Collops.—Venison collops or minced collops are both excellent, and must be made from the uncooked meat as follows: Cut the meat into collops (small thin cutlets oremincés, or mince it if you wish “minced” collops), and season this with pepper, salt, and mixed spices. Throw some butter into a stewpan, put in the collops, brown them and then add equal quantities of good brown gravy and red wine. Add to this a little fine sugar, a dash of vinegar, and a spoonful of ketchup. Stew slowly till done. Then take out the collops, strain the sauce and serve quickly. These collops may be served within a wall of well cooked white haricots, garnished with baked tomatoes.
Roast Haunch.—(a) Trim the joint neatly, wipe it well with a cloth, rub it over with butter, and sprinkle it with salt; then wrap it up in a sheet of buttered kitchen paperMake a paste with flour and water, roll it out to the thickness of ½ in., wrap the joint in this, and close up all the openings carefully by wetting the edges of the sheet of paste; lastly, pack up the haunch into a final sheet of well-buttered paper; put it to roast at a good fire for about 3 hours, basting it occasionally; then remove the paste and paper coverings, baste the haunch plentifully with butter, and when nearly done dredge some flour over it and some salt. Serve on a hot-water dish.
(b) As roe-deer is very dry, a haunch of it is much improved by being closely larded with fat bacon and then placed to marinade in equal parts of oil and red wine, with sliced carrots and onions and judicious flavourings of whole pepper, cloves, salt, chopped parsley, and sweet herbs. The joint may be left in this pickle for some days, and should be well basted with it. Then wrap the joint up in oiled or buttered paper, and baste it well while roasting before a clear fire. When nearly cooked remove the oiled paper to let the meat take colour, glaze the joint, and serve with rich gravy and with red currant jelly. Roe-deer also may be braised, in which case it should also be well larded. The neck may be jugged like hare, or it can be made into cutlets, haricot, &c.
Hashed.—Hashed venison is a very popular dish, and the modes of preparing it are many. The following is a good plan: Cut some cold haunch or neck of venison into thin slices, and put these aside. Put any of the venison gravy that may be left, the bones and trimmings, ½ pint red wine, and a little stock into a stewpan, with 4 shallots chopped very fine, 4 cloves, and 2 spoonfuls of ketchup. Let it simmer very slowly for 1½ hour, and strain it off. Put a piece of butter rolled in flour into a stewpan, add the gravy, pepper, and salt, and let it gradually advance to a boil; then take it off the fire, and when almost cold put in the venison; let it get quite hot through without boiling (or the meat may be hardened), and put it into a hot dish garnished with forcemeat balls or sippets. This method may also be very successfully applied to cold mutton. Red currant jelly should be served with either dish.
Pasty.—Venison pasty may be made in 2 ways, either by stewing the venison first, and then putting it into a pie, or in the following fashion: Take the breast and shoulder of a buck, remove all the bones and every particle of skin and sinew, wash thoroughly, and cut the venison into handsome pieces, saving the fat to put at the top. Should the venison be short of fat, mutton fat may supply its place if it be laid in a marinade of vinegar and red wine for 12 hours. Next proceed to make the paste, by rubbing 2 lb. butter into ½ a peck flour, and mixing it into a paste with cold water till it is moderately stiff. Cover the edge and sides of a pasty dish, and lay in the venison closely, peppering and salting each piece, and put in 1 gill water. Cover the pie with a piece of paste ½ in. thick, leaving a hole at the top, and then take the remainder of the paste, roll it out, add to it ½ lb. butter in lumps, sprinkle some flour on it, double it and roll it out 4 times; then wet the paste which already covers the pie, and apply the second paste over it. Make a round place at the top, and put on a rose, or any ornament you may think of: put a sheet of paper over the top, and bake for 4 hours in a sharp oven. When it is done, lift up the rose, and pour in 1 pint venison gravy; shake it about and serve.
Stew.—(a) Shoulder and breast of venison are rarely roasted, it being far more artistic to stew them or put them into a pasty. To stew a breast or shoulder of venison the skin and bones should first be carefully removed and the meat rolled or skewered together: then put into a stewpan with 1 qt. water, ½ pint red wine, a bundle of sweet herbs, cloves and mace in a bag, and a little pepper and salt, and stew very gently for about 3 hours. Then take out the meat, skim off the fat, take out the spice and herbs, throw in a piece of butter rolled in flour, and boil till it is thick and smooth; then season with asoupçonof cayenne pepper, put in the meat again, make it hot and serve in a hot dish with the sauce over. Currant jelly should be served with this very nice and inexpensive dish.
(b) Venison may also be cut into steaks or chops and broiled on a well anointedgridiron, but although very wholesome, it is not so toothsome in any way as when roasted or stewed. A neck of venison may also be divided into cutlets, which should be beaten with a cutlet bat, pared neatly and larded with finely-cut bacon. Next a stewpan is lined with bacon and bacon trimmings and minced vegetables, the cutlets are put in and covered with good stock. The liquid should be allowed to boil up and diminish to one-half. When the cutlets are done they may be taken out, and the sauce strengthened with a little port wine strained and poured over the cutlets, which may be served on a cushion of tomato sauce.
Wildfowl(Canard, Halbran). Grilled.—Take a tender fat young mallard or pintail, or a brace of widgeon, split down the back, after removing the head, neck, and wing bones, truss as for a spatchcock, carefully take out the breast bone, rub the inside with mushroom powder, chop up small the bones and trimmings, simmer slowly with the gizzard and liver for about ½ hour in a little good brown stock, add 1 teaspoonful made mustard, 2 large teaspoonfuls port wine, a little pepper and salt, and either some cayenne or else Chili vinegar; let it boil for a short time and strain. Grill the birds over a clear fire—a mallard or pintail will take about 20 minutes, widgeon 15 minutes—serve very hot, pour the boiling gravy over, first squeezing into it the juice of half a lemon.
Roast.—Wild duck should not be dressed too soon after being killed. In cold, dry weather it will be more tender and finer flavoured after keeping 7-8 days. Roast before a quick, clear fire, ardent enough to throw out a great heat. Let it remain without basting, for 5-6 minutes, to keep the gravy in, afterwards baste incessantly with plenty of butter. A few minutes before serving lightly dredge with flour, then baste and send to table brown and frothed. Wild duck, if overdone, loses its flavour; 20-25 minutes before the right kind of fire, will be sufficient. Serve on a very hot, dry dish. If dressed to perfection, the duck will give sufficient gravy. Send to table as hot as possible, with a cut lemon and sauce.
Salmis.—(a) Cut up any cold wildfowl, draw the gravy from the bones and trimmings by simmering in brown stock seasoned with minced shallot, pepper and salt; let it do slowly for ½ hour, then add 2 glasses port wine or claret, 1 teaspoonful Chili vinegar, 1 tablespoonful mushroom ketchup, and 1 of Worcester sauce, let it boil 10-15 minutes longer and then strain; pour the gravy over the cold bird in another stewpan, bring gently to the boil, add a little cayenne and lemon juice and serve very hot.
(b) Take any kind of wildfowl, half roast them, when cold cut into nice pieces, removing the skin; place the meat on one side. Then take the trimmings, head, neck, wings, bones, liver and gizzard, back, &c. Break all up small, place in a stewpan with some pepper and salt, a green chili, or if not procurable a little cayenne pepper, 2 shallots minced fine, and some good brown stock, simmer slowly for 1 hour, then add 1 oz. butter, into which a little flour has been rubbed, let it thicken, then strain; put the game into another stewpan, pour over the gravy, adding ½ pint button mushrooms or a small tin of champignons, boil up slowly and serve very hot, with a few slices of lemon and fried sippets for garnish.
Woodcock.Roast.—Remove the gizzard from each bird, truss and wrap the birds in bacon, and roast them at a brisk fire, basting them continually with butter. Place a slice of toast in the dripping pan to catch the trail, and serve the birds on that toast. Plain white sauce to be served in a boat with them. Time of roasting 10-15 minutes.
Toast.—See Snipe.
Vegetables.—Artichokes.—Boiled.—Parboil the artichokes for 10 minutes in water, with vinegar or lemon juice and salt to taste. Take them out, cutting off all the leaves and removing the “choke,” trim them neatly in the shape of diminutive pattypans. Lay them in a saucepan with plain white stock, and let them simmer gently till done. Drain them on a cloth. Arrange them on their dish, and pour over them some whitesauce, made as follows: Mix in a saucepan 1½ oz. butter and 1 tablespoonful flour, stir in ½ tumblerful white stock or even hot water, add pepper and salt to taste, then stir in off the fire the yolks of 2 eggs, beaten up with the juice of a lemon and strained.
Fried.—Cut 2 green artichokes into 8 or more “quarters,” according to the size of the artichoke, and trim off all that is uneatable from each, putting them as they are trimmed in cold water with the juice of a lemon squeezed into it to prevent their turning black. When the “quarters” are all done, dip them in batter, see that each piece is well coated with it, and fry them in plenty of boiling lard; serve piled on a napkin and garnished with fried parsley.
Stewed.—Prepare the artichoke quarters as for fried. Boil them in salt and water, with a lemon squeezed into it, till nearly done. Melt 2 oz. butter in a saucepan, mix with it 1 tablespoonful flour, add as much water as will make sufficient sauce, then pepper, salt, and a little powdered nutmeg to taste; lay the artichokes in this, and when quite done stir in, off the fire, the yolks of 2 eggs strained and beaten up with the juice of a lemon.
Stuffed.—Fill each with as much of the following forcemeat as it will hold: Pound to a paste, in a mortar slightly rubbed with garlic, equal parts of raw veal and ham, then pass them through a wire sieve and return them to the mortar; work into the paste thus obtained a fourth of its bulk of butter, and about the same quantity of breadcrumbs soaked in milk, with the yolks of one or more eggs, according to quantity; add, according to taste, pepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg. Lay them all in a well-buttered saucepan, pour round as much tomato sauce as may be necessary, and let them simmer gently on a slow fire till done; or they may be cooked in a baking dish in the oven, in which case a buttered paper should be laid over them.
Asparagus.—Boiled.—Scrape each head with the back of a knife and tie the asparagus in small bundles of 1 doz. heads each; cut off the ends evenly. Put them into a panful of fast-boiling water, with plenty of salt, and in about 10 minutes they will be done. Drain at once, untie the bundles, and serve on a napkin with the following sauce in a boat: 3 parts olive oil, 1 of tarragon vinegar, a little mustard, plenty of pepper and salt to taste, beaten up with a fork until perfectly amalgamated.
Beetroot.—Baked.—Wash, but be careful not to cut them; put them into a very slack oven for about 8 hours. When cold peel them and dress them as follows: Chop ½ onion finely, put it into a saucepan with a piece of butter. When it begins to take colour, add the beetroot, cut up into large dice, pepper and salt to taste, and 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls tarragon vinegar. When quite hot serve.
Boiled.—Wash the beetroot as for baked, and put it into fast-boiling salted water, to boil 1-2 hours, according to size, then dress as baked.
With Cream Sauce.—Boil the beetroot, and when cold peel and slice it; stew the slices until quite hot in some well-flavoured white stock well freed from grease; strain off the stock, and stir into it, off the fire, the yolk of an egg beaten up with a little milk or cream. Arrange the beetroot in a dish, pour the sauce over, and serve; or serve plainly, boiled with a cream sauce made without stock. If wanted cold, serve with a mayonnaise sauce, or with a little plain cream poured over, and with a seasoning of pepper and salt.
Broad Beans.—Boiled.—Shell very young and newly gathered beans as much as possible all of a size. Boil them in plenty of fast-boiling salted water, with a sprig or two of savoury. When quite done, which is to be ascertained by tasting one, drain them and serve with the following sauce, either in a sauce-boat, or poured over them. Mix 2 oz. butter in a saucepan with 1 tablespoonful flour, add 1 tumblerful boiling water, pepper and salt to taste, and plenty of minced parsley; stir well until the sauce boils.
Broccoli and Cauliflower.—Au Gratin.—Boil a cauliflower, previously well washed and trimmed, in plenty of water, with a due quantity of salt; be careful not to overboil it; about 10 minutes will do it. Try the stem with a thin iron skewer, and the moment it,is soft remove the saucepan from the fire, and put the cauliflower to drain on a hair sieve. When it is quite cold, cut it up neatly and carefully, place the roughest pieces flat on a well-buttered dish, so as to form a sort of foundation; sprinkle this with pepper and salt, a little nutmeg, and cover it well with grated Parmesan cheese, dispose the remaining and best pieces on the top, add more pepper, salt, and nutmeg, cover with grated Parmesan, add a few baked breadcrumbs, and pour over all a little liquefied butter; bake in a quick oven 15-20 minutes, and serve. Rubbing the dish with garlic is an improvement.
Dressed.—Trim and boil a nice firm cauliflower; it should not be over large, and should be boiled with care, that it may be tender without being broken. To secure this it should not boil too quickly, and there should be put into the water used either a little common or a little soda carbonate and 1 tablespoonful salt. When done, take up carefully on a sieve to drain, and keep warm while you make the following sauce: Put into a clean stewpan 3 oz. fresh butter; let it dissolve on the stove, but do not let it get so hot that it will oil. Now mix with it 1 dessertspoonful cornflour, and pour on it ¼ pint boiling water and a little cream and let it boil up. Now put into it 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley and ¼ teaspoonful chopped onion. Let these boil 1 minute; take from the fire and stir into the sauce the beaten yolks of 2 or 3 fresh eggs, 1 tablespoonful chili vinegar, and a little salt. Divide the cauliflower into tufts, and arrange neatly on a dish. Pour the sauce over, put some sippets of toast round, and serve.
With White Sauce.—Pick out all the green leaves from a couple of broccoli, and cut off the stalks close. Put them head downwards into a saucepan full of boiling salted water. When done pick them out into sprigs and arrange them head downwards in a pudding basin, which must have been made quite hot. Press them in gently, then turn them out dexterously on a dish, and pour over them the following sauce, boiling hot: Melt 1½ oz. butter in a saucepan, mix with it 1 tablespoonful flour, and then add ½ pint boiling water; stir till it thickens; add salt and white pepper to taste; then take the saucepan off the fire and stir in the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with the juice of a lemon and strained.
Brussels Sprouts.—Boiled.—(a) Take about 1 qt. sprouts all of a size, not larger than walnuts, throw them into salt and water for 10 minutes, then put them in fast-boiling water, in which you have put a small piece of soda to preserve the green colour. When nearly done pour off the water, and put in as much fresh butter as you can lift on a teaspoon; toss the pan gently, but do not stir and keep the lid on by the side of the fire until you have prepared the sauce, which must be made of good stock, with some of the red gravy from roast beef added; take a breakfastcupful, and bring it to a boil, then mix a teaspoonful of cornflour in cold water; add a little browning and some Harvey’s sauce, or any other brown sauce, then pour the boiling stock on; give one boil up, and strain the sauce into the pan with the Brussels sprouts. Let them remain closely covered, and, when dishing up, squeeze a little lemon juice into the sauce.
(b) Trim each sprout neatly, and wash them in several waters. Put them to boil in plenty of boiling salted water, and, when almost done, strain them and dry them in a cloth. Put them in a saucepan with a large piece of butter, pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste. Toss them gently on the fire until they are quite cooked.
Cabbage.—Boiled.—(a) Take 2 summer cabbages, trim off all the outer leaves, cut the cabbages in half lengthwise, and steep them in salted water for an hour, then throw them into fast-boiling water, and when they have boiled 20 minutes change the water for fresh boiling water, salted to taste. Let them boil till quite done. Put them on a sieve in the screen to drain all the water from them, and serve.
(b) First boil it very well, then chop it up with a little butter, add a small quantity of vinegar and pepper, and then fry it for 2 minutes; grate a little Parmesan cheese, and when ready to serve pour some melted butter over the cabbage and sprinkle the grated cheese over it.
Cold Slaugh.—Cut a head of hard white cabbage into very fine shavings; it is seldom shaved fine enough. For 1 qt. cabbage take the yolks of 3 eggs, beat them well; stir into 1½ tumbler vinegar 2 spoonfuls loaf sugar, 1 tablespoonful olive oil, 1 of thick sweet cream, or a piece of butter as large as a walnut, 1 heaped teaspoonful mustard, salt and pepper to taste; mix with the egg, and put this sauce into a stewpan; when hot add the cabbage, stew until thoroughly hot, which will only require 4-5 minutes. Toss it up from the bottom with a silver or wooden fork; take it up and set where it will become perfectly cold—on ice is best. The quantity of vinegar would depend upon its strength.
Hot Slaugh.—Take a fine hard head of white or red cabbage, shred it very finely, and put it into a stewpan with a piece of butter the size of an egg, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoonful chili and 1 of tarragon vinegar. Cover the stewpan and toss gently for about 5 minutes, when the cabbage should be thoroughly hot through. Care must be taken not to overcook hot slaugh, as it should be borne in mind that this very agreeable dish is a hot salad, and not stewed cabbage, and should therefore retain its crispness.
Stuffed.—Parboil a small cabbage or savoy, leaving it whole. Mince very finely any remains of cold meat, and half the quantity of beef suet, add a small quantity of chopped shallot, pepper, salt and minced herbs to taste, the same quantity of fine breadcrumbs as of suet, and the yolks of 2 or more eggs. Make an incision on the top of the cabbage, open the leaves lightly, insert the forcemeat and tie up the cabbage with thread. Line a saucepan with bacon, lay in the cabbage with a little stock or broth; simmer on the fire for 2-3 hours. At the time of serving, remove the thread from the cabbage; strain the sauce, free it from excess of fat, thicken with butter and flour, and pour it over the dish.
Cardoons.—Boiled.—Cut the stalks into convenient lengths, remove the prickles on either side of them, and parboil them for 15 minutes in salted water; drain them, and scrape and rub off the outer skin from each piece, putting them into cold water as they are done. When they are all ready, finish cooking them as artichokes.
Carrots.—À la Maître D’Hôtel.—Trim each carrot neatly, cut it in half, and boil them in salted water; when done drain off the water, add a piece of butter to the carrots, some parsley finely minced, a dust of pepper, a little powdered sugar, and a squeeze of lemon. Give the saucepan a toss or two on the fire to keep the contents hot till wanted.
À la Flamande.—When parboiled and drained, put the carrots into a saucepan with a piece of butter, a pinch of sugar, and as much water as may be necessary for sauce, add some finely minced parsley and white pepper and salt to taste. Let the carrots simmer till done (about 15 minutes), shaking them occasionally. Beat up together the yolks of 2 eggs and ½ gill cream, stir this into the carrots off the fire and serve.
À la Nivernaise.—Cut out the red portion of some carrots to the shape of olives, parboil and then put them into a saucepan with plenty of butter, a little pounded loaf sugar, pepper, and salt; add a little stock to prevent their burning, and keep shaking the saucepan till they are cooked.
Celeriac.—Boiled.—Peel the roots, and cut them into quarters or in slices; throw them into boiling salted water, and let them boil till quite done; drain them, and serve with white sauce.
Celery.—Boiled.—Trim the roots, and cut to the same length (about 6 in.) 3 heads celery, wash them carefully, tie them together with string; put them in a saucepan with an onion, a blade of mace, some whole pepper, salt, and sufficient boiling water to cover them. Let them boil till quite done, then drain them, remove the string, and serve with the following sauce over them: Melt 1 oz. butter in a saucepan, and mix with it 1 dessertspoonful flour, add as much of the water in which the celery was boiled as is wanted to make the sauce, put in salt to taste, and stir in off the fire the yolk of an egg beaten up with the juice of a lemon, and strained.
On Toast.—Trim the roots, and cut to the same length (about 6 in.) 3 heads of celery,wash them carefully, tie them together with string, parboil them a few minutes, and drain them. Put a layer of bacon in a saucepan, lay the celery on this, with an onion and a carrot sliced, a bunch of sweet herbs, pepper, salt, a blade of mace, or a few cloves; fill up with enough stock just to cover the celery, and let it gently simmer till done. Take some of the liquor well freed from fat, thicken it with a little flour and butter; pour it on a dish. Have ready a number of slices of bread cut to a uniform shape, and fried in butter; arrange them on the sauce in a circle, disposing half a head of celery on each.
Stewed.—Trim and cut to the same length a number of heads of celery, split them in two lengthwise, tie them in bundles with thread, and parboil them for 10 minutes in salted water. Drain them, and arrange them in a saucepan over slices of bacon, with a bundle of sweet herbs, 2 onions, pepper and salt to taste, and a blade of mace. Add enough stock just to cover the contents, and simmer gently till the celery is quite tender. Having removed the string, dispose the celery neatly on a dish; take some of the stock in which it has been stewed, remove all fat from it, add a small piece of fresh butter, pour it over the celery, and serve.
Dandelions.—Pick before they blossom, and cut roots off just below the leaves, thus keeping them together. They should be picked over well, washed in cold spring water, chopped up into ½ in. lengths, and boiled with a little salted water, or steamed over salted water; the latter method is preferable. Spread a cloth over a colander, drain the dandelions through it, and squeeze out all the water; chop up fine, and put into a saucepan with a small lump of butter and some salt; stir it over the fire for a few minutes, then turn on to a hot dish, put a soup plate over it and set it over steam for a few seconds, remove the soup plate, cut it or mark it in squares like spinach, garnish with sippets and serve. Dandelions will be found more bitter in taste than spinach; if lemon juice is added to them while cooking, and a very little powdered white sugar, this bitterness will be counteracted. (Eliot-James.)
Egg-Plant Fruit.—Boil the fruit until tender, halve them lengthwise, and scoop out the inside, leaving a shell about ½ in. thick. Take a small quantity of any kind of meat or poultry previously cooked and well freed from fat, skin, and gristle; mince it finely, and then pound it quite smooth with the pulp of the vegetable (not the seeds), and with some sweet herbs, chopped mushrooms, or any flavouring preferred; season the whole with pepper and salt, toss it for a few minutes in a saucepan with a piece of butter, and a little stock to moisten it (if necessary), fill the cavities with this mixture, add a layer of fried breadcrumbs, pour over them some liquefied butter, put them into the oven for a few minutes, and serve very hot.
French Beans.—The nice flavour of this wholesome vegetable depends not only on its freshness, but also on the mode of cooking. When very young and very small, it is better not to cut them, but simply take off the tops and tails, and a thin stringy strip at each side of the bean, then wash, but do not leave them in water. Throw them into a saucepan of fast-boiling water, with 1 tablespoonful salt to each ½ gal. water. Boil quickly, with lid off, till tender, and at once drain in a colander, taking care to shake or press gently with a wooden spoon, every drop of water from them; serve very hot, with pieces of fresh butter between each layer of beans. When the beans are not so young or so small, they should be cut into thin, slanting strips, and dressed in the same way.
Haricot Beans.—(a) Soak them for 12 hours, put them in a saucepan of cold water, let it come gradually to the boil, then simmer till quite tender; drain and put them at once into a stewpan, with some fresh butter, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice, toss them well, and serve very hot.
(b) The usual way in America for cooking white haricot beans is in the old-fashioned New England dish, “pork and beans.” Parboil a piece of the middling of salt pork, and score the skin. Allow 1 lb. to 1 qt. of the dried beans which must be soaked overnightin lukewarm water. In the morning put them on to boil in cold water; when they are soft drain off the water, put the beans in a deep dish, half bury the pork in the middle, adding a very little warm water. Bake a nice brown. Some like a dessertspoonful of sugar mixed in with the beans before placing them in the dish.
Jerusalem Artichokes.—Wash them well, peel and shape them to a uniform size; throw them into boiling salted water, and let them boil 15-20 minutes; drain them at once thoroughly; put them on a dish and serve with the following sauce poured over them: Mix over the fire 1½ oz. butter, with 1 tablespoonful flour; add ½ pint boiling water, white pepper, and salt to taste; stir till the sauce thickens, then take the saucepan off the fire, and stir in the yolks of 2 eggs, beaten up with ½ gill cream.
LaverorSloke.—Only good during the winter months. After being gathered and washed and picked clean, put it with water into an iron pot, and boil it until it is a pulp. If too thick, add a little more water, taking care it does not burn. It cannot be boiled too much, and the darker the colour the better laver it is. It will keep fresh for a week, and when wanted for table it must be heated, with a lump of butter put in, and served in a silver saucepan, which is kept hot by the fire. Laver is eaten with roast meat, with pepper and vinegar. Lemon juice is preferable to vinegar.
Lentils.—(a) Soak in cold water for 24 hours. Boil in plain water for 2½ hours, drain off the water, put with the lentils in the saucepan a small lump of butter, a little pepper and salt; stir well together and serve hot. Another way is to soak as above, and stew in good beef tea, gravy, or thin soup for 2½ hours. The German lentils are the best.
(b) Fry 3 or 4 onions sliced, in 1 oz. butter. Put into a saucepan with ½ pint red lentils, and 1 pint water; simmer 1 hour, then add 1 dessertspoonful curry powder and 1 teaspoonful lemon juice. Serve with boiled rice.
Mushrooms.—(a) Chop up half a small punnet of mushrooms, having first taken off the skins and stalks; also a handful of washed parsley and 3 small shallots. Scrape ¼ lb. ham, of which the proportions of fat and lean should be about equal; if the ham be too lean, some fat of bacon can be used with it. Also chop a little thyme. Mix all well together, seasoning with pepper and salt, and fry them over the fire for a few minutes, and until done; then mix in the yolks of 3 eggs, and set it aside while the mushrooms are preparing (these must be large ones); take off the skins and stalks, and, having trimmed the edges neatly, fill each one with some of the above preparation. Spread a sautépan thickly with butter, place the mushrooms in it side by side, shake some raspings of bread plentifully over them, and set them in the oven for about ¼ hour; they should be nicely browned. Arrange them on a dish in the form of a pyramid, and pour round them a little of the following sauce, which must have been previously prepared and be waiting hot and ready for use: Chop 2 shallots, wash them in several waters to take away the strong taste, wring them dry in the corner of a napkin, and put them into a stewpan with about 1 doz. small white mushrooms finely minced; add a little thyme, a small bay leaf, and a dessertspoonful of salad oil; shake these together over the fire for 5 minutes; add 1 small wineglassful white French wine, and then set it on to reduce to half its quantity; moisten this with a little good white sauce; let it boil up, free it from the oil, take out thyme and bay leaf. Let it be of the consistency of ordinary sauces, which can be regulated by adding a little white stock if too thick, or boiling up to reduce if too thin. When ready, set it aside in a small stewpan to keep hot till wanted.
(b) Pick and peel ½ pint mushrooms, wash them well, put them into a lined saucepan with ½ pint plain white sauce, made with rice, new milk, and well seasoned with mace, salt and paper, white or cayenne as preferred. Let the mushrooms stew until quite tender, then add 1 spoonful butter rolled in arrowroot sufficient to thicken it; simmer a few minutes longer and serve.
(c) Skin and wash the mushrooms, then dry in a cloth; butter each one on the inside, sprinkle salt and pepper over, and grill until tender.
(d) Peel 1 pint mushrooms and cut off their stalks; boil these and the parings; when ready, strain. Put the mushrooms, chopped fine, into a stewpan; pour in the gravy, add some chopped parsley, season well with pepper and salt, and stew the whole gently for 40 minutes over a moderate fire. Beat up 6 eggs, mix with the other ingredients; have ready some buttered cups, pour the mixture into them, and bake quickly; turn out on to a hot dish, and serve with white sauce. (Eliot-James.)
Nettles.—In some parts of Scotland the young shoots of nettles are used as greens, but chiefly by the poor. This is probably the result of prejudice. The following recipes will be found excellent as a vegetable: (a) Select the light green tops and leaves of the nettles, wash them carefully in 2 waters; a little salt and a small piece of soda should be dissolved in the second water. Boil till quite tender, then turn them into a colander and press them quite dry. Place on a hot vegetable or entrée dish, scoring them backwards and forwards 3 or 4 times. Place a small piece of butter the size of a walnut in the centre, and pepper and salt and send very hot to table. Melted butter can be served separately if desired. (b) A more savoury way of dressing the nettle tops would be the following. Wash and prepare the tops as before, drain and dry them, then chop them into a fine mince. Put this mince into a stewpan, in which has been placed a little good stock or gravy; add to this a pinch of salt, a little pepper and powdered sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice, or, if liked, a little finely chopped onion. When ready to serve thicken with a little flour and butter, and a teaspoonful of cream. Place on toast, and serve very hot with poached eggs, or garnish with hard-boiled eggs cut in slices.
Olives.—Stir some chopped parsley and scallions into some butter melted over the fire. Moisten with some gravy or good broth, a glass of white wine, some capers, and an anchovy pounded in a spoonful of olive oil. Put into this sauce some olives, which have previously been stoned by peeling the fruit spirally off the nuts with a sharp knife. Bring it to the boil, and thicken the sauce with a little light colouring of butter and flour, made separately. If liked, the stones of the olives can be replaced by a veal stuffing, which has been cooked first.
Onions.—(a) Cut off the roots close of 2 Spanish onions, and remove the outer peels or any that are in the least dry, then parboil them in salted water for 10 minutes; dry them in a cloth, and cut them in half lengthwise. Put them in a saucepan over a slice of fat bacon, add a faggot of sweet herbs, 2 or 3 cloves, and some whole pepper, with salt to taste; pour in a sufficient quantity of very good stock to just cover them, and let them stew gently for 2 hours. Strain off a portion of the liquor, free it from superfluous fat, reduce it by letting it boil for ¼ hour, dish up the onions, pour the reduced sauce over, and serve.
(b) Peel off the very outer skins, cut off the pointed ends like a cigar, put them in a deep dish, and put a piece of butter and a little salt and pepper on the place where the point has been cut off, cover them with a plate or dish, and let them bake for not less than 3 hours. They will throw out a delicious gravy.
Parsnips.—(a) Scrape and boil some parsnips, then cut each lengthwise in 4, and fry them very brown, and dish in twos and twos. There is no vegetable so nourishing as parsnip, and when done in this way is much more tasty than the English way.
(b) Boil 4 or 5 parsnips till tender, mash them up, and add 1 teaspoonful flour, 1 beaten egg, and a little salt; make the mixture into small cakes with a spoon, and fry them in butter a delicate brown. Serve on a napkin.
Peas.—Melt ¼ lb. butter in a saucepan, then add 1½ pint young peas, pepper and salt to taste, 2 small onions (whole), a small bunch of parsley, and half a head of lettuce, tied up together, and a pinch of sugar. Toss on a slow fire till the peas are cooked, then remove the parsley, lettuce, and onions, and serve with a little finely minced parsley mixed in the peas.
Potatoes.—(a) With Cream.—Put into a stewpan a piece of butter rolled in flour, 1 gillcream, pepper, salt, and a very little nutmeg, also the juice of half a lemon; stir these over the fire till boiling. Then add slices of freshly boiled new potatoes, and after warming them up in the above sauce, serve very hot.
(b) A la Russe.—Cut some raw potatoes into dice, after washing and peeling, and fry them in olive oil, with half the quantity of mushrooms finely minced.
(c) Au Gratin.—Put a few spoonfuls of good white sauce into a stewpan with a ¼ lb. grated Parmesan cheese, and half that quantity of butter, also the yolks of 4 eggs, a small piece of glaze, lemon juice, pepper and salt, and nutmeg; stir all this over the fire until well mixed, but it must not boil. Cut some potatoes into slices, stick some well-pointed three-cornered croutons of fried bread round the edge of the dish, standing up to form a border, and place a close row of slices of potato within it, and a layer over the centre of the dish: spread a layer of the cheese preparation over them, then repeat the potatoes and mixture till the dish is complete, and smooth some of the sauce over the top. Shake breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan over the surface, so as to quite cover it, and put the whole into the oven for about ¼ hour, or until warmed through, and a nice colour.
(d) Balls.—Take ½ doz. potatoes, boil them, pass them through a sieve, and work into them, in a bowl, 1 gill of cream and the yolks of 3 eggs; add pepper, salt, and nutmeg to taste, and some parsley finely chopped. When they are well mixed and smooth, take them up by tablespoonfuls, roll each in a ball, flatten it, and flour it slightly. Lay them all in a sautépan with plenty of butter melted, and cook them slowly. Turn them over when one side is done, and serve hot as soon as both sides are coloured.
(e) Cut very thin slices right across the largest potatoes; lay the slices in flat layers on a small plate that will bear the heat of the oven. Spread fresh butter freely over the potatoes; then add another layer, and so on until the potatoes are about 4 in. high. Give ½ lb. fresh butter to 2 large potatoes. Bake until the potatoes are tender, about ½ hour, in a quick oven.
(f) Fried.—Pare some potatoes so as to give each the form of a cylinder, then cut each cylinder in slices ⅛ in. thick. By this means all the pieces of potato will be the same size. Dry them thoroughly in a napkin; put them in the frying basket, and fry them a light colour in plenty of lard; drain, sprinkle freely with salt, and serve.
(g) Rissoles.—Take cold meat, veal or ham, cut it small and season with pepper, salt, cut pickles, and a little parsley; moisten with a little stock. Mash some potatoes and make them into a paste with the yolks of 1 or 2 eggs. Put some of the seasoned meat on one half, and fold over like a puff. Fry a light brown.
(h) Stewed.—Rub a saucepan with a clove of garlic, put 2 oz. butter into it, and when it is melted add 6 potatoes, peeled, and cut in quarters. Put in a little hot water, pepper and salt to taste, a small quantity of grated nutmeg, some minced parsley, and the juice of ½ lemon. Let the whole stew slowly till the potatoes are quite done.
(i) Cakes.—The following is an old country recipe for potato cakes: 1 lb. mashed potatoes, 2 oz. butter, 1 lb. flour, ½ teacupful cream, a pinch of salt, and 1 egg; roll out the cakes thin, and bake in a quick oven.
(j) Mashed.—Boil some potatoes, and pass them through a coarse hair sieve. Put them into a saucepan with a good lump of butter, and salt to taste; add a little milk, and work them well with a spoon on a slow fire for some minutes, adding small quantities of milk as they get dry.
(k) Calecannon.—Potatoes and greens mixed together, is an agreeable mixture and forms a pleasant change. The greens and potatoes are boiled separately, the former squeezed, when sufficiently dressed, quite dry and chopped up very fine; the latter mashed, the chopped greens added to them, with butter, pepper, and salt to taste, and the yolk of 1 egg or more. A pudding dish should be well buttered, the mixture put into it, and placed in a hot oven for about 6-7 minutes; the contents of the basin then turned out and served on a vegetable dish.
Pumpkin.—Take a slice of pumpkin, remove the rind, and cut the pulp into largedice, having first removed the pips. Put them into a saucepan with a piece of butter, pepper and salt to taste, and a little water. Let it stew slowly till quite done, then either mash it up with a spoon or pass it through a sieve. Mix a little flour and butter into a saucepan, add the pumpkin pulp and a little milk or cream, also a pinch of sugar and a little grated nutmeg. Work it well on the fire, and serve with sippets of bread, fried in butter, round it.
Red Cabbage.—(a) Wash, trim, and cut up a large cabbage into 5 or 6 slices. Put them into boiling water for ¼ hour; then stew them gently in broth till quite tender; drain, and serve with reduced brown gravy, flavoured with a dash of lemon juice or vinegar. If very small, they may be dressed whole in the same manner. (b) A Flemish recipe: Wash and trim a cabbage, put it into a saucepan, with sufficient cold water to cover it; let it come gradually to the boil, then add 4 or 5 apples peeled, cored, and quartered, a small piece of butter, pepper and salt; stew gently till quite tender, strain, add to the liquor a thickening of butter and flour, 1 teaspoonful vinegar, and 1 of currant or gooseberry jelly. Dish the cabbage with the apples round it, and the sauce over. (c) Having well washed the cabbage, shred it very small, and put it, with a slice of ham minced, into a stewpan with some melted grease (from the pot-au-feu), add an onion stuck with cloves, pepper and salt; simmer gently—tossing frequently—till quite tender. Just before serving remove the onion and cloves, add the yolks of 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoonful vinegar; serve very hot with fried sausages.
Salsify.—(a) Boiled.—Scrape the roots, cut them in short lengths, and throw them into vinegar and water as they are being done. Boil them till tender in salted water, drain them, toss them into a saucepan with a piece of butter, a little lemon juice and some minced parsley, add salt, and serve.
(b) Fried.—When boiled, split each piece in half, and steep them for ¼ hour in tarragon vinegar with pepper and salt, then drain, dip them in batter, and fry them in hot lard. Serve with fried parsley.
(c) Scolloped.—Boil the salsify as in (a), cut them into pieces ½ in. long. Add some cream to the sauce instead of lemon juice and parsley, with pepper and a little anchovy sauce; put in the salsify, give them a toss in the sauce, then put them into scollop shells, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on each, sprinkle plenty of breadcrumbs over, and put the shells in the oven to brown.
Scorzonera.—(a) Roots should be prepared by washing, scraping, and topping, as are carrots; then put them in cold water tied in small bundles, and boiled till tender, in the same way as asparagus, serve on toast with butter sauce; this for plain boiling.
(b) Fried.—Prepare as in (a), and boil till tender; then dip in a batter made as follows: Beat 2 eggs with ¼ lb. flour, 1 saltspoonful baking powder, and 1 teacupful water until as smooth as possible, adding the water by degrees; season with salt and pepper. This batter is very good for frying any vegetables.
(c) With Cheese.—Mix some grated Parmesan with butter which has been melted in white sauce, or plain cream, as preferred. Boil the scorzonera roots, and lay them neatly in a dish, pour over the sauce, which has been thoroughly heated, but not allowed to boil, sprinkle it well all over with grated Parmesan, then brown it in the oven, or with a salamander.
Seakale.—(a) Trim it and tie it up in bundles, and lay them in plenty of salted water, boiling fast; when quite done, drain them well, and serve with a plain salad dressing in a boat, or with white sauce over.Salad Dressing: 1 pinch of salt, 1 of pepper, 2 tablespoonfuls olive oil, 1 of tarragon vinegar, and 1 teaspoonful mustard. Take the ingredients in the above proportions, and beat them smooth.White Sauce: Put into a saucepan, with 1 pint white stock, a small onion, one clove, a blade of mace, and a faggot of herbs; boil for 1 hour, strain, thicken with 1 dessertspoonful arrowroot, boil up again, and add by degrees ½ pint cream.
(b) Choose short, thick kale, trim it carefully and tie it in bundles, boil in waterwith plenty of salt; when tender, drain it carefully and lay it in a dish on toasted bread dipped in the water the kale has been boiled in; serve with melted butter sauce. Finely grated cheese sifted over the kale is considered by many an improvement. In this case the kale should be browned with a salamander before being sent to table.
Sorrel.—Pick and wash a quantity of sorrel, put it into a saucepan with a little water and some salt, when thoroughly done drain off all the moisture and pass the sorrel through a hair sieve. Amalgamate a piece of butter and 1 tablespoonful flour in a saucepan on the fire, put in the sorrel and stir well for some minutes, then add pepper and salt to taste, and the yolk of 1 egg beaten up with a little cold stock and strained.
Spinach.—(a) Pick and wash perfectly clean 2-3 lb. spinach, put it into a saucepan with a little water, and let it boil till quite done. Turn it out on a hair sieve to drain, throw the water away, and pass the spinach through the sieve. Put a good lump of butter into a saucepan with a pinch of flour, mix well, add the spinach, pepper and salt to taste, and a little milk; stir well and serve.
(b) Mashed.—Pick and wash the spinach very carefully, and then put it into boiling salted water, and boil 10 minutes, or until quite tender; drain, then pass it through a hair sieve, season with pepper, salt, and put it into a stewpan with a piece of butter and a few tablespoonfuls of cream or Béchamel sauce; stir over the fire until quite hot, and serve either with cutlets, fricandeau, grenadins, poached eggs, &c., or in a vegetable dish with fried sippets of bread.
Tomatoes.—(a) Baked.—Cut 6 tomatoes in halves, remove the pips, and fill the inside with a mixture of breadcrumbs, pepper, and salt, in due proportions; place a small piece of butter on each half tomato, and lay them then close together in a well-buttered tin. Bake in a slow oven about ½ hour, and serve. They may be eaten hot or cold.
(b) Forced.—Prepare the following forcemeat: 2 oz. mushrooms minced small, 2 shallots, likewise minced, a small quantity of parsley, a slice of lean ham chopped fine, a few savoury herbs, and a little cayenne and salt. Put all these ingredients into a saucepan with a lump of butter, and stew all together until quite tender, taking care that they do not burn. Put it by to cool, and then mix with them some breadcrumbs and the well-beaten yolks of 2 eggs. Choose large tomatoes as nearly of the same size as possible; cut a slice from the stalk end of each, and take out carefully the seeds and juice; fill them with the mixture which has already been prepared, strew them over with breadcrumbs and some melted butter, and bake them in a quick oven until they assume a rich colour.
(c) Meat Pudding.—Cover the bottom of a pudding dish with breadcrumbs; put on them a layer of underdone meat, cut in thin slices; then a layer of tomatoes, peeled and also sliced; to 1 pint add 1 even tablespoonful sugar; then a few bits of butter, pepper, salt, and a little onion if agreeable; then breadcrumbs, meat, and tomatoes, repeating until the dish is full; put over all a layer of breadcrumbs, and bake until a light brown. Serve hot.
(d) Stuffed.—Dip some tomatoes in hot water, peel them, cut them in half, and remove the pips. Rub a baking sheet with shallot, butter it well, and lay the tomatoes in it, filling each half with the following composition: 2 parts breadcrumbs, 1 part ham finely minced, and, according to taste, parsley and sweet herbs also finely minced, and pepper and salt. Put a small piece of butter on each half tomato, and bake them ¼ hour. Have ready some round pieces of buttered toast; on each of these put a half tomato, and serve.
Truffles.—First prepare the sauce. Put into a small clean stewpan 2 oz. butter, set on the stove, and slice into it 1 onion, 1 carrot, and a little lean ham cut into squares, fry altogether of a light brown. Now stir into these 1 dessertspoonful flour, add 1 bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a few sprays of parsley, 3 cloves, a small blade of mace, a little salt and cayenne, and ½ pint of stock. Mix well together with a wooden spoon, and seton the fire to simmer ½ hour, taking off the scum as it rises. Next cut from a square loaf a thick slice of bread; it should be quite 1 in. thick. Scoop out the middle, so as to make a hollow about half-way through the bread, and fry in plenty of clean lard to a golden brown. Drain on a sieve and keep warm. Now wash 6 large truffles, and cut into thin slices, put them into a sautépan or frying pan, with a little butter and a small quantity of minced parsley and onion, fry gently about 10 minutes, taking care they do not get dry when done. Place the truffles in the hollow of the bread, strain the sauce over, put some of the ham on the corners of the bread, and sprinkle a little chopped hard-boiled eggs over the truffles. This makes a very pretty and savoury dish for the second course, and is a good way of finishing a bottle of truffles that may have been required for any other purpose.
Turnips.—(a) Boiled.—Take small new turnips, peel, and boil them in salted water; drain them thoroughly. Melt 1 oz. butter in a saucepan, add to it 1 dessertspoonful flour, pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and a small quantity of milk or cream; put in the turnips; simmer gently a few minutes, and serve.
(b) Mashed.—Take new or old turnips, pare them, and put them to boil in salted water; when done drain them, squeeze out the water from them, and pass them through a hair sieve. Put the pulp into a saucepan with a piece of butter, pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg; stir well, and moisten with a little milk or cream. Then work them with a spoon on a slow fire until sufficiently dried up.
Turnip Tops.—(a) When green vegetables are scarce, many people find desirable dishes made from turnip tops, if properly and presentably cooked. The growth of these turnip tops may be forced by placing the roots in a greenhouse, hot frame, or any warm place, when the tops will soon be seen to begin to sprout, and will prove far more delicate and edible than the ordinary turnip tops grown in a garden or field from turnips. When the tops are quite small and almost white (which they will be if the roots are covered over with straw) they may be dressed to resemble seakale, with white sauce, and will be found very delicious, having no strong turnipy flavour. When grown larger and the leaves are green, the stalks get fibrous and stringy; the leaves should then be stripped off and boiled with plenty of water. When sufficiently done, strain and squeeze off the water as much as possible, mince them fine, and put them through a sieve as is done with spinach. Serve very hot with sippets of fried toast, or with gravy if preferred.
(b) Take a quantity of turnip tops, picked clean and washed, put them in a saucepan with a little water. When thoroughly done put them on a hair sieve to drain. When all the water is thoroughly drained from them, pass them through the sieve. Mix in a saucepan 1 tablespoonful flour with about 1 oz. butter, add the turnip-top purée, stir well, put in pepper and salt to taste, and serve hot in a dish garnished with fried sippets of bread, and lay on the top ½ doz. poached eggs. Fill a shallow sautépan with water and sufficient salt, add a little vinegar, a few peppercorns, and some leaves of parsley. When the water is on the point of boiling (it should never be allowed to boil) break 2 or more eggs into it (according to the size of the pan), and put on the cover. When done, take them out carefully, brush them clean on both sides with a paste brush, and cut each egg with a round fluted paste cutter, so as to get them of a uniform shape.
Vegetable Marrow.—(a) Parboil 2 moderate-sized marrows, cut in 4 lengthwise, drain them carefully, and dispose them on a well-buttered dish, previously well rubbed with shallot or slightly rubbed with garlic. Sprinkle plenty of grated Parmesan over them, pepper and salt, and grated nutmeg; put a few pieces of butter on the top, and over all a good sprinkling of very fine baked breadcrumbs. Bake about 20 minutes, and serve in the dish.
(b) Stuffed.—Pound to a paste in a mortar, slightly rubbed with garlic, equal parts veal and ham; then pass them through a wire sieve, and return them to the mortar.Work into the paste thus obtained ¼ its bulk of butter, and about the same quantity of breadcrumbs, with the yolks of 1 or more eggs, according to quantity. Add some minced parsley, and according to taste, pepper, salt, spices, and powdered sweet herbs. Cut in half, lengthways, 2 average-sized vegetable marrows; take out the inside, fill each half with the stuffing, and wrap it up in a piece of white paper well buttered and tied with string; lay them all close together in a buttered tin, cover this up with a plate or another tin, and put it into the oven. When you judge the marrows are quite done, take them carefully out of the papers, lay them on a dish, and serve with a small quantity of well-flavoured clear gravy or some tomato sauce poured over them.
Salads(Salade, Mayonnaise).—These consist of uncooked vegetables dressed with a piquant liquor in which oil and vinegar play a prominent part.
Dressings.—The following are favourite recipes for salad dressings.
(a) 2 teaspoonfuls mixed mustard, 2 tablespoonfuls salad oil; mix well, and add 1 teaspoonful powdered sugar, 4 tablespoonfuls good cream, 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar. Sufficient for a salad for 4 persons.
(b) 1 teaspoonful unmade mustard, the same of sugar, 1 saltspoonful salt, and the yolk of a fresh egg, beaten together; mix gradually 1 tablespoonful cream or milk, 2 of vinegar, and 1 or 2 of salad oil according to taste, with a little cayenne.
(c) The yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs, cream, vinegar, pepper, salt, and mustard. Rub the yolks smoothly in a mortar, and add gently 4-5 large tablespoonfuls cream, a small teaspoonful of made mustard, pepper, salt, and lastly 2 large tablespoonfuls vinegar. Mix well, and pour over the salad.
(d) Put the salad into a bowl after being well drained, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pour over 2 tablespoonfuls oil to every tablespoonful of vinegar. The vinegar should always be added at the last. On the Continent people often add a spoonful of powdered sugar to this mixture.
(e) 3 tablespoonfuls oil to 1 of vinegar is a better proportion, and yolks of eggs are not amiss in any salad.
(f) Put the lettuce, which should not be wet, in the salad bowl. Take some sprigs of tarragon, some chervil, 1 or 2 small chives, and a little bit of parsley, cut into small pieces, mix them with the lettuce, and sprinkle with a saltspoonful of salt and some pepper. Put into a tablespoon 1 mustardspoonful of mustard, fill up the spoon with vinegar, stir well, and pour over the lettuce, then add 3 tablespoonfuls best salad oil, and mix well. This is better than mixing the ingredients first. The chervil and tarragon should never be omitted. The leaves of the common dandelion are also a good addition to salad, as they have an agreeable, slightly bitter flavour.
(g) The yolk of 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 teaspoonful mustard, 2 tablespoonfuls oil, 1 teaspoonful tarragon vinegar, 1 teaspoonful common ditto, ½ teaspoonful sugar. Rub the egg very smooth, add a little salt, then the mustard, then the oil by degrees, working it with the rest till quite smooth; then add the cream, and lastly the vinegar.
(h) Boil 2 eggs hard, pound up the yolks with 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar, 1 saltspoon salt, 1 of pepper, and the same of mustard. When well mixed, add 4 tablespoonfuls oil, and the white of the eggs chopped very fine.
(i) Mix the yolks of 2 unboiled eggs in a basin with a teaspoonful of salt; whisk; then add, by small quantities, 1 pint finest Florence oil (salad); mix thoroughly, and add 1 tablespoonful made mustard, 3 tablespoonfuls vinegar, 1 of tarragon vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful elder vinegar; add to the whole a small spoonful of pounded sugar, a little cayenne, and a small quantity of salt. Bottle for use.
(j) Carefully strain the yolks of 4 eggs into a basin, place it in a cool place, or, if necessary, on ice; add a teaspoonful of salt, mix well; then proceed to pour in, a few drops at a time, some salad oil, without ceasing to stir the mixture. When one spoonful of oil is well incorporated with the yolks of egg, put in, in the same manner, a teaspoonfulof tarragon vinegar; keep on adding oil and vinegar in these proportions until you get a sauce the consistency of very thick cream, then add white pepper to taste, and more salt if necessary.
The subjoined comprise all the vegetables, &c., ordinarily employed in salads.
Artichoke(de Topinambour).—Take some cold boiled Jerusalem artichokes and some onions, slice them, and pour over them a mixture of oil, vinegar, pepper and salt, garnish with cold boiled carrots cut to the shape of olives, and with some pickled cauliflower and beetroot.
Asparagus(d’asperges).—Scrape the end of each head with the back of a knife, and tie them in small bundles of 1 doz. heads each, cut off all the part of the asparagus which cannot be eaten, put them into a panful of fast-boiling water, with plenty of salt, and in about 10 minutes they will be done. Drain them, and leave them to get cold, then dispose them on a dish previously rubbed with a little shallot, and pour over them the following sauce: Strain the yolks of 2 eggs into a basin, mix with them a teaspoonful of salt, and then, without ceasing to stir, pour in, drop by drop, 4 tablespoonfuls oil and 1 of French white vinegar, adding the vinegar at intervals during the process of pouring the oil. Lastly, stir in a little pepper; garnish the dish with slices of hard-boiled eggs.
Beetroot(de Betterave).—(a) Take a well-washed beetroot, either bake it in the oven, or put it into a saucepan of boiling water and boil for 1-2 hours, according to size; when cold, peel and slice it, arrange the slices in a dish, and pour over the dressings.
(b) Arrange the slices of beetroot with alternate slices of hard-boiled eggs, pour over them a mixture of ¾ oil and ¼ plain vinegar, duly flavoured with pepper and salt; garnish the dish with small button onions, and with sprigs of chervil and tarragon.
(c) Slice a cold boiled or baked beetroot, arrange it in slices overlapping each other, pour over a mixture made with cream, a very little vinegar, pepper, and salt; garnish the dish with horseradish and hard-boiled eggs, whites and yolks separate.
Cabbage(de Chou).—(a) Wash the greens well, and take off the outside leaves. Tie them in small bunches, and boil in plenty of fast-boiling water, drain them in front of the fire, and serve cold with a mixture of 3 parts oil, 1 of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste, poured over them.
(b) Take some cold boiled Brussels sprouts, and put them into a dish previously rubbed with garlic or shallot, pour over them a salad mixture made with 3 parts oil and 1 of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste; garnish with pickled beetroot and minced sweet herbs.
(c) Chop up some greens or cabbage, and serve as in (b); garnish with slices of sausage and pickled gherkins.
Carrots(de Carottes).—Slice some cold boiled carrots, arrange them in a dish with a dressing made with cream and lemon juice, or oil and vinegar, with pepper and salt; garnish the dish with hard-boiled eggs shredded, with minced parsley and capers, and chopped olives.
Cauliflower(de Chou-fleur).—(a) Boil a cauliflower in salted water till tender, but not overdone; when cold cut up neatly in small sprigs. Beat up together 3 tablespoonfuls oil, and 1 of tarragon vinegar, with pepper and salt to taste; rub the dish very slightly with garlic, arrange the pieces of cauliflower on it, strew over them some capers, a little tarragon, chervil, and parsley, all finely minced, and the least bit of dried thyme and marjoram powdered. Pour the oil and vinegar over, and serve.
(b) Pick off the flower from 1 or 2 cold boiled cauliflowers, dispose them in a dish, and pour over them some dressing made of cream and lemon juice, or oil and vinegar with pepper and salt to taste; garnish with minced parsley, powdered sweet herbs, capers, and, if liked, anchovies and stoned olives.
Celery(de Céleri).—(a) Take the inner and tenderest stalks of 3 heads celery, cutthem in strips 1 in. long, and about the thickness of young French beans. Rub the salad bowl slightly with shallot or even garlic. Mix the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs with 3 tablespoonfuls salad oil, 1 of tarragon vinegar, the least bit of flour of mustard, and pepper and salt to taste. Add the celery to this sauce, turn it well over, garnish with the hard-boiled whites, and if at hand 2 truffles (fresh, not preserved), either minced or sliced.
(b) Cut up some raw or cold boiled celery into convenient lengths, put these into a salad dish, and mix with them some salad dressing, to which a small quantity of mustard has been added, garnish with boiled onions, chopped beetroot, and shredded whites and yolks of eggs, and cold boiled carrots cut to the shape of olives.
Cucumber(de Concombre).—Pare off the rind of a good-sized cucumber, slice it as thinly as possible and arrange it on a dish; sprinkle with pepper and salt; pour over it a mixture made with 3 parts oil and 1 of vinegar.
Egg(aux Œufs).—Wash and bone some anchovies, divide them into fillets the whole length of the fish. Wash, dry, and divide into quarters some small lettuces. Boil some eggs (6-8) hard, slice one-third of them, and chop up quite finely the rest, yolks and whites separately; arrange these symmetrically in the centre of a dish well raised in the centre, put the fillets of anchovies on the top so as to form squares, with a caper in the centre of each square. Make a border with the quarters of lettuce and the slices of egg, arranged alternately; sprinkle over the border some finely shred chervil, and pour over either a mayonnaise sauce or a mixture of 3 parts oil and 1 of tarragon vinegar, with pepper and salt to taste.
Endive(de Chicorée).—(a) Wash 2 heads endive, drain them thoroughly, and cut them up. Wash and cut up in small dice 1 head of celery. Work to a smooth paste in a basin the yolk of 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 teaspoonful mustard, white pepper and salt to taste, and the least bit of cayenne; add by degrees 3 dessertspoonfuls cream, 1 of tarragon vinegar, and 1 of plain vinegar; stir till quite smooth, add the salad, work it well, and garnish with pickled gherkins, hard-boiled eggs and beetroot. The salad should be mixed just before serving.
(b) Pick off the outer leaves of 1 or 2 heads of endive, and wash them well; when perfectly dry mix with them some salad dressing, made quite smooth with the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs, oil, vinegar, pepper and salt, and, if liked, a little mustard.
(c) The same may be made in a dish previously rubbed with garlic or shallot, and with dressing, without the eggs, or with cream, vinegar, pepper and salt; it may be garnished with beetroot and chopped celery, and hard-boiled eggs.
Fish(au Poisson).—Cut into neat collops any remnants of fish, steep them for 1 hour in a mixture of 2 parts oil and 1 part vinegar, with a few slices of onions, a sprig of thyme, pepper and salt, and parsley. Make a foundation of lettuce, cut into convenient pieces, in a dish, dispose the fish over it, ornament with beetroot and hard-boiled eggs, and serve with the following plain mayonnaise sauce. Put the yolks of 4 eggs into a basin, add salt to taste, then proceed to pour in, a few drops at a time, some salad oil, without ceasing to stir the mixture. When about 1 tablespoonful oil is well incorporated with the yolks of eggs, put in, in the same manner, 1 teaspoonful French vinegar. Keep on adding oil and vinegar in these proportions until you get a sauce the consistency of very thick cream. Then add white pepper to taste, and mix well.
French Bean(de Haricots).—String some French beans and boil them whole in plenty of salted water, when cold dress them with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt, some tarragon and capers finely minced, and garnish with hard-boiled eggs, anchovies, and beetroot. The dish must be well rubbed with a shallot.
Game(au Gibier).—Cold grouse, partridge, or pheasant may be used in this way. Cut them into joints, and put them into a pie-dish; season with salt and pepper, and pour over them the juice of a lemon and about 2 tablespoonfuls very fresh salad oil; let them remain in this for 3-4 hours. Having cut up and well dried a fresh lettuce, placeit in a flat dish, and arrange the pieces of game which have been in the oil and lemon juice neatly in the centre; over the game pour a salad sauce, which should be of the consistency of thick cream. Ornament the top with slices of hard-boiled egg, fillets of well-washed and scraped anchovies, and garnish with tiny sprigs of parsley. Cold chicken, or the white meat from a cold turkey cut into small pieces, may be treated in this way.
Green Pea(aux petits Pois).—Put some cold boiled peas—marrowfats are best—into a dish previously rubbed with a shallot, and pour over them a mayonnaise sauce or a plain salad dressing, and garnish the peas with small heads of green mint.
Lettuce(de Laitue).—(a) Wash 2 heads lettuce, dry them thoroughly, and break the leaves or cut them into convenient pieces; put the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs into a basin with 1 teaspoonful mustard, pepper and salt to taste, and 1 tablespoonful oil; work the mixture into a smooth paste, and add consecutively 3 tablespoonfuls oil and 2 of tarragon vinegar, then add a handful of garden cress, a little tarragon finely minced, and the whites of the eggs coarsely chopped. The mixture must be well stirred. Lastly add the lettuce, turn it well over, and serve.
(b) Wash 2 heads lettuce, dry them thoroughly, and put them into the salad bowl. Take some sprigs of tarragon and chervil, 1 or 2 small chives, and a little bit of parsley, mince them finely, mix them with the lettuce, and sprinkle with a tablespoonful of salt, and some pepper. Put into a tablespoon 1 mustardspoonful of mustard, fill up the spoon with vinegar, stir well, and pour over the lettuce, then add 3 tablespoonfuls best salad oil, and mix well.
(c) Take a lettuce, remove the outer leaves, wash, drain it thoroughly, and cut it into small pieces; take some fresh-cut garden cress (also washed and drained), and a few spring onions, put them in a salad bowl, with the following dressing: Take the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs, and rub them quite smooth in a mortar, add a teaspoonful of mustard, a little cayenne, with black pepper and salt to taste, and 4-5 tablespoonfuls cream; lastly, add a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar; mix well, and it is ready.
Lobster(de Homards).—(a) Cut a number of pieces of the flesh of a lobster into convenient sizes. Have some well-flavoured aspic jelly, just melt it, pour a layer of it ¼ in. thick, into a border mould; when it begins to set, arrange the pieces of lobster, reserving 2 or 3 of the best, in the mould, with leaves of tarragon; fill up with jelly, and lay the mould on ice to set. Cut the remainder of the lobster, and dress it with lettuce, as an ordinary salad. Turn out the border on a dish, fill the inside with salad heaped up, lay the reserved pieces of lobster on the top, and ornament with any design made of whites and yolks of eggs, truffles, and aspic jelly, all finely minced.
(b) Take 1 or 2 fresh lobsters, cut up all the flesh into convenient pieces, reserving the soft part to mix with the dressing, and a few of the best pieces to ornament the salad. Prepare some lettuces, as for an ordinary salad, mix the lobster and lettuce together with a fork in the bowl, and pour over it a mixture made as for asparagus salad, to which has been added the soft part of the lobster and a little mustard. Garnish the dish with the pieces of lobster reserved for the purpose, with the spawn, and with slices of hard-boiled egg, sprigs of chervil, or tarragon.
Meat(Vinaigrette).—Cut some cold meat into neat slices, brush them over with oil, season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle a little vinegar over, and dispose them on a dish, upon a foundation of lettuce cut into convenient pieces, and ornament with hard-boiled eggs, beetroot, and pickles. Serve with plain tartare sauce, viz. put the yolks of 4 eggs into a basin with salt and mustard to taste, and stir olive oil over them, 1 tablespoonful at a time; after each tablespoonful oil put in 1 teaspoonful tarragon vinegar. Keep on stirring this until the sauce is of the desired consistency; then add pepper, the least bit of cayenne, and 2 shallots, or a few pickled gherkins or onions chopped very finely.
Onion(d’oignons).—Cut up a cold boiled Spanish onion and some cold boiled potatoes,mix with them a dressing made with oil, vinegar, pepper and salt; sprinkle over some powdered sweet herbs, and garnish with pickled red cabbage, hard-boiled eggs, stoned and chopped olives, and capers.
Oyster(des Huîtres).—For this dish some little pail-shaped white china cups must be procured, in size about the same as a ramakin case: 6 make a pretty dish, 1 in the centre and 5 round it. In each cup place an oyster, free from beard, or if very small 2 oysters may be used. Above add 1-2 teaspoonfuls salad, cut very small, and with which some good creamy salad-sauce has been mixed. Each cup must be differently garnished, using for this beetroot, hard-boiled yolk of egg, hard-boiled white of egg, and mustard and cress, each to be finely and separately chopped. Fill up one cup with a layer of the beetroot, with a pinch of the yolk of egg in centre; another with a layer of white of egg, with a little beetroot in centre; a fourth with mustard and cress, with beetroot in centre, and so on; ringing the changes on the above, and taking care that no two are alike. It is a very pretty dish and very much liked. The little cups should be served standing on a flat dish, with a napkin beneath to prevent them from slipping about.
Potato(de Pommes de terre).—(a) Rub a dish with a shallot; dispose on it some cold boiled potatoes cut in slices; beat together 3 parts oil and 1 part (more or less according to strength) tarragon vinegar, with pepper and salt to taste. Pour this over the potatoes, and strew over all a small quantity of any of the following: powdered sweet herbs; mint, parsley, chervil, tarragon, or capers, or a combination of them all, finely minced.
(b) Cut cold boiled potatoes in small cubes. Bone and fillet a few anchovies, and chop them up; take the same quantity of capers. Mix all together with some finely-minced tarragon or powdered sweet herbs and a plain salad dressing as in (a). Put on a dish rubbed with shallot, and make a border round it of pieces of hard-boiled eggs and stoned olives.
(c) Take equal parts cold boiled potatoes and cold boiled Spanish onions; cut them into convenient pieces; sprinkle powdered sweet herbs over, and pour over them a salad dressing as in (a). Serve with a border of small radishes.
(d) Take 4 or 5 cold boiled potatoes, ½ small beetroot, ½ small Spanish onion, plainly boiled, and about 3 in. pickled cucumber. Cut them all in slices, and arrange them on a dish. Pour over them a salad dressing as in (a), adding a little English mustard to it, and strew powdered sweet herbs over. Serve with a border of hard-boiled eggs cut in slices.
(e) Cut some cold boiled potatoes in slices, arrange them neatly on a dish, slightly rubbed with shallot or garlic, and pour the following sauce over them; mince equal quantities of capers and parsley, and a few leaves of tarragon and thyme; add oil and vinegar in the proportion of 2 to 1, and pepper and salt to taste; beat all well together.
(f) Pound 6 well-washed anchovies in a mortar, with 2 hard-boiled yolks of eggs, 1 dessertspoonful French mustard, and a sprig or two of tarragon; then gradually work in salad oil, add pepper and lemon juice to taste, and salt if necessary. Strain the sauce over a dish of sliced cold boiled potatoes, and strew over all plenty of minced truffles.
Russian(Russe).—Boil some carrots and turnips in salted water with a small piece of butter, but do not let them be overdone; when cold cut out of them, with a vegetable scoop, a number of pieces the size of an olive; cut some beetroot in the same way, and likewise some truffles. Take equal parts—say a cupful—of each of the above, and a similar quantity of preserved fresh (not dried) haricot beans ready cooked, and of asparagus points preserved in the same way; 2 tablespoonfuls respectively of capers, of French pickled gherkins, cut into the shape of capers, and of anchovies, perfectly cleaned, and cut into small pieces; 2 doz. or more olives stoned, 1 tablespoonfultarragon and chervil minced fine, and half that quantity of chives, also minced. Mix the whole lightly together into a sauce, made with raw yolks of eggs, oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt, well worked together. Ornament with hard-boiled eggs, caviare, lobster spawn, olives, pickles, truffles, &c. The Spanish preserved sweet capsicums (Pimientos dulces) are a great addition to the above, not only for their exquisite taste, but on account of their brilliant colour.