Chapter XIV: Part 14

Cut a good melon as for eating; peel it, carefully taking off the green part entirely, but not more. Take out all the inside, and steep the slices for ten days in the best vinegar, keeping it well covered. Take out the slices, and put them over the fire in fresh vinegar; let them stew till quite tender. Then drain and dry them in a cloth; stick bits of cloves and cinnamon in them; lay them in a jar, and make a syrup, and pour over them. Tie the jar close down. This kind of sweetmeat is eaten in Geneva with roast meat, and is much better than currant jelly or apple sauce. The melon must be in good order, and within three or four days of being ripe enough to eat.

_Mince Meat._ No. 1.

One pound of beef, one pound and a half of suet, one pound of currants, half a pound of chopped raisins, one pound of sugar, if moist, half a pint of brandy, a pint of raisin wine, mace, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, pounded together. Sweetmeats, candied lemon, and fresh peel, may be added, when used for baking.

_Mince Meat._ No. 2.

One pound of beef suet, one pound of apples peeled and cored, one pound of raisins stoned and chopped very fine, the same of currants well picked, half a pound of sugar made very fine, a glass of brandy, a glass of wine, half an ounce of allspice, the juice of two large lemons, the rind chopped as fine as possible: add sweetmeats to your taste.

_Mince Meat._ No. 3.

Take one pound of beef and two pounds of suet shred fine, two pounds of currants, one pound of the best raisins stoned, but not chopped, three quarters of a pound of sugar, four fine pippins or russetings chopped fine, some grated lemon-peel, half an ounce of cinnamon, the same of nutmeg, a quarter of an ounce of mace, wine and brandy to your taste, and whatever sweetmeats you please.

_Mince Meat without Meat._ No. 1.

Twelve pounds of currants, very well washed, dried, and picked, six pounds of raisins stoned and chopped very small, a quarter of a pound of cloves, three ounces of mace, and two of nutmegs, pounded very fine, the rind of three large fresh lemons pared very thin and chopped fine, six pounds of powder sugar, a quart of sack, a quart of brandy, one hundred golden rennets, pared, cored, and chopped small: mix all well together, and let it stand two days, stirring it from the bottom twice or thrice a day. Add three whole dried preserved oranges and an equal weight of dried citron. Mix in the suet a day or two before you use it. Add lemon-juice to your taste, and that only to the quantity you mean to bake at once. Without suet these ingredients will keep for six months.

_Mince Meat without Meat._ No. 2.

To make a mince meat that will keep for five or six years, take four pounds of raisins of the sun, stoned and chopped very fine, five pounds of currants, three pounds of beef suet shred very fine, the crumb of a half-quartern loaf, three pounds of loaf-sugar, the peel of four lemons grated, half an ounce of nutmeg, a quarter of an ounce of mace, the same of cloves, and one pint of good brandy. When you make your pies, add about one third of apple chopped fine; and to each pie put six or eight small slices of citron and preserved orange-peel, with a table-spoonful of sweet wine, ratafia, and a piece of a large lemon mixed together.

_Mince Meat without Meat._ No. 3.

Three pounds of suet, three pounds of apples, pared and cored, three pounds of currants washed, picked, and dried, one pound and a half of sugar powdered, three quarters of a pound of preserved orange-peel, six ounces of citron, the juice of six lemons, one pint of sack and one of brandy, a quarter of an ounce of mace, the same of nutmeg, and of cloves and cinnamon half a quarter of an ounce each.

_Lemon Mince Meat._

Cut three large lemons, and squeeze out the juice; boil the peels together with the pulp till it will pound in a mortar; put to it one pound of beef suet, finely chopped, currants and lump sugar, one pound of each; mix it all well together; then add the juice with a glass of brandy. Put sweetmeats to your taste.

_Mirangles._

Put half a pint of syrup into a stewpan, and boil it to what is called blow; then take the whites of three eggs, put them in another copper pan, and whisk them very strong. When your sugar is boiled, rub it against the sides of the stewpan with a table-spoon; when you see the sugar change, quickly mix the whites of eggs with it, for if you are not quick your sugar will turn to powder. When you have mixed it as light as possible, put in the rind of one lemon; stir it as little as possible: take a board, about one foot wide and eighteen inches long, and put a sheet of paper on it. With your table-spoon drop your batter in the shape of half an egg: sift a little powdered sugar over them before you put them in the oven. Let your oven be of a moderate heat; watch them attentively, and let them rise, and just let the outside be a little hard, but not the least brown; the inside must be moist. Take them off with a knife, and just put about a tea-spoonful of jam in the middle of them; then put two of them together, and they will be in the shape of an egg; you must handle them very gently.

_Moss._

Take as much white starch as sugar, and sift it; colour some of the sugar with turmeric, some with blue powder, some with chocolate, and some with the juice of spinach; and wet each by itself with a solution of gum-dragon. Strain and rub it through a hair sieve, and let them dry before you touch them.

_Muffins._

Mix flour in a pan, with warm new milk and water, yest and salt, according to your judgment. Beat it up well with a wooden spoon till it is a stiff batter; then set it near the fire to rise, which will be in about an hour. It must then be well beaten down, and put to rise again, and, when very light, made into muffins, and baked in flat round irons made for the purpose. The iron must be made hot, and kept so with coals under it. Take out the batter with a spoon, and drop it on a little flour sprinkled lightly on a table. Then lay them on a trencher with a little flour; turn the trencher round to shape them, assisting with your hand if they need it. Then bake them; when one side is done, turn them with a muffin knife, and bake the other.

_Oranges, to preserve._

Make a hole at the stalk end; take out all the seeds, but no pulp; squeeze out the juice, which must be saved to put to them, taking great care you do not loosen the pulp. Put them into an earthen pan, with water; boil them till the water is bitter, changing it three times, and, in the last water put a little salt, and boil them till they are very tender, but not to break. Take them out and drain them; take two pounds of sugar and a quart of pippin jelly; boil it to a syrup, skim it very clear, and then put in your oranges. Set them over a gentle fire till they boil very tender and clear; then put to them the juice that you took from them; prick them with a knife that the syrup may penetrate. If you cut them in halves, lay the skin side upwards, and put them up and cover them with the syrup.

Lemons and citrons may be done in the same way.

_Whole Oranges, to preserve._

Take six oranges, rasp them very thin, put them in water as you do them, and let them lie all night. In the morning boil them till they are tender, and then put them into clear water, and let them remain so two or three days. Take the oranges, and cut a hole in the top, and pick out the seeds, but not the meat; then take three pounds of fine sugar, and make a thin syrup, and, when boiled and skimmed, put in your oranges, and let them boil till they are clear. Take them out, and let them stand three or four days; then boil them again till the syrup is rather thick. Put half a pound of sugar and half a pint of apple jelly to every orange, and let it boil until it jellies; put them into pots, and place any substance to keep down the orange in the pot till it cools.

_Seville Oranges, to preserve._

Put Seville oranges in spring water, where let them remain three or four days, shifting the water every day. Take them out, and grate off a little of the outside rind very carefully without touching the white, only to take away a little of the bitter; make a thin syrup, and, when it is sufficiently cleared and boiled, take it off, and, when it is only warm, put the oranges in and just simmer them over the fire. Put them and the syrup into a pan, and in a day or two set them again on the fire, and just scald them. Repeat this a day afterwards; then boil a thick syrup; take the oranges out of the thin one, and lay them on a cloth to drain, covered over with another; then put them to the thick syrup, as you before did to the thin one, putting them into it just hot, and giving them a simmer. Repeat this in a few days if you think they are not sufficiently done. The insides must be left in.

_Butter Orange._

Take a pint of the juice of oranges and eight new-laid eggs beaten well together; mix and season them to your taste with loaf-sugar; then set it on the fire; keep stirring till it becomes thick; put in a bit of butter of the size of a walnut, stirring it while on the fire; then dish it up.

_Candied Orange._

Take twelve oranges, the palest you can get; take out the pulp, pick out the seeds and skins; let the outsides soak in water with a little salt all night: then boil them in a good quantity of spring water, till tender, which will be about nine or ten hours. Drain and cut them in very thin slices; add them to the pulp, and to every pound take one pound and a half of sugar beaten fine. Boil them together till clear, which will be in about three quarters of an hour.

_Orange Cream._

Grate the peels of four Seville oranges into a pint of water, then squeeze the juice into the water. Well beat the yolks of four eggs; put all together; and sweeten with double-refined sugar. Press the whole hard through a strong strainer; set it on the fire, and stir it carefully one way, till it is as thick as cream.

_Orange Jelly._

Dissolve two ounces of isinglass in a pint of water; add a pint of the juice of four China oranges, two Seville oranges, and two lemons. Grate the peel of them all, and sweeten to your palate.

_Orange Paste._

Pick all the meat out of the oranges, and boil the rinds in water till they are very tender. Cut off all the outside, and beat the pulp in a mortar till it is very fine. Shred the outside in long thin bits, and mix it with the meat, when you have taken out all the seeds. To every pint of juice put half a pint of the pulp, and mix all together. Then boil up a candy of sugar; put in your paste, and just scald it; add a good pound of sugar to a pint of the paste; put it into a broad earthen pan, set it on a stove, let it remain till it candies; skim it off with a spoon, drop it on glasses to dry, and as, often as it candies keep skimming it.

_Another way._

To six ounces of sugar put six ounces at least of fine flour, mixed with a little orange-flower water, but no eggs, as they would make it too dry. Moisten with water, taking care that it is neither too hard nor too soft. Rub the pan with a little fine oil.

_Orange Puffs._

Pare off the yellow peel of a large Seville orange, but be careful not to touch the white; boil it in three several waters to take out the bitterness; it will require about three hours' boiling. Beat it very fine in a marble mortar, with four ounces of fine lump sugar, four ounces of fresh butter, the yolks of six eggs, four good spoonfuls of sweet thick cream, and one spoonful of orange-flower water. Beat all these ingredients so well together that you cannot discern a particle of the orange-peel. Roll out your puff paste as thin as possible, lay it in pattypans, fill them with the ingredients, but do not cover them. Bake them in an oven no hotter than for cheesecakes; but for frying you must make them with crust without butter, and fry them in lard.

_Another way._

Take one pound of single-refined sugar sifted and the rind of an orange grated, a little gum-dragon, and beaten almonds rubbed through a sieve. Mix all these well together; wet it into paste, and beat it in a mortar; add whites of eggs whipped to a frost.

_Orange Sponge._

Dissolve two ounces of isinglass in one pint of water; strain it through a sieve; add the juice of two China oranges and some lemon; sugar it to your taste. Whisk it till it looks like a sponge; put it into a mould, and turn it out.

_Orange and Lemon Syrup._

To each pint of juice, which must be put into a large pan, throw a pound and a half of sugar, broken into small lumps, which must be stirred every day till dissolved, first carefully taking off the scum. Let the peel of about six oranges be put into twelve quarts, but it must be taken out when the sugar is melted, and you are ready to bottle it. Proceed in the same way with lemon, only taking two pounds of sugar to a pint of juice.

_Oranges for a Tart._

Pare some oranges as thin as possible; boil them till they are soft. Cut and core double the number of good pippins, and boil them to pap, but so as that they do not lose their colour; strain the pulp, and add one pound of sugar to every pint. Take out the orange-pulp, cut the peel, make it very soft by boiling, and bruise it in a mortar in the juice of lemons and oranges; then boil it to a proper consistence with the apple and orange-pulp and half a pint of rose-water.

_Orange Tart._

Take eight Seville oranges; cut them in halves, pick out all the seeds; then pick out all the orange as free from the white skins as possible. Take the seeds out of the cores, and boil them till tender and free from bitter. When done enough, dry them very well from the water, and beat five of the orange-peels in a marble mortar till quite smooth. Then take the weight of the oranges in double-refined sugar, beaten fine, and sifted; mix it with the juice, and pound all well in the mortar; the peel that was left unbeaten you slice into your tart. You may keep out as much sugar as will ice the tart. Make the crust for it with twelve ounces of flour, six ounces of butter, melted in water, and the yolks of two eggs, well beaten and mixed into your flour. Be sure to prick the crust well before it goes into the oven.

Half this quantity makes a pretty-sized tart.

_Another way._

Take as many oranges as you require. Cut the peel extremely thin from the white, and shred it small. Clear the oranges entirely from the white, and cut them in small pieces like an apple, taking out the seeds. Sweeten as required, and bake in a nice paste. In winter, apples may be mixed.

_Panada._

Take oatmeal, clean picked and well beaten; steep it in water all night; strain and boil it in a pipkin, with some currants, a blade or two of mace, and a little salt. When it is well boiled, take it off; and put in the yolks of two or three new-laid eggs, beaten with rose-water. Set it on a gentle fire, and stir it that it may not curdle. Sweeten with sugar, and put in a little nutmeg.

_Pancakes._ No. 1.

Mix a quart of milk with as much flour as will make it into a thin batter; break in six eggs; put in a little salt, a glass of raisin wine, a spoonful of beaten ginger; mix all well together; fry and sprinkle them with sugar.

In making pancakes or fritters, always make your batter an hour before you begin frying, that the flour may have time to mix thoroughly. Never fry them till they are wanted, or they will eat flat and insipid. Add a little lemon-juice or peel.

_Pancakes._ No. 2.

To a pint of cream put three spoonfuls of sack, half a pint of flour, six eggs, but only three whites; grate in some nutmeg, very little salt, a quarter of a pound of butter melted, and some sugar. After the first pancake, lay them on a dry pan, very thin, one upon another, till they are finished, before the fire; then lay a dish on the top, and turn them over, so that the brown side is uppermost. You may add or diminish the quantity in proportion. This is a pretty supper dish.

_Pancakes._ No. 3.

Break three eggs, put four ounces and a half of flour, and a little milk, beat it into a smooth batter; then add by degrees as much milk as will make it the thickness of good cream. Make the frying-pan hot, and to each pancake put a bit of butter nearly the size of a walnut; when melted, pour in the batter to cover the bottom of the pan; make them of the thickness of half a crown. The above will do for apple fritters, by adding one spoonful more flour; peel and cut your apples in thick slices, take out the core, dip them in the batter, and fry them in hot lard; put them in a sieve to drain; grate some loaf sugar over them.

_French Pancakes._

Beat the yolks of eight eggs, which sweeten to your taste, nearly a table-spoonful of flour, a little brandy, and half a pint of cream. They are not to be turned in the frying-pan. When half done, take the whites beaten to a strong froth, and put them over the pancakes. When these are done enough, roll them over, sugar them, and brown them with a salamander.

_Grillon's Pancakes._

Two soup-ladles of flour, three yolks of eggs, and four whole ones, two tea-spoonfuls of orange-flower water, six ratafia cakes, a pint of double cream; to be stirred together, and sugar to be shaken over every pancake, which is not to be turned--about thirty in number.

_Quire of Paper Pancakes._

Take to a pint of cream eight eggs, leaving out two whites, three spoonfuls of fine flour, three of sack, one of orange-flower water, a little sugar, a grated nutmeg, a quarter of a pound of butter melted in the cream. Mix a little of the cream with flour, and so proceed by degrees that it may be smooth: then beat all well together. Butter the pan for the first pancake, and let them run as thin as possible to be whole. When one side is coloured, it is enough; take them carefully out of the pan, lay them as even on each other as possible; and keep them near the fire till they are all fried. The quantity here given makes twenty.

_Rice Pancakes._

In a quart of milk mix by degrees three spoonfuls of flour of rice, and boil it till it is as thick as pap. As it boils, stir in half a pound of good butter and a nutmeg grated. Pour it into a pan, and, when cold, put in by degrees three or four spoonfuls of flour, a little salt, some sugar, and nine eggs, well beaten up. Mix them all together, and fry them in a small pan, with a little piece of butter.

_Paste._

Take half a pound of good fresh butter, and work it to a cream in a basin. Stir into it a quarter of a pound of fine sifted sugar, and beat it together: then work with it as much fine flour as will make a paste fit to roll out for tarts, cheesecakes, &c.

_Paste for baking or frying._

Take a proper quantity of flour for the paste you wish to make, and mix it with equal quantities of powdered sugar and flour; melt some butter very smooth, with some grated lemon-peel and an egg, well beat; mix into a firm paste; bake or fry it.

_Paste for Pies._

French roll dough, rolled out with less than half the quantity of butter generally used, makes a wholesome and excellent paste for pies.

_Paste for raised Pies._

Put four pounds of butter into a kettle of water; add three quarters of a pound of rendered beef suet; boil it two or three minutes; pour it on twelve pounds of flour, and work it into a good stiff paste. Pull it into lumps to cool. Raise the pie, using the same proportions for all raised pies according to the size required: bake in a hot oven.

_Another way._

Take one pound of flour, and seven ounces of butter, put into boiling water till it dissolves: wet the flour lightly with it. Roll your paste out thick and not too stiff; line your tins with it; put in the meat, and cover over the top of the tin with the same paste.

This paste is best made over-night.

_Paste for Tarts._

To half a pound of the best flour add the same quantity of butter, two spoonfuls of white sugar, the yolks of two eggs and one white; make it into a paste with cold water.

_Paste for Tarts in pans._

Take a pound of flour, the same of butter, with five yolks of eggs, the white of one, and as much water as will wet it into a pretty soft paste. Roll it up, and put it into your pan.

_Paste for very small Tartlets._

Take an egg or more, and mix it with some flour; make a little ball as big as a tea-cup; work it with your hands till it is quite hard and stiff; then break off a little at a time as you want it, keeping the rest of the ball under cover of a basin, for fear of its hardening or drying too much. Roll it out extremely thin; cut it out, and make it up in what shape you please, and harden them by the fire, or in an oven in a manner cold. It does for almonds or cocoa-nut boiled up in syrup rich, or any thing that is a dry mixture, or does not want baking.

_Potato Paste._

Take two thirds of potato and one of ground rice, as much butter rubbed in as will moisten it sufficiently to roll, which must be done with a little flour. The crust is best made thin and in small tarts. The potatoes should be well boiled and quite cold.

_Rice Paste._

Whole rice, boiled in new milk, with a reasonable quantity of butter, to such a consistency as to roll out when cold. The board must be floured while rolling.

_Another way._

Beat up a quarter of a pound of rice-flour with two eggs; boil it till soft; then make it into a paste with very little butter, and bake it.

_Paste Royal._

Mix together one pound of flour, and two ounces of sifted sugar; rub into it half a pound of good butter, and make it into a paste not over stiff. Roll it out for your pans. This paste is proper for any sweet tart or cheesecake.

_Short or Puff Paste._ No. 1.

Rub together six ounces of butter and eight of flour; mix it up with as little water as possible, so as to make a stiff paste. Beat it well, and roll it thin. This is the best crust of all for tarts that are to be eaten cold and for preserved fruit. Have a moderate oven.

_Short Paste._ No. 2.

Half a pound of loaf-sugar, and the same quantity of butter, to be rubbed into a pound of flour; then make it into paste with two eggs.

_Short Paste._ No. 3.

To a pound and a quarter of sifted flour rub gently in half a pound of fresh butter, mixed up with half a pint of spring water, and set it by for a quarter of an hour; then roll it out thin; lay on it in small pieces three quarters of a pound more of butter; throw on it a little more flour, roll it out thin three times, and set it by for an hour in a cold place.

_Short Paste._ No. 4.

Take one pound of flour, half a pound of fresh butter, and about four table-spoonfuls of pounded white sugar. Knead the paste with the yolks of two eggs well beaten up instead of water. Roll it very thin for biscuits or tarts.

_Short Paste._ No. 5.

Three ounces of butter to something less than a pound of flour and the yolk of one egg; the butter to be thoroughly worked into the flour; if you use sugar, there is no occasion for an egg.

_Short Paste._ No. 6.

Three quarters of a pound of butter, and the same of flour; mix the flour very stiff with a little water; put the butter in a clean cloth, and press it thoroughly to get from it all the water. Then roll out all the flour and water paste, and lay the butter upon it, double over the paste, and beat it with a rolling-pin. Double it up quite thick, lay it in a clean plate, and put it in a cool place for an hour. If it is not light when tried in the oven, it must be beaten again.

_Short Paste._ No. 7.

Rub into your flour as much butter as possible, without its being greasy; rub it in very fine; put water to make it into a nice light paste; roll it out; stick bits of butter all over it; then flour and roll it up again. Do this three times; it is excellent for meat-pies.

_Short Paste, made with Suet._

To one pound of flour take about half a pound of beef suet chopped very small; pour boiling water upon it; let it stand a little time; then mix the suet with the flour, taking as little of the water as possible, and roll it very thin; put a little sugar and white of egg over the crust before it is baked.

_Sugar Paste._

Take half a pound of flour, and the same quantity of sugar well pounded; work it together, with a little cream and about two ounces of butter, into a stiff paste; roll it very thin. When the tarts are made, rub the white of an egg, well beaten, over them with a feather; put them in a moderate oven, and sift sugar over them.

_Peaches, to preserve in Brandy._ No. 1.

The peaches should be gathered before they are too ripe; they should be of the hard kind--old Newington or the Magdalen peaches are the best. Rub off the down with a flannel, and loosen the stone, which is done by cutting a quill and passing it carefully round the stone. Prick them with a large needle in several places; put them into cold water; give them a great deal of room in the preserving-pan; scald them extremely gently: the longer you are scalding them the better, for if you do them hastily, or with too quick a fire, they may crack or break. Turn them now and then with a feather: when they are tender to the feel, like a hard-boiled egg that has the shell taken off, remove them from the fire, carefully take them out, and cover them up close with a flannel. You must in all their progress observe to keep the fruit covered, and, whenever you take it from the scalding syrup, cover it up with a cloth or flannel, or the air will change the colour. Then put to them a thin syrup cool. The next day, if you think the syrup too thin, drain it well from the peaches, and add a little more sugar; boil it up, and put it to them almost cold. To a pint of syrup put half a pint of the best pale brandy you can get, which sweeten with fine sugar. If the brandy is dark-coloured, it will spoil the look of the fruit. The peaches should be well chosen, and they should have sufficient room in the glass jars. When the liquor wastes, supply the deficiency by adding more syrup and brandy. Cover them with a bladder, and every now and then turn them upside down, till the fruit is settled.

_Peaches, to preserve in Brandy._ No. 2.

Scald some of the finest peaches of the white heart kind, free from spots, in a stewpan of water; take them out when soft, and put them into a large table-cloth, four or five times doubled. Into a quart of white French brandy put ten ounces of powdered sugar; let it dissolve, and stir it well. Put your peaches into a glass jar; pour the brandy on them; cover them very close with leather and bladder, and take care to keep your jar filled with brandy.

You should mix your brandy and sugar before you scald the peaches.

_Peaches, to preserve in Brandy._ No. 3.

Put Newington peaches in boiling water: just give them a scald, but do not let them boil; then take them out, and throw them into cold water. Dry them on a sieve, and put them in long wide-mouthed bottles. To half a dozen peaches take half a pound of sugar; just wet it, and make it a thick syrup. Pour it over the peaches hot; when cold, fill the bottles with the finest pale brandy, and stop them very close.

_Pears, to pot._

Put in your fruit scored; cover them with apple jelly, and let them boil till they break; then put them in a hair sieve, and rub them through with a spoon till you think it thick enough. Boil up as many pounds of sugar to a candy as you have pints of paste, and when the sugar is put in the paste, just scald it, and put it into pots.

_Pears, to stew._

Pare some Barland pears; take out the core, and lay them close in a tin saucepan, with a cover fitting quite exact; add the rind of a lemon cut thin and half its juice, a small stick of cinnamon, twenty grains of allspice, and one pound of loaf-sugar, to a pint and a half of water. Bake them six hours in a very slow oven. Prepared cochineal is often used for colouring.

_Chicken Pie._

Parboil and neatly cut up your chickens; dry them, and set them over a slow fire for a few minutes; have ready some forcemeat, and with it some pieces of ham; lay these at the bottom of the dish, and place the chickens upon it; add some gravy well seasoned. It takes from an hour and a half to two hours.

_Giblet Pie._

Let the giblets be well cleaned, and put all into a saucepan excepting the liver, with a little water and an onion, some whole pepper, a bunch of sweet-herbs, and a little salt. Cover them close, and let them stew till tender; then lay in your dish a puff paste, and upon that a rump-steak peppered and salted; put the seasoned giblets in with the liver, and add the liquor they were stewed in. Close the pie; bake it two hours; and when done pour in the gravy.

A Dutch pie is made in the same way.

_Common Goose Pie._

Quarter a goose and season it well. Make a raised crust, and lay it in, with half a pound of butter at the top, cut into three pieces. Put the lid on, and bake it gently.

_Rich Goose Pie._

After having boned your goose and fowl, season them well, and put your fowl into the goose, and into the fowl some forcemeat. Then put both into a raised crust, filling the corners with the forcemeat. Cut about half a pound of butter into three or four pieces, and lay on the top, and bake it well.

_Ham and Chicken Pie._

Cut some thin slices from a boiled ham, lay them on a good puff paste at the bottom of your dish, and pepper them. Cut a fowl into four quarters, and season it with a great deal of pepper, and but a little salt; and lay on the top some hard yolks of eggs, a few truffles and morels, and then cover the whole with slices of ham peppered: fill the dish with gravy, and cover it with a good thick paste. Bake it well, and, when done, pour into it some rich gravy. If to be eaten cold, put no gravy.

_Hare Pie._

Cut the hare into pieces; season it with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and jug it with half a pound of butter. It must do above an hour, covered close in a pot of boiling water. Make some forcemeat, and add bruised liver and a glass of red wine. Let it be highly seasoned, and lay it round the inside of a raised crust; put the hare in when cool, and add the gravy that came from it, with some more rich gravy. Put the lid on, and bake it two hours.

_Lumber Pie._

Take the best neat's tongue well boiled, three quarters of a pound of beef suet, the like quantity of currants, two good handfuls of spinach, thyme, and parsley, a little nutmeg, and mace; sweeten to your taste. Add a French roll grated and six eggs. Mix these all together, put them into your pie, then lay up the top. Cut into long slices one candied orange, two pieces of citron, some sliced lemon, add a good deal of marrow, preserved cherries and barberries, an apple or two cut into eight pieces, and some butter. Put in white wine, lemon, and sugar, and serve up.

_Olive Pie._

Two pounds of leg of veal, the lean, with the skin taken out, one pound of beef suet, both shred very small and beaten; then put them together; add half a pound of currants and half a pound of raisins stoned, half a pound of sugar, eight eggs and the whites of four, thyme, sweet marjoram, winter savory, and parsley, a handful of each. Mix all these together, and make it up in balls. When you put them in the pie, put butter between the top and bottom. Take as much suet as meat; when it is baked, put in a little white wine.

_Partridge Pie._

Truss the partridges the same way as you do a fowl for boiling; then beat in a mortar some shalots, parsley cut small, the livers of the birds, and double the quantity of bacon, seasoning them with pepper, salt, and two blades of mace. When well pounded, put in some fresh mushrooms. Raise a crust for the pie; cover the bottom with the seasoning; put in the partridges, but no stuffing, and put in the remainder of the seasoning between the birds and on the sides; strew over a little mace, pepper and salt, shalots, fresh mushrooms, a little bacon beaten very fine; lay a layer of it over them, and put the lid on. Two hours and a half will bake it, and, when done, take the lid off, skim off the fat, put a pint of veal gravy, and squeeze in the juice of an orange.

_Rich Pigeon Pie._

Season the pigeons high; lay a puff paste at the bottom of the dish, stuffing the craws of the birds with forcemeat, and lay them in the dish with the breasts downward; fill all the spaces with forcemeat, hard-boiled yolks of eggs, artichoke bottoms cut in pieces, and asparagus tops. Cover, and bake it; when drawn, pour in rich gravy.

_High Veal Pie._

Veal, forcemeat balls, yolks of eggs, oysters, a little nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and salt, with a little water put into the dish.

_Vegetable Pie._

Stew three pounds of gravy beef, with some white pepper, salt, and mace, a bundle of sweet-herbs, a few sweet almonds, onions, and carrots, till the gravy is of a good brown colour. Strain it off; let it stand till cold; and take off all the fat. Have some carrots, turnips, onions, potatoes, and celery, ready cut; boil all these together. Boil some greens by themselves, and add them to the pie when served up.

_A Yorkshire Christmas Pie._

Let the crust be made a good standing one; the wall and bottom must be very thick. Take a turkey and bone it, a goose, a fowl, a partridge, and a pigeon, and season all well. Take half an ounce of cloves, the same of black pepper, and two table-spoonfuls of salt, and beat them well together; let the fowls be slit down the back, and bone them; put the pigeon into the partridge, the partridge into the fowl, the fowl into the goose, and the goose into the turkey. Season all well first, and lay them in the crust; joint a hare, and cut it into pieces; season it, and lay it close on one side; on the other side woodcocks, or any other sort of game; let them also be well seasoned and laid close. Put four or five pounds of butter into the pie; cover it with a very rich paste, put it in a very hot oven, and four hours will bake it.

A bushel of flour is about the quantity required for the paste.

_Pineapple, to preserve in slices._

Pare the pines, and cut them in slices of about the same thickness as you would apples for fritters. Take the weight of the fruit in the best sugar; sift it very fine, and put a layer of sugar, then a layer of pineapple; let it stand till the sugar is entirely dissolved. Then drain off the syrup, and lay the pine in the pot in which you intend to keep it; boil the syrup, adding a little more sugar and water to make it rich; pour it, but not too hot, upon the fruit. Repeat this in about ten days; look at it now and then, and, if the syrup ferments, boil it up again, skim it, and pour it warm upon the pine. The parings of the pineapple boil in the water you use for the syrup, and extract all the flavour from them.

_Pineapple Chips._

Pare the pineapples; pick out the thistle part: take half its weight of treble-refined sugar; part the apple in halves; slice it thin; put it in a basin, with sifted sugar between; in twelve hours the sugar will be melted. Set it over a fire, and simmer the chips till clear. The less they boil the better. Next day, heat them; scrape off the syrup; lay them in glasses, and dry them on a moderate stove or oven.

_Plums, to dry green._

Take green amber plums; prick them with a pin all over; make some water boiling hot, and put in the plums; be sure to have so much water as not to be made cold when the plums are put in. Cover them very close, and, when they are almost cold, set them on the fire again, but do not let them boil. Do so three or four times. When you see the thin skin cracked, put in some alum finely beaten, and keep them in a scald till they begin to green; then give them a boil closely covered. When they are green, let them stand in fresh hot water all night; next day, have ready as much clarified sugar, made into syrup, as will cover them; drain the plums, put them into the syrup, and give them two or three boils. Repeat this twice or three times, till they are very green. Let them stand in the syrup a week; then lay them out to dry in a hot stove. You may put some of them in codling jelly, and use them as a wet sweetmeat.

_Green Plum Jam._

Take the great white plums before they begin to turn, when they are at their full growth, and to every pound of plums allow three quarters of a pound of fine sugar. Pare and throw the plums into water, to keep their colour; let your sugar be very finely pounded; cut your plums into slices, and strew the sugar over them. You must first take them out of the water, and put them over a moderate fire, and boil them till they are clear and will jelly. You may put in a few of the stones, if you like them.

_Great White Plum, to preserve._

To one pound of plums put three quarters of a pound of fine sugar; dip the lumps of sugar in water just sufficient to wet it through; boil and skim it, till you think it enough. Slit the plums down the seam; put them in the syrup with the slit downward, and let them stew over the fire for a quarter of an hour. Skim them; take them off; when cold, turn them; cover them up for four or five days, turning them two or three times a day in the syrup; then put them in pots, not too many together.

_Posset._

Take a quart of white wine and a quart of water; boil whole spice in them; then take twelve eggs, and put away half the whites; beat them very well, and take the wine from the fire; then put your eggs, being thoroughly beaten, to the wine. Stir the whole together; then set it on a very slow fire, stirring it the whole time, till it is thick. Sweeten it with sugar, and sprinkle on it beaten spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

_Another way, richer._

Take two quarts of cream, and boil it with whole spice; then take twelve eggs, well beaten and strained; take the cream from the fire, and stir in the eggs, and as much sugar as will sweeten it according to the taste of those who are to drink it; then a pint of wine, or more--sack, sherry, or Lisbon. Set it on the fire again, and let it stand awhile; then take a ladle, and raise it up gently from the bottom of the skillet you make it in, and break it as little as you can, and do so till you see that it is thick enough. Then put it into a basin with a ladle gently. If you do it too much or too quickly it will whey, and that is not good.

_Sack Posset._

To twelve eggs, beaten very much, put a pint of sack, or any other strong rich white wine. Stir them well, that they may not curd; put to them three pints of cream and half a pound of fine sugar, stirring them well together. When hot over the fire, put the posset into a basin, and set it over a boiling pot of water until it is like a custard; then take it off, and, when it is cool enough to eat, serve it with beaten spice, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, strewed over it very thick.

_Sack Posset, without milk._

Take thirteen eggs; beat them very well, and, while they are beating, take a quart of sack, half a pound of fine sugar, and a pint of ale, and let them boil a very little while; then put the eggs to them, and stir them till they are hot. Take it from the fire, and keep it stirring awhile; then put it into a fit basin, and cover it close with a dish. Set it over the fire again till it rises to a curd; serve it with beaten spice.

_Sack Posset, or Jelly._

Take three pints of good cream and three quarters of a pound of fine sugar pounded, twenty eggs, leaving out eight of the whites; beat them very well and light. Add to them rather more than a pint of sack; beat them again well; then set it on a stove; make it so hot that you can just endure your finger at the bottom of the pan, and not hotter; stir it all one way; put the cream on the fire just to boil up, and be ready at the time the sack is so. Boil in it a blade of mace, and put it boiling hot to the eggs and sack, which is to be only scalding hot. When the cream is put in, just stir it round twice; take it off the fire; cover it up close when it is put into the mould or dish you intend it for, and it will jelly. Pour the cream to the eggs, holding it as high from them as possible.

_Puffs._

Blanch a pound of almonds, and beat them with orange-flower water, or rose-water; boil a pound of sugar to a candy; put in the almonds, and stir them over the fire till they are stiff. Keep them stirred till cold; then beat them in a mortar for a quarter of an hour. Add a pound of sugar, and make it into a paste, with the whites of three eggs beaten to a froth, more or less, as you may judge necessary. Bake the puffs in a cool oven.

_Cheese Puffs._

Scald green gooseberries, and pulp them through a colander. To six spoonfuls of this pulp add half a pound of butter beaten to a cream, half a pound of finely pounded and sifted sugar, put to the butter by degrees, ten eggs, half the whites, a little grated lemon-peel, and a little brandy or sack. Beat all these ingredients as light as possible, and bake in a thin crust.

_Chocolate Puffs._

Take a pound of single-refined sugar, finely sifted, and grate as much chocolate as will colour it; add an ounce of beaten almonds; mix them well together; wet it with the froth of whites of eggs, and bake it.

_German Puffs._

Take four spoonfuls of fine flour, four eggs, a pint of cream, four ounces of melted butter, and a very little salt; stir and beat them well together, and add some grated nutmeg. Bake them in small cups: a quarter of an hour will be quite sufficient: and the oven should be so quick as to brown both top and bottom. If well baked, they will be more than as large again. For sauce--melted butter, sack, and sugar. The above quantity will make fourteen puffs.

_Spanish Puffs._

Take one pint of skim milk, and thicken it with flour; boil it very well till it is tough as paste, then let it cool, put it into a mortar, and beat it very well. Put in three eggs, and beat it again, then three eggs more, keeping out one white. Put in some grated nutmeg and a little salt. Have your pan over the fire, with some good lard; drop the paste in; fry the puffs a light brown, and strew sugar over them when you send them up.

_Pudding._

Boil one pint of milk; beat up the yolks of five eggs in a basin with a little sugar, and pour the milk upon them, stirring it all the time. Prepare your mould by putting into it sifted sugar sufficient to cover it; melt it on the stove, and, when dissolved, take care that the syrup covers the whole mould. The flavour is improved by grating into the sugar a little lemon-peel. Pour the pudding into your mould, and place it in a vessel of boiling water; it must boil two hours; it may then be turned out, and eaten hot or cold.

_Another way._

Grate a penny loaf, and put to it a handful of currants, a little clarified butter, the yolk of an egg, a little nutmeg and salt; mix all together, and make it into little balls. Boil them half an hour. Serve with wine sauce.

_A good Pudding._

Take a pint of cream, and six eggs, leaving out two of the whites. Beat up the eggs well, and put them to the cream or milk, with two or three spoonfuls of flour, and a little nutmeg and sugar, if you please.

_A very good Pudding._

Scald some green gooseberries, and pulp them through a colander; to six spoonfuls of this pulp add half a pound of butter beaten to a cream, half a pound of finely beaten and sifted sugar, put to the butter by degrees, ten eggs, half the whites, a little grated lemon-peel, a little brandy or sack: beat all these ingredients as light as possible; bake in a thin crust.

_An excellent Pudding._

Cut French rolls in thin slices; boil a pint of milk, and poor over them. Cover it with a plate and let it cool; then beat it quite fine. Add six ounces of suet chopped fine, a quarter of a pound of currants, three eggs beat up, half a glass of brandy, and some moist sugar. Bake it full two hours.

_A plain Pudding._

Three spoonfuls of flour, a pint of new milk, three eggs, a very little salt. Boil it for half an hour, in a small basin.

_A scalded Pudding._

Take four spoonfuls of flour, and pour on it one pint of boiling milk. When cold, add four eggs, and boil it one hour.

_A sweet Pudding._

Half a pound of ratafia, half a pint of boiling milk, more if required, stir it with a fork; three eggs, leaving out one white. Butter the basin, or dish, and stick jar-raisins about the butter as close as you please; then pour in the pudding and bake it.

_All Three Pudding._

Chopped apples, currants, suet finely chopped, sugar and bread crumb, three ounces of each, three eggs, but only two of the whites; put all into a well floured bag, and boil it well two hours. Serve it with wine sauce.

_Almond Pudding._ No. 1.

Blanch half a pound of sweet almonds, with four bitter ones; pound them in a marble mortar, with two spoonfuls of orange-flower water, and two spoonfuls of rose-water; mix in four grated Naples biscuits, and half a pound of melted butter. Beat eight eggs, and mix them with a pint of cream boiled; grate in half a nutmeg, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Mix all well together, and bake it with a paste at the bottom of the dish.

_Almond Pudding._ No. 2.

Take a pound of almonds, ground very small with a little rose-water and sugar, a pound of Naples biscuits finely grated, the marrow of six bones broken into small pieces--if you have not marrow enough, put in beef suet finely shred--a quarter of a pound of orange-peel, a quarter of citron-peel, cut in thin slices, and some mace. Take twenty eggs, only half as many whites; mix all these well together. Boil some cream, let it stand till it is almost cold; then put in as much as will make your pudding tolerably thick. You may put in a very few caraway seeds and a little ambergris, if you like.

_Almond Pudding._ No. 3.

Two small wine glasses of rose-water, one ounce of isinglass, twelve bitter almonds, blanched and shred; let it stand by the fire till the isinglass is dissolved; then put a pint of cream, and the yolks of six eggs, and sweeten to the taste. Set it on the fire till it boils; strain it through a sieve; stir it till nearly cold; then pour it into a mould wetted with rose-water.

_Amber Pudding._

Half a pound of brown sugar, the same of butter, beat up as a cake, till it becomes a fine cream, six eggs very well beaten, and sweetmeats, if agreeable; mix all together. Three quarters of an hour will bake it; add a little brandy, and lay puff paste round the dish.

_Princess Amelia's Pudding._