Quarter of a cake of chocolate grated,1⁄2cup of sweet milk, 1 tablespoonful corn-starch; flavor with extract of vanilla. Mix these ingredients, with the exception of the vanilla; boil two minutes, and after it has fairly commenced to boil, flavor, and then sweeten to taste with powdered sugar, taking care to have it sweet enough.
Grated rind and juice of two lemons; 2 cups sugar; butter, the size of an egg; 2 tablespoonfuls corn-starch; 4 eggs. Rub the butter and sugar smooth in a little cold water; have ready 2 cups boiling water, in which stir the corn-starch, until it looks clear; add to this the butter and sugar, and, when nearly cold, the yolks of four eggs, and the white of one, well beaten, and the rind and the juice of the lemons. After lining two deep dishes with a delicate paste, and pouring in the mixture, beat the remaining whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, adding two spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Spread this over the pies when done, returning to the oven to brown.
Three cups flour; 2 eggs; 1 cup milk;1⁄2cup brandy; 1 nutmeg; a teaspoonful of salt; 5 teaspoonfuls baking powder;1⁄2pound currants;1⁄2pound raisins, stoned and chopped fine;1⁄2pound suet chopped fine; 1 cup sugar. Boil three hours.
Two cups oatmeal or cracked wheat; 2 eggs; 1 tablespoonful butter; 1 pint milk; three medium-sized apples; a little suet; cinnamon to flavor; sweeten to taste. Beat sugar, eggs, and milk together; stir in the meal, and then add the other ingredients, the apples last, after reducing to small pieces. Bake until well set. To be eaten with or without sauce.
One loaf of stale bread, soaked in a pint of milk, and when soft, beat with an egg-beater until very fine. Pour into this the yolks of four eggs, well beaten, a tablespoonful of butter, some flavoring, and a little salt, beating all well together. After baking until well set, let it cool, and spread a nice jelly over the top, and on this put the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, returning to the oven to brown.
Into a large cup of corn-meal stir 1 pint scalded milk; a small cup suet, chopped fine; two-thirds of a cup of syrup or molasses; salt to taste, and when cold, add 1 pint milk, and 2 eggs, well beaten, 1 teaspoonful cinnamon, and 1 cup raisins. Bake three hours.
Four tablespoonfuls corn-starch; 1 quart of milk; 2 eggs;3⁄4coffee-cup white sugar; adding butter size of an egg, with flavoring to taste. After dissolving the corn-starch in a little cold water, heat the milk to boiling and stir this in, and boil three minutes, stirring the mixture all the time; next, stir in the butter, and set away until cold. Beat the eggs until very light, when add the sugar and seasoning, and then stir into the corn-starch, beating thoroughly to a smooth custard. Put into a buttered dish, and bake not more than half an hour. This pudding is best eaten cold, with sauce made of cream and sugar, flavored with nutmeg or cinnamon, or both, or plain powdered sugar, as tastes may prefer.
One quart of milk; 3 tablespoonfuls corn-starch; put in hot water until it thickens; to the yolks of 5 eggs, add three tablespoonfuls white sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls vanilla, and a little salt. Pour on the corn-starch, stir thoroughly, and bake fifteen minutes, but not long enough to whey. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth; add 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar;1⁄2teaspoonful vanilla; put on top, and let brown.
Pare and cut in pieces 1 dozen peaches, or more, if desired, and boil with1⁄2pound loaf sugar. When reduced to a marmalade press through a fine sieve, and when cool, add 1 pint cream and freeze. Serve with halves or quarters of fresh peaches, half frozen, around the cream.
Reduce half a dozen apples to a pulp; press them through a sieve; add1⁄2cup powdered sugar and a teaspoonful lemon extract; take whites of 6 eggs and whip several minutes, and sprinkle 2 tablespoonfuls powdered sugar over them; beat the apple-pulp to a froth and add the beaten eggs. Whip the mixture well until it breaks like stiff snow, then pile it high in rough portions, in a glass dish—garnish with a spoonful of currant jelly.
A delicious sauce for baked pudding: Beat1⁄2cup butter and 1 of sugar, to a cream; add, stiff beaten, white of 1 egg and a large cupful of ripe strawberries, thoroughly crushed.
Have ready a grated cocoanut and some oranges, peeled and sliced; put a large layer of oranges in your dish, and strew sugar over them; then a layer of cocoanut, then orange, and sprinkle sugar; and so on until the dish is full, having cocoanut for the last layer. Pine-apple may be substituted for the orange.
Two tablespoonfuls farina, soaked in a little milk for two hours; 1 quart of milk. Set in a kettle of boiling water; when the milk boils, add the farina, stirring four minutes. Then stir in the yolks of 5 eggs, well beaten, 1 cup sugar, and a little salt. After boiling three or four minutes, pour into a dish to cool. Flavor, and stir in the whites of the eggs beaten to a foam. To be eaten cold.
Take 1 large teacupful of corn-meal; scald 1 pint of milk, and stir the meal in slowly and thoroughly. Add a small cup of suet, chopped fine;2⁄3of a cup of molasses, salt to taste, and when cool add 1 pint milk, with 2 eggs, well beaten, 1 teaspoonful of cinnamon and 1 cup of raisins. Bake 3 hours.
One box gelatine, 2 cups sugar, juice of 2 lemons, whites of 3 eggs, 1 quart of milk, 5 eggs, 5 tablespoonfuls sugar, and 1 vanilla. Dissolve the gelatine in1⁄4pint of water and let stand for 2 hours; then add1⁄4pint of boiling water, the lemon juice, and sugar; strain and set away to cool and thicken, and when quite stiff, add the whites of the 3 eggs, beaten to a stiff froth; stir these into the jelly until it looks like snow—mould and set on ice.
For a similar custard; add 5 eggs, well beaten in a dish, with 5 tablespoonfuls white sugar.
One quart of flour, 2 teaspoonfuls yeast powder, a little salt, 1 cup suet chopped fine, or a1⁄4pound butter or sweet lard; mix to soft dough, and roll quite thin—spreading over any kind of cooked fruit, sweetened to taste—rolling up nicely. This may be boiled, but is much better steamed, as this makes it much lighter. This delicious pudding should be eaten with brandy or wine sauce, liquid or solid.
Take 1 pint rich milk,1⁄2ounce of gelatine, dissolved in a little hot milk, the whites of 2 eggs beaten to a froth, and 1 cup sugar; flavoring with vanilla. Mix the milk, eggs, sugar and flavoring; and when the gelatine is cold, pour it in, stirring thoroughly. Line the dish or mould with slices of sponge cake, fill with this mixture, and set on ice to cool.
Work well into1⁄2cup of the freshest butter, 1 cup of powdered white sugar, adding the white of an egg, well beaten, and worked in with a large spoonful of California brandy, or a couple of spoonfuls of good sherry or California white-wine; working all of these well together, that the ingredients may be thoroughly incorporated, and season with nutmeg or cinnamon, or both, as may be preferred.
Take butter, the size of an egg, and sufficient flour or corn-starch, and after adding boiling water to make thick drawn butter, boil two or three minutes; add brandy, sherry or white-wine—according to taste—with a little vinegar or juice of 1 lemon. Make quite sweet and season to taste.
Wash the currants or grapes well in a pan of water; afterwards mash thoroughly, and put in a preserving kettle, letting them simmer slowly for fifteen or twenty minutes. Strainthrough a thin muslin bag, and, for every pint of juice, add one pound of granulated sugar. Mix well together, and boil five minutes, and put into glasses while warm. Cut paper to fit the top, dip in brandy, and lay over the jelly, and when quite cold tie a paper over the top, and put away in a dry, dark place.
Boil 4 calves' feet in 4 or 5 quarts of water, until reduced to shreds; strain, and let the liquid cool; after taking off the fat, put the jelly in a kettle, with one pint of California sherry, or white wine, 3 cups granulated sugar, the whites of 4 eggs, well beaten, the juice of 1 lemon, with half of the grated peel, 1 teaspoonful of ground cinnamon or nutmeg; boil until clear, and strain into moulds or glasses.
There are a thousand and one modes and recipes for making ice-cream. But, after having tested the merits of a large number, I have found the following formula, used by Mr. Piper, the former head cook of the Occidental Hotel, of San Francisco, in all respects superior to any that I have ever used:
One quart of Jersey, or best dairy milk, with the addition of a pint of rich cream; 6 eggs, and 1 pound of best granulated white sugar, thoroughly beaten and incorporated together; place the milk in a can, set it in a vessel of boiling water, and let it come to a boiling heat, stirring well at the same time. Then take from the fire, and add vanilla, lemon, or such flavoring as you may prefer, after which set it in ice-water to cool, and then freeze. Break the ice for the freezer of a uniform size, mixingcoarse salt with the mass. Stir the cream constantly, and scrape thoroughly from the sides. The more the cream is stirred, the more delicate the mixture will be.
The juice of 6 oranges; after adding the grated rind of 1 mix the juice of two lemons, and the grated rind of one; after adding 1 pint of granulated white sugar, dissolved in a pint of cold water, freeze the mixture the same as ice cream.
One pound sugar; 3 lemons, sliced, and put into the sugar; 1 ounce gelatine, dissolved in cold water sufficient to cover; add a quart of boiling water, and strain into moulds.
One box Cox's gelatine, dissolved in a little warm water; add a large goblet sherry wine, and 11⁄2pints of boiling water; sweeten highly and boil briskly. To be eaten with cream.
Do not pare, but rub your peaches; place them in a porcelain lined kettle, with just enough water to cover. Let them cook thoroughly—from one to two hours—then strain through a jelly-bag. To every 4 cups of juice, add 3 cups of sugar, and set on to boil again. Sometimes, when the fruit is particularly fine and fresh, three-quarters of an hour or less boiling is sufficient to make a jelly, but sometimes it takes longer. To test it, drop some in a saucer and set on ice; if it does not spread but remain rounded, it is done.
Take the juice of 4 oranges, and of the same number of lemons or limes. Dissolve 1 pound of white sugar in a pint of water. Mix all these together, and strain; after which add 1 pint of California champagne, and 2 gills of good California brandy, if desirable. Freeze the same as ice-cream.
With the exception of bread, which has been appropriately termed "the staff of life," there is, perhaps, no other article of food more universally used by mankind than butter. Notwithstanding this well established fact, it is a lamentable reflection, that really good butter is one of the rarest and most difficult articles to be procured. Although the adulterations of this staple article of food are numerous, the main cause of the quantities of bad butter with which the community is burdened, is ignorance of the true methods, and slovenliness in the preparation of this staple article, for which no reasonable excuse can be urged. In the making of good butter, no process is more simple or easily accomplished. The Quakers, living in the vicinity of Philadelphia, more than a century ago, so thoroughly understood and practised the art of making the best butter, that the products of their dairies sold readily in that city for from five to eight cents per pound more than that produced by any other class.
With these thrifty people, cleanliness was really regarded as "akin to godliness," and the principal was thoroughly and practically carried out in all their every day affairs. The most scrupulous attention being paid to the keeping of all the utensils used scrupulously clean, and so thoroughly work the mass, that every particle of milk is expelled. The greatest evil to be guarded against, is the too free use of salt, which for this purpose should be of the utmost purity and refined quality. I am satisfied, from personal observation, that the butter made at the Jersey Farm, at San Bruno, in the vicinity of San Francisco, in every respect equals in quality the celebrated Darlington, Philadelphia.
For the keeping milk fresh and sweet, and the proper setting of the rich cream, an old style spring-house is essentially requisite. Who that has ever visited one of these clean, cool and inviting appendages of a well conducted farm and well ordered household, at some home-farm of the olden time, does not recall it in the mind's-eye, as vividly as did the poet Woodworth when he penned that undying poem of ancient home-life, "The Old Oaken Bucket that Hung in the Well."
Properly constructed, a spring-house should be built of stone, which is regarded as the coolest—brick or concrete—with walls at least twelve inches in thickness. The floor should be of brick, and not more than two feet below the surface of the ground. The roof should be of some material best adapted to warding off the heat, and keeping the interior perfectly cool, while due attention should be paid to the allowance of a free circulation of air, and provision be made for thorough ventilation; only as much light as is actually necessary should be admitted, and where glass is used for this purpose, it shouldinvariably be shielded from the sun. Walled trenches being constructed for this purpose, a constant stream of cool running water should pass around the pans containing the milk and cream, which, for the making of good butter, should never be permitted to become sour. The shelving and other furniture, and all wooden utensils used, should be of white ash, maple or white wood, in order to avoid all danger of communicating distasteful or deleterious flavors. As there is no liquid more sensitive to its surroundings, or which more readily absorbs the flavor of articles coming in contact with it, than pure milk, everything that has a tendency to produce this deleterious result should be carefully excluded. Neither paints or varnish should be used about the structure, and the entire concern should be as utterly free from paint as the inside of an old time Quaker meeting-house.
In making butter, the cream should be churned at a temperature of about 65 degrees. When the churning is finished, take up the lump and carefully work out every particle of milk. Never wash or put your hands in the mass. To each pound of butter work in a little less than an ounce of the purest dairy salt. Set the butter away, and at the proper time work the mass over until not a particle of milk remains.
I wish to say a word to the extensive brotherhood and ancient and honorable guild constituting the Grand Army of Hotel and Restaurant Cooks distributed throughout our country, on the all-important subject of making coffee and heating milk. Some satirical writer has sarcastically said that the wayto make good coffee is to ascertain how that beverage is prepared in leading hotels and restaurants, and then make your coffee as they don't! There is no good reason why coffee cannot be as well made in hotel and restaurant kitchens, as in private families or anywhere else, if the berry is good, well-browned, and pains are taken for the proper preparation of this popular beverage.
Twenty years ago the art of making coffee in large quantities, and of properly heating milk for the same, was an unsolved problem—in fact, if not numbered among the many lost arts, might be classed as among the unknown in the culinary art. Twenty-one years ago, the late Mr. Marden—a well-known citizen of San Francisco—and the author of this work—produced, as the result of long practical experience, a form for making a decoction of the ancient Arabian berry, which is now in general use throughout the entire Union. True, attempts have been made to improve upon the mode, which was the crowning triumph of the parties alluded to, but they have invariably proved failures, and to-day Marden & Clayton's coffee and milk urns stand pre-eminent in this important department of cookery. These urns are simply two capacious stone-ware jars, of equal capacity, and made precisely alike, with an orifice one inch from the bottom, in which a faucet is firmly cemented. Each jar is suspended in a heavy tin casing, affording an intervening space of two inches, which is to be filled with hot, but not boiling water, as a too high temperature would injure the flavor of the coffee, and detract from the aroma of the fragrant berry. Suspend a thin cotton sack in the centre, and half the height of the jar. After putting in this the desired amount of coffee, pour on it sufficient boiling water to make strong coffee. As soon asthe water has entirely filtered through, draw off the liquid through the stop-cock at the bottom of the jar, and return it to the sack, passing it through, in the same manner, two or three times. After five minutes raise the sack, pour in a cup of hot water, and let it filter through, getting, in this manner, every particle of the strength. Immediately after this remove the sack; for if it is left remaining but a short time, the aroma will be changed for the worse. Cover tightly, and keep the jar surrounded with hot, but not boiling water. Next, put into the milk urn—also surrounded with hot water—one-half the milk for the amount of coffee, and at the proper time add the remaining half of the milk, having it, in this manner, fresh, and not over-cooked. Should the milk become too hot, pour in a cup of cold milk, stirring well at the same time.
The first of these urns for making coffee and heating milk, were those used for the purpose at the opening of the Occidental Hotel of this city—of which Mr. Piper was at that time the intelligent and experienced head-cook. This mode of making coffee in large quantities is still followed at this hotel, which, from the time of its opening to the present, has maintained the reputation as one of the best of the numerous excellent public houses of this city, and the entire Union.
Let the coffee—which should be nicely browned, but not burned—be ground rather fine, in order that you may extract the strength without boiling—as that dissipates the aroma and destroys the flavor. Put the coffee in a thin muslin sack—reaching less than half-way to the bottom of the vessel—then place it in the pot, and pour over enough boiling water to makestrong coffee. Let it stand on the hot range two or three minutes, when lift out the sack, pour the liquid in a vessel, and return it through the sack the second time, after which, raising the sack again, pour through a little hot water to extract all the strength from the grounds. Next, pour into the liquid, cold, Jersey Dairy, or any other pure country milk, until the coffee assumes a rich golden color, and after it reaches a boiling-heat once more, set it back. Should the milk be boiled separately, the richness, combined with its albumen, will be confined to the top; whereas, if added cold, and boiled with the coffee, it will be thoroughly incorporated with the liquid, adding materially to its rich flavor and delicate aroma.
[Never substitute a woolen for the muslin strainer, as that fabric, being animal should never come in contact with heat; while cotton or linen, being of vegetable fibre, is easily washed clean and dried. Neither should tin be used, as that lets the fine coffee through, and clouds the liquid, which should be clear. To extract its full strength, coffee should invariably be ground as fine as oatmeal or finely-ground hominy, and protracted boiling dissipates the aroma and destroys its fine flavor.]
After grating through a coarse grater, put the chocolate in a stewpan with a coffee-cup or more of hot water; let it boil up two or three minutes, and add plenty of good rich country milk to make it of the right consistency. Too much water tends to make this otherwise delightful beverage insipid.
[Good Cocoa is made in the same manner.]
Two dozen fresh eggs; 1 gallon rich milk; 11⁄2pounds powdered sugar; 2 pints cognac brandy, or Santa Cruz rum—or1⁄2pint cognac and1⁄2pint Jamaica, or Santa Cruz rum. Break the eggs carefully, separating the whites from the yolks; add the sugar to the latter, and with a strong spoon beat until very light, adding gradually 2 dessert spoonfuls of powdered mace or nutmeg. Next, add the liquor, pouring in slowly, stirring actively at the same time; after which add the milk in like manner. Meanwhile—having whipped the whites of the eggs with an egg-beater into a light froth—pour the egg-nog into a bowl, add the white froth, and decorate with crimson sugar or nutmeg, and serve. The foregoing proportions will be sufficient to make fourteen pints of very superior egg-nog.
Take 2 pounds of Whittaker's Star ham, in small pieces—2⁄3lean and1⁄3fat—the hock portion of the ham is best for this purpose. Have ready two fresh calves tongues, boiled and skinned nicely, and cut like the ham. Put these in a kettle, along with 2 good-sized onions, and cover with cold water, boiling slowly until quite tender; when add 1 pound of either fresh or canned tomatoes, stirring for half-an-hour, adding a little hot water, if in danger of burning. Add to the mixture, at the same time, these spices: plenty of best mustard, and a little ground cloves, along with Worcestershire or Challenge sauce, allowing the mixture to simmer five minutes. When cool enough, pour into a wooden bowl, and after chopping fine, pound the mixture well, while it is warm, with a potato-masher. After themass has cooled it will spread like butter. Should additional seasoning be desired, it can be worked in at any desired time. If not rich enough to suit some palates, one-fourth of a pound best butter may be worked in.
The bread used for the sandwiches must be quite cold and perfectly fresh—cutting carefully in thin slices—using for this purpose a long, thin-bladed and quite sharp knife. Take a thin shaving from the bottom of the loaf, then from the top an inch-wide slice, after removing the crust. Care must be taken to cut without either tearing or pressing the bread. Spread on one side of each slice—as if using butter—and after joining the slices, cut the same to suit the taste.
[As the best bread is the only kind to be used in making sandwiches—without wishing to make invidious distinctions—I must say that Engleberg furnishes from his bakery (on Kearney street), the best I have ever used for this purpose, as it cuts without breaking, and does not dry so soon as other breads I have made use of.]
To prepare Welsh rabbit, or rare-bit—both names being used to designate this popular and appetizing dish, which has ever been a favorite with gourmands and good livers, both ancient and modern—take one-half pound of best cheese—not, however, over nine months old—Davidson's, Gilroy, California, or White's, Herkimer County, New York, and cut in small pieces. Put over a slow fire, in a porcelain-lined kettle; when it begins to melt pour in three tablespoonfuls rich milk or cream, and a little good mustard. Stir from the time the cheese begins to melt, to prevent scorching. Have ready a quite hot dish; coverthe bottom with toast, buttered upon both sides, upon which pour the melted cheese, spreading evenly over. If you prefer, you may use as a condiment a little mustard, pepper or any favorite sauce. This is a dish that must be eaten as soon as taken from the fire.
Take1⁄2pound butter;1⁄2pound fine sugar; 9 eggs; 3 pints of milk; 11⁄2ounces of best baking powder, and 21⁄4pounds sifted flour. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream; add the yolks of the eggs, the milk, and half the flour; mix well, with the whites of the eggs, beaten to a staunch snow, and add the remainder of the flour. Bake in waffle irons, well greased and heated. When baked, the tops may be dusted well with fine sugar, or with a mixture of sugar and powdered cinnamon.
Mix, with 1 pound of chopped veal, or other meat, 1 egg, a little butter, 1 cup, or less, of bread crumbs—moistening the whole with milk or the juice of the stewed meat. Season with summer savory. Make into small balls, and fry brown.
Take 3 pounds of lean beef; chop as fine as coarse hominy, and put in a vessel, covering the meat with cold water. Cover the vessel tightly, and let boil for four hours, carefully keeping the beef just covered with the water. Pass through a colander, pressing out all the juice with a potato-masher, strain through a cotton cloth, and add a little salt. A glass of sherry wine decidedly improves beef-tea.
Put1⁄2pound boiled crab meat in a mortar, and pound to a smooth paste, adding the juice of a lemon. Season with pepper and salt, with a pinch of curry powder, and mix the paste well with 6 ounces best butter. Cut slices of bread rather thin, trim off the crust, and spread.
The best quality of pork, as a matter of course, is that fed and slaughtered in the country. Corn, or any kind of grain-fed, or, more especially, milk-fed pork, as every one knows, who is not of the Hebrew faith, which entirely ignores this—when properly prepared, well-flavored, oleaginous production—and is fond of pork, from the succulent sucking pig, the toothsome and fresh spare-rib, unrivalled as a broil, to the broiled or boiled ham, and side-meat bacon of the full-grown porker, is vastly superior to the meat of the slop and garbage-fed animal raised and slaughtered in the city—more especially as the butchering of hogs in San Francisco is at this time entirely monopolized by the Chinese population, who seem to have a warm side, in fact a most devoted affection, for the hog, surpassing even that of the bog-trotters of the "Ould Sod" for the traditional pet-pig that "ates, drinks and slapes wid the ould man, the ould woman, and the childer." Charles Lamb's account of the discovery of the delights of roast pig, and invention of that luxury by the Chinaman whose bamboo hut was burned down, in raking his pig, semi-cremated from the ashes, burned his fingers—which, naturally clapping into his mouth to ease the pain—which was changed to delight, causing John'storture-smitten visage to assume in an instant a broad grin of satisfaction at the discovery—is undoubtedly correct, or at least the love for the pork exhibited by the "Heathen Chinee" cannot reasonably be accounted for in any other way. In order, then, to get the best article of pork—wholesome, toothsome, and, what is most important of all, entirely free from any form of disease or taint, great care should be taken to make selections from the small lots fed and slaughtered in the country, and brought into the city most generally in the fall season, and which are to be procured at the stall or shop of any reputable and reliable dealer. Select a carcass of one hundred, or less, pounds, with flesh hard and white, and thin skin. For salting, cut in pieces six by eight inches, and, after having rubbed thoroughly in salt—neither too fine nor too coarse—take a half-barrel, sprinkle the bottom well with salt, and lay the pieces of pork in tightly; then add salt, and follow with another layer of pork, until the whole is packed, with salt sprinkled on top. Set in a cool place, and, after three or four days, make a brine of boiling water with salt—which, when cool, should be sufficiently strong to float an egg—stir in a half pound of brown sugar, pour over the meat sufficient to cover, and place on top a stone heavy enough to keep the pork weighted down.
Home-made lard is undoubtedly the best as well as cheapest. If leaf is not to be had, take 10 lbs of solid white pork, as fat as possible, which is quite as good, if not better; cut in pieces uniformly the size of your finger, and put in a vessel with a thick bottom—one of iron is preferable—and adding 1 pint of water, put on the range; keep tightly covered until the water has evaporated in steam, when leave off the cover, letting it cook slowly, until the scraps turn a light brown, when take off, and while still quite warm, strain through a colander, pressing the scraps hard with a potato-masher; pour the liquid into cans and set away. The next day it will be found snow-white, solid and of a fine and equal consistence; and for cooking purposes, quite as good as fresh churned butter in making biscuits, any kind of pastry, or frying eggs.
[In frying lard keep a careful watch and see that it does not scorch.]
Take the very best pork you can get—one-third fat and two-thirds lean—and chop on a block with a kitchen cleaver. When half chopped, season with black pepper, salt and sage, rubbed through a sieve, and then finish the chopping; but do not cut the meat too fine, as in that case the juice of the meat will be lost. Make the mixture up into patties, and fry on a common pan, placed in the oven of the stove, taking care not to cook them hard. Veal is a good substitute for the lean pork in making these sausages, which are much better if made one day before cooking.
The following I have found the best manner of making any kind of pot-pie. White meat, such as chicken, quail or nice veal, is decidedly the best for the purpose. Stew the meat until tender, in considerable liquid as when you put into the paste much of that will be absorbed. In making the paste take 1 quart of flour and 2 tablespoonfuls of baking powder, rubbed well into the flour,1⁄4pound butter or sweet lard, and a little salt; mixwith milk or water into a soft dough; roll1⁄2an inch thick; cut to size, and lay in a steamer for 15 minutes to make light, then put in and around the stew; cooking slowly for ten minutes.
Put into a saucepan1⁄4pound butter with a little flour; cook together and stir till cool; then add a gill of cream, a little cayenne pepper, salt, and a dessert-spoonful of East India Curry Powder. Mix well together, and add 1 pound boiled crab meat, chopped fine; stir well together—make very hot and serve. The addition of a glass of white wine adds to the flavor of this curry.
Cut bread in slices1⁄2an inch thick; first taking a thin crust from top, bottom and sides, or shave the loaf before cutting—otherwise the crust will scorch before the soft part is sufficiently toasted.
To make a delicious cream toast, mix well a teaspoonful of corn-starch with a little cold milk, and put in a stewpan with a piece of butter the size of an egg. Pour in hot milk, and stir two minutes, adding a little salt—a little sugar is also an improvement—and pour over the toast while hot.
Four eggs, well beaten; 1 quart of milk; 1 quart of flour; 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder; one tablespoonful sugar, and a little salt. Cook in best lard, and serve with hard or liquid sauce, highly flavored with California brandy or white wine.
It is a mistaken idea (labored under by many), that hash can be made of waste material, that would otherwise be thrown away. This is a most excellent and palatable dish if properly prepared. Take the shank, or other parts of good beef you may have at hand, and boil, with as little water as possible, until quite tender, and let stand until quite cold. Then take of potatoes, that have been peeled before boiling, one-third the amount of the meat used, and chop moderately fine, adding plenty of pepper and salt, to taste. Next, chop two or three onions fine, and stew them in some of the liquid in which the meat was boiled, dredging in a little flour, and when thoroughly done, put in the hash, and chop and mix thoroughly. If you think the mass requires moistening add a little of the fat and juice. Put the whole in a pan, and bake in a quick oven until slightly browned at top and bottom.
Should you have good corned-beef—not too salt—it is very nice made in this manner. Use the marrow from the bones in making hash.
Chop fine 8 or 10 cold boiled potatoes; heat a pan (cast-iron is preferable,) quite hot; put in butter the size of an egg, and as soon as melted add the potatoes; salt and pepper; slightly stirring frequently, and, when heated thoroughly, stir in four well-beaten eggs. Serve on a hot dish.
Break the macaroni rather short; wash and put in salted water; boil about twenty minutes. Drain off the water, replace it with a cup of good milk and 1 tablespoonful of best butter,and as soon as boiling hot put in a baking-dish. If you like cheese, grate over it the best California article—old cheese should never be used—and bake to a light brown.
For stewed macaroni omit the baking and the cheese, if you like.
To make drawn-butter, take two tablespoonfuls of flour; good butter, the size of an egg; a little milk, and make to a smooth paste. Then work in slowly one-half pint of water, until the flour is cooked. Season to taste. The foregoing will be found a good basis for nearly all hot sauces, for fish, beet, and other vegetables, as well as for puddings.
Two boxes of currants, washed and stemmed; 3 pounds sugar, 1 tablespoonful allspice, 1 tablespoonful of cloves, 1 tablespoonful cinnamon; boil half-an-hour.
There are various modes of canning fruits, almost every housekeeper having a method of her own. For the benefit of those who are at loss in this particular, we give the following mode—which we fully endorse as the best within our knowledge—made use of by Mrs. George W. Ladd, of Bradford, Massachusetts, whose fruits, prepared in this way, have repeatedly taken the first premium at the Agricultural Fair, held in the Old Bay State. This lady certainly deserves the thanks of all interested in this important matter, for her liberality in giving the public the benefit of her knowledge and experience in this line, as detailed in the following, published in theNew York Graphicof August 15, 1883:
"As the season of ripe fruit advances, I prepare such quantities of syrup as I think I may need, in this way: Three pounds of granulated sugar to one gallon of water and boil twenty minutes; this I put in glass jars, when cool, and set away for future use. Peaches, quinces, pears, apples, plums, pine apples, rhubarb, crab apples, and, in fact, all fruits of this kind, I peel, quarter and place in a dish of cold water (to prevent discoloration), until I have prepared enough to fill a jar: I then pack them solid as possible in a jar, and then fill the jar with the syrup previously prepared. I then place a wire stand in the bottom of my preserving kettle, on which to place the jar, then fill the kettle with cold water until the jar is two-thirds covered; leave the jar open, but cover the kettle and boil until the fruit is sufficiently soft; have ready a little boiling syrup, if needed, to fill the jar full to overflowing. Then place the rubber band around the neck of the jar and screw the cover on as tightly as possible; then in from three to five minutes give the cover another turn, in order to be sure it is air tight, and you will have no mortal trouble with it. I use Mason's jars with metallic porcelain covers."
Quinces for canning or preserving should be kept in a dry place for thirty days after taking from the trees, in order to give them richness and flavor. Peel and cut to the proper size, carefully saving skins and cores. Put the last named in a porcelain kettle and boil until quite tender, when strain through a cotton-bag; afterwards put the juice back in the kettle, and add sugar as directed in the directions for canning fruit. Boil slowly for half-an-hour, taking off the scum as it rises, then set away to cool, and can the fruit as directed in the receipt for canning.
In making this delightful ketchup, take 25 pounds of fresh, or two 8 lb. cans of tomatoes, and slice, not too thin, adding five medium sized onions cut fine. Put these, with plenty of salt, in a porcelain kettle; adding, with a handful of hot green peppers, or a less quantity, if dried, 1 ounce of white ginger, chopped fine, 1 ounce of horse-radish, and1⁄2ounce each of ground cloves and allspice, and 1 lemon, with seeds removed and cut small. After letting these boil for three hours, work through a sieve and return to the kettle along with a pint of wine vinegar, 2 tablespoonfuls sugar, 2 of good mustard, a teacupful of Challenge or Worcestershire Sauce, and let boil for 2 or 3 minutes, and set off. To prevent fermentation, stir in a teacupful of high-proof California brandy. If too thick, when cold reduce with vinegar.
Take1⁄2pound best mustard and enough wine vinegar, mixed with1⁄3boiling water, 1 large teaspoonful of salt, 1 teaspoonful of sugar, juice of half a lemon, and mix to a thin batter, and put in a common glass jar and keep stopped tight. If pure mustard is used, treated in this way, it will keep good for months.
[If you desire the best article of mustard, I think E. R. Durkee & Co's is the best I have ever used, although Colman's ranks equally high, if you can get the genuine unadulterated article, which can be had by procuring Crosse & Blackwell's London brand, for which Messrs. Richards and Harrison are the San Francisco agents.]
Into a teacupful of hot vinegar, in which has been dissolved sufficient sugar to make slightly sweet, add a handful of mint chopped quite fine. Serve hot.
Poached eggs are always tasteless, and also unhealthy, owing to the albumen going into the water into which they are dropped, giving it a white and milky appearance—taking away a portion of the richness which should remain in the egg, rendering it indigestible, and of course, unwholesome.
Select a good, tender piece either of beef or mutton—veal and pork can also be nicely roasted in the same way—place in your iron saucepan or pot one tablespoonful of good lard or half as much butter, and an onion, cut fine; let your onion fry to a light brown, and put in your meat, first having washed, dried and salted it. Put the cover on and let stand until it is pretty well browned; then add water, unless in danger of burning. Add only enough water, from time to time, to keep it from burning; turn it frequently so that it may brown on all sides. When tender, it will come forth brown and juicy. Just before serving, see that there is enough water for gravy; if there is not, you can take out the meat and add enough, but not too much, hot water, and then pour it over the meat.
Chop into dice1⁄4pound of breakfast bacon, a small tomato, 4 mushrooms, mince very fine a small onion; add pepper to taste, put in a frying pan and cook slowly until the lean is done; take off and put in a warm place to keep hot. This is sufficient for 6 eggs.
Beat the yolks and white of 8 eggs separately until light, then beat together; add a little salt and 1 tablespoonful cream. Have in the pan a piece of butter, and when boiling hot pour in the omelette and shake until it begins to stiffen; then let it brown. Fold double and serve hot.
Sift into an earthen dish 3 spoonfuls flour and1⁄2teaspoonful baking powder; add to this a little of the clam juice,1⁄2a cup of cream and 2 eggs, well beaten. Mince a pint of clams and mix with the batter. Put 2 or 3 spoonfuls of lard into a frying-pan, and when boiling, drop in the batter, by spoonfuls, to fry; after frying a minute, take from the pan, drain and serve.
If the tripe is boiled tender, cut in pieces 2 inches square, season with salt and pepper and dip in a batter made of eggs, milk and flour, and fry in sweet lard, or drippings from roast or corned beef.
Peel large potatoes, cut them round and round as you would pare an apple; fry in the best lard until a light brown; sprinkle with salt and serve hot.
Wash and rub new potatoes with a coarse towel, drop in boiling water, and boil until done, taking care that they are not over boiled. Have ready, in a saucepan, some milk or creamwith butter, a little chopped parsley, pepper and salt; drain the potatoes, add them to the cream with a teaspoonful of corn-starch, soaked in a little milk; let it come to a simmer, and serve at once.
Take large smooth tomatoes, cut them in slices1⁄2an inch thick, dip in bread crumbs or cracker dust and fry a light brown, in half lard and half butter.
Take 3 small summer squashes and 3 ears of corn; chop the squashes and cut the corn from the cobs. Put into a saucepan a spoonful of lard or butter, and when very hot an onion; fry a little; add the corn and squash, 1 tomato and 1 green pepper, cut small, and salt to taste. Cover closely and stir frequently to prevent scorching.
To make mixed pickles, cut small cucumbers crosswise in about 4 pieces; onions, if not very small, in 2, and peppers, if the ordinary size, in 4 pieces. Should you have green tomatoes, cut them small. Use a less amount of onions and peppers than cucumbers; mix all together with a few bay leaves. Next, take a tub or keg, and, having covered the bottom with fine salt, put on a layer of pickles, adding alternate layers of each, leaving that of salt on top. Cover with a cotton cloth, and lay on a stone or wooden weight. Let them remain three days; then take out, rinse in cold water, but do not soak, and put them in a basket or sack to drain for twelve hours. Have ready plenty of California wine vinegar, made hot, but not boiling, addingthe following—cloves, allspice, green ginger, and whole mustard seed, with 1 coffee-cup sugar. When the vinegar is at scalding heat pour over the pickles and cover.
Take 4 nice cabbages, chopped fine; 1 quart onions, chopped fine; 2 quarts—or sufficient to cover the mixture—best wine vinegar, adding two tablespoonfuls each of ground mustard, black pepper, cinnamon, celery salt, 1 of mace, and 1 coffee-cup sugar. Pack the cabbages and onions in alternate layers, with a little fine salt between, and let stand until next day; then scald the vinegar with the spices and sugar, and pour over the cabbages and onions. Repeat this the next day; and on the third, heat the whole scalding hot, let it cool, and put in jars, when it is fit for use at once.
Pickled tripe is very nice—and that sold by John Bayle, in the California Market, which is cleaned by steam process, and is quite tender and unsalted is a superior article. To prepare for pickling, cut in pieces about four inches square, say five or six pounds. Put into a kettle; cover with boiling water, adding a handful of salt; let stand fifteen minutes; take out and drain, keeping warm. Mix one-fourth water with the best wine vinegar—to which add cloves, allspice and mace, with 1 teacupful sugar; heat, and pour over the tripe, and set away to cool. Tripe prepared in this way is the best for broiling or frying.
The best way I have found for cooking this delicious game bird is, first, after cleaning, to cut off the wings and legs, as,with the back, these parts are of little account; next, split the birds in the centre, taking out the breast-bone, and you have two heavy pieces; if the bird is large, divide again; do not wash, but wipe with a damp cloth. Season with pepper and salt, and broil with butter quite rare; then lay in a porcelain-lined pan, with butter and currant or grape jelly, adding a little cayenne pepper, and a small quantity of port or white wine.
[Venison steak may be cooked in the same manner.]
When properly prepared the brains of calves and sheep form a very inviting dish. Lay fresh brains in cold, salted water for fifteen minutes; then put them in boiling water, and parboil for ten minutes. After cleaning off the outer membrane—for frying—split them, and season with salt and pepper, and run them through egg, beaten with a little milk; roll them in cracker-dust, and fry to a light brown in equal parts of sweet lard and butter.
For stewed brains, cut half the size for frying and put in a stewpan, with a lump of butter, pepper and salt, a little water or soup-stock, and one-half an onion, chopped fine and stewed tender. Add this, and cook slowly for a few minutes, when put in two or three spoonfuls of milk or cream, and a little white wine or juice of lemon.
[Sweet-breads may be cooked in the same manner.]
Cut the ribs in pieces of a finger's length and the width of two fingers. Put in the kettle with two onions, salt and pepper, and cover with cold water. Let them stew slowly for twohours, and then put in 3 potatoes, 2 purple-top turnips, which have been peeled and cut, and left in cold water at least two hours; also add two tomatoes. This stew must have plenty of gravy, which can be made by working a little flour and butter with a few spoonfuls of rich milk, cooking five minutes.
[An Irish stew may be made in the foregoing manner by substituting ribs of mutton.]
In order to broil oysters properly, take those of the largest size, drain, and dry in a cloth, and lay carefully on a nice wire gridiron that will hold them tight; sprinkle slightly with salt and pepper, and put them over a good clear fire for a short time, and turn, taking care not to broil too much; serve with the best butter on a hot dish.
Take enough pumpkin or squash to make 1 quart when cooked; and after it is boiled or steamed, rub through a sieve, and work in 3 eggs well beaten, with rich milk sufficient to make the proper consistence, adding sugar to taste; season with ginger and allspice, and bake in cups or dishes to a nice brown. May be eaten hot, but is better cold.
Take 1 pint grated bread crumbs, 1 cup suet, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs and1⁄2pound of fresh figs. Wash the figs in warm water, and dry in a cloth; chop the suet and figs together, and add the other ingredients, also 1 nutmeg, grated. Put in a mould or floured bag, and boil 3 hours. Serve with hard sauce.
Take 6 good cooking apples, cut in slices1⁄4of an inch thick; have a pan of fresh hot lard ready, drop the slices in and fry brown; sprinkle a little sugar over them and serve hot.
In my long experience I have found that the best way to stew oysters, is, after having saved all the juice of the oysters, to put it in a stew pan with a little boiling water, and a good lump of butter worked in a little flour, adding pepper and salt. Let these boil for two minutes, or long enough to cook the flour; then put in the oysters, and the moment the stew boils up again add a little sweet cream or country milk, and when it boils the stew is cooked and should be set away from a hot fire. Cooked in this way, good oysters will never be tough and tasteless as is too often the case.
Cut the white stalks of celery the length of asparagus, boil in as little salted water as possible until quite tender. The root, cut in slices, is equally good. Dress with drawn butter made with the water in which the celery was boiled. This vegetable is said to be a sedative and antidote to nervous debility.
For a roast of beef, select from the ribs nearest the point of the shoulder-blade, running backward. For steaks, choose that with the diamond bone on either side. For chops of mutton or lamb, select the rib. For roasting, choose the loin or saddle;and for boiling, the leg of mutton—but not of lamb, the latter being best roasted. For corned-beef, select parts commonly known as the navel and plate pieces, and next best to these, the brisket and rounds.
Take 1 quart of rich milk;3⁄4of a coffee-cup of rice, well washed, and a lump of butter the size of an egg, and 1 nutmeg. This pudding must be made quite sweet, and without eggs. Bake three hours in a moderate oven, stirring occasionally the first hour. Bake until the top is a dark brown. To be eaten cold.
[This pudding—which was a common dish in the last century—was generally baked on Saturday for Sunday's dessert.]
To 1 quart of milk, add 3 or 4 eggs, well beaten, with sugar enough to make rather sweet, and season with nutmeg or cinnamon. Put in a baking-pan and cover with slices of nice bread, buttered on both sides. Bake until the bread is nicely browned, taking care, however, not to bake too much, which would make it watery. Good either hot or cold.
Pick boiled codfish in small bits, adding equal quantities of mashed potato and fish, with two eggs, well beaten, seasoning with black pepper, and roll in a little flour, the shape of a small cake. Fry in sweet lard, or nice drippings, to a nice brown, but not hard.
Remove from ripe grapes all imperfect and broken berries; line an earthen jar with grape leaves and fill with grapes. To 2 quarts vinegar add 1 pint white sugar,1⁄2ounce ground cinnamon, and1⁄4ounce cloves. Let vinegar and spices boil five minutes; then add the sugar, and, when moderately cool, pour over the grapes.
Peel and slice some large-sized tomatoes, and put in a colander to drain. Cut in small pieces 1 pint of mushrooms, adding some minced parsley, a slice of finely chopped ham, some summer savory, thyme, salt, and cayenne pepper. Put all these in a saucepan with some butter, and1⁄2cup of water. Boil together ten or fifteen minutes, and set away to cool. Have ready some fine bread crumbs, add to them seasoning, and the yolks of 2 or 3 well-beaten eggs. Mix the mushrooms and tomatoes together; pour into a baking-dish a portion of it; then sprinkle over it a layer of the bread-crumbs and add the remainder of the tomatoes; cover with bread-crumbs, and put some bits of butter on top. Bake half-an-hour in a well heated oven.
Have medium-sized flounders or smelts, cleaned with as little cutting as possible; wash thoroughly in salted water, and dry on a towel; mix in a saucer three tablespoonfuls of olive oil, and 1 of vinegar, with salt and pepper; score the sides of the fish at intervals of an inch, with a sharp knife, and rub all over with the mixture of oil, vinegar and seasoning. Place them between the bars of a buttered gridiron, and broil a light brown over a moderate fire.
There is no more healthy vegetable or article of diet in general use than onions. Taken regularly, they greatly promote the health of the lungs and digestive organs. Used in a cooked—either fried, roasted or boiled—or in a raw state, their virtues are marked and beneficial. They are among the most popular of old-time remedies for colds, having the advantage of always being readily procured, and it is said that affections of the lungs and liver have been largely benefited, and even cured, by a free use of this palatable esculent. They are also resorted to as a sedative and remedy for sleeplessness.
The best mode I have ever followed for singeing fowls, is to put 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of alcohol in a tin dish and light with a match, thus making a large flame, without smoke—that is apt to injure the flavor of the bird.
The correct test of coffee or tea, is to make use of a thin china or delf-ware cup, by which the lips are brought close together, while a thicker cup would separate them widely apart. In testing the quality and flavor of wines, the thinnest quality of glass is for the same reason essentially requisite. Our grandmothers, who lived a hundred years ago, understood the philosophy of this when they expressed the opinion, that it was only possible to get the true taste, fine flavor, and delicate aroma of tea, by drinking it out of a china cup.
In selecting ware for a range, especial care should be taken to see that the bottoms of all the cooking utensils are perfectly level, for if convex, they will invariably burn in the centre. An iron grating or gridiron—1⁄4of an inch in depth—placed between the pan and the top of the range, will be found highly useful while cooking, as this increases the heat and lessens the liability of burning.
All herbs should be gathered just before blossoming and dried in the shade, or in a dark dry room, as exposure to the sun both takes away flavor and color. When perfectly dry, put in a clean sack and hang in a dry room or loft, and when wanted for use, rub through a sieve. Herbs treated in this way, if left dry, will retain their strength and remain perfectly good for years. As long as the outer membrane of the leaves remains unbroken, the aroma cannot escape.
Take 15 cents worth of powdered borax and a small bottle of Persian Insect Powder, and mix thoroughly together. In order to use successfully, take a feather from the wing of a turkey or goose, by the quill, and dipping the feather end in the powder, spring the feather as a bow; in this way you can thoroughly rid the room of flies. Before using on roaches, set the doors wide open, as they will start for the open air; generally, however, dying on the way. To rid cupboards or closets of ants, sprinkle wherever these minute pests "most do congregate." An easy and cheap remedy to rid pantries of cock-roaches is said to befresh cucumber parings laid in their haunts. We have never tested this remedy, but can vouch for the efficacy of the above mentioned compound.
The best thing for cleaning tin-ware is common soda; dampen a cloth, dip it in the soda, rub the ware briskly, after which wipe dry.
Iron rust may be removed by a little salt mixed with lemon-juice; put in the sun, and if necessary use two applications.
An old time and effectual remedy for mildew is to dip the stained cloth in butter-milk and lay in the sun.
Take largest oysters, and put in a chafing-dish in their own liquor. Season with red or black pepper, adding plenty of good butter, with a little Worcestershire sauce or walnut catsup. After roasting—taking care not to roast too much—serve on buttered toast.
After the fish has been soaked twelve hours, boil slowly for twenty-five or thirty minutes, or until it will break up nicely. Then pick all the bones out, but do not pick the fish too fine. Have ready three hard-boiled eggs; rub the yolks in plenty of good butter; put into the kettle enough milk to heat the fish; when hot stir in the butter, with the fish. At the same time have potatoes peeled and boiled. Cut, not too small, with the whites of the eggs cut small; season with pepper. Serve hot with buttered toast at the bottom of the dish.
After soaking and boiling the fish, break up small, and picking out all the bones, have ready potatoes, peeled and boiled, equal to the amount of fish. Put them in a wooden bowl or tray. Pound or mash well with a potato masher. Work to soft dough, with butter and well-beaten eggs, and milk or cream. Season with pepper and salt, if salt is required. Put it in a dish suitable to set on the table, and bake a few minutes, or until light brown.