PORK, Hashed.

SPARE-RIB OF PORK.

Ingredients.—Pork; a little powdered sage.Mode.—As this joint frequently comes to table hard and dry, particular care should be taken that it is well basted. Put it down to a bright fire, and flour it. About 10 minutes before taking it up, sprinkle over some powdered sage; make a little gravy in the dripping-pan, strain it over the meat, and serve with a tureen of apple sauce. This joint will be done in far less time than when the skin is left on, consequently, should have the greatest attention that it be not dried up.Time.—Griskin of pork weighing 6 lbs., 1½ hour.Average cost, 7d.per lb.Sufficientfor 5 or 6 persons.Seasonablefrom September to March.

GRISKIN OF PORK.

Note.—A spare-rib of pork is roasted in the same manner as above, and would take 1½ hour for one weighing about 6 lbs.

Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast pork, 2 onions, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 2 blades of pounded mace, 2 cloves, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar, ½ pint of gravy, pepper and salt to taste.Mode.—Chop the onions and fry them of a nice brown; cut the pork into thin slices, season them with pepper and salt, and add these to the remaining ingredients. Stew gently for about ½ hour, and serve garnished with sippets of toasted bread.Time.—½ hour.Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 3d.Seasonablefrom October to March.

Ingredients.—Leg of pork; salt.Mode.—For boiling, choose a small, compact, well-filled leg, and rub it well with salt; let it remain in pickle for a week or ten days, turning and rubbing it every day. An hour before dressing it, put it into cold water for an hour, which improves the colour. If the pork is purchased ready salted, ascertain how long the meat has been in pickle, and soak it accordingly. Put it into a boiling-pot, with sufficient cold water to cover it; let it gradually come to a boil, and remove the scum as it rises. Simmer it very gently until tender, and do not allow it to boil fast, or the knuckle will fall to pieces before the middle of the leg is done. Carrots, turnips, or parsnips may be boiled with the pork, some of which should be laid round the dishas a garnish. A well-made pease-pudding is an indispensable accompaniment.Time.—A leg of pork weighing 8 lbs., 3 hours after the water boils, and to be simmered very gently.Average cost, 9d.per lb.Sufficientfor 7 or 8 persons.Seasonablefrom September to March.

Note.—The liquor in which a leg of pork has been boiled makes excellent pea-soup.

Ingredients.—Leg of pork, a little, oil, sage and onion stuffing.Mode.—Choose a small leg of pork, and score the skin across in narrow strips, about ¼ inch apart. Cut a slit in the knuckle, loosen the skin, and fill it with a sage-and-onion stuffing. Brush the joint over with a little salad-oil (this makes the crackling crisper, and a better colour), and put it down to a bright, clear fire, not too near, as that would cause the skin to blister. Baste it well, and serve with a little gravy made in the dripping-pan, and do not omit to send to table with it a tureen of well-made apple sauce.Time.—A leg of pork weighing 8 lbs., about 3 hours.Average cost, 9d.per lb.Sufficientfor 6 or 7 persons.Seasonablefrom September to March.

ROAST LEG OF PORK.

This joint, which is such a favourite one with many people, is easy to carve. The knife should be carried sharply down to the bone, clean through the crackling, in the direction of the line 1 to 2. Sage and onion and apple sauce are usually sent to table with this dish,—sometimes the leg of pork is stuffed,—and the guests should be asked if they will have either or both. A frequent plan, and we think a good one, is now pursued, of sending sage and onion to table separately from the joint, as it is not everybody to whom the flavour of this stuffing is agreeable.

LEG OF PORK.

Note.—The other dishes of pork do not call for any special remarks as to their carving or helping.

FORE LOIN OF PORK.

Ingredients.—Pork; a little salt.Mode.—Score the skin in strips rather more than ¼ inch apart, and place the joint at a good distance from the fire, on account of the crackling, which would harden before the meat would be heated through, were it placed too near. If very lean, it should be rubbed over with a little salad oil, and kept well basted all the time it is at the fire. Pork should be very thoroughly cooked, but not dry; and be careful never to send it to table the least underdone, as nothing is more unwholesome and disagreeable than under-dressed white meats. Serve with apple sauce and a little gravy made in the dripping-pan. A stuffing of sage and onion may be made separately, and baked in a flat dish: this method is better than putting it in the meat, as many persons have so great an objection to the flavour.Time.—A loin of pork weighing 5 lbs., about 2 hours: allow more time should it be very fat.Average cost, 9d.per lb.Sufficientfor 5 or 6 persons.Seasonablefrom September to March.

HIND LOIN OF PORK.

Ingredients.—¼ lb. of saltpetre; salt.Mode.—As pork does not keep long without being salted, cut it into pieces of a suitable size as soon as the pig is cold. Rub the pieces of pork well with salt, and put them into a pan with a sprinkling of it between each piece: asit melts on the top, strew on more. Lay a coarse cloth over the pan, a board over that, and a weight on the board, to keep the pork down in the brine. If excluded from the air, it will continue good for nearly 2 years.Average cost, 10d.per lb. for the prime parts.Seasonable.—The best time for pickling meat is late in the autumn.

Ingredients.—Pork; water.Mode.—Should the pork be very salt, let it remain in water about 2 hours before it is dressed; put it into a saucepan with sufficient cold water to cover it, let it gradually come to a boil, then gently simmer until quite tender. Allow ample time for it to cook, as nothing is more disagreeable than underdone pork, and when boiled fast, the meat becomes hard. This is sometimes served with boiled poultry and roast veal, instead of bacon: when tender, and not over salt, it will be found equally good.Time.—A piece of pickled pork weighing 2 lbs., 1¼ hour; 4 lbs., rather more than 2 hours.Average cost, 10d.per lb. for the primest parts.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—For the crust, 5 lbs. of lard to 14 lbs. of flour; milk, and water. For filling the pies, to every 3 lbs. of meat allow 1 oz. of salt, 2¼ oz. of pepper, a small quantity of cayenne, 1 pint of water.Mode.—Rub into the flour a portion of the lard; the remainder put with sufficient milk and water to mix the crust, and boil this gently for ¼ hour. Pour it boiling on the flour, and knead and beat it till perfectly smooth. Now raise the crust in either a round or oval form, cut up the pork into pieces the size of a nut, season it in the above proportion, and press it compactly into the pie, in alternate layers of fat and lean, and pour in a small quantity of water; lay on the lid, cut the edges smoothly round, and pinch them together. Bake in a brick oven, which should be slow, as the meat is very solid. Very frequently, an inexperienced cook finds much difficulty in raising the crust. She should bear in mind that it must not be allowed to get cold, or it will fall immediately: to prevent this, the operation should be performed as near the fire as possible. As considerable dexterity and expertness are necessary to raise the crust with the hand only, a glass bottle or small jar may be placed in the middle of the paste, and the crust moulded on this; but be particular that it is kept warm the whole time.Sufficient.—The proportions for 1 pie are 1 lb. of flour and 3 lbs. of meat.Seasonablefrom September to March.

Ingredients.—2 lbs. of flour, ½ lb. of butter, ½ lb. of mutton suet, salt and white pepper to taste, 4 lbs. of the neck of pork, 1 dessertspoonful of powdered sage.Mode.—Well dry the flour, mince the suet, and put these with the butter into a saucepan, to be made hot, and add a little salt. When melted, mix it up into a stiff paste, and put it before the fire with a cloth over it until ready to make up; chop the pork into small pieces, season it with white pepper, salt, and powdered sage; divide the paste into rather small pieces, raise it in a round or oval form, fill with the meat, and bake in a brick oven. These pies will require a fiercer oven than those in the preceding recipe, as they are made so much smaller, and consequently do not require so soaking a heat.Time.—If made small, about 1½ hour.Seasonablefrom September to March.

Ingredients.—2 large potatoes, 4 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, 2 ditto of raisin or sweet wine, 1 dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, ½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, hot lard.Mode.—Boil the potatoes, and beat them up lightly with a fork, but do not use a spoon, as that would make them heavy. Beat the eggs well, leaving out one of the whites; add the other ingredients, and beat all together for at least 20 minutes, or until the batter is extremely light. Put plenty of good lard into a frying-pan, and drop a tablespoonful of the batter at a time into it, and fry the fritters a nice brown. Serve them with the following sauce:—A glass of sherry mixed with the strained juice of a lemon, and sufficient white sugar to sweeten the whole nicely. Warm these ingredients, and serve the sauce separately in a tureen. The fritters should be neatly dished on a white d’oyley, and pounded sugar sprinkledover them. They should be well drained on a piece of blotting-paper before the fire previously to being dished.Time.—From 6 to 8 minutes.Average cost, 9d.Sufficientfor 3 or 4 persons.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—1½ lb. of rump-steak or mutton cutlets, pepper and salt to taste, 1/3 pint of weak broth or gravy, 1 oz. of butter, mashed potatoes.Mode.—Place the meat, cut in small pieces, at the bottom of the pan; season it with pepper and salt, and add the gravy and butter broken into small pieces. Put on the perforated plate, with its valve-pipe screwed on, and fill up the whole space to the top of the tube with nicely-mashed potatoes mixed with a little milk, and finish the surface of them in any ornamental manner. If carefully baked, the potatoes will be covered with a delicate brown crust, retaining all the savoury steam rising from the meat. Send it to table as it comes from the oven, with a napkin folded round it.Time.—40 to 60 minutes.Average cost, 2s.Sufficientfor 4 or 5 persons.Seasonableat any time.

POTATO-PASTY PAN.

Ingredients.—½ lb. of mashed potatoes, 2 oz. of butter, 2 eggs, ¼ pint of milk, 3 tablespoonfuls of sherry, ¼ saltspoonful of salt, the juice and rind of 1 small lemon, 2 oz. of sugar.Mode.—Boil sufficient potatoes to make ½ lb. when mashed; add to these the butter, eggs, milk, sherry, lemon-juice, and sugar; mince the lemon-peel very finely, and beat all the ingredients well together. Put the pudding into a buttered pie-dish, and bake for rather more than ½ hour. To enrich it, add a few pounded almonds, and increase the quantity of eggs and butter.Time.—½ hour, or rather longer.Average cost, 8d.Sufficientfor 5 or 6 persons.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—Mashed potatoes, salt and pepper to taste; when liked, a very little minced parsley, egg, and bread-crumbs.Mode.—Boil and mash the potatoes; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and, when liked, a little minced parsley. Roll the potatoes into small balls, cover them with egg and bread-crumbs, and fry in hot lard for about 10 minutes; let them drain before the fire, dish them on a napkin, and serve.Time.—10 minutes to fry the rissoles.Seasonableat any time.

POTATO RISSOLES.

Note.—The flavour of these rissoles may be very much increased by adding finely-minced tongue or ham, or even chopped onions, when these are liked.

Ingredients.—10 or 12 cold boiled potatoes, 4 tablespoonfuls of tarragon or plain vinegar, 6 tablespoonfuls of salad-oil, pepper and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley.Mode.—Cut the potatoes into slices about ½ inch in thickness; put these into a salad-bowl with oil and vinegar in the above proportion; season with pepper, salt, and a teaspoonful of minced parsley; stir the salad well, that all the ingredients may be thoroughly incorporated, and it is ready to serve. This should be made two or three hours before it is wanted for table. Anchovies, olives, or pickles may be added to this salad, as also slices of cold beef, fowl, or turkey.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—Potatoes, salt, and water.Mode.—Choose large white potatoes, as free from spots as possible; boil them in their skins in salt and water until perfectly tender; drain anddry them thoroughlyby the side of the fire, and peel them. Put a hot dish before the fire, rub the potatoes through a coarse sieve on to this dish; do not touch them afterwards,or the flakes will fall, and serve as hot as possible.Time.—½ to ¾ hour to boil the potatoes.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficient,—6 potatoes for 3 persons.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—4 lbs. of mealy potatoes, boiled or steamed very dry, pepper and salt to taste, 2 quarts of stock.Mode.—When the potatoes are boiled, mash them smoothly, that no lumps remain, and gradually put them to the boiling stock; pass it through a sieve, season, and simmer for 5 minutes. Skim well, and serve with fried bread.Time.—½ hour.Average cost, 10d.per quart.Seasonablefrom September to March.Sufficientfor 8 persons.

Ingredients.—1 lb. of shin of beef, 1 lb. of potatoes, 1 onion, ½ a pint of peas, 2 oz. of rice, 2 heads of celery, pepper and salt to taste, 3 quarts of water.Mode.—Cut the beef into thin slices, chop the potatoes and onion, and put them into a stewpan with the water, peas, and rice. Stew gently till the gravy is drawn from the meat; strain it off, take out the beef, and pulp the other ingredients through a coarse sieve. Put the pulp back into the soup, cut up the celery in it, and simmer till this is tender. Season, and serve with fried bread cut into it.Time.—3 hours.Average cost, 4d.per quart.Seasonablefrom September to March.Sufficientfor 12 persons.

Ingredients.—4 middle-sized potatoes well pared, a thick slice of bread, 6 leeks peeled and cut into thin slices as far as the white extends upwards from the roots, a teacupful of rice, a teaspoonful of salt, and half that of pepper, and 2 quarts of water.Mode.—The water must be completely boiling before anything is put into it; then add the whole of the ingredients at once, with the exception of the rice, the salt, and the pepper. Cover, and let these come to a brisk boil; put in the others, and let the whole boil slowly for an hour, or till all the ingredients are thoroughly done, and their several juices extracted and mixed.Time.—2½ hours.Average cost, 3d.per quart.Sufficientfor 8 persons.Seasonablein winter.

Ingredients.—Potatoes.Mode.—Choose large potatoes, as much of a size as possible; wash them in lukewarm water, and scrub them well, for the browned skin of a baked potato is by many persons considered the better part of it. Put them into a moderate oven, and bake them for about two hours, turning them three or four times whilst they are cooking. Serve them in a napkin immediately they are done, as, if kept a long time in the oven, they have a shrivelled appearance. Potatoes may also be roasted before the fire, in an American oven; but when thus cooked, they must be done very slowly. Do not forgot to send to table with them a piece of cold butter.Time.—Large potatoes, in a hot oven, 1½ hour to 2 hours; in a cool oven, 2 to 2½ hours.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficient.—Allow 2 to each person.Seasonableall the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

BAKED POTATOES SERVED IN NAPKIN.

Ingredients.—10 or 12 potatoes; to each ½ gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.Mode.—Choose potatoes of an equal size, pare them, take out all the eyes and specks, and as they are peeled, throw them into cold water. Put them into a saucepan, with sufficientcoldwater to cover them, with salt in the above proportion, and let themboil gentlyuntil tender. Ascertain when they are done by thrusting a fork in them, and take them up the moment they feel soft through; for if they are left in the water afterwards, they become waxy or watery. Drain away the water, put the saucepan by the side of the fire, with the lid partially uncovered, to allow the steam to escape, and let the potatoes get thoroughly dry, and do not allow them to get burnt. Their superfluous moisture will evaporate, and the potatoes, if a good sort, should be perfectly mealy and dry. Potatoes vary so much in quality and size, that it is difficult to give the exact time for boiling; they should beattentively watched, and probed with a fork, to ascertain when they are cooked. Send them to table quickly, and very hot, and with an opening in the cover of the dish, that a portion of the steam may evaporate, and not fall back on the potatoes.Time.—Moderate-sized old potatoes, 15 to 20 minutes, after the water boils; large ones, ½ hour to 35 minutes.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficientfor 6 persons.Seasonableall the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

Note.—To keep potatoes hot, after draining the water from them, put a folded cloth or flannel (kept for the purpose) on the top of them, keeping the saucepan-lid partially uncovered. This will absorb the moisture, and keep them hot some time without spoiling.

Ingredients.—10 or 12 potatoes; to each ½ gallon of water, allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.Mode.—To obtain this wholesome and delicious vegetable cooked in perfection, it should be boiled and sent to table with the skin on. In Ireland, where, perhaps, the cooking of potatoes is better understood than in any country, they are always served so. Wash the potatoes well, and if necessary, use a clean scrubbing-brush to remove the dirt from them; and, if possible, choose the potatoes so that they may all be as nearly the same size as possible. When thoroughly cleansed, fill the saucepan half full with them, and just cover the potatoes with cold water salted in the above proportion: they are more quickly boiled with a small quantity of water, and, besides, are more savoury than when drowned in it. Bring them to boil, then draw the pan to the side of the fire, and let them simmer gently until tender. Ascertain when they are done by probing them with a fork; then pour off the water, uncover the saucepan, and let the potatoes dry by the side of the fire, taking care not to let them burn. Peel them quickly, put them in a very hot vegetable-dish, either with or without a napkin, and serve very quickly. After potatoes are cooked, they should never be entirely covered up, as the steam, instead of escaping, falls down on them, and makes them watery and insipid. In Ireland they are usually served up with the skins on, and a small plate is placed by the side of each guest.Time.—Moderate-sized potatoes, with their skins on, 20 to 25 minutes after the water boils; large potatoes, 25 minutes to ¾ hour, or longer; 5 minutes to dry them.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficientfor 6 persons.Seasonableall the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

Ingredients.—Potatoes; to each ½ gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.Mode.—Do not have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are never good when they have been out of the ground some time. Well wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, and put them intoboilingwater salted in the above proportion. Let them boil until tender; try them with a fork, and when done, pour the water away from them; let them stand by the side of the fire with the lid of the saucepan partially uncovered, and when the potatoes are thoroughly dry, put them into a hot vegetable-dish, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut; pile the potatoes over this, and serve. If the potatoes are too old to have the skin rubbed off, boil them in their jackets; drain, peel, and serve them as above, with a piece of butter placed in the midst of them.Time.—¼ to ½ hour, according to the size.Average cost, in full season, 1d.per lb.Sufficient.—Allow 3 lbs. for 5 or 6 persons.Seasonablein May and June, but may be had, forced, in March.

Ingredients.—Potatoes, hot butter or clarified dripping, salt.Mode.—Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices, as nearly the same size as possible; make some butter or drippinghotin a frying-pan; put in the potatoes, and fry them on both sides untilnearlycooked. Now take the potatoes out of the fat, make the fatquite boiling, then throw in the potatoes for a minute or two until sufficiently done. The immersion of the vegetable in the grease a second time after it is partially cooked, causes it to puff or “gonfler,” as the French say, which is the desired appearance for properly-dressed fried potatoes to possess.When they are crisp and done, take them up, place them on a cloth before the fire to drain the grease from them, and serve very hot, after sprinkling them with salt. These are delicious with rump-steak, and, in France, are frequently served thus as a breakfast dish. The remains of cold potatoes may also be sliced and fried by the above recipe, but the slices must be cut a little thicker.Time.—Sliced raw potatoes, 5 minutes; cooked potatoes, 5 minutes.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficient,—6 sliced potatoes for 3 persons.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—8 to 10 middling-sized potatoes, 3 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, ½ pint of broth, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar.Mode.—Put the butter and flour into a stewpan; stir over the fire until the butter is of a nice brown colour, and add the broth and vinegar; peel and cut the potatoes into long thin slices, lay them in the gravy, and let them simmer gently until tender, which will be in from 10 to 15 minutes, and serve very hot. A laurel-leaf simmered with the potatoes is an improvement.Time.—10 to 15 minutes.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—Potatoes, salt and water; to every 6 potatoes allow 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste, 4 tablespoonfuls of gravy, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice.Mode.—Wash the potatoes clean, and boil them in salt and water; when they are done, drain them, let them cool; then peel and cut the potatoes into thick slices: if these are too thin, they would break in the sauce. Put the butter into a stewpan with the pepper, salt, gravy, and parsley; mix these ingredients well together, put in the potatoes, shake them two or three times, that they may be well covered with the sauce, and, when quite hot through, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve.Time.—½ to ¾ hour to boil the potatoes; 10 minutes for them to heat in the sauce.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficientfor 3 persons.Seasonableall the year.

Ingredients.—Potatoes; to every lb. of mashed potatoes allow 1 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of milk, salt to taste.Mode.—Boil the potatoes in their skins; when done, drain them, and let them get thoroughly dry by the side of the fire; then peel them, and, as they are peeled, put them into a clean saucepan, and with alarge forkbeat them to a light paste; add butter, milk, and salt in the above proportion, and stir all the ingredients well over the fire. When thoroughly hot, dish them lightly, and draw the fork backwards over the potatoes to make the surface rough, and serve. When dressed in this manner, they may be browned at the top with a salamander, or before the fire. Some cooks press the potatoes into moulds, then turn them out, and brown them in the oven: this is a pretty mode of serving, but it makes them heavy. In whatever way they are sent to table, care must be taken to have them quite free from lumps.Time.—From ½ to ¾ hour to boil the potatoes.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficient,—1 lb. of mashed potatoes for 3 persons.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—To every lb. of mashed potatoes allow ¼ pint of good broth or stock, 2 oz. of butter.Mode.—Boil the potatoes, well drain them, and pound them smoothly in a mortar, or beat them up with a fork; add the stock or broth, and rub the potatoes through a sieve. Put the purée into a very clean saucepan with the butter; stir it well over the fire until thoroughly hot, and it will then be ready to serve. A purée should be rather thinner than mashed potatoes, and is a delicious accompaniment to delicately broiled mutton cutlets. Cream or milk may be substituted for the broth when the latter is not at hand. A casserole of potatoes, which is often used for ragoûts instead of rice, is made by mashing potatoes rather thickly, placing them on a dish, and making an opening in the centre. After having browned the potatoes in the oven, the dish should be wiped clean, and the ragoût or fricassée poured in.Time.—About ½ hour to boil the potatoes; 6 or 7 minutes to warm the purée.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficient.—Allow 1 lb. of cooked potatoes for 3 persons.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—The remains of cold potatoes; to every lb. allow 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 2 ditto of minced onions, 1 oz. of buttermilk.Mode.—Mash the potatoes with a fork until perfectly free from lumps; stir in the other ingredients, and add sufficient milk to moisten them well; press the potatoes into a mould, and bake in a moderate oven until nicely brown, which will be in from 20 minutes to ½ hour. Turn them out of the mould, and serve.Time.—20 minutes to ½ hour.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—Potatoes; boiling water.Mode.—This mode of cooking potatoes is now much in vogue, particularly where they are wanted on a large scale, it being so very convenient. Pare the potatoes, throw them into cold water as they are peeled, then put them into a steamer. Place the steamer over a saucepan of boiling water, and steam the potatoes from 20 to 40 minutes, according to the size and sort. When a fork goes easily through them, they are done; then take them up, dish, and serve very quickly.Time.—20 to 40 minutes.Average cost, 4s.per bushel.Sufficient.—Allow 2 large potatoes to each person.Seasonableall the year, but not so good whilst new potatoes are in season.

Ingredients.—A fowl, a large bunch of water-cresses, 3 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, ¼ pint of gravy.Mode.—Truss and roast a fowl by recipe, taking care that it is nicely frothed and brown. Wash and dry the water-cresses, pick them nicely, and arrange them in a flat layer on a dish. Sprinkle over a little salt and the above proportion of vinegar; place over these the fowl, and pour over it the gravy. A little gravy should be served in a tureen. When not liked, the vinegar may be omitted.Time.—From ½ to 1 hour, according to size.Average cost, in full season, 2s.6d.each.Sufficientfor 3 or 4 persons.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—1 large fowl, 4 tablespoonfuls of salad oil, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 pint of stock or water, about 28 mushroom-buttons, salt and pepper to the taste, 1 teaspoonful of powdered sugar, a very small piece of garlic.Mode.—Cut the fowl into 8 or 10 pieces, put them with the oil into a stewpan, and brown them over a moderate fire; dredge in the above proportion of flour, when that is brown, pour in the stock or water, let it simmer very slowly for rather more than ½ an hour, and skim off the fat as it rises to the top; add the mushrooms, season with pepper, salt, garlic, and sugar; take out the fowl, which arrange pyramidically on a dish, with the inferior joints at the bottom. Reduce the sauce by boiling it quickly over the fire, keeping it stirred until sufficiently thick to adhere to the back of the spoon; pour over the fowl, and serve.Time.—Altogether 50 minutes.Average cost, 3s.6d.Sufficientfor 3 or 4 persons.Seasonableat any time.

POUND CAKE.

Ingredients.—1 lb. of butter, 1¼ lb. of flour, 1 lb. of pounded loaf sugar, 1 lb. of currants, 9 eggs, 2 oz. of candied peel, ½ oz. of citron, ½ oz. of sweet almonds; when liked, a little pounded mace.Mode.—Work the butter to a cream; dredge in the flour; add the sugar, currants, candied peel, which should be cut into neat slices, and the almonds, which should be blanched and chopped, and mix all these well together; whisk the eggs, and let them be thoroughly blended with the dry ingredients. Beat the cake well for 20 minutes, and put it into a round tin, lined at the bottom and sides with a strip of white buttered paper. Bake it from 1½ to 2 hours, and let the oven be well heated when the cake is first put in, as, if this is not the case, the currants will all sink to the bottom of it. To make this preparation light, the yolks and whites of the eggs should be beaten separately, and added separately to the other ingredients. A glass of wine is sometimes added to the mixture; but this is scarcely necessary, as the cake will be found quite rich enough without it.Time.—1½ to 2 hours.Ave-*rage cost, 3s.6d.Sufficient.—The above quantity divided in two will make two nice-sized cakes.Seasonableat any time.

Ingredients.—Two quarts of fish stock, two pints of prawns, the crumb of a French roll, anchovy sauce or mushroom ketchup to taste, one blade of mace, one-fourth pint of vinegar, a little lemon-juice.Mode.—Pick out the tails of the prawns, put the bodies in a stewpan with 1 blade of mace, ¼ pint of vinegar, and the same quantity of water; stew them for ¼ hour, and strain off the liquor. Put the fish stock into a stewpan; add the strained liquor, pound the prawns with the crumb of a roll moistened with a little of the soup, rub them through a tammy, and mix them by degrees with the soup; add ketchup or anchovy sauce to taste with a little lemon-juice. When it is well cooked, put in a few picked prawns; let them get thoroughly hot, and serve. If not thick enough, put in a little butter and flour.Time.—Hour.Average cost, 2s.per quart.Seasonableat any time.Sufficientfor 8 persons.

Note.—This can be thickened with tomatoes, and vermicelli served in it, which makes it a very tasteful soup.

Cover a dish with a large cup reversed, and over that lay a small white napkin. Arrange the prawns on it in the form of a pyramid, and garnish with plenty of parsley. Sometimes prawns are stuck into a lemon cut in half the long way, and garnished with parsley.

From the nature of vegetable substances, and chiefly from their not passing so rapidly into the putrescent state as animal bodies, the mode of preserving them is somewhat different, although the general principles are the same. All the means of preservation are put in practice occasionally for fruits and the various parts of vegetables, according to the nature of the species, the climate, the uses to which they are applied, &c. Some are dried, as nuts, raisins, sweet herbs, &c.; others are preserved by means of sugar, such as many fruits whose delicate juices would be lost by drying; some are preserved by means of vinegar, and chiefly used as condiments or pickles; a few also by salting, as French beans; while others are preserved in spirits. We have, however, in this place to treat of the best methods of preserving fruits. Fruit is a most important item in the economy of health; the epicurean can scarcely be said to have any luxuries without it; therefore, as it is so invaluable, when we cannot have it fresh, we must have it preserved. It has long been a desideratum to preserve fruits by some cheap method, yet by such as would keep them fit for the various culinary purposes, as making tarts and other similar dishes. The expense of preserving them with sugar is a serious objection; for, except the sugar be used in considerable quantities, the success is very uncertain. Sugar also overpowers and destroys the sub-acid taste so desirable in many fruits: those which are preserved in this manner are chiefly intended for the dessert. Fruits intended for preservation should be gathered in the morning, in dry weather, with, the morning sun upon them, if possible; they will then have their fullest flavour, and keep in good condition longer than when gathered at any other time. Until fruit can be used, it should be placed in the dairy, an ice-house, or a refrigerator. In an ice-house it will remain fresh and plump for several days. Fruit gathered in wet or foggy weather will soon be mildewed, and be of no service for preserves.

Having secured the first and most important contribution to the manufacture of preserves—the fruit, the next consideration is the preparation of the syrup in which the fruit is to be suspended; and this requires much care. In the confectioner’s art there is a great nicety in proportioning the degree of concentration of the syrup very exactly to each particular case; and he knows this by signs, and expresses it by certain technical terms. But to distinguish these properly requires very great attention and considerable experience. The principal thing to be acquainted with is the fact, that, in proportion as the syrup is longer boiled, its water will become evaporated, and its consistency will be thicker. Great care must be taken in the management of the fire, that the syrup does not boil over, and that the boiling is not carried to such an extent as to burn the sugar.

The first degree or consistency is calledthe thread, which is subdivided into thelittle and great thread. If you dip the finger into the syrup and apply it to the thumb, the tenacity of the syrup will, on separating the finger and thumb, afford a thread, which shortly breaks: this is the little thread. If the thread, from the greater tenacity, and, consequently, greater strength of the syrup, admits of a greater extension of the finger and thumb, it is called the great thread. There are half-a-dozen other terms and experiments for testing the various thickness of the boiling sugar towards the consistency calledcaramel; but that degree of sugar-boiling belongs to the confectioner. A solution of sugar prepared by dissolving two parts of double-refined sugar (the best sugar is the most economical for preserves) in one of water, and boiling this a little, affords a syrup of the right degree of strength, and which neither ferments nor crystallizes. This appears to be the degree calledsmoothby the confectioners, and is proper to be used for the purposes of preserves. The syrup employed should sometimes be clarified, which is done in the following manner:—Dissolve 2 lbs. of loaf sugar in a pint of water; add to this solution the white of an egg, and beat it well. Put the preserving-pan upon the fire with the solution; stir it with a wooden spatula, and when it begins to swell and boil up, throw in some cold water or a little oil to damp the boiling; for, as it rises suddenly, if it should boil over, it would take fire, being of a very inflammable nature. Let it boil up again; then take it off, and remove carefully the scum that has risen. Boil the solution again, throw in a little more cold water, remove the scum, and so on for three or four times successively; then strain it. It is considered to be sufficiently boiled when some taken up in a spoon pours out like oil.

Although sugar passes so easily into the state of fermentation, and is, in fact, the only substance capable of undergoing the vinous stage of that process, yet it will not ferment at all if the quantity be sufficient to constitute a very strong syrup: hence, syrups are used to preserve fruits and other vegetable substances from the changes they would undergo if left to themselves. Before sugar was in use, honey was employed to preserve many vegetable productions, though this substance has now given way to the juice of the sugar-cane.

The fruits that are the most fit for preservation in syrup are apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples, greengages, plums of all kinds, and pears. As an example, take some apricots not too ripe, make a small slit at the stem end, and push out the stone; simmer them in water till they are softened and about half done, and afterwards throw them into cold water. When they have cooled, take them out and drain them. Put the apricots into the preserving-pan with sufficient syrup to cover them; let them boil up three or four times, and then skim them; remove them from the fire, pour them into an earthen pan, and let them cool till next day. Boil them up three days successively, skimming each time, and they will then be finished and in a fit state to be put into pots for use. After each boiling, it is proper to examine into the state of the syrup when cold; if too thin, it will bear additional boiling; if too thick, it may be lowered with more syrup of the visual standard. The reason why the fruit is emptied out of the preserving-pan into an earthen pan is, that the acid of the fruit acts upon the copper, of which the preserving-pans are usually made. From this example the process of preserving fruits by syrup will be easily comprehended. The first object is to soften the fruit by blanching or boiling it in water, in order that the syrup by which it is preserved may penetrate through its substance.

Many fruits, when preserved by boiling, lose much of their peculiar and delicate flavour, as, for instance, pineapples; and this inconvenience may, in some instances, be remedied by preserving them without heat. Cut the fruit in slices about one-fifth of an inch thick, strew powdered loaf sugar an eighth of an inch thick on the bottom of a jar, and put the slices on it. Put more sugar on this, and then another layer of the slices, and so on till the jar is full. Place the jar with the fruit up to the neck in boiling water, and keep it there till the sugar is completely dissolved, which may take half-an-hour, removing the scum as it rises. Lastly, tie a wet bladder over the mouth of the jar, or cork and wax it.

Any of the fruits that have been preserved in syrup may be converted into dry preserves, by first draining them from the syrup, and then drying them in a stove or very moderate oven, addingto them a quantity of powdered loaf-sugar, which will gradually penetrate the fruit, while the fluid parts of the fruit gently evaporate. They should be dried in the stove or oven on a sieve, and turned every six or eight hours, fresh powdered sugar being sifted over them every time they are turned. Afterwards, they are to be kept in a dry situation, in drawers or boxes. Currants and cherries preserved whole in this manner, in bunches, are extremely elegant, and have a fine flavour. In this way it is, also, that orange and lemon chips are preserved.

Marmalades, jams, and fruit pastes are of the same nature, and are now in very general request. They are prepared without difficulty, by attending to a very few directions; they are somewhat expensive, but may be kept without spoiling for a considerable time. Marmalades and jams differ little from each other: they are preserves of a half-liquid consistency, made by boiling the pulp of fruits, and sometimes part of the rinds, with sugar. The appellation of marmalade is applied to those confitures which are composed of the firmer fruits, as pineapples or the rinds of oranges; whereas jams are made of the more juicy berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, currants, mulberries, &c. Fruit pastes are a kind of marmalades, consisting of the pulp of fruits, first evaporated to a proper consistency, and afterwards boiled with sugar. The mixture is then poured into a mould, or spread on sheets of tin, and subsequently dried in the oven or stove till it has acquired the state of a paste. From a sheet of this paste, strips may be cut and formed into any shape that may be desired, as knots, rings, &c. Jams require the same care and attention in the boiling as marmalade; the slightest degree of burning communicates a disagreeable empyreumatic taste, and if they are not boiled sufficiently, they will not keep. That they may keep, it is necessary not to be sparing of sugar.

In all the operations for preserve-making, when the preserving-pan is used, it should not be placed on the fire, but on a trivet, unless the jam be made on a hot plate, when this is not necessary. If the pan be placed close on to the fire, the preserve is very liable to burn, and the colour and flavour be consequently spoiled.

Fruit jellies are compounds of the juices of fruits combined with sugar, concentrated, by boiling, to such a consistency that the liquid, upon cooling, assumes the form of a tremulous jelly.

Before fruits are candied, they must first be boiled in syrup, after which they are taken out and dried on a stove, or before the fire; the syrup is then to be concentrated, or boiled to a candy height, and the fruit dipped in it, and again laid on the stove to dry and candy; they are then to be put into boxes, and kept dry.

Conserves consist of fresh vegetable matters beat into a uniform mass with refined sugar, and they are intended to preserve the virtues and properties of recent flowers, leaves, roots, peels, or fruits, unaltered, and as near as possible to what they were when fresh gathered, and to give them an agreeable taste.

The last to be mentioned, but not the least important preparation of fruit, is the compôte, which can be made at the moment of need, and with much less sugar than would be ordinarily put to preserves. Compôtes are very wholesome things, suitable to most stomachs which cannot accommodate themselves to raw fruit or a large portion of sugar. They are the happy medium—far better than ordinary stewed fruit.

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