, and
sent to table in the back-shell of the crab.
All these scollops are improved by mixing among them some hard-boiled
eggs, minced or chopped; or some raw egg beaten.
ROASTED OYSTERS.--The old-fashioned way of roasting oysters is to lay
them on a hot hearth, and cover them in hot cinders or ashes, (taking
them out with tongs when done,) or to put them into a moderate fire.
When done, their shells will begin to open. The usual way now is to
broil them on large gridirons of strong wire. Serve them up in their
shells on large dishes, or on trays, at oyster suppers. At every plate
lay an oyster knife and a clean coarse towel, and between every two
chairs set a bucket to receive the empty shells. The gentlemen generally
save the ladies the trouble of opening the oysters, by performing that
office for them.
Have on the table, to eat with the oysters, bread-rolls, biscuits,
butter, and glasses with sticks of celery scraped, and divested of the
green leaves at the top. Have also ale or porter.
Or, you may take large oysters out of their shells, dredge them lightly
with flour, lay them separately on a wire gridiron, and broil them.
Serve them up on large dishes, with a morsel of fresh butter laid on
each oyster.
SCOLLOPED OYSTERS.--Drain the liquor from a sufficient quantity of fine
fresh oysters; and season them with blades of mace, grated nutmeg, and a
little cayenne. Lay about a dozen of them in the bottom of a deep dish.
Cut some slices of wheat bread, and put them to soak in a pan of the
oyster liquor (previously strained.)
Soak the bread till it is soft throughout, but not dissolved. Cover the
oysters in the bottom of the dish, with some slices of the soaked bread,
(drained from the liquor,) and lay upon the bread a few small bits of
nice fresh butter. Then put in another layer of seasoned oysters; then
another layer of soaked bread with bits of butter dispersed upon it.
Repeat this with more layers of oysters, soaked bread, and bits of
butter, till the dish is full, finishing with a close layer of bread on
the top. Set this into a hot oven, and bake it, a short time only, or
till it is well browned on the surface. Oysters require but little
cooking, and this bread has had one baking already. The liquid that is
about the bread is sufficient. It requires no more.
Scolloped oysters may be cooked in large, clean, clam-shells and served
up on great dishes.
PICKLED OYSTERS.--Take a hundred fine large oysters--set them over the
fire in their own liquor--add two ounces of nice fresh butter, and
simmer them slowly for ten minutes; skimming them well. If they boil
fast and long, they will become hard and shrivelled. Take them off the
fire and strain from them their liquor; spread the oysters out on large
dishes, and place them in the air to cool fast, or lay them in a broad
pan of cold water. This renders them firm. Strain the liquor, and then
mix with it an equal quantity of the best and purest clear
cider-vinegar. Season (if the oysters are fresh,) with a small
tea-spoonful of salt, two dozen whole pepper-corns, and a
table-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg, mixed. Let the liquor boil
till it is reduced to little more than enough to cover the oysters well.
Put the oysters into a tureen, or a broad stone jar. Pour the hot liquor
over them, and let them grow quite cold before they are eaten. You may
give them a fine tinge of pale pink color by adding to the liquor (while
boiling,) a little prepared cochineal.
PICKLED OYSTERS.--_For keeping._--Have five or six hundred oysters of
the finest sort and largest size. Proceed as in the foregoing receipt,
but increase, proportionately, the quantity of spice and vinegar. Put
them in stone-ware jars, securing the covers by pasting all round, bands
or strips of thick white paper; and place on each jar, on the top of the
liquor, a table-spoonful of salad oil.
Use no other than _genuine cider-vinegar_. Much that is sold for the
best white-wine vinegar is in reality a deleterious compound of
pernicious drugs, that will eat up or dissolve the oysters entirely,
leaving nothing but a sickening whitish fluid. This vinegar is at first
so overpoweringly sharp and pungent, as to destroy, entirely, the taste
of the spices; and, while cooking, emits a disagreeable smell. The
oysters immediately become ragged, and in less than an hour are entirely
destroyed. This vinegar acts in the same manner on all other pickles,
and the use of it should always be shunned.
_Drugs_ should not be employed in any sort of cookery, though their
introduction is now most lamentably frequent. They ruin the flavor and
are injurious to health.
OYSTER PATTIES.--Make sufficient puff-paste for at least a dozen small
patties. Roll it out thick, and line with it twelve small tin
patty-pans. Bake them brown in a brisk oven; and when done set them to
cool. Have ready two or three dozen large, fine, fresh oysters. Wash and
drain them, and put them into a stew-pan with no other liquid than just
enough of their own liquor to keep them from burning. Season them with
cayenne, nutmeg, and mace, and a few of the green tops or leaves of
celery sprigs minced small. Add a quarter of a pound of fresh butter,
divided into bits, and laid among the oysters. To enrich the gravy, stir
in, at the last, the beaten yolks of three or four eggs, or some thick
cream or butter. Let the oysters stew in this gravy about five minutes.
When the patties are beginning to cool, fill each with one or two large
oysters. If you choose, you can bake for every patty a small round lid
of pastry, to be laid lightly on the top, so as to cover the oysters
when they go to table. For company, make a large quantity of oyster
patties, as they are much liked.
OYSTER LOAVES.--Take some tall fresh rolls, or small loaves. Cut nicely
a round or oval hole in the top of each, saving the pieces that come
off. Then carefully scoop out most of the crumb from the inside, leaving
the crust standing. Have ready a sufficient quantity of large fresh
oysters. Put the oysters with one-fourth of their liquor into a
stew-pan; adding the bread-crumbs, a large piece of fresh butter, some
powdered nutmeg, and mace. Stew them about ten minutes. Then stir in two
or three large table-spoonfuls of cream; take them off just as they are
coming to a boil. If cooked too long the oysters will become tough and
shriveled, and the cream will curdle. Fill the inside of your scooped
loaves with the oysters, reserving as many large oysters as you have
loaves. Place the bit of upper-crust carefully on the top of each, so as
to cover the whole. Arrange them on a dish, and lay on each lid one of
the large oysters kept out for the purpose. These ornamental oysters
must be well drained from any liquid that is about them.
OYSTER OMELET.--Having strained the liquor from twenty-five oysters of
the largest size, mince them small; omitting the hard part or gristle.
If you cannot get large oysters, you should have forty or fifty small
ones. Break into a shallow pan six, seven, or eight eggs, according to
the quantity of minced oysters. Omit half the whites, and, (having
beaten the eggs till very light, thick, and smooth,) mix the oysters
gradually into them, adding a little cayenne pepper, and some powdered
nutmeg. Put three ounces or more of the best fresh butter into a small
frying-pan, if you have no pan especially for omelets. Place it over a
clear fire, and when the butter, (which should be previously cut up,)
has come to a boil, put in the omelet-mixture; stir it till it begins to
set; and fry it light brown, lifting the edge several times by slipping
a knife under it, and taking care not to cook it too much or it will
shrivel and become tough. When done, clap a large hot plate or dish on
the top of the omelet, and turn it quickly and carefully out of the pan.
Serve it up immediately. It is a fine breakfast dish. This quantity will
make one large or two small omelets.
Clam omelets may be made as above.
An omelet pan should be smaller than a common frying-pan, and lined with
tin. In a large pan the omelet will spread too much, and become thin
like a pancake.
Never turn an omelet while frying, as that will make it heavy and tough.
When done, brown it by holding a red-hot shovel or salamander close
above the top.
Excellent omelets may be made of cold boiled ham, or smoked tongue;
grated or minced small, mixed with a sufficiency of beaten eggs, and
fried in butter.
BROILED OYSTERS.--Take the largest and finest oysters. See that your
gridiron is very clean. Rub the bars with fresh butter, and set it over
a clear steady fire, entirely free from smoke; or on a bed of bright hot
wood coals. Place the oysters on the gridiron, and when done on one
side, take a fork and turn them on the other; being careful not to let
them burn. Put some fresh butter in the bottom of a dish. Lay the
oysters on it, and season them with pepper and grated nutmeg. Send them
to table hot.
OYSTER PIE.--Having buttered the inside of a deep dish, line it with
puff-paste rolled out rather thick; and prepare another sheet of paste
for the lid. Pat a clean towel into the dish (folded so as to support
the lid) and then put on the lid; set it into the oven, and bake the
paste well. When done, remove the lid, and take out the folded towel.
While the paste is baking, prepare the oysters. Having picked off
carefully any bits of shell that may be found about them, lay them in a
sieve and drain off the liquor into a pan. Put the oysters into a
skillet or stew-pan, with barely enough of the liquor to keep them from
burning. Season them with whole pepper, blades of mace, some grated
nutmeg, and some grated lemon-peel, (the yellow rind only,) and a little
finely minced celery. Then add a large portion of fresh butter, divided
into bits, and very slightly dredged with flour. Let the oysters simmer
over the fire, but do not allow them to come to a boil, as that will
shrivel them. Next beat the yolks only, of three, four, or five eggs,
(in proportion to the size of the pie,) and stir the beaten egg into
the stew a few minutes before you take it from the fire. Keep it warm
till the paste is baked. Then carefully remove the lid of the pie; and
replace it, after you have filled the dish with the oysters and gravy.
The lid of the pie may be ornamented with a wreath of leaves cut out of
paste, and put on before baking. In the centre, place a paste-knot or
flower.
Oyster pies are generally eaten warm; but they are very good cold.
CLAM PIE.--Take a sufficient number of clams to fill a large pie-dish
when opened. Make a nice paste in the proportion of a pound of fresh
butter to two quarts of flour. Paste for shell fish, or meat, or chicken
pies, should be rolled out double the thickness of that intended for
fruit pies. Line the sides and bottom of your pie-dish with paste. Then
cover the bottom with a thin beef steak, divested of bone and fat. Put
in the clams, and season them with mace, nutmeg, and a few whole
pepper-corns. No salt. Add a spoonful of butter rolled in flour, and
some hard-boiled yolks of eggs crumbled fine. Then put in enough of the
clam liquor to make sufficient gravy. Put on the lid of the pie, (which,
like the bottom crust, should be rolled out thick,) notch it handsomely,
and bake it well. It should be eaten warm.
SOFT CRABS.--These are crabs that, having cast their old shells, have
not yet assumed the new ones. In this, the transition state, they are
considered delicacies. Put them into fast-boiling water, and boil them
for ten minutes. Then take them out, drain them, wipe them very clean,
and prepare them for frying by removing the spongy part inside and the
sand-bag. Put plenty of fresh lard into a pan; and when it boils fast,
lay in the crabs, and fry them well, seasoning them with cayenne. As
soon as they are done of a nice golden color, take them out, drain off
the lard back into the pan, and lay them on a large _hot_ dish. Cover
them to keep warm while you fry, in the same lard, all the best part of
a fresh lettuce, chopped small. Let it fry only long enough to become
hot throughout. When you serve up the crabs cover them with the fried
lettuce. Stir into the gravy some cream, or a piece of nice fresh butter
rolled in flour; and send it to table in a sauce-boat, seasoned with a
little cayenne.
Soft crabs require no other flavoring. They make a nice breakfast-dish
for company. Only the large claws are eaten, therefore break off as
useless the small ones.
Instead of lettuce, you may fry the crabs with parsley--removed from the
pan before it becomes brown. Pepper-grass is still better.
TERRAPINS.--In buying terrapins select the largest and thickest. Like
all other delicacies, the best are the cheapest in the end. Small poor
terrapins are not worth the cost of the seasoning. A poor terrapin,
poorly dressed, is indeed a poor thing, and is always recognized as
such, by those who are expected to eat it. _Get fine terrapins only._
Put them into a pot of water that is boiling very hard at the time, and
let them boil for about ten minutes. Immediately on taking them out,
proceed to rub, with a coarse clean cloth, all the skin from the head,
neck, and claws--also, the thin shell, as it comes loose. Having washed
them in warm water, put the terrapins into a clean pot with fresh water,
and a table-spoonful of salt, and boil them again till they are
thoroughly done, and the paws are perfectly soft. Remove the toe-nails.
Some terrapins require three hours. When they are quite soft, open them
carefully, remove the spongy part, the sand-bag, the gall, and the
entrails--it being now the custom to throw away the whole of the
disgusting garbage, always tasteless, tough, and disagreeable to look
at. Be careful not to break the gall, as it will give an unpleasant
bitter taste to the whole. Cut into small pieces all the meat of the
terrapins, put them into a stew-pan, (adding the juice they have yielded
in cutting up, _but no water_,) and proceed to season them, beginning
with cayenne and black pepper, to your taste; also, a handful of flour
for the thickening. Stir all well together, and in a short time add four
table-spoonfuls of cream, or fresh butter, and a half pint of Madeira or
sherry to every four terrapins. If they have no eggs, make up some
artificially; crumbling the yolks of hard-boiled common eggs, mashed to
a paste with a little nice butter, and then made into balls with beaten
raw egg. Add plenty of these to the stew, and let the whole cook
together for a quarter of an hour longer. Serve it up hot, in a well
heated covered dish.
Four fine large terrapins generally make one dish; and the above is the
usual quantity of seasoning for them.
NEW WAY OF DRESSING TERRAPINS.--In buying terrapins, select those only
that are large, fat, and thick-bodied. Put them whole into water that is
boiling hard at the time, and (adding a little salt) boil them till
thoroughly done throughout. Then, taking off the shell, extract the
meat, and remove carefully the sand-bag and gall; also, _all the
entrails_,--they are disgusting, unfit to eat, and are no longer served
up in cooking terrapin for the best tables. Cut the meat into pieces,
and put it into a stew-pan with its eggs, and sufficient fresh butter to
stew it well. Let it stew till quite hot throughout, keeping the pan
carefully covered that none of the flavor may escape; but shake it over
the fire while stewing. In another pan, make a sauce of beaten yolk of
egg, highly flavored with Madeira or sherry, and powdered nutmeg and
mace, and enriched with a large lump of fresh butter. Stir this sauce
well over the fire, and when it has _almost_ come to a boil, take it
off. Send the terrapin to table hot in a covered dish, and the sauce
_separately_ in a sauce-tureen, to be used by those who like it, and
omitted by those who prefer the genuine flavor of the terrapin when
simply stewed with butter.
This is now the usual mode of dressing terrapins in Maryland and
Virginia, and will be found superior to any other.
No dish of terrapins can be good unless the terrapins themselves are of
the best quality. It is mistaken economy to buy poor ones. Besides being
insipid and tasteless, it takes more in number to fill a dish. The
females are the best.
A TERRAPIN POT-PIE.--Take several fine large terrapins, the fattest and
thickest you can get. Put them into a large pot of water that is boiling
hard; and boil them half an hour or more. Then take them out of the
shell, pulling off the outer skin and the toe-nails. Remove the sand-bag
and the gall, taking care not to break it, or it will render the whole
too bitter to be eaten. Take out also the entrails, and throw them away;
as the custom of cooking them is now, very properly, exploded. Then cut
up all the meat of the terrapins, taking care to save all the liquid
that exudes in cutting up, and also the eggs. Season the whole with
pepper, mace, and nutmeg, adding a little salt; and lay among it pieces
of fresh butter slightly rolled in flour.
Have ready an ample quantity of paste, made in the proportion of a pound
of butter to two large quarts (or pounds) of flour, or a pound and a
half of butter to three quarts of flour, and rolled out thick. Butter
the inside of an iron pot, and line the sides with paste, till it
reaches within one-third of the top. Then put in the pieces of terrapin,
with the eggs, butter, &c., and with all the liquid. Lay among the
terrapin, square pieces of paste. Then pour in sufficient water to stew
the whole properly. Next, cover all with a circular lid, or top-crust of
paste, but do not fit it so closely that the gravy cannot bubble up over
the edges while cooking. Cut a small cross slit in the top crust. Place
the pot, with the pie, over a good fire, and boil it till the whole is
thoroughly done, which will be in from three quarters to an hour after
it comes to a boil. Take care not to let it get too dry, but keep at
hand a kettle of boiling water to replenish the pot when necessary. To
ascertain if the pie is done, lift up with a fork a little of the paste,
at one side, and try it low down in the pot.
It may be much improved, by mixing among the pieces of terrapins,
(before putting them into the pie,) some yolks of hard-boiled eggs,
grated or minced. They will enrich the gravy.
A pot-pie may be made, (a very fine one too,) of some of the best pieces
of a green turtle.
A SEA-COAST PIE.--Having boiled a sufficient number of crabs and
lobsters, extract all the meat from the shells, and cut it into
mouthfuls. Have ready some fine large oysters drained from the liquor.
Cover the bottom and sides of a deep dish with puff-paste; and put in a
thick layer of crab or lobster, seasoned with a little cayenne pepper,
and a grated lemon-peel. Mix it with some hard-boiled yolk of egg,
crumbled fine, and moistened with fresh butter. Next, put a close layer
of oysters, seasoned with pounded mace and grated nutmeg. Put some bits
of butter rolled in flour on the top of the layer. Proceed in this
manner with alternate layers of crab or lobster, and of oysters, till
the dish is nearly full. Then pour in, at the last, a tea-cupful or more
of the oyster liquor, with an equal quantity of rich cream. Have ready a
thick lid of puff-paste. Put it on the pie, pressing the edges closely,
so as to unite them all round; and notch them handsomely. Make a wreath
of leaves cut out of paste, and a flower or knot for the centre; place
them on the top-crust; and bake the pie well. While it is baking,
prepare some balls made of chopped oysters; grated bread-crumbs;
powdered nutmeg, or mace; and grated lemon-peel; also, some hard-boiled
yolks of eggs, grated. Having fried these balls in butter, drain them,
and when the pie is baked, lay a circle of them round the top, between
the border of paste-leaves and the centre-knot.
This pie will be found so fine that it ought to be baked in a dish
which will contain a large quantity.
TO DRESS A TURTLE.--The turtle should be taken out of water, and killed
over night in winter, and early in the morning in summer. Hang it up by
the hind fins, and before it has had time to draw in its neck, cut off
its head with a very sharp knife, and leave the turtle suspended. It
should bleed two or three hours or more, before you begin to cut it up.
Then lay it on its back upon a table: have at hand several vessels of
cold water, in which to throw the most important parts as you separate
them; also a large boiler of hot water. Take off the fins at the joint,
and lay them by themselves in cold water; next divide the back-shell
from the under-shell. The upper part of the turtle is called the
calipash--the under part the calipee. In cutting open the turtle, be
very careful not to break the gall, which should be taken out and thrown
away; if broken, its bitterness will spoil all around it. Take out the
entrails and throw them away. The practice of cooking them is now
obsolete. So it is with the entrails of terrapins. Using a sharp knife,
cut off the fins carefully, also the liver, lungs, heart, kidneys, &c.
Wash them well, and lay them in a pan of cold water, the liver in a pan
by itself. If there are eggs, put them also into cold water. Having
extracted the intestines, stand up the turtle on end, to let the blood
run out. Afterwards cut out all the flesh from the upper and under
shells, and remove the bones. Cut the calipee (or meat belonging to the
under-shell) into pieces about as large as the palm of your hand, and
break the shell. The calipash, or meat next the back-shell, may be cut
smaller--the green fat into pieces about two inches square. Put all the
meat into a large pan, sprinkle it slightly with salt, and cover it up.
Lay the shells and fins in a tub of boiling water, and scald them till
the scales can be scraped off with a knife, and all the meat that still
adheres to the shells easily removed, as it is worth saving. Clean the
fins nicely, (taking off the dark skin,) and lay them in cold water.
Wipe the back-shell dry, and set it aside. Then proceed to make the
soup. For this purpose, take the coarser pieces of flesh with the bone
likewise. Put them into a pot with a pound of cold ham cut into pieces,
and eight large calves'-feet (two sets) that have been singed and
scraped, but not skinned. If you cannot conveniently obtain
calves'-feet, substitute a large fore-leg or knuckle of veal. Add four
onions, sliced thin; two tablespoonfuls of sweet-marjoram leaves; a
large bunch of basil; a dozen blades of mace; and a salt-spoon of
cayenne. The ham will make any other salt unnecessary. Pour on as much
water as will completely cover the whole, and let it simmer slowly over
a steady fire during five hours, skimming it well. If after a while the
soup seems to be boiling away too much, replenish it with a little hot
water from a kettle, kept boiling hard for the purpose. When it has
simmered five hours, take up the whole, and strain the soup through a
sieve into a deep pan. Wash out the soup-pot with hot water, and return
the strained soup to it, with the liver, &c., cut in small pieces, and
some of the best of the meat, and a portion of the green fat. Have ready
two or three dozen force-meat balls, the size of a hickory nut, and made
of the usual proportions of minced veal, bread-crumbs, butter, grated
lemon-peel, mace, nutmeg, and beaten yolk of egg. Put them into the
soup, and let it boil an hour longer; also the eggs of the turtle, or
some hard-boiled yolks of eggs. After it has thus boiled another hour,
add the juice and grated yellow rinds of two lemons, and a pint of
Madeira. Boil the soup a quarter of an hour longer, and it will then be
ready for the tureen. It must never boil hard.
In the mean time, stew in another pot the finest of the turtle-meat,
seasoned with a little salt and cayenne, and a liberal allowance of
sweet-marjoram leaves rubbed fine, and mixed with powdered mace and
nutmeg. Add a pound of fresh butter, cut into pieces and rolled in
flour. When the turtle-meat has stewed an hour, put in the green fat,
and add the juice and grated yellow rinds of two lemons, and a pint or
more of Madeira, and let the whole stew slowly an hour longer. While the
meat is stewing, take the shell of the back; wash it clean, and wipe it
dry; lay a band of puff-paste all round the inside of the shell, two
inches below the edge, and two inches above it. Notch the paste
handsomely, and fill the shell with the stewed turtle. Have ready the
oven, heated as if for bread. Lay a large iron baking-sheet or a square
pan upon four bricks (one at each corner) to elevate the turtle-shell
from the floor of the oven. Place on it the shell with its contents, and
let it bake till well browned on the surface. Send it to table with the
shell placed on a large dish. At the other end set the tureen of soup.
Have ready (on two side dishes) the fins stewed tender in a little of
the soup, and the liver fried in butter.
This receipt is for a turtle of moderate size. A large one will, of
course, require an increased proportion of all the articles used in
seasoning it--more wine, &c. In serving up turtle at a dinner-party, let
it constitute the first course, and have nothing else on the table while
the turtle is there.
We have seen elegant silver turtle-dishes, representing the back-shell
of the animal, superbly chased and engraved, the feet for it to stand on
being paws of silver; and the fins having hollow places to hold the
sauce. This was for the stew; making a dish separate from the soup,
which is always sent to table in a tureen.
TURTLE PASTY.--When the meat has been all extracted, scrape and wash the
large back shell of the turtle till it is perfectly clean. Make a rich
puff-paste. Roll it out thin, and line with it the bottom and sides, in
fact the whole of the back-shell. Having prepared and seasoned the best
pieces of the turtle-meat, as in the preceding receipt, stew them till
thoroughly done, and very tender, and when cool, fill the shell with
them. Have ready an upper lid of the same puff-paste, rolled out rather
_thick_. Cover the pie with it. Unite the edges of the upper and under
crusts, very neatly, wetting your fingers with water. Then notch them
handsomely all round, and cut a cross slit in the centre of the top or
cover. Set it directly into a rather quick oven. Bake the crust of a
light brown, and send it to table hot.
LOBSTERS.--If you buy a lobster ready boiled, see that his tail is stiff
and elastic, so that when you bend it under, it springs back
immediately; otherwise he is not fresh. If alive or unboiled, he will be
lively and brisk in his motion when newly caught. The same with prawns,
and crabs.
The heaviest lobsters are the best.
To boil a lobster, have ready a pot of fast-boiling water, very strongly
salted. Put in the lobster head downward; and if the water is really hot
(it is cruel to have it otherwise,) he will be dead in a moment. Crabs,
of course, the same. A moderate sized lobster (and they are the best,)
will be done in half an hour. A large one requires from three-quarters
to an hour. Before it is sent to table, the large claws should be taken
off, and laid beside it. The head also should be separated from the
body, but laid so near it that the division is nearly imperceptible. The
head is never eaten. Split the body, and lay it open all the way down,
including the tail. If there is a good dresser of salads in the house,
the lobster may be served up ready dressed, in a deep dish, seasoned
with the proper condiments, after being cut small or minced, heaped up
towards the centre of the dish, and decorated with the small claws laid
across on the top, with the addition of green celery leaves, or parsley
sprigs.
LOBSTER SALAD--(_plain_.)--Take a well boiled lobster. Extract all the
meat from the body and claws, cut it up small, and mash the coral with
the back of a spoon or a broad knife. Wash the best part of a fresh
lettuce, and cut that up also, omitting all the stalk. Mix together the
chopped lobster and the lettuce, and put them into a salad bowl. Make
the dressing in a deep plate, allowing for one lobster a salt-spoon of
salt, half as much of cayenne, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, (tarragon
mustard is best,) four table-spoonfuls (or more) of sweet oil, and three
table-spoonfuls of the best cider vinegar. Mix all these together, with
the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, mashed to a soft moist paste with
the other ingredients, adding the coral of the lobster. When they are
all mixed smoothly, add them to the lobster and lettuce. If the mixture
seems too dry, add more sweet oil. Toss and stir the salad with a
box-wood fork. Also, the things should be mashed with a box-wood spoon.
Cover, and set it in a cool place till wanted. It should be eaten as
soon as possible after mixing, as it becomes flat by standing.
Plenty of sweet oil renders a lobster wholesome. Still, persons who are
not in good health, had best abstain from lobster.
You may add to the dressing, one or two raw yolks of eggs, beaten well.
FINE LOBSTER SALAD--(_This is for company._)--Boil eight eggs for ten
minutes, or till quite hard. Lay them in cold water, or cool them by
laying bits of ice among them. When quite cold, cut each egg lengthways
into four or six pieces, taking a bit off one end of each piece or
slice. Cut up into long pieces the best part of a fresh lettuce, that
has just been washed in a pan of cold water. Lay the lettuce in a dish,
and surround it closely with the pieces of egg standing up on their
blunted ends, with the yolk side outward, and forming a handsome wall
all round the bed of lettuce. Upon this, pile neatly the bits of chopped
lobster, finishing with the small claws stuck into the top. Have ready
the dressing in a sauce-tureen. Make it of the beaten yolks of two raw
eggs, and four table-spoonfuls of sweet oil, thickened with the mashed
coral of the lobster, and the crumbled yolks of two hard-boiled eggs,
and season slightly with a little salt, cayenne, and a spoonful of
tarragon mustard. Finish with two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, and stir
the whole hard with a box-wood spoon or fork. Send it to table with the
sauce-tureen, along with the dish of lobster, &c. Pour on each plate of
lobster a portion of this dressing. Or, if you can obtain no lettuce,
mix this dressing at once with the chopped meat of the lobster. Smooth
it in a pile on the dish, (keeping it towards the centre) and stand up
the slips of hard egg handsomely surrounding it--the small claws
decorating the top.
LOBSTER RISSOLES.--Extract all the meat from the shells of one or two
boiled lobsters. Mince it very fine; the coral also. Season it with a
little salt and cayenne, and some powdered mace and nutmeg. Add about a
fourth part of finely grated bread-crumbs; and with a sufficiency of
fresh butter or a little finely-minced veal suet, or some sweet oil,
make it up into balls or cones. Brush them over with yolk of egg, dredge
them lightly with flour, and fry them in lard. Introduce them as a side
dish at a dinner party, or as an accompaniment to salmon.
This mixture may be baked in puff-paste as little patties, or you may
bake in a soup-plate an empty shell of paste, and when done, (having
stewed the rissole mixture made moist) fill the cold paste with it, and
serve it up as a lobster pie.
In buying lobsters, choose those that are the heaviest and liveliest, or
quickest in their motions when touched. They are then fresh. The hen has
the broadest tail and the softest fins.
LOBSTER PUDDING.--Take the empty back shell of one large boiled lobster,
and all the best meat of two. Clean out the shell very nicely; washing
it, and wiping it dry. Mince the meat, and mash the coral with it;
adding half a dozen yolks of hard-boiled eggs crumbled among it, and
season it well with powdered mace and nutmeg, and a little cayenne.
Moisten it all through with plenty of sweet oil, and the raw yolks of
one or two eggs, well beaten. Fill the shell with this pudding, and
cover the surface of the mixture with a coating of finely-grated
bread-crumbs. Brown it by holding over it a salamander, or a red hot
fire-shovel. Send it to table in the shell, laid on a china dish.
Small puddings may be made as above, of crab-meat put into several large
crab-shells, and placed side by side on a dish.
They may be eaten either warm or cold; and they look well with green
lettuce or pepper-grass, disposed fancifully among them.
CRABS.--Crabs are seldom eaten except at the sea-shore, where there is a
certainty of their being fresh from the water. They are very abundant,
but so little is in them, that when better things are to be had, they
are scarcely worth the trouble of boiling and picking out the shell.
They are cooked like lobsters, in boiling salt and water, and brought to
table piled on large dishes, and are eaten with salt, pepper, sweet oil,
and vinegar. The meat of two dozen crabs, when all is extracted, will
make but a small dish. Season it with cayenne, mustard, oil, vinegar,
and eat it cold; or stew it with fresh butter, powdered mace, and
nutmeg, and serve it up hot.
_Prawns._--The same.
SHRIMPS.--Of all fish belonging to the lobster species, shrimps are the
smallest. In England, where they abound, they are sold by the quart,
ready boiled. The way to eat them is to pull off the head, and squeeze
the body out of the shell by pressing it between your fore-finger and
thumb. At good tables they are only used as sauce for large fish,
squeezed out of the shell, and stirred into melted butter.
LOBSTER SAUCE.--Take a small hen lobster that has been well boiled.
Extract all the meat, and chop it large. Take out the coral, and pound
it smooth in a marble mortar, adding, as you proceed, sufficient sweet
oil. Make some nice drawn butter, allowing half a pound of nice fresh
butter to two heaped table-spoonfuls of flour, and a pint of hot water.
Mix the butter and flour thoroughly, and then gradually add to them the
coral, so as to give a fine color. Then mix this with a small pint of
boiling water. Hold the saucepan over the fire, (shaking it about till
it simmers) but do not let it quite boil. Put in the chopped lobster,
and let that simmer in the sauce, till well heated. To allow it to boil
will spoil the color, (which should be pale pink,) and may be improved
by a little prepared cochineal. Or, you may tie, in a small bit of thin
muslin, a few chips of alkanet, and put it into the sauce, (taking it
out, of course, before it goes to table.) Alkanet communicates a
beautiful pink color, and has no taste in itself.
This quantity of sauce is for a large fish--salmon, cod, turbot, or
sheep's head. There should always be an ample supply of sauce. It is
very awkward for the sauce to give out, before it has gone round the
company.
BEEF.
ROASTING BEEF.--The prime piece of beef for roasting is the sirloin; but
being too large for a small family, the ribs are generally preferred,
when there are but few persons to eat of it. So also is the baron, or
double sirloin, undivided along the back. It is chiefly seen at great
dinners. Except the sirloin and ribs, there are no very good roasting
pieces, all the rest being generally used for stews, soups, &c., and for
corning or salting. Unless the animal is a very fine one, the inferior
pieces are apt to be tough, hard, and coarse. The round is the best
piece for corning or salting, and for cooking, as beef _a-la-mode_, or
converting into what, in England, is called rump-steaks. These steaks
require a rolling-pin, before they can be made tender enough for good
eating, or good digestion. The finest and tenderest steaks are those cut
from the sirloin. The meat of a young well-fed heifer is very good; and
that of an old ox, (that has done working, and afterwards been fattened
well on plenty of wholesome food,) may be made of superior excellence.
The lean of good fresh beef is of a bright red color, a fine close
grain, and feels tender to the touch on pinching it between your thumb
and finger. The fat is firm and very nearly white. The suet about the
kidney, firm and quite white. If, on the contrary, the lean is coarse,
tough, and of a dull color, and the fat scanty, yellow, and moist, do
not buy that meat for any purpose. The same rules will apply to mutton.
If the weather is so cold that the meat is frozen, thaw it by lying it
all night or early in the morning in a tub of _cold_ water. If thawed in
water the least warm, the meat will spoil, and be rendered unfit to eat.
Meat that has been frozen, requires a much longer time to cook, than if
that accident had not happened. _All_ frozen animals must be thawed in
cold water previous to cooking. Cold roast-beef is much liked in
England. In America, where meat is more abundant, and therefore less
costly, it is not considered a proper dish to place before a visitor;
therefore, in our country, a large piece is seldom cooked with a view to
next day's dinner. We prefer smaller pieces, always served up fresh and
hot. Beef for roasting, should be well washed in plenty of cold water;
then dried with a clean cloth. Prepare the fire, in time to be burning
well, when the meat is put down. It should have plenty of hot coals, and
no part of the fire black, ashy, or smoky, and the hearth swept very
clean: _for no sweeping must go on while the meat (or any thing else) is
cooking_. The spit should always be kept perfectly clean, when not in
use; and well washed, wiped, and rubbed immediately after using. Run it
evenly into the meat, which will hang crooked if not well balanced. When
first put down, take care not to set it at once too close to the fire,
but place it rather more than two feet distant, that the meat may heat
gradually. If too near the fire at first, the outside will scorch, and
leave the inside red and bloody. Underdone meat (foolishly called
_rare_) is getting quite out of fashion, being unwholesome and
indigestible, and to most Americans its savour is disgusting. To ladies
and children it is always so, and even the English have ceased to like
it. It is now seldom seen but at those public tables, where they
consider it an object to have as little meat as possible eaten on the
first day, that more may be left for the second day, to be made into
indescribable messes, with ridiculous French names, and passed off as
French dishes, by the so-called French cook, who is frequently an
Irishman.
At first, baste the meat as soon as it begins to roast, with a little
fresh butter, or fresh dripping saved from yesterday's beef. Then, when
its own fat begins to drip, baste it with that, all the while it is
cooking. Gradually move it nearer to the fire, turning the spit round
frequently, so that the meat may be cooked equally on all sides. When it
is nearly done, sprinkle it slightly, with a little salt. When it is
quite done, and you take it from the spit, put it on a large hot dish,
and keep it warm while you skim the gravy, thoroughly, so as to remove
_all_ the fat. Then mix in the gravy a small tea-cup full of hot water,
and thicken it with a very little browned flour. Send it to table very
hot.
As a general rule, a sirloin, weighing fifteen pounds, will require
about four hours (or more) before a good steady fire. If it has been
frozen, it will take much longer. The fatter it is the more cooking it
will require. When sent to table, place near it, a small sauce-shell of
horse-radish, washed, scraped fine, and moistened with the best vinegar.
Put a tea-spoon on the top to take it with. Pickles, and a bottle of
French mustard, at good tables, are generally accompaniments to beef or
mutton, whether roasted or boiled.
The dripping of roast beef, after all the fat has been removed, and the
basting of the meat is over, should be strained into a pan, and kept in
a cold place, with a cover; and next day, when it is congealed into a
cake, scrape off whatever impurities may still adhere to the bottom,
transfer it to a covered jar, and set it in the refrigerator, or where
it will be cold. The dripping of roast beef is excellent for frying, for
plain pie-crust, or for many other purposes. The dripping of mutton
(being tallow) is only fit for soap-fat, and will spoil any dish
whatever.
BROILED BEEF STEAKS.--The best steaks are those from the tender-loin.
Those from the round or rump require beating with a rolling-pin. A
steak-mallet tears them and destroys the juices of the meat. Without
beating they will generally be found too tough or hard for an American
taste, though much liked in Europe, where tender-loin steaks are
considered too expensive. But they are here so much preferred, that, on
good tables, any others are seldom seen. Have all the steaks nearly of a
size and shape, and about half an inch thick. Trim off the fat, and cut
short the bone, or remove it altogether. Season them with black pepper,
but sprinkle on no salt till they have done cooking; as salt, if put on
at first, hardens them. Set your gridiron over a bed of bright clear
coals, having first rubbed the bars with a very little beef suet, or
dripping. Not mutton fat, as it will give the taste of tallow.
A beef steak cannot be cooked in perfection unless over wood coals. To
cook them before an anthracite fire, on an upright gridiron, is more
like toasting than broiling, and much impairs the true flavor. A
gridiron of the usual shape, with grooved or hollow bars to catch the
gravy, is best of all. Broil the steaks well; and when done on one side,
turn each steak with steak tongs; or a knife and fork, and an inverted
plate.
If onions are liked, peel and boil a few; drain and mince them, and
sprinkle them thickly over the surface of each steak. When they are
well done, take them off the gridiron, and transfer them to a heated
dish, laying a small bit of butter upon it; and put another bit of
butter on the surface of each steak, having first sprinkled them with a
very little fine salt. What there is of their own gravy, pour round them
on the dish. Send it to table as hot as possible.
The English custom of eating what is called _rare_ or underdone beef or
mutton, is now becoming obsolete. To ladies, especially, all food is
disgusting that is red and bloody-looking--and physicians have
discovered, that nothing is wholesome unless well cooked. The
introduction of French cookery has done that much good.
The onions may be stewed in butter or gravy, and served up in a
sauce-boat, seasoned with nutmeg. At the famous beef-steak club of
London, each guest is furnished with a small raw onion, to take on his
fork, and rub over his empty plate, just before the steaks are served
up, which is done one at a time, and as hot as possible, being cooked in
the room.
FRIED BEEF STEAKS.--Sirloin steaks should be tender enough without
beating. Rump steaks will require some; but do not beat them so much as
to tear the meat and exhaust all its juices. We have seen them pounded
almost into a mass of dry shreds, scarcely adhering together. Remove the
fat and bone. Lay them in a frying-pan, with a little fresh butter
dredged with flour, and season them with pepper. Fry them brown,
turning them on both sides. Have ready some onions, peeled, washed, and
sliced. After you have turned the steaks, cover them with the sliced
onions, and then finish the frying, till all is thoroughly done, meat
and onions, slightly sprinkling them with salt. The onions had best be
boiled in a small sauce-pan by themselves, before they are sliced and
fried.
Put the whole on one dish, the onions covering the meat.
Mutton chops, or veal cutlets, or pork steaks, may be fried in this
manner with onions, adding to them some minced sweet marjoram, or if
pork, some sage.
BEEF STEAK WITH OYSTERS.--Take very fine tender sirloin steak, divested
of fat and bone; cut them not larger than the palm of your hand; lay
them in a stew-pan with some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour.
Strain over them sufficient oyster-liquor to cook them well, and to keep
them from burning, and to make a gravy so as to stew, but not to boil
them. Season them with some blades of mace, some grated nutmeg, and a
few whole pepper-corns. Let them cook till they are thoroughly done, and
not the least red. Then put in some fine large oysters. Set the stew-pan
again over the fire till the oysters are plump, which should be in about
five or six minutes. If cooked too much, the oysters will toughen and
shrink. When done, transfer the whole to a deep dish, mixing the oysters
evenly among the meat. Before you take them up, make some sippet or
thin toast, in triangular or pointed slices, with the crust cut off. Dip
the slices (for a minute) in boiling water; then take them out, and
stand them in a circle all round the inside of the dish, the points of
the sippets upwards.
CORNED OR SALTED BEEF.--For boiling, there is no piece of corned beef so
good, and so profitable, as the round. A large round is always better
and more tender than a small one, if the ox has been well fed. A small
round of beef is generally tough. In buying it, see that it looks and
smells well, as sometimes beef is not salted till it begins to taint;
and then it is done, with a view of disguising its unwholesome and
disgusting condition, which, however, will immediately be manifest as
soon as it is put on to boil, if not before. Every sort of food, the
least verging on decomposition, is unfit for any thing but to throw away
or bury. It is not necessary to buy always a whole round of beef. You
can have it cut into a half, third part, quarter, or into as many pounds
as you want. If very salt, lay it to soak in cold water the night
before, or early in the morning. Half a round (weighing about fifteen
pounds) will require about four hours to boil sufficiently. A whole
round, double that time. It must boil very slowly. If it boils too fast
at first, nothing will afterwards make it tender. The fire must be
steady, and moderate, that the heat may penetrate all through, slowly
and equally. The pot must be kept closely covered, unless for a minute
when the scum is taken off, and that must be done frequently. The beef
should, while boiling, be turned several times in the pot. It is much
the best way to boil it without any vegetables in the same pot; they
imbibe too much of the fat, particularly cabbage. Boil the cabbage by
itself in plenty of water, having first washed it well, laid it a while
in cold water, with the head downwards, and examined it well to see if
there are no insects between the leaves. The leaves on the very outside,
should be removed, and the stalk cut short. Tie a string round the
cabbage to keep it from falling apart. Put it into a pot with plenty of
cold water, and boil it an hour. Then take it out, drain it, and lay it
in a pan of cold water, or place it under the hydrant, for the hydrant
water to run copiously upon it.
When the cabbage is perfectly cold, wash out the pot in which it was
parboiled, or put it into another quite clean one, and boil it another
hour. Then take it up, and keep it warm till wanted. Before you send it
to table, lay some bits of nice fresh butter between the inside leaves,
and sprinkle on a little pepper. This is much nicer than preparing what
is called drawn or melted butter to pour over the cabbage, and far more
wholesome. Drawn butter is seldom well made, being frequently little
more than a small morsel of butter, deluged with greasy water; and
sometimes it is nearly all flour and water. Cabbage cooked as above will
be found excellent, and be divested of the cabbage smell which is to
many persons disagreeable.
Carrots are also an usual accompaniment to corned beef. They should be
washed, scraped, cut into pieces, and split, if very large; put into
boiling water, and cooked, according to their size, from one hour to two
hours. Before taking them up, try with a fork if they are tender
throughout. When done, they are best cut into slices, a little cold
butter mixed with them, and put into a deep dish, to be helped with a
spoon.
Parsnips may be dressed in the same manner.
For a plain family dinner, corned beef, cabbage, and carrots, cooked
_exactly_ as above, with, of course, the addition of potatos, will, on
trial, be found excellent.
Corned beef _stewed_ very slowly, in a small quantity of water, (barely
sufficient to cover the meat,) well skimmed, and with the vegetables
done separately, is still better than when _boiled_. Mustard is a good
condiment for corned beef--so is vinegar to the cabbage. Pickles, also;
French mustard is very fine with it.
Next to the round, the edgebone is the best piece for boiling. The
brisket or plate is too fat, and should only be eaten by persons in
strong health, and who take a great deal of exercise. No fat meat should
be given to children. Indeed there is generally great difficulty in
making them eat it. They are right, as it is very unwholesome for them,
unless the very leanest bits are selected from among the mass of fat.
Have tarragon vinegar on the table to eat with corned beef and cabbage.
FRIED CORNED BEEF.--This is a very homely and economical dish, but it is
liked by many persons. Cut thin slices from a cold round of beef, and
season them with pepper. Fry them brown over a quick fire, and put them
in a covered dish to keep hot. Then wash the frying-pan, cleaning it
well from the fat, and put into it plenty of cold boiled cabbage, cut
small, and some cold carrots, sliced thin, adding some thin sliced suet,
or beef dripping to fry them in. When done, dish the meat with the
vegetables laid around it; adding the gravy. This is the dish called in
England, Bubble-and-Squeak, perhaps from the noise it makes when frying.
It is only designed for strong healthy people with good appetites.
It is sometimes made of salt pork or bacon; sliced potatos being added
to the cabbage.
DRIED AND SMOKED BEEF.--For this purpose have as much as you want cut
off from a fine round. Mix together two ounces of saltpetre, (finely
pounded) rub it into the meat, cover it, and let it stand a day. Then
mix together half a pound of bay-salt, an ounce of black pepper, half an
ounce of ground ginger, and an ounce of pounded mace, and a quarter of
an ounce of powdered cloves. Rub this mixture well into the beef, put it
into a deep pan, and let it lie in this pickle two weeks, turning it
every day. Then hang it up in a smoke-house, and smoke it over a fire
made of corn-cobs, or maple chips. Never use pine for smoking.
It may be eaten chipped at tea, or what is much better, stewed and
warmed in a skillet. Venison may be spiced, dried, and smoked in the
same manner.
TO STEW SMOKED BEEF.--Having chipped it thin, put it into a skillet,
with fresh butter, pepper, and two or three beaten yolks of eggs. Let it
stew till the beef is crisp and curled up.
Never allow yourself to be persuaded to use pyroligneous acid in curing
dried beef or ham--instead of the real smoke of a wood fire. It
communicates a taste and smell of kreosote, and is a detestable
substitute, detected in a moment.
A SPICED ROUND OF BEEF.--Take a large prime round of beef; extract the
bone, and close the hole. Tie a tape all round it to keep it firm. Take
four ounces of finely powdered saltpetre, and rub it well into the beef.
Put the meat into a very clean pickling-tub that has a close-fitting
cover, and let it rest for two days. Next rub it thoroughly with salt,
and return it to the tub for eight days. Then take an ounce of powdered
mace, a large nutmeg powdered, a half-ounce of pepper, and a quarter of
an ounce of powdered cloves, (not more.) Mix these spices well
together, and then mix them with a pound of fine brown sugar. Rub the
spices and sugar thoroughly all over the beef, which will be ready to
cook next day. Then fill the opening with minced sweet herbs, sweet
basil, and sweet marjoram, laid in loosely and lightly. Take half a
pound of nice beef-suet. Divide it in two, and flatten each half of the
suet by beating it with a rolling-pin. Lay it in a broad earthen pan,
with one sheet of suet under the meat, and the other pressed over it.
Above this place a sheet of clean white paper, and over all put a large
plate. Set it in a hot oven, and bake it five hours or more, till by
probing it to the bottom, with a sharp knife, you find it thoroughly
cooked. It is excellent as a cold standing dish, for a large family.
When it is to be eaten cold, boil fresh cabbage to go with it. Also
parsnips and carrots.
_Cabbage._--For this beef, red cabbage is very nice, cut small, and
stewed with butter and tarragon vinegar.
A-LA-MODE BEEF.--Remove the bone from a fine round of fresh beef, and
also take off the fat. For a round that weighs ten pounds, make
seasoning or stuffing in the following proportions. Half a pound of beef
suet; half a pound of grated bread-crumbs; the crumbled yolks of three
hard-boiled eggs; a large bundle of sweet marjoram, the leaves chopped;
another of sweet basil; four onions minced small, a large table-spoonful
of mixed mace and nutmeg, powdered. Season slightly with salt and
cayenne. Stuff this mixture into the place from whence you took out the
bone. Make numerous deep cuts or incisions about the meat, and stuff
them also. Skewer the meat into a proper shape, and secure its form by
tying it round with tape. Put it into a clean iron oven or bake-pan, and
pour over it a pint of port wine. Put on the lid, and bake the beef
slowly for five or six hours, or till it is thoroughly done all through.
If the meat is to be eaten hot, skim all the fat from the gravy; into
which, after it is taken off the fire, stir in the beaten yolks of two
eggs.
If onions are disliked you can omit them, and substitute minced oysters.
BEEF A-LA-MODE--(_Another way._)--Take a fine round of fresh beef,
extract the bone, and fill the place from whence it was taken with a
stuffing made of bread soaked in milk and then mashed up, butter, and
some yolks of hard-boiled eggs crumbled fine, the yellow rind and juice
of a large grated lemon, sweet marjoram and sweet basil chopped small,
with some powdered nutmeg and mace. Make deep cuts or incisions all over
the outside of the meat, and in every cut stick firmly a slip of bacon
or salt pork put in with a larding-pin. Bring round the flap and skewer
to the side of the round, filling in between with some of the stuffing.
And pour round it a pint or more of port wine. Lay it in an oven, and
bake it slowly till it is well done all through, which will require
some hours. Serve it up with its own gravy under it. It is more
generally eaten cold, at a supper party. In this case, cover it thickly
all over with double parsley or pepper grass, so as to resemble a green
bank. In the centre place a bouquet of natural flowers, rising from the
green bank.
French a-la-mode beef, or beef _a-la-daube_, is prepared as above, but
stewed slowly all night in lard.
BEEF BOUILLI.--Take from six to eight pounds of a fine round of _fresh_
beef. Put it into a soup-pot, with the remains of a piece of cold roast
beef (bones and all) to enrich the gravy, but use no other cold meat
than beef. Season it slightly with salt and pepper, and pour on just
sufficient water to cover it well. Boil it slowly, and skim it well.
When the scum ceases to rise, have ready half a dozen large carrots, cut
into pieces, and put _them_ in first. Afterwards add six turnips,
quartered; a head of celery, cut small; half a dozen parsnips, cut in
pieces; and six whole onions. Let it boil slowly till all the vegetables
are done, and very tender.
Send it to table with the beef in the middle of a large dish; the
vegetables laid all around it; and the gravy (thickened with fine grated
bread-crumbs) in a sauce-boat. Serve up with it, white potatos, boiled
whole; and mashed pumpkin, or winter squash.
This is a good dinner for a plain family.
Those who like tarragon mustard, or tarragon vinegar, may add it on
their plates.
Tomatos may be skinned and stewed with it.
TO STEW COLD CORNED BEEF.--Cut about four pounds of lean from a cold
round of beef, that tastes but little of the salt. Lay it in a stew-pan,
with a quarter of a peck of tomatos quartered, and the same quantity of
ochras sliced; also, two small onions peeled and sliced, and two ounces
of fresh butter rolled in flour. Add a tea-spoonful of whole
pepper-corns, (_no salt_,) and four or five blades of mace. Place it
over a steady but moderate fire. Cover it closely, and let it stew three
or four hours. The vegetables should be entirely dissolved. Serve it up
hot.
This is an excellent way of using up the remains of a cold round of beef
at the season of tomatos and ochras, particularly when the meat has been
rather under-boiled the first day of cooking it.
A few pounds of the lean of a _fresh_ round of beef, will be still
better, cooked in this manner, increasing the quantity of ochras and
tomatos, and stewing it six hours.
Cold fillet of veal is very good stewed with tomatos, ochras, and an
onion or two. Also, the thick or upper part of a cold leg of mutton; or
of pork, either fresh or corned.
TO STEW SMOKED BEEF.--The dried beef, for this purpose, must be fresh
and of the very best quality. Cut it (or rather shave it) into very
thin, small slices, with as little fat as possible. Put the beef into a
skillet, and fill up with boiling water. Cover it, and let it soak or
steep till the water is cold. Then drain off that water, and pour on
some more; but merely enough to cover the chipped beef, which you may
season with a little pepper. Set it over the fire, and (keeping on the
cover) let it stew for a quarter of an hour. Then roll a few bits of
butter in a little flour, and add it to the beef, with the yolk of one
or two beaten eggs. Let it stew five minutes longer. Take it up on a hot
dish, and send it to the breakfast or tea-table.
Cold ham may be sliced thin, and stewed in the same manner. Dried
venison also.
FRENCH BEEF.--Take a circular piece from the round, (having removed the
bone,) and trim it nicely from the fat, skin, &c. Then lard it all over
with long slips of fat pork or bacon. The place from whence the bone was
taken must be filled with a forcemeat, made of minced suet, grated
bread-crumbs, sweet marjoram rubbed fine, and grated lemon-peel; add a
little salt and pepper. Tie a tape closely round the outside of the
beef, to keep it compact, and in shape. Put it into a broad earthen jar
with a cover; or into an iron bake-oven. Add some whole pepper, a large
onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, three bay-leaves, a quarter of a pound of
butter, divided into small bits, (each piece rolled in flour,) and half
a pint of claret, or port wine. Bake or stew it thus in its own liquor,
for five, six, or seven hours, (in proportion to its size,) for it must
be thoroughly done, quite tender, and brown all through the inside.
STEWED FRESH BEEF.--Cut a square thick piece of beef from the round or
sirloin, and trim off the fat. Put it into a stew-pan with just water
enough to cover it, and season it slightly with salt and pepper. Let it
stew slowly, till tender all through. Then add potatos pared and
quartered, turnips the same; and also, parsnips split and cut short, and
(if approved) a few sliced onions. Stew altogether till the vegetables
are thoroughly cooked, and then serve up the whole on one large dish.
Mutton, veal, and fresh pork, may be stewed in the same manner. Sweet
potatos, scraped and split, are excellent served with fresh meat. There
should be a great plenty of vegetables, as they are much liked in stews.
What is called an Irish stew is fresh beef stewed with potatos only--the
potatos being first pared, and cut in quarters.
For economy, cold roast beef may be stewed next day with fresh potatos
cut up, and as little water as possible. Cold potatos, if re-cooked, are
always hard, tough, and unwholesome.
STEWED BEEFSTEAKS WITH OYSTERS.--Take some fine tender beef-steaks cut
from the sirloin. If they are taken from the round they should be beaten
with a rolling-pin to make them tender. Put them into a close stew-pan,
with barely sufficient water to prevent their burning, and set them over
the fire to brown. When they are browned, add sufficient oyster-liquor
to cook them, and some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Let them
stew slowly for an hour, or till they are thoroughly done. Then add
three or four dozen of fine large fresh oysters, in proportion to the
quantity of meat, seasoning them well with nutmeg, a few blades of mace,
and a little cayenne. Cover the pan, and simmer them till the oysters
are well plumped, but not till they come to a boil. When all is properly
cooked, transfer the whole to a deep dish, and send it to table hot.
The meat, when preparing, should be cut into pieces about as large as
the palm of your hand, and an inch thick, omitting the fat. Small clams
may be substituted for oysters.
TOMATO STEWED BEEF.--Take large ripe tomatos, and scald them, to make
the skins peel off easily. Pare, quarter them, and sprinkle them with a
little salt and pepper. Lay in a stew-pan some thin tender beef-steaks,
lamb, mutton-chops, or cutlets of fresh pork. Bury the meat in the
tomatos, and add some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour and a little
sugar to take off the extreme acid of the tomatos; also, an onion or
two, very finely minced. Let the whole cook slowly till the meat is
thoroughly done, and the tomatos dissolved to a pulp. Send it to table
all on the same dish.
A rabbit or chicken, (cut apart as for carving,) is very good stewed
with tomatos. Freshly killed venison is excellent for this stew.
Many persons mix grated bread with tomato stew. We think it weakens the
taste--a thing not desirable in any cooking.
This stew must not have a drop of water in it; the tomatos will give out
sufficient liquid to cook the meat. There is not a more wholesome dish.
BEEF STEWED WITH ONIONS.--Take a square piece of beef from the sirloin,
where there is no bone or fat. With a sharp knife make very deep
incisions all over it, but not quite so deep as to cut it through to the
bottom. Prepare a forcemeat by peeling and boiling some onions. Then
drain and mince them. Mix in with the onions some fine bread-crumbs, and
some chopped sweet-marjoram, (seasoning with powdered nutmeg and mace,)
and fill tightly all the incisions. Put into the bottom of a stew-pan
some drippings of roast-beef, or else a piece of fresh butter rolled in
flour. Lay the seasoned meat upon it. Let it stew till completely
cooked, and no redness to be found in any part of it. Serve it up hot,
and send it to table in its own gravy.
A round or fillet of fresh pork may be cooked as above, putting into the
incisions, or holes, powdered sage instead of sweet marjoram, with the
onions and crumbs; and using lard instead of beef-drippings. Eat apple
sauce with it.
BEEF STEWED WITH OYSTERS.--Prepare two or three pounds of the best beef,
by trimming off all the fat, and removing the bone. Lay in the bottom of
the stew-pan a few bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Then put in the
meat, and sprinkle a little pepper over each piece. Have ready a quart
of large fresh oysters. Strain the liquor to clear it from bits of the
shell, and pour it over the meat in the stew-pan. Stew the meat in the
oyster liquor till it is thoroughly cooked, skimming it well, and
keeping it covered, except when skimming. Then add grated nutmeg, and a
few blades of mace. Lastly, put in the oysters, and let them remain in
just long enough to plump, which will be in a few minutes. If cooked too
much oysters always shrivel, and become hard and tough. When all is
done, serve up the whole in one dish.
In the same manner clams may be stewed with beef. Never put any salt
where there are clams. They are quite salt enough in themselves.
FRENCH STEW.--Cut into pieces two or three pounds of the lean of fresh
tender beef, mutton, veal, or pork, and peel and slice a quarter of a
peck or more of ripe tomatos. Season the whole with a little pepper and
salt. Add, if you choose, a tea-spoonful of sugar to moderate the
extreme acid of the tomatos. Put the whole together into a stew-pot, and
cover it closely, opening it occasionally to see how it is doing. Put no
water to this stew, the juice of the tomatos will cook it thoroughly.
Add a large table-spoonful of minced tarragon leaves. When the tomatos
are all dissolved, stir in a piece of fresh butter, dredged with flour.
Let it stew about a quarter of an hour longer. When the meat is quite
tender all through, and every thing well done, make some sippets of
triangular shaped toast, with the crust trimmed off. Dip the toast, for
a moment, in hot water; butter and stand it up all round the inside of a
deep dish. Then fill it with the stew, and serve it hot. Any meat may be
stewed thus with tomatos.
POTATO BEEF.--This is an excellent family dish. Boil some potatos till
well done, all through. Peel them, put them into a large pan, and mash
them smoothly, adding, as you proceed, some milk, and one or more beaten
eggs, well mixed into the potatos. Rub the bottom of a white ware
pudding dish with nice butter, or some drippings of cold beef, and cover
it with a thick layer of mashed potatos. Next, put in thin slices of
beef, (omitting the fat,) enough to cover the potatos. Next, add
another layer of mashed potatos, evenly and thickly spread. Then, more
thin slices of beef, and then more potatos. Do this, till the dish is
full; finishing it with potatos, on the top, heaping them up in the
centre. Bake it in an oven. There must be plenty of potatos, as they
will be much liked.
BEEF AND MUSHROOMS.--Take three pounds of the best sirloin steaks.
Season them with black pepper and a very little salt, having removed the
fat and bone. Put a quarter of a pound of the best fresh butter into a
frying-pan, and set it over the fire. When it is boiling hot, put in the
steaks, and fry them brown. Have ready a quart of very fresh mushrooms,
peeled and stemmed. If large, cut them in four. Season them with a
little pepper and salt, and dredge them lightly with flour, and add a
few bits of butter. Stew them in a separate pan kept closely covered.
When the steaks are done, pour the mushrooms over them with all their
juice. Put them all (steaks and mushrooms) into a dish with a cover, and
serve them up hot.
This is a breakfast dish, or a side dish for dinner. Unless the company
is very small, four pounds of beef steaks, at least, and three pints of
mushrooms, (with butter in proportion) will be required at dinner, as it
will be much liked.
BEEF'S HEART.--Wash the heart well, and soak it in a pan of tepid water
till all the blood is drawn out of the ventricles, and it is made very
clean and dry. Next par-boil it a quarter of an hour. Then stuff the
cavities with a forcemeat made of minced veal, bread-crumbs, butter or
minced suet, and sweet herbs, seasoned with a little pepper and nutmeg;
or it may be stuffed simply with sage and onions. Sew up the openings
with coarse brown thread, lest the forcemeat should fall out. Put the
heart on a spit, and roast it before a clear fire, for near two hours;
basting it well with nice fresh butter. Thicken the gravy with a little
flour, and stir into it a glass of port wine, or of tarragon vinegar.
Have ready a hot dish and a heated cover. Serve up the heart as hot as
possible, for it soon chills, and pour the gravy around it. The gravy
should be heated to a boil in a small sauce-pan.
_Calves' Hearts_ are cooked in the same manner. As they are small, it
takes four calves' hearts to make a dish.
Hearts may be sliced and stewed with onions and sweet herbs, adding to
the stew a little salad oil.
BEEF PATTIES.--A nice way of disposing of underdone roast beef, is to
mince fine all the lean, and a _very little_ of the fat. Season it with
cayenne, and powdered nutmeg, or mace, or else chopped sweet herbs. If
you have any stewed mushroom-gravy, moisten the meat with that. Make a
nice paste, and cut it into small circular sheets, rolled out not very
thin. Cover one half of each sheet of paste with the minced beef (not
too near the edge) and fold over the other half, so as to form a half
moon. Wet your fingers with cold water, and pinch together the two edges
of the half moon. Then crimp them with a sharp knife. Lay the patties in
square baking pans, prick them with a fork, and bake them brown. Or you
may fry them in lard. Serve them up hot, as side dishes.
Cold veal, minced with cold ham, or tongue, makes very nice patties;
also cold chicken or turkey.
A BEEF STEAK PIE.--Stew two pounds or more, of fine tender sirloin
steaks, divested of fat and bone, and cut rather thin. Season them with
a very little salt and pepper; and, when about half done, remove them
from the fire, and keep them warm, saving all the gravy. Make a nice
paste, allowing to two quarts of flour one pound and a quarter of fresh
butter. Divide the butter into four quarters. Rub one half into the pan
of flour, and make it into a dough with, a very little cold water. Roll
it out into a large sheet, and with a broad knife stick over it, at
equal distances, one of the remaining divisions of butter. Then sprinkle
it with more flour, fold it, and roll it out again into a large sheet.
Put on the remainder of the butter in bits, as before. Then fold it
again. Cut the paste into equal halves, and roll them out into two
sheets, trimmed into round or oval forms. With one sheet line a
pie-dish, and fill it with your meat, adding, if convenient, some
mushrooms, or some fresh oysters, or the soft part of a few clams, and
some blades of mace. Use the other sheet of paste as a cover for the
pie, uniting the edges with the under crust by crimping it nicely. Of
the trimmings of the paste, make an ornament or tulip, and stick it into
the slit at the top of the pie.
MEAT PIES--May be made in the above manner of lamb, veal, or pork. Also
of venison or any sort of fresh meat. Pie crust for baking should be
shortened with butter, or with the dripping of roast beef, veal, or
_fresh_ pork. Mutton or lamb dripping are unfit for pie crust, as they
make it taste of tallow. Suet will not do at all for _baked_ paste,
though very good if the paste is to be boiled. Butter and lard will make
a nice plain paste for pies, if both are fresh an
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