Chapter XIV: Made Dishes (3)

To the following receipts saltpetre may be added, to give a red hue. Mushrooms and oysters give a nice flavour, but the sausages do not keep well. Sausage meat may be cooked without skins: mould it into flat cakes, moistening with yolk of egg, to bind, and then fry them. These cakes form a pretty supper dish, garnished with curled parsley; also a garnish for roast turkey or fowl. The ingredients must be _well mixed_. Herbs ought to be used sparingly. _Pork Sausages._--Cut 3 lbs. of fat, and 3 lbs. of lean pork, into thin slices, scrape each one, and throw away the skin; cut the meat altogether, as small as possible, with 2 oz. salt, ½ oz. pepper, 6 tea-spoonsful of sage, chopped fine, 2 nutmegs, and 2 eggs. Boil a pint of water, let it get cold, put in the crumb of a penny roll, to soak all night; the next morning mix it with the other ingredients, and fill the skins. _Oxford Sausages._--To 1 lb. pork, add 1 lb. veal, 12 oz. beef suet, 3 oz. grated bread, 3 eggs, well beaten, with mace, black pepper, salt, and sweet herbs, these last chopped, then pounded in a mortar, before they are put to the other ingredients. Anchovy is an improvement.--_Or_: leave out the bread, herbs and suet, have plenty of fat to mix with the lean, mix it with yolk of egg, into long thin cakes, and fry them. _Epping Sausages._--Equal portions of young tender pork, and beef suet. Mince them very finely, season with salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and a little chopped sage. _Veal Sausages._--Equal quantities of lean veal and fat bacon, ½ a handful of sage leaves, salt, pepper, and a few anchovies; beat all well in a mortar. Roll this into cakes and fry them. _Bologna Sausages._--An equal portion of beef, veal, lean pork and fat of bacon, minced and mixed well together. Season with pepper, salt, and spices; fill a large skin, and boil it an hour.

_Rissoles._

Any sort of cold meat, but veal, chicken, turkey and sweetbreads are best. Mince the meat, season with salt and pepper, and stew it two minutes in well-seasoned gravy; use no more than sufficient to moisten the mince. Let it get cold, then roll into balls; dip these into egg beaten; then into bread-crumbs, and fry them of a light {181}brown. When done, place them in a dish, and pour good gravy into it.--_Or_: roll out thin puff paste, spread some mince on it, and roll up, in what shape you please; fry of a light brown. Rissoles may be made of cold turbot, shrimps, lobster and cod; season with cayenne and thin melted butter; add the yolk of an egg to bind it, then roll up in thin puff paste and fry them.

_A Bread Border._

Cut slices of firm stale bread, the thickness of the blade of a knife, into any shape you like. Heat some top fat, or oil, in a saucepan, and put in the sippets. Take some out before they are much browned, and let the rest brown more. Drain well, fasten each one up with white paper, until you are ready to use them; then pierce the end of an egg, let out a little of the white, beat it up with a knife, and mix in a little flour. Heat a dish, dip one side or point of each sippet in the egg, and stick them, one by one, on the dish, in what form you please, and put the ragout or fricassee in the centre.

_A Rice Border._

Soak the rice well, then stew it with salt and a blade of mace; to be richer, use butter and yolk of egg. When just tender, and no more, place it round the dish, as an edging; glaze with beaten yolk of egg, and set it in the oven, or before the fire, a few minutes; then put in the curry, or hash, &c. &c.

_Potatoe Border._

Mash them nicely; and form a neat border round the edge of the dish; mark it and glaze with yolk of egg; brown it in the oven, and put the hash in the centre.

_Omelets._

These with practice, are easily made, and are convenient to make out a dinner or supper, especially in the country, where fresh eggs may almost always be obtained. Omelets are so common in France, that the poorest inn by the road {182}side will always furnish one. _Fresh_ eggs are essential; the frying-pan should be round and small. The basis of most omelets is the following: beat well the yolks of 6 and the whites of 3 eggs, put to them a little salt and 2 table-spoonsful of water; put 1½ oz. fresh butter into the frying-pan, and hold it over the fire; when the butter is hot, pour in the eggs, shake the pan constantly, or keep stirring the eggs till they become firm, then with a knife lift the edge all round, that the butter may get under. If over done, it will be hard and dry. Gather the border up, roll the omelet, and serve in a hot dish. This may be flavoured in various ways: with grated lemon peel, nutmeg and mace; _or_ with the juice of a Seville orange; _or_ with grated ham, tongue, _or_ veal kidney, pepper and salt; _or_ finely chopped parsley, green onions, chives and herbs: _also_, for maigre dinners, lobster meat, shrimps or the soft parts of oysters may be pounded, seasoned and put into the eggs. A pounded anchovy, and, also, mushroom powder, may be used to give flavour. Potatoe or wheaten flour, about a table-spoonful, is sometimes added to the eggs.

_Eggs to Poach._

Boil some spring water, skim it, and put in a table-spoonful of vinegar. Break off the top of the egg with a knife, and let it slip gently into the boiling water, turning the shell over the egg, to gather in the white; this is said to be a better way than to break the egg into a cup, then turn it into the water. Let the saucepan stand by the side of the fire till the white is set, then put it over the fire for two minutes. Take them up, with a slice; trim them, and serve on toasts, spinach, brocoli, sorrel, slices of broiled ham, or in the centre of a dish, with pork sausages round.

_Eggs to Fry._

Melt a piece of butter in a frying-pan, and slip the eggs in.--_Or_: lay some thin slices of bacon in a dish before the fire, to toast; break the eggs into tea-cups, and slip them gently into boiling lard, in a frying-pan. When done, little more than two minutes, trim the white, and lay each one on a slice of bacon. Make a sauce of weak broth, cayenne, made mustard and vinegar.

{183}_Eggs to Butter._

Beat 12 eggs with 2 table-spoonsful of gravy; melt ¼ lb. butter, stir the eggs and this together, in a bason with pepper, salt, and finely minced onion, if liked. Pour this backwards and forwards from one bason to another, then into a stew-pan on the fire, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, to prevent burning. When of a proper thickness, serve on toast.

_Eggs to Fricassee._

Boil them hard, then cut the eggs in slices, pour a good white sauce over, and serve with sippets round the dish.

_Eggs to Ragout._

Boil 8 eggs hard, take off the shell, cut them in quarters. Have ready a pint of gravy, well seasoned and thickened, and pour it hot over the eggs.--_Or_: melt some butter, thicken with flour, season with nutmeg and mace, add a tea-cupful of cream, and pour hot over the eggs.

_Swiss Eggs._

Put a piece of butter the size of a small egg into a saucepan with ¼ lb. grated cheese, a little nutmeg, parsley and chives finely chopped, and ½ a glass of white wine. Stir it over a slow fire, till the cheese is melted; then mix in 6 eggs well beaten, set it on the fire, and keep stirring till done. Serve in the centre of a small dish, with toasted sippets round.

_Scotch Eggs._

Boil 4 eggs hard, as for salad, peel and dip them, first in beaten egg, then in a forcemeat of grated ham, crumbs and spices. Fry in clarified dripping, and serve in gravy. _Or_: in white sauce.

_Eggs à la Tripe._

Fry 4 sliced Spanish onions in butter, then dust in some flour, let it catch to a light brown, put in a breakfast {184}cupful of hot milk, salt and pepper, and let it reduce. Then add 12 hard-boiled eggs, some in halves or quarters, others in slices, mix these gently in the sauce (a tea-spoonful of made mustard if you like), and serve it.

_Eggs à la Maitre d'Hotel._

Fry onions as in the last receipt, add melted butter, with plenty of parsley chopped in it, put in the eggs and serve quite hot.

_Fondu._

Mix an equal quantity of grated parmesan and Gloucester cheese, add double the weight in beaten yolk of egg and cream, or melted butter; beat all well together, add pepper and salt, then the whites of the eggs, which have been beaten separately: stir them lightly in, and bake in deep tin dish, or in paper cases, but fill only half full, as it will rise very much. Serve quite hot.

_Ramakins._

Beat an equal portion of Gloucester and Cheshire cheese in a mortar, with the crumb of a French roll, soaked in milk, and the yolks of 3 eggs; season with salt and pepper, and when beaten to a paste, add the whites of 2 eggs, and bake them in saucers, in the Dutch oven.--_Or_: roll paste out thin, lay a thin slice of cheese on it, cover with paste, and bake like puffs.--_Or_: beat ¼ lb. Cheshire cheese with 2 eggs and 2 oz. butter, and form it into cakes to cover thin pieces of bread cut round with a wine-glass. Lay these on a dish, not touching one another, put it on a chaffing dish of coals, hold a salamander over till quite brown, and serve hot.

_Asparagus and Eggs._

Beat 4 eggs well, with pepper and salt. Cut some dressed asparagus into pieces the size of peas, and stir into the eggs. Melt 2 oz. of butter, in a small stew-pan, pour in the mixture, stir till it thickens, and serve hot on a toast.

{185}_Mushrooms and Eggs._

Slice and fry some large onions and a few button mushrooms; drain them well; boil some eggs hard, and slice them; simmer in good gravy, or melted butter, with pepper, salt, mustard, and eschalot vinegar.

_Devils._

These are made of legs, rumps, backs and gizzards of cold turkey, goose, capon, and all kinds of game, venison, mutton kidney, the back bone of mackerel well buttered, biscuits and rusks. The meat must be well scored for the seasonings to find their way into it: salt, pepper, cayenne, curry, mushroom, truffle, and anchovy powder, must be used according to taste. Broil, over a quick strong fire, and serve them dry, if to eat with wine; but they may be served with anchovy, or any _piquant_ sauce. Served in a hot water dish.--_Biscuits_ are spread with butter, heated before the fire and sprinkled with the seasonings.

_Anchovy Toasts._

Fry thin slices of bread, without the crust, in butter. Spread them with pounded anchovies mixed with butter.

_Mock Caviare._

Bone 6 anchovies, pound them in a mortar with dried parsley, a clove of garlic, cayenne, salt and salad oil, also lemon juice if you like. Serve on toast or biscuit.

_Sandwiches._

The bread should be cut in thin slices with a sharp knife. Various things are used. Slices of beef, ham, or tongue, or either of the last two grated or scraped; also German or pork sausage, anchovies and shrimps; forcemeat, and all kinds of potted meat. Some persons cut the meat in very little pieces, and spread them over the bread; a mixture of ham and chicken in this way makes delicate sandwiches: or ham and hard-boiled yolk of egg, seasoned with salt, mustard, or curry powder, according to the meat. Cheese sandwiches are made thus: 2 parts of grated parmesan or {186}Cheshire cheese, one of butter, and a small portion of made mustard; pound them in a mortar; cover slices of bread with a little, then thin slices of ham, or any cured meat, cover with another slice of bread, and press it lightly down; cut these sandwiches small.

_Maccaroni._ (_See to make the paste._)

Boil 2 oz. in good broth or gravy, till tender; add a small piece of butter, and a little salt, give it a turn in the stew-pan, and put it in the dish. Scrape parmesan, stilton, or any other dry rich cheese over, and brown it before the fire.--_Or_: mix a pint of milk and a pint of water, put in 2 oz. maccaroni, and simmer it slowly three hours, till the liquor is wasted, and the maccaroni tender. Add grated cheese, salt, and cayenne, mix well, and brown it before the fire. Maccaroni plain boiled, with a little salt, till tender, and the gravy of roast or boiled meat poured over it, is light and nourishing for an invalid. _Maccaroni in the Italian way._--Mince about six livers of fowl or game with a very little celery, young onion, and parsley (blanched), and stew them in good butter. Then have six more livers cut small, not minced, and cooked in a little butter. Boil 2 oz. of maccaroni in white gravy, season it, if necessary, add powdered mace and cayenne; when done, put a layer of it in a deep hot dish, then a layer of the mince, a layer of grated parmesan, then maccaroni, and at top the chopped livers and more cheese, and enough of the gravy to moisten it sufficiently; put it before the fire a quarter of an hour, or on a slow stove: then brown it or not as you choose. _Another_ (_Italian_).--Boil it in water, pass it through a cullender, and having ready prepared some tomata sauce (_which see_), lift a layer of the maccaroni lightly with two forks out of the cullender into a deep vegetable or hash dish, put a light sprinkling of grated cheese, then tomata sauce, then maccaroni, and again tomata sauce, till the dish be full; if the maccaroni be dry, add butter in little bits, and cayenne, if you think proper. This is not browned. You may omit the cheese. _Maccaroni Maigre._--Simmer 2 oz. maccaroni in a pint of milk and a pint of water (mixed) three hours, and the liquor wasted: stir into it grated cheese, salt, and cayenne, and brown it before the fire.

{187}_Toast and Cheese._

Toast a slice of stale bread half an inch thick, without the crust, butter one side, and lay on slices of toasting cheese; put it into a cheese-toaster before the fire; when done, lightly pepper and salt it, and serve it hot.

_Welsh or Scotch Rabbit._

There are many receipts for this, and the following is a good one. Mix some butter with grated cheese (unless that be so fat that the butter is not required), add salt, pepper, made mustard, and a tea-cupful of brown stout or Port wine; put this into a cheese-toaster, stir till the cheese be dissolved, then brown, and serve it quite hot: toasts in a separate dish.