The Bain Marie.—This is an open vessel, to be kept at the back of the range or in some warm place, to be filled with hot (notboiling) water. Several stew-pans, or large tin cups with covers and handles, are fitted in, which are intended to hold all those cooked dishes desired to be kept hot. If there are delays in serving the dinner, there is no better means of preserving the flavor of dishes. Thebain marieis especially convenient at any time for keeping sauces, or vegetables for garnish, which can not always be prepared at the last minute.
The Braising-pan.—The use of this pan will be found by referring to the article on “braising.”
The Fish-kettle.—The fish is placed on the perforated tin sheet, which is then put into thekettle of water. The fish is thus taken out of the water at will, without breaking. When done, it is placed for a minute over an empty iron kettle on the fire, to drain well and steam. It is then carefully slipped on a napkin in the hot platter in which it is to be served.
The Custard-kettle.—This is an iron utensil, the inside kettle being lined with block-tin. Although there are cheaper custard-kettles made of tin, it is better economy to purchase those of iron, which are more durable. The inside kettle containing the custard is placed in the larger one, which is partly filled with boiling water.
The Sauté-pan.—This pan may either be used forsautéing, or for an omelet pan.
Sieve for Purées.—This is a substantial arrangement, the sides being made of tin. It is invaluable for bean, pea, or any of thepuréesoups, which should be forced through the sieve. It is also used for bread or cracker crumbs—in fact, for any thing which requires sifting.
The Steaming-kettle.—The article to be cooked is placed in the pan perforated with holes. It is put in the long kettle, which is partly filled with boiling water, then covered with the close-fitting cover. This is an invaluable kettle for cooking vegetables,puddings, and, in fact, almost any thing that is usually immersed in boiling water. A cabbage, with salt sprinkled among the leaves, is cooked much quicker in this way than when immersed, and is much more delicate. It is especially nice for plum-puddings, which then can not become water-soaked. Cooks generally manage to let the water stop boiling for some minutes when boiling puddings, which is just long enough to ruin them. This kettle is no less valuable for cooking chickens or rice.
The Saratoga Potato-cutter.—The screws at the sides adjust a sharp knife, so that, by rubbing the potato over the plane, it may be cut as fine or as coarse as may be desired. The plane is also used for cutting cabbage, or for onions to serve with cucumbers. Cabbage, however, should not be cut too thin, as it is thereby less crisp. Cost, 50 cents.
The Can-opener.—This is the best and cheapest pattern. The handle, knife, and square piece are all made together of pressed iron. Cost, 25 cents.
The Cream-whipper.—The handleAis placed inside the tubeB. The tube is dipped into a bowl of sweetened and flavored cream. By churning and pressing it through the perforated holes, the cream becomes a light froth, which is skimmed off the top, and put on a sieve, as soon as a few table-spoonfuls of it are formed. Cost, 25 cents.
The Wire-basket, for Frying.—Articles to be fried are placed in the basket, which is immersed in boiling fat. It facilitates frying, as the articles are all cooked, lifted out, and well drained at the same time. It is especially nice for frying smelts or for boiling eggs.
The Egg-poacher.—The eggs are carefully broken into the little cups, and placed in the stand. Thestand is then dipped into well-salted water, which is merely simmering. When done, each cup (formed like a shell) is taken out from the stand, and carefully tipped over a piece of buttered toast, leaving the egg with the pretty form of the cup on top.
The Fish-stand.—Fried smelts are hung by catching them to the sharp points of the stand. The intervening places are filled with parsley or leaves, and the whole served in form of a pyramid.
The Butter-roller.—The wooden squares are dipped into cold water. A small piece of butter (enough for one person at table) is placed on one square, then rolled around with the other one held in the other hand. A little ball is formed with a net-work surface. A number of balls are thus formed of the same size, and piled on the butter-dish, as in cut.
Butter or Mashed-potato Syringe.—The butter is placed in the tube, and pressed through the round holes in the end on to the butter-dishes. It forms a pretty effect of fillets of butter, resembling vermicelli. Potatoes boiled, seasoned, and mashed may also be pressed through the tube around beef, venison, or almost any meat or fish dish, making a pretty decoration.
French Vegetable-cutters.—The little cups of figuresAandBare pressed into potatoes, or any bulbous vegetable, then turned around. The cutterAwill make little potato-balls, sayan inch in diameter, which are fried, and called “potatoesà la Parisienne.” The figureBwill cut oblong forms. Smaller-sized cutters are preferable for cutting potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc., for garnishingà la jardinière.
Tin Cutters, for cutting Slices of Bread to fry for decorating Dishes (croûtons), or to serve in Soups.—They may also be used for cutting slices of vegetables for decorations or for soups.
Potato, Carrot, or Turnip Cutter.—This simple little instrument cuts the vegetables mentioned into curls. When the curl is cut, the vegetable is afterward cut from the outside to meet it, when it easily slips out. The handle is separate from the iron wire, and has to be taken off in order to remove the curl. The curls can be boiled in salted water, if of carrots; if of turnips, they are better cooked after the French receipt given; if of potatoes, they are generally fried in boiling lard, and sprinkled with a little salt as soon as done. They make a pretty garnish, or may be served alone.
Fluted Knife, for cutting Vegetables into various fancy Forms for Decorations, or for Salads.—Some cut mushrooms with this knife, to give them a scolloped surface.
French Cook’s Knife.—Made of best steel. It can easily be kept very sharp, and made of almost constant use in preparing dishes. It is especially useful for boning. It costs seventy-five cents, yet, with proper care, should last a life-time. These knives are so light, sharp, and easily handled, that, when once used, a person would consider it very awkward to cook without one.
A Knife for Peeling.—The wire prevents the cutting of more than the skins of fruits or vegetables. The wire may be attached or detached at will, for cleaning it.
Wire Skewers(Fig. A).—They are about three inches long, and may be of silver or plain wire. Fig. B is a skewer run through three smelts, with thin slices of bacon between. They are fried in boiling lard, and one skewerful is served to each person at table. The fish dish is garnished with lemon slices, one of which is placed on the top of each skewerful of fish when on the plate (see page 112). Fig. C, a skewer of alternate slices of egged and bread-crumbed sweet-breads and bacon, managed in the same manner as the smelts (see page 155).
Knife for carving Poultry and Game.—Besides cutting the flesh, this knife disjoints or cuts the bones, which are often embarrassing, especially in ducks and geese.
Meat-squeezer, for pressing out the Juice of Beef for Invalids.—A piece of round-steak (which yields more juice than other cuts) is barely heated through, when it is cut, and the juice pressed out at the angleAinto a warm cup,placed in a basin of hot water. The juice should be served immediately, and taken while still warm.
Pancake-lifter.—This form, having more breadth than the ordinary square lifter, has the advantage of turning the pancakes with greater facility.
Brush, for rubbing whites of eggs over rusks, crullers, etc., or for glazing meats with clear stock, reduced by boiling to a stiff jelly.
Larding-needles, Lardoons, and Manner of Larding.—See article on Larding, page 48.
Apple-corer.—The larger tube is for coring apples; the smaller one for coring Siberian crab-apples, for preserving.
Jelly-stand.—This is simply and cheaply made. Rings can be fastened to the ends of the cords, and slipped over the four top rounds, to hold the jelly-bag on the stand; or it may be tied. The jelly-bag should be made of flannel, or of Canton flannel. This arrangement is not only convenient for jellies, but for clear soups as well.
Meat-pie Mold.—Fig. A represents the mold closed, the wires at each end fastening the two sides together. It is here ready to be buttered, the crust to be laid in, and pressed into the decorations at the sides, filled, the top crust to be fitted over, and baked. Fig. B, the wire is drawn out one side, the mold opened, and removed from the pie. Fig. C, the pie ready to be served at table.
Paste-jagger.—Fig. A represents a paste-jagger, for cutting and ornamenting the edges of pie-crust. Fig. B is a plain circle of pie-crust cut with the jagger, to fit the pie-dish. Fig. C is part of a strip of pie-paste, which is cut with the jagger to lay around the edge of the pie. Fig. D, the strip laid around the edge. Fig. E, the pie placed upon a plate, ready to serve at table.
Glass or Tin Flower Forms.—These are flat forms for decorating the table with flowers. They are filled with water or wet sand. The flowers are placed in, and may, or may not, conceal the tin form.
Molds.—Fig. A, a circular tin mold forblanc-manges, jellies, etc. Fig. B, supposed to be ablanc-mangefilled with strawberries. These centres may be filled with any kind of berries,compotes, fresh fruits, creams, etc., and make exceedingly pretty dishes. With a small mold of this kind one can prepare a very dainty-looking dish for an invalid. It may be filled withblanc-mange, tapioca jelly, Irish moss, wine, or chicken jellies, etc., and filled with acompote, a whipped cream, beaten eggs, or any allowable relish. Fig. C, a circular mold, of more elaborate pattern, yet quite as easy to manage as the simple one. Fig. D, wine jelly, filled with whipped cream. Fig. E, a casserole mold. Fig. F, a casserole of rice or mashed potatoes, filled with fried (sautéd) spring chickens, with cream sauce, and surrounded with cauliflower blossoms. A pretty course for dinner, tea, or supper.
Little Silver-plated Chafing-dish.—It is about four and a half inches square, for serving Welsh rare-bits, or for small pieces of venison-steak, with currant jelly. One is served to each person at table. The lower part is a reservoir for boiling-hot water. I have seen them also made with little alcohol-lamps underneath, when the thin slices of venison-steak can be partly or entirely cooked at table, in the currant jelly. At least, the preparation served is kept nicely hot.
An Instrument for drawing Champagne, Soda, and other Effervescing Liquids at pleasure, leaving the last Glass as sparkling as the first.—The instrument D is driven through the cork in the bottle, the wire A is withdrawn, the button C turned, when the Champagne is drawn through the tube B. When enough is drawn, the button is again turned, and the wire replaced before the bottle is raised. The bottle should then be kept bottom side up. The instrument is a perfect success, and can be obtained of H. B. Platt & Co., 1211 Broadway, New York. It costs $1 85.
Paper Cases for Soufflés, Chickens à la Bechamel, or for any thing that can be served scolloped, or en coquille.—These cases are easily and quickly made. They furnish a pretty variety at table, filled with any of the materials described among the receipts for articles to be served in paper cases or in shells. Tomake the paper cases, choose writing-paper: fold and crease it at the dotted lines in Fig. A, then cut the paper at the dark lines in Fig. B. By turning the corner squares, so that they may lap over the sides, the box is formed. Sew the sides together, all around the box, hiding the stitches under the small piece of paper at the top, lapped over the outside. They should be buttered just before filling. Fig. D is a case filled with a ricesoufflé. Figs. E and F are small cases made of round pieces of paper (four inches in diameter), creased with a penknife. The top may be left unturned, as Fig. F, or turned twice, as Fig. E. These cases may be purchased already made; however, it is a pleasant diversion to make them.
Paper Handles for Lamb-chops, Cutlets, etc.—A long strip of thin writing-paper is doubled, and cut half-way down with scissors, in as thin cuts as can be easily made (Fig. A, a fragment of the paper). One edge of the paper is then slipped a little distance farther than the corresponding edge, which gives the fine cuts a roundshape, as in Fig. B. The edges can be held in this position, with the aid of a very little mucilage. Now roll the paper spirally over a little stick, about the size of a cutlet bone. Fasten the end with a little mucilage, and the paper handle is quite ready to slip over cutlet bones, just as they are about to be sent to the table. Larger-sized paper handles can be made in the same manner for boiled hams.
Silver-plated Scallop Shell, for any thing served en coquille.—Articles serveden coquillemake a pretty course for lunch or dinner. The shells in plated silver are quite expensive, costing sixty dollars a dozen at Tiffany’s. I imagine they could be made as well of block-tin, with a single coating of silver, and with the little feet riveted, so as to stand the heat of the oven.
A Méringue Decorator.—The little tin tube A (one-third of an inch in diameter), or B, is put in the bottom of the bag.Méringue(whipped whites of eggs, sweetened and flavored), or frosting for cakes, is put in the bag, and squeezed through the tube on puddings, lemon orméringuepies, or on cakes, forming any design that may suit the fancy. If it is squeezed through the tube A, the line of frosting will be round; if through tube B, it will be scalloped, when leaves and flowers can easily be formed. The lady-fingers are shaped by pressing the cake batter through a tube half an inch in diameter. The bag is easily made with tightly woven twilled cloth. The little tin tubes can be made at the tinsmith’s, or at home, with a piece of tin, a large pair of scissors, and a little solder. With this little convenience, the trouble of decorating dishes is very slight, and their appearance is very much improved.
Gravy and Sauce Strainer.—A sauce-strainer made of wire gauze of the form of cut presents so much surface for straining that the operation is much quicker accomplished than when using tin cups with a small circle of gauze or perforated holes at the bottom.
An Egg-whisk.—Decidedly the best form for an egg-whisk is the one given in the cut. It is equally useful for makingrouxand sauces. By holding the whisk perpendicularly, and vigorously passing it in the bottom of a saucepan, a small quantity of butter and flour or sauce can be thoroughly mixed.
Itrequires experience to make good bread. One must know, first, how long to let the bread rise, as it takes a longer time in cold than in warm weather; second, when the oven is just of proper temperature to bake it. Bread should be put in a rather hot oven. It is nearly light enough to bake when put in; so the rule for baking bread differs from that of baking cake, which should be put into a moderate oven at first, to become equally heated through before rising. As bread requires a brisk heat, it is well to have the loaves small, the French-bread loaves being well adapted to a hot oven. After the bread is baked, the loaves should be placed on end (covered) at the back of the table until they become cool.
Ingredients: A cupful of baker’s yeast; four cupfuls of flour; two large potatoes, boiled; one cupful of sugar, and six cupfuls of boiling water.
Mix the warm mashed potatoes and sugar together; then add the flour; next, add the six cupfuls of boiling water, poured on slowly: this cooks the flour a little. It will be of the consistency of batter. Let the mixture get almost cold, stirring it well, that the bottom may become cool also. It will spoil the yeast if the batter be too hot. When lukewarm, add the tea-cupful of yeast. Leave this mixture in the kitchen, or in somewarm place, perhaps on the kitchen-table (do not put it too near the stove), for five or six hours, until it gets perfectly light. Do not touch it until it gets somewhat light; then stir it down two or three times during the six hours. This process makes it stronger. Keep it in a cool place until needed.
This yeast will last perpetually, if a tea-cupful of it be always kept, when making bread, to make new yeast at the next baking. Keep it in a stone jar, scalding the jar every time fresh yeast is made.
In summer, it is well to mix corn-meal with the yeast, and dry it in cakes, in some shady, dry place, turning the cakes often, that they may become thoroughly dry. It requires about one and a half cakes (biscuit-cutter) to make four medium-sized loaves of bread. Crumb them, and let them soak in lukewarm water about a quarter or half an hour before using.
Ingredients: Flour, one and a half cupfuls of yeast, lukewarm water, a table-spoonful of lard, a little salt.
Put two quarts of flour into the bread-bowl; sprinkle a little salt over it; add one and a half cupfuls of yeast, and enough lukewarm water to make it a rather soft dough. Set it one side to rise. In winter, it will take overnight; in summer, about three hours. After it has risen, mix well into it one table-spoonful of lard; then add flour (not too much), and knead it half an hour. The more it is kneaded, the whiter and finer it becomes. Leave this in the bread-bowl for a short time to rise; then make it into loaves. Let it rise again for the third time. Bake.
This is a delicious bread, which saves the trouble of making yeast. Twenty-five cents’ worth of Twin Brothers’ yeast will last a small family six weeks. I would recommend Mrs. Bonner’s bread in preference to that of the last receipt. It is cheaper and better, at last, to always have good bread, which is insured by using fresh yeast each time.
For four loaves: At noon, boil three potatoes; mash them well; add a little salt, and two and a half cupfuls of flour; alsoenough boiling water (that in which the potatoes were boiled) to make rather a thin batter. Let it cool, and when it is at about blood-heat, add a Twin Brothers’ yeast-cake, soaked in half a tea-cupful of lukewarm water. One yeast-cake will be sufficient for four loaves of bread in summer; but use one and a half yeast-cakes in winter. Stir well, and put it in a warm place. At night it will be light, when stir in enough flour to make the sponge. Do not make it too stiff. If you should happen to want a little more bread than usual, add a little warm water to the batter. Let it remain in a warm place until morning, when it should be well kneaded for at least twenty minutes. Half an hour or more would be better. Return the dough to the pan, and let it rise again. When light, take it out; add half a tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in a table-spoonful of water; separate it into four loaves; put them in the pans, and let it rise again. When light, bake it an hour.
Put a heaping table-spoonful of hops and a quart of hot water over the fire to boil. Have ready five or six large boiled potatoes, which mash fine. Strain the hops. Now put a pint of boiling water (that in which the potatoes were boiled) over three cupfuls of flour; mix in the mashed potatoes, then the quart of strained hot hop-water, a heaping tea-spoonful of sugar, and the same of salt. When this is lukewarm, mix in one and a half Twin Brothers’ yeast-cakes (softened). Let this stand overnight in a warm place.
In the morning, a new process is in order: First, pour over the yeast a table-spoonful of warm water, in which is dissolved half a spoonful of soda; mix in lightly about ten and a half heaping tea-cupfuls of sifted flour. No more flour is added to the bread during its kneading. Instead, the hands are wet in lukewarm water. Now knead the dough, giving it about eight or ten strokes; then taking it from the side next to you, pull it up into a long length, then double it, throwing it downsnappishlyand heavily. Wetting the hands again, give it the same number of strokes, orkneads, pulling the end toward you again, and throwing it over the part left in the pan. Continue thisprocess until large bubbles are formed in the dough. It will take half an hour or longer. The hands should be wet enough at first to make the dough rather supple. If dexterously managed, it will not stick to the hands after a few minutes; and when it is kneaded enough, it will be very elastic, full of bubbles, and will not stick to the pan. When this time arrives, put the dough away again in a warm place to rise. This will take one or two hours.
Now comes another new process. Sprinkle plenty of flour on the board, and take out lightly enough dough to make one loaf of bread, remembering that the French loaves are not large, nor of the same shape as the usual home-made ones. With the thumb and forefinger gather up the sides carefully (to prevent doubling the meshes or grain of the dough) to make it round in shape. Flour the rolling-pin, press it in the centre, rolling a little to give the dough the form of cut.
Now give each puffed end a roll toward the centre, lapping well the ends. Turn the bread entirely over, pulling out the ends a little, to give the loaf a long form, as in cut.
Sprinkle plenty of flour on large baking-pans turned bottom side up, upon which lay this and the other loaves, a little distance apart, if there is room for two of them on one pan. Sprinkle plenty of flour on the tops, and set the pans by the side of the fire to again rise a little. It will take twenty-five or thirty minutes longer. Then bake.
Kneading bread in the manner just described causes thegrainof the bread to run in one direction, so that it may be pealed off in layers. Kneading with water instead of flour makes the bread moist and elastic, rather than solid and in crumbs.
are made as in last receipt, by lightly gathering a little handful of dough, picking up the sides, and turning it over in theform of a ball or a biscuit. They are baked as described for French bread, placing them a little distance apart, so that they may be separate little breads, each one enough for one person at breakfast.
I have remarked before that not one person in a thousand knows how to make good toast. The simplest dishes seem to be the ones oftenest spoiled. If the cook sends to the table a properly made piece of toast, one may judge that she is ascientificcook, and may entertain, at the same time, exalted hopes of her.
The bread should not be too fresh. It should be cutthin, evenly, and in good shape. The crust edges should be cut off. The pieces shaved off can be dried and put in the bread-crumb can. The object of toasting bread is to extract all its moisture—to convert the dough into pure farina of wheat, which is very digestible. Present each side of the bread to the fire for a few moments towarm, without attempting to toast it; then turn about the first side at some distance from the fire, so that it may slowly and evenly receive agoldencolor all over the surface. Now turn it to the other side, moving it in the same way, until it is perfectly toasted. The coals should be clear and hot. Serve it the moment it is done, on a warm plate, or, what is better, a toast-rack; consequently, do not have a piece of bread toasted until the one for whom it is intended is ready to eat it.
“If, as is generally done, a thick slice of bread is hurriedly exposed to a hot fire, and the exterior of the bread is toasted nearly black, the intention of extracting the moisture is defeated, as the heat will then produce no effect on the interior of the slice, which remains as moist as ever. Charcoal is a bad conductor of heat. The overtoasted surface is nothing more or less than a thin layer of charcoal, which prevents the heat from penetrating through the bread. Neither will butter pass through the hard surface: it will remain on it, and if exposed to heat, to melt it in, it will dissolve, and run over it in the form of rancid oil.Thisis why buttered toast is so often unwholesome.”
Mix one tea-spoonful of salt into three pints of flour; put one tea-cupful of milk, with two table-spoonfuls of lard, on the fire to warm. Pour this on two eggs, well beaten; add the flour, with one tea-cupful of home-made yeast. When well mixed, set it in a warm place for about five hours to rise; then form into biscuit; let them rise again. Bake.
Make the sponge as for white bread; then knead in Graham flour, only sifting part of it. Add, also, two or three table-spoonfuls of molasses.
Add to about a quart of bread dough the beaten yolks of three eggs, half a cupful of butter, and one cupful of sugar: mix all well together. When formed into little cakes (rather high and slender, and placed very near each other), rub the tops with sugar and water mixed; then sprinkle over dry sugar. This should fill two pans.
Ingredients: Two quarts of flour, one pint of milk (measured after boiling), butter the size of an egg, one table-spoonful of sugar, one tea-cupful of home-made yeast, and a little salt.
Make a hole in the flour. Put in the other ingredients, in the following order: sugar, butter, milk, and yeast. Do not stir the ingredients after putting them together. Arrange this at ten o’clock at night; set it in a cool place until ten o’clock the next morning, when mix all together, and knead it fifteen minutes by the clock. Put it in a cool place again until four o’clockP.M., when cut out the rolls, and set each one apart from its neighbor in the pan. Set it for half an hour in a warm place. Bake fifteen minutes.
Rub one quarter of a pound of lard into one and a halfpounds of flour, adding a pinch of salt. Mix enough milk or water with it to make astiffdough. Beat the dough well with a rolling-pin for half an hour or more, or until the dough willbreakwhen pulled. Little machines come for the purpose of making beaten biscuit, which facilitate the operation. Form into little biscuit, prick them on top several times with a fork, and bake.
Ingredients: One quart of flour, one tea-spoonful of soda, two tea-spoonfuls cream of tartar, one even tea-spoonful of salt, lard or butter the size of a small egg, and milk.
Put the soda, cream of tartar, and salt on the table; mash them smoothly with a knife, and mix well together; mix them as evenly in the flour as possible; then pass it all through the sieve two or three times. The success of the biscuits depends upon the equal distribution of these ingredients. Mix in the lard or butter (melted) as evenly as possible, taking time to rub it between the open hands, to break any little lumps. Now pour in enough milk to make the dough consistent enough to roll out, mixing it lightly with the ends of the fingers. The quicker it is rolled out, cut, and baked, the better will be the biscuits.
The biscuits are cheaper made with cream of tartar and soda than with baking-powder, yet many make the
They are made as in the last receipt, merely substituting two heaping tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder for the cream of tartar and soda, and taking the same care to mix evenly.
These biscuits are nice rolled quite thin (half an inch), and cut with a small cutter two inches in diameter. They may be served hot or cold, and are often used at evening companies, cold, split in two, buttered, and with chopped ham (as for sandwiches) placed between them. They are preferable to bread sandwiches, as they do not dry as quickly, and are, perhaps, neater to handle. These biscuits are especially nice when made with Professor Horsford’s self-raising flour—of course,the raising powders are omitted. The appreciation of hot biscuits is quite a Southern and Western American fancy. They are rarely seen abroad, and are generally considered unwholesome in the Eastern States.
Ingredients: Two eggs, one pint of flour, one tea-cupful of milk or cream, butter half the size of an egg, a little salt, and one tea-spoonful of baking-powder.
Mix the baking-powder and salt in the flour. Beat the eggs; add to the yolks, first, milk, then butter (melted), then flour, then the whites. Beat well after it is all mixed, and bake them immediately in a hot oven, in gem-pans or rings. Take them out of the pans or rings the moment they are done, and send them to the table. The self-raising flour is very nice for making muffins. In using this, of course, the baking-powder should be omitted.
Ingredients: Two eggs, one pint of flour, one and a quarter cupfuls of milk or cream, one even tea-spoonful of yeast-powder, butter or lard the size of a walnut, and salt.
Mix the baking-powder and salt well in the flour, then rub in evenly the butter; next add the beaten yolks and milk mixed, then the beaten whites of the eggs. Bake immediately.
Ingredients: One and a half pints of boiled rice, one and a half pints of flour, half a tea-cupful of sour milk, half a tea-cupful of sweet milk, one tea-spoonful of soda, salt, three eggs, and butter size of a walnut.
are made as in the last receipt, by adding an extra half-cupful of milk.
Add a spoonful of butter to two cupfuls of whole hominy (boiled an hour with milk) while it is still hot. Beat three eggs very light, which add to the hominy. Stir in gradually a pint of milk, and, lastly, a pint of corn-meal. Bake in a pan.
This is a very nice breakfast cake. Serve it, with a large napkin under it, on a plate. The sides of the napkin may cover the top of the cake until the moment of serving, which will keep it moist.
Ingredients: One quart of milk, one cupful of hominy grits, two eggs, and salt.
When the milk is salted and boiling, stir in the hominy grits, and boil for twenty minutes. Set it aside to cool thoroughly. Beat the eggs to a stiff froth, and then beat them well and hard into the hominy. Bake half an hour.
Ingredients: Two cupfuls of milk, two cupfuls of flour, two eggs, and an even tea-spoonful of salt.
Beat the eggs separately and well, add the whites last, and then beat all well together. They may be baked in roll-pans, or deep gem-pans, which should be heated on the range, and greased before the batter is put in: they should be filled half full with the batter. Or they may be baked in tea-cups, of which eight would be required for this quantity of batter. When baked, serve immediately. For Graham gems use half Graham flour.
Henriettes for Tea(French Cook), No. 1.
Ingredients: Three eggs beaten separately, three-fourths of a cupful of cream or milk, a scant tea-spoonful of baking-powder, salt, one table-spoonful of brandy, a pinch of cinnamon, enough flour to make them just stiff enough to roll out easily.
Roll them thin as a wafer, cut them into about two-inch squares, or into diamonds, with the paste-jagger, fry them in boiling lard, and sprinkle over pulverized sugar.
Henriettes for Breakfast or Tea(French Cook), No. 2.
Ingredients: Three eggs beaten separately, one cupful ofmilk, a scant tea-spoonful of baking-powder, salt, one table-spoonful of brandy, and flour enough to make a little thicker than for pancakes.
Pass the batter through a funnel (one-third or one-half inch diameter at end) into hot boiling lard, making rings, or any figures preferred. Do not fry too much at one time. When done and drained, sprinkle over pulverized sugar, and lay them on a plate on a folded napkin. Serve.
Rub a piece of butter the size of a large hickory-nut into a pint of sifted flour; sprinkle over a little salt. Mix it into a stiff, smooth paste, with the white of an egg beaten to a froth, and warm milk. Beat the paste with a rolling-pin for half an hour, or longer; the more the dough is beaten, the better are the biscuits. Form the dough into little round balls about the size of a pigeon’s egg; then roll each of them to the size of a saucer. They should be mere wafers in thickness; they can not be too thin. Sprinkle a little flour over the tins. Bake.
These wafers are exceedingly nice to serve with a cheese course, or for invalids to eat with their tea.
Ingredients: One cupful of sour milk, one cupful of sweet milk, one table-spoonful of sugar or molasses, one tea-cupful of flour, two heaping tea-cupfuls of corn-meal, one tea-spoonful of salt, one tea-spoonful (not heaping) of soda, one and a half table-spoonfuls of melted lard or butter, and three eggs.
Beat the eggs separately; add the melted butter to the milk; then the sugar, salt, yolks, soda (dissolved in a table-spoonful of warm water); and, lastly, the whites, flour, and corn-meal. Beat it all quickly and well together. Put it immediately in the oven, to bake half an hour.
Pour enough scalding water, or milk, on corn-meal (salted), to make it rather moist. Let it stand an hour, or longer. Put two or three heaping table-spoonfuls on a hot griddle, greasedwith pork or lard. Smooth over the surface, making the cake about half an inch thick, and of round shape. When browned on one side, turn and brown it on the other. Serve very hot.
These are very nice breakfast cakes, with a savory crust.
Ingredients: One pint of milk, half a pint of Indian meal, four eggs, a scant table-spoonful of butter, salt, and one tea-spoonful of sugar. Pour the milk boiling on thesiftedmeal. When cold, add the butter (melted), the salt, the sugar, the yolks of the eggs, and, lastly, the whites, well beaten separately. Bake half an hour in a hot oven. It is very nice baked in iron or tin gem-pans, the cups an inch and a half deep.
Many slice the mush when cold, and simplysautéit in a little hot lard. But as some cooks seem to have as great success in simple dishes as in elaborate ones, I shall consider this as at least one of the little successes taught me by a French cook. Of course, the mush is made by sprinkling the corn-meal intoboiling saltedwater, or after the manner of Harriet Plater, given in the next receipt. It is thoroughly cooked, and made the day before wanted. When cold, it is sliced, each slice dipped in beaten eggs (salted) and bread or cracker crumbs, and fried in boiling-hot lard. One should try this, to know the superiority in the manner of cooking.
is usually made by sprinkling corn-meal into well-salted boiling water (a pint of corn-meal to three pints of water), and cooking it well. But Harriet Plater (Mrs. Filley’s most skillful cook) says that corn-meal mush is much lighter, and when fried for breakfast, browns better by cooking it as follows:
“Put a quart of water on the fire to boil. Stir a pint of cold milk, with one pint of corn-meal and one tea-spoonful of salt. When the water boils, pour in the mixture gradually, stirring all well together. Let it boil for half an hour, stirring often, to prevent it from burning.”
It seems very simple to make oatmeal porridge, yet it is a very different dish made by different cooks. The ingredients are: One heaping cupful of oatmeal to one quart of boiling water and one tea-spoonful of salt. Boil twenty minutes.
The water should be salted and boiling when the meal is sprinkled in with one hand, while it is lightly stirred in with the other. When all mixed, it should boil without afterward being stirred more than is necessary to keep it from burning at the bottom, and to mingle the grains two or three times, so that they may all be evenly cooked. If much stirred, the porridge will be starchy or waxy, and poor in flavor. But the puffing of the steam through the grains without much stirring swells each one separately, and, when done, the porridge is light, and quite consistent. This same manner of cooking is applicable as well to all other grains.
These are famous pancakes, and, like every other good thing, there is a little secret in the preparation.
Enough flour is added to a quart of sour milk to make a rather thick batter. The secret is that it is left to stand overnight, instead of being finished at once. It may even stand to advantage for twenty-four hours. However, if it is mixed at night, the next morning two well-beaten eggs and salt are to be added at the same time with half a tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in a table-spoonful of warm water. Cook immediately.
Mix two table-spoonfuls of water to two cupfuls of brown sugar and one even table-spoonful of butter. Let it boil about five minutes.
Scald two gills of Indian meal in one quart of boiling water. Add a little salt. When cool, add one gill of yeast, and stir in enough buckwheat flour to make a thin batter. Let it rise overnight. If by chance it is a little sour, just before cooking addone-fourth of a tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in half a cupful of boiling water. Or,
They may be made in the same manner without the Indian meal, merely adding the yeast to a quart of lukewarm water, and making the batter with buckwheat flour alone.
Stir one or two cupfuls of cream or milk into two beaten eggs; add flour or corn-meal enough to make a thin batter. If the milk is sweet, add one tea-spoonful of yeast-powder; if it is sour, add, instead of the yeast-powder, half a tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in a little warm water.
Soak the bread-crumbs, then drain them. To two cupfuls of bread-crumbs add one cupful of flour or corn-meal, one egg, and milk enough to make a thin batter. If the milk is sweet, add a tea-spoonful of yeast-powder; if sour, half a tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in a table-spoonful of warm water.
Ingredients: One quart of flour, two heaping tea-spoonfuls of yeast-powder, half a tea-spoonful of salt, butter size of an egg, milk, two quarts of strawberries. Mix the baking-powder into the flour, then rub in the butter (in the same manner as described for biscuits, page 72). Add enough milk to make a soft dough—rather softer than for biscuits. Spread this on two pie-tins. Bake in a quick oven.
When the cakes are done, let them partly cool. Cut around the edges, and split them. Spread them with butter, then with one quart of mashed strawberries, with plenty of sugar; then put between them the other quart of whole strawberries, sprinkled with sugar. Serve a pitcher of cream with a strawberry short-cake. The cake in this form can be cut like a pie. It is a good summer breakfast as well as tea dish. Or,
It can be made with sour milk, viz.: to two tea-cupfuls of sour milk add a tea-spoonful of soda, then three-fourths of a tea-cupful of butter or lard, partly melted, and enough flour tomake a soft dough. Roll it into thin cakes large enough to fill the pan in which they are to be baked. When baked, split, and butter them while hot. Lay on a plate half of the cake, put on a layer of well-sugared strawberries, then the other half, then more strawberries, and so on, until there are several layers. Or,
These cakes can be made in the same way with currants, blackberries, cut peaches, chopped pine-apples, raspberries, etc.
Twothings are necessary to insure good tea: first, that the water should be at the boiling-point when poured on the leaves, water simply hot not answering the purpose at all; and, second, that it should be served freshly made. Tea should never be boiled. So particular are the English to preserve its first aroma, that it is sometimes made on the table two or three times during a meal. In France, little silver canisters of tea are placed on the table, where it is invariably made. One tea-spoonful of the leaves is a fair portion for each person. Tea is better made in an earthen tea-pot, which tea connoisseurs are particular to have. They also drink the beverage without milk, and with loaf-sugar merely.
Water at the first boiling-point is generally considered better for tea or coffee, and, in fact, any kind of cooking which requires boiling water.
Thebest coffee is made by mixing two-thirds Java and one-third Mocha. The Java gives strength, the Mocha flavor and aroma.
Coffee should be evenly and carefully roasted. Much depends upon this. If even a few of the berries are burned, the coffee will taste burned and bitter, instead of being fine-flavoredand aromatic. To have the perfection of coffee, it should be fresh-roasted each day. Few, however, will take that trouble. As soon as it is roasted, and while still hot, stir into it one or two eggs, together with their shells (about one egg to a pint of roasted coffee-beans). This will help to preserve the coffee, as well as to make it clear. Put it away in a close-covered tin-case, and grind it only just before using.
Allow two heaping table-spoonfuls of ground coffee to a pint of water. Let the water beboilingwhen it is poured on the coffee. Cover it as tightly as possible, and boil it one minute; then let it remain a few moments at the side of the range to settle.
Delmonico allows one and a half pounds of coffee to one gallon of water. The coffee-pot, with a double base, is placed on the range in a vessel of hot water (bain-marie). The boiling water is poured over the coffee, which is contained in a felt strainer in the coffee-pot. It is not boiled.
Of course, much depends upon the care in preparing the coffee to insure a delicious beverage; but equally as much depends upon serving with it good thick cream. Milk, or even boiled milk, is not to be compared with cream. In cities, a gill, at least, might be purchased each morning for coffee, or a few table-spoonfuls might be saved from the evening’s milk for at leastonecup. Fill the cup two-thirds full, then, with hot, clear coffee, pour in one or two table-spoonfuls of cream, and use loaf-sugar.
Professor Blot, in his lectures, was very emphatic as to the impropriety ofboilingcoffee. He said by this means the aroma and flavor were carried into the attic, and a bitter decoction was left to be drunk. He preferred decidedly the coffee made in the French filter coffee-pot.
I have experimented upon coffee, and prefer it boiled for one minute in the ordinary coffee-pot. That made in the French filter is also most excellent. It is not boiled, and requires a greater proportion of coffee. But to be explicit, put the coffee in the filter. At the first boil of the water, pour one or two coffee-cupfuls of it on the coffee. Put back the water on the fire. When boiling again, pour on as much more, and repeat the process until the desired quantity is made.
Allowtwo sticks of chocolate to one pint of new milk. After the chocolate is scraped, either let it soak an hour or so, with a table-spoonful of milk to soften it, or boil it a few moments in two or three table-spoonfuls of water. Then, in either case, mash it to a smooth paste. When the milk, sweetened to taste with loaf-sugar, is boiling, stir in the chocolate-paste, adding a little of the boiling milk to it first, to dilute it evenly. Let it boil half a minute. Stir it well, or mill it, and serve immediately.
Maillard’s chocolate is flavored with a little vanilla. The commoner brands, such as Baker’s, will be nearly as good by adding a little vanilla when making. Miss Schenck (noted for her chocolate) adds a very little flavoring of brandy.
A very good addition, and one universally seen, when chocolate is served at lunch parties, is a heaping table-spoonful of whipped-cream, sweetened and flavored with a little vanilla before it is whipped, placed on the top of the chocolate in each cup, the cup being only three-quarters filled with the chocolate.
Manyuse cocoa rather than chocolate. It has the same flavor, but it has more body, and is richer and more oily. It is made in the same way as chocolate, but a few drops of the essence of vanilla should be invariably added.
Themeat should be fresh, lean (all fat possible being removed), and juicy to make the best soup. It is put into cold, clear water, which should be heated only moderately for the first half-hour. The object is to extract the juices of the meat, and if it be boiled too soon, the surface will become coagulated, thereby imprisoning the juice within. After the first half-hourthe pot should be placed at the back of the stove, allowing the soup to simmer for four or five hours.
Nothing is more disagreeable at table than greasy soup. As all particles of fat are taken off hot liquor with some difficulty, soup should be made the day before it is to be used, when the fat will rise to the top and harden. It can then be easily removed.
When vegetables are used, they should be added only in time to become thoroughly done: afterward they absorb a portion of the richness of the soup.
When onions are used, they impart better flavor by being fried orsautédin a little hot butter or other grease, before they are added to the soup. In fact, many professional cooks fry other vegetables also, such as carrots and turnips. Sometimes they even fry slightly the chickens, beef, etc., and then cut them into smaller pieces for boiling. Potatoes and cabbage should be boiled in separate water before they are added to a soup.
Amateur cooks seem to have a great aversion to making stock. They think it must be something troublesome, and too scientific to undertake; whereas, in truth, it saves the trouble of going through the process of soup-boiling every day, and it is as easy to make as any simple soup. One has only to increase the quantity of meat and bones to any desired proportion, adding pepper and salt, and also vegetables, if preferred.
The stock should be kept in a stone jar. It will form a jelly, and in cool weather will last at least a week.
Just before dinner each day, in order to prepare soup, it is only necessary to cut off some of the jelly and heat it. It is very good with nothing additional; but one can have a change of soup each day by adding different flavorings, such as onion, macaroni, vermicelli, tomato, tapioca, spring vegetables (which will make ajulienne), poached eggs, fried bread, asparagus, celery, green pease, etc. I will be explicit about these additions in the receipts. Stock is also valuable for gravies, sauces, and stews, and for boiling many things, such as pigeons, chickens, etc.
In ordinary circumstances, beef alone, with some vegetables,will make a good broth or stock, in the proportion of two and a half pints of cold clear water to each pound of bones and meat; the bones and meat should be of about equal weight. It makes the soup more delicate to add chicken or veal. Chicken and veal together make a good soup, calledblond de veau. Good soup can be made, also, by using the trimmings of fresh meat, bits of cold cooked beef, or the bones of any meat or fowl. In the choice of vegetables, onions (first fried orsautéd, and a clove stuck in), parsley, and carrots are oftenest used: turnips, parsnips, and celery should be employed more sparingly. The soup bunch at market is generally a very good distribution of vegetables. Nothing is more simple than the process of making stock or broth. Remember not to let it boil for the first half-hour; then it should simmer slowly and steadily, partly covered, for four or five hours. In royal kitchens the stock is cooked by gas. Skim frequently; as scum, if allowed to remain, gives an unpleasant flavor to the soup. Use salt sparingly, putting in a little at first, and seasoning at the last moment. Many a good soup is spoiled by an injudicious use of seasoning. Some add a few drops of lemon-juice to a broth. If wine or catsup is added, it should only be done at the last moment. Always strain the soup through a sieve or soup-strainer. Small scraps of meat or sediment look slovenly in a soup. Or,
If you have no vegetables (you should always have them, especially onions and carrots, as they will keep), a very good stock can be made by employing the meat and bones alone, seasoned with pepper and salt. If rich enough, it might be served in this manner. However, it is a simple thing, about fifteen minutes before dinner, each day, to add a little boiled macaroni, fried onions, etc., to vary the soup.
Three pounds of beef; one pound of bone (about the quantity in that weight of meat); five and a half quarts of clear cold water; two ounces of salt; two carrots, say ten ounces;two large onions, say ten ounces, with two cloves stuck in them; six leeks, say fourteen ounces; one head of celery, say one ounce; two turnips, say ten ounces; one parsnip, say two ounces.
Purchase about six pounds of beef and bone (soup bones) for ten persons. Cut up the meat and break the bones; add two quarts of cold water, and simmer slowly until all the strength is extracted from the meat. It will take about five hours. Strain it through a fine sieve, removing every particle of fat; and if there is more than ten cupfuls, reduce it by boiling to that quantity. Season only with pepper and salt.
It is served in bouillon cups at luncheons, at evening companies, Germans, etc.
Sometimes it is served clear and transparent, after the receipt for Amber Soup.
This soup is served at almost all company dinners. There can be no better choice, as a heavy soup is not then desirable.
Ingredients: A large soup bone (say two pounds), a chicken, a small slice of ham, a soup bunch (or an onion, two sprigs of parsley, half a small carrot, half a small parsnip, half a stick of celery), three cloves, pepper, salt, a gallon of cold water, whites and shells of two eggs, and caramel for coloring.
Let the beef, chicken, and ham boil slowly for five hours; add the vegetables and cloves, to cook the last hour, having first fried the onion in a little hot fat, and then in it stuck the cloves. Strain the soup into an earthen bowl, and let it remain overnight. Next day remove the cake of fat on the top; take out the jelly, avoiding the settlings, and mix into it the beaten whites of the eggs with the shells. Boil quickly for half a minute; then, placing the kettle on the hearth, skim off carefully all the scum and whites of the eggs from the top, not stirring the soup itself. Pass this through the jelly bag, when it should be quite clear. The soup may then be put aside, and reheated just before serving. Add then a large table-spoonful of caramel, as it gives it a richer color, and also a slight flavor.
Of course, the brightest and cleanest of kettles should be used. I once saw this transparent soup served in Paris, without color, but made quite thick with tapioca. It looked very clear, and was exceedingly nice.
This soup may be made in one day. After it is strained, add the eggs and proceed as in receipt. However, if it is to be served at a company dinner, it is more convenient to make it the day before.
The appearance of broth is improved by being of a rich amber color. The most innocent coloring substance, which does not impair the flavor of the broth, is caramel, prepared as follows:
Put into a porcelain saucepan, say half a pound of sugar, and a table-spoonful of water. Stir it constantly over the fire until it has a bright, dark-brown color, being very careful not to let it burn or blacken. Then add a tea-cupful of water and a little salt; let it boil a few moments longer; cool and strain it. Put it away in a close-corked bottle, and it is always ready for coloring soups.
I have before recommended the making of soup the day before it is served, as this is the best means of having it entirely free from fat and settlings. Just before it is served, it may be thickened with corn starch, sago, tapioca, pearl barley, rice, etc. If a thickening of flour is used, let it be aroux, mixed according to directions, page 51. However, a rich stock jelly needs no thickening.
It is well, just before the beef soup is sent to table, to drop into the tureen poached eggs, which have been cooked in salted water, and neatly trimmed. There may be an egg for each person at table. This is a favorite soup in Havana. Or,Put into the tureen, just before the soup is sent to table, slices of lemon—one slice for each plate. Or,
Yolks of hard-boiled eggs, one for each person. Or,
Put into the tureencroûtonsor dice of bread, say three-quarters of an inch square, fried in a little butter. When frying, or rathersautéing, turn them, that all sides may be browned. They may be prepared several hours, if more convenient, before dinner; then left near the fire, to become crisp and dry. This makes a very good soup, and is also an excellent means of using dry bread. It is a favorite French soup, calledpotage aux croûtons. Or,
Drop into the tureen force-meat balls.
Take any kind of meat or chicken, or both (that used for making the soup will answer); chop it very fine; season it with pepper, salt, a little chopped parsley and thyme, or a little parsley and fried onion, or with thyme, or parsley alone, a little lemon-juice, and grated peel. Break in a raw egg, and sprinkle over some flour; roll them in balls the size of a pigeon’s egg. Fry orsautéthem in a little butter, or they may be cooked in boiling water; or they may be egged and bread-crumbed, and fried in boiling lard. This is the most simple receipt. The French take much trouble in makingquenelles, etc., for soup. Or,
A simple and delicious addition is that of four or five table-spoonfuls of stewed tomatoes.