Chapter V: Part 5
To clean the giblets: Cut the gall-bag from the lobe of the liver, cutting a little of the liver with it, so as not to cut into the bag. Press the heart between the finger and thumb, to extract all the blood. With a sharp knife, cut lightly around the gizzard, and draw off the outer coat, leaving the lining coat whole. If you cannot do that (and it does require practice), cut in two, and after removing the filling, take out the lining. When the poultry is to be boiled, and is stuffed, the vent must be sewed with mending cotton or soft twine. Unless the bird is full of dressing, this will not be necessary in roasting.
Fowl and Pork.
Clean and truss, pin in the floured cloth and put into water in which one pound of rather lean pork has been boiling three hours. The time of cooking depends upon the age of the fowl. If they are not more than a year old an hour and a half will be enough, but if very old they may need three hours. The quantity of pork given is for only a pair of fowl, and more must be used if a large number of birds be cooked. Serve with egg sauce. The liquor should be saved for soups.
Boiled Fowl with Macaroni.
Break twelve sticks of macaroni in pieces about two inches long; throw them into one quart of boiling water, add a table-spoonful of salt and half a table-spoonful of pepper. Boil rapidly for twelve minutes; then take up, and drain off all the water. Season with one table-spoonful of butter and one teaspoonful of salt. After the fowl have been singed and cleaned, stuff with the macaroni. Truss them, and then pin in a floured cloth and plunge into enough boiling water to cover them. Boil rapidly for fifteen minutes; then set back where they will just simmer for from one and a half to two and a half hours. The time of cooking depends upon the age of the birds. Serve with an egg or Bechamel sauce. The quantity of macaroni given is for two fowl. Plain boiled macaroni should be served with this dish.
Boiled Turkey with Celery.
Chop half a head of celery very fine. Mix with it one quart of bread crumbs, two scant table-spoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two heaping table-spoonfuls of butter and two eggs. Stuff the turkey with this; sew up and truss. Wring a large square of white cotton cloth out of cold water, and dredge it thickly with flour. Pin the turkey in this, and plunge into boiling water. Let it boil rapidly for fifteen minutes; then set back where it will simmer. Allow three hours for a turkey weighing nine pounds, and twelve minutes for every additional pound. Serve with celery sauce. The stuffing may be made the same as above, only substitute oysters for celery, and serve with oyster sauce.
Boiled Turkey.
Clean and truss the same as for roasting. Rub into it two spoonfuls of salt, and put into boiling water to cover. Simmer gently three hours, if it weighs nine or ten pounds, and is tender. If old and tough it will take longer. Serve with oyster, celery or egg sauce. Pour some of the sauce over the turkey, and serve the rest in a gravy boat.
Roast Turkey.
Proceed the same with a turkey as with a chicken, allowing one hour and three-quarters for a turkey weighing eight pounds, and ten minutes for every additional pound.
Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing and Sauce.
Clean the turkey, and lard the breast. Throw fifty large chestnuts into boiling water for a few minutes; then take them up, and rub off the thin, dark skin. Cover them with boiling water, and simmer for one hour; take them up, and mash fine. Chop one pound of veal and half a pound of salt pork very fine. Add half of the chestnuts to this, and add, also, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two table-spoonfuls of salt and one cupful of stock or water. Stuff the turkey with this. Truss, and roast as already directed. Serve with a chestnut sauce. The remaining half of the chestnuts are for this sauce.
Boned Turkey.
Get a turkey that has not been frozen (freezing makes it tear easily). See that every part is whole; one with a little break in the skin will not do. Cut off the legs, in the joints, and the tips of the wings. Do not draw the bird. Place it on its breast, and with a small, sharp boning knife, cut in a straight line through to the bone, from the neck down to that part of the bird where there is but little flesh, where it is all skin and fat. Begin at the neck, and run the knife between the flesh and the bones until you come to the wing. Then cut the ligaments that hold the bones together and the tendons that hold the flesh to the bones. With the thumb and fore-finger, _press_ the flesh from the smooth bone. When you come to the joint, carefully separate the ligaments and remove the bone. Do not try to take the bone from the next joint, as that is not in the way when carving, and it gives a more natural shape to the bird. Now begin at the wish-bone, and when that is free from the flesh, run the knife between the sides and the flesh, always using the fingers to press the meat from the smooth bones, as, for instance, the breast-bone and lower part of the sides. Work around the legs the same as you did around the wings, always using great care at the joints not to cut the skin. Drawing out the leg bones turns that part of the bird inside out. Turn the bird over, and proceed in the same manner with the other side. When all is detached, carefully draw the skin from the breast-bone; then run the knife between the fat and bone at the rump, leaving the small bone in the extreme end, as it holds the skewers. Carefully remove the flesh from the skeleton, and turn it right side out again. Rub into it two table-spoonfuls of salt and a little pepper, and fill with dressing. Sew up the back and neck and then the vent. Truss the same as if not boned. Take a strong piece of cotton cloth and pin the bird firmly in it, drawing very tight at the legs, as this is the broadest place, and the shape will not be good unless this precaution be taken. Steam three hours, and then place on a buttered tin sheet, which put in a baking pan. Baste well with butter, pepper, salt and flour. Roast one hour, basting every ten minutes, and twice with stock. When cold, remove the skewers and strings, and garnish with aspic jelly, cooked beets and parsley. To carve: First cut off the wings, then about two thick slices from the neck, where it will be quite fat, and then cut in thin slices. Serve jelly with each plate.
Filling for a turkey weighing eight pounds: The flesh of one chicken weighing four pounds, one pound of clear veal, half a pound of clear salt pork, one small capful of cracker crumbs, two eggs, one cupful of broth, two and a half table-spoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, one teaspoonful of summer savory, one of sweet majoram, one of thyme, half a spoonful of sage, and, if you like, one table-spoonful of capers, one quart of oysters and two table-spoonfuls of onion juice. Have the meat uncooked and free from any tough pieces. Chop _very_ fine. Add seasoning, crackers, etc., mix thoroughly, and use. If oysters are used, half a pound of the veal must be omitted. Where one cannot eat veal, use chicken instead. Veal is recommended for its cheapness. Why people choose boned turkey instead of a plain roast turkey or chicken, is not plain, for the flavor is not so good; but at the times and places where boned birds are used, it is a very appropriate dish. That is, at suppers, lunches and parties, where the guests are served standing, it is impracticable to provide anything that cannot be broken with a fork or spoon; therefore, the advantage of a boned turkey, chicken, or bird, is apparent. One turkey weighing eight pounds before being boned, will serve thirty persons at a party, if there are, also, say oysters, rolls, coffee, ices, cake and cream. If the supper is very elaborate the turkey will answer for one of the dishes for a hundred or more persons. If nothing more were gained in the boning of a bird, the knowledge of the anatomy and the help this will give in carving, pay to bone two or three chickens. It is advisable to bone at least two fowls before trying a turkey, for if you spoil them there is nothing lost, as they make a stew or soup.
Aspic jelly: One and a half pints of clear stock--beef if for amber jelly, and chicken or veal if for white; half a box of gelatine, the white of one egg, half a cupful of cold water, two cloves, one large slice of onion, twelve pepper-corns, one stalk of celery, salt. Soak gelatine two hours in the cold water. Then put on with other ingredients, the white of the egg being beaten with one spoonful of the cold stock. Let come to a boil, and set back where it will just simmer for twenty minutes. Strain through a napkin, turn into a mould or shallow dish, and put away to harden. The jelly can be made with the bones of the turkey and chicken, by washing them, covering with cold water and boiling down to about three pints; by then straining and setting away to cool, and in the morning skimming off all the fat and turning off the clear stock. The bones may, instead, be used for a soup.
Roast Goose.
Stuff the goose with a potato dressing made in the following manner: Six potatoes, boiled, pared and mashed fine and light; one table- spoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, one spoonful of sage, two table-spoonfuls of onion juice, two of butter. Truss, and dredge well with salt, pepper and flour. Roast before the fire (if weighing eight pounds) one hour and a half; in the oven, one hour and a quarter. Make gravy the same as for turkey. No butter is required for goose, it is so fat. Serve with apple sauce. Many people boil the goose half an hour before roasting, to take away the strong flavor. Why not have something else if you do not like the real flavor of the goose?
Roast Duck.
Ducks, to be good, must be cooked rare: for this reason it is best not to stuff. If, however, you do stuff them, use the goose dressing, and have it very hot. The better way is to cut an onion in two, and put into the body of the bird; then truss, and dredge with salt, pepper and flour, and roast, if before the fire, forty minutes, and if in the oven, thirty minutes. The fire must be very hot if the duck be roasted in the kitchen, and if in the oven, this must be a quick one. Serve with currant jelly and a sauce made the same as for turkey.
Roast Chicken.
Clean the chicken, and stuff the breast and part of the body with dressing made as follows: For a pair of chickens weighing between seven and eight pounds, take one quart of stale bread (being sure not to have any hard pieces), and break up in very fine crumbs. Add a table-spoonful of salt, a scant teaspoonful of pepper, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful of powdered sage, one of summer savory and a scant half cupful of butter. Mix well together. This gives a rich dressing that will separate like rice when served. Now truss the chickens, and dredge well with salt. Take soft butter in the hand, and rub thickly over the chicken; then dredge rather thickly with flour. Place on the side, on the meat rack, and put into a hot oven for a few moments, that the flour in the bottom of the pan may brown. When it is browned, put in water enough to cover the pan. Baste every fifteen minutes with the gravy in the pan, and dredge with salt, pepper and flour. When one side is browned, turn, and brown the other. The last position in which the chicken should bake is on its back, that the breast may be nicely frothed and browned. The last basting is on the breast, and should be done with soft butter, and the breast should be dredged with flour. Putting the butter on the chicken at first, and then covering with flour, makes a paste, which keeps the juices in the chicken, and also supplies a certain amount of rich basting that is absorbed into the meat. It really does not take as much butter to baste poultry or game in this manner as by the old method of putting it on with a spoon after the bird began to cook. The water in the pan must often be renewed; and always be careful not to get in too much at a time. It will take an hour and a quarter to cook a pair of chickens, each weighing between three and a half and four pounds; anything larger, an hour and a half. A sure sign that they are done is the readiness of joints to separate from the body. If the chickens are roasted in the tin-kitchen, before the fire, it will take a quarter of an hour longer than in the oven.
Gravy for chickens: Wash the hearts, livers, gizzards and necks and put on to boil in three pints of water; boil down to one pint. Take them all up. Put the liver on a plate, and mash fine with the back of the spoon; return it to the water in which it was boiled. Mix two table-spoonfuls of flour with half a cupful of cold water. Stir into the gravy, season well with salt and pepper, and set back where it will simmer, for twenty minutes. Take up the chickens, and take the meat rack out of the pan. Then tip the pan to one side, to bring all the gravy together. Skim off the fat. Place the pan on top of the stove and turn into it one cupful of water. Let this boil up, in the meantime scraping everything from the sides and bottom of the pan. Turn this into the made gravy, and let it all boil together while you are removing the skewers and strings from the chickens.
Chicken à la Matelote.
Cut up an uncooked chicken. Rub in butter and flour, and brown in an oven. Fry in four table-spoonfuls of chicken fat or butter, for about twenty minutes, a small carrot, onion and parsnip, all cut into dice. When the chicken is browned, put it in a stew-pan with the cooked vegetables and one quart of white stock. Then into the fat in which the vegetables were fried, put two table-spoonfuls of flour, and cook until brown. Stir this in with the chicken. Add the liver, mashed fine, one table-spoonful of capers and salt and pepper to taste. Cook very gently three-quarters of an hour; then add one-fourth of a pound of mushrooms, cut in small pieces. Cook fifteen minutes longer. Serve with a border of boiled macaroni, mashed potatoes or rice.
Chicken à la Reine.
Clean, stuff and truss a pair of chickens, as for roasting. Dredge well with salt, pepper and flour. Cut a quarter of a pound of pork in slices, and put part on the bottom of a deep stew-pan with two slices of carrot and one large onion, cut fine. Stir over the fire until they begin to color; then put in the chickens, and lay the remainder of the pork over them. Place the stew-pan in a hot oven for twenty minutes; then add white stock to half cover the chicken (about two quarts), and a bouquet of sweet herbs. Dredge well with flour. Cover the pan and return to the oven. Baste about every fifteen minutes, and after cooking one hour, turn over the chickens. Cook, in all, two hours. Serve with Hollandaise sauce or with the sauce in which the chickens were cooked, it being strained over them.
Chicken à la Tartare.
Singe the chicken, and split down the back. Wipe thoroughly with a damp cloth. Dredge well with salt and pepper, cover thickly with softened butter, and dredge thickly on both sides with fine, dry bread crumbs. Place in a baking pan, the inside down, and cook in a very hot oven thirty minutes, taking care not to bum. Serve with Tartare sauce.
Broiled Chicken.
Singe the chicken, and split down the back, if not already prepared; and wipe with a damp cloth. Never wash it. Season well with salt and pepper. Take some soft butter in the right hand and rub over the bird, letting the greater part go on the breast and legs. Dredge with flour. Put in the double broiler, and broil over a moderate fire, having the breast turned to the heat at first. When the chicken is a nice brown, which will be in about fifteen minutes, place in a pan and put into a moderate oven for twelve minutes. Place on a hot dish, season, with salt, pepper and butter, and serve immediately. This rule is for a chicken weighing about two and a half pounds. The chicken is improved by serving with _maître d' hôtel_ butter or Tartare sauce.
Chicken Stew with Dumplings.
One chicken or fowl, weighing about three pounds; one table-spoonful of butter, three of flour, one large onion, three slices of carrot, three of turnip, three pints of boiling water and salt and pepper. Cut the chicken in slices suitable for serving. Wash, and put in a deep stew-pan, add the water, and set on to boil. Put the carrot, turnip and onion, cut fine, in a sauce-pan, with the butter, and cook slowly half an hour, stirring often; then take up the vegetables in a strainer, place the strainer in the stew-pan with the chicken, and dip some of the water into it. Mash the vegetables with the back of a spoon, and rub as much as possible through the strainer. Now skim two spoonfuls of chicken fat from the water, and put in the pan in which the vegetables were cooked. When boiling hot, add the three table- spoonfuls of flour. Stir over the fire until a dark brown; then stir it in with the chicken, and simmer until tender. Season well with pepper and salt. The stew should only simmer all the while it is cooking. It must not boil hard. About two hours will be needed to cook a year old chicken. Twelve minutes before serving draw the stew-pan forward, and boil up; then put in the dumplings, and cook _ten_ minutes. Take them up, and keep in the heater while you are dishing the chicken into the centre of the platter. Afterwards, place the dumplings around the edge. This is a very nice and economical dish, if pains are taken in preparing. One stewed chicken will go farther than two roasted.
Larded Grouse.
Clean and wash the grouse. Lard the breast and legs. Run a small skewer into the legs and through the tail. Tie firmly with twine. Dredge with salt, and rub the breast with soft butter; then dredge thickly with flour. Put into a quick oven. If to be very rare, cook twenty minutes; if wished better done, thirty minutes. The former time, as a general thing, suits gentlemen better, but thirty minutes is preferred by ladies. If the birds are cooked in a tin-kitchen, it should be for thirty or thirty-five minutes. When done, place on a hot dish, on which has been spread bread sauce. Sprinkle fried crumbs over both grouse and sauce. Garnish with parsley. The grouse may, instead, be served on a hot dish, with the parsley garnish, and the sauce and crumbs served in separate dishes. The first method is the better, however, as you get in the sauce all the gravy that comes from the birds.
Larded Partridges.
Partridges are cooked and served the same as grouse.
Larded Quail.
The directions for cooking and serving are the same as those for grouse, only that quails cook in fifteen minutes. All dry-meated birds are cooked in this way. The question is sometimes asked, Should ducks be larded? Larding is to give richness to a dry meat that does not have fat enough of its own; therefore, meats like goose, duck and mutton are _not_ improved by larding.
Broiled Quail.
Split the quail down the back. Wipe with a damp towel. Season with salt and pepper, rub thickly with soft butter, and dredge with flour. Broil ten minutes over clear coals. Serve on hot buttered toast, garnishing with parsley.
Broiled Pigeons.
Prepare, cook and serve the same as quail They should be young for broiling, squabs being the best.
Broiled Small Birds.
All small birds can be broiled according to the directions for quail, remembering that for extremely small ones it takes a very bright fire. As the birds should be only browned, the time required is very brief.
Small Birds, Roasted.
Clean, by washing quickly in one water after they have been drawn. Season with salt and pepper. Cut slices of salt pork _very thin_, and with small skewers, fasten a slice around each bird. Run a long skewer through the necks of six or eight, and rest it on a shallow baking-pan. When all the birds are arranged, put into a _hot_ oven for twelve minutes, or before a hot fire for a quarter of an hour. Serve on toast.
Potted Pigeons.
Clean and wash one dozen pigeons. Stand them on their necks in a deep earthen or porcelain pot, and turn on them a pint of vinegar. Cut three large onions in twelve pieces, and place a piece on each pigeon. Cover the pot, and let it stand all night In the morning take out the pigeons, and throw away the onions and vinegar. Fry, in a deep stew- pan, six slices of fat pork, and when browned, take them up, and in the fat put six onions, sliced fine. On these put the pigeons, having first trussed them, and dredge well with salt pepper and flour. Cover, and cook slowly for forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally; then add two quarts of boiling water, and simmer gently two hours. Mix four heaping table-spoonfuls of flour with a cupful of cold water, and stir in with the pigeons. Taste to see if there is enough seasoning, and if there is not, add more. Cook half an hour longer. Serve with a garnish of rice or riced potatoes. More or less onion can be used; and, if you like it so, spice the gravy slightly.
Pigeons in Jelly.
Wash and truss one dozen pigeons. Put them in a kettle with four pounds of the shank of veal, six cloves, twenty-five pepper-corns, an onion that has been fried in one spoonful of butter, one stalk of celery, a bouquet of sweet herbs and four and a half quarts of water. Have the veal shank broken in small pieces. As soon as the contents of the kettle come to a boil, skim carefully, and set for three hours where they will just simmer. After they have been cooking one hour, add two table-spoonfuls of salt. When the pigeons are done, take them up, being careful not to break them, and remove the strings. Draw the kettle forward, where it will boil rapidly, and keep there for forty minutes; then strain the liquor through a napkin, and taste to see if seasoned enough. The water should have boiled down to two and a half quarts. Have two moulds that will each hold six pigeons. Put a thin layer of the jelly in these, and set on ice to harden. When hard, arrange the pigeons in them, and cover with the jelly, which must be cold, but liquid. Place in the ice chest for six or, better still, twelve hours. There should be only one layer of the pigeons in the mould.
To serve: Dip the mould in a basin of warm water for one minute, and turn on a cold dish. Garnish with pickled beets and parsley. A Tartare sauce can be served with this dish.
If squabs are used, two hours will cook them. All small birds, as well as partridge, grouse, etc., can be prepared in the same manner. Remember that the birds must be cooked tender, and that the liquor must be so reduced that it will become jellied.
Roast Rabbit.
First make a stuffing of a pound of veal and a quarter of a pound of pork, simmered two hours in water to cover; four crackers, rolled fine; a table-spoonful of salt, a scant teaspoonful of pepper, a teaspoonful of summer savory, a large table-spoonful of butter and one and a quarter cupfuls of the broth in which the veal and pork were cooked. Chop the meat fine, add the other ingredients, and put on the fire to heat. Cut off the rabbit's head, open the vent, and draw. Wash clean, and season with salt and pepper. Stuff while the dressing is hot, and sew up the opening. Put the rabbit on its knees, and skewer in that position. Rub thickly with butter, dredge with flour, and put in the baking pan, the bottom of which should be covered with hot water. Bake half an hour in a quick oven, basting frequently. Serve with a border of mashed potatoes, and pour the gravy over the rabbit.
Curry of Rabbit.
Cut the rabbit in small pieces. Wash, and cook the same as chicken curry.
Saddle of Venison.
Carefully scrape off the hair, and wipe with a damp towel; Season well with salt and pepper, and roll up and skewer together. Rub thickly with soft butter and dredge thickly with flour. Roast for an hour before a clear fire or in a _hot_ oven, basting frequently. When half done, if you choose, baste with a few spoonfuls of claret. Or, you can have one row of larding on each side of the back-bone. This gives a particularly nice flavor.
To make the gravy: Pour off all the fat from the baking pan, and put in the pan a cupful of boiling water. Stir from the sides and bottom, and set back where it will keep hot. In a small frying-pan put one table-spoonful of butter, a small slice of onion, six pepper-corns and four whole cloves. Cook until the onion is browned, and then add a generous teaspoonful of flour. Stir until this is browned; then, gradually, add the gravy in the pan. Boil one minute. Strain, and add half a teaspoonful of lemon juice and three table-spoonfuls of currant jelly. Serve both venison and gravy very hot. The time given is for a saddle weighing between ten and twelve pounds. All the dishes and plates for serving must be hot. Venison is cooked in almost the same manner as beef, always remembering that it must be served _rare_ and _hot_.
Roast Leg of Venison.
Draw the dry skin from the meat, and wipe with a damp towel. Make a paste with one quart of flour and a generous pint of cold water. Cover the venison with this, and place before a hot fire, if to be roasted in the tin kitchen, or else in a very hot oven. As the paste browns, baste it frequently with the gravy in the pan. When it has been cooking one hour and a half, take off the paste, cover with butter, and dredge thickly with flour. Cook one hour longer, basting frequently with butter, salt and flour. Make the gravy the same as for a saddle of venison, or serve with game sauce. The time given is for a leg weighing about fifteen pounds.
ENTREES.
Fillet of Beef, Larded.
The true fillet is the tenderloin, although sometimes one will see a rib roast, boned and rolled, called a fillet. A short fillet, weighing from two and a half to three pounds (the average weight from a very large rump), will suffice for ten persons at a dinner where this is served as one course; and if a larger quantity is wanted a great saving will still be made if two short fillets are used. They cost about two dollars, while a large one, weighing the same amount, would cost five dollars, Fillet of beef is one of the simplest, safest and most satisfactory dishes that a lady can prepare for either her own family or guests. After a single trial she will think no more of it than of broiling a beef steak. First, remove from the fillet, with a sharp knife, every shred of muscle, ligament and thin, tough skin. If it is not then of a good round shape, skewer it into shape. Draw a line through the centre, and lard with two rows of pork, having them meet at this line. Dredge well with salt, pepper and flour, and put, without water, in a very small pan. Place in a hot oven for thirty minutes. Let it be in the lower part of the oven the first ten minutes, then place on the upper grate. Serve with mushroom, Hollandaise or tomato sauce, or with potato balls. If with sauce, this should be poured around the fillet, the time given cooks a fillet of any size, the shape being such that it will take half an hour for either two or six pounds. Save the fat trimmed from the fillet for frying, and the lean part for soup stock.
Fillet of Beef à la Hollandaise.
Trim and cut the short fillet into slices about half an inch thick. Season these well with salt, and then lay in a pan with six table- spoonfuls of butter, just warm enough to be oily. Squeeze the juice of a quarter of a lemon over them. Let them stand one hour; then dip lightly in flour, place in the double broiler, and cook for six minutes over a very bright fire. Have a mound of mashed potatoes in the centre of a hot dish, and rest the slices against this. Pour a Hollandaise sauce around. Garnish with parsley.
Fillet of Beef à l'Allemand.
Trim the fillet and skewer it into a good shape. Season well with pepper and salt. Have one egg and half a teaspoonful of sugar well beaten together; roll the fillet in this and then in bread crumbs. Bake in the oven for thirty minutes. Serve with Allemand sauce poured around it.
Fillet of Beef in Jelly.
Trim a short fillet, and cut a deep incision in the side, being careful not to go through to the other side or the ends. Fill this with one cupful of veal, prepared as for quenelles, and the whites of three hard-boiled eggs, cut into rings. Sew up the openings, and bind the fillet into good shape with broad bands of cotton cloth. Put in a deep stew-pan two slices of ham and two of pork, and place the fillet on them; then put in two calf's feet, two stalks of celery and two quarts of clear stock. Simmer gently two hours and a half. Take up the fillet, and set away to cool. Strain the stock, and set away to harden. When hard, scrape of every particle of fat, and put on the fire in a clean sauce-pan, with half a slice of onion and the whites of two eggs, beaten with four table-spoonfuls of cold water. When this boils, season well with salt, and set back where it will just simmer for half an hour; then strain through a napkin. Pour a little of the jelly into a two-quart charlotte russe mould (half an inch deep), and set on the ice to harden. As soon as it is hard, decorate with the egg rings. Add about three spoonfuls of the liquid jelly, to set the eggs. When hard, add enough jelly to cover the eggs, and when this is also hard, trim the ends of the fillet, and draw out the thread. Place in the centre of the mould, and cover with the remainder of the jelly. If the fillet floats, place a slight weight on it. Set in the ice chest to harden. When ready to serve, place the mould in a pan of warm water for half a minute, and then turn out the fillet gently upon a dish. Garnish with a circle of egg rings, each of which has a stoned olive in the centre. Put here and there a sprig of parsley.
Alamode Beef.
Six pounds of the upper part, or of the vein, of the round of beef, half a pound of fat salt pork, three table-spoonfuls of butter, two onions, half a carrot, half a turnip, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of lemon juice, one heaping table-spoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two cloves, six allspice, a small piece of stick cinnamon, a bouquet of sweet herbs, two scant quarts of boiling water and four table-spoonfuls of flour. Cut the pork in thick strips-- as long as the meat is thick, and, with a large larding needle (which comes for this purpose), draw these through the meat. If you do not have the large needle, make the holes with the boning knife or the carving steel, and press the pork through with the fingers. Put the butter in a six-quart stew-pan, and when it melts, add the vegetables, cut fine. Let them cook five minutes, stirring all the while. Put in the meat, which has been well dredged with the flour; brown on one aide, and then turn, and brown the other. Add one quart of the water; stir well, and then add the other, with the spice, herbs, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cover tightly, and _simmer gently_ four hours. Add the lemon juice. Taste the gravy, and, if necessary, add more salt and pepper. Let it cook twenty minutes longer. Take up the meat, and draw the stew-pan forward, where it will boil rapidly, for ten or fifteen minutes, having first skimmed off all the fat. Strain the gravy on the beef, and serve. This dish may be garnished with, potato balls or button onions.
Macaronied Beef.
Six pounds of beef from the upper part of the round or the vein, a quarter of a pound of macaroni (twelve sticks), half a cupful of butter, four large onions, one quart of peeled and sliced tomatoes, or a quart can of the vegetable; two heaping table-spoonfuls of flour, salt, pepper and two cloves. Make holes in the beef with the large larding needle or the steel, and press the macaroni into them. Season with salt and pepper. Put the butter and the onions, which have been peeled and cut fine, in a six-quart stew-pan, and stir over the fire until a golden brown; then put in the meat, first drawing the onions aside. Dredge with the flour, and spread the top of the meat with the fried onions. Put in the spice and one quart of boiling water. Cover tightly, and simmer _slowly_ for three hours; then add the tomato, and cook one hour longer. Take up the meat, and strain the gravy over it. Serve hot. The tomato may be omitted if one pint more of water and an extra table-spoonful of flour are used instead. Always serve macaroni with this dish.
Cannelon of Beef.
One thin slice of the upper part of the round of beef. Cut off all the fat, and so trim as to give the piece a regular shape. Put the trimmings in the chopping tray, with a quarter of a pound of boiled salt pork and one pound of lean cooked ham. Chop very fine; then add a speck of cayenne, one teaspoonful of mixed mustard, one of onion juice, one table-spoonful of lemon juice and three eggs. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture over it, and roll up. Tie with twine, being careful not to draw too tightly. Have six slices of fat pork fried in the braising pan. Cut two onions, two slices of carrot, and two of turnip into this, and stir for two minutes over the fire. Roll the cannelon in a plate of flour, and put it in the braising pan with the pork and vegetables. Brown slightly on all sides; then add one quart of boiling water, and place in the oven. Cook three hours, basting every fifteen minutes. When it has been cooking two hours, add half a cupful of canned tomatoes or two fresh ones. Taste to see if the gravy is seasoned enough; if it is not, add seasoning. The constant dredging with flour will thicken the gravy sufficiently. Slide the cake turner under the beef, and lift carefully on to a hot dish. Cut the string in three or four places with a _sharp_ knife, and gently draw it away from the meat. Skim off all the fat. Strain the gravy through a fine sieve on to the meat. Garnish with a border of toast or riced potatoes. Cut in thin slices with a sharp knife.
Cannelon of Beef, No. 2.
Two pounds of the round of beef, the rind of half a lemon, three sprigs of parsley, one teaspoonful of salt, barely one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, a quarter of a nutmeg, two table-spoonfuls of melted butter, one raw egg and half a teaspoonful of onion juice. Chop meat, parsley and lemon rind very fine. Add other ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Shape, into a roll, about three inches in diameter and six in length. Roll in buttered paper, and bake thirty minutes, basting with butter and water. When cooked, place on a hot dish, gently unroll from the paper, and serve with Flemish sauce poured over it. You may serve tomato or mushroom sauce if you prefer either.
Beef Roulette.
Have two pounds of the upper part of the round, cut very thin. Mix together one cupful of finely-chopped ham, two eggs, one teaspoonful of mixed mustard, a speck of cayenne and three table-spoonfuls of stock or water. Spread upon the beef, which roll up firmly and tie with soft twine, being careful not to draw too tightly, for that would cut the meat as soon as it began to cook. Cover the roll with flour, and fry brown in four table-spoonfuls of ham or pork fat. Put it in as small a sauce-pan as will hold it. Into the fat remaining in the pan put two finely-chopped onions, and cook until a pale yellow; then add two table-spoonfuls of flour, and stir three minutes longer. Pour upon this one pint and a half of boiling water. Boil up once, and pour over the roulette; then add two cloves, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper and one heaping teaspoonful of salt. Cover the sauce-pan, and set where it will simmer slowly for three hours. After the first hour and a half, turn the roulette over. Serve hot; with the gravy strained over it. It is also nice to serve cold for lunch or supper. Ham force- meat balls and parsley make a pretty garnish.
Beef Olives.
One and a half pounds of beef, cut very thin. Trim off the edges and fat; then cut in strips three inches wide and four long; season well with salt and pepper. Chop fine the trimmings and the fat Add three table-spoonfuls of powdered cracker, one teaspoonful of sage and savory, mixed, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper and two teaspoonfuls of salt. Mix very thoroughly and spread on the strips of beef. Roll them up, and tie with twine. When all are done, roll in flour. Fry brown a quarter of a pound of pork. Take it out of the pan, and put the olives in. Fry brown, and put in a small sauce-pan that can be tightly covered. In the fat remaining in the pan put one table- spoonful of flour, and stir until perfectly smooth and brown; then pour in, gradually, nearly a pint and a half of boiling water. Stir for two or three minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper, and pour over the olives. Cover the sauce-pan, and let simmer two hours. Take up at the end of this time and cut the strings with a sharp knife. Place the olives in a row on a dish, and pour the gravy over them.
Veal Olives.
These are made in the same manner, except that a dressing, like chicken dressing, is made for them. For one and a half pounds of veal take three crackers, half a table-spoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of savory, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of sage, a teaspoonful of salt, a very little pepper and an eighth of a cupful of water. Spread the strips with this, and proceed as for beef olives.
Fricandelles of Veal.
Two pounds of clear veal, half a cupful of finely-chopped cooked ham, one cupful of milk, one cupful of bread crumbs, the juice of half a lemon, one table-spoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, one cupful of butter, a pint and a half of stock, three table-spoonfuls of flour. Chop the veal fine. Cook the bread crumbs and milk until a smooth paste, being careful not to burn. Add to the chopped veal and ham, and when well mixed, add the seasoning and four tablespoonfuls of the butter. Mix thoroughly, and form into balls about the size of an egg. Have the yolks of three eggs well beaten, and use to cover the balls. Fry these, till a light brown, in the remainder of the butter, being _very_ careful not to burn. Stir the three table-spoonfuls of flour into the butter that remains after the balls are fried. Stir until dark brown, and then gradually stir the stock into it. Boil for two minutes. Taste to see if seasoned enough; then add the balls, and cook _very slowly_ for one hour. Serve with a garnish of toast and lemon.
Fricandelles can be made with chicken, mutton, lamb and beef, the only change in the above directions being to omit the ham.
Braised Tongue.
Wash a fresh beef tongue, and, with a trussing needle, run a strong twine through the roots and end of it, drawing tightly enough to have the end meet the roots; then tie firmly. Cover with boiling water, and boil gently for two hours; then take up and drain. Put six table- spoonfuls of butter in the braising pan, and when hot, put in half a small carrot, half a small turnip and two onions, all cut fine. Cook five minutes, stirring all the time, and then draw to one side. Roll the tongue in flour, and put in the pan. As soon as browned on one side, turn, and brown the other. Add one quart of the water in which it was boiled, a bouquet of sweet herbs, one clove, a small piece of cinnamon and salt and pepper. Cover, and cook two hours in a slow oven, basting often with the gravy in the pan, and salt, pepper and flour. When it has been cooking an hour and a half, add the juice of half a lemon to the gravy. When done, take up. Melt two table- spoonfuls of glaze, and pour over the tongue. Place in the heater until the gravy is made. Mix one table-spoonful of corn-starch with a little cold water, and stir into the boiling gravy, of which there should be one pint. Boil one minute; then strain, and pour around the tongue. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
Fillets of Tongue.
Cut cold boiled tongue in pieces about four inches long, two wide and half an inch thick. Dip in melted butter and in flour. For eight fillets put two table-spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, put in the tongue. Brown on both sides, being careful not to burn. Take up, and put one more spoonful of butter in the pan, and then one heaping teaspoonful of flour. Stir until dark brown; then add one cupful of stock, half a teaspoonful of parsley and one table- spoonful of lemon juice, or one tea-spoonful of vinegar. Let this boil up once, and then pour it around the tongue, which has been dished on thin strips of toast. Garnish with parsley, and serve. For a change, a table-spoonful of chopped pickles, or of capers, can be stirred into the sauce the last moment.
Escaloped Tongue.
Chop some cold tongue--not too fine, and have for each pint one table- spoonful of onion juice, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one heaping teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of capers, one cupful of bread crumbs, half a cupful of stock and three table-spoonfuls of butter. Butter the escalop dish, and cover the bottom with bread crumbs. Put in the tongue, which has been mixed with the parsley, salt, pepper and capers, and add the stock, in which has been mixed the onion juice. Put part of the butter on the dish with the remainder of the bread crumbs, and then bits of butter here and there. Bake twenty minutes, and serve hot.
Tongue in Jelly.
Boil and skin either a fresh or salt tongue. When cold, trim off the roots. Have one and a fourth quarts of aspic jelly in the liquid state. Cover the bottom of a two-quart mould about an inch deep with it, and let it harden. With a fancy vegetable cutter, cut out leaves from cooked beets, and garnish the bottom of the mould with them. Gently pour in three table-spoonfuls of jelly, to set the vegetables. When this is hard, add jelly enough to cover the vegetables, and let the whole get very hard. Then put in the tongue, and about half a cupful of jelly, which should be allowed to harden, and so keep the meat in place when the remainder is added. Pour in the remainder of the jelly and set away to harden. To serve: Dip the mould for a few moments in a pan of warm water, and then gently turn on to a dish. Garnish with pickles and parsley. Pickled beet is especially nice.
Lambs' Tongues in Jelly.
Lambs' tongues are prepared the same as beef tongues. Three of four moulds, each holding a little less than a pint, will make enough for a small company, one tongue being put in each mould. The tongues can all be put on the same dish, or on two, if the table is long.
Lambs' Tongues, Stewed.
Six tongues, three heaping table-spoonfuls of butter, one large onion, two slices of carrot, three slices of white turnip, three table- spoonfuls of flour, one of salt, a little pepper, one quart of stock or water and a bouquet of sweet herbs. Boil the tongues one hour and a half in clear water; then take up, cover with cold water, and draw off the skins. Put the butter, onion, turnip and carrot in the stew-pan, and cook slowly for fifteen minutes; then add the flour, and cook until brown, stirring all the while. Stir the stock into this, and when it boils up, add the tongue, salt, pepper and herbs. Simmer gently for two hours. Cut the carrots, turnips and potatoes into cubes. Boil the potatoes in salted water ten minutes, and the carrots and turnips one hour. Place the tongues in the centre of a hot dish. Arrange the vegetables around them, strain the gravy, and pour over all. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
Stewed Ox Tails.
Two ox tails, three table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, one large onion, half a small carrot, three slices of turnip, two stalks of celery, two cloves, a pint and a half of stock or water, salt and pepper to taste. Divide the tails in pieces about four inches long. Cut the vegetables in small pieces. Let the butter get hot in the stew-pan; then add the vegetables, and when they begin to brown, add the flour. Stir for two minutes. Put in the tails, and add the seasoning and stock. Simmer gently three hours. Serve on a hot dish with gravy strained over them.
Ox Tails à la Tartare.
Three ox tails, two eggs, one cupful of bread crumbs, salt, pepper, one quart of stock, a bouquet of sweet herbs. Cut the tails in four- inch pieces, and put them on to boil with the stock and sweet herbs. Let them simmer two hours. Take up, drain and cool. When cold, dip them in the beaten eggs and in bread crumbs. Fry in boiling fat till a golden brown. Have Tartare sauce spread on the centre of a cold dish, and arrange the ox tails on this. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
Haricot of Ox Tails.
Three ox tails, two carrots, two onions, two small white turnips, three potatoes, three table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, three pints of water and salt and pepper to taste. Cut the tails in pieces about four inches long. Cut the onions very fine, and the carrots, turnips and potatoes into large cubes. Put the butter, meat and onion in the stew-pan and fry, stirring all the time, until the onions are a golden brown; then add the flour, and stir two minutes longer. Add the water, and when it comes to a boil, skim carefully. Set back where it will simmer. When it has been cooking one hour, add the carrots and turnips. Cook another hour, and then add the salt, pepper and potatoes. Simmer twenty minutes longer. Heap the vegetables in the centre of a hot dish, and arrange the tails around them. Pour the gravy over all, and serve.
Ragout of Mutton.
Three pounds of any of the cheap parts of mutton, six table-spoonfuls of butter, three of flour, twelve button onions, or one of the common size; one large white turnip, cut into little cubes; salt, pepper, one quart of water and a bouquet of sweet herbs. Cut the meat in small pieces. Put three table-spoonfuls each of butter and flour in the stew-pan, and when hot and smooth, add the meat. Stir until a rich brown, and then add water, and set where it will simmer. Put three table-spoonfuls of butter in a frying-pan, and when hot, put in the turnips and onions with a teaspoonful of flour. Stir all the time until a golden brown; then drain, and put with the meat. Simmer for an hour and a half. Garnish with rice, toasted bread, plain boiled macaroni or mashed potatoes. Small cubes of potato can be added half an hour before dishing. Serve very hot.
Ragout of Veal.
Prepare the same as mutton, using one table-spoonful more of butter, and cooking an hour longer.
Chicken Pie.
One fowl weighing between four and five pounds, half the rule for chopped paste (see chopped paste), three pints of water, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one table-spoonful of salt (these last two quantities may be increased if you like), three table-spoonfuls of flour, three of butter, two eggs, one table-spoonful of onion juice and a bouquet of sweet herbs. Clean the fowl, and cut in pieces as for serving. Put it in a stew-pan with the hot water, salt, pepper and herbs. When it comes to a boil, skim, and set back where it will simmer one hour and a half. Take up the chicken, and place in a deep earthen pie dish. Draw the stew-pan forward where it will boil rapidly for fifteen minutes. Skim off the fat and take out the bouquet. Put the butter in a frying-pan, and when hot, add the flour. Stir until smooth, but not brown, and stir in the water in which the chicken was boiled. Cook ten minutes. Beat the eggs with one spoonful of cold water, and gradually add the gravy to them. Turn this into the pie dish. Lift the chicken with a spoon, that the gravy may fall to the bottom. Set away to cool. When cold, roll out a covering of paste a little larger than the top of the dish and about one-fourth of an inch thick. Cover the pie with this, having the edges turned into the dish. Roll the remainder of the paste the same as before, and with a thimble, or something as small, cut out little pieces all over the cover. Put this perforated paste over the first cover, turning out the edges and rolling slightly. Bake one hour in a moderate oven.
Pasties of Game and Poultry.
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Miss Parloa's New Cook BookChapter V: Part 5
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