Sirloin of Beef.
After reading the foregoing observations, the cook must gain, by observation and practice, that experience which will enable her to send this very best of joints to table, done enough, yet not overdone. A piece of 15 lbs. weight will require nearly four hours to cook it well: cover it with two half sheets of foolscap paper, and put it near to the fire for a few minutes; then rub it well over with butter, and draw it back to a distance (provided always that there is a verygood, steadyfire); and in this case do not baste at all, but put some boiling water into the dripping-pan when you first put the meat down, and this, by the time the meat is done, will be good gravy, after you have poured the fat off. The older fashion is to baste with dripping as soon as you put it down, and continue the basting every quarter of an hour; but I think the other method gives the meat the most delicate taste and appearance. However, a cook should try both ways, and afterwards follow the one which best suits the taste of her employers.
The old fashion of Yorkshire pudding with roast beef is too good a one to be abandoned, though its substitute of potatoe pudding is not to be rejected. Garnish with finely scraped horseradish.—Where cold roast beef is not liked, or if too underdone to eat cold, slices may be gently simmered over the fire in gravy or broth, or a very little water, and a little pepper and salt, eschalot vinegar, or some sort of catsup. The sirloin always came to table whole in the house in which I was brought up; therefore, I am able to give instructions for cooking it. No spit will carry round a whole sirloin; it must bedangled, and one which weighs (after great part of the suet has been taken out) 40 lbs. will roast in five hours, for it is no thicker than a piece of 10 lbs. weight. The fire must be large and high, the heat, of course, very great. Many a cook's complexion, to say nothing of her temper, has suffered in the cause of our "noble sirloins." If the inside, or tender-loin, be taken out leaving all the fat to roast with the joint, this part may be cooked to resemble hare. For this purpose, spread some hare stuffing over the beef, roll that up tightly with tape, and tie it on the spit. Send this to table with the sauces for roast hare. When the whole joint is roasted, the insidewill be sufficiently underdone to make hashes. If only a part of the sirloin be cooked, the inside is best eaten hot, as it is not so good cold as the upper side.—Roast beef bones should be taken care of, for soup and gravy, and used before they become musty.
Rump of Beef.
Roast in the same manner.Halfof this joint makes a nice family dish. Parboiled potatoes, browned in the dripping-pan are good.
Ribs of Beef.
Roasted the same as the sirloin. But it requires to be basted. Is a better joint to eat cold than sirloin. 15 or 20 lbs. weight, three hours or more, according to the size. Paper the fat and the thin part. Another way is to take out the bones, lay the meat flat, and beat it with a rolling pin; soak it in two thirds of vinegar and one of water, or, better still, white wine in place of vinegar, a night; next day cover it with a rich forcemeat, of veal, suet, grated ham, lemon peel, and mixed spices. Roll it tightly up, fasten with small skewers and tape, and roast it, basting constantly with butter, and serve with venison sauce.—Or:you may take out the bones, roll the meat up like a fillet of veal, lard it, then roast and serve with tomata sauce.
Leg, Loin, Haunch, Saddle, and Shoulder of Mutton.
Cut out the pipe that runs along the back bone, wipe off all mustiness. Rather aquickfire is required for mutton, particularly if it have been kept. Roast in the same manner as beef. Paper it, and baste every twenty minutes till the last half hour, when lightly sprinkle with salt, baste withbutter, and dredge flour lightly over, and as soon as the froth rises, take it up. Onion, sweet sauce, or currant jelly, are eaten with mutton. Some think it an improvement to thehaunchandsaddleto take the skin off; to do this you must beat it well with a rolling pin, slip the skin with a sharp knife from the meat, and with a cloth pull it off nearly to the shank. Some put a thin paste over, as directed for venison, others paper only, and the latter is sufficient, if the cook baste enough, and do not letit burn.—A good sauce for roast mutton is made by putting 2 glasses of port wine, 1 of Reading sauce, and a tea-spoonful of garlic vinegar into a small saucepan, and pouring the contents hot over the joint just before serving it.
Haunch of Mutton.
To dress as Venison.—Keep it as long as you can, then rub with the following, and let it lie in it, thirty-six hours. Mix 2 oz. of coarse sugar, 1 oz. of salt, and ½ oz. of saltpetre. A taste somewhat peculiar to our house, and of American growth, is stewed cranberries, as sauce with roast mutton, and I recommend the trial to all who can procure good cranberries. Tomata sauce is also good with roast mutton.
Bullock's Heart.
Soak it well in lukewarm water to disgorge, dry and stuff the interior with a veal stuffing, and roast it two hours.Calves'andSheep'sheart the same.
Tongue.
Stick a fresh tongue all over with cloves, roast it, baste with butter, and serve with port wine sauce, and currant jelly.
Sucking Pig.
The age at which it ought to be killed is a matter of dispute; some say at twelve days old, others at three weeks; but all agree that the sooner it is cooked after, the better. After the inside is taken out, wash the pig well with cold water. Cut off the feet at the first joint, leaving the skin long enough to turn neatly over. Prepare a stuffing as follows: ½ oz. of mild sage, 2 onions, parboiled and chopped fine, a tea-cup full of grated bread crumbs, 2 oz. of good butter, and some pepper, cayenne and salt; put this into the pig, and carefully sew the slit up. Some cooks baste, at first, with salt and water, and then keep brushing the pig with a brush of feathers, dipped in salad oil. Others tie a piece of butter in muslin, and diligently rub the crackling with it; either is good. It should be dredged with flour, soon after it is put down, and therubbing with butter or oil never cease, or the skin will not be crisp. The fire should be brisk, and a pig iron used, or the pig will be unequally cooked, for the middle will be burnt up, before the two ends are done. A good-sized one will take two hours. A pig should never go whole to table. Take the spit from the fire, and place it across a dish, then with a sharp knife cut the head off, cut down the back, and slip the spit out. Lay it back to back in your dish, and the ears, one at each end, which ought to be quite crisp. For sauce, clear beef, or veal gravy, with a squeeze of lemon, and, if approved, the brains and liver, or a little of the stuffing out of the pig, mixed in it, also a very little finely chopped sage. Apple sauce and currant sauce are not yet out of fashion for roast pig. Chili or eschalot vinegar is an improvement to pig-sauce. The easiest way is tobake it. (SeeBaking.)
Venison, Haunch or Shoulder.
This will hang three weeks with care, but must be watched. Wet it as little as possible; a damp cloth, only, should be used to cleanse it. Butter a sheet of kitchen paper, and tie it over the fat side of the joint, then lay over that a paste of about ½ an inch thick of flour and water; tie another sheet of paper over that, fasten all on firmly, and rub butter over the outside paper, that the fire may not catch it. Baste well, and keep up a strong clear fire. A haunch of from 20 to 25 lbs. weight, in a paste, will take from four to five hours, and not be overdone. Half an hour before it is ready take off the coverings, and put it nearer the fire to brown and froth. Baste with fresh butter, and lightly dredge it with flour. For sauce, currant jelly in heated port wine, in one boat, and clear drawn, unspiced gravy, in another. (See Gravies.) Raspberry vinegar may be used in making sauce for venison. Some epicures like eschalots or small onions, served with venison, hare, or any meat, eaten with sweet sauce.—The shoulder, breast, and neck, are all roasted, but the two latter are best in pies; and if lean, may be used in soup.—Serve French beans, and currant jelly.
Fawn.
This should, like a sucking-pig, be dressed soon after itis killed. When quite young, it is trussed and stuffed like hare. But it is best, when large enough, cut in quarters, and dressed like lamb. The hind quarter is the best. It may be half roasted, and then hashed like hare or venison.—Or: in pies the same as venison. It may also be baked. Venison sauce.
Veal
Must have a strong and brisk fire. It must not only bewell done through, but be of a nice brown. For the fillet a stuffing of forcemeat made thus: two parts of stale bread-crumbs, one part suet, marrow or fresh butter, a little parsley boiled for a minute and chopped fine, 2 tea-spoonsful of grated lemon peel, a little nutmeg, a very little cayenne and some salt, the whole to be worked to a proper consistence, with yolks of 2 or 3 eggs. Many things may be used in flavouring stuffing, such as grated ham, beef, sausages, pickled oysters, anchovy, sweet herbs, eschalots, mushrooms, truffles, morels, currie powder and cayenne. The fillet should be covered with paper, and securely fastened in a nice shape. Baste well, and half an hour before you take it up, remove the paper, and bring the meat nearer the fire, to brown it. Garnish with slices of lemon. When in the dish, pour some thin melted butter over it, to mix with its own gravy. A fillet of 15 lbs. weight will require 4 hours' roasting. Serve sausages, ham, or bacon, and greens.
Shoulder of Veal.
Stuff it, using more suet or butter than for the fillet. Serve and garnish the same. From three hours to three and a half.
Loin of Veal
Must be well jointed. The kidney fat papered, or it will be lost. Toast half the round of a loaf, and place it in the dish under the kidney part, and serve and garnish the same as the fillet. About three hours.
Breast of Veal.
Keep it covered with the caul till nearly done, for that will preserve the meat from being scorched, and will alsoenrich it.—From one hour and a half to two hours. Some put in a very delicate stuffing.
Neck, best end.
Two hours to roast.
Lamb.
Lamb must be young, to be good, and requires no keeping to make it tender. It is roasted inquarters, orsaddles,legs, andshoulders; must be well done, but does not require a strong fire. Put oiled paper over a fore quarter. One of 10 lbs. weight will require two hours.—When the shoulder is removed, the carver ought to sprinkle some salt, squeeze ½ a lemon, and pour a little melted butter (itmayhave finely chopped parsley in it), over the target, and then replace the shoulder for a few minutes.—Mint sauce; and garnish with crisp parsley, sprigs of parsley, sprigs of cauliflower, or alternate slices of lemon and sprigs of water cress.—Serve salad, spinach, French beans, cauliflower or green peas. (See Sauces.)
Pork
Requires a very strong fire, and must be well done.
Leg of Pork.
Make a slit in the shank, and put in a stuffing of mild sage, and parboiled onions, chopped fine, also pepper, salt, grated stale bread-crumbs, a piece of butter, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, and an egg to cement the whole, then sew it up. Rub the skin often all over with salad oil or fresh butter, while the roast is going on. The skin must be scored about twenty minutes after the pork is put down. A leg of 8 lbs. about three hours. Serve onion sauce, mustard, or apple sauce. (See Sauces.)
Spare Rib.
When put to the fire, dust some flour over, and baste gently with some butter. Have some sage leaves dried and rubbed through a hair sieve, and about a quarter of an hourbefore the meat is done, sprinkle this over it, just after the last basting with butter. Apple sauce; mashed potatoes.
Loin and Griskin.
Score the loin, and, if you like, stuff it as the leg, or mix powdered sage and finely-chopped onion with the basting. A loin of 5 lbs. two hours; if very fat, half an hour longer. A griskin of 7 or 8 lbs. one hour and a half. Either of these may be baked. Score the rind, rub over it well with butter or oil, and stand it in a common earthen dish, with potatoes peeled and cut in quarters; and, if you like, add some apples also, and two or three onions previously parboiled and cut up. Dress the pork round with these when you serve it.Apples roasted, and sent to table in their skins, are very good with pork.
Turkey.
It is not a good practice to wash poultry, only to wipe it out quite clean; but if it benecessaryto wash it, then dredge flour over before you put it down to the fire.
A turkey ought to hang as long as the weather will allow. Take care, in drawing, not to break the gall bag, for no washing would cure the mischief. It is still the custom, in some counties, to send a roast turkey to table with its head on. Press down the breast-bone. Fill the craw with a stuffing as follows: a large cup of bread-crumbs, 2 oz. minced beef suet, a little parsley (always parboiled, as well as onions, for stuffings), a little grated lemon peel, two or three sprigs of thyme, some nutmeg, pepper and salt; mix the whole well, and cement it with an egg. Add, if you choose, parboiled oysters (a few), or a little grated ham. Do not stuff too full, and keep back some of the stuffing to make little balls, to fry and garnish with, unless you have sausages. Paper the breast. Score the gizzard, dip it in melted butter, and then in bread-crumbs, fix it under the pinion, cover it with buttered paper, and be sure that it has its share of basting, as well as the liver, which must be placed under the other pinion. The fire must be the same as for beef. Keep the turkey at a distance from the fire, at first, that the breast and legs may be done. A very large one will require three hours, and is never so good as amoderate sized one, such as will roast in little more than one hour and a half. Dredge with flour, and baste with fresh butter, or wash it with salt butter. Half an hour before it is done, take off the paper, to let the turkey brown, and when the steam draws towards the fire, lightly dredge it with flour; then put a good sized piece of butter in the basting ladle, hold it over the turkey, and let it drop over it as it melts. This will give a finer froth than basting from the dripping-pan. Clear gravy in the dish, and more in a tureen, with egg, bread, or oyster sauce, in another. Chine and greens.
Capons and common Fowls.
Roasted the same as turkeys, and stuffed, if the size will admit. A large, full-grown fowl will take about one hour and a quarter; a chicken from thirty to forty minutes. The sauces for fowls are, gravy, parsley, and butter, either with or without the liver (roasted) chopped up in it, or mushroom, bread or egg sauce. Three or four slices of fat bacon, not too thick, may be attached by skewers to the breast of a fowl, and is an improvement to a large one.
Goose.
Well wash and dry it in a cloth; then stuff it with four onions, parboiled, a fourth of their bulk in sage, and half, or, if you like it, the whole of the liver; parboil these together slightly, and mix them with the crumb of a penny loaf and an egg.Or, prepare a stuffing of six good onions, two or three apples, and some sage; chop these together quite fine, season with pepper and salt, and warm it in a saucepan sufficient to half cook it. Put the stuffing in the goose, tie that tightly at both ends, when on the spit: keep it papered the first hour, and baste with a little dripping. Froth it the same as turkey. The fire must be kept brisk. A large goose will require two hours. Take it up before the breast falls. Its own gravy is not good. Serve a good gravy flavoured with port wine, or cider, and walnut catsup, also a table-spoonful of made mustard.—It is a good plan for the cook to cut up the goose, remove the joints separately on anotherhotdish, then pour the gravy boiling hot over. This may not be fashionable, but it preserves thegoose from eatinggreasy, saves the lady of the house trouble, and insures its being hot when helped. Serve apple sauce.—Some persons like goose stuffed with potatoes, previously boiled, then mashed without butter, and well peppered and salted.
Green Geese
Will roast in half an hour; are not stuffed. Put a good sized piece of butter inside, pepper and salt. Froth and brown nicely. Gooseberry sauce.
Ducks
Will keep three days, but are better dressed the day they are killed. Ducks may be stuffed or not (the same as geese), according to taste. But if two are roasted, one may be stuffed, and the other merely seasoned inside, with pepper, salt, an eschalot, and cayenne, if liked. Serve green peas with ducks. From three quarters to an hour will roast them. Baste well, and give a good froth. (See Sauces and Forcemeats.) Some persons squeeze a lemon over the breasts when dished.
Wild Ducks
Take from twenty-five minutes to half an hour. Have a clear brisk fire. They are, generally, preferred underdone, but brown outside. Cut slices in the breast, and squeeze in lemon juice with cayenne;orput an oz. of butter into a stew-pan with a little cayenne, the rind of an orange cut thin and previously blanched in boiling water, and the juice of a lemon; warm this over the fire, and when melted, but not oiled, pour it over the duck and serve. (See Sauces.)
Pheasants, Partridges, Guinea and Pea-fowl,
Require a brisk fire. All are trussed in the same way, and the heads left on. Make a slit in the back of the neck to take out the craw; do not turn the head under the wing, but truss it like a fowl, and fasten the neck to its side with a skewer. Thirty minutes will roast a young pheasant, and forty or fifty minutes a full grown one. Good sized partridges take nearly as long. Baste with butter, andfroth them. Clear, well-flavoured gravy, in which there should be a tea-spoonful of the essence of ham. Also bread sauce.
French cooks lard all these. (See to Lard.) They also have a method of dressing them thus: lay slices of lemon over the breast, and upon these, slices of fat bacon, cover with paper, and roast them. Another way is to fill the bird with a delicate stuffing of veal, grated ham, lemon grated, and spice; then roast it.
Woodcocks, Snipes, and Ortolans,
Should be kept as long as they are good. Do not draw woodcocks, for the trail is considered a delicacy, nor cut off their heads. They should be tied to a bird spit, or dangled singly. The fire must be clear. Twenty or thirty minutes is enough for woodcocks, and less for the rest, in proportion to their size. Lay some slices of toasted bread, the crust cut off, in the dripping-pan, to dish them on. Serve melted butter. Garnish with slices of lemon.—In France they stuff woodcocks with truffles, and other things, then roast, or stew them.
Grouse, Black Game, Plovers, Rails, Quails, Widgeons and Teal,
Are roasted the same as partridges, the head of grouse twisted under the wing. Do not let them be over-done. A rich gravy, and bread sauce. Garnish with fried bread-crumbs.
Pigeons.
Clean them as soon as killed, and the sooner they are dressed the better. Wash them very well, stuff each with a piece of butter the size of an egg, a few bread-crumbs, a little parsley, and the liver chopped, if you like: season well with pepper and salt. Roast twenty-five or thirty minutes. Pour into the dish a little thin melted butter, with or without the parsley, to mix with their own gravy. Serve bread or rice sauce, or parsley and butter. They may be served on a thin toast. Wood-pigeons should hang till tender, then roasted and served in rich gravy. They require less roasting than tame pigeons.
Larks, Wheat-ears, and other Small Birds.
Some of these are nice eating, particularly theWheat-ear, which, from its superior flavour, has been called the English ortolan. A roast of small birds is so much the fashion in France, that you seldom travel many days together without finding it one of the principal dishes of the supper table. In the autumn, and, indeed, through the winter, you will constantly see a partridge, or a woodcock, served up in the midst of a numerous company of blackbirds, thrushes, larks, and a variety of such small birds; a truly "dainty dish to set before a king." This custom is remarkable because there is a comparative scarcity of small birds in France, whilst we in England are overstocked with them. Thesparrow-puddingisknownin many country places, but is not often seen. Indeed, in this land of beef and mutton, it would be hard if these little creatures could not be left to sing and build their nests in peace. With the French there is such an avidity for all sorts of small birds, that a string of them is one of the most ordinary articles in the larder. Nothing that flies in France above the order of humming-birds in its size, is too insignificant to come within the scope of the sportsman's ambition, and the purveyor's nets and springes. I am not sure whether our exquisite neighbours ever proceed so far as to devour sweet Philomel herself; but they certainly do what would be deemed still more shocking in England, making no exception in favour of that little bird, to injure which is here a sort of crime; they kill the robins and cook them by dozens at a time. The Forest of Ardennes abounds in them, and in the season the traveller may fare sumptuously upon these pretty little creatures, without being aware of what he is eating. Lovers of delicacies might find it worth their while to travel in the countries where the vine and the fig-tree abound. There the small birds feed and fatten on the grapes, even in the winter, for, long after the conclusion of the vintage, refuse grapes may always be found hanging. This food, so superior to our blackberries, hips and haws, may well cause the flavour of the birds to be in the highest perfection: for the fruit is so nutritious that the labouring people almost entirely live upon it through one whole season of the year. In Sicily the grapes will keep for monthsafter they are quite ripe, hanging on the vines in the open air. There is a little bird, about the size of the nightingale, called thefig-pecker, from its feeding upon the figs. This is one of the most prized delicacies of the south of France and Italy.—All the above-named birds require to be well cleaned. Then put them on a bird-spit or skewer, and tie that on another spit, or dangle it before the fire. Baste constantly with good butter, and strew sifted bread-crumbs over as they roast. French cooks generally put a thin small slice of bacon over the breast of each bird, bringing it over each wing. Fifteen minutes will roast them. Serve larks on bread-crumbs, and garnish with slices of lemon.—Or: dip the birds into a batter, then roll them in bread-crumbs.
Hare
Should, unless a leveret, hang several days, to become tender. Cooks differ as to the proper method of keeping it. Some keep it unpaunched, while others see that it is paunched instantly, wiped clean and dry inside, and then let it hang as many as eight days. If really anoldhare, it should be made into soup at once, for it will never be tender enough to roast. The heart and liver should be taken out as soon as possible, washed, scraped, parboiled, and kept for the stuffing. Most cooks maintain the practice of soaking hares for two hours in water, but more are rendered dry and tasteless by this method than would be so naturally. A slit should be cut in the neck, to let the blood out, and the hare be washed in several different waters. Prepare a rich and relishing stuffing, as follows: the grated crumb of a penny loaf, a ¼ lb. beef suet, or 3 oz. of marrow, a small quantity of parsley and eschalot, a tea-spoonful of grated lemon-peel, the same of nutmeg, salt, pepper, and the liver chopped, mix all together with the yolk of an egg; and an anchovy, if approved; put it inside the hare, and sew it up. For basting, most cooks use milk and water till within twenty minutes, or thereabouts, of the hare being done, and then baste with butter. But a cook of ours, first basted it with milk and water, for about ten minutes, to draw away the blood, then with ale, and for the last half hour with fresh dripping, until about five minutes before the hare was taken up, when she basted with butter to givea froth, having previously lightly floured it. Where cream and eggs abound, you may, after the hare has been basted with butter, empty the dripping pan, and baste with warm cream, and the yolk of an egg mixed in it. A good-sized hare will take one hour and a quarter to roast. Serve good gravy in a tureen, and currant jelly, or some piquant sauce. (See Sauces.) Kid is dressed the same way.
Rabbit
Is roasted in the same manner as hare; in addition to the stuffing, put three or four slices, cut very thin, of bacon. Liver sauce.
BAKING.
Somejoints of meat bake to advantage. It is convenient, occasionally, to send the dinner out to be cooked, and the meat which suffers least from such cookery ought to be selected; veal is good baked, so is pork, a sucking pig, a goose, and a duck; but not mutton. Some pieces of beef bake well, with peeled potatoes under to catch the gravy, and brown. Some sorts of fish also bake well. (See Fish in the Index.)
Breast, Loin, Fillet, or Shoulder of Veal.
The two last stuffed with forcemeat; put the joint on a stand in a deep baking dish, and stick bits of butter over the top. The heat of the oven strong, but not fierce. Baste often; when nearly done, sprinkle salt over, and ten minutes before it is taken out, dredge with flour.
Pig.
Put it in a shallow baking dish, wrap the ears and tail in buttered paper; send a good sized piece of butter tied in muslin, for the baker to rub over it frequently.
Goose and Duck.
Prepare as for roasting: put them on a stand, and turnthem when half done.—Wild Goosethe same, with a piece of suet inside.
Ham.
Boil it till half done, then cover it with a paste of flour and water, and set it in an oven, hot enough for bread, till you think it done.
Ox Cheek.
Cover with a strong seasoning of pepper, salt, and minced onion. Bake three or four hours, according to its size, then set it by till next day, take off the fat, and warm it as you want it. AShin of beefin the same way.
Hare and Rabbit.
Prepare as for roasting, and baste it constantly with butter. The stuffing should be rich.
A Fawn.
Put a caul over and set it in the oven; about a quarter of an hour before it is done, take off the caul and baste well with butter. It will bake in the same time that a pig requires.
Meat pies require the oven to be as hot as for joints of meat, yet they should not be scorched. They also require time to soak through, or the meat will not be done.
Fish pies require half an hour less baking than the same sized meat pies.
Great nicety is required in baking fruit pies and light pastry. All these ought to be baked at home; when the precise heat of the oven, required, may be attained, which it rarely can be at the bakehouse. Pastry suffers, too, in being exposed to the air on its way to the oven; and it ought not to wait long before it is baked.
Pork.
Any joint will bake well. It must be scored. Rub it over with oil, or stick bits of butter all over it. Put it on a stand, and put peeled potatoes under it; also, you may put onions and apples. Sprinkle dry sage over, before you serve it. Stuff the pork, or not, as you choose.
BROILING.
Thisis seldom excelled in, though it appears simple, and is of general utility; for few like to dine on cold meat, and none dislike a broil. There is no economy in broiling, but such meat, poultry, or game, as cannot be hashed with advantage, had best be broiled.
The great art in broiling is to have a suitable fire. It must be strong, bright, and clear, and entirely free from smoke; if half burnt down, so much the better. Have two gridirons, one for meat and poultry, the other for fish. Those which hang before the fire are useful. A gridiron should be rubbed clean immediately after being used, not set aside with a particle of grease or soot attached to it. Just before you lay meat on, after you have made it hot, rub the gridiron with a piece of fresh suet, if for meat; if for fish, rub with chalk. A pair of steak-tongs is indispensable. Above all things, it is necessary that the broil be served immediately, closely covered on its way from the fire to the table, and that the plates and the dish be hot.
Beef Steaks.
These are eaten in perfection in England only, and, it is said, best in the Chop-houses in London, where daily practice makes the cooking perfect, and because in London the best beef may always be procured. No skill in broiling will render tough meat tender. Steaks are best from the middle of the rump (unless it be the under part of the sirloin), after the meat has been killed five days (if the weather permit), or even longer. They should be of about ¾ of an inch in thickness; beat them a very little. Sprinkle a little salt over the fire, lay the steaks on the hot gridiron,turn them frequently, and when the fat blazes and smokes much, quickly remove the gridiron for an instant, till it be over, and the steak will be sufficiently done, in from ten to fifteen minutes. Have a hot dish by the side of the fire; and, to gratify the taste of some persons, rub it with a piece of eschalot; at all events let the dish behot, and as you turn the steaks, if there be any gravy at the top, drop it into the dish. Before you dish them, put a piece of fresh butter, and a spoonful of catsup in the dish; then sprinkle the dish with a little salt, lay the steaks in the dish, and turn them once or twice, to express the gravy. Garnish with horse-radish, or pickles. Oyster, and many other sauces may be served; some beef steak eaters say that its own gravy, pepper and salt, are all that a good beef steak requires, unless it be a little sliced raw onion or tarragon; others like fried onions.
Beef Steaks, with Potatoes.
Beat them flat; season on both sides with pepper, salt, and such mixed spices as you choose; dip the steaks in melted butter, lay them on the gridiron, and broil them, as directed in the last receipt. Have a little finely-rubbed parsley, or chopped eschalot, a piece of butter, and some pepper and salt, in a hot dish; when the steaks are done, lay them in it, turn them once or twice, and arrange slices of potatoes fried, round them.Or: spread mashed potatoes quite hot in the dish, and lay the steaks on.
Blade bone of Veal.
Broil it till quite done. Serve it with stewed mushrooms, or a garnish of pickled mushrooms and slices of lemon.
Mutton and Lamb Chops, also Rabbit and Fowl cut up, Sweetbread and Kidneys.
These may all be broiled in the same way as plain beef steak. Take care that the fat which drops from mutton and lamb, does not smoke the chops; where there is danger, take off the gridiron, and hold it aslant over the fire.Kidneys must, to prevent their curling, be stretched on a skewer. They may be dressed in a more savoury way, thus: dip them in egg, then in a mixture of bread-crumbs, and savoury herbs, before you put them on the gridiron. For mutton, a piece of butter in a hot dish, with a little catsup, is good sauce; but no catsup for lamb; cucumber sauce is better.—(See Blade bone of Pork.)
Pork Chops
Require a very strong fire, and more cooking than mutton, for they must be well done, about a quarter of an hour; cut them once to ascertain the state they are in. Mix in alittlegravy, rather thin than rich, a spoonful of made mustard; pour this quite hot, over the chops, in the dish, to mix with their own gravy; then strew over them a little dry sage, rubbed small, and some chopped eschalot. Pork chops may be dressed in a Dutch oven.
Blade bone of Pork.
Cut it with a small quantity of meat to it: lay it on the gridiron, and when nearly done, pepper and salt it well, then rub a piece of butter over, and serve it directly. Mutton in the same way.
Chickens and Pigeons.
After a chicken is picked, singed and washed, or wiped clean, truss, and lay it open, by splitting down the back; season the inside with pepper and salt, and lay that side on the gridiron, at a greater distance from the fire than you put a steak, for it will take longer to cook; at least half an hour is necessary for a good sized chicken. From time to time remove the chicken from the fire, and rub it over with a piece of butter, tied in muslin. Run a knife into the breast to ascertain if it be done. The gizzard should be scored, well seasoned, broiled and divided, to garnish the chicken, with the liver, and slices of lemon. Serve mushroom sauce or parsley and butter. You may egg the chicken and strew grated bread over it, and broil till it is of a fine brown; take care that the fleshy side is notburnt. Pigeons are broiled in the same way, or may be done whole; in which case truss and put inside each a large piece of butter, pepper and salt, tie close at both ends, lay them on the gridiron, and turn them frequently. You may brush them with egg, and roll them in bread-crumbs and chopped parsley, with which mixture dredge them whilst broiling. Parsley and butter in the dish, with mushroom catsup, if you like. Stewed mushrooms are served with these, or pickled mushrooms as garnish. Chickens should be skinned before they are broiled for a sick person.
Partridges.
Prepare as above, and place them in a frying-pan in which you have melted a little very delicate dripping, or butter; let them stay ten minutes; turn them once, finish on the gridiron; this makes them more firm than they would otherwise be. Poor man's sauce (see Sauces) is good with all broiled birds.
(See in Index for Devils, also in Made Dishes, for Cutlets.)
Note.—Sauce Robertis good with all broils.
FRYING.
Notso difficult tofryas it is tobroilwell, and it is quite as good, for some things, but the fat must be good. Lard, butter, dripping, topfat (i.e. the cake of fat which is taken off soup or broth, when it has stood a night), oil, and suet, are all good for frying. If butter, suet and dripping be clarified, the pan will not be so apt to burn, and the fat will be more delicate. Housekeepers lose much of their credit by neglecting this, and similar niceties. The pan should be thick at the bottom: an oval shape is best, particularly for fish. The fire not fierce, as fat soon scorches, and the meat may be burnt, before it is half cooked; neither must it be too slack, for then the meat will be soddened; and if fish, of a bad colour, and not crisp. Ascertain the heat by throwing a bit of bread in; if the pan be too hot the bread will be burnt up. The fat in which veal, lamb or sweetbreads have been fried, will do for fish; let it stand to settle, then pour the top carefully from the sediment, and put it by. Fritters, pastry or sweet things, must be fried in good butter, lard or oil.
Care is required to fry fish well, and is attainable only by practice. To ascertain the heat of the pan, dip the tail of the fish into the boiling fat, and if it crisps quickly, the pan is ready.
Fries, as well as broils, served hot, as soon as off the fire, or they will be spoiled.
To Clarify Butter.
Cut in pieces, and put it into a jar: set that in a kettle of boiling water, to melt; skim carefully, take the jar out of the water, let the butter cool a little, then pour it gently off, keeping back the milky sediment.
Suet.
Chop beef, mutton, or veal suet, take off all skin and fibrous parts, melt itslowly, as in the last receipt, or in a Dutch oven, before the fire. Strain, and pour it off: beef or mutton dripping may be done the same way, and is good for peas soup, and for plain pastry. For soup, it may be seasoned, after it is melted and strained. A piece of charcoal will remove a rancid taste, put into the melting fat, and stirred round a few minutes. Use butter or lard in frying white meat.
Beef Steaks and Mutton Chops
Must be fried in butter. Steaks the size directed for broiling will be done in from ten to fifteen minutes. When nearly done, cover with a dish and let the pan remain five minutes by the fire, after you take it off. Then lay the steaks in a hot dish, and add to the gravy in the pan a piece of butter rolled in flour, a glass of port wine, or some catsup, a very little water, pepper, salt, a little minced eschalot or onion; let this boil, then pour it over the steaks. Garnish with horse-radish, and serve mashed potatoes and pickles. (See Made Dishes, for Cutlets.)
Veal Cutlets
May be cut from the fillet or the loin, ½ an inch thick: brush them over with egg, cover with bread-crumbs, and fry of a nice light brown, in a good deal of butter or lard. You may, if you choose, add to the bread-crumbs, a mixture of parsley, lemon thyme, lemon peel, and a little nutmeg and cayenne. When done place the cutlets in a hot dish, while you make some gravy in the pan; pour all the fat out, and pour in ¼ pint of boiling water, the same of melted butter, and let it boil till thickish, then add Harvey sauce, white wine, and any other sauce you like: strain this over the cutlets. Garnish with rashers of bacon, curled parsley, and slices of bacon. Cutlets,without gravy, may be served round mashed potatoes.
Lamb and Pork Chops.
Pork chops may be cut from neck or loin. Fry the sameas veal, either plain or egged. Garnish with slices of lemon, or crisped parsley. Pork chops, egged, are improved, to some persons' tastes, by a little finely chopped onion and sage. You may make a sauce thus: put the chops on a dish, keep hot while you pour part of the fat from the pan, stir in a tea-spoonful of flour, moisten ½ pint of water, or broth, a table-spoonful of vinegar, a little salt and pepper, and 6 small gherkins or slices (orfor lamb, pickled mushrooms), put the chops back into the pan to re-warm in the sauce, and serve it altogether. You may add mustard to the sauce; also, chopped onions, for pork. If there be no herbs used before, you may sprinkle dried parsley over lamb chops in the dish; also, lemon peel.
Sausages.
Some suppose that these do not require fat to fry them. It should be butter or dripping, not lard (a little for beef or pork, more for veal), and sausages ought to cook slowly, that they may be done, without being scorched, and not burst. Prick them with a darning needle to prevent this, but gradual heating is the best preventative. Drain,verylightly flour, and set them before the fire to froth. For dinner or supper, serve mashed potatoes with sausages.
Rabbits
Mustbe young, either tame or wild. Carve in joints, brush these with egg, and dip them in bread-crumbs, in which there may be, if you like it, some dried parsley, grated ham or lemon peel; fry nicely and serve with rashers; make some gravy in the pan as directed for veal cutlets.
Eggs with Ham or Bacon.
Soak the slices, of ham or bacon, in lukewarm water, and dry them in the folds of a cloth; and they will be less hard than fried bacon usually is. The pan used to fry eggs should be delicately clean. A good method is, to melt a little fat in the pan, pour that off, and then, whilst the pan is quite hot, rub it hard with a cloth. Let the bacon be nearly done, and if the fat be burnt, pour that off, and put in some fresh; then slip the eggs gently in. When theyare done lay the slices of bacon in a dish, trim the eggs, and lay them on the bacon. The eggs may be fried in one pan, and the bacon in another; some prefer the latter broiled. For breakfast, slices of ham or bacon should not be broiled or fried, but toasted before the fire.
Sweetbreads.
Parboil them while fresh, and then fry them in long slices, or whole, in plain butter; or else egged, covered with bread-crumbs, and seasoned with lemon peel, pepper, and a sprig of basil. Garnish with crisped parsley, and lemon sliced: serve on a toast, with either parsley and butter, or plain butter, and a very little walnut, mushroom or any other catsup. Garnish with small slices of crisped bacon. (See Made Dishes.)
Ox, Calves', and Lamb's Liver, and Pig's Harslet,
Must be quite sound. Cut the liver in long thin slices, soak in water, then dry them in a cloth, flour, and season with pepper, salt, a little onion, or eschalot and sage, chopped fine. Fry the slices in butter or lard, of a light brown, and when nearly done, put into the pan some slices of bacon. When you take the liver and bacon out of the pan, pour in a tea-cupful of boiling water, dredge some flour in, let it boil up, and pour this gravy over the liver. You may fry a handful of parsley in the gravy. You may improve this gravy, by adding to it pepper, salt, a wineglass of vinegar, lump of sugar, and a tea-spoonful of made mustard. Garnish with crisped parsley; serve mashed potatoes, or better still, stewed cucumbers. Of the pig's harslet, the lights, sweetbread, and heart may be parboiled, cut up, and fried with the liver.Or:—After the fashion ofHerefordshire, cut in slices, 2 inches thick, the liver, griskins, heart, kidney, lights, crow, and some fat of bacon; rub these slices well with a seasoning, composed of onions, apples, alittlesage, and plenty of pepper and salt; then put them on a small spit in alternate slices of lean and fat, cover all over with a pig's caul, and roast it three hours, or more, if the harslet be large. When done, remove the caul and pour a kettle of boiling water over. Make some gravy of the water that has been poured over, and flavour it with port wine, cyder, and walnut catsup. Serve apple sauce.Harsletisvery good stewed in just enough water to make gravy, and seasoned well. A little cayenne.
Tripe.
Boiled tender, cut in long narrow slips, these dipped in a batter of egg and flour, and, if you like, a little minced onion and salt. Fry from seven to ten minutes, of a light brown. Serve, if approved of, onion sauce.—(Cow-Heel the same.)
To Fry Parsley.
After it has been washed and picked, shake the parsley backwards and forwards in a cloth till dry; then put it into a pan of hot fat, and fry it quickly of a light brown; take it out with a slice the moment it is crisp—it will be spoiled if done too much. Lay it on a sieve before the fire. Herbs, lemon peel, and onions, must always be chopped fine before they are mixed with bread-crumbs to fry.Or: Spread it on paper in a Dutch oven before the fire, and turn it often till it is crisp.
To Fry Bread Sippets.
Cut a slice of bread about a ¼ inch thick, divide it into pieces of any shape you like. Make some fat quite hot, in the frying-pan, put in the sippets, and fry of a light brown; take them up with a slice, and drain them before the fire ten minutes. Take care the pan be not hot enough to burn.
To Fry Bread Crumbs.
The bread two days old: rub it into very smooth crumbs, put them into a stew-pan with some butter; set it near a moderate fire, and stir them constantly with a wooden spoon, till of a fine light brown; spread them on a sieve to drain, and stir occasionally. Serve with roasted sweetbreads, small birds, and game, if approved. (See Made Dishes.)