260. Hop Beer,261. Spruce Beer,262. Spring Beer,263. Ginger Beer,264. A good Family Wine,265. Currant Wine,266. Raspberry Shrub,267. Noyeau,268. Spring Fruit Sherbet,269. Grape Wine,270. Smallage Cordial,
MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS AND OBSERVATIONS USEFUL TO YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS.
1. To make Essence of Lemon,2. Essence of Ginger,3. Rose Water,4. Spice Brandy,5. Barley Water,6. Water Gruel,7. Wine Whey,8. Stomachic Tincture,9. Beef Tea,10. Carrageen or Irish Moss,11. Moss Blanc Mange,12. Elderberry Syrup,13. New Bread and Cake from old and rusked bread,14. To Preserve Cheese from Insects and Mould,15. To keep vegetables and herbs,16. To Preserve various kinds of Fruit over winter,17. To extract Essences from various kinds of Flowers,18. Indelible Ink for marking linen,19. Perfume Bags,20. Lip Salve,21. Bread Seals,22. To Loosen the Glass Stopples of Decanters or Smelling Bottles when wedged in tight,23. Cement for broken China, Glass and Earthenware,24. Japanese Cement or Rice Glue,25. Cement for Alabaster,26. To extract fruit Stains,27. To extract Spots of paint from Silk, Woolen and Cotton Goods,28. To remove black stains on Scarlet Merinos or Broadcloths,29. To remove grease spots from Paper, Silk or Woolen,30. To extract stains from white Cotton goods and Colored Silks,31. Rules for washing Calicoes,32. Rules for washing Silks,33. Rules for washing woolens,34. Rules for washing white Cotton Clothes,35. To clean silk and woolenShawls,36. To clean Silk Stockings,37. To clean Carpets,38. To clean feather Beds and Mattresses,39. To clean Light Kid Gloves,40. To remove Ink or grease spots from Floors,41. To clean Mahogany and Marble Furniture,42. To clean stone hearths and stoves,
43. To clean Brass,44. To cleanse Vials and Pie Plates,45. Cautions Relative to Brass and Copper,46. To keep Pickles and Sweet Meats,47. Starch,48. To temper new Ovens and Iron Ware,49. To temper Earthen Ware,50. Preservatives against the ravages of Moths,51. To drive away various kinds of household vermin,52. To keep Meat in hot Weather,53. To Prevent polished Cutlery from rusting,54. To melt Fat for Shortening,55. To preserve Eggs fresh a year,56. To preserve Cream for long Voyages,57. Substitute for Milk and Cream in Tea or Coffee,58. To Cure Butter,59. To make salt Butter fresh,60. To take rankness from a small quantity of butter,61. Windsor Soap,62. To make Bayberry or Myrtle Soap,63. Cold Soap,
To be in perfection meat should be kept several days, when the weather will admit of it. Beef and mutton should be kept at least a week in cold weather, and poultry three or four days. In summer meat should be kept in a cool airy place, away from the flies, and if there is any danger of its spoiling sprinkle a little salt over it. When meat is frozen it should be put in cold water and remain in it till the frost is entirely out, if there is any frost in it when put to the fire, it will be impossible to cook it well. Fresh meat should not be put into the pot until the water boils. When meat is too salt, soak it in lukewarm water for several hours, change the water before boiling it. Meat should boil gently with just water enough to cover it, and the side that is to go up on the table should be put down in the pot, as the scum that rises makes the meat look dark, it should be taken off as soon as it rises. The liquor in which all kinds of fresh meat is boiled, makes good soup.
The tender loin and first and second cuts of the rack are the best roasting pieces, the third and fourth cuts are good. The lower part of a rack of beef should be cut off as it prevents the meat from roasting thoroughly. When the beef is put to the fire to roast a little salt should be sprinkled on it, and the bony side turned towards the fire, when the ribs get well heated through, turn the meat, put it to a brisk fire and baste it frequently till done. If the meat is a thick piece allow fifteen minutes to each pound, to roast it in, if thin less time will be required.
The tender loin is the best piece for broiling, that from the shoulder clod or from the round is good and comes much cheaper. Beef before broiling if not very tender, should be laid on a board and pounded. Wash it in cold water, and broil it on a hot bed of coals, the quicker it is cooked without being burnt the better it is. Cut up about quarter of a pound of butter for 7 or 8 lbs. of beef, put the pieces into a platter and when the steak is done, lay it on the butter, pepper and salt it on both sides.
The round of beef is the best piece to alamode. The shoulder clod is good and comes cheaper, it is also good stewed without any spices. For five lbs. of beef soak about a pound of bread in cold water, when soft drain off the water, mash the bread fine, put in a piece of butter, half the size of a hen's egg, together with half a tea spoonful of salt, the same quantity of mace, pepper, and cloves, also a couple of eggs and a table spoonful of flour, mix the whole well together, then cut gashes in the beef, and fill them with half of the dressing, put it in a bake pan with boiling water, enough to cover it. The bake pan lid should be just hot enough to scorch flour, put a few coals and ashes on the top, let it stew constantly for two hours, then place the reserved dressing on top of the meat, put in a piece of butter of the size of a hen's egg, heat the bake pan lid till hot enough to brown the dressing, stew it an hour and a half longer. When you have taken up the meat, if the gravy is not thick enough, mix a tea spoonful or two of flour with a little water, and stir it in, put in a couple of wine glasses of white wine, and a small piece of butter.
The best way to cook liver, is to pour boiling water on it, dip it in salt and water, then broil it till nearly done, with two or three slices of salt pork previously dipped in flour, cut up the meat and pork into strips about two inches long, lay the whole into a pan with a little water, salt and pepper, put in a little butter, stew it four or five minutes. It is more economical to fry or broil it, but it is not as nice.
To every gallon of cold water, put a quart of rock salt, an oz. of saltpetre, a quarter of a lb. of sugar and a couple of table spoonsful of blown salt. (Some people use molasses instead of sugar but it is not as good). No boiling is necessary, put your beef in the brine, as long as any salt remains at the bottom of the brine it is strong enough. Whenever any scum rises, the brine should be scalded, skimmed and more sugar, salt and salt petre put in. When a piece of beef is put in the brine a little salt should be added, and if the weather is warm cut gashes in the beef, and fill them with salt. Keep a heavy weight on the beef in order to keep it under the brine. The top of the weight is a good place to keep fresh meat from spoiling in hot weather. In very hot weather, it is difficult to corn beef in cold brine before it spoils, on this account it is a good plan to corn it in the pot, it is done in the following manner, to six or eight lbs. of beef put a tea cup of salt, sprinkle flour on the side that is to go up on the table and put it down in the pot, without any water in it, then turn in cold water enough to cover it, boil it two hours then fill up the pot and boil it an hour and a half longer.
The saddle, is the best part for roasting, the shoulder and leg are good roasted; but the latter is better boiled, with a piece of salt pork; a tea cup of rice, improves the looks of it. Before putting the mutton down to roast, rub a little butter on it, sprinkle on salt and pepper; cloves, andallspice improve it. Put a small piece of butter in the dripping pan, and baste it frequently, the bony side should be turned towards the fire first, and roasted. For boiling or roasting mutton, allow a quarter of an hour to each pound.
The loin of veal is the best roasting piece, the breast and rack are good roasting pieces, the breast makes a good pot pie. The leg is nice for frying, and whenseveral slices have been cut off for cutlets the remainder is nice boiled with about half a pound of salt pork. Veal for roasting should be salted and peppered, and have a little butter rubbed on it, baste it frequently, and unless the meat is very fat put a small piece of butter in the dripping pan when the meat is put down to roast.
Fry three or four slices of pork, when brown take them up. Cut part of a leg of veal into slices about an inch thick and fry them in your pork fat, when brown on both sides take it up, stir about half a tea cup of clear water into the gravy, then mix a teaspoonful or two of flour with a little water and turn it in, soak a couple of slices of toasted bread in the gravy lay them on the bottom of a platter place your meat, and pork over the toast, then turn your gravy on themeat. Some people dip the veal into the white of an egg and roll it in pounded bread crumbs before cooking it. It takes nearly an hour to cook this dish.
Boil the head two hours together with the lights and feet, put in the liver when it has boiled an hour and twenty minutes, before the head is done, tie up the brains in a bag and boil them with it. When these are done take them up and mash them fine, season them with salt, pepper and butter, sweet herbs if you like, use them as the dressing for the head. Some people prefer part of the liver and the feet for dressing, they are prepared like the brains. The liquor that the calf's head is boiled in makes a nice soup seasoned in a plain way, like any other veal soup, or seasoned turtle fashion. The liquor should stand till the day after the head is boiled when the fat should be skimmed off.
Cut part of a leg of veal into pieces three or four inches broad, sprinkle flour on them, and fry in butter till brown, then turn in water enough to cover the veal, when it boils take off the scum, put in two or three onions, a blade of mace, let it stew gently three quarters of an hour, put in a little salt, pepper and the juice of half a lemon. Take it up, pour the gravy over it. The gravy should be previously thickened with a little flour and water.
Boil a piece of lean veal till tender. Then take it up cut it into strips three or four inches long, put it back into the pot, with the liquor it was boiled in, anda couple of tea cups of rice to four lbs. of the veal, put in a piece of butter of the size of a hen's egg, season it with salt, pepper and sweet herbs, stew it gently till the water has nearly boiled away. A little curry powder in this converts it into a curry dish.
Take a leg of veal, cut off the shank, and cut gashes in the remainder. Make a dressing of bread soaked soft and mashed, season it with salt, pepper and sweet herbs, chop a little raw pork fine, and put it into the dressing, if you have not pork use a little butter. Fill the gashes in the meat with the dressing, put it in a bake pan with water enough to just cover it, put the remainder of the dressing on top of the meat. For six lbs. of veal, allow two hours steady baking. A leg of veal is nice prepared in this manner and roasted.
The fore and hind quarter of lamb are good roasting pieces. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the lamb and turn the bony side towards the fire first, if not fat, rub on a little butter and put a little in the dripping pan, baste it frequently. These pieces are good stuffed like a fillet of veal, and roasted, the leg is also good cooked in the same manner, but it is better boiled with a little pork or salt, allow fifteen minutes boiling to each lb. The breast of lamb is good roasted, broiled, or corned and boiled, it is also good made into a pot pie. The fore quarter with the ribs divided is good broiled, the bones of this as well as of all other kinds of meat when put down to broil should be put toward the fire, a little butter, pepper and salt should be put on it. Lamb is very apt to spoil in warm weather, if you wish to keep a leg several days,put it in brine, it should not be put in with pork, as fresh meat is apt to injure the pork.
The shoulder of lamb is good roasted or cooked in the following manner. Score it in chequers about an inch long, rub it over with a little butter and the yolk of an egg, then dip it into finely pounded bread crumbs, sprinkle on salt, pepper and sweet herbs, broil or roast it till of a light brown. This is good with plain gravy or sauce, made in the following manner, with half a pint of the gravy, (or the same quantity of drawn butter,) put a table spoonful of tomato catsup, the juice of half a lemon, a little salt and pepper.
The heart and sweet bread are nice fried plainly, or dipped into the white of an egg and fine bread crumbs, they should be fried in lard.
Take out the inwards and wash both the inside and outside of the turkey. Prepare a dressing of either boiled potatoes mashed fine or bread soaked in cold water, the water should be squeezed out of the bread, mash it fine, add a small piece of butter or pork chopped fine, put in pepper, salt, and sweet herbs if you like them, an egg mixed with the dressing makes it cut smoother.
Fill the crop and body of the turkey with the dressing, sew it up, tie up the legs and wings rub on a little salt and butter. Roast it from two to three hours according to the size; twenty five minutes for every pound is a good rule. A turkey should be roasted slowly at first and basted frequently, the inwards of aturkey should be boiled till tender, and the liquor they are boiled in, used for the gravy, when you have taken up the inwards, mix a little flour and water smoothly together, and stir it into the skillet, put in a little of the drippings of the turkey, season it with salt and pepper, and sweet herbs if you like. Drawn butter is used for boiled turkey. A turkey for boiling should be dressed like one for roasting, tie it up in a cloth unless you boil rice in the pot with it, if you use rice, put in a tea cup two thirds full, a small piece of pork boiled with the turkey, improves it. If you wish to make a soup of the liquor in which the turkey is boiled, let it stand till the next day and then skim off the fat.
If a goose is tender under the wing, and you can break the skin easily by running the head of a pin across the breast, there is no danger of its being tough. A goose should be dressed in the same manner, and roasted the same length of time, as a turkey.
Chickens for roasting or boiling, should have a dressing prepared like that for turkies. Half a tea cup full of rice boiled with the chickens, makes them look white, they will be less liable to break if the water is cold when they are put in to boil, a little pork boiled with the chickens improves them, if you do not boil any pork with them, put in a little salt. Chickens for broiling should be split, the inwards taken out, and the chicken washed inside and out, put the bony side down on the gridiron, and broil it very slowly till brown then turn it, when done take it up, salt, and butter it. About forty minutes is required to broil a common sized chicken. For roast chicken, boil the liver and gizzard by themselves and use the water for gravy, cut the inwards in slices, and put them in.
The chickens should be jointed, the inwards taken out, and the chickens washed, put them in a stew pan with the skin side down, on each layer sprinkle salt and pepper; put in three or four slices of pork, just cover them with water, and let them stew slowly till tender. Then take them up, mix a tea spoonful of flour smoothly, with a little water, and stir it into the gravy, add a piece of butter of the size of a hen's egg, put the chickens back into the stew pan, let them stew slowly for four or five minutes. When you have taken up the chickens, put two or three slices of toast into the gravy, and when soaked soft lay it in a platter and lay the chickens on top, and turn the gravy upon it. If you wish to brown the chickens, reserve the pork and fry it by itself, when brown take it up and put in the chickens, (when they are stewed tender,) and let them fry till of a light brown.
Take out the inwards and stuff them, with a dressing prepared like that for turkies, put them in the pot with the breast side down, the water should more than cover them, when nearly done put in a quarter of a lb. of butter to every dozen of pigeons, mix a little flour and water and stir into the gravy. When stewed tender, if you wish to brown them, take them up, and fry them in a little pork fat or butter, an hour before they are done, put on a heated bake pan lid. They are very good split open and stewed with a dressing made and warmed up separately with a little of the gravy. It takes about two hours to cook tender pigeons and three for tough ones. Tender pigeons are good stuffed and roasted. They should be buttered just before they are taken from the fire.
Are good stewed like pigeons, or roasted. Two or three onions in the dressing of wild ducks takes out the fishy taste. If ducks or any other fowls are slightly injured by being kept too long, dip them in weak sal eratus and water before cooking them.
Take out the inwards, cut off the first joint of the feet and boil them till tender, take them up and take out the bones, chop them a little. Prepare a dressing of bread soaked and mashed fine, season it with salt, pepper, butter, and sweet herbs, if you like, fill the pig with the dressing, rub a little butter on the out side to prevent its blistering. If you wish to have it go on the table whole, put it into a long dripping pan, put in a little water, set it in a well heated oven, bake it from two hours and a half to three, according to the size. When done take out a little of the dressing, and mix it with the chopped inwards, and feet, put in a little butter pepper and salt, let the pig stand in the open air a few minutes before it goes on the table, in order to make it crispy.
Boil ears, forehead, and rind, (the cheek is good but is better corned and smoked), boil them till the meat will almost drop from the bones, take them up when cold, cut the meat in strips about an inch long and half an inch broad, warm it in a little of the liquor in which the meat was boiled, season it with pepper, salt, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, when hot take it up and put it in a strong bag, put a heavy weight upon it, and let it remain till perfectly cold.
Takepig's ears and feet, clean them thoroughly, boil them till tender, take them out and when cold split them, lay them in a deep dish, pour on boiling vinegar strongly spiced with pepper corns, cloves and nutmeg, put in a little salt. When cold they are fit to cook. Fry them in lard. They will keep good pickled for four or five weeks.
After being scoured should be soaked in salt and water, seven or eight days, changing the water every other day. Then boil it till tender, which will take eight or ten hours. It is then fit for broiling, frying, or pickling. It is pickled like souse.
A ham that weighs ten lbs. should be boiled four or five hours, if too salt the water should be changed. Before it goes on to the table take off the rind, put pepper or whole clove in the form of diamonds all over it. The Virginia way of curring Hams is the following, dissolve two oz. of salt petre, two tea spoonsful of sal eratus, for every 16 lbs. of ham, add molasses in the proportion of a gallon to a hogshead of brine. Make a salt pickle as strong as possible, put the above ingredients in it, then put the hams in, and let them remain for six weeks. Take them out and smoke them for three months. Hams cured in this way will keep good a long time and are very fine flavored.
Cut off the roots of the tongues, make a brine like that for curing beef, let the tongues remain in it for aweek, then, smoke them eight or ten days. They require boiling four or five hours. The roots make very nice mince pies, but are not good smoked.
Chickens, pigeons, mutton chops, veal, lamb and lobsters, make good curries. The meat should be boiled till nearly tender, if made of fowls they should be jointed before they are boiled. Put a little butter in a stew pan, when melted put in the meat and cover it with part of the liquor it was boiled in, let it stew for ten or fifteen minutes. For 4 lbs. of meat, mix a table spoonful of curry powder, with one of flour, or a tea cup of boiled rice, put in a little water, and a table spoonful of melted butter, and half a tea spoonful of salt, turn the whole over the meat, and let it stew six or eight minutes.
Pound fine, one oz. of ginger, one of mustard, one of pepper three of coriander seed, the same quantity of turmeric, half an oz. of cardamums, quarter of an oz. of cayenne pepper, the same quantity of cinnamon and cummin seed. Pound the whole well together, sift and put them in a bottle.
Joint the chickens, and boil them, till nearly tender in water just sufficient to cover them. Take them up and lay them in a dish, lined with pie crust, on each layer of the chickens, sprinkle pepper and salt, put in a little of the liquor that they were boiled in, three or four slices of pork and a small piece of butter, sprinkle flour over the whole. Cover it with a nice pie crust, ornament it with pastry cut in narrow strips. Bake it an hour and a quarter.
Take meat that is tender, pound it out thin, and boil it ten minutes. Take it up, cut off the bony and gristly parts, season the meat highly with pepper and salt, butter it, and cut it in narrow strips. Line a deep dish, with piecrust, put in the meat, and to each layer, put a tea spoonful of tomato catsup, and a table spoonful of water, sprinkle flour over the whole, and cover it with piecrust, ornament it as you please with pastry. Cold roast, or boiled beef and mutton, cut in bits, and seasoned highly with salt and pepper, make a nice pie, put them in a dish, and turn a little melted butter over them, pour on water till you can just see it at the top.
Boil the meat until about half done, if chickens they should be jointed. Take up the meat, and put it in a pot with a layer of crust, to each layer of meat; have a layer of crust on the top, cover the whole with the liquor the meat was boiled in. Keep a tea kettle of boiling water, to turn in when the water boils away, (cold water makes the crust heavy.) If you wish to have it brown, heat a bake pan lid, and cover the pot while it is cooking, which takes about an hour. The crust for the pie is good, made like common pie crust, only very plain, roll it about an inch thick, cut it with a tumbler, into small cakes. Raised pie crust, is generally preferred to any other, it is made in the following manner. Rub together, three pints of flour one cup of butter, half a tea spoonful of salt, and then turn in a tea cup of yeast, and half a pint of water. Set it in a warm place to rise, when risen, (which will be in the course of ten or twelve hours, in cold weather,) roll it out, and cut itinto small cakes. If it is not stiff enough to roll out, knead in a little flour, if too stiff, put in a little water. Potatoe pie crust is good, boil the potatoes, peel and mash them fine, put in a tea spoonful of salt, a piece of butter of the size of a hen's egg, and half a pint of milk, mix flour with it till of the right consistency to roll out, cut it into cakes, and put them with the meat. A very good way to make the crust, when you happen to have unbaked wheat bread; is to roll out the dough several times and spread butter on it each time, let it lay about half an hour, before you put it with the meat.
Take tender smoked beef and shave it off thin, put it in a stew pan, with boiling water enough to cover it, let it stew ten or fifteen minutes; three or four minutes before it is done, thicken the water it is stewed in with a little flour, when taken up sprinkle on a little pepper. This makes a nice dish for breakfast, provided the beef is moist and tender.
Boiled or roasted veal makes a nice dish, chopped very fine, and warmed up with a little pepper, a small piece of butter, and a little water, if you have gravy, it is very good instead of the butter and water. A little nutmeg and the rind and juice of half a lemon improve it, the rind should be chopped very fine, (none of the white part should be used.) When well heated through, take it up and cut a couple of lemons in slices, and lay over it. Veal and fresh or salt beef, are all of them good, minced fine, with boiled potatoes, and warmed up with pepper, salt and gravy, if you have not gravy, use a little butter and water. Some people like boiled onions, or turnips,chopped fine, and mixed with the minced meat, instead of potatoes. Veal, lamb and mutton, are good cut in small strips, and warmed with boiled potatoes, cut in slices, and pepper, salt, and gravy. Roast beef and mutton, if not cooked too much, are nice cut in slices, and just scorched on a gridiron. Meat when warmed over, should only be on the fire just long enough to get heated well through, if on the fire long, most of the nourishment of the meat will be extracted, and it will be very indigestible. Cold fowls are nice jointed and warmed up, with a little water and salt, then take thefowls out of the water, put them in a frying pan, that has a little hot butter in it, and fry them, till of a light brown, they should have a little flour sprinkled over them before they are browned. Thicken the water with flour, that the fowls were warmed in, put a little butter in it, and turn it over the meat, when taken up.
Cut boiled or roasted veal, in nice slices, flour and fry them in butter, till of a light brown. Then take them up and turn a little hot water into the butter they were fried in, mix a little flour with water and into the gravy, season it with salt, pepper, mace, and catsup, if you have any, and a little lemon juice. Put in the meat and stew it till very hot.
Mix a couple of tea spoonsful of flour, gradually with a little water, stir it till free from lumps, thin it, and stir it into half a pint of boiling water, let it boil four or five minutes, then put in about a quarter of a lb. of butter, previously cut in small pieces, set it where it will melt gradually. If carefully mixed it will be free from lumps, if not strain it, before it isput on to the table. If the butter is to be eaten on fish, cut up several boiled eggs into it. A little curry powder sprinkled in it, will convert it into curry sauce.
Put a couple of ounces of butter, in a frying pan, set it on the fire, when of a dark brown color, put in a table spoonful of vinegar, a little pepper and salt. This is nice for fish, or boiled eggs.
Meat when put down to roast, should have about a pint of water in the dripping pan. If you like your gravy very rich, skim off the top of the drippings to your meat, and use them, if you like it plain, stir up the drippings, strain them and put in a skillet and boil them. Mix a tea spoonful of flour, with a little cold water, and stir it into the gravy. Lamb and veal require a little butter in the gravy.
Mix the yolks of two eggs boiled soft, with a mustard spoonful of made mustard, a little salt and pepper, two table spoonsful of salad oil, or melted butter, when well mixed, put in three table spoonsful of vinegar. A table spoonful of tomato, or mushroom, catsup, improves it.
Warm half a pint of the drippings, or the liquor, the meat was boiled in. When it boils, mix a tea spoonful of scorched flour, with a little water, and stir it in, put in a little pepper, salt, and quarter of atea spoonful of cloves, put in a table spoonful of currant jelly, and half a tumbler full of wine, just before you take it from the fire. Many people prefer melted currant jelly, to any other sauce for venison.
Boil half a tea cup of rice, till soft, then stir in two table spoonsful of milk, a little salt, and a nutmeg, or mace, sweet herbs, a boiled onion, and strain it. This is a very nice accompaniment to game.
Take the juice of your oysters, and to a pint put a couple of sticks of mace, a little salt and pepper, put it on the fire, when it boils, mix two tea spoonsful of flour, with a little milk, and stir it in. When it has boiled two or three minutes, put in about half a pint of solid oysters, a piece of butter of the size of half an egg, when scalded through take them up.
Boil the liver of the fish, then mash it fine, stir it into drawn butter, put in a little cayenne or black pepper, a couple of tea spoonsful of lemon juice, and a table spoonful of catsup.
Mash the yolks of two eggs, boiled soft, with the spawn of the lobster, and a tea spoonful of water, when rubbed smooth, put in a mustard spoonful of made mustard, two table spoonsful of salad oil, or melted butter, a little salt, pepper, and five table spoonsful of vinegar.
Boil four eggs three minutes, take them out of the shell mash, and mix them, with a couple of table spoonsful, of olive oil, or melted butter, two thirds of a tumbler of vinegar, a tea spoonful of mixed mustard, half a tea spoonful of salt, quarter of a tea spoonful of pepper, and a little essence of celery, if you have any. Cut up a boiled chicken that weighs two or three pounds, into small strips, and turn the sauce over it.
To half a pint of drawn butter, or thickened beef gravy, put the juice of half a lemon, a little sage, basil, or sweet marjoram, a little cayenne pepper, and a wine glass of white wine, just before you take it up.
Pare and quarter the apples, take out the cores, stew them in cider. When soft take them up, put in a piece of butter of the size of a walnut, to every quart of the sauce, sweeten it to your taste, with brown sugar. Another way which is very good, is to boil the apples, with a few quinces, in new cider, and molasses enough to sweeten them, till reduced to half the quantity. This kind of sauce will keep good for several months.
Mix a tea cup of butter, with two of nice brown sugar, when white, put in a wine glass of wine, or brandy, flavor it with nutmeg, essence of lemon or rosewater. If you wish to have it liquid make twothirds of a pint of thin starch, and stir it into the butter and sugar. If you wish to have it foam, put in a little cider. Cider instead of wine, or brandy, answers very well, for common pudding sauce.
Wipe the tomatoes, which should be perfectly ripe. Boil them till soft in a little water. Strain the whole through a sieve, season it highly, with salt, pepper, cloves, allspice and mace, then boil it fifteen minutes. Let it stand twenty four hours, then take off the watery part, bottle the remainder, seal it tight, and keep it in a cool place. Made in this way it will keep the year round. The catsup, should be stewed in tin, and the later in the season it is made, the less liable will it be to spoil.
Put a layer of fresh mushrooms, in a deep dish, sprinkle a little salt over them, then put in another layer of mushrooms, and salt, and so on, till you get in all the mushrooms, let them stand several days, then mash them fine; to each quart, put a tea spoonful, of black pepper, put it in a stone jar tightly covered, set it in a pot of boiling water, boil it two hours, then strain it without squeezing the mushrooms. Boil the juice half an hour, skim it well, let it stand a few hours to settle, then turn it off carefully through a sieve, bottle, cork, and seal it tight, set it in a cool place.
Steep half an oz. of bruised celery seed, in a quarter of a pint of brandy, for a fortnight. A few drops of this, will give a fine flavor to soup.
Those who like a variety of herbs, in soup, will find it very convenient, to have the following mixture. Take when in their prime, thyme, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, and summer savory, dry, pound, and sift them, steep them in brandy. The herb spirit will be fit for use, in the course of a fortnight.
A leg of veal, after enough has been cut off for cutlets, makes a soup nearly as good as calves head. Boil it with a cup two thirds full of rice, a pound and a half of pork, season it with salt, pepper, and sweet herbs, if you like, a little boiled celery cut in slices, or a little essence of celery improves it, parsly, carrot, and onions, boiled in the soup, are liked by some people.
If you wish for balls in your soup, chop veal fine, mix it with a couple of eggs, a few bread crumbs, a small piece of butter, or raw pork chopped fine, put in salt and pepper, to your taste, or a little curry powder, boil them in the soup. Just before you take the soup up, put in a couple of slices of toast, cut into small pieces. The veal should be taken up before the soup is seasoned.
The shank of beef, is the best part for soup, cold roast beef bones, and beef steak, make very good soup. Boil the shank four or five hours, in water enough to cover it. Half an hour before the soup goes on the table, take out the meat, thicken the soup with scorched flour mixed with cold water, season it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and cloves, a little tomato catsup improves it, put in sweet herbs or herb spirit if you like.
Some people boil onions in the soup, but as they are very disagreeable to many persons, it is better to boil them and put them in a dish by themselves. Take bread soaked soft, mash it well and put in a little of the boiled beef chopped fine, a couple of eggs, a very little flour, season it highly with salt, pepper, cloves, and mace, do it up in small balls and boil them in the soup fifteen minutes.
Boil the head till perfectly tender, then take it out, strain the liquor, and set it away till the next day, then skim off the grease. Cut up the meat, and put it in the liquor, together with the lights, (the brains should be reserved for the balls) warm it, and season it with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and sweet herbs if you like and onions, let it stew gently for half an hour. Just before taking it up add half a pint of white wine. For the balls chop lean veal fine, with a small piece of raw salt pork, add the brains, and season it highly with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and sweet herbs, or curry powder, make it up into balls, about the size of half a hen's egg, boil part in the soup, and fry the remainder, and put them in a dish by themselves.
The liquor that turkey or chicken is boiled in makes a good soup, with half a tea cup of rice, anda lb. of pork boiled in it. If you do not like it very fat, let it stand till the next day after the turkey is boiled, skim off the fat, season it with salt, pepper, and sweet herbs. If you like vegetables in soup, boil them by themselves, slice them up when done and put them in the turreen with toasted bread, cut in small pieces; or toasted crackers. When the soup is hot, turn it on them.
Take a couple of quarts of oysters out of the liquor with a fork, strain the liquor, and if there are any shells in them rinse them off. To each quart put a pint of milk or water. Set them on the fire, when it begins to simmer skim it, mix three tea spoonsful of flour, with a little milk, stir it in when the oysters boil, when it boils again take it up and season it with salt, pepper, a table spoonful of tomato catsup, a table spoonful of vinegar and a small lump of butter; turn it on to a slice of toast cut in pieces.
To a quart of peas, put a quart of cold water soak them over night, in a warm place. Next day set them to boiling four or five hours, before they are to be eaten, put in a couple of lbs. of pork to two quarts of the peas, add in a little more water, if not likely to be sufficiently soft, put in a tea spoonful of saleratus half an hour before you take up the soup.
Pick over the beans, wash, and put them in a pot with cold water enough to cover them, hang them over the fire where they will keep just lukewarm. When they begin to grow soft, stew them over a hot fire several minutes, with a heaping tea spoonful of saleratus. Then take them up with a skimmer, and put them in a baking pot, gash a lb. of pork and put it down in the pot so as to have the beans just cover it, pour in cold water till you can see it at the top. They will bake in a hot oven in the course of three hours; but they will be better to remain in it five or six. Beans are very good stewed, without being baked.
Break your eggs into a dish and beat them to a foam. Then put them on a few coals, put in a small lump of butter, a little salt, let them cook very slowly, stirring them constantly till they become quite thick, then take them up, and turn them on buttered toast.
They should be put into boiling water, and if you wish to have them soft, three minutes is long enough to boil them, if you wish to have them hard, they should boil five minutes. Another way to boil them, is to break the shells and drop the eggs, into a frying pan of boiling water, let them boil three or four minutes. If you do not use the eggs, as a garnish, salt and butter them, when you take them up.
Beat your eggs to a froth, leaving out half the whites, put in a couple of ounces, of fine minced ham, corned beef or veal, when veal is used, a little salt will be requisite. Fry it in butter, till it begins to thicken. When it is brown on the underside, it is sufficiently cooked. If you wish to have it brown on the top, put a heated bake pan lid over it, as soon as it has set.
Fresh fish for boiling, or broiling, are the best the day after they are caught. They should be cleaned, washed, and half a tea cup of salt, sprinkled on the inside of them, and a little pepper, if they are to bebroiled. Set them in a cool place. When fresh fish are boiled, they should be put in a strainer, or sewed up in a cloth carefully; put them in cold water, with the backbone down; with eight or ten pounds of fish, boil half a tea cup of salt. Many people do not put their fish into the pot, until the water boils, but it is not a good plan, as the outside gets cooked too much, before the inside is cooked sufficiently. Fish for frying, should be wiped dry after being washed, and flour sprinkled on them. For five or six lbs. of fish, fry three or four slices of pork, when brown, take them up, and put in the fish, if the pork does not make sufficient fat, to fry the fish in, add a little lard. For good plain gravy, mix a tea spoonful or two of flour with a little water, and turn in, when you have taken up the fish; when well mixed, add a little butter and pepper, when it boils, turn it on to the fish. Boiled fish, should be served up with drawn butter, or liver sauce. For a garnish to boiled fish, boil several eggs five minutes, cool them in water, then take off the shells, and cut them in slices, and lay them round the fish; parsly and pepper grass, are also a pretty garnish for boiled fish. For broiling fish the gridiron should be greased with a little butter, the inside of the fish should be broiled first.
Is good boiled, fried, baked, or made into a chowder. It is too dry a fish to broil.
Is nice cut in slices, and broiled or fried; the fins and the thick part, are good boiled.
Are good fried, boiled, broiled, baked or made into a chowder.
Black fish are the best fried, or boiled, they will do to broil but are not so nice as cooked in any other way.
Fresh shad are the best bloated and broiled; but they are good boiled or fried, the spawn and liver are nice fried in lard. Salt shad is good boiled, without any soaking, if liked quite salt, if not pour on scalding water, and let them soak in it, half an hour, then drain off the water, and boil them twentyminutes. Salt shad and mackerel for broiling, should be soaked twenty four hours, in cold water, the water should be changed several times. To salt twenty five shad, mix one pound of sugar, a peck of rock salt, two quarts of fine salt, and quarter of a pound of salt petre. Put a layer of it at the bottom of the keg, then a layer of shad, with the skin side down, sprinkle on the mixed salt, sugar, and salt petre, and so on till you get in all the shad. Lay a heavy weight on the shad, to keep it under brine. If there is not brine enough in the course of a week, add a little more sugar, salt, and salt petre.
Fry three or four slices of pork until brown. Cut each of your fish into five or six slices, flour and put a layer of them in your pork fat, sprinkle on pepper and very little salt, cloves, and mace, if you like, lay on several crackers, previously soaked soft, in cold water, and several bits of your fried pork, this operation repeat, till you get in all your fish, then turn on nearly water enough to cover them, put on a heated bake panlid. When the fish has stewed about twenty minutes, take them up, and mix a tea spoonful of flour, with a little water, and stir it into the gravy, add about an ounce of butter, and cloves. Half a pint of white wine, and the juice of half a lemon, or a tea cup of tomato catsup, improve it. Bass and Cod, make the best chowder. Some people like them made of clams, the hard part should be cut off.
Soak bread in cold water, till soft, then squeeze out all the water, mash it and mix it with a piece of butter, of the size of a hen's egg, a little salt, pepper, cloves, and mace, a couple of raw eggs, makes the dressing cut smoother. Fill the fish with this dressing, and sew it up. Put a tea cup of water in a bake pan, and a small piece of butter, lay in the fish; bake it about an hour. Fresh cod, bass, and shad, are suitable fish for baking.
Should be soaked in lukewarm water, till the skin will come off easily. Scrape it, and change the water, and put it over a moderate fire, where it will keep warm without boiling, boiling hardens rather than softens it. It takes three hours to soak it soft. It should be cut into good square pieces, and served up with drawn butter. Cold codfish is good, minced up fine, with potatoes, and warmed up with butter, and a little water.
Cold, boiled, salt, or fresh fish, are nice mixed up fine, with potatoes, a little butter put in, and moulded up, into small cakes, with the hand, fry them in pork fat, or butter.
Put them into boiling water, and boil them three quarters of an hour, if large, if not, half an hour will be long enough. Boil two thirds of a tea cup of salt, with four or five pounds of lobsters. When cold crack the shells, take out the meat. Be careful to get out the blue vein, and what is called the lady, as they are very unhealthy.
Lobsters are good cold, or warmed up, with a little vinegar, pepper, salt, and butter. A way of dressing them, which looks very prettily, is to pick out the spawn, and red chord, mash it fine, and rub it through the sieve, put in a little butter and salt, cut the lobsters into small squares, and warm it together with the spawn, over a moderate fire. When hot take it up, and garnish it with parsly. The chord and spawn when strained, are a handsome garnish for any kind of boiled fish.
Are nice fried, or boiled and pickled like oysters, for frying, they should be previously boiled, and taken out of the shells, and all but the hearts thrown away, as the rest is very unhealthy, dip the hearts, into flour, and fry them till brown in lard. The hearts are also good stewed with a little water, butter, pepper, and salt.
If very large, are best, bloated and broiled, they should be bloated several hours before cooking them. If not very large fry them in pork fat; large eels are nice cut into small strips, and laid in a deep dish, with bits of salt pork and pepper, and baked for half an hour.