La Cuisine Creole
La Cuisine Creole
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Title: La cuisine creole
a collection of culinary recipes from leading chefs and noted
Creole housewives, who have made New Orleans famous for its cuisine
Author: Lafcadio Hearn
Release date: January 3, 2025 [eBook #75027]
Language: English
Original publication: New Orleans: F. F. Hansell & Bro., Ltd, 1885
Credits: Carol Brown, deaurider and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA CUISINE
CREOLE ***
Contents
INTRODUCTION
SOUP
FISH
COLD MEATS AND HOW TO SERVE THEM
SAUCES FOR MEATS AND GAME
ENTREES
MUTTON, BEEF AND HAMS
FOWLS AND GAME
VEGETABLES
EGGS, OMELETS, ETC.
SALADS AND RELISHES
PICKLES
BREAD AND YEAST
RUSKS, DOUGHNUTS AND WAFFLES
CAKE AND CONFECTIONS
DESSERTS
PUDDINGS, PIES AND MINCEMEAT
PRESERVES, SYRUPS AND FRUIT JELLIES
BRANDIED FRUITS, WINES AND CORDIALS
DELICATE PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK AND CONVALESCENT
COFFEE, TEA, CHOCOLATE, ETC.
CANDIES AND CREAM DROPS
CHEFS D’OEUVRE
HINTS ON COOKING
HINTS ON HOUSECLEANING
INDEX
Transcriber’s Note:
LA CUISINE CREOLE
A COLLECTION OF
CULINARY RECIPES
From Leading Chefs and Noted Creole Housewives,
Who Have Made New Orleans
Famous for Its Cuisine
SECOND EDITION
NEW ORLEANS:
F. F. HANSELL & BRO., Ltd.
COPYRIGHT
1885
HAMMOND PRESS
W. B. CONKEY COMPANY
CHICAGO
INTRODUCTION
“La Cuisine Creole” (Creole cookery) partakes of the nature of its
birthplace—New Orleans—which is cosmopolitan in its nature, blending
the characteristics of the American, French, Spanish, Italian, West Indian
and Mexican. In this compilation will be found many original recipes and
other valuable ones heretofore unpublished, notably those of Gombo file,
Bouille-abaisse, Courtbouillon, Jambolaya, Salade a la Russe, Bisque of
Cray-fish a la Creole, Pusse Cafe, Cafe brule, Brulot, together with many
confections and delicacies for the sick, including a number of mixed drinks.
Much domestic contentment depends upon the successful preparation of the
meal; and as food rendered indigestible through ignorance in cooking often
creates discord and unhappiness, it behooves the young housekeeper to
learn the art of cooking.
It is the author’s endeavor to present to her a number of recipes all
thoroughly tested by experience, and embracing the entire field of the
“Cuisine,” set forth in such clear, concise terms, as to be readily understood
and easily made practicable, thereby unveiling the mysteries which
surround her, upon the entree into the kitchen. Economy and simplicity
govern “La Cuisine Creole”; and its many savory dishes are rendered
palatable more as the result of care in their preparation than any great skill
or expensive outlay in the selection of materials. The Creole housewife
often makes delicious morceaux from the things usually thrown away by
the extravagant servant. She is proud of her art, and deservedly receives the
compliments of her friends. This volume will be found quite different from
the average cook-book in its treatment of recipes, and is the only one in
print containing dishes peculiar to “la Cuisine Creole.”
LA CUISINE CREOLE
SOUP
Soup being the first course served at all ordinary dinners, we make it the
basis for preliminary remarks. Nothing more palatable than good, well-
made soup, and nothing less appetising than poor soup. Now to attain
perfection in any line, care and attention are requisite, careful study a
necessity, and application the moving force. Hence, cooking in all its
branches should be studied as a science, and not be looked upon as a
haphazard mode of getting through life. Cooking is in a great measure a
chemical process, and the ingredients of certain dishes should be as
carefully weighed and tested as though emanating from the laboratory. Few
female cooks think of this, but men with their superior instinctive reasoning
power are more governed by law and abide more closely to rule; therefore,
are better cooks, and command higher prices for services.
Now, with regard to soup making, the first care is to have the fire brisk,
the vessel in which it is cooked thoroughly cleaned and free from odor. To
insure this, keep one vessel sacred to soup as nearly as possible; and after
serving wash the pot with potash water, or take a piece of washing soda the
size of a nutmeg, dissolve in hot water and then cleanse the vessel. A good
workman is known by his tools, so also a good cook will look well to the
utensils before commencing operations. Good results follow carefulness.
Soup must have time to cook, and should always boil gently, that the
meat may become tender, and give out its juices. Allow a quart of water and
a teaspoonful of salt for each pound of meat. Soup meat must always be put
down in cold water. Skim well before it comes to the boiling point, and
again skim off superfluous fat before putting in the vegetables. The
vegetables most used in soups are carrots, leeks, parsley, turnip, celery,
tomatoes, okras, cabbage, cauliflower, peas and potatoes.
One large leek, two carrots, one bunch of parsley, two turnips and a
potato, will be enough for one pot of soup. One head of celery, two leeks,
two turnips, and five or six small potatoes will be enough another time. Six
tomatoes skinned, the juice strained from the seeds, a leek, a bunch of
parsley, and six potatoes will answer for another style; a carrot, some
cabbage, tomatoes, and potatoes will do another time. Okra alone is
vegetable enough for a gombo, unless onion is liked with it. Green peas,
lettuce, and new potatoes are enough for spring lamb soup. Vermicelli and
macaroni are for chicken, lamb or veal soup, with the addition of onion if
liked.
It is well to prepare the vegetables when the meat is put over the fire to
boil; allow a quart of water to a pound of meat. Trim and scrape carrots,
then cut or grate them. Wash parsley and cut it small. Pare turnips and cut
them in slices a quarter of an inch thick. Cut leeks in thick slices. Cut celery
in half lengths; the delicate green leaves give a fine flavor to the soup.
Pour boiling water on tomatoes, which will cause the skins to peel off
easily; when cool, squeeze out the seeds, and reserve the juice for use in
soup.
Shave cabbage in thin slices. Slice okra for gombo or okra soup. Pare the
potatoes, shell the peas, and cut off green corn from the cob, for all these
add fine flavor to soup.
To color soup brown, use browned flour or a little burnt sugar. Spinach
leaves give a fine green color. Pound the leaves, tie them in a cloth, and
squeeze out all the juice which add to the soup five minutes before serving.
This is also used to give color to mock-turtle soup.
You may color soup red by putting in the strained juice of tomatoes, or
the whole tomato, if it is run through a sieve; grated carrot gives a fine
amber color; okra gives a pale green.
For white soups, which are made of veal, lamb, and chicken, white
vegetables are best, such as rice, pearl barley, vermicelli, and macaroni; the
thickening should then be made of unbrowned flour.
Stock in its composition is not confined to any set rules for any
particular proportions. All cook books give particular as well as general
directions for its manufacture; but all cooks know that the most economical
plan is to have a general stock-pot, where, or into which, you can throw any
pieces of beef or any piece of meat from which gravy can be extracted—
bones, skin, brisket or tops of ribs, ox-cheek, ham, trimmings of turkey and
other fowls, pieces of mutton, bacon, veal, game, etc., etc. In fact, anything
that will become a jelly will assist in making stock. To this medley of
ingredients add pepper, salt, spices, herbs, carrots cut small, onions, and
curry, if wished, etc., and stew all to a rich consistency over a slow fire, and
then remove to cool. When cool, or rather cold, every particle of fat must be
removed and stock poured clear of all sediment; it is now ready for use.
When very rich soup is desired, the jelly from a cow-heel, or lump of butter
rolled in flour, must be added to the stock.
The whites of two eggs to about four quarts of stock or soup; two pints
and a half of cold water.
Whisk the whites of two fresh eggs with half a pint of water for ten
minutes; then pour in very gently the four quarts of boiling stock or soup,
stirring it all the time. Place the stewpan over the fire, and skim the mixture
till clear before allowing it to boil. When on the point of boiling, stir
rapidly; then place it a little back from the fire, and let it settle till the whites
of the eggs become separated. Strain it through a fine cloth placed over a
sieve, and it will be clear and good.
Five pounds of the leg or shin of beef; one gallon of water; a teaspoonful
of salt; two heads of celery; five carrots; three onions; four turnips; two
tomatoes, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Boil four hours and a half.
Cut the meat in two or three pieces, and put them into a pot with a gallon
of cold water, which gradually soaks out the juices of the meat before
coming to the boil. Salt well, then skim as the soup heats. Boil slowly with
a regular heat for about four hours; then add two heads of celery, five
carrots cut small, two tomatoes, three onions sliced and fried, and the sweet
herbs tied up in muslin. The turnips should be added half an hour before
serving. If any portion of the meat is required for the table, take it from the
soup about two hours before dinner. Let the remainder be left in the soup,
which must be strained through a hair sieve before it is served.
SOUP ET BOUILLI
Six or eight pounds of a brisket of beef; three carrots; four turnips; two
onions; six cloves; two heads of celery; one clove of garlic; a bunch of
sweet herbs; a little salt; a piece of butter; a little flour; one French roll; a
tablespoonful of French mustard.
Put the beef into a pot and cover it with water, and when it boils take off
the scum as it rises; then draw it to the side of the fire to stew slowly for
five or six hours, with the carrots, turnips, celery, garlic, bunch of sweet
herbs, and the onions stuck with cloves. When done lay the bouilli on a hot
dish, and strew over it some carrots, turnips and the stalks of celery,
previously boiled and cut into shapes. Add to it a sauce made of a little of
the soup, thickened with flour fried in butter, and seasoned with pepper and
salt. Strain the soup over a French roll placed at the bottom of the tureen
and serve. The bouilli may have a spoonful of French mustard added to the
soup sauce.
BROTH IN HASTE
Cut some rare roast meat or broiled steak very fine. To a teacupful of the
cut meat put a pint and a half of boiling water; cover it, and set it on the fire
for ten minutes; season to taste. Roll a cracker fine, and put in with the
meat. This broth is both excellent and convenient for invalids or children.
Cut a young fowl into four parts, wash well in cold water, put the pieces
in a stewpan with one quart of cold water and a little salt; let it boil gently,
skim it well; add the white heart of a head of lettuce and a handful of
chervil. Boil the broth for an hour, then strain it into a bowl. Two
tablespoonfuls of pearl barley added to the broth when first put on makes it
quite nourishing for an invalid.
Take two pounds of the lean part of very white veal, chop it very fine;
add to it three dozen crayfish and a handful of green chervil; pound them
together to thoroughly bruise the crayfish; then put the whole into a
stewpan, and pour upon it three pints of cold spring water; add a little salt,
and place the stewpan on the stove to boil. After half an hour, set it back on
the stove, and let it simmer very gently for an hour, then strain. It should be
taken fasting to insure its best effect.
Take two pounds of veal, half as much beef or lamb, and one small
chicken cut up; boil them in three quarts of water, skim off all the scum as it
rises; slice a leek or two onions, grate a large carrot or two small ones; put
all these to the soup; add two tablespoonfuls of salt and one of pepper. Let it
boil gently for two hours, then add a spoonful of butter worked in flour;
cover this for fifteen minutes, and serve in a tureen. Take the chicken into a
deep dish, put over it butter, pepper, and sprigs of parsley; or you may chop
the chicken up, season with pepper, salt, butter, and an egg; form into balls,
roll them in flour, and drop them in a few minutes before serving.
Throw into a stewpan one pound veal cutlet, three slices of ham, two
tablespoonfuls of lard, and let them fry gently; then, before browning, add
three sliced onions, two carrots, two parsnips, a head of celery, and a few
cloves. Let them cook slowly till lightly browned, then add a pint and a half
of boiling broth or water; let this cook for an hour, and then put in a cup of
mushrooms; skim and strain for use.
Wash half a pound of Scotch barley in cold water; put it in a pot with
four or five pounds of shin beef sawed into small pieces, cover it with cold
water and set it on the fire. When it boils skim it well, and then add three
onions. Set it near the fire to simmer gently for two hours. If much fat rises
skim again; then add two heads of celery and a couple of turnips cut into
thin pieces. Season with salt, and let it boil for an hour and a half. Take out
the meat on a platter and cover to keep warm; then pour the soup in a tureen
and serve.
Take two pounds of lean beef and a fowl half roasted and cut in pieces,
put into a saucepan, which must be filled with stock or plain broth; skim it
well, salt it to taste, and add two carrots, two onions, a head of celery or a
pinch of celery seed, also a little thyme, a whole pepper, mace, and a bay
leaf. Let it simmer gently for three or four hours, then strain through a
coarse cloth; free it entirely from fat, and clarify it with the white of an egg.
Take one or two fowls, old or young. Let them lie half an hour in cold
water to cleanse from the blood, then drain and put them in a pot; fill it with
water, let it boil, then skim it. Add one large carrot, or two small ones, two
turnips, one onion, one head of celery, two cloves, a piece of mace, a little
salt. Let it boil gently for two hours if the chickens are young; if old, three
hours. When they are tender, skim off the fat, and pass the consomme
through a sieve. This consomme may be considered a basis for all white
soups, as well as white sauces, and should be used instead of water for
filling them up.
BAKED SOUP
Cut the beef or mutton and the vegetables in pieces, season them with
salt and pepper, and put them into a jar with a pint of peas and the Patna
rice. Pour in four quarts of water, cover the jar very closely, and set it in the
oven to bake. When done, strain it through a sieve, and serve it very hot.
Put two pints of green peas in two quarts of water, boil until the peas are
very soft; then add three or four onions, two heads of celery, a carrot, and a
turnip, all cut small; season with salt to taste, add a little butter, and boil for
two hours. If it becomes too thick, add one pint of boiling water. The peas
may be boiled the day before, and kept over for convenience, if desired.
This recipe is intended for green peas but it may be made with dried peas
also, and the longer they boil, the better the soup will be. Do not add the
vegetables until the day it is wanted.
TOMATO SOUP WITH VEGETABLES. VERY FINE
Cut small, three carrots, three heads of celery, four onions and two
turnips; put them into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, a slice of
ham and a half cup of water; let them simmer gently for an hour; then if a
very rich soup is desired add to the vegetables two or three quarts of good
soup stock, made by boiling a beef bone in three quarts of water until the
meat is tender. Let all boil together for half an hour, and then add ten or
twelve ripe tomatoes and a half-dozen whole peppers. It should cook for
another hour or so. It must then be strained through a sieve or coarse cloth.
Serve with toasted or fried bread cut in bits in the tureen. This is an elegant
family soup, particularly nice in summer when the vegetables are fresh.
Chop up any remains you may have of cold veal, chicken, game or
rabbit roasted dry. Grate them, beat them in a mortar, and rub them through
a sieve. Then add to the panada a quart of stock, put it into a saucepan and
cook. Pay great attention to skimming as it boils.
Take a quart of shelled English peas for a large family, but if for a small
family a pint will do. Put on the fire a veal bone or half a chicken; if a pint
only of peas is used add any broiled steak, bones, nice scraps, or a small
beef marrow bone; set it on the fire with a gallon of water and let it boil two
hours. Then tie up in a muslin bag, one coffeecupful of the green peas; let
the others stand in a cool place until wanted. Put this bag of peas into the
pot with the beef and chicken stock, and let them boil until the peas are
perfectly done. Skim out the peas, meat and bones, and add the rest of the
peas, and let them boil gently. While these are cooking pour the peas in the
bag into a pan and mash them smoothly; then add to them a batter made
with two eggs, a spoonful of milk and flour. Add to the boiling peas a
spoonful of butter and a little eschalot, if the flavor of onion is liked; then
drop the batter in gently, a little at a time, in small round dumplings, and
when they boil up your soup is ready to serve. This is an excellent spring
soup, and is improved by adding lettuce heads, but they must be taken out
before the dumplings are put in, as they give a dark color if left in too long.
Take two quarts of good beef or veal soup stock—which is better for
being boiled the day before; into this put a quart of young green peas, heads
of lettuce, and a sprig of mint; add salt and pepper to taste.
Cut corn from the cob until you have at least a pint; cover it with a quart
of sweet milk. Let it boil half an hour, add a teaspoonful of salt, skim it
carefully, then throw into it a piece of butter the size of a hen’s-egg and
pepper to suit your taste. Serve with rolls or toasted bread.
OYSTER SOUP. DELICATE
Take the oysters from their liquor. To every quart of the liquor add a pint
of water or milk (milk is preferable); season with salt, pepper, butter, and
toasted bread-crumbs that have been toasted and pounded. When this has
boiled, put in a quart of oysters to two quarts of liquor. Let all boil a few
minutes, and serve.
Boil a calf’s-head until very tender; take out the head, strain the liquor,
and skim off the fat when cold, and keep till following day. Cut up the meat
of the head and brain, and add to the liquor; place over the fire, after
seasoning to taste with pepper, salt, mace, cloves, sweet herbs, and onions.
Let it stew an hour, then add a tumbler of white wine, and it is ready for the
force-meat balls. For the balls, chop a pound of lean veal with half a pound
of salt pork; add the brains of the calf’s-head, seasoned with pepper, salt,
mace, cloves, sweet herbs, or curry powder. Make into balls the size of the
yolk of an egg; boil part in the soup, fry the rest for a separate dish.
Make a paste of the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs and the white of two
raw ones; season with salt and cayenne pepper. Take bits of the paste the
size of small marbles, run them in flour and roll into balls; fry carefully in
butter and drop into the soup.
OX-TAIL SOUP
Cut each joint of two ox-tails with a meat-saw, steep them in water for
two hours; then place them in a stew-pan with three carrots, three turnips,
three onions, two heads of celery, four cloves, and a blade of mace.
Fill up the stew-pan from the boiling stock-pot; boil this over a slow fire
until done and the joints quite tender. Take them out, cool them, and clarify
the broth. Strain this into a soup-pot, put with it the pieces of ox-tail, some
olive shaped pieces of carrot and turnip which have been boiled in a little of
the broth; add to this when it has boiled half an hour a small lump of sugar
and a little red pepper. This soup is excellent, and may be served with any
kind of vegetables strained in it, such as puree of peas, carrots, turnips, or
celery.
RABBIT SOUP
Cut one or two rabbits into joints; lay them for an hour in cold water; dry
and fry them in butter until they are half done; place the meat in a saucepan
with four or five onions and a head of celery cut small; add to these three
parts of cold water and a cup of peas, either green or dry; season with
pepper and salt, then strain and serve it. Some like it unstrained.
Chop a pound of beef and half a pound of veal brisket into squares an
inch thick; slice three dozen okra pods, one onion, a pod of red pepper, and
fry all together. When brown pour in half a gallon of water; add more as it
boils away. Serve with rice as usual.
Take a young chicken, or the half of a grown one; cut it up, roll it in salt,
pepper and flour, and fry it a nice brown, using lard or drippings, as if for
fricassee. Cut up a quart of fresh green okras, and take out the chicken and
fry the okra in the same lard. When well browned return the chicken to the
pot and boil. Add to it a large slice of ham; a quarter of a pound will be
about right for this gombo. Pour onto the chicken, ham and okra, half a
gallon of boiling water, and let it boil down to three pints. Ten minutes
before serving pour into the boiling soup two dozen fine oysters with half a
pint of their liquor. Let it come to a good boil, and serve it with well-boiled
rice.
Take 100 oysters with their juice, and one large onion; slice the onion
into hot lard and fry it brown, adding when brown a tablespoonful of flour
and red pepper. When thick enough pour in the oysters. Boil together
twenty minutes. Stir in a large spoonful of butter and one or two
tablespoonfuls of filee, then take the soup from the fire and serve with rice.
Boil a pint of shrimps in a quart of water; give them only one boil up;
then set them to drain and cool, reserving the water they were boiled in.
Chop up three dozen okra pods, two onions, a pod of pepper, and a little
parsley, and fry them brown in a little lard or butter; add to the okra the
shrimps and the strained water in which they were boiled. Let all boil for an
hour, and season with salt and pepper to taste. When shrimp and crabs can
not be procured, half a pound of dry codfish, soaked an hour or two, and
chopped fine, will do very well. All gombo should be thickened with a little
flour—browned if preferred—and stirred in just before adding the water;
then boil an hour.
Parboil the fish, pick out the meat, and mince or pound it in a mortar
until very fine; it will require about fifty crayfish. Add to the fish one-third
the quantity of bread soaked in milk, and a quarter of a pound of butter, also
salt to taste, a bunch of thyme, two leaves of sage, a small piece of garlic
and a chopped onion. Mix all well and cook ten minutes, stirring all the
time to keep it from growing hard. Clean the heads of the fish, throw them
in strong salt and water for a few minutes and then drain them. Fill each one
with the above stuffing, flour them, and fry a light brown. Set a clean
stewpan over a slow fire, put into it three spoonfuls of lard or butter, a slice
of ham or bacon, two onions chopped fine; dredge over it enough flour to
absorb the grease, then add a pint and a half of boiling water, or better still,
plain beef stock. Season this with a bunch of thyme, a bay leaf, and salt and
pepper to taste. Let it cook slowly for half an hour, then put the heads of the
crayfish in and let them boil fifteen minutes. Serve rice with it.
FISH
FRICASSEE OF FISH
All large fish make nice fricassee. Cut the fish into slices and lay it in a
gravy made of fried onions, parsley, tomatoes and a little garlic; fry in
butter and serve. Add catsup if liked.
TO FRY FISH
The fat from bacon, or salt pork, is much nicer to fry fish in, than lard.
After the fish is cleaned, wash it and wipe it dry, and let it lie on a cloth till
all the moisture is absorbed; then roll it in flour. No salt is required if fried
in bacon or pork fat. There must be fat enough to float the fish or they will
not fry nicely, but instead soak fat and be soft to the touch.
Choose any of the many dressings in this book. Take either plain bread
stuffing, veal stuffing, or force-meat; fill the fish and sew it up; put a teacup
of water in the baking pan, with a spoonful of butter and bake, according to
the size of the fish, from thirty minutes to an hour. Season with pepper and
salt and bake brown.
Have them perfectly cleaned; trim the fins, wipe the fish with a clean
cloth, salt and pepper each one, and roll it in flour or fine corn meal, and
then drop it into a pot of boiling lard and bacon grease mixed. When brown,
pile up on a hot dish and serve, with any desired sauce or catsup.
FILLETS OR SLICED FISH, FRIED
When the fish is too large to fry whole, cut into slices and place them in
a crock; season with pepper, salt, oil, lemon juice, and chopped parsley.
Turn the fish in this mixture so that all parts may become well saturated
with the seasoning. When wanted, drain, wipe dry and dip each piece
separately in flour; drop into boiling lard; take it up as it browns, and
ornament the dish with a border of fried parsley. Send to table with sauce to
suit the taste.
Stuff one or more fish, with any stuffing desired; score them well and
put in a buttered pan to bake; season with pepper, salt and chopped parsley,
moisten them with a little essence of mushrooms or catsup and butter. Baste
every five minutes until they are done; remove the fish to a hot dish. Throw
a little wine or vinegar into the pan, and stir it to detach the crust from the
pan; boil this sauce down, add a little more butter and pour over the fish.
Mushrooms are an improvement to the sauce; but if not convenient, tomato
sauce will answer.
TROUT A LA VENITIENNE
After well cleaning your trout, make slashes in the back, and insert
butter rolled in parsley, lemon, thyme, basil, chives all minced very fine;
pour some salad oil over it, and let it lie for half an hour; cover it with bread
crumbs and chopped sweet herbs, boil it over a clear fire which is not too
quick, and serve it with sauce No. 13.
Split the mackerel down the back; season with pepper and salt, rub it
over with oil, place it on a gridiron over a moderate fire and, when browned
on one side, turn. If it is a very large fish, divide it and broil one half at a
time. When done, place it on a dish, and put butter, parsley and lemon juice
over it. Serve with sauce No. 13.
BROILED FLOUNDER
This is cooked just as the Spanish mackerel in the preceding recipe; and
may be sent to table with the same sauce, or sauce a l’aurore No. 14.
These fish are very fine when fresh from the waters of Lake
Pontchartrain. Flounder is better broiled, but still is very nice fried. Clean
and dry the fish. Do not cut them in pieces, but score them across if very
large. Have lard or bacon fat very hot; roll the fish in flour and drop into the
boiling fat. Let them cook until brown, and serve with sauce No. 15.
Wash the fish; when cleaned, wipe it dry and rub it over with lemon
juice and salt. Put it in a fish kettle or other vessel to boil, cover it with soft
water and throw in a handful of salt. As soon as it begins to boil, skim it and
let it simmer; hard boiling breaks the flesh before it is cooked thoroughly.
When done, lift it out of the water with a drainer, slip it carefully on a dish
and send to table with sauces No. 13 and No. 3.
RED-FISH A LA PROVENCALE
Have properly cleaned a medium sized fish; score it deep then put in a
large dish and cover with a pickle or marinade made of two sliced carrots,
two onions, some parsley and bay-leaves, three cloves of garlic, pepper and
salt, the juice of two lemons, and a gill of salad oil. When thoroughly
flavored, remove the fish from the marinade and bake three-quarters of an
hour, basting frequently with wine and butter. When done, put it on a platter
and keep hot. Add half a bottle of wine and some cayenne pepper to the
marinade; stew well and strain over the fish. Garnish with cut lemon, sprigs
of parsley and capers.
CODFISH CAKES
Soak the codfish all night, then scald for ten minutes; put to it an equal
quantity of potatoes boiled and mashed; moisten it with beaten eggs, a bit of
butter and a little pepper; form it into round cakes, about half an inch thick,
roll them each one in flour, and fry in hot lard until they are a delicate
brown. The lard must be boiling, and the cakes fried gently.
Take three or four dozen nice plump oysters, wash and beard them, add
to them a tumblerful of bread crumbs; chop up a tumblerful of nice beef
suet; mix together, and moisten with three eggs; season with salt, pepper, a
little butter, a teaspoonful of mace, and some cayenne pepper. Roll force-
meat into cakes, and fry them. They are pretty laid around a turkey or
chicken.
Put into a silver chafing dish a quarter of a pound of butter; lay in a quart
of oysters; strew over them grated bread which has been toasted, beaten and
sifted, some cut parsley and a little pepper and salt; cover the top with bits
of butter cut thin; pour on a pint of champagne, cover and cook. This may
be done in a pan or oven.
Take a pint of fine oysters, one-half pint of their own liquor and a half a
pint of milk; boil the liquor, take off the scum; put in a quarter of a pound of
butter, pepper and salt to taste, and serve crackers and dressed celery with
them.
Take the oysters from their liquor, let it settle; then strain and add some
whole pepper, two blades of mace, and three cloves, and put over a
moderate fire in a block-tin covered sauce-pan; mix a little flour with a
piece of butter, as large as a hen’s egg for two dozen oysters, and stir in the
boiling liquor; remove any scum which may rise, then put in the oysters and
let them cook for five minutes. Line a hot oyster dish with toasted, well-
buttered bread, and pour over it the boiling oysters. Only rich juicy oysters
will stew to advantage. Milk is always an improvement, but in this recipe it
can be dispensed with; if, however, it is convenient pour in a half a pint just
as the oysters are put in to boil, as earlier it might curdle.
OYSTER TOAST
A nice little dish for a luncheon or a late supper. Scald a quart of oysters
in their own liquor, take them out and pound or chop them to a paste; add a
little cream or fresh butter, and some pepper and salt. Get ready some thin
slices of toast moistened with boiling water, and spread with fresh butter;
then, spread over the butter the oyster paste. Put a thin slice of fresh cut
lemon on each piece, and lay parsley on the platter. Serve this very hot or it
will not be good.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS.—NO. 1
Lay the oysters in a shallow pan or dish with a little of their own liquor,
some pepper, salt, chopped parsley, butter, and grated bread crumbs. Have a
layer of bread crumbs on the top of the pan, and set it in the oven to bake a
light brown. They should be served hot with tomato or walnut catsup
poured over them.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS.—NO. 2
Procure any quantity of oysters desired, and place in a baking dish; put
alternate layers of oysters and pounded crackers; season each layer with
salt, pepper and butter. When filled, pour on enough milk to soak the
crackers, and bake forty minutes. Serve hot.
OYSTERS FRIED
Take large oysters from their own liquor; dry and lay them in a towel till
you heat, very hot, a cup of lard in a thick-bottomed pan. Dip each oyster in
wheat flour, or rolled cracker, until it will hold no more; then lay it in the
pan. The fire must be moderate, or the oysters will scorch before cooking
through. They will brown on one side in five minutes, then turn them.
Oysters may be dipped in beaten egg and rolled cracker, and then fried.
Wash four dozen oysters; let them be fine and large, with plenty of their
own liquor. Pick them carefully, strain their liquor and to it add a
dessertspoonful of pepper, two blades of mace, a tablespoonful of salt, and a
cup of strong wine vinegar. Simmer the oysters in this five minutes, then
put them in small jars. Boil the pickle again, and when cold add a cup of
fresh vinegar; and fill up the jars, cork them, and set away for use.
The sweetbread of veal is the most delicate part of the animal. Boil it
tender, season with pepper, salt and butter; put in two dozen oysters; thicken
their juice with a cup of cream, a tablespoonful of butter, the yolks of two
hard-boiled eggs, and a tablespoonful of flour. Pour all in a deep pan, and
cover with paste and bake. If there is too much liquid, keep it to serve with
the pie, if necessary, when baked. After baking, the pie is sometimes too
dry.
Cut three pounds of lean beefsteak. Salt, pepper and fry quickly so as to
brown without cooking through; then place in a deep dish. Get four dozen
oysters, beard them, and lay them in the pan over the beef; season with salt
and pepper. Take the gravy in which the steaks were fried, pour out some of
the grease; dredge in a tablespoonful of flour, let it brown and add to it a
pint of good beef broth, then put in a wine-glassful of mushroom catsup,
some of Harvey’s or Worcestershire sauce; heat it, and let it boil up a few
times, then pour it over the oysters and steak. When the gravy has become
cool, cover the pie with a good puff paste, and bake it for an hour and a
half.
FRICASSEE OF CRABS
Take six nice fat crabs, wash them, and while alive chop off the claws;
then clean the rest of the crabs carefully and lay them in a dish. Chop up
two onions fine, fry them in a tablespoonful of butter and lard mixed; when
brown and soft stir in a large spoonful of flour, which must also brown
nicely; throw in some chopped parsley and a little green onion, and when
they are cooked pour on a quart of boiling water—this is the gravy. Now
put in the crabs without parboiling. Let them simmer in the gravy for half
an hour, and serve with boiled rice. Parboiling crabs destroys their flavor;
they should be alive to the last moment.
SOFT-SHELLED CRABS, FRIED
Clean the crabs properly, dip them into rolled cracker, and fry them in
hot lard salted. They must be dried carefully before frying, or they will not
brown well. Serve with any favorite sauce.
TO DRESS A TURTLE
Cut off the head and let it bleed well. Separate the bottom shell from the
top with care, for fear of breaking the gall bag. Throw the liver and eggs, if
any, into a bowl of water. Slice off all the meat from the under-shell and put
in water also; break the shell in pieces, wash carefully and place it in a pot;
cover it with water, and add one pound of middling or flitch of bacon with
four chopped onions. Set this on the fire to boil. (If preferred, open and
clean the chitterlings or intestines also—some use them.) Let this boil
gently for four hours; keep the liver to fry. While the under-shell is boiling,
wash the top-shell neatly, cut all the meat out, cover it up and set it by.
Parboil the fins, clean them perfectly; take off the black skin and throw
them into water. Now cut the flesh removed from both shells into small
pieces; cut the fins up; sprinkle with salt, cover and set them by. When the
pot containing the shells, etc., has boiled four hours, take out the bacon,
scrape the shell, clean and strain the liquor, pour back in the pot about one
quart, and put the rest by for the soup (Turtle Soup No. 2). Pick out the nice
pieces strained out, and put with the fins in the gravy. Add to the meat one
bottle of wine, one gill mushroom catsup, one gill of lemon pickle, cloves,
nutmeg, salt, pepper, and one pound fresh butter rolled in flour. Stew
together; take out the herbs, thicken with flour and put in the shell to bake
with a puff paste around it. Trim with eggs.
TERRAPIN
Like crabs and lobsters, terrapins are thrown alive into boiling water and
let boil till the outer shell and toe-nails can be removed. Then wash and boil
them in salted water till the fleshy part of the leg is tender. Put them in a
bowl or deep dish, take off the second shell, remove the sand bag and gall
bladder, and cut off the spongy part. Cut up the meat, season it with salt,
pepper, cayenne and mace, thicken with butter and flour, and cook. Just
before serving put in a gill of sherry wine for every terrapin, and pour all
over hot buttered toast.
COLD MEATS AND HOW TO SERVE THEM
Take them from the pickle jar, put them into a glass dish, and ornament it
with the tender, delicate leaves of celery and parsley. Serve with bread and
butter sandwiches.
Lay a fringed napkin in a waiter or plate larger than the dish in which the
pie is baked; set the pie on it; turn up the edges of the napkin against it, and
put sprigs of parsley or delicate green leaves of celery on the edge of the
plate to keep the napkin in place.
Cut cold roast beef in slices, put gravy enough to cover them, add two
tablespoonfuls of wine or catsup. If there is not enough gravy, make more
by putting hot water and a good bit of butter, with a spoonful of browned
flour. Let it stew gently. If liked, a sliced leek with a bunch of parsley may
be added. Serve mashed potatoes with it. This is equal to beef a la mode.
Boil a shin of beef and a knuckle of veal for twelve hours in three or four
quarts of water. Put in spices, herbs, and vegetables, the same as for soup;
keep it boiling till it is reduced to a quart, then strain through a sieve and
put away for use. This makes fine gravies, and is extremely useful to finish
off baked hams, tongues, and cold roasts.
BRAISED TONGUE WITH ASPIC JELLY
Boil the tongue until tender, then place it in a stewpan with two onions, a
head of celery, four cloves, and salt and pepper; cover it with the liquor it
was boiled in; add to it a glass of brandy, a tablespoonful of sugar, a blade
of mace, a bunch of thyme, and a bunch of parsley. Let it simmer gently for
two hours. Take out the tongue, strain the liquor it was boiled in, and add to
it a box of Cox’s gelatine which has been soaked in a goblet of cold water.
Heat it and pour over the tongue. Serve cold.
Chop up and run your sausage meat through the cutter, and to every
pound of the ground meat, allow a tablespoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of
mixed black and red pepper, a quarter of a teaspoonful of saltpetre, and a
half cup of sage and sweet marjoram. If you prefer it you may substitute for
the sage some thyme and summer savory.
Take a calf’s liver, or the livers of three or four turkeys, or geese; lay
them in cold water, till ready to use them; cut with them the same quantity
of fat ham or bacon; throw them into a saucepan, and let them fry a good
brown; season with salt, pepper, spices, chopped mushrooms, parsley and
three shallots. When soft, chop them fine, or else pass them through a
sausage grinder. This recipe can be used for raised pies, or as an addition to
turkey stuffing.
AROMATIC SPICES FOR SEASONING MEAT PIES, ETC.
Take an ounce each of mace and nutmeg, two ounces of cloves, two of
pepper corns (whole pepper will do), marjoram and thyme, each one ounce,
bay leaves half an ounce. Dry the herbs well first; put the spices and herbs
in a paper closely folded, to keep in the aroma, and place them in a slow
oven to dry for an hour, or two; then pound and sift them, through a sieve.
Cork tightly.
Many persons like truffles for stuffing for a roast pig; they should be
mixed with fat bacon, livers of veal or fowl, sweet herbs, pepper, salt and
butter. Chestnut stuffing is prepared by roasting sixty chestnuts. Remove
their hulls while hot, and pound them fine, add four ounces of butter, run
this through a sieve, and add to it a few green onions, or chives, sweet basil,
parsley and thyme; grate in a nutmeg, put in pepper and salt, and bind it
with three eggs. Stuff the pig with it and serve with tomato sauce.
Pare and cut into small pieces a pound of truffles, put them into a
stewpan with a large spoonful of butter, one-half pound of fat bacon,
chopped very fine; add a spoonful of black pepper, a clove of garlic, a little
salt, a bunch of sweet basil and thyme, dried and powdered; add also half a
pound of nice veal liver, boiled and grated. Set this all on the fire, let it cook
until the truffles are soft, then mash with a wooden spoon; take it off to cool
it, and stuff the pig with the forcemeat. Baste the pig with sweet oil, which
is better than butter. It is supposed the pig comes from the butchers all ready
for stuffing and baking. If the stuffing is desired for a turkey, add a quarter
of a pound of bread crumbs and two beaten eggs, and baste the turkey with
butter, instead of oil.
Take equal quantities of cold chicken, veal and beef; shred small and
mix together; season with pepper, salt, sweet herbs, and a little nutmeg, i. e.,
if intended for white meat or anything delicately flavored, but if meant for a
savory dish add a little minced ham, and garlic; pound or chop this very fine
(it is well, and saves trouble, to run it through a sausage chopper), and make
it in a paste with two raw eggs, some butter, marrow or drippings; stuff your
joint, or poultry, and if there is some not used, roll it round the balls, flour
them and fry in boiling lard. This is a nice garnish for a side dish.
SAUCES FOR MEATS AND GAME
Cut the kidneys into slices, wash and dry them carefully; pepper and salt
them, roll them in flour, and fry in butter till of a delicate brown color. Pour
some plain beef stock, or beef gravy, in the pan; add a chopped onion, and
stew for half an hour; then put in a cupful of mushrooms, and cook for
fifteen minutes. Mushroom catsup will serve as a substitute. Use one-half
the quantity of catsup.
Season the chops with pepper and salt; roll in flour and fry to a pale
brown. When done, if the chops are very fat, pour some of it into the stock-
pot and cover the chops with boiling water. Parboil a pint of green peas; add
them to the chops, together with a large spoonful of sweet butter. Dredge in
a spoonful of flour, and let all stew gently for half an hour.
IRISH STEW
Take from one to three pounds of loin of mutton, or ribs of beef; cut it
into chops; add by weight as many white potatoes, sliced, as there is beef.
Throw in from two to six chopped onions, according to size, some pepper
and salt, and a large spoonful of butter to each pound of meat. Let all stew
gently for two hours and serve with boiled rice or macaroni.
PIGEON STEW
Pick and wash the pigeons, stuff them with bread crumbs, parsley,
pepper, salt and butter mixed; dust with flour, and put into a pan to brown.
Add butter and a little soup-stock or gravy. Stew gently until tender. Before
dishing add a glass of wine if approved, if not, a little more stock, if the
gravy has become too thick.
Clean and parboil tripe before cooking. When it is white and tender, cut
it into pieces suitable to fry; pepper and salt it, and dip it in flour or rolled
cracker, then drop it into hot bacon fat. When browned on both sides, take
up and make a gravy of some of the fat in which it was fried, a little flour,
and a wineglass of good vinegar. Pour this around the tripe and serve with
mushrooms.
Cut a pound of tripe in long narrow pieces, lay it in a stew-pan and add a
cup of milk, or milk and water, a piece of butter as large as a hen’s egg, a
tablespoonful of flour sifted in, a bunch of parsley, and a green onion, if
desired. Cook slowly for nearly two hours.
“Sautez,” or fry the scallops brown, then pour off the fat, add a glass of
wine, a dozen button mushrooms, three ounces of truffles cut in pieces, and
a cup of broth, or the stock of plain soup without vegetables. Simmer
gently, and finish by adding the juice of a lemon.
HASHED BEEF, PLAIN
Slice some beef in very thin pieces, season with pepper and salt, and
shake a little flour over it. Next, chop a medium sized onion and put it
(without the beef) into a stew-pan with a tablespoonful of mushroom or
tomato catsup. Boil for a few minutes, then add a pint of broth stock, or
gravy-soup; boil it down to half the quantity. Five minutes before serving,
throw in the cold sliced beef; let it boil five minutes and serve on toasted
bread.
Take a pint cup of cold veal cut small, dredge it with a spoonful of flour,
and add a piece of butter the size of a hen’s egg. Put all in a stew-pan with
half a pint of water; cover up and put it on the stove; let it simmer for an
hour at least, stir it occasionally and add to it some parsley and sweet herbs.
Just before serving add a teacup of milk, and serve on toasted bread.
Cut a pound of veal and a pound of ham into slices, salt them slightly;
chop a cupful of mushrooms, a bunch of parsley, some eschalots, and fry
them lightly; add to them a pint of soup stock, boil it together for five
minutes and pour it into the piepan where you have placed your ham and
veal. Put a dozen hard-boiled yolks of eggs in among the contents of the
pie, cover it with a nice paste and bake it one hour and a half.
Mince the meat very fine, soak a thick slice of bread in boiling milk,
mash it, and mix it with the cold meat; add a beaten egg (or two if you have
more than a quarter of a pound of meat), some chopped parsley and thyme,
a little grated lemon peel, pepper and salt; make this into cakes, and fry in
butter or lard. Serve them dry on a serviette, accompanied with a gravy
made from the bones of the minced meat which must be cooked with an
onion, a little butter and flour, and milk; when brown it is ready.
Lard two pounds of lean veal well with strips of fat bacon, and add two
pounds of ham. Line a deep pan or mould with rich paste; lay in the bottom
of this a layer of liver forcemeat, then the veal and ham, and so on in
alternate layers, till the dish is full. Season between each layer with thyme,
bay leaf, marjoram, or any dried and pounded sweet herbs; fill up the
hollow places, and cover the pan with paste. Decorate the top of the pie
with cut dough leaves; make a hole in the top to pour in the gravy, and let
out the steam. Egg the top of the pie and bake it for three hours; withdraw it
from the oven, and place the point of a funnel in the hole in the top, and
pour in about a pint of good gravy or veal consommé. This should be eaten
cold. It will be jellied all through if cooked enough.
To a pint of minced veal add three heads of celery. Pour over this a
dressing made of the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, a tablespoonful of dry
mustard, and a large spoonful of olive oil. When this dressing is well beaten
and perfectly smooth, add to it slowly (to keep from curdling) four
tablespoonfuls of good wine vinegar, a little cayenne and salt. Garnish the
dish with parsley and celery leaves.
Set over the fire two quarts of ripe tomatoes; stew slowly, and strain
through a coarse sieve. Add to them four or five sweetbreads, well trimmed
and soaked in warm water; season with salt and cayenne pepper. Thicken
with three spoonfuls of flour and a quarter of a pound of butter, mixed; cook
slowly till done, and just before serving stir in the beaten yolks of three
eggs.
Mince cold roast veal as fine as possible; add a fourth part as much fat
ham, a cup of grated bread, or cracker crumbs, and two well-beaten eggs to
bind the crumbs together; season with salt, and pepper (black and red), mix
and form it into a loaf. Glaze the outside with yolk of egg, and sprinkle over
it fine cracker crumbs. Bake half an hour, and serve with gravy made from
the bones, etc., of the veal. Serve the gravy hot.
One pound of cold veal chopped very fine. Boil half a pint of sauce till it
begins to thicken or glaze; then add a cup of cream and the minced veal;
season with pepper and salt. When dished put six poached eggs around it,
alternately with slices of red tongue or ham. This is a nice breakfast dish,
and uses to advantage the cold meats from the day previous.
Wash the brains in salt water, and wipe dry and dip in wheat flour or in
beaten egg and then in bread crumbs. Fry in butter or lard, and season with
pepper, salt and lemon sliced.
Wash and cook the feet tender, the day before using. When wanted, wash
and roll them in a little flour to dry. Set them by, and make a batter of flour,
eggs, milk, and a little salt and pepper (one egg is sufficient to two feet);
take out the largest bones and roll the feet in batter, or lay them in a pan
with hot lard, and pour the batter over them. Fry a delicate brown and serve
on toast.
Have a head nicely cleaned, and soak it in salt and water to make it look
white. Remove the eyes. Take out the tongue and salt it. Of the brains make
a separate dish. To boil the head put it in a pot of lukewarm water and boil
till very tender. Serve with sauce made of butter, flour and water, some
lemon juice and tomatoes. If to bake, dredge flour over it, put on bits of
butter, season with pepper, salt, and sweet herbs, set in a hot oven and baste
with the water in which it was boiled.
Boil a calf’s head or half a beef’s head with a cow-heel until very tender.
When done, pick out all the bones and chop the meat and tendons very fine;
strain the liquor they were boiled in, and set it away to cool; skim off the fat
and pour the jelly over the meat. Season with a teaspoonful of black pepper,
salt, and thyme, powdered; boil all together for a few minutes, and pour into
bowls or jelly moulds. Serve with parsley. Add a little garlic if the flavor is
liked.
Boil half, or the whole calf’s head, as you require. Cover it with water
and let it simmer for two hours; take it up, remove the bones, and put them
back into the broth; let it continue to stew, adding to it sage leaves, and an
onion. Cut the meat of head and brains into a stew-pan, adding to it some
slices of ham, pepper and salt, the chopped tongue and an eschalot; let these
cook two hours. The brains should be beaten up with two eggs, before
putting them in, which should be the last thing. Then pour all in a mould
and fill up with the liquor from the head, which should be boiled to a jelly.
WELSH RAREBIT
Beat the yolk of an egg with a tablespoonful of sweet milk; set it on the
fire to warm, and thicken it with grated or finely chopped ham; let it simmer
a few moments and pour it on buttered toast. This is for one person.
This is a very heavy dish, but nourishing, and it is well to know how to
cook it, as it is economical.
Pick the beans, wash them, and put them to soak over night in plenty of
water. In the morning pour this water off and put the beans in a kettle of
cold water; place them on the fire and let them simmer till quite tender.
Take them up and drain them; when thoroughly drained, put them in a
baking pan with a large piece of salt pork; score the pork and lay it deep in
among the beans, not upon them. Pour boiling water over them and bake till
brown. If in a range, leave them in all night. This constant change of water
improves the beans very much, and makes them less flatulent.
MUTTON, BEEF AND HAMS
STUFFED HAM
Smoked hams are much liked stuffed with spices and sweet herbs, which
the only kind of stuffing a salt ham will admit, as bread, crackers or oysters
would sour before the ham could be used. If you wish to stuff a ham, look at
the recipe for “Aromatic Spices for seasoning Meat, Pies, etc.” Soak your
ham all night, scrape it nicely, and boil it half an hour to make the skin
tender; then take it from the pot, gash it all over, introduce as much of the
pounded spices as the incisions will hold, and then close the skin over the
gashes and boil in the same manner, with vegetables thrown in, as in recipe
for boiled ham.
BAKED HAM
Soak and clean your ham, boil it with onions, cloves, parsley and sweet
herbs until it is nearly done, then let it cool in its own liquor; when cold,
pull off the skin and place the ham in the oven gate, with a little sugar and
bread crumbs over it till it is brown. If it is to be eaten hot, serve with
vegetables and some acid or piquant sauce; if cold, send up savory jelly,
No. 21.
TO BOIL A HAM
Run a knife, or skewer, into the thickest part of the ham next the bone; if
the knife comes out clean the ham is good, if it smells rank and smears the
knife the ham is not good. Select your ham, then, according to this rule, and
when good lay it in cold water; scrape and wash it carefully, and let it
remain in the water all night. In the morning, when the water—enough to
cover the ham—is nearly boiling lay the ham in, and keep the water in a
simmer. When it has boiled about an hour throw in two carrots, four onions,
two heads of celery, a sprig of parsley, two or three blades of mace and four
cloves. If the ham is very salty, it is well to change the water before putting
in the seasoning. To obtain tenderness and mellowness the ham must not be
allowed to boil hard, only simmer. Too much heat hardens all meat,
especially salt meat. When the ham is done set it off in its own water, let it
cool in it; by this means it will retain its moisture. When cool take it out,
skin it, and dredge sugar over it, set it in the oven till it browns, or hold a
hot shovel over it.
Take a thick round of beef—from four to six inches is the best size—
make holes in it and stuff them with salted pork or bacon; roll each piece,
before it is drawn through the beef, in pepper, salt, sugar, and vinegar, with
minced parsley, and a very little minced garlic. If the weather is cold it will
be better to keep the meat till the next day before cooking it. Boil two calf’s
feet or four pig’s feet until they drop to pieces; pick out the bones and strain
the liquor; set it away to jelly, or put it on ice to make it jelly. The next
morning, put one half the jelly in a large stew pan, then add the beef, and
cover it with the remainder of the jelly. Paste the pan over very tight or
cover it extremely well, so that none of the flavor can escape. Cook this
about four hours; when done, take out, cover with the liquor, and set it aside
till it is jellied. This is delicious to eat cold, for suppers and collations.
A piece weighing about eight pounds requires five or six hours to boil.
Before boiling the beef make a dressing of bread crumbs, pepper, butter,
salt, sweet herbs, mace, and an onion, all chopped fine and mixed with a
beaten egg. Put the dressing between the fat and the lean of the beef; sew it
up to keep the dressing in. Flour a cloth, tie the beef up tight in it, and let it
boil five or six hours.
Make incisions in the beef and stuff with chopped onions, salt, pepper,
and sweet basil, thyme and parsley. Dredge the meat with flour, lay some
slices of bacon over it, and put it to brown in a close oven. Slice two
turnips, four carrots, four salsifies, three stalks of celery and two onions;
add a quarter of a cup of tomato catsup or two large tomatoes; season with
salt and put all in the oven to cook with the meat. After it has been cooking
in the oven two hours and is brown, add a cup of water with the vegetables.
Cover again closely, and let this stew for one or two hours more, or until the
meat and vegetables are tender.
It sometimes happens that when the fire is low and the coals gone out,
you are called on to cook a steak. Then get up a quick blaze in the stove
with some kindlings. Put in a pan, over the blaze, a little butter; when it is
hot lay in your steak; let it fry quickly; while frying cover the pan. Work
some butter, salt and pepper together in a tin pan, and when the steak is
done to taste, let it lie in this mixture a few minutes, and then serve. Do not
salt a steak until it is cooked as salt will toughen it and draw out its juices.
Boil a fat round of beef for half an hour, take it up and put in a deep
dish; cut gashes in the sides of the meat, put pepper and salt into each gash;
fill the dish the meat is in with claret wine; set it in to bake, adding as it
goes in the stove three blades of mace, a cup of pickled capers, or
nasturtiums, three white onions cut small, and a bunch of parsley cut fine.
Stew or bake all together until the meat is tender. Toast some slices of bread
very brown, lay them in the bottom of a dish, lay in the beef and pour the
gravy around it, unless it is preferred in a sauce boat.
ROASTED BEEFSTEAKS
Tenderloin or porterhouse steaks are the best for broiling. Have a clear
fire of coals to broil on; rub the gridiron with a little fat of the meat; lay on
the steak without salting, let it broil gently until one side is done, then turn.
Catch the blood as you turn it, to make the gravy rich. If the steak is a large
firm one, take a quarter of a pound of butter and work into it pepper and
salt. When the steak is done lay it on to this seasoned butter, keep it hot
until the butter melts, turn the steak in it a few times, put the blood with the
gravy, and serve hot, with tomato sauce or catsup.
Select a fat, fine leg of mutton, put it on the fire in warm water; when it
boils skim it, and let it simmer gently for two hours and a half; throw in a
tablespoonful of salt. When the mutton is done garnish with turnips mashed
in cream, butter, pepper and salt, and send it to table with a sauce boat of
caper sauce No. 11.
Chop up half a pint of mushrooms, put them in a stew pan with some
chopped parsley and onion, and a tablespoonful of grated lean and same of
fat ham; season with salt and pepper, add the yolks of four eggs, stir it all
together, and introduce it in the leg by taking out the bone or by making
incisions in the mutton. Bake very brown, froth it up by dusting flour over
it, and serve with a good brown gravy, in which some currant jelly is
melted. Sauce No. 28 is very nice for stuffed leg of mutton.
MUTTON HAUNCH
Let it lie in vinegar and water a few hours before it is put to cook. When
wanted, rub it all over with pepper and salt, and when going to put it in the
oven, cover it with a paste made of flour and water, to keep in the juices
while baking; allow fifteen minutes to each pound of mutton. When half
done, take off the flour paste, baste the meat well and dredge flour over it.
Half an hour before serving, stir into the pan a quarter of a pound of butter,
baste the meat freely, dredge flour over it again, and brown. Serve with port
wine and jelly in the gravy, or if preferred, use one of the sauces mentioned
for roast mutton.
Take a hind quarter of lamb or mutton; rub it well all over with brown
sugar, half a pint of wine, and same of vinegar. Let it stay in this pickle for a
day or two, if the weather is cold. When it is wanted, wash it, dry it, and
roast it, or it may be cut into steaks, or made into a pie like venison. Sugar
is a great preservative, and gives a finer flavor than salt, which hardens
delicate meats. Salt drains out the juices of mutton or lamb.
FOWLS AND GAME
BOILED CHICKEN
After the chickens are cleaned and trussed fold them in a nice white
cloth, put them in a large stew-pan and cover them with boiling water; boil
them gently, and skim carefully as long as any scum rises; let them simmer
slowly as that will make them plump and white, while fast boiling will
make them dark and lose flavor. When done lay them on a hot dish, and
pour celery, oyster, or egg sauce over them. Serve some also in a boat, as it
keeps hot longer than when poured over the fowls. Boiled tongue or ham
should be served with boiled chicken. If the chicken is not very tough, an
hour or an hour and a quarter is sufficient to boil it.
Take a young, fat chicken, cut it up, pepper and salt it, dredge it over
with flour, and set it by while you mix a cup of lard, and some slices of fat
bacon in a frying pan. Let the lard get very hot, then drop in a few pieces of
the chicken, always allowing room in the pan for each piece to be turned
without crowding. As fast as you fry the pieces, put them on a dish over hot
water to keep the heat in them while you make the gravy. Pour off some of
the grease the chicken was fried in, and then dredge into the frying pan
some flour, let this brown nicely and then pour into it a cup of sweet milk,
little at a time; let it froth up, and then place your chicken back into the
gravy for three minutes. If you like the chicken brown and dry, pour the
gravy under it on the dish for serving.
Clean and wash the chicken, cut it up as for frying, lay it in a stew-pan
with water to cover it; add a teaspoonful of salt and half as much pepper; set
it to boil very gently, take off all scum as it rises. When the chicken is
tender, which will be in an hour, take a teacup of butter, a tablespoonful of
flour worked in it, and a bunch of parsley, put them in the stew-pan with the
chicken; let all stew twenty minutes, and serve on toasted bread. Egg-balls
around the toast add much to the beauty of this dish.
ROAST CHICKENS
Draw them and stuff with rich bread and butter stuffing; baste them with
butter and a little fat bacon, seasoned with sweet herbs; brown nicely, and
serve with their own gravy made by sifting in a tablespoonful of flour and a
cup of hot water; add a little chopped parsley, and serve with hard-boiled
eggs on the dish with the chickens.
Cut up the chicken as for frying, roll each piece in salt, pepper, and
sifted flour, and fry a light brown. Pour off most of the grease the chicken
was fried in, and in the same pan put three dozen oysters with a pint of their
juice, and a spoonful of lemon juice. Let them simmer a few minutes, and
serve with pieces of fried bread around the dish.
Mince cold chicken without the skin, wet it with gravy or hot water
(gravy is best), and season with salt and pepper. To the minced meat of one
chicken, put two ounces of sweet, fresh butter, cut small. Rub tin or silver
scallop pans with butter, strew over the bottom powdered cracker, lay the
minced chicken in, strew cracker over the top, and bake in a hot oven long
enough to brown the top. Serve with celery or pickle.
TO BROIL A CHICKEN
Clean it as usual and split it down the back, break the breast-bone with a
stroke of the potato beetle, spread it out flat and lay it on the gridiron over
clear coals; put the inside of the chicken to the fire first. Put a tin cover over
it, let it broil quickly until nearly done, then turn it and finish without the
cover. When nicely browned take it on a dish, season it with salt and
pepper, and butter it freely; turn it once or twice in the butter and serve it
hot.
CHICKEN CURRY
Cut up the chicken and stew as usual for the table. When done add a
tablespoonful of curry powder. Serve rice with the dish.
Take two nice chickens, or more if they are small, cut them up as for
frying, and put them in a pot to stew with some slices of fat meat. Let them
cook for half an hour, then add a few onions and four Irish potatoes sliced
small, so that in cooking they may be thoroughly dissolved in the gravy.
Season with pepper, salt, a little parsley, and a quarter of a pound of sweet
butter. When it is cooked well there should be gravy enough to cover the
chickens. If you want it very nice, beat up two eggs, and stir into the stew
with half a pint of milk. Line a five-quart pan with a crust made like soda
biscuit, only more shortening; put in the chickens and gravy; then cover
with a top crust. Bake until the crust is done and you will have a good
chicken pie.
Cut up a chicken, parboil it, save the liquor it was boiled in. Wash out
the kettle, or take another one, and in it fry three or four slices of fat salt
pork, and put it in the bottom of the dish in which the pie is to be made;
then put in the chicken and the liquor, also a piece of butter the size of a
teacup, and sprinkle in some pepper; cover with a light crust and bake an
hour.
BONED TURKEY
Chop up one pound of white veal, with a pound of fat bacon; season
high with chopped mushrooms, parsley, pepper, salt, and a bunch of sweet
herbs; when chopped fine, pound them in a mortar or pass them through a
sausage grinder; add to this the yolks of three eggs, and place it by in a
basin for use. Peel a pound of truffles, and cut up a boiled smoked tongue, a
pound of fat bacon, or a pound of calf’s udder or veal. Next bone a turkey,
or two fine capons, or fowls, and draw the skin from the legs and pinions
inside. Take the turkey on a napkin—it is now limp and boneless—cut
slices from the thick breast and place it on the skin where it seems to be
thin, distribute the flesh of the fowl as evenly as you can on the skin; season
it slightly with pepper and salt. Spread a layer of the prepared force-meat in
the basin, let it be an inch thick; then place the cut-up tongue, bacon and
veal, lay a row of chopped truffles and a layer of the force-meat until the
skin is covered, or as full as it will hold. It must be sewed up the back, the
ends tied, like a cushion, or roly-poly; to do this you must butter a cloth and
put it tightly over the turkey skin, as it will be quite too tender to stand the
cooking, etc., unless supported by a napkin. Tie it up tightly and place it in
a round stewpan with the bones and any trimmings of veal or poultry at
hand, add to it two boiled calf’s feet, or an ounce of gelatine, two onions
stuck with four cloves, a bunch of parsley, six green onions, a bunch of
sweet basil, and a bunch of thyme, two blades of mace, and a dozen pepper
corns, or whole peppers; moisten all with half a pint of wine or brandy.
Warm this up and put in your tied-up gelatine, pour over it as much white
veal stock as will cover it well, put it back in the stove to simmer gently for
two hours and a half; let the gelatine get cold in its own seasoning, and then
take it out and put it under a weight while you remove the stock or gravy;
take off all the cold grease from the surface and clarify with eggs in the
usual way. When the gelatine is quite cold, remove the weight, take it from
its napkin, wipe it and glaze it, and place it on a dish. Decorate it with the
strained gravy, which should have been placed on ice as soon as clarified
and strained. It will now be a firm jelly; if not, put it on ice again, and trim
the boned turkey or fowls with it.
Gelatines of turkeys, geese, capons, pheasants, partridges, etc., are made
in the same way. This is from the finest source, and will repay any one who
tries to make this magnificent dish. It has never, to my knowledge, been
given in an American cook-book, as it was obtained from one who was
Chef de Cuisine to a crowned head of Europe.
WILD TURKEY
If the turkey is old, or tough, it must be boiled one hour before being
stuffed for baking. Then stuff it with oysters, bread and butter, and season
with pepper and salt; baste with butter, and the juice of the turkey. Make the
gravy by putting in the pan a pint of oysters, or button mushrooms, throw in
a cup of cream, or milk, salt and pepper, and send to table hot, with the
turkey.
Make a dressing to suit you; there are several to choose from in this
book, made from bread, or forcemeat. Stuff the turkey, season it with salt,
pepper, and a little butter, dredge it with flour and put it in the oven; let the
fire be slow at first, and hotter as it begins to cook. Baste frequently with
butter; when the turkey is well plumped up, and the steam draws toward the
fire, it is nearly done; then dredge again with flour, and baste with more
butter until it is a nice brown. Serve with gravy and bread sauce; some like
chestnuts stewed in the turkey gravy, and served with it. A very large turkey
will take three hours to roast, one of eight pounds will take two hours.
For this purpose choose a fine young hen turkey; make an incision at the
back of the neck, and through this take out the entrails, as the turkey looks
so much nicer than when otherwise cut. Cut away the vent, and sew up the
place with coarse thread; singe off the hairs and scald the legs to get off the
black skin, if the skin is black, as it sometimes is. The neck should be cut
off close into the back, and the crop left entire; some cooks can do this and
some think it too much trouble. Break the breast bone and take it out. Lay a
little salt on the turkey, and cover it up, while you prepare the stuffing.
Wash three pounds of truffles, if the hen turkey is a large one; if it is small
two pounds will do. Peel the truffles and slice them; throw them into water,
and scald them; add two pounds of fat ham, or bacon, also the turkey liver,
and a quarter of a pound of veal liver; season this with pepper, salt, nutmeg,
chopped thyme, and a clove of garlic. Set the stew-pan, containing all these
ingredients, on a slow fire, and let them cook for an hour, stirring them
occasionally, with a wooden spoon. Mash them all up and let it get cool;
when cool, stuff the turkey full of the truffle dressing, and fill the crop also;
sew it up carefully, and tie it with a string, then truss the turkey, and if time
allows, put it away for the next day. It should then be roasted, keeping it
well basted with the liquor the truffles were boiled in, and butter added to it.
Draw a fine, young turkey hen, and remove the angular part of the breast
bone; take two pounds of fat veal dressing and stuff the turkey with it. Put
over the fire to cook the veal, bones, and turkey giblets, to make some white
soup stock; season this and let it boil until you want to put the turkey on to
cook. Now truss your turkey and put it in a boiling pot with a carrot, two
onions, a head of celery, and a bunch of sweet herbs; now pour over the
turkey the stock from the veal and giblets; cover with it, if enough; if not,
put in water to cover it and set it to boil; when it has boiled one hour, put it
on the back of the stove, and let it simmer and braise, until dinner. Take off
any strings that may look badly; dish it up. Pour over it a well-made puree
of celery, or oyster sauce, and send to table. This is an elegant mode of
serving turkey.
Clean and truss it the same as for baking. Stuff the turkey with oysters,
bread crumbs, butter and mace, all mixed and seasoned. Put it on the fire in
a kettle of water not hot, but slightly warm; do not drop it into boiling water
or it will break the skin and spoil the appearance of the turkey. Cover it
close, and when the scum rises take it off. Let the boiling continue for one
hour, then put the pot containing the turkey on the coolest part of the stove,
and let it simmer for half an hour. Serve with oyster sauce in a sauce boat.
DUCK ROASTED
Pick, draw and singe the duck; wash it out carefully and stuff it with
potatoes, mashed with butter, onions, and parsley. Put it down to a good fire
or in a hot oven, pour in a cup of water; let it roast for half an hour if it is fat
and tender, longer if tough. As soon as the duck is cleaned, boil the giblets,
and before serving, chop them up fine with some of the gravy from the
duck, two tablespoonfuls of catsup, a lump of butter, and a little brown
flour. Have lemons cut on side dishes, or serve with brown duck sauce No.
1. See sauces for meats, ducks, etc.
Tame ducks are prepared for the table the same as young geese, that is,
stuffed with bread, butter, pepper and onion, or with mashed and seasoned
Irish potatoes. Wild ducks should be fat, the claws small and supple; the hen
is the more delicate. Do not scald wild ducks, but pick them clean and singe
over a blaze. Draw and wipe them well inside with a cloth; rub pepper and
salt inside and out; stuff each duck well with bread and butter stuffing. If
the ducks are at all fishy, use onion in the stuffing, and baste very freely. It
is well to parboil them in onion and water before stuffing; throw away the
water and then proceed to stuff and roast them. Put in the pan a teacup of
butter, baste well with this, and when nearly done, dredge flour over the
ducks, and brown them nicely. For the gravy you must boil the giblets;
while the ducks are cooking mince these fine; add pepper, salt, and a
teaspoonful of browned flour. Take a glass of wine and a large spoonful of
currant jelly; heat them and serve with the ducks, mixed with the giblets, or
serve it in a dish alone; as you like.
CANVAS-BACK DUCKS
These are cooked the same as wild ducks, without onion however, in the
basting, as they have no disagreeable taste. Serve wine and currant jelly
with canvas-back ducks.
Truss the ducks as for baking and boiling, and put them away in the
pantry; then put two ounces of butter in a stew-pan on the fire, stir in two
tablespoonfuls of flour, stir until it becomes brown or a fawn color; then
pour in a pint of broth or gravy made from veal, or from water in which the
ducks or chickens have been boiled. Stir this while cooking, and when it
boils, put in the ducks; let them cook for half an hour, or until done or
nearly so, then add a quart of green peas, an onion chopped, and a sprig of
parsley; allow these to stew gently until done; remove the parsley and the
ducks, and if there is too much sauce, cook it down a little; dish up, pour the
peas and gravy over the ducks and serve.
ROASTED DUCK
Clean, draw and truss the duck, or ducks, wash them nicely, salt and
pepper them, and get ready a sage and onion stuffing (see roast goose) or
stuff with mashed potatoes, or bread, butter, onions, pepper and salt mixed,
and bound together with an egg.
Split the duck like a partridge down the back, broil on clear coals, butter
freely, and serve on buttered toast; pepper and salt when broiled, just before
putting on the butter; if salted before it extracts the fine flavor.
WILD DUCKS
There are several kinds of ducks South, and some are very fine. Truss
wild ducks and lay them in a pan to bake with a small onion in the body;
put butter over them, with a bunch of celery, a little pepper and salt; cook
slowly and garnish with lemon. Wild ducks should be wiped dry after they
are drawn, and rubbed on the inside with pepper and salt, except the canvas-
back, which should be left to its own delicious flavor.
WILD GEESE
Wild geese should be cooked rare, and stuffed with a dressing of bread,
butter, and a small quantity of pungent seasoning, such as onion, cayenne,
or mustard.
Draw a fine fat goose, stuff it with a seasoning of the following mixture:
Take four onions, peel them and boil them ten minutes in plenty of water to
take from them the strong taste. When the onions have boiled take them
from the fire, chop fine, and add to them a large spoonful of sage leaves
dried and powdered, then add a cupful of stale white bread crumbs, a
teaspoon of black pepper, a little cayenne, and a teaspoon of salt. Mix all
together with a cup of milk or beef water, and stuff the goose with it. Put it
in the oven and brown it nicely; baste often with butter; when done dish it
with its own rich brown gravy, and send to table with a boat of apple sauce.
Get the goose ready as usual. To prepare the stuffing take sixty large
chestnuts, peel them by scalding, then put them in a stew pan with two
ounces of butter, one onion chopped fine, and a sprig of parsley; chop and
mix all together and stuff the goose with it; mix with the chestnuts one pint
of good broth, and stew them down in it before stuffing the goose. Boil
down the gravy very much, and when the goose is served, add the juice of
two oranges, half a pound of currant jelly, and a lemon peel in the gravy.
Pour this over the goose when it goes to the table.
VENISON STEAK
VENISON PASTY
This is a pie made from the bones, meat, etc., of venison, after the steak
and haunch are taken off. Cut up and stew, or braise the parts of meat
intended for the pie; season with pepper, salt, port wine, butter, and if liked,
mushrooms; stew all until tender, then make a paste and finish like chicken
pie. This is better to eat cold than hot and should be rich enough to be a
solid jelly when cold.
If the hares and rabbits are young, the ears will be tender. Clean the
rabbits and wash them through several waters. If to be roasted, they must be
stuffed with grated bread crumbs, suet or butter, a chopped onion, the liver
of the rabbit chopped, and a lemon peel grated. Moisten with eggs and a
little claret. Put this in the rabbit and sew it up; baste with butter, and cook
for two hours. Make the gravy with the drippings in the pan, a little cream
or milk, and flour. If the rabbits are old, they are good stewed slowly with
sweet herbs, wine, water, and chopped onions, and thickened with flour and
butter.
These are very small, but make a delicious pie by stewing them with
butter and sweet herbs, and baking them in a light paste, with plenty of
gravy.
PARTRIDGE OR QUAILS
Are nice roasted or broiled, and served on toast. If baked they require
constant basting.
Take six pigeons, truss them, and stuff them with their own livers, a little
bacon, some butter, parsley, and rolled cracker or a small piece of bread;
salt to taste; cover the bottom of the baking dish with slices of veal or beef;
season with chopped parsley, mushrooms, pepper, salt, and butter. Place the
pigeons on this, and cover with a nice pie crust. When the pigeons are
placed in the pan, lay between each two pigeons the yolks of two hard-
boiled eggs. Be sure and have enough gravy to keep the pie very moist.
This can be done by adding plain beef-stock or water as the pie bakes.
Parboil the pigeons a little, also the beef, before putting them in the pan,
and then keep the water they were boiled in to fill up the pie.
ROAST PIGEONS
Truss them when plucked and drawn, lay thin slices of fat bacon on their
breasts; bake them three-quarters of an hour, and then make a gravy with
their giblets, which should have been boiling for the purpose. Chop up the
livers, etc., brown them and serve with the pigeons. Thin the gravy with the
stock the liver was boiled in.
In selecting a pig for the table, one four weeks old is to be preferred. Let
the pig be prepared in the usual way by the butcher, that is scalded, drawn,
etc. Stuff it with a mixture of two or three onions, say half a pint when
sliced and chopped, and a dozen leaves of sage, pepper and salt; set this to
simmer on the fire, then throw in half a pint of bread crumbs if the pig is
small—if a large one, put a pint of crumbs—a quarter of a pound of butter,
and the yolks of four eggs. Cook this and stuff the pig with it; sew the pig
up and put it in the oven to roast; baste it often with a brush or swab dipped
in olive oil, dust a little sugar over it, and brown it evenly. Take off the head
before serving, take out the brains, put them in a stew pan; add to them
some chopped parsley, pepper, and salt, a cup of the gravy from the pig, and
the juice of a lemon. Stir this over the fire, and send it to the table hot in a
separate boat.
VEGETABLES
Boil them without peeling; peel them while hot, mash them up with
sweet butter, a little milk, pepper and salt. Many like them better when
mashed and smoothed over with a knife blade, and slightly browned in the
oven. They can be kept hot in this way if the meal is kept back for a guest,
which is convenient on some occasions.
Wash, peel, and slice six potatoes; throw them for a few moments into
cold, salted water, take them out in five minutes and place them in a stew
pan on the fire; cover them with cold water; when tender, throw off all the
water, pour over them half a cup of sweet milk, a little salt, pepper, and
chopped parsley, and thicken them with a spoonful of butter, rolled in flour,
or a teaspoonful of flour, beaten in carefully to prevent it from lumping;
stew a few moments and serve in a covered dish.
PUFFS
Very nice potato puffs may be made by mashing seven or eight potatoes
smoothly, and mixing in with them two well-beaten eggs, two
tablespoonfuls of melted butter, also well-beaten, and a cup of milk. Pour it
into a pan and bake in a hot stove.
FRIED POTATOES
Wash and pare a sufficient quantity for the meal. Slice them in the
machine, taking care to bear down lightly, so as to have the slices very thin.
Have ready a vessel of very hot lard, and drop the sliced potatoes into it,
letting them remain till they begin to brown. Take them out with a wire
ladle, scatter a little fine salt over them, and serve while hot. Success
depends almost entirely upon having the lard sufficiently hot. If the potatoes
do not brown, but absorb fat, and are limp and greasy, be sure the lard must
be made hotter. Properly fried, they may be eaten with relish when cold, as
they are crisp and palatable.
FRIED POTATOES
Pare and cut the potatoes in thin slices; throw them as you cut them into
salted water to cool, and make them crisp. Put them piece by piece on a dry
towel and wipe dry, then drop them into boiling fat, enough to float them.
As they brown dip them out with a skimmer, and salt them a little.
POTATO CROQUETS
Take six boiled potatoes (cold mashed potatoes will do), add three
tablespoonfuls of grated ham, a little pepper, salt, and chopped parsley, also,
the yolks of three eggs; form into balls, dip in egg and roll in bread crumbs;
fry in hot lard; garnish with parsley.
SWEET POTATOES
Are good baked plain in their skins; or boiled, peeled and sliced, served
with butter; or boiled, and then sliced in a pan, butter and sugar thrown over
them, and baked in the stove. Some persons like them boiled and mashed
with butter, and browned in the oven like Irish potatoes.
TURNIPS, TO COOK
Boil or steam them after peeling; when they are quite tender, you must
mash them like potatoes, and season with pepper, salt and butter.
ONIONS BOILED AND FRIED
Trim and peel them, and boil them in water until quite tender, then dish
them. Season with salt, pepper and butter. Many like them cut in slices and
fried a light brown; they are good on a beefsteak when washed in two or
three waters after being sliced, then put into hot lard and some of the
beefsteak gravy, fried gently until a light color, and served around the steak.
Get it as fresh from the field as possible, and if you desire it boiled on
the cob you must (when it is well silked) throw it into boiling salted water.
Corn requires only fifteen minutes boiling; too long boiling takes out the
sweetness from the grain.
Take a dozen fresh, tender ears of corn; cut it off the cob, and put it in a
stew pan with a quart of cold water. No salt at first. Let it cook half an hour
and then stir in a lump of fresh butter, a spoonful of flour, and salt and
pepper to taste. If too dry, add a cup of sweet milk, or water, if the milk is
not convenient.
Beat three eggs with a cup of milk; to this add a pint of boiled green corn
grated; throw in flour enough to make a batter thick enough to drop from a
spoon; salt and pepper to taste, beat it very hard, and drop into boiling lard
one spoonful at a time. This is a great luxury and a good substitute for
oysters during the hot season.
Boil for half an hour two pints of green shelled beans, or the same
amount of string beans; then pour off the water, cut the corn from two
dozen ears, put it in the pot among the beans; add salt and pepper, and cover
them with boiling water. Let it boil for half an hour, and add a lump of
butter as big as a hen’s egg, rolled in flour; let this boil up once and it is
done.
CORN OYSTERS
One pint of grated green corn, one cup of flour, one dessertspoonful of
salt, one teaspoonful of pepper and an egg. Mix all together, and drop and
fry in hot lard. This is a nice breakfast dish.
Cut as much corn from the cob as you require; a dozen ears make a large
pudding. To every three ears allow an egg, a spoonful of butter, a little
pepper and salt, to suit your taste; fill and cover it with sweet milk. Let this
bake an hour.
Put a pint of cut okra in a frying pan in which there is a cupful of hot
lard, or the fat of side meat; let it fry a little, then cut into it a pint and a half
of corn; fry it until it is thoroughly cooked, pour off some of the grease, and
dredge in a little flour, and a half cup of milk; pepper and salt, to taste, must
be added just before dishing it up.
Take a pint of young tender okra, chop it up fine, add to it half as much
skinned, ripe tomatoes, an onion cut up in slices, a tablespoonful of butter, a
little salt and pepper, and a spoonful of water; stew all together till tender,
and serve with meat or poultry.
Scrape the salsify, throw it for a few moments into cold water, then
parboil it, drain it and cut into lengths of three inches; allow it now to steep
until cold, in a bowl with two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, one of French
vinegar, pepper and salt; let it remain in this, occasionally turning it until
ready to fry it. Then make a batter with eggs, milk, and flour; dip the salsify
in this batter, and fry in hog’s lard; fry parsley with it and serve.
TOMATOES STUFFED
Take five large tomatoes, slice off that part which joins the stalk, cut out
a little of their pulp, take out the seeds, and strain them; chop up the pulp
with a handful of parsley, a slice of fat bacon, a slice of ham, and a cup of
bread crumbs; fry all these, and season with butter, pepper, salt, thyme, and
the yolks of two eggs; take it off the fire as soon as the eggs are beaten in,
and stuff the tomatoes. Bake them for half an hour, pour some brown sauce
or gravy over them and serve.
TOMATOES TO BROIL
Take ripe, red tomatoes, place them on the gridiron, broil, and turn until
done through; then serve them whole, so that they can be seasoned at the
table.
Pour boiling water over six or eight large, ripe tomatoes, let them remain
in it a few minutes to scald the skins, then take them out and skin them.
Chop them up and put them to stew with a little salt, pepper, and a small
piece of butter; then add a spoonful of rolled cracker or toasted bread, and a
tablespoonful of sugar, if liked; if not, omit the sugar, and let them stew
gently, for half an hour longer.
TO COOK SPINACH
Wash in two or three waters, as the grit adheres very closely to spinach;
when well washed, boil it one half hour in clear water; add a little soda, if it
does not look a nice green. When soft, drain it well and chop very fine—it
cannot be too fine; add butter, salt if needed, and pepper to taste; garnish
with hard-boiled eggs cut in fancy shapes; or, in early spring, it is nice to
poach two or three eggs, and lay on the freshly cooked spinach.
ASPARAGUS ON TOAST
The fresher this vegetable is the better; and in picking and washing it, all
stalks not crisp and tender should be thrown aside. Cut off nearly all the
horny white parts, tie the rest in neat bunches, and boil in salted water for
twenty minutes or half an hour; then take it out, let it drain a minute and lay
on buttered toast, the heads all one way; cover with rich drawn butter sauce.
When cream is plentiful, cut the asparagus in inch pieces, boil, and then
throw it into rich hot cream, with seasoning of pepper and salt.
Pull out the stems of the mushrooms, and peel them; melt a
tablespoonful of butter in a stew pan, throw into the butter a little salt,
pepper, and powdered mace (if liked), lay the mushrooms in this, upper side
down, and stew till they are tender, which will be in about twenty minutes.
Fry a slice of bread until it is a light brown, and then arrange the
mushrooms over it. Serve hot.
EGG PLANT
Parboil egg plant, slice it and dip each piece in beaten egg and roll it in
pounded cracker; then drop it in hot lard and fry brown. Season with salt
and pepper. They are delicious cooked this way, and taste like soft-shelled
crabs. Another way is to parboil them, mash them up and season with eggs,
onions, pepper, salt and butter; then place the mixture back in the shell, and
bake. Serve in their shells.
BURR ARTICHOKES
Get them young or they are not tender, wash them in salted water, and
put them to boil. Boil until you can pull off a leaf easily; salt them and serve
with drawn-butter sauce, with vinegar in it, or mustard and oil, as preferred.
Pick and snap them when green and tender, cut them small, and throw
into boiling water; let them cook gently for two hours; then stir in a half cup
of broth, and a cup of milk; let them stew in this for half an hour longer;
season with salt and pepper to taste. Many like them cooked with a piece of
lean side bacon. They require several hours boiling, if not very young. Put
the beans in first, and when half done, put in a pound or so of bacon to an
ordinary mess of beans.
Shell a quart of green peas for a small mess. Wash them in cold water,
and put them on to cook in a stew pan with a pint of boiling water, or
enough to cover them. Let them cook half an hour, and then stir in a large
lump of butter rolled in flour; let this cook a few minutes, and add a
teaspoonful of white sugar, same of salt and pepper, and serve while hot. Do
not let them cook dry. Lamb and green peas is a favorite dish in the spring
of the year.
MARROWFAT PEAS
This is a late sort of green pea, and is much richer in taste than the
earlier ones, but not so delicate. They must be dressed like the early peas,
by boiling in water, and when soft, pour off the water. They are sometimes a
little strong if the water is not changed. Fill up with milk, or milk and water,
and boil a little longer, then season with butter, pepper and salt, and thicken
with a teaspoon of flour stirred in among the peas.
Shell them, and lay them in cold water for an hour or so before cooking;
this renders them more delicate and mealy. When ready to cook, put them in
a stew pan in boiling water enough to cover them; let them boil fast and
keep them covered while cooking; examine them in an hour, and if soft,
pour off nearly all the water and stir in a lump of butter, some pepper and
salt. Lima beans and sweet corn make the finest succotash, although string
beans are generally used.
SQUASH, STEWED
If not very young, you must peel the squashes, steam or boil them until
tender, and season them with sweet milk or cream, and a little butter, pepper
and salt; let them stew down in this until they are thick, and of the
consistence of mashed potatoes. Another way is to take them from the
steamer, mash them with a cut-up onion, and a slice or two of ham; then
stew them down thick, adding pepper and salt to taste.
Gather them while young and tender. Peel, cut them up, take out the
seeds, and put them on to boil; let them cook rapidly until very tender.
Drain them well in a colander, and mash with a wooden spoon. Put this pulp
in a stew pan with a small piece of butter, a gill of cream, and a little pepper
and salt; cook this, and stir constantly until the squash is dry. Serve very
hot.
This is very good cooked with salt meat and brown sugar. Slice the
pumpkin and put it in the oven with brown sugar, or good molasses; slice
some smoked meat and lay it in among the pumpkin; cook it tender. It is
better than many things with more reputation.
Remove the green stalks, and if the heads are large, divide them into
quarters; wash and boil them with a little pepper, butter and salt; serve with
drawn butter or white sauce, when they become soft and tender.
STEWED CABBAGE
Cold cabbage left from dinner can be drained from the pot liquor in
which it was boiled, and then simmered for half an hour in water, or milk
and water; pour off all the water when it is tender, and stir in the pot a lump
of butter or clarified drippings; let it cook gently, then throw in a cup of
milk or cream; thicken it with flour, and season with pepper and salt. Serve
with the cream gravy poured over the cabbage.
BEETS BOILED
Wash the beets clean, but do not trim the roots, or they will bleed and
lose their sweetness. If the beets are young and tender, they are nice cooked
whole, and then stewed in a little butter, with sugar, salt and vinegar added.
Let them simmer in this batter for twenty minutes, and serve. If the beets
are large, boil, and slice them when cooked, and season with vinegar,
pepper and salt, or slice them, and serve with butter.
PARSNIP FRITTERS
Boil the parsnips in salted water until they are done; make a batter of an
egg, a spoonful of milk and flour, pepper and salt, and when the parsnips
are cool enough to handle cut them in rounds, dip them in the batter and
drop them into hot lard; fry a light brown, turn them and fry the other side.
When brown on both sides, drain them from the grease. They are good,
mashed like turnips.
MACARONI IN A MOULD
Boil macaroni till it is tender, line a mould with it, fitting it in closely.
Make a mince of any kind of meat, raw or cooked; season with sweet herbs,
butter, pepper, chopped eschalot, and a couple of eggs; fill the mould with
this and boil for twenty minutes. Serve with white sauce No. 10 put around
the macaroni.
In choosing eggs hold each one up to the light; if fresh, the white will be
clear and the yolk distinct; if they are not good, they will have a clouded
appearance.
Eggs for boiling must be as fresh as possible; they may be kept fresh for
several weeks by packing them in bran. Lay the small end of the egg
downward in the box. You may also keep them for months by greasing
them with melted lard, or beef fat, or in a weak brine of lime water and salt;
strong lime water will eat the shell, and if very strong will cook the eggs.
Add to a common bucket of water a pint of salt and a pint of lime; stir it
well, and it is ready to receive the eggs.
Omelets require a thick bottomed pan, as an ordinary pan is too thin and
would scorch the eggs before they could be properly cooked. For turning
omelets, eggs, fried parsley, etc., have a skimmer spoon with a flat, thin
blade, with holes, to let the fat from the fry.
Wash the eggs clean, drop them as wanted in a stewpan of boiling water;
if you desire them soft, let them boil just three minutes by the watch; if only
the yolk is to be soft five minutes will do it; but if wanted very hard for
salad, sandwiches, etc., let them boil ten or fifteen minutes. Then put them
in cold water, to make them peel easily. If soft-boiled eggs are kept in the
shell before eating them, they will harden very much from the heat of the
shell.
Toast six pieces of bread, shape them round, before browning; keep them
where they will be hot until you poach the eggs. Take a tin dipper, half fill it
with boiling water, and drop it gently into the pot again, holding it so that
none of the water from the pot can get into the dipper; keep it firm by
holding it yourself or getting it held for you, and break a nice fresh egg into
the dipper; let it stand until the white is firm. Lay each egg on one of the
slices of toast, use butter and salt on the toast for both egg and toast; break
each egg in this way until your six eggs and six pieces of toast are used;
butter very freely, and serve hot. Anchovy paste may be spread on the toast
before the eggs are put on, but it is a nice dish without it and very suitable
for a delicate breakfast.
Poach your eggs in a tin dipper, as directed, and when done put them on
round slices of broiled or fried ham. Many prefer this to fried ham and eggs.
Put four ounces of butter into an omelet pan over the fire; as it begins to
sputter, break the eggs into it without disturbing the yolks, season with
pepper and salt; fry the eggs carefully and remove them on to the dish in
which they are to be served. Put two ounces more butter in the pan, fry it of
a brown color; put to the butter two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, pour it over
the eggs and serve.
OMELETTE AU NATUREL
Break eight eggs into a bowl; add a teaspoonful of salt, half as much
pepper, beat up the whole very hard and throw in a tablespoonful of water.
Have the omelet-pan on the fire with a cup of sweet butter heated to a
gentle heat (fierce heat would scorch the eggs); pour the eggs into the
heated butter; raise it as it cooks, with a skimmer-spoon, turn in the brown
edges, or turn one half over the other, as it keeps in the lusciousness of the
omelet. Keep gently rolling it, as it cooks, until, when done, it is round like
a small roly-poly pudding. Omelette au naturel is the basis of all omelets,
for, by substituting different seasonings, you have all the varieties of them.
Parsley and onion chopped fine and mixed with the eggs is one variety;
grated ham and parsley is another; sugar makes another class, and so on.
Beat the whites and yolks of six eggs separately, put in a tablespoonful
of butter, a spoonful of chopped green onion and one of fine-cut parsley,
and mix with the eggs; then put it into a thick-bottomed pan, in which you
have placed a half cup of butter. Roll it up as it cooks, and tilt the pan on
one side, that the omelet may cook on the other side; roll up again as it
cooks. Do not let it get hard and brown, but keep it soft. Keep on rolling as
well as you can; a little practice will make you perfect. When the eggs
cook, butter, pepper and salt them, and turn on a dish.
Break six eggs into a bowl, add a gill of cream, four ounces of grated
cheese, some pepper and a little salt; beat the whole together, pour into a
pan, roll up and bake as directed. Butter it well before sending to table.
Beat six eggs, whites and yolks separately, with seven spoonfuls of
powdered sugar. Flavor with lemon, and bake like a pudding for ten or
fifteen minutes, or just long enough to set the eggs. Longer baking will
spoil the jelly-like consistency of the omelet.
OMELETTE SOUFFLE
Beat six eggs, the whites and yolks separately; put to the yolks four
dessertspoonfuls of white sugar powdered, and the yellow rind of a lemon
chopped very fine; mix them thoroughly, whip the whites to a high froth
and add them to the yolks. Put quarter of a pound of butter into the pan,
over a brisk fire, and as soon as it is completely melted pour in the mixture;
stir it that the butter may be completely incorporated with the eggs. When it
is so, put it in a buttered dish and set it over hot embers or ashes, strew
powdered sugar over the top and color it with a hot shovel; this may be
done in the oven. Serve as soon as possible, as it soon falls and so the
appearance is spoiled.
Break six fresh eggs, separate the whites from the yolks, put with the
yolks three spoonfuls of rice flour and a tablespoonful of orange-flower
water; stir these well together, whip the whites of the eggs to a high froth,
and mix them with the yolks. Pour the mixture into a buttered mould, about
half full; bake it in a moderate oven for half an hour. When done turn it on
to a dish and serve quickly. This omelet must be clear and shake like a jelly.
A DELICIOUS OMELET
SPANISH OMELET
Beat up six eggs until quite light, add to them a cup of chopped ham and
two small onions minced very fine. The onions should be cooked a little
before being put into the eggs, or they will not be cooked enough. When
mixed together put it into a thick-bottomed pan and commence rolling.
When it is a light brown, give it the last roll, let it lie a moment in the pan,
then dish it. Put fresh butter as it goes to table, for the butter the omelet is
fried in is never good to send to table.
Break eight or ten eggs in a basin, whip them up well, add a gill of
cream, a tablespoonful of sweet butter, a spoonful of chopped parsley,
pepper and salt to taste; beat it again very light, then stir in a pint of
chopped oysters, and when the butter is hot put in the omelet. When the
eggs have partly set, roll the omelet in form of a cushion, which you can do
by using the tin slice. Brown delicately, and serve with a little melted butter
or some sauce you prefer.
Grated Parmesan cheese is very fine in place of the chopped oysters;
also, ham, in the above omelet, is an acceptable addition.
SALADS AND RELISHES
GARNISHES
MUSHROOM CATSUP
Lay fresh mushrooms in a deep dish, strew a little salt over them, then a
fresh layer of mushrooms and salt, till you get in all the mushrooms. Let
them stay in this brine three days; then mash them fine, add to each quart a
spoonful of vinegar, half a spoonful of pepper and a teaspoonful of cloves;
pour all this in a stone jar, and place the jar in a pot of boiling water; let it
boil two hours, then strain it without squeezing the mushrooms. Boil the
juice fifteen minutes, and skim it well; let it stand a few hours to settle;
bottle and cork it well. Keep it cool, or it will ferment.
A delicious flavor from thyme, mint, sweet marjoram and rosemary may
be obtained when gathered in full perfection. They should be picked from
the stalks and put into a large jar, then pour strong vinegar or brandy over
them; let them stay in this twenty-four hours, then take the herbs out, and
throw in fresh bunches; do this three times, then strain the liquor or vinegar.
Cork and seal the bottles tight. Do not let the herbs stay more than twenty
or twenty-four hours in the liquid before straining, for fear of imparting an
unsavory taste. This is very useful in soups.
Take two gills of celery seed, pound them and put them in a bottle; fill
the bottle with sharp vinegar, shake it every day for two weeks, then strain
and bottle it for use.
Slice a peck of green tomatoes thin, salt them thoroughly, using a pint of
salt. Let them stay in this all night, and in the morning drain them from the
salt, wash them in cold water, and put them in a kettle with a dozen cut-up
raw onions, two tablespoonfuls of black pepper, same of allspice, a quarter
of a spoonful of ground mustard, half a pound of white mustard seed, and a
tablespoonful of red pepper. Cover all with strong vinegar, and boil it until
it becomes like jam. Stir it frequently while it is boiling or it will scorch.
Get a bushel of ripe tomatoes, scald them until they are soft enough to
squeeze through a sieve. When strained, add to the pulp a pint and a half of
salt, four tablespoonfuls of ground cloves, same of cayenne pepper, a
quarter of a pound of allspice and a tablespoonful of black pepper, a head of
garlic skinned and separated, and a half gallon of vinegar. Boil until it is
reduced one-half, then bottle.
TOMATO CATSUP
Take enough ripe tomatoes to fill a jar, put them in a moderate oven, and
bake them until they are thoroughly soft; then strain them through a coarse
cloth or sieve, and to every pint of juice put a pint of vinegar, half an ounce
of garlic sliced, a quarter of an ounce of salt, and the same of white pepper
finely ground. Boil it for one hour, then rub it through a sieve, boil it again
to the consistency of cream; when cold, bottle it, put a teaspoonful of sweet
oil in each bottle; cork them tight, and keep in a dry place.
Take a gallon of ripe tomatoes, skin them by pouring boiling water over
them; let them get cold and put them in a stew pan with four tablespoonfuls
of salt, and the same of ground black pepper, half a spoonful of ground
allspice, and three spoonfuls of ground mustard. Throw in eight pods of red
pepper, and let all stew slowly until the tomatoes are soft and tender. Thin
the mixture with enough vinegar to allow the catsup to be strained through a
sieve; cook it fifteen minutes, and bottle up when cold. This will last in any
climate, if well boiled and made according to these directions. Keep always
in a cool, dark closet or cellar. Light ruins all catsups, pickles or preserves,
when they are exposed to it. This is a fine recipe.
Roast one or two nice chickens, season them well, and when cooked, put
them by to cool. Just before serving the dish, carve the fowls in small
pieces, taking out all the large bones. Make a dressing of the yolks of six
hard-boiled eggs to each fowl, mash the yolks very smooth with a wooden
spoon and pour gently on them in a little stream a cup of olive oil; beat the
eggs all one way till they are creamed. Add now a cup of vinegar to two
fowls, a half cup to one, pepper, salt, and drop a little vinegar on the fowl,
then pour on the dressing. Arrange on the dish, cool, fresh lettuce heads
quartered, and slice six more hard-boiled eggs over all as a garnish. A few
red beets are a handsome addition, mixed with the green lettuce and yellow
eggs.
Boil four eggs hard, throw them in cold water; when cool, take the yolks
of two in a bowl, pour over them a spoonful of mixed mustard, an ounce of
sweet oil, a saltspoonful of salt, and a little black pepper; mix this carefully,
pouring in the oil a little at a time; when it is smooth, pour in four
tablespoonfuls of good vinegar, and one-half a teaspoonful of sugar. This is
the dressing for your salad.
The chicken is supposed to be already boiled or baked. When cold, pick
all the flesh from the bones and pile it in the centre of a glass bowl, or dish;
mix with it three heads of celery, cut up fine, and season it with pepper and
salt. About the time you wish it served, take six or seven heads of white-
heart lettuce, split them, and place them closely around the cut-up chicken,
and pour over it all the dressing. This is a plain and economical way, but if
wanted richer, it is easy to add more eggs, and trim the salad with sliced
hard-boiled eggs, over the top.
Cut up the white parts of four or five heads of celery, reserving the green
leaves. Pick all the meat from a fine baked chicken, chop this up, and mix it
with the cut-up celery; lay it in a glass or china dish, where it will be cool.
To make the dressing, rub the yolks of six hard-boiled eggs to a paste,
with two spoonfuls of mixed mustard, a teaspoonful of white sugar, and
enough oil to make it perfectly smooth; put this in slowly, a little at a time,
and finish the dressing by pouring in half a cup of vinegar. Pour this over
the celery and chicken, and garnish with white heads of split lettuce, also
the reserved celery leaves, and four sliced hard-boiled eggs.
POTATO SALAD
Slice a pint of cold potatoes, put them in a dish, chop over them six
eschalots, pepper and salt them, and pour over them a dressing of two
tablespoonfuls of oil, one of made mustard, and half a cup of vinegar; it is
better without eggs.
POTATO SALAD
Slice cold potatoes, add to them chopped eschalots, and season with
pepper, salt, mustard, oil, tomato catsup and vinegar. Garnish with sprigs of
parsley.
TOMATO SALAD, WITH OR WITHOUT SHRIMP
Slice a dozen large tomatoes, slice with them three or four sweet
peppers, then pepper and salt the tomatoes; lay slices of tomato and a little
sweet pepper until the dish is full. Pour over all a dressing of oil, mustard
and vinegar. A pint of shelled shrimp is a great improvement to this salad,
but it is good without.
Cut up and stew a fowl; when half done, add a cup of raw rice, a slice of
ham minced, and pepper and salt; let all cook together until the rice swells
and absorbs all the gravy of the stewed chicken, but it must not be allowed
to get hard or dry. Serve in a deep dish. Southern children are very fond of
this; it is said to be an Indian dish, and very wholesome as well as palatable;
it can be made of many things.
Chop fine a firm white head of cabbage, or better than that, slice it with
a patent slicer; lay it in very cold water for an hour, then take it out, drain it,
and when drained thoroughly, place it in the dish it is to be served in and
pour over it the following sauce: Take two cups of strong vinegar to a quart
of cut cabbage, stir in it one teaspoonful of mustard and salt, a
tablespoonful of butter, and three teaspoons of white sugar. Make this all
hot, and at the last moment stir in the yolks of two or three eggs; stir rapidly
and pour on to the chopped cabbage in the dish. It should be served
instantly or the sauce will harden.
Take one hundred small cucumbers, or more, if you wish, salt them
freely, and let them remain eight or ten hours; then drain them, put them
into boiling vinegar enough to cover them, and place vine leaves among and
over them to green them; let them scald a few minutes in the vinegar, and
take them from the fire, but place them near it to keep warm and become
green; if the leaves turn yellow, put fresh ones among them. When green
you can pack them away in jars; season them at any time you may desire, as
they will keep well if scalded thoroughly with the boiling vinegar.
Take a dozen fine crisp cucumbers and four large onions. Cut both in
thick slices, sprinkle salt and pepper on them, and let them stand. Next day
drain them well and scald them in boiling vinegar; cover close after
scalding. Next day scald again with a bag of mace, nutmeg and ginger, in
the vinegar; then place them in jars and cork close. If the vinegar seems to
have lost its strength, replace with fresh, and put the bag of spices in again
to keep the flavor.
OLD-TIME SWEET PICKLED CUCUMBERS
Put your cucumbers in brine for eight days; slice them without soaking;
let the slices be an inch thick. When cut, soak them until the salt is nearly
out, changing the water very often. Then put them in a kettle, with vine
leaves laid between the layers; cover them well with leaves, and sprinkle
pulverized alum all through them, to harden and green them, then cover
with vinegar, and set them on the back of the stove until they become green.
Take the cucumbers out and boil them a little in ginger tea (half an hour will
be enough). Make a syrup of one quart of strong vinegar, and one pint of
water, three pounds of sugar to four pounds of cucumbers, with one ounce
of cinnamon, cloves, mace and white ginger to every ten pounds of fruit.
Make this syrup hot, and put in the cucumbers and boil them until clear.
When they are clear take them out and boil the syrup until it is thick enough
to keep. Pour it over the cucumbers, which should have been placed in jars
ready for the syrup. They are now ready to use, or seal up, as may be
desired. If not convenient to pickle after eight days salt brining, it does not
hurt to let them remain a few days longer.
PICKLED EGGS
When eggs are abundant and cheap, it is well to pickle some for a time
of scarcity. Boil three or four dozen eggs for half an hour, let them cool, and
then take off the shells, and place them in wide-mouthed jars, and pour over
them scalding vinegar. Season the vinegar with whole pepper, cloves, or
allspice, ginger, and a few cloves of garlic. When cold, they must be bunged
down very close. Let them be well covered with the vinegar, and in a month
they will be fit for use. The above pickle is by no means expensive, and as
an accompaniment to cold meat is not to be surpassed for piquancy and
gout.
Put the figs in brine at night; in the morning, or after being in brine about
twelve hours, take them out, wash off the salt, and put them in alum water
for three hours. Then take them out and scald them in hot water until heated
through. Make a syrup of a quart of vinegar, a pint of sugar with a
tablespoonful of cinnamon, mace, and cloves each; boil half an hour, and
pour on the figs boiling hot. Repeat the boiling next day, and bottle up and
seal for future use.
Take eight pounds of fruit, four pounds of sugar, two quarts of vinegar,
one ounce of cinnamon and one of cloves. Boil the vinegar, sugar and
spices together; skim it carefully and pour it boiling on the fruit; pour it off,
and skim and scald each day for three days; it will then be fit for use. If for
putting away, scald it the fourth time and cork up tightly. Plums prepared in
this way are superior to the old way, with sugar alone.
Slice tomatoes until you have seven pounds, sprinkle them with salt, and
let them stand twenty-four hours. Then soak them for the same length of
time in fresh water to get the brine from them. When drained off and ready,
allow four and a half pounds of sugar, one ounce of cinnamon, one ounce of
cloves, and enough vinegar to cover them. Boil the compound together and
pour it over the tomatoes; let them stand twenty-four hours, then bring all to
a boil, and tie away in jars, and keep in a cool place away from the light.
Take a ripe cantaloupe, quarter it, remove the seeds and cut it into pieces
an inch square. Put the cut pieces in a stone crock, and pour on scalding
vinegar; when it cools heat it again, and return it to the cantaloupe. Repeat
this next day. On the fourth day take out the fruit and add fresh vinegar to
cover it. To every quart of this vinegar add three pounds of loaf sugar, and
five pounds of cantaloupe. Put to them nutmeg, cinnamon and mace, to
taste. Put all in a porcelain-lined kettle and simmer until the fruit can be
pierced with a straw. Pack it in small jars and keep in a cool place.
Cut four cabbage heads into eighths, if large, or quarters, if small; they
must be white and tender. Soak it in strong brine for three days and scald it
in clear water until you can pierce it with a straw. Take it out and dry it on
large dishes for twenty-four hours. Then put it into strong vinegar, with
powdered turmeric, sufficient to color the cabbage yellow. Let it remain in
this vinegar ten days; then take it out and drain on a sieve for several hours.
Have the following spices prepared, then pack in a jar alternately one layer
of cabbage and one of spices. For each gallon of vinegar allow five pounds
of sugar, three ounces of turmeric, two of ginger, four of horseradish, two of
white mustard seed, one-half ounce of celery seed, quarter of an ounce of
mace, two ounces of whole pepper, white if you can get it, and four ounces
of garlic. Scald the vinegar and sugar together, and pour hot on the cabbage
and the spices. Cover tight, and you will have an admirable pickle.
Slice the cabbage and sprinkle with salt. Let it remain three days; drain,
and pour over it boiling vinegar in which you have put mace, bruised
ginger, whole pepper and cloves; let it remain in this until next day. Then
give one more scald, and it is ready to put up for use. The purple red
cabbage is the best.
CHOW-CHOW PICKLE
PICKLED CAULIFLOWER
Take large, ripe, full-blown cauliflowers; divide the pieces equally and
throw them into a kettle of boiling water; boil them until a little soft, but not
as much as if for the table. Take the pieces out and let them cool, then scald
an ounce of mace, to each quart of good cider vinegar, and pour it hot on
the cauliflower. Spices such as are usually used in pickling, improve this
recipe, and should be tied in a bag and thrown in with the pickle at the last,
remembering not to use dark spices, as they discolor the cauliflower. White
pepper, white mustard seed and ginger are the spices suitable for this pickle.
PICKLED LEMONS
They should be small and have a thick rind. Rub them hard with a piece
of flannel, then slit them through the rind in four quarters, but not through
the pulp; fill the slits with salt hard pressed in, set them upright in a crock
four or five days, until the salt melts. Turn them each day in their own
liquid until they get tender. Make the pickle to cover them of vinegar, some
of the brine of the lemons, pepper and ginger; boil this pickle and skim it
well, and when cold put it over the lemons with two ounces of mustard seed
and two cloves of garlic, to six lemons. This is fine for fish when the
lemons are all used.
TO PICKLE ONIONS
Peel the onions, boil some strong salt and water and put it over them,
cover, and let them stand twenty-four hours, then take them up with a
skimmer; make some vinegar boiling hot, put to it whole pepper and
mustard seed, and pour it over the onions to cover them; when cold cover
close.
PREMIUM MUSTARD PICKLE
WALNUT PICKLE
Pick the walnuts about the Fourth of July. They should be so soft that a
pin can be run through them. Lay them in salt and water ten days, change
the water two or three times during the ten days. Rub off the outside with a
coarse cloth and proceed to finish the pickle. For one hundred nuts, make a
pickle of two quarts of vinegar, one ounce of ground pepper, same of
ginger, half an ounce of mace, cloves, nutmegs and mustard seed. Put these
spices in a bag, lay it in the vinegar and boil all together a few minutes; then
set the pickle away for use. If the vinegar is not very strong, add fresh
vinegar to the last scalding of the pickles.
PICKLED OYSTERS
Take fine large oysters, put them over a gentle fire in their own liquor,
and a small lump of butter to each hundred oysters. Let them boil ten
minutes, when they are plump and white; take them from their liquor with a
skimmer and spread them on a thickly folded cloth. When they are firm and
cold take half as much of their own liquor and half of good vinegar, make
this hot, and take a stone crock, put in a layer of oysters, a spoonful of
ground mace, a dozen cloves, allspice, and whole pepper alternately. If to be
kept, put them in glass jars with a little sweet oil on top. Stop them and seal
tight, and they will, if kept in a cool place, be good for months.
COUNTRY GREEN PICKLE
One gallon of tomatoes and one gallon of vinegar. Slice the tomatoes
(green ones are firmest), and sprinkle salt between each layer. Let them
remain thus for twelve hours, then rinse them, and put them to drain on a
sieve. Put your vinegar to boil with a dozen onions cut up in it, season high
with cloves, pepper and ginger, and when this boils throw in your tomatoes
and let them boil five minutes. Finish by stirring in one-quarter of a pound
of mustard and a pound of sugar; then add a quart of vinegar and bottle it.
Take eight or ten fine, nearly ripe peaches; free-stone are preferred by
some, but experience teaches that clings make the firmest pickle. Wipe off
the down with a flannel rag, and put them into brine strong enough to bear
up an egg. In two days drain them from this brine, and scald them in boiling
vinegar, and let them stay in all night. Next day boil in a quart of vinegar,
one ounce of whole pepper, one of broken-up ginger, eight blades of mace,
and two ounces of mustard-seed; pour this boiling on the peaches, and when
cool, put them in jars, and pack away carefully in a cool place.
PEACH PICKLES
Take ripe, sound, cling-stone peaches; remove the down with a brush
like a clothes brush; make a gallon of good vinegar hot; add to it four
pounds of brown sugar; boil and skim it clear. Stick five or six cloves into
each of the peaches, then pour the hot vinegar over them, cover the vessel
and set it in a cold place for eight or ten days, then drain off the vinegar,
make it hot, skim it, and again turn it over the peaches; let them become
cold, then put them into glass jars and secure as directed for preserves.
Free-stone peaches may be used.
Take peaches fully grown, but not mellow; cover them in strong salt and
water for one week. Take them from the brine and wipe them carefully,
rubbing each peach to see if it is firm. Put to a gallon of vinegar half an
ounce each of cloves, pepper corns, sliced ginger root, white mustard seed,
and a little salt. Scald the peaches with this boiling vinegar, repeat this three
times; add half as much fresh vinegar, and cork them up in jars. Keep them
dark and cool. Light will spoil pickles or preserves as much as heat does.
Apricots may be pickled in the same way.
Brush the down from green peaches (cling-stones); put them in salt and
water, with grape leaves and a bit of saleratus; set them over a moderate fire
to simmer slowly until they are a fine green, then take them out, wipe them
dry, and smooth the skins; take enough vinegar to cover them, put to it
whole pepper, allspice, and mustard seed, making it boiling hot, and turn it
over the peaches. Repeat the scalding three successive days.
PEACH MANGOES
Steep some large free-stone peaches in brine for two days, then wipe
each peach carefully, and cut a hole in it just sufficient to allow the seed to
come out; then throw them into cold vinegar until you make the stuffing,
which is to fill up the cavity occupied by the seed. Take fresh white mustard
seed which has been wet with vinegar, and allowed to swell a few hours,
scraped horseradish, powdered ginger, a few pods of red pepper, a few
small onions, or, better still, a clove of garlic. Mix all with vinegar, and add
half as much chopped peach. Stuff the peaches hard with this mixture,
replace the piece cut out, and tie it up tight with pack-thread. Boil a quart of
vinegar for each dozen peaches; season it with the same spices as the
stuffing. Boil the spices in a small bag, and then put in the peaches and let
them scald ten or fifteen minutes, just long enough to be thoroughly hot all
through. Place the peaches in jars, and pour scalding vinegar well spiced
over them—the vinegar must cover them; add at the top a tablespoonful of
salad oil. Cover the jar tight by tying leather over it.
MELON MANGOES
Get the late, small, smooth, green melons, they should not be larger than
a teacup; cut out a piece from the stem end large enough to allow you to
take the seeds from the inside; scrape out all the soft part, and when done,
cover with the piece cut out and lay them in rows in a stone or wooden
vessel as you do them. Make a strong brine of salt and water, pour it over
the melons and let them remain in it twenty-four hours. Prepare the
following stuffing: sliced horseradish, very small cucumbers, nasturtiums,
small white onions, mustard seed, whole pepper, cloves and allspice; scald
the pickles and cull them. Rinse the melons in cold water, then wipe each
one dry and fill it. Put a cucumber, one or two small onions, with sliced
horseradish and mustard seed, into each melon; put on the piece belonging
to it and sew it with a coarse needle and thread; lay them in a stone pot or
wooden vessel, the cut side up; when all are in, strew over them cloves and
pepper, make the vinegar (enough to cover them) boiling hot, and put it
over them, then cover with a folded towel; let them stand one night, then
drain off the vinegar, make it hot again and pour it on, covering as before.
Repeat this scalding four or five times, until the mangoes are a fine green;
three times is generally enough. Be sure the melons are green and freshly
gathered. The proper sort are the last on the vines, green and firm. If you
wish to keep them till the next summer, choose the most firm, put in a jar
and cover with cold fresh vinegar; tie thick paper over them.
BREAD AND YEAST
REMARKS ON YEAST
Put a cup of hops into a pint of water; when boiling hot, strain it over a
pint of corn-meal; add a teacup of bakers’ yeast, and when cool roll the
dough in flour, and cut it out into cakes, and dry them for use.
LIQUID YEAST OF PARCHED CORN AND HOPS, WHICH DOES NOT TURN SOUR
Boil and mash sufficient potatoes to fill a pint cup; add to them a pint of
water, boil them together, stir in flour enough to form a thick batter, and
when cool, add a yeast cake, or a cup of good yeast. Bottle and put away in
a cool place.
Peel and boil eight large Irish potatoes. Boil a handful of hops in a little
water, or in the water the potatoes were boiled in; mash the potatoes fine,
and strain the water from the hops over them. Put in a cup of flour to the
potatoes before the water is poured on, as it mixes better when dry; mix all
together and beat it, then put in half a cup of good yeast, or a yeast cake.
This will keep good for a week if kept cool.
HOME-MADE YEAST
Boil one pound of good flour, one-quarter of a pound of good sugar, and
a tablespoonful of salt in two gallons of water. Boil for two hours, and
bottle it for use. This will do if you are where you cannot get bakers’ yeast,
or turnpike cakes to start your yeast, but is not always reliable.
Take a pint of new milk, warm from the cow if possible. Put in a
teaspoonful of salt, and thicken it with flour to the consistency of batter
cakes. Set this in a warm place to rise, and make your biscuit or bread up
with it, and some new milk, or milk and water warmed together.
Take a pint of new milk, stir in nearly a pint of boiling water, then salt it
with a teaspoonful of fine salt; thicken this with flour enough to make a
thick batter. Set it in a warm place to rise, and it is ready to mix into bread.
Mix the yeast in a soft dough with fine flour, a little lard, and a cup of
water; mould it, and set it to rise. When well risen, bake it a nice brown.
Wrap it in a damp cloth for a few minutes, and let it cool slowly before it is
cut. This is a good bread for a delicate stomach, which is sometimes
painfully affected by hop-yeast bread.
HARD FIG-LEAF YEAST MADE WITHOUT HOPS
During the war we could get no hops, and found that fig-leaves were a
good substitute. To Make Fig-Leaf Yeast.—Take a pint cup of the leaves,
put them to a quart of cold water, and boil them until a strong tea or
decoction is made—this is to be put away to cool; then pour off the tea
carefully, leaving the dregs and leaves. Now boil and wash Irish potatoes
enough to fill a pint-cup, put them to the tea of fig-leaves, beat them up
with a tablespoonful of brown sugar and flour, to make a stiff batter, and put
it in a covered vessel to rise. When this yeast is light and frothing, thicken it
immediately (as keeping too long injures it) with corn-meal, until it is thick
enough to be rolled out like biscuit. Roll it out, cut and dry the cake, turning
them very often until dry. This will be a supply of yeast for several months.
When you wish to make bread, take one of the cakes in the morning, put it
in a covered mug or pitcher; put on it a cup of cold water, and when it is
dissolved, put to it a spoonful of brown sugar, and make a batter of the
water and yeast cake. Make this batter as stiff as pound-cake batter, and
when it rises well, mix with two quarts of flour, and the bread will be most
excellent, if carefully made according to these directions. Use lard as usual
in making the bread up for baking.
One large spoonful of hop yeast, or a yeast cake; put this to a pint of
water, mash to this two Irish potatoes, and stir all together. Sift in flour until
you have a stiff batter, and set it to rise. When it is very light, stir in a
spoonful of lard, and enough flour to enable you to mould it into a loaf.
When moulded, grease the top, and set it to rise again. If really light, you
can now bake it; but if not, work it down again, and mould it over and let it
rise again. This is made plain and definite, for nothing is more discouraging
for a young housekeeper than to feel that she really tried, and yet could not
make good bread. This is in such small quantities that a young person could
try it, without feeling that she was wasting much, if she does not succeed
the first time. Any one who tries this simple recipe will have the pleasure of
presenting a nice loaf of bread to her family.
To two pounds or pints of flour, add one pound or pint of warm, mashed
mealy Irish potatoes. Add to this milk and water, a cup of yeast and a little
salt. Make it after kneading it very well, into loaves, and place them in a
pan to rise. If you desire a rich, short bread you may add a little lard or
butter, but it is nice without.
Take one half a cup of hop yeast, or yeast made from turnpike cake will
do, also two boiled hot Irish potatoes, mash them, and add to the yeast and
potatoes one pint of water. Make a sponge of this by beating in sifted flour
until it is a soft dough. Set it to rise by the stove; when it is light, pour the
sponge in the bread tray and mould it rather stiff with sifted flour, knead it
well and set it to rise again. When it is light, work in a little more flour,
shape it in loaves in the baking-pans; and when light the second time bake
it; this allows the yeast to lighten or rise once, and the dough or bread to
rise twice, making three fermentations the dough undergoes before it is
baked into bread.
Take nine pint cups of flour, one pint cup of good yeast made from hops,
two pint cups of warm water and a pint cupful of warm milk. Make into a
sponge, let this rise; when risen, knead it with all your strength, work more
flour into it, and let it rise again. When it is light, you must bake it in
loaves.
SPONGE BREAD
Take three quarts of wheat flour, and three quarts of boiling water, mix
them thoroughly; let them remain until lukewarm, then add twelve
spoonfuls of family yeast, or six of brewers’. Place it where it will be warm;
keep the air from it, and leave it to rise. When it is light, work in flour to
mould it, and a little salt. Let it stand for a second rising, then shape into
loaves and bake.
Take a pint of rye flour and a pint of Indian meal, scald the meal with a
cup of boiling water, and when lukewarm, mix in the flour and a cup of
yeast; add a little salt, and knead it as for other bread. Bake for two hours.
GRAHAM BREAD
Get good, fresh, ground unbolted flour, and sift it through a common
hair sieve. Take three quarts of this wheat meal, one half a cup of good
yeast, and three spoonfuls of molasses. Mix to a sponge with water, work in
flour enough to mould it, and proceed as you do with common wheat bread.
You must put a little soda in the batter before moulding, as it is more
disposed to ferment than fine or bolted flour.
One quart of rye meal, two quarts of Indian meal, two tablespoonfuls of
molasses; mix thoroughly with sweet milk. Let it stand two hours, and bake
in a slow oven.
One and a half pints of Indian meal, half a pint of wheat flour, one cup of
sweet milk, one cup of sour milk, with a teaspoonful of soda in it; three
tablespoonfuls of molasses, one tablespoonful of yeast, and a pinch of salt.
Put it in a warm place to rise, then let it bake steadily for four hours; warm
by steaming it when wanted to use.
Take six spoonfuls of flour, and six of corn meal; add a little salt, sift
them together; make a batter with four eggs, and a cup of milk; stir in the
flour and meal, make it a soft batter, and bake in small tins for breakfast.
Some use yeast powder or soda with this batter, but that is a matter of taste.
If yeast powder is used, sift it in the flour; if soda is used put it in the milk.
Mix half a pint of thick cream, four eggs, a little salt, soda, and flour
enough to make a stiff batter; if too stiff to drop nicely, thin it with a cup of
sweet milk. Drop on tins like the above recipe. Bake in a quick oven.
CREAM OF TARTAR BISCUIT FOR BREAKFAST
One quart of sifted flour, three teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar and one of
soda mixed in the flour, and a little salt, two large spoonfuls of shortening;
mix soft with warm water or milk, and bake.
Warm a pint of milk and half a pound of butter; pour this into nearly two
quarts of flour (you must take out a handful for finishing the biscuit); add
two eggs and a cup of yeast, knead it very well and make into round balls,
flatten each one on the palm of your hand and prick it with a fork; bake.
Beat together one egg, one spoonful of sugar, a small lump of butter and
a gill of yeast, or a yeast cake; add to this a quart of flour, and enough warm
milk, or milk and water, to form a dough; work it and set it to rise. When it
has risen, take down your bread-board, flour it well, roll your dough out on
the board, and spread over it a tablespoonful of lard or butter. Sprinkle a
dust of flour over the butter, roll it up into rolls and bake quickly. Rolls are
often made dark by allowing them to get too light.
VIRGINIA ROLLS
One tablespoonful of good yeast, one egg, one large spoonful of butter,
one pound or pint of flour, a little salt and enough milk to form into a stiff
batter. Set it to rise in a warmed pan until it is light; sift a cup of flour into
the bread-tray, and pour the light batter in; work it well and keep the dough
very soft, which is the most certain way to have light rolls or bread. Now,
that it is well worked, moist and soft, set the dough to rise; when light,
make into rolls, and lay them on a warmed and buttered pan; set them by
the fire to rise again, baste the top over with butter, and bake in a quick
oven as soon as they are light. Do not keep them too long rising or they
might become sharp or sour.
LIGHT FLOUR PUFFS FOR BREAKFAST
Take a tumbler of sifted flour, a tumbler of milk and two eggs. Put a
teaspoonful of yeast powder in the flour before sifting; beat the eggs
separately. Mix all together, and add a teaspoonful of melted butter or lard
just before baking in little fancy pans. Put salt in the flour with the yeast
powder, and then bake as quickly as you can.
Sift at night a quart of flour; add half a pint of milk, a spoonful of salt,
two well-beaten eggs, and a half cup of yeast. Work it well, cover it, and set
it in a warm place to rise. Next morning work in two tablespoonfuls of
butter, and mould the dough into rolls. Rub over each roll a little butter, and
bake.
FINE ROLLS
Warm half a cup of butter in a half pint of milk; add two spoonfuls of
small beer yeast, or a cup of homemade yeast, and a little salt; pour this on
to two pounds of flour. Let it rise an hour, knead it, and make into loaves or
rolls.
RICE CAKES
Take a pint of rice that has been boiled soft; add to it a teacup of flour,
two eggs well beaten, a pinch of salt, and enough milk to make a nice thick
batter; throw into the batter a tablespoonful of melted butter or lard, and
bake on a hot griddle.
SALLY LUNN
One cup of warmed sweet milk in a cup of yeast, one cup of sugar, one
quart of sifted flour, and four eggs, with a cup of lard and butter melted
together. Pour this mixture, after it has been well beaten, into a cake mould;
let the mould be warmed and well greased. Set it now to rise in a warm
place, let it rise until very light, and bake like a cake. With a sharp knife
divide the cake, severing the top from the bottom crust; butter both, set the
top crust down on the under half, and bring it to table hot.
SALLY LUNN
Pour a cup of risen yeast into a bowl, add a cup of warm sweet milk,
one-half a cup of white sugar, and a large spoonful each of lard and butter
mixed and warmed; also add four eggs well beaten, three and one-half cups
of sifted flour, and a little salt. Beat all this well, and pour into a warm and
well greased cake pan and set it to rise in a warm place in winter, and a cool
one in summer. If you wish it for tea, make it up five hours beforehand,
having set the yeast to rise after breakfast. If wanted for breakfast make it
up at nine o’clock the night before. Remember if made up at night, you add
a little more flour, or make the dough a little stiffer, and do not put it in a
pan at night, but allow it to rise in a tureen or crock, and pour it in the pan
and let it rise a little before baking. It must be baked like a cake. This is a
never failing recipe and has been much liked.
Take two pints of milk, four eggs, and a small teacupful of yeast, or a
yeast cake; melt a piece of butter (the size of an egg) in a little of the milk,
add a teaspoonful of salt, and thicken with sifted flour until it is like
buckwheat batter. Set it to rise for eight or ten hours, and then bake in
muffin rings, or pour it like batter cakes, on a hot griddle. Butter them,
when cooked this way, just as they come from the griddle. Some like sugar
and ground cinnamon, sifted over each crumpet as it is baked.
NICE MUFFINS
Take a cup of light and warm yeast, a cup of warm, sweet milk, two eggs
beaten, a cup of sugar, a spoonful of grated orange peel and nutmeg; add to
this, flour enough to make a thin batter, and set it in a warm place to rise. If
you wish it for tea, you must make this batter up about nine o’clock in the
morning, and in two hours it ought to be full of bubbles, and light. Then
pour this batter into sifted flour, enough to form into a rather stiff dough;
add salt and a lump of butter as big as an egg. Work it thoroughly, and set it
in a tureen to rise again. When it is risen it is ready to form into shapes,
called pocket-books. To do this you must flour the board and roll out the
dough half an inch thick, smear the surface with butter, cut into strips about
six inches long, and two inches wide, fold them over and over, and lay them
within an inch of each other on a warm and greased baking tin, or pan;
swab the tops over with warmed butter and a beaten egg; set them now to
rise, which will require an hour. Just before you put them in the oven, you
must sift some sugar over them.
Take a quart of milk or milk and water, make it scalding hot, pour half of
it hot, on as much fine corn meal as it will wet; let it cool, then beat up in it
two eggs—beat the eggs light; add a little salt and a teaspoonful of
saleratus; thin the batter a little with the rest of the milk; butter pan, and
pour in the mixture. Bake in a quick oven.
One quart of milk, or milk and water, one pint of corn meal, four
tablespoonfuls of flour, one tablespoonful of salt, and a teaspoon of butter;
beat up and bake on a griddle or in shallow pans.
Put three pints of warm water into a stone jar, add half a gill of baker’s
yeast, or an inch square of turnpike cake dissolved in a little warm water;
add a heaping teaspoonful of salt, and half a small teaspoonful of saleratus.
Have a pudding-stick, and gradually stir in enough buckwheat flour to make
a nice batter; beat it perfectly smooth, then cover it and set it in a
moderately warm place until morning. A large handful of cornmeal may be
put with the flour, and it is by many persons considered an improvement. If
the meal is added it will require an egg and a cup of milk.
NOODLES
There are few things nicer than “noodles” when they are properly made.
Make a stiff dough with two eggs, a little salt, and sufficient flour. Roll this
out very thin, shake on a little flour and rub it in; fold the dough over, and
roll it up, after which cut it fine with a knife. Have ready a pot almost full of
boiling water into which you have put a little salt. Drop the noodles in, and
boil them for five or six hours. Pour the water off, and fry the noodles in
plenty of butter, and they will be splendid.
RUSKS, DOUGHNUTS AND WAFFLES
One quart of flour, one half pint of milk, one quarter of a pound of
butter, two eggs; add mace, nutmeg and a cup of yeast. Set it to rise, and
then make up into rusks; bake on buttered tins when light, and serve hot.
Take two quarts of light hop or potato yeast sponge, mix in it a pint of
new warm milk, three beaten eggs, a cup of butter or lard, one large cup of
sugar, a large spoonful of cinnamon, and a little salt; beat this well, and sift
in flour to make a soft dough. Set this in a warm place to rise, and when it is
light roll it out on the board a little thicker than pie crust, and cut with a
knife in squares of about three inches. Let them stand a little and fry them
in plenty of boiling lard. If fried in a little lard they will soak the fat, which
will spoil them. Throw them, or any other kind of cakes you wish to fry,
into a pot half full of boiling lard, and it insures their being light and nicely
browned.
PLAIN DOUGHNUTS
Take two pounds, or pint cups, full of light risen dough; add to it half a
pound of butter, one half pound of sugar, one half pint of milk, three eggs, a
little cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover it and set it to rise; when light, cut it into
shapes and fry in boiling lard. Add a little flour to stiffen the dough.
A quart of cream, sweet or sour, five eggs, and a cup of sugar. If the
cream be sour, add soda to sweeten it; if sweet, put in two tablespoonfuls of
yeast powder, or any good baking powder, and flour to mix, then roll out
and fry in boiling lard.
Take two eggs, a cup of sweet milk, one cup of water and three cups of
flour, with two tablespoonfuls of yeast powder mixed in it before sifting;
add a tablespoonful of melted lard or butter, and a teaspoonful of sugar. Mix
all well, and bake in waffle irons. This is a nice cheap waffle.
CRULLERS
Two cups of sugar, one cup of butter, three eggs, one cup of sour milk,
one teaspoonful of soda. Flavor to taste, and fry in boiling lard, or bake
lightly in the stove.
CRULLERS
One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three eggs, half a pint of sour milk,
one teaspoonful of soda, half a nutmeg, flour to roll thin. Cut in fancy
shapes. Sprinkle sugar over them when done. Put two pounds of lard in a
deep skillet, and when it is very hot, begin to fry the crullers. You will have
to replenish once or twice with lard, as it will become brown and scorched
if you do not. The crullers should be a light brown, of uniform color. One-
half this quantity makes a large dishful of crullers.
CAKE AND CONFECTIONS
ICING
Take one pound of powdered or flour sugar (not the common pulverized)
and the whites of four eggs. Put the sugar to the eggs before you beat it at
all; then beat till it is stiff. Spread it on the cake with a wet knife, wetting it
in cold water each time you use it. Set it in front of the stove to dry, or in an
oven with the least particle of heat. The cake must be nearly cold. You can
flavor the icing with rose, orange, or lemon; if the latter, add a very small
portion of grated rind. It is much nicer to add sugar to eggs before beating
than afterward.
CHOCOLATE ICING
To one pound of fine loaf sugar add half a pint of cold water; boil over a
brisk fire until the sugar, when pressed with the fingers, presents the
appearance of strong glue; add six ounces of grated chocolate; flavor with
vanilla.
Beat the whites of two eggs to a froth, then add to them a quarter of a
pound of white sugar, ground fine like flour; flavor with extract of lemon or
vanilla; beat it until it is light and very white, the longer it is beaten the
firmer it will become. No more sugar must be added to make it so. Beat the
frosting until it may be spread smoothly on the cake. This quantity will ice
quite a large cake over the top and the sides.
FROSTING FOR CAKE
To each egg used take ten teaspoonfuls of finest powdered sugar, and a
teaspoonful of lemon extract. Beat quickly, and allow at least five minutes
for each spoonful of sugar. The excellence of icing depends on the purity of
the powdered sugar and the rapidity of beating given the eggs; it is much to
be regretted that the most of powdered sugar is adulterated with foreign
materials, especially with the white earth called “Terra Alba,” which causes
the sugar to harden like stone, and prevents the cake and frosting from
being, as it should be, light and good.
Boil until very thick, a pound of white sugar in a cup of water. It should
be as thick as for candy; when boiled, pour it gently on the beaten whites of
three eggs. Beat this rapidly until well mixed with the eggs, then flour the
cake with flour or corn starch, and ice it with a knife in the usual way. You
must use flavoring to suit your taste. Much of the perfection of icing
depends on the quality of the sugar, which should be pure and ground, not
pulverized, as that sugar is now often adulterated.
CHARLOTTE RUSSE
Boil one ounce of isinglass or gelatine, in one and a half pints of milk,
sweeten it with half a pound of white sugar, and beat in the yolks of six
eggs; flavor it with vanilla. When this mixture begins to stiffen as it grows
cold, stir into it one pint of cream whipped to a froth. Ornament the glass
dish it is to be served in, with strips of sponge cake, and pour the Charlotte
Russe in. Set it in a cool place until wanted.
One pound of butter washed and creamed, one and one-fourth pounds of
white sifted sugar, creamed with the butter; add the yolks, beaten lightly,
alternately, with the whites beaten to a stiff froth, of twelve eggs; stir in
carefully a pound of sifted flour. The day before, wash and dry two pounds
of currants, pick and seed two pounds of large raisins, and slice one pound
of citron. Pour all this fruit into a large pan, and dredge it well with a
quarter of a pound of sifted flour; stir all well into the butter, add a grated
nutmeg, a glass of wine, and the same of brandy. Bake in a large cake
mould very carefully, four hours. It is safer to have it baked by a
confectioner, if it is convenient to do so.
Three cups of fine sugar, two cups of butter, five cups of sifted flour,
half a pound of chopped raisins, and half a pound of dried currants; flavor
with brandy, and nutmeg, or extract of nutmeg, or lemon. Put the same
flavor in the frosting, if the cake is to be used for special occasions.
To one quart of sifted flour, add a teacupful of sugar, half a cup of butter,
one cupful of raisins, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, and one of soda,
two tablespoonfuls of mixed spices; rub thoroughly together the flour,
cream of tartar, soda and butter, stir in sufficient cold water to make a stiff
batter, then add the spices and raisins; pour it into a small tin pan, bake one
hour.
Make the batter the same as for fruit cake, but instead of the same
quantity of fruit, add two pounds of seedless raisins, one pound of citron,
one of blanched and cut almonds, and one pound of grated cocoanut. Pour
over the cocoanut a cup of sweet milk. Add the wine, brandy and nutmeg.
This is much admired. It is an experiment of my own, and has been very
much in request.
One pound of flour, nine eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately,
one pound of butter beaten to a cream, one pound of brown sugar, one
teacupful of molasses, one ounce of grated nutmeg or ground mace, one
teaspoonful of ground allspice, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, and a gill of
brandy; beat this mixture well. Having picked, washed, and dried three
pounds of currants, stone and cut three pounds of raisins, strew half a pound
of flour over them, mix it well through, and stir them with a pound of
citron, cut in slips, into the cake. Line tin pans with buttered paper, put the
mixture in, an inch and a half or two inches deep, and bake in a moderate
oven an hour and a half or two hours. Ice according to directions.
Take three-fourths of a pound of butter, wash and cream it, add one
pound of white sugar; beat them well together, then add the beaten whites
of seventeen eggs, alternately with a pound of sifted flour. Flavor with
lemon or rose, and bake. This is a most delicious and delicate cake.
RICH BRIDE’S CAKE
Take four pounds of sifted flour, four pounds of sweet fresh butter,
beaten to a cream, and two pounds of white powdered sugar; take six eggs
for every pound of flour, an ounce of ground mace or nutmeg, and a
tablespoonful of lemon extract or orange-flower water. Wash through
several waters, and pick clean from grit, four pounds of currants, and spread
them on a folded cloth to dry; stone and cut in two, four pounds of raisins,
cut two pounds of citron in slips, and chop or slice one pound of blanched
almonds.
Beat the yolks of the eggs with the sugar to a smooth paste; beat the
butter and flour together, and add them to the yolks and sugar; then add the
spice and half a pint of brandy, and the whites of the eggs beaten to a froth;
stir all together for some time; strew half a pound of flour over the fruit,
mix it through, then, by degrees stir it into the cake.
Butter large tin basins, line them with white paper, and put in the
mixture two inches deep, and bake in a moderate oven two hours. The fruit
should be prepared the day before making the cake.
One cup of fine white sugar, one cup of milk or water, two
tablespoonfuls of butter, one egg, two cups of flour, one teaspoonful of
cream of tartar and one-half teaspoonful of carbonate soda; flavor with
nutmeg or lemon. It is best with plum or currant jelly.
MAIZENA CAKE
Take of sugar the weight of the eggs used, and half the weight of flour;
beat the yolks and sugar together, then add the flour, and, lastly, the whites,
having first beaten them to a high froth; then stir them thoroughly together,
put into a paper-lined basin, or pan, and bake in a quick oven. The cake may
be flavored with lemon, rose, or vanilla extracts, and a little nutmeg, or with
a little brandy. Pounded almonds or grated cocoanut, may be added to
sponge cake mixture.
Put three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar in a stew pan with nearly half
a pint of water, and the peel of a lemon cut very thin; let it simmer twenty
minutes. Beat the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of four, for ten
minutes; then pour in the boiling syrup, and beat it well for half an hour.
Have your cake pan well greased and a paper in the bottom. Stir gently into
the mixture ⅝ of a pound (which is ten ounces) of sifted flour; pour the
batter immediately into the pan, and bake in a rather quick oven about half
an hour. Have the oven in baking order before you put the flour in, as
sponge cake will be tough if it is not baked immediately the flour is added,
and it should not be beaten after the flour is stirred in. This is one secret of
having fine light sponge cake.
The whites of ten eggs, beaten to a froth; one tumbler of sifted flour, one
and a half tumblers of sifted white sugar, half a teaspoonful of cream of
tartar, and a pinch of salt; stir the cream of tartar and salt well into the flour.
Add the sugar to the whites first, then last of all stir in the flour very lightly,
and flavor with any delicate extract, and bake immediately. No soda
required.
One cup of sour milk, one cup of molasses, one-half cup of butter, two
eggs, one and a half teaspoons of saleratus, one tablespoonful of ginger.
Flour to make as thick as pound cake. Warm the butter, molasses and
ginger, then add the milk, flour and saleratus, and bake as quickly as you
can.
GINGER SNAPS
One cup of butter and lard mixed, one cup of sugar, one cup of molasses,
half a cup of water, one tablespoonful of ginger, one teaspoonful of soda in
hot water, flour enough to roll the dough soft.
GINGER-NUTS
Take three pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one quart of molasses,
four tablespoonfuls of allspice, the same quantity of cinnamon, and eight
tablespoonfuls of ground ginger. Roll thin, cut out in the shape of the small
ginger-nuts sold at the confectioners’, and bake in a rather quick oven.
ANOTHER RECIPE
Take two cupfuls of butter, the same quantity of molasses, one cupful of
sugar, two tablespoonfuls of ginger, four of cream, one teaspoonful of soda,
one-half an ounce of cinnamon, and about one and a half pounds of flour—
or enough to make a stiff dough. Roll, cut, and bake in a moderate oven.
One cup of butter or a large spoonful of lard, two cups of sugar, one cup
of sour milk, one teaspoonful of soda, some grated orange peel or nutmeg;
flour enough to roll out. Roll very thin; cut with fancy cutters, and bake in a
quick oven. If you use lard, add a pinch of salt.
PORTUGAL CAKE
Make a batter with half a pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound
of flour, and six eggs, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice or white wine. Add
one pound of seeded raisins, or citron, dredged with a little of the flour; one
and a half pounds of blanched almonds cut fine, and one grated nutmeg.
Take half a pound of sifted flour, rub into it one ounce of butter, and a
quarter of a pound of fine sugar; add one egg, half a teaspoonful of caraway
seeds, and as much milk as will make it a paste; roll it out to quarter-of-an-
inch in thickness, or thinner; cut it in small round cakes, and bake on tin
plates, in a quick oven, ten or twelve minutes.
LADY CAKE
Take a pound of fine white sugar, with half a pound of butter beaten to a
cream; the yolks of eight eggs beaten smooth and thick; one cup of sweet
milk, a small teaspoonful of powdered volatile salts or saleratus, dissolved
in a little hot water; half a nutmeg grated; a teaspoonful of lemon extract, or
orange-flower water, and as much sifted flour as will make it as thick as
pound-cake batter. Beat it until it is light and creamy; then having taken off
the skins, and beaten to a paste, a quarter of a pound of shelled almonds, stir
them into the cake, and beat well. Line buttered tin pans, with white paper;
put in the mixture an inch deep, and bake half an hour in a quick oven, or
forty minutes in a moderate oven. This is a delicious cake.
Beat the whites of eight eggs to a high froth, add gradually a pound of
white sugar finely ground; beat a quarter of a pound of butter to a cream;
add a teacupful of sweet milk with a small teaspoonful of powdered volatile
salts or saleratus dissolved in it; put the eggs to the butter and milk, add as
much sifted flour as will make it as thick as pound-cake mixture; add a
teaspoonful of orange-flower water or lemon extract, then add a quarter of a
pound of shelled almonds, blanched and beaten to a paste with a little white
of egg; beat the whole together until light and white; line a square tin pan
with buttered paper, put in the mixture an inch deep, and bake half an hour
in a quick oven. When done take it from the pan, when cold take the paper
off, turn it upside down on the bottom of the pan and ice the side which was
down; when the icing is nearly hard, mark it in slices the width of a finger,
and two inches and a half long.
ISABELLA CAKE
Two cups of butter, four cups of sugar, sixteen eggs, six cups of sifted
flour, two teaspoonfuls of yeast powder. Cream the butter and sugar
together; add the beaten yolks, then alternately the flour and the beaten
whites. Put the yeast powder in the flour. Flavor with vanilla or lemon.
Bake carefully in a four-quart cake mould, the bottom and sides of which
you have well oiled. Always lay paper in the bottom before oiling, as it
prevents the cake from burning and sticking to the pan. This cake is
delicious, finished with a chocolate icing.
Take one cup of butter and three of sugar; work this to a cream. Beat five
eggs separately; then stir in five cups of sifted flour; add a cup of sour
cream and a teaspoonful of soda; flavor with a glass of wine and a little
nutmeg. Bake in a quick oven in round tins, and ice while it is warm.
CUP CAKES
One cup of butter, three cups of sugar, five cups of flour, one cup of
milk, three eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, a little brandy.
One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, one cup of sour cream, or thick
milk, a teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in hot water, a gill of brandy, half
a grated nutmeg, a teaspoonful of essence of lemon, or the yellow rind of a
grated lemon; stir in flour until the batter is as thick as pound cake, and
bake an inch deep in a buttered basin.
Two cups of fine sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of sweet milk, four
cups of flour, six eggs. Flavor with a glass of wine or brandy, with a nutmeg
grated into it. Add a cup of currants.
One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, one cup of clabber, a teaspoonful
of soda stirred into the clabber, a little grated orange or lemon peel, and a
good quart of sifted flour. Roll it, and cut in rounds with a hole in the
middle, and bake in a quick oven. If you wish, sprinkle sugar over them,
and stick strips of citron in each cake when you place them in the baking
pan. They are quite nice. Instead of clabber, you can use sweet milk and
yeast powder in the flour.
Whites of four eggs, one cup of white sugar, half a cup of butter, half a
cup of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of cream tartar, half a teaspoonful of
soda.
Yolks of four eggs, one cup of brown sugar, half a cup of molasses, half
a cup butter, half a cup of sour milk, one teaspoonful of soda, and plenty of
all kinds of spices to suit the taste. Put first black, then white, dough, until
all is in; then bake. It is very nice.
Five cups of sugar, three of butter, two of milk, ten of sifted flour, six
eggs, three small nutmegs, one teaspoonful of saleratus, one pound of
raisins, and one-third of a pound of citron. Stir the butter and sugar to a
cream, then add part of the flour, the milk and the beaten yolks of the eggs,
then add the rest of the flour and the whites of the eggs; add the fruit as you
get the cake ready for the oven; season to taste. This will make four loaves.
Bake one hour.
Three cups of sweet milk, two of sugar, and one of yeast; stir in flour to
make it quite thick, and let it rise over night. In the morning add two eggs
well beaten, fruit and spice to taste; let it rise till light. Bake in a slow oven.
EGG KISSES
Four whites of eggs, one-half pound powdered sugar; beat well and bake
quickly. Flavor with extract of rose or lemon.
GENOESE CAKES
Half a pound of butter, half a pound of sugar, four eggs, half a pound of
flour, a small glass of brandy or wine. Bake in a square sheet; ice it and cut
into diamonds; ornament with dots or stripes of any kind of bright jelly or
preserves.
Put half a pint of milk or water into a stew-pan over the fire, with four
ounces of butter and two ounces of sugar. As soon as these begin to boil,
withdraw the stew-pan from the fire, and stir in five ounces of flour. Stir
well for a few minutes, add essence to taste, and, one by one, three eggs and
a small pinch of soda. Drop this paste on a baking-sheet in small round balls
(the size of a hickory nut), and bake a light brown in a quick oven. Garnish
with preserves.
CHOCOLATE CAKE
Half a pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of flour, four
eggs, one half pint of milk, one teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of
tartar sifted into the flour. Mix all these ingredients well together, and bake
in two cakes. Beat three whites of eggs with three cups of sifted sugar, and
add chocolate to taste. Spread a layer of this icing between the cakes and on
the top and sides.
CHOCOLATE CAKE
Take one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, one cup of milk or water,
three and a half cups of flour, half a teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful
cream of tartar, the yolks of five eggs and the whites of two. Bake on jelly
cake tins.
CHOCOLATE MIXTURE FOR FILLING THE ABOVE CAKE
One and a half cups of sugar, the whites of three eggs, three
tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate. Flavor with vanilla.
RING JUMBLES
One pound of butter, one pound of sugar, four eggs, one and a quarter
pounds of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Line a pan with buttered
paper, form the dough into rings. Bake quickly and sift sugar over them.
The dough must be kept very soft, or if not wanted in rings, put in more
flour, and cut the cakes out with a cutter.
Beat the yolks of five eggs with half a pound of sugar. Add half a pound
of blanched almonds, cut fine or pounded. Grate the rind of a lemon, mix
well, and add gradually enough sifted flour to make into a dough. Roll out
and cut in strips the length and size of the forefinger; wet them with the
beaten white of two eggs, and bake.
LADY FINGERS
Four eggs, half a pound of sugar, half a pound of flour. Flavor to taste.
Drop by teaspoonfuls, and bake quickly.
CITRON CAKE
One pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of flour, and eight
eggs. Add to this batter one pound of blanched almonds, cut small, and half
a pound of sliced citron dredged with flour; beat all up well. Beat in a half
teaspoonful of soda, moistened with sweet milk, or if preferred, a
tablespoonful of yeast powder, rubbed in the flour before mixing. Beat this
mixture well, and bake it in a cake-pan; put buttered paper in the bottom of
the pan, and cover the top of the cake with something to protect it from the
heat of the stove, until the bottom is nearly done. This is the best way to
cook all delicate cakes.
Cream half a pound of butter, with one pound of sifted sugar. Add to this
the beaten yolks of six eggs. Beat this again, and set it by until you beat the
whites of the eggs to a stiff froth. Sift a pound of flour, and put into it two
teaspoonfuls of yeast powder. Then pour in alternately a little flour and
beaten eggs until all is used. Then mix in a cup of cold water and two
teaspoonfuls of brandy, wine or extract of lemon. Butter a four-quart cake-
pan or mould, have the oven ready, and pour in the mixture, and bake
immediately. Cover the top of the cake while baking. When done you will
have a nice cake, and one that is very inexpensive.
Take a quart of milk scalding hot; stir into it as much corn-meal as will
make a thick batter, add of salt and saleratus in fine powder, each a
teaspoonful, and when a little cooled, two well-beaten eggs; bake in
buttered pans, in a quick oven. This is a nice breakfast cake.
Take half a pound of sugar, and half a pound of butter; beat it to a cream.
Dissolve a teaspoonful of fine soda in a cup of milk, and pour it into the
batter, half a nutmeg and flour to make a staff batter. Bake in tin squares or
a shallow pan, cook twenty minutes.
A VERY GOOD CHEAP CAKE
One cup of butter, one and a half cups of brown sugar, one cup of milk,
sweet or sour, yeast powder or soda—if yeast powder is used, put two
teaspoonfuls; if soda, put one heaping teaspoonful—one cup of molasses,
four eggs, one nutmeg, one pound of raisins, five cups of flour.
TRIFLES
Beat two or three fresh eggs a few minutes, add a saltspoonful of salt,
and enough of sifted flour to make into a stiff paste; roll very thin; cut into
small round cakes; fry in boiling lard, and sprinkle sugar over them. They
are a delicious dish for tea.
One cup of molasses, one and a half cups of sugar, one cup of butter,
four eggs, a cup of sour milk and heaping-spoonful of soda. If desirable,
you may add one pound of seeded and chopped raisins, or the same of
currants; grease the pan carefully as molasses cake is liable to stick, and is
always more difficult to get out of the pan than sugar cakes. You may add
flour to roll it out like biscuit if you wish, or it is better made only as thick
as pound-cake batter, and baked in a pan like that cake. Make the batter stiff
with flour, as it turns out better than when soft.
SILVER CAKE
Cream two coffee-cups of butter with two pints of fine white sugar; add
the beaten whites of eighteen eggs, and four pints of flour—one of these
pints must be maizena or corn starch flour, as that gives a delicacy which
common wheat flour cannot. You must thin this mixture gradually as you
beat in the flour and eggs, by pouring in two coffee-cups of water. Flavor
with almond, and bake in a large pan. When you sift the flour you must add
to it two teaspoonfuls of yeast powder.
SILVER CAKE
Two pints of sugar and two cups of butter; cream the butter and sugar
together. Add two cups of cold water; beat to a froth the whites of eighteen
eggs, mix them with the butter and sugar, four pints of flour, and two
teaspoonfuls of yeast powder; mix flour and yeast powder together, and stir
gently into the batter. Flavor with almond. For a small cake take half the
quantity of ingredients. It makes a nicer cake to allow one of the pints of
flour to be corn starch, instead of common flour.
Take half a pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of flour, the
yolks of ten eggs, one teaspoonful of soda mixed with a little hot water.
Cream the butter and sugar together; beat the eggs light, and add them to
the butter and sugar. Then stir in the flour and soda.
Two cups of butter and four of sugar creamed together, two cups of
sweet milk, or water, if you have no milk; eight cups of sifted flour well
mixed with four teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, and two of soda; beat
separately the yolks and whites of eight eggs. Take half the batter; use the
yolks for the gold cake, and the whites for the silver cake. Flavor
differently, as with rose and lemon.
Cream one cup of butter and two cups of sugar, add a cup of milk, the
whites of six eggs, and three cups of sifted flour with one teaspoonful of
cream of tartar, and half a teaspoonful of soda mixed in the flour. Grate a
small cocoanut, dry it in a skillet over the fire by stirring it about ten
minutes. Stir the cocoanut into the batter. Bake in a moderate oven about
three-quarters of an hour.
COCOANUT CAKES
Grate a cocoanut, place it in a skillet over the fire, and stir until it is as
dry as flour. Beat one cup of sugar and the white of an egg to a froth. Mix
well, and make into small cakes; put them on buttered paper and bake. The
oven should not be very hot.
COCOANUT CAKES
Take a cocoanut, pare it and grate half a pound; allow the same quantity
of loaf sugar. Dissolve the sugar in two tablespoonfuls of water, place it on
the fire; when the syrup is boiling hot, stir in the cocoanut. Continue to stir
it until it is thick like candy, then pour it out on a buttered pan, and cut it
across in shapes, or use a round cake cutter.
Take three coffee-cupfuls of flour, one of butter, and two of white sugar;
one cupful of milk; the whites of six eggs; one teaspoonful of cream of
tartar; one-half teaspoonful of carbonate of soda; grated cocoanut—a small
one. The cocoanut should be laid in water as soon as the shell is broken;
take out a piece at a time to pare it; lay it in a dry cloth as soon as pared,
and cover it up, that the air may be kept out and the moisture absorbed. If
the cocoanut goes in wet it will make the cake heavy. Cream the butter; add
the sugar, and beat well; then put in the milk, slowly; the whites of the eggs,
well beaten, alternately with flour; the cocoanut last of all. One-half of this
quantity makes a good-sized cake. Bake in a moderate oven; increase the
heat at the last. It takes about one-half or three-quarters of an hour to bake.
COCOANUT CAKE
Make a batter of one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour
and four eggs. Bake in jelly cake pans. Spread a layer of icing between each
cake with grated cocoanut on top of the icing; finally, ornament the top with
a thick layer of cocoanut.
COCOANUT DROPS
Take a grated cocoanut, the beaten whites of four eggs, and half a pound
of white sugar; flavor, mix, and bake on paper in drops.
PECAN CAKE
Half a cup of butter, one and one-half cups of sugar, two eggs, three-
quarters of a cup of sweet milk, two cups of sifted flour, one and one-half
teaspoonfuls of soda, and one teaspoonful of cream of tartar in the flour,
one cup of pecans picked out and cut fine. Bake in a small cake pan.
WINE CAKES
NAPLES BISCUIT
Beat four eggs light; add half a pound of fine white sugar, and half a
pound of sifted flour. Flavor with essence of lemon.
SHREWSBURY CAKE
COFFEE CAKE
One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, one cup of molasses, one cup of
strong coffee, two eggs, five cups of flour, one teaspoonful of soda, one cup
of currants, one cup of raisins. Spice to taste.
DIAMOND BACHELORS
Biscuit dough rolled thin, cut into diamonds and boiled in lard. Ladies
are very fond of them.
VELVET CAKE
One cup of yeast, three eggs well beaten, one quart of warm milk, one
quart of sifted flour, salt, a large spoonful of butter well beaten; let it rise.
Pour into greased muffin rings and bake.
DELICATE CAKE
Two eggs, two cups of sugar, half a cup of butter, one cup of sweet milk,
three cups of flour, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of
soda. Bake in squares.
CREAM CAKES
Boil a cup of butter with a half pint of water; while it is boiling, stir in
two cups of sifted flour; let it cool, and when cool, add five eggs well
beaten, and a quarter of a spoonful of soda dry. Drop this mixture with a
teaspoon on tins and bake in a quick oven.
Take a pint of milk, one-half a cup of flour, one cup of sugar and two
eggs. Boil the milk and flour together, add the eggs and sugar; flavor the
custard with lemon. Now, you must take the first or outside cakes, and split
each one gently, so as to place in it the cream or custard, which must be
cold before you introduce it. Put into each cake about a teaspoonful of the
cream. These are delicious. One-half this quantity makes a large dishful of
cakes.
TIPSY CAKE
Place a sponge cake weighing about a pound in a glass bowl, pour over
it half a pint of sherry and Madeira (mixed). Make a rich custard of six eggs
and a quart of milk, sweeten to taste, flavor and let it cool. Blanch half a
pound of almonds, stick them in the top of the sponge cake and pour over it
the custard.
PLAIN TEA CAKES
Half a cup of butter, or a large spoonful of lard, one and a half cups of
sugar, one teacupful of milk, one teaspoonful of soda, seven cupfuls of
sifted flour. Roll thin.
Take two cups of flour, sift it and to each cup put a teaspoonful of yeast
powder. Beat the yolks of three eggs and one cup of fine white sugar,
together with half a cup of water mixed with extract or wine; beat this well
in the yolks and sugar (only half a cup); froth up the whites of the eggs, add
them, and last of all, beat in the flour with the powder in it. Bake quickly in
square or jelly cake pans.
Make the sponge for your jelly roll by taking a cup of white sugar, one
cup of flour, and three eggs. Mix, etc.; add baking powder with the flour.
Bake in a stewpan with a quick fire; turn the cake out on a towel when
done; spread the jelly while it is still warm and soft, and roll it carefully.
Cut it in slices when cold; a spoonful of water beaten with the eggs makes
the cake lighter, as it breaks the tissue of the eggs if it is added to them
when beaten up.
ALMOND DROPS
Blanch and pound five ounces of sweet, and three ounces of bitter
almonds (or peach kernels), with a little white of egg. Put half a pound of
sifted flour on your dough board, make a hole in the middle of the flour, in
which put the almonds, with a pound of sugar, four yolks of eggs, and a
little salt. Make into a paste. Cut in pieces the size of a nut, lay them half an
inch apart, on sheets of paper, in a baking-pan, and bake in a moderate oven
for fifteen or twenty minutes.
ALMOND MACAROONS
Blanch and pound with a little rose-water half a pound of almonds; add
half a pound of sifted sugar, the whites of two eggs (not beaten), form into a
paste. Dip your hand in water, and roll the preparation into balls the size of
a nutmeg; lay them an inch apart, on buttered paper, in a baking tin. Bake in
a slow oven until a light brown.
ALMOND MACAROONS
There are many varieties of this Charlotte. They are always similarly
made, that is with sponge cake or lady fingers, and whipped cream, custard
or blanc-mange. One way is to beat the whites of three eggs to a high froth,
with a quarter of a pound of sugar, and half a pint of cream, until it is quite
thick and light; flavor this to your taste with lemon or vanilla, and pour it
into a cake-lined mould; place some of the sliced cake or lady fingers on
top of the mould and over the cream; set it on ice, and when wanted turn it
on a dish and serve.
Or, having lined a basin or mould, or small tin cups with any convenient
cake, such as lady fingers, sliced savoy cake, or yellow lady cake, fill them
with mock cream, blanc-mange or custard, made from the yolks of eggs; let
them become cold, then turn them out and serve.
ANOTHER WAY
Take four eggs, twelve ounces of powdered and sifted sugar, and ten
ounces of flour. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a stewpan on the fire,
until the batter feels warm to the touch; remove it from the fire, and stir it
thoroughly until it becomes cold; now add the flour, and flavor with vanilla.
Butter some paper and place it on the baking tins, or pans. Drop the cake
mixture in round or ovals on the buttered paper, and bake in a slow oven.
When put in the oven sift white sugar over the biscuit.
QUEEN’S DROPS
ALMOND MERINGUE
Beat the whites of two eggs with a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar
and a quarter of a pound of blanched and cut almonds. Form them into rings
on letter paper, put the paper on tin, and place them in the stove oven, to
harden and brown lightly.
APPLE COMPOTE
Make a syrup of three-quarters of a pound of sugar and a cup of water;
let it boil while you are paring and taking out the cores of six nice sour
apples. Throw them into the syrup and let them boil for half an hour, or
until transparent. Pour into a glass or china dish, and serve for a lunch or
tea. They are nice when served warm.
This can be made with maizena, corn starch, or potato flour, but maizena
is preferable. Take a quarter of a pound of maizena and three pints of milk.
Put two and a half pints of the milk on to boil, and wet the corn starch or
maizena with the remaining half pint. When the milk boils add to it (or
better before it boils), a quarter of a pound of white sugar and some lemon
rind, sliced or grated. Let this boil a little, and then stir in the mixed
maizena or corn starch. When cooked five minutes, pour it into moulds or
bowls; wet the bowls first with cold water to prevent the jelly sticking to the
sides. When firm and cold, eat it with cream or any kind of stewed fruit you
may have.
Take a quart of new milk, set it on to boil; stir into the boiling milk, half
a box of gelatine, which should have been soaked in cold water ten or
fifteen minutes. When the gelatine is dissolved, stir into the milk a cup of
sugar; take the jelly from the fire, and last of all while the mixture is very
hot, stir in four eggs; season with vanilla or lemon extract, and pour into
moulds. Eat with cream. This is very nourishing for invalids.
CHOCOLATE MANGE
ISINGLASS JELLY
Boil in one pint of water, one ounce of isinglass, and when well
dissolved, add to it one pound of sugar, and a cup of pale wine. When the
water is boiling, add to it the rind of a lemon, and when taken off the fire,
add the juice and grated rind of lemon. Strain this mixture and whisk it till it
begins to thicken, then pour it into the vessel you wish to mould it in, and
set in a cool place, or on ice, to harden.
LEMON CUSTARD
To every quart of milk, allow six eggs and a cup of white sugar. Set the
milk to boil; beat the whites of the eggs with a half cup of sugar, and drop
into the boiling milk for two minutes; then with a skimmer remove the
boiled whites, and put on a dish to cool. When the whites are taken off, stir
into the milk the yolks and sugar, previously well beaten up together. Add
rose, lemon, or peach-leaf flavoring. Run this through a sieve into the bowl
you expect to serve it in; then pile up the whites on the custard. The whites
can be boiled without beating them with sugar.
Line a pie dish with paste, spread on this three ounces of any kind of jam
—strawberry or raspberry is best. Then beat well in a basin three ounces of
bread crumbs, three ounces butter, and the same of sugar, and the rind and
juice of a large lemon; add this to the pastry and jam, and bake half an hour.
If the lemon is not very juicy, add a tablespoonful of water to it.
TO GLAZE PASTRY
Break an egg, separate the yolk from the white, and beat it well; when
the pastry is nearly baked take it out of the oven and brush it over with this
beaten yolk of egg, then put it back in the oven to set the glaze.
TRANSPARENT PUDDING
Beat eight eggs very light; add them to half a pound of butter, and the
same of sugar, which have been beaten to a cream together; grate in half a
nutmeg, set it on the fire in a stew-pan, and stir it constantly until it is hot.
Do not leave it more than five minutes on the fire, as you only wish to
slightly cook the whites of the eggs to prevent their running when put on
the paste. Line two pie pans with delicate paste, and pour in the mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven, and do not allow the top to burn, as it will, if not
covered when first put in the oven. Cover with a pan until the bottom is
cooked, and then a few moments colors the top. This pie has no meringue
on top. Serve it with a tart pie, as it is a very sweet dessert.
TRIFLES. DELICIOUS
Cover the bottom of a glass bowl, or dish, with lady fingers; break up,
and put also half dozen macaroons; pour over them a cup of wine, or diluted
extract, to moisten them; then put in three tablespoonfuls of jelly or jam.
Pour over this a boiled custard, made with a pint of milk, three eggs and a
cup of white sugar. Whip up the whites of two eggs with a cup of white
sugar and lemon juice to taste, and when it will stand alone, put it on the
custard, and serve.
Take ten or a dozen oranges, remove the peel, all the white part and the
seeds. Do this carefully by quartering them, retaining the transparent pulp
and juice. Do not break the skins of the sections. Boil a pound of loaf sugar
in half a glass of water until the syrup strings when lifted on a fork, then
take it from the fire and dip each section of orange in this candy while it is
hot; you can do this by placing each one on a little stick cut for the purpose.
As the pieces are dipped, arrange them in some pretty form on a dish or
bowl, and fill up the hollow with whipped cream, sweetened and seasoned
with a glass of maraschino.
The juice and grated rind of six lemons, a pint of milk or cream, six
ounces of sponge cake or macaroons, eight yolks, and the whites of four
eggs (whipped to a froth), one pound of sugar, and a little salt. Mix in a
basin, and work all these materials together for at least ten minutes. Put a
border of puff paste around a pie-dish, then pour in the batter; strew cut-up
almonds over it, and bake. Sift powdered sugar over it, and serve.
To the whites of three eggs, beaten to a froth, add a pint of cream, four
tablespoonfuls of sweet wine, and four spoonfuls of sugar. Put bright jelly,
or light-colored marmalade in spots among the cream, and serve sponge
cake with it.
BATTER PUDDING
One quart of milk, six eggs beaten separately, and seven tablespoonfuls
of flour. Boil the milk, stir in the eggs and flour, while the milk is nearly hot
enough to boil; do not let it boil when you stir in the flour, but take it off the
fire, or you will curdle the eggs. Bake this batter half an hour, and eat it
with wine or lemon sauce. You should salt the milk slightly before boiling.
When well and quickly made, this is a delightful pudding, but it should be
eaten hot.
Squeeze the juice from six lemons, wash the rinds and boil them; if too
strong of the lemon oil, it is better to change the water. You must grate or
pound the rinds, and when tender and cold, add to them one pound of sugar,
one-fourth of a pound of butter, and the yolks and whites of five eggs. Stir
in the juice of the lemons, and cook the batter gently until it is thick as
honey; then bake it in puff paste without tops. Ornament with fancy strips
of paste.
SUET PUDDING
Take a cupful of chopped suet, half a cup of molasses, one cup of raisins
chopped, a teaspoonful of powdered cloves and cinnamon, one-half cup of
sugar, two eggs well beaten, half a cup of sweet milk, a little salt, and two
teaspoonfuls of yeastpowder. Stir in flour until it is a thick batter; flour a
cloth, and pour in the mixture, leaving room to swell. Boil two hours.
Make a light paste, roll out lengthwise, spread any kind of fruit over the
paste, and roll it up in the dough; wrap it up in a cloth, tie it carefully, and
boil it one hour. You will find this delicious if made of either blackberries,
strawberries, peaches, or any kind of dried fruit stewed and sugared; if fresh
fruit is used, it needs no stewing.
Boil one cup of rice until perfectly soft, then add a teacup of rich sweet
cream, and half a teacup of any acid jelly—currant is the best but plum,
strawberry or lemon will do. Put it over the fire a few minutes, turn it into a
mould. Eat with sweetened cream.
Butter a pudding mould, and line it with brioche, or any kind of cold
sweet roll, or Sally Lunn, that has been left over. Fill the mould with layers
of sponge cake, or macaroons, alternately with currants, or seedless raisins,
chopped citron, or other dried fruit; then make a boiled custard of six yolks
of eggs (for a moderate size mould), a pint of milk or cream, six ounces of
sugar, a glass of brandy, and the grated rind of a lemon. Moisten the
macaroons with extract of lemon, and then pour over the custard, which
need not be previously boiled, as the pudding is to be steamed, and boiling
the custard is unnecessary, except when it is to be iced. Serve with wine or
hard butter sauce beaten up with a little wine.
Take a pint of bread crumbs, a quart of milk and four eggs. Make one
pint of milk boiling hot, pour it over the bread crumbs, and beat it smooth;
when cool, add a cup of sugar, and the yolks of the four eggs; also a lump of
butter (the size of an egg). Beat all well together, thin it by adding the rest
of the milk, flavor it with peach or nutmeg, and set it in the oven to bake.
You must only bake it long enough to cook the eggs, for, if you leave it to
stew and simmer in the stove, it loses its jelly-like consistence, and the milk
turns to whey. When slightly brown on top, take the pudding out of the
stove, and set it to cool. When cool, spread over it a layer of acid preserve
or jelly, such as plums, apples, grapes, or currants. Then finish it by making
an icing or meringue of the whites of the eggs, beaten up with a full cup of
white sugar; flavor this with lemon extract, and then put the pudding again
in the stove, and brown. If for a small family, use a pint of milk and half of
all the materials mentioned. This is considered an elegant dish for any
occasion.
Break a cocoanut and save the milk; peel off the brown skin, then throw
each piece into cold water, and let it stay a few minutes to cool; take the
pieces out, wipe dry and grate; add their own weight of white sugar and half
the weight of butter; rub the butter and sugar to a cream, add five well
beaten eggs, and a cup of milk; last of all, throw into the mixture the milk
of the cocoanut and the grated rind of a lemon. Bake in a pudding-dish, or
make it into pies with a bottom crust. Ornament the top of the pies with
fancy twists of paste.
Grate one cocoanut; take a quart of milk, four eggs, and a cup of sugar.
Beat sugar and eggs light, then stir in the milk, and last the cocoanut and
such flavoring as you may prefer. Pour this into a deep pan lined with paste;
put fancy strips of paste across it, and bake lightly.
Put on the fire a stew-pan containing a quart of nice fresh milk, and
while it is coming to the boil beat the yolks of eight eggs and a pound of
fine white sugar; when these are well beaten, take off the boiling milk, let it
stand to cool five minutes, and pour it very hot over the eggs and sugar;
strain this mixture, and add for flavoring any favorite extract, either of
lemon, orange, peach or vanilla. Let it stand to get cool, and pour it into the
freezer and surround it with layers of ice, pounded fine, and coarse dairy
salt, well beaten down, and fill up till within a few inches of the top of the
freezer. Now, if you have it you may pour in one quart of pure cream, and
beat it with a wooden spoon into the mixture in the freezer. Turn the crank
of your freezer briskly if you have a five minute freezer; if not, turn the can
with your hand for fifteen minutes, and then pack round again with ice and
salt. Draw off the melted ice and salt water, and fill up again and set away
to harden before serving. Two tablespoonfuls of the extract are enough.
LEMON SHERBET
If a gallon is wanted, take ten fine lemons, or more, if small ones. Place
to them three quarts of cold water sweetened, with two and one-half pounds
of loaf sugar. Just before placing in the freezer, beat up the whites of three
eggs with a little sugar and stir in. Then place the mixture of lemons, sugar,
water and eggs in the freezer, and pack ice and salt around it. It freezes
easily, with less trouble than ice cream. Pineapple or orange sherbet is also
very nice made the same way.
One quart of firm clabber and one quart of sweet cream, make it very
sweet with white sugar; flavor with vanilla bean boiled in half a cup of
sweet milk. Churn all together ten minutes, then freeze in moulds, or in any
ordinary freezer.
ORANGE CREAM
Squeeze the juice of four oranges, and put it with the peel of one into a
sauce-pan; add to this a pint of water, half a pound of sugar, and the beaten
whites of five eggs. Mix carefully, place it over a gentle fire, or it will
curdle, stir it in one direction until it looks thick; strain it through a gauze
sieve, and add to it, when cold, the yolks of five eggs, and a cup of cream or
sweet milk. Set it on the fire until hot enough to cook the eggs, or nearly
ready to boil them, take it off, stir until cold, and set it on ice, or freeze it as
you choose. This is a delicious cream, with or without freezing, and one
much used by families in Louisiana.
Make a quart of rich custard, with eggs, and sugar and milk; when cold,
pour it on a quart of ripe fruit, mash and pass it through a sieve. Add more
sugar if required by the fruit, and freeze it.
Peel and stone a quart of nice yellow peaches; put them in a bowl,
sweeten them well, and chop very fine. If you have sweet cream, put to the
fruit a quart of it; if you have not, take a quart of milk, sweeten it with half
a pound of sugar, let it boil, and when boiling, pour it on to the beaten yolks
of four eggs. When this custard cools, you may add the chopped peaches,
which should be well sweetened. Pour all in the freezer and set it where it
can be frozen.
Wash the sage or barley clean; take a cup of either; put it on the fire with
water to cover it; boil it gently until it is soft. While boiling, put in a stick of
cinnamon, or any seasoning that is agreeable. When the barley has boiled
soft and thick, take it off and strain it; then add to it a rich boiled custard,
sweeten it to taste; add a glass of wine, if liked, and serve it frozen, or not,
as is liked best by the sick.
Peel and stone nice soft, ripe peaches, sprinkle enough sugar on them to
make them very sweet; chop them up fine until they are a pulp, and add to
them as much cream as you have peaches; put them into the freezer and
turn it briskly until the cream is well frozen. Figs and other fruits are good
served in the same way.
ANOTHER ICE CREAM WITHOUT CREAM
COFFEE CUSTARD
Boil one quart of milk with five spoonfuls of white sugar. Beat four eggs
separately, throw the whites into the boiling milk for two minutes and dip
them out with a skimmer as soon as they are cooked. Beat the four yolks of
the eggs with half a cup of corn starch wet with a little cold milk; set it
aside until you can put into the hot milk a cup of hot strong coffee; then
pour in the mixed corn starch and eggs, give it a little boil and take it off.
Last of all, place the pure white boiled eggs on the rich brown custard, and
you have a beautiful and appetizing dessert. Serve with sponge cake. Some
boil the coarsely ground coffee in the milk first and then strain it,
proceeding after that as in other custards.
LEMON CHEESE-CAKES
Boil the peel of two lemons until tender, and pound them. Take half a
pound of sugar, the yolks of six eggs, and one-half pound of butter. Stir all
well together, and add the juice of the lemons last. Lay puff paste in your
pans, fill them half full of the mixture, and bake lightly.
ORANGE CHEESE-CAKES
Boil the peel of four oranges in two waters, to take out the bitter taste.
When tender, pound up with half a pound of sugar, one-quarter of a pound
of butter, and the yolks of six eggs. I make these confections to use up the
yolks when I have been using the whites of eggs for icing or white cake.
Beat the mixture well and add the juice of the oranges; if the oranges are
large the juice of two will be sufficient to make two pies. Put puff paste in
your pans, fill them half full of the confection, and bake lightly.
Take two calves’ feet, add to them a gallon of water which you must
reduce by boiling to a quart; strain it while hot, and set away to get cold.
When cold take off the fat, and remove any settlings which may be in the
bottom. Melt the jelly in a stew-pan, and add to it the whites of six eggs,
well beaten, half a pint of wine, half a pound of white sugar, the juice of
four lemons, and rind of one grated. Boil this a few minutes, and pass it
through a flannel strainer. This is a most delicate and nourishing article of
diet for the sick and convalescent. If the jelly is dropped upon the sliced
peel of a lemon instead of the grated peel, it will look prettier.
Take three quarts of water, one pint of white wine, six teaspoonfuls of
brandy, six lemons, juice and peel, six eggs, the whites slightly beaten, the
shells crushed—the yolks not used—three pounds of white sugar, and four
ounces of gelatine. First, soak the gelatine in one quart of the measured
water; let it remain for one-half an hour. Mix the ingredients named with
the other two quarts, and let all boil twenty minutes; strain it through a
flannel bag without squeezing. Wet the jelly mould in cold water. Pour the
jelly in, and leave it to cool, or put it on ice until wanted.
This is a pretty dessert or supper dish. You require a cocoanut and six
oranges or a pineapple. Grate the cocoanut, and slice the oranges or
pineapple; then in a glass dish lay a layer of fruit, and a layer of the grated
cocoanut, until your bowl is full. Strew powdered sugar over each layer of
fruit, and on the top, and it is ready.
Beat the whites of five eggs with a little currant jelly until they are quite
thick. Sweeten a pint of cream, add a teaspoonful of extract, pour it in the
bowl, and then drop your whites of eggs and jelly by spoonfuls on the
cream. If you can not procure cream, you may make a substitute of a
custard, made of a pint of sweet milk, yolks of two eggs, and half a cup of
white sugar.
EGG-NOG
Take the yolks of ten eggs; add to them ten tablespoonfuls of pulverized
sugar, three pints of new milk, and one pint of the best brandy (whiskey will
do). Beat up the whites the last thing, and stir in, after the liquor is poured
in.
PUDDINGS, PIES AND MINCEMEAT
The delicacy of pastry depends as much upon the baking as the making,
therefore strict attention should be paid to the following directions:
Puff paste requires a quick, even heat; a hot oven will curl the paste and
scorch it.
Tart paste or short paste requires a degree less of heat.
For raised or light crust, the oven may be heated as for puff paste.
When baking with coal, if the fire is not brisk enough do not put on more
coal, but add a stick or two of hard wood; or if nearly done, put in a stick of
pine wood.
Put a pound of sifted flour into a bowl, work into it half a pound of
sweet lard or beef drippings, with a dessertspoonful of salt. When it is
thoroughly mixed put to it enough cold water to bind together. Flour the
paste slab, or table, and rolling pin. Take a part of the paste and roll it to less
than a quarter of an inch in thickness. This will be quite rich enough for
health or taste. A bit of volatile salts, the size of a small nutmeg, dissolved
in a little hot water and put to the paste, will make it more light and
delicate.
PIE-CRUST
Three and a half cups of flour, one cup of sweet lard, one teaspoonful of
salt, one teaspoonful of baking powder, and a cupful of very cold water.
Mix with a knife, using the hands as little as possible. Roll and cut after the
crust is on the pie-plate.
Sift a pint of flour in a basin, salt it as usual, then pour on it a fine stream
of boiling water from the spout of a kettle, pour it slowly, or you will
overflow the flour; mix the flour and hot water with a spoon until it is a nice
soft dough that you can handle; then pour it on the biscuit board, which
should be well floured; give it two or three turns, and it is ready for the
fruit. This is fine for dyspeptics, and altogether lighter and nicer than the
old way of mixing with grease.
Weigh two pounds of the chopped meat; put to it two pounds of suet free
from strings or skin, and chopped fine; add two pounds of currants, picked,
washed, and dried; four pounds of peeled and chopped rich tart apples, with
the juice of two lemons, and the chopped peel of one; a pint of sweet wine,
and one large nutmeg grated, or teaspoonful of ground mace; three pounds
and a half of sugar, quarter of an ounce of ground cloves, or allspice, and
the same of cinnamon, and a large tablespoonful of salt. Mix the whole well
together, put it in a stone pot, or jar, cover it close, and set it in a cool place
for use. Mix it well together again before using.
Pare, core, and chop, not very fine, some tart juicy apples; put to them
one-third as much of the prepared meat; stone one pound of raisins, and cut
a quarter of a citron in small bits; add a gill of brandy, and enough sweet
cider to make the whole quite wet. A peck of apples, pared and chopped,
with a quart bowl of the prepared meat, and the raisins, citron, and cider, as
above-mentioned, with a large teacupful of brown sugar, is enough to make
six or seven pies the size of a dinner plate. A teacupful of fine chopped suet
may be added if liked, or a tablespoonful of butter to each pie, as it is to be
baked.
Take a nice tender piece of beef which is free from gristle, skin or
strings. The meat is used for mincemeat, also the sirloin, the heart, head and
skirts; the tongue and sirloin are best. Put the meat in hot water, enough to
cover it; boil it gently until turning a fork in it will break it; set it to become
cold, then take out all the bone and gristle parts. If the tongue is used peel
off the skin, chop it very fine. To this meat, apples, raisins and spices are
added, for which see recipe mince pie mixture.
Line a pie dish with a nice puff paste, rolled to twice the thickness of a
dollar piece. Put in the pie mixture half an inch deep, and spread it to within
a finger width of the edge; roll out a puff paste crust, turn a plate the size of
the one on which the pie is made on to it, and with a knife cut the paste
around the edge of the plate; then take the plate off, make three small
incisions with the end of the knife on each side of the middle, take it
carefully up and cover the pie with it, press it lightly with the finger against
the bottom crust, put it in a quick oven for three-quarters of an hour. The
top may be brushed over with the yolk of an egg beaten with a little milk.
Pies made in this way should be served warm.
Two pounds of beef chopped fine, one peck of apples, two pounds of
raisins, two pounds of currants, one pound of citron, one-half pound of suet,
three pounds of sugar; powdered cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, a spoonful
each. Moisten with a bottle of champagne cider. When you bake the pies,
place a spoonful of butter on each pie; but do not put butter in the jar with
the meat.
Boil a fresh beef tongue tender, let it get cold, then chop it fine, and add
one pound of suet, one-half peck of apples, two pounds of currants picked
and washed carefully, one pound of citron sliced, half an ounce each of
powdered cloves, allspice, cinnamon and ginger, three pints of cider, with
half a pint of brandy; sweeten to taste, then pack away in a crock. Keep it
cool, or it will ferment. Add apples when you bake the pie.
Take six crackers, soak them in one and a half cups of warm water, add
to them one cup of good brown sugar, one cup of raisins, one cup of
molasses, and one-half cup of cider or strong vinegar. Beat in half a cup of
butter, season with a lemon and its rind, a nutmeg, one teaspoonful of
cloves, and ground cinnamon.
ORANGE PIE
To the juice and sliced pulp of two large oranges, add the grated yellow
rind of one orange. Beat the yolks of three eggs, with a cupful of sugar, and
beat the whites to a high froth and add to them a cup of milk. Mix all the
above together. Have ready a nice puff paste, and bake the mixture in it.
LEMON PIE
Grate the rind and express the juice of three lemons; rub together a cup
and a half of powdered sugar and three tablespoonfuls of butter; beat up the
yolks of four eggs, and add to the butter and sugar, lastly the lemon; bake
on a rich puff paste without an upper crust. While the pie is baking beat up
the whites of the four eggs with powdered loaf sugar, spread it over the top
of the pie when done; then set back in the oven a few moments to brown
lightly.
The juice and grated rind of a lemon, one cup of sugar, two
tablespoonfuls water, yolks of three eggs. Bake in a nice crust. Make an
icing of the whites and a cup of sugar, pour it over the pie, put it back in the
oven, and brown lightly.
Five eggs, two lemons, one cup and a half of sugar. Beat all together
except the whites of three eggs, which you must beat stiff with sugar, and
when the pies are cold spread this icing on top and brown lightly. The crust
of the pie is made of puff paste, or in any way that is liked; some ladies
prefer plain family crust to puff paste.
Mix half a pint of cranberries with half a pound of sugar and a spoonful
of water; let them simmer a little until soft. Peel and cut thin a half dozen
apples; put a rim of paste around a pie plate, strew in the apples, pour the
cranberries over the apples and cover with a nice crust. Bake for an hour to
cook the apples.
Make the crust in the usual manner (for many ways, see directions in this
book), spread it over a deep plate; cut nice fat salt pork very thin, and slice
some apples; place a layer of apples, then a layer of pork; sprinkle with
allspice, pepper, and sugar, between each layer; have three or four layers,
and let the last one be apples; sprinkle in sugar and spice; cover with a top
crust, and bake an hour. This is a plain and wholesome dish; when the
family is large and apples plentiful, it will be an economical way of giving
the boys “apple pie.”
MOLASSES PIE
Take one pint of molasses, beat into it three eggs and a large spoonful of
butter; pour the mixture into a rich crust, and bake.
One cup of molasses, one cup of sugar, four eggs, and four
tablespoonfuls of butter. Mix together the sugar, butter and eggs, then stir in
the molasses. Bake in a rich crust.
BLACKBERRY PIE
Pick the berries clean; rinse them in cold water, and finish as directed for
huckleberries.
Six ounces of stoned raisins, six ounces washed and dried currants, six
ounces of bread crumbs, six ounces of suet and six eggs. Flavor with half a
nutmeg, half a lemon and half a glass of brandy. Mix all these ingredients
together, and put the pudding into a mould, or floured cloth, and boil three
hours.
One pound of raisins, one pound of currants, one pound of suet, three-
quarters of a pound of bread-crumbs, one pint of milk, ten eggs, three-
quarters of a pound of citron and orange-peel mixed, one small nutmeg, one
glass of brandy. Stone the raisins and divide them, wash and dry the
currants, and cut the peel into slices. Mix all these with the bread-crumbs,
flour and suet chopped very fine, add the grated nutmeg, and then stir in the
eggs well-beaten, the brandy, and the milk. When the ingredients are well
blended, put it into a mould, tie a floured cloth over it, and boil it six hours.
When done turn it out, and serve with brandy and arrowroot sauce.
One pound and a half of grated bread, one pound and a half of raisins,
one pound and a half of currants, one pound of beef-suet, peel of one large
lemon, three ounces of almonds, a little nutmeg or mixed spice, sugar to
taste, three quarters of a pound of candied orange, lemon and citron, eight
or nine eggs, half a pint of milk, two wineglassfuls of brandy. Stone the
raisins, wash and pick the currants, chop the suet very fine, and mix with
them a pound and a half of grated bread; add the candied peel cut into
shreds, the almonds blanched and minced, and the mixed spice and sugar to
taste. When all are thoroughly blended, stir it well together with eight or
nine well-beaten eggs, two glassfuls of brandy, and half a pint of milk, tie it
in a cloth, and boil it for five hours or five hours and a half, or divide it into
equal parts, and boil it in moulds or basins for half the time.
One pound and a half of flour, four or five eggs, a pinch of salt, a little
nutmeg, one pound of raisins, half a pound of currants, sugar to taste, and a
little milk. Make a thick batter with five well-beaten eggs, one pound and a
half of flour, and a sufficient quantity of milk. Then add the currants
washed and picked, the raisins stoned, a little nutmeg and sugar to taste.
Mix all well together, and boil it in a basin or floured cloth for quite five
hours. The peel of a lemon grated, and a few pieces of citron cut thin may
be added.
CHEAP PLUM PUDDING
Take a cup of chopped suet, a cup of raisins, a cup of currants and citron
mixed, a cup of sweet milk, two eggs, a cup of molasses, and a teaspoonful
of soda; add to this three and a half cups of sifted flour or bread crumbs,
and a little salt. Boil three or four hours. Serve with hard sauce of beaten
butter, sugar and nutmeg; or with butter, sugar and wine sauce. This is
inexpensive, but is modeled after the most excellent recipes. The quantity
suits a small company.
One pound of chopped and stoned raisins, half a pound of suet, one
pound of flour, a cup of bread crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of molasses, a
pint of milk or nutmeg grated, and a lemon peel chopped. Cut the suet very
fine and mix it with the flour; add the bread crumbs, lemon and nutmeg,
with the stoned raisins, to a pint of milk; mix all together and put in the
molasses; keep it closely covered in a cool place. When it is wanted, pour it
in a floured cloth and boil it five hours. Serve with rich sauce.
Take one pound or a pint of hot boiled sweet potato, pass it hot through a
sieve—the finer the better. To this add six eggs well beaten, three-fourths of
a pound of butter, and a pound of sugar; flavor with grated lemon rind, and
a little brandy. Make a paste around the dish, pour in the sweet potato
mixture, and bake. Sprinkle finely pulverized sugar over the surface of the
pudding. This is a Southern dish, and fit to grace the table of an epicure.
Six eggs, three lemons, six tablespoonfuls of corn starch, and one large
spoonful of butter. Cook the corn starch in a pint and a half of water, and
stir in the butter. Let it get cool, and then stir in the yolks of the eggs, the
juice of the lemons, and the grated rind; also one cup of sugar. Bake this
lightly in a pudding dish, and when cold pour it over a meringue, or icing,
made with the whites of the eggs, and sufficient sugar to make a thick icing.
Put it back in the oven, and let it brown lightly.
This is usually made in oval tin moulds, with a tight-fitting cover. Small
moulds are the best. Cut some sponge cake about half an inch thick; shape it
nearly to the mould; dilute a tablespoonful of any favorite extract, and pour
it on to the cake. Then commence to fill up the mould in layers of currants,
seedless raisins, sliced citron, and chopped almonds, then a layer of cake,
until it is full. Make ready a custard of one pint of milk, the yolks of two
eggs, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and half a teaspoonful of extract of
lemon, rose, or almonds; let it simmer a little, but not enough to curdle, as it
will certainly do if allowed to stay too long on the fire. When it simmers,
take it off, and let it cool a little. When only lukewarm pour it over the fruit
and cake in the mould. Cover tightly, and bury it in ice and salt. It is, when
well made, a most exquisite dessert.
SOUFFLE PUDDING
Take a pint of milk, a cup of flour, one spoonful of sugar, and a piece of
butter as large as an egg. Scald the milk, flour, and butter together. After the
batter becomes cold, stir in the yolks of five eggs, and just before baking,
stir in the whites. Bake in a quick oven, and serve with sauce.
Beat the whites of ten eggs to a stiff froth. Beat the yolks with three
quarters of a pound of powdered sugar, and the juice and grated rind of a
lemon. Mix all together lightly. Butter a thick-bottomed dish which will just
hold the pudding; put it immediately in the oven, and bake it fifteen or
twenty minutes. Serve it just as it comes from the oven. It should quiver
like a golden jelly when served. If baked too long, it will be spoiled. The
oven must not be too hot, or it will scorch; the heat should be as usual to
bake pies.
Line a deep pie dish with puff paste, having first buttered it thoroughly;
place on this a layer of jam, then a layer of custard, then jam, then custard,
until the dish is nearly full, leaving the custard layer at the top. Bake for
twenty minutes in a moderate oven, let the pudding cool, beat up the whites
of the eggs that were used for the custard into a stiff whip with a little
powdered sugar, pile the whip on as high as possible, and serve.
PARISIAN PUDDING
Lay slices of sponge cake at the bottom of a glass dish, spread over them
a layer of preserve (red or black currant is very good for the purpose), place
over that more slices of sponge cake, then another layer of jam. Do this
until you have filled the dish. Pour over it sufficient sherry to soak the cake
properly, then beat up the whites of four eggs with sufficient powdered loaf
sugar to make it a very stiff froth, with which to cover the top of the cake
completely, and bake.
BIRD’S NEST PUDDING
Take half a package of gelatine, using a little more than half the quantity
of water given in the recipe for making jelly; in all other respects use the
same proportions. When ready to strain put it into a large oval dish (a meat
dish is nice); fill it nearly to the edge; then set it away to harden. Take some
egg-shells that you have broken just the end off in getting out the egg; make
a blanc-mange of corn starch; flavor it with vanilla, and sweeten; put this
into the shells before it cools and hardens at all; set the eggs on end in a
vegetable-dish so that they will stand top up, being careful not to let the
blanc-mange run out. Cut some very thin yellow parings off the lemon rind,
stew them in a little sugar and water; when cold lay each piece separately in
a circle on the jelly, making two or three nests. Break open the egg-shells,
take out the blanc-mange, and lay it in groups like eggs inside the nest. This
makes a very pretty dish, and is very good. Ivy sprays or myrtle wound
around the edge of the dish improves the appearance.
Peel and core six mellow apples; line a pudding dish with pastry; lay the
apples in the bottom of the dish, and stick long narrow strips of citron
around them. Stir to a cream a pint of powdered sugar, and half a pint of
butter. Beat separately the yolks and whites of eight eggs; mix them with
the butter and sugar, season with nutmeg, place it on the fire, and stir until it
is hot; then pour it over the apples, and bake immediately. It can be eaten
warm or cold. Do not allow the top to brown too soon. It should be covered
with a pan, when first put into the oven, to prevent this.
Cut nice sour cooking apples into a baking dish, small or large as you
need; put sugar, cinnamon, and lemon over them; throw in a cup of water,
and cover the dish with a crust of light pie crust. Put it in the oven, and bake
until the apples are tender. Be sure to cut air-holes in the crust before
putting in to bake. Eat it with cream and sugar, or hard sauce of butter and
sugar; beat together until firm enough to slice like butter. Grate a little
nutmeg over the sauce, if cinnamon is not liked.
COTTAGE PUDDING
One tablespoonful of butter, one cup of sugar, one cup of milk, two eggs,
one teaspoonful of soda, one pint of sifted flour, two spoonfuls of cream of
tartar; mix like cake; bake quickly in shallow tin pans; dredge the top with
powdered sugar, which gives a nice crust to all puddings and cakes. Sauce
to accompany this pudding: one tablespoonful of butter, one cup of
powdered sugar, lemon extract for seasoning, or lemon juice, with half a
pint of boiling water. All beaten together until it foams.
This is a pudding which requires no paste and is a nice way to use fruit,
such as pie-plant, berries, strawberries, peaches, etc. To a quart of
buttermilk add one egg, a large teaspoonful of soda, a little salt, and flour
enough to make a thick batter. Pour it over a quart of chopped fruit, such as
mentioned, beat it a little, tie it tightly in a bag, drop it in a kettle of hot
water, and let it boil two hours. Serve with sugar and cream. This pudding
may be poured into a cake pan and baked, if not convenient to boil it. Put in
plenty of fruit.
APPLE MERINGUE
Select handsome pippin apples if you can get them, pare and core them
whole, put them in the oven with a little water in a deep dish, and let them
cook a little but not enough to break. When plumped, take them out and let
them get cold; then fill the centre of each apple with jelly. Make an icing of
the whites of eggs, beaten with sifted sugar, and carefully cover each apple
with it, wetting the knife while smoothing the icing. Sift a little sugar over
them and put them in the oven to harden, but not to brown; too much heat
will cause the jelly to melt.
A QUICKLY-MADE PUDDING
Split a few crackers, lay the surface over with raisins, and place the
halves together again; tie them closely in a cloth, and boil them fifteen
minutes. Serve with a rich sauce of butter, wine, sugar and nutmeg.
Get a light, square loaf of bread, split it in three or four horizontal slices;
strew in between the slices cut-up raisins or currants; tie it up again; boil
half an hour, and serve it with a rich sauce. There are few better puddings
made with so little expense or trouble.
Butter some slices of bread, cut thin, and lay them in a dish, with
currants and citron between; pour over it a quart of milk, with four well-
beaten eggs, and sugar sufficient to sweeten to taste, and bake. Serve with
sauce. It is easily made, and very nice. It is good hot or cold.
CHEAP GINGERBREAD PUDDING
Take a cup of butter, rub it up with three and a half cups of flour, one cup
of milk, one cup of molasses, and one teaspoonful of saleratus. Steam three
hours, and serve with a rich sauce.
Beat four eggs to a quart of milk, sweeten and flavor to taste, cut slices
of baker’s bread and steep them until thoroughly saturated, then fry in hot
butter and serve. Half this quantity for a small family.
MY OWN PUDDING
Let a quart of milk be set on to boil; while it is getting hot, mix a cup of
maizena or corn starch with enough cold water to form it into a thick batter;
add to this a cup of white sugar and the yolks of four eggs; take the milk off
and stir eggs, maizena, and sugar, into the milk; beat all together a few
minutes, then pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake it lightly about
ten minutes, or long enough only to cook the eggs; then take the pudding
out, and while hot put over it a layer of jelly or jam; beat up the whites of
the eggs with a cup of sugar, put this over the jelly and brown.
MARLBOROUGH PUDDING
Take half a pound of grated apples, half a pound of fine white sugar, half
a pound of butter, six eggs well beaten, the peel of one lemon grated, and
the strained juice of two; line the dish with pie paste, put the pudding in,
and bake in a quick oven.
Quarter, and stew a dozen tart apples. To each teacup of this pulp,
rubbed through a sieve, add a teacup of sugar, half a cup of melted butter,
the juice and grated rind of two lemons, a cup of milk, four eggs and half a
nutmeg. Beat all together and bake in pans lined with pastry, with a rim of
puff paste around the edge. This is an old and always good recipe.
BAKED APPLE DUMPLINGS
Make a nice pie crust, raised with yeast, or not, as you desire; divide it
into six parts, and roll each part thin; have ready six good-sized tart apples,
pared and cored; fill up the cores with sugar and butter. Close the dough
neatly around the apples, and turn that side down in a deep dish. If they are
made with raised dough they should stand one hour; if with unleavened
paste, sprinkle some sugar over them, also a little grounded cinnamon or
other spice, and set them in the oven to bake. Spread a little batter over each
of the dumplings as they go to the oven. Put plenty of spices, nutmegs,
cinnamon and mace. Throw a little water in the dish, and bake three-
quarters of an hour. Wine, or sugar and butter sauce is a great improvement,
but it is very good without it.
Boil the pearl tapioca as you do rice; when cool sweeten it to the taste,
and grate nutmeg over it. Pour rich cream over it and serve.
TAPIOCA CREAM
Soak two teaspoonfuls of tapioca for two hours in a little cold water.
Boil a quart of milk, and to it add the tapioca, the yolks of three eggs, well
beaten with a cup and a half of sugar; give it one boil, and set it away to
cool; do not boil it long, or the eggs will curdle. Beat the whites of the eggs,
and put them on top, or boil them in a little of the milk and put it on the
cream. Set it on ice until wanted. This is a delicate and nourishing cream for
convalescents, or invalids who require nourishing food.
Take one pint of cream, whip it until stiff, and one ounce of isinglass
boiled and strained in about a pint of water. Boil it until reduced to half a
pint. Boil in this water and isinglass, a vanilla bean, and when nearly cold,
take out the bean, add four ounces of sugar, and when this is blood warm,
stir in the cream. Eat with whipped cream.
RICE-MILK FOR CHILDREN
To every quart of milk, allow two ounces of rice. Wash the rice and put it
with the milk in a close-covered stewpan, set it over a slow fire, and let it
simmer gently for one hour and a half. It will scorch on a fierce fire.
First, the pastry: Rub into a pint of flour a heaping spoonful of lard.
Strew in a little salt, and work it until the mass becomes numberless little
globules and balls. Then moisten with cold water, and press them together
until they adhere, and your pastry is made. It must not be kneaded or
worked over at all. Let any cook try this method, and he will find it the best
and easiest way to make fine leaf paste, and he will never again
countenance the old rolling, larding, butter-spreading system.
Now for the fruit: Pare, core and quarter one dozen apples. Put them in a
baking pan, with one large cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of spices, two of
molasses and one of butter; add water until the fruit is nearly covered, and
put it in the oven to bake and stew, and brown. When the apples begin to
soften, dredge in a little flour, for the juice, though plentiful, must not be
watery. Roll out the pastry. Cut the cover to suit the pan, and make the
trimmings into dumplings, which must be dropped at intervals among the
fruit. Fold the pie cover in half, make several oblique incisions for
openings, lay it on and brown it lightly. Serve on a dish like peach cobbler.
Like that substantial dessert, it may be eaten with cream.
PRESERVES, SYRUPS AND FRUIT JELLIES
HINTS ON PRESERVING
TO MAKE PRESERVES
Most fruits are much easier preserved than jellied. Weigh the fruit, and to
each pound of fruit the usual rule is a pound of sugar; make a syrup of the
sugar with a half pint of water to each pound of fruit. Boil it clear, then put
in the fruit and cook it well, and boil gently till the fruit is clear.
TO GREEN FRUIT FOR PICKLING OR PRESERVING
Put vine leaves under, between, and over the fruit in a brass kettle, and
over the leaves sprinkle a teaspoonful of beaten or ground alum; cover the
fruit to be greened, with water, and boil it gently with the leaves and alum;
if not a fine green, take more leaves and dust a little saleratus over them.
Spread them out to cool when green, and proceed to preserve or pickle them
as desired.
TO PRESERVE PEACHES
Select white clings if you desire to preserve them whole. Yellow peaches
make the most transparent preserve, but cannot always be procured. If white
clings are convenient, peel and weigh them, and to each pound of fruit put
one pound of sugar and half a pint of water. Put the syrup to boil, clarify it
with an egg, and as it boils remove the scum. Keep the peaches in cold
water all the time the syrup is boiling, as water keeps the fruit in good color,
while leaving it exposed darkens it. When the syrup has boiled clear, put in
the peaches; let them boil gently for half an hour, then take them out on a
dish for two hours; put them back in the syrup and boil again until they are
clear; they are then done, and you can put them in jars and pour the syrup
over them, and cork and seal up for future use.
Peel, cut and weigh six pounds of peaches; take six pounds of fine white
sugar, throw the sugar on the peaches until they are well covered, and let
them stay all night. Early in the morning add three pints of water, and boil
all together for one hour. Skim carefully, and then take the peaches out on a
large dish, still keeping the syrup gently boiling, and skimming it as it boils.
Lay the peaches in the sun on dishes for at least two hours, to harden.
Taking the fruit out of the syrup a few times improves it, giving it firmness
and transparency. Now replace the peaches in the syrup, and boil gently
until they are clear. Cut peaches are much more easily kept than peaches
preserved whole, but they are not so highly flavored. Cut fruit does not
require so much boiling as whole fruit; this should be remembered in
preserving.
PRESERVED CITRON
Pare off the green skin and all the soft part of the rind, then cut the firm
part in strips, or any shape you fancy. Allow a pound and a quarter of sugar
to each pound of rind; line your porcelain kettle with grapevine leaves and
fill with the rind, scattering a little pulverized alum over each layer. Cover
with vine-leaves three thick, pour on water enough to reach and wet these
and cover with a close lid. Let them heat together for three hours, but the
water must not actually boil. Take out the rind, which will be well greened
by this process, and throw at once into very cold water. Let it soak for four
hours, changing the water for fresh every hour. Then make a syrup,
allowing two cups of water to every pound and a quarter of syrup. Boil and
skim until no more scum comes up; put in the rind and simmer gently
nearly an hour. Take it out and spread on dishes in the sun until firm and
almost cool. Simmer in the syrup for half an hour; spread out again, and
when firm put into a large bowl and pour over it the scalding syrup. Next
day put the syrup again over the fire, add the juice of a lemon and a tiny bit
of ginger-root for every pound of rind. Boil down until thick, pack the rind
in jars and pour over it the syrup. Tie up when cool.
TO PRESERVE PEARS
Take small rich pears, and boil them gently in water until they will yield
to the pressure of the finger. They must not be soft, or they will not preserve
well. Take them out when a little boiled; let them cool, and pare them
neatly, leaving a little of the stem on, as well as the blossom end. Make a
syrup of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and when it is boiling hot,
pour it on the pears; next day boil them in the syrup till clear, and bottle
them for use.
PINEAPPLE PRESERVES
Take fine pineapples, cut off all the rough parts, and each apple in
quarters, shaping each piece alike. Boil the pineapples in just enough water
to cover them, and put to this water all the cuttings, so as to make the syrup
as rich in flavor as possible. When the pieces are tender, take them out,
weigh them, and make a syrup of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit,
allowing a cup of the water the pineapples were boiled in, to each pound of
fruit. Strain the water over the sugar, mix it, and let it boil fifteen minutes,
by itself; skim it, and put in the pineapples, letting them boil until they are
clear and perfectly tender. Pears done in this way make a delicious preserve.
The usual way of putting them in the syrup without previous boiling, makes
them little better than sweetened leather, as it makes them tough and
stringy.
Wash the apples and boil them in a very little water, cover them with
vine leaves, while on the fire simmering, and they will then be very yellow.
Take them out and spread them on a large dish to cool. Pare and core them,
put them back in the kettle, with fresh leaves to cover them. Hang them
over the fire, or on the stove in a preserving kettle until they are green; then
take them out of the pot, let them cool, weigh them, and allow a pound of
sugar to a pound of fruit. Put only water sufficient to dissolve the sugar, as
the fruit, having been already boiled, will require very little water—a small
cupful to each pound being quite enough. Boil this syrup, skim it, and put in
your green apples, and boil them until they are clear and tender. Put the
apples in jars, turn the juice on to them, and when cold tie them up, or
rather seal them in this Southern climate.
Dissolve and boil a pound of loaf sugar in a pint of water; skim it, pare
six or eight apples, or a dozen peaches, throw them into the boiling syrup,
and cook until tender and transparent. Lemon improves the apples, but
peaches are better without it.
PRESERVED HUCKLEBERRIES
Take them just as they begin to ripen, pick and weigh them, allow a
pound of fruit to a pound of sugar, then stew them until quite clear, and the
syrup becomes thick. These make nice tarts when fruit is scarce.
PLUM PRESERVES
Get plums before they are dead ripe; allow a pound of sugar to a pound
of fruit, dissolve and boil the sugar and water (allowing half a pint of water
to a pound). Boil the syrup until it is thick, then put in the plums and boil
them until they are transparent; then put them in sealed jars.
FIG PRESERVES
Boil the sugar and water syrup as directed in previous recipe. Let the figs
be firm, not dead ripe or they will boil to a mass. They should be laid in
alum the day before they are to be preserved, then taken out, washed, and
put into the boiling syrup. Boil for three hours, or until transparent; then
bottle as usual and seal up with wax.
Pluck the oranges before they turn yellow; they should be a rich dark
green; cut a hole in the stem end and take out all the white pulp and seeds;
scrape them carefully, grate the rind so as to break the oil cells, and allow
the strong oil to escape. Wash them and throw them into strong salt and
water; let them stay in it for three days, then soak them in fresh water three
days. When you wish to preserve them you must boil them in clear water,
slowly, in a brass kettle; cover them with a few orange leaves while boiling,
which will green them, and boil until they are tender, then set them up to
cool. Weigh as much sugar as you have oranges, and allow pound for
pound; boil the syrup clear and then put in the oranges; boil gently for half
an hour, or until green and yellow. Use only a silver spoon in making this
preserve.
Take the firm outside rind of the watermelon; scrape off the green and
cut out the soft inside; cut the rind into any shapes you choose, stars,
crescents, diamonds, etc. After they have been boiled in alum and leaves to
green and harden, weigh them and make a syrup of a pound of sugar to a
pound of fruit, with a cup of water to each pound. Boil the syrup clear, and
put in the cut rinds, and boil them until transparent. Flavor with ginger for
green color, and lemons for the yellow. If the rind is wanted yellow you
must boil it with fresh lemon skins and a little saffron before preserving it.
In a bucket of cold water, put a handful of lime, stir it in, and when it
settles clear, pour it over the watermelon rind you intend preserving; let it
stay in the weak lime-water one day. Soak it a few hours, and get the taste
of the lime from the rind, then put it in alum water and scald for ten
minutes. Put grape-leaves in with the alum water while scalding; they will
make the rind green. Take the rind from the alum, and put it in cold water
for a few hours, and when cold, boil it in strong ginger tea until it is soft,
and tastes of the ginger. Make the syrup of one and a half pounds of sugar
to each pound of rind, and a half pint of water to each pound of sugar. Let it
cook slowly, skim it, and when it looks clear, put in the rind, and let it cook
slowly until clear and transparent. The rind should be cut into beautiful
shapes, and preserved with care. This is a little trouble; but the housekeeper
is amply repaid by the beauty of the preserve.
Wash and drain the fruit, put it in a stone jar, and put the jar into a kettle
of water over the fire; let it boil, but see that none of the water gets into the
fruit. When the fruit is tender, it will begin to break; pour it now into a
flannel bag, but do not squeeze it—that will make the jelly cloudy. To each
pint of juice strained, add one pound, or one pound and a quarter of white
sugar, and the half of the beaten white of an egg. Boil this rapidly, skim, but
do not stir the syrup, as stirring breaks its continuity and prevents its
jellying. Boil it twenty minutes, and try a little in some cold water, to find
out if it jellies; if it does not, boil it a little longer. Too much boiling, or too
slow boiling, injures jelly and makes it ropy. Too much sugar will cause
jelly to grain; the quantity used must be in accordance with the
requirements of the fruit, acid fruit requiring more sugar and dead ripe fruit
less. Red currants take more sugar than black currants; they also take more
time to boil to a jelly. A little practice and a few mistakes will make anyone
who takes pleasure in cooking a good jelly-maker and preserver.
CRAB APPLE JELLY
This is the best of all apple jellies. Wash the apples, cut them up, remove
all defects, remove the seeds and the blossom end; but do not pare them.
Lay them in your preserving-kettle, and cover them with water; then boil
them until they are soft, but do not let them mash up from too much boiling.
Drain off all the water, and mash the apples with the back of a silver spoon.
Put this in a jelly bag, and place a deep dish under it to collect the juice. To
every pint of the juice allow a pint of loaf sugar; boil it and skim it. It will
be ready to dip out into tumblers in half an hour, if you have complied with
these directions. Always dip jelly out with a silver spoon, as any other kind
darkens fruit. I have seen preserves rendered very dark by putting in them a
new-tinned dipper. You must be careful of these things if you desire your
confections to be elegant.
BLACKBERRY JELLY
Cook the fruit till tender in a little water; throw off the water, bruise and
strain the fruit, and to each pint of the juice add one pound of white sugar.
Put it now in a preserving-pan, and boil it rapidly, but do not stir it while
boiling, as that breaks the jelly; skim it carefully, and when it jellies, pour it
into tumblers or small jars. I have made two pecks of berries into jelly in
two hours. This is said for the benefit of young housekeepers who often boil
their jelly too slowly and too long, which makes it ropy.
JAM
This can be made from almost any kind of ripe fruit. Blackberries,
strawberries or raspberries are especially suited for this form of preserve.
You must weigh your fruit (say blackberries), and allow three quarters of a
pound of good sugar to each pound of fruit. Crush the fruit and sugar, with
a biscuit beater, until they are well mashed; add a gill of water to each
pound of fruit; boil gently (not rapidly like jelly) until it becomes a jelly-
like mass, and when done, put it into glasses, or small earthenware pots and
when cold, cover up like jelly. This is an excellent medicine in summer for
dysentery; but if intended for invalids, you must spice it, and add a gill of
brandy—fourth proof—to each pound of jam.
TOMATO JAM
Take nice ripe tomatoes, skin them, take out all their seeds, but save the
juice to put with the sugar. Weigh the fruit, and to each pound, add three-
fourths of a pound of sugar; boil some lemons soft, take one for each pound
of tomatoes, mash them fine, take out the pips, and put the lemons to the
sugar and tomatoes; boil slowly and mash the jam smooth with a silver
spoon. When smooth and jelly-like, it is done. Put it away in glasses
carefully.
Quarter the oranges and take out the seeds and white strings. To every
pound of pulp, add a cup of cold water, and let it stand thus for twenty-four
hours. Boil some of the peel in several waters until quite tender; then to
each pound of pulp, add one-quarter of a pound of boiled peel, and one and
a quarter pounds of white sugar. Boil this slowly until it jellies, and the bits
of peel are quite transparent.
Quarter a dozen large ripe oranges; remove the rind, seeds and filaments,
but save all the juice. Put the juice and pulp into a porcelain kettle, with an
equal quantity of strained honey, adding one-third as much sugar as honey.
Boil until very thick, sweet and clear. When cold, put it in small jars.
MARMALADE
This jam can be made of any ripe fruit, boiled to a pulp with a little
water; the best are peaches, quinces, apples, oranges and cranberries. It is
usual to crush the fruit. Put in three quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound
of fruit, add a little water (half a cup to a pound), and boil until it is a jellied
mass. When done, put it in glass or white earthenware.
TO CANDY FRUIT
After peaches, quinces, plums, or citron, have been preserved, take them
from the syrup, and drain them on a sieve. To a pound of loaf sugar, put a
small cup of water, and when it is dissolved, set it over a moderate fire, and
let it boil; when it boils, put in the fruit to be candied, and stir continually
until the sugar granulates over the fruit; then take it up, and dry it in a warm
oven. If not sufficiently candied, repeat the operation.
CANDIED PUMPKIN
Peel a piece of pumpkin, and cut it in thin slices. Make a nice, thick
syrup of brown sugar and water, and put the pumpkin into it, with a little of
the juice of the lemon. Boil this until the pumpkin is nicely candied. Mace,
or other spices, may be used for flavoring instead of lemon, if preferred. It
may be eaten hot with meats at dinner, and is equally nice, when cold, for
supper or lunch.
ORGEAT SYRUP WITHOUT ORANGE FLOWERS
Make a syrup of a pound of sugar to every pint of water; boil this a few
minutes, skim it clear, and when cold, to every four pounds of sugar used,
allow a gill of orange water, or rose water, and two tablespoonfuls of pure
essence of bitter almonds. Serve it in iced water.
ORANGE SYRUP
This syrup is so easily made, and oranges are so abundant here, that it is
advantageous to make this syrup in the season of orange harvest, in
Louisiana. To make it, you must select ripe and thin-skinned fruit; squeeze
the juice, and to every pint, add a pound and a quarter of white sugar; boil it
slowly, and skim as long as any scum rises; you may then take it off, let it
grow cold, and bottle it. Be sure to secure the corks well. This is nice for a
summer drink for delicate persons; it is also very convenient for pudding
sauces, as half a cup of this syrup, mixed with melted butter, is admirable,
where wine is not used. The flavor is so fine, it requires very little spicing to
make it agreeable.
BRANDIED FRUITS, WINES AND CORDIALS
PEACHES IN BRANDY
Soak fine peaches in lye until you can remove the fuzzy outside; wipe
them, and turn them into cold water. When you have prepared as many as
you desire, weigh them, and to every pound of fruit, put three quarters of a
pound of white sugar. Make a syrup like that for preserves, only using less
water; boil the peaches in the syrup until they are tender; then take them out
of the kettle, and place them in jars; fill up the jars with a brandy syrup,
made of a pint of brandy, to a pint of the sugar syrup from the peaches.
Cook them very carefully, and dip the mouths of the jars in rosin melted,
and keep them in a cool dark place.
APRICOTS IN BRANDY
Peaches and apricots are brandied the same way. Gather them as fresh as
possible. Apricots should be taken from the tree as soon as ripe, as they
soften so rapidly. Rub each one with a coarse towel, but do not peel it.
Make a syrup of half the weight of the fruit in sugar, and just water enough
to dissolve it. When the syrup is prepared and hot, put in the apricots, let
them simmer until tender; then take the fruit out, and place it on dishes,
then expose them to the sun, or in a warm oven to dry and harden. Boil the
syrup again, after the fruit is out, until it is quite rich and thick. Skim it
carefully. When the apricots are cold and firm, put them in white earthen
preserve-jars and fill up with syrup and brandy, half and half. Tie up with
bladder skin.
Mash the apricots or peaches in a mortar, remove the stones, and to eight
pounds of the pulp, add one quart of water; let this stand twenty-four hours;
then strain, and to each gallon of the juice, add two pounds of loaf sugar.
Let it ferment, and when perfectly clear, bottle it. Peach wine is very nice,
and may have a few of the kernels added for flavoring, if wished.
Boil six pounds of raisins in six gallons of water. When soft, rub them to
a pulp, and pass through a colander to get rid of the stones; add this pulp to
the water it was boiled in, put to it twelve pounds of white sugar and a half-
pint of yeast. When clear, suspend half a pound of elder flowers in it to
flavor the wine; withdraw the flowers and bottle off the wine.
Take the outer rind of one hundred oranges pared, so that no white
appears; pour upon them ten gallons of boiling water, let it stand ten hours
and keep slightly warm. While still warm, add the juice of the oranges,
mixed with twenty-five pounds of lump sugar, and a few tablespoonfuls of
good yeast; let it ferment five days, or until the fermentation has ceased,
and the wine is clear; then bottle. Lemon wine can be made in the same
way.
SOUR ORANGE WINE
Take one gallon juice of sour oranges, four gallons of water, and twenty
pounds of sugar. Boil this mixture in a vessel large enough to hold it, and
skim it as it boils until no more scum rises. Pour it into a flannel bag and
strain; then put it in a cask, adding to it a quart of uncooked orange juice.
Let it ferment, and when clear, bottle it. This will require about six months
to finish. Keep in a cool closet or cellar during fermentation.
Bruise your berries, measure them, and to every gallon, add a quart of
boiling water. Let this stand twenty-four hours, stirring it three or four times
during this time. The third day strain off the juice, and to every gallon of
this strained liquor, put two pounds of refined sugar. Cork it tight, and let it
stand until cool weather; when you will have a wine that you will never
voluntarily be without.
BLACKBERRY WINE
Mash the berries without boiling them; strain the juice, and to six pints
of juice, add two pints of water and three pounds of sugar. Mix thoroughly
and put it in a wide-mouthed stone jar to ferment. Cover it carefully with a
cloth, to keep out all insects; open it and skim it every morning; then cover
it up again carefully, for much of the bouquet of the wine depends on this.
When it ceases to ferment, strain it and put it in a demijohn; do not cork it
tightly, as it must have a little air, but cover the loose stopper with a piece of
muslin or tarlatan, to keep out the insects. It will be ready to bottle in two
months.
BLACKBERRY CORDIAL
Simmer nice ripe blackberries in water enough to cover them, and when
they are tender take them out, mash them and strain them through a strong
cloth; get all the juice out you can by squeezing, but do not let the pulp and
seed come through the bag. Now add a little of the water they were boiled
in, however not more than two tablespoonfuls to each pint of strained juice.
To every pint of this liquor, add one pound of loaf sugar, one teaspoonful of
mace, same of cloves and cinnamon. Boil all these together a few minutes,
and strain it again to free it from the spice. When this syrup is cool, add to
each pint a wineglass of good French brandy. If you cannot get brandy,
substitute rum or whiskey, remembering to use twice as much as you would
brandy. This is excellent for children during the prevalence of summer
complaints, and an excellent tonic for all debilitated persons.
BLACKBERRY CORDIAL
Select fine, ripe fruit. Squeeze the berries without boiling, and to a quart
of the strained juice, put a pound of loaf sugar; boil it for half an hour, and
add a quart of brandy, some cloves and cinnamon, when on the fire. If the
fruit thickens too rapidly while boiling, throw in a cup of hot water.
RASPBERRY CORDIAL
Squeeze the fruit through a flannel bag, and to every quart of juice to a
pound of loaf sugar; put it in a stone jar and stir it constantly for half an
hour; allow it to stand for three days, then strain it again and add to each
quart of juice a quart of fine brandy.
TOMATO WINE
Let the tomatoes be very ripe; mash them well, let them stand twenty-
four hours, strain, and to every quart of the tomato juice, add a pound of
white sugar. This will ferment and should be allowed to do so, only keep it
carefully covered from the flies. Skim off the foam as it rises, and when the
liquor becomes clear, bottle it. This wine will be a pleasant acid, and should
be served with sugar and water, in the tumbler with the wine.
ANOTHER TOMATO WINE
Bruise your berries, or small tomatoes; measure the juice, and add two
pounds of sugar to each gallon; put it in a cask, adding two gallons of water
to each four gallons of juice. Let it ferment like blackberry wine.
To the juice of a dozen lemons put one pound and a half of double
refined sugar, and a picked quart of raspberries or strawberries; pare a ripe
pineapple and slice it, put over it half a pound of sugar, stir the lemon juice
with the sugar, crush in the berries slightly bruise the pineapple and chop it
up in small pieces. Put the lemon juice in a large punch bowl, add to it three
quarts of ice water, then put in the strawberry and pineapple juice, stir it
until all the sugar is dissolved, and then set it on ice. Serve in punch glasses.
CHAMPAGNE PUNCH
BARLEY WATER
Take four large tablespoonfuls of picked and washed pearl barley, and
put it into a porcelain-lined kettle with two quarts of boiling water; let it
boil slowly until the water is reduced one half, then strain it and season with
salt, lemon, or sugar as may be agreeable to the sick.
TOAST WATER
Cut two or three slices from a loaf of wheat bread, toast them very
brown; while hot, put them in a small pitcher, and pour over them a pint and
a half of water. Sugar may be added if liked, but when the stomach is
affected it is better without it.
Take a large tumbler (it should hold a pint), half fill it with chopped ice,
add to it a large tablespoonful of white sugar, beat it a little with the ice,
then pour on it a wineglass of gin, rum or brandy, and fill up with fresh
milk. It is generally very acceptable to an invalid who refuses other
stimulants.
Cut some ripe apples into thin pieces, add the peel of a fresh lemon; pour
boiling water over them and let it stand till cold, then sweeten with loaf
sugar. This is a grateful and cooling drink.
BAKED APPLES
Bake them in a tin roaster, as iron discolors them; pour molasses over
them and bake until soft. This is good for opening the bowels of patients
who are a little constipated.
Put a pint of new milk to boil; make a smooth batter with an ounce of
Bermuda arrow-root and cold milk; add a little salt, and when the milk is
boiling stir in the batter; let the fire be gentle or it will scorch; sweeten this
with fine white sugar, and let it boil a few minutes; flavor with lemon, or
orange water, or if lemon is objected to, boil a vanilla bean in the milk
before the arrow-root is put in. Take it off the fire, pour it in a mould and set
it on ice; serve jelly or jam with the blanc mange, or eat it with cream if it
agrees with the invalid.
ARROW-ROOT BLANC MANGE
ARROW-ROOT GRUEL
MILK PORRIDGE
TAPIOCA MILK
TAPIOCA PUDDING
Put a coffee-cup of tapioca (soak it well first) into a pint and a half of
milk, set it where it will get hot slowly, take it off when it boils, and when
cool add four well-beaten eggs; flavor with lemon and peach, sweeten it to
taste, and bake for an hour in a hot oven. If this is wanted for one person,
take half the quantity of tapioca and milk.
WHITE WINE SYLLABUB
Season a pint of milk with sugar and wine, but not enough wine to
curdle the milk. Fill your glasses nearly full, and crown them with
sweetened whipped cream. Season the cream with extract of lemon.
SYLLABUB
Take the juice of a large lemon, and the yellow rind pared thin; one glass
of brandy, two glasses of white wine, and a quarter of a pound of powdered
sugar. Put these ingredients into a pan, and let them remain one night; the
next day add a pint of thick cream, and the whites of two eggs beaten
together; beat them all together to a fine froth, and serve in jelly glasses.
Wash the prunes, put them in a stew pan, cover them with water, and to
each pound of prunes put a cupful of clear brown sugar. Cover the stew-pan
and let them boil slowly, until the syrup is thick and rich.
Take one pint of Madeira wine, one pint of water, and one ounce of
isinglass dissolved in a teacupful of water. Let the wine and water be
boiling hot, then stir into it the dissolved isinglass, and sugar to taste; make
it quite sweet; let it come to a boil, try it by taking a little in a saucer, and if
not a good jelly when cold, boil it until it is so; if lemon is allowed, use the
juice of two to flavor this jelly.
JAUNE MANGE
Break up and boil an ounce of isinglass in rather more than half a pint of
water until it is melted; strain it; then add the juice of two large oranges, a
gill of white wine, and the yolks of four eggs beaten and strained; sweeten
to taste, and stir it over a gentle fire till it boils up; dip a mould into cold
water and pour the preparation into it.
Wash and pick a tablespoonful of Irish moss and put it into a tin cup;
pour on it half a pint of boiling water, and set it on the coals for a short
time; when it is all dissolved add sugar and nutmeg to taste. This may be
made with milk, to resemble custard, and is very nourishing. Delicate
infants may be fed on it when they will take no other nourishment.
Take a box of Cox’s gelatine, pour over it one quart of boiling water, and
stir until it is dissolved. Add a teaspoonful of tartaric acid, and four cups of
sugar; let it dissolve and bring it to a boil; while boiling, stir in the beaten
whites of three eggs; let this boil up once again and take it off the fire; when
nearly cool, add to it a tablespoonful of good extract of lemon. Strain the
mixture into moulds or cups, and set it in a cool place, or on ice, to become
firm. It must be cool, or it will not jelly.
ORANGE SHERBET
Squeeze the juice from a dozen oranges; pour boiling water on the peel,
and cover it closely. Boil water and sugar (a pint to a pound) to a syrup;
skim it clear; when all are cold, mix the syrup, juice and peel with as much
water as may be necessary to make a rich orangeade; strain it, and set the
vessel containing it on ice. Or it may be made the same as lemonade, using
one lemon with half a dozen oranges.
STRAWBERRY SHERBET
ALMOND CUSTARD
Blanch and beat four ounces of almonds fine, with a spoonful of water;
beat a pint of cream with two spoonfuls of rose water, add them to the yolks
of four eggs and as much sugar as will make it pretty sweet; stir it over a
slow fire till it is of a proper thickness, but do not boil. Pour it into custard
glasses.
Stale sponge or other plain cake may be made into a nice pudding by
crumbling it into a little more than a pint of milk and two or three beaten
eggs, and baking it. Sauce—sugar and butter beaten together.
Beat one hour the yolks of five eggs with half a pound of sugar; add half
a pound of blanched almonds pounded fine, the yellow part of one lemon
grated. Mix well; add half a pound of flour very gradually. Roll out the
paste, and cut it into strips the length and size of the forefinger; beat lightly
the whites of two eggs, and wet the fingers.
DIMPLES
Beat the whites of three eggs very stiff, add gradually three quarters of a
pound of sugar, and beat till it is well mixed. Blanch almonds, and cut them
into pieces—as small as peas, and stir them into the egg and sugar—three
quarters of a pound of almonds for three eggs. Drop the mixture in spots as
large as a half penny on white paper upon a tin, and bake in a cool oven.
Half a pint of new milk, and one cup of hop yeast; add flour to make a
batter, and set the sponge at night. In the morning add half a pint of milk,
one cup of sugar, one of butter, one egg, one nutmeg, and flour to make it
sufficiently stiff. Let it rise, then roll it, and cut it out; let it rise again, and
then bake.
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
TO MAKE CHOCOLATE
Scrape the best chocolate; allow for each square, or large spoonful of
ground chocolate, half a pint of milk or milk and water; let it boil a few
moments, then put it on the back part of the stove, and it is ready when
wanted.
Scrape or grate the chocolate, take a heaping tablespoonful for each cup
to be served; allow half a pint of milk or milk and water to each heaping
spoonful of chocolate. Make the milk hot, rub the chocolate to a smooth
paste with the cold milk, then stir it in the boiling milk. Let it boil up once;
cover it and set it back in a place where it will keep warm. It is now ready
to serve. Toasted biscuit or rolls should be served with it. Sweeten the
chocolate unless you use the prepared chocolate.
Scald your tea-pot always before putting in the tea; throw out the
scalding water and allow a teaspoonful of tea to each person expected to
drink it; turn on half a pint of boiling water at first, and let it steep—green
tea requires about five minutes, black tea ten minutes. After this, pour on
more boiling water, according to the number of persons. Mixed black and
green tea is considered a more healthful drink than green tea alone.
COFFEE CREAM
Take three cups of good clear coffee, sweeten it well and boil with it a
pint of cream until reduced one-third.
COFFEE
Old Java and Mocha are the best coffees. A coffee roaster is the best
thing to roast coffee in, but an iron pot is very good; coffee should be dried
gradually before being roasted. “Dripped” coffee is the French mode, but
many make it in the old-time way by boiling. It is a matter of personal taste,
not to be interfered with in this “land of the free.” To make dripped coffee
we grind a cupful for four persons, put this ground coffee in the top of the
dripper and pour on half a pint of boiling water. It is served with boiling
milk at breakfast.
CANDIES AND CREAM DROPS
CREAM CANDY
To make cream candy take two pounds of light brown sugar, one teacup
of water, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one of vinegar, and two of flavoring
extract. Dissolve the sugar in the water, but do not stir it. Set it on to boil,
let it boil briskly for twenty minutes, then try it by dropping a spoonful in a
glass of cold water. If cooked enough to pull, butter some dishes and pour it
into them; when cool enough to handle, pull it until it becomes as white as
cream.
POP-CORN CANDY
Take a coffee cup of the freshly gathered petals of the orange, cut them
with a pair of scissors into two pounds of dry, sifted white sugar; this keeps
their color fresh. Beat the whites of seven eggs to a stiff froth, and add to
the orange flowers and sugar. Drop this mixture on white paper in small
cakes, and bake in a slow oven; do not let them brown.
MOLASSES CANDY
Take two quarts of molasses and one pound of brown sugar, and the
juice of two lemons. Let the molasses and sugar boil moderately, without
stirring it, for two hours; if not thick enough to pull then, let it boil a little
longer; then put in your extract, for if this is put in earlier the flavor will
boil away. When the candy is cool enough to handle, put into the pot a pint
of parched pinders, or pecan meats, or almonds cut up. Butter two large
dishes and pour out the candy.
One quart of molasses, and butter the size of an egg. Stew over a brisk
fire till it will harden on being dropped into cold water. A teaspoonful of
essence of wintergreen should be added when it is almost done. Pull it while
warm, with buttered hands, and cut in sticks.
SUGAR CANDY
Six cups of sugar, one of vinegar, one of water, one spoonful of butter,
and one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot water. Boil all together
without stirring, for half an hour. Flavor with lemon or vanilla. This is very
good when “pulled” like the old-fashioned molasses candy, or it may be
cooled on a buttered plate.
TO BLANCH ALMONDS
Pour boiling water on them and let them remain in it a few minutes.
Remove the skins, throw the almonds into cold water, drain them from the
water, but do not wipe them.
EVERTON TOFFY
In a shallow vessel, melt together one pound of brown sugar and one-
quarter of a pound of butter. Stir well together for fifteen minutes, or until
the mixture becomes brittle when dropped in water. Lemon or vanilla
flavoring should be added before the cooking is complete. Butter a flat
plate, pour the toffy on it to cool, and when partly cold, mark it off in
squares with a knife; it can then be easily broken.
LEMON DROPS
Upon half a pound of finely powdered sugar pour just enough lemon
juice to dissolve it, and boil to the consistency of thick syrup. Drop this in
plates, and put in a warm place to harden. Or pour four ounces of lemon
juice on one pound of loaf sugar, with four ounces of rose water. Boil to a
syrup, add grated lemon peel and proceed as in the first recipe. By adding
raspberry syrup, instead of lemon juice, you have raspberry drops.
POP-CORN BALLS
To six quarts of pop corn boil one pint of molasses about fifteen
minutes; then put the corn into a large pan, pour the boiled molasses over it,
and stir it briskly until thoroughly mixed. Then with clean hands make into
balls of the desired size.
COCOANUT CANDY
Four cups of water, two and a half cups fine white sugar, four spoonfuls
of vinegar, and a piece of butter as large as an egg; boil till thick, or about
three quarters of an hour. Just before removing, stir in one cup of desiccated
cocoanut, and lay in small, flat cakes on buttered plates, to cool and harden.
MARSH-MALLOW PASTE
Dissolve one-half pound of gum arabic in one pint of water; strain it, add
half a pound of fine sugar and place over the fire, stirring constantly till the
sugar is dissolved and all is the consistency of honey, then add gradually the
whites of four eggs, well beaten; stir the mixture till it becomes somewhat
thin and does not adhere to the finger; pour all into a pan slightly dusted
with powdered starch, and when cool divide into small squares. Flavor to
the taste, just before pouring out to cool.
Mix one-half a cup of cream with two of white sugar, boil and stir fully
five minutes; set the dish into another of cold water, and stir until it
becomes hard; then make into small balls about the size of marbles, and
with a fork roll each one separately in the chocolate, which has in the
meantime been put in a bowl over the boiling teakettle and melted. Put on
brown paper to cool. Flavor with vanilla, if desired. This amount makes
about fifty drops.
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
Two cups of sugar, one of molasses, one of milk, one spoonful of butter,
one of flour, and half a pound of bakers’ chocolate. Butter your saucepan,
put in the sugar, molasses and milk, boil fifteen minutes; add butter and
flour, stirred to a cream, and boil five minutes longer; then add the
chocolate grated, and boil until quite thick. Butter tin flat pans, and pour in
the mixture half an inch thick, and mark it in squares before it gets hard.
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
One pint of new milk, quarter of a pound of grated chocolate, and one
cup and a half of white sugar. Boil all these together until it will pull like
candy; try a little, and if stiff enough to pull, pour it on a buttered dish, and
mark it off in squares with a knife as it cools. It will break easily when cold.
CHOCOLATE KISSES
BOSTON CARAMELS
One pint bowl of bakers’ chocolate grated, two bowls of yellow sugar,
one bowl of New Orleans molasses, one half a cup of milk, a piece of butter
the size of a small egg and vanilla flavoring; boil about twenty-five
minutes. It should not be so brittle as other candies. Pour in buttered tins,
and mark deeply with a knife.
Rub to a cream half a cup of butter, with one cup of sugar. Add three
well-beaten eggs, half a pound of sifted flour, and half a grated nutmeg.
Drop this mixture on buttered tins, by the spoonful; let them be two or three
inches apart; sprinkle sugar over them and bake quickly.
SUGAR KISSES
Beat the whites of three eggs to a froth, then stir in powdered white
sugar, a little at a time, till you have formed a very thick batter. Add two or
three drops of essence of lemon. Wet a sheet of white paper, lay it on a tin
and drop this mixture upon it in lumps about the size and shape of a walnut.
Set them in a cool oven, and as soon as their surface is hardened, take them
out and remove them from the paper with a broad-bladed knife. Let the
oven cool still more, then place these little cakes, laying the flat part of two
together, on a sieve and return them to the oven, where they must remain
for fifteen minutes before they are done.
CHEFS D’OEUVRE
“ Entrees, Champagne
“ Salad,
“ Roast or Game, } Fine Claret
(From a Gourmet.)
The crowning of a grand dinner is a brule. It is the piece de resistance,
the grandest pousse cafe of all. After the coffee has been served, the lights
are turned down or extinguished, brule is brought in and placed in the
centre of the table upon a pedestal surrounded by flowers. A match is
lighted, and after allowing the sulphur to burn entirely off is applied to the
brandy, and as it burns it sheds its weird light upon the faces of the
company, making them appear like ghouls in striking contrast to the gay
surroundings. The stillness that follows gives an opportunity for thoughts
that break out in ripples of laughter which pave the way for the exhilaration
that ensues.
Pour into a large silver bowl two wineglasses of best French brandy, one
half wineglass of kirsh, the same of maraschino, and a small quantity of
cinnamon and allspice. Put in about ten cubes of white sugar; do not crush
them, but let them become saturated with the liquor. Remove the lumps of
sugar, place in a ladle and cover with brandy. Ignite it as before directed,
then lift it with the contents from the bowl, but do not mix. After it has
burned about fifteen minutes serve in wine glasses. The above is for five
persons, and should the company be larger add in proportion. Green tea and
champagne are sometimes added.
PETIT BRULE
GIN FIZ—NO. 1
One-half tablespoonful of sugar, a little lemon juice, two wineglassfuls
of seltzwater, one wineglassful “Tom”, or Holland gin, teaspoonful of white
of an egg, and ice; shake well and strain into fancy glass.
GIN FIZ—NO. 2
Use celestine vichy instead of seltzerwater, and the yolk instead of the
white of an egg.
PONCHE ROMAINE
One lump sugar; two dashes of Boker’s bitters, or Angostura bitters, two
tablespoonfuls of Belfast ginger ale; one wineglassful of whiskey, or
brandy; one lemon peel; plenty of ice. Shake well, and strain in fancy glass.
VIRGINIA TODDY
One lump of sugar, two dashes Angostura bitters, one piece of lemon
peel, one lump of ice. Serve plain in small bar glass with spoon.
FANCY PUNCH
CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
One glass of wine, two dashes of Angostura bitters, and two bits of
lemon peel. Put the bitters and lemon peel in the glass first, then pour in the
wine, after which put in one small spoonful of sugar, and stir.
Plain absinthe; half a sherry glass of absinthe; plenty of fine ice, with
about two wineglassfuls of water. Put in the water, drop by drop, on top of
absinthe and ice; stir well, but slowly. It takes time to make it good.
ABSINTHE AND ANISETTE
SUISSISSE
POUSSE CAFE—NO. 1
Maraschino, curacao, kirsh-wasser and brandy in equal parts of each;
dash with Peychaud bitters. Serve in liquor glasses.
POUSSE CAFE—NO. 2
Bernardine, brandy and curacao, in equal parts of each; dash with
Angostura bitters.
POUSSE CAFE—NO. 3
Brandy, maraschino and cassis, in equal parts; dash with Boker’s bitters.
POUSSE CAFE—NO. 4
La grande chartreuse (yellow), brandy (French), and la grande chartreuse
(green), in equal parts; dash with Peychaud bitters.
SOUPE LA REINE
Boil two chickens in water with thyme, sweet-bay and parsley. When
cooked (not to pieces), take them out of the water, cut up the breasts in
small pieces the size of dice; fry a few pieces of onion without coloring
them, add a little flour and the water that the chickens were boiled in, a little
rice and the balance of the chickens, meat and bones, chopped fine. Boil all
together, and when thoroughly cooked strain through a colander and put
back to boil, stirring constantly. When it comes to a boil remove it from the
fire and add the beaten yolks of a few eggs and a little cold milk, stirring
continually. Keep the soup in “bain-marie.” When ready to serve put the
small pieces of the breasts in a soup-dish and pour the soup over them.
Clean your fish, and be careful not to damage it, and replace the roe.
Take off the scales, and lightly raise the skin on one side, and lard it with
bacon from fin to tail; put it in a pan, and moisten with white wine. Add
salt, pepper, parsley, six laurel leaves, some thyme, sliced onions and three
cloves; cover the head with strips of bacon, and put it into the oven,
covering your fish-kettle with leaves of foolscap paper, and letting it
simmer for an hour. When about to serve, drain it and put it on a platter,
garnish it all round with forcemeat balls, or better, with pigeons a la
Gautier, iced (glaces) sweetbreads, small glaces, pope’s eyes of a shoulder
of veal, crabs, fowl livers, truffles, cock’s combs and cock’s kidneys. Strain
the sauce through a silken sieve, and if not sufficiently seasoned, put into a
pan two spoonfuls of Spanish sauce, and two spoonfuls of the dressing of
your snapper; let it boil down one-half, put your small garnishes into it, and
pour the sauce around the fish. Serve after having jellied and browned it.
BOUILLE-ABAISSE
Chop some onions and garlic very fine, fry them in olive oil, and when
slightly colored add some fish cut up in slices; also a few tomatoes scalded,
peeled and sliced, some salt, black and red pepper, thyme, sweet-bay,
parsley, and half a bottle of white wine, and enough water to cover the fish.
Put it over a brisk fire and boil a quarter of an hour. Put slices of toasted
bread in a deep dish, place the fish on a shallow dish with some broth, and
pour the balance on the bread and serve hot.
Dress fourteen snipe, stuff them with a little browned stuffing, to which
add two hashed truffles. Bend the skin back carefully while stuffing, and
then replace it so the birds will retain as nearly as possible their natural
appearance. Place the snipe so prepared and larded with bacon, into a frying
pan; and to keep them sufficiently together in order that the skins may not
shrink much while cooking, put some strips of bacon over them; moisten
them with a little soup-stock, cover them with buttered paper and let them
cook in the oven for forty minutes; then drain them, lightly trim the lower
side, and lay them on a little mound of uncooked, but slightly browned
stuffing, breast up, in the bottom of a dish, and ice them (glacez). Keep the
dish hot in the oven for some minutes. Remove the skin and eyes from the
heads of the snipe after cooking them and stick a small truffle in each bill,
and lay between each two birds, one of the heads with the truffle up.
Garnish the dish with stewed cock’s combs, scallops, goose liver, and
champignons; add a little Madeira sauce, boiled down and permeated with
the flavor of the game. Ice (glacez) the snipe and truffles, and serve with a
separate sauce. Let everything be very hot.
SALAD A LA RUSSE
Cut up all kinds of vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, snap beans, etc.,
boil them in water with salt and butter, then drain and season lightly with
salt, black pepper and vinegar; add a few cooked green peas, mashed and
well drained. Put all in a salad dish in the form of a pyramid, and lightly
cover it over with mayonnaise. If you have the hearts of artichokes put them
around the dish, as a wreath, with a little asparagus mixed in. Keep as cool
as possible until served.
Ten yolks of eggs, one and a half pounds pulverized sugar, half a gallon
of cream, vanilla extract, white of eggs well beaten if the cream is too light.
To be frozen in a square box and cut in small pieces. A coat of strawberry
sherbet on top of the cream, before cutting, to give nice appearance. A tin
box three inches wide and six inches long, which is enclosed in a box three
inches larger all around. The inside box has a tight-fitting top, and is packed
in the outside box, which has a perforated bottom to allow water or melted
ice to escape. Place inside box within the outer, and stuff with ice and salt
and let it freeze; when frozen, place red sherbet on top of biscuit to give
pretty appearance.
HINTS ON COOKING
When salt hams or tongues are cooked they should be instantly thrown
into cold water, as the change from the boiling water they were cooked in,
to the cold water, instantly loosens the skin from the flesh, and it peels off
without trouble.
Fresh vinegar should be added to chopped capers, because it brings out
their flavor, and makes the sauce more appetizing.
Butter sauce should never be boiled, as it becomes oily if boiled in
making. The whites and yolks of eggs should be beaten separately, because
the tissues of both can be better separated; and a tablespoonful of water
beaten with each is an improvement, and should never be omitted.
Onions, turnips and carrots should be cut across the fibre, as it makes
them more tender when cooked.
Plenty of fast-boiling water should be used in cooking vegetables, as the
greater the volume of water the greater the heat. If only a little water is used
the whole affair soon cools, the vegetables become tough, and no length of
time will render them tender.
In boiling greens, it is best to throw into them soda with the salt, as the
soda extracts the oil in them which is injurious to the digestion; from one-
half to a whole teaspoonful of soda for a pot of greens is the right quantity.
Parsley should never be boiled in soda, but in boiling water and salt; boil
from one to two minutes, and then chop fine. Use plenty of water to boil
parsley, as a little water toughens it, and turns it brown.
Never soak dried beans in cold water as it extracts the nutritious portion
of the bean. They should be washed first in warm water, then in cold, tied in
a cloth and dropped into boiling water, with a little salt in it and be kept
boiling for four hours. Then they are nice baked around pork, or served with
gravy. To make a puree of them you throw them when boiled, into cold
water, when the skins will drop off easily, and you can mash them through a
sieve or colander and season with butter, pepper, and salt.
Open the oven door, when baking meat, to let off the burnt, scorched air.
The oven should be very hot, and the meat well larded, or covered with fat,
or dripping, then well floured; this keeps in the juices and renders the meat
tender.
HINTS ON HOUSECLEANING
House cleaning should commence at the top of the house and work
downwards. In this case it may be undertaken by spells, with intervening
rests.
After the floors are cleaned, the walls and ceilings claim attention.
A very beautiful whitening for walls and ceilings may be made by
shaking the best lime in hot water, covering up to keep in the steam, and
straining the milk of lime through a fine sieve; add to a pailful half a pound
of common alum, two pounds of sugar, three pints of rice-flour made into a
thin, well-boiled paste, and one pound of white glue dissolved slowly over
the fire. It should be applied with a paint-brush when warm.
Paint should be cleaned by using only a little water at a time and
changing often; a soft flannel cloth or sponge is better than cotton or a
brush; a piece of pine wood with a sharp point should be used for the
corners. Where the paint is stained with smoke, some ashes or potash lye
may be used. A soft linen towel should be used for wiping dry. Glass should
not be cleaned with soap; a little paste of whiting and water should be
rubbed over, and with another cloth it should be rinsed off, and the glass
polished with a soft linen or old silk handkerchief. Alcohol or benzine is a
good thing to clean glass, and clean paper is probably better than any cloth,
sponge or towel; dry paper leaves an excellent polish. Marble may be
cleaned with a mixture of two parts of common soda, one part of pumice
stone, and one of chalk, finely powdered and tied up in a fine muslin rag;
the marble is wetted with water, the powder shaken over it, and it is rubbed
with a soft cloth until clean, then washed in clean water and dried with a
soft linen or silk handkerchief. No soap or potash should be allowed on
marble. A good furniture polish is made by melting two ounces of beeswax,
one ounce of turpentine, and one dram of powdered rosin together, with a
gentle heat, and rubbing on when cold, with a soft flannel cloth, and
polishing with a soft linen or silk cloth. If for mahogany, a little Indian red
may be used. Cracks in furniture may be filled with putty, mixed with
Indian-red or burnt umber, to get the desired shade. When dry it will take an
equal polish with the wood.
WASHING MIXTURE
FRUIT STAINS
Fruit stains may often be removed from clothing by plunging the latter
into boiling water, letting it remain immersed for a few minutes, and then
washing it out in the ordinary way.
It is not generally known that the various evergreen ivies will grow and
flourish to perfection in the shade, and that, therefore, any room may be
most charmingly decorated with them. Such is the fact, however. Put the
plants in large pots, filled with rich and mellow garden soil kept at a
suitable regulation of moisture; and you will have no trouble about the
matter. The vines may be trained on wire trellises fastened to the wall or
ceiling; or upon any other convenient arrangement. In a treatise on this
subject the Rural New Yorker says:
“It may also be stated that the room decorated with ivy should not be
kept too warm, but at a moderate temperature; such as is most healthful for
a person is the best. No one need to fear to make the room unhealthy by
introducing the ivy in abundance; for plants purify the air, and it is only
when we introduce those emitting strong odors that anything but beneficial
effects result. As all ivies succeed well in the shade, they are more suitable
for the purpose herein designated than almost any other kind of plant.
“There is also another plant largely used for this purpose, which is not a
true ivy, although known as German ivy (Senecio scandens). It grows even
more rapidly than any of the true ivies (Hedera), and we have seen a small
plant grow so fast that it encircled quite a large room in a few weeks. It
thrives well in the shade, and the leaves resemble somewhat the common
English ivy, but are of a lighter and more cheerful green color. This and a
great variety of ivies are grown for sale by our florists.”
INDEX
Introduction, iii
Baked, 10
Beef, Plain, 5
Bisque, Crayfish, 22
Bouilli, Soup et, 5
Broth in Haste, 6
Broth, Chicken, 6
Broth, Crayfish, 7
Broth, Scotch Barley, 8
Cheap White, 11
Chicken, 7
Clear Pea, 13
Consomme, Beef and Fowl, 8
Consomme of Fowl, White, 9
Oxtail, 17
Oyster, 14
Rabbit, 18
Veal Gravy, 8
Vermicelli No. 1, 9
Vermicelli No. 2, 9
Vermicelli or Macaroni, 10
FISH, ETC.
Grenouilles Frites, 32
Oyster Pickle, 30
Oyster and Beefsteak Pie, 30
Oyster and Sweetbread Pie, 30
Oysters, Fried, 29
Oysters, Scalloped, No. 1, 29
Oysters, Scalloped, No. 2, 29
Oysters, Stewed with Champagne, 28
Oysters, Stewed with Milk, 28
Oysters, Stewed on Toast, 28
Oysters, Stuffing, 27
Oysters, on Toast, 28
Terrapin, 33
Trout, Stuffed and Baked, 24
Trout a la Venitienne, 24
Turtle, to Dress, 31
Brown Onion, 38
Butter and Flour, 40
Duck, 38
Froide, 41
Hard, 47
Horseradish, 45
Horseradish, To Keep, 45, 48
Mint, 38
Mushroom, 38
Onion, Brown, 38
Onion, White, 39
Oyster, Brown, 43
Oyster, White, 44
Oyster, for Turkey, 44
Robert, 45
Tomato, 39, 43
Tomato, Piquant, 45
Vinegar, Cheap, 49
Vinegar, To Make, No. 1, 48
Vinegar, To Make, No. 2, 48
Vinegar, for Pickles, To Make, 48
White Onion, 39
Wine, for Venison or Mutton, 42
ENTREES
Rarebit, Welsh, 58
Salad, Veal, 55
Sandwiches, 52
Sandwiches, for Picnics, 53
Stew, Irish, 50
Stew, Kidney and Mushrooms, 50
Stew, Lamb Chops, 50
Stew, Pigeon, 51
Stew, Tripe, Plain, 51
Sweetbreads, Veal, 55
Timbale, 54
Tripe, with Mushrooms, 51
Tripe, To Fry Brown, 51
Veal Hash, 53
Veal and Ham Pie, 53, 54
Veal Loaf, 55
Veal, Minced, and Poached Eggs, 56
Veal or Mutton Fricadellons, 54
Veal Salad, 55
Veal Sweetbreads, 55
MUTTON, BEEF AND HAMS
Ham, Baked, 59
Ham, Stuffed, 59
Ham, to Boil, 60
Mutton, Haunch, 64
Mutton, Leg of, Boiled, 64
Mutton, Leg of, Roast, 64
Mutton, Stuffed with Mushrooms, 64
Mutton, to Taste like Venison, 65
Chicken, Boiled, 66
Chicken, Boiled, with Stuffing, 67
Chicken, Broiled, 69
Chicken, Cold, Scalloped, 69
Chicken, Country Fried, 66
Chicken, Curry, 69
Chicken Fricassee a la Marenga, 68
Chicken Pie a la Reine, 69
Chicken Pie, Plain, 70
Chicken Pot Pie, 70
Chicken, Roast, 68
Chicken, Stew or Fricassee, 67
Chicken, Saute, with Oyster Sauce, 68
Partridge, 80
Pigeon Pie, 80
Pie, Squirrel or Rabbit, 79
Pie, Rice Bird, 80
Pie, Roast, 81
Pie, Pigeon, 80
Pig, Roast, 81
Quails, 80
Rice-Bird Pie, 80
Teal, Broiled, 77
Turkey, Boiled, with Celery Sauce, 74
Turkey, Boiled, with Oyster Sauce, 74
Turkey, Boned, 71
Turkey, to Roast, 72
Turkey, Roast a la Perigord, 73
Turkey, Wild, 72
Venison Steak, 79
Venison Pasty, 79
VEGETABLES
Artichokes, Burr, 89
Asparagus on Toast, 87
Asparagus with Cream, 88
Cabbage, Stewed, 91
Cauliflower, with White Sauce, 91
Corn, Green, on Cob, 84
Corn, Green, Stewed, 84
Corn, Green, Fritters, 85
Corn Oysters, 85
Corn Pudding, 85
Egg Plant, 88
Macaroni in a Mould, 92
Macaroni and Grated Cheese, 93
Mushrooms, Stewed, on Toast, 88
Tomatoes, to Broil, 87
Tomatoes, Stuffed, 86
Tomatoes, Stewed, 87
Turnips, to Cook, 84
Omelet, Delicious, 99
Omelet, for One Person, 97
Omelet, Spanish, 99
Omelet, with Green Onion, 97
Omelet, with Oysters, 100
Omelet, with Parmesan Cheese, 97
Omelet, with Sugar, 98
Omelet au Naturel, 96
Omelet, Soufflee, 98
Omelet, Soufflee, in mould, 98
Garnishes, 101
PICKLES
Cabbage, Chopped, 112
Cabbage, Pickle, Yellow, 112
Cabbage, Red, 113
Cantaloupe, Sweet Pickle of, 111
Cauliflower, 113
Chow-Chow, 113
Country Green, 116
Cucumbers, Old-time Sweet, 109
Cucumbers and Onions, 109
Cucumbers, Plain, without Spices, 108
Cucumbers, in Whiskey, 108
Eggs, 110
Lemons, 114
Onions, 114
Oysters, 115
Peach, 117
Peach Green, 118
Peach, Mangoes, 118
Peach, Plain, 116
Peach and Apricot, 117
Plum, Sweet Pickle of, 117
Walnut, 115
Noodles, 136
Crullers, 139
Waffles, 138
Icing, 140
Icing, Boiled, 141
Icing, Boiled, Hot, 141
Icing, Chocolate, 140
Indian Cake, 156
Isabella Cake, 150
DESSERTS
Egg-Nog, 185
Mince-meat, 190
Mince-meat, for Christmas, 190
Mince Pie Meat, 189
Mince Pie Mixture, 188, 189
Mince Pie Mock, 191
Mince Pie, to fill, etc., 189
Mince Pie, without Meat, 190
Molasses Pie, 193
Pie-crust, 187
Pie-crust, Buttermilk, 188
Pie-crust, Family, Short, 186
Pork and Apple Pie, 193
Pudding, Baked Suet, 198
Pudding, Bird’s Nest, 201
Pudding, Delicious Bread, 204
Pudding, Cheap and Delicate, 203
Pudding, Cheap Gingerbread, 205
Pudding, Cottage, 202
Pudding, Country Batter, 202
Pudding, Crow’s-Nest, 202
Pudding, French Fried, 205
Pudding, Lemon, 198
Pudding, Marlborough, 205
Pudding, My Own, 205
Pudding, Parisian, 200
Pudding, Plain, without eggs or wine, 197
Pudding, Plum, Boiled, 194
Pudding, Plum, Cheap, 197
Pudding, Plum, Christmas, 195
Pudding, Plum, Cottage, 196
Pudding, Plum, Plain, for Children, 197
Pudding, Plum, Six-Ounce, 194
Pudding, Plum, without Flour, 196
Pudding, Quickly Made, 204
Pudding, Rice Meringue, 203
Pudding, Soufflee, 199
Pudding, Soufflee, Omelet, 200
Pudding, Sweet Potato, 198
Pudding, Temperance Cabinet, Iced, 199
Pudding, Very Rich, 200
Puff-Paste, 187
Jam, 218
Jam, Tomato, 219
Jellies, Apple, without Water, 218
Jellies, Blackberry, 218
Jellies, Crab Apple, 217
Jellies, Fruit, To Make, 216
Jellies, Lemon, 217
Marmalade, 220
Marmalade, Orange, 219
Marmalade, Orange, with Honey, 219
Orange, Myrtle, Preserve, 214
Dimples, 235
CHEFS D’OEUVRE
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