Fricasseed Oysters.
One hundred oysters (about two quarts), four large table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one table-spoonful of flour, a speck of cayenne, salt, yolks of three eggs. Brown two table-spoonfuls of the butter, and add to it the parsley, cayenne and salt and the oysters, well drained. Mix together the flour and the remainder of the butter and stir into the oysters when they begin to curl. Then add yolks, well beaten, and take immediately from the fire. Serve on a hot dish with a garnish of fried bread and parsley.
Creamed Oysters.
A pint of cream, one quart of oysters, a small piece of onion, a very small piece of mace, a table-spoonful of flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Let the cream, with the onion and mace, come to a boil. Mix flour with a little cold milk or cream, and stir into the boiling cream. Let the oysters come to a boil in their own liquor, and skim carefully. Drain off all the liquor, and turn the oysters into the cream. Skim out the mace and onions, and serve.
Crôustade of Oysters.
Have a loaf of bread baked in a round two-quart basin. When two or three days old, with a sharp knife cut out the heart of the bread, being careful not to break the crust. Break up the crumbs very fine, and dry them slowly in an oven; then quickly fry three cupfuls of them in two table-spoonfuls of butter. As soon as they begin to look golden and are crisp, they are done. It takes about two minutes over a hot fire, stirring all the time. Put one quart of cream to boil, and when it boils, stir in three table-spoonfuls of flour, which has been mixed with half a cupful of cold milk. Cook eight minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Put a layer of the sauce into thecrôustadethen a layer of oysters, which dredge well with salt and pepper; then another layer of sauce and one of fried crumbs. Continue this until thecrôustadeis nearly full, having the last layer a thick one of crumbs. It takes three pints of oysters for this dish, and about three teaspoonfuls of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper. Bake slowly half an hour. Serve with a garnish of parsley around the dish,
Escaloped Oysters.
Two quarts of oysters, half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of cream or milk, four teaspoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two quarts of stale bread crumbs, and spice, if you choose. Butter the escalop dishes, and put in a layer of crumbs and then one of oysters. Dredge with the salt and pepper, and put small pieces of butter here and there in the dish. Now have another layer of oysters, seasoning as before; then add the milk, and, finally, a thick layer of crumbs, which dot with butter. Bake twenty minutes in a rather quick oven. The crumbs must be light and flakey. The quantity given above is enough to fill two dishes.
Escaloped Oysters, No. 2.
Put a layer of rolled crackers in an oval dish, and then a layer of oysters, and lay on small pieces of butter. Dredge with salt and pepper, and moisten well with milk (or equal parts of milk and water). Add another layer of cracker and of oysters, and butter, dredge and moisten as before. Continue these alternate layers until the dish is nearly full; then cover with a thin layer of cracker and pieces of butter. If the dish be a large one, holding about two quarts, it will require an hour and a half or two hours to bake.
Oysters Served in Escalop Shells.
The shells may be tin, granite-ware, or silver-plated, or, the natural oyster or scollop shells. The ingredients are: one quart of oysters, half a pint of cream or milk, one pint of bread crumbs, one table-spoonful of butter, if cream is used, or three, if milk; salt and pepper, a grating of nutmeg and two table-spoonfuls of flour. Drain all the liquor from the oysters into a stew-pan. Let it come to a boil, and skim; then add the cream or milk, with which the flour should first be mixed. Let this boil two minutes, and add the butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg, and then the oysters. Take from the fire immediately. Taste to see if seasoned enough. Have the shells buttered, and sprinkled lightly with crumbs. Nearly fill them with the prepared oysters; then cover thickly with crumbs. Put the shells in a baking-pan, and bake fifteen minutes. Serve very hot, on a large platter, which garnish with parsley. The quantity given above will fill twelve common-sized shells.
Oyster Chartreuse.
One quart of oysters, one pint of cream, one small slice of onion, half a cupful of milk, whites of four eggs, two table-spoonfuls of butter, salt, pepper, two table-spoonfuls of flour, one cupful of fine, dry bread crumbs, six potatoes. Pare and boil the potatoes. Mash fine and light, and add the milk, salt, pepper, one spoonful of butter, and then the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Have a two-quart charlotte russe mould well buttered, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with the bread crumbs (there must be butter enough to hold the crumbs). Line the mould with the potato, and let stand for a few minutes. Put the cream and onion on to boil. Mix the flour with a little cold milk or cream--about one-fourth of a cupful--and stir into the boiling cream. Season well with salt and pepper, and cook eight minutes. Let the oysters come to a boil in their own liquor. Skim them, and drain of all the juice. Take the piece of onion from the sauce, and add the oysters. Taste to see if seasoned enough, and turn gently into the mould. Cover with the remainder of the potato, being careful not to put on too much at once, as in that case the sauce would be forced to the top. When covered, bake half an hour in a hot oven. Take from the oven ten minutes before dishing time, and let it stand on the table. Place a large platter over the mould and turn both dish and mould at the same time. Remove the mould very gently. Garnish the dish with parsley, and serve. A word of caution: Every part of the mould must have a thick coating of the mashed potato, and when the covering of potato is put on no opening must be left for sauce to escape.
To Pickle Oysters.
Two hundred large oysters, half a pint of vinegar, half a pint of white wine, four spoonfuls of salt, six spoonfuls of whole black pepper and a little mace. Strain the liquor, and add the above-named ingredients. Let boil up once, and pour, while boiling hot, over the oysters. After these have stood ten minutes pour off the liquor, which, as well as the oysters, should then be allowed to get cold. Put into a jar and cover tight. The oysters will keep some time.
LOBSTER.
Lobster, to be eatable, should be perfectly fresh. One of the tests of freshness is to draw back the tail, for if it springs into position again, it is safe to think the fish good. The time of boiling varies with the size of the lobster and in different localities. In Boston, Rockport and other places on the Massachusetts coast the time is fifteen or twenty minutes for large lobsters and ten for small. The usual way is to plunge them into boiling water enough to cover, and to continue boiling them until they are done. Some people advocate putting the lobsters into cold water, and letting this come to a boil gradually. They claim that the lobsters do not suffer so much. This may be so, but it seems as if death must instantly follow the plunge into boiling water. Cooking a lobster too long makes it tough and dry. When, on opening a lobster, you find the meat clinging to the shell, and very much shrunken, you may be sure the time of boiling was too long. There are very few modes of cooking lobster in which it should be more than thoroughly heated, as much cooking toughens it and destroys the fine, delicate flavor of the meat.
To open a lobster.
Separate the tail from the body, and shake out the tom-ally, and, also, the "coral," if there is any, upon a plate. Then by drawing the body from the shell with the thumb, and pressing the part near the head against the shell with the first and second finger, you will free it from the stomach or "lady." Now split the lobster through the centre and, with a fork, pick the meat from the joints. Cut the under side of the tail shell open and take out the meat without breaking. On the upper part of that end of this meat which joined the body is a small piece of flesh, which should be lifted; and a strip of meat attached to it should be turned back to the extreme end of the tail. This will uncover a little vein, running the entire length, which must be removed. Sometimes this vein is dark, and sometimes as light as the meat itself. It and the stomach are the only parts not eatable. The piece that covered the vein should be turned again into place. Hold the claws on edge on a thick board, and strike hard with a hammer until the shell cracks. Draw apart, and take out the meat. If you have the claws lying flat on the board when you strike, you not only break the shell, but mash the meat, and thus spoil a fine dish. Remember that the stomach of the lobster is found near the head, and is a small, hard sack containing poisonous matter; and that the intestinal vein is found in the tail. These should always be carefully removed. When lobster is opened in the manner explained it may be arranged handsomely on a dish, and each person can season it at the table to suit himself.
Lobster Broiled in the Shell.
Divide the tail into two parts, cutting lengthwise. Break the large claws in two parts, and free the body from the small claws and stomach. Replace the body in the shell. Put the meat from the claws in half of the shells it came from, and put the other half of the shells where they will get hot. Put the lobster into the double broiler, and cook, with the meat side exposed to the fire, for eight minutes; then turn, and cook ten minutes longer. Place on a hot dish, and season slightly with salt and cayenne, and then well withmaître d' hôtelbutter. Cover the claws with the hot shells. Garnish the dish with parsley, and serve.
Broiled Lobster.
Split the meat of the tail and claws, and season well with salt and pepper. Cover with soft butter and dredge with flour. Place in the broiler, and cook over a bright fire until a delicate brown. Arrange on a hot dish, pour Bechamel sauce around, and serve.
Breaded Lobster.
Split the meat of the tail and claws, and season well with salt and pepper. Dip in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs, which let dry on the meat; and then repeat the operation. Place in a frying-basket, and plunge into boiling fat. Cook till a golden brown--about two minutes. Serve with Tartare sauce.
Stewed Lobster.
The meat of a two and a half pound lobster, cut into dice; two table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, one pint of stock or water, a speck of cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Let the butter get hot, and add the dry flour. Stir until perfectly smooth, when add the water, gradually, stirring all the while. Season to taste. Add the lobster; heat thoroughly, and serve.
Curry of Lobster.
The meat of a lobster weighing between two and three pounds, one very small onion, three table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, a scant one of curry powder, a speck of cayenne, salt, a scant pint of water or stock. Let the butter get hot; and then add the onion, cut fine, and fry brown. When the onion is cooked add the flour and curry powder, and stir all together for two minutes. Add stock; cook two minutes, and strain. Add the meat of lobster, cut into dice, and simmer five minutes. Serve with a border of boiled rice around the dish.
Devilled Lobster in the Shell.
Two lobsters, each weighing about two and a half pounds; one pint of cream, two table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, one of mustard, a speck of cayenne, salt, pepper, a scant pint of bread crumbs. Open the lobster and, with a sharp knife, cut the meat rather fine. Be careful, in opening, not to break the body or tail shells. Wash these shells and wipe dry; join them in the form of a boat, that they may hold the prepared meat. Put the cream on to boil. Mix the butter, flour, mustard and pepper together, and add three spoonfuls of the boiling cream. Stir all into the remaining cream, and cook two minutes. Add the lobster, salt and pepper, and boil one minute. Fill the shells with the mixture, and place in a pan, with something to keep them in position (a few small stones answer very well). Cover with the bread crumbs, and brown for twenty minutes in a hot oven. Serve on a long, narrow dish; the body in the centre, the tails at either end. Garnish with parsley. If for a large company, it would be best to have a broad dish, and have four lobsters, instead of two. This is a very handsome dish, and is really not hard to cook. There is always a little more of the prepared lobster than will go into the shells without crowding, and this is nice warmed and served on slices of crisp toast.
Escaloped Lobster.
Prepare the lobster as for devilling, omitting, however, the mustard. Turn into a buttered escollop dish, and cover thickly with crumbs. Brown in a hot oven, and serve.
White stock may be used instead of the cream. Many people who cannot eat lobster when prepared with cream or milk, find it palatable when prepared with stock or water.
Lobster Cutlets.
A lobster weighing between two and a half and three pounds, three table-spoonfuls of butter, half a cupful of stock or cream, one heaping table-spoonful of flour, a speck of cayenne, salt, two eggs, about a pint of bread crumbs, twelve sprigs of parsley. Cut the meat of the lobster into fine dice, and season with salt and pepper. Put the butter on to heat. Add the flour, and when smooth, add the stock and one well-beaten egg. Season. Boil up once, add the lobster, and take from the fire immediately. Now add a table-spoonful of lemon juice. Butter a platter, and pour the mixture upon it, to the thickness of about an inch. Make perfectly smooth with a knife, and set away to cool. When cool, cut into chops, to resemble cutlets. Dip in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs, being sure to have every part covered. Place in the frying-basket and plunge into boiling fat. Cook till a rich brown. It will take about two minutes. Drain for a moment in the basket; then arrange on a hot dish, and put part of a small claw in each one, to represent the bone in a cutlet. Put the parsley in the basket and plunge for a moment into the boiling fat. Garnish with this, or, pour a white or Bechamel sauce around the dish, and garnish with fresh parsley. The quantity given will make six or seven cutlets.
Canned Lobster.
Canned lobster can be used for cutlets, stews, curries and patties, can be escaloped, or served on toast.
OTHER SHELL-FISH.
Stewed Terrapins.
Put them into boiling water, and boil rapidly for ten or fifteen minutes, or until the nails will come out and the black skin rub off--the time depending upon the size of the fish. After this, put into fresh boiling water, and boil until the under shell cracks, which will be about three-quarters of an hour. Remove the under shell, throw away the sand and gall bags, take out intestines, and put the terrapins to boil again in the same water for an hour. Pick liver and meat from upper shell. Cut the intestines in small pieces, and add to this meat. Pour over all a quantity of the liquor in which the intestines were boiled sufficient to make very moist. Put away until the next day. For each terrapin, if of good size, a gill of cream and of wine, half a cupful of butter, yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, rubbed smooth, salt, pepper and cayenne are needed. Pour over the terrapin, let it come to a boil, and serve,--[Mrs. Furness, of Philadelphia.]
Soft-Shell Crabs.
Lift the shell at both sides and remove the spongy substance found on the back. Then pull off the "apron," which will be found on the under side, and to which is attached a substance like that removed from the back. Now wipe the crabs, and dip them in beaten egg, and then in fine bread or cracker crumbs. Fry in boiling fat from eight to ten minutes, the time depending upon the size of the crabs. Serve with Tartare sauce. Or, the egg and bread crumbs may be omitted. Season with salt and cayenne, and fry as before,
When broiled, crabs are cleaned, and seasoned with salt and cayenne; are then dropped into boiling water for one minute, taken up, and broiled over a hot fire for eight minutes. They are served withmaître d' hôtelbutter or Tartare sauce.
MEATS.
BOILING.
All pieces, unless very salt, should be plunged into boiling water, and boiled rapidly for fifteen minutes, to harden the albumen that is on the outside, and thus keep in the juices. The kettle should then be put back where it will just simmer, for meat that is boiled rapidly becomes hard and stringy, while that which is kept just at the boiling point (where the water hardly bubbles) will cut tender and juicy, provided there is any juiciness in it at the beginning. White meats, like mutton and poultry, are improved in appearance by having rice boiled with them; or, a still better way is to thickly flour a piece of coarse cotton cloth, pin the meat in it, and place in the boiling water. Meat cooked in this way will be extremely juicy.
Leg of Mutton.
Cook, as directed, in boiling water to cover. A leg that weighs eight or nine pounds will cook in one hour and a quarter if it is wanted done rare. Allow five minutes for every additional pound. Save the water for soups.
Lamb.
Cook the same as mutton. Serve with drawn butter.
Boiled Ham.
Wash the ham very clean, and put on with cold water to cover. Simmer gently five hours, and set the kettle aside for one or two hours. When nearly cold, take out the ham and draw off the skin. Cover with cracker crumbs and about three table-spoonfuls of sugar. Place in the oven, in a baking-pan, for thirty or forty minutes. Many people stick cloves into the fat part of the ham, and use only a few crumbs. The time given is for a ham weighing about twelve pounds; every pound over that will require fifteen minutes more. The fish kettle comes next to a regular ham kettle, and answers quite as well as both. If you have neither kettle, and no pot large enough to hold all the meat, cut off the knuckle, which will cook in about two hours. But this rather hurts the flavor and appearance of the dish.
Salt Tongue.
Soak over night, and cook from five to six hours. Throw into cold water and peel off the skin.
Fresh Tongue.
Put into boiling water to cover, with two table-spoonfuls of salt. Cook from five to six hours. Skin the same as salt tongue.
Corned Beef.
Wash, and put into cold water, if very salt; but such a piece as one finds in town and city shops, and which the butchers corn themselves, put into boiling water. Cook very slowly for six hours. This time is for a piece weighing eight or ten pounds. When it is to be served cold let it stand for one or two hours in the water in which it was boiled. If the beef is to be pressed, get either a piece of the brisket, flank or rattle-ran. Take out the bones, place in a flat dish or platter, put a tin sheet on top, and lay on it two or three bricks. If you have a corned beef press, use that, of course.
ROASTING.
There are two modes of roasting: one is to use a tin Kitchen before an open fire, and the other and more common way is to use a very hot oven. The former gives the more delicious favor, but the second is not by any means a poor way, if the meat is put on a rack, and basted constantly when in the oven. A large piece is best for roasting, this being especially true of beef. When meat is cooked in a tin kitchen it requires more time, because the heat is not equally distributed, as it is in the oven.
To prepare for roasting: Wipe the meat with a wet towel. Dredge on all sides with salt, pepper and flour; and if the kitchen is used, dredge the flour into that. Run the spit through the centre of the meat, and place very near the fire at first, turning as it browns. When the flour in the kitchen is browned, add a pint of hot water, and baste frequently with it, dredging with salt and flour after each basting. Roast a piece of beef weighing eight pounds fifty minutes, if to be rare, but if to be medium, roast one hour and a quarter, and ten minutes for each additional pound.
Roasting in the Oven.
Prepare the meat as before. Have a rack that will fit loosely into the baking-pan. Cover the bottom of the pan rather lightly with flour, put in rack, and then meat Place in a very hot oven for a few minutes, to brown the flour in the pan, and then add hot water enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Close the oven; and in about ten minutes, open, and baste the meat with the gravy. Dredge with salt, pepper and flour. Do this every fifteen minutes; and as soon as one side of the meat is brown, turn, and brown the other. Make gravy as before. Allow a quarter of an hour less in the oven than in the tin kitchen. The heat for roasting must be very great at first, to harden the albumen, and thus keep in the juices. After the meat is crusted over it is not necessary to keep up so great a heat, but for rare meats the heat must, of course, be greater than for those that are to be well done. The kitchen can be drawn back a little distance from the fire and the drafts closed. Putting salt on fresh meat draws out the juices, but by using flour a paste is formed, which, keeps in all the juices and also enriches and browns the piece. Never roast meat without having a rack in the pan. If meat is put into the water in the pan it becomes soggy and looses its flavor. A meat rack costs not more than thirty or forty cents, and the improvement in the looks and flavor of a piece of meat is enough to pay for it in one roasting. The time given for roasting a piece of beef is for rib roasts and sirloin. The same weight in the face or the back of the rump will require twenty minutes longer, as the meat on these cuts is in a very compact form. If a saddle or loin of mutton is to be roasted, cook the same time as beef if the weight is the same; but if a leg is to be roasted, one hour and a quarter is the time. Lamb should be cooked an hour and a half; veal, two hours and three-quarters; pork, three hours and a quarter. Ten minutes before dishing the dinner turn the gravy into a sauce-pan, skim off all the fat, and set on the stove. Let it come to a boil; then stir in one table-spoonful of flour, mixed with half a cupful of cold water. Season with salt and pepper, and cook two minutes. Serve the meat on a hot dish and the gravy in a hot tureen.
Boiled Rib Roast.
Either have the butcher remove the bones, or do it your-self by slipping a sharp knife between the flesh and bones--a simple matter with almost any kind of meat. Roll up the piece and tie with strong twine. Treat the same as plain roast beef, giving the same time as if it were a piece of rump (one hour and a half for eight pounds), as the form it is now in does not readily admit the heat to all parts. This piece of beef can be larded before roasting, or it can be larded and braised. Serve with tomato or horse-radish sauce.
Roast Beef, with Yorkshire Pudding.
A rib or sirloin roast should be prepared as directed for roasting. When within three-quarters of an hour of being done, have the pudding made. Butter a pan like that in which the meat is being cooked, and pour in the batter. Put the rack across the pan, not in it. Place the meat on the rack, return to the oven, and cook forty-five minutes. If you have only one pan, take up the meat, pour off the gravy and put in the pudding. Cut in squares, and garnish the beef with these. Another method is to have a pan that has squares stamped in it. This gives even squares and crust on all the edges, which baking in the flat pan does not. When the meat is roasted in the tin-kitchen, let the pudding bake in the oven for half an hour, and then place it under the meat to catch the drippings.
For the Yorkshire pudding, one pint of milk, two-thirds of a cupful of flour, three eggs and one scant teaspoonful of salt will be needed. Beat the eggs very light. Add salt and milk, and then pour about half a cupful of the mixture upon the flour; and when perfectly smooth, add the remainder. This makes a small pudding--about enough for six persons. Serve it hot.
Fillet of Veal, Roasted.
About eight or ten pounds of the fillet, ham force-meat (see rule for force-meat), half a cupful of butter, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two table-spoonfuls of salt, two lemons, half a pound of salt pork. Rub the salt and pepper into the veal; then fill the cavity, from which the bone was taken, with the force-meat. Skewer and tie the fillet into a round shape. Cut the pork in thin slices, and put half of these on a tin sheet that will fit into the dripping pan; place this in the pan, and the fillet on it. Cover the veal with the remainder of the pork. Put hot water enough in the pan to just cover the bottom, and place in the oven. Bake slowly for four hours, basting frequently with the gravy in the pan, and with salt, pepper and flour. As the water in the pan cooks away, it must be renewed, remembering to have only enough to keep the meat and pan from burning. After it has been cooking three hours, take the pork from the top of the fillet, spread the top thickly with butter and dredge with flour. Repeat this after thirty minutes, and then brown handsomely. Put the remainder of the butter, which should be about three table-spoonfuls, in a sauce-pan, and when hot, add two heaping table-spoonfuls of flour, and stir until dark brown. Add to it half a pint of stock or water; stir a minute, and set back where it will keep warm, but not cook. Now take up the fillet, and skim all the fat off of the gravy; add water enough to make half a pint of gravy, also the sauce just made. Let this boil up, and add the juice of half a lemon, and more salt and pepper, if needed. Strain, and pour around the fillet. Garnish the dish with potato puffs and slices of lemon.
Roast Ham.
Prepare the ham as for boiling, and if it is of good size (say ten pounds), boil three hours. Remove the skin, and put the ham in a baking pan. Let it cook two hours in a moderate oven. Serve with champagne sauce.
BROILING.
The fire for broiling must be clear, and for meats it must be hotter and brighter than for fish. Coals from hard wood or charcoal are best, but in all large towns and cities hard coal is nearly always used, except in hotels and restaurants, where there is usually a special place for broiling with charcoal. The double broiler is the very best thing in the market for broiling meats and fish. When the meat is placed in it, and the slide is slipped over the handles, all there is to do is to hold the broiler over the fire, or, if you have an open range, before the fire. A fork or knife need not go near the meat until it is on the dish. A great amount of the juice is saved. With the old-fashioned gridirons it is absolutely necessary to stick a fork into the meat to turn it, and although there are little grooves for the gravy to run into, what is saved in this way does not compare with what is actually kept within the meat where the double broiler is used. Professional cooks can turn a steak without running a fork into the meat, but not one in a hundred common cooks can do it.
Mutton Chops.
Sprinkle the chops with salt, pepper and flour. Put them in the double broiler. Broil over or before the fire for eight minutes. Serve on ahotdish with butter, salt and pepper for tomato sauce. The fire for chops should not be as hot as for steak. Chops can be seasoned with salt and pepper, wrapped in buttered paper and broiled ten minutes over a hot fire.
Beef Steak.
Have it cut thick. It will never be good, rich and juicy if only from one-fourth to one-half an inch thick. It ought to be at least three-quarters of an inch thick. Trim off any suet that may be left on it, and dredge with salt, pepper and flour. Cook in the double broiler, over or before clear coals, for ten minutes, if to be rare, twelve, if to be rather well done. Turn the meat constantly. Serve on a hot dish with butter and salt, or with mushroom sauce,maitre d' Hôtelbutter or tomato sauce. Do not stick a knife or fork into the meat to try it. This is the way many people spoil it. Pounding is another bad habit: much of the juice of the meat is lost. When, as it sometimes happens, there is no convenience for broiling, heat the frying pan very hot, then sprinkle with salt, and lay in the steak. Turn frequently.
MISCELLANEOUS MODES.
Braised Beef.
Take six or eight pounds of the round or the face of the rump, and lard with quarter of a pound of salt pork. Put six slices of pork in the bottom of the braising pan, and as soon as it begins to fry, add two onions, half a small carrot and half a small turnip, all cut fine. Cook these until they begin to brown; then draw them to one side of the pan and put in the beef, which has been well dredged with salt, pepper and flour. Brown on all sides, and then add one quart of boiling water and a bouquet of sweet herbs; cover, and cookslowlyin the oven for four hours, basting every twenty minutes. Take up, and finish the gravy as for braised tongue. Or, add to the gravy half a can of tomatoes, and cook for ten minutes. Strain, pour around the beef, and serve.
Fricandeau of Veal.
Have a piece of veal, weighing about eight pounds, cut from that part of the leg called the cushion. Wet the vegetable masher, and beat the veal smooth; then lard one side thickly. Put eight slices of pork in the bottom of the braising-pan; place the veal on this, larded side up. Add two small onions, half a small turnip, two slices of carrot, one clove and a bouquet of sweet herbs--these to be at the sides of the meat, not on top; and one quart of white stock or water. Dredge with salt, pepper and flour. Cover, and place in a rather moderate oven. Cook three hours, basting every fifteen minutes. If cooked rapidly the meat will be dry and stringy, but if slowly, it will be tender and juicy. When done, lift carefully from the pan. Melt four table-spoonfuls of glaze, and spread on the meat with a brush. Place in the open oven for five minutes. Add one cupful of hot water to the contents of the braising-pan. Skim off all the fat, and then add one heaping teaspoonful of corn-starch, which has been mixed with a little cold water. Let it boil one minute; then strain, and return to the fire. Add two table-spoonfuls of glaze, and when this is melted, pour the sauce around the fricandeau, and serve. Potato balls, boiled for twelve minutes in stock, and then slightly browned in the oven, make a pretty garnish for this dish. It is also served on a bed of finely-chopped spinach or mashed potatoes.
Leg of Lamb à la Française.
Put a leg of lamb, weighing about eight pounds, in as small a kettle as will hold it. Put in a muslin bag one onion, one small white turnip, a few green celery leaves, three sprigs each of sweet marjoram and summer savory, four cloves and twelve allspice. Tie the bag and place it in the kettle with the lamb; then pour on two quarts of boiling water. Let this come to a boil, and then skim carefully. Now add four heaping table-spoonfuls of flour, which has been mixed with one cupful of cold water, two table-spoonfuls of salt and a speck of cayenne. Cover tight, and set back where it will just simmer for four hours. In the meantime make a pint and a half of veal or mutton force-meat, which make into little balls and fry brown. Boil six eggs hard. At the end of four hours take up the Iamb. Skim all the fat off of the gravy and take out the bag of seasoning. Now put the kettle where the contents will boil rapidly for ten minutes. Put three table-spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, stir in two of flour; cook until a dark brown, but not burned, and stir into the gravy. Taste to see if seasoned enough. Have the whites and yolks of the hard-boiled eggs chopped separately. Pour the gravy over the lamb; then garnish with the chopped eggs, making a hill of the whites, and capping it with part of the yolks. Sprinkle the remainder of the yolks over the lamb. Place the meat balls in groups around the dish. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
Braised Breast of Lamb.
With a sharp knife, remove the bones from a breast of lamb; then season it well with salt and pepper, and roll up and tie firmly with twine. Put two table-spoonfuls of butter in the braising-pan, and when melted, add one onion, one slice of carrot and one of turnip, all cut fine. Stir for five minutes, and then put in the lamb, with a thick dredging of flour. Cover, and set back, where it will not cook rapidly, for half an hour; then add one quart of stock or boiling water, and place in the oven, where it will cookslowly, for one hour. Baste often. Take up the meat, skim all the fat off of the gravy, and then put it where it will boil rapidly for five minutes. Take the string from the meat. Strain the gravy, and pour over the dish. Serve very hot. Or serve with tomato or Bechamel sauce. The bones should be put in the pan with the meat, to improve the gravy.
Beef Stew.
Two pounds of beef (the round, flank, or any cheap part; if there is bone in it, two and a half pounds will be required), one onion, two slices of carrot, two of turnip, two potatoes, three table-spoonfuls of flour, salt, pepper, and a generous quart of water. Cut all the fat from the meat, and put it in a stew-pan; fry gently for ten or fifteen minutes. In the meantime cut the meat in small pieces, and season well with salt and pepper, and then sprinkle over it two table-spoonfuls of flour. Cut the vegetables in very small pieces, and put in the pot with the fat. Fry them five minutes, stirring well, to prevent burning. Now put in the meat, and move it about in the pot until it begins to brown; then add the quart of boiling water. Cover; let it boil up once, skim, and set back, where it will just bubble, for two and a half hours. Add the potatoes, cut in thin slices, and one table-spoonful of flour, which mix smooth with half a cupful of cold water, pouring about one-third of the water on the flour at first, and adding the rest when perfectly smooth. Taste to see if the stew is seasoned enough, and if it is not, add more salt and pepper. Let the stew come to a boil again, and cook ten minutes; then add dumplings. Cover tightly, and boil rapidly ten minutes longer.
Mutton, lamb or veal can be cooked in this manner. When veal is used, fry out two slices of pork, as there will not be much fat on the meat. Lamb and mutton must have some of the fat put aside, as there is so much on these meats that they are otherwise very gross.
Irish Stew.
About two pounds of the neck of mutton, four onions, six large potatoes, salt, pepper, three pints of water and two table-spoonfuls of flour. Cut the mutton in handsome pieces. Put about half the fat in the stew-pan, with the onions, and stir for eight or ten minutes over a hot fire; then put in the meat, which sprinkle with the flour, salt and pepper. Stir ten minutes, and add the water, boiling. Set for one hour where it will simmer; then add the potatoes, peeled, and cut in quarters. Simmer an hour longer, and serve. You can cook dumplings with this dish, if you choose. They are a great addition to all kinds of stews and ragouts.
Toad in the Hole.
This is an English dish, and a good one, despite the unpleasant name. One pound of round steak, one pint of milk, one cupful of flour, one egg, and salt and pepper. Cut the steak into dice. Beat the egg very light; add milk to it, and then half a teaspoonful of salt. Pour upon the flour, gradually, beating very light and smooth. Butter a two-quart dish, and in it put the meat. Season well, and pour over it the batter. Bake an hour in a moderate oven. Serve hot. This dish can be made with mutton and lamb in place of steak.
Scotch Roll.
Remove the tough skin from about five pounds of the flank of beef. A portion of the meat will be found thicker than the rest. With a sharp knife, cut a thin layer from the thick part, and lay upon the thin. Mix together three table-spoonfuls of salt, one of sugar, half a teaspoonful of pepper, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of clove and one teaspoonful of summer savory. Sprinkle this over the meat, and then sprinkle with three table-spoonfuls of vinegar. Roll up, and tie with twine. Put away in a cold place for twelve hours When it has stood this time, place in a stew-pan, with boiling water to cover, and simmer gently for three hours and a half. Mix four heaping table-spoonfuls of flour with half a cupful of cold water, and stir into the gravy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer half an hour longer. This dish is good hot or cold.
POULTRY AND GAME.
To Clean and Truss Poultry.
First singe, by holding the bird over a blazing paper. It is best to do this over the open stove, when all the particles of burnt paper will fall into the fire. Next open the vent and draw out the internal organs, if this has not been done at the butcher's. Be careful not to break the gall bladder. Wash quickly in one water. If there are large black pin-feathers, take out what you can with the point of a knife, (it is impossible to get out all). Cut the oil bag from the tail. Be sure that you have taken out every part of the wind-pipe, the lights and crop. Turn the skin back, and cut the neck quite short. Fill the crop with dressing, and put some in the body also. With a short skewer, fasten the legs together at the joint where the feet were cut off. [Be careful, in cutting off the feet of game or poultry, to cut in the joint. If you cut above, the ligaments that hold the flesh and bones together will be severed, and in cooking, the meat will shrink, leaving a bare, unsightly bone. Besides, you will have nothing to hold the skewer, if the ligaments are cut off.] Run the skewer into the bone of the tail, and tie firmly with a long piece of twine. Now take a longer skewer, and run through the two wings, fastening them firmly to the sides of the bird. With another short skewer, fasten the skin of the neck on to the back-bone. Place the bird on its breast, and draw the strings, with which the legs were tied, around the skewers in the wings and neck; pass them across the back three times, and tie very tightly. By following these directions, you will have the bird in good shape, and all the strings on the back, so that you will avoid breaking the handsome crust that always forms on properly basted and roasted poultry. When cooked, first cut the strings, then draw out the skewers. The fat that comes from the vent and the gizzard of chickens, should be tried out immediately and put away for shortening and frying. That of geese, turkeys and ducks is of too strong a flavor to be nice in cookery.
To clean the giblets: Cut the gall-bag from the lobe of the liver, cutting a little of the liver with it, so as not to cut into the bag. Press the heart between the finger and thumb, to extract all the blood. With a sharp knife, cut lightly around the gizzard, and draw off the outer coat, leaving the lining coat whole. If you cannot do that (and it does require practice), cut in two, and after removing the filling, take out the lining. When the poultry is to be boiled, and is stuffed, the vent must be sewed with mending cotton or soft twine. Unless the bird is full of dressing, this will not be necessary in roasting.
Fowl and Pork.
Clean and truss, pin in the floured cloth and put into water in which one pound of rather lean pork has been boiling three hours. The time of cooking depends upon the age of the fowl. If they are not more than a year old an hour and a half will be enough, but if very old they may need three hours. The quantity of pork given is for only a pair of fowl, and more must be used if a large number of birds be cooked. Serve with egg sauce. The liquor should be saved for soups.
Boiled Fowl with Macaroni.
Break twelve sticks of macaroni in pieces about two inches long; throw them into one quart of boiling water, add a table-spoonful of salt and half a table-spoonful of pepper. Boil rapidly for twelve minutes; then take up, and drain off all the water. Season with one table-spoonful of butter and one teaspoonful of salt. After the fowl have been singed and cleaned, stuff with the macaroni. Truss them, and then pin in a floured cloth and plunge into enough boiling water to cover them. Boil rapidly for fifteen minutes; then set back where they will just simmer for from one and a half to two and a half hours. The time of cooking depends upon the age of the birds. Serve with an egg or Bechamel sauce. The quantity of macaroni given is for two fowl. Plain boiled macaroni should be served with this dish.
Boiled Turkey with Celery.
Chop half a head of celery very fine. Mix with it one quart of bread crumbs, two scant table-spoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two heaping table-spoonfuls of butter and two eggs. Stuff the turkey with this; sew up and truss. Wring a large square of white cotton cloth out of cold water, and dredge it thickly with flour. Pin the turkey in this, and plunge into boiling water. Let it boil rapidly for fifteen minutes; then set back where it will simmer. Allow three hours for a turkey weighing nine pounds, and twelve minutes for every additional pound. Serve with celery sauce. The stuffing may be made the same as above, only substitute oysters for celery, and serve with oyster sauce.
Boiled Turkey.
Clean and truss the same as for roasting. Rub into it two spoonfuls of salt, and put into boiling water to cover. Simmer gently three hours, if it weighs nine or ten pounds, and is tender. If old and tough it will take longer. Serve with oyster, celery or egg sauce. Pour some of the sauce over the turkey, and serve the rest in a gravy boat.
Roast Turkey.
Proceed the same with a turkey as with a chicken, allowing one hour and three-quarters for a turkey weighing eight pounds, and ten minutes for every additional pound.
Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing and Sauce.
Clean the turkey, and lard the breast. Throw fifty large chestnuts into boiling water for a few minutes; then take them up, and rub off the thin, dark skin. Cover them with boiling water, and simmer for one hour; take them up, and mash fine. Chop one pound of veal and half a pound of salt pork very fine. Add half of the chestnuts to this, and add, also, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two table-spoonfuls of salt and one cupful of stock or water. Stuff the turkey with this. Truss, and roast as already directed. Serve with a chestnut sauce. The remaining half of the chestnuts are for this sauce.
Boned Turkey.
Get a turkey that has not been frozen (freezing makes it tear easily). See that every part is whole; one with a little break in the skin will not do. Cut off the legs, in the joints, and the tips of the wings. Do not draw the bird. Place it on its breast, and with a small, sharp boning knife, cut in a straight line through to the bone, from the neck down to that part of the bird where there is but little flesh, where it is all skin and fat. Begin at the neck, and run the knife between the flesh and the bones until you come to the wing. Then cut the ligaments that hold the bones together and the tendons that hold the flesh to the bones. With the thumb and fore-finger,pressthe flesh from the smooth bone. When you come to the joint, carefully separate the ligaments and remove the bone. Do not try to take the bone from the next joint, as that is not in the way when carving, and it gives a more natural shape to the bird. Now begin at the wish-bone, and when that is free from the flesh, run the knife between the sides and the flesh, always using the fingers to press the meat from the smooth bones, as, for instance, the breast-bone and lower part of the sides. Work around the legs the same as you did around the wings, always using great care at the joints not to cut the skin. Drawing out the leg bones turns that part of the bird inside out. Turn the bird over, and proceed in the same manner with the other side. When all is detached, carefully draw the skin from the breast-bone; then run the knife between the fat and bone at the rump, leaving the small bone in the extreme end, as it holds the skewers. Carefully remove the flesh from the skeleton, and turn it right side out again. Rub into it two table-spoonfuls of salt and a little pepper, and fill with dressing. Sew up the back and neck and then the vent. Truss the same as if not boned. Take a strong piece of cotton cloth and pin the bird firmly in it, drawing very tight at the legs, as this is the broadest place, and the shape will not be good unless this precaution be taken. Steam three hours, and then place on a buttered tin sheet, which put in a baking pan. Baste well with butter, pepper, salt and flour. Roast one hour, basting every ten minutes, and twice with stock. When cold, remove the skewers and strings, and garnish with aspic jelly, cooked beets and parsley. To carve: First cut off the wings, then about two thick slices from the neck, where it will be quite fat, and then cut in thin slices. Serve jelly with each plate.
Filling for a turkey weighing eight pounds: The flesh of one chicken weighing four pounds, one pound of clear veal, half a pound of clear salt pork, one small capful of cracker crumbs, two eggs, one cupful of broth, two and a half table-spoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, one teaspoonful of summer savory, one of sweet majoram, one of thyme, half a spoonful of sage, and, if you like, one table-spoonful of capers, one quart of oysters and two table-spoonfuls of onion juice. Have the meat uncooked and free from any tough pieces. Chopveryfine. Add seasoning, crackers, etc., mix thoroughly, and use. If oysters are used, half a pound of the veal must be omitted. Where one cannot eat veal, use chicken instead. Veal is recommended for its cheapness. Why people choose boned turkey instead of a plain roast turkey or chicken, is not plain, for the flavor is not so good; but at the times and places where boned birds are used, it is a very appropriate dish. That is, at suppers, lunches and parties, where the guests are served standing, it is impracticable to provide anything that cannot be broken with a fork or spoon; therefore, the advantage of a boned turkey, chicken, or bird, is apparent. One turkey weighing eight pounds before being boned, will serve thirty persons at a party, if there are, also, say oysters, rolls, coffee, ices, cake and cream. If the supper is very elaborate the turkey will answer for one of the dishes for a hundred or more persons. If nothing more were gained in the boning of a bird, the knowledge of the anatomy and the help this will give in carving, pay to bone two or three chickens. It is advisable to bone at least two fowls before trying a turkey, for if you spoil them there is nothing lost, as they make a stew or soup.
Aspic jelly: One and a half pints of clear stock--beef if for amber jelly, and chicken or veal if for white; half a box of gelatine, the white of one egg, half a cupful of cold water, two cloves, one large slice of onion, twelve pepper-corns, one stalk of celery, salt. Soak gelatine two hours in the cold water. Then put on with other ingredients, the white of the egg being beaten with one spoonful of the cold stock. Let come to a boil, and set back where it will just simmer for twenty minutes. Strain through a napkin, turn into a mould or shallow dish, and put away to harden. The jelly can be made with the bones of the turkey and chicken, by washing them, covering with cold water and boiling down to about three pints; by then straining and setting away to cool, and in the morning skimming off all the fat and turning off the clear stock. The bones may, instead, be used for a soup.
Roast Goose.
Stuff the goose with a potato dressing made in the following manner: Six potatoes, boiled, pared and mashed fine and light; one table-spoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, one spoonful of sage, two table-spoonfuls of onion juice, two of butter. Truss, and dredge well with salt, pepper and flour. Roast before the fire (if weighing eight pounds) one hour and a half; in the oven, one hour and a quarter. Make gravy the same as for turkey. No butter is required for goose, it is so fat. Serve with apple sauce. Many people boil the goose half an hour before roasting, to take away the strong flavor. Why not have something else if you do not like the real flavor of the goose?
Roast Duck.
Ducks, to be good, must be cooked rare: for this reason it is best not to stuff. If, however, you do stuff them, use the goose dressing, and have it very hot. The better way is to cut an onion in two, and put into the body of the bird; then truss, and dredge with salt, pepper and flour, and roast, if before the fire, forty minutes, and if in the oven, thirty minutes. The fire must be very hot if the duck be roasted in the kitchen, and if in the oven, this must be a quick one. Serve with currant jelly and a sauce made the same as for turkey.
Roast Chicken.
Clean the chicken, and stuff the breast and part of the body with dressing made as follows: For a pair of chickens weighing between seven and eight pounds, take one quart of stale bread (being sure not to have any hard pieces), and break up in very fine crumbs. Add a table-spoonful of salt, a scant teaspoonful of pepper, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful of powdered sage, one of summer savory and a scant half cupful of butter. Mix well together. This gives a rich dressing that will separate like rice when served. Now truss the chickens, and dredge well with salt. Take soft butter in the hand, and rub thickly over the chicken; then dredge rather thickly with flour. Place on the side, on the meat rack, and put into a hot oven for a few moments, that the flour in the bottom of the pan may brown. When it is browned, put in water enough to cover the pan. Baste every fifteen minutes with the gravy in the pan, and dredge with salt, pepper and flour. When one side is browned, turn, and brown the other. The last position in which the chicken should bake is on its back, that the breast may be nicely frothed and browned. The last basting is on the breast, and should be done with soft butter, and the breast should be dredged with flour. Putting the butter on the chicken at first, and then covering with flour, makes a paste, which keeps the juices in the chicken, and also supplies a certain amount of rich basting that is absorbed into the meat. It really does not take as much butter to baste poultry or game in this manner as by the old method of putting it on with a spoon after the bird began to cook. The water in the pan must often be renewed; and always be careful not to get in too much at a time. It will take an hour and a quarter to cook a pair of chickens, each weighing between three and a half and four pounds; anything larger, an hour and a half. A sure sign that they are done is the readiness of joints to separate from the body. If the chickens are roasted in the tin-kitchen, before the fire, it will take a quarter of an hour longer than in the oven.
Gravy for chickens: Wash the hearts, livers, gizzards and necks and put on to boil in three pints of water; boil down to one pint. Take them all up. Put the liver on a plate, and mash fine with the back of the spoon; return it to the water in which it was boiled. Mix two table-spoonfuls of flour with half a cupful of cold water. Stir into the gravy, season well with salt and pepper, and set back where it will simmer, for twenty minutes. Take up the chickens, and take the meat rack out of the pan. Then tip the pan to one side, to bring all the gravy together. Skim off the fat. Place the pan on top of the stove and turn into it one cupful of water. Let this boil up, in the meantime scraping everything from the sides and bottom of the pan. Turn this into the made gravy, and let it all boil together while you are removing the skewers and strings from the chickens.
Chicken à la Matelote.
Cut up an uncooked chicken. Rub in butter and flour, and brown in an oven. Fry in four table-spoonfuls of chicken fat or butter, for about twenty minutes, a small carrot, onion and parsnip, all cut into dice. When the chicken is browned, put it in a stew-pan with the cooked vegetables and one quart of white stock. Then into the fat in which the vegetables were fried, put two table-spoonfuls of flour, and cook until brown. Stir this in with the chicken. Add the liver, mashed fine, one table-spoonful of capers and salt and pepper to taste. Cook very gently three-quarters of an hour; then add one-fourth of a pound of mushrooms, cut in small pieces. Cook fifteen minutes longer. Serve with a border of boiled macaroni, mashed potatoes or rice.
Chicken à la Reine.
Clean, stuff and truss a pair of chickens, as for roasting. Dredge well with salt, pepper and flour. Cut a quarter of a pound of pork in slices, and put part on the bottom of a deep stew-pan with two slices of carrot and one large onion, cut fine. Stir over the fire until they begin to color; then put in the chickens, and lay the remainder of the pork over them. Place the stew-pan in a hot oven for twenty minutes; then add white stock to half cover the chicken (about two quarts), and a bouquet of sweet herbs. Dredge well with flour. Cover the pan and return to the oven. Baste about every fifteen minutes, and after cooking one hour, turn over the chickens. Cook, in all, two hours. Serve with Hollandaise sauce or with the sauce in which the chickens were cooked, it being strained over them.
Chicken à la Tartare.
Singe the chicken, and split down the back. Wipe thoroughly with a damp cloth. Dredge well with salt and pepper, cover thickly with softened butter, and dredge thickly on both sides with fine, dry bread crumbs. Place in a baking pan, the inside down, and cook in a very hot oven thirty minutes, taking care not to bum. Serve with Tartare sauce.
Broiled Chicken.
Singe the chicken, and split down the back, if not already prepared; and wipe with a damp cloth. Never wash it. Season well with salt and pepper. Take some soft butter in the right hand and rub over the bird, letting the greater part go on the breast and legs. Dredge with flour. Put in the double broiler, and broil over a moderate fire, having the breast turned to the heat at first. When the chicken is a nice brown, which will be in about fifteen minutes, place in a pan and put into a moderate oven for twelve minutes. Place on a hot dish, season, with salt, pepper and butter, and serve immediately. This rule is for a chicken weighing about two and a half pounds. The chicken is improved by serving withmaître d' hôtelbutter or Tartare sauce.
Chicken Stew with Dumplings.
One chicken or fowl, weighing about three pounds; one table-spoonful of butter, three of flour, one large onion, three slices of carrot, three of turnip, three pints of boiling water and salt and pepper. Cut the chicken in slices suitable for serving. Wash, and put in a deep stew-pan, add the water, and set on to boil. Put the carrot, turnip and onion, cut fine, in a sauce-pan, with the butter, and cook slowly half an hour, stirring often; then take up the vegetables in a strainer, place the strainer in the stew-pan with the chicken, and dip some of the water into it. Mash the vegetables with the back of a spoon, and rub as much as possible through the strainer. Now skim two spoonfuls of chicken fat from the water, and put in the pan in which the vegetables were cooked. When boiling hot, add the three table-spoonfuls of flour. Stir over the fire until a dark brown; then stir it in with the chicken, and simmer until tender. Season well with pepper and salt. The stew should only simmer all the while it is cooking. It must not boil hard. About two hours will be needed to cook a year old chicken. Twelve minutes before serving draw the stew-pan forward, and boil up; then put in the dumplings, and cooktenminutes. Take them up, and keep in the heater while you are dishing the chicken into the centre of the platter. Afterwards, place the dumplings around the edge. This is a very nice and economical dish, if pains are taken in preparing. One stewed chicken will go farther than two roasted.
Larded Grouse.
Clean and wash the grouse. Lard the breast and legs. Run a small skewer into the legs and through the tail. Tie firmly with twine. Dredge with salt, and rub the breast with soft butter; then dredge thickly with flour. Put into a quick oven. If to be very rare, cook twenty minutes; if wished better done, thirty minutes. The former time, as a general thing, suits gentlemen better, but thirty minutes is preferred by ladies. If the birds are cooked in a tin-kitchen, it should be for thirty or thirty-five minutes. When done, place on a hot dish, on which has been spread bread sauce. Sprinkle fried crumbs over both grouse and sauce. Garnish with parsley. The grouse may, instead, be served on a hot dish, with the parsley garnish, and the sauce and crumbs served in separate dishes. The first method is the better, however, as you get in the sauce all the gravy that comes from the birds.
Larded Partridges.
Partridges are cooked and served the same as grouse.
Larded Quail.
The directions for cooking and serving are the same as those for grouse, only that quails cook in fifteen minutes. All dry-meated birds are cooked in this way. The question is sometimes asked, Should ducks be larded? Larding is to give richness to a dry meat that does not have fat enough of its own; therefore, meats like goose, duck and mutton arenotimproved by larding.
Broiled Quail.
Split the quail down the back. Wipe with a damp towel. Season with salt and pepper, rub thickly with soft butter, and dredge with flour. Broil ten minutes over clear coals. Serve on hot buttered toast, garnishing with parsley.
Broiled Pigeons.
Prepare, cook and serve the same as quail They should be young for broiling, squabs being the best.
Broiled Small Birds.
All small birds can be broiled according to the directions for quail, remembering that for extremely small ones it takes a very bright fire. As the birds should be only browned, the time required is very brief.
Small Birds, Roasted.
Clean, by washing quickly in one water after they have been drawn. Season with salt and pepper. Cut slices of salt porkvery thin, and with small skewers, fasten a slice around each bird. Run a long skewer through the necks of six or eight, and rest it on a shallow baking-pan. When all the birds are arranged, put into ahotoven for twelve minutes, or before a hot fire for a quarter of an hour. Serve on toast.
Potted Pigeons.
Clean and wash one dozen pigeons. Stand them on their necks in a deep earthen or porcelain pot, and turn on them a pint of vinegar. Cut three large onions in twelve pieces, and place a piece on each pigeon. Cover the pot, and let it stand all night In the morning take out the pigeons, and throw away the onions and vinegar. Fry, in a deep stew-pan, six slices of fat pork, and when browned, take them up, and in the fat put six onions, sliced fine. On these put the pigeons, having first trussed them, and dredge well with salt pepper and flour. Cover, and cook slowly for forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally; then add two quarts of boiling water, and simmer gently two hours. Mix four heaping table-spoonfuls of flour with a cupful of cold water, and stir in with the pigeons. Taste to see if there is enough seasoning, and if there is not, add more. Cook half an hour longer. Serve with a garnish of rice or riced potatoes. More or less onion can be used; and, if you like it so, spice the gravy slightly.
Pigeons in Jelly.
Wash and truss one dozen pigeons. Put them in a kettle with four pounds of the shank of veal, six cloves, twenty-five pepper-corns, an onion that has been fried in one spoonful of butter, one stalk of celery, a bouquet of sweet herbs and four and a half quarts of water. Have the veal shank broken in small pieces. As soon as the contents of the kettle come to a boil, skim carefully, and set for three hours where they will just simmer. After they have been cooking one hour, add two table-spoonfuls of salt. When the pigeons are done, take them up, being careful not to break them, and remove the strings. Draw the kettle forward, where it will boil rapidly, and keep there for forty minutes; then strain the liquor through a napkin, and taste to see if seasoned enough. The water should have boiled down to two and a half quarts. Have two moulds that will each hold six pigeons. Put a thin layer of the jelly in these, and set on ice to harden. When hard, arrange the pigeons in them, and cover with the jelly, which must be cold, but liquid. Place in the ice chest for six or, better still, twelve hours. There should be only one layer of the pigeons in the mould.
To serve: Dip the mould in a basin of warm water for one minute, and turn on a cold dish. Garnish with pickled beets and parsley. A Tartare sauce can be served with this dish.
If squabs are used, two hours will cook them. All small birds, as well as partridge, grouse, etc., can be prepared in the same manner. Remember that the birds must be cooked tender, and that the liquor must be so reduced that it will become jellied.
Roast Rabbit.
First make a stuffing of a pound of veal and a quarter of a pound of pork, simmered two hours in water to cover; four crackers, rolled fine; a table-spoonful of salt, a scant teaspoonful of pepper, a teaspoonful of summer savory, a large table-spoonful of butter and one and a quarter cupfuls of the broth in which the veal and pork were cooked. Chop the meat fine, add the other ingredients, and put on the fire to heat. Cut off the rabbit's head, open the vent, and draw. Wash clean, and season with salt and pepper. Stuff while the dressing is hot, and sew up the opening. Put the rabbit on its knees, and skewer in that position. Rub thickly with butter, dredge with flour, and put in the baking pan, the bottom of which should be covered with hot water. Bake half an hour in a quick oven, basting frequently. Serve with a border of mashed potatoes, and pour the gravy over the rabbit.
Curry of Rabbit.
Cut the rabbit in small pieces. Wash, and cook the same as chicken curry.
Saddle of Venison.
Carefully scrape off the hair, and wipe with a damp towel; Season well with salt and pepper, and roll up and skewer together. Rub thickly with soft butter and dredge thickly with flour. Roast for an hour before a clear fire or in ahotoven, basting frequently. When half done, if you choose, baste with a few spoonfuls of claret. Or, you can have one row of larding on each side of the back-bone. This gives a particularly nice flavor.
To make the gravy: Pour off all the fat from the baking pan, and put in the pan a cupful of boiling water. Stir from the sides and bottom, and set back where it will keep hot. In a small frying-pan put one table-spoonful of butter, a small slice of onion, six pepper-corns and four whole cloves. Cook until the onion is browned, and then add a generous teaspoonful of flour. Stir until this is browned; then, gradually, add the gravy in the pan. Boil one minute. Strain, and add half a teaspoonful of lemon juice and three table-spoonfuls of currant jelly. Serve both venison and gravy very hot. The time given is for a saddle weighing between ten and twelve pounds. All the dishes and plates for serving must be hot. Venison is cooked in almost the same manner as beef, always remembering that it must be servedrareandhot.
Roast Leg of Venison.
Draw the dry skin from the meat, and wipe with a damp towel. Make a paste with one quart of flour and a generous pint of cold water. Cover the venison with this, and place before a hot fire, if to be roasted in the tin kitchen, or else in a very hot oven. As the paste browns, baste it frequently with the gravy in the pan. When it has been cooking one hour and a half, take off the paste, cover with butter, and dredge thickly with flour. Cook one hour longer, basting frequently with butter, salt and flour. Make the gravy the same as for a saddle of venison, or serve with game sauce. The time given is for a leg weighing about fifteen pounds.
ENTREES.
Fillet of Beef, Larded.
The true fillet is the tenderloin, although sometimes one will see a rib roast, boned and rolled, called a fillet. A short fillet, weighing from two and a half to three pounds (the average weight from a very large rump), will suffice for ten persons at a dinner where this is served as one course; and if a larger quantity is wanted a great saving will still be made if two short fillets are used. They cost about two dollars, while a large one, weighing the same amount, would cost five dollars, Fillet of beef is one of the simplest, safest and most satisfactory dishes that a lady can prepare for either her own family or guests. After a single trial she will think no more of it than of broiling a beef steak. First, remove from the fillet, with a sharp knife, every shred of muscle, ligament and thin, tough skin. If it is not then of a good round shape, skewer it into shape. Draw a line through the centre, and lard with two rows of pork, having them meet at this line. Dredge well with salt, pepper and flour, and put, without water, in a very small pan. Place in a hot oven for thirty minutes. Let it be in the lower part of the oven the first ten minutes, then place on the upper grate. Serve with mushroom, Hollandaise or tomato sauce, or with potato balls. If with sauce, this should be poured around the fillet, the time given cooks a fillet of any size, the shape being such that it will take half an hour for either two or six pounds. Save the fat trimmed from the fillet for frying, and the lean part for soup stock.
Fillet of Beef à la Hollandaise.
Trim and cut the short fillet into slices about half an inch thick. Season these well with salt, and then lay in a pan with six table-spoonfuls of butter, just warm enough to be oily. Squeeze the juice of a quarter of a lemon over them. Let them stand one hour; then dip lightly in flour, place in the double broiler, and cook for six minutes over a very bright fire. Have a mound of mashed potatoes in the centre of a hot dish, and rest the slices against this. Pour a Hollandaise sauce around. Garnish with parsley.
Fillet of Beef à l'Allemand.
Trim the fillet and skewer it into a good shape. Season well with pepper and salt. Have one egg and half a teaspoonful of sugar well beaten together; roll the fillet in this and then in bread crumbs. Bake in the oven for thirty minutes. Serve with Allemand sauce poured around it.
Fillet of Beef in Jelly.
Trim a short fillet, and cut a deep incision in the side, being careful not to go through to the other side or the ends. Fill this with one cupful of veal, prepared as for quenelles, and the whites of three hard-boiled eggs, cut into rings. Sew up the openings, and bind the fillet into good shape with broad bands of cotton cloth. Put in a deep stew-pan two slices of ham and two of pork, and place the fillet on them; then put in two calf's feet, two stalks of celery and two quarts of clear stock. Simmer gently two hours and a half. Take up the fillet, and set away to cool. Strain the stock, and set away to harden. When hard, scrape of every particle of fat, and put on the fire in a clean sauce-pan, with half a slice of onion and the whites of two eggs, beaten with four table-spoonfuls of cold water. When this boils, season well with salt, and set back where it will just simmer for half an hour; then strain through a napkin. Pour a little of the jelly into a two-quart charlotte russe mould (half an inch deep), and set on the ice to harden. As soon as it is hard, decorate with the egg rings. Add about three spoonfuls of the liquid jelly, to set the eggs. When hard, add enough jelly to cover the eggs, and when this is also hard, trim the ends of the fillet, and draw out the thread. Place in the centre of the mould, and cover with the remainder of the jelly. If the fillet floats, place a slight weight on it. Set in the ice chest to harden. When ready to serve, place the mould in a pan of warm water for half a minute, and then turn out the fillet gently upon a dish. Garnish with a circle of egg rings, each of which has a stoned olive in the centre. Put here and there a sprig of parsley.
Alamode Beef.
Six pounds of the upper part, or of the vein, of the round of beef, half a pound of fat salt pork, three table-spoonfuls of butter, two onions, half a carrot, half a turnip, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of lemon juice, one heaping table-spoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two cloves, six allspice, a small piece of stick cinnamon, a bouquet of sweet herbs, two scant quarts of boiling water and four table-spoonfuls of flour. Cut the pork in thick strips--as long as the meat is thick, and, with a large larding needle (which comes for this purpose), draw these through the meat. If you do not have the large needle, make the holes with the boning knife or the carving steel, and press the pork through with the fingers. Put the butter in a six-quart stew-pan, and when it melts, add the vegetables, cut fine. Let them cook five minutes, stirring all the while. Put in the meat, which has been well dredged with the flour; brown on one aide, and then turn, and brown the other. Add one quart of the water; stir well, and then add the other, with the spice, herbs, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cover tightly, andsimmer gentlyfour hours. Add the lemon juice. Taste the gravy, and, if necessary, add more salt and pepper. Let it cook twenty minutes longer. Take up the meat, and draw the stew-pan forward, where it will boil rapidly, for ten or fifteen minutes, having first skimmed off all the fat. Strain the gravy on the beef, and serve. This dish may be garnished with, potato balls or button onions.
Macaronied Beef.
Six pounds of beef from the upper part of the round or the vein, a quarter of a pound of macaroni (twelve sticks), half a cupful of butter, four large onions, one quart of peeled and sliced tomatoes, or a quart can of the vegetable; two heaping table-spoonfuls of flour, salt, pepper and two cloves. Make holes in the beef with the large larding needle or the steel, and press the macaroni into them. Season with salt and pepper. Put the butter and the onions, which have been peeled and cut fine, in a six-quart stew-pan, and stir over the fire until a golden brown; then put in the meat, first drawing the onions aside. Dredge with the flour, and spread the top of the meat with the fried onions. Put in the spice and one quart of boiling water. Cover tightly, and simmerslowlyfor three hours; then add the tomato, and cook one hour longer. Take up the meat, and strain the gravy over it. Serve hot. The tomato may be omitted if one pint more of water and an extra table-spoonful of flour are used instead. Always serve macaroni with this dish.
Cannelon of Beef.