Chapter VIII: A Group of Receipts From a New England Kitchen

(SUPPLIED BY SUSAN COOLIDGE)

Many of the receipts in this little "group" have never before appeared in print. They are copies from old grandmother and great-grandmother receipt-books, tested by generations of use, and become, at this time, traditional in the families to which they belong. They are now given to the public as examples of the simple but dainty cooking of a by-gone day, which, while differing in many points from the methods of our own time, in its way is no less delicious.

=SPLIT PEA SOUP=

Soak one quart of split peas in lukewarm water for three hours. Pour off the water and boil the peas in three and a half quarts of salted water till they are thoroughly soft. Rub through a colander, and throw away whatever does not pass through. This will keep several days.

Take out the quantity needed for dinner (allowing a generous quart to three persons); boil in it a small piece of pork, onion, and a little white pepper and salt; strain and serve very hot, with small cubes of fried bread dropped into the tureen.

=BLACK BEAN SOUP=

1 quart of black beans.
4 quarts of water.
The bone of a boiled ham.
6 cloves.
4 peppercorns.

Boil on the back of the range for twelve hours; rub through a colander and set away to cool.

This should make soup for two dinners for a family of six. When served, add a glass of wine to each tureenful, two or three slices of lemon, and cubes of bread fried in butter.

=CLAM SOUP=

Boil a quart of clams in their own liquor till they are tender; then chop them fine and return to the broth.

Stir together until smooth two tablespoonfuls of butter and one and a half of flour, and with them thicken the soup. Add very carefully a pint of milk, stirring to avoid curdling, and add two tablespoonfuls of butter, with pepper and salt, after taking the mixture from the fire.

=CLAM CHOWDER=

Cut one half pound of salt pork into slices, and fry them brown; chop two small onions, and cook them with the pork. Stew separately a quart of tomatoes, canned or fresh, and a quart of sliced potatoes. When all are done, put them together with one quart of clams and their juice. Add three pints of water, salt, pepper, a little thyme, a very little flour for thickening, and a handful of small whole crackers. Stew all together for half an hour, and serve very hot.

=FISH CHOWDER=

Three pounds of fresh codfish well boiled and the bones carefully removed. Two onions chopped fine and fried with half a pound of salt pork, cut into small dice. Six potatoes cut small, a pint of water, a little salt and white pepper. Stew for twenty minutes, thicken slightly with a little flour; add a pint and a half of milk, and let all boil up once, stirring thoroughly. Put a handful of oyster crackers into a hot tureen, and pour the mixture over them.

=BROWNED OYSTERS=

Take thirty large oysters (about three pints); wash them in their own liquor. Add to one pint of milk three tablespoonfuls of the oyster liquor, well strained, a very little mace, and a bit of butter about the size of an English walnut, and make the mixture scalding hot. Rub two tablespoonfuls of flour perfectly smooth with a little of the milk; pour in and stir until the whole is thick. Then drop in the oysters; cook five minutes or so, till they are well plumped out, and add a little salt, white pepper, and a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Serve on a platter on slices of buttered toast.

=FISH AND OYSTERS=

Make a pint or more of white sauce, with flour, butter, and hot milk, carefully stirred till smooth and thick. Pick to fine bits two quarts of cold boiled codfish, and add one pint of oysters chopped fine. Fill a well-buttered pudding-dish with alternate layers of the fish and oysters and white sauce, sprinkling a little salt over the layers of cod. Cover the top of the dish with fine bread-crumbs and small bits of butter; baste with a little cold water, and bake till the top is browned.

=SCALLOPED OYSTERS=

Three pints of oysters; a quart of sifted bread-crumbs. Place a layer of crumbs in the bottom of a rather deep baking-dish, then a layer of oysters, and sprinkle with salt and white pepper. Repeat the process till the dish is filled. Cover the top with crumbs and a layer of soft bread broken into bits and placed round the edge of a circle of small oyster crackers. Wet the whole with half a pint of soup stock and a quarter of a cup of oyster liquor. Cover the top generously with butter cut into fine bits. Pour over the whole a glass of sherry, and bake an hour.

=PICKLED OYSTERS=

Scald the oysters in their own liquor, with a little water added, till they are plump. Skim them out, and drop into a bowl of cold water; rinse well and put them in glass jars.

Scald an equal quantity of the liquor and vinegar with whole peppers, mace, and salt, and when perfectly cold fill the jars up with it. These will keep two or three weeks.

=FRICASSEED OYSTERS=

Drain a quart of large oysters from their liquor, and place them in a covered saucepan with a quarter of a pound of good butter. Set them on the back of the range, and let them simmer gently till the oysters are well plumped out.

Put the oyster liquor in another saucepan with three tablespoonfuls of powdered cracker, and a little pepper. When the oysters are done, remove them from the butter with a fork, and place them on toasted crackers on a hot platter. Add the butter in which they have been cooked to the oyster broth. Let it boil up once. Stir in half a pint of cream, and pour over the oysters.

=STEWED LOBSTER=

Cut a boiled lobster weighing four pounds into small pieces. Thicken a half pint of milk with a teaspoonful of flour and a tablespoonful of butter; add a teaspoonful of dry mustard, and a little salt and pepper. Stew the lobster in this till it is quite tender, and lastly add a tablespoonful of vinegar.

=FISH BALLS=

MAINE

Soak over night three quarters of a pound of boneless codfish.

In the morning shred the fish (uncooked) very carefully with a silver fork till it is fine. Add to it a dozen potatoes of medium size, freshly boiled, mashed, and rubbed through a sieve, two beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of butter, a little hot milk or cream, and a sprinkling of white pepper.

Mold into round balls, and drop into very hot fat.

=CODFISH AND CREAM=

Shred two thirds of a bowlful of salt codfish, wash it several times with fresh water, drain off the water, and put it into a saucepan with a pint of sweet cream and half a pint of sweet milk. Let it come nearly, but not quite, to the boiling point. Beat together one egg, a tablespoonful of flour, and two tablespoonfuls of sweet milk; add it to the fish, and stir continually until it is done. Put the mixture in a hot dish, and add a large spoonful of butter, stirring it thoroughly.

=OYSTERS ON A CHAFING-DISH=

Put into the chafing-dish four or five tablespoonfuls of the oyster liquor; add salt, white pepper, and a tablespoonful of butter, and stir till it is scalding hot. Drop the oysters in, a dozen at a time, and cook till they are plump and tender; then skim out and place on slices of hot buttered toast; add more oysters as required.

=PILAU=

One half pint of rice; one pint of stock; one half can of tomato. Soak the rice in cold water for an hour. Pour off the water, and put the rice, with the stock and one quarter of a white onion, in a double boiler. Stew till the rice absorbs the stock.

Stew the tomato thoroughly, and season with butter, salt, and pepper. Mix it with the rice.

Saute in butter to a light color jointed chicken, slightly parboiled, or slices of cold cooked chicken or turkey. Make a hole in the rice and tomato, put in the chicken and an ounce of butter, and stew all together for twenty minutes. Serve on a platter in a smooth mound, the red rice surrounding the fowl.

=SPICED SHAD=

Scale the fish, cut off the heads and tails, and divide them into four pieces.

Chop four or five small onions, and sprinkle a layer on the bottom of a stone jar; on this place a layer of fish, packing closely. Spice with black and cayenne pepper, cloves, allspice, whole peppers, and a little more onion. Then add another layer of fish, and so on till the jar is full. Arrange the roe on top, spice highly, and fill the jar with the strongest vinegar procurable. Place thick folds of paper on the jar under the cover, and bake for twelve hours. The vinegar will dissolve the bones, and the fish can be sliced for a tea-table relish.

=PORK AND BEANS=

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Soak a pint of small white beans over night.

In the morning pour off the water, pour on a pint of cold water, and set at the back of the range to simmer slowly for three quarters of an hour.

Place the beans in a bean-pot with half a pound of scored salt pork in the middle, half a teaspoonful of dry mustard, salt, white pepper, and a half pint of white sugar. Add water from time to time, as it grows dry, and bake twelve hours.

=A RECHAUFFE OF COLD MUTTON=

Have the mutton cut very neatly and carefully into slices.

Add to a half pint of gravy or stock a little white pepper, a quarter of a teaspoonful of dry mustard, a quarter of a teaspoonful of curry powder, and three large tablespoonfuls of currant jelly. When this is scalding hot, add a glass of sherry. Have ready a hot platter with slices of toast. Put the sliced mutton into the sauce long enough to heat through, but not to cook for a moment. Take the slices out with a fork, and place them on the toast; last of all pour the boiling gravy over all, and serve instantly. This preparation will be found delicious--it robs the second-day-of-the-mutton of its terrors.

=CORNED BEEF=

If a round of corned beef is to be eaten cold, as is often the case, it should be carefully and slowly boiled, and left in the pot till the next day. The soaking in the water in which it has been boiled has the effect of making the beef delightfully delicate and tender, and a little less salt in its flavor. No one who has tried this method will be content with any other.

If the beef is to be served hot, what is left can be reheated, and left to cool for the next day's use in the liquor.

=A BEEFSTEAK PIE=

CONNECTICUT

Three pounds of lean rump steak cut thick. Cut it into strips three inches long, and an inch wide. Put it to stew in enough boiling water to not quite cover the meat, and simmer very slowly for half an hour. Add a tablespoonful of parsley chopped fine, a large teaspoonful of sweet thyme, half a teaspoonful of white pepper, and a quarter of a pint of sliced onions. Stew together till the meat is perfectly tender. Rub smooth a tablespoonful of corn starch, and stir it with the gravy until it becomes of the consistency of cream; add a little salt and a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Place the meat in a deep pudding-dish with alternate layers of cold ham sliced thin and sliced hard-boiled eggs--seven or eight eggs will be required. Add a little grated nutmeg; cover with paste, and bake half an hour.

=EASY CHICKEN SALAD=

Take a two-pound can of Richardson & Robbins's compressed chicken; remove the skin, and cut the chicken into small dice.

Add twice as much celery cut into small pieces, salt to taste, and marinate the whole with a mixture of three tablespoonfuls of vinegar to nine of oil. Have it very cold, and just before serving pour over it a Mayonnaise made by the following receipt. This quantity is enough for twenty-five persons.

=CREAM DRESSING=

Rub together in a china bowl a large tablespoonful of butter, four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, a half teaspoonful of salt, and a half teaspoonful of dry mustard.

Place the bowl in a saucepan full of boiling water over a spirit lamp, or on the range. Stir the mixture carefully till very hot, to prevent the butter from oiling. When hot add two well-beaten eggs; stir till thick, then pour in a half pint of cream, stir, remove from the fire, and allow it to get perfectly cold.

Cold sweet-breads are excellent served with this cream Mayonnaise.

=MACARONI A L'ALBI=

Break a dozen stems of large macaroni into pieces four inches long, and stew carefully, till tender, in consomme or white soup stock.

Place in a dish layers of the macaroni sprinkled with salt, pepper, and of Gruyere cheese grated fine. Cover the top with a thick layer of grated cheese, on that a layer of fine bread-crumbs, and on that bits of butter cut fine. Bake just long enough to brown the top thoroughly.

=CORN PUDDING=

Scrape with a knife two dozen ears of green corn, cutting each row through the middle. Add one pint of milk, half a pound of butter, three eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately, a little salt, and white pepper. Stir the yolks into the milk and corn, pour into a baking-dish, stir in the whites, and bake an hour and a half.

=THIN INDIAN BREAD=

VERMONT

Mix together two cupfuls of meal, a tablespoonful of lard, and a teaspoonful of salt; scald with boiling water. Thin it with a large cupful of cold milk and two well-beaten eggs. Spread thin on a large buttered pan, and bake till brown in an oven only moderately hot.

=GRAHAM GEMS=

One pint of milk.
One pint of graham flour.

Place on top of the range a frame of "iron-clad" gem-pans to get very hot. Stir the milk and meal together lightly, not trying to make the batter very smooth. Drop a bit of butter into each hot pan, and while it sizzles pour in the batter, and instantly set in the oven; bake twenty minutes. The heat raises the batter to lightness, and the butter gives a savory crust to the little cakes.

=COLONIAL HOE-CAKES=

CONNECTICUT

Stir Indian meal and water together into a thickish paste. Spread thickly on a new wooden spade, or on the top of a new barrel, and set on end before an open fire to slowly toast, turning the cake when the outer side is brown. No preparation of Indian meal has quite the flavor of this.

=RHODE ISLAND JOHNNY-CAKE=

For this, Rhode Island meal, ground between stones, is required. Take one pint of meal and one teaspoonful of salt, and scald thoroughly with boiling water till it is a stiff, smooth batter. Thin with cold milk till about the consistency of sponge-cake batter, and drop in tablespoonfuls on a hot buttered griddle. When the under side is brown, turn the cakes and brown the other side. Eat with butter.

=BOSTON BROWN BREAD=

One pint of yellow cornmeal, scalded with a small quantity of boiling water, just enough to wet it thoroughly. Let it stand ten minutes. Then add enough cold water to make a soft batter. Add one quarter pint of brewer's yeast, one quarter pint of molasses, one pint of rye meal, one half teaspoonful of salt, and one saltspoonful of soda. Beat it well together, and set it to rise over night. When light, stir it thoroughly, put it into a buttered tin, sprinkle a little flour over the top, and set it to rise again. Bake about two hours. It is excellent cut into slices and toasted.

=DABS=

CONNECTICUT

A pint of cornmeal, thoroughly scalded with hot water. Rub into it a dessertspoonful of butter, two eggs beaten very light, a wineglassful of cream or milk, and a little salt. Butter a tin pan, and drop the mixture from a spoon upon it. Bake in a moderate oven.

=CREAM OATMEAL=

Boil oatmeal for an hour as for breakfast use. Rub it through a fine sieve, add a little milk, and cook it very slowly in a double boiler for half an hour longer. When perfectly smooth, add a little salt and cream.

This is the most delicate preparation of oatmeal that an invalid can take.

=ZEPHYRS=

Prepare a thin mush of Indian meal, water, and salt, and boil till smooth. Drop this batter into iron-clad pans, made very hot and buttered, and bake till brown.

=SQUASH PIES=

Pare and cut into pieces a Hubbard squash, and steam it till, thoroughly soft; then rub it through a coarse sieve.

To a quart of the squash, which should be as thick and dry as chestnuts when prepared for stuffing, add three quarters of a pint, heaping full, of granulated sugar, the peel and juice of a large lemon, half a nutmeg grated, a tablespoonful of powdered ginger, about as much powdered cinnamon, a small teaspoonful of salt, six drops of rose-water, half a pint of cream, and four beaten eggs. Stir thoroughly, and add about three pints of scalded milk. The mixture should be tasted, and a little more sugar, or lemon, or spice added if required.

Line a deep tin pie-dish with paste, lay a narrow strip around the edge, and fill the dish with the mixture. Bake till the filling is set. This quantity will make four pies.

=PUMPKIN PIES (About Four Pounds)=

MASSACHUSETTS

Pare a small pumpkin, about four pounds, and take out the seeds. Steam till soft, and strain through a colander.

Beat in three eggs, three tablespoonfuls of molasses, two tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon, one of ginger, two teaspoonfuls of salt, and two quarts of hot milk. If more sweetening is needed add a little sugar. Bake with an under crust only. This receipt will make five pies.

=EASY PIE-CRUST=

Three quarters of a pint of lard, three quarters of a pint of butter, three quarters of a pint of iced water with a teaspoonful of salt dissolved in it, a pint and a half of flour sifted twice through a fine sieve.

Put the lard and flour into a bowl (leaving out a little flour for rolling), and very lightly rub them together with the tips of your fingers. Pour in the salted water, and stir with a knife till the flour and lard are well mixed. Pour out onto the paste-board (over which a very little flour should be sifted), and beat the mixture with a rolling pin, doubling and folding, and putting the dry particles in the middle, till the whole becomes a smooth, firm paste.

Roll this into a narrow oblong, as far as possible rolling from you. Divide the butter, which should be very cold and hard, into three parts, and put one third on the paste with a knife, cutting it into little bits. Fold the sheet of paste over into a roll, and again roll out into an oblong. Add the second third of butter in the same way. Roll once more, put on the last third of butter, again fold into a roll, and cut the paste in two, putting one half on top of the other half.

Cut portions off from the end of the double roll, and with them line the pie dishes, rolling them very thin. This quantity of paste will make four or five pies. Care should be taken not to increase the quantity of flour. The pie-crust will be found tender and delicate, though not so elegant as puff-paste; and to make it ready for use in the pie-dishes should not take more than a quarter of an hour.

=A BOILED INDIAN PUDDING=

CONNECTICUT

One quart of milk.
One pint of meal.
Five tablespoonfuls of West India molasses.
Two tablespoonfuls of suet chopped fine.

Scald the milk, and pour it over the meal; add the other ingredients. Put the pudding into a mold or bag, and boil four hours.

Hot maple molasses and butter are eaten with this pudding.

=A BAKED INDIAN PUDDING=

Three and a half quarts of sweet milk.
Three heaping tablespoonfuls of cornmeal.
One half pint of molasses.
One teaspoonful of salt.
Ginger to taste.

Boil one quart of the milk; add to it molasses, butter, salt, and spice, and lastly the meal stirred smooth with a little cold milk; scald the whole together, and turn into a well-buttered baking-dish. When it begins to crust over, stir it all up from the bottom, and add a pint of cold milk. Repeat the process every half hour, or oftener if the pudding browns too fast, till the five pints are used; then let it bake till done--six hours in all. Serve hot with a sauce of grated or granulated maple sugar stirred into rich cream, and kept very cold till needed.

=ORANGE INDIAN PUDDING=

CONNECTICUT

Put four heaping tablespoonfuls of Indian meal in a bowl, and mix in half a pint of molasses and a teaspoonful of salt. Boil three pints of milk; pour it scalding hot on the meal, stirring carefully till perfectly smooth and free from lumps. Butter a deep pudding-dish; cover the bottom thickly with fragments of dried orange-peel; pour in the mixture, and, last of all, pour gently over the top a tumblerful of cold milk. Bake four hours and a half in a hot oven. Eat with thick cream.

=BLUEBERRY PUDDING=

RHODE ISLAND

Line a deep pudding-dish with slices of buttered bread. Fill this with alternate layers of whortleberries or blueberries, and granulated sugar. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over the whole. Cover the top with slices of bread buttered on both sides. Place a plate over the dish, and bake for an hour and a half, setting the dish in a pan of hot water.

Take the pudding from the oven, spread over the top a meringue of white of egg beaten lightly with sugar in the proportion of a tablespoonful of sugar to one egg, and return it to the oven just long enough to lightly brown the meringue. The pudding should be eaten hot with hard wine sauce.

=A PEACH PUDDING=

Line the bottom of a deep pudding-dish with thick slices of stale sponge cake soaked in sherry. Fill the dish with fresh peaches, sliced, and well sprinkled with sugar. Spread over the top a meringue similar to that described for whortleberry pudding, and leave it in the oven just long enough to brown.

Set the dish on the ice, and serve very cold. It is eaten with cream.

=CHERRY BREAD=

Fill a deep pudding-dish with alternate layers of buttered bread and sour cherries, stoned, and stewed with sugar.

Pack the dish in ice, and half freeze the mixture, which will become a semi-jelly. It is eaten with thick cream.

=LEMON RICE PUDDING=

Boil a half pint of rice in a quart of milk till very soft. Add to it while hot the yolks of three eggs, three large tablespoonfuls of sugar, the grated rind of two lemons, and a little salt. If too thick, add a little cold milk. It should be a little thicker than a boiled custard. Turn it into a pudding-dish.

Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff with eight tablespoonfuls of sugar and the juice of the two lemons, and brown the top delicately in the oven. Set on ice and eat very cold.

=BERMUDA PUDDING=

Weigh two eggs, and allow the same weight in sugar and flour, and the weight of one egg in butter. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the eggs beaten to a froth, and lastly the flour, in which half a teaspoonful of Royal Baking Powder has been mixed. Stir till perfectly smooth; then add a heaping tablespoonful of orange marmalade; pour into a buttered mold; cover with buttered paper, and steam gently for an hour and a half. Serve with wine sauce.

=RICE AND ORANGE-MARMALADE PUDDING=

Simmer a quarter of a pint of rice in a quart of milk till it is very soft and thick. Add a teaspoonful of salt, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, a little cream, and let all cool together a few minutes. Pour into a pudding-dish and bake till set.

Spread over the pudding a thick layer of orange marmalade, and over that a meringue, and return to the oven till the top is lightly browned. Serve it cold.

=MOLASSES PIE=

This is a genuine New England dainty, dear to the hearts of children. Mix half a pint of the best molasses with a tablespoonful of flour, and add the juice of a large lemon, and the rind and pulp chopped fine. Bake with an under and an upper crust.

=PRUNE JELLY, WITH ALMONDS=

One pound of prunes. One half box of Coxe's gelatine. Soak the prunes over night, and stew till tender in the water in which they have soaked. Remove the stones, and sweeten to taste.

Dissolve the gelatine in a little hot water, and add to the prunes while hot. Lastly, add the juice of a lemon and two tablespoonfuls of blanched almonds. Pour the jelly into molds and set it on the ice to harden. Eat with cream.

=CLARIFIED APPLES=

Melt two cupfuls of crushed sugar over the fire, adding a little water to keep it from burning, and dropping in a few bits of lemon-peel.

Pare eight large greening apples, and slice them very thin. Have a saucepan full of boiling water ready, and into this put the apples and let them cook till they are parboiled, but not soft enough to break. Skim them out, and drop them into the boiling syrup, shaking them continually over a slow fire till they are done. If properly prepared the slices will be almost transparent.

=LEMON ICE=

One quart of milk. One tumblerful of sugar. Mix the two, and half freeze in an ice cream freezer. Then add the juice and pulp of four large lemons; stir thoroughly, and freeze firm. This is the simplest and cheapest of frozen preparations, and for use in the country, where materials are hard to come by, it is invaluable.

=APPLE SAUCE=

Pare, core, and quarter enough Baldwin or greening apples to fill a small stoneware jar. Add three quarters of a pint of sugar and a quarter of a pint of water; cover tightly. Set this in the oven of the range as soon as the last meal of the day--dinner or supper, as it may be--is served, and let it remain till breakfast next morning. The long, slow cooking gives the apples a deep red color and a flavor quite different from other preparations.

=STEWED PEARS=

Prick hard baking pears with a fork in half a dozen places, and with them fill a small stoneware jar. Add half a pint of sugar, half a pint of water, and a heaping teaspoonful of molasses. Cover tightly, and bake all night as directed above.

=CRANBERRY JELLY=

Stew four quarts of cranberries in a porcelain kettle with water enough to float them, till they are thoroughly soft and broken. Rub them through a coarse sieve. Allow to each pint of the marmalade-like mixture resulting a pound of sugar. Put the fruit on the fire till it boils hard. Stir in the sugar, and as soon as it jellies, which will be in a few minutes, remove from the fire and pour into glasses. The advantage of this preparation of cranberries is that it keeps perfectly for six weeks or two months, losing nothing in quality or flavor during the time.

=HARTFORD ELECTION CAKE=

4-1/2 pounds of flour.
2-1/2 pounds of sugar.
2-1/4 pounds of butter.
1/2 ounce of nutmeg.
1/2 pound of sliced citron.
1/2 ounce of mace.
A cupful of brandy and sherry mixed.
2 pounds of raisins.
4 eggs.

At noon, or early in the afternoon, begin making this cake. Cream the butter and sugar, add a quart of lukewarm milk, half of the flour, and either a half pint of brewer's yeast or a cake and a half of compressed yeast. Beat the mixture well, cover the pan with a thick towel, and set it in a warm place to rise.

At night, when it is very light, add the flour, spices, and eggs. Set the pan in a moderately warm place for a second rising. Early next morning add the fruit, the wine, the grated peel of a lemon, and half a teaspoonful of extract of rose. Pour into pans lined with buttered paper. Let them stand an hour or until light. This receipt makes seven loaves, which require to bake from an hour to an hour and a half, according to oven.

A half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water, and stirred into the batter just before it is put into the pans, is an improvement.

=INSTANTANEOUS FROSTING=

To the white of an unbeaten egg add a cupful and a quarter of pulverized sugar, and stir until smooth. Add three drops of rose-water, ten of vanilla, and the juice of half a lemon. It will at once become very white, and will harden in five or six minutes.

CHAPTER IX