Slice a loaf of bread tolerably thick--lay the slices in the bottom of a dish, cutting them so as to cover it completely; sprinkle some sugar and nutmeg, with a little butter, on each layer; when all are in, pour on a quart of good boiled custard sweetened--serve it up cold.
Simmer half a pound of maccaroni in a plenty of water, with a table-spoonful of salt, till tender, but not broke--strain it, beat five yelks, two whites of eggs, half a pint of cream--mince white meat and boiled ham very fine, add three spoonsful of grated cheese, pepper and salt; mix these with the maccaroni, butter the mould, put it in, and steam it in a pan of boiling water for an hour--serve with rich gravy.
Boil mealy potatos quite soft, first taking off the skins; rub them while hot through a sieve, put them in a stew pan over the fire, with as much water as will make it the consistence of thick mush; sift one quart of flour, and make it into a paste; with this mush, knead it till light, roll it out thin, make the dumplins small--fill them with apples, or any other fruit--tie them up in a thick cloth, and boil them nicely--eat them with butter, sugar, and nutmeg.
Pare and core the apples, and if you prefer it, cut them in four, wash them clean, and put them in a pan with water and sugar enough to cover them; add cinnamon and lemon peel, which has been previously soaked, scraped on the inside, and cut in strings; boil them gently until the apples are done, take them out in a deep dish, boil the syrup to a proper consistency, and pour it on them: it will take a pound of sugar for a large dish.
Stew any kind of fruit, and season it in any you like best; soak some slices of bread in butter; them while hot, in the bottom and round the sides of a dish, which has been rubbed with butter--put in your fruit, and lay slices of bread prepared in the same manner on the top: bake it a few minutes, turn it carefully into another dish, sprinkle on some powdered sugar, and glaze it with a salamander.
Pare some apples, and cut them in thin slices--put them in a bowl, with a glass of brandy, some white wine, a quarter of a pound of pounded sugar, a little cinnamon finely powdered, and the rind of a lemon grated; let them stand some time, turning them over frequently; beat two eggs very light, add one quarter of a pound of flour, a table-spoonful of melted butter, and as much cold water as will make a thin batter; drip the apples on a sieve, mix them with the batter, take one slice with a spoonful of batter to each fritter, fry them quickly of a light brown, drain them well, put them in a dish, sprinkling sugar over each, and glaze them nicely.
Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a pint of water; let it boil a few minutes--thicken it very smoothly with a pint of flour; let it remain a short time on the fire, stir it all the time that it may not stick to the pan, pour it in a wooden bowl, add five or six eggs, breaking one and beating it in--then another, and so on till they are all in, and the dough quite light--put a pint of lard in a pan, let it boil, make the fritters small, and fry them of a fine amber colour.
Cut your bread of a convenient size, pour on it some white wine, and let it stand a few minutes--drain it on a sieve, beat four eggs very light, add four spoonsful of wine, beat all well together--have your lard boiling, dip the bread in the egg, and fry it a light brown; sprinkle sugar on each, and glaze them.
Make up a quart of flour, with one egg well beaten, a large spoonful of yeast, and as much milk as will make it a little softer than muffin dough; mix it early in the morning; when well risen, work in two spoonsful of melted butter, make it in balls the size of a walnut, and fry them a light brown in boiling lard--eat them with wine and sugar, or molasses.
Put a lump of butter the size of an egg into a quart of water, make it sufficiently thick with corn meal and a little salt; it must be mixed perfectly smooth--stir it constantly till done enough.
Put one pound of nice sugar into two pounds of flour, add pounded spice of any kind, and pass them through a sieve; beat four eggs, pour them on with three quarters of a pound of melted butter, knead all well together, and bake them.
Blanch a pound of sweet almonds, pound them in a mortar with rose water; whip the whites of seven eggs to a strong froth, put in one pound of powdered sugar, beat it some time, then put in the almonds--mix them well, and drop them on sheets of paper buttered; sift sugar over, and bake them quickly. Be careful not to let them get discoloured.
Beat eight eggs very light, add to them twelve ounces of flour, and one pound of sugar; when perfectly light, drop them on tin sheets, and bake them in a quick oven.
To one pound of flour, add half a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter, some mace and nutmeg powdered, and a glass of brandy or wine; wet it with milk, and when well kneaded, roll it thin, cut it in shapes, and bake it quickly.
Rub half a pound of sugar into three pounds of flour--sift it, pour on half a pint of good yeast, beat six eggs, add half a pint of milk--mix all together, knead it well: if not soft enough, add more milk-it should be softer than bread; make it at night--in the morning, if well risen, work in six ounces of butter, and bake it in small rolls; when cold, slice it, lay it on tin sheets, and dry it in the oven.
Three quarts of flour, three quarters of a pound of brown sugar, a large spoonful of pounded ginger, one tea-spoonful of powdered cloves--sift it, melt half a pound of butter in a quart of rich molasses, wet the flour with it, knead it well, and bake it in a slack oven.
Mix three large spoonsful of pounded ginger, with three quarts of flour--sift it, dissolve three tea-spoonsful of pearl-ash in a cup of water, and pour it on the flour; melt half a pound of butter in a quart of molasses, mix it with the flour, knead it well, cut it in shapes, and bake it.
Take two pounds of the nicest brown sugar, dry and pound it, put it into three quarts of flour, add a large cup full of powdered ginger, and sift the mixture; wash the salt out of a pound of butter, and cream it; have twelve eggs well beaten; work into the butter first, the mixture, then the froth from the eggs, until all are in, and it is quite light; add a glass of brandy butter shallow moulds, pour it in, and bake in a quick oven.
Dry half a pound of good brown sugar, pound it and mix it with two pounds of flour, and sift it; add two spoonsful of yeast, and as much new milk as will make it like bread: when well risen, knead in half a pound of butter, make it in cakes the size of a half dollar, and fry them a light brown in boiling lard.
Take three pounds of flour, one and a half of pounded sugar, a tea-spoonful of cloves, one of mace, and one of ginger, all finely powdered--pass the whole through a sieve, put to it four spoonsful of good yeast, and twelve eggs--mix it up well, and if not sufficiently soft, add a little milk: make it up at night, and set it to rise--when well risen, knead into it a pound of butter, and two gills of brandy; have ready two pounds of raisins stoned, mix all well together, pour it into a mould of proper size, and bake it in an oven heated as for bread; let it stand till thoroughly done, and do not take it from the mould until quite cold.
Wash the salt from a pound of butter, and rub it till it is soft as cream--have ready a pound of flour sifted, one of powdered sugar, and twelve eggs well beaten; put alternately into the butter, sugar, flour, and the froth from the eggs--continuing to beat them together till all the ingredients are in, and the cake quite light: add some grated lemon peel, a nutmeg, and a gill of brandy; butter the pans, and bake them. This cake makes an excellent pudding, if baked in a large mould, and eaten with sugar and wine. It is also excellent when boiled, and served up with melted butter, sugar and wine.
Take twelve fresh eggs, put them in the scale, and balance them with sugar: take out half, and balance the other half with flour; separate the whites from the yelks, whip them up very light, then mix them, and sift in, first sugar, then flour, till both are exhausted; add some grated lemon peel; bake them in paper cases, or little tin moulds. This also makes an excellent pudding, with butter, sugar, and wine, for sauce.
HAVE the following articles prepared, before you begin the cake: four pounds of flour dried and sifted, four pounds of butter washed to free it from salt, two pounds of loaf sugar pounded, a quarter of a pound of mace, the same of nutmegs powdered; wash four pounds of currants clean, pick and dry them; blanch one pound of sweet almonds, and cut them in very thin slices; stone two pounds of raisins, cut them in two, and strew a little flour over to prevent their sticking together, and two pounds of citron sliced thin; break thirty eggs, separating the yelks and whites; work the butter to a cream with your hand-put in alternately, flour, sugar, and the froth from both whites and yelks, which must be beaten separately, andonlythe froth put in. When all are mixed and the cake looks very light, add the spice, with half a pint of brandy, the currants and almonds; butter the mould well, pour in part of the cake, strew over it some raisins and citron--do this until all is in: set it in a well heated oven: when it has risen, and the top is coloured, cover it with paper; it will require three hours baking--it must be iced.
Beat twelve eggs light, add to them one pound of flour, and one of powdered sugar; continue to beat all together till perfectly light; bake it in long pans, four inches wide, with divisions; so that each cake, when done, will be four inches long, and one and a half wide.
Mix a pound of sugar, with two pounds of flour, and a large spoonful of pounded coriander seeds; sift them, add three quarters of a pound of melted butter, six eggs, and a gill of brandy; knead it well, roll it thin, cut it in shapes, and bake without discolouring it.
Prepare them as directed for pound cake, add raisins and currants, bake them in small tin shapes, and ice them.
Dissolve half a pound of sugar in a pint of milk, add a tea-spoonful of soda; pour it on two pounds of flour--melt half a pound of butter, knead all together till light, put it in shallow moulds, and bake it quickly in a brisk oven.
When you find the barrel of flour a good one, empty it into a chest or box, made for the purpose, with a lid that will shut close: it keeps much better in this manner than when packed in a barrel, and even improves by lying lightly; sift the quantity you intend to make up--put into a bowl two gills and a half of water for each quart, with a tea-spoon heaped up with salt, and a large spoonful of yeast for each quart; stir this mixture well, put into another bowl one handful of flour from every quart; pour a little of the mixture on to wet it, then more, until you get it all in, taking great care that it be smooth, and quite free from lumps; beat it some minutes, take one-third of the flour out of the kettle, pour on the batter, and sprinkle over it the dry flour; stop the kettle, and set it where it can have a moderate degree of warmth: when it has risen well, turn it into a bowl, mix in the dry flour, and knead it on a board till it looks quite light; return it to the kettle, and place it where it can have proper heat: in the morning, take the dry crust carefully from the top, put the dough on a board, knead it well, make it into rolls, set them on tin sheets, put a towel over, and let them stand near the fire till the oven is ready. In winter, make the bread up at three o'clock, and it will be ready to work before bed time. In summer, make it up at five o'clock. A quart of flour should weigh just one pound and a quarter. The bread must be rasped when baked.
Rub a large spoonful of butter into a quart of risen dough, knead it well, and make it into biscuit, either thick or thin: bake them quickly.
Boil six ounces of rice in a quart of water, till it is dry and soft--put it into two pounds of flour, mix it in well; add two tea-spoonsful of salt, two large spoonsful of yeast, and as much water as will make it the consistence of bread: when well risen, bake it in moulds.
Put a tea-spoonful of salt, and a large one of yeast, into a quart of flour; make it sufficiently soft, with corn meal gruel; when well risen, bake it in a mould. It is an excellent bread for breakfast. Indifferent flour will rise much better, when made with gruel, than with fair water.
Put half a pound of fresh hops into a gallon of water, and boil it away to two quarts; then strain it, make it a thin batter with flour; add half a pint good yeast, and when well fermented, pour it in a bowl, and work in as much corn meal as will make it the consistency of biscuit dough; set it to rise, and when quite light, make it into little cakes, which must be dried in the shade, turning them very frequently; keep them securely from damp and dust. Persons who live in town, and can procure brewer's yeast, will save trouble by using it: take one quart of it, add a quart of water, and proceed as before directed.
Take one or more cakes, according to the flour you are to make; pour on a little warm water; when it is dissolved, stir it well, thicken with a little flour, and set it near the fire, to rise before it is used. The best thing to keep yeast in, is a small mug or pitcher, with a close stopper, under which must be placed a double fold of linen, to make it still closer. This is far preferable to a bottle, and more easily cleaned.
Peel one large Irish potato, boil it till soft, rub it through a sieve; add an equal quantity of flour, make it sufficiently liquid with hop tea; and when a little warmer than new milk, add a gill of good yeast; stir it well, and keep it closely covered in a small pitcher.
Put four ounces of sugar with three quarters of a pound of flour; make it up with two spoonsful of yeast, and half a pint of milk; when well risen, work into it four ounces of butter, make it into small buns, and bake them in a quick oven--do not burn them.
Sift a quart of flour, put to it a little salt, and a large spoonful of yeast--beat the white of a fresh egg to a strong froth, add it, and make the flour up with cold water, as soft as you can to allow it to be handled; set it in a moderately warm place. Next morning, beat it well with a spoon, put it on the griddle in a round form, and bake it nicely, turning them frequently till done.
Sift a quart of flour, add a little salt, a spoonful of yeast, two eggs well beaten, and half a pint of milk--knead it, and set it to rise: next morning, work in an ounce of butter, make the dough into small rolls, and bake them. The top crust should not be hard.
Take a quart of dough from your bread at a very early hour in the morning; break three fresh eggs, separating the yelks from the whites--whip them both to a froth, mix them with the dough, and add gradually milk-warm water, till you make a batter the thickness of buckwheat cakes: beat it well, and set it to rise till near breakfast time; have the griddle ready, pour on the batter to look quite round: they do not require turning.
Put a little salt, one egg beaten, and four ounces of butter, in a quart of flour--make it into a paste with new milk, beat it for half an hour with a pestle, roll the paste thin, and cut it into round cakes; bake them on a gridiron, and be careful not to bum them.
Boil two cups of small homony very soft; add an equal quantity of corn meal with a little salt, and a large spoonful of butter; make it in a thin batter with three eggs, and a sufficient quantity of milk--beat all together some time, and bake them on a griddle, or in woffle irons. When eggs cannot be procured, yeast makes a good substitute; put a spoonful in the batter, and let it stand an hour to rise.
Take six spoonsful of flour and three of corn meal, with a little salt--sift them, and make a thin batter with four eggs, and a sufficient quantity of rich milk; bake it in little tin moulds in a quick oven.
Melt as much butter in a pint of milk, as will make it rich as cream--make the flour into a paste with this, knead it well, roll it out frequently, cut it in squares, and bake on a griddle.
Rub four ounces of butter into a quart of flour, make it into paste with milk, knead it well, roll it as thin as paper, and bake it to look white.
Rub a piece of butter the size of an egg, into a pint of corn meal--make it a batter with two eggs, and some new milk--add a spoonful of yeast, set it by the fire an hour to rise, butter little pans, and bake it.
Boil and mash a potato, rub into it as much flour as will make it like bread--add spice and sugar to your taste, with a spoonful of yeast; when it has risen well, work in a piece of butter, bake it in small rolls, to be eaten hot with butter, either for breakfast or tea.
Boil two gills of rice quite soft, mix with it three gills of flour, a little salt, two ounces melted butter, two eggs beaten well, and as much milk as will make it a thick batter--beat it till very light, and bake it in woffle irons.
Make a batter of one quart of flour, three eggs, a quart of milk, and a gill of yeast; when well risen, stir in a large spoonful of melted butter, and bake them in muffin hoops.
Put half a pound of nice brown sugar into a quart of flour, sift it, and make it into a paste, with four ounces of butter melted in as much milk as will wet it; knead it till light, roll it tolerably thin, cut it in strips an inch wide, and just long enough to lay in a plate; bake them on a griddle, put them in the plate in rows to checker each other, and serve them to eat with chocolate.
Beat six eggs, add a pint of flour, two ounces of melted butter, with as much milk as will make a thin batter--put in pounded loaf sugar to your taste, pour it in the wafer irons, bake them quickly without browning, and roll them while hot.
Put a large spoonful of yeast and a little salt, into a quart of buckwheat meal; make it into a batter with cold water; let it rise well, and bake it on a griddle--it turns sour very quickly, if it be allowed to stand any time after it has risen.
It is the practice with some indolent cooks, to set the freezer containing the cream, in a tub with ice and salt, and put it in the ice house; it will certainly freeze there; but not until the watery particles have subsided, and by the separation destroyed the cream. A freezer should be twelve or fourteen inches deep, and eight or ten wide. This facilitates the operation very much, by giving a larger surface for the ice to form, which it always does on the sides of the vessel; a silver spoon with a long handle should be provided for scraping the ice from the sides as soon as formed: and when the whole is congealed, pack it in moulds (which must be placed with care, lest they should not be upright,) in ice and salt, till sufficiently hard to retain the shape--they should not be turned out till the moment they are to be served. The freezing tub must be wide enough to leave a margin of four or five inches all around the freezer, when placed in the middle--which must be filled up with small lumps of ice mixed with salt--a larger tub would waste the ice. The freezer must be kept constantly in motion during the process, and ought to be made of pewter, which is less liable than tin to be worn in holes, and spoil the cream by admitting the salt water.
When ice creams are not put into shapes, they should always be served in glasses with handles.
Boil a Vanilla bean in a quart of rich milk, until it has imparted the flavour sufficiently--then take it out, and mix with the milk, eight eggs, yelks and whites beaten well; let it boil a little longer; make it very sweet, for much of the sugar is lost in the operation of freezing.
Make a quart of rich boiled custard--when cold, pour it on a quart of ripe red raspberries; mash them in it, pass it through a sieve, sweeten, and freeze it.
Is made in the same manner--the strawberries must be very ripe, and the stems picked out. If rich cream can be procured, it will be infinitely better--the custard is intended as a substitute, when cream cannot be had.
Take the nut from its shell, pare it, and grate it very fine; mix it with a quart of cream, sweeten, and freeze it. If the nut be a small one, it will require one and a half to flavour a quart of cream.
Scrape a quarter of a pound of chocolate very fine, put it in a quart of milk, boil it till the chocolate is dissolved, stirring it continually--thicken with six eggs. A Vanilla bean boiled with the milk, will improve the flavour greatly.
Make a rich soup, (see directions for oyster soup,) strain it from the oysters, and freeze it.
Make calf's foot jelly not very stiff, freeze it, and serve it in glasses.
Get fine soft peaches perfectly ripe, peel them, take out the stones, and put them in a China bowl: sprinkle some sugar on, and chop them very small with a silver spoon--if the peaches be sufficiently ripe, they will become a smooth pulp; add as much cream or rich milk as you have peaches; put more sugar, and freeze it.
Toast two gills of raw coffee till it is a light brown, and not a grain burnt; put it hot from the toaster without grinding it, into a quart of rich, and perfectly sweet milk; boil it, and add the yelks of eight eggs; when done, strain it through a sieve, and sweeten it; if properly done, it will not be discoloured. The coffee may be dried, and will answer for making in the usual way to drink, allowing more for the quantity of water, than if it had not gone through this process.
Wash ripe quinces and boil them whole till quite tender--let them stand to drain and cool--then rub them through a hair sieve; mix with the pulp as much cochineal finely powdered, as will make it a pretty colour; then add an equal quantity of cream, and sweeten it. Pears or apples may be used, prepared in the same manner.
Cut the finest citron melons when perfectly ripe--take out the seeds, and slice the nicest part into a China bowl in small pieces, that will lie conveniently; cover them with powdered sugar, and let them stand several hours--then drain off the syrup they have made, and add as much cream as it will give a strong flavour to, and freeze it. Pine apples may be used in the same way.
Pour hot water on the almonds, and let them stand till the skins will slip off, then pound them fine, and mix them with cream: a pound of almonds in the shells, will be sufficient for a quart of cream--sweeten and freeze it. The kernels of the common black walnut, prepared in the same way, make an excellent cream.
Pare the yellow rind very thin from four lemons--put them in a quart of fresh cream, and boil it; squeeze and strain the juice of one lemon, saturate it completely with powdered sugar; and when the cream is quite cold, stir it in--take care that it does not curdle--if not sufficiently sweet, add more sugar.
Make a quart of rich lemonade, whip the whites of six fresh eggs to a strong froth--mix them well with the lemonade, and freeze it. The juice of morello cherries, or of currants mixed with water and sugar, and prepared in the same way, make very delicate ices.
Make a quart of milk quite hot, that it may not whey when baked; let it stand to get cold, and then mix six eggs with it; sweeten it with loaf sugar, and fill the custard cups--put on the covers, and set them in a Dutch oven with water, but not enough to risk its boiling into the cups; do not put on the top of the oven. When the water has boiled ten or fifteen minutes, take out a cup, and if the custard be the consistence of jelly; it is sufficiently done; serve them in the cups with the covers on, and a tea-spoon on the dish between each cup--grate nutmeg on the tops when cold.
Put slices of Savoy cake or Naples biscuit at the bottom of a deep dish; wet it with white wine, and fill the dish nearly to the top with rich boiled custard; season half a pint of cream with white wine and sugar; whip it to a froth--as it rises, take it lightly off, and lay it on the custard; pile it up high and tastily--decorate it with preserves of any kind, cut so thin as not to bear the froth down by its weight.
Boil a tea-cup full of rice in a very small of water, till it is near bursting--then add half a pint of milk, boil it to a mush, stirring all the time; season it with sugar, wine, and nutmeg; dip the mould in water, and fill it; when cold, turn it in a dish, and surround it with boiled custard seasoned, or syllabub--garnish it with marmalade.
Have the bowl nearly full of syllabub, made with milk, white wine, and sugar; beat the whites of six new laid eggs to a strong froth--then mix with it raspberry or strawberry marmalade enough to flavour and colour it; lay the froth lightly on the syllabub, first putting in some slices of cake; raise it in little mounds, and garnish with something light.
Season the milk with sugar and white wine, but not enough to curdle it; fill the glasses nearly full, and crown them with whipt cream seasoned.
Pare the rind very thin from four fresh lemons, squeeze the juice, and strain it--put them both into a quart of water, sweeten it to your taste, add the whites of six eggs, beat to a froth; set it over the fire, and keep stirring until it thickens, but do not let it boil--then pour it in a bowl; when cold, strain it through a sieve, put it on the fire, and add the yelks of the eggs--stir it till quite thick, and serve it in glasses.
Is made in the same manner, but requires more juice to give a flavour.
Stir as much raspberry marmalade into a quart of cream, as will be sufficient to give a rich flavour of the fruit--strain it, and fill your glasses, leaving out a part to whip into froth for the top.
Put one ounce of the best tea in a pitcher, pour on it a table spoonful of water, and let it stand an hour to soften the leaves; then put to it a quart of boiling cream, cover it close, and in half an hour strain it; add four tea-spoonsful of a strong infusion of rennet in water, stir it, and set it on some hot ashes, and cover it; when you find by cooling a little of it, that it will jelly, pour it into glasses, and garnish with thin bits of preserved fruit.
Wash the sago clean, and put it on the fire with a stick of cinnamon, and as much water as will boil it thick and soft; take out the cinnamon, and add rich boiled custard till it is of a proper thickness; sweeten it, and serve in glasses or cups, with grated nutmeg on the top.
Is made the same way--you may add a little white wine to both; it will give an agreeable flavour.
Pick the stems and blossoms from two quarts of green gooseberries; put them in a stew pan, with their weight in loaf sugar, and a very little water--when sufficiently stewed, pass the pulp through a sieve; and when cold, add rich boiled custard till it is like thick cream; put it in a glass bowl, and lay frothed cream on the top.
Make a quart of rich milk moderately warm: then stir into it one large spoonful of the preparation of rennet, (see receipt to prepare rennet,) set it by, and when cold, it will be as stiff as jelly. It should be made only a few hours before it is used, or it will be tough and watery; in summer, set the dish in ice after it has jellied--it must be eaten with powdered sugar, cream, and nutmeg.
Turn one quart of milk as for the slip--let it stand until just before it is to be served: then take it up with a skimming dish, and lay it on a sieve--when the whey has drained off, put the curds in a dish, and surround them with cream--use sugar and nutmeg. These are Arcadian dishes; very delicious, cheap, and easily prepared.
Break one ounce of isinglass into very small pieces; wash it well, and pour on a pint of boiling water; next morning, add a quart of milk, boil it till the isinglass is dissolved, strain it, put in two ounces sweet almonds, blanched and pounded; sweeten it, and put it in the mould--when stiff, turn them into a deep dish, and put raspberry cream around them. For a change, stick thin slips of blanched almonds all over the blanc mange, and dress round with syllabub, nicely frothed. Some moulds require colouring--for an ear of corn, mix the yelk of an egg with a little of the blanc mange; fill the grains of the corn with it--and when quite set, pour in the white, but take care it is not warm enough to melt the yellow: for a bunch of asparagus, colour a little with spinach juice, to fill the green tops of the heads. Fruit must be made the natural colour of what it represents. Cochineal and alkanet root pounded and dissolved in brandy, make good colouring; but blanc mange should never be served, without raspberry cream or syllabub to eat with it.
Get five small eggs, make a hole at one end, and empty the shells--fill them with blanc mange: when stiff and cold, take off the shells, pare the yellow rind very thin from six lemons, boil them in water till tender, then cut them in thin strips to resemble straw, and preserve them with sugar; fill a small deep dish half full of nice jelly--when it is set, put the straw on in form of a nest, and lay the eggs in it. It is a beautiful dish for a dessert or supper.
Roast two pheasants in the nicest manner--get a deep dish, the size and form of the one you intend to serve the pheasants in--it must be as deep as a tureen; put in savoury jelly about an inch and a half at the bottom; when that is set, and the pheasants cold, lay them on the jelly with their breasts down; fill the dish with jelly up to their backs; take care it is not warm enough to melt the other, and that the birds are not displaced--just before it is to be served, set it a moment in hot water to loosen it; put the dish on the top, and turn it out carefully.
Truss six partridges neatly, cover them with thin slices of fat bacon taken from the top of a middling; this keeps them white, and gives a good flavour; they must be wrapped entirely in it--roast them, and when done, take off the bacon; let them get cold, and use jelly as for the pheasants.
Roast two half grown chickens, cut off the legs and wings, pull the breast from each side entire, take the skin from all the pieces, lay it in the dish, and cover it with jelly.
Put eight or ten pounds of coarse lean beef, or the same quantity of the inferior parts of the fore quarter of veal, into a pot with two gallons of water, a pound of lean salt pork, three large onions chopped, three carrots, a large handful of parsley, and any sweet herb that you choose, with pepper and salt; boil it very gently till reduced to two quarts; strain it through a sieve--next day, take off the fat, turn out the jelly, and separate it from the dregs at the bottom; put it on the fire with half a pint of white wine, a large spoonful of lemon pickle, and the whites and shells of four eggs beaten: when it boils clear on one side, run it through the jelly bag.
Bone a small turkey, put pepper and salt on the inside, and cover it with slices of boiled ham or tongue; fill it with well seasoned forcemeat, sew it up and boil it--cover it with jelly.
Turn a bowl on the dish, and put on it in regular rings, beginning at the bottom, the following ingredients, all minced:--anchovies with the bones taken out, the white meat of fowls without the skin, hard boiled eggs, the yelks and whites chopped separately, parsley, the lean of old ham scraped, the inner stalks of celery; put a row of capers round the bottom of the bowl, and dispose the others in a fanciful manner; put a little pyramid of butter on the top, and have a small glass with egg mixed as for sallad, to eat with the salmagundi.
Put some soup or gravy from any of the dishes on the table, into the stew dish; add a good portion of pepper, vinegar, wine, catsup and salt; let it be very highly seasoned; broil the legs, liver, and gizzard of a turkey, the kidney of veal, or any thing you fancy; cut it up in small pieces: when broiled, put it in the gravy, and stew it at table.
Lay the perch in a deep pan with the heads on; sprinkle salt, pepper, and a little chopped onion over each layer; when they are all in, take as much water as will be sufficient to fill the pan less than half full; add a gill of wine, one of catsup, a little lemon pickle and spice; cover the pan, and let it stew gently till done; take out the fish without breaking, put them in a deep dish, pour the gravy on, and neatly turn them out.
The preserving pan should be made of bell metal, flat at the bottom, very large in diameter, but not deep. It should have a cover to fit closely, and handles at the sides of the pan, for taking it off with ease when the syrup boils too fast. There should also be a large chafing-dish with long legs, for the convenience of moving it to any part of the room. The process is a tedious one; and if the superintendent be not comfortably situated, the preserves cannot be properly managed. A ladle the size of a saucer, pierced and having a long handle, will be necessary for taking up the fruit without syrup. When a chafing-dish cannot be procured, the best substitute is a brick stove, with a grating, to burn charcoal. The sugar should be the best double refined; but if the pure amber coloured sugar house syrup from the West Indies can be got, it is greatly superior; it never ferments, and the trouble is very much lessened by having ready made syrup, in which it is only necessary to boil the fruit till clear. All delicate fruit should be done gently, and not allowed to remain more than half an hour after it begins to stew, before it is laid on dishes to cool; it must be put into the syrup again for the same time; continue this until it is sufficiently transparent. The advantage of this method is that the preserves are less liable to boil to pieces, than when done all at one time. It is injudicious to put more in the pan at once, than can lie on the bottom without crowding. The pan must be made bright, and nothing permitted to cool in it, lest it should canker. Delicate preserves should be kept in small glasses or pots, that will not hold more than one or two pounds, for the admission of air injures them; put letter paper wet with brandy on the preserves, and cover the tops with many folds of soft paper, that will tie round closely; keep them in a dry place, and expose them constantly to the sun to check fermentation. Fruit for preserving should be in full perfection, but not too ripe.
Get the finest yellow cling-stones, pare them, and lay them in a bowl; have their weight of sugar pounded, and sprinkle it over them as they are put in; let them stand two or three hours, put them together with the sugar into the pan, add a little water, and let the peaches remain till thoroughly scalded; take them out with the ladle, draining off the syrup; should there not be enough to cover the peaches, add more Water, boil it and skim it, return the fruit, and do them gently till quite clear. Have some stones cracked, blanch the kernels, and preserve them with the peaches.
Pare the peaches, and cut them in as large slices as possible; have their weight in sugar, and preserve them as the others.
Get yellow soft peaches that are not quite ripe, pare and divide them, scrape the places where the stones lay with a tea-spoon, and follow the former directions.
Take the ripest soft peaches, (the yellow ones make the prettiest marmalade,) pare them, and take out the stones; put them in the pan with one pound of dry light coloured brown sugar to, two of peaches: when they are juicy, they do not require water: with a silver or wooden spoon, chop them with the sugar; continue to do this, and let them boil gently till they are a transparent pulp, that will be a jelly when cold. Puffs made of this marmalade are very delicious.
Slice them thin, and boil them till clear in a syrup made with half their weight of sugar; lay them on dishes in the sun, and turn them till dry; pack them in pots with powdered sugar sifted over each layer; should there be syrup left, continue the process with other peaches. They are very nice when done pure honey instead of sugar.
The small pears are better for preserving than large ones. Pare them, and make a syrup, with their weight of sugar, and a little water--leave the stem on, and stick a clove in the blossom end of each; stew them till perfectly transparent.
Boil the pears till soft--when cold, rub the pulp through a sieve, and boil it to a jelly, allowing one pound of sugar to two of pears.
Select the finest and most perfect quinces, lay them on shelves, but do not let them touch each other; keep them till they look yellow and have a fragrant smell; put as many in the preserving pan as can lie conveniently, cover them with water, and scald them well: then take out the cores, and put them in water; cover the pan and boil them some time; strain the water, add to it the weight of the quinces in pounded loaf sugar, dissolve and skim it, pare the quinces, put them in the pan, and should there not be syrup enough to cover them, add more water--stew them till quite transparent. They will be light coloured if kept covered during the process, and red if the cover be taken off. Fill the space the cores occupied with quince jelly, before they are put into the pots--and cover them with syrup.
Pick full ripe currants from the stem, and put them in a stone pot; then set it in an iron pot of water--take care that no water gets in: when the currants have yielded their juice, pour them into a jelly bag--let it run as long as it will without pressing, which must be reserved for the best jelly; you may then squeeze the bag to make inferior kind. To each pint of this juice, put one pound of loaf sugar powdered--boil it fifteen or twenty minutes--skim it clean, and put it in glasses; expose them daily to the sun to prevent fermentation.
Prepare the quinces as before directed, take off the stems and blossoms, wash them clean, and cut them in slices without paring; fill the pan, and pour in water to cover them--stew them gently, putting in a little water occasionally till they are soft; then pour them into a jelly bag; let all the liquor run through without pressing it, which must be set aside for the best jelly; to each pint of this, put a pound of loaf sugar pounded, and boil it to a jelly. The bag may be squeezed for an inferior, but a very nice jelly.
Boil the quinces in water until soft, let them cool, and rub all the pulp through a sieve: put two pounds of it to one of sugar, pound a little cochineal, sift in through fine muslin, and mix it with the quince to give a colour; pick out the seeds, tie them in a muslin bag, and boil them with the marmalade: when it is a thick jelly, take out the seeds, and put it in pots.
The most beautiful cherries to preserve, are the carnation and common light red, with short stems; select the finest that are not too ripe; take an equal weight with the cherries of double refined sugar, make it into a syrup, and preserve them without stoning, and with the stems on; if they be done carefully, and the "Directions for preserving" closely attended to, the stems will not come off, and they will be so transparent that the stones may be seen.
Take out the stones with a quill over a deep dish, to save the juice that runs from them; put to the juice a pound of sugar for each pound of cherries, weighed after they are stoned; boil and skim the syrup, then put in the fruit, and stew till quite clear.
Stone them, and save the juice: weigh the cherries, and allow one pound of good brown sugar to three of the fruit; boil it with the juice, put the cherries in, stew them fifteen or twenty minutes, take them out, drain off the syrup, and lay the cherries in dishes to dry in the sun; keep the syrup to pour over a little at a time, as it dries on the cherries, which must be frequently turned over; when all the syrup is used, put the cherries away in pots, sprinkling a little powdered loaf sugar between the layers. They make excellent pies, puddings, and charlottes.
To each pound of ripe red or English raspberries, put one pound of loaf sugar--stir it frequently, and stew till it is a thick jelly.
Get the largest strawberries before they are too ripe; have the best loaf sugar, one pound to each of strawberries--stew them very gently, taking them out to cool frequently, that they may not be mashed; when they look clear, they are done enough.
Is made in the same manner as the raspberry, and is very fine to mix with cream for blanc mange, puffs, sweet-meat puddings, &c. &c.
Select young gooseberries, make a syrup with one pound of loaf sugar to each of fruit; stew them till quite clear and the syrup becomes thick, but do not let them be mashed. They are excellent made into tarts--do not cover the pan while they are stewing.
Take freshly gathered apricots not too ripe; to half their weight of loaf sugar, add as much water as will cover the fruit; boil and skim it: then put in the apricots, and let them remain five or six minutes: take them up without syrup, and lay them on dishes to cool; boil the syrup till reduced one half; when the apricots are cold, put them in bottles, and cover them with equal quantities of syrup and French brandy. If the apricots be cling-stones, they will require more scalding.
Get yellow soft peaches, perfectly free from defect and newly gathered, but not too ripe; place them in a pot, and cover them with cold weak lye; turn over those that float frequently, that the lye may act equally on them; at the end of an hour take them out, wipe them carefully with a soft cloth to get off the down and skin, and lay them in cold water; make a syrup as for the apricots, and proceed in the same manner, only scald the peaches more.
Get the short stemmed bright red cherries in bunches--make a syrup, with equal quantities of sugar and cherries; scald the cherries, but do not let the skins crack, which they will do if the fruit be too ripe.
Select those that are free from blemish--make a syrup with half their weight of sugar, and preserve them in the same manner directed for apricots--green gages. The large amber, and the blue plums, are also excellent, done in the same way.