CHARLOTTE-AUX-POMMES.
CHARLOTTE-AUX-POMMES.
Ingredients.—½ lb. of flour, ¼ lb. of butter, ¼ lb. of powdered sugar, ½ teaspoonful of baking-powder, 1 egg, milk, 1 glass of raisin-wine, apple marmalade, ¼ pint of cream, 2 dessert spoonfuls of pounded sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice.Mode.—Make a cake with the flour, butter, sugar, and baking-powder; moisten with the egg and sufficient milk to make it the proper consistency, and bake it in a round tin. When cold, scoop out the middle, leaving a good thickness all round the sides, to prevent them breaking; take some of the scooped-out pieces, which should be trimmed into neat slices; lay them in the cake, and pour over sufficient raisin-wine, with the addition of a little brandy, if approved, to soak them well. Have ready some apple marmalade, made by recipe; place a layer of this over the soaked cake, then a layer of cake and a layer of apples; whip the cream to a froth, mixing with it the sugar and lemon-juice; pile it on the top of thecharlotte, and garnish it with pieces of clear apple jelly. This dish is served cold, but may be eaten hot by omitting the cream, and merely garnishing the top with bright jelly just before it is sent to table.Time.—1 hour to bake the cake.Average cost, 2s.Sufficientfor 5 or 6 persons.Seasonablefrom July to March.
Ingredients.—About 18 Savoy biscuits, ¾ pint of cream, flavouring of vanilla, liqueurs, or wine, 1 tablespoonful of pounded sugar, ½ oz. of isinglass.Mode.—Procure about 18 Savoy biscuits, or ladies’-fingers, as they are sometimes called; brush the edges of them with the white of an egg, and line the bottom of a plain round mould, placing them like a star or rosette. Stand them upright all round the edge, carefully put them so closely together that the white of egg connects them firmly, and place this case in the oven for about 5 minutes, just to dry the egg. Whisk the cream to a stiff froth, with the sugar, flavouring, and melted isinglass; fill the charlotte with it, cover with a slice of sponge-cake cut in the shape of the mould; place it in ice, where let it remain till ready for table; then turn it on a dish, remove the mould, and serve. 1 tablespoonful of liqueur of any kind, or 4 tablespoonfuls of wine, would nicely flavour the above proportion of cream. For arranging the biscuits in the mould, cut them to the shape required, so that they fit in nicely, and level them with the mould at the top, that, when turned out, there may be something firm to rest upon. Great care and attention is required in the turning out of this dish, that the cream does not burst the case; and the edges of the biscuits must have the smallest quantity of egg brushed over them, or it would stick to the mould, and so prevent the charlotte from coming away properly.Time.—5 minutes in the oven.Average cost, with cream at 1s.per pint, 2s.6d.Sufficientfor 1 charlotte.Seasonableat any time.
Cheese is the curd formed from milk by artificial coagulation, pressed and dried for use. Curd, called also casein and caseous matter, or the basis of cheese, exists in the milk, and not in the cream, and requires only to be separated by coagulation: the coagulation, however, supposes some alteration of the curd. By means of the substance employed to coagulate it, it is rendered insoluble in water. When the curd is freed from the whey, kneaded and pressed to expel it entirely, it becomes cheese; this assumes a degree of transparency, and possesses many of the properties of coagulated albumen. If it be well dried, it does not change by exposure to the air; but if it contain moisture, it soon putrefies; it therefore requires some salt to preserve it, and this acts likewise as a kind of seasoning. All our cheese is coloured more or less, except that made from skim milk. The colouring substances employed are arnatto, turmeric, or marigold, all perfectly harmless unless they are adulterated; and it is said that arnatto sometimes contains red lead.
Cheese varies in quality and richness according to the materials of which it is composed. It is made—1. Of entire milk, as in Cheshire; 2. of milk and cream, as at Stilton; 3. of new milk mixed with skim milk, as in Gloucestershire; 4. of skimmed milk only, as in Suffolk, Holland, and Italy.
The principal varieties of cheese used in England are the following:Cheshire cheese, famed all over Europe for its rich quality and fine piquante flavour. It is made of entire new milk, the cream not being taken off.Gloucester cheeseis much milder in its taste than the Cheshire. There are two kinds of Gloucester cheese, single and double:—Single Gloucesteris made of skimmed milk, or of the milkdeprived of half the cream;Double Gloucesteris a cheese that pleases almost every palate: it is made of the whole milk and cream.Stilton cheeseis made by adding the cream of one day to the entire milk of the next: it was first made at Stilton, in Leicestershire.Sage cheeseis so called from the practice of colouring some curd with bruised sage, marigold-leaves, and parsley, and mixing this with some uncoloured curd. With the Romans, and during the middle ages, this practice was extensively adopted.Cheddar cheesemuch resembles Parmesan. It has a very agreeable taste and flavour, and has a spongy appearance.Brickbat cheesehas nothing remarkable except its form. It is made by turning with rennet a mixture of cream and new milk; the curd is put into a wooden vessel the shape of a brick, and is then pressed and dried in the usual way.Dunlop cheesehas a peculiarly mild and rich taste: the best is made entirely from new milk.New cheese(as it is called in London) is made chiefly in Lincolnshire, and is either made of all cream, or, like Stilton, by adding the cream of one day’s milking to the milk that comes immediately from the cow: they are extremely thin, and are compressed gently two or three times, turned for a few days, and then eaten new with radishes, salad, &c.Skimmed Milk cheeseis made for sea voyages principally.Parmesan cheeseis made in Parma and Piacenza. It is the most celebrated of all cheese: it is made entirely of skimmed cows’ milk; the high flavour which it has is supposed to be owing to the rich herbage of the meadows of the Po, where the cows are pastured. The best Parmesan is kept for three or four years, and none is carried to market till it is at least six months old.Dutch cheesederives its peculiar pungent taste from the practice adopted in Holland of coagulating the milk with muriatic acid instead of rennet.Swiss cheeses, in their several varieties, are all remarkable for their fine flavour; that fromGruyère, a bailiwick in the canton of Fribourg, is best known in England; it is flavoured by the dried herb ofMelilotus officinalisin powder. Cheese from milk and potatoes is manufactured in Thuringia and Saxony.Cream cheese, although so called, is not properly cheese, but is nothing more than cream dried sufficiently to be cut with a knife.
In families where much cheese is consumed, and it is bought in large quantities, a piece from the whole cheese should be cut, the larger quantity spread with a thickly-buttered sheet of white paper, and the outside occasionally wiped. To keep cheeses moist that are in daily use, when they come from table a damp cloth should be wrapped round them, and the cheese put into a pan with a cover to it, in a cool but not very dry place. To ripen cheeses, and bring them forward, put them into a damp cellar; and to check too large a production of mites, spirits may be poured into the parts affected. Pieces of cheese which are too near the rind, or too dry to put on table, may be made into Welsh rarebits, or grated down and mixed with macaroni. Cheeses may be preserved in a perfect state for years, by covering them with parchment made pliable by soaking in water, or by rubbing them over with a coating of melted fat. The cheeses selected should be free from cracks or bruises of any kind.
CHEESE-GLASS.
CHEESE-GLASS.
The usual mode of serving cheese at good tables is to cut a small quantity of it into neat square pieces, and to put them into a glass cheese-dish, this dish being handed round. Should the cheese crumble much, of course this method is rather wasteful, and it may then be put on the table in the piece, and the host may cut from it. When served thus, the cheese must always be carefully scraped, and laid on a white d’oyley or napkin, neatly folded. Cream cheese is often served in a cheese course, and, sometimes, grated Parmesan: the latter should be put into a covered glass dish. Rusks, cheese-biscuits, pats or slices of butter, and salad, cucumber, or water-cresses, should always form part of a cheese-course.
Ingredients.—To every lb. of cheese allow 3 oz. of fresh butter.Mode.—To pound cheese is an economical way of using it if it has become dry; it is exceedinglygood spread on bread, and is the best way of eating it for those whose digestion is weak. Cut up the cheese into small pieces, and pound it smoothly in a mortar, adding butter in the above proportion. Press it down into a jar, cover with clarified butter, and it will keep for several days. The flavour may be very much increased by adding mixed mustard (about a teaspoonful to every lb.), or cayenne, or pounded mace. Curry-powder is also not infrequently mixed with it.
Ingredients.—A few slices of rich cheese, toast, mustard, and pepper.Mode.—Cut some nice rich sound cheese into rather thin slices; melt it in a cheese-toaster on a hot plate or over steam, and, when melted, add a small quantity of mixed mustard and a seasoning of pepper; stir the cheese until it is completely dissolved, then brown it before the fire, or with a salamander. Fill the bottom of the cheese-toaster with hot water, and serve with dry or buttered toasts, whichever may be preferred. Our engraving illustrates a cheese-toaster with hot-water reservoir: the cheese is melted in the upper tin, which is placed in another vessel of boiling water, so keeping the preparation beautifully hot. A small quantity of porter, or port wine, is sometimes mixed with the cheese; and, if it be not very rich, a few pieces of butter may be mixed with it to great advantage. Sometimes the melted cheese is spread on the toasts, and then laid in the cheese-dish at the top of the hot water. Whichever way it is served, it is highly necessary that the mixture be very hot, and very quickly sent to table, or it will be worthless.Time.—About 5 minutes to melt the cheese.Average cost, 1½d.per slice.Sufficient.—Allow a slice to each person.Seasonableat any time.
HOT-WATER CHEESE-DISH.
HOT-WATER CHEESE-DISH.
Ingredients.—Slices of bread, butter, Cheshire or Gloucester cheese, mustard, and pepper.Mode.—Cut the bread into slices about ½ inch in thickness; pare off the crust, toast the bread slightly without hardening or burning it, and spread it with butter. Cut some slices, not quite so large as the bread, from a good rich fat cheese; lay them on the toasted bread in a cheese-toaster; be careful that the cheese does not burn, and let it be equally melted. Spread over the top a little made mustard and a seasoning of pepper, and serve very hot, with very hot plates. To facilitate the melting of the cheese, it may be cut into thin flakes, or toasted on one side before it is laid on the bread. As it is so essential to send this dish hot to table, it is a good plan to melt the cheese in small round silver or metal pans, and to send these pans to table, allowing one for each guest. Slices of dry or buttered toast should always accompany them, with mustard, pepper, and salt.Time.—About 5 minutes to melt the cheese.Average cost, 1½d.per slice.Sufficient.—Allow a slice to each person.Seasonableat any time.
Note.—Should the cheese be dry, a little butter mixed with it will be an improvement.
Ingredients.—Slices of brown bread-and-butter, thin slices of cheese.Mode.—Cut from a nice fat Cheshire, or any good rich cheese, some slices about ½ inch thick, and place them between some slices of brown bread-and-butter, like sandwiches. Place them on a plate in the oven, and, when the bread is toasted, serve on a napkin very hot and very quickly.Time.—10 minutes in a brisk oven.Average cost, 1½d.each sandwich.Sufficient.—Allow a sandwich for each person.Seasonableat any time.
Ingredients.—8 oz. of pressed curds, 2 oz. of ratafias, 6 oz. of sugar, 2 oz. of butter, the yolks of 6 eggs, nutmegs, salt, rind of 2 oranges or lemons.Mode.—Rub the sugar on the orange or lemon rind, and scrape it off. Press the curd in a napkin, to get rid of moisture; pound it thoroughly in a mortar with the other ingredients till the whole becomes a soft paste. Line 2 dozen, or more, tartlet-pans with good puff-paste, garnish these with the cheese-custard, place a strip ofcandied-peel on the top of each, and bake in a moderate oven a light colour; when done, shake a little sifted sugar over them. Currants, dried cherries, sultanas, and citron may be used instead of candied-peel.Time.—20 minutes to bake.Average cost, 6d.per dozen.Seasonableat any time.
Ingredients.—½ oz. of cayenne pepper, 5 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoonfuls of soy, 1 tablespoonful of walnut ketchup, 1 pint of vinegar.Mode.—Boil all the ingredientsgentlyfor about ½ hour; strain the liquor, and bottle off for use.Time.—½ hour.Seasonable.—This sauce can be made at any time.
Cherries may be put into a slow oven and thoroughly dried before they begin to change colour; they should then be taken out of the oven, tied in bunches, and stored away in a dry place. In the winter, they may be cooked with sugar for dessert, the same as Normandy pippins. Particular care must be taken that the oven be not too hot. Another method of drying cherries is to stone them, and to put them into a preserving-pan, with plenty of loaf sugar strewed amongst them. They should be simmered till the fruit shrivels, when they should be strained from the juice. The cherries should then be placed in an oven cool enough to dry without baking them. About 5 oz. of sugar would be required for 1 lb. of cherries, and the same syrup may be used again to do another quantity of fruit.
Ingredients.—To every lb. of cherries allow 1¼ lb. of sugar, 1 gill of water.Mode.—Select ripe cherries, pick off the stalks, and reject all that have any blemishes. Boil the sugar and water together for 5 minutes; put in the cherries, and boil them for 10 minutes, removing the scum as it rises. Then turn the fruit, &c., into a pan, and let it remain until the next day, when boil it all again for another 10 minutes, and, if necessary, skim well. Put the cherries into small pots, pour over them the syrup, and, when cold, cover down with oiled papers, and the tops of the jars with tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg, and keep in a dry place.Time.—Altogether, 25 minutes to boil.Average cost, from 8d.to 10d.per lb. pot.Seasonable.—Make this in July or August.
Ingredients.—4 lbs. of cherries, 3 lbs. of sugar, 1 pint of white-currant juice.Mode.—Let the cherries be as clear and as transparent as possible, and perfectly ripe; pick off the stalks, and remove the stones, damaging the fruit as little as you can. Make a syrup with the above proportion of sugar, mix the cherries with it, and boil them for about 15 minutes, carefully skimming them; turn them gently into a pan, and let them remain till the next day, then drain the cherries on a sieve, and put the syrup and white-currant juice into the preserving-pan again. Boil these together until the syrup is somewhat reduced and rather thick, then put in the cherries, and let them boil for about 5 minutes; take them off the fire, skim the syrup, put the cherries into small pots or wide-mouthed bottles; pour the syrup over, and, when quite cold, tie them down carefully, so that the air is quite excluded.Time.—15 minutes to boil the cherries in the syrup; 10 minutes to boil the syrup and currant-juice; 5 minutes to boil the cherries the second time.Average costfor this quantity, 3s.6d.Seasonable.—Make this in July or August.
Ingredients.—Morello cherries, good brandy; to every lb. of cherries allow 3 oz. of pounded sugar.Mode.—Have ready some glass bottles, which must be perfectly dry. Ascertain that the cherries are not too ripe and are freshly gathered, and cut off about half of the stalks. Put them into the bottles, with the above proportion of sugar to every lb. of fruit; strew this in between the cherries, and, when the bottles are nearly full, pour in sufficient brandy to reach just below the cork. A few peach or apricot kernels will add much to their flavour, or a few blanched bitter almonds. Put corks or bungs into the bottles, tie over them a piece of bladder, and store away in a dry place. The cherries will be fit to eat in 2 or 3 months, and will remain good for years. They are liableto shrivel and become tough if too much sugar be added to them.Average cost, 1s.to 1s.6d.per lb.Sufficient.—1 lb. of cherries and about a ¼ pint of brandy for a quart bottle.Seasonablein August and September.
Ingredients.—To every lb. of fruit, weighed before stoning, allow ½ lb. of sugar; to every 6 lbs. of fruit allow 1 pint of red-currant juice, and to every pint of juice 1 lb. of sugar.Mode.—Weigh the fruit before stoning, and allow half the weight of sugar; stone the cherries, and boil them in a preserving-pan until nearly all the juice is dried up, then add the sugar, which should be crushed to powder, and the currant-juice, allowing 1 pint to every 6 lbs. of cherries (original weight), and 1 lb. of sugar to every pint of juice. Boil all together until it jellies, which will be in from 20 minutes to ½ hour; skim the jam well, keep it well stirred, and, a few minutes before it is done, crack some of the stones, and add the kernels: these impart a very delicious flavour to the jam.Time.—According to the quality of the cherries, from ¾ to 1 hour to boil them; 20 minutes to ½ hour with the sugar.Average cost, from 7d.to 8d.per lb. pot.Sufficient.—1 pint of fruit for a lb. pot of jam.Seasonable.—Make this in July or August.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of cherries, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 oz. of butter, ½ pint of water, 1 wineglassful of port wine, a little grated lemon-rind, 4 pounded cloves, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, sugar to taste.Mode.—Stone the cherries, and pound the kernels in a mortar to a smooth paste; put the butter and flour into a saucepan, stir them over the fire until of a pale brown, then add the cherries, the pounded kernels, the wine, and the water. Simmer these gently for ¼ hour, or until the cherries are quite cooked, and rub the whole through a hair sieve; add the remaining ingredients, let the sauce boil for another 5 minutes, and serve. This is a delicious sauce to serve with boiled batter pudding, and when thus used, should be sent to table poured over the pudding.Time.—20 minutes to ½ hour.Average cost, 1s.2d.Sufficientfor 4 or 5 persons.Seasonablein June, July, and August.
Ingredients.—1½ lb. of cherries, 2 small tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, ½ lb. of short crust.Mode.—Pick the stalks from the cherries, put them, with the sugar, into adeeppie-dish just capable of holding them, with a small cup placed upside down in the midst of them. Make a short crust with ½ lb. of flour, by either of the recipes for short crust, lay a border round the edge of the dish, put on the cover, and ornament the edges; bake in a brisk oven from ½ hour to 40 minutes; strew finely-sifted sugar over, and serve hot or cold, although the latter is the more usual mode. It is more economical to make two or three tarts at one time, as the trimmings from one tart answer for lining the edges of the dish for another, and so much paste is not required as when they are made singly. Unless for family use, never make fruit pies in verylargedishes; select them, however, asdeepas possible.Time.—½ hour to 40 minutes.Average cost, in full season, 8d.Sufficientfor 5 or 6 persons.Seasonablein June, July, and August.
Note.—A few currants added to the cherries will be found to impart a nice piquante taste to them.
Ingredients.—½ lb. of chestnuts, ½ pint of stock, 2 lumps of sugar, 4 tablespoonfuls of Spanish sauce (seeSauces).Mode.—Prepare the chestnuts as in the succeeding recipe, by scalding and peeling them; put them in a stewpan with the stock and sugar, and simmer them till tender. When done, add Spanish sauce in the above proportion, and rub the whole through a tammy. Keep this sauce rather liquid, as it is liable to thicken.Time.—1½ hour to simmer the chestnuts.Average cost, 8d.
Ingredients.—½ lb. of chestnuts, ½ pint of white stock, 2 strips of lemon-peel, cayenne to taste, ¼ pint of cream or milk.Mode.—Peel off the outside skin of the chestnuts, and put them into boilingwater for a few minutes; take off the thin inside peel, and put them into a saucepan with the white stock and lemon-peel, and let them simmer for 1½ hour, or until the chestnuts are quite tender. Rub the whole through a hair-sieve with a wooden spoon; add seasoning and the cream; let it just simmer, but not boil, and keep stirring all the time. Serve very hot, and quickly. If milk is used instead of cream, a very small quantity of thickening may be required: that, of course, the cook will determine.Time.—Altogether, nearly 2 hours.Average cost, 8d.Sufficient, this quantity for a turkey.
Ingredients.—¾ lb. of Spanish chestnuts, ¼ pint of cream; seasoning to taste of salt, cayenne, and mace; 1 quart of stock.Mode.—Take the outer rind from the chestnuts, and put them into a large pan of warm water. As soon as this becomes too hot for the fingers to remain in it, take out the chestnuts, peel them quickly, and immerse them in cold water, and wipe and weigh them. Now cover them with good stock, and stew them gently for rather more than ¾ of an hour, or until they break when touched with a fork; then drain, pound, and rub them through a fine sieve reversed; add sufficient stock, mace, cayenne, and salt, and stir it often until it boils, and put in the cream. The stock in which the chestnuts are boiled can be used for the soup, when its sweetness is not objected to, or it may, in part, be added to it; and the rule is, that ¾ lb. of chestnuts should be given to each quart of soup.Time.—Rather more than 1 hour.Average cost, per quart, 1s.6d.Sufficientfor 4 persons.Seasonablefrom October to February.
BOILED FOWL.
BOILED FOWL.
Ingredients.—A pair of chickens, water.Choosing and Trussing.—In choosing fowls for boiling, it should be borne in mind that those which are not black-legged are generally much whiter when dressed. Pick, draw, singe, wash, and truss them in the following manner, without the livers in the wings; and, in drawing, be careful not to break the gall-bladder:—Cut off the neck, leaving sufficient skin to skewer back. Cut the feet off to the first joint, tuck the stumps into a slit made on each side of the belly, twist the wings over the back of the fowl, and secure the top of the leg and the bottom of the wing together by running a skewer through them and the body. The other side must be done in the same manner. Should the fowl be very large and old, draw the sinews of the legs before tucking them in. Make a slit in the apron of the fowl, large enough to admit the parson’s nose, and tie a string on the tops of the legs to keep them in their proper place.Mode.—When they are firmly trussed, put them into a stewpan with plenty of hot water, bring it to boil, and carefully remove all the scum as it rises.Simmer very gentlyuntil the fowl is tender, and bear in mind that the slower it boils the plumper and whiter will the fowl be. Many cooks wrap them in a floured cloth to preserve the colour, and to prevent the scum from clinging to them; in this case, a few slices of lemon should be placed on the breasts, over these a sheet of buttered paper, and then the cloth; cooking them in this manner renders the flesh very white. Boiled ham, bacon, boiled tongue, or pickled pork, are the usual accompaniments to boiled fowls, and they may be served with Béchamel, white sauce, parsley and butter, oyster, lemon, liver, celery, or mushroom sauce. A little should be poured over the fowls after the skewers are removed, and the remainder sent in a tureen to table.Time.—Large fowl, 1 hour; moderate-sized one, ¾ hour; chicken, from 20 minutes to ½ hour.Average cost, in full season, 5s.the pair.Sufficientfor 7 or 8 persons.Seasonableall the year, but scarce in early spring.
Ingredients.—½ fowl, or the inferior joints of a whole one; 1 quart of water, 1 blade of mace, ½ onion, a small bunch of sweet herbs, salt to taste, 10 peppercorns.Mode.—An old fowl not suitable for eating may be converted into very good broth; or, if a young one be used, the inferior joints may be put in the broth, and the best pieces reserved fordressing in some other manner. Put the fowl into a saucepan, stew all the ingredients, and simmer gently for 1½ hour, carefully skimming the broth well. When done, strain, and put by in a cool place until wanted; then take all the fat off the top, warm up as much as may be required, and serve. This broth is, of course, only for those invalids whose stomachs are strong enough to digest it, with a flavouring of herbs, &c. It may be made in the same manner as beef tea, with water and salt only, but the preparation will be but tasteless and insipid. When the invalid cannot digest this chicken broth with the flavouring, we would recommend plain beef tea in preference to plain chicken tea, which it would be without the addition of herbs, onions, &c.Time.—1½ hour.Sufficientto make rather more than 1 pint of broth.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowls, 2 large onions, 1 apple, 2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of curry-powder, 1 teaspoonful of flour, ½ pint of gravy, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.Mode.—Slice the onions, peel, core, and chop the apple, and cut the fowl into neat joints; fry these in the butter of a nice brown, then add the curry-powder, flour, and gravy, and stew for about 20 minutes. Put in the lemon-juice, and serve with boiled rice, either placed in a ridge round the dish or separately. Two or three shalots or a little garlic may be added, if approved.Time.—Altogether, ½ hour.Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 6d.Seasonablein the winter.
Ingredients.—2 chickens; seasoning to taste of salt, white pepper, and cayenne; 2 blades of pounded mace, egg and bread-crumbs, clarified butter, 1 strip of lemon-rind, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, thickening of butter and flour, 1 egg.Mode.—Remove the breast and leg-bones of the chickens; cut the meat into neat pieces after having skinned it, and season the cutlets with pepper, salt, pounded mace, and cayenne. Put the bones, trimmings, &c., into a stewpan with 1 pint of water, adding carrots, onions, and lemon-peel in the above proportion; stew gently for 1½ hour, and strain the gravy. Thicken it with butter and flour, add the ketchup and 1 egg well beaten; stir it over the fire, and bring it to the simmering-point, but do not allow it to boil. In the mean time, egg and bread-crumb the cutlets, and give them a few drops of clarified butter; fry them a delicate brown, occasionally turning them; arrange them pyramidically on the dish, and pour over them the sauce.Time.—10 minutes to fry the cutlets.Average cost, 2s.each.Sufficientfor an entrée.Seasonablefrom April to July.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast or boiled fowl, fried bread, clarified butter, the yolk of 1 egg, bread-crumbs, ½ teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel; salt, cayenne, and mace to taste. For sauce,—1 oz. of butter, 2 minced shalots, a few slices of carrot, a small bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, 1 blade of pounded mace, 6 peppercorns, ½ pint of gravy.Mode.—Cut the fowls into as many nice cutlets as possible; take a corresponding number of sippets about the same size, all cut one shape; fry them a pale brown, put them before the fire, then dip the cutlets into clarified butter mixed with the yolk of an egg, cover with bread-crumbs seasoned in the above proportion, with lemon-peel, mace, salt, and cayenne; fry them for about 5 minutes, put each piece on one of the sippets, pile them high in the dish, and serve with the following sauce, which should be made ready for the cutlets. Put the butter into a stewpan, add the shalots, carrot, herbs, mace, and peppercorns; fry for 10 minutes, or rather longer; pour in ½ pint of good gravy, made of the chicken-bones; stew gently for 20 minutes, strain it, and serve.Time.—5 minutes to fry the cutlets; 35 minutes to make the gravy.Average cost, exclusive of the chicken, 9d.Seasonablefrom April to July.
Ingredients.—2 small fowls or 1 large one, 3 oz. of butter, a bunch of parsley and green onions, 1 clove, 2 blades of mace, 1 shalot, 1 bay-leaf, salt and white pepper to taste, ¼ pint of cream, the yolks of 3 eggs.Mode.—Choose a couple of fat plump chickens, and, after drawing, singeing, and washing them, skin, andcarve them into joints; blanch these in boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes, take them out, and immerse them in cold water to render them white. Put the trimmings, with the necks and legs, into a stewpan; add the parsley, onions, clove, mace, shalot, bay-leaf, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; pour to these the water that the chickens were blanched in, and simmer gently for rather more than 1 hour. Have ready another stewpan; put in the joints of fowl, with the above proportion of butter; dredge them with flour, let them get hot, but do not brown them much; then moisten the fricassee with the gravy made from the trimmings, &c., and stew very gently for ½ hour. Lift the fowl into another stewpan, skim the sauce, reduce it quickly over the fire by letting it boil fast, and strain it over them. Add the cream, and a seasoning of pounded mace and cayenne; let it boil up, and when ready to serve, stir to it the well-beaten yolks of 3 eggs; these should not be put in till the last moment, and the sauce should be madehot, but mustnot boil, or it will instantly curdle. A few button-mushrooms stewed with the fowl are by many persons considered an improvement.Time.—1 hour to make the gravy, ½ hour to simmer the fowl.Average cost, 5s.the pair.Sufficient.—1 large fowl for 1 entrée.Seasonableat any time.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast chicken or fowl; to every ¼ lb. of meat allow 2 oz. of ham, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream, 2 tablespoonfuls of veal gravy, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel; cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste; 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 oz. of butter rolled in flour, puff paste.Mode.—Mince very small the white meat from a cold roast fowl, after removing all the skin; weigh it, and to every ¼ lb. of meat allow the above proportion of minced ham. Put these into a stewpan with the remaining ingredients, stir over the fire for 10 minutes or ¼ hour, taking care that the mixture does not burn. Roll out some puff paste about ¼ inch in thickness, line the patty-pans with this, put upon each a small piece of bread, and cover with another layer of paste; brush over with the yolk of an egg, and bake in a brisk oven for about ¼ hour. When done, cut a round piece out of the top, and, with a small spoon, take out the bread (be particular in not breaking the outside border of the crust), and fill the patties with the mixture.Time.—¼ hour to prepare the meat; not quite ¼ hour to bake the crust.Seasonableat any time.
Ingredients.—2 small fowls or 1 large one, white pepper and salt to taste, ½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, ½ teaspoonful of pounded mace, forcemeat, a few slices of ham, 3 hard-boiled eggs, ½ pint of water, puff crust.Mode.—Skin and cut up the fowls into joints, and put the neck, leg, and backbones in a stewpan, with a little water, an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a blade of mace; let these stew for about an hour, and, when done, strain off the liquor: this is for gravy, Put a layer of fowl at the bottom of a pie-dish, then a layer of ham, then one of forcemeat and hard-boiled eggs cut in rings; between the layers put a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Proceed in this manner until the dish is full, and pour in about ½ pint of water; border the edge of the dish with puff crust, put on the cover, ornament the top, and glaze it by brushing over it the yolk of an egg. Bake from 1¼ to 1½ hour, should the pie be very large, and, when done, pour in at the top the gravy made from the bones. If to be eaten cold, and wished particularly nice, the joints of the fowls should be boned, and placed in the dish with alternate layers of forcemeat; sausage-meat may also be substituted for the forcemeat, and is now very much used. When the chickens are boned, and mixed with sausage-meat, the pie will take about 2 hours to bake. It should be covered with a piece of paper when about half-done, to prevent the paste being dried up or scorched.Time.—For a pie with unboned meat, 1¼ to 1½ hour; with boned meat and sausage or forcemeat, 1½ to 2 hours.Average cost, with 2 fowls, 6s.6d.Sufficientfor 6 or 7 persons.Seasonableat any time.
Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast chicken; to every lb. of meat allow ¼ lb. of fresh butter, salt and cayenne to taste,1 teaspoonful of pounded mace, ½ small nutmeg.Mode.—Strip the meat from the bones of cold roast fowl; when it is freed from gristle and skin, weigh it, and to every lb. of meat allow the above proportion of butter, seasoning, and spices. Cut the meat into small pieces, pound it well with the fresh butter, sprinkle in the spices gradually, and keep pounding until reduced to a perfectly smooth paste. Put it into potting-pots for use, and cover it with clarified butter, about ¼ inch in thickness, and, if to be kept for some time, tie over a bladder: 2 or 3 slices of ham, minced and pounded with the above ingredients, will be found an improvement. It should be kept in a dry place.Seasonableat any time.
Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast or boiled chicken, 2 lettuces, a little endive, 1 cucumber, a few slices of boiled beetroot, salad-dressing.Mode.—Trim neatly the remains of the chicken; wash, dry, and slice the lettuces, and place in the middle of a dish; put the pieces of fowl on the top, and pour the salad-dressing over them. Garnish the edge of the salad with hard-boiled eggs cut in rings, sliced cucumber, and boiled beetroot cut in slices. Instead of cutting the eggs in rings, the yolks may be rubbed through a hair sieve, and the whites chopped very finely, and arranged on the salad in small bunches, yellow and white alternately. This should not be made long before it is wanted for table.Average cost, exclusive of the cold chicken, 8d.Sufficientfor 4 or 5 persons.Seasonableat any time.
Ingredients.—50 fresh red English chilies, 1 pint of vinegar.Mode.—Pound or cut the chilies in half, and infuse them in the vinegar for a fortnight, when it will be fit for use. This will be found an agreeable relish to fish, as many people cannot eat it without the addition of an acid and cayenne pepper.
Ingredients.—1½ lb. of leg, loin, or neck of mutton, 2 onions, 2 lettuces, 1 pint of green peas, 1 teaspoonful of salt, 1 teaspoonful of pepper, ¼ pint of water, ¼ lb. of clarified butter; when liked, a little cayenne.Mode.—Mince the above quantity of undressed leg, loin, or neck of mutton, adding a little of the fat, also minced; put it into a stewpan with the remaining ingredients, previously shredding the lettuce and onion rather fine; closely cover the stewpan, after the ingredients have been well stirred, and simmer gently for rather more than two hours. Serve in a dish, with a border of rice round, the same as for curry.Time.—Rather more than two hours.Average cost, 1s.6d.Sufficientfor 3 or 4 persons.Seasonablefrom June to August.
MILL.
MILL.
Ingredients.—Allow ½ oz. of chocolate to each person; to every oz. allow ½ pint of water, ½ pint of milk.Mode.—Make the milk-and-water hot; scrape the chocolate into it, and stir the mixture constantly and quickly until the chocolate is dissolved; bring it to the boiling-point, stir it well, and serve directly with white sugar. Chocolate prepared within a mill, as shown in the engraving, is made by putting in the scraped chocolate, pouring over it the boiling milk-and-water, and milling it over the fire until hot and frothy.Sufficient.—Allow ½ oz. of cake chocolate to each person.
Ingredients.—3 oz. of grated chocolate, ¼ lb. of sugar, 1½ pint of cream, 1½ oz. of clarified isinglass, the yolks of 6 eggs.Mode.—Beat the yolks of the eggs well, put them into a basin with the grated chocolate, the sugar, and 1 pint of the cream; stir these ingredients well together, pour them into a jug, and set this jug in a saucepan of boiling water; stir it one way until the mixture thickens, butdo not allow it to boil, or it willcurdle. Strain the cream through a sieve into a basin; stir in the isinglass and the other ½ pint of cream, which should be well whipped; mix all well together, and pour it into a mould which has been previously oiled with the purest salad-oil, and, if at hand, set it in ice until wanted for table.Time.—About 10 minutes to stir the mixture over the fire.Average cost, 4s.6d., with cream at 1s.per pint.Sufficientto fill a quart mould.Seasonableat any time.
CREAM-MOULD.
CREAM-MOULD.
Ingredients.—4 eggs, 3 teaspoonfuls of pounded sugar, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 3 oz. of the best chocolate.Mode.—Break the eggs, separating the whites from the yolks, and put them into different basins; add to the yolks the sugar, flour, and chocolate, which should be very finely grated, and stir these ingredients for 5 minutes. Then well whisk the whites of the eggs in the other basin until they are stiff, and, when firm, mix lightly with the yolks till the whole forms a smooth and light substance; butter a round cake-tin, put in the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven from 15 to 20 minutes. Pin a white napkin round the tin, strew sifted sugar over the top of the soufflé, and send it immediately to table. The proper appearance of this dish depends entirely on the expedition with which it is served; and some cooks, to preserve its lightness, hold a salamander over the soufflé until it is placed on the table. If allowed to stand after it comes from the oven it will be entirely spoiled, as it falls almost immediately.Time.—15 to 20 minutes.Average cost, 1s.Sufficientfor a moderate-sized soufflé.Seasonableat any time.
CLARET-CUP.
CLARET-CUP.
Ingredients.—1 bottle of claret, 1 bottle of soda-water, about ½ lb. of pounded ice, 4 tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1 liqueur-glass of Maraschino, a sprig of green borage.Mode.—Put all the ingredients into a silver cup, regulating the proportion of ice by the state of the weather; if very warm, a larger quantity would be necessary. Hand the cup round with a clean napkin passed through one of the handles, that the edge of the cup may be wiped after each guest has partaken of the contents thereof.Seasonablein summer.
Ingredients.—A capon or large fowl (sometimes an old cock, from which the recipe takes its name, is used), which should be trussed as for boiling, 2 or 3 bunches of fine leeks, 5 quarts of stock (seeStock), pepper and salt to taste.Mode.—Well wash the leeks (and, if old, scald them in boiling water for a few minutes), taking off the roots and part of the heads, and cut them into lengths of about an inch. Put the fowl into the stock, with, at first, one half of the leeks, and allow it to simmer gently. In half an hour add the remaining leeks, and then it may simmer for 3 or 4 hours longer. It should be carefully skimmed, and can be seasoned to taste. In serving, take out the fowl and carve it neatly, placing the pieces in a tureen, and pouring over them the soup, which should be very thick of leeks (apuréeof leeks, the French would call it).Time.—4 hours.Average cost, 1s.6d.per quart; or with stock, 1s.Sufficientfor 10 persons.Seasonablein winter.
Note.—Without the fowl, the above, which would then be merely called leek soup, is very good, and also economical. Cock-a-leekie was largely consumed at the Burns Centenary Festival at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, in 1859.
Ingredients.—Allow 2 teaspoonfuls of the prepared cocoa to 1 breakfast-cup; boiling milk and boiling water.Mode.—Put the cocoa into a breakfast-cup, pour over it sufficient cold milk to make it into a smooth paste; then add equal quantities of boiling milk and boiling water, and stir all well together. Care must be taken not to allow the milk to get burnt, as it will entirely spoil the flavour of the preparation. The above directions are usually given for making the prepared cocoa. The rock cocoa, or that bought in a solid piece, should be scraped, and made in the same manner, taking care to rub down all the lumpsbefore the boiling liquid is added.Sufficient.—2 teaspoonfuls of prepared cocoa for 1 breakfast-cup, or ¼ oz. of the rock cocoa for the same quantity.
Cod should be chosen for the table when it is plump and round near the tail, when the hollow behind the head is deep, and when the sides are undulated as if they were ribbed. The glutinous parts about the head lose their delicate flavour after the fish has been twenty-four hours out of the water. The great point by which the cod should be judged is the firmness of its flesh; and, although the cod is not firm when it is alive, its quality may be arrived at by pressing the finger into the flesh: if this rises immediately, the flesh is good; if not, it is stale. Another sign of its goodness is, if the fish, when it is cut, exhibits a bronze appearance, like the silver side of a round of beef; when this is the case the flesh will be firm when cooked. Stiffness in a cod, or in any other fish, is a sure sign of freshness, though not always of quality. Sometimes codfish, though exhibiting signs of rough usage, will eat much better than those with red gills, so strongly recommended by many cookery-books. This appearance is generally caused by the fish having been knocked about at sea, in the well-boats, in which they are conveyed from the fishing-grounds to market.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—Any remains of cold cod, 4 tablespoonfuls of béchamel (seeBéchamel Sauce), 2 oz. of butter; seasoning to taste of pepper and salt; fried bread, a few bread-crumbs.Mode.—Flake the cod carefully, leaving out all skin and bone; put the béchamel in a stewpan with the butter, and stir it over the fire till the latter is melted; add seasoning, put in the fish, and mix it well with the sauce. Make a border of fried bread round the dish, lay in the fish, sprinkle over with bread-crumbs, and baste with butter. Brown either before the fire or with a salamander, and garnish with toasted bread cut in fanciful shapes.Time.—½ hour.Average cost, exclusive of the fish, 6d.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—1 large slice of cod, 1 oz. of butter, 1 chopped shalot, a little minced parsley, ¼ teacupful of white stock, ¼ pint of milk or cream, flour to thicken, cayenne and lemon-juice to taste, ¼ teaspoonful of powdered sugar.Mode.—Boil the cod, and while hot, break it into flakes; put the butter, shalot, parsley, and stock into a stewpan, and let them boil for 5 minutes. Stir in sufficient flour to thicken, and pour to it the milk or cream. Simmer for 10 minutes, add the cayenne and sugar, and, when liked, a little lemon-juice. Put the fish in the sauce to warm gradually, but do not let it boil. Serve in a dish garnished with croûtons.Time.—Rather more than ½ hour.Average cost, with cream, 2s.Sufficientfor 3 persons.Seasonablefrom November to March.
Note.—The remains of fish from the preceding day answer very well for this dish.
Ingredients.—2 slices of crimped cod, 1 shalot, 1 slice of ham minced very fine, ½ pint of white stock, when liked, ½ teacupful of cream; salt to taste; a few drops of garlic vinegar, a little lemon-juice, ½ teaspoonful of powdered sugar.Mode.—Chop the shalots, mince the ham very fine, pour on the stock, and simmer for 15 minutes. If the colour should not be good, add cream in the above proportion, and strain it through a fine sieve; season it, and put in the vinegar, lemon-juice, and sugar. Now boil the cod, take out the middle bone, and skin it; put it on the dish without breaking, and pour the sauce over it.Time.—¾ hour.Average cost, 3s.6d., with fresh fish.Sufficientfor 4 persons.Seasonablefrom November to March.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—2 slices of cod, ¼ lb. of butter, a little chopped shalot and parsley; pepper to taste; ¼ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, or rather less when the flavour is not liked; the juice of ¼ lemon.Mode.—Boil the cod, and either leave it whole, or, what is still better, flake it from the bone, and take off the skin. Put it into a stewpan with the butter, parsley, shalot, pepper, and nutmeg. Melt the butter gradually, and be very careful that it does not become like oil. When all iswell mixed and thoroughly hot, add the lemon-juice, and serve.Time.—½ hour.Average cost, 2s.6d.; with remains of cold fish, 5d.Sufficientfor 4 persons.Seasonablefrom November to March.
Note.—Cod that has been left will do for this.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—2 slices of large cod, or the remains of any cold fish; 3 oz. of butter, 1 onion sliced, a teacupful of white stock, thickening of butter and flour, 1smallteaspoonful of curry-powder, ¼ pint of cream, salt and cayenne to taste.Mode.—Flake the fish, and fry it of a nice brown colour with the butter and onions; put this in a stewpan, add the stock and thickening, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir the curry-powder into the cream; put it, with the seasoning, to the other ingredients; give one boil, and serve.Time.—¾ hour.Average cost, with fresh fish, 3s.Sufficientfor 4 persons.Seasonablefrom November to March.
Ingredients.—2 slices of cod; pepper and salt to taste; ½ a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1 large blade of pounded mace, 2 oz. of butter, ½ pint of stock, a paste crust (seePastry). For sauce,—1 tablespoonful of stock, ¼ pint of cream or milk, thickening of flour or butter, lemon-peel chopped very fine to taste, 12 oysters.Mode.—Lay the cod in salt for 4 hours, then wash it and place it in a dish; season, and add the butter and stock; cover with the crust, and bake for 1 hour, or rather more. Now make the sauce, by mixing the ingredients named above; give it one boil, and pour it into the pie by a hole made at the top of the crust, which can easily be covered by a small piece of pastry cut and baked in any fanciful shape,—such as a leaf, or otherwise.Time.—1½ hour.Average cost, with fresh fish, 2s.6d.Sufficientfor 6 persons.Seasonablefrom November to March.
Note.—The remains of cold fish may be used for this pie.
[Cold Meat Cookery.]Ingredients.—Any remains of cold cod, 12 oysters, sufficient melted butter to moisten it; mashed potatoes enough to fill up the dish.Mode.—Flake the fish from the bone, and carefully take away all the skin. Lay it in a pie-dish, pour over the melted butter and oysters (or oyster sauce, if there is any left), and cover with mashed potatoes. Bake for ½ an hour, and send to table of a nice brown colour.Time.—½ hour.Seasonablefrom November to March.
Ingredients.—Sufficient water to cover the fish.Mode.—Wash the fish, and lay it all night in water, with a ¼ pint of vinegar. When thoroughly soaked, take it out, see that it is perfectly clean, and put it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it. Heat it gradually, but do not let it boil much, or the fish will be hard. Skim well, and when done, drain the fish, and put it on a napkin garnished with hard-boiled eggs cut in rings.Time.—About 1 hour.Average cost, 6d.per lb.Sufficientfor each person, ¼ lb.Seasonablein the spring.
Note.—Serve with egg sauce and parsnips. This is an especial dish on Ash Wednesday.
Should be well soaked in salt and water, and thoroughly washed before dressing them. They are considered a great delicacy, and may either be broiled, fried, or boiled; if they are boiled, mix a little milk with the water.
Ingredients.—For forcemeat, 12 chopped oysters, 3 chopped anchovies, ¼ lb. of bread-crumbs, 1 oz. of butter, 2 eggs, seasoning of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and mace to taste; 4 cod sounds.Mode.—Make the forcemeat by mixing the ingredients well together. Wash the sounds, and boil them in milk and water for ½ an hour; take them out, and let them cool. Cover each with a layer of forcemeat, roll them up in a nice form, and skewer them. Rub over with lard, dredge with flour, and cook them gently before the fire in a Dutch oven.Time.—1 hour.Average cost, 6d.per lb.
Ingredients.—Sufficient water to cover the fish; 5 oz. of salt to each gallon of water.Mode.—Cleanse the fish thoroughly, and rub a little salt over the thick part and inside of the fish 1 or 2 hours before dressing it, as this very much improves the flavour. Lay it in the fish-kettle, with sufficient cold water to cover it. Be very particular not to pour the water on the fish, as it is liable to break it, and only keep it just simmering. If the water should boil away, add a little by pouring it in at the side of the kettle, and not on the fish. Add salt in the above proportion, and bring it gradually to a boil. Skim very carefully, draw it to the side of the fire, and let it gently simmer till done. Take it out and drain it; serve on a hot napkin, and garnish with cut lemon and horseradish.Time.—According to size, ½ an hour, more or less.Average cost, from 3s.to 6s.Sufficientfor 6 or 8 persons.Seasonablefrom November to March.
Note.—Oyster sauce and plain melted butter should be served with this.
First run the knife along the centre of the side of the fish, namely, fromdtob, down to the bone; then carve it in unbroken slices downwards fromdtoe, or upwards fromdtoc, as shown in the engraving. The carver should ask the guests if they would like a portion of the roe and liver.