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Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1855,
By J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court, in and for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania.
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As the health of a family depends more upon the quality of their food than upon any other cause whatever, it is a public benefaction to give good advice upon this subject. That this advice may be most widely beneficial, it should have reference to the material and the preparation of food; and in both these respects, regard should be had to economy. The rich, who are able to provide the most choice and expensive articles of diet, frequently fail in having them prepared for the table in an agreeable and healthful manner; and the poor, and even those in moderate circumstances, are not only not generally well informed as to healthful and nutritious articles of food, which may be purchased at moderate expense, but when procured, they more generally err in the healthful preparation of them, mistaking high seasoning and rich mixtures for delicious and wholesome food. It is to aid the family in procuring iv and preparing their food according to their means, and with a view to elegance, taste, and health, that the authoress of this book has been induced to publish these receipts and the accompanying advice and reflections. She does this at the solicitation of many heads of families, and with the confidence of knowledge founded on long personal experience. This is the only source of reliable knowledge on the subject of procuring and preparing healthful food, in good taste, and with elegance and economy.
But proper materials may be obtained for food, and the cook may understand how to prepare them; yet she will fail if she does not have the kitchen furnished with proper articles for culinary purposes. Each of these articles should be kept in its proper place, and scrupulously clean, while every thing should be done with exactness, and at the proper time.
The authoress has the greatest confidence that the circulation of this book will promote elegance and comfort in wealthy families, and economy and health in families of moderate means. 9
THE
FAMILY RECEIPT BOOK.
White meats, such as veal, mutton, and lamb, should be washed as quickly as possible, or the juices of the meat will be extracted by the water. Fresh beef should never be washed, but well scraped with a clean knife twice over; any soiled parts which cannot be scraped must be cut off. If the bones are soiled, saw off the part with the meat saw. Salted meat should be well washed in three or four waters, and soaked at least fifteen minutes in cold water, before putting it down to boil. The pot should be filled with cold water, and boil slowly till done, according to the size of the meat, or allow a quarter of an hour for every pound of the meat; quick boiling will make the meat hard and insipid. Be careful that it does not stop boiling, or the meat will be injured; remove the scum frequently. People are not generally aware of the injurious effects 10 from eating the flesh of diseased animals. It has been my practice to choose beef from the whiteness of the fat, and always object to it if a dark shade of yellow; let the fat be clear and thick, and the beef smooth and close; if otherwise, it is old. The flesh of a young ox should be a good red, and have a smooth and open grain, and feel tender. Pork may be judged by the thinness of the skin, and by pinching the lean; if young, it will break. When clammy, it is not fit for use. Fresh pork will be always cool and smooth. The fat of mutton should be white and firm, and the lean a good colour. If the vein in the neck of lamb has a greenish cast, it is stale: it should be of a bluish hue.
Bacon.—The lean should be of a good colour, and tender, and firm on the bone, the fat should be firm and of a red tinge, and the rind thin. Try a ham by putting a sharp knife in under the bone. If the smell is agreeable, the ham is good; if otherwise, and the knife soiled, reject it. Veal,—The whitest is the most juicy, having been made so by frequent bleeding: the flesh of a bull calf is firmest, but of a darker colour. Old and diseased meat will shrink very much in cooking. Hams and tongues, if they are old and hard, should be put to soak in warm water the night before they are boiled. A large ham will take from four to six hours to boil, and a tongue will take nearly as long. They should be kept constantly boiling, and well skimmed: put them down in plenty of cold water. Fish should 11 always be boiled in hot water with a little salt in it: let them boil slowly.
Wild fowls do not require as much cooking as tame. They should be done before a brisk fire, and be constantly basted. Wild ducks will cook sufficiently in a quarter of an hour; pheasants in twenty minutes. A large turkey will take from two hours and a half to three hours. Hen turkeys are the best for boiling. The time will depend on the size: if a large one, it will take two hours and a half, and should be boiled in a cloth. All meats when roasting should be put some distance from the fire, and brought gradually nearer; the more they are turned and basted, the more juicy they will be. Vegetables should be freshly gathered; they are much sweeter and more healthy, if cooked as soon as taken out of the ground. When potatoes are to be fried, throw them in water with plenty of ice in it after slicing. This will make them crisp.
Wash and scrape well a shin of beef, put it down early in the morning in plenty of cold water, with a piece of veal, and a small piece of lean ham; let it boil slowly one hour, and skim it well; then add two carrots, washed, scraped, and cut fine, six potatoes, four onions, and one turnip; some horse-radish cut in small pieces; season with black and cayenne pepper, and salt to your taste: about half an hour before it is done, put in a bunch of sweet 12 herbs, parsley, and a little celery cut in small pieces. You can either strain it or send it to table with the vegetables in it.
Boil a shin of beef the day before it is wanted. The next day put on your stock, after removing the fat from the top of it; then put in a tea-cup of barley, wash and cut up two carrots, three onions, one turnip, three tomatoes, put in parsley and the usual pot herbs, twenty minutes before it is done; season with cayenne and black pepper and salt to your taste.
Put into the soup kettle a small piece of ham; wash and cut up four onions; put them into the pot with the ham, and six quarts of water; let it boil slowly an hour and a half, then put in a shin of veal; let it boil an hour and a half longer; then take out the ham; skim off the grease as it rises; beat up in a gill of good cream, two table-spoonsful of flour, and the yolks of two eggs very light; and then add the soup; season with parsley, pepper, and salt, and serve up.
Scrape and wash clean a breast of mutton; put it down in the soup kettle to boil with five quarts of water, put in a small cup of barley, or two tablespoonsful of rice; let it boil slowly three hours and 13 thirty minutes; skim it well; add carrots, a turnip, an onion, and a little parsley cut up; let it boil forty minutes longer; season with pepper and salt; serve hot. The carrots should be grated.
Chicken broth may be made in the same way. Some persons prefer rice, but rice is used in so many ways, that barley is more uncommon as well as more nutritious. Noodles or vermicelli can be substituted, if preferred.
Put a pair of chickens in the soup kettle, with five quarts of water, one large carrot grated, and let it boil; skim off the grease as it rises: after it has boiled three hours take out the chickens, and strain the liquor through a sieve; put it in the kettle again; add the vermicelli after it has boiled an hour, an onion chopped small, some pepper and salt, a few blades of mace, a little parsley cut fine. If you like, just before it is served up, add a small bunch of thyme.
Strain the liquor from a hundred oysters into the soup kettle; add a quart of milk, a little mace, cloves, pepper and salt, with a little rolled cracker; boil 20 minutes; then put in the oysters; stir frequently: fifteen minutes after the oysters are in, serve it up. 14
Clean very well a calf’s head, take out the eyes, cut off the nose; let it soak for ten minutes; then put it down with five quarts of water, a small piece of ham, four onions, and some salt; let these boil till tender, or till the meat will leave the bones; then strain it; add cloves, nutmeg, parsley, and thyme; let it stew slowly for an hour; add a small piece of butter rubbed in flour, some wine and mushroom catsup. You can then put the meat in or send the soup to table without it, as preferred.
Prepare as above. Then put down the head and liver in six quarts of water; let them boil till tender; take them up; cut the meat in small pieces; be careful to take out all the bones; then put the meat into the liquor with three onions, some cloves, mace, and nutmeg, pepper, black and cayenne, and salt; set this on the fire; let it simmer gently an hour: just before taking it up, add a little butter rubbed in flour, and some wine.
Wash and joint two ox-tails; pour over them in a soup kettle five quarts of water; when it comes to a boil skim it, and add some salt, three onions, two carrots cut fine, three turnips, four potatoes, a large bunch of pot herbs, some cayenne pepper, and a little rice flour; boil slowly for three hours, 15 but do not put in the vegetables till after it has been boiling two hours: half an hour before you take it up, add a little celery cut up fine.
This soup is always made of the same materials, only varying in quantity. Brown in some butter six or eight onions; fry some pieces of rabbits and chicken; lay it upon the onions; have ready some stock, boiling hot; let it simmer gently for an hour and a quarter; then strain it through a sieve; add two quarts more of stock, and let it stew; mix with it three tea-spoonsful of currie powder, and two of brown flour with a little cold water; let it boil slowly for half an hour. If preferred, the juice of a lemon may be strained into it.
Wash well a dozen and a half young ochras; slice them thin, three onions chopped fine; pour on these five quarts of water early in the morning with pepper and salt; let this stew slowly two hours; then put in a piece of veal and a piece of lean bacon, with seven or eight tomatoes, skinned and sliced; boil it till it is thick; serve hot to table.
Take one large catfish, clean it well, cut off the head; then cut the fish in half; put it in a pot with two onions, and a bunch of parsley cut up fine, and some pepper and salt; put in a quart of water, and 16 stew slowly till the fish is tender; then add a pint of milk and a quart of water; let this all simmer for half an hour; roll a piece of butter in a little flour: in twenty minutes after the butter and flour go in, it will be sufficiently done.
Wash a quart of dried peas well; put them in four quarts of water to soak over night; early in the morning place it over the fire in your soup kettle; when it has boiled three hours, put in a small piece of salt pork; add some salt, pepper, and two chopped onions; after it has boiled some time take out the pork; mash the peas, and strain the liquor through a sieve into a kettle; put the pork in again; skim off the fat; let it boil one hour; serve up hot with toast.
Shell a quart of green peas; wash them, and put them down to boil with three quarts of water and a little salt; when it has boiled slowly an hour and a half, season with pepper and a little butter rolled in flour: boiling a few of the pods with the peas is an improvement.
Wash the beans and soak them over night; in the morning throw off the water, and put down the beans with five quarts of water and a small piece of salt pork; let it boil till the beans are perfectly soft; then take out the pork and either strain the 17 soup, or send it to table with the beans in, as preferred.
Wash the shells of a peck of clams carefully; put them to boil in two quarts of cold water; when the shells have opened, take off the liquor; return it to the soup kettle; take the clams out of the shells, put them in the pot with the seasoning; a little salt and pepper; rub in a small piece of butter, a dessert spoonful of flour; stir constantly till boiling hot; add some parsley chopped fine, and a pint of milk.
Fresh fish are easily told by the redness of their gills. If the gills are white or the flesh is not hard to the touch, reject them. They are not fresh. Fish should be sent to table as soon as cooked. Broiled fish should be sprinkled with salt before broiling. When boiled, should have salt in the water.
Shad should be fat. Clean it well, take out the inside and the gills. Score and salt the fish, make a dressing of bread, butter, pepper, salt, parsley, thyme and sweet marjoram; fill the fish with this; tie it up and put it in a pan with some water: dredge the fish with flour, let it cook slowly, baste it often; when nearly done, add some mushroom catsup to the gravy; season to your taste with pepper and salt. Take it up very carefully: bake half an hour. 18
Cut it down the back, sprinkle it with pepper and salt, grease your gridiron well, and put it down on the flesh side first. Let it be well done. Send hot to table.
Clean and wash it well; put it down to boil in the fish kettle. It will cook in half an hour; take it up carefully, garnish the dish with hard-boiled egg, and serve with egg sauce. All boiled fish should have salt in the water, or the fish will be insipid.
Sprinkle it with salt, tie it up in a cloth, put it in the kettle in boiling water; let it boil slowly till done, which will depend upon the size, allowing eight minutes to a pound.
Cut it into small pieces, season it with pepper and salt, dip it in the yolk of egg, then into rolled cracker: fry in hot lard, and serve it up.
Turbot is one of the most delicious fish we have, when properly prepared and served. It must be washed with the greatest care, and cut down the middle of the back, on the dark side of the fish. Have your kettle perfectly clean; put your fish into 19 boiling water, enough to cover it, with two table spoonsful of salt; let it boil slowly, skim it frequently. It will cook sufficiently in twenty minutes: drain and dish it; serve up hot with butter and egg sauce, or any other preferred.
Trout should be fried as perch.
Sturgeon may be boiled as rock fish, and served up with the same sauces. It is very good with spiced vinegar poured over when cold.
First scale and clean them well, cut off the heads, put salt, pepper and cloves in the vinegar; boil it, and when cold, pour over the fish in a stone jar; set the jar on a warm stove for half a day; then put them in a cold place.
Sheep’s head is one of the most delicate fish, and should be boiled as rock fish; to be eaten with egg sauce, walnut catsup, or harvey sauce.
Sea bass are good either fried or boiled.
Haddock must be well cleaned and emptied of its contents; take out the gills and wash them inside 20 and out with particular care; lay them in warm water a little salted; drop in a small piece of saltpetre; skim the water frequently, and let them simmer from ten to fifteen minutes: serve hot with egg and other sauces to your taste.
Put your fish in water over night to soak; add a little vinegar to the water; wash it well: it should not boil, but simmer slowly for half an hour, or till tender: to be eaten with egg sauce and mashed potatoes: when cold, mix with mashed potatoes: dip them in egg, and fry them in hot lard.
Put it to soak over night; in the morning clean the scales and put it down to boil for ten minutes; take it up, and put it in a stone crock; boil some vinegar with a little mace, whole pepper and allspice; pour over the fish, and when perfectly cold, cover and set it away: this will keep for a length of time, and is a nice relish for tea.
Tie it up in a cloth and put it in the kettle with boiling water; let it boil slowly, allowing ten minutes to each pound; sprinkle it with salt before putting it in the cloth; to be eaten with egg sauce and walnut catsup, or with fish sauce. 21
Sprinkle it with salt after cleaning: tie it in a cloth, and boil as other fish. It will boil sufficiently well in twenty-five minutes; serve with egg sauce.
Clean and wash it well, tie it up in a cloth, boil it in water and salt; let it boil gently according to the size: one weighing six pounds will cook in half an hour. Garnish the dish with hard-boiled egg; to be eaten with egg sauce.
To fry rock fish, dip them in Indian meal and fry in hot lard; score them and season with pepper and salt before you fry them.
Clean them well, and sprinkle with pepper and salt, and fry in lard; scoring them and dipping them in Indian meal before frying.
These little fish must be drawn at the gills, as they must not be opened: they are a very delicate fish: season them with salt; beat up the yolk of egg very light, dip them in the egg; then in grated cracker; fry in hot lard; serve hot. 22
After washing them, put them alive in a pot of boiling water. Lobsters will boil in forty minutes, or longer, if they are very large. Crabs thirty minutes. Dress them with the yolk of hard-boiled eggs, oil, pepper, salt, and mustard.
Take equal quantities of the liquor and new milk; stew it, and when it comes to a boil, stir in the clams; season with pepper, salt and parsley.
Strain them; then make a batter of the yolks of two eggs, two table-spoonsful of flour, and a little milk; put them in and fry in hot lard.
Put them into a pot of boiling water for ten minutes; then take out the meat and put it down with the juice that runs out, and very little water, pepper, salt, and butter; a few minutes will cook them.
Proceed as for crabs. Cut them into small pieces; then stew for a few minutes; season with cayenne pepper, salt and butter.
Take them from the shell and broil on an oyster iron; season with a little pepper, salt, and butter; serve them hot. 23
Wash off the shells and place them on a large oyster gridiron; put it over the coals; turn them once: ten minutes will cook them.
Put the oysters on in the juice, and boil them plump; then take the oysters out; add half as much vinegar as juice, a little mace, and some grains of pepper, to your taste; boil this slowly; pour over the oysters, and they are done.
Take a hundred oysters; put them in a stew pan, with boiling water enough to cover them; stir them till they are plump; then take them out with a strainer; add half as much juice as there is water in the pot, with some mace, whole grains of pepper, and salt, half pint of cream, and piece of butter; two crackers rolled very fine, which sprinkle in; then put in the oysters, and keep stirring for a few minutes, when they will be done.
Make a puff paste; put some around the sides of a deep dish. Have a hundred good oysters; take each oyster out of the liquor with a wooden spoon or fork; mash as fine as possible the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. Put in a layer of oysters, over which strew a little of the egg with some mace and 24 whole grains of pepper; then another layer of oysters with the egg, and spice as above, and so fill up the dish till the oysters are all in; strew a little butter on the top: then place precisely in the centre of the pie a small egg cup, so as to prevent the top paste touching the liquor; strain the liquor, and put in according to your judgment; cut a cross in the centre of the paste, and open it to let the steam escape; let it bake slowly. If you find the paste getting too brown, put a sheet of white paper over the top. If the oysters are fresh, add some salt.
Make a batter in the usual way; have your lard boiling hot; drop in a spoonful of batter with an oyster in it, and let them brown; turn them once, so that each side may brown.
Put well buttered toasted bread around the sides of a deep dish; put in the oysters; season with salt, pepper, mace, and butter; strain into it a little of the liquor; strew bread crumbs over it, and bake in a quick oven.
Wash them very well; then put them into a pot of boiling water; let them stay till you can easily take off the toe nails and the skin; take off the bottom shell; be careful in taking out the sand bag 25 and the gall; (the gall is in the liver) cut the terrapins up; save all the juice which runs out in cutting; take out the eggs; put the terrapins down to stew; season with cayenne pepper, salt; roll a piece of butter in flour and mix in; add some wine, and drop in the eggs just before taking them up. The quantity of wine and butter depends very much upon the taste of the cook; but a quarter of a pound to two terrapins will be sufficient; and half a pint of wine to four or five terrapins.
Have some lard boiling hot; cut your tripe in pieces three inches square; dip them in butter and fry.
A rennet is the stomach of the calf. As soon as the calf is killed, take it; wash it very quickly, and cover it with salt; let it lie three or four days; then stretch it on sticks; hang it up to dry: when dry, put it in a bag, and set it in a dry place to keep.
Keep thick milk near the fire till the whey has risen; pour it in a muslin bag, and hang it in the shade for twelve hours; then take it out and dress it with pepper, salt, and cream. 26
Have half a pint of water boiling hot; roll a lump of butter the size of an egg into three teaspoonsful of flour; when you have the butter perfectly smooth remove the water from the fire, and stir your butter in till every particle is dissolved. If this is carefully done, the sauce will be perfectly smooth; then boil ten minutes.
Boil two or three eggs hard, cut them up fine, and put them in the drawn butter as above.
Caper and nasturtian sauce is made in the same way, always remembering to cut the nasturtians in half: pickled cucumbers may be used in the same manner, cut up small.
Oyster sauce is made in the same manner, only putting the flour and butter into the oyster juice instead of water; either cut the oysters in half or send to table whole; season with mace and whole pepper. 27
Take small white onions; put them down to stew with a little water and salt; when nearly done, which will be in twenty minutes, drain off the water; then add milk or cream; let them simmer gently; rub a little flour and butter on a plate, and stir in.
Wash well a bunch of mint; chop it up fine; put it in your sauce dish with a little vinegar and sugar; to be eaten with lamb.
The celery must be washed, cut up and boiled till it is tender; have some milk boiling hot, roll very smoothly a little butter and flour, stir till the butter is all melted, then put in the celery; send hot to table.
Put on to boil a pint of water with a little mace, black peppers whole, and some mustard seed; let it boil until the water is sharp; then strain off the water and put it on to boil with salt and some butter rubbed in flour; cut up some lobster, and dress it with this sauce.
Pick and wash some mushrooms; cut them up in a stew pan with pepper, salt and a little water and mace; let them stew twenty or thirty minutes; rub in very little flour and butter. 28
Beat up a piece of butter, then add the yolks of three eggs, and some sugar, wine and brandy; put this on the fire, stirring it all the time; as soon as it is boiling hot, take it off: this sauce is for puddings.
The quantity of the ingredients depends on the quantity of the article you make. Have equal quantities of wine and water, and a little brandy boiling hot, into which put some butter and sugar well beaten; season with nutmeg, and as soon as boiling hot take from the fire, and send to table.
Sweeten to your taste some good sweet cream; season with nutmeg or rose water; this is good sauce for apple dumplings.
Take twenty-five peppers cut very fine, one root of horse-radish grated, two tablespoonsful of salt and a tablespoonful of mustard seed, a tablespoonful of cloves, the same of allspice, a little mace; boil the spices in the vinegar, and pour over the peppers, mixing all well together; put in bottles or jars, and cork it.
Bruise a pint of celery seed; after putting it into your bottles, fill them with strong cider vinegar; 29 set it away for a month, not forgetting to shake it every day: it will then be fit for use.
Boil the liver and gizzard with a little salt; when done, chop them up fine; mix with the water they were boiled in, some of the drippings in the bottom of the oven, a very little brown flour, then add the giblets: season to your taste.
Take some of the drippings in the bottom of your oven, to which add some boiling water; put it on to boil, season with pepper, salt, and a little brown sugar and flour; send hot to table.
Take equal quantities of claret and currant jelly, and some brown sugar; put it down and let it stew till thick; send hot to table; this sauce is very good for venison or roast leg of mutton.
Beat loaf sugar and butter to a cream as light as possible, and stir slowly into it one wine glass of brandy. An excellent cold sauce for apple dumplings or fritters.
Pare a quarter of a peck of ripe green pippins; cut them in quarters and core them; then put them 30 in a pipkin or earthen pitcher, with a little water to stew slowly; shake the pipkin or pitcher frequently; do not put a spoon in; it might break them when nearly done: put in a little loaf sugar; shake them several times; when done, pour them into a dish without breaking: serve up cold or hot.
Wash and pick four quarts of cranberries; put them in a bell-metal kettle with one quart of water to stew slowly: when half done, add two pounds of brown sugar: every berry must be broken with a spoon before it comes off the fire: stir frequently. Another way would be to add more sugar and strain it through a fine cullender, and set it away in forms to cool: this we would call cranberry jelly.
Dried fruit should be well washed in three or four different waters, and put to soak over night in the water in which you intend stewing them; to four quarts of fruit, put water enough to cover them, so that none need be added while cooking: season and sweeten to your taste. Some persons like dried orange peel in peaches.
Scrape till clean the fat, the lean, and the bones of the beef. If any soil remain on the bones, saw it off with a beef saw. It can be more thoroughly cleaned in this way than in any other. It spoils 31 beef to wash it. Spit it and put it in a tin kitchen before the fire, with a half pint of water in the bottom of the kitchen; do not set it close to the fire at first, but bring it gradually nearer; turn, and baste it every few minutes. It should be cooked slowly. When nearly done, season with black and cayenne pepper and salt. The habit of dredging beef with flour is a very bad one. Flour is no improvement to beef. Ten pounds of beef will roast, before a good fire, in two hours. For the gravy, pour off the grease, add a little water, pepper and salt; send to table in a gravy boat. This receipt will answer for any part of the beef that is fit to roast. Garnish with horse-radish, grated. All roasts should be well skewered to the spit.
The sirloin is the best. Cut the steak half an inch thick; put it on a gridiron over clear coals; turn it very often; when half done, put it on a dish and squeeze as much of the juice out as possible; put it back; season with pepper and salt. When done, place it in the dish with the juice; add a spoonful of water, and if you prefer, a small piece of butter: send to the table immediately.
Cut all the meat from cold roast beef; put the bones down with some water, pepper, salt, onions, carrots and potatoes, all cut up: a little brown stock 32 will improve it: let it stew till all of the vegetables are done; then take out the bones, cut your meat in small pieces, rub a piece of butter in flour and stir in: put the meat in till it is hot through; then dish it.
Chop fine some parsley, thyme and onions; add some grated bread, nutmeg, cloves, pepper and salt, with the yolks of three eggs beaten; take out the bone and fill the space with these ingredients well mixed; make holes in the lean part and stuff it; bind it firmly with tape; put it into an iron pot, sufficiently large to hold it, cover it with water and let it stew slowly for three hours. Make a gravy of the liquor it was stewed in with a half pint of red wine and mushroom catsup; rub a little butter in flour, and let it simmer five minutes; then take it up.
Take a brisket, say ten pounds; make a dressing of ham, parsley, oysters, seasoned with pounded cloves, pepper, salt and nutmeg, and the yolk of two eggs well beaten; make holes in the beef and stuff it; put it in a pan with a little water and half a pint of wine; bake it three hours; send hot to table. Garnish with sliced lemons.
Stew some tender pieces of beef, cut it up in small pieces, season with pepper and salt; have some 33 good paste in a deep dish, into which put the pieces of beef with some gravy; put on a cover and bake.
Wash it well, and soak it thirty or forty minutes; put it down to boil in plenty of cold water: let it boil slowly, and skim often.
Cut the heart open; let it soak in cold water for a few moments, then take out the ventricles; put it down to boil; when nearly done, take it up: make a dressing of small pieces of ham, pepper, salt, parsley, and some beef chopped fine; make incisions with a knife; stuff and bake it; pour a pint of the water in which it was boiled in the pan for gravy, and thicken it with browned flour and butter.
The fore quarter, the rack, and breast, are best boiled. The fillet or leg is very good stuffed and baked. The loin should be roasted. The knuckle is proper for soup, also the neck and shoulder.
Wash it well, and put it in a tin kitchen some distance from the fire; when it is hot through, place it nearer to the fire; baste it well; when nearly done, dredge it with flour; add pepper and salt; the time it takes to cook will depend on the size of the 34 loin; put half a pint of water in the tin kitchen when you set it to the fire; garnish the dish with sliced lemons.
Cut the cutlets half an inch thick; have some cracker rolled with pepper, salt, and nutmeg; dip your cutlets in the yolk of egg well beaten; then in grated cracker; fry in hot lard slowly till done, then take them up: make the gravy by pouring a pint of cream with some chopped parsley in the pan in which it has been cooked; season with grated nutmeg: garnish your dish with curled parsley.
Take the leg or fillet of veal; wash it well; cut off the shank and trim it, so that it will sit nicely in the pan; make a stuffing of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, parsley and nutmeg, some butter and the yolks of eggs; stuff the fillet and bake it: put a little water in the pan, and some mushroom catsup in the gravy.
Cut your veal in small pieces; slice three onions; fry them in butter; then put the veal down with a little water, pepper, salt, nutmeg and parsley; rub some butter in flour; put in the gravy with lemon juice or catsup.
Clean the head well; let it soak for a few minutes in cold water; take out the lower jaw, the 35 nose and the eyes: then put it down to boil; skim it well, and when the bones will fall from the meat, cut the meat in small pieces; take out carefully all the small bones; have some onions chopped fine, nutmeg, mace, cloves, pepper, salt, bread crumbs, butter and egg, all well mixed together; put these nicely arranged in a pan with some of the gravy; put egg and butter on the top; bake it twenty minutes in an oven; when done, take it up; season the gravy with red wine and mushroom catsup.
Have your feet nicely cleaned and cut in two; boil them till tender; take out the large bones; put them down to stew with some of the liquor they were boiled in, pepper, salt and parsley chopped fine; rub a dessert spoonful of butter in two of flour, and stir in. Garnish your dish with curled parsley.
Sweet-breads must always be parboiled. Have a dressing of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, parsley and butter; stuff the sweet breads and roast; or fry them like oysters, cutting them into small pieces.
Stew the sweet-breads till tender; have a dish lined with a good paste; cut the sweet-bread up in small pieces; put some in the paste with some oysters, 36 pepper, salt, butter and the yolks of eggs boiled hard and mashed fine; then another layer of sweet bread and oysters till your dish is full; put on a top paste and bake; cut a cross in the middle, and turn it back to let the steam escape: send hot to table. Have a small egg-cup in the centre of the pie, to keep the upper crust from touching the liquor.
Wash it well, and put it down in the tin kitchen, with a little water and salt in the bottom of the kitchen; baste and turn it well; a loin will cook in an hour and a half: send hot to table, to be eaten with currant jelly.
Wash it well; take off the flank; make incisions an inch apart in it with a sharp knife; stuff it with some onions boiled for five minutes, and some sage leaves, both chopped fine, with black and cayenne pepper and salt, and bread crumbs; moisten the crumbs with a little melted butter; turn and baste it frequently.
Cut the lamb in pieces the size of a chop; put them down to stew with a little water, pepper, salt and mace; add some young peas; let this cook slowly till done: add some butter before you take it from the fire. 37
Have your slices a quarter of an inch thick; dip them in boiling lard, then into grated bread seasoned with pepper and salt, and broil on a gridiron, first rubbing off the bars with lard, that none may drip or cause a smell. These are also very good dressed like veal cutlets.
Take off some of the fat and broil quickly, turning them often; when done, season with pepper and salt, but no butter.
Crack the joints; boil slowly; put a little salt in the water; when done, dish and pour drawn butter, with parsley chopped fine over it.
Rub the leg well with salt; let it remain two or three days; then chip it fine, and fry in butter like chipped beef.
Rub a leg of mutton well with allspice and black pepper pounded fine; let it remain four or five days, when it will be fit to cook: wash off the spices before you put it down to roast; put into the gravy some wine and currant jelly. 38
Sprinkle your chops with pepper, salt and mustard; have ready some boiling lard; put your chops in and fry a light brown; make a gravy and season it with wine and currant jelly; pour the gravy over the chops, and send hot to the table.
Cut some mutton about two inches square; stew it with some mushrooms; add a little water, pepper, salt, and a small piece of butter rolled in flour; send hot to the table.
Cut up in small pieces two carrots, one turnip, four potatoes, and three tomatoes; put them down to stew with a little water, pepper and salt: when they are nearly done cut up some mutton, and add to the stew, with some fried onions; let it simmer for a few minutes: serve up hot.
Scrape and wash well a leg of mutton; put it on the fire in cold water and a little salt; when done, (which will be in an hour and a half or two hours according to the size,) serve with drawn butter and capers, or pickled cucumbers cut up in small pieces. 39
Take some pieces of tender mutton; put it down to stew with two whole onions, some cloves, pepper and salt; when half done, add some red wine, currant jelly and mushroom catsup.
Kidneys must be well washed; boil for ten minutes; take them from the fire; cut them up; season with pepper, salt, and dredge well with flour; have some boiling lard; put them in, stirring them often; when done, make a gravy; add some wine, and pour over the kidneys.
Take the thin piece which comes on the leg or loin of veal; wrap up in it cloves and mace, pepper and salt; roll it up and tie it tight in a cloth; boil it well; then put it under a press; when cold, cut it in thin slices for tea.
Put in a stew pan a quart of water and a piece of butter; stir in flour to make a batter; beat it well all the time it is on the fire; have some grated cheese with five eggs, beat all well; drop with a spoon on buttered tins and bake.
Liver should not be washed: cut in thin slices, and fried in hot lard. 40
Let your pig be cleaned very well; boil the liver; chop it up with onion, sage, bread crumbs, pepper, salt and parsley; moisten with a little butter; stuff the pig well with it, sew it up, spit it and put it in a tin kitchen before the fire to roast. Put some salt and water in the tin kitchen, with which baste the pig well; as soon as the skin gets hard, baste it well with lard; turn it, but do not baste it with the water again. A pig will take from two to three hours to cook; pour off the fat from the gravy; season with pepper and salt; add a little water, if necessary, and browned flour.
Let the piece you intend cooking lie two hours in salt and water; then cut the skin in squares, set it before the fire with salt water and finely powdered sage in the bottom of the kitchen, baste, and turn it often.
Have your feet well cleaned; let them lie over night in salt and water; then put them on to boil: when they are tender, take out the large bones; dredge them in flour seasoned with pepper and salt, and fry in hot lard. Another way to cook pig’s feet is to boil them, and dress like terrapins.
Clean the head well, cut off the ears and nose, take out the eyes; put it down to boil with the liver; 41 when done, take it up, put the head in a dripping pan with some of the liquor; the liver chopped up fine, seasoned with onions, pepper, salt and parsley; spread some yolk of egg over the head, upon which sprinkle bread crumbs: bake half an hour; add some catsup to the gravy. Send hot to the table.
Some of the pieces that will not do for any other purpose will make scrapple. Boil them in plenty of water, season with pepper and salt, take out all the bones, and strain the liquor; put the liquor back in the pot and thicken with Indian meal; stir it till done; turn it into bowls to cool; cut in slices and fry. Send hot to the table.
Rub the pieces well with saltpetre, salt, and brown sugar; let it lie two days in a tub; make a pickle and pour over it: it will be sufficiently cured in eight days. When wanted for summer use, let it remain in brine between three or four weeks; then hang it up to dry; smoke very little.
Clean well the feet, and let them lie in salt and water over night, then boil till tender; take out the large bones, cut them down the middle; dip them in flour and fry in hot lard, or, pick out all the bones; season with pepper and salt, and if liked, some vinegar; heat them for a few moments when required. 42
Rub each tongue well with brown sugar and saltpetre; have ready an earthen crock or wooden vessel; put into it a layer of salt, then a tongue, then a layer of salt, and so on till they are all in; after they have been in three days, remove them and put the tongues which were in the bottom of the vessel on top: they will make their own pickle.
If a ham is old and hard, it should soak over night; if not, wash it well, and put it down in plenty of cold water: the water should be well skimmed while boiling.
Make incisions in the ham with a knife; have ready some mint chopped fine, with which fill them; then boil for five or six hours; trim, but do not skin it.
First, boil till done; then skin and trim it; spread the yolk of egg over, then sprinkle with finely rolled cracker, and put in the oven for a few minutes; or, you may boil, skin it, and ornament with black pepper: a ham will keep much better, and will retain the juice, if the skin is not taken off.
Cut up your hogs, take out the chine from the neck to the tail, cut the hams, shoulders, and middlings; 43 have some finely powdered saltpetre; rub a tablespoonful in each ham for some minutes, then rub it well with salt and brown sugar; let them lie on a board some distance apart for three days, to draw off the blood; have a molasses barrel; sprinkle the bottom with salt and put in your hams with the skins down; sprinkle with salt, and so on till you have the barrel full; make a strong pickle that will bear an egg; pour over them, cover, and let them remain in pickle for five weeks, then hang them up with the hock down to preserve the juice. The shoulders will not require to be in pickle so long; it is not necessary to put saltpetre on the middlings; the jowls will be ready to hang up in two weeks, shoulders and middlings in four: they should be smoked but three times a week till done; if smoked too much, they will be hard. Before the weather gets warm, take them down and rub well with hickory ashes.
After the chines have been in pickle a week or ten days, boil them and let them freeze. They are considered a great delicacy.
Take the tender pieces of pork, lean and fat, one third fat and two thirds lean, season with salt and pepper, and those that are for immediate use are improved by putting in some sage finely pulverized, but if kept too long, it will have a musty taste. If 44 sausage meat is put in to skins, laid for ten days in pickle, then hung up and smoked a little, they will keep all summer. Those that are not put into skins, should be put into stone crocks, and have lard run over the top to exclude the air.
Wash the heads well, take off the ears and nose, and remove the eyes; boil them till tender, and all the bones come out; then take it up, carefully taking out all the bones; cut up the meat very fine: then season with pepper and salt; put this back again into the pot with the liquor; let it simmer slowly for half an hour, pour into bowls, and set it away to cool; cut in slices for the table.
Wash the goose well; make a stuffing of two thirds onions and one third sage leaves, pepper, salt and butter; fill the goose, and put it down to roast in the tin kitchen with some salt and water; baste it frequently. A large goose will take an hour and a half to cook: make a gravy with the giblets hashed; season with pepper and salt. Some persons prefer the dressing made of potatoes. Ducks are done in the same way, but will cook in half an hour: to be eaten with cranberry sauce.
Wash and clean the turkey well; make a dressing of bread, butter, pepper and salt; fill your turkey; 45 have some boiling water in the bottom of the tin kitchen: when half done, sprinkle with pepper and salt, baste and turn it often, make a gravy with the giblets hashed; season with pepper and salt; stir a little brown flour in the gravy; send it to table in a gravy boat. A large turkey will take three hours to roast.
Wash your turkey well, and let it lie a few minutes in salt and water; put it on in cold water with a little rice; skim it and let it boil slowly, but constantly, till done; make a filling of bread, butter, pepper, salt, and some whole oysters, and a few slices of lemon. It is better to put the turkey in a cloth. A large turkey will boil in two hours; to be eaten with oyster or celery sauce.
Make a dressing, as for turkey; set them some distance from the fire at first, but move them gradually closer: they will roast in an hour: baste them well; make a gravy of the giblets, some of the drippings in the bottom of the kitchen, and some of the water the giblets were boiled in: season with pepper and salt.
Wash them well and cut them up; wipe them dry. Have ready some rolled crackers seasoned with pepper, salt and parsley; first dip the pieces in the yolk 46 of an egg, then in the cracker; have ready some boiling lard; put in and fry a light-brown; make a gravy with cream, parsley, nutmeg, pepper and salt.
Put the chickens down with a little water, pepper, salt and a little mace: when half done, add some cream, butter, rolled in flour, and parsley cut up. Dish the chickens and pour the gravy over them.
Wash the chickens well, cut them down the back, and broil on a gridiron over hot coals: when nearly done, season with pepper and salt, and when done, baste them with butter.
Prepare, as for boiling; put them in a bake pan with water, pepper and salt; baste them well: when nearly done, baste them with butter and dredge with flour; make a gravy of the giblets, and add to the drippings.
Wash the chickens; cut them up and stew them with a little water, salt and mace; when done, make a paste; put it round the sides of the dish; then put in the chickens; season to your taste, with pepper, salt and hard-boiled egg, some butter rolled in flour; pour in some of the liquor, and put on the top paste; 47 cut a hole in the centre, and turn back the paste to let the steam escape; place a small cup in the middle of the pie.
Make a filling of bread, butter, pepper and salt; put your chickens in a cloth, and boil them till done, which will be in an hour; make egg sauce, which pour over the chickens; garnish the dish with parsley; send some celery sauce in the gravy boat to the table.
Put the ducks down to stew with a little stock and some onions, pepper and salt; let them simmer gently till they are done, adding a little cream and butter; make a dressing of sage and onions, with which fill the ducks: set them in the oven to brown.
Cut up the chickens, wash them clean, put them in a stew pan with a little water and salt; keep them covered closely till they are done; brown some onions in butter, then put in the chickens with a little pepper and curry powder; let the chickens brown in the butter; when brown, put in the liquor, and let all stew for five minutes.
Make a batter; cut up the chickens; stew them with a little pepper, salt and parsley: when nearly done, take it up; put it in a buttered dish; pour the batter round, and bake. 48
Skin the rabbit; cut it up and wash it; dip it in flour seasoned with pepper and salt; cut up some onions, and fry.
Skin it; cut it up, as for frying; put it down with a little water, pepper, salt and a little butter rolled in flour.
When the ducks are picked, wash them as little as possible: roast twenty minutes. Some persons make a filling of bread, butter, pepper and salt; but the proper way is to cook them without filling; baste them very often and turn rapidly; put a little water in the bottom of the oven.
Pick them very carefully, but do not draw them; they will cook sufficiently in ten or fifteen minutes; have some toast on a dish, upon which put the birds.
Roast them before a brisk fire, turning and basting all the time with a little butter; have some water in the bottom of the roaster: after they have cooked five minutes, add some salt. 49
Pick them very carefully: draw them, and roast before a quick fire, fifteen or twenty minutes.
Make a filling of bread crumbs, pepper, salt and parsley; baste them well: they will cook in twenty minutes.
Clean well two sets of calves’ feet; put them into a pot with three or four pounds of tripe and six quarts of water, and some cayenne pepper; cover them and let them boil till perfectly tender; strain the liquid, and cut the tripe in small pieces; put it in the liquid with some salt, three sliced onions, two potatoes, sweet marjoram, parsley and thyme cut up fine, and some small round dumplings made of butter and flour; send hot to the table.
Beat three or four eggs, (the yolks only) make them into a stiff paste with flour; roll out very thin and let it dry; it should be made several hours before they are wanted for the soup; when quite dry roll up, and cut in very thin strips; shake them apart, and put them in the soup.
Chop up fine any kind of cold meat, fowl, ham, and pork; mix all well together; add salt and pepper, and mustard to the taste, some grated bread, 50 butter and catsup; make them into cakes; dip them in the yolk of egg, and fry in hot lard.
Put into a soup kettle one pound of beef, half a pound of mutton, half a chicken, salt, pepper and a very little water; let it stew slowly for two hours; then put in four apples, two pears pared and cut up, three tomatoes, a bunch of mint chopped, two onions, lima beans and any kind of vegetables you may prefer; let them all stew slowly two or three hours longer; send hot to the table.
Wash a little macaroni, and boil in water till it is tender, which will be in half an hour; drain it; butter your dish and put a layer of macaroni in, upon which put salt, cheese, butter and mustard, a little of each; then macaroni, and so on till the dish is full. Parmesan cheese is the best, but any other kind will answer.
Take cold chicken or meat of any kind and stew it; when done cut it up. Have potatoes mashed, which put around the sides and bottom of the dish about half an inch thick; then put in your stew with the liquor; season with pepper and salt; spread some macaroni which has been boiled on the top of the dish, with grated cheese, butter, pepper and salt; bake, and bring to table in the dish in which it is baked. 51
One pair of chickens, eight bunches of celery, six eggs, one dessert spoonful of mustard, nearly a bottle of oil, pepper and salt. Boil the chickens; take off the skins: cut them up in small pieces; sprinkle them with pepper, salt and vinegar, and let them lie three hours; moisten the mustard with vinegar; then pour in the oil, a few drops at a time, and keep constantly stirring it; have the eggs boiled hard; mash them up with a little vinegar, and then mix with the oil; cut up your celery very fine and throw it into cold water; when the ingredients are all ready, mix the chicken and celery; (after draining it) then pour the dressing over it. Curl some pieces of celery by cutting it up about an inch and throwing it into cold water, with which garnish the dish.
Break the macaroni into pieces two inches long; boil it in hot water, with a little butter, pepper and salt; when done, drain it on a napkin; then put a layer of macaroni on the bottom of a dish; pour over it some hot tomato sauce; then some grated cheese, and so on, until the dish is full; the cheese being on the top; put it in the oven a few minutes, and serve it hot.
Boil half a pound of macaroni in hot water, and when done cut it into pieces; put it into a pan with 52 a quarter of a pound of butter, two ounces of grated cheese, and half a gill of cream; add a little pepper, salt and mustard; shake it over the fire until well mixed and quite hot; dish it, and garnish with pieces of puff paste cut in diamonds.
Beat six eggs very light; add to them two tablespoonsful of cream, butter the size of a walnut, a spoonful of chopped parsley, some pepper and salt, two ounces of grated cheese; beat all well together, and pour into a pan in which butter is melting; let it cook until a light brown; then fold up and dish for the table. Shake the pan while the omelet is doing.
Beat six eggs separately, very light; add to the yolks a little mustard, cayenne pepper and salt; mix this with the whites; pour it into a pan in which butter is melting, and cook till a light brown. Before folding, have a few nicely scolloped oysters and lay between; shake the pan about till the omelet is done.
Toast four slices of bread, a light brown; butter them well, and sprinkle on a little salt. Poach four eggs in muffin rings to retain their shape; place one on each slice of toast, and send to the table. 53
Take six sweet-breads, and after being well washed stew them until done; when cold cut them into small pieces; season with pepper, salt, a grated nutmeg, and a little mushroom catsup; stir them over the fire a few minutes; then spread them on a dish to cool; the croquettes must then be shaped; rolled in egg and bread crumbs, and fried in lard.
Boiling eggs depends upon the person for whom you cook. Two minutes and a half will boil to suit most persons: if you want them very soft, two minutes will answer. If hard, they will take ten minutes.
Have the lard hot, but not boiling; put in the eggs one at a time; when done, send hot to table.
Have ready a pan of boiling water with muffin rings, into which put the eggs, one in each ring; let them remain on the fire till the whites are firm.
Beat the eggs with pepper, salt, parsley and chives; have some butter in a saucepan; as soon as it has melted put in the eggs; stir till they are done. 54
Beat the eggs separately till very light; then mix them: add sugar and lemon peel to your taste; have some melted butter in a pan; pour in the eggs; and when baked, sift some powdered sugar over it and send it hot to the table.
Separate five eggs; beat them very light; season the yolks with pepper, salt and parsley; have some butter hot in a pan; put in the omelet; stir the whites in just before you put it in the pan; you can put in ham, oysters, onions, chives, or any thing you prefer. Keep the pan moving till the omelet is done; a little cream is an improvement.
The lettuce should be gathered early in the morning; pick and wash it well; let it lie in water till required: then drain the water from it. Have eggs boiled hard, oil, mustard, pepper and salt, according to taste. Ornament with slices of hard-boiled eggs.
Get those that are hard and white; cut off the stalk; take off the outside leaves; put it down to 55 boil in hot water, with a little salt: a large one will take half an hour. Do not let it boil too much: eat with drawn butter.
Scrape and wash them: cover them with water, and let them boil till tender, which will be from one to two hours: send to table with butter, pepper and salt, or fry them brown.
Let them be scraped and washed; boil them; try them with a fork; if they are tender, they are done; dress with drawn butter.
Pare, wash and cut up; put them on to boil; when done, take them up; mash them in a tin pan: season with pepper, salt, and butter; send hot to table.
Wash and scrape them well; put them down to boil; when soft, mash and season with pepper and salt: make a batter of milk, flour and egg. Mix all well together; drop them the size of oysters with a tablespoon, and fry them a light brown.
Have the water boiling. Put in the potatoes; let them boil till nearly done, then pour off the water 56 and throw in some salt; uncover the saucepan and set them on the back part of the stove. If the potatoes are boiled fast, the skin will crack before they are done. For mashed potatoes, pare them before you boil them; when done, mash them with a small piece of butter, a cup of cream, and a little salt. Another way to boil old potatoes is to pare them around the middle, before you boil them, and throw in a little salt. When potatoes are young, scrape and boil them; when done, pour off the water and dress them with a little cream, butter, pepper and salt.
Pare large potatoes; cut them lengthwise: cut them into four pieces, of about a quarter of an inch thick. Have some butter boiling hot into which put the potatoes; keep turning them till they are done. Sprinkle a little salt on them before sending them to table.
Slice the potatoes and put them down to boil, with just enough water to cover them; when nearly done, pour off the water, and add milk and a lump of butter rolled in flour, parsley and salt.
You can make mashed potatoes into any shape you wish them. Touch them over with the yolk of egg, and put them in an oven to brown. 57
Large potatoes will roast in an hour. Do not put them too near the fire, or they will burn before they are cooked. Sweet potatoes, if they are large, will take an hour and a half to roast.
Parboil them, then peel; cut them in slices, and fry in butter: send them hot to table.
Have them as nearly of a size as possible. Put them in boiling water; as soon as they are done, (which will depend upon the size,) pour off the water; then lay them on the back part of the stove, where they will dry, but not burn. Some persons parboil them, cut them in two, and broil them over a gridiron.
Take great care in picking it; wash it well, and put it in a steamer with a little salt. It will cook in twenty minutes. Have some toast on a dish; put your spinach on the toast, and some poached eggs on the top.
Cabbage sprouts are better boiled with a piece of pork or bacon. Eat with hard-boiled eggs, and if cooked without the meat, have drawn butter or vinegar. 58
Lima beans will require about three quarters of an hour to boil. Put them on in cold water; when done, drain them: season with pepper, salt and butter.
String and cut them down the middle; put them down in as little water as you can cook them in, without burning them: do not strain off the water, but let them cook till nearly all the water has evaporated: season with butter, pepper and salt, and send to table.
Shell and wash the peas. Cook them just as the beans. This is the best way to cook peas and beans; or you can boil them in the common way, and drain off the water: season with butter, pepper and salt.
Scrape and wash the asparagus; tie it up in bunches; and put it on to boil in water in which there is some salt; it requires about fifteen minutes to boil it, and it must not remain in the water after it is done. Have some bread nicely toasted, on which place it, and pour over drawn butter. A better way is to cook it in just as little water as possible; do not pour off the water, but let it evaporate as much as possible; then season with butter, pepper and salt, and send to table with the liquor around it. This is the German manner of cooking beans, peas, and asparagus. 59
Have young corn cut from the cob. Save the juice; put it down to stew with pepper, salt, and a little cream; roll a lump of butter in flour, and stir in. If the corn is young, it will cook in twenty minutes. Corn will boil in half an hour; put it in boiling water, and take it up as soon as done.
Get the corn when young. Boil it ten minutes; a longer time would injure it; cut it from the cob; spread it on dishes, and put it in the oven after the bread comes out; be careful the oven is not too hot; if it is, the corn will be spoiled. If not dry enough, put it in the sun for a few days, stirring it frequently. When perfectly dry, tie it up in bags and keep it in a dry place. When you cook it, wash it well: put it down with a little water, butter, pepper and salt. It will require much longer to cook than it does in summer.
Wash it well, and soak it over night in the water you intend to boil it in; put it on early in the morning with a few beans and a piece of salt pork. Let it boil slowly for three hours or more, if not soft.
After your hominy is boiled and cold, mash and season with pepper and salt; have some lard hot in 60 a pan, into which put your hominy. Cover it for five minutes, then stir it well, and cover again, and let it fry a light brown. Fried hominy is very good for breakfast.
Pare and let them lie ten or fifteen minutes in salt and water, to take away the bitter taste; wipe them perfectly dry; have ready cracker rolled fine, and seasoned with pepper and salt; dip each piece in the yolk of an egg beaten, then in the rolled cracker, and fry in hot lard.
Cut in half with the skin on, then soak in vinegar to extract the bitter taste, say half an hour, then boil till quite tender; scrape out the pulp and fill them with bread crumbs, butter, cayenne pepper and salt; lay them open in your bake pan with a little water in the bottom, put them in the oven and baste them often so that they will not be dry; rub a little flour and butter together for the gravy.
Prepare as above, and mix with pepper, salt, butter, and bread crumbs; fry in sweet oil.
Take off the skins by pouring boiling water over them; then stew them with butter, pepper and salt; put in a little soda to correct the acidity; pour in 61 some cream, and stew for a few minutes longer. Some persons prefer them without cream, and then it is not necessary to use the soda.
Wash and boil your tomatoes whole; then pass them through a hair sieve; season with butter, pepper and salt; let them stew some twenty minutes, and serve. Or dress them with sugar and a little wine.
Wash some large ripe tomatoes: wipe them dry; put them on a gridiron over hot coals to broil; when they are hot through, they are done; send them hot to table: to be eaten with butter, pepper and salt.
Have some large ripe tomatoes; wash and peel them; cut them up in a dish—have ready bread, butter, pepper and salt; put a layer of tomatoes, then the bread crumbs, butter, pepper and salt, and so on, till your dish is full; bake, and send them to table in the dish in which they were baked.
Take some large tomatoes; peel them, cut the top off, and take out some of the seeds; have ready some mushrooms chopped fine to fill them; season with butter, pepper and salt; then put them in a pan, and bake them; serve up hot. 62
Peel your tomatoes; slice them and put down to stew; season with some onions cut fine, bread crumbs, butter, pepper and salt; they will be sufficiently done in twenty minutes. Some persons prefer a little flour rolled in butter.
Take off carefully all the silk and all the husks. Put the corn in boiling water: if young and tender, it will boil in half an hour. Some persons serve it up in a napkin on the dish, but if it is sufficiently cooked, and can be served hot, it is better not to be steamed in a napkin.
Take some tomatoes; skin and cut them up with equal quantities of ochras; season with pepper, salt and butter; stew them till tender; which will be nearly an hour. Ochras may be stewed alone, seasoned with butter, pepper and salt: add very little water when you put them down.
Skin some tomatoes; slice and fry them with butter, pepper and salt; cut up two onions, and put in with four eggs; stir all well together, and send hot to table.
Get the young ochras; slice and string them; hang them up to dry; when dry, put them away for soup in winter. 63
Gather them fresh. Pare, slice and lay them in salt and water; just before dinner, pour off the water; season with pepper, salt, vinegar and onions.
Squashes should be young and tender; try them with a fork; if they are old, do not use them. Peel them and take out the seed; cut them in pieces and boil till tender; when done, pass them through a cullender. Stew with butter, pepper, salt and a little cream; send them hot to table.
The early turnip beet is best in summer: wash them, but do not cut the tops too close, as they are much sweeter with some of the tops boiled on them. They will boil in three quarters of an hour; when done, take them up, put them in cold water for a moment, so that the skin will easily peel off. Slice them, and season with pepper, salt and butter. Old, or winter beets, will take much longer. They will take from two to three hours to boil. It is better to put them to soak over night, if they are very solid: cut them in slices, and pour vinegar over them.
The small white onions are preferred. Peel them, and put them down in a little water and salt; when nearly done, pour off the water, and add milk and a little flour mixed with butter. 64
Salsify, parsnips, beets, and carrots should be gathered in the early part of November. Those you want to use during the winter should be put in boxes, and covered with sand. Celery should be put in a box with the roots down, covered with sand. Some gardeners keep it in the ground all winter, and dig it as they wish it, for use.
Wash and peel the mushrooms; put them down in a stew pan with a little water, pepper, salt and butter; let them stew slowly for ten or fifteen minutes; then take them up. They are very good broiled.
The hard white cabbage is the best for slaw. Wash it well, and cut it fine; have some butter boiling hot; put in the slaw and keep stirring till it is shrivelled: then beat up some vinegar and the yolk of an egg: season with pepper and salt; pour this in the pan over the slaw, and stir in till quite hot: send to table either hot or cold, as preferred.
Cut fine some hard cabbage; dress with hard-boiled eggs, oil, vinegar, mustard, pepper and salt.
Wash your cabbage well; cut it in two, and boil till tender in salt and water. Some persons prefer 65 it boiled with a piece of pork or bacon. If it is boiled with bacon, the pot should be well skimmed before the cabbage goes in.
Pick and wash it well; tie it up in bunches and boil it; when done, drain it and serve it up with drawn butter. Put a little salt in the water when nearly boiled.
Sea kale is cooked in the same way as brocoli.
In winter the pans should be scalded before the milk is strained into them; in summer the pans and strainer should be rinsed with cold water. Do not cover the milk until it is perfectly cold; a stone crock is the best for keeping the cream in, and it should be stirred two or three times a day; if the cream is not stirred, the butter will have a bad taste; do not let your milk stand too long, or this will make the butter taste very unpleasant. Be particular to put cold water in your churn the night before you wish to use it; pour it out in the morning, and rinse it again; before the butter comes, or while it is gathering, take off the lid of the churn; have your butter-bowl scalded and cooled; work the milk out well, but do not put in any water; add salt to your taste. Everything connected with milk or butter should be kept very carefully clean. 66
Butter, to keep, should be well worked; pack it in stone jars, and tie it up tight, and set it in a cool place.
Get eggs as fresh as possible; put a layer of salt in a jar; then put in some eggs, the small end down, then another layer of salt, then the eggs; be careful not to let the eggs touch each other; set them in a dry cool place, and they will keep all winter.
Coffee should be roasted with great care, to a dark brown colour, stirring it all the time it is on the fire, with a long-handled iron spoon; when it is done, put it in a stone jar, and cover it up. Freshly roasted coffee is much the best; grind it into a bowl, beat it up with part of the white of an egg, and cold water; put it into the tin coffee-pot, and pour on it boiling water, out of a tea-kettle, stirring it all the while; set it on the fire, and let it boil fifteen minutes; stir it frequently from the sides of the pot; when it is done, set it a moment on the hearth, and it will settle; do not pour into it either cold or warm water, or coffee, to settle it: this spoils the coffee. Pour it into your silver or china coffee pot, and send to table.
Black tea should be boiled fifteen or twenty minutes. Green tea should not boil: but have boiling 67 water poured on about five minutes before it comes to table.
Have a quart of good milk boiling; grate a piece of chocolate three inches square; mix it with a little cold milk; then stir it gradually into the milk on the fire. If preferred thinner, use less chocolate. It should boil at least half an hour.
Pare six good-sized potatoes; put them on to boil with three pints of water and a handful of hops; pour the water through a sieve on a pint of flour; stir it until perfectly smooth; mash your potatoes through a cullender into the yeast; stir all well together, and let it stand till nearly cold; then stir into it a pint bowl half full of dry yeast, dissolved in water; put the water on the dry yeast as soon as you mix your flour and potatoes, and when it has sufficiently cooled, your yeast will be ready to go in. Set it in a warm place to rise. When it is light enough, keep it in a cool place; cover it close. Yeast should be made the day before you bake; then it is good and fresh.
Make as directed above. When perfectly light, stir in corn meal till it is quite dry; spread it on dishes to dry. Be careful not to let it be in the sun, as this would sour it. When dry, put it in a bag, in 68 a dry, cool place. In summer time, when the flies are numerous, spread a thin piece of gauze over to keep them off when it is drying.
Sift the flour; put it in an earthen vessel; the quantity of flour you take will depend upon the number of loaves you want. Four loaves of bread will require two quarts of water; pour the water, which may be as warm as milk just from the cow, upon the flour, enough to make a thick batter; put in two tablespoonsful of salt, and a pint of home-made yeast; do not beat it after the yeast goes in. Set it in a warm place to rise; when it is light, work it very well with flour. The more you knead it, the better. If the flour is running, the bread will require to be made stiffer than when it is superfine flour. Let it rise again, covering it, and set it in a warm place. When it is broken on top, make it into loaves, with as little flour as possible. Put each loaf into a basket: cover it over, and set it to rise again. When quite light, bake it in a brick oven, from three quarters to one hour.
A brick oven will require one hour to heat. The wood should be split fine; make a little fire at first, then add more wood; when the oven is white at the top, it is sufficiently hot. Spread the coals over the bottom of the oven, and let them remain a quarter of an hour. 69
Rusk or biscuit, if they are very light, will bake in from ten to fifteen minutes. Bread requires one hour.
One pound of flour, and a half pound of sugar, one pint of milk, with one teaspoonful of soda, a few currants, and half a pound of butter, a tea-cup full of yeast. Mix all well, and let it rise; when well risen, put in six eggs, beaten separately: pour it in the pans, and let it rise again; then bake.
When your bread is very light, take a piece of dough, into which rub a small piece of butter; make them into rolls a quarter of an inch thick: let them rise, and bake.
Rub into a pound of flour, one tablespoonful of butter, and a teaspoonful of salt: work it very well, or beat it; roll very thin: stick with a fork, and bake.
Have a pint of corn mush; when a little warm, add a little salt and flour, enough to make a dough; add a tea-cup full of yeast; let it rise, and when quite light, make into rolls; let them rise again, and bake. You can put a little butter with them, if you prefer: but they are very palatable without. 70
Warm a quart of milk, into which put a quarter pound of butter, enough flour to make a batter, two eggs, well beaten, and a cup of yeast, a little salt; when quite light, bake in rings. Do not beat them after the yeast is in: they will be light enough in three hours.
Sift into three pints of flour, three teaspoonsful of cream of tartar; rub one quarter of a pound of butter in the flour; dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in as much milk as will make a dough, thick enough to roll out; then take a large spoonful, sift flour on the board, roll out and bake: do not touch them with the hands.
Rub half a pound of butter in three pounds of flour, a teaspoonful of salt; warm the milk and pour on enough to make a thick batter; beat it well, then add a cup of good yeast. Do not beat it after the yeast goes in; let it rise; when quite light mix in flour, enough to make it out, but as little as possible: roll it out and cut into cakes with a small tumbler: let them rise again, and bake as soon as light.
Twist rolls are made in the same way, only make in small twists or rings, and bake. 71
Have a quart of milk a little warm, into which put two spoonsful of butter; pour this on flour, enough to make a dough; add a tea-cup full of yeast, and a little salt; let it rise three hours, when roll into cakes: put them in pans: let them rise again, and bake.
Warm a pint of good milk, into which put a piece of butter, the size of an egg; pour this on some flour, with a little salt and a tea-cup full of yeast. When quite light, knead it well; roll out and bake in pans. When done, pull them open and butter them.
Cut up into a pound of flour, lard the size of an egg, and a little salt; milk sufficient to make a dough; roll out very thin, and bake. These cakes can be fried in lard, in round cakes, and are then called snow-balls.
Cut up a quarter of a pound of lard and butter, into two pounds of flour; add a little salt and water enough to make a stiff dough; beat very light with an axe, till it will break off short: stick with a fork, and bake in a quick oven. To be made up in small cakes. 72
In a quart of buckwheat meal, put a cup of Indian or wheat flour, whichever is preferred. Make this into a batter, with water, a little warm, a cup of yeast and a little salt. Set it to rise, and when quite light, pour it on the griddle. It is better to set them to rise in a pitcher, as stirring the batter spoils them.
Make a batter of a pint of milk, sufficiently warm to melt in it a piece of butter the size of an egg, two eggs, a little salt and flour; put in a cup of yeast, and set it to rise three hours: bake on the griddle. If you wish them quick, make them of soda and cream of tartar, one third soda, and two thirds cream of tartar, or yeast powder.
Take a pint of milk and water mixed; warm it, and melt a small piece of butter in it. Put in flour enough to make a stiff batter. Two eggs and a cup of good yeast, a little salt, but no sugar. Set it in a warm place to rise. Send to table whole. This quantity will take near an hour to bake: do not beat it after the yeast goes in.
Take some mealy potatoes, mash them fine in some flour, a small piece of butter, a little salt and some yeast; when light, roll out in cakes: put them in pans, and set them away to rise, and when light, bake. 73
Take a pint of corn mush, and when milk warm, put in a lump of butter, a little milk, two eggs, and flour enough to make a batter; add a little salt and one cup full of yeast. Set to rise for three hours: bake in rings.
Take a cup full of boiled rice, and a piece of butter, the size of an egg; pour upon this a quart of boiling milk; add a little salt and two eggs well beaten; when cool, a tea-cup full of yeast and flour, enough to make a stiff batter: when light, bake in rings.
One and a half pints of milk to a quart of flour, an even tablespoonful of butter, two eggs; sift with the flour two teaspoonsful of cream of tartar, and dissolve with a little milk and a teaspoon three quarters full of soda: bake immediately.
Quick waffles are made with sour cream. To one quart of sour cream add flour enough to make a batter, two eggs well beaten, a small piece of butter, and one teaspoonful of soda; just before baking, a little salt; bake immediately: a little boiled rice will be a great improvement. 74
It is better in making Indian bread to pour the liquid, either water or milk, boiling hot on the Indian meal. Indian takes more salt than wheat.
Have a pot of boiling water. Stir in gradually corn meal to make it thick. Salt it to your taste: let it boil one hour. When it is cold, slice it and fry it a light brown: send to table hot.
Pour boiling milk on meal, enough to make a batter; add a little salt and two eggs. The eggs will prevent them breaking when they are turned: send hot to table. If this batter is made thick and baked in a pan, it is called pone.
Mix well some corn meal with water, and a little salt. Have ready the middle board of a flour barrel-head; wet the board, upon which put the dough with a large spoon; smooth it over; bake before the fire; when baked brown, turn the other side. Send hot to table.
Pour either milk or water boiling hot on a pint of corn meal; add salt, and, when it is cool, some yeast and two eggs; when it is light, it will open at top: bake in pans an inch thick. 75
Upon one quart of corn meal, pour one quart of boiling milk, with a small piece of butter, a spoonful of salt, a spoonful of cream of tartar, and a half one of soda sifted with the meal; when well mixed drop them into a pan, and bake in an oven: these cakes must be rough on top.
Boil ten mealy potatoes, put to them a piece of butter the size of an egg, some salt and flour, enough to roll them out; bake them in cakes, on the griddle: send hot to table.
Take one pound and a half of flour; sift half of it into a tin pan. The remainder keep for rolling out the paste; take a pound of butter which has been washed and well worked the night before, and kept in a cold place. Cut up half of it with two knives into the flour, then mix it with a tumbler of ice water. Then roll it out very thin, and spread on it in small thin pieces a quarter of a pound of butter, and sift flour over it. Cut it in strips, about four inches wide, and six long; lay one upon another till they are all on; then roll again, and put the remaining quarter of butter on as before; roll and cut it in strips, and those strips in squares, and lay one upon another. When you make the pie do not take one of the strips, but cut it down, so as to have as many layers as possible in each pie. Always use the knives: never touch the paste with the hand. 76
One pound and a quarter of flour, and one of butter. The butter should be divided into four parts, and the salt well washed out of it in three different waters, the night before, and set in a cold place to become hard, the harder the better. Weigh a pound and a quarter of flour; sift half a pound of the flour into a tin pan, (such a pan as should be always kept for making pastry,) keep the rest of the flour in the sieve. Cut up in the pan with the half pound of flour, a quarter of a pound of butter with two knives. (The hands should never touch the pastry.) Then pour slowly into the pan half a pint of ice water; mixing it with the knives. Sift some of the flour on your board, and roll it out very thin, with a floured rolling pin; sufficient flour must be used to prevent it sticking to the board; put over the paste in small pieces as regularly as possible, one quarter of butter; then sift flour over and cut it in strips about three inches wide; then cut across as many times, placing one piece upon another till it makes quite a high mound. Flour it and roll it out again as thin as possible. Then put on in very small pieces the third quarter of butter, and proceed as above, with the last quarter; roll out very thin, cutting it as before. The flour is now all rolled in except half of a pound, reserved for rolling out the paste when making up. It should be made in a cold place, and near an open window. When you make 77 up your pies cut a piece from top to bottom of the pile, and roll out thin. The fire should be under pastry to make it puff up. There is nothing better for baking pastry than a ten plate stove.
Take a fresh tongue and some of the neck, four pounds in all; two pounds of suet, four pounds of raisins, two of currants, two of citron, six pounds of sugar, one quart of brandy, one of Madeira wine, and half a peck of apples. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and very little salt.
Pick and scald your currants; let them stand a few minutes, then pour off the water. Some prefer them stewed. Sugar to your taste. Gooseberries are prepared in the same way.
Take off the skin; cut in small pieces; sugar them and put them in the paste, and bake. Some prefer them stewed.
Wash your blackberries; put them in the paste, with sugar to your taste: bake, and send hot to table. These pies are not good, if they stand long after being baked. 78
Pare your peaches; cut them in slices; put them in your paste with sugar and a little water, and bake slowly.
Boil a quart of milk; stir into it four tablespoonsful of rice flour; let it boil ten minutes, then add a tea-cup full of powdered loaf sugar, grated nutmeg, a gill of cream, and five eggs beaten very light. Make a puff paste, and bake.
To one cup of cream, add two tablespoonsful of rice flour, and two eggs; a few currants, sugar, and rose water, to your taste: bake in paste.
Pour one quart of boiling milk over a half pint of corn meal; add two tablespoonsful of butter, and four of molasses; beat four eggs very light; and, when perfectly cool, add them, with a glass of brandy, and mace and nutmeg: bake, and send to table hot with wine sauce.
Take half a pint of rice; wash it well; put it on to boil with very little water, and let it boil dry; then stir in a piece of butter the size of a goose egg; a grated nutmeg, a tea-cup full of loaf sugar, a quart of milk, and two eggs well beaten: pour it into a pudding dish, and bake. 79
Grate one cocoanut; pour the milk on some sugar, then boil it, and throw in the cocoanut; let it come to a boil again. When cold, add four eggs well beaten: bake in puff paste.
Take the inside of a stale loaf of baker’s bread; pour over it one quart of boiling milk; when perfectly cold, add five eggs well beaten, one cup full of sugar, a small piece of butter, a little brandy, mace, and nutmeg: bake in buttered pans. A few raisins would be an improvement.
Have a pan well buttered; on which put a layer of bread crumbs; then a layer of apples, pared and sliced, and some sugar and cinnamon; then bread and butter; then apples, sugar and cinnamon, till your dish is full. The apples should be juicy: bake, and eat, with wine sauce.
Wash a tea-cup full of sago well, in two waters; then pour over it one quart of boiling milk; a small piece of butter. Set it on the stove to simmer, slowly, for a few moments; then take it off. Beat four eggs very light; add sugar and rose water, to your taste: bake in a crust, or in a buttered dish.
Wash well the tapioca; one cup to a quart of milk; put it on the stove; let it boil till soft; stir in while 80 hot a little butter; let it get cold; beat three eggs very light: season to your taste, with sugar and lemon peel: bake in a paste.
Boil one quart of milk; dissolve one tablespoonful of arrowroot; and when the milk boils, stir it in as you would starch. Let it cool, and then mix a half pound of butter, and the same of sugar; add six eggs beaten very light; the rind of a lemon grated, and some grated nutmeg; put a paste in your dish, and bake: this quantity will make four puddings.
Orange pudding is made like lemon pudding: using the oranges instead of the lemons.
Wash well half a tea-cup full of rice; put it in a bake pan with two quarts of milk; sugar and cinnamon to your taste: bake in a slow oven till it is as thick as custard.
Make a sponge cake batter. Boil it in a pyramid form. Make a sauce of the white of egg and loaf sugar beaten up together. Pour over the pyramid.
Take half a loaf of bread crumbled fine; a cup full of suet chopped fine; some pippin apples cut in 81 thin slices. Have a tin pan well buttered; put the bread around it; then put in alternately the apples, bread and suet, with some sugar and nutmeg; to be baked, and eaten with wine sauce.
One quart of dried peaches. Wash them well in four waters; then pour three pints of boiling milk on one quart of bread crumbs, made fine; five large tablespoonsful of flour, three spoonsful of cinnamon, one wine-glass full of brandy, half a pound of suet, two tablespoonsful of brown sugar, eight or nine eggs beaten separately: boil three hours, and eat with wine sauce.
Take the crumbs of a five cent loaf of bread; one quart of rich milk boiled and poured over the bread while hot, one quarter of a pound of suet cut fine, two pounds of raisins stoned, half a pound of currants washed and dried, one quarter of citron cut in thin slices, six eggs beaten very light, one tablespoonful of flour. Mix these ingredients, and boil, or bake slowly. Make a rich sauce, half wine and half brandy.
Boil one pound of sweet potatoes till half done; then skin and grate them; add half of a pound of butter, the same of powdered sugar, beaten to a cream; add six eggs well beaten, a grated nutmeg, 82 and lemon peel with a glass of brandy; bake in a paste, and when the pudding is done, sprinkle the top with sugar, and cover with bits of citron. Irish potato pudding is made in the same way. A little cream is an improvement to the Irish potato pudding.
Stew a fine sweet pumpkin till soft and dry; rub it through a sieve; add half a pound of butter beaten to a cream, with half a pound of sugar, half a pint of new milk, and a wine-glass full of brandy, some cinnamon, and nutmeg, six eggs beaten very light: put in a paste, and bake.
One pound of butter; the same of sugar beaten to a cream; ten eggs beaten to a froth, one wine-glass full of brandy and rose water mixed; the rind of one lemon and the juice; add one tablespoonful of grated cracker, or Indian meal: bake in a paste.
One cup full of sugar, one egg, the rind and juice of one lemon. This will make one pudding: or mix with a little rice flour, and make two with two eggs.
Get some small-sized oranges; take out all the pulp very carefully, by cutting a round piece out of the top; scrape out the pulp with a spoon. Make 83 a jelly with the juice of the oranges; wash and wipe dry the skins of the oranges. Have some blanc-mange of Irish moss: fill half of the oranges with the blanc-mange, and the rest with the jelly; let it get perfectly cold, then cut them in halves or quarters, just as you fancy; pile them in a dish, and ornament with orange or any kind of long leaves.
Have a good under crust; cover with stewed apples seasoned with lemon peel; make an icing as for cake; spread thick over the apples: put it in the oven for a few moments.
Have some good cooking apples; pare, core, and stew them slowly till they are tender; then take them out, and fill the centre with any kind of marmalade. Arrange them in any fanciful manner you may prefer. Have some apples stewed and mashed fine; fill all the uneven spaces; cover this with icing, and decorate with blanched almonds, or macaroon. Set it in a moderate oven for a few minutes: to be eaten with cream, when perfectly cold.
Grate some stale sponge cake; upon which put some thin slices. Whisk three eggs very light; pour on them one pint of boiling milk: season with 84 lemon peel and sugar to the taste. Mix all well together: bake twenty minutes in a slow oven. Cover the top with sponge cake, and pile the icing up high in the centre.
Take a quart of thick cream. Mix very smoothly eight teaspoonsful of the finest flour, with some of the quart of cream: season to your taste with lemon peel and sugar. Then put the remainder of the cream on the fire, and when it simmers slowly, put in the cream and flour, stirring it very gently till it is thick; then pour it out: when perfectly cool, add some lemon juice. Place in a dish some macaroons, upon which pour some of the custard. And so proceed, till all of the custard is in. Ornament the top with any kind of preserves you prefer.
You can make a basket of macaroons any shape you like, by dipping the edges of the macaroons in barley sugar, and putting them over a mould. Whip some cream with strawberry juice, fill your basket very high, and ornament with strawberries and rose leaves.
Take half a pound of loaf sugar; rub on it the rind of a lemon; add half a pint of boiling water; let it stand till quite cold; beat the whites of three eggs very light, and one yolk. Mix all together 85 with a little lemon juice. Put this in a pitcher and set it in a pan of boiling water, stirring it till it is thick: when quite cold, put it in cups. If you find it difficult to thicken, add two teaspoonsful of rice flour, with the boiling water.
Boil some potatoes; mash them with salt and a small piece of butter; add flour, enough to make a paste; pare and core your apples; have small dumpling-cloths, on each of which place a tablespoonful of dough, and roll it out; then tie up an apple in each one; scald and flour your cloth. They should be put in when the water boils, and will take from half to three quarters of an hour to boil, if the apples are good.
Make a paste of one pound of flour, and a quarter of suet; cut the suet up fine: put in water enough to make a paste; pare your peaches, and put each one in a cloth; tie up and boil: have a small cloth for each dumpling.
Pour some boiling water on flour; beat it very light; roll it on a cloth; put in your fruit; tie it up, and boil.
Make a batter of a pint of milk, some Indian meal, and two eggs; have ready some hot lard, and fry them. 86
Make a batter of one pint of milk, and three eggs, and flour; chop four pippin apples up fine; stir them into the batter; drop in a spoonful at a time.
Make a batter of eggs, and milk, and flour; pour a little in the pan, sufficient to cover the bottom: when a light brown, turn on the other side.
Mix one table-spoonful of arrow-root with a pint of milk; beat up two eggs very light; while the milk is boiling, add the arrow root, and stir all the time: when it comes to a boil, take it off; let it cool; then add the eggs, some lemon peel, and a little juice: bake in a paste.
Have a quart of new milk boiling hot; stir into it flour enough to make a stiff dough: then take it off, and let it get perfectly cold; beat seven eggs very light, and stir them in: drop them in hot lard, and fry a light brown.
To one quart of milk, add eight tablespoonsful of flour. Stir till the flour is perfectly well mixed; then add six eggs, beaten separately, very light: butter your pan, and bake in a quick oven; or bake in cups; these are then called puffs. 87
Boil a quart of milk; stir into it four tablespoonsful of farina; let it boil fifteen minutes: when cold, add a cup of cream, a nutmeg, a cup full of powdered sugar, and four eggs; bake, and eat hot with wine sauce.
Put three table-spoonsful of corn starch into a quart of boiling milk; let it boil ten minutes: then add four eggs, sugar and nutmeg to the taste. Bake and serve with wine sauce.
Boil a quart of milk, and when quite cold, beat up four eggs very light, and add to the milk, with sugar to the taste. Boil three ounces of macaroni, and when the pan is buttered, put in the macaroni, and pour the custard around; when it begins to bake stir it well; season with lemon: send hot to table.
Vermicelli pudding is made in the same way, only add a quarter of a pound of vermicelli to a quart of milk, and five eggs.
Wash well three ounces of rice; put it in sufficient water to cover it: when it has boiled a few minutes, pour off the water, and add a pint of milk: stir it; and when done, take it up; put in it a piece of butter 88 the size of an egg, some sugar and nutmeg; beat very light four eggs, and when cold, add to the rice, and if thick, some milk; a few raisins will improve it very much: when nearly done, have some white of egg and sugar beaten up very light; arrange on the top, and set it for a few moments in the oven.
To one quart of cream, add half a pound of almonds, blanched and pounded in a mortar, with rose water; sweeten to your taste; beat to a stiff froth the whites of six eggs, with three table-spoonsful of rice flour: bake in a paste.
Take four ounces of rice; wash it and put it in a bag, with some raisins; let the rice have plenty room to boil in the bag; turn it while boiling. It will take an hour and a half. To be eaten with wine sauce.
Rice flour fritters are made the same as wheat flour fritters: six eggs, a quart of milk and flour enough to make a batter.
Take any quantity of rice you wish; wash it well; put it down to boil; when half done, pour off the water: then add milk; season with vanilla and sugar. 89
Take three quarts of new milk; have a piece of rennet about an inch square, which put into two table-spoonsful of water; let it soak over night; in the morning, pour this in the milk; keep it in a warm place till it turns; then set it on the ice to become cold: eat with cream and sugar.
Place some slices of sponge cake in a dish; put on them preserves of any kind; pour over this some boiled custard, then ornament the top with the whites of eggs beaten up with loaf sugar, or whips, if preferred.
To one pint of cream, two whites of eggs, one wine-glass full of wine, and sugar to your taste; churn the cream, and take off the top as it rises; put in lemonade or other glasses, and ornament with macaroons.
Take one ounce of moss; wash it very well, and let it soak for a few minutes: put on to boil four quarts of milk; when boiling, put in the moss; let it boil for four or five minutes, then strain it into moulds; season with sugar, rose water, or any thing you prefer; if vanilla is preferred, boil part of a bean in the milk.
Beat to a stiff froth the whites of six eggs; sweeten with loaf sugar; add currant jelly or strawberry 90 syrup to colour it; sweeten some cream, upon which put the float. You may season the cream with white wine, or the extract of vanilla, if preferred; it is then called syllabub. Ornament with ripe strawberries.
Take a quart of gooseberries; put them in a pan with two pounds of loaf sugar, and a little water; when quite soft, pass them through a sieve; when cold, add boiled custard till it is thick. Put it in the dish you intend to send to table, with whipped cream on top.
Stew and mash very well some good cooking apples; sweeten the apples; make a float of the whites of eggs and sugar, mixed well together, and cool on the ice. To be eaten with cream.
Have some good cooking apples; stew and mash them; sweeten to your taste; beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth with sugar; cover the apples, (which must be in the dish you intend to send them to table in;) set them in a moderate oven to brown for a few moments; take them out, and keep in a cold place till they are required.
Put the freezer containing the cream into the bucket with the ice and salt; put the ice closely 91 around, so as to touch every part of it; as soon as the ice is formed, scrape it from the sides to the centre. The freezer must be kept moving constantly during the process.
Take four quarts of good cream; sweeten with loaf sugar very sweet, as the sugar loses its strength by freezing; boil a vanilla bean in a pint of milk; then pour it in the cream and freeze it.
The lemon must be rolled in sugar to extract the oil; use the sugar for sweetening the cream. Then freeze it.
Mash the berries; press them through a sieve; sweeten the juice, and mix it with the cream. Strawberry ice cream is made in the same way.
Pare and grate it; boil it with half a pint of cream; then add it to the cream you wish to freeze. Strain the boiled cream before you put it in the freezer.
Blanch the almonds by pouring boiling water on them till the skins will peel off easily; then pound them fine and put them in the cream; sweeten with loaf sugar and freeze. 92
Scrape two ounces of chocolate; put it on to boil in a pint of milk; boil it till the chocolate dissolves. Sweeten it and add it to the cream and freeze.
Get soft ripe peaches; mash them through a sieve; then sweeten and freeze. Apples may be stewed and mashed and frozen also.
Mix together four ounces of butter, and two ounces of sugar, three eggs beaten separately, and five ounces of sifted flour; cut a sheet of paper into four pieces; spread them with batter; drop the batter with a tea spoon in the form of balls on the paper; immerse the paper into boiling lard; and as they cook drop them off, and fry them a light brown; drain them on a sieve covered with paper, to absorb the grease; dust fine sugar over them; and eat them with sugar, butter, and wine, beaten together.
Make puff paste; roll it out half an inch thick; cut it out with a large tumbler; double them over; lay them in rows on sheet irons; egg them over, and sift sugar on them; then bake, and, before serving, place on them some currant or plum jelly. 93
Line the sides and bottom of a round mould with macaroons, fastened together with hot sugar; when cool, place it on a dish. Then make a custard with the yolk of ten eggs, and one quart of milk, half a pound of sugar, and a vanilla bean. Freeze the custard; fill the macaroon mould with it; forming it in a pyramid; and ornament with strawberries, cherries, or any fruit in season.
Pare and core a dozen apples; place them in a pan with a little butter, loaf sugar, and lemon peel; add a little water, and bake them slowly, without allowing them to become brown. Boil some rice with milk, sugar, a little butter, and a nutmeg; when perfectly done, mash it with a spoon, and put into a round mould to cool; then turn it out, and arrange the apples neatly upon it; eat it with wine sauce.
Make a sponge cake, and bake in an oval tin pan; when cold, shape it with a sharp knife in the form of a ham; hollow it out on the under part; and fill with whipped cream. Pin a paper ruffle on the hock; and cover all over with broken calf’s foot jelly. 94
Have a tin pan well buttered, and spread around the sides and bottom nicely stewed apples. Make a rich custard; place some savoury cakes in the pan; with raspberry jam between each layer of cake; fill up with the custard, and steam a few minutes.
Cooper’s isinglass is the best. Wash it well, and put it in a pan; and to a half pound, add a pint and a half of water, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and the juice of three lemons; let it boil slowly about fifteen minutes; removing the scum as it rises. When cold, the whites of two eggs may be added, and boiled again for a few minutes; then passed through a jelly strainer.
To two pounds of loaf sugar, add one quart of water; and when the sugar is dissolved, add the whites of two eggs well beaten; let it boil slowly, until the scum has ceased rising, then pour through a strainer.
Pour one pint of boiling syrup upon two quarts of strawberries; let it remain until cold; then press through a jelly bag. Let it boil again, and stir in it a pint of clarified isinglass; then pour into moulds to cool. 95
Pine apples, oranges, or any other fruit can be made into jelly in the same way.
To one quart of syrup add one quart of clarified isinglass, the juice of four lemons, and a pint of good Madeira wine. Pour it into moulds, and place them in ice.
Bruise in a bowl two quarts of ripe raspberries, with half a pound of powdered sugar; rub them through a sieve. Mix with the juice, one pint of whipped cream, and one pint of clarified isinglass. Pour it into a mould which has been rubbed with sweet oil; set it in ice; and when cold turn it out on a dish.
Make a quart of rich vanilla chocolate; add to it one quarter of a pound of sugar, and the yolks of six eggs. Stir all together over the fire a few minutes. Then add a half pint of whipped cream, and a pint and a half of clarified isinglass. Mix well together, and pour into moulds.
Stone and pare a quarter of a peck of ripe peaches; put them into a porcelain lined kettle, with one pound of loaf sugar, and a little water; stir over the fire until all is dissolved; rub it through a hair sieve into a bowl; add one pint of clarified isinglass; 96 fill the moulds, and place them in the ice; when it is firm turn it out; and cover the top with whipped cream.
Take two sets of calves’ feet, and one of pigs’ feet; put them in a kettle with two gallons of water; let it boil down one-half; strain it and set it away till the next day; before you put it on the fire, skim it well; add half a gallon of wine and a pint of brandy, the juice of eight lemons, the skins of four, pared from the rind, four sticks of cinnamon, sugar to your taste, the whites of ten eggs beaten to a froth; mix all in the stock when cold. Let it boil twenty minutes. If the stock is very stiff, ten will be sufficient; then strain it through a jelly-strainer.
Put some calf’s feet jelly in a deep dish, upon which make a nest with some skins of lemons cut in strips and preserved in syrup. Take some eggs; make a small hole, through which empty them; wash and drain, and fill them with blanc-mange; when perfectly cold, take off the shell and put them in the nest.
Make a rich boiled custard of a quart of milk and six eggs; sweeten with sugar and season with vanilla; while warm stir into it a quart of calf’s feet jelly; whip a pint of cream, and mix with it; 97 make a Turk’s cap sponge cake; cut out the centre and fill it with the mixture; put on the top, and ice it when perfectly cold.
Boil one and a half ounces of gelatine in two quarts of good milk; add three ounces of the best French chocolate; vanilla and sugar to your taste; beat very light twelve eggs, omitting the whites of four; pour the boiling mixture very slowly on the eggs; put it in a tin saucepan, and set it in a pot of boiling water; stir it till thick; pour it in moulds.
Put a quart of milk on to boil with half of a vanilla bean or eight peach leaves, when they are in season; beat the yolks of six eggs and the whites of three; pour the milk boiling hot upon the eggs, stirring all the time; then put it in a pitcher, and set the pitcher in a pot of boiling water; stir it well till it is as thick as good cream; then pour it from one pitcher to another till it is nearly cold, when put it in cups, and ornament the tops with the whites of eggs and sugar beaten very light, on which put a strawberry, or a rosebud, or jelly.
Half a pound of butter and one pound of sugar beaten to a cream; the yolks of sixteen eggs beaten very light; lay in the dish, either with or without pastry, some West India preserves. Then pour 98 over them the mixed ingredients, and put it in the oven, which must be well heated. Try it with a knife; when done, ice it. Rose water or wine will improve it.
Mix together three pints of milk and six eggs, well beaten; stir in as much flour as will make a thick batter; have a pudding bag, which wash and flour well; pour in the batter, tie the bag tight, but far enough from the batter to give it room to swell; turn the bag frequently, and do not allow it to cease boiling until done. To be eaten with wine sauce.
Pare and core half a peck of apples; stew and mash them fine; add lemon peel, sugar, and nutmeg to the taste; beat five eggs very light, and mix all together, and bake in a paste.
Make a custard of one quart of milk and three eggs, and sugar to the taste; cut some slices of bread, butter them, and lay them in the bottom of the pan, which cover with raisins: do this till the pan is half full, then pour over the custard, and bake slowly.
Pare and core some good cooking apples; make a batter of one quart of milk, a little flour, four 99 eggs, and sugar to the taste; pour this around the apples and bake.
Grate one dozen ears of corn; then make a batter of a quart of milk and four eggs, a little flour, and sugar to the taste, and a very small piece of butter; bake slowly one hour. To be eaten with sugar and butter beaten up very light.
To three pints of milk, sweetened to your taste, add two eggs, well beaten; cut some bread in squares, very thin, and put over the top, upon which grate nutmeg; bake very slowly, and be careful the milk does not curdle.
The flour for making cakes should always be sifted before using it, and of superfine quality, and dry. The butter must be the best, and the salt and water well worked out of it. The eggs should always be fresh.
Whip the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth; add gradually some fine white sugar till it will not run: season as you prefer, with vanilla or lemon.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and two of sugar; beat five eggs very light; add them to the 100 sugar and butter. Have ten cups full of flour in a pan, into which put six cups full of molasses; season with half a cup full of ginger, and one tablespoonful of cloves; dissolve one and a half teaspoonsful of soda in sour milk, and put it in just before baking: bake in small pans.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, the same of sugar; add ginger and some cayenne pepper; add two cups full of molasses, and flour enough to roll out. Cut in small cakes, and bake.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; add a pint of molasses, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon to your taste; flour enough to make a stiff dough. Roll out thin; cut in small cakes: bake on pans in a quick oven.
Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth; add four or five tablespoonsful of white sugar, to one of butter; flour enough to roll out. Fry in hot lard: cut them in long strips and curl, before frying.
Six cups full of flour, two of sugar, two of molasses, one of milk, two of butter; beat the sugar and butter together, to which add four eggs well beaten; then add one dessert spoonful of cloves, and three of good ginger, and the molasses and flour, till all 101 is mixed; dissolve one teaspoonful of soda and three of cream of tartar,—each in half a cup full of milk, which mix in just before you put it in the oven. This cake will take at least an hour and a half to bake.
To three pints of flour, and one pound of brown sugar, add three tablespoonsful of ginger, and one and a half of cloves mixed. Melt half a pound of butter in a quart of molasses; knead all up; roll in thin cakes, and bake in a quick oven.
Mix well with a pound and a half of flour, a half tea-cup full of good ginger. Melt in a pint of molasses half a pound of butter; when the molasses is hot, pour it over the flour, stirring it well to keep it from becoming lumpy; let it stand till quite cold, then beat two eggs very light, and stir in with flour, enough to make a stiff dough. Roll out and bake.
Beat to a cream one cup full of butter, and two of white sugar; add three eggs well beaten, one lemon grated and a little juice; one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little milk, and three of cream of tartar dissolved in water. Put in, after these ingredients are well beaten, three cups full of flour: bake in tins an inch thick. Ice them. 102
Cream, half a pound of butter, and the same of loaf sugar; beat very light four eggs; flour, a few currants, and put them in; stir in seven ounces of flour: mix well, and bake in small tins.
Blanch a quarter of a pound of almonds, and rub them fine in a mortar with a little rose water; beat five eggs separately till very light; beat the sugar with the yolks of eggs; almonds with the whites of eggs, and a quarter of a pound of flour: bake an hour and a half in small tins.
Take half a pound of almonds, a few of them bitter; blanch them and pound in a mortar, with a little rose water; beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, and add half a pound of white sugar, rolled very fine. Stir all together; drop on buttered paper, and bake in a slow oven, or on paper with grated rusk or bread; this will keep them from sticking to the paper. Some persons add a spoonful of rice flour.
Beat to cream one pound of sugar, and the same of butter. Beat six eggs separately, the yolks with the sugar and butter; add flour enough to roll out: season to your taste. Cut them in rings, and bake: sift sugar over them when they are hot. 103
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; add four eggs, a little brandy and nutmeg; flour enough to roll out: bake in pans: cut them in round rings.
One cup full of butter, two cups full of sugar, one cup full of sour cream, four eggs, half a nutmeg, and a little cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of soda; flour enough to make a dough. Roll out, and fry in hot lard.
Melt in a quart of boiling hot milk, a quarter of a pound of butter, into which beat flour enough to make a stiff dough, and one pound of brown sugar. When nearly cold, put in four eggs well beaten, and a tea-cup full of yeast. Let them rise, and when quite light, drop them with a spoon into boiling lard. Spices to your taste, and a little brandy.
Have a pound of fine white sugar, to which add the whites of twelve eggs beaten very stiff, and two tablespoonsful of rice flour. When well beaten, lay the mixture on thick white paper well buttered, or bread grated on it, to prevent the cakes sticking. Make the cakes in the shape of a half egg. When they are a light brown, and firm to the touch, take 104 them out. Scoop out the middle, into which put preserves. Put them again in the oven to dry; when done, fasten two together with a little white of egg. Send to table on a fancy dish. For dessert, whipped cream is very excellent, in merangues.
One pound of flour, one pound of sugar, the same of butter, seven eggs, half a pint of cream, and a gill of brandy, one tea-spoonful of soda and three of cream of tartar. Dissolve each separately and put in last. This cake will take an hour and three quarters to bake.
Two pounds of flour, one of sugar, half a pound of butter, one pint of yeast, eight eggs, one quart of milk; cream the sugar and butter together: add the raisins and spices after the first rising. This cake will take an hour and three quarters to bake.
Three pints of sifted flour, one pound of brown sugar, one tablespoonful of caraway seed, mixed together. Then melt half a pound of butter, and pour it into as much cold milk as will make them soft enough to roll out. Three teaspoonsful of cream of tartar. Put in the flour before it is sifted. Dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in the milk: roll out; cut with a tumbler: bake in a quick oven. 105
Jelly cake is made of either cup or sponge cake, as preferred. Bake in round tin pans on buttered paper; the pans should be as large as a dinner plate, and the cakes a quarter of an inch in thickness, when baked. Spread jelly upon each cake; place one upon another, till you have four or five, and then ice it.
Beat ten eggs separately, very light; mix the whites and yolks together; add a pound of loaf sugar; then put in half a pound of flour. Do not beat it after the flour goes in, as this will make it tough: season to your taste, with lemon or vanilla.
One pint of flour, and one of sugar, half a tea-cup full of water; beat six eggs very light; put in the water before the whites of the eggs, and stir as little as possible after all the ingredients are in.
Beat to a stiff froth the whites of four eggs, and the yolks of four, with a pound of sugar. Mix with this two or three spoonsful of flour: season with rose water or lemon: bake on buttered paper.
Put three teaspoonsful of cream of tartar into three pints of flour, and sift it; beat half a pound of butter to a cream, with two large cups full of sugar; 106 add five eggs, well beaten, a teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in a small quantity of milk, and some caraway seed. Roll very thin: bake on tins.
Beat to a cream half a tea-cup full of butter, and one and a half of sugar; add three eggs beaten very light, two cups full of flour, one teaspoonful of soda, and three teaspoonsful of cream of tartar. Dissolve each separately in a little milk; mix them just before putting them in the pan: bake an hour and a half.
Beat till very light the whites of four eggs; add one teaspoonful of flour, either wheat or rice: season with rose water or lemon: bake on buttered tins or paper.
Rice flour sponge cake, is made like flour sponge cake, only add a little more of the rice than you would of the wheat flour: bake in small tins. Ice them.
Beat three eggs to a stiff froth; two cups full of flour, a small piece of butter, and milk enough to make a batter; add four tablespoonsful of sugar. Roll out thin as possible, and bake: roll them up while hot. 107
One pound and a quarter of butter, one and a half pounds of sugar, the whites of twenty eggs, two teaspoonsful of cream of tartar, and a third as much soda; dissolve each in a tablespoonful of cream; put in the cream of tartar the last; one and a half pounds of flour; season to your taste: an hour and a half will bake it.
Beat to a cream one cup full of butter, and two of sugar, three cups full of flour, the whites of eight eggs, half a cup full of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and the third of that quantity of soda; dissolve each separately in the milk; add them the last; season to your taste; bake an hour and a half.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar, four eggs, half a pound of currants, a glass of brandy, a pint of milk, flour enough to make a stiff batter; stir in a cup full of yeast. When light, bake in small pans, or in a large one, and cut them out in squares.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; whisk till very light six eggs; add them to the butter and sugar, with a glass of brandy, the peel and juice of a lemon; add flour enough to make a dough: roll out, and bake on tins. 108
Beat to a cream two tea-cups full of sugar, and one of butter; add half a pound of currants floured, one glass of rose water, and six eggs beaten separately; dissolve one teaspoonful of soda, and three of cream of tartar in a little cream; and add, just before putting the cake in the pan, flour enough to make a stiff batter.
Beat to a cream one pound of butter, with one pound of sugar; separate ten eggs, and beat them very light; have a pound of flour sifted; add the eggs and flour alternately; beat till the cake looks light just before going in the pan; put in a glass of brandy, rose water or lemon peel, or anything you prefer. This cake will take an hour and three quarters to bake.
Fruit cake is made as the above; with the addition of a pound of currants, a pound of raisins, and half a pound of citron; flour the currants, raisins, and citron before putting them in. Raisins should always be seeded.
One tin cup full of flour, with two teaspoonsful of cream of tartar sifted with the flour; a piece of butter the size of an egg, half a cup full of sugar rubbed in the butter, and half of a teaspoonful of soda; dissolve in a small cup full of milk; bake in a pound cake form. 109
Take a pint of milk, a quarter of a pound of butter; warm the butter in the milk with half a tea-cup full of sugar; stir in enough flour to make a very soft dough; beat three eggs very light, and add; lastly, put in a tea-cup full of yeast; do not beat it or any cake after the yeast goes in; set it in a warm place to rise; when light add more flour by stirring it in, but do not beat it; let it rise again; flour your board, and pour out your dough; cut in cakes, and put in pans; handle as little as possible, and do not put any more flour to them; set them to rise again, and as soon as light, bake.
To two whites of egg, take one cocoa-nut; after it has been peeled and grated, sugar to the taste; make them high in middle, and bake a few minutes.
Blanch half a pound of almonds, and pound them in a mortar, with a little rose water, to prevent them oiling; add an equal quantity of grated cocoa-nut, three whites of eggs beaten to a froth, and sugar to the taste; bake ten minutes.
Beat to a stiff froth the whites of ten eggs, add one pound of loaf sugar, blanch half a pound of almonds, and pound them very well with some rose 110 water; beat to a cream a quarter of a pound of butter, then add the sugar; stir in alternately with half a pound of flour, the eggs and the almonds; bake one hour and a half.
Blanch and pound, with rose water, a quarter of a pound of almonds; beat very stiff the whites of four eggs; add three tablespoonsful of rice-flour, and sugar to the taste; bake in fancy shapes on buttered paper, in a slow oven, ten minutes.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar; three eggs and the third of a cup of cream, half a pound of flour, rose water to the taste; drop them in buttered pans, and bake fifteen minutes. If preferred, they can be seasoned with chocolate.
Two pounds of flour, one pound of sugar, three quarters of butter, four eggs, the juice of one lemon, three teaspoonsful of cream of tartar, sifted with the flour, one of soda; dissolve in milk enough to make a dough; cut the cakes in the shape of a diamond.
One and a half pounds of flour, half a pound of butter, half a pound of sugar, a pint of molasses, a tea-cup full of ginger, a tablespoonful of ground 111 orange peel, and cloves; roll them very thin, and bake.
One quarter of a pound of butter, one pound of flour, two spoonsful of rose water, three eggs, well beaten, a little nutmeg; dissolve a small lump of pearlash in a little milk, and stir in just before baking; drop them on tins, and bake.
One and three-quarters of a pound of flour, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, four eggs, five tablespoonsful of thick cream, and a teaspoonful of soda; spice to your taste. Roll them about a quarter of an inch thick, and bake.
Three pounds of flour, and half a pound of sugar, thirteen ounces of butter, and a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in half a pint of water; rub the butter in the flour; mix the sugar and water, then knead all well together; roll thin, and bake.
One pound of cocoa-nut, one pound of flour, three quarters of a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter, six eggs, well beaten; mix all together, and bake.
Two pounds flour, one of sugar, one quarter of a pound of butter, a large cup full of milk, a teaspoonful 112 of soda, two of cream of tartar, two tablespoonsful of caraway seeds; roll them, and bake on tins.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; add four eggs, well beaten, half a pound of flour, and the same of currants, washed and dried, and well floured, to keep them from sinking, a small teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tartar dissolved separately in milk; bake them in small pans, diamond shape.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter; with the same quantity of sugar, four eggs, well beaten, a quarter of a pound of currants, a glass of wine and brandy mixed, two tablespoonsful of rose water, and half a pound of prepared flour, (which can be bought at any grocery store in the city;) bake in small tin pans, any shape preferred. Ice them.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, with same of sugar, a few caraway seed, three eggs, rose water, and nutmeg, and flour enough to make a dough; roll out thin, and bake.
Three quarters of a pound of flour, a pint of good milk or cream, three eggs, two tablespoonsful of rose water, half a nutmeg, half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; warm the butter in the 113 milk; when milk warm, stir in the flour and eggs; then beat in the sugar, a little at a time, and some currants; put in the yeast, and set it to rise in square tin pans; when very light, bake for fifteen or twenty minutes.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and three quarters of a pound of sugar, a tablespoonful of caraway seed, one tablespoonful of rose water or essence of lemon, a pound of flour, and five eggs, beaten very light; roll half an inch thick, stick them with a fork, and bake.
Beat to a cream three quarters of a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; whisk three eggs very light; season with rose water; add flour enough to roll out; cut them half an inch thick, and bake.
One and a half cups full of butter, two of sugar, four eggs, one cup full of sour cream, into which dissolve one teaspoonful of soda, four cups full of flour; season as you like; beat very light, and bake.
Grate the rinds of six lemons; add six heaping tablespoonsful of the best white sugar and two of flour; work all well together; beat very light the whites of two eggs; drop the mixture from a spoon 114 on buttered paper. When cold, take them off very carefully with a knife.
Put the icing on any way you prefer with a syringe, which must be kept for the purpose. It is better to put it on plain first, and then ornament it.
Take a pint bowl of white potatoes, mashed as fine as possible; then add two eggs and one tablespoonful of flour; drop them from a spoon into hot lard, and fry: when done, sprinkle sugar over them.
Separate twelve eggs, and beat them very light; add a pound of the best loaf sugar; stir in three quarters of a pound of flour, essence of lemon, or rose water to the taste; do not beat it after the flour goes in, as this will make it tough: bake in small tin pans in a quick oven.
Beat to a cream a quarter of a pound of butter and half a pound of the best white sugar; add four tablespoonsful of cream, one tablespoonful of the essence of lemon, one of flour, and three eggs; beat till very light: then grate the white meat of a cocoa-nut; stir it lightly, and bake in tin pans. Some persons omit the flour. 115
Blanch the almonds by throwing them into boiling water: take them out; drain and pound them in a mortar with a little rose water, and proceed as for cocoa-nut pound cake. Ice them, if preferred.
Beat to a cream half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar, some grated nutmeg and rose water, two eggs well beaten; stir in a pound of flour: roll out, and bake.
One cup full of butter, the same of sugar, one pint of milk, flour enough to make a batter; beat it well, and then put in a cup full of yeast; (but never beat any cake after the yeast goes in;) when very light, add more flour; make into cakes, and set them to rise; as soon as they are light, bake them.
One cup full of lard, two of molasses, two of sour milk, one egg, three tablespoonsful of cinnamon, half a nutmeg, essence of lemon, and flour enough to make a thick batter; beat a great deal, and bake in a tin pan, one hour and a half or two hours.
One pound of patent flour, one of pulverized sugar, one cup full of butter, one of milk, and four eggs; bake in a quick oven: if it gets too brown, put paper over the top. 116
One pint of molasses, one tea-cup full of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter and lard mixed. Spices,—one tablespoonful of good ginger, three of cinnamon, a whole nutmeg, a teaspoonful of cloves. Roll out thin, and bake in a quick oven.
Take one pint of risen dough; work into it one cup full of butter, and two of sugar, one tablespoonful of cinnamon; set it in a dripping pan, and pour over it a little melted butter and some cinnamon; set it to rise, and when light, add more cinnamon, and butter, and bake. Cut them in square cakes.
A porcelain kettle is the best for preserves. Have a ladle with a long handle, and pierced with holes. The sugar should be the best loaf sugar. All soft fruit should be done gently, and not allowed to remain longer than half an hour after it begins to cook, till it is laid on dishes. This makes the fruit more firm.
Get the finest cling-stone peaches; take out the stone without disfiguring them; lay them after they are pared in half of their weight of sugar, allowing a pound of sugar to a pound of peaches; let them remain two hours: then put both sugar and peaches in the kettle together; let them boil till clear, skimming 117 them frequently. Have some of the kernels cracked, and preserve them with the peaches.
The heath cling-stone are the best for this purpose. Half a pound of sugar to a pound of peaches. Throw into boiling pearl-ash water for a moment: then take them out and rub the skin off with a coarse towel, and throw them into cold water; make a syrup with as little water as possible; put in the peaches to boil, until they begin to look clear; then take up the peaches, and let the syrup boil ten minutes longer, mixing equal quantities of the syrup and the best white brandy. Put the peaches in jars: pour over the syrup, and seal them.
Take free-stone peaches; pare and slice them, allowing half a pound of sugar to one of the peaches. Sprinkle the sugar over them and let them stand two hours: then put them down to cook. Stir and mash them; let them cook gently, till they are a transparent pulp; then take it off, put into jars, and seal them.
Take fine large quinces; pare and core them; cut them round half an inch thick; then put them in the preserving kettle with the skins and cores, with water enough to cover them; let them boil till they look clear: take them up; strain the juice; put it back again into the kettle with the sugar, allowing 118 three quarters of a pound to a pound of quinces: let the syrup boil slowly; skim it, and put it in the quinces for twenty minutes.
Put down the quinces, after mashing and quartering them, in sufficient water to cover them; let them boil slowly more than half a day: then strain the juice, and add a pound of sugar to a pint of the juice. Let it boil till it jellies.
Boil your quinces till soft: when cool, pass them through a cullender; add half a pound of sugar to a pint of the pulp; let it boil till it will jelly.
Leave the stems on, and stick a clove in the blossom end, after paring them; make a syrup of a pint of water to half a pound of sugar; skim it, and put in the pears: let them boil till clear.
Gather those that look clear, not very large; put them down to boil with plenty of water. Throw this water off; then add more water and some green ginger; let this boil till the water tastes of the ginger very strong: allow three quarters of a pound of sugar to a quart of juice; make a syrup and put in the tomatoes; let them boil till clear. The syrup, when boiled down, will make a nice jelly. 119
Pare the melon, and cut it in any shape you fancy; put it down to boil in a strong ginger water; after it has boiled ten minutes take it up; make a syrup, allowing a pound of sugar to a quart of the water; add slices of lemon; cut them; put in your citron: when clear, it is done.
To nine pounds of peaches, take three pounds of sugar, and one pint of vinegar; make a syrup; then put in the fruit. Soft free-stone peaches are the best; let them boil ten minutes.
Plums are prepared in the same way as peaches, also cantelopes before they are ripe; add cloves, mace and allspice, to the taste: make the syrup; put in the plums, and let boil ten minutes; or pour the boiling vinegar and spices over the plums.
Put the blackberries down to stew, with sugar to the taste; thicken with a little flour; keep stirring till it is done, which will be in ten minutes. This is sometimes called blackberry mush.
Wash the currants; then spread them on a dish in the sun to dry; then put them in a stone crock, and set the crock in boiling water till the currants 120 are soft; then strain them through a flannel bag or a hair sieve; press all the juice out; allow a pound of the best loaf sugar to a pint of the juice; boil twenty minutes, not longer. Another way is to pour the boiling juice on the sugar: this makes much prettier jelly, but not so rich.
Cut up some fine pippin apples; do not pare them; let them boil till quite tender: then strain the juice and put it down with sugar, allowing three quarters of a pound to a pint of juice; put in while boiling, some lemon peel: when the jelly is done, which will be as soon as it is thick, take out the lemon peel. Put the jelly in half-pint tumblers.
Put the grapes on to boil with a little water; mash them, and when the juice is well out, strain it; add a pint of juice to a pound of sugar; boil until it jellies.
Allow one pound of sugar to a pound of cherries; take out the stones with a quill; boil the juice and the sugar; skim it well, and then put in the fruit: when clear, they are done.
Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit; stir it well, and when it is a thick jelly, it is done. 121
The medium size are the best and the firmest; allow a pound of sugar to a quart of the fruit; sprinkle them with sugar for a couple of hours; then put all into the kettle together; skim it well, and let them boil twenty minutes; be very careful not to mash them.
Stick them with a large needle; make a syrup of a pound of the fruit to three quarters of sugar; then put in the fruit; let them boil slowly till they clear.
Strawberry jam is made in the same manner as raspberry jam.
Grate them; allow a pound of sugar to a pint of the fruit; after it has been grated, half an hour will cook it sufficiently.
Scald and wipe them dry; a pound of fruit to a pound of sugar; water sufficient to make a syrup; boil and take off the skum; put in the apricots: boil slowly till the fruit is clear.
Take a pound of sugar to a pint of the fruit; scald the plums and wipe them; pierce them with a needle; put very little water to the sugar; when 122 the syrup boils, put in the plums. Have a slow fire, and let them boil till they are clear; take out the plums, and spread them on dishes to cool; put the syrup in a tureen, and set all away till perfectly cold. Then put some of the plums in half pint tumblers, nearly filling them full of the syrup, which will be very rich; pour on the top of each tumbler a dessert spoonful of good brandy. Cut a round piece of white paper the size of the top of the tumbler; soak it in brandy, and lay it on top; then cover it tight by pasting paper over. Preserves properly done and put up in this way will be as good at the end of three years as the first. Glass tumblers are excellent for putting up jelly and preserves. Prune plums, egg plums, and the common blue plums may all be done in the same way.
The rinds are cut in various fancy forms; make a strong salt and water; put them in with cabbage leaves as for greening; keep them near the fire, turning them very often, till they become yellow; have a kettle of alum water ready; wash the rinds, and put them in the kettle with cabbage leaves over and under them and between every layer; put the kettle on the fire; do not let them come to a boil, but keep them scalding over two hours; when they are green, put them in cold water for three days; change the water several times. Some persons make two syrups; but one will be sufficient, by 123 making a syrup of a pound and a quarter of sugar to one of melon; drop in some ginger; boil twenty-five minutes.
Pack the pine apple, after it is peeled and cut into slices, in a jar with a layer of sugar on every layer of the fruit; set the jar for fifteen minutes in a kettle of boiling water; cover it tight, and keep it in a dry place.
Make a syrup of a pound of sugar for a pound of fruit; put in the apples after skimming the syrup; let them boil till they are clear. Some persons make a second syrup, and keep the first for cordial.
Pare and cut the peaches in slices; make a syrup of half a pound of sugar to one of fruit; put the peaches in and let them scald; then take them out, put them on a flat dish, and set the syrup away; next day repeat the process; then put them in the oven, after the bread comes out, on a flat dish; do this till they are dry; pack them in jars, sprinkling sugar over each layer. The syrup will make cordial.
Get the limes green; take out all the inside very carefully with a pen-knife, then lay them for twenty-four 124 hours in salt and water; take them out, wash and scald them till all of the salt is out; make a syrup with three quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of limes; skim it, and put in the fruit; let them boil till clear. It is better to boil the limes in water for twenty minutes before they go in the syrup.
The vinegar for pickling should be the best kind of cider vinegar.
Have the melons of a good size, solid, but not large; put them in a crock, and pour over them salt and water, boiling hot; let them remain for three days; take them out of the pickle, cut a hole in the side, scrape out the inside; make a dressing of the following articles; some cucumbers cut fine, some cabbage, onions, horse-radish, race ginger, mustard seed, mace, and cloves; mix all well together and fill the mangoes; sew up the mangoes, put the top on, lay them in a jar, and pour over them boiling vinegar. They will be fit for use in three months.
The small white onions are the best; pour boiling salt and water over them, and let them stand till 125 cold; repeat this several times; then put them in a jar and pour boiling vinegar over them; cover tight, and put them away for three weeks, when they are fit to use.
Gather the small cucumbers; put in brine for a day and night; then pour off the water, put them in jars, and pour boiling vinegar over them, with whole ears of pepper and allspice if you like.
Gherkins, radish pods, and beans may be pickled according to the above receipt.
Nasturtions should be young: pour boiling salt and water over them; let them stand till cold; pour it off and repeat it; let it stand two days, then pour off the water; add cold vinegar with a little mace.
Have ripe tomatoes; the small ones are the best; put them in a jar, with salt over each layer; next day take them out, and wipe them off; wash the jar; wipe it perfectly dry; put them in again in the same manner; let them stand another day; then drain and wipe them; put them in a clean jar with mustard seed, cloves, and whole grains of pepper; and if preferred some onions sliced; pour cold vinegar over them, and put them away.
Get some good green peppers; cut a hole at the top, and take out the seed; lay them in salt and 126 water for two days; then wash them; fill them with cabbage, horse-radish, mustard seed, and onions, all chopped fine with pepper and cloves. Boil the vinegar and pour over them.
Gather the nuts in the beginning of July; put them in strong salt and water for a week; take them out, wash and drain them; lay them in a stone jar; boil some good vinegar with pepper grains, mustard seed, mace, and cloves; pour this boiling hot over the nuts, and let them stand a week; then take them and put on fresh vinegar with the spices which were in the first vinegar; in a month look at them; if the vinegar has lost its strength, boil fresh and pour over: this will be fit to use in six months.
Gather the small mushrooms; peel and mash them; put them in a jar; add a little mace and white mustard; cold vinegar sufficient to cover them.
Wash them and cut them in slices, with an equal number of white onions; put in a jar with a layer of tomatoes, then a layer of onions and salt; let them remain twenty-four hours; take them out; have some good vinegar and pepper, white mustard seed, and cloves; mix some mustard, flour, and turmeric, with the vinegar; and when boiling hot, put in the tomatoes and onions; let them boil ten minutes; 127 then take them up, and put them away; in two weeks they will be fit for use; at the end of that time boil the vinegar again, and pour over them.
Piccalille is made in the same manner, only the vinegar must be cold when it is poured on: omit the cloves, as they will make them dark, and use white vinegar.
Cut the cauliflower in small pieces, but long, so as to show the flower; lay them twenty-four hours in salt and water; then take out and wash and drain them for two hours; add to the vinegar, mustard seed, horse-radish, ginger, allspice, and mace; boil for ten minutes, and pour over the cauliflower.
Cut up the cabbage with a slaw cutter; sprinkle it with salt in alternate layers; let it stand twenty-four hours; then take it out and drain it; put it in a jar, and pour boiling vinegar, with horse-radish, black pepper, and cloves; cover it; when nearly cold, tie up the jar.
Wash the tomatoes; cut them in slices; put them into a stone jar, with alternate layers of tomatoes and salt, till the jar is nearly full. Set them in the sun every day for a week. Bring them in at night, 128 or if it is cloudy at the end of that time, put them in a bell metal kettle, which must be very clean; let them get well heated; take them up, and strain them through a sieve; let some of the pulp pass through, but not the seeds or the skins; boil it for two hours, with whole grains of black pepper and cloves. Otherwise, you may add mustard seed, cayenne pepper, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. When cold, bottle: cork tight, and rosin the tops.
Take full grown mushrooms; put them in a stone jar with layers of salt. Break up the mushrooms, and cover the jar close. Let them remain ten days. Stir several times a day. Then strain off the liquor and boil it, and season with the following ingredients, whole pepper, mustard seed, cloves and ginger. Boil thirty minutes; when quite cold, bottle it; put into each bottle a gill of vinegar. They should be corked tightly.
Put them in salt and water for eight days. Take them out and mash them well; to fifteen walnuts allow one quart of vinegar; let it stand for eight or ten days, stirring it very often. Then strain it; season with mace, cloves and pepper; boil twenty minutes, and when cold, bottle. This receipt will answer for either English or the common black walnuts. 129
Gather and pick the berries. To every quart of the berries add a quart of water; after they have been mashed in a clean tub, let them lie three days, stirring it very often. Then strain it; sweeten to your taste; put the juice in a kettle, and boil it an hour and twenty minutes, with a little ginger and cloves; then put it in a cask, and when cold, if you have four gallons, stir in a tea-cup full of yeast: after it has fermented, add a little brandy.
To two gallons of brandy, add three quarts of wild cherries; mash a pint of them, and break the stone. In two weeks they will be fit for use.
Take three pints of the juice of the black-berry, three pounds of the best loaf sugar, one pint of good brandy, one ounce of cinnamon and cloves, each: boil half an hour, and skim it well. This is very good for children.
Fill a jar with rose leaves; pour over some good French brandy; let it stand twenty-four hours; take out the leaves, and add fresh ones. Do this till the brandy is sufficiently strong with the roses. The jar must be kept covered: when done, bottle it. 130
Blanch two pounds of almonds; pound them in a marble mortar, adding a little rose water to keep them from oiling. Then boil one quart of milk with a small piece of cinnamon, and when cold, put in the almonds: let it boil for ten minutes, then strain, and when cold, bottle it.
To one pint of lemon juice, add a pound of sugar. Strain the juice before you put in the sugar, then let it stand till the sugar is dissolved; stir it often. Then bottle it; add a gill of French brandy to each bottle; cork it up tight: cover with rosin. To be kept in a cool place.
To a quart of alcohol, add two drachms of essence of bergamot, and the same of essence of lemon; one drachm of oil of rosemary and lavender; put all into a bottle, shake well together, and cork up tight.
To one quart of currant juice, take two pounds of loaf sugar; put the sugar in the juice, and let it stand all night; then put in half a pint of spirits, and the juice of three lemons. Bottle, and set it away for use.
To a pint of English raspberries, take a pint of white wine vinegar; pour the vinegar on the raspberries, 131 and let it stand all night, then strain it through a bag; add another pint of raspberries, and let it stand a day; then strain it; to each pint of the liquor, add a pound of sugar; put it into a jar, and set the jar in a pan of boiling water for half an hour. When it is cold, bottle it.
Take two quarts of black-berry juice, one and a half pounds of best loaf sugar, a half ounce of nutmeg, one ounce cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and the same of cloves and allspice pounded fine; boil all together for twenty minutes; when cold, add one pint of the best French brandy. The berries should be fresh, and if kept more than a year, add a little more brandy.
Morella cherries are the best. Pick, and mash them; put them in a jar, and set the jar in a pot of boiling water, for two hours, then strain through a flannel bag. Sweeten with the best loaf sugar; bottle it, and put a little brandy in each bottle. Sealed air tight. Keep in a cool place.
Have some good morella cherries. Get a small cask, one holding about five quarts; fill it nearly with cherries; add two quarts of water; the water should be hot; let it stand full three hours, then add one quart of brandy; let it stand four days; add two quarts more of water, and one of brandy; let 132 it stand two more days, then drain it off: wash out the cask well. Put your juice on the fire with sugar, (say half a pound of sugar to two quarts of the juice) let it boil fifteen minutes; skim it; take it off, and let it get perfectly cold, then put it in the cask, and set it away. If it is too strong of the brandy, add water.
Boil some sassafras root, cut fine, and half as much hops, in five gallons of water; add, while hot, two quarts of molasses, one tablespoonful of spruce, and the same of powdered ginger, and a little allspice; when perfectly cold, put it into a cask; add a gill of good yeast; mix it well. After it has fermented, bottle it.
To prepare mead, take two pounds and a half of honey; add three quarts and a pint of warm water. Mix it well, and when it is dissolved in the water, pour it into the cask. After it has fermented and is clear, bottle in stone bottles, and cork tight.
Take a calf’s head; wash and soak it for one hour. Then put it down early in the morning with four quarts of water to boil. When you can separate the meat from the bones easily, take it up. Be careful 133 to take out all the bones, and chop the meat very fine. Then put on your soup to boil again, with two onions, a bunch of parsley and thyme, seasoned with pepper and salt, with a little flour made very smooth in water, allspice, cloves, and mace. Have ready a small piece of butter boiling hot, into which put white sugar and half a tumbler full of claret wine; put this in a pitcher; add as much of this as you wish; when you first put on the soup (the quantity will depend upon the colour you wish the soup,) boil three eggs hard; take the yolks and one of the whites, mash them up fine with a little flour; fry them a light brown. Keep the pan moving all the time. Before you put on the head take out the brains; boil them for a few minutes. Then chop them up, and put them in with the eggs and half a tumbler full of Madeira wine, just before you dish the soup. A little mushroom catsup will improve this soup very much. Beef soup made in this way is very good.
After cleaning it well, put it down to boil with one gallon of water. When it is half done, take up the meat; cut it up in small pieces, carefully removing all the bones. Put the meat in the soup with a quart of beef stock: season with black and cayenne pepper and salt. Fry two onions; cut in thin slices, in butter, and stir in a little flour to thicken the gravy; put this in the soup. About ten minutes before serving it up, put in some chives and 134 parsley chopped fine, with egg balls made as in the above receipt, with two spoonsful of mushroom catsup and one of soy, and a pint of white wine. Squeeze a lemon in the tureen, and pour the soup upon it. This is very good.
Take a large calf’s head, wash it very clean, and let it boil an hour and a half. Then take it up, removing all the meat from the bones; skim the soup well; add two quarts of veal stock, and put in the meat after cutting it in small square pieces; add three large onions, half an ounce of cloves, and nutmeg and mace; chop very fine all kinds of sweet herbs. Strain off the liquor. Put a quarter of a pound of butter in a pan on the fire, and when it is hot, stir in some flour and a little sugar. Put this in the soup, stirring it well: season it to your taste: add eggs, balls fried, and a pint of wine. Serve it up hot.
In most of the markets the turtle can be bought cleaned and ready for cooking. If not, place it on its back to make it extend itself. Then cut off its head and fins; let it bleed freely; when quite dead, cut the belly part clean off, take out the gall and the sand bag. Draw and wash the entrails well. Scald the black meat, so that the skin will come off, which must be done very carefully. Cut the meat in joints like a chicken, then put it down with five quarts of water. Let it boil till soft, (which will depend 135 upon the turtle; if it is old, it will take a long time.) Make forcemeat balls of one pound and a half of veal, chopped fine, with parsley, thyme, pepper, salt, and two eggs and flour to thicken; fry them in butter and lard; put half a pound of butter in the pan, and when hot, stir in enough flour to thicken it. Put these all in the soup, and season with pepper, cayenne and black, with salt to your taste; let it simmer, till the flour is well cooked: put in just as you dish it up, one quart of Madeira wine. This is very superior.
Boil a small piece of beef or the scrag end of the neck of veal: season it with pepper and salt, and let it boil very gently till the meat is well cooked. Then strain it. Beat the yolks of two eggs well, with some chopped parsley, and pour the soup in the tureen on the eggs. Keep stirring it all the time. A little rice will improve this soup very much: put the soup in the boiler again, after it is strained, and cook till done.
Take two quarts of clams. After they are opened, cut off the beards and put them down to cook, with equal quantities of the water and the liquor. Take four crackers pounded fine and rolled in butter; stir in very gently: season with pepper, salt, chopped parsley, a little mace, and add a pint of sweet cream, just before you take it up. 136
Oyster soup is made as clam soup, only omitting parsley and substituting a little mace.
In a pint of boiling water put half a wine-glass full of wine; beat up the yolk of one egg; when the water and wine boils, pour it out into a bowl; then on the egg; continue to pour it from one bowl to another, two or three times; then add a small piece of butter, a little sugar and nutmeg.
Take the terrapins one at a time, and immerse them in boiling water for half a minute; take them out and remove the skin; put them back into hot water, and watch them carefully that they do not boil too much; (some will be done in half an hour, others will take much longer. They are sufficiently done when the feet are soft to the touch.) Take off the shell and remove the sand bag and the gall, (which will be found in the liver; the sand bag is full of water;) then put them down to stew with one pound of best butter to three good-sized terrapins: season with red and a little black pepper; (no salt;) when they are perfectly heated through, put in the following dressing, and when it boils furnish the seasoning with a little salt, &c., if required. Dressing,—Take three yolks of hard-boiled eggs, to one large terrapin; mash them up 137 fine, and add the best Madeira, a little at a time, until you make a thin paste; stir this into the terrapins, and add more wine, if necessary. There should be just dressing enough to float near to the top of your terrapin in the saucepan.
One gallon of water, one quart of cream, the juice of a dozen lemons, one pint of the best brandy, and a pint of rum; sugar to the taste; to be frozen before the cream goes in. The cream stirred in and frozen again.
One bushel of apples baked on white paper, and strained next day through a sieve, three gallons of water, one gallon of brandy, three quarts of Jamaica spirits; sweeten to your taste.
Half boil some veal; then cut it in small pieces; season it with cayenne pepper, salt, nutmeg, parsley and a little butter: make a good paste; line the sides of a deep dish; put in the meat, and add some cream; have a small cup in the middle of the pie; cut across the centre, and turn back the sides to let the steam escape: bake slowly.
They are very good cooked as pheasants or stewed like chickens. 138
Boil some string beans in as little water as they can be cooked in, with salt; when nearly done, have some corn cut from the ears put in, and season with pepper, salt, butter and a little cream; twenty minutes will be long enough for the corn to cook; but the beans will require an hour and a half. In winter, succotash can be made with dried corn and beans; let them both soak all night in the water you boil them in, after washing them well.
Take fine large shad, and when they are thoroughly cleaned and washed, split them in two and cut them in square pieces. Place a layer of fish in a stone crock; (a glazed one will not answer;) sprinkle over it salt, cloves, whole pepper and mace; thus continue till your crock is filled; pour over it the best pure cider vinegar; cover the mouth of the crock with a bladder, which should be tied down sufficiently tight, to prevent the steam from escaping; place it in a moderately warm oven, and let it bake for several hours. It is a good plan to send it to a bake-house, and let it be put in a brick oven, after the bread is taken out. If properly done, the bones will all be dissolved, and it will be almost equal to salmon.
To one shin of beef and one of veal, add eight quarts of water, and salt to the taste; skim it well, 139 and let it boil till it is quite thick: take out all the meat, and pour off the stock; set it away till next day: you can add some of this to your soup, and it will improve it very much. Geese, ducks, and chickens are very good stewed in stock made after the above receipt, and then browned in an oven.
Parboil them; then cut in small pieces; season with pepper, salt, and nutmeg; put them down to stew in some veal gravy, and just before you take them up, add some mushroom catsup and a glass of wine.
Half boil them; then take them up; lard them with ham, and roast before the fire: season with cayenne pepper, salt and mushroom catsup.
Cut in small pieces; have two onions fried brown; put it down in a little good gravy; just before you dish it, season with pepper, salt, a little currant jelly and wine, or a spoonful of walnut pickle.
Beat to a cream a quarter of a pound of butter and half a pound of sugar, rose water to the taste, half a pound of flour; stir all well together, and drop them on buttered paper, and bake: ornament with sugar plums. 140
One pound of butter, one and a half of sugar, two pounds of flour, nine eggs, two pounds of currants, and a little soda dissolved in milk.
Flour, one pound; sugar, one pound and a half, ten eggs, and a large tea-cup full of water. The water must be poured over the sugar and put on the fire to dissolve, and come nearly to the boil; meanwhile, beat the eggs separately very light; then mix them together, and add the dissolved sugar, beating it in the egg very hard; lastly, stir in the flour very slowly.
One pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of flour, five eggs, five ounces of almonds or ground-nuts, blanched and pounded. Cut into cakes and bake.
Half a pound of butter, one of sugar, six eggs, and one large cocoa-nut grated.
Half a pound of butter warmed, four eggs well beaten, four tea-cups full of fine white sugar, two quarts of flour, four teaspoonsful of cream of tartar, two of soda, four tea-cups full of milk; stir all well together; flavour with grated lemon peel, and bake in a moderate oven. 141
Have some moderate-sized cooking apples; pare and core without cutting them open. Let them boil slowly till they are tender, with some slices of lemon; when they are done, take them up, and add sugar enough to the liquor to make a syrup; put the apples in, and let them boil till clear; put in half an ounce of isinglass dissolved; lay a slice of lemon on each apple, and pour the jelly around them.
Take the juice and peel of one large lemon, two glasses of wine, and one of brandy; sugar to the taste; to this add a pint of whipped cream; arrange it in glasses.
Grate the white part of the cocoa-nut, and pile it up in the middle; this is nice to eat with preserves or fruit, and is a delicate relish for tea.
To two bowls of cottage cheese, add ten eggs, and half a pint of cream, mace, cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg, to the taste; add a little brandy; bake in puff paste.
Blanch a pound of sweet almonds, and a few bitter; pound them in a mortar, with a little rose-water; add ten eggs, beaten very light, and sugar 142 to the taste; a glass of brandy, and some lemon peel; bake in puff paste. You may take equal quantities of almonds and cocoa-nut.
Take out all the inside, and lay them in salt and water for two days; then wash them well; put them in fresh water; let them boil till tender; then take them up; throw off the water; and make a syrup with half their weight of sugar; put in the peel for twenty minutes; then take them up; and when the syrup is thick, pour over the peel; put them in jars, and cover tightly. This may be used as citron.
To half a pound of grated cheese, add the yolks of six eggs, and half a pound of butter; stir all together; add some cayenne pepper, and bake.
Scald the cucumbers in brine; let them stand till cold; repeat this three times; then put them in jars, pouring on vinegar, with a small quantity of whisky in each jar; let them stand for three months; they will be hard and green.
Grease the saucepan with butter; then put in the molasses, with a little brown sugar; let it boil for half an hour, stirring it all the while; when it is brittle, it is done. If you like, add the kernels of 143 any kind of nuts you prefer: just before taking up, pour into buttered tin pans, and set away to cool.
Make a thick syrup; then throw in the kernels of any kind of nuts you prefer; have buttered tin pans, and pour it out.
Three quarts of water, four of gelatine, three pounds of sugar, the whites of five eggs, one pint of wine, and six tablespoonsful of brandy, and six lemons, peel and juice. The gelatine must be soaked in one quart of water for half an hour; stir all the ingredients, except the brandy, well together, before it is put on the fire; first beating the white very light. Let it boil ten minutes without disturbing it; then strain it through a jelly strainer.
One ounce of moss, one quart of water, three tablespoonsful of sugar, half a pint of wine; boil ten minutes, and strain.
Make a salve of raw carrots; grate and stew them in lard; when done, strain it. Another salve can be made of the leaves and bark of black alder, stewed in lard. Raw cranberries, cut in half and mashed, are an excellent application. 144
Put two quarts of elder-berries in a kettle, with some water, say a pint; stir and mash them well; when the juice is all extracted, strain it, and add two pounds of the best loaf sugar; let this simmer twenty minutes. This is good for colds, and sore throat, and is a great purifier of the blood.
Mash your currants well, and strain them through a sieve; to one pint of juice, put one pound of loaf sugar; boil twenty minutes. Quince jelly is also very good for the throat. The seeds should always be kept, as they are very good for sore mouth or throat.
Take out all the inside; then let them soak in salt and water twenty-four hours; take them out; wash them well, and let them boil for ten minutes; throw off the water; make a rich syrup; after boiling the peel till they are tender, put them in the syrup; let them boil for ten minutes; and when the syrup is thick, pour it over the peel.
Beat to a cream one pound of sugar, and three quarters of a pound of butter; beat separately nine eggs; put them into the cake; add the juice and grated rind of a lemon, and a wine-glass full of brandy; 145 then add one pound of sifted flour; and just before it is put in the pans, a pound of seeded raisins.
One quart of molasses, one pound of brown sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, cloves, and ginger, to the taste; with very little cayenne pepper; flour enough to roll it out. The cake must be very thin, and bake in a slow oven.
One cup full of butter, two cups full of sugar, and one cup full of molasses, one of cream, and a teaspoonful of soda; dissolve in a small quantity of thick milk a tablespoonful of ginger, two eggs, a glass of wine, and flour sufficient to roll out thin.
Two pounds of butter, and the same of flour, one quarter of a pound of ginger, an ounce of cake seed, the same of cloves, and cinnamon, one quart of molasses, three quarters of a pound of sugar, and nutmeg; roll out thin, and bake.
Three cups full of sugar, one cup full of butter, six eggs, five cups full of flour, one teaspoonful of soda; season with lemons or almonds to the taste.
Cut fine half a pound of butter, in three quarters of flour, half a pound of sugar, a glass of wine and 146 brandy, rose water, and spice to your taste; then mix in two ounces of flour, reserving two ounces to mould them in.
Take one pound of sugar, half a pound of butter, six eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, one cup full of sour milk, one pound of flour; season to the taste.
Here we may observe that neatness in serving up, as well as care and cleanliness in the preparation, makes food for the sick room more likely to be attractive to the fastidious appetite of the invalid.
Wash well a tea-cup full of pearl barley; put it in a sauce pan, with two quarts of water, and a small cup full of raisins; boil it to a quart; then strain, and add sugar, nutmeg, and lemon juice, to your taste.
Mix smoothly a dessert spoonful of meal, with two of cold water; pour on a pint of boiling water, and let it boil for fifteen minutes, stirring all the time; sugar or salt may be added as preferred. Wine is sometimes used.
Wash several times in cold water, three tablespoonsful of corn meal; pouring off the water as it 147 settles; then pour on a quart of water, and boil, stirring all the time; add a little salt; strain and sweeten, adding butter, wine, and nutmeg.
Mix a dessert spoonful of arrow root smoothly, in a little cold water; pour on it a pint of boiling water; let it boil five minutes; then sweeten to your taste, and add nutmeg and wine. If richer food is required, this can be made in the same way, with milk instead of water.
To half a pint of boiling milk, add one glass full of sherry wine, and a little sugar; let it boil until the curd has separated, and strain through a fine sieve.
Stir into a pint of boiling water, a tablespoonful of rice flour, which has been mixed with a little water; let it boil fifteen minutes, stirring all the time; then season with sugar and nutmeg, or a little cream.
Upon a gill of good tamarinds, pour a pint of boiling water; cover it, and let it stand until cold, with a lump of ice: it is very grateful to a feverish person. Both currant and quince jelly make pleasant drinks, prepared in the same way. 148
Pour on a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, a tumbler full of boiling water; sweeten to your taste, with loaf sugar, and drink as hot as possible, upon getting into bed; a teaspoonful of nitre in it is excellent for a fever, or a cold.
Squeeze and strain the juice of six lemons into three pints of ice water; sweeten to your taste: by adding a gill of good French brandy, it will be lemon punch. Some persons prefer it made with boiling water, and then cooled with ice.
Slice one potato, one turnip, one onion, one carrot, and a little celery; boil in a quart of water one hour; toast some bread nicely; cut in small pieces, and lay in a bowl: add salt to the soup, and pour over the toast.
Let the water be boiled and cooled; then toast bread of a deep brown, and pour over it the water; let it stand half an hour. A small piece of dried lemon or orange peel gives it a pleasant taste.
Sago should be well washed; put a tablespoonful in a pint of milk, and boil it until it is quite soft; sweeten to the taste, and add wine or lemon juice. 149 Tapioca is made in the same way, but does not require so much washing.
Pour upon one ounce of carrageen (after it has been well washed) one quart of warm water; cover it, and let it stand on top of a stove all night: it will form a tasteless jelly, which when sweetened and seasoned with lemon, is palatable and strengthening.
Take a quarter of a pound of crackers; pour on them two quarts of water; boil down to one quart; strain it: add one pound of sugar, one pint of Madeira wine, and a little nutmeg.
Take a tender, juicy piece of beef; cut into small pieces; put into a bottle with a little salt, and a tablespoonful of water: place the bottle in a pan of hot water, and let it boil three quarters of an hour.
Cut up into small pieces a pound of juicy beef; cover it with a quart of water, and let it stand for two hours: then boil it until it is reduced to a pint; let it cool: skim off all the grease; then boil again; drink it while warm. 150
Pour upon a tea-cup full of the leaves of dried balm, a pint of boiling water; let it stand fifteen minutes, when it is ready for use.
Wash in cold water the leg and wing of a young chicken; put it in a stew pan, with a pint of water and a little salt; cover it, and let it boil twenty minutes; then skim and strain it.
Cut a thin slice from a loaf of stale baker’s bread; toast it a light brown. Boil half a pint of milk, and a small piece of butter ten minutes; then sprinkle in a little salt, and pour over the toast. Cream toast is made in the same way.
To one quart of water, add one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: do not change the water.
Get the gum camphor; as soon as you can do without the furs, beat them, and put small pieces of camphor rolled in paper, in, and around them; sew them up tightly in linen, and keep in a cool place. Black pepper will not prevent the moths getting in, nor will it kill them. 151
Wash them in clean suds as hot as you can bear the hands in; then in water of the same temperature, with a little soap in, but not so much as the first; rinse in hot water, and hang up immediately.
Never put soap on the windows, but wash them off with a shammy, and then dry them with the same; if the shammy cannot be obtained, paper will answer, but it is not so good.
Wash them well with water, with a little soap and soda in it, also some clean coarse sand or rice to get the marks out.
Wash out the grease spots before putting the dress in, as the spots cannot be seen after it is wet; wash them well through two suds; then rinse them, throwing a little salt in the water to set the colours; starch and hang them in the shade, as the sun will fade them. If the calico is black, make the starch water as blue as possible. Wash, and hang up quickly.
Herbs should be gathered on a dry day, just before they blossom. Wash them and hang them in 152 a dry place; as soon as they are dry, put them in a paper bag. Sage, sweet marjoram, summer savoury, and thyme should be pounded fine, and kept in bottles corked tight. When parsley is dry, cut it fine, and keep in bottles.
Make a strong tea of hoarhound; then strain it, and add half a pound of the best loaf sugar, to a pint of the tea: let it simmer till thick; then bottle it, and take a little two or three times a day.
Make a sage tea by boiling some sage leaves; when strong, add honey and some alum or borax. Gargle the throat with this often through the day.
Rub the part with hot tallow, or with hartshorn, or wet clay.
Mix in a tumbler full of warm water one teaspoonful of the flour of mustard; drink while warm: it will make the patient throw off the poison. This is good for the cramp.
When the skin is not off, apply scraped raw potatoes. When the skin is off, apply sweet oil and cotton, or linseed oil and lime water made into a paste. Elder ointment is very good: make the 153 ointment of the green bark of the elder; stew in lard.
Linseed oil and lime water mixed in a paste, is also an excellent cure.
Dip them in boiling water; then wrap them for a few moments in flannel, and pick them, holding them by the feet, with the head down; be careful to dry the feathers as soon as possible. A very good way to cure feathers is to put them several times in a brick oven after the bread comes out: then let them lie on the ground for several days, bringing them in at night. This will take away all the disagreeable smell which is so unpleasant in feathers when they are not properly dried.
Rub the stain with lemon juice and salt, or a little hot tallow; when the lemon juice and salt are used, it must go in the sun for several hours; then rinse it: new milk boiling hot will take out most kinds of fruit stains; dip in them when dry, and repeat it often.
Shake them well; then spread them on a clean floor, and rub them with a soft brush dipped in camphine, or with a piece of cloth: when they are dry, if the grease is not out, repeat the operation. 154
Rub the spots with a sponge dipped in camphine; rub, or if the article soiled be silk, spread magnesia on the wrong side; let it remain for a day or two; then brush it off, and the spot will have disappeared.
The iron filings from the blacksmith shop are excellent to clean knives and forks with. Rotten stone or fine brick dust is also very good. Do not put the handles in hot water, as this injures them; wipe them dry, and keep them rolled in brown paper.
All brass and copper utensils should be well cleaned before using them, with hot vinegar and salt, then washed in hot water; keep the vessel warm till ready for use; when done with it, clean it well, and keep in a dry place.
Rub them well with sweet oil and whitening; when dry, rub them off with buckskin. If they are well washed in hot soap suds, and rinsed in clean hot water every day, and let dry quickly near the fire or in the sun, they will seldom require rubbing.
Mix some British lustre with alum water; put it on with a brush, and with a dry brush rub it off. 155
Take off all the outside husks; fasten the inside ones down tight, and pack in barrels or boxes with salt in alternate layers; keep in a cool place, or the corn will heat and spoil.
Gather the bunches on a dry day; be careful that the grapes are all sound; pack them in sawdust or cotton: put them in a box; fasten it up, and keep in a dry place. 156 157
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.