Select large fine tomatoes and place them in the ice-chest; the colder they are, the better, if not frozen; skin them without the use of hot water, and slice them, still retaining the form of the whole tomato. Arrange them in uniform order on a dish, with a spoonful ofMayonnaisesauce thick as a jelly on the top of each tomato. Garnish the dish with leaves of any kind. Parsley is very pretty.
Some marinate the tomato slices,i. e., dip them into a mixture of three spoonfuls of vinegar to one spoonful of oil, pepper, and salt; and then, after draining well, mix them in theMayonnaisesauce.
String the beans and boil them whole; when boiled tender, and they have become cold, slice them lengthwise, cutting each bean into four long slices; place them neatly, the slices all lying in one direction, crosswise on a platter. Season them an hour or two before serving, with a marinade of a little pepper, salt, and three spoonfuls of vinegar to one spoonful of oil. Just before serving, drain from them any drops that may have collected,and carefully mix them with a French dressing. This makes a delicious salad.
Boil a young tender chicken, and when cold separate the meat from the bones; cut it into little square blocks or dice; do not mince it. Cut white tender stalks of celery into about three quarter-inch lengths, saving the outside green stalks for soups; mix the chicken and celery together; and then stir well into them a mixture in the proportion of three table-spoonfuls of vinegar to one table-spoonful of oil, with pepper, salt, and a little mustard to taste. Put this aside for an hour or two, or until just before serving; this is called marinating the chicken; it will absorb the vinegar, etc. When about to serve, mix the celery and chicken with aMayonnaisesauce, leaving a portion of the sauce to mask the top. Reserve several fresh ends or leaves of celery with which to garnish the dish. Stick a little bouquet of these tops in the centre of the salad, then a row of them around it. From the centre to each of the four sides sprinkle rows of capers. Sometimes slices or little cut diamonds of hard-boiled eggs are used for garnishing.
Chicken salad is often made with lettuce instead of celery. Marinate the chicken alone; add it to the small tender leaves (uncut) of the lettuce the last moment before serving; then pourMayonnaisedressing over the top. Garnish with little centre-heads of lettuce, capers, cold chopped red beets if you choose, or sliced hard-boiled eggs. Sometimes little strips of anchovy are added for a garnish. When on the table it should all be mixed together. Many may profit by this receipt for chicken salad; for it is astonishing how few understand making so common a dish. It is generally minced, and mixed with hard-boiled eggs, etc., for a dressing.
Take some tender pullets; fry them in the sauté pan, or roast them; when cold, cut them up, skinning and trimming them neatly. Put the pieces into a tureen, with some salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, some sprigs of parsley, and an onion cut into slices; mix all well together; cover, and let stand for some hours; then, just before serving, drain the salad, taking care to remove all bits of onion, etc., and place it tastefully on lettuce-leaves, with the hearts of the lettuce on top, and cover with aMayonnaisedressing.
Remove the skin and bones from a piece of salmon, boiled and cooled, and cut it into pieces two inches long. Marinate them,i. e., place them in a dish, and season them with salt, pepper, a little oil, and, in this case, plenty of vinegar, some parsley, and a little onion cut up; then cover, and let them stand two or three hours. In the mean time, cut up some hard-boiled eggs into four or eight pieces for a border. Cover the bottom of the salad-dish with lettuce-leaves, seasoned with a French dressing; place your salmon slices in a ring on the lettuce, pouring in the centre aMayonnaisesauce. Sprinkle capers over the whole.
Other kinds of fish, such as pike, blue-fish, and flounders, make very good salads, arranged in the same way. Carême, Gouffé, and Francatelli fry their fish and fowl in asautépan, instead of boiling them. If you do not make use of remnants of salmon left from the table, you can form better-shaped slices by cutting the fish into little shapes before it is boiled. If you wish to boil them, immerse them in warm water (with vinegar and salt added) in a wire basket, or drainer.
Ingredients: Cottage cheese, hard-boiled egg, cives.
Arrange cives on a salad-dish in such a manner as to form a nest; put into the nest whole hard-boiled eggs (shelled), one for each person at table, alternated with little round cakes ofcottage cheese. In serving, place upon each plate an egg, a cake of cottage cheese, and some of the cives. Each person cuts all together, and puts on the French dressing of oil, vinegar, pepper and salt.
French Fritter Batter(French Cook), No. 1.
Put a heaping cupful of flour into a bowl; add two yolks of eggs, a table-spoonful of olive oil, which is better than melted butter, and one or two table-spoonfuls of brandy, wine, or lemon-juice.[E]Stir it well, adding, little by little, water enough to give it the thickness of ordinary batter. This may be used at once; but it is better to put it away for a day, or even for a week. At the moment of cooking, stir in well the whites of two eggs beaten to a very stiff froth.
Ingredients: One pint of milk, three eggs, a little salt, one pint of flour. It can be made with or without a tea-spoonful of baking-powder.
Beat the eggs well; add part of the milk and salt, then the flour and milk alternately, beating it all quickly, and cooking it immediately, dropping it by the spoonful into boiling-hot lard. The fritters are improved by using prepared flour, Horsford’s or Hecker’s being especially good.
Add a pint or less of any of these fruits, cut into small pieces, to either of the above receipts. When done, sprinkle sugar over the tops.
Chop, not too fine, twenty-five of either clams or oysters (bearded or not), and mix them in the fritter batter of either of the above receipts.
Strain one pint of clams, saving the juice; add to this juice sufficient water to make one pint; mix into it one egg, well beaten, and sufficientpreparedflour to make a light batter, also the clams chopped, and some salt. Drop by the spoonful into boiling-hot lard.
Beat up the whites of three eggs and the yolks of six, with half a pound of flour, a cupful of milk, and a large tea-spoonful of yeast. Put the mixture into a jar, and set it near the stove until the next day; then add to the batter two large apples chopped. Drop this by the spoonful into boiling lard. Sprinkle over sugar.
Every one should try this receipt: It will surprise many to know how soft cream could be enveloped in the crust, while it is an exceedingly good dish for a dinner course, or for lunch or tea. When the pudding is hard, it can be rolled in the egg and bread-crumbs. The moment the egg touches the hot lard it hardens and secures the pudding, which softens to a creamy substance very delicious.
Ingredients: One pint of milk, five ounces of sugar (little more than half a cupful), butter the size of a hickory-nut, yolks of three eggs, two table-spoonfuls of corn starch, and one table-spoonful of flour (a generous half cupful altogether), stick of cinnamon one inch long, one half tea-spoonful of vanilla.
Put the cinnamon into the milk, and when it is just about to boil stir in the sugar, and the corn starch and flour, the two latter rubbed smooth with two or three table-spoonfuls of extra cold milk; stir it over the fire for fully two minutes, to cook well the starch and flour; take it from the fire, stir in the beaten yolks of the eggs, and return it a few moments to set them; now, again taking it from the fire, remove the cinnamon, stir in the butter and vanilla, and pour it on a buttered platter until one-third of an inch high. When cold and stiff, cut the pudding into parallelograms, about three inches long and two inches wide; roll these carefully, first in sifted cracker-crumbs, then in eggs (slightly beaten and sweetened), then again in the cracker-crumbs. Dip these into boiling-hot lard (a wire basket should be used if convenient), and when of fine color take them out, and place them in the oven for four or five minutes to better soften the pudding. Sprinkle over pulverized sugar, and serve immediately.
The fresh or the canned fruit may be used. If fresh, pare, core, and cut them in halves. In either case, let them remain two or three hours in brandy, rum, or wine, with plenty of sugar sprinkled over, with some grated lemon peel or zest. When they have absorbed the flavor of these surroundings, drain, and dip them into the fritter batter (No. 1). If rum is used for marinating the fruit, it should be also used in the batter. When the fritters are done and well drained, sprinkle powdered sugar over them.
Having cut off the crust, cut the bread into any shape preferred, such as squares, circles, diamonds, etc. Let it soak in custard (milk, one or two eggs, sugar, and a flavoring of either lemon-zest, or vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, rose-water, brandy, or wine). When well soaked (not enough, however, to break into pieces), roll it first in bread crumbs, then in beaten egg (sweetened and flavored), and again in bread or cracker crumbs, and fry in boiling lard. Serve the fritters sprinkled with powdered sugar, with or without a sweet sauce.
Ingredients: The corn cut from seven ears, one pint of milk, one egg beaten, salt,preparedflour enough to make a light batter. Drop by the table-spoonful into boiling-hot lard.
Pare some fine apples, and with an apple-corer cut out the core from the centre of each; now cut them across in slices, about one-third of an inch thick, having the round opening in the centre; dip these in either fritter batter No. 1 or No. 2; fry in boiling lard; sprinkle over sugar, and serve in a circle, one overlapping the other, with or without a sweet sauce in the centre.
Professionalcooks use butter for pastry. Puff paste should never be attempted with lard or a half mixture of it. If lard or clarified beef suet is used, the pastry of an indifferent cook will be improved by adding a little baking-powder to the flour and rolling the paste very thin.
It is not difficult to make puff paste. In winter, when it is freezing outdoors, or in summer, when a refrigerator with ice in it is at hand, it is very little more trouble to make puff paste than any other kind. The simple rolling of the dough to form layers requires very little practice. The only secret left, after using cold water and butter cold enough not to penetrate the dough, is to have it almost at a freezing-point, or at least thoroughly chilled, as it is put into a hot oven.
Thevols-au-ventof strawberries, or berries of any kind, or of jellies, or of lemon paste (see page 244), and alsorissoles, are especially fine, and are quickly made.
As hundreds of different dishes can be made with pastry, and as Carême has devoted a good-sized volume to the subject, I will copy his receipt for puff paste. It is not modest, perhaps, to put my own first; but it is for the benefit of more ordinary cooks, who will never take extra trouble to make a thing perfect.
Ingredients: One pound of flour, three-quarters of a pound of butter, yolks of two eggs, a little salt, a sprinkle of sugar, a little very cold (or, better, ice-cold) water. (All the professional cooks use a pound of butter to a pound of flour. I think it makes the pastry too rich, and prefer three-quarters of a pound of butter to a pound of flour.)
Sift and weigh the flour, and put it on the board or marble slab; sprinkle a little salt and a very little sugar over it. Beat the yolks of the eggs, and then stir into them a few spoonfuls of ice-cold water; pour this slowly into the centre of the flour with the left hand, working it at the same time well into the mass with the tips of the fingers of the right hand. Continue to work it, turning the fingers round and round on the board, until you have a well-worked, smooth, and firm paste. Now roll it out into a rectangular form, being particular to have the edges quite straight. Much of success depends upon the even folding of the paste. Work the butter (which should be kept some minutes in very cold water if it is at all soft) until the moisture and salt are wiped out, and it is quite supple; care must be taken, however, to keep the butter from getting too soft, as in this condition it would ruin the paste. Divide it into three equal parts; spread one part as flatly and evenly as possible over half of the crust, turn the other half over it, folding it a second time from right to left. Roll this out to the same rectangular form as before; spread the second portion of the butter on half of the crust; fold and roll it out again as before, repeating the same process with the third portion of butter. The paste has now been given what they call three turns; it should be given six turns, turning and rolling the paste after the butter is in. However, after the first three turns, or after the butter is all in, the paste should be placed on the ice, or in a cold place, to remain about ten or fifteen minutes between each of the last three turns: this will prevent the butter getting soft enough to penetrate the dough. Each time before the dough is folded, it should be turned half round, so as to roll it in a different direction each time; this makes the layersmore even. In order to turn the paste, the end may be held to the rolling-pin; then, rolling the pin, the dough will fold loosely around it; the board may be sprinkled with flour; then the dough can be unrolled in the side direction. This is better than to turn it with the hands, as it should be handled as little as possible. When folded the last time, put the paste on a platter, cover, and place it on the ice for half an hour, or where it may become thoroughly chilled; then roll it out for immediate use; or, so long as it is kept in a half-frozen state, it may be kept for one or two days. Firm, solid butter should be selected for puff paste; a light, crumbling butter would be very unsuitable. After the pies, patties, or other articles are made (as in receipts), the scraps may be used for making rissoles. Always select the coolest place possible for making puff paste. In winter it is well to make it by an open window.
Ingredients: Twelve ounces of fine sifted flour, twelve ounces of butter, two drams of fine salt, and the yolks of two eggs beaten.
Manner of working: Having placed twelve ounces of flour on the board, make a small hole in the middle, into which put two drams of fine salt, the yolks of two eggs, and nearly a glass of water. With the ends of the fingers gradually mix the flour with the ingredients, adding a little water when necessary, till the paste is of a proper consistence—rather firm than otherwise. Then lean your hand on the board, and work it for some minutes, when the paste will become soft to the touch and glossy in appearance.
Care must be taken, in mixing the flour with the liquid ingredients, that they do not escape, and that the paste be very lightly gathered together, to prevent it from forming into lumps, which render it stiff, and very difficult to be worked, thereby in some degree causing a failure, which is easily ascertained by the paste, when drawn out, immediately receding, which arises from its having been clumsily and irregularly mixed. To remedy this, let it be carefully rolled out, placing here and there five or six pieces of butter, each the size of anutmeg, when, after working it as before, it will acquire the degree of softness necessary. It is of importance to observe that this paste should be neither too soft nor too hard, but of a proper medium; yet it is better to be a little too soft than too stiff. One should not choose a hot place in which to make paste: for this reason, summer renders the operation quite difficult. If one can not find a cool place, the paste might be slightly stiffer in summer than in winter.
When the paste has been made as above, take three-quarters of a pound of butter in pieces, which has been twenty minutes in ice-water, well washed and pounded. Squeeze and work it well in a napkin, in order to separate the water from it, and at the same time to render it soft, and, above all, of an equal consistence; then, as quickly as possible, roll the paste into a square on a marble slab (the ends must be perfectly even, as much success depends upon folding); place the butter in the middle; spread it over half the paste, immediately turning over the other half of the paste to cover it. Then roll the paste out about three feet in length; fold it into three parts by doubling one part over the other; after which roll it out again, and fold it once more into three equal parts; now roll it to a greater length, fold it, and put it quickly on a plate sprinkled with flour. Place this upon ten pounds of pounded ice, then, covering it with a second plate, put upon that one pound of broken ice. This plate serves to keep the surface of the paste cool, and also to prevent its becoming soft by the action of the air. After two or three minutes, remove the plate, and turn the paste upside down, instantly covering it as before. After about fifteen minutes, roll it out, and use it as expeditiously as possible.
Thus, in less than half an hour, it is possible to make very fine puff paste, having previously every thing ready—the ice pounded, the butter frozen, and the oven quite hot; for otherwise it can not be done. This is all-important, as it is sometimes an hour before the oven can be made hot. When the oven is half heated, begin to make the paste.
The great variety of elegant and delicate forms[F]this paste ismade to assume justifies one for giving such explicit instructions, and repays one for all necessary pains to make it.
I mean Yankee pies. Our English cousins, when speaking of pies, mean only meat-pies, calling our pies tarts. When the paste is fitted over the pie-plate, cut round the edge of it with a sharp knife dipped in flour. Now cut a long curved strip, about three-quarters of an inch wide, wet slightly the top of the paste on the pie-plate near the edge (not the edge), and fit the strip around the pie, the edges coming together. Fill the pie, and place in the oven as soon as possible.
Rub a half pound of fresh lard into a pound of flour; use just enough of very cold water to bind it together; roll it out rather thin, and spread butter over the surface; now fold the paste, turning it twice; roll it out again, dredging the board (a marble slab is preferable) with flour; spread on more butter as before, and fold it again. The same process is continued a third time, using in all a quarter of a pound of butter, which should at first be divided into three equal parts.[G]
Ingredients: One pound of flour, half a pound of lard, two tea-spoonfuls of yeast-powder, and a little cold water.
First mix well the yeast-powder into the sifted flour; then rub in very carelessly and lightly the lard, distributing it in rather coarse pieces. Now pour in enough cold water to bind it together loosely, using the separated fingers of the right hand to turn the flour lightly, while the water is being poured in with the left hand; roll it out in its rough state; prepare the dish, and bake or boil immediately.
Select fine apples; pare them, and take out the cores without breaking them. Boil several whole in a stew-pan with a little lemon-juice, a very little of theyellowpart of the peel, some sugar, and enough water to cover them, until nearly done. Quarter other apples; put them also on the fire with a little water, lemon-peel, lemon-juice, and sugar; boil these to a kind of marmalade; add some butter and peach marmalade, and rub it through a colander. Have some pie-plates covered with puff paste; fill the bottom with the marmalade, and put in four small apples (whole) to each pie, filling the cavities between with peach marmalade. Put two strips of crust (half an inch wide) across the pie, which will divide the apples. Bake in a quick oven. This is especially good served with cream.
Slice pippin apples, and put them between two layers of pie-paste, with enough water to keep them moist. When they are baked, lift the crust carefully off with a knife, and put it aside; now mash the apples with a spoon, season them with plenty of sugar, butter, and grated nutmeg; replace the top crust and sprinkle sugar over it. These pies are especially nice when freshly made, then allowed to cool, and served with cream poured over each piece as it is cut, ready to be eaten.
I think the flavor of the apple is better preserved in this manner than if the seasoning were cooked in it. However, many stew the apples first, before baking them in the pie.
In England, only an upper crust is made. In this country there is generally only an under crust, with bars of paste crossed over the top. I prefer this mode; but these tarts should always be served fresh, or the under crust will become soaked and unwholesome. The berries or fruits are first stewed with sugar to taste, then baked, or not baked in the crust, as preferred.
Lemon-pie(Mrs. Hunt), No. 1.
Ingredients: One heaping table-spoonful of corn starch, one cupful of boiling water, one cupful of sugar, one egg, one table-spoonful of butter, and one small lemon.
Moisten a heaping table-spoonful of corn starch with a little cold water, then add a cupful of boiling water; stir this over the fire for two or three minutes, allowing it to boil, and cook the starch; add a tea-spoonful of butter and a cupful of sugar; remove the mixture from the fire, and when slightly cooled, add an egg, well-beaten, and the juice and grated rind of a fresh lemon. This makes one pie, and should be baked with the crust.
Lemon-pie(Long Branch), No. 2.
Ingredients: Four eggs, four table-spoonfuls of sugar, two-thirds of a cupful of flour, nearly a quart of milk, two small lemons, a little salt.[H]
Bake two under-crusts. Mix the egg-yolks and sugar well together. Bring the milk to the boiling-point, then add the flour mixed with some of the milk, to prevent lumping. Stir it until it has thickened and cooked, when remove it from the fire to stir in the yolks and sugar; return it for a minute to set the eggs; again remove it, and flavor with lemon-juice and grated rind; when the crusts are done, spread over cream, and over this spread the beaten whites of the eggs sweetened and flavored. Put it into the oven a few minutes to color.
Ingredients: Half a pound of sugar, quarter of a pound of butter, two oranges, six eggs.
Grate the rinds of the oranges, and squeeze the juice. Cream the butter, and by degrees add the sugar. Beat in the yolks of the eggs (already well beaten), then the rind and juice of the oranges. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and mix them lightly in the other ingredients. Bake in paste-lined tin pie-plates.
Pumpkin-pie(Mrs. Otis, of Boston), No. 1.
Pare a small pumpkin, and take out the seeds; stew it rather dry, and strain it through a colander; add two quarts of milk,three eggs, and three table-spoonfuls of molasses; let the remainder of the sweetening (to taste) be of sugar; season it with two table-spoonfuls of ground cinnamon, one of ginger, and two tea-spoonfuls of salt.
Cut the pumpkin into large pieces, and bake with the skins on; scoop out the soft pumpkin pulp, and proceed as with stewed pumpkin.
Mince-pies(Mrs. Bonner), No. 1.
Ingredients: Four pounds of lean, cold boiled meat chopped fine, nine pounds of apples chopped fine, one and a half pounds of suet chopped fine, three pounds of raisins, two pounds of currants, half a pound of citron sliced fine, five pounds of sugar, three tea-spoonfuls of ground cloves, ten tea-spoonfuls of ground cinnamon, five tea-spoonfuls of ground mace, one tea-spoonful of ground black pepper, six table-spoonfuls of salt, one quart of cider and vinegar mixed with one quart of molasses.
Mix all, and add the juice and grated rinds of two lemons; or, instead of cider, vinegar, and molasses, one quart of sherry and one pint of brandy may be substituted. Keep this mince-meat in stone jars; add a little more liquor, if it should become too dry, when about to make pies.
Mince-pies(Mrs. Hazard), No. 2.
Boil, until tender, a beef’s tongue which has been kept in salt four or five days; when cold, chop it fine, and add to it two pounds of suet (also chopped fine), two pounds of raisins, two pounds of Zante currants (previously washed and drained), twelve large apples (chopped), four pounds of sugar, the grated rind of one, and the juice and pulp of two large oranges, a cupful of strawberry or of raspberry jam, a cupful of quince preserve, three-quarters of a pound of citron shaved fine, two table-spoonfuls of ground cinnamon, and one table-spoonful of nutmeg. Moisten it with the spiced vinegar from the sweet peach-pickle jar, and add the juice and grated rinds of four lemons.
Ingredients: Two pounds of boiled potatoes sifted, six eggs, three-quarters of a pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one lemon grated and squeezed into the potatoes while hot, half a nutmeg grated, half a pint of wine, one and a half of rich milk.
Rub the sugar and butter to a cream; add the yolks well beaten, then the potatoes, etc., lastly the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Bake with an under crust only.
Ingredients: A grated pine-apple and its weight in sugar, half its weight in butter, five eggs (the whites beaten to a stiff froth), one cupful of cream.
Cream the butter, and beat it with the sugar and yolks until very light; add the cream, the pine-apple, and the whites of the eggs. Bake with an under crust. To be eaten cold.
A gentleman friend spoke to me so often about a wonderfully delicious pie that a lady friend in the country made, that it is not surprising that a person of my culinary tastes should have been very curious. “I will send for the receipt,” said I. “But that will not benefit you,” he replied, “for I have given the receipt to several of my friends, and they never succeed. Instead of the light production three or four inches high of my country friend, the others are heavy, waxy affairs, very different.” I actually took a little journey to see the lady, to get any side explanations from her own lips. I was repaid, as you will see by trying the pie.
Ingredients: For two pies, five eggs, three quarters of a cupful of butter, one cupful of sugar, and necessary flavoring.
Beat the yolks and sugar together until they are a perfect froth. Beat the butter until it is a creamy froth also. Now quickly add them together, flavoring with a little extract of vanilla. Bake it in a crust: it will rise very light. As soon as done, have ready the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, sweetened with a little sugar, and flavored with a fewdrops of the extract. Spread this over the tops of the pies, which return to the oven, to receive a delicate coloring.
The lady says the secret of the pies not becoming heavy is in cutting them, and distributing them on the plates, as soon as they are cooked, and still hot; that if they are allowed to cool without cutting them, they will fall. This is rather strange; nevertheless, it seems to be true.
Make puff paste as before described; give it six or seven turns, wetting the top of the paste, before turning it the last time, with water or a little lemon-juice; roll it out evenly about a third of an inch thick. Cut out as many cakes as are required with a circular tin cutter (a scolloped one is prettier) about two inches in diameter. Now take a second cutter about half an inch smaller in diameter than the first, and press it into the tops of the patties, allowing it to sink half-way through the crust; or cut the patties with a sharp penknife, tracing it around a little paste-board model.
When all are cut, brush over the tops with beaten egg, being careful not to moisten the edges; if they are to be filled with sweetmeats, sprinkle sugar over the tops. When baked, take off the marked-out covers, and cut out the centres without defacing the outsides. Keep them in a warm place until just before serving, when they should be filled, and covered with the little crust tops.
In entertaining, it will be found very convenient to purchase patty-cases at the confectioner’s. They can be reheated the last five minutes, and filled with any thing preferred made at home. They are also quite cheap.
Oysters for Vols-au-vent, Scallop-shells, or served on Buttered Toast for Breakfast(No. 1).
Bring a canful or a quart of oysters to the boiling-point intheir liquor; then drain them. Put butter the size of half an egg into a saucepan, and when hot add half a small onion (cut very fine) and a tea-spoonful of flour, stirring them well; add then half a tea-cupful of the juice in a can of mushrooms, pepper, salt, a sprig of parsley (cut very fine), half a box of mushrooms (chopped not too fine); then add the oysters. Stir all together over the fire for a minute; add a few drops of lemon-juice. This is a very nice filling forvols-au-ventmade as in receipt.
Oysters for Vols-au-vent, Scallop-shells, or Served on Buttered Toast for Breakfast(No. 2).
Put the oysters on the fire in their own liquor, and when they are just beginning to simmer skim them out quickly with a perforated ladle; if there is too much juice in the saucepan, pour out all except what is necessary for making a sauce of creamy thickness for the oysters; skim this well, and make it as thick as rich cream with flour and butter smoothed together (roux). Season it well with salt and Cayenne pepper; some add also a little nutmeg. When cooked enough, take the sauce off the fire, add the yolks of two or three eggs well beaten, and the oysters. Let them merely become hot again on the range without allowing them to boil. Serve immediately. If these preparations are used for scallop-shells, sprinkle some cracker-crumbs over the tops, and brown them quickly with a salamander.
Fill thevols-au-vent(made as in preceding article) with oysters prepared as follows: Beard and put them into a stew-pan with a little stock; as soon as they are cooked, cut them in two; add three or four table-spoonfuls of the oyster-liquor to the stock, and add to it arouxof a little butter and flour; add then a very little cayenne, a little nutmeg, and two or three table-spoonfuls of cream. It should be rather thicker than cream. Fill the pastry the last thing before serving, and cover with the tops.
Prepare the sweet-breads as described in receipt for frying them in thesautépan (see page 152), preparing also the samecream-sauce. After the sweet-breads are cooked, cut them into dice, or into rather small pieces; fill thevols-au-ventwith them, pouring over them a little of the cream-sauce; cover with thevols-au-venttops.
Fill thevols-au-ventwith almost any kind of meat or fish cut into dice, pouring over them a very little sauce. Do not add too much sauce, as it would run through the sides. For chicken, aBechamelor a cream sauce is good; for shrimps, a shrimp-sauce; for salmon or any other kind of fish, Hollandaise, shrimp, pickle, or any fish sauce; for veal or lamb, a little thickened gravy. This is a very good way of using up remnants of any kind of fish or meat.
Vols-au-vent, with Strawberries, Raspberries, or Currants(English Lady).
Instead of sprinkling sugar over the tops of thevols-au-vent, glaze them on top with four ounces of sugar boiled to a candy, on which sprinkle some fine pieces of pounded loaf-sugar. Take about one-fourth of the ripest of the strawberries to be used, mash them fine, add a little more sugar to what remains of the sugar used for glazing, and after boiling it so that it is not quite ready to candy, add the mashed strawberries and their juice; skim the mixture, and as soon as it sticks to the fingers take it off the fire.
Just before serving, fill thevols-au-ventwith the fresh strawberries, and cover them with the sirup, when it is cold. Proceed in the same manner with raspberries and red and white currants.
When thevols-au-ventare nearly or quite done, take them out of the oven, brush the tops over with the white of an egg, then sprinkle over this coarse sugar; return them to the oven to set the glaze. At the moment of serving, fill thevols-au-ventwith fresh strawberries, raspberries, or any kind of preserved fruit. Place a few spoonfuls of whipped cream over the tops of the fruit.
To one pound of lump-sugar add six eggs, leaving out the whites of two, the juice of four large lemons, with the grated rinds of three of them, and one quarter of a pound of very good butter. Put all into a stew-pan, and stir gently over a slow fire (or set the basin into a pan of boiling water) until it becomes thick and looks like honey; do not let it boil. Pour it into bottles or jars, and keep it in a cool place. It will keep three or four years.
Bake the crust for the tarts. Put in a little of the lemon paste while the crusts are hot. Then return them to the oven, to remain until the paste is nicely melted, when the tarts will be quite ready.
Either make or purchase the patty-shells, and just before serving fill them with mince-meat (see page 239), and heat them for a few minutes in the oven.
The creamrissolesare made as meatrissoles(see page 142), substituting the corn-starch pudding described for fried cream (see page 230) for the prepared meat; or therissolesmay be filled with apple-sauce, marmalade, or any of the stewed fruits or berries.
Thisis a most valuable manner of preserving vegetables and fruits. In cities where vegetables, fruits, or berries are bought at high prices, and perhaps not entirely fresh at that, my experience has taught me that it is cheaper to buy the canned fruits than to have them put up in the house. In the country the expense is very little, as the cans may be purchased in quantities very cheap; and, with proper care in cleaning and drying them, they can be used several times.
The manner of canning one kind of fruit or vegetable applies to almost all kinds, except corn. I would not advise any one to attempt canning corn without the correct process direct from Mr. Winslow himself. By mixing corn and tomatoes together no difficulty will be found. Gumbo and tomato mixed are valuable for soup. Canned tomatoes are invaluable in a household. They are very easily managed, and are as desirable for soups and sauces as for a separate vegetable dish. If fruits or vegetables of any kind are quite fresh, and there is not too large a quantity scalded at one time to prevent careful management of each can, not one can in a hundred will be lost. I also advise thecanningof sweetmeats of every kind. In that case the same amount of sugar is not required, and the fruit does not have to be boiled until the natural flavor is entirely lost. If glass jars are used instead of cans, they must be put on the fire in cold water with a plate or piece of wood in the bottom of the kettle. They should not be filled until the water is boiling, and then they will not be broken. They should be sealed as soon as possible after they are filled, and when they are cold the covers should again be tightened, as the glass will contract a little after cooling.
Let them be entirely fresh. Put scalding water over them to aid in removing the skins. When the cans with their covers are in readiness upon the table, the red sealing-wax (which is generally too brittle, and requires a little lard melted with it) is in a cup at the back of the fire, the tea-kettle is full of boiling water, and the tomatoes are all skinned, we are ready to begin the canning. First put four cans (if there are two persons, three if only one person) on the hearth in front of the fire; fill them with boiling water. Put enough tomatoes in a porcelain preserving kettle to fill these cans; add no water to them. With a good fire let them come to the boiling-point, or let them all be well scalded through. Then, emptying the hot water from the cans, fill them with the hot tomatoes; wipe off the moisture from the tops with a soft cloth, and press the covers on tightly. While pressing each cover down closelywith a knife, pour carefully around it the hot sealing-wax from the tin cup, so bent at the edge that the wax may run out in a small stream. Hold the knife still a moment longer, that the wax may set. When these cans are sealed, continue the operation until all the tomatoes are canned. Now put the blade of an old knife in the coals, and when it is red-hot run it over the tops of the sealing-wax to melt any bubbles that may have formed; then, examining each can, notice if there is any hissing noise, which will indicate a want of tightness in the can, which allows the steam to escape. If any holes are found, wipe them, and cover them while the cans are hot with a bit of the sealing-wax. There will be juice left after the tomatoes are canned. Season this and boil it down for catchup.
Cling-stones are best. Pare, halve, and stone them. Boil the stones or pits until all the flavor is extracted; then, having every thing in readiness, as described in the preceding article, pour off the water from the pits, and when it is at boiling-point, throw into it enough peaches to fill three or four cans; sprinkle over sugar to taste, or about as much as would be sprinkled over fresh peaches for the table. When just scalded, can them, placing round pieces of writing-paper dipped in brandy over the tops of the peaches before putting on the covers.
Pears, plums, and all kinds of fruit and berries are thrown into a little boiling water sweetened to taste, scalded, and canned in the same manner as tomatoes.
Next to tomatoes, the vegetable easiest to can is, perhaps, the string-bean. Remove the tough strings at the sides, and break the bean into two or three pieces. When all ready, throw them into a little boiling water, scald, and then can them.
are merely mixed and scalded together. Some add pepper and salt, yet these are not necessary in canning. This makes a most delicious soup added to a little stock.
are especially easy to can. They are merely thrown into a little boiling water (which is slightly sweetened), scalded, and then canned. They are very wholesome and nice as a sauce for tea.
should be canned without skinning. They should be well scalded in a little sweetened boiling water before canning.
Since writing the preceding discouraging remark about corn, I have found, in a Supreme Court decision, Mr. Winslow’s receipt for canning corn, as follows:
Fill the cans with the uncooked corn (freshly gathered) cut from the cob, and seal them hermetically; surround them with straw to prevent them striking against each other, and put them into a boiler over the fire, with enough cold water to cover them. Heat the water gradually, and when they have boiled an hour and a half, puncture the tops of the cans to allow the escape of gases, then seal them immediately while they are still hot. Continue to boil them for two hours and a half.
In packing the cut corn in the can, the liberated milk and juices surround the kernels, forming a liquid in which they are cooked.
This process, patented by Mr. Winslow, is by far the best one for preserving the natural flavor of green sweet corn.
Lima beans and corn mixed. They should be boiled until they are thoroughly done.
make a good combination for canning. The corn, however, should be thoroughly cooked, and mixed with the tomatoes, after the latter have been scalded merely.
Tomake clear, good preserves requires: 1st. No economy of trouble; 2d. That the fruit be perfectly fresh,alivefrom the tree or bush, or, as a friend says, “tasting of the sun.”
The French make the clearest, best preserves, because they spare no pains. They first prepare their sirup or clarified sugar; then, after neatly and carefully paring or dressing their fruit, cook a few pieces at a time, or only as many as they can oversee, carefully lifting each piece out of the sirup the moment it is done. How they preserve strawberries in bottle (each little bottle of which sells for seventy-five cents), retaining the full flavor and almost the firmness of the fresh strawberries, is something for me to investigate.
I consider the peach marmalade the most valuable preserve, as it is useful in preparing desserts. It is a good sauce for almost any kind of pudding, especially corn-starch and rice puddings. Preserves are generally made too sweet. Before hermetically sealed cans or jars were in general use, it required a large quantity of sugar to keep the preserves from fermenting. Now, in using cans, one can suit the taste as to the sweetness of the preserve. I prefer tin cans to glass bottles, as sometimes the bottled jelly or preserves will ferment, requiring a second cooking. Tin cans have never failed me. Others prefer bottles, having no trouble, they say, in tightening them perfectly. The citron preserve, flavored with root ginger and lemon, is a success. It has the flavor of the ginger preserve from the West Indies, which is so fashionable, expensive, and serviceable as an accompaniment for ice-cream, etc.; it is also inexpensive.
Apples preserved with a flavor of lemon and ginger are particularly nice also; of course, they are not as firm as citron, and do not imitate so well the ginger preserve. The outside of the water-melon (skinned) makes a clear, pretty preserve, flavored in the same manner. The next in favor is the greengage preserve, which is as clear and beautiful as it is delicate in flavor. Peaches, unless made into marmalade, are better when canned with very little sugar than when preserved. Canned peaches, half-frozen when served, make a delicious dessert with cake.
First, then, for preserves the sirup must be made. I give the old rule; yet, as before remarked, if canned, they may be made less sweet. I generally use half a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit.
Put two pounds of the best white sugar, with one pint of fresh, clear water, into a white porcelain saucepan; put it on the fire, and before the sirup becomes hot mix well into it the partly beaten white of an egg. When it begins to boil, remove the scum as it rises; watch it constantly that it does not boil over; and continue to boil it until no more scum rises.
Now peach, pear, greengage, Siberian crab-apple, and cherry preserves are all made in the same manner. The peaches are neatly peeled, stoned, and halved. The pears are peeled, cored, and cut into two. The greengage makes a prettier preserve without being skinned—pricking them, and halving the stem. The French preserve greengages in this manner. Some think the skins of plums are tough in preserves, and throw them into boiling water to skin them. The Siberian crab-apple, which makes a very good preserve, is cored with a small tin tube or corer (see page 57). Half of the stem is cut from cherries. When the sirup is gently boiling, a few pieces are put into it at one time. They are boiled until they become just soft. Do not allow them to break. When the pieces are done, take them carefully out, and put more into the sirup until all are cooked; pour the sirup over, and put them into jars.
Many add a little juice of lemon to pear, crab-apple, and plum preserves. I would recommend a very little. In the case of peaches, more flavor is gained by boiling the pits, if they are cling-stone (which they should be—the White Heath being the best preserving peach), and after straining the water using it to make the sirup. They will be firmer by laying the uncooked peaches into the sirup, and letting them remain in it overnight, cooking them the next morning. Others harden fruit by letting it remain ten or fifteen minutes in alum-water. This impairs the flavor. However, for good, clear preserves, I prefer the first method of preserving them, using the pits for the water with which to make peach marmalade. Peach marmalade and peach preserves should be made at the same time, when the peaches of less pretentious appearance can be used for the marmalade. Boil preserves without a cover to the kettle.
The citrons can be pared, cored, and sliced, or cut into fancy shapes with cutters which are made for the purpose. To six pounds of the citron, use six pounds of sugar, four lemons, and a quarter of a pound of ginger-root.
Put the slices of lemon into a preserving-kettle, and boil them for half an hour, or until they look clear, in a little clear water; then drain them. Save the water, and put the slices into another dish with a little cold water; cover them, and let them stand overnight. In the morning wrap the root-ginger (bruised) in a thin muslin cloth; boil it in three pints of clear water until the water is highly flavored, when take out the bag of ginger. Having broken up the loaf-sugar, put it into the preserving-kettle with the ginger-water. When the sugar is all melted, set it over the fire; boil, and skim until no more scum rises. Then put in the pieces of citron and the juice of the lemons. Boil them in the sirup till all the slices are quite transparent. Do not allow them to break. When done, put them into the cans or jars, pouring the sirup carefully over them. If one desires to imitate the West Indies ginger preserve, the slices of lemon may not be added; yet they are a pretty addition.
Pare, core, and quarter the quinces. Select the best-looking quarters for the preserves; the inferior-looking ones reserve, with the cores and skins, for the marmalade.
For the preserves, allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Make a sirup as before described (sirup for preserves), allowing one pint of water to two pounds of sugar. When it is clear, and still boiling-hot, add the hot quinces, which have been boiled in just enough clear water to cover them well-boiled until they are tender, or are easily pierced with a broom-straw—no longer. The preserves are now ready to be put away. With this proportion of fruit, water, andsugar, the preserves will not have much juice. What there is will form a thin, clear jelly around the quinces after they are kept a short time: the hot sirup will draw juice from the hot quinces to flavor and color it just enough. There is much difference in the choice of quinces. There is a kind which makes a white or light-colored preserve, very inferior in flavor to the large quince, which makes the red.
Choose little red, plum-shaped tomatoes, if red preserves are desired, and the small yellow ones for yellow preserves. Peel, and prick them with a large needle; boil them slowly for half an hour in preserving-sirup, with the juice of one lemon to every two pounds of tomatoes; add also a little bag of ginger-root; then skim out the tomatoes; let them remain two or three hours in the sun to harden. Put the white of an egg into the sirup; boil and skim well, and pour it over the tomatoes. The old rule is a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. I prefer three-quarters of a pound of the former to a pound of the latter. The yellow tomatoes are preferable.
Squeeze with your fingers the pulp from each grape. Put the pulps on the fire, and boil them until they are tender; then press them through a colander, so that the seeds may be taken out; now add the skins to the pulps and juice. Put a cupful of sugar to each cupful of fruit, and boil all together until of a thick consistency. Green-grape preserves are also nice. In managing the green grapes, halve them, and extract the seeds with a small knife. Put also a cupful of sugar to a cupful of fruit. Many prefer the green to the ripe grape preserves.
Boil ginger-root, tied in a thin muslin bag, in clear water until the water is well flavored; make a sirup of this water and sugar, adding to it a little lemon-juice, and allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of apples. When the sirup is skimmed clear, boil in it a few quarters of the applesat a time, until they become clear—no longer. Replace the apples in the sirup when it becomes cold. The golden pippins should be used. This preserve can be made without ginger.
Boil peaches, plums, pears, apricots, cherries, or almost any fruit dressed, in a thick sirup made with a tea-cupful of water to each pound of sugar, until tender—no longer. Let them remain two days in the sirup; then take them out, drain them, and sprinkle sugar over each piece separately. Dry them slowly in the sun or in an oven not too warm.
MARMALADES.
To produce the best marmalades, choose ripe and luscious fruits. Cut them into pieces, and put them into the preserving-kettle with layers of sugar, placing fruit at the bottom.
For marmalades of peach, pear, green grape, pine-apple, quince, or plum, allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. If the fruit is not very juicy, add a little water. Be careful that the marmalade does not burn. When the whole begins to look clear, and becomes thick by cooling a portion of it on a plate, it is done, and may be put into jars at once.
Save the water in which the quinces for preserving were boiled; add to it the skins and cores, rejecting those which are worm-eaten or discolored. After boiling about half an hour, strain through a colander, allowing the pulp only to pass. To this juice add the reserved quince quarters and the sugar (three-fourths of a pound of sugar to one pound of fruit). Let all boil together slowly for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally, and breaking the quinces into small pieces. When done, pour it into glasses or bowls. The marmalade will harden, and each mold will form a convenient little dish for lunch.
is made as above. Yet more flavor may be obtained by boiling the pits until their flavor is extracted; then remove them, andcontinue boiling the water until you have sufficient to add to the peaches.
Allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Cut the peels so that they may be removed in four pieces. Boil these peels in a large quantity of water for two hours; then cut them into fine shreds. While these are boiling, press the inside of the oranges through a sieve fine enough to prevent the seeds and skin from passing through. For every five oranges, add the grated rind and juice of one lemon. Put all into a preserving-kettle with the sugar. When done, the marmalade should be quite thick and solid. Cover closely in little preserving-jars.
Use three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. First boil the fruit a few minutes with very little water; then add the sugar. Boil three-quarters of an hour, stirring well. Fill little jars or glasses, covering them first with papers soaked in brandy, and then with second papers moistened with the whites of eggs, and pressed against the sides of the glasses to exclude the air.
Use three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Skin and stem ripe greengages, and boil them quickly for three-quarters of an hour with the sugar, and only enough water to keep them from burning at first. Skim, and stir very frequently.
Use cling-stone peaches. Rub off the down from each one, and prick it to the stone with a silver fork. Make a sirup with half a pound of sugar for each pound of peaches, and half a tea-cupful of water for each pound of sugar; also add a little white of egg slightly beaten. Skim, when it boils, as long as the scum rises. Then put in the peaches, boiling them slowly until they are just tender, and no longer; then take them carefully out. Remove the sirup from the fire, and add to it half a pint of the best brandy to a pound of peaches. Now pour this over the peaches. Can them, or put them into jars, well secured.
Apricots and greengages brandied are made in the same way.
To make jelly clear, the fruit must be quite fresh, and all blemishes removed. Have the flannels used for straining perfectly clean and white. Nearly all jellies are made in the same way, whether currant, plum, Siberian crab-apple, gooseberry, quince, apple, peach, or grape. Some add less sugar to the sweeter fruits. The first five fruits mentioned are exceedingly easy to jelly; the grape is often quite vexatious, with its perverse inclinations. Cherries will not jelly without gelatine.
After having freed the fruit from all blemishes, put them into a porcelain preserving-kettle, with only enough clear water to keep them from burning at first. Let them boil slowly until quite soft; then, putting them into a flannel cloth, press from them all the juice possible. Strain the juice two or three times through a clean cloth; then return it to the clean preserving-kettle, adding a cup of sugar for every cup of juice, and the beaten white of an egg for the whole. The rule is to boil the sirup (without stirring) very rapidly for twenty minutes, not counting the minutes until it begins to boil. The safest rule is to boil it until it runs a little thick upon the spoon; then let it run through the jelly-bag without pressing it. If there is any fear of the jelly becoming too hard before it all runs through, place it near the fire. The most convenient jelly-strainer is made by fastening the four corners of a flannel cloth to a filter-stool (see page 57). If the first dripping of the jelly is not entirely clear, return it to the strainer until it runs perfectly limpid. Put the jelly into glasses; and, after it has become quite firm, cut out little papers to fit the tops, which should be dipped in brandy. Place over these second papers larger ones, which have been dipped in the whites of eggs. Press the edges against the sides of the glasses, to exclude the air.
Follow the preceding directions. A jelly of prettier color is obtained by mixing the white and red currants. Some take the trouble to make jelly from the white and red currants separately, then harden it in successive layers in the glasses. In this way, the jelly has to be made on different days, allowing time for each layer to harden. Another pretty arrangement is to melt the jelly the day before it is served at the table, and put it into a little jelly-mold. The next day it will be quite hard enough to turn out.
“This receipt has three advantages: First, it never fails, as the old plan is sure to do five times out of eight; secondly, it requires but half the usual quantity of sugar, and so retains the grateful acidity and peculiar flavor of the fruit; thirdly, it is by far less troublesome than the usual method. Weigh the currants without taking the trouble to remove the stems; do not wash them, but carefully remove leaves and whatever may adhere to them. To each pound of fruit allow half the weight of granulated or pure loaf sugar. Put a few currants into a porcelain-lined kettle, and press them with a potato-masher, or any thing convenient, in order to secure sufficient liquid to prevent burning; then add the remainder of the fruit, and boil freely for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Take out and strain carefully through a three-cornered bag of strong, close texture, putting the liquid into either earthen or wooden vessels—never in tin, as the action of the acid on tin materially affects both color and flavor. When strained, return the liquid to the kettle, without the trouble of measuring, and let it boil thoroughly for a moment or so, and then add the sugar. The moment the sugar is entirely dissolved, the jelly is done, and must be immediately dished, or placed in glasses. It will jelly upon the side of the cup as it is taken up, leaving no doubt as to the result. Gather the fruit early, as soon as fully ripe, since the pulp softens and the juice is less rich if allowed to remain long after ripening. In our climate, the first week in July is usually considered the time to make currant jelly. Never gather currants or other soft or small seed fruit immediately after a rain for preserving purposes, as they are greatly impoverished by the moisture absorbed. In preserving all fruits of this class, if they are boiled until tender or transparentin a small quantity of water, and the sugar is added afterward, the hardness of the seeds, so objectionable in small fruits, will be thus avoided. A delicious jam may be made of blackberries, currants, and raspberries, or with currants with a few raspberries to flavor, by observing the above suggestion, and adding sugar, pound for pound, and boiling about twenty minutes.”
This jelly took the premium at the fair, for it was not only of fine flavor, but of crystal clearness.
An equal proportion of red and white currants was placed in the whitest of porcelain kettles, with a very little clear water, just enough to keep the fruit from burning at first, and was boiled twenty minutes, then poured into a jelly-bag; this was not squeezed or touched until a quantity of clear liquid had run through. (The bag afterward can be well pressed, and the second juice can be made into an inferior jelly.) To each pint of the first clear liquid was added a pound of loaf-sugar; it was then returned to the porcelain kettle (well cleaned), and, after it came to the boiling-point, was boiled twenty-five minutes. The jelly was again passed through the bag, after being well cleaned.
COMPOTES
are fresh fruits boiled when needed, with very little sugar. I consider it a pity to cook or stew peaches, when they are so much better fresh, with sugar sprinkled over them and half-frozen. And what a destruction of fine pears! However,compotesare much appreciated and used in France. I valuecompotesof apples, however, and also of inferior hard pears. The first two of the receipts are from Professor Blot.