MADE DISHES, &C.

Receipts for economical Made Dishes, written for the Cook’s Oracle, by an accomplished English Lady.—(No. 483.)

These experiments have arisen from my aversion to cold meat, and my preference for what are termed French dishes; with which, by a certain management, I think I can furnish my table at far less expense than is generally incurred in getting up a plain dinner.

Gravy or soup meats I never buy; and yet am seldom without a good provision of what is technically denominated stock.

When, as it frequently happens, we have ham dressed; if the joint be above the weight of seven pounds, I have it cut in half, and prepared in the following manner: first, ensure that it has been properly soaked, scraped, and cleaned to a nicety; then put it into an earthen vessel, as near its own size as possible, with just as much water as will cover it; to which add four onions, a clove of garlic, half a dozen eschalots, a bay-leaf, a bunch of sweet herbs, half a dozen cloves, a few peppercorns and allspice: this should be well closed, and kept simmering about three hours. It is then served with raspings or with glazing, the rind having first been taken off neatly. The liquor is strained, and kept till poultry of any sort, or meat, is boiled; when the liquor in which they have been dressed should be added to it, and boiled down fast till reduced to about three pints; when cold, it will be a highly flavoured, well-coloured jelly,300-* and ready for sauce for all kinds of ragoûts and hashes, &c. &c.

A fillet of veal I divide into three parts; the meat before it is skewered, will of itself indicate where the partition is natural, and will pull asunder as you would quarter an orange; the largest piece should be stuffed with No. 374 or No. 375, and rolled up, compactly skewered, &c., and makes a very pretty small fillet: the square flat piece will either cut into cutlets (No. 90, or No. 521), or slice for a pie; and the thick piece must be well larded and dressed as a fricandeau; which I do in the following-manner: put the larded veal into a stew-pan just big enough to contain it, with as much water as will cover it; when it has simmered till delicately white, and so tender as to be cut with a spoon, it must be taken out of the water and set apart; and it will be ready to serve up either with sorrel, tomata, mushrooms (No. 305, or No. 439), or some of the above-mentioned stock, the fricandeau being previously coloured with glazing; if with mushrooms, they should be first parboiled in salt and vinegar, and water, which gives them flavour, and keeps them of a good colour.

The sirloin of beef I likewise divide into three parts; I first have it nicely boned.

The under part, or fillet, as the French call it, will dress (when cut into slices) excellently, either as plain steaks (No. 94), curry (No. 197), or it may be larded whole, and gently stewed in two quarts of water (a bay-leaf, two onions, their skins roasted brown, four cloves, allspice, &c. &c.) till tender, when it should be taken out, drained quite dry, and put away; it is then ready to be used at any time in the following manner: season and dredge it well, then put it into a stewpan in which a piece of butter has been previously fried to a fine froth; when the meat is sufficiently brown, take it out, and throw into the pan half a dozen middle-sized onions, to do a fine gold colour; that accomplished, (during which the dredger should be in constant use,) add half a pint of stock, and a tea-spoonful of tarragon vinegar (No. 396), and let the onions stew gently till nearly tender: the beef should then be returned to the stew-pan, and the whole suffered to simmer till the meat is warm through: care must be taken that the onions do not break, and they should be served round the beef with as much sauce as will look graceful in the dish. The fillet is likewise very good without the fried onions; in that case you should chop and mix up together an eschalot, some parsley, a few capers, and the yelk of a hard egg, and strew them lightly over the surface of the beef.

The fat end of the sirloin and bones should be put to simmer in the liquor in which the fillet was first stewed, and done till the beef looks loose; it should then be put away into a deep vessel, and the soup strained over it, which cooling with the fat upon the top (thereby excluding the air), will keep as long as may be required: when the soup is to be used, the fat must be cleared from it; a carrot, parsnip, a head of celery, a leek, and three turnips, cleaned and scalded, should be added to it, and the whole suffered to simmer gently till the vegetables are quite done, when they must be strained from the liquor, and the soup served up with large square thick pieces of toasted bread.

Those who like a plain bouilli warm the beef in the soup, and serve it up with the turnips and carrots which had been strained before from the soup. A white cabbage quartered is no bad addition to the garnish of the bouilli, or to the flavour of the soup. If it is a dressed bouilli, sliced carrots and button onions should be stewed in thickened stock, and poured over the meat.

A neck of mutton boned, sprinkled with dried sage, powdered fine, or (No. 378) seasoned, rolled, and roasted, is very good. The bones and scrag make excellent gravy stewed down, and if done very gently, the meat is not bad eating. The same herbs should be put to it as to other stocks, with the addition of a carrot; this will make very good mutton broth. In short, wherever there are bones or trimmings to be got out of any meat that is dressed in my kitchen, they are made to contribute towards soup or gravy, or No. 252.

Instead of roasting a hare, (which at best is but dry food), stew it, if young, plain; if an old one, lard it. The shoulders and legs should be taken off, and the back cut into three pieces; these, with a bay-leaf, half a dozen eschalots, one onion pierced with four cloves, should be laid with as much good vinegar as will cover them, for twenty-four hours, in a deep dish. In the mean time, the head, neck, ribs, liver, heart, &c. &c. should be browned in frothed butter well seasoned; add half a pound of lean bacon, cut into small pieces, a large bunch of herbs, a carrot, and a few allspice; simmer these in a quart of water till it be reduced to about half the quantity, when it should be strained, and those parts of the hare which have been infused in the vinegar, should (with the whole contents of the dish) be added to it, and stewed till quite done. Those who like onions may brown half a dozen, stew them in a part of the gravy, and dish them round the hare.

When it comes from the table, supposing some to be left, the meat should be taken from the bones, and with a few forcemeat balls, the remains of the gravy, about a quarter of a pint of red wine, and a proportionable quantity of water, it will make a very pretty soup; to those who have no objection to catchup (No. 439,) a spoonful in the original gravy is an improvement, as indeed it is in every made dish, where the mushroom itself is not at command.

Every ragoût, in my opinion, should be dressed the day before it is wanted, that any fat which has escaped the skimming spoon, may with ease be taken off when cold.

Calf’s head.—Take the half of one, with the skin on; put it into a large stew-pan, with, as much water as will cover it, a knuckle of ham, and the usual accompaniments of onions, herbs, &c. &c., and let it simmer till the flesh may be separated from the bone with a spoon; do so, and while still hot, cut it into as large a sized square as the piece will admit of; the trimmings and half the liquor put by in a tureen; to the remaining half add a gill of white wine, and reduce the whole of that by quick boiling till it is again half consumed, when it should be poured over the large square piece in an earthen vessel, surrounded with mushrooms, white button onions, small pieces of pickled pork, half an inch in breadth, and one and a half in length, and the tongue in slices, and simmered till the whole is fit to serve up; some browned forcemeat balls are a pretty addition. After this comes from the table, the remains should be cut into small pieces, and mixed up with the trimmings and liquor, which (with a little more wine), properly thickened, will make a very good mock turtle soup for a future occasion.

To hash Mutton, &c.—(No. 484.)

Cut the meat into slices, about the thickness of two shillings, trim off all the sinews, skin, gristle, &c.; put in nothing but what is to be eaten, lay them on a plate, ready; prepare your sauce to warm it in, as receipt (No. 360, or No. 451, or No. 486), put in the meat, and let it simmer gently till it is thoroughly warm: do not let it boil, as that will make the meat tough and hard,303-* and it will be, as Joan Cromwell303-† has it, a harsh.

Obs.—Select for your hash those parts of the joint that are least done.

Mem.—Hashing is a mode of cookery by no means suited to delicate stomachs: unless the meat, &c. be considerably under-done the first time, a second dressing must spoil it, for what is done enough the first time, must be done too much the second.

To warm Hashes,304-* Made Dishes, Stews, Ragoûts, Soups, &c.—(No. 485.)

Put what you have left into a deep hash-dish or tureen; when you want it, set this in a stew-pan of boiling water: let it stand till the contents are quite warm.

To hash Beef, &c.—(No. 486.)

Put a pint and a half of broth, or water, with an ounce of No. 252, or a large table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, into a stew-pan with the gravy you have saved that was left from the beef, and put in a quarter ounce of onion sliced very fine, and boil it about ten minutes; put a large table-spoonful of flour into a basin, just wet it with a little water, mix it well together, and then stir it into the broth, and give it a boil for five or ten minutes; rub it through a sieve, and it is ready to receive the beef, &c.; let it stand by the side of the fire till the meat is warm.

N.B. A tea-spoonful of parsley chopped as fine as possible and put in five minutes before it is served up, is a great addition; others like half a wine-glass of port wine, and a dessert-spoonful of currant jelly.

See also No. 360, which will show you every variety of manner of making and flavouring the most highly finished hash sauce, and Nos. 484, 485, and 506.

Cold Meat broiled, with Poached Eggs.—(No. 487.)

The inside of a sirloin of beef is best for this dish, or a leg of mutton. Cut the slices of even and equal thickness, and broil and brown them carefully and slightly over a clear smart fire, or in a Dutch oven; give those slices most fire that are least done; lay them in a dish before the fire to keep hot, while you poach the eggs, as directed in No. 546, and mashed potatoes (No. 106).

Obs.—This makes a savoury luncheon or supper, but is more relishing than nourishing, unless the meat was under-done the first time it was dressed.

No. 307 for sauce, to which some add a few drops of eschalot wine or vinegar. See No. 402, or No. 439, or No. 359, warmed; or Grill Sauce (No. 355.)

Mrs. Phillips’s Irish Stew.—(No. 488.)

Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck or loin; two pounds of potatoes; peel them, and cut them in halves; six onions, or half a pound of onions; peel and slice them also: first put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of your stew-pan, then a couple of chops and some of the onions; then again potatoes, and so on, till the pan is quite full; a small spoonful of white pepper, and about one and a half of salt, and three gills of broth or gravy, and two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom catchup; cover all very close in, so as to prevent the steam from getting out, and let them stew for an hour and a half on a very slow fire. A small slice of ham is a great addition to this dish. The cook will be the best judge when it is done, as a great deal depends on the fire you have.

N.B. Great care must be taken not to let it burn, and that it does not do too fast.

To make an Irish Stew, or Hunter’s Pie.

Take part of a neck of mutton, cut it into chops, season it well, put it into a stew-pan, let it brase for half an hour, take two dozen of potatoes, boil them, mash them, and season them, butter your mould, and line it with the potatoes, put in the mutton, bake it for half an hour, then it will be done, cut a hole in the top, and add some good gravy to it.

N.B. The above is the contribution of Mr. Morrison, of the Leinster hotel, Dublin.

A good Scotch Haggis.—(No. 488*.)

Make the haggis-bag perfectly clean; parboil the draught; boil the liver very well, so as it will grate; dry the meal before the fire; mince the draught and a pretty large piece of beef very small; grate about half of the liver; mince plenty of the suet and some onions small; mix all these materials very well together, with a handful or two of the dried meal; spread them on the table, and season them properly with salt and mixed spices; take any of the scraps of beef that are left from mincing, and some of the water that boiled the draught, and make about a choppin (i. e. a quart) of good stock of it; then put all the haggis meat into the bag, and that broth in it; then sew up the bag; but be sure to put out all the wind before you sew it quite close. If you think the bag is thin, you may put it in a cloth. If it is a large haggis, it will take at least two hours boiling.

N.B. The above we copied verbatim from Mrs. Maciver. a celebrated Caledonian professor of the culinary art, who taught, and published a book of cookery, at Edinburgh, A. D. 1787.

Minced Collops.

“This is a favourite Scotch dish; few families are without it: it keeps well, and is always ready to make an extra dish.

“Take beef, and chop and mince it very small; to which add some salt and pepper. Put this, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter. When intended for use, put the clarified butter into a frying-pan, and slice some onions into the pan, and fry them. Add a little water to it, and then put in the minced meat. Stew it well, and in a few minutes it will be fit to serve up.”—The Hon. John Cochrane’s Seaman’s Guide, 8vo. 1797, page 42.

Haricot306-* Mutton.—(No. 489.)

Cut the best end of a neck or loin of mutton, that has been kept till tender, into chops of equal thickness, one rib to each (“les bons hommes de bouche de Paris” cut two chops to one bone, but it is more convenient to help when there is only one; two at a time is too large a dose for John Bull), trim off some of the fat, and the lower end of the chine bone, and scrape it clean, and lay them in a stew-pan, with an ounce of butter; set it over a smart fire; if your fire is not sharp, the chops will be done before they are coloured: the intention of frying them is merely to give them a very light browning.

While the chops are browning, peel and boil a couple of dozen of young button onions in about three pints of water for about fifteen or twenty minutes, set them by, and pour off the liquor they were boiled in into the stew-pan with the chops: if that is not sufficient to cover them, add as much boiling water as will; remove the scum as it rises, and be careful they are not stewed too fast or too much; so take out one of them with a fish-slice, and try it: when they are tender, which will be in about an hour and a half, then pass the gravy through a sieve into a basin, set it in the open air that it may get cold, you may then easily and completely skim off the fat; in the mean time set the meat and vegetables by the fire to keep hot, and pour some boiling water over the button onions to warm them. Have about six ounces of carrots, and eight ounces of turnips, peeled and cut into slices, or shaped into balls about as big as a nutmeg; boil the carrots about half an hour, the turnips about a quarter of an hour, and put them on a sieve to drain, and then put them round the dish, the last thing.

Thicken the gravy by putting an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will stiffen it; pour the gravy to it by degrees, stir together till it boils; strain it through a fine sieve or tamis into a stew-pan, put in the carrots and turnips to get warm, and let it simmer gently while you dish up the meat; lay the chops round a dish; put the vegetables in the middle, and pour the thickened gravy over. Some put in capers, &c. minced gherkins, &c.

Obs.—Rump-steaks, veal-cutlets, and beef-tails, make excellent dishes dressed in the like manner.

Mutton-Chops delicately stewed, and good Mutton Broth,—(No. 490.)

Put the chops into a stew-pan with cold water enough to cover them, and an onion: when it is coming to a boil, skim it, cover the pan close, and set it over a very slow fire till the chops are tender: if they have been kept a proper time, they will take about three quarters of an hour’s very gentle simmering. Send up turnips with them (No. 130); they may be boiled with the chops; skim well, and then send all up in a deep dish, with the broth they were stewed in.

N. B. The broth will make an economist one, and the meat another, wholesome and comfortable meal.

Shoulder of Lamb grilled.—(No. 491.)

Boil it; score it in checkers about an inch square, rub it over with the yelk of an egg, pepper and salt it, strew it with bread-crumbs and dried parsley, or sweet herbs, or No. 457, or No. 459, and Carbonado, i. e. grill, i. e. broil it over a clear fire, or put it in a Dutch oven till it is a nice light brown; send up some gravy with it, or make a sauce for it of flour and water well mixed together with an ounce of fresh butter, a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, and the juice of half a lemon. See also grill sauce (No. 355).

N.B. Breasts of lamb are often done in the same way, and with mushroom or mutton sauce (No. 307).

Lamb’s Fry.—(No. 492.)

Fry it plain, or dip it in an egg well beaten on a plate, and strew some fine stale bread-crumbs over it; garnish with crisp parsley (No. 389). For sauce, No. 355, or No. 356.

Shin of Beef308-* stewed.—(No. 493.)

Desire the butcher to saw the bone into three or four pieces, put it into a stew-pan, and just cover it with cold water; when it simmers, skim it clean; then put in a bundle of sweet herbs, a large onion, a head of celery, a dozen berries of black pepper, and the same of allspice: stew very gently over a slow fire till the meat is tender; this will take from about three hours and a half, to four and a half.

Take three carrots, peel and cut them into small squares; peel and cut ready in small squares a couple of turnips, with a couple of dozen of small young round silver button onions; boil them, till tender; the turnips and onions will be enough in about fifteen minutes; the carrots will require about twice as long: drain them dry.

When the beef is quite tender, take it out carefully with a slice, and put it on a dish while you thicken a pint and a half of the gravy: to do this, mix three table-spoonfuls of flour with a tea-cupful of the beef liquor; to make soup of the rest of it, see No. 238; stir this thoroughly together till it boils, skim off the fat, strain it through a sieve, and put your vegetables in to warm; season with pepper, salt, and a wine-glass of mushroom catchup (No. 439), or port wine, or both, and pour it over the beef.

Send up Wow-wow sauce (No. 328) in a boat.

N.B. Or, instead of sending up the beef whole, cut the meat into handsome pieces fit to help at table, and lay it in the middle of the dish, with the vegetables and sauce (which, if you flavour with No. 455, you may call “beef curry”) round it. A leg of mutton is excellent dressed in the same way; equal to “le gigot de sept heures,” so famous in the French kitchen.

Obs.—This stew has every claim to the attention of the rational epicure, being one of those in which “frugality,” “nourishment,” and “palatableness,” are most happily combined; and you get half a gallon of excellent broth into the bargain.

We advise the mistress of the table to call it “ragoût beef:” this will ensure its being eaten with unanimous applause; the homely appellation of “shin of beef stewed,” is enough to give your genteel eater the locked jaw.

Our modern epicures resemble the ancient,309-* who thought the dearest dish must be the most delicious:

Thus, they reckon turtle and punch to be “sheventy-foive per shent” more inviting than mock turtle and good malt liquor: however bad the former may be, and however good the latter, we wish these folks could be made to understand, that the soup for each, and all the accompaniments, are precisely the same: there is this only difference, the former is commonly made with a “starved turtle” (see Notes at the foot of page 220), the latter with a “fatted calf.” See Nos. 247, 343, and 343*.

The scarcity of tolerably good cooks ceases to be surprising, when we reflect how much more astonishing is the ignorance of most of those who assume the character of scientific gourmands,309-† so extremely ignorant of “the affairs of the mouth,” they seem hardly to “know a sheep’s head from a carrot;” and their real pretensions to be profound palaticians, are as moderate as the wine-merchant’s customer, whose sagacity in the selection of liquors was only so exquisite, that he knew that Port wine was black, and that if he drank enough of it, it would make him drunk.

Brisket of Beef stewed.—(No. 494.)

This is prepared in exactly the same way as “soup and bouilli.” See Nos. 5, 238, or 493.

Haricot of Beef.—(No. 495.)

A stewed brisket cut in slices, and sent up with the same sauce of roots, &c., as we have directed for haricot of mutton (No. 489), is a most excellent dish, of very moderate expense.

Savoury Salt Beef baked.—(No. 496.)

The tongue side of a round of beef is the best bit for this purpose: if it weighs fifteen pounds, let it hang two or three days; then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coarse sugar, a quarter of an ounce of black pepper, and the same of allspice (some add a quarter of an ounce of ginger, or No. 457), and some minced sweet and savoury herbs (No. 459), and three quarters of a pound of common salt; incorporate these ingredients by pounding them together in a mortar; then take the bone out, and rub the meat well with the above mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a fortnight.

When you dress it, put it into a pan with a quart of water; cover the meat with about three pounds of mutton suet310-* shredded rather thick, and an onion or two minced small; cover the whole with a flour crust to the top or brim of the pan, and let it be baked in a moderate-heated oven for about six hours: (or, just cover it with water, and let it stew very gently for about five hours, and when you send it to table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley.) If the beef weighs more, put a proportional addition of all the ingredients.

The gravy you will find a strong consommé, excellent for sauce or soup; or making soy, or browning, see No. 322, and being impregnated with salt, will keep several days.

This joint should not be cut till it is cold: and then, with a sharp knife, to prevent waste, and keep it even and comely to the eye.

Obs.—This is a most excellent way of preparing and dressing beef (No. 503), and a savoury dish for sandwiches, &c. In moderate weather it will keep good for a fortnight after it is dressed: it is one of the most economical and elegant articles of ready-dressed keeping provisions; deserving the particular attention of those families who frequently have accidental customers dropping in at luncheon or supper.

Curries.—(No. 497; see also No. 249.)

Cut fowls or rabbits into joints, and wash them clean: put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, put in the meat, and two middling-sized onions sliced, let them be over a smart fire till they are of a light brown, then put in half a pint of broth; let it simmer twenty minutes.

Put in a basin one or two table-spoonfuls of curry powder (No. 455), a tea-spoonful of flour, and a tea-spoonful of salt; mix it smooth with a little cold water, put it into the stew-pan, and shake it well about till it boils: let it simmer twenty minutes longer; then take out the meat, and rub the sauce through a tamis or sieve: add to it two table spoonfuls of cream or milk; give it a boil up; then pour it into a dish, lay the meat over it: send up the rice in a separate dish.

Obs.—Curry is made also with sweetbreads, breast of veal, veal cutlets, lamb, mutton or pork chops, lobster, turbot, soles, eels, oysters, &c.: prepared as above, or enveloped in No. 348.

Obs.—This is a very savoury and economical dish, and a valuable variety at a moderate table. See Wow-wow sauce (No. 328).

Stewed Rump-Steaks.—(No. 500.)

The steaks must be a little thicker than for broiling: let them be all the same thickness, or some will be done too little, and others too much.

Put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan, with two onions; when the butter is melted, lay in the rump-steaks, let them stand over a slow fire for five minutes, then turn them and let the other side of them fry for five minutes longer. Have ready boiled a pint of button onions; they will take from half an hour to an hour; put the liquor they were boiled in to the steaks; if there is not enough of it to cover them, add broth or boiling water, to make up enough for that purpose, with a dozen corns of black pepper, and a little salt, and let them simmer very gently for about an hour and a half, and then strain off as much of the liquor (about a pint and a half) as you think will make the sauce.

Put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will make it into a stiff paste; some add thereto a table-spoonful of claret, or Port wine, the same of mushroom catchup (No. 439), half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a quarter of a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper: add the liquor by degrees; let it boil up for fifteen minutes; skim it, and strain it; serve up the steaks with the onions round the dish, and pour the gravy over.

Veal-cutlets or mutton-chops may be done the same way, or as veal-olives (No. 518).

This is generally a second-course dish, and is usually made too rich, and only fit to re-excite an appetite already satiated. Our endeavour is to combine agreeable savouriness with substantial nourishment; those who wish to enrich our receipt, may easily add mushrooms, wine, anchovy, Cayenne, bay-leaves, &c.

Obs. Rump-steaks are in best condition from Michaelmas to lady-day. To ensure their being tender, give the butcher three or four days’ notice of your wish for them.

Broiled Rump-Steak with Onion Gravy.—(No. 501.) See also No. 299.

Peel and slice two large onions, put them into a quart stew-pan, with two table-spoonfuls of water; cover the stew-pan close, and set it on a slow fire till the water has boiled away, and the onions have got a little browned; then add half a pint of good broth,312-* and boil the onions till they are tender; strain the broth from them, and chop them very fine, and season it with mushroom catchup, pepper, and salt: put the onion into it, and let it boil gently for five minutes; pour it into the dish, and lay over it a broiled rump-steak. If instead of broth you use good beef gravy, it will be superlative.

^*_*^* Stewed cucumber (No. 135) is another agreeable accompaniment to rump-steaks.

Alamode Beef, or Veal.—(No. 502.)

In the 180 volumes on Cookery, we patiently pioneered through, before we encountered the tremendous labour and expense of proving the receipts of our predecessors, and set about recording these results of our own experiments, we could not find one receipt that approximated to any thing like an accurate description of the way in which this excellent dish is actually dressed in the best alamode beef shops; from whence, of course, it was impossible to obtain any information: however, after all, the whole of the secret seems to be the thickening of the gravy of beef that has been very slowly313-* stewed, and flavouring it with bay-leaves and allspice.

Take about eleven pounds of the mouse buttock, or clod of beef, or a blade-bone, or the sticking-piece, or the like weight of the breast of veal; cut it into pieces of three or four ounces each; put three or four ounces of beef drippings, and mince a couple of large onions, and put them into a large deep stew-pan; as soon as it is quite hot, flour the meat, put it into the stew-pan, keep stirring it with a wooden spoon; when it has been on about ten minutes, dredge it with flour, and keep doing so till you have stirred in as much as you think will thicken it; then cover it with boiling water (it will take about a gallon), adding it by degrees, and stirring it together; skim it when it boils, and then put in one drachm of ground black pepper, two of allspice, and two bay-leaves; set the pan by the side of the fire, or at a distance over it, and let it stew very slowly for about three hours; when you find the meat sufficiently tender, put it into a tureen, and it is ready for table.

It is customary to send up with it a nice salad; see No. 372.

^*_*^* To the above many cooks add champignons; but as these are almost always decayed, and often of deleterious quality, they are better left out, and indeed the bay-leaves deserve the same prohibition.

Obs. Here is a savoury and substantial meal, almost as cheap as the egg-broth of the miser, who fed his valet with the water in which his egg was boiled, or as the “Potage à la Pierre, à la Soldat,”313-† mentioned by Giles Rose, in the 4th page of his dedication of the “perfect school of instruction for the officers of the mouth,” 18mo. London, 1682. “Two soldiers were minded to have a soup; the first of them coming into a house, and asking for all things necessary for the making of one, was as soon told that he could have none of those things there, whereupon he went away; the other, coming in with a stone in his knapsack, asked only for a pot to boil his stone in, that he might make a dish of broth of it for his supper, which was quickly granted him; when the stone had boiled a little while, he asked for a small piece of meat or bacon, and a few herbs and roots, &c. just merely to give it a bit of a flavour; till, by little and little, he got all things requisite, and so made an excellent pottage of his stone.” See Obs. to No. 493.

s. d.

Onions, pepper, allspice, and bay-leaves 0 3

11 pounds of beef 3 8

Made eight quarts 3 11

i. e. sixpence per quart.

To pot Beef, Veal, Game, or Poultry, &c.—(No. 503.)

Take three pounds of lean gravy beef, rub it well with an ounce of saltpetre, and then a handful of common salt; let it lie in salt for a couple of days, rubbing it well each day; then put it into an earthen pan or stone jar that will just hold it; cover it with the skin and fat that you cut off, and pour in half a pint of water; cover it close with paste, and set it in a very slow oven for about four hours; or prepare it as directed in No. 496.

When it comes from the oven, drain the gravy from it into a basin; pick out the gristles and the skins; mince it fine; moisten it with a little of the gravy you poured from the meat, which is a very strong consommé (but rather salt), and it will make excellent pease soup, or browning (see No. 322); pound the meat patiently and thoroughly in a mortar with some fresh butter,314-* till it is a fine paste (to make potted meat smooth there is nothing equal to plenty of elbow-grease); seasoning it (by degrees, as you are beating it,) with a little black pepper and allspice, or cloves pounded, or mace, or grated nutmeg.

Put it in pots, press it down as close as possible, and cover it a quarter of an inch thick with clarified butter; to prepare which, see receipt No. 259, and if you wish to preserve it a long time, over that tie a bladder. Keep it in a dry place.

Obs. You may mince a little ham or bacon, or an anchovy, sweet or savoury herbs, or an eschalot, and a little tarragon, chervil, or burnet, &c., and pound them with the meat, with a glass of wine, or some mustard, or forcemeat (No. 376, or Nos. 378 and 399*, &c.); if you wish to have it devilish savoury, add ragoût powder (No. 457), curry powder (No. 455), or zest (No. 255), and moisten it with mushroom catchup (No. 439), or essence of anchovy (No. 433), or tincture of allspice (No. 413), or essence of turtle (No. 343*), or, (No. 503*).

It is a very agreeable and economical way of using the remains of game or poultry, or a large joint of either roasted or boiled beef, veal, ham, or tongue, &c. to mince it with some of the fat, (or moisten it with a little butter, or No. 439, &c.) and beat it in a mortar with the seasoning, &c., as in the former receipt.

When either the teeth or stomach are extremely feeble, especial care must be taken to keep meat till it is tender before it is cooked; or call in the aid of those excellent helps to bad teeth, the pestle and mortar. And see Nos. 10, 18, 87, 89, 175, 178; from 185 to 250, 502, 542, and especially 503. Or dress in the usual way whatever is best liked, mince it, put it into a mortar, and pound it with a little broth or melted butter, vegetable, herb, spice, zest (No. 255), &c. according to the taste, &c. of the eater. The business of the stomach is thus very materially facilitated.

“Flesh in small quantities, bruised to a pulp, may be very advantageously used in fevers attended with debility.”—Darwin’s Zoonomia, vol. ii. p. 400.

“Mincing or pounding meat saveth the grinding of the teeth; and therefore (no doubt) is more nourishing, especially in age, or to them that have weak teeth; but butter is not proper for weak bodies, and therefore moisten it in pounding with a little claret wine, and a very little cinnamon or nutmeg.”—Lord Bacon; Natural History, Century 1. 54.

Obs.—Meat that has been boiled down for gravies, &c. see Nos. 185 and 252, (which has heretofore been considered the perquisite of the cat) and is completely drained of all its succulence, beat in a mortar with salt and a little ground black pepper and allspice, as directed in the foregoing receipt, and it will make as good potted beef as meat that has been baked till its moisture is entirely extracted, which it must be, or it will not keep two days.

Mem.—Meat that has not been previously salted, will not keep so long as that which has.

Sandwiches,—(No. 504.)

Properly prepared, are an elegant and convenient luncheon or supper, but have got out of fashion, from the bad manner in which they are commonly made: to cut the bread neatly with a sharp knife seems to be considered the only essential, and the lining is composed of any offal odds and ends, that cannot be sent to table in any other form.

Whatever is used must be carefully trimmed from every bit of skin, gristle, &c. and nothing introduced but what you are absolutely certain will be acceptable to the mouth.

MATERIALS FOR MAKING SANDWICHES.

Cold meat, or poultry.

Potted ditto (No. 503).

Savoury ditto (No. 496).

Potted lobster (No. 178), or shrimp (No. 175).

Potted cheese (No. 542).

Ditto, or grated tongue.

Potted, or grated ham (No. 509).

Anchovy (Nos. 434 and 435).

German sausage

Cold pork ditto (No. 87).

Hard eggs, pounded with a little butter and cheese.

Grated ham, or beef.

Various forcemeats, &c. (No. 373), &c.

Curry-powder, zest, mustard, pepper, and salt are added occasionally.

Meat Cakes.—(No. 504*.)

If you have any cold meat, game, or poultry (if under-done, all the better), mince it fine, with a little fat bacon or ham, or an anchovy; season it with a little pepper and salt; mix well, and make it into small cakes three inches long, half as wide, and half an inch thick: fry these a light brown, and serve them with good gravy, or put it into a mould and boil or bake it.

N.B. Bread-crumbs, hard yelks of eggs, onions, sweet herbs, savoury spices, zest, or curry-powder, or any of the forcemeats. See Nos. 373 to 382.

Fish cakes for maigre days, may be made in like manner.

Bubble and Squeak, or fried Beef or Mutton and Cabbage.—(No. 505.)

For this, as for a hash, select those parts of the joint that have been least done; it is generally made with slices of cold boiled salted-beef, sprinkled with a little pepper, and just lightly browned with a bit of butter in a frying-pan: if it is fried too much it will be hard.

Boil a cabbage, squeeze it quite dry, and chop it small; take the beef out of the frying-pan, and lay the cabbage in it; sprinkle a little pepper and salt over it; keep the pan moving over the fire for a few minutes; lay the cabbage in the middle of a dish, and the meat round it.

For sauce, see No. 356, or No. 328.

Hashed Beef, and roast Beef bones boiled.—(No. 506.)

To hash beef, see receipt, Nos. 484, 5, 6, and Nos. 360, 484, and 486.

The best part to hash is the fillet or inside of the sirloin, and the good housewife will always endeavour to preserve it entire for this purpose. See Obs. to No. 19, and mock hare, No. 66*.

Roast beef bones furnish a very relishing luncheon or supper, prepared in the following manner, with poached eggs (No. 546), or fried eggs (No. 545), or mashed potatoes (No. 106), as accompaniments.

Divide the bones, leaving good pickings of meat on each; score them in squares, pour a little melted butter on them, and sprinkle them with pepper and salt: put them in a dish; set them in a Dutch oven for half or three quarters of an hour, according to the thickness of the meat; keep turning them till they are quite hot and brown; or broil them on the gridiron. Brown them, but don’t burn them black. For sauce, Nos. 355, or 356.

Ox-Cheek stewed.—(No. 507.)

Prepare this the day before it is to be eaten; clean it, and put it into soft water just warm; let it lie three or four hours, then put it into cold water, and let it soak all night; next day wipe it clean, put it into a stew-pan, and just cover it with water; skim it well when it is coming to a boil, then put two whole onions, stick two or three cloves into each, three turnips quartered, a couple of carrots sliced, two bay-leaves, and twenty-four corns of allspice, a head of celery, and a bundle of sweet herbs, pepper, and salt; to these, those who are for a “haut goût” may add Cayenne and garlic, in such proportions as the palate that requires them may desire.

Let it stew gently till perfectly tender, i. e. about three hours; then take out the cheek, divide it into handsome pieces, fit to help at table; skim, and strain the gravy; melt an ounce and a half of butter in a stew-pan; stir into it as much flour as it will take up; mix with it by degrees a pint and a half of the gravy; add to it a table-spoonful of basil, tarragon, or elder vinegar, or the like quantity of mushroom or walnut catchup, or cavice, or port wine, and give it a boil.

Serve up in a soup or ragoût-dish; or make it into barley broth, No. 204.

Obs.—This is a very economical, nourishing, and savoury meal. See ox-cheek soup, No. 239, and calf’s head hashed, No. 520.

Ox-Tails stewed.—(No. 508.)

Divide them into joints; wash them; parboil them; set them on to stew in just water enough to cover them,—and dress them in the same manner as we have directed in No. 531, Stewed Giblets, for which they are an excellent substitute.

N.B.—See Ox-Tail Soup, No. 240.

Potted Ham, or Tongue.—(No. 509.)

Cut a pound of the lean of cold boiled Ham or Tongue, and pound it in a mortar with a quarter of a pound of the fat, or with fresh butter (in the proportion of about two ounces to a pound), till it is a fine paste (some season it by degrees with a little pounded mace or allspice): put it close down in pots for that purpose, and cover it with Clarified Butter, No. 259, a quarter of an inch thick; let it stand one night in a cool place. Send it up in the pot, or cut out in thin slices. See Obs. on No. 503.

Hashed Veal.—(No. 511.)

Prepare it as directed in No. 484; and to make sauce to warm Veal, see No. 361.

Hashed or minced Veal.—(No. 511*.)

To make a hash318-* cut the meat into slices;—to prepare minced veal, mince it as fine as possible (do not chop it); put it into a stew-pan with a few spoonfuls of veal or mutton broth, or make some with the bones and trimmings, as ordered for veal cutlets (see No. 80, or No. 361), a little lemon-peel minced fine, a spoonful of milk or cream; thicken with butter and flour, and season it with salt, a table-spoonful of lemon pickle, or Basil wine, No. 397, &c., or a pinch of curry powder.

^*_*^* If you have no cream, beat up the yelks of a couple of eggs with a little milk: line the dish with sippets of lightly toasted bread.

Obs.—Minced veal makes a very pretty dish put into scollop shells, and bread crumbed over, and sprinkled with a little butter, and browned in a Dutch oven, or a cheese-toaster.

To make an excellent Ragoût of Cold Veal.—(No. 512.)

Either a neck, loin, or fillet of veal, will furnish this excellent ragoût with a very little expense or trouble.

Cut the veal into handsome cutlets; put a piece of butter or clean dripping into a frying-pan; as soon as it is hot, flour and fry the veal of a light brown: take it out, and if you have no gravy ready, make some as directed in the note to No. 517; or put a pint of boiling water into the frying-pan, give it a boil up for a minute, and strain it into a basin while you make some thickening in the following manner: put about an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as soon as it melts, mix with it as much flour as will dry it up; stir it over the fire for a few minutes, and gradually add to it the gravy you made in the frying-pan; let them simmer together for ten minutes (till thoroughly incorporated); season it with pepper, salt, a little mace, and a wine-glassful of mushroom catchup or wine; strain it through a tamis to the meat, and stew very gently till the meat is thoroughly warmed. If you have any ready-boiled bacon, cut it in slices, and put it in to warm with the meat, or No. 526 or 527.

Veal cutlets, see No. 90, &c.

Breast of Veal stewed.—(No. 515.)

A breast of veal stewed till quite tender, and smothered with onion sauce, is an excellent dish; or in the gravy ordered in the note to No. 517.

Breast of Veal Ragoût.—(No. 517.)

Take off the under bone, and cut the breast in half lengthways; divide it into pieces, about four inches long, by two inches wide, i. e. in handsome pieces, not too large to help at once: put about two ounces of butter into a frying-pan, and fry the veal till it is a light brown,320-* then put it into a stew-pan with veal broth, or as much boiling water as will cover it, a bundle of sweet marjoram, common or lemon-thyme, and parsley, with four cloves, or a couple of blades of pounded mace, three young onions, or one old one, a roll of lemon-peel, a dozen corns of allspice bruised, and a tea-spoonful of salt; cover it close, and let it all simmer very gently till the veal is tender, i. e. for about an hour and a half, if it is very thick, two hours; then strain off as much (about a quart) of the gravy, as you think you will want, into a basin; set the stew-pan, with the meat, &c. in it by the fire to keep hot. To thicken the gravy you have taken out, put an ounce and a half of butter into a clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as it will take; add the gravy by degrees; season it with salt; let it boil ten minutes; skim it well, and season it with two table-spoonfuls of white wine, one of mushroom catchup, and same of lemon-juice; give it a boil up, and it is ready: now put the veal into a ragoût dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve to it. Or,

By keeping the meat whole, you will better preserve the succulence of it.

Put the veal into a stew-pan, with two ounces of butter and two whole onions (such as weigh about two ounces each); put it on the fire, and fry it about five minutes; then cover it with boiling water; when it boils, skim it; then put in two small blades of mace, a dozen blades of allspice, the same of black pepper; cover it close, and let it simmer gently for an hour and a half; then strain as much of the gravy as you think you will want into a basin; put the stew-pan by the fire to keep hot. To thicken it, put an ounce and a half of butter into a clean stew-pan: when it is melted, stir in as much flour as it will take; add the gravy by degrees; season it with salt, and when it boils it is ready. Put the veal on a dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve over it.

Obs.—Forcemeat balls, see No. 375, &c.; truffles, morells, mushrooms, and curry powder, &c. are sometimes added; and rashers of bacon or ham, Nos. 526 and 527, or fried pork sausages, No. 83.

N.B. These are nice dishes in the pease season.

Scotch Collops.—(No. 517*.)

The veal must be cut the same as for cutlets, in pieces about as big as a crown-piece; flour them well, and fry them of a light brown in fresh butter; lay them in a stew-pan; dredge them over with flour, and then put in as much boiling water as will well cover the veal; pour this in by degrees, shaking the stew-pan, and set it on the fire; when it comes to a boil, take off the scum, put in one onion, a blade of mace, and let it simmer very gently for three quarters of an hour; lay them on a dish, and pour the gravy through a sieve over them.

N.B. Lemon-juice and peel, wine, catchup, &c., are sometimes added; add curry powder, No. 455, and you have curry collops.

Veal Olives.—(No. 518.)

Cut half a dozen slices off a fillet of veal, half an inch thick, and as long and square as you can; flat them with a chopper, and rub them over with an egg that has been beat on a plate; cut some fat bacon as thin as possible, the same size as the veal; lay it on the veal, and rub it with a little of the egg; make a little veal forcemeat, see receipt, No. 375, and spread it very thin over the bacon; roll up the olives tight, rub them with the egg, and then roll them in fine bread-crumbs; put them on a lark-spit, and roast them at a brisk fire: they will take three quarters of an hour.

Rump-steaks are sometimes dressed this way.

Mushroom sauce, brown (Nos. 305 or 306), or beef gravy (No. 329). Vide chapter on sauces, &c.

Cold Calf’s Head hashed.—(No. 519.)

See Obs. to boiled calf’s head, No. 10.

Calf’s Head hashed, or Ragoût.—(No. 520.) See No. 247.

Wash a calf’s head, which, to make this dish in the best style, should have the skin on, and boil it, see No. 10; boil one half all but enough, so that it may be soon quite done when put into the hash to warm, the other quite tender: from this half take out the bones: score it superficially; beat up an egg; put it over the head with a paste-brush, and strew over it a little grated bread and lemon-peel, and thyme and parsley, chopped very fine, or in powder, then bread-crumbs, and put it in the Dutch oven to brown.

Cut the other half-head into handsome slices, and put it into a stew-pan with a quart of gravy (No. 329), or turtle sauce (No. 343), with forcemeat balls (Nos. 376, 380), egg-balls, a wine-glass of white wine, and some catchup, &c.; put in the meat; let it warm together, and skim off the fat.

Peel the tongue, and send it up with the brains round it as a side dish, as directed in No. 10; or beat them up in a basin with a spoonful of flour, two eggs, some grated lemon-peel, thyme, parsley, and a few leaves of very finely-minced sage; rub them well together in a mortar, with pepper, salt, and a scrape of nutmeg; fry them (in little cakes) a very light brown; dish up the hash with the half-head you browned in the middle; and garnish with crisp, or curled rashers of bacon, fried bread sippets (Nos. 319, 526, and 527), and the brain cakes.

N.B. It is by far the best way to make a side dish of the tongue and brains, if you do send up a piece of bacon as a companion for it, or garnish the tongue and brains with the rashers of bacon and the forcemeat balls, both of which are much better kept dry than when immersed in the gravy of the ragoût.

Obs.—In order to make what common cooks, who merely cook for the eye, call a fine, large, handsome dishful, they put in not only the eatable parts, but all the knots of gristle, and lumps of fat, offal, &c.; and when the grand gourmand fancies he is helped as plentifully as he could wish, he often finds one solitary morsel of meat among a large lot of lumps of gristle, fat, &c.

We have seen a very elegant dish of the scalp only, sent to table rolled up; it looks like a sucking pig.

Veal Cutlets broiled plain, or full-dressed.—(No. 521.)

Divide the best end of a neck of veal into cutlets, one rib to each; broil them plain, or make some fine bread-crumbs; mince a little parsley, and a very little eschalot, as small as possible; put it into a clean stew-pan, with two ounces of butter, and fry it for a minute; then put on a plate the yelks of a couple of eggs; mix the herbs, &c. with it, and season it with pepper and salt: dip the cutlets into this mixture, and then into the bread; lay them on a gridiron over a clear slow fire, till they are nicely browned on both sides; they will take about an hour: send up with them a few slices of ham or bacon fried, or done in the Dutch oven. See Nos. 526 and 527, and half a pint of No. 343, or No. 356.

Knuckle of Veal, to ragoût.—(No. 522.)

Cut a knuckle of veal into slices about half an inch thick; pepper, salt, and flour them; fry them a light brown; put the trimmings into a stew-pan, with the bone broke in several places; an onion sliced, a head of celery, a bunch of sweet herbs, and two blades of bruised mace: pour in warm water enough to cover them about an inch; cover the pot close, and let it stew very gently for a couple of hours; strain it, and then thicken it with flour and butter; put in a spoonful of catchup, a glass of wine, and juice of half a lemon; give it a boil up, and strain into a clean stew-pan; put in the meat, make it hot, and serve up.

Obs.—If celery is not to be had, use a carrot instead or flavour it with celery-seed, or No. 409.

Knuckle of Veal stewed with Rice.—(No. 523.)

As boiled knuckle of veal cold is not a very favourite relish with the generality, cut off some steaks from it, which you may dress as in the foregoing receipt, or No. 521, and leave the knuckle no larger than will be eaten the day it is dressed. Break the shank-bone, wash it clean, and put it in a large stew-pan with two quarts of water, an onion, two blades of mace, and a tea-spoonful of salt: set it on a quick fire; when it boils, take off all the scum.

Wash and pick a quarter of a pound of rice; put it into the stew-pan with the meat, and let it stew very gently for about two hours: put the meat, &c. in a deep dish, and the rice round it.

Send up bacon with it, parsnips, or greens, and finely minced parsley and butter, No. 261.

Mr. Gay’s Receipt to stew a Knuckle of Veal.—(No. 524.)

Slices of Ham or Bacon.—(No. 526.)

Ham, or bacon, may be fried, or broiled on a gridiron over a clear fire, or toasted with a fork: take care to slice it of the same thickness in every part.

If you wish it curled, cut it in slices about two inches long (if longer, the outside will be done too much before the inside is done enough); roll it up, and put a little wooden skewer through it: put it in a cheese-toaster, or Dutch oven, for eight or ten minutes, turning it as it gets crisp.

This is considered the handsomest way of dressing bacon; but we like it best uncurled, because it is crisper, and more equally done.

Obs.—Slices of ham or bacon should not be more than half a quarter of an inch thick, and will eat much more mellow if soaked in hot water for a quarter of an hour, and then dried in a cloth before they are broiled, &c.

Relishing Rashers of Bacon.—(No. 527.)

If you have any cold bacon, you may make a very nice dish of it by cutting it into slices about a quarter of an inch thick; grate some crust of bread, as directed for ham (see No. 14), and powder them well with it on both sides; lay the rashers in a cheese-toaster, they will be browned on one side in about three minutes, turn them and do the other.

Obs.—These are a delicious accompaniment to poached or fried Eggs: the bacon having been boiled325-* first, is tender and mellow. They are an excellent garnish round veal cutlets, or sweet-breads, or calf’s-head hash, or green pease, or beans, &c.

Hashed Venison.—(No. 528.)

If you have enough of its own gravy left, it is preferable to any to warm it up in: if not, take some of the mutton gravy (No. 347), or the bones and trimmings of the joint (after you have cut off all the handsome slices you can to make the hash); put these into some water, and stew them gently for an hour; then put some butter into a stew-pan; when melted, put to it as much flour as will dry up the butter, and stir it well together; add to it by degrees the gravy you have been making of the trimmings, and some red currant jelly; give it a boil up; skim it; strain it through a sieve, and it is ready to receive the venison: put it in, and let it just get warm: if you let it boil, it will make the meat hard.

Hashed Hare.—(No. 529.)

Cut up the hare into pieces fit to help at table, and divide the joints of the legs and shoulders, and set them by ready.

Put the trimmings and gravy you have left, with half a pint of water (there should be a pint of liquor), and a table-spoonful of currant jelly, into a clean stew-pan, and let it boil gently for a quarter of an hour: then strain it through a sieve into a basin, and pour it back into the stew-pan; now flour the hare, put it into the gravy, and let it simmer very gently till the hare is warm (about twenty minutes); cut the stuffing into slices, and put it into the hash to get warm, about five minutes before you serve it; divide the head, and lay one half on each side the dish.

For hare soup, see No. 241, mock hare, No. 66.*

Jugged Hare.—(No. 529*.)

Wash it very nicely; cut it up into pieces proper to help at table, and put them into a jugging-pot, or into a stone jar,325-† just sufficiently large to hold it well; put in some sweet herbs, a roll or two of rind of a lemon, or a Seville orange, and a fine large onion with five cloves stuck in it,—and if you wish to preserve the flavour of the hare, a quarter of a pint of water; if you are for a ragoût, a quarter of a pint of claret, or port wine, and the juice of a Seville orange, or lemon: tie the jar down closely with a bladder, so that no steam can escape; put a little hay in the bottom of the saucepan, in which place the jar, and pour in water till it reaches within four inches of the top of the jar; let the water boil for about three hours, according to the age and size of the hare (take care it is not over-done, which is the general fault in all made dishes, especially this), keeping it boiling all the time, and fill up the pot as it boils away. When quite tender, strain off the gravy clear from fat; thicken it with flour, and give it a boil up: lay the hare in a soup-dish, and pour the gravy to it.

Obs.—You may make a pudding the same as for roast hare (see No. 397), and boil it in a cloth; and when you dish up your hare, cut it in slices, or make forcemeat balls of it, for garnish.

For sauce, No. 346. Or,

A much easier and quicker, and more certain way of proceeding, is the following:

Prepare the hare the same as for jugging; put it into a stew-pan with a few sweet herbs, half a dozen cloves, the same of allspice and black pepper, two large onions, and a roll of lemon-peel: cover it with water; when it boils, skim it clean, and let it simmer gently till tender (about two hours); then take it up with a slice, and set it by the fire to keep hot while you thicken the gravy; take three ounces of butter, and some flour; rub together; put in the gravy; stir it well, and let it boil about ten minutes; strain it through a sieve over the hare, and it is ready.

Dressed Ducks, or Geese hashed.—(No. 530.)

Cut an onion into small dice; put it into a stew-pan with a bit of butter; fry it, but do not let it get any colour; put as much boiling water into the stew-pan as will make sauce for the hash; thicken it with a little flour; cut up the duck, and put it into the sauce to warm; do not let it boil; season it with pepper and salt, and catchup.

N.B. The legs of geese, &c. broiled, and laid on a bed of apple sauce, are sent up for luncheon or supper. Or,

Divide the duck into joints; lay it by ready; put the trimmings and stuffing into a stew-pan, with a pint and a half of broth or water; let it boil half an hour, and then rub it through a sieve; put half an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as it melts, mix a table-spoonful of flour with it; stir it over the fire a few minutes, then mix the gravy with it by degrees; as soon as it boils, take off the scum, and strain through a sieve into a stew-pan; put in the duck, and let it stew very gently for ten or fifteen minutes, if the duck is rather under-roasted: if there is any fat, skim it off: line the dish you serve it up in with sippets of bread either fried or toasted.

Ragoûts of Poultry, Game, Pigeons, Rabbits, &c.—(No. 530*.)

Half roast it, then stew it whole, or divide it into joints and pieces proper to help at table, and put it into a stew-pan, with a pint and a half of broth, or as much water, with any trimmings or parings of meat you have, one large onion with cloves stuck in it, twelve berries of allspice, the same of black pepper, and a roll of lemon-peel; when it boils, skim it very clean; let it simmer very gently for about an hour and a quarter, if a duck or fowl—longer if a larger bird; then strain off the liquor, and leave the ducks by the fire to keep hot; skim the fat off; put into a clean stew-pan two ounces of butter; when it is hot stir in as much flour as will make it of a stiff paste; add the liquor by degrees; let it boil up; put in a glass of port wine, and a little lemon-juice, and simmer it ten minutes; put the ducks, &c. into the dish, and strain the sauce through a fine sieve over them.

Garnish with sippets of toasted, or fried bread, No. 319.

Obs.—If the poultry is only half roasted, and stewed only till just nicely tender, this will be an acceptable bonne bouche to those who are fond of made dishes. The flavour may be varied by adding catchup, curry powder, or any of the flavoured vinegars.

This is an easily prepared side dish, especially when you have a large dinner to dress; and coming to table ready carved saves a deal of time and trouble; it is therefore an excellent way of serving poultry, &c. for a large party. Or,

Roast or boil the poultry in the usual way; then cut it up, and pour over it a sufficient quantity of No. 305, or No. 329, or No. 364, or No. 2.

Stewed Giblets.—(No. 531.)

Clean two sets of giblets (see receipt for giblet soup, No. 244); put them into a saucepan, just cover them with cold water, and set them on the fire; when they boil, take off the scum, and put in an onion, three cloves, or two blades of mace, a few berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, and half a tea-spoonful of salt; cover the stew-pan close, and let it simmer very gently till the giblets are quite tender: this will take from one hour and a half to two and a half, according to the age of the giblets; the pinions will be done first, and must then be taken out, and put in again to warm when the gizzards are done: watch them that they do not get too much done: take them out and thicken the sauce with flour and butter; let it boil half an hour, or till there is just enough to eat with the giblets, and then strain it through a tamis into a clean stew-pan; cut the giblets into mouthfuls; put them into the sauce with the juice of half a lemon, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup; pour the whole into a soup-dish, with sippets of bread at the bottom.

Obs.—Ox-tails prepared in the same way are excellent eating.

Hashed Poultry, Game, or Rabbit.—(No. 533.)

Cut them into joints, put the trimmings into a stew-pan with a quart of the broth they were boiled in, and a large onion cut in four; let it boil half an hour; strain it through a sieve: then put two table-spoonfuls of flour in a basin, and mix it well by degrees with the hot broth; set it on the fire to boil up, then strain it through a fine sieve: wash out the stew-pan, lay the poultry in it, and pour the gravy on it (through a sieve); set it by the side of the fire to simmer very gently (it must not boil) for fifteen minutes; five minutes before you serve it up, cut the stuffing in slices, and put it in to warm, then take it out, and lay it round the edge of the dish, and put the poultry in the middle; carefully skim the fat off the gravy, then shake it round well in the stew-pan, and pour it to the hash.

N.B. You may garnish the dish with bread sippets lightly toasted.

Pulled Turkey, Fowl, or Chicken.—(No. 534.)

Skin a cold chicken, fowl, or turkey; take off the fillets from the breasts, and put them into a stew-pan with the rest of the white meat and wings, side-bones, and merry-thought, with a pint of broth, a large blade of mace pounded, an eschalot minced fine, the juice of half a lemon, and a roll of the peel, some salt, and a few grains of Cayenne; thicken it with flour and butter, and let it simmer for two or three minutes, till the meat is warm. In the mean time score the legs and rump, powder them with pepper and salt, broil them nicely brown, and lay them on, or round your pulled chicken.

Obs.—Three table-spoonfuls of good cream, or the yelks of as many eggs, will be a great improvement to it.

To dress Dressed Turkey, Goose, Fowl, Duck, Pigeon, or Rabbit.—(No. 535.)

Cut them in quarters, beat up an egg or two (according to the quantity you dress) with a little grated nutmeg, and pepper and salt, some parsley minced fine, and a few crumbs of bread; mix these well together, and cover the fowl, &c. with this batter; broil them, or put them in a Dutch oven, or have ready some dripping hot in a pan, in which fry them a light brown colour; thicken a little gravy with some flour, put a large spoonful of catchup to it, lay the fry in a dish, and pour the sauce round it. You may garnish with slices of lemon and toasted bread. See No. 355.

Devil.—(No. 538.)

The gizzard and rump, or legs, &c. of a dressed turkey, capon, or goose, or mutton or veal kidney, scored, peppered, salted, and broiled, sent up for a relish, being made very hot, has obtained the name of a “devil.”

Obs.—This is sometimes surrounded with No. 356, or a sauce of thick melted butter or gravy, flavoured with catchup (No. 439), essence of anchovy, or No. 434, eschalot wine (No. 402), curry stuff. (No. 455, &c.) See turtle sauce (No. 343), or grill sauce (No. 355), which, as the palates of the present day are adjusted, will perhaps please grands gourmands as well as “véritable sauce d’Enfer.”—Vide School for the Officers of the Mouth, p. 368, 18mo. London, 1682.

“Every man must have experienced, that when he has got deep into his third bottle, his palate acquires a degree of torpidity, and his stomach is seized with a certain craving, which seem to demand a stimulant to the powers of both. The provocatives used on such occasions, an ungrateful world has combined to term devils.

“The diables au feu d’enfer, or dry devils, are usually composed of the broiled legs and gizzards of poultry, fish-bones, or biscuits; and, if pungency alone can justify their appellation, never was title better deserved, for they are usually prepared without any other intention than to make them ‘hot as their native element,’ and any one who can swallow them without tears in his eyes, need be under no apprehension of the pains of futurity. It is true, they answer the purpose of exciting thirst; but they excoriate the palate, vitiate its nicer powers of discrimination, and pall the relish for the high flavour of good wine: in short, no man should venture upon them whose throat is not paved with mosaic, unless they be seasoned by a cook who can poise the pepper-box with as even a hand as a judge should the scales of justice.

“It would be an insult to the understanding of our readers, to suppose them ignorant of the usual mode of treating common devils; but we shall make no apology for giving the most minute instructions for the preparation of a gentler stimulant, which, besides, possesses this advantage—that it may be all done at the table, either by yourself, or at least under your own immediate inspection.

“Mix equal parts of fine salt, Cayenne pepper, and curry powder, with double the quantity of powder of truffles: dissect, secundum artem, a brace of woodcocks rather under-roasted, split the heads, subdivide the wings, &c. &c. and powder the whole gently over with the mixture; crush the trail and brains along with the yelk of a hard-boiled egg, a small portion of pounded mace, the grated peel of half a lemon, and half a spoonful of soy, until the ingredients be brought to the consistence of a fine paste: then add a table-spoonful of catchup, a full wine-glass of Madeira, and the juice of two Seville oranges: throw this sauce, along with the birds, into a silver stew-dish, to be heated with spirits of wine: cover close up, light the lamp, and keep gently simmering, and occasionally stirring, until the flesh has imbibed the greater part of the liquid. When you have reason to suppose it is completely saturated, pour in a small quantity of salad oil, stir all once more well together, ‘put out the light, and then!’—serve it round instantly; for it is scarcely necessary to say, that a devil should not only be hot in itself, but eaten hot.

“There is, however, one precaution to be used in eating it, to which we most earnestly recommend the most particular attention; and for want of which, more than one accident has occurred. It is not, as some people might suppose, to avoid eating too much of it (for that your neighbours will take good care to prevent); but it is this: in order to pick the bones, you must necessarily take some portion of it with your fingers; and, as they thereby become impregnated with its flavour, if you afterward chance to let them touch your tongue, you will infallibly lick them to the bone, if you do not swallow them entire.”—See page 124, &c. of the entertaining “Essays on Good Living.”

Crusts of Bread for Cheese, &c.—(No. 538.)

It is not uncommon to see both in private families and at taverns a loaf entirely spoiled, by furious epicures paring off the crust to eat with cheese: to supply this, and to eat with soups, &c. pull lightly into small pieces the crumb of a new loaf; put them on a tin plate, or in a baking dish; set it in a tolerably brisk oven till they are crisp, and nicely browned, or do them in a Dutch oven.

Toast and Cheese.—(No. 539.)

Cut a slice of bread about half an inch thick; pare off the crust, and toast it very slightly on one side so as just to brown it, without making it hard or burning it.

Cut a slice of cheese (good fat mellow Cheshire cheese, or double Gloster, is better than poor, thin, single Gloster) a quarter of an inch thick, not so big as the bread by half an inch on each side: pare off the rind, cut out all the specks and rotten parts,331-* and lay it on the toasted bread in a cheese-toaster; carefully watch it that it does not burn, and stir it with a spoon to prevent a pellicle forming on the surface. Have ready good mustard, pepper and salt.

If you observe the directions here given, the cheese will eat mellow, and will be uniformly done, and the bread crisp and soft, and will well deserve its ancient appellation of a “rare bit.”

Obs.—One would think nothing could be easier than to prepare a Welsh rabbit; yet, not only in private families, but at taverns, it is very seldom sent to table in perfection. We have attempted to account for this in the last paragraph of Obs. to No. 493.

Toasted Cheese, No. 2.—(No. 540.)

We have nothing to add to the directions given for toasting the cheese in the last receipt, except that in sending it up, it will save much time in portioning it out at table, if you have half a dozen small silver or tin pans to fit into the cheese-toaster, and do the cheese in these: each person may then be helped to a separate pan, and it will keep the cheese much hotter than the usual way of eating it on a cold plate.

Mem. Send up with it as many cobblers331-† as you have pans of cheese.

Obs.—Ceremony seldom triumphs more completely over comfort than in the serving out of this dish; which, to be presented to the palate in perfection, it is imperatively indispensable that it be introduced to the mouth as soon as it appears on the table.

Buttered Toast and Cheese.—(No. 541.)

Prepare a round of toast; butter it; grate over it good Cheshire cheese about half the thickness of the toast, and give it a brown.

Pounded Cheese.—(No. 542.)

Cut a pound of good mellow Chedder, Cheshire, or North Wiltshire cheese into thin bits; add to it two, and if the cheese is dry, three ounces of fresh butter; pound, and rub them well together in a mortar till it is quite smooth.

Obs.—When cheese is dry, and for those whose digestion is feeble, this is the best way of eating it; and spread on bread, it makes an excellent luncheon or supper.

N.B. The piquance of this is sometimes increased by pounding with it curry powder (No. 455), ground spice, black pepper, cayenne, and a little made mustard; and some moisten it with a glass of sherry. If pressed down hard in a jar, and covered with clarified butter, it will keep for several days in cool weather.

Macaroni.—(No. 543.) See Macaroni Pudding for the Boiling of it.

The usual mode of dressing it in this country is by adding a white sauce, and parmesan or Cheshire cheese, and burning it; but this makes a dish which is proverbially unwholesome: its bad qualities arise from the oiled and burnt cheese, and the half-dressed flour and butter put into the white sauce.

Macaroni plain boiled, and some rich stock or portable soup added to it quite hot, will be found a delicious dish and very wholesome. Or, boil macaroni as directed in the receipt for the pudding, and serve it quite hot in a deep tureen, and let each guest add grated parmesan and cold butter, or oiled butter served hot, and it is excellent; this is the most common Italian mode of dressing it. Macaroni with cream, sugar, and cinnamon, or a little varicelli added to the cream, makes a very nice sweet dish.

English way of dressing Macaroni.

Put a quarter of a pound of riband macaroni into a stew-pan, with a pint of boiling milk, or broth, or water; let it boil gently till it is tender, this will take about a quarter of an hour; then put in an ounce of grated cheese, and a tea-spoonful of salt; mix it well together, and put it on a dish, and stew over it two ounces of grated Parmesan or Cheshire cheese, and give it a light brown in a Dutch oven. Or put all the cheese into the macaroni, and put bread-crumbs over the top.

Macaroni is very good put into a thick sauce with some shreds of dressed ham, or in a curry sauce. Riband macaroni is best for these dishes, and should not be done so much.

Macaroni Pudding.

One of the most excellent preparations of macaroni is the Timbale de Macaroni. Simmer half a pound of macaroni in plenty of water, and a table-spoonful of salt, till it is tender; but take care not to have it too soft; though tender, it should be firm, and the form entirely preserved, and no part beginning to melt (this caution will serve for the preparation of all macaroni). Strain the water from it; beat up five yelks and the white of two eggs; take half a pint of the best cream, and the breast of a fowl, and some thin slices of ham. Mince the breast of the fowl with the ham; add them with from two to three table-spoonfuls of finely-grated parmesan cheese, and season with pepper and salt. Mix all these with the macaroni, and put into a pudding-mould well buttered, and then let it steam in a stew-pan of boiling water for about an hour, and serve quite hot, with rich gravy (as in Omelette). See No. 543*.

Obs.—This, we have been informed, is considered by a grand gourmand as the most important recipe which was added to the collection of his cook during a gastronomic tour through Europe; it is not an uncommon mode of preparing macaroni on the continent.

Omelettes and various ways of dressing Eggs.—(No. 543*.)

There is no dish which in this country may be considered as coming under the denomination of a made dish of the second order, which is so generally eaten, if good, as an omelette; and no one is so often badly dressed: it is a very faithful assistant in the construction of a dinner.

When you are taken by surprise, and wish to make an appearance beyond what is provided for the every-day dinner, a little portable soup melted down, and some zest (No. 255), and a few vegetables, will make a good broth; a pot of the stewed veal of Morrison’s, warmed up; an omelette; and some apple or lemon fritters, can all be got ready at ten minutes’ notice, and with the original foundation of a leg of mutton, or a piece of beef, will make up a very good dinner when company unexpectedly arrives, in the country.

The great merit of an omelette is, that it should not be greasy, burnt, nor too much done: if too much of the white of the eggs is left in, no art can prevent its being hard, if it is done: to dress the omelette, the fire should not be too hot, as it is an object to have the whole substance heated, without much browning the outside.

One of the great errors in cooking an omelette is, that it is too thin; consequently, instead of feeling full and moist in the mouth, the substance presented is little better than a piece of fried leather: to get the omelette thick is one of the great objects. With respect to the flavours to be introduced, these are infinite; that which is most common, however, is the best, viz. finely chopped parsley, and chives or onions, or eschalots: however, one made of a mixture of tarragon, chervil, and parsley, is a very delicate variety, omitting or adding the onion or chives. Of the meat flavours, the veal kidney is the most delicate, and is the most admired by our neighbours the French: this should be cut in dice, and should be dressed (boiled) before it is added; in the same manner, ham and anchovies, shred small, or tongue, will make a very delicately flavoured dish.

The objection to an omelette is, that it is too rich, which makes it advisable to eat but a small quantity. An addition of some finely mashed potatoes, about two table-spoonfuls, to an omelette of six eggs, will much lighten it.

Omelettes are often served with rich gravy; but, as a general principle, no substance which has been fried should be served in gravy, but accompanied by it, or what ought to eat dry and crisp, becomes soddened and flat.

In the compounding the gravy, great care should be taken that the flavour does not overcome that of the omelette, a thing too little attended to: a fine gravy, with a flavouring of sweet herbs and onions, we think the best; some add a few drops of tarragon vinegar; but this is to be done only with great care: gravies to Omelettes are in general thickened: this should never be done with flour; potato starch, or arrow root, is the best.

Omelettes should be fried in a small frying-pan made for that purpose, with a small quantity of butter. The omelette’s great merit is to be thick, so as not to taste of the outside; therefore use only half the number of whites that you do yelks of eggs: every care must be taken in frying, even at the risk of not having it quite set in the middle: an omelette, which has so much vogue abroad, is here, in general, a thin doubled-up piece of leather, and harder than soft leather sometimes. The fact is, that as much care must be bestowed on the frying, as should be taken in poaching an egg. A salamander is necessary to those who will have the top brown; but the kitchen shovel may be substituted for it.

The following receipt is the basis of all omelettes, of which you may make an endless variety, by taking, instead of the parsley and eschalot, a portion of sweet herbs, or any of the articles enumerated in the table of materials used for making forcemeats, see No. 373; or any of the forcemeats between Nos. 373 and 386.

Omelettes are called by the name of what is added to flavour them: a ham or tongue omelette; an anchovy, or veal kidney omelette, &c.: these are prepared exactly in the same way as in the first receipt, leaving out the parsley and eschalot, and mincing the ham or kidney very fine, &c., and adding that in the place of them, and then pour over them all sorts of thickened gravies, sauces, &c.

Receipt for the common Omelette.

Five or six eggs will make a good-sized omelette; break them into a basin, and beat them well with a fork; and add a salt-spoonful of salt; have ready chopped two drachms of onion, or three drachms of parsley, a good clove of eschalot minced very fine; beat it well up with the eggs; then take four ounces of fresh butter, and break half of it into little bits, and put it into the omelette, and the other half into a very clean frying-pan; when it is melted, pour in the omelette, and stir it with a spoon till it begins to set, then turn it up all round the edges, and when it is of a nice brown it is done: the safest way to take it out is to put a plate on the omelette, and turn the pan upside-down: serve it on a hot dish; it should never be done till just wanted. If maigre, grated cheese, shrimps, or oysters. If oysters, boil them four minutes, and take away the beard and gristly part; they may either be put in whole, or cut in bits. Or,

Take eggs ready boiled hard, and either fry them whole, or cut them in half; when they are boiled (they will take five minutes), let them lie in cold water till you want to use them; then roll them lightly with your hand on a table, and they will peel without breaking; put them on a cloth to dry, and dredge them lightly with flour; beat two eggs in a basin, dip the eggs in, one at a time, and then roll them in fine bread-crumbs, or in duck (No. 378) or veal stuffing (No. 374); set them away ready for frying; fry them in hot oil or clarified butter, serve them up with mushroom sauce, or any other thickened sauce you please; crisp parsley is a pretty garnish. Or,

Do not boil the eggs till wanted; boil them ten minutes, peel them as above, cut them in half, put them on a dish, and have ready a sauce made of two ounces of butter and flour well rubbed together on a plate, and put it in a stew-pan with three quarters of a pint of good milk; set it on the fire, and stir it till it boils; if it is not quite smooth, strain it through a sieve, chop some parsley and a clove of eschalot as fine as possible, and put in your sauce: season it with salt to your taste: a little mace and lemon-peel boiled with the sauce, will improve it: if you like it still richer, you may add a little cream, or the yelks of two eggs, beat up with two table-spoonfuls of milk, and stir it in the last thing: do not let it boil after; place the half eggs on a dish with the yelks upward, and pour the sauce over them.

N.B. Any cold fish cut in pieces may be warmed in the above sauce for a sent dinner. Or,

Slice very thin two onions weighing about two ounces each; put them into a stew-pan with three ounces of butter; keep them covered till they are just done; stir them every now and then, and when they are of a nice brown, stir in as much flour as will make them of a stiff paste; then by degrees add as much water or milk as will make it the thickness of good cream; season it with, pepper and salt to your taste; have ready boiled hard four or five eggs—you may either shred them, or cut them in halves or quarters; then put them in the sauce: when they are hot they are ready: garnish them with sippets of bread.

Or, have ready a plain omelette, cut into bits, and put them into the sauce.

Or, cut off a little bit of one end of the eggs, so that they may stand up; and take out the yelks whole of some of them, and cut the whites in half, or in quarters.

Obs.—This is called in the Parisian kitchen, “eggs à la trip, with a roux.”

Marrow-Bones.—(No. 544.)

Saw the bones even, so that they will stand steady; put a piece of paste into the ends: set them upright in a saucepan, and boil till they are done enough: a beef marrow-bone will require from an hour and a half to two hours; serve fresh-toasted bread with them.

Eggs fried with Bacon.—(No. 545.)

Lay some slices of fine streaked bacon (not more than a quarter of an inch thick) in a clean dish, and toast them before the fire in a cheese-toaster, turning them when the upper side is browned; first ask those who are to eat the bacon, if they wish it much or little done, i. e. curled and crisped, see No. 526, or mellow and soft (No. 527): if the latter, parboil it first.

Well-cleansed (see No. 83) dripping, or lard, or fresh butter, are the best fats for frying eggs.

Be sure the frying-pan is quite clean; when the fat is hot, break two or three eggs into it; do not turn them, but, while they are frying, keep pouring some of the fat over them with a spoon; when the yelk just begins to look white, which it will in about a couple of minutes, they are done enough; the white must not lose its transparency, but the yelk be seen blushing through it: if they are done nicely, they will look as white and delicate as if they had been poached; take them up with a tin slice, drain the fat from them, trim them neatly, and send them up with the bacon round them.

Ragoût of Eggs and Bacon.—(No. 545*.)

Boil half a dozen eggs for ten minutes; throw them into cold water; peel them and cut them into halves; pound the yelks in a marble mortar, with about an equal quantity of the white meat of dressed fowl, or veal, a little chopped parsley, an anchovy, an eschalot, a quarter of an ounce of butter, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, a little Cayenne, some bread-crumbs, and a very little beaten mace, or allspice; incorporate them well together, and fill the halves of the whites with this mixture; do them over with the yelk of an egg, and brown them in a Dutch oven, and serve them on relishing rashers of bacon or ham, see No. 527.

For sauce, melted butter, flavoured to the fancy of the eaters, with mushroom catchup, anchovy, curry-powder (No. 455), or zest (No. 255).

To poach Eggs.—(No. 546.)

The cook who wishes to display her skill in poaching, must endeavour to procure eggs that have been laid a couple of days—those that are quite new-laid are so milky that, take all the care you can, your cooking of them will seldom procure you the praise of being a prime poacher; you must have fresh eggs, or it is equally impossible.

The beauty of a poached egg is for the yelk to be seen blushing through the white, which should only be just sufficiently hardened, to form a transparent veil for the egg.

Have some boiling water337-* in a tea-kettle; pass as much of it through a clean cloth as will half fill a stew-pan; break the egg into a cup, and when the water boils, remove the stew-pan from the stove, and gently slip the egg into it; it must stand till the white is set; then put it over a very moderate fire, and as soon as the water boils, the egg is ready; take it up with a slice, and neatly round off the ragged edges of the white; send them up on bread toasted on one side only,338-* with or without butter; or without a toast, garnished with streaked bacon (Nos. 526 or 527), nicely fried, or as done in No. 545, or slices of broiled beef or mutton (No. 487), anchovies (Nos. 434 and 435), pork sausages (No. 87), or spinage (No. 122).