A second cupboard should be set aside for the soap and candles. In this there should be some strong hooked nails driven into the wall, for the kitchen candles; and a kind of bench or wooden stand for the boxes containing mould candles, if you use any, though most persons now prefer the composition or stearine candles with plaited wicks, as they do not require snuffing. These candles, and those of wax or spermaceti, may be kept a long time without injury, if they are covered with paper within the box, to prevent them from becoming discoloured, which they will soon be, if much exposed to the air; but tallow candles of all kinds should never be kept more than six months, as, when old, they are very apt to gutter. Soap, also, should never be kept too long, or be suffered to become too dry. It is true that, when used too new, it wastes away very rapidly; yet, if it is kept more than six months, and particularly if it becomes too dry, it cracks and shrinks so much, as to render it very troublesome to use, and nearly double the quantity is required.
Dried currants and raisins, for cakes and puddings, should be kept in canisters in another closet; and almonds and raisins for dessert in boxes.Sage and other herbs I have found keep best in powder, after they have been dried in an oven. Every leaf should be pulled off separately into a kind of tray made of tin, and put into an oven when about the right heat for baking bread: as soon as the leaves are dry enough to rub into powder, they should be crushed with a rolling pin, and after being sifted, put into wide-mouthed bottles, which should be carefully corked. Herbs thus prepared will keep good without losing their flavour for years; and they have the advantage of being always ready for use when wanted, without the smallest particle of dust.
As I think you have told me you are several miles from a town, it will be necessary to recollect every thing that may be wanted when you send there, to avoid the inconvenience of sending frequently. For this purpose, I think you will find it useful to have a slate hanging up beside your desk in the housekeeper's room, on which you can write down the name of any article that you find is nearly exhausted when you are giving it out.
Yourkitchenappears, by the plan you have sent me, to be of a very good size, and well lighted, which is essential to both comfort and cleanliness, as it is impossible for the cooking to be performed properly, or the culinary vessels to be kept clean, without abundance of light. It is also well placed, as it faces the north, which akitchen should do whenever it is practicable, to keep it free from too much sun. In old country houses the ceiling of the kitchen is frequently furnished with racks for bacon; and there are hooks driven into the beams for hung beef, tongues, and hams, but in other places these are kept in the larder. In either case I would advise you always to have a plentiful supply of salted meat in the house, to be ready for emergencies; and I would always have a ham, a tongue, or a piece of hung beef, ready cooked; which will not only be useful for breakfast, and luncheon, but will be found a most potent auxiliary in the case of unexpected guests arriving when the larder may be at a low ebb. In the course of my experience I have always found that there are few things more agreeable to a husband than to be able to take a friend home unexpectedly, and yet to be sure that he will find a good and even elegant dinner, without any bustle or ill-temper being caused by his appearance. In large establishments the sudden arrival of a stranger is of very little consequence; but as your husband has an ancient name to keep up on limited means, and, above all, as you have undertaken to be your own housekeeper, you must remember that, in places where the butcher lives several miles off, and calls for orders only once or twice a week, it is essential you should make such provision as to be never taken off yourguard. To aid in this I will, if you like, at some future time, give you a few hints on cookery, particularly onimpromptudishes, which I trust you will find useful; but I must now return to the fitting up of the kitchen.
You tell me you shall want a new kitchen-range, and ask what kind I would recommend. I would advise you to shun all those that are said to burn remarkably little fuel, as they are generally very complicated, and of course extremely liable to go out of order; a serious inconvenience any where, but particularly in the country. I should recommend you to have an open grate from four feet to eight feet wide, having of course a contrivance to make the part intended to contain the fire larger or smaller at pleasure; and the fireplace should be at least two feet deep, to allow of a boiler behind the fire, communicating with another on the side of the grate, care being taken either to have the boilers fed constantly by a pipe from a cistern, or to have them filled every night when the fire is low, as it is very dangerous to pour cold water into a boiler when it is nearly empty and quite hot. The sudden change from heat to cold sometimes indeed makes the iron contract so rapidly as to burst the boiler. It is useful to have an oven on one side of the grate, not, indeed, for baking any thing, for food seldom has its proper flavour when cooked in such ovens, but to keep platesand dishes warm. The floor of a kitchen is generally laid with stone, but it is a great comfort to the cook to have a part boarded near a table under one of the windows, for the convenience of standing upon the boards when in the act of cooking. The kitchen doors should have their hinges on the side next the fireplace, to avoid disturbing the current of air near the fire when they are opened.
As your kitchen is large, you may perhaps be able to have a small range of charcoal pans for French cooking, in addition to the ordinary kitchen-range, if you have not something of the kind in the housekeeper's room; and among your kitchen utensils you should have two or three that will be useful in French cooking. One of these should be a braising pan, with a deep concave rimmed lid, in which fire can be put whenever you have any dish cooked that requires fire above and below; another should be two saucepans, one going within the other, like a gluepot, forming abain marie. German saucepans, and other enamelled articles for the kitchen, are very convenient in all dishes where milk or cream is used; but it is a long time before any liquid boils in them; and when it does boil, it continues to do so for a minute or more after the saucepan is taken from the fire, on account of the enamel retaining the heat. You ought also to have acupboard in the kitchen, for the cook to keep her spices and other articles in, fitted up with shelves and canisters: and there should be another closet for the flour tub and bread jar, which should stand on a board raised at least six inches above the floor, to keep them from the attacks of mice and black beetles. The egg-basket and the salt-box may also find a place in this closet, so as to keep the general appearance of the kitchen neat and clean. Of course you will have one or two dressers for plates and dishes, made with drawers and cupboards below. Every kitchen should also contain a clock, that the cook may see exactly how the time goes, and have no excuse for not being punctual.
Thesculleryshould be as close to the kitchen as possible. It should be paved with Yorkshire stone or brickwork, and it should have a cistern of water closely adjoining it. In every scullery there should be a stone sink, with a plate-rack at one end, and under the plate-rack should be a slanting dripboard with a kind of gutter at the base, to convey the water that drains from the plates and dishes to the waste-pipe of the sink; and it will be found a great convenience to have a pipe carried to it from the boiler behind the kitchen fireplace, in order to afford a constant supply of hot water. The scullery should also contain two coppers, one small, for boiling hamsor large pieces of beef, and another of a much larger size for brewing.
Forbrewingtwelve gallons oftable aleat a time, the copper should hold eighteen gallons, as about six gallons of water will be absorbed by the malt. The usual proportion of malt and hops required for this quantity is, one bushel of malt and three quarters of a pound of hops. Pale malt is the best, and it should be plump and crisp, breaking readily, and full of flour; it should also taste sweet. The hops should have no bad smell, and they should be in condition, that is, they should abound in the yellow powder called by chemists lupuline, which makes them feel sticky when rubbed between the fingers. The malt must be crushed or ground before it is used. River water is preferred for brewing, and it should be heated in the copper to about 175°, or rather more.
wood engravingFig. 2.Spigot and faucet.
Fig. 2.Spigot and faucet.
A large deep tub is then provided, called a mash-tub, in one side of which, at the distance of an inch or two from the bottom, is fixed a cock, or what is called a spigot and faucet (fig. 2.), with the end which projects within the tub covered with basket-work to prevent the escape of the grains when the wort is drawn off. About six gallons of hot water are then poured into the mash-tub, and some of the malt is shaken in, a little at a time, and mixed with the water by the help of a wooden instrument called a mash-stirrer (fig. 3.);more water is then added, and then more malt, till nearly all the water has been poured in, and only a peck of malt is left dry. The dry malt is then strewed over the mass of malt which has been mixed with the water, and the mash-tub, having some sticks laid across it, is covered with an old blanket, a piece of sacking, or a coarse cloth, and the malt is left for an hour and a half or two hours to steep. This is called mashing the malt; and the goodness of the ale depends upon the care with which this operation is performed. The water should never be suffered to become cooler during the operation than 160°, or it will not dissolve the starchy matter contained in the malt; and, if it is hotter than 180°, the malt will be set, as the maltsters call it, that is, it will become changed into a glutinous paste, from which no strength can be extracted. When the malt has been sufficiently mashed, the wort is drawn off by the spigot, and it will be found that the eighteen gallons of water have only yieldedabout thirteen gallons of wort, and sometimes not so much.
wood engravingFig. 3.Mash-stirrer.
Fig. 3.Mash-stirrer.
A new kind of mashing-tub (fig. 4.) has been invented, which has a false bottom pierced with holes, through which the wort filters, instead of being drawn off by the spigot; and, by an improvement on this, the hot water is poured through a tube into the part of the mashing-tub which is below the false bottom, and suffered to rise up through the malt. When ale and beer are to be made, the ale wort is drawn off first, and then more water is heated to 175° and put to the malt, to make the beer; but when all the liquor drawn from the malt is mixed together, it is called in some places "table ale," and in others "one-way beer."
wood engravingFig. 4.Mash-tub.
Fig. 4.Mash-tub.
While the malt is being mashed, the proper quantity of hops should be steeped in water, having been first well rubbed and separated; and when the wort is drawn off they should be added to it, and the whole put into the copper to be boiled. During the boiling the mass should be frequently stirred, to prevent the hops from either floating at the top or settling to the bottom, which they would otherwise be very apt to do. The boiling should continue briskly till the liquor begins to break, the time for whichvaries from half an hour to two hours and a half, according to the strength of the wort. The "breaking" is known by large fleecy flakes which appear to float in the liquor; and, when it appears, a bowlful of the liquor is taken out and set aside, when, if the flakes part and subside, leaving the wort clear, it is considered enough. Some large shallow vessels called coolers are then provided, and some sticks being laid across one of them, a sieve or wicker basket is set upon them, and the liquor is ladled out of the furnace into the sieve, to strain it from the hops. The other coolers are afterwards filled in the same manner, and then the whole are exposed to a cool current of air, in order that the liquor may cool as rapidly as possible.
When the liquor is about 70°, it is generally tunned off into a large vat or cask for it to ferment. About three quarters of a pint of yeast is mixed with a little of the wort, and as soon as it begins to work it is added to the rest. Another mode is, as soon as the wort has cooled to 70°, to convey it in the coolers to a cellar, where the temperature is about 55°, and then to mix two gallons of it with a pint of good thick yeast, and put it into an upright eighteen-gallon cask, the head of which has been knocked out, but which is covered with a piece of flannel, on which the head is laid loosely. As soon as the fermentation has begun,about three gallons more of the wort are added, provided it has not cooled below 65°; but, if it has, a pailful must be taken out and heated, so that when mixed with the rest of the three gallons, the whole shall be about 70°. When this has been added to the wort fermenting in the cask and well stirred, the cask should be covered and left to work for the night. Early the following morning the working wort should be tried with a thermometer, and, if it is between 70° and 75°, five gallons more of the wort should be added, heated as before to about 68°. The liquor should then be stirred, and left for six hours, after which three gallons more wort at 65° are added. It is then covered and left for four hours more, after which nearly all the remaining wort is added, reserving only about two quarts.
This process is very tedious, but it is said to make the ale exceedingly fine and clear; and, if the proportions be one bushel and a half of malt to a pound and three quarters of hops to make twelve gallons, it is said exactly to resemble the celebrated Indian ale. If the heat of the working wort be ever found above 75°, the remaining wort should be added cool, and the whole should be tunned out as soon as possible.
In the usual mode of brewing, when the fermentation has gone on till the yeast begins to look brown, the beer should be tunned; that is,the yeast is removed, and the beer is put into the casks in which it is to remain; and, in general, the beer is not taken down into the cellar till at this period. The casks are placed slantingly, with the bung out; and they are always kept quite full, being filled up with beer reserved for that purpose, as the beer they contain works out. In about a fortnight all the fermentation will be over, and the casks may be bunged up.
According to theIndian aleprocess, two quarts of wort were kept back from that fermented; and when the beer is to be tunned, which it is into two six-gallon casks, a quart of this unfermented wort is put into each cask, with two table-spoonfuls of flour and one of salt. The frothy yeast is then taken off the beer, which is poured into the barrels till it reaches the bunghole, and the froth begins to flow over: as the froth subsides, the barrels may be filled up with fresh beer, and the yeast which flows down should be caught in a vessel placed for the purpose. In a few days the yeast will become thick, and will cease to flow over: the barrels should then be filled up and the bungholes covered with brown paper, coated with thick yeast: the fermentation will afterwards proceed more slowly, and in a fortnight the barrels may be bunged down, and the bungs covered with a mass of moistened clay and sand. The Indian ale should be kept six months before it istapped; but the other kind may be drunk in a month.
Home-made winesmay be manufactured from almost any kind of fruit; and they are divided into two kinds, viz. those made with cold water, and those made with hot water.
wood engravingFig. 5.Fruit-crusher.
Fig. 5.Fruit-crusher.
Green Gooseberry wineis made in the first manner, by crushing the fruit in a deep tub with a fruit-crusher (fig. 5.), and pouring cold water on it, in the proportion of one gallon of water to ten pounds of fruit. It is then left to stand about six hours, when the mass, or marc, as it is called, is put into a coarse bag and pressed; more water is afterwards poured over the marc, which is again pressed, till as much water has been added as will make the proportion in all four gallons of water to ten pounds of fruit. The marc is then thrown away, and to every gallon of the liquor, or must, as it is called, three pounds of lump sugar are added, and the whole is well stirred together; the tub is afterwards covered with a blanket, and the wine is left to ferment in a temperature of from 55° to 60°. In twelve hours, if the fermentation has begun rapidly, or in twenty-four hours, if it is slow, the liquor is put into a cask and left to ferment,the bung being put in loosely, and the cask being kept filled up with fresh must as it works off. When the hissing noise subsides, the bung is driven in firmly, and a little hole is made in the head of the cask, near the bung, which is stopped with a wooden peg. In two or three days this peg is loosened to let any air out that may have been generated; and this is repeated, at intervals, several times, till no more air escapes, when the peg is driven in tight. An excellent wine may be made in a similar manner of the stalks of the giant tart rhubarb, which, if old, should be peeled and cut in pieces before they are crushed.
Ripe Gooseberry wineis made with hot water; first crushing the fruit, and, after letting it stand twenty-four hours, pressing the juice through a linen cloth. Hot water is then poured over the marc, in the proportion of two quarts of water to every gallon of the fruit before it was crushed; and, after remaining in the tub twelve hours, the marc is again pressed, and the liquor from it mixed with that produced by the fruit. Two and a half or three pounds of lump sugar should now be added to every gallon of the liquor, and the whole left to ferment. If moist sugar be used, the quantity should be four pounds to every gallon of the liquor. The rest of the process is the same as before; but when the fermentation has ceased it is usual to add British brandy, inthe proportion of one quart to two gallons and a half of the wine.
WhenCurrant wineis made, it is said to be best to boil the liquor after the sugar is added, before fermenting it in the cask.
Elderberry wineis generally made with moist sugar, and ginger and other spices are added to it.
Cowslip wineis made by boiling sugar and water together, and pouring the liquor over the rind of lemons and Seville oranges, in the proportion of four of these fruits to a gallon of sugar and water: the juice of the oranges and lemons is added, and the whole is fermented with yeast. The cowslip flowers are then put into the wine, in the proportion of one quart to every gallon of liquor, and stirred up well till they sink. When the wine is tunned, a few sprigs of sweet briar are often put into the cask, and one ounce of isinglass for every gallon of liquor; in a few days it is bunged up close. In six months it will be fit to bottle; but it will be better for remaining longer in the cask.
Any other kind of wine may be made when the wine is to be made of English fruit, either as was directed for the green or the ripe gooseberry wines; and when not made of English fruit, by boiling sugar and water, and fermenting it, before adding the substance that is to give the flavour as directed for the Cowslip wine.
Cideris made by grinding apples, and then expressing the juice, which is fermented with yeast, but without sugar.Perryis made in the same way; and both may be made on a small scale by bruising apples or pears in a deep tub, as was recommended for bruising fruit in made wines.
A brick oven for baking Breadis often placed in the scullery. The ordinary size of an oven of this kind is about six feet long by four feet deep; and it is about eighteen inches high in the centre of the arch: the floor (which generally inclines a little from the head of the oven to the mouth) is laid with tiles, and the arch is formed of fire-brick, set in fire-clay or in loam mixed with powdered brick; the whole being surrounded by a large mass of common brickwork, to keep in the heat.
When the oven is heated, the faggots, or other kind of wood which is used for that purpose, are lighted near the mouth, and then pushed on till they are as nearly as possible in the centre of the oven, so that the heat may spread as equally as possible through every part. When the heat is between 250° and 300°, it is judged sufficient, and the fire is drawn out to prepare the oven for the reception of the bread. As, however, few cooks can be expected to have a proper kind of thermometer at hand for ascertaining the heat exactly,it is necessary to have some easier rules for judging; and the following, the correctness of which I have experienced, are taken from the first volume of that excellent and useful work, theMagazine of Domestic Economy.
"A judgment must be formed by the clear red heat of the bricks of the arch and sides of the oven, and the lively sparkling of the embers on its floor. The former criterion proves that the bricks have received enough of body heat to consume that black carbonaceous coating which the smoke communicates to them at the early stage of fire; the second shows that the principle of combustion is in full activity, and not rendered inert by a cold surface, either at the top, bottom, or sides. Finally, if the brickwork be hot enough, and the point of a long stake be rubbed forcibly over any part of it, so as for the moment to make a black trace of charcoal, this trace will be burnt off, and the bricks left clear in a second of time."
When the oven is sufficiently hot, the remaining embers are drawn out with an iron hook fixed at the end of a long pole, and the bottom of the oven is cleaned with a wet mop, made of long shreds of woollen cloth or coarse sacking. The oven is then quite ready to receive the bread, and it should be put in immediately. It generally takes about an hour to heat a moderate-sized ovenproperly; and it takes an hour and a half, or two hours, to bake loaves of the ordinary size.
Little iron grates are sometimes sold for heating ovens, but they are more suitable for coal than wood; and, though an oven may be heated with great rapidity with coal, it does not retain its heat so long, and is more fitted for baking French bread, or cakes, than large-sized household loaves. When, on the contrary, a brick oven is heated with wood, and the hot embers are pushed by the scraper to every part of the oven, the whole mass of brick becomes what is technically called soaked, and is in a fit state for a family baking of bread. When the bread is in, the oven door should be stopped quite close; but over the door is a small opening called the stopper, which should be opened when the bread has been in a little time, in order that the vapour from the bread may escape. It is from not attending to this that home-baked bread is so frequently heavy.
Home-baked breadis generally best when made of what is called grist flour; that is, wheat ground at a mill, and only the coarse bran removed from the flour. Twenty-four pounds of this flour will make about thirty-two pounds of bread; but if the best white flour is used, two or three more pounds of it will be required to produce the same quantity of bread. Bread is made either with leaven or yeast.
Leavenis made by mixing flour with warm water into a thin paste and then leaving it to ferment. When it begins to rise in bubbles, more water and flour is added, and it is again left to ferment, and then more flour with a little salt is added to make the dough. The dough must be kept warm during the whole operation, as fermentation will not take place unless the heat be from sixty to seventy, or seventy-five degrees. Bread of this kind is very light, but it soon becomes acid. Nearly all the household bread in France is made in this way.
Whenyeastis used, the usual proportion is half a pint of brewer's yeast mixed with a pint of warm water to twenty-four pounds of flour.
If no fresh yeast can be procured, it may be made by putting a teacupful of split peas into a basin and pouring about a pint of boiling water over them. A cloth is then put over the basin, and it is set near the fire to keep warm. In about twelve hours it will begin to ferment, and a kind of scum will rise, which may be used as yeast. This is called Turkish yeast; but a better method is practised by the Americans, which is as follows:—Take as much hops as may be held between the thumb and finger, put them with a few slices of apples into a quart of water, and boil the whole for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Then strain the liquid, and when it islukewarm stir in a little flour with three or four table-spoonfuls of treacle so as to make a thin paste; then set the whole in a warm place, and in a few hours the fermentation will be sufficiently strong to allow enough flour and water to be added to make a proper sponge for bread.
If you have a small quantity of yeast it may be increased in the following manner:—Take one pound of fine flour, and mix it to the thickness of gruel with boiling water; add half a pound of brown sugar, mixing the whole well together. Then put three table-spoonfuls of yeast into a large vessel, and pour the mixture upon it. It will ferment violently, and the scum which rises to the top will be good yeast, which may be used immediately, or may be preserved for some time in an earthenware vessel covered closely from the air, and kept in a warm dry place.
In theMagazine of Domestic Economyit is said that when yeast has become sour, and even slightly putrid, it may be recovered by adding a tea-spoonful of flour, the same of moist sugar, a pinch of salt, and a little warm water: this is to be stirred together and left to ferment for half an hour. I have never tried this, but it is very nearly the same as the receipt I have given above. The yeast from home-brewed beer is very apt to be bitter; but it is said that this may be cured by pouring it through a sieve containing about apint of bran. To keep home-brewed yeast it should be put into a large pan and have three times the quantity of water poured upon it, being well stirred up, and then left to settle. The next day the water is to be poured off, and fresh put on, and in this manner it is said that yeast may be kept for six weeks. All yeast is best purified before it is used; that is, the yeast should be put into a vessel, and cold spring water being poured upon it, they should be stirred together and then left to settle. The water is afterwards poured off, and the yeast taken out carefully, leaving a brown sediment at the bottom.
The best way of keeping yeastis to hang it up in a cabbage net, so as to let it dry with the air about it on all sides. This is the way the Germans prepare their solid yeast, which is now so much used in London.
When bread is to be made, the necessary quantity of flour is put into a kneading trough, or into a deep-glazed earthenware pan, and a round hole is made in the centre for the yeast and water, which is slightly mixed with the surrounding flour, so as to form a light batter, and over this is strewed enough dry flour to cover it. I remember, when I was a child in my father's house, I have often watched the cook perform this operation (which I now find is called setting the sponge); and I always used to see her, when she had done, makea cross in the flour sprinkled over the batter, without which she declared the bread would never rise. As soon as the sponge is set, the earthenware pan is placed before the fire, and a linen cloth laid over it. In a short time the sponge begins to rise, and forms cracks in the covering of flour. More water is then added, heated to about the warmth of new milk, and salt is scattered over the flour, which gradually mixes with the water, kneading it well with the hands so as to form a fine compact dough. Some dry flour is then laid under it, and sprinkled over it; and the dough, being again covered with a cloth, is left to ferment, which, if the yeast were good, it does in about an hour, sufficiently to allow the dough to be made into loaves of bread.
A kind of bread, which is very good for toast and butter, is made by boiling and mashing some mealy potatoes, and then rubbing them into flour which has been previously warmed before the fire, in the proportion of half a pound of potatoes to two pounds of flour. When well mixed, add a proper quantity of salt, with enough yeast, warm milk, and water to make it into dough. It should be left to rise for two hours before it is made into a loaf, and it should be baked in a tin.
ForRolls. Warm an ounce of butter in a pint of skimmed milk, and add a spoonful and a half of yeast and a little salt. This will be sufficient fortwo pounds of flour, and will make seven rolls. The dough should rise before the fire half an hour, and the rolls should stand another half hour before the fire after they are made. They should be baked in a quick oven, and will take about half an hour. The butter may be omitted.
To makeFrench rolls. Add half an ounce of soda to the above quantity; make them long in shape, and rasp them when they are baked.
ForSally Luns. Take two pounds of flour, and add half a pint of milk and half a pint of cream, with a bit of butter the size of a walnut; when a little warm, put to it three well-beaten yolks of eggs, three or four spoonfuls of well-purified yeast, and a little salt. Mix the whole together, and let it rise for an hour; then make it into cakes, and lay them on tins lightly rubbed over with a little butter. Let them stand on the hearth to rise for about twenty minutes, covered with a thin cloth, then bake them in rather a quick oven.
ForYorkshireormilk cakes. Dry a pound and a half of flour before the fire; beat up the yolk of an egg with a spoonful of yeast; add three quarters of a pint of new milk lukewarm; strain the whole through a hair sieve into the flour; mix it lightly into dough, and let it rise by the fire an hour; then make it up into cakes. Rub the tins with a very little butter, and let them be warm when you lay the cakes on them; cover with a thin cloth, and letthem rise on the hearth about twenty or thirty minutes; bake them in a brisk oven. This dough makes very good buns, with the addition of a little good moist sugar, and a few caraway seeds or dried currants.
Both the Sally Luns and the milk cakes may be washed over with the white of an egg before they are put in the oven.
ForRusks, orTops and Bottoms. Beat up four eggs with half a pint of new milk, in which a quarter of a pound of butter has been melted; add two table-spoonfuls of yeast, and three ounces of sugar. Mix with this as much flour as will make a very light batter, and set it before the fire for half an hour; then add a little more flour, to make it stiff enough to work. Knead it well, and, if wanted forrusks, roll it into cakes about six inches long and two broad; when baked and cold, cut them into slices, and dry them in a slow oven. Fortops and bottoms, make the dough into little square cakes, and flatten them. When baked, just cut them slightly round, and then tear them in two, and put them again into the oven.
To makeBanbury Cakes. Set a sponge with two table-spoonfuls of thick purified yeast, half a pint of warm milk, and a pound of flour. When risen, mix with it half a pound of currants, well cleaned and dried, half a tea-spoonful of salt, half a pound of candied orange and lemon shred small,one ounce of spice, such as powdered cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg, or mace. Mix the whole well together with half a pound of honey. Roll out puff paste a quarter of an inch thick; cut it into rounds with a tin cutter about four inches across; lay on each with a spoon a small quantity of the mixture; close it round with the fingers in an oval form; place the joining underneath; press it gently with the hand, and sift sugar over. Bake them on a baking-plate a quarter of an hour in a moderate oven, and of a light colour.
ForBath buns. Rub half a pound of butter in a pound and half of flour, quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, a little salt, and half an ounce of caraway seeds. Beat the yolks of four eggs and three whites; put half a pint of warm milk to four spoonfuls of good yeast; when settled, pour it off on the eggs, and mix all into the middle of the flour till about a third of the flour is mixed in. Cover it with flannel, and set it before the fire to rise, about half an hour, then mix all up, and cover it till well risen. Make up the buns, and set them before the fire on a baking-tin about a quarter of an hour; bake them in a quick oven; when done, brush them over with sugar and beaten egg.
ForOat cakes. Merely mix oatmeal and water together till about as thick as ordinary dough, then roll out as thin as possible, and bake on a hot flat iron called a girdle, hung over the fire. A feweggs are sometimes added to make what is called in Scotland Car cake.
ForMuffinsandCrumpets. Take a pint and a half of warm milk and dissolve in it a tea-spoonful of salt of tartar (subcarbonate of potash), then mix with it five table-spoonfuls of yeast. When it has stood to settle, pour it off by degrees, if for crumpets, into two pounds of flour with a little salt, stir it well, and then beat it till it looks like a thick batter, and may be drawn out to a great length when you lift up the spoon. Set it before the fire to rise, and when it bubbles up bake the crumpets on a hot stove, or a girdle. For muffins, take three pounds of flour, and roll the dough into balls, and let them rise before putting them on the iron plate. When the muffins begin to bake they will spread into the proper shape; and when one side is done they should be turned on the other side. The crumpets do not require turning; but if they are wished to be thick, they may be baked in an iron hoop. Potato crumpets are made by adding to three pounds of mealy potatoes boiled and rubbed through a coarse sieve, half a pound of flour, an egg, a little salt, and a spoonful of yeast.
For aBrioche. Take a pound of fine flour, divide it into three parts, to one of which put a table-spoonful of yeast, mixed with warm water into a light batter, then set it before a fire if the weather is cold, and let it rise half an hour. Inwarm weather it need not be put to the fire, as it will rise immediately. Mix the rest of the flour with a quarter of an ounce of salt, three eggs, a quarter of a pound of butter, and enough warm water to make it into a stiff dough. Work it well, and then add the portion that was previously prepared. Knead the whole well together, and then wrap the dough in a white napkin, and leave it for seven or eight hours. Then divide the dough into pieces, as if for buns, and make them into the usual half-twisted form of a brioche, using a little warm milk to moisten them if necessary. Lastly, wash them over with eggs well beaten, and put them in the oven.
I shall now give you two or three receipts for biscuits, and sweet cakes.
ForButter biscuits. Warm two ounces of butter in as much skimmed milk as will make a pound of flour into a stiff paste, knead it well, and beat it with a paste roller; roll it out thin, cut the paste into round cakes with a glass, and prick them with a fork. Bake in a quick oven.
Stamped biscuitsare made by rubbing a quarter of a pound of butter into a pound of flour, then mixing it with cold water and a tea-spoonful of yeast into a paste. Knead it till it is quite smooth; then cover it on the board with a basin for half an hour, and afterwards make it into balls, stamping each with the print.
Abernethy biscuitsmay be made by adding caraway seeds and a very little sugar to the above.
For aSponge-cake. Take half a pound of flour, three quarters of a pound of lump sugar powdered, and seven eggs, leaving out three of the whites; beat all well together, and add the rind of a lemon grated on some of the sugar before it is pounded. Bake in a mould, and in a quick oven.
ForNaples biscuits. Put a quarter of a pint of water, two spoonfuls of orange-flower water, and half a pound of fine sugar into a saucepan, and let it boil till the sugar be melted; then pour it upon four eggs well beaten, stirring the whole as fast as possible while the syrup is poured in. Continue beating it well till cold; then stir in half a pound of flour. Make clean white paper into moulds of the proper size for the biscuits, pour the batter into them, and put them on tins to bake; sift fine sugar on, and set them in a brisk oven, taking great care that they are not scorched.
ForWine cakes. Mix two pounds of flour, one pound of sugar, and one ounce of caraway seeds, with four eggs, and a few spoonfuls of water to make a stiff paste; roll it thin, cut the cakes in any shape, and bake them on floured tins. While baking, boil half a pound of sugar in half a pint of water to a thin syrup; and, while both are hot, dip each cake into it. Put them into the oven on tins,to dry for a short time; and when the oven is cool put them in again, and let them remain in four or five hours.
For aPound cake. Take two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of currants, a little cream, lemon-peel, mace, and cinnamon; first rub the butter in the flour, then put in the cream, a little yeast, and five eggs, and set it to rise; when risen enough add the other ingredients. Bake in a tin lined with paper well buttered.
ForRatafia drops. Blanch and beat four ounces of bitter and two ounces of sweet almonds with a little rose-water, a pound of sifted sugar, the whites of two eggs well beaten, and a table-spoonful of flour. Drop this mixture so as to form balls about the size of a nutmeg, and bake them on wafer paper.
ForMacaroons. Blanch four ounces of sweet almonds, and pound them with four spoonfuls of orange-flower water; whisk the whites of four eggs to a froth, then mix them, and a pound of sugar sifted, with the almonds, to a paste; and, laying a sheet of wafer-paper on a tin, put the paste on in different moulds, or cut into little cakes, the shape of macaroons.
Gâteau d'Avranches. Grate one pound of loaf sugar to a fine powder, and add it to the yolks of fourteen eggs. Beat them well together for halfan hour, and then add the juice of two lemons, some orange-flower water, and half a pound of potato flour. In the mean time another person must beat the whites of the fourteen eggs for half an hour or more till they look like snow, as, should any liquid remain, it will spoil the cake completely. Put this snow to the yolks, and beat the whole together for ten minutes; then pour the whole quickly into a mould that has been well buttered before the fire, and put it directly into an oven, which must be hot, but not quite so much so as for bread; three quarters of an hour will bake it.
ForGingerbread. Put into a Maslin kettle half a pound of fresh butter and three quarters of a pound of treacle, and keep them on the fire, stirring them together, till they are melted and thoroughly incorporated. In the mean time mix half a pound of moist sugar with two pounds of flour and three quarters of an ounce of ginger, and pour the treacle and butter quite hot on the flour, sugar, and ginger; work the whole well together, and when almost cold roll the paste out, and cut it into cakes. Bake them in rather a slow oven. If it is wished to have the gingerbread very rich, only half the quantity of flour must be used; and the paste, which is rolled very thin, is cut into squares. This kind of gingerbread is called Parliament.
The anxiety you express to see my promised hints on cookery has induced me to send them to you without waiting till I had finished all that I have to say of the servants' offices of your house; and you will observe that I shall first confine myself to what may be styledImpromptu Cookery, or cookery for the country, in contradistinction to cookery in towns; my principal aim being to enable you to have a nice little dinner ready in a short time on any emergency, without keeping an expensive table in ordinary. I have already advised you always to have a supply of salted meat in the house; but this is not enough, as a single dish of meat with vegetables and pudding, though quite sufficient as far as regardsmere eating, does not form such a dinner as your husband would like to see on his table, if he were to bring a friend home unexpectedly. If, however, you are able to give them a well-flavoured soup, and two or three nicely cooked made-dishes to support the joint, (orpièce de résistance, as the French call it,) you have at once a dinner that is not expensive, and yet gives an air of elegance and refinement to the table.
I suspect indeed it would be a good plan to have several dishes on your table every day, whether you have company or not. It is not more expensive; for made dishes, by employing more vegetable matter, actually save the consumption of solid meat: and it is certainly more wholesome, as the stomach will more easily digest food of several kinds than a dinner taken from a single dish. The French know this perfectly well; and hence, however heartily a Frenchman may eat, he is scarcely ever troubled with indigestion, while many English people find indigestion the misery of their lives. "The Frenchman," says a writer on Domestic Economy, "begins his dinner with light soup, and successively disposes of his four dishes and his dessert. The whole quantity that he has eaten is, however, much less than the Englishman's meal from his single joint, and he experiences no inconvenience. In eating of a number of dishes, a little of each, the imaginationis acted upon, and exaggerates the quantity really taken; the appetite is, therefore, satisfied with much less. The different matters received into the Frenchman's stomach, independently of their greater or less approximation to chyme by the process of cookery they have undergone, form a light heterogeneous mass or tissue, through which the gastric juice readily passes, whilst many of the different varieties he has swallowed act upon each other as solvents, and help the work of digestion." Besides, it is well that the servants should be accustomed to the same style of living when you are alone as when you have company, to prevent the awkwardness inevitable when persons do any thing that they are not in the habit of doing frequently. One of the greatest dangers of a country life is, indeed, that of getting into habits of slovenliness, both of the person and the table. If you once allow yourself to say, "It is of no consequence how I dress, or what we have for dinner to-day, for we are not likely to see any one," all my exhortations will have been thrown away.
In the first place, in order always to keep up a good table at a small expense, take care never to be without plenty ofStock for soup. The best way of preparing this is to have two or three pounds of lean beef cut into pieces, and put into a stewpan with five quarts of water, a bunch of sweet herbs, two onions sliced, and a little pepperand salt. Let it stew very gradually for two or three hours, without being suffered to boil. When all the goodness is drawn from the meat, the gravy should be strained off clear and kept in an earthen jar for use. When a stock like this has been provided, it is easy to make any kind of soup from it that may be required. For instance, if hare soup be wanted, it is only necessary to cut a hare in pieces, and to let it stew gradually in this gravy till it becomes tender. If a vegetable soup be desired, it is simply adding onions, carrots, and turnips cut into dice, with perhaps a little celery and a few cabbage lettuces cut small: or these vegetables may be cut in slices and fried in butter, and then stewed till tender in the soup, which should have been previously thickened with a little butter worked up with flour. On other occasions, the soup may be varied by adding macaroni, rice, or vermicelli, or, in fact, any thing else usually put into soups; or partridges or giblets may be stewed in it, according to circumstances. The receipt for this excellent stock is taken from Dr. Hunter'sReceipts in Modern Cookery; and the following is another from the same work, of much richer quality, but which I have also tried and found excellent:—Take beef, mutton, and veal, of each equal parts. Cut the meat into small pieces, and put it into a deep saucepan with a close cover; the beef at thebottom, then the mutton, with a piece of lean bacon, some whole pepper, black and white, a large onion in slices, and a bundle of sweet herbs. Over this put the veal. Cover up close, and put the pan over a slow fire for ten minutes, shaking it now and then. After this pour on as much boiling water as will a little more than cover the meat. Stew gently for the space of eight hours, then put in two anchovies chopped, and season with salt to the taste. Strain off and preserve for use. If properly made, this gravy will become a rich jelly, which will keep good a long time, and a piece of which may be cut out occasionally, when a made dish or a rich soup is wanted in haste.
The two following receipts forimpromptusoups are from a French cookery book. The first is calledSoup made in an hour. Cut into small pieces a pound of beef and a pound of veal; put them into a casserole, or wide shallow saucepan, with a carrot and an onion cut in slices, a few slices of bacon, and half a glass of water. Hold it over the fire for a short time till the meat and vegetables begin to brown, taking care, however, that they are not burnt; then pour over the whole a pint of boiling water, and let the soup stew gently for about three quarters of an hour; after which the soup only requires to be strained through a sieve to be fit for use. The other isforSoup made in a minute, and it consists in taking the congealed gravy from roast meat, either from the dish or from under the dripping, after the dripping has become cold and has been removed, in the proportion of a quarter of a pint of jelly to a quart of boiling water, and adding pepper and salt to the taste.
An excellentwhite soupmay be made by boiling a knuckle of veal down to a strong jelly, with a bundle of sweet herbs, and another of parsley. The liquor should then be strained from the meat and herbs, and flavoured with mace and nutmeg, adding milk or cream, and thickening with arrow-root. A few Jerusalem artichokes or young turnips (particularly the Teltow turnips), boiled quite soft and rubbed through a sieve, and a little celery, are a great improvement to this soup. Partridges stuffed with forcemeat and stewed in the stock of this soup till they are perfectly tender, but not so much so as to fall to pieces, make a delicious dish; but in this case the soup will not require either to be flavoured with mace and nutmeg, or to be thickened, unless it is wished to be very rich. Vegetable marrow or pumpkin, boiled and rubbed through a sieve, will form a variety to thicken this soup; or chestnuts boiled, peeled, and mashed, may be used for that purpose; celery may also be employed occasionally to flavour it.
For Hare Soup, cut a large hare into pieces, and put it into a stewpan with five quarts of water, one onion, a few corns of white pepper, a little salt, and some mace. Stew over a slow fire for two hours, or till it become a good gravy. Then cut the meat from the back and legs, and keep it to put into the soup when nearly ready. Put the bones into the gravy, and stew till the remainder of the meat is nearly dissolved. Then strain off the gravy, and put to it two spoonfuls of soy, or three of mushroom or walnut catsup. Cayenne pepper to the taste may be added, and wine in the proportion of half a pint to two quarts of gravy, if it is wished to make the soup very rich. Lastly, put in the meat that was cut from the back and legs, and when it is quite hot send the soup to table.
A Green Peas Soupmay be made by taking six or eight cucumbers pared and sliced, the blanched part of as many lettuces, a sprig of mint, two or three onions, a little parsley, some white pepper and salt, a full pint of young peas, and half a pound of butter. Let these ingredients stew gently in their own liquor for an hour. Then have in readiness a quart of old peas, boiled tender. Rub them through a cullender, and put to them two quarts of strong beef gravy. When the vegetables are sufficiently tender, mix all together, and serve up the soup very hot. Thisreceipt is very suitable for the country, where vegetables are abundant. In this respect you have a great advantage over the dwellers in towns; and you will find it easy to make a great variety of soups, by boiling any kind of vegetable till it is tender, afterwards rubbing it through a coarse sieve, so as to make what the French call apurée, and then mixing it with beef gravy or stock, as before directed. Apuréeof old peas or carrots makes an excellent soup.
I have only to add to my chapter on soups, that it is an excellent plan to have the bones of a sirloin of beef or roast leg of mutton, the remains of a hare, or, in fact, any thing of that kind, put into a large deep earthen pan, with rather more than enough water to cover them, a couple of carrots sliced, and perhaps a leek or an onion. The pan should then be carefully tied down, or have a cover fitted on it, and it should be put into an oven after the bread has been drawn, and suffered to remain all night. This makes an excellentconsomméor stock for any kind of brown soup: and it is a good plan to have a stock of this kind prepared every time there has been a baking of bread, so as to leave the oven in a proper state; as it not only saves the purchase of fresh meat for soup, but makes an excellent use of food that, under other circumstances, would very probably be wasted or given to the dogs. The liquor in whichveal or fowls have been boiled should always be saved, and when cold, after the fat has been removed, it should be poured off clear from the sediment and used as a stock for white soups; and the scrag end of a neck of mutton, the root of a tongue, and various other portions of beef and mutton, which would be unsightly if sent to table, should, also, always be stewed down for brown soups. In the latter case, if the stock made in this manner looks pale or dingy, it may have a rich colour given to it by the following composition orRoux, which is also useful for made dishes and sauces. Put a quarter of a pound of lump sugar into a pan, and add a quarter of a pint of water, with half an ounce of butter. Set it over a gentle fire, stirring it with a wooden spoon till it appears burnt to a bright brown colour; then add some more water. When it boils, skim, and afterwards strain it; and then put it into a bottle, which should be kept closely corked till the composition is wanted for use.
I shall say nothing about roast meat, or any of the routine of ordinary cooking; but I shall confine myself to a few extemporaneous dishes for the table; and on these occasions the poultry-yard and the dove-cot will be found of the utmost importance.
Any kind ofpoultrywill be tender if cooked as soon as it is killed, though it will be tough ifkept till the following day; and the feathers may be removed almost instantaneously by dipping the dead bird for a moment into boiling water. The only objection to fowls is, that many persons, particularly gentlemen, are very apt to become tired of them if they are served too frequently, and it is therefore advisable to vary the modes of dressing them as much as possible.
Sometimes a forcemeat may be made for roast fowl, by boiling about a dozen and a half of sweet chestnuts, and pounding part of them with the boiled liver of the fowl, and about a quarter of a pound of bacon, adding parsley and sweet herbs chopped very fine, with pepper, salt, and other spices, to the taste. Fill both the body and the crop with this mixture, and then roast the fowl; when it is done, make a sauce by pounding the remaining chestnuts very smooth, and putting them with a few spoonfuls of gravy and a glass of white wine into some melted butter. The sauce is generally poured over the fowl when it is served up.
A broiled fowlshould be split open at the back, and made as flat as possible, and sometimes the breast-bone is removed. The thick parts are generally scored, and seasoned with salt and pepper, after which it is laid on the gridiron with the inside of the fowl next the fire. The fowl is, however, very much improved by putting it, after ithas been split down and seasoned with pepper and salt, into a stewpan, with a little butter, and only enough water to prevent it from burning. When the fowl has stewed in this manner for about twenty minutes, it should be laid for about five minutes over the fire on a gridiron previously made quite hot, and served with a sauce made of the liquor in the stewpan, flavoured with mushroom catsup, or in any other way that may be preferred. Fresh mushrooms stewed and added to the liquor are a great improvement to this dish.
For a Dunelm of chickens.Take a few mushrooms, peeled as if for stewing; mince them very small, and put to them some butter, salt, and cream. When put into a saucepan, stir over a gentle fire till the mushrooms are nearly done; then add the white part of a roasted fowl, after being minced very small. When sufficiently heated, it may be served up. If fresh mushrooms cannot be had, a very small quantity of mushroom powder or a little catsup may supply their place.
The French frequently put some rice tied quite loosely in a cloth into the pot with a fowl, when it is to be boiled; and, when the fowl is sufficiently done, they cut it up andfricasseeit, by putting the pieces into a casserole, with a lump of butter worked into a paste with a dessert-spoonful of flour and a wine-glassful of water,and the same quantity of new milk, with salt, white pepper, mace, &c., to the taste. Sometimes they add mushrooms, and sometimes small Welsh onions, and artichoke bottoms which have been previously boiled, to the fricassée; and sometimes they make the sauce much richer by adding to it the yolks of four eggs well beaten, in which case they generally put in a little lemon-juice or a very small quantity of vinegar, just before serving up. In the mean time, a little salt is thrown into the water in which the fowl was boiled, and the rice is kept simmering in it till the fowl is ready. The rice is then drained, and, being taken out of the cloth, is heaped round a dish in the centre of which the fricassée is put. When the dish is wished to be of a superior description, only the best parts of the fowl are used, and the back and side bones are kept back.
Pigeonsare still more useful in extemporaneous cooking than fowls, as, being smaller, they are sooner cooked; besides, they are said to lose their flavour when kept. They are very good roasted, either plain or larded (that is, covered with slices of fat bacon, over which are put vine leaves tied on with string): and when the pigeons are nearly done, the string and the remains of the larding are taken off, and the birds browned before the fire. Sometimes they are stuffed with forcemeat before roasting. Another way of dressing pigeonsis to cut each in two, and put them into a casserole with a little butter and a few slices of bacon. The casserole should then be held over the fire for a few minutes, shaking it frequently to prevent the pigeons from burning; and, as soon as they have acquired a light brown, a few green peas should be added, and a sufficient quantity of the simple kind of stock I first mentioned poured over them to cover the whole. The pigeons should now stew gradually till they are done, and then a lump of butter worked into a paste with flour should be put into the casserole, to thicken the gravy before dishing up. This is a French dish calledPigeons aux petits pots; and the following is another, which is calledPigeons à la crapaudine. It is made by splitting pigeons down the back, and flattening them as much as can be done without breaking the bones too much. The pieces are then rubbed over with oil, salt, and pepper; and, some crumbs of bread having been prepared and mixed with parsley and Welsh onions chopped very fine, they are rolled in the mixture so as to be covered with it as much as possible, and then broiled. Sometimes the pieces of pigeon are dipped in yolk of egg instead of oil. They are served with a sauce made of shallots chopped fine, and mixed with pepper, salt, and vinegar, with a little melted butter or oil.
Ducksandgeeseare generally best plainroasted with green peas, or with apple or onion sauce. Dr. Hunter, however, gives the following receipt for a savoury sauce for a roasted goose:—"A table-spoonful of made mustard, half a tea-spoonful of Cayenne pepper, and three spoonfuls of port wine. This mixture is to be made quite hot, and poured into the body of the goose through a slit in the apron, just before serving up."
Gameis generally very abundant in a country house.Haresmay be either roasted, jugged, or made into soup.Pheasantsare generally roasted, either larded or plain. Dr. Hunter recommends the inside to be stuffed with the lean part of a sirloin of beef, minced small and seasoned with pepper and salt.
Partridgesare cooked in various ways in France; but in England they are generally either roasted, or dressed in the French way with cabbages. The following is the French receipt for dressingPerdrix aux choux. Take two partridges, and put them into a casserole with butter, a very little flour, three cupfuls of gravy, a quarter of a pound of fat bacon cut into dice, a little bunch of sweet herbs and a laurel leaf, and let them stew gradually. In the mean time boil a savoy cabbage with three quarters of a pound of pickled pork, or two spoonfuls of dripping, filling the pot with water. When the savoy is tender, take it out and drain it, and then put it into thecasserole with the partridges; let the whole stew for about half an hour, and then serve it quite hot. Sometimes a carrot is cut in round slices and stewed with the partridges, and this is a great improvement. Care must be taken to remove the bundle of sweet herbs and the laurel leaf before adding the cabbage, as otherwise it might be difficult to find them, and they would not look well if sent to table. Brussels' sprouts may be used instead of a savoy, and they render the dish more delicate. A half-roasted duck may be stewed in this way instead of the partridges, and is excellent.
Any kind of cold game makes an excellentsalad, the meat being cut from the bones and mixed with lettuces cut small, and dressed in the usual manner. The French add capers, anchovies, or any other seasoning, to salads, and garnish them with the flowers of the nasturtium and the borage, which may be eaten without danger.
AMagnonnaiseis a salad with alternate rows of cold fowl or roast veal, and lettuce, hard eggs cut in quarter slices, or carrot, or beet, gherkins, anchovy, &c. Cold potatoes cut in slices, and dressed with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, make an excellent salad, which may be varied by the addition of fine herbs, slices of beet-root, or anchovies taken from the bones and chopped fine.Boulettesof cold meat, chopped small, and mixed with crumbs of bread or mashed potatoes, arealso very usefulimpromptudishes. The mixed meat and bread or potatoes is seasoned with pepper, salt, a little parsley, and other herbs, and a shallot or two cut very small; the yolk of an egg or two is then added, and the mixture is made into balls, which are just glazed over with white of egg, and then fried; after which they are served with a little gravy or sauce of any kind, or covered with parsley put before the fire till it is quite crisp. Cold potatoes may also be cut in slices and warmed in a casserole, with some butter mixed first in a plate with a little flour, some parsley cut very fine, pepper and salt, and a very little lemon-juice or vinegar: this is calledà la maître d'hôtel. They may also be cut in slices and fried, and then served withsauce blanche.
Sauce blancheis made by mixing butter with some flour on a plate, and then putting it into a casserole with a little water. It should be held over the fire, and frequently shaken, till it boils; it is then taken off the fire, and a little salt and vinegar thrown in; after which it is again shaken, and held over the fire till it is quite hot, but not boiling, when it is served. Some cooks add a little of the yolk of eggs, well beaten up with the salt and vinegar.Carrotsare very good boiled, and then cut in slices, and dressedà la maître d'hôtel, or fried and served withsauce blanchelike potatoes. Carrots are also very goodcut into small pieces and stewed till they are tender, with a little butter, and only just enough water or gravy to prevent them from burning. A sauce is made of the yolk of an egg beaten up with some cream, a little salt being added, and it is poured on the carrots; the saucepan is then again put on the fire, and when the whole is quite hot it is served.
It may be useful here to mention two or three kinds of sauce which may be used either for cold meat or fish; and also some of the ways the French have of dressing cold fowl or veal, which are very nice.
Dutch sour sauce.Take the yolks of two eggs, a lump of butter, a little bit of mace, and a table-spoonful of good white-wine vinegar. Put all together into a saucepan over a gentle fire, and keep stirring all one way till the sauce is thick enough for use.
Onion sauce.Melt some butter in a little thick cream, but add neither water nor flour. Boil the onions, and take two coats from their outsides. Chop the inside smooth, and put them into the melted butter, with salt to the taste. Stir one way over the fire for a quarter of an hour, and send up the sauce quite hot. Another way is to boil the onions soft, and to rub their pulp through a cullender or coarse sieve before adding it to the butter.
Sauce à la Bechamelis made by putting sliced onions and carrots into a saucepan with a little butter and flour and a pint of cream; pepper, salt, and nutmeg are added, with mushrooms and finely chopped parsley, if desired. The whole is suffered to stew gently three quarters of an hour, and then it is strained and thickened with a liaison of yolks of eggs. Another kind is made by adding an equal quantity of veal stock to the cream; and dressing any dishà la bechamelmeans serving it up with a white sauce; either made as above or in any other way, provided it consists principally of cream or thickened milk.
Sauce veloutéis a white sauce, the base of which is veal stock instead of cream.
A Liaison of eggsis made by taking some fresh eggs (it is essential that they should be quite fresh), and separating the white carefully from the yolk. The yolks are then beaten up, and two or three spoonfuls of the liquor they are wanted to thicken is added to them, stirring them carefully. The saucepan is then taken off the fire while the eggs are gradually mixed with its contents, and only put on the fire again for a minute, carefully stirring the contents so as to make them quite hot, but not boiling, before they are served up.
Sauce à la Tartareis mixed by putting shallots and other herbs cut very fine, with mustard, salt, pepper, oil, and a little vinegar. The ingredientsare all mixed well together and served cold, or they may be made hot for fish.
A Blanquetteis made by cutting cold meat into thin slices, and then putting it into a saucepan with a lump of butter, a little flour, pepper, salt, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a little gravy. Simmer it gently five minutes, and then put the meat into a dish; and after thickening the sauce with the yolks of eggs beaten up with a very small quantity of vinegar, and putting it over the fire for a minute, pour it quite hot over the meat.
A Marinadeis made by stewing the remains of a fowl or slices of cold meat with butter or oil, vinegar, pepper, salt, onions, and sweet herbs; and then draining the pieces, dipping them in white of egg, and flouring them or covering them with bread crumbs, and frying them.
A Capilotadeis a brown fricassée or hash, and aTerrineis a pie baked in a dish, but without crust.
Croustadesare pieces of stale, firm bread, cut like sippets, but much thicker, and hollowed out into the centre, keeping the piece cut out to serve as a lid. The croustades are then fried a fine brown, and while hot they are filled with minced fowl or veal; or if a sweet dish is required, with some kind of marmalade or jam made hot.
Omelettesare always a great addition to a dinner table, and they are easily made. The followingis the French receipt for theOmelettes aux fines herbes. Take any quantity of eggs and beat them well, adding pepper, salt, parsley, and any other herbs, with a few shallots or small onions chopped very fine. Melt enough butter in a frying-pan to cover the bottom of the frying-pan with liquid, and when it is boiling pour in the omelette, and fry it till it becomes a fine brown. When served, fold it so that only the brown side may be seen, and pour over it a kind of sauce made by putting a little butter, flour, and catsup in the pan, and shaking it for a few minutes over the fire; or a little gravy may be heated and poured over it. The frying-pan should not be too large, as an omelette should always be rather thick. About six or eight eggs will make an omelette of the ordinary size, and about two ounces of butter will be required for frying it. Other omelettes may be made by omitting the herbs, and adding mushrooms cut very small, or mushroom-powder, grated ham, grated cheese, or, in fact, any other substance that may be thought desirable.
Dr. Hunter gives the following receipt for aPotato omelette. Take three ounces of potatoes mashed, and add to them the yolks of five eggs, and the whites of three. Add white pepper, salt, and nutmeg to the taste. Fry in butter, and serve up with clear gravy, to which some add a little lemon-juice. Sweet omelettes may be madeby adding to the eggs orange-flower water, and sugar, or grated lemon-peel and sugar, or marmalade of apples or apricots, or raspberry or currant jam. The omelette is then fried in the usual way; but it is usually served without doubling it up, sugar being grated over the upper side after it is put in the dish, which is then set in front of the fire for a few minutes, or the omelette is browned by holding over it a flat red-hot iron called a salamander.
The following is a receipt for making anOmelette soufflée, taken from a French cookery book. Break six eggs; separate the whites from the yolks, and beat up the latter with four ounces of grated lump-sugar, and a little orange-flower water, or the rind of a lemon cut very fine, or grated. Then beat the whites of the eggs into a froth, and mix them quickly with the yolks, and pour them into a dish in which two ounces of butter have been melted, and which is quite hot; hold a salamander over the eggs for about five minutes, when they will rise in blisters; then, sprinkling a little powdered sugar over the dish, serve it quite hot, without losing a moment, as, if it be allowed to cool, the puffed up part will fall, and the appearance of the dish will be spoiled. When this dish is made in England, the butter is generally melted in a frying-pan, into which the eggs are poured, and suffered to fry for a minuteor two, after which the omelette is put into a hot dish, and set in the oven to rise. A little grated sugar is then sprinkled over it, and it is served immediately.
Apples and apricots cut in slices and dipped in a light batter make a very agreeable addition to a small dinner; and the flowers of the Judas tree, and vine leaves, sugared and steeped in brandy, and the young shoots of the vegetable marrow, all make nice dishes when dipped in batter and fried.
Frangipaneis made by beating up two or three eggs, and then adding to them two spoonfuls of flour, mixed quite smooth with a little milk. Put the whole into a casserole, and set it on the fire for a quarter of an hour, shaking it continually that the frangipane may not burn. The dish may be flavoured with sugar, orange-flower water, or crushed macaroons; and it is eaten with tarts or preserved fruit.
Fromage à la crèmeis a very elegant addition to the dessert. It is made by taking a pint of new milk, and adding to it a spoonful of rennet, and keeping it warm till the curd rises; the curd is then carefully taken up without breaking it, and laid in a wicker basket, or on a sieve, to drain. When nearly all the whey has run off, it is served with cream poured round it, and sugar grated on the top.