Chapter VII (14)

CURRIED BEEF, MADRAS WAY.—Take about two ounces of butter, and place it in a saucepan, with two small onions cut up into slices, and let them fry until they are of a light brown; then add a table-spoonful and a half of curry powder, and mix it up well. Now put in the beef cut into pieces about an inch square; pour in from a quarter to a third of a pint of milk, and let it simmer for thirty minutes; then take it off, and place in a dish, with a little lemon-juice. Whilst cooking stir constantly, to prevent it burning. Send to table with a wall of mashed potatoes, or boiled rice round it. It greatly improves any curry to add with the milk a quarter of a cocoa-nut, scraped very small, and squeezed through muslin with a little water; this softens the taste of the curry, and, indeed, no curry should be made without it.

PASTRY, ETC.

BATH BUNS.—Take a pound of flour, the rinds of three lemons grated fine, half a pound of butter melted in a coffee cup of cream, a tea-spoonful of yeast, and three eggs. Mix; add half a pound of finely powdered white sugar; work well, let it stand to rise well, and it will make thirty-nine buns.

TEA CAKES.—Take a pound of flour, half a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; the peel of a lemon finely grated, a little of the juice, an egg, a little brandy to flavour, and a tea-spoonful of bruised coriander seed. Roll it out thin, make into cakes, and bake them in a quick oven.

SHORT-BREAD.—Rub one pound of butter, and twelve ounces of finely powdered loaf sugar, into two pounds of flour, with the hand; make it into a stiff paste with four eggs, roll out to double the thickness of a penny-piece, cut it into round or square cakes, pinch the edges, stick slices of candied peel and some carraway comfits on the top, and bake them on iron plates in a warm oven.

FRENCH PASTRY.—Take half a pound of flour, half a pound of butter; put the flour on the board, and the butter in it, just as it is; roll it out once; then roll the butter up, and put it on one side. Mix the flour to about the stiffness of the butter, with a little milk, then let it stand for an hour in a cool place before you roll it out; and before using it roll it out five times.

GINGERBREAD.—Take one pound of flour, half a pound of butter, sugar, and treacle, an ounce of powdered ginger, and a tea-spoonful of beaten cloves. Mix well, and bake in a slow oven.

TO MAKE A SIMNEL.—One pound of flour, quarter of a pound of butter, quarter of a pound of lump sugar, one pound of currants, two ounces of candied lemon, a quarter of an ounce of carbonate of soda mixed with an egg, and a little milk; to be put in a tin mould, and baked till enough. [Very good.]—L. B.

GINGER CAKES.—To two pounds of flour add three-quarters of a pound of good moist sugar, one ounce of best Jamaica ginger well mixed in the flour; have ready three-quarters of a pound of lard, melted, and four eggs well beaten; mix the lard and eggs together, and stir into the flour, which will form a paste; roll out in thin cakes, and bake in a moderately heated oven.—Lemon biscuits may be made the same way, substituting essence of lemon for ginger. This is an excellent receipt.

DAMSON OR OTHER PLUM CHEESE.—Take damsons that have been preserved without sugar; pass them through a sieve, to take out the skins and stones. To every pound of pulp of the fruit, put half a pound of loaf sugar, broken small; boil them together until quite stiff; pour it into four common-sized dinner-plates, rubbed with a little sweet oil; put into a warm place to dry, and when quite firm, take it from the plate, and cut to any chosen shape.—Used in desserts.

FOOD FOR MARCH.

MEAT.—Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

FISH.—Brill, carp, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crabs, dabbs, dory, eels, flounders, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullets, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, salmon-trout, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, turbot, tench, and whiting.

POULTRY AND GAME.—Capons, chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, grouse, leverets, moor-game, pigeons, rabbits (tame), snipes, turkeys, woodcocks.

VEGETABLES.—Artichokes (Jerusalem), beet, brocoli (white and purple), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, colewort, cresses, endive, garlic, herbs (dry), kale (sea and Scotch), lettuces, mint, mushrooms, mustard, onions, parsley, parsnips, potatoes, rape, rosemary, sage, savoy, shalots, sorrel, spinach, tarragon, thyme, turnips, turnip-tops.

FORCED VEGETABLES.—Asparagus, beans, cucumbers, and rhubarb.

FRUIT.—_Apples_—French pippins, golden russet, Holland pippin, John apple, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, Norfolk beaufin, Wheeler’s russet. Chestnuts; oranges. _Pears_—Bergamot, Bugi, Charmontelle, St. Martial, winter Bon Chrétien. Strawberries (forced).

COOKERY FOR MARCH.

SOUPS.

EEL SOUP.—Take two pounds of eels, a crust of bread, six blades of mace, two onions, a few whole peppercorns, a faggot of herbs, and two quarts of water; boil till half the liquor is wasted, strain, and serve with toasted bread.

GIBLET SOUP.—Take three sets of giblets, stew them with two pounds of gravy beef, a faggot of herbs, two onions, and pepper and salt to season; add six pints of water, and let it simmer till the gizzards (which must be divided) are perfectly tender. Skim it clean, add mushroom ketchup to flavour, and three-quarters of an ounce of butter rolled in flour; let it boil ten minutes, strain, and serve with the giblets.

VEAL BROTH.—Stew a knuckle of veal in a gallon of water, add salt, two blades of mace, and three ounces of rice, and let it stew till reduced to two quarts. Serve with toasted bread.

FISH.

CRAB, MINCED.—Remove the meat, mince small and place in a saucepan with a wine-glassful of white wine, pepper and salt, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and two table-spoonfuls of vinegar. Let it stew for ten minutes; melt a piece of butter the size of a hen’s egg, with an anchovy and the yolks of two eggs; beat up and mix well, stir in with the crab, and add sufficient stale bread crumbs to thicken. Garnish with thin toast cut with a pastry leaf-cutter, or with the claws, and parsley. Lobster may be dressed in the same manner.

LOBSTER CUTLETS.—Choose a large lobster and two small ones, reserve a piece of the coral, pick and pound the remainder with a little fresh butter, a little salt, red and white pepper, a blade or two of mace, a little nutmeg, and a dessert-spoonful of anchovy sauce: when well pounded, add the yolks of two eggs and the white of one; lay the mixture on a paste-board, roll it out with a little flour until an inch thick, cut into small squares, do them over with egg, dip in bread crumbs, and fry a light brown in lard. Mix the coral remaining with a little melted butter and anchovy sauce, pour it into the middle of the dish with the cutlets arranged round, cut the horns of the lobster into pieces an inch and a half long, place them between each cutlet and serve hot. A very pretty way to dress them is to form into the shape of lamb cutlets, placing a piece of the horn in the centre of the extremity to resemble the bone.

OYSTERS, TO FRY.—Take a quarter of a hundred of large oysters; beat the yolks of two eggs, a blade of mace pounded, a little nutmeg, a table-spoonful of flour, and a little salt, mix well; dip the oysters in the mixture, and fry a light brown in lard.

PIKE, TO STEW.—Take stale bread crumbs, finely chopped sweet herbs and parsley, a little lemon-peel, three ounces of butter, mixed up with the yolks of two eggs, and seasoned with nutmeg, cayenne, common pepper, and salt, and form into a pudding to stuff the fish with. A few pickled or fresh oysters chopped fine and mixed with it improve the flavour considerably. Clean and wash the fish, stuff with the pudding, fix the tail in the mouth, and stew gently in the same manner as for carp (p. 268), and garnish with sliced lemon.

SALMON, TO BROIL.—Cut the fish in slices an inch thick, season with cayenne and common pepper, a little nutmeg and salt, roll well in buttered white paper, and broil over a _slow_ fire; serve in the paper with plain melted butter, anchovy, lobster, or shrimp sauce.

SOLES, TO BOIL.—Skin them, wash well and boil in common spring water, with a little salt, and three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, taking care to remove the scum as it rises. Serve with lobster, shrimp, or anchovy sauce, or strew scraped horse-radish over them.

POULTRY, GAME, ETC.

FOWLS, TO ROAST.—Singe, dust with flour, put down before a good fire, and baste well. Make a gravy of the necks and gizzards, and when strained add a tea-spoonful of browning (page 254). Take up the fowls, pour the gravy into a dish, frost them and send to table hot.

PIGEONS COMPOTE.—Truss six pigeons as if for boiling; grate the crumb of a penny loaf; scrape a pound of fat bacon; chop parsley, thyme, an onion or two shalots, and some lemon-peel, fine; grate some nutmeg, season with pepper and salt, and mix up with two eggs. Put this forcemeat into the craws of the pigeons, lard the breasts, and fry them brown. Place in a stewpan with some beef stock (page 253), stew three-quarters of an hour, thicken with a piece of butter rolled in flour, and dish up with forcemeat balls round the dish; strain the gravy over the pigeons and serve hot.

SNIPES, TO ROAST.—Do not draw them; spit on a small bird-spit, flour, and baste them well with butter; have ready a slice of toasted bread, which lay in a dish and set under the birds while cooking. When done, take them up, place on the toast, put some good gravy in the dish, and garnish with lemon.

SNIPE RAGOUT.—Slit the birds down the back, but do not remove the insides; toss them up with a little melted bacon fat, season with pepper and salt, and a little mushroom ketchup. When done, add some lemon-juice and serve up. Garnish with toast and lemon sliced.

MEAT.

BEEF COLLOPS.—Cut the fillet from the under part of a rump of beef into thin slices, and fry until three parts done; add slices of pickled cucumbers, a few oysters, two table-spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, and stew till tender in beef stock, then serve.

BOLOGNA SAUSAGES.—Take equal quantities of bacon, fat and lean, beef, veal, pork, and beef suet; chop them small, season with pepper, salt, &c., sweet herbs, and sage rubbed fine. Have a well-washed intestine, fill, and prick it; boil gently for an hour, and lay on straw to dry. They may be smoked the same as hams.

FRICADEL (a Dutch dish).—Take two and a half pounds of veal, and a quarter of a pound of suet, chop both fine, as if for sausage meat; three eggs beaten well, half a nutmeg, and pepper and salt to taste. Soak a slice of bread in boiling milk, and mix the whole well together with a little flour. Bake for two hours and a half in a moderate oven, or until it is a pale brown, but it should not have a hard crust on the top.

HAMS, TONGUES, ETC., GLAZING FOR.—Boil a shin of beef twelve hours in eight or ten quarts of water; draw the gravy from a knuckle of veal in the same manner; put the same herbs and spices as if for soup, and add the whole to the shin of beef. It must be boiled till reduced to a quart. It will keep good for a year; and when wanted for use, warm a little, and spread over the ham, tongue, &c., with a feather.

LIVER, TO ROAST.—Take a calf’s or lamb’s liver, lard it, and fasten on a spit; baste with butter. Make some melted butter, add a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut ketchup, and a little vinegar, and serve hot over the liver. Garnish with curled bacon.

OXFORD HASH.—Cut thin slices of cold mutton, fat and lean, in pieces about the size of a penny; flour well. Boil an onion in a little water, add a tea-cupful of beef stock or gravy, season with pepper, salt, and mace; make it hot, but do not let it boil, then add four or five table-spoonfuls of piccalilli, and a little red wine, and serve hot with toasted bread.

STRASBURG POTTED MEAT.—Take a pound and a half of the rump of beef, cut into dice, and put it in an earthen jar, with a quarter of a pound of butter at the bottom, tie the jar close up with paper, and set over a pot to boil; when nearly done, add cloves, mace, allspice, nutmeg, salt, and cayenne pepper to taste; then boil till tender, and let it get cold. Pound the meat, with four anchovies washed and boned, add a quarter of a pound of oiled butter, work it well together with the gravy, warm a little, and add cochineal to colour. Then press into small pots, and pour melted mutton suet over the top of each.

VEAL OLIVES.—Take a dozen veal collops cut thin, and longer than broad, egg them, and cover with forcemeat; roll up tight and bake. Make a ragout of oysters and sweetbreads cut in dice, with mushroom ketchup to flavour. Lay the olives in the dish, pour the ragout over, and serve hot with forcemeat balls round.

VEGETABLES.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE DRESSING OF VEGETABLES.—The great art in boiling greens is to preserve their green colour and sweetness. This can only be done by obtaining those that are quite fresh, picking and washing them carefully in salt and water, to free them from insects, and boiling them in a considerable quantity of water, in a tin or copper pan, by themselves. When they are dressed with meat, or in an iron pot, the colour is generally spoiled, except carrots, which should be boiled with the meat.

All vegetables should be drained as soon as they are boiled enough, otherwise, from neglect of that precaution, and over-boiling, they lose their crispness.

If the water is hard in which they are to be dressed, add a tea-spoonful of potash; and any scum which may arise during the process should be carefully removed, and the lid of the saucepan taken off when they boil, observing that when they sink to the bottom, they are done enough.

CELERY, WITH CREAM.—Take the white part of celery, wash clean, cut three inches long, boil it tender, and strain it off; then beat up the yolks of four eggs, strain them into half a pint of cream, add a little salt and nutmeg. Put all into a tossing-pan, set it over a stove until it boils, and is of a proper thickness, then send to table with toasted bread underneath.

PARSNIPS, TO BOIL.—1. When they are soft, take them up, scrape the dust off carefully; then scrape them all fine, lay in a saucepan, with milk, and let them simmer till thick; then add a piece of butter, and salt, and serve. 2. When boiled and scraped, serve whole in a dish, with melted butter in a sauce tureen.

POTATO FRITTERS.—Boil and beat half a dozen potatoes, mix with four beaten eggs, about a gill of cream, some salt and nutmeg, a little sugar, some fresh butter oiled, and a table-spoonful of spirit; beat well together, drop in the boiling dripping, fry a light brown, dish hot, and strew sugar over them.

VEGETABLE PUDDING.—Take six ounces each of raw scraped carrot, finely mashed potatoes, currants, flour, and beef suet; mix well without any liquid if for boiling, but add an egg and a little milk if for baking.

PASTRY, ETC.

SHREWSBURY CAKES.—Take half a pound of flour, a quarter of a pound of sugar, the same of butter, and enough of an egg well beaten to wet it; grate in some nutmeg, mix well, roll thin, cut with a pastry-cutter or a wine-glass, and bake on buttered paper.

NORFOLK BISCUITS.—Take three-quarters of a pound of butter, three pounds and a half of flour, and a quarter of a pint of yeast. Melt the butter with water, knead well till stiff, and bake on buttered paper for twenty minutes. An ounce for each biscuit.

RAMAKINS.—Scrape a quarter of a pound of Cheshire and the same of Gloucester cheese, add a quarter of a pound of butter, then beat all in a mortar with the yolks of four eggs and the inside of a small French roll boiled in cream or milk.

FOOD FOR APRIL.

MEAT.—Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

FISH.—Brill, carp, chub, cockles, cod, conger-eels, _crabs_, dabbs, dory, eels, flounders, halibut, herrings, ling, _lobsters_, mackerel, mullets, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, _prawns_, plaice, _salmon_, shrimps, _skate_, smelts, soles, sturgeon, _tench_, trout, turbot, whitings.

POULTRY AND GAME.—Chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, leverets, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, turkey-poults, wood-pigeons.

VEGETABLES.—Asparagus, beans, brocoli, chervil, coleworts, cucumbers, endive, fennel, herbs of all sorts, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, purslane, radishes, sea-kale, sorrel, spinach, small salad, tarragon, turnip-radishes, turnip-tops, and rhubarb.

FRUIT.—_Apples_—Golden russet, John apple, nonpareil, Wheeler’s russet; nuts; oranges. _Pears_—Bergamot, Bon Chrétien, Bugi; Carmelite, francreal, St. Martial. A few strawberries; walnuts. _Forced_—Apricots, cherries, and strawberries.

COOKERY FOR APRIL.

SOUPS.

ITALIAN PASTE.—Put on a quart of stock (p. 253), and when it boils add two ounces of Italian paste in small stars, rings, &c.; boil for twenty minutes, or rather longer, and serve hot.

OYSTER SAUCE.—Open the oysters carefully, so as to preserve their liquor; beard and remove the tough parts, which stew in the liquor, adding sufficient water or veal broth to make the proper quantity of sauce, and allow for evaporation of about one-half; when done, strain it off, and put it in a saucepan with the oysters, a tea-spoonful of anchovy sauce, and a good-sized piece of butter rolled in flour; keep turning it round to prevent the butter from curdling.

RICE.—Wash two ounces of the best Patna rice, strain off the water, put the rice with a quart of stock into a stewpan, simmer for half an hour, or until the rice is tender, and serve.

SPANISH PEA.—Lay a quart of Spanish peas in water all night; then add them to a gallon of water, with a clove of garlic, a quart of fine sweet oil, and pepper and salt to season; cover the pan close, boil until the peas are soft, and then beat in the yolk of an egg mixed with vinegar to taste; poach some eggs, lay them on the dish with sippets, pour the soup on, and serve hot.

VERMICELLI.—Put on a quart of veal stock (p. 253), and when it boils add two ounces of vermicelli; simmer gently for half an hour, stirring frequently.

FISH.

EEL PIE.—Clean a pound or more of eels, cut them in lengths of two and three inches, season with pepper and salt, and put them in a dish with some lumps of butter, and a wine-glassful of water; cover with a light paste, and bake. Some add a couple of bay-leaves and a faggot of herbs, with a few cloves and an onion, and veal stock thickened with flour, instead of water. Cream added after the pie is done, instead of butter before, also improves it vastly.

EELS, SPITCHCOCK.—Take two large eels, split and clean well, but leave the skin on; cut in pieces three inches long, wipe them very dry, egg over both sides, and dip in a mixture of chopped parsley, pepper, salt, sage, and mace. Broil a light brown, and serve with anchovy and butter sauce.

PRAWN JELLY.—Put some savoury fish-jelly into the bottom of a deep mould; when cold, lay pickled prawns on it, and all round the sides; pour in a little more jelly, and when cold, put on a second layer, repeating until the mould is filled. Turn the jelly out when cold, and it will look beautiful, especially for a supper. Garnish with parsley.

SAVOURY FISH-JELLY.—Put four pounds of skate into three quarts of water, with a calf’s foot, or cow heel, a stick of horse-radish cut fine, an onion, three blades of mace, some white pepper, a piece of lemon-peel, and a slice of lean bacon. Stew it to a jelly, and strain. When cold, remove every particle of fat, take it up from the sediment, and boil with a wine-glassful of white wine, the whites of four or five eggs, and a slice of lemon. Boil without stirring; after a short time set aside for half an hour, strain through a jelly-bag, and use as required.

SALMON, COLLARED.—Split enough of the fish to make a handsome roll, wash, and wipe it well; rub the inside and outside well with powdered white pepper, mace, salt, and Jamaica pepper, carefully mixed; roll it tight, and bind it up; put as much water, and one-third of vinegar, as will cover it, add salt, long pepper, allspice, and two bay-leaves; cover it close, and simmer till done enough. Drain and boil the liquid quickly, and pour it over the fish when cold; serve with fennel.

SKATE, TO BOIL.—The fish having been previously skinned, the flesh cut into slips about an inch wide, and then immersed in salt and water for four or five hours, the pieces should be rolled, tied with a piece of string, and boiled for about twenty minutes. The thinner parts not requiring so long should not be put in until a short time after the water boils. Anchovy, and butter sauce, or crab sauce, should be served with it.

TENCH, TO FRY.—Open them by the belly, cut off the fins close; scale well, dry in flour, and fry a light brown. Serve with parsley and butter, or any fish-sauce and butter.

POULTRY.

DUCKLINGS, TO ROAST.—Proceed the same as for ducks (p. 255), they must not, however, be too much done, otherwise the flesh will have a rank taste; twenty minutes is generally sufficient. Serve hot, with a good gravy and mustard.

GREEN GOOSE, TO ROAST.—Put a lump of butter the size of an orange into the goose, spit, and lay it down to roast; singe, dredge with flour, and baste well with butter, and when done enough dredge again, and baste till a fine froth rises on it, and it becomes a nice brown. Gooseberry sauce is the correct one; but apple, with a little ginger and sorrel juice, answers very well.

MEAT.

BEEF SANDERS.—Mince cold beef small with onion; add pepper, salt, and a little gravy; put it into a pie-dish, or scallop shells, until about three parts full, then fill up with mashed potatoes, baked in an oven or before the fire until done a light brown. Mutton may be cooked the same way.

BEEF MARROW-BONES.—Cover the ends with a piece of flour-and-water paste, and boil. Serve the bones hot in dry toast.

CALF’S HEAD FRICASSEED.—Clean and half-boil part of a head; cut the meat into small bits, put into a stewpan, with a little gravy made of the bones, some of the water it was boiled in, a faggot of sweet herbs, an onion, and a blade of mace. Take a sweetbread, boil tender, and cut small; season with pepper, nutmeg, and salt, rub down some flour and butter, and boil all together with the head. Remove the herbs and onion; just before dishing stir in two or three table-spoonfuls of cream, and serve hot, garnishing with forcemeat balls and rolled bacon.

MUTTON STEAKS, À LA MAINTENON.—Half-fry, then strew stale bread crumbs, sweet herbs, and pepper and salt over them; fold while hot in buttered papers, and finish on a gridiron.

VEAL CAKE.—Boil six eggs hard, cut in halves, and lay some of the pieces at the bottom of an earthen pot, then shake in chopped parsley, some slices of veal and ham about two inches square, and then eggs again, repeating the parsley and seasoning after each layer until the pot is full. Pour in sufficient water to cover it, lay about an ounce of butter on the top, tie it over with thick paper doubled, and bake about an hour. Then press close together with a spoon, and let it stand till cold. If put into a mould instead of the pot, it forms a handsome supper-dish.

ASPARAGUS, TO BOIL.—Scrape the stalks carefully till they look white, cut the ends even, tie them in separate bundles, and lay in boiling water, with a little salt; boil briskly, and when they are tender, take them up, for if boiled too much they lose both flavour and colour. Dip a round of toasted bread in the liquor the asparagus was boiled in, and lay it on the dish. Then pour melted butter over the toast, and lay the asparagus round the dish, the tops inward. Serve with melted butter in a sauce tureen.

PEAS, TO BOIL.—Shell, but do not wash them, boil in plenty of water, and skim well as soon as they boil. Put in some salt and mint tops, and do not overboil them, or they will be tasteless and of a bad colour. When done, put in a dish with a lump or two of cold butter, and serve hot.

SEA-KALE.—Boil till very white, and serve on toast like asparagus.

SPINACH, TO BOIL.—Carefully pick, wash, and put into a saucepan that will just hold it; sprinkle with salt, and cover close. Set the pan on the fire, and shake frequently; when done, beat it well with a bit of butter, squeeze quite dry between two plates, or press into a mould, and serve with plain melted butter in a tureen.

SPINACH, TO STEW.—Squeeze quite dry, put into a stewpan without water, with a spoonful of gravy, a lump of butter, salt, and pepper, and simmer till ready. If a table-spoonful of cream is added, the flavour is greatly improved.

PASTRY, ETC.

APPLE FOOL.—Stew a dozen apples in a stone jar on a stove, or a saucepan of water over the fire, adding in the former case two table-spoonfuls of water to the fruit. When soft, peel, and pulp through a cullender; boil some new milk, add a well-beaten egg, and let it cool, then mix gradually with the pulp, and sweeten with fine moist sugar.

DEVONSHIRE JUNKET.—To one quart of new milk, made lukewarm, add a table-spoonful or more of sugar, a wine-glassful of French brandy, four drops of essence of bitter almonds or lemon-peel, a little nutmeg, and four tea-spoonfuls of essence of rennet. Mix well, put into a glass dish, lay aside until set, and cover the surface with clotted cream.

HAMPSHIRE CHEESE SNAPS.—Take a new loaf, steaming hot, pull in halves, dig out pieces about the size of a walnut with a fork, put them on a dish, and set in a quick oven to brown lightly. Stale bread can be used, but does not answer so well. This forms a pretty supper-dish, when heaped in a cake basket, and can be eaten with wine.

MARROW PUDDING.—Grate a penny loaf into crumbs, pour on it a pint of boiling cream. Cut very thin a pound of beef marrow, beat four eggs well, add a wine-glassful of brandy, with sugar and nutmeg to taste. Mix all well together, and either boil or bake it for three-quarters of an hour. Cut two ounces of candied citron very thin, and when served up, stick the pieces all over it.

If baked, place a puff-paste round the edge of a shallow dish, and pour the pudding in.

SOMERSETSHIRE FIRMITY.—Boil a quart of fine wheat, and add by degrees two quarts of new milk. Carefully pick and wash four ounces of currants, stir them in the jelly, and boil till done. Beat the yolks of three eggs and a little nutmeg, with three table-spoonfuls of milk, add to the wheat, and stir well while over the fire. Sweeten and serve in a deep dish, either warm or cold.

STAFFORDSHIRE SYLLABUB.—Put a pint of cider into a bowl, with a wine-glassful of brandy, some sugar and nutmeg. Pour a quart of new warm milk into it from a jug held up high, and moved in a circular direction. Grate nutmeg on the top, or strew with nonpareil comfits.

MISCELLANEOUS.

LOBSTER SALAD.—Take three yolks of hard eggs, two yolks of raw eggs, two tea-spoonfuls of mustard, a little salt and cayenne pepper, four table-spoonfuls of salad oil, one and a half table-spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and one of essence of anchovies; mix well, and add three table-spoonfuls of cream. Cut two large lobsters up small, and mix with finely cut salad, cucumber, hot pickles, and beet-root. Pour the mixture given above over the salad, put in a dish, not a bowl, and garnish with hard boiled eggs cut in thin slices.

MACCARONI.—Put as much of the pipe to soak in cold water as you think proper; then boil it in milk and water till quite tender, with a small onion; when done, strain off the milk, and add a piece of butter the size of a walnut, a little cream, and some nutmeg; some persons, however, prefer cayenne and a little salt to the nutmeg. Mix well together, and put it into a dish, then cover with _grated_ cheese—Parmesan or Cheshire; put it in the oven or before the fire to be lightly browned, and serve hot with mustard.

MOCK BRAWNS.—Put four feet, two ears, and two chaps of a pig into two quarts of water, and let it boil for several hours, till the bones can be picked from the meat, then pour it into a basin, skim off the fat, and take away all the bones; put it again into a saucepan with a little chopped parsley and sweet herbs dried and rubbed small, cayenne pepper, salt, and pounded mace, and let it boil for ten minutes; dip a mould into cold water, pour in the mixture, let it get cool, turn out, and garnish with parsley and barberries, or slices of lemon.

POTTED FISH.

Get herrings enough to fill up your dish,
And into the stomach of each little fish
A peppercorn put; this will give it a flavour,
Which, in epicure’s taste, is sure to find favour.

FOOD FOR MAY.

MEAT.—Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

FISH.—Brill, carp, chub, cod, conger-eels, _crabs_, cray-fish, dabbs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddock, halibut, herring, ling, _lobsters_, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, place, _prawns_, _salmon_, shrimps, _skate_, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whitings.

POULTRY AND GAME.—Chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, leverets, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, wood-pigeons.

VEGETABLES.—Angelica, artichoke, asparagus, balm, kidney-beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, chervil, cucumbers, fennel, herbs of all sorts, lettuce, mint, onions, peas, parsley, new potatoes, purslane, radishes, rhubarb, salad of all sorts, sea-kale, sorrel, spinach, thyme, turnips.

FRUIT.—_Apples_—John apple, golden russet, winter russet. May-Duke cherries; currants; gooseberries; melons. _Pears_—L’Amozette, winter green. Scarlet strawberries. _Forced_—Apricots, cherries, nutmeg-peaches, and strawberries.

COOKERY FOR MAY.

SOUPS.

ASPARAGUS.—Cut half a pound of fat bacon into thin slices, place at the bottom of a stewpan, then add five pounds of lean beef cut into dice, and rolled in flour; cover the pan close, stirring occasionally until the gravy is drawn, then add two quarts of water, and half a pint of ale. Cover, stew gently for an hour, with some whole pepper and salt. Strain off the liquor, and skim off the fat. Add some spinach, cabbage-lettuce, white beet leaves, sorrel, a little mint, and powdered sweet marjoram; let these boil up in the liquor, then put in the green tops of asparagus cut small, boil till all is tender, and serve hot.

GREEN PEA.—Cut a knuckle of veal, and a pound of lean ham into thin slices; lay the ham at the bottom of a stewpan; then the veal; cut six small onions into slices, and put in two turnips, two carrots, a head of celery cut small, a faggot of sweet herbs, four cloves, and four blades of mace. Put a little water at the bottom, cover the pot close, stirring occasionally till the gravy is drawn; then add six quarts of boiling water, stew gently for four hours, and skim well. Take two quarts of green peas, stew in some of the broth till tender, strain, put in a marble mortar, and beat well, or mash with the spoon against the sides of the stewpan. Rub the peas through a hair sieve, or tamis, till thoroughly pulped, then put the soup into a clean pot, with a tea-cupful of spinach juice, and boil for fifteen minutes; season with pepper, salt, and a table-spoonful of brown sugar. If the soup is not thick enough, boil the crumb of a French roll in a little of the soup, and rub through the tamis; then put in the soup and boil. Serve hot in the tureen, with dice of bread toasted very hard. (The celery must be omitted, until July, using a table-spoonful of the seeds instead.)

ITALIAN TURNIP.—Cut turnips in different shapes, colour them with butter in a stewpan, and two table-spoonfuls of sweet oil; add slices of chervil, and sea-kale; mix two table-spoonfuls of flour with two quarts of the savoury fish-jelly, (p. 263), and the vegetables, then boil, and serve hot, with dice of bread fried in butter, and dried on a cloth.

FISH.

CRABS, DRESSED.—Choose a good heavy crab, boil for about half an hour in salt and water, remove the pot, let the crab get cold; take off the great shell without breaking it, extract the fish from the body and claws, and mince it well. Put some floured butter in a stewpan with six or eight small mushrooms, parsley, and green asparagus tops shred fine, fry a little, and put in the minced fish with half a wine-glass of white wine and pepper, salt and sweet herbs to season; stew gently for fifteen minutes, thicken with flour, and flavour with lemon-juice. Fill the shell with this mixture, having previously removed the herbs, set in a baking-pan, or dish, strew stale bread crumbs over the top, set in an oven to brown, and then serve hot. Garnish with lemon, and parsley.

JOHN DORY CUTLETS, TO FRY.—Cut the flesh off from the bones in cutlets about three inches broad, egg and dip in bread crumbs, then fry a light brown in plenty of dripping, or lard. Garnish with fried parsley, and serve with anchovy butter sauce.

TROUT, BOILED.—Clean, scale well, and boil whole in cold water, allowing it to boil gradually; vinegar and horse-radish put in the water improve the flavour. When done, carefully drain off the water so as not to break the skin, and serve with lobster, shrimp, or anchovy butter sauce.

CARP, TO STEW.—Clean well, and cut off the fins; then flour, and fry over a brisk fire until about three parts dressed; remove, and place in a stewpan, with equal parts of beef gravy and water, a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, a slice of lemon, a few pickled mushrooms, a faggot of sweet herbs, and a glass of red wine; season with nutmeg, pepper, or cayenne, and mace. Fry a few onions brown in the fat the fish was fried in, add these, butter and all, to the fish; cover and stew gently for about an hour. Take out the fish, pour the gravy over, and garnish with slices of lemon, and fried bread cut with pastry-cutters. If the fish is suspected to have a muddy flavour, sew up a piece of bread in its belly.

WHITING, TO BOIL.—Proceed the same as for haddock.

WHITING, TO FRY.—Fix the tail in the mouth by means of a small skewer, or by winding a piece of string round the head of the fish; dry well with a cloth, egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs; then place it on its belly in the frying-pan, with plenty of lard or dripping, fry a light brown, and garnish with fried parsley; place on a napkin, and serve with melted butter.

POULTRY, ETC.

FOWL, COLD, TO DRESS.—Take the remains of a cold fowl, remove the skin, then the bones, leaving the flesh in as large pieces as possible; dredge with flour, and fry a light brown in butter: toss it up in a good gravy well seasoned, thicken with butter rolled in flour, flavour with lemon, and serve hot with sippets.

PIGEON IN SAVOURY JELLY.—Bone a pigeon, remove the head and feet, stuff with sausage meat, and roast. Take a pound of scrag of veal, a slice of ham, three cloves, a little nutmeg, a faggot of sweet herbs, a carrot, two shalots, two bay-leaves, a pint of beef broth, (p. 254), and an ounce of “Nelson’s Gelatine;” stew gently till it will jelly, pass through a fine sieve, then through a bag, add lemon-juice, and pour a little into a mould previously dipped in cold water. When it is set, lay in the pigeon with the breast down, fill up the mould with the jelly, and when cold, turn out. Garnish with parsley.

RABBITS, PULLED.—Half-boil the rabbits, with an onion, some whole pepper, a faggot of sweet herbs, and a piece of lemon-peel; pull the flesh into flakes, add a little of the liquor to it, a piece of butter rolled in flour, pepper, salt, nutmeg, chopped parsley, and the liver boiled and bruised; boil well, stirring occasionally, add a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, and serve hot.

VEGETABLES.

ARTICHOKES, TO FRICASSEE.—Take artichoke bottoms, put into a mixture of fresh butter and cream, melted, shake over the fire till quite hot, and dish up.

CAULIFLOWERS, TO BOIL.—Cut off the green leaves, wash in salt and water to remove caterpillars, &c., then soak for an hour in cold water, and boil in milk and water, skimming the pot frequently to prevent the flower getting dirty. When the stalks are tender, remove carefully, and put into a cullender to drain. They should be served very white, and not boiled too much.

POTATOES, NEW, TO DRESS.—Wash well, rub off the skin with a cloth, and dry. Boil until done, then put into a vegetable dish with a lump of salt butter; stir them up, and send to table.

SALADS should be very fresh, carefully washed, picked, and dried in a clean cloth, cut up separately, well mixed, and put into a bowl just before using. The salad mixture should be placed at the bottom of the bowl, and the salad on top, for if mixed, the vegetables lose that crispness which is so delicious. Slices of beet, eggs, or boiled potatoes, are placed on top to garnish.

TURNIP-TOPS, TO BOIL.—Wash well, boil in three waters with salt, drain in a cullender, and chop up fine with pepper, salt, and butter. Put in a jelly-mould, turn out, and send hot to table.

POTATO SALAD.—Take some cold potatoes, and cut into slices a quarter of an inch thick; cut these into various shapes with tin pastry-cutters, mix with some flakes of boiled cod, in a basin, and pour over them a thick salad mixture; let this remain for an hour or two, then form into a heap, pour over the sauce, and garnish with slices of beef cut in shapes.

MEAT.

CALF’S HEAD CHEESE.—Boil the head until the bones will come out, then put the head, tongue, and brains into a mould with spices and parsley chopped fine, until the mould is quite full, put a plate and a weight over it, and when cold, turn out. Serve with parsley, and slices of rolled ham, placed round the dish.

SPICED BEEF.—Sprinkle a piece of beef with common salt, and let it hang a day. Take a pound of bay salt, half a pound of brown sugar, a quarter of a pound of mace, of cloves, allspice, and saltpetre, each half an ounce, and an ounce of pepper, pound all together, and rub well into the beef every day, and turning it as well for four days. When cooking, boil very slowly.

PASTRY.

APPLE JELLY—MOULD.—Pare, core, and stew six or eight apples with lemon-peel, sugar, and sufficient water to cover them, add half an ounce of “Nelson’s Gelatine,” dip a mould in cold water, pour in, and when cold, turn it out.

GOOSEBERRY FOOL.—Scald a quart of berries, and pass them through a sieve, make the pulp sweet, and let it stand to cool; beat up the yolks of three eggs, strain them to a quart of milk, set it over a clear fire, and keep stirring till it boils; remove, stir till cold, and then add the fruit to it gradually.

GOOSEBERRY PUDDING WITH THE WOOD IN IT.—Make a paste of flour, chopped beef suet, salt, and water; knead, roll it out thin, sheet a basin with it, and fill with young gooseberries, cover with paste, and boil. When done, cut a piece out of the top, mix sifted sugar, and a lump of butter, or some cream with the fruit, and a little grated nutmeg. The name is derived from the gooseberries tasting a little woody; the consequence of being too young.

RHUBARB FOOL.—Scald a quart or more of rhubarb, nicely peeled, and cut into pieces an inch long, pulp through a sieve, sweeten, and let it stand to cool. Put a pint of cream, or new milk, into a stewpan with a stick of cinnamon, a small piece of lemon-peel, a few cloves, coriander seeds, and sugar to taste; boil ten minutes. Beat up the yolks of four eggs, and a little flour, stir into the cream, set over the fire till it boils, stirring all the time; remove, and let it stand till cold. Mix the fruit and cream together, and add a little grated nutmeg.

SODA CAKE.—Take a pound of flour, of butter and brown sugar, each a quarter of a pound, half a pound of currants, two ounces of candied lemon-peel, a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, and a pint and a half of milk. Mix well, and bake for an hour in a mould. It is better when kept for a few days.

SPANISH FRITTERS.—Cut the crumb of a French roll into square lengths, half an inch thick; mix nutmeg, powdered cinnamon, sugar, and an egg, together. Soak the roll in the mixture, and fry a nice brown. Serve with wine sauce.

VICTORIA SANDWICHES.—Cut sponge-cake into slices a quarter of an inch thick, spread some apricot jam, or other preserve, on the top of one slice, cover with another, dress down gently, and cut into large diamonds; cover with pink icing, and put in an oven to set.

PLAIN PUDDING.—Weigh three-quarters of a pound of any old scraps of bread, either crust or crumb, cut them small, and pour on them a pint and a half of boiling water to soak them well. Let it stand until the water is cool, then press it out, and mash the bread smooth with the back of a spoon. Add to it a tea-spoonful of powdered ginger, moist sugar to sweeten, three-quarters of a pound of picked and cleaned currants. Mix well, and lay in a pan well buttered; flatten it down with a spoon, lay some pieces of butter on the top, and bake in a moderate oven. Serve hot.

CABINET PUDDING.—Over six sponge cakes pour sufficient sherry, or white wine, to soak them thoroughly. Beat up six new-laid eggs with a quart of new milk, and a little nutmeg, and sweeten with white sugar. Put the cakes into the custard without beating them together, and turn the whole into a mould previously buttered; tie a paper over the top, and steam the pudding for an hour. _For Sauce to the Pudding._—Beat up the yolks of two eggs, two table-spoonfuls of pounded white sugar, and two wine-glassfuls of white wine; mix well together, simmer gently, stirring all the time, and serve hot. This, also, makes a delicious sweet, which may be eaten when cold, like custard.

A BOILED BATTER PUDDING.—Take two eggs, beat well, two table-spoonfuls of flour, and enough milk to make a batter. Serve hot, with wine sauce.

SEA COOKERY.

FIRST-WATCH STEW.—Cut pieces of salt beef and pork into dice, put them into a stewpan with six whole peppercorns, two blades of mace, a few cloves, a tea-spoonful of celery seeds, and a faggot of dried sweet herbs; cover with water, and stew gently for an hour; then add fragments of carrots, turnips, parsley, or any other vegetables at hand, with two sliced onions, and some vinegar to flavour; thicken with flour, or rice, remove the herbs, and pour into the dish with toasted bread, or freshly baked biscuit broken small, and serve hot. When they can be procured, a few potatoes improve it very much.

SEA PIE.—Make a thick pudding crust, line a dish with it, or, what is better, a cake tin; put a layer of sliced onions, then a layer of salt beef cut in slices, a layer of sliced potatoes, a layer of pork, and another of onions, strew pepper over all, cover with a crust, and tie down tightly with a cloth previously dipped in boiling water and floured. Boil for two hours, and serve hot in a dish.

FOOD FOR JUNE.

MEAT.—Beef, _grass-lamb_, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, buck-venison.

FISH.—Carp, cod, conger-eels, _crabs_, cray-fish, dabbs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, herrings, ling, _lobsters_, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, plaice, _prawns_, _salmon_, _salmon-trout_, _skate_, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whitebait, whitings.

POULTRY AND GAME.—Chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, leverets, pigeons, plovers, pullets, rabbits, turkey-poults, wheat-ears, wood-pigeons.

VEGETABLES.—Angelica, artichoke, asparagus, beans (French, kidney, and Windsor), white beet, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, chervil, cucumbers, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsley, peas, potatoes, purslane, radishes, salad of all sorts, spinach, turnips, vegetable marrow.

FOR DRYING.—Burnet, mint, tarragon, orange-thyme.

FOR PICKLING.—Garlic.

FRUIT.—_Apples_—John apple, stone pippin, golden russet. Apricots. _Cherries_—Duke, bigaroon, black-heart. Currants; gooseberries; melons. _Pears_—Winter green. Strawberries. _Forced_—Grapes, nectarines, peaches, pines.

COOKERY FOR JUNE.

SOUPS.

JULIENNE is made the same as _soup santé_, omitting the lettuce and chervil.

SOUP SANTE, OR GRAVY SOUP.—Shred carrots and turnips small, with celery heads about two inches long; wash and steam them separately in a little water till nearly done; when ready, cut the white of the celery small, and a small quantity of cabbage, chervil, Cos lettuces, endive, and leeks; put all to boil till quite tender in three quarts of beef stock; add, if at hand, asparagus tops, green peas, small onions, &c.; and, when done, serve hot.

SPINACH.—Shred two handfuls of spinach, a turnip, two onions, a head of celery, two carrots, a little thyme and parsley; put all into a stewpan, with an ounce of butter, and a pint of veal stock, or the liquor in which meat has been boiled; stew till tender, pulp through a coarse sieve, add a quart of fresh water, salt and pepper, and boil all together. Make some small suet dumplings the size of a walnut, put them into the tureen, and pour the soup on hot.

À LA MUSQUETAIRE.—Take a pint of green peas, and a handful of sorrel, boil in a pint of beef stock, on a slow fire; add a quart of water, and boil a neck of mutton in it, which, when done, glaze as a fricandeau, and serve all together.

FISH.

LOBSTER BALLS.—Take the meat of a lobster, with the coral and spawn, pound in a mortar, add bread crumbs, about a quarter the proportion of the lobster, and season with cayenne, white pepper, mace, and salt. Mix sufficient melted butter with the whole to form into a mass, make into balls the size of small apples, egg well, dip in bread crumbs, and fry a pale brown.

PRAWNS AND SHRIMPS, TO BOIL.—Let the water be boiling briskly, with a handful of salt in it, throw in the prawns or shrimps, and, when they are done enough, they will float to the surface; remove, place in a cullender to drain, then throw them into a dry towel, and rub a good quantity of salt among them whilst hot, then wrap them up in the towel, and keep until quite cold.

SALMON DRESSED, TO POT.—Take the remains of a dressed salmon, remove the bones, mash it upon a board, season with a little allspice, pepper, and salt; then add some thick melted butter, sufficient to form into a paste; but do not make it too moist; then press into a pot, and pour clarified butter over the top. If at hand, the coral and spawn of a lobster, or a few shrimps or prawns, improve it, both in flavour and appearance.

SKATE, TO FRY.—Prepare the fish as directed at p. 263, egg well, dip in bread crumbs, and fry carefully in plenty of dripping. Garnish with fried parsley, and serve with crab sauce, anchovy and butter sauce, soy or ketchup.

WHITEBAIT, TO FRY.—Dry thoroughly, dip in egg, flour well, and dredge with flour all the time they are frying, until they have a complete coating over them, taking care to keep them moving, or else they will stick to each other or adhere to the pan. Serve with a lemon cut in half. Brown bread and butter rolled, and cold punch, should be partaken of at the same time.

POULTRY, ETC.

FOWL, CURRIED MALABAR FASHION.—Cut a fowl into small joints, and wash it well in cold water. Mince an onion or two, put three ounces of butter in a stewpan, fry the onion a nice brown, then add the meat, a table-spoonful of flour, the same of curry powder, and simmer for ten minutes; then add a pint of veal broth or water, and stew for half an hour, with a stick of cinnamon. Scrape some cocoa-nut into a basin, with a gill and a half of warm water, press it well with the back of a spoon, strain through a sieve, and add with two or three bay-leaves five minutes before serving. Shake the pan once or twice, squeeze half a lemon in, or add a table-spoonful of vinegar, and serve hot, with the rice separate, having previously removed the bay-leaves.

BEEF, MUTTON, OR VEAL, MAY BE DRESSED THE SAME.—If a cocoa-nut cannot be procured, blanch four ounces of sweet almonds, pounded to a paste, add a gill of water, and rub through a sieve; this is to be added to the curry in the same manner as the cocoa-nut liquor. A gill of cream or milk, will answer very well, or a table-spoonful of flour, mixed with two ounces of butter, may be substituted when the others cannot be obtained.

TURKEY, DUTCH WAY.—Boil, season with salt, pepper, and cloves; add a quarter of a pound of rice or vermicelli to every quart of broth, and serve hot, garnishing with toasted bread cut with a pastry-cutter.

VEGETABLES.

BEANS, FRENCH, À LA CRÊME.—String them, cut into slips, and boil in plenty of water, with salt in it. When done, drain them. Put into a stewpan with two ounces of fresh butter, the yolks of three eggs, beaten up in a gill of cream, and set over a slow fire. When hot, add a table-spoonful of vinegar, and the beans; simmer for five minutes, stir with a wooden spoon, to prevent burning or curdling, and serve hot.

BEANS, KIDNEY, TO BOIL.—String, slit down the middle, and cut them across; cover with salt and water, let them remain some time, boil till tender, and then serve with melted butter.

BEANS, WINDSOR, TO BOIL.—Boil in salt and water till tender, then serve with parsley and butter.

CHERVIL, BOILED.—Wash, and pick very clean; put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water, boil the chervil about ten minutes, drain on a sieve, and serve with good melted butter.

CUCUMBERS TO STEW.—Slice an equal quantity of cucumbers and onions, and fry them together in butter, strain on a sieve, put them with a gill of gravy, two table-spoonfuls of white wine, and a blade of mace, into a saucepan. Stew five or six minutes, add a piece of butter rolled in flour, salt, and cayenne pepper. Shake well together until thick enough, then dish and serve hot.

ONIONS, TO ROAST.—Roast with the skins on; when tender, peel carefully, and serve with cold butter, and salt.

TURNIPS, TO BOIL AND MASH.—Boil until tender, drain on a sieve, and mash well, with butter, pepper, and salt. Observe that there are not any lumps. Serve hot in a vegetable dish, either plain, or previously pressed into a pudding-mould.

VEGETABLE MARROW, TO DRESS.—1. Peel the same as apples, cut in halves, and scrape the seeds out of the inside; then boil for about twenty minutes, with a little salt in the water, and when soft, take them up, drain on a sieve, and mash up with pepper, salt, and butter or cream. 2. Peel, cut in halves, remove the seeds, and put into a stewpan with water, salt, lemon-juice, and a small piece of fat bacon. Stew gently till quite tender, and serve up with Dutch sauce.

MEAT.

MUTTON, BREAST OF, GRILLED.—Par-boil, score, pepper and salt it well, rub with the yolk of egg, dip in bread crumbs and chopped parsley, and broil, or roast it in a Dutch oven. Serve with caper sauce.