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THE
EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK
AMD
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL RECIPES
BY
MISS E. NEILL.
ECONOMICAL, RELIABLE AND EXCELLED
SAN FRANCISCO: EXAMINER-PRESS.
1889.
INDEX.
BREAD AND BREAKFAST DISHES.
PAGE.
Yeast 131
Plain White Family Bread 131
Graham Bread 132
Boston Brown Bread 132
torn Bread '33
Steamed Brown Bread 133
Parker House Rolls 133
French Rolls 133
Buns 134
Biscuits 143
To Make Rusks 134
Sweet Milk Gems 135
Breakfast Gems.. 135
Graham Breakfast Cakes 135
Buckwheat Cakes 135
Flannel Cakes 136
Rice Griddle Cakes 137
French Pancakes 137
Pancakes 37
Bread Fritters 137
Quick Sally Lunn 138
Breakfast Cake 138
Quick Waffles 138
Johnny Cake 138
Mush 138
Corn Mush 139
Graham Mush 139
CAKES.
, White Lady Cake 181
j Macaroons , 181
I Almo id Icing i^/.
I To Make Icing for Cakes 182
I Loaf Cake 183
' Rich Bride Cake 183
Lady Fingers 183
Queen Cake 184
Chocolate Macaroons 184
Caramel Cake 184
Pound Cake 1 85
Tocoa-nut Sponge Cake 185
Cocoa-nut Pound Cake 186
' v PADS
Cocoa-nut Cup Cake 186
Cocoa-nut Drops 186
Citror. Heart Cakes 187
Imperial Cakes 187
Plum Cakes 187
Gold and Silver Cakes 188
To Make Small Sponge Cakes ig8
Lemon Cheese Cakes 189
Snow Cakes 189
Tilden Cakes 189
Corn Starch Cakes 189
Birthday Cakes 190
Naples Biscuit 190
Cake Trifles 190
Ribbon Cake 198
Jelly Rolf 198
Delicate Crullers '199
Savoy Cake 190
Composition Cake 101
Almond Cream Cake 191
Ice Cream Cake 191
Economical Cake 192
Dehcate Cake 191
Orange Cake 192
Jelly Kisses 193
Fig Cake 193
Fried Cake ig j
Cocoa-nut Kisses 193
California Cake 154
White Mountain Cake 194
Lemon Cake 194
Strawberry Short Cake 194
Marble Cake 195
White Pound Cake 195
Nell's Chocolate Cake 195
Rice Cake 196
Cream Cake 196
Sponge Cake 196
Doughnuts 196
Coffee Cake , 197
Spice Cake 197
Soft Ginger Bread 197
Sweet Strawberry Short Cake 197
Ginger Nuts >a?
INDEX.
COSMETIQUES.
Complexion Wash
To Clear a Tanned Skin
Oil to Make the Hair Curl
Wrinkles in the Skin
Pearl Water for the Face
Pearl Dentifrice
Wash for a Blotched Face
Face Powder •
Bandoline
A Good Wash for the Hair
DRINKS.
To Make Green Tea
To Make Black Tea— Make as di- rected for Green
Iced Tea
Coffee
Chocolate
Lemon Syrup
Strawberry Syrup .
Raspberry Syrup
Strawberry Sherbet
Raspberry Vinegar
Lemonade
Egg Nogg
Raisin Wine
Currant Wine
Ginger Wine
Fine Milk Punch
Claret Cup
Roman Punch
Cream Nectar
Red Currant Cordial ,
Elderberry Syrup
246 246 246 247 247 247 247 247 248
DESSERT AND TEA DISHES.
Boiled Custard 200
Lemon Custard 200
Snow Custard 200
Tapioca Custard 201
Blanc Mangt 202
Rice Blanc Mange 202
Apple Trifle 203
Lemon Trifle 203
Floating Island 204
Apple Snow 204
Tropical Snow 204
Swiss Cream 205
Italian Cream 205
Whipped Cream 205
Tipsy Cake... jo6
Snow Pyramids 206
An Excellent Dessert.
Apple Fritters
Jelly Cake Fritters
Black Meringue
Charlotte Russe
Jellied Grapes
Jelly and Custard
Lemon Toast
Dish of Snow Whipped Cream. .
Omelet for Dessert
Jelly Fritters <..
FISH.
PAGH ... 206 ... 207 ... 207 ... 207 ...208 ... 208 ... 208 ... 208 .. 209 .. 209 . .. 810
Boiled Salmon 3$
Broiled Salmon 35
Baked Salmon 35
Salmon Trout 36
Spiced Salmon (Pickled) 36
Salmon and Caper Sauce 37
Salmon Cutlets 37
Dried or smoked Salmon 37
Boiled Cod 38
Cod Pie 38
Dried Codfish 38
Stewed Salt Cod 38
Codfish Cakes 39
Boiled Bass 39
Fried Bass 39
To Fry or Boil Fish Properly 40
Baked Black Bass 40
Broiled Mackerel 40
Salt Mackerel with Cream Sauce 41
Boiled Eels.. . 42
Fricasseed Eels 42
Fried Eels 42
Collared Eels 42
Fried Trout «$
Trout in Jelly (or other Fish) 43
Boiled Trout 43
Broiled Trout 44
Baked Haddock 44
Curried Haddock..... 44
Fricasseed Haddock 45
Broiled White Fish (Fresh) 45
Baked White Fish 45
To Choose Lobsters 46
Boiled Lobsters 46
Curried Lobsters 46
Lobster Chowder 46
Ch.
47
To Fry Smelts 47
Red Herrings or Yarmouth Bloaters.. 48
Rolled Fish 48
Oysters on the Shell 49
IKDEX,
iii
PAGE.
Oysters Stewed with Milk 49
Oysters Fried in Butter 49
Oysters Scalloped 49
Ovsters Fried 5°
Oyster Patties 5°
Oysters Broiled 5'
Clam Fritters 5<
Clams, Soft Shelled 5'
To Broil Soft Shell Clams 5 '
Clam Chowder •> • 52
ICES, ICE-CREAM, CANDY.
Currant Ice 227
Strawberry or Raspberry Ice 227
Orange and Lemon Ices 227
Ice-Cream 227
Vanilla or Lemon Ice-cream , 228
Strawberry Ice-cream 228
Chocolate Ice-cream 228
Cream Candies 2:5
Pineapple Ice-cream 229
Italian Cream 230
To Make Barley Sugar.. 230
To Make Everton Toffy 231
Cocoa-nut Drops 231
Molasses Candy....'. 231
Chocolate Caramels 231
Lemon Candy 232
INVALID COOKERY.
Port Wine Jelly 240
Tapioca Jelly . 240
Arrowroot Wine Jelly 240
Jellied Chicken 240
Chicken Broth 241
To mate Gruel 24 1
Barley Water 242
Arrowroot Blanc Mango 242
Lemonade for Invalids 242
Mutton Broth 243
Flax-seed Lemonade 243
Arrowroot 243
Stewed Rabbits in Miik 244
Slippery Elm Bark Tea 244
Beef Tea 244
Egg Wine 244
Toast-Water 245
Onion Gruel 245
MEATS.
Roast Beef 53
FV.,,,,,] of i:,,. f >>...iH...t ,.,....,..,, j»
FACE.
Beef Salted, or Corned Red 53
To Boil Corned Beef 5$
A Nice Way to Serve Cold Beef 55
Spiced Beef 55
Broiled Beefsteak * 56
Fried Beefsteak 56
Beefsteak Pie 57
Boiled Leg of Mutton 57
Roast Loin of Mutton 58
Broiled Mutton Chops 58
Mutton Chop, Fried 58
Roast Forequarter of Lamb... ...... 58
Lambs' Sweet Breads 59
To Roast Veal 60
Veal Cutlets , 61
Stuffed Fillet of Veal with Bacon 61
Veal Cake 62
Veal Pie 62
Boiled Calf's Head 63
Calf's Head Cheese...., 64
Boiled Calf's Feet, Parsley and
Butter 64
Calf's Liver and Bacon 64
Sweet Breads 65
Egged Veal Hasli 65
Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding... 66
Beef Heart, Baked or Roasted 66
Beef Kidney 67
Rolled Beef ..., 67
Boiled Tongue 68
Fricasseed Tripe 8ft
Broiled Tripe 6S
Roast Rabbit 6ij
Stewed Rabbit, Larded 6q
Fricasseed Rabbit 7<v
A Pretty Dish of Venison 70
To Boil Venison Steaks... 70
Beefsteak and Kidney Pudding 7.
BREAKFAST DISHES.
Hashed Cold Meat 72
Potato and Beef Hash 72
Dried Beef... 73
Chicken Cultlets 7*
Beef Patties 74
Jellied Veal ; 74
Rice and Meat Croquettes 75
American Toast 75
Meat and Potatoes 75
Breaded Sausages 75
Ham Croquettes 75
A Nice Breakfast Dish 76
Chickeu in Jelly 76
4 Good Dmb,. . •• 3$
iv
INDEX.
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
An excellent Hard Soap 249
To Wash Woolen Blankets 149
For Clothes that Fade 250
Lamp Wicks 250
To Make Old Crape Look Nearly
Equal to New 250
A Cement for Stoves 250*
To Clean Red Gloves 251
Stains and Spots 251
To Remove Grease Spots 252
Stains on Marble 252
Paint or Varuish 253
To Remove Ink from Carpets 253
To Remove Ink from Paper 253
Feed for Canary Birds 253
Ink on Rosewood o' Mahogany 254
Coal Fire 254
Polish for Bright Stoves and Steel
Articles 254
To Prevent Pumps from F'reezing. . .. 254
To Keep Starch from Sticking 254
To Keep off Mosquitoes 255
To Brighten Gilt Frames 255
To Make Hens Lay in Winter 255
To Preserve Steel Pens
Mice
Camphor 256
To Clean Combs 256
For Cleaning Jewelry .- 256
For Washing Silver and Silverware... 256 For Washing Glass and Glassware... 257
I nsects and Vermin 257
Moths in Caq^ets 258
Smooth Sad Irons 258
To Sweeten Meat 258
Stove Polish 258
Cleaning White Paint 259
To Cleanse the Inside of Jars 259
Furniture Polish 259
Squeaking Doors 259
For Cleaning Mirrors 259
To Soften Putty 259
To Remove Stains from Mattresses.. 260
Kaisoniining 260
Papering Whitewashed Wa"s 260
How to Clean Corsets...., .. 261
To Clean Hairbrushes 261
How to Wash Flannels 261
Cleaning Lace 262
N<-w Keiths 262
To Keep Flies off Gilt Frames 262
To Prevent Knives from Rusting 262
Cement for Glassware 263
255 255
PAGE.
Waterproof Paper 263
Recipe for Violet Ink 263
Perspiration 203
Renewing oid Kid Gloves 264
Cologne Water 264
To Cleanse a Sponge 264
Icy Windo-.vs 264
To Remove Blood liom Cloth .... 264
Camphor Ice 265
Starch Polish 265
To Clean Feathers 265
To Test Nutmegs 265
To Clean Mica 265
To Soften Hard Water 265
To Destroy Vermin in the Hair 266
To Remove Bruises from Furnituie. .. 266
Pearl Smelling Salts - 266
Pounded Glass.... 266
Polish for Boots 266
To Clean Plate 267
To Clean Decanters 267
Spots on Towels and Hosiery 267
Croup 263
Poison Ivy or Oak..... 268
Convulsion Fits 269
Burns and Scalds ' 269
Cuts 269
Cold on the Chest 269
Bleeding from the Nose . 269
Chilblains 270
To Cure a Sting of Bee or Wasp 271
For Toothache 271
Choking 271
Excellent Carminative Powder for
Flatulent Infants 271
Cubeb Berries for Catarrh 272
Diarrhoea 272
272 273 273 273 -74 274 274 275 275 275 275 276 276 276 = 76 277
For Sick Room
Bites of Dogs
Measles and Scarlatina
Stye in the Eye
For Constipation
Leanness ».
Superfluous Hairs
The Breath
The Quinine Cure for Drunkenness..
For Sore Throa t
A Good Cure for Colds
To Stop Bleeding
A Health Appetizer
To Remove Discoloration from |!-HII-L' Earache
To Cure Toothache
For Felon ••
INDEX.
PAGE.
Excellent Deodorizers , 277
To Cure a Boil 377
To Cure a Whitlow 278
Tape Worms 278
Fora Caked Breast 278
Remedy for Blistered Feet 278
Relief for Asthma 278
Chapped Hands • • 279
Lunar Caustic 279
Rheumatism and Headache 279
Fever and Ague 279
For a Fainting Fit 279
To Restore from Stroke of Lightning. 280
Relief for Inflamed Feet 280
Warm Water 280
Cleaning House, Sitting and Dining
Room 280
How to Dust a Room 283
Girls Learn to Cook 284
Teach the Little Ones 284
Children Love Games 285
Teach Your Own Children 286
Cultivating Selfishness in Children ... 286
Packing Away Furs • . 288
Courage 288
The Art of Beauty in Dress 289
Home Dressmaking 291
A Woman's Skirts 293
To Make Sleeves 294
All About Kitchen Work 295
A Nice Clothes Frame 297
Sunlit Rooms 298
Pleasant Homes 299
How to be Handsome 300
Headache 307
High-Heeled Boots 309
Make Home Pleasant 3 10
Dinner Table Fancies 311
The Use of Ammonia 312
Laughter 313
Items Worth Remembering 314
Those Ungrateful Habits 314
PUDDINGS.
Remarks 155
Christmas Plum Pudding 155
Boiled Batter Pudding 156
Batter Pudding 156
Madeira Pudding 157
Apple Sauce Pudding 157
Queen of Puddings. » 157
Orange Pudding 158
Corn Starch Pudding 158
French Pudding IS9
PAGK.
Belle's Pudding 159
Cream Tapioca Pudding 160
A Bachelor's Pudding.... 160
Macaroni Pudding 160
Baked Indian Pudding , 161
Boiled Indian Pudding 161
Marmalade Pudding 161
Boiled Apple Pudding i^-
Nelly's Pudding 162 \
Rich Baked Apple Pudding . , 163 *
Snow Balls 163
Rice Pudding 163
Apple Charlotte 164
Ground Rice Pudding 164
Fig Pudding 164
Bread and Butter Pudding 165
Cabinet Pudding 165
Snow Pudding 165
Carrot Pudding 166
Lemon Pudding 166
Roly-Poly Pudding 166
Cottage Pudding 166
Cocoanut Pudding 167
Cream Pudding 167
Tapioca Pudding 167
Common Custard 167
PUDDING SAUCES.
Rich Wine Sauce 169
Whipped Cream Sauce 169
Lemon Sauce 169
Jelly Sauce 169
Cabinet Pudding Sauce 1 70
Foaming Sauce-. • 170
Spanish Sauce 170
Hard Sauce 170
Pudding Sauce 170
Sauce for Plum Pudding 171
Vanilla Sauce 171
PASTRY.
Very Good Puff Paste 171
Plainer Paste • 173
Suet Crusts for Pies or Puddings 173
To Ice Pastry 173
To Graze Pastry 174
Mince Meat 174
Mock Mince Pie 175
Apple Custard Pie 175
Apple Meringue Pie 175
Apple Pie 176
Lemon Pie . 176
vi
INDEX.
PACK.
Custard Pie 176
Cocoanut Pie.... 177
Lemon Tarts 177
Pastry Sandwiches 177
Cherry Pie 178
Squash Pie 178
Cream Pie.. 178
Tartlets 178
Peach Pie 179
Pumpkin Pie 179
Tart Shells 179
Mince Pies 180
PRESERVES, CANNED FRUITS, JELLY.
To Preserve Plums Without the
Skins 211
To Preserve Purple Plums 211
Preserved Greengages in Syrup 212
Preserved Cherries in Syrup 212
Preserved Pears • 213
Preserved Peaches 213
Preserved Citron 214
Crab Apples Preserved 214
Pine Apple Preserved 214
Gooseberry Jam.... 214
Black Currant Jam 215
Raspberry Jam 215
Quince Preserve 215
Red Currant Jelly 216
Apple Jelly 217
Black Currant Jelly 217
Crab Apple Jelly 218
Other Jellies 218
Wine Jelly 218
Calves' Feet Jelly 218
Orange Marmalade 219
Lemon Marmalade 219
Quince Marmalade 219
Peach Marmalade 220
Apple Butter 220
Lemon Butter 220
Peach Butter 221
PRESERVED AND CANNED FRUITS.
Apple Ginger (A Dessert Dish) 221
Iced Currants 221
To Bottle Fresh Fruit 222
To Green Fruit for Preserving in Sugar
or Vinegar 222
To Color Preserves Pink....,.,.,,,. 223
PACK. To Color Fruit Yellow... :-> .......... 323
Canned Peaches ..................... 223
Canned Strawberries ............... 223
Canned Pears ....................... 224
Canned Plums ............ .......... 224
Canned Currants .................... 224
Canned Pineapple .................... 225
Canned Quinces. . . ........... .... 225
Canned Tomatoes .................... 225
Canned Corn .......................... 225
POULTRY, GAME, Etc.
Roast Turkey ...................... 78
Boiled Turkey .... .................. 79
To Roast a Fowl or Chicken ......... So
Boiled Chicken..... ................. Si
Broiled Chicken ..................... 8 1
Fried Chicken ........... . ........... 8t
Fricassee of Chicken . .............. 82
To Curry Chicken .................... 82
Pressed Chicken .................... 82
Chicken Pot-Pie .................... 83
Chicken Salad ....................... 83
Chicken, Jellied ..................... 84
Chicken Pates ........................ 84
Sage and Onion Stuffing for Geese,
Ducks, and Pork ................... 84
To Roast a Goose ............ . ....... 85
Roast Ducks ......................... 86
Roast Pigeons .... .................... 86
To Make a Bird's Nest .............. 87
Pigeons in Jelly ..................... 87
Pige
88
Wild Ducks ....................... . 89
Roast Wild Duck .................... 89
Wild Turkey ........................ 89
To Roast Snipe, Woodcock, and
Plover ............................ 90
Roast Partridge ...................... 92
Roast Quail ......................... 9;
Roast Prairie Chicken ....... . ....... 01
Larded Grouse ...................... 82
PORK, HAM, AND EGGS.
To Choose Pork ..................... 92
Curing Hams ......................... 93
To Roast a Leg of Pork .............. 93
Pork and Beans ............. . ........ 94
Pork Sausages ...... . ................ 94
Pork Chops, Steaks, and Cutlets ---- 95
Roast Pig .......................... 95
Pigs' Cheek ......j, ....... ......... <#
TNDEX.
Vll
PACK.
^Roast Spare Rib 96
Pork Fritters 97
Baked Ham 97
To Boil a Ham 97
To Broil a Ham 98
Fried Ham and Eggs 98
Ham Toast 98
Head Cheese 99
Pigs' Feet Soused 100
To Make Lard 100
To Tell Good Eggs 101
Keeping Eggs Fresh 101
Poached Eggs 102
Dropped Eggs 102
Stuffed Eggs 102
Eggs a la Suissie .• 103
Eggs Brouille 103
EggsCurried 103
Eggs Creamed 104
Soft Boiled Eggs 104
Eggs Upon Toast 104
Dutcli Omelet 104
Eggs Poached in Balls 105
Omelet au Natural 105
Omelet in Batter 105
Scrambled Eggs. 106
Omelet (Splendid) 106
SOUPS.
Remarks on Soups 20
Stock Soups 22
White Stock 22
Skin of Beef 23
Mutton with Tapioca 24
Veal 25
Ox Tail 25
Vegetable 25
Macaroni 26
Vermicelli 26
Chicken Cream 26
Mock Turtle 27
Hard Pea 27
Green Pea 28
Potato 2q
Tomato 29
Plain Calf's Head 30
A la Julienne -jz
Gatn= — ... .....•-%«; 31
v-eiery 31
Oyster 31
Lobster 32
Egg Balls for Soup 32
,..,.,.,,.„„ .,,.,.,, ,.,, 32
FAttH
Irish Stew 3J
To get up Soup in Haste 34
To color Soups 34
SAUCES FOR MEATS, Etc.
To Make Drawn Butter 124
Parsley Sauce 124
Egg Sauce 124
Onion Sauce 125
Anchovy Sauce 125
Bread Sauce 125
Tomato Sauce 125
Tomato Mustard 126
Mint Sauce 126
Celery Sauce '29
Governor's Sauce 129
Cream Sauce 127
Russian Sauce 127
Mayonnaise Sauce 127
Oyster Sauce 128
Lobster Sauce 128
Caper Sauce 128
Mustard Sauce 128
Curry Sauce ' 29
Cranberry Sauce 129
Port Wine Sauce for Game 130
Currant Jelly Sauce 13°
Apple Sauce >y>
SALADS, PICKLES, AND CATSUP.
Lettuce • • • 140
Lettuce Salad 14°
Salmon Salad 141
Lobster Salad 141
Tomato Salad 14*
Sard in? Salad 142
Salad Dressing 142
French Salad Dressing 142
Cream Dressing for Cold Slaw 143
Chicken Salad . . 143
Red Vegetable Salad ...' •-
Celery Salad :+4
Cold Slaw.... ., 144
iviiad Dressing (Excellent) 144
Pickled Cucumbers 145
To Pickk- Onions 145
Pickled Cauliflowers 145
Red Cabbage 145
To Pickle Tomatoes 146
RipeTonjato Pickles,,......,.,,.,,. 146
INDEX.
PARR.
Chopped Pickle 146
Chow-Chow 147
Piccalilli 147
Pickled Walnuts (very good 147
Green Tomato Pickle 148
Chili Sauce 148
Mixed Pickles 148
Pickled Mushrooms 149
Favorite Pickles 149
Tomato Mustard 150
Indian Chetney 150
Pickled Cherries 150
Pickled Plums 151
Spiced Plums 151
Peaches, Pears, and Sweet Apples.... 151
Tomato Catsup 151
Walnut Catsup 1 52
Mushroom Catsup 152
Brine that Preserves Buttera Year.... 153
Butter in Haste 153
VEGETABLES.
Boiled Potatoes 107
Mashed Potatoes 107
Fried Potatoes 108
Broiled Potatoes ... 108
Potatoes and Cream 108
Potato Puffs 109
Potato Snow 109
Potato Border 109
Potatoes, Whipped 109
Potatoes, Scalloped no
Potato Croquettes no
Potatoes a la Cream no
To Boil Sweet Potatoes no
Roasted Sweet Potatoes in
Baked Sweat Potatoes.. .. in
PACK
French Fried in
Turnips in
Spinach in
Beets n:
To Preserves Vegetables (or Winter. . 1 1>
De icate Cabbage 113
Red Cabbage 114
Cauliflowers 114
Mashed Carrots 114
Boiled Green Corn 114
Green Peas 115
To Boil Onions 115
Fried Onions 115
Boiled Parsnips 115
Parsnips Fried in Butter 116
Parsnips Creamed 116
Parsnip Fritters 1 16
Salsify, or Vegetable Oyster 117
Broiled Vegetable Marrow 117
Stewed Tomatoes 118
Baked Tomatoes 118
Stuffed Tomatoes iiq
Scalloped Tomatoes 119
To Peal Tomatoes - 119
Baked Beans 120
String Beans 120
Butter Beans 120
Asparagus with Eggs 121
Asparagus upon Toast 12 1
Mushrooms, Stewed 121
Mushrooms, Fried 121
Mushrooms, Baked 122
Mushrooms, Broiled 122
Mashed Squash 122
Baked Squash 122
Fried Squash 121
Stewed Celery 123
Stuffed Egg Plant 123
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK
OF all the arts upon which the physical well-being of man, in his social state, is dependent, none has been more neglected than that of cookery, though none is more im- portant, for it supplies the very fountain of life. The preparation of human food, so as to make it at once wholesome, nutritive, and agreeable to the palate, has hitherto been beset by imaginary difficulties and strong prejudices.
Many persons associate the idea of wealth with culinary perfection; others consider unwholesome, as well as ex- pensive, everything that goes beyond the categories of boiling, roasting, and the gridiron. All are aware that wholesome and luxurious cookery is by no means incom- patible with limited pecuniary rrieans; whilst in roasted, boiled, and broiled meats, which constitute what is fermed true American fare, much that is nutritive and agreeable is often lost for want of skill in preparing them. Food of every description is wholesome and di- gestible in proportion as it approaches nearer to the state of complete digestion, or, in other words, to that state termed c/iyme, whence the chyle or milky juice that after- wards forms blood is absorbed, and conveyed to the heart. Now nothing is further from this state than raw meat and raw vegetables. Fire is therefore necessary to soften them, and thereby begin that elaboration which is consummated in the stomach. The preparatory pro-
8 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOO^.
cess, which forms the cook's art, is more or less perfect in proportion as the aliment is softened, without losing any of its juices or flavor — for flavor is not only an agreea- ble but a necessary accompaniment to wholesome food. Hence it follows, that meat very much underdone, whether roasted or boiled, is not so wholesome as meat W^ll done but retaining all its juices. And here comes the necessity for the cook's skill, which is so often at fault even in these simple modes of preparing human nourishment.
Pork, veal, lamb, and all young meats, when not thor- oughly cooked, are absolute poison to the stomach; and if half-raw beef or mutton are often eaten with impunity, it must not be inferred that they are wholesome in their semi-crude state, but only less unwholesome than the young meats.
Vegetables, also, half done, which is the state in which they are often sent to the table, are productive of great gastric derangement, often of a predisposition to cholera.
A great variety of relishing, nutritive, and even elegant dishes, may be prepared from the most homely mate- rials, which may not only be rendered more nourishing^ but be made to go much further in a large family than they usually do. The great secret of all cookery, except in roasting and broiling, is a judicious use of butter, flour, and herbs, and the application of a very slow fire — for good cooking requires only gentle simmering, but no boiling up, which only renders the meat hard. Good roasting can only be acquired by practice, and the per- fection lies in cooking the whole joint thoroughly with- out drying up the juice of any part of it. This is also the case with broiling; while a joint under process of boiling, as we have said, should be allowed to simmer gently.
WH.h regard to made-dishes, as the horrible imitations of French cookery prevalent in Americ^ §re tgrmed,
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 9
admit that they are very unwholesome. All the juice* are boiled out of the meat, which is swimming in a he- terogenous compound, disgusting to the sight, and sea- soned so strongly with spice and Cayenne pepper enough to inflame the stomach of an ostrich.
French cookery is generally mild in seasoning, and free from grease; it is formed upon the above-stated principle of reducing the aliment as near to the state of chyme as possible, without injury to its nutritive qualities, render- ing it at once easy of digestion and pleasant to the taste.
HINTS ON MARKETING.
In the first place, the housewife ought, where it is pos- sible, to do her marketing herself, and pay ready-money for everything site purchases. This is the only way in which she can be sure of getting the best goods at the lowest price. We repeat that this is the only way compatible with economy; because, if a servant be entrusted with the buying, she will, if she is not a good judge of the quality of articles, bring home those she can get for the least money (and these are seldom the cheapest); and even if she is a go^d judge, it is ten to one against her taking the trouble to make a careful selection.
When the ready-money system is found inconvenient, and an account is run with a dealer, the mistress of the house ought to have a pass-book in which she should write down all the orders herself, leaving the dealer to fill in only the prices. Where this is not done, and the mistress neglects to compare the pass-book with the goods ordered every time they are brought in, it some- times happens, either by mistak-e, or the dishonesty of the dealer, or the servant, that goods are entered which were never ordered, perhaps never had, and that those Nvhich were ordered are overcharged; and if these errors are not detected at the time, they are sure to be difficult
IO THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK,
of adjustment afterwards. For these and other econo- mic reasons, the housewife should avoid running ac- counts, and pay ready-money.
RULES FOR EATING.
Dr. Hall, on this important subject, gives the follow ing advice: —
1. Never sit down to table with an anxious or dis- turbed mind; betters hundred times intermit that meal, for there will then be that much more food in the world for hungrier stomachs than yours; and besides, eating under such circumstances can only, and will always, pro- long and aggravate the condition of things.
2. Never*sit down to a meal after any intense mental effort, for physical and mental injury are inevitable, and no one has a right to deliberately injure body, mind, or estate.
3. Never go to a full table during bodily exhaustion — designated by some as being worn out, tired to death, used up, overdone, and the like. The wisest thing to be done under such circumstances is to take a cracker and a cup of warm tea, either black or green, and no more. In ten minutes you will feel a degree of refreshment and liveliness which will be pleasantly surprising to you; not of the transient kind which a glass of liquor affords, but permanent; but the tea gives present stimulus and a little strength, and before it subsides, nutriment begins to draw from the sugar, and cream, and bread, thus al- lowing the body gradually, and by safe degrees, to re- gain its usual vigor. Then, in a co-uple of hours, a full meal may be taken, provided that it does not bring it later than two hours before sundown; if later, then take nothing for that day in addition to the cracker and tea, and the next day you will feel a freshness and vigor not recently known.
THE B VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. II
No lady will require to be advised a second time, who will conform to the above rules; while it is a fact of no unusual observation among intelligent physicians, that eating heartily, and under bodily exhaustion, is not un- frequently the cause of alarming and painful illness, and sometimes sudden death. These things being so, let every family make it a point to assemble around the table with kindly feelings — with a cheerful humor, and a cour- teous spirit; and let that member of it be sent from it in disgrace who presumes to mar the re-union by sullen si- lence, or impatient look, or angry tone, or complaining tongue. Eat ever in thankful gladness, or away with you to the kitchen, you "ill-tempered thing, that you are." There was good philosophy in the old-time cus- tom of having a buffoon or music at the dinner-table.
HOW TO CHOOSE MEAT.
Ox-BEEF, when it is young, will have a fine open grain, and a good red color; the fat should be white, for when it is of a deep yellow color, the meat is seldom very good. The grain of cow-beef is closer, the fat whiter, and the lean scarcely so red as that of ox-beef. When you see beef, of which the fat is hard and skinny, and the lean of a deep red, you may be sure that it is of an inferior kind; and when the meat is old, you may know it by a line of horny texture running through the meat of the ribs.
MUTTON must be chosen by the firmness and fineness £>f the grain, its good color, and firm white fat. It is not considered prime until the sheep is about five years old.
LAMB will not keep long after it is killed. It can be dis- covered by the neck end in the fore-quarter if it has been killed too long, the veins in the neck being bluish when the meat is fresh, but green when it is stale. In the hind quarter, the same discovery may be made by examining
IZ
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
the kidney and the knuckle, for the former has a slight smell, and the knuckle is not firm, when the meat has been killed too long.
PORK should have a thin rind ; and when it is fresh, the ,meat is smooth and cool ; but, when it looks flabby, and is (clammy to the touch, it is not good ; and pork, above all 'meat, is disagreeable when it is stale. If you perceive many enlarged glands, or, as they are usually termed, kernels, in the fat of the pork, you may conclude that the pork cannot be wholesome.
VEAL is generally preferred of a delicate whiteness, but it is more juicy and well-flavored when of a deeper color. Butchers bleed calves profusely in order to produce this white meat ; but this practice must certainly deprive the meat of some of its nourishment and flavor. When you choose veal, endeavor to look at the loin, which affords the best means of judging of the veal generally, for if the kidney, which may be found on the under side of one end of the loin, be deeply enveloped in white and firm-looking fat, the meat will certainly be good ; and the same ap- pearance will enable you to judge if it has been recently killed. The kidney is the part which changes the first ; and then the suet around it becomes soft, and the meat flabby and spotted
BACON, like pork, should have a thin rind ; the fat should be firm, and inclined to a reddish color ; and the lean should firmly adhere to the bone, and have no yellow streaks in it. When you are purchasing a ham, have a knife stuck into it to the bone, which, if the ham be well cured, may be drawn out again without having any of the meat adhering to it, and without your perceiving any disagreeable smell. A short ham is reckoned the best.
THE BrERY-DAY COOKBOOK. t$
HOW TO CHOOSE FISH.
TURBOT, which is in season the greater part of the year, should have the underside of a yellowish white, for when it is very transparent, blue, or thin, it is not good: the whole fish should be thick and firm.
SALMON should have a fine red flesh and gills; the scales should be bright, and the whole fish firm. Many persons think that salmon is improved by keeping a day or two.
COD should be judged by the redness of the gills, the whiteness, stiffness, and firmness of the flesh, and the clear freshness of the eyes; these are the infallible proofs of its being good. The whole fish should be thick and firm.
WHITE-FISH may be had good almost throughout the year; but the time in which they are in their prime is early in the year. The white-fish is light and delicate, and in choosing it you must examine whether the fins and flesh be firm.
FRESH-WATER FISH may be chosen by similar observa- tions respecting the firmness of the flesh, and the clear appearance of the eyes, as salt-water fish.
In a LOBSTER lately caught, you may put the claws in motion by pressing the eyes; but when it has been long caught, the muscular action is not excited. The fresh- ness of boiled lobsters may be determined by the elas- ticity of the tail, which is flaccid when they have lost any of their wholesomeness. Their goodness, independ- ent of freshness, is determined by their weight.
CRABS, too, must be judged of by their weight, for when they prove light, the flesh is generally found to be wasted and watery. If in perfection, the joints of the legs will be stiff, and the body will have an agreeable smell. The eyes, by a dull appearance, betray that the crab has been long caught.
14 THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
HOW TO CHOOSE POULTRY.
In the choice of Poultry the age of the bird is the chief point to which you should attend.
A young TURKEY has a smooth black leg; in an old one the legs are rough and reddish. If the bird be fresh killed the eyes will be full and fresh, and tlie feet moist
FOWLS, when they are young, the combs and the legs will be smooth, and rough when they are old.
In GEESE, when they are young, the bills and the feet are yellow and have a few hairs upon them, but they are red if the bird be old. The feet of a goose are pliable when the bird is fresh killed, and dry and stiff when it has been killed some time. Geese are called green till they are two or three months old.
DUCKS should be chosen by the feet, which should be supple; and they should also have a plump and hard breast. The feet of a tame duck are yellowish, those of a wild one, reddish.
PIGEONS should always be eaten while they are fresh; when they look flabby and discolored about the under part, they have been kept too long. The feet, like those of poultry, show the age of the bird; when they are sup- pie, it is young; when stiff, it is old. Tame pigeons are fcarger than wild ones.
HOW TO CHOOSE GAME.
VENISON, when young, will have the fat clear and bright, and this ought also to be of a considerable thick- ness. When you do not wish to have it in a very high state, a knife plunged into either haunch or the shoulder, and drawn out, will by the smell enable you to judge if the venison be sufficiently fresh.
With regard to venison, which, as it is not an every- day article of diet, it may be convenient to keep fot
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 15
Some time after it has begun to get high or tainted, it is useful to know that animal putrefaction is checked by fresh burnt charcoal; by means of which, therefore, the venison may be prevented from getting worse, although it cannot be restored to its original freshness. The meat should be placed in a hollow dish, and the charcoal pow- der strewed over it until it covers the joint to the thick- ness of half an inch.
HARES and RABBITS, when the ears are dry and tough, the haunch thick, and the claws blunt and rugged, they are old. Smooth and sharp claws, ears that readily tear, and a narrow cleft in the lip, are the marks of a young hare. Hares may be kept for some time after they have been killed; indeed, many people think they are not fit for the table until the inside begins to turn a little. Care, however, should be taken to prevent the inside from be- coming musty, which would spoil the flavor of the stuffing.
PARTRIDGES have yellow legs and a dark-colored bill when young. They are not in season till after the first •of September
HOW TO CHOOSE EGGS.
In putting the hands round the eggr and presenting to the light the end which is not covered, it should be trans- parent. If you can detect some tiny spots, it is not new- ly laid, but may be very good for all ordinary purposes except boiling soft. If you see a large spot near the shell, it is bad, and should not be used on any account. The white of a newly-laid egg boiled soft is like milk; that of an egg a day old, is like rice boiled in milk; and that of an old egg, compact, tough, and difficult to digest. A cook ought not to give eggs two or three days old to people who really care for fresh eggs, under the delusion that they will not find any difference; for an amateur will find it out in a moment, not only by the appearance, but also by the taste.
! 6 THE E VER Y-DA Y CO OX-BOOK.
CARVING.
THE seat for the carver should be somewhat elevated above the other chairs; it is extremely ungraceful to carve standing, and it is rarely done by any person accustomed to the business. Carving depends more on skill than on strength. \Ve have seen very small women carve admir- ably sitting down ; and very tall men who knew not how to cut a piece of beefsieak without rising on their feet to do it.
The carving-knife should be very sharp, and not heavy ; and it should be held firmly in the hand ; also the dish should be not too far from the carver. It is customary to help the fish with a fish trowel, and not with a knife. The middle part of a fish is generally considered the best. In helping it, avoid breaking the flakes, as that will give it a mangled appearance.
In carving ribs or sirloin of beef begin by cutting thin slices off the side next to you. Afterwards you may cut from the tenderloin, or cross-part near the lower end. Do not send anyone the outside piece, unless you know that they particularly wish it.
In helping beefsteak put none of the bone on the plate. In cutting a round of corned beef begin at the top ; but lay aside the first cut or outside piece, and send it to no one, as it is always dry and hard. In a round of beef d-la mode the outside is frequently preferred.
In a leg of mutton begin across the middle, cutting the slices quite down to the bone. The same with a leg of pork or a ham. The latter should be cut in very thin slices, as its flavor is spoiled when cut thick.
To taste well, a tongue should be cut crossways in round slices. Cutting it lengthwise (though the prac- tice at many tables) injures the flavor. The middle part of the tongue is the best. Do not help anyone to a
THE E VER V-DA Y COO A' BOCK. 1 7
piece of the root; that, being by no means a favored part, is generally left in the dish.
In carving a fore-quarter of lamb first separate the shoulder part from the breast and ribs by passing the knife under, and then divide the ribs. If the lamb is large, have another dish brought to put the shoulder in.
For a loin of veal begin near the smallest end, and separate the ribs; helping a part of the kidney (as far as it wiii go) with each piece. Carve a loin of pork or mut- ton in the same manner.
In carving a fillet of veal begin at the top. Many per- sons prefer the first cut or outside piece. Help a por- tion of the stuffing with each slice.
In a breast of veal there are two parts very different in quality, the ribs and the brisket. You will easily per- cieve the division; enter your knife at it and cut through, which, will separate the tvv.j parts. Ask the person you are going to help whether they prefer a rib, or a piece of the brisket.
For a haunch of venison first make a deep incision by passing your knife all along the side, cutting quite down to the bone. This is to let out the gravy. Then turn the broad end of the haunch towards you, and cut it as deep as you can in thin slices, allowing some of the fat to each person.
For a saddle of venison, or of mutton, cut from the tail to the other end on each side of the backbone, mak- ing very thin slices, and sending some fat wit'h each. Venison and roast mutton chill very soon. Currant jelly is an indispensable appendage to venison, and to roast mutton, and to ducks.
A young pig is most generally divided before it comes to table, in which case it is not customary to send in the head, as to many persons it is a revolting spectacle after it is cut off. When served up whole, first separate the head from the shoulders, then cut off the limbs, and then
1 8 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
divide the ribs. Help some of the stuffing with each piece.
To carve a fowl, begin by sticking your fork in the pinion, and drawing it towards the leg ; and then pass- ing your knife underneath take off the wing at the joint. Next, slip your knife between the leg and the body, to cut through the joint ; and with the fork turn the leg back, and the joint will give way. Ther take off the other wing and leg. If the fowl has be^n trussed (as it ought to be) with the liver and gizzard, help the liver with one wing, and the gizzard with the other. The liver-wing is considered the best. After the limbs are taken off enter your knife into the top of the breast, and cut under the merry-thought, so as to loosen it, lifting it with your fork. Afterwards cut slices from both sides of the breast. Next take off the collar-bones, which lie on each side of the merry-thought, and then separate the side-bones from the back. The breast and wings are considered as the most delicate parts of the fowl ; the back, as the least desirable, is generally left in the dish. Some persons, in carving a fowl, find it more convenient to take it on a plate, and as they separate it return each part to the dish; but this is not the usual way.
A turkey is carved in the same manner as a fowl; ex- cept that the legs and wings, being larger, are separated at the lower joint. The lower part of the leg (or drum- stick, as it is called), being hard, tough, and stringy, - never helped to any one, but allowed to remain on the dish. First cut off the wing, leg, and breast from one side; then turn the turkey over, and cut them off from the other.
To carve a goose, separate the leg from the body, by putting the fork into the small end of the limb; pressing it close to the body, and then passing the knife under, and turning the leg back, as you cut through the joint, TO take off the wing, put your fork into the small end at
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. ?p
i
the pinion, and press it closely to the body; then slip the knife under, and separate the joint. Next cut under the merry-thought, and take it off; and then cut slices from the breast. Then turn the goose, and dismember the other side. Take off the two upper side-bones that are next to the wings, and then the two lower side-bones. The breast and legs of a goose afford the finest pieces. If a goose is old there is no fowl so tough; and, if diffi- cult to carve, it will be still more difficult to eat.
Partridges, pheasants, grouse, etc., are carved in the same manner as fowls. Quails, woodcocks, and snipes are merely split down the back; so also are pigeons, giv- ing a half to each person.
In helping any one to gravy, or to melted butter, do not pour it over their meat, fowl, or fish, but put it to one side on a vacant part of the plate, that they may use just as much of it as they like. In filling a plate never heap one thing on another.
In helping vegetables, do not plunge the spoon down to the bottom of the dish, in case they should not have been perfectly well drained, and the water should have settled there.
By observing carefully how it is done you may acquire a knowledge of the joints, and of the process of carving, which a little daily practice w.'K soon convert into dex- terity. If a young lady is ign.uant of this very useful art, it will be well for her to take lessons of her father, or her brother, and a married lady can easily learn from her husband. Domestics who wait at table may soon, from looking on daily, become so expert that, when necessary, they can take a dish to the side-table and carve it perfectly well.
At a dinner-party, if the hostess is quite young, she is frequently glad to be relieved of the trouble of carving by U«e gentleman vvnosits nearest to her; but if she is familiar with the business, she usually prefers doing it herseh.
20 THE JSVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
SOUPS. GENERAL REMARKS.
BE careful to proportion the quantity of water to that of the meat. Somewhat less than a quart of water to a pound of meat is a good rule for common soups. Rich soups, intended for company, may have a still smaller allowance of water.
Soup should always be made entirely of fresh meat that has not been previously cooked. An exception to this rule may sometimes be made in favor of the re- mains of a piece of roast beef that has been very much under-done in roasting. This may be added to a good piece of raw meat. Cold ham, also, may be occasionally put into white soups.
Soup, however, that has been originally made of raw meat entirely is frequently better the second day than the first, provided that it is reboiled only for a very short time, and that no additional water is added to it.
Unless it has been allowed to boil too hard, so as to exhaust the water, the soup-pot will not require replen- ishing. When it is found absolutely necessary to do so, the additional water must be boiling-hot when poured in ; if lukewarm or cold, it will entirely spoil the soup.
Every particle of fat should be carefully skimmed from the surface. Greasy soup is disgusting and unwhole- some. The lean of meat is much better for soup than the fat.
Long and slow boiling is necessary to extract the strength from the meat. If boiled fast over a large fire, the meat becomes hard and tough, an I vvlil not give out its juices.
Potatoes, if boiled in the soup, are thought by some to render it unwholesome., from the opinion that the water
THE EVER T-DA T COOK-BOOK. 21
in which potatoes have been cooked is almost a poison. As potatoes are a part of every dinner, it is very easy to take a few out of the pot in which they have been boiled by themselves, and to cut them up and add them to the soup just before it goes to table. Kemove all shreds of meat and bone.
The cook should season the soup but very slightly with salt and pepper. If she puts in too much it may spoil it for the taste of most of those who are to eat it ; but if too little it is easy to add more to your own
SOUPS.
STOCK.
Four pounds of shin of beef, or four pounds of knuckle of veal, or two pounds of each ; any bones, trimmings of poultry, or fresh meat, quarter pound of lean bacon or ham, two ounces of butter, two large onions, each stuck with cloves ; one turnip, three carrots, one head of celery, three lumps of sugar, two ounces of salt, half a teaspoonful of whole pepper, one large blade of mace, one bunch of savory herbs, four quarts and half pint of cold water.
Cut up the meat and bacon, or ham, into pieces of about three inches square ; rub the butter on the bottom of the stewpan ; put in half a pint of water, the meat, and all the other ingredients. Cover the stewpan, and place it on a sharp fire, occasionally stirring its contents. When the bottom of the pan becomes covered with a pale, jelly-like substance, add the four quarts of cold water, and simmer very gently for five hours. As we have said before, do not let it boil quickly. Remove every particle of scum while it is doing, and strain it through a fine hair sieve.
This stock is the basis of many of the soups afterwards mentioned, and will be found quite strong enough for ordi- nary purposes.
Time : five and one half hours. Average cost, twenty-five cents per quart.
"WHITE STOCK SOUP.
Six pounds knuckle of veal, half pound lean bacon, two tablespoonfuls of butter rubbed in one of flour, two
THE EVER7-DAT COOK-BOOK. 23
onions, two carrots, two turnips, three cloves stuck in an onion, one blade of mace, bunch of herbs, six quarts of water, pepper and salt, one cup of boiling milk.
Cut up the meat and crack the bones. Slice carrots, turnips, and one onion, leaving that with the cloves whole. Put on with mace, and all the herbs except the parsley, in two quarts of cold water. Bring to a slow boil ; take off the scum, as it rises, and at the end of an hour's stew- ing, add the rest of the cold water — one gallon. Cover and cook steadily, always gently, four hours. Strain off the liquor, of which there should be about five quarts ; rub the vegetables through the colander, and pick out bones and meat. Season these highly and put, as is your Saturday custom, into a wide-mouth jar, or a large bowl. Add to them three quarts of stock, well salted, and, when cold keep on ice. Cool to-day's stock; remove the fat, season, put in chopped parsley, and put over the fire. Heat in a saucepan a cup of milk, stir in the floured butter; cook three minutes. When the soup has sim- mered ten minutes after the last boil, and been carefully skimmed, pour into the tureen, and stir in the hot, thick- ened milk.
SHIN OF BEEF SOUP.
Get a shin-bone of beef weighing four or five pounds ; let the butcher saw it in pieces about two inches long, that the marrow may become the better incorporated with the soup, and so give it greater richness.
Wash the meat in cold water; mix together of salt and pepper each a tablespoonful, rub this well into the meat, then put into a soup-pot; put to it as many quarts of water as there are pounds of meat, and set it over a mod- erate fire, until it comes to a boil, then take off whatever scum may have risen, after which cover it close, and set it where it will boil very gently for two hours longer, then skim it again, and add to it the proper vegetables
24 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
which are these — one large carrot grated, one large tunip cut in slices, (the yellow or ruta baga is best) one leek cut in slices, one bunch of parsley cut small, six small potatoes peeled and cut in half, and a teacupful of pearl barley well washed, then cover it and let it boil gently for one hour, at which time add another tablespoonful of salt and a thickening made of a tablespoonful of wheat flour and a gill of water, stir it in by the spoonful; cover it for fifteen minutes and it is done.
Three hours and a half is required to make this soup; it is the best for cold weather. Should any remain over the first day, it may be heated with the addition of a lit- tle boiling water, and served again.
Take the meat from the soup, and if to be served with it, take out the bones, and lay it closely and neatly on a dish, and garnish with sprigs of parsley; serve made mus- tard and catsup with it. It is very nice pressed and eaten with mustard and vinegar or catsup.
MUTTON SOUP WITH TAPIOCA.
Three pounds perfectly lean mutton. The scrag makes good soup and costs little. Two or three pounds of bones, well pounded, one onion, two turnips, two carrots, two Stalks of celery, a few sprigs of parsley; if you have any tomatoes left from yesterday, add them, four tablespoon- fuls of pearl or granulated tapioca (not heaping spoon- fuls), four quarts of water.
Put on the meat, cut in small pieces, with the bones, in two quarts of cold water. Heat very slowly, and when it boils pour in two quarts of hot water from the kettle. Chop the vegetables; cover with cold water. So soon as they begin to simmer, throw off the first water, replenish- ing with hot, and stew until they are boiled to pieces. The meat should cook steadily, never fast, five hours, keeping the pot-lid on Strain into a great bowl; let it Cool to u».aw the fat to the surface; skim and return to
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 2$
the fire. Season with pepper and salt, boil up, take off the scum; add the vegetables with their liquor. Heat together ten minutes, strain again, and bring to a slow boil before the tapioca goes in. This should have been soaked one hour in cold water, then cooked in the same within another vessel of boiling water until each grain is clear. It is necessary to stir up often from the bottom while cooking. Stir gradually into the soup until the tapioca is dissolved.
Send around grated cheese with this soup.
VEAL SOUP.
To about three pounds of a joint of veal, which must be well broken up, put four quarts of water and set it over to boil. Prepare one fourth pound of macaroni by boiling it by itself, with sufficient water to cover it; add a little butter to the macaroni when it is tender, strain the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper, then add the macaroni in the water in which it is boiled. The addition of a pint of rich milk or cream and celery flavour is relished by many
OX-TAIL SOUP.
Take two ox tails and two whole onions, two carrots, a small turnip, two tablespoonfuls of flour, and a little white pepper, add a gallon of water, let all boil for two hours; then take out the tails and cut the meat into small pieces, return the bones to the pot, for a short time, boil for another hour, then strain the soup, and rinse two spoonfuls of arrowroot to add to it with the meat cut from the bones, and let all boil for a quarter of an hour.
VEGETABLE SOUP.
Two pounds of coarse, lean beef, cut into strips, two pounds of knuckle of veal, chopped to pieces, two pounds of mutton bones, and the bones left from your cold veal,
26 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
cracked to splinters, one pound of lean ham, four large carrots, two turnips, two onions, bunch of herbs, three tablespoonfuls of butter, and two of flour, one table- spoonful of sugar, salt and pepper, seven quarts of water.
Put on meat, bones, herbs and water, and cook slowly five hours. Strain the soup, of which there should be five quarts. Season meat and bones, and put into the stock-pot with three quarts of the liquor. Save this for days to come. While the soup for to-day is cooling that you may take off the fat, put the butter into a frying pan with the sliced carrots, turnips, and onions, and fry to a light brown. Now, add a pint of the skimmed stock, and stew the vegetables tender, stir in the flour wet with water, and put all, with your cooled stock, over the fire in the soup-kettle. Season with sugar, cayenne *and saltr boil five minutes, rub through a colander, then a soup- sieve, heat almost to boiling, and serve.
MACARONI SOUP.
To a rich beef or other soup, in which there is no sea- soning other than pepper or salt, take half a pound of small pipe macaroni, boil it in clear water until it is tender, then drain it and cut it in pieces of an inch length, boil it for fifteen minutes in the soup and serve.
VERMICELLI SOUP.
Swell quarter of a pound of vermicelli Li a quart of warm water, then add it to a good beef, veal, Irmb, or chicken soup or broth with quarter of a pound of sweet butter; let the soup boil for fifteen minutes after it is added.
CHICKEN CREAM SOUP.
Boil an old fowl, with an onion, in four quarts of cold water, until there remain but two quarts. Take it out
THE EFERY-DAY COOK-BOO^. 2J
anct let it get cold. Cut off the whole of the breast, and chop very fine. Mix with the pounded yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, and rub through a colander. Cool, skim, and strain the soup into a soup-pot. Season, add the chicken-and-egg mixture, simmer ten minutes, and pour into the tureen. Then add a small cup of boiling milk.
MOCK-TURTLE SOUF.
Clean and wash a calf's head, split it in two, save the brains, boil the head until tender in plenty of water; put a slice of fat ham, a bunch of parsley cut small, a sprig of thyme, two leeks cut small, six cloves, a teaspoonful of pepper, and three ounces of butter, into a stew-pan, and fry them a nice brown; then add the water in which the head was boiled, cut the meat from the head in neat square pieces, and put them to the soup; add a pint of Madeira and one lemon sliced thin, add cayenne pepper and salt to taste; let it simmer gently for two hours, then skim it clear and serve.
Make a forcemeat of the brains as follows: put them in a stew-pan, pour hot water over, and set it over the fire for a few minutes, I hen take them up, chop them small, with a sprig of parsley, a saltspoonful of salt and pepper each, a tablespoonful of wheat flour, the same of butter, and one well-beaten egg; make it in small balls, and drop them in the soup fifteen minutes before it is taken from the fire; in making the balls, a little more flour may be necessary. Egg-balls may also be added.
HARD PEA SOUP.
Many persons keep the bones of their roasts in order to convert them into stock for pea soup, which is, to my taste, one of the most relishable of all soups, and a fam- ous dish for cold weather, with this advantage in its tavor, that it may be /nade from almost anything.
?8 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
Capital stock for pea soup can be made from a knuckle of ham or from a piece of pickled pork. Supposing that some such stock is at hand to the extent of about two u-J3rts, procure, say, two pounds of split peas, wash them wrll, and then soak them for a night in water to which a v^ry little piece of soda has been added (the floating peas shruld be all thro\vn away), strain out the peas and place tl'em in the stock, adding a head of celery, a cut- down carrot, and a large onion or two, and season with a pinch of curry powder, or half an eggspoonful of cayenne pepper. Boil with a lid on the pot till all is soft, skimming off the scum occasionally, and then care- fully strain into a well-warmed tureen, beating the pulp through the strainer with a spoon. Serve as hot as possible, placing a breakfastcupful of crumbled toast (breao) into the tureen before the soup is dished. Much of th<* success in preparing this soup lies in the " strain- ing," which ought to be carefully attended to. A wire skv. is best; but an active housewife must never stick. If Vie has not a sieve made for the purpose, she can fold a '^iece of net two or three times, and use that. When a knuckle of ham has been used to make the stock it should form a part of the dinner, with potatoes; or it Tnay be used as a breakfast or supper relish.
GREEN PEA SOUP.
Wasn a small quarter of lamb in cold water, and put it into a soup-pot with six quarts of cold water; add to it two tablespoonfuls of salt, and set it over a moderate fire — let it boil gently for two hours, then skim it clear; add a quart of sheHed peas, and a teaspoonful of pepper; cover it, and let it boil for half an hour, then having scraped the skins from a quart of small young potatoes, add them to the soup; cover the pot, and let it boil for half an hour longer; work quarter of a pound of butter, and a dessert spoonful of flour together, and add them
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 2$
to the soup ten or twelve minutes before taking it off the fire.
Serve the meat on a dish with parsley sauce over, and the soup in a tureen.
POTATO SOUP.
Potato soup is suitable for a cold day. Make it in the following manner: Get as many beef or ham bones as you can, and smash them into fragments. Add a lit- tle bit of lean ham to give flavor. Boil the bone and ham for two hours and a half at least. The bone of a roast beef is excellent. Strain off the liquor carefully, empty out the bones and debris of the ham, restore the liquor to the pot, and place again on the fire. Having selected, washed, and pared some nice potatoes, cut them into small pieces, and boil them in the stock till they melt away. An onion or two may also be boiled among the bones to help the flavor. I do not like thick potato soup, and I usually strain it through a hair sieve, after doing so placing it again on the fire, seasoning it with pepper and salt to taste. A stick of celery boiled with the bones is an improvement. Make only the quantity required for the day, as potato soup is best when it is newly made.
TOMATO SOUP.
Tomato soup is a much relished American dish, and is prepared as follows: Steam, or rather stew slowly, a mess of turnips, carrots, and onions, also a stock of celery, with half a pound of lean ham and a little bit of fresh butter over a slow fire for an hour or so. Then add two quarts of diluted stock or of other liquor in which meat has been boiled, as also eight or ten ripe tomatoes. Stew the whole for an hour and a half, then pass through the sieve into the pan again; add a little pepper and salt, boil for ten minutes and serve hot
3o THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
TO FRY OR BROIL FISH PROPERLY.
After the fish is well cleansed, lay it on a folded towel and dry out all the water. When well wiped and dry, roll it in wheat flour, rolled crackers, grated stale bread, or Indian meal, whichever may be preferred ; wheat flour will gener- ally be liked.
Have a thick-bottomed frying-pan or spider, with plenty of sweet lard salted ; (a tablespoonful of salt to each pound of lard), for fresh fish which have not been previously salted ; let it become boiling hot, then lay the fish in and let it fry gently, until one side is a fine delicate brown, then turn the other ; when both are done, take it up carefully and serve quickly, or keep it covered with a tin cover, and set the dish where it will keep hot.
BAKED BLACK BASS.
Eight good-sized onions chopped fine ; half that quantity of bread-crumbs ; butter size of hen's egg ; plenty of pepper and salt, mix thoroughly with anchovy sauce until quite red. Stuff your fish with this compound and pour the rest over it, previously sprinkling it with a little red pepper. Shad, pickerel, and trout are good the same way. Tomatoes can be used instead of anchovies, and are more economical. If using them take pork in place of butter and chop fine.
BROILED MACKEREL.
Pepper and salt to taste, a small quantity of oil. Mack- erel should never be washed when intended to be broiled but merely wiped very clean and dry, after taking out the gills and inside. Open the back, and put in a little pepper, salt, and oil ; broil it over a clear fire> turn it over on both sides, and also on the back. When sufficiently cooked, the flesh **Ki be detached from the bone, which will • be in, about ten
THE £ VER Y-DAY COOK-BOOK. 3 1
GAME SOUP.
Two grouse or partridges, or, if you have neither, use a pair of rabbits ; half a pound of lean ham ; two medium* sized onions ; one pound of lean beef ; fried bread ; butter for frying ; pepper, salt, and two stalks of white celery cut into inch lengths ; three quarts of water.
Joint your game neatly ; cut the ham and onions into small pieces, and fry all in butter to a light brown. Put into a soup-pot with the beef, cut into strips, and a little pepper. Pour on the water; heat slowly, and stew gently two hours. Take out the pieces of bird, and cover in a bowl ; cook the soup an hour longer ; strain ; cool ; drop in the celery, and simmer ten minutes. Pour upon fried bread in the tureen.
CELERY SOUP.
Celery soup may be made with white stock. Cut down the white of half a dozen heads of celery into little pieces and boil it in four pints of white stock, with a quarter of a pound of lean ham and two ounces of butter. Simmer gently for a full hour, then drain through a sieve, return the liquor to pan and stir in a few spoonfuls of cream with great care. Serve with toasted bread, and, if liked, thicken with a little flour. Season to taste.
OYSTER SOUP.
Two quarts of oysters, one quart of milk, two tablespoon- fuls of butter, one teacupful hot water ; pepper, salt.
Strain all the liquor from the oysters ; add the water and heat. When near the boil, add the seasoning, then the oysters. Cook about five minutes from the time they begin to simmer, until they " ruffle." Stir in the butter, cook one minute and pour into the tureen. Stir in the boi'ing milk, and send to table.
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
LOBSTER SOUP.
Procure a large hen fish, boiled, and with all its coral, if possible. Cut away from it all the meat in neat little pieces ; beat up the fins and minor claws in a mortar, then stew the results in a stew-pan, slowly, along with a little white stock ; season this with a bunch of sweet herbs ; a small onion, a little bit of celery, and a carrot may be placed in the stock, as also the toasted crust of a French roll. Season to taste with salt and a little cayenne. Simmer the whole for about an hour ; then strain and return the liquor to the saucepan, place in it the pieces of lobster, and having beat up the coral in a little flour and gravy, stir it in. Let the soup re- main on the fire for a few minutes without boiling and serve hot. A small strip of the rind of a lemon may be boiled in the stock, and a little nutmeg may be added to the season- ing. This is a troublesome soup to prepare, but there aie many who like it when it is well made.
EGG BALLS FOR SOUP.
Boil four eggs ; put into cold water ; mash yolks with yolk of one raw egg, and one teaspoonful of flour, pep- per, salt and parsley ; make into balls and boil two min- utes.
NOODLES FOR SOUP.
Rub into two eggs as much sifted flour as they will absorb ; then roll out until thin as a wafer ; dust over a little flour, and then roll over and over into a roll, cut off thin slices from the edge of the roll and shake out into long strips ; put them into the soup lightly and boil for ten minutes ; salt should be added while mixing with the flour — • about a saltspoonful.
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. 33
IRISH STEW.— STOVED POTATOES.
These form excellent and nutritious dishes. The former dish can be made from a portion of the back ribs or neck of mutton, the fleshy part of which must be cut into cutlets. Flatten these pieces of meat with a roller, and dip them in a composition of pepper, salt, and flour. Peel potatoes and slice them to the extent of two pounds of potatoes for every pound of meat. An onion or two sliced into small bits will be required. Before building the materials into a goblet, melt a little suet or dripping in it, then commence by lay- ing in the pot a layer of potatoes, which dust well with pep- per and salt, then c layer of the meat sprinkled with the chopped onions, and <o on till the goblet is pretty full. Fill in about a breakfast-cupful of gravy, if there be any in the house ; if not, water will do. Finish off with a treble row of potatoes on the top. Let the mess stew slowly for about three hours, taking great care to keep the lid so tight that none of the virtue can escape — letting away the steam is just letting away the flavor. Shake the pot occasionally with some force, to prevent burning. Some cooks, in prepar- ing this dish, boil the potatoes for some time, and then pour and dry them well ; others add «a portion of kidney to the stew ; while extravagant people throw in a few oysters, a slice or two of lean ham, or a ham shank. Irish stew should be served as hot as possible. It is a savory and inex- pensive dish for cold weather. — Staved potatoes are prepared much in the same way. Cut down what of the Sunday's roast is left, and proceed with it just as you would with the neck of mutton. Some cooks would stew the bones of the roast, in order to make a gravy in which to stove the meat and potatoes, but the bones will make excellent potato soup. Irish stew is an excellent dish for skaters and curlers. It is sometimes known as " hot pot."
34 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
TO GET UP A SOUP IN HASTE.
Chop some cold cooked meat fine, and put a pint into a stew-pan with some gravy, season with pepper and salt and a little butter if the gravy is not rich, add a little flour moistened with cold water, and three pints boiling water, boiled moderately half an hour. Strain over some rice or nicely toasted bread, and serve. Uncooked meat may be] used by using one quart of cold water to a pound of chopped meat, and letting it stand half before boiling. Celery root may be grated in as seasoning, or a bunch of parsley thrown in.
TO COLOR SOUPS.
A fine amber color is obtained by adding finely-grated carrot to the clear stock when it is quite free from scum.
Red is obtained by using red skinned tomatoes from which the skin and seeds have been strained out.
Only white vegetables should be used in white soups, as chicken.
Spinach leaves, pounded in a mortar, and the juice ex- pressed and added to the soups, will give a green color.
Black beans make an excellent brown soup. The same color can be gotten by adding burnt sugar or browned flour to clear stock.
FISH.
Fish are good, when the gills are red, eyes are full, and the body of the fish is firm and stiff. After washing them well, they should be allowed to remain for a short time in salt water sufficient to cover them ; before cooking, wipe them dry, dredge lightly with flour, and season with salt and pepper. Salmon-trout and other small fish
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK,
35
are usually fried or broiled ; all large fish should be put in a cloth, tied closely with twine, and placed in cold water, when they may be put over the fire to boil. When fish are baked, prepare the fish the same as for boiling, and put in the oven on a wire gridiron, over a dripping-pan.
BOILED SALMON.
The middle slice of salmon is the best. Sew up neatly in a mosquito-net bag, and boil a quarter of an hour to the pound in hot, salted water. When done, unwrap with care, and lay upon a hot dish, taking care not to break it. Have ready a large cupful of drawn butter, very rich, in which has been stirred a tablespoonful of minced parsley and the juice of a lemon. Pour half upon the salmon, and serve the rest in a boat. Garnish with parsley and sliced eggs.
Here is a recipe for a nice pickle for cold salmon made out of the liquor in which the fish has been boiled, of which take as much as you wish, say three breakfast-cupfuls, to which add vinegar to taste (perhaps a teacupful will be enough), a good pinch of pepper, a dessert-spoonful of salt. Boil for a few minutes with a sprig or two of parsley and a little thyme. After it has become quite cold, pour it over the fish.
BROILED SALMON.
Cut some slices about an inch thick, and broil them over a gentle, bright fire of coals, for ten or twelve minutes. When both sides are done, take them on to a hot dish ; butter each slice well with sweet butter ; strew over each a very little salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
BAKED SALMON.
Clean the fish, rinse it, and wipe it dry ; rub it well outside and in, with a mixture of pepper and salt, and
36 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
fill it with a stuffing made of slices of bread, buttered freely and moistened with hot milk or water (add sage or thyme to the seasoning if liked) ; tie a thread around the fish, so as to keep the stuffing in (take off the thread before serving) ; lay muffin-rings, or a trivet in a dripping- pan, lay bits of butter over the fish, dredge flour over, and put it on the rings ; put a pint of hot water in the pan, to baste with ; bake one hour if a large fish, in a quick oven ; baste frequently. When the fish is 'taken up, having cut a lemon in very thin slices, put them in the pan, and let them fry a little ; then dredge in a teaspoonful of wheat flour ; add a small bit of butter ; stir it about, and let it brown without burning for a little while then add half a teacup or more of boiling water, stir it smooth, take the slices of lemon into the gravy boat, and strain the gravy over. Serve with boiled potatoes. The lemon may be omitted if preferred, although generally it will be liked.
SALMON-TROUT. Dressed the same as salmon.
SPICED SALMON (PICKLED).
Boil a salmon, and after wiping it dry, set it to cool ; take of the water in which it was boiled, and good vinegar each equal parts, enough to cover it ; add to it one dozen cloves, as many small blades of mace, or sliced nutmeg, one tea- spoonful of whole pepper, and the same of alspice ; make it boiling hot, skim it clear, add a small bit of butter (the size of a small egg), and pour it over the fish ; set it in a cool place. When cold, it is fit for use, and. will keep for a long time, covered close, in a cool place. Serve instead of pickled oysters for supper.
A fresh cod is very nice, done in the same manner ; as is also a striped sea bass.
SALMON AND CAPER SAUCE.
Two slices of salmon, one quarter pound butter, one half teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one shalot; salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste.
Mode : Lay the salmon in a baking-dish, place pieces of butter over it, and add the other ingredients, rubbing a little of the seasoning into the fish; baste it frequently; when done, take it out and drain for a minute or two; lay it in a dish, pour caper sauce over it, and serve Salmon dressed in this way, with tomato sauce, is very delicious.
SALMON CUTLETS.
Cut the slices one inch thick, and season them with pepper and salt; butter a sheet of white paper, lay each slice on a separate piece, with their ends twisted; broil gently over a clear fire, and serve with anchovy or capei sauce. When higher seasoning is required, add a fevs chopped herbs and a little spice.
DRIED OR SMOKED SALMON.
Cut the fish down the back, take out the entrails, and roe, scale it, and rub the outside and in with common salt, and hang it to drain for twenty-four hours.
Pound three ounces of saltpetre,- two ounces of coarse salt, and two of coarse brown sugar; mix these well to- gether, and rub the salmon over every part with it; then lay it on a large dish for two days; then rub it over with common salt, and in twenty-four hours it will be fit to dry. Wipe it well, stretch it open with two sticks, and hang it in a chimney, with a smothered wood-fire, or in a smoke-house, or in a dry, cool place.
Shad done in this manner are very fine.
38 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
BOILED COD.
Lay the fish in cold water, a little salt, for half an hour. Wipe dry, and sew up in a linen cloth, coarse and clean, fitted to the shape of the piece of cod. Have but one fold over each part. Lay in the fish-kettle, cover with boiling water, salted at discretion. Allow nearly an hour for a piece weighing four pounds.
COD PIE.
Any remains of cold cod, twelve oysters, sufficient melted butter to moisten it ; mashed potatoes enough to fill up the dish.
Mode : Flake the fish from the bone, and carefully take away all the skin. Lay it in a pie-dish, pour over the melted butter and oysters (or oyster sauce, if there is any left), and cover with mashed potatoes. Bake for half an hour, and send to table of a nice brown color.
DRIED CODFISH.
This should always be laid in soak at least one night be- fore it is wanted ; then take off the skin and put it in plenty of cold water ; boil it gently (skimming it meanwhile) for one hour, or tie it in a cloth and boil it.
Serve with egg sauce ; garnish with hard-boiled eggs cut in slices, and sprigs of parsley. Serve plain boiled or mashed potatoes with it.
STEWED SALT COD.
Scald some soaked cod by putting it over the fire in boil- ing water for ten minutes ; then scrape it white, pick it in flakes, and put it in a stew-pan, with a tablespoonful of butter worked into the same of flour, and as much milk as will moisten it ; let it stew gently for ten minutes ; add
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
39
pepper to taste, and serve hot ; put it in a deep dish, slice hard-boiled eggs over, and sprigs of parsley around the edge.
This is a nice relish for breakfast, with coffee and tea, and rolls or toast.
CODFISH CAKES.
First boil soaked cod, then chop it fine, put to it an equal quantity of potatoes boiled and mashed ; moisten it with beaten eggs or milk, and a bit of butter and a little pepper ; form it in small, round cakes, rather more that half an inch thick ; flour the outside, and fry in hot lard or beef drippings until they are a delicate brown; like fish, these must be fried gently, the lard being boiling hot when they are put in ; when one side is done turn the other. Serve for break- fast.
BOILED BASS.
Put enough water in the pot for the fish to swim in, easily. Add half a cup of vinegar, a teaspoonful of salt, an onion, a dozen black peppers, and a blade of mace. Sew up the fish in a piece of clean net, fitted to its shape. Heat slowly for the first half hour, then boil eight minutes, at least, to the pound, quite fast. Unwrap, and pour over it a cup of drawn butter, based upon the liquor in which the fish was boiled, with the juice of half a lemon stirred into it. Garnish with sliced lemon.
PRIED BASS.
Clean, wipe dry, inside and out, dredge with flour, and season with salt. Fry in hot butfer, beef-dripping, or sweet lard. Half butter, half lard is a good mixture for frying fish. The moment the fish are done to a good brown, take them from the fat and drain in a hot colander. Garnish with pars- ley.
40 THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
TO PRY OR BROIL FISH PROPERLY,
After the fish is well cleansed, lay it on a folded towel and dry out all the water. When well wiped and dry, roll it in wheat flour, rolled crackers, grated stale bread, or Indian meal, whichever may be preferred ; wheat flour will gener- ally be liked.
Have a thick-bottomed frying-pan or spider, with plenty of sweet lard salted ; (a tablespoonful of salt to each pound: of lard), for fresh fish which have not been previously salted : let it become boiling hot, then lay the fish in and let it fry gently, until one side is a fine delicate brown, then turn the other; when both are done, take it up carefully and serve quickly, or keep it covered with a tin cover, and set the dish where it will keep hot.
BAKED BLACK BASS,
Eight good-sized onions chopped fine ; half that quantity of bread-crumbs ; butter size of hen's egg ; plenty of pepper and salt, mix thoroughly with anchovy sauce until quite red. Stuff your fish with this compound and pour the rest over it, previously sprinkling it with a little red pepper. Shad, pickerel, and trout are good the same way. Tomatoes can be used instead of anchovies, and are more economical. If using them take pork in place of butter and chop fine.
BROILED MACKEREL.
Pepper and salt to taste, a small quantity of oil. Mack- erel should never be washed when intended to be broiled but merely wiped very clean 'and dry, after taking out the gills and inside. Open the back, and put in a little pepper, salt, and oil ; broil it over a clear fire, turn it over on both sides, and also on the back. When sufficiently cooked, the flesh can be detached from the bone, which will be in about ten
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. 4I
minutes for a small mackerel. Chop a little parsley, work it up in the butter, with pepper and salt to taste, and a squeeze of lemon-juice, and put it in the back. Serve before the butter is quite melted.
Mode: Scale and clean the pike, and fasten the tail in its mouth by means of a skewer. Lay it in cold water, and when it boils, throw in the salt and vinegar. The time for boiling depends, of course, on the size of the fish ; but a middling-sized pike will take about half an hour. Serve with Dutch or anchovy sauce, and plain melted butter.
Mackerel baked will be found palatable. Clean and trim the fish nicely, say four large ones, or half a dozen small ones, bone them and lay neatly in a baking dish, or a bed of potato chips well dusted with a mixture of pepper and salt ; on the potatoes, place a few pieces of butter. Dust the fish separately with pepper and salt, and sprinkle slightly with a diluted mixture of anchovy sauce and catsup. Bake three quarters of an hour.
SALT MACKEREL WITH CREAM SAUCE.
Soak overnight in lukewarm water, changing this in the morning for ice-cold. Rub all the salt off, and wipe dry. Grease your gridiron with butter, and rub the fish on both sides with the same, melted. Then broil quickly over a clear fire, turning with a cake-turner so as not to break it. Lay upon a hot water dish, and cover until the sauce is ready.
Heat a small cup of milk to scalding. Stir into it a teaspoonful of corn-starch wet up with a little water. When this thickens, add two tablespoonfuls of butter, pep- per, salt, and chopped parsley. Beat an egg light, pour the sauce gradually over it, put the mixture again over the fire, and stir one minute, not more. Pour upon the fish, and let all stand, covered, over the hot water in the
42 THE £ VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
chafing-dish. Put fresh boiling water under the dish before sending to table.
BOILED EELS.
Four small eels, sufficient water to cover them ; a large bunch of parsley.
Choose small eels for boiling ; put them in a stewpan with the parsley, and just sufficient water to cover them ; simmer till tender. Take them out, pour a little parsley and butter over them, and serve some in a tureen.
FRICASEED EELS.
After skinning, clearing, and cutting five or six eels in pieces of two inches in length, boil them in water nearly to cover them, until tender ; then add a good-sized bit of butter, with a teaspoonful of wheat flour or rolled cracker, worked into it, and a little scalded and chopped parsley ; add salt and pepper to taste, and a wine-glass of vin- egar if liked ; let them simmer for ten minutes and serve hot.
FRIED EELS.
After cleaning the eels well, cut them in pieces two inches long; wash them and wipe them dry ; roll them in wheat flour or rolled cracker, and fry as directed for other fish, in hot lard or beef dripping, salted. They should be browned all over and thoroughly done.
Eels may be prepared in the same manner and broiled.
COLLARED EELS.
One large eel ; pepper and salt to taste ; two blades cl mace, two cloves, a little allspice very finely pounded, six leaves of sage, and a small bunch of herbs minced very small.
Mode: Bone the eel and skin it; split it, and sprinkla it over with the ingredients, taking care that the spices
THE E YER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. 43
are very finely pounded, and the herbs chopped very small. Roll it up and bind with a broad piece of tape, and boil it in water, mixed with a little salt and vinegar till tender. It may either be served whole or cut in slices ; and when cold, the eel should be kept in the li- quor it was boiled in, but with a little more vinegar put to it.
FRIED TROUT.
They must, of course, be nicely cleaned and trimmed all round, but do not cut off their heads. Dredge them well with flour, and fry in a pan of boiling hot fat or oil. Turn them from side to side till they are nicely browned, and quite ready. Drain off all the fat before sending the fish to table ; garnish with a few sprigs of parsley, and pro- vide plain melted butter. If preferred, the trout can be Jarded with beaten egg, and be then dipped in bread- crumb. The frying will occupy from five to eight minutes, according to size. Very large trout can be cut in pieces.
TROUT IN JELLY (or other fish).
This is a beautiful supper dish, and may be arranged as follows : Turn the fish into rings, with tail in mouth. Pre- pare a seasoned water in which to boil the trout ; the water should have a little vinegar and salt in it, and may be flavored with a shallot or a clove of garlic. When the water is cold, place the trout in, and boil them very gently, so as not hash or break them. When done, lift out and drain. Baste with fish jelly, for which a recipe is given elsewhere, coat after coat, as each coat hardens, Arrange neatly, and serve.
BOILED TROUT.
Let the water be thoroughly a-boil before you put in the fish. See that it is salt, and that a dash of vinegar
44 THE E VER Y-&A 1 ' COOK-BOOK.
has been put in it. Remove all scum as it rises, and boil the fish till their eyes protrude. Lift them without breaking, drain off the liquor, and serve on a napkin if you like. To be eaten with a sauce according to taste, that is, it can be made of either anchovies or shrimps.
BROILED TROUT.
Clean and split them open, season with a little salt and cayenne ; dip in whipped egg, dredge with flour, and bran- der over a clear fire. Serve with sauce.
BAKED HADDOCK.
Choose a nice fish of about six pounds, which trim and scrape nicely, gutting it carefully, fill the vacuum with a stuff- ing of veal, chopped ham, and bread-crumbs, sew up with strong thread, and shape the fish round, putting its tail into its mouth, or, if two are required, lay them along the dish reversed — that is, tail to head ; rub over with plenty of butter, or a batter of eggs and flour, and then sprinkle with bread-crumbs. Let the oven be pretty hot when put in. In about an hour the fish will be ready. Serve on the -tin or aisset in which they have been baked, placing them on a larger dish for that purpose. Mussel sauce is a good ac- companiment.
CURRIED HADDOCK.
Curried haddock is excellent. Fillet the fish and curry it in a pint of beef stock slightly diluted with water, and thickened with a tablespoonful of curry powder. Some cooks chop up an onion to place in the stew. It will take an hour to ready this fish. If preferred, fry the fish for a few minutes in clean lard or oil before stewing it in the currv,
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
RIZZARED HADDOCK.
First, of course, procure your fish, clean them thoroughly, rub them well with salt, and let them Ue for one night, after which hang them in the open air, to dry, in a shady place. In two days they will be ready for the gridiron. Before cooking them take out the backbone and skin them, if desired (I never do skin them), broil till ready, eat with a little fresh butter.
Haddocks can be boiled with advantage : all that is necessary is to put plenty of salt in the water, and not to serve them till they are well done. As a general rule, it may be ascertained when fish is sufficently cooked by the readiness with which the flesh lifts from the bone. Stick a fork into the shoulder of a cod or haddock and try it. If living sufficienly near the sea, procure sea water in which to boil your haddocks.
BROILED "WHITE-PISH—FRESH.
Wash and drain the fish ; sprinkle with pepper and lay with the inside down upon the gridiron, and broil over fresh bright coals. When a nice brown, turn for a mo- ment on the other side, then take up and spread with butter. This is a very nice way of broiling all kinds of fish fresh or salted. A little smoke under the fish adds to its flavor. This may be made by putting two or three cobs
under the gridiron.
•
BAKED WHITE-PISH.
Fill the fish with a stuffing of fine bread-crumbs and a little butter; sew ap (he fish; sprinkle with butter, pep- per, and salt. Dredge with flour and bake one hour, basting often, and serving with parsley sauce or egg sauce.
46 THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
TO CHOOSE LOBSTERS.
These are chosen more by weight than size, the heaviest are best ; a good small-sized one will not unf requently be found to weigh as heavily as one much larger. If fresh, a lobster will be lively and the claws have a strong motion when the eyes are pressed with the finger.
The male is best for boiling ; the flesh is firmer, and the shell a brighter red ; it may readily be distinguished from the female ; the tail is narrower, and the two uppermost fins within the tail are stiff and hard. Those of the hen lobster are not so, and the tail is broader.
Hen lobsters are preferred for sauce or salad, on ac- count of their coral. The head and small claws are never used.
BOILED LOBSTER.
These crustaceans are usually sold ready-boiled. When served, crack the claws and cut open the body, lay neatly on a napkin-covered dish, and garnish with a few sprigs of pars- ley. Lobster so served is usually eaten cold.
CURRIED LOBSTER.
Pick out the meat of two red lobsters from the shells into a shallow sauce-pan, in the bottom of which has been placed a thin slice of tasty ham, with a little cayenne pepper and a teaspoonful of salt. Mix up half a cupful of white soup and half a cupful of cream and pour over the meat. Put it on the fire and let it simmer for about an hour, when you will add a dessertspoonful of curry, and another of flour rubbed smooth in a little of the liquor taken out of the pot ; in three minutes the curry will be ready to dish. Some add a dash of lemon to this curry (I don't), and the cream can be dispensed with if necessary. Put a rim of well-boiled rice round the dish if you like, or serve the rice separately.
THE EVERY- DAY COOK-BOOK.
LOBSTER CHOWDER.
Four or five pounds of lobster, chopped fine ; take the green part and add to it four pounded crackers ; stir this into one quart of boiling milk ; then add the lob- ster, a piece of butter one-half the size of an egg, a little pepper and salt, and bring it to a boil.
CHOWDER.
Cut some slices of pork very thin, and fry them out dry in the dinner pot ; then put in a layer of fish cut in slices on the pork, then a layer of onions, and then po- tatoes, all cut in exceedingly thin slices ; then fish, onions, potatoes again, till your materials are all in, put- ting some salt and pepper on each layer of onions ; split some hard biscuits, dip them in water, and put them round the sides and over the top ; put in water enough to come up in sight ; stew for over half an hour, till the potatoes are done ; add half a pint of milk, or a teacup of sweet cream, five minutes before you take it up.
TO FRY SMELTS.
Egg and bread-crumbs, a little flour; boiling lard Smelts should be very fresh, and not washed more than is necessary to clean them. Dry them in a cloth, lightly flour, dip them in egg, and sprinkle over with very fine bread-crumbs, and put them into boiling lard. Fry of a nice pale brown, and be careful not to take off the light roughness of the crumbs, or their beauty will be spoiled Dry them before the fire on a drainer, and serve wit-:* plain melted butter.
TO BAKE SMELTS.
Smelts, bread-crumbs, one-quarter pound of fresh but. ter, two blades of pounded mace ; salt and cayenne IQ
48 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
taste. Wash and dry the fish thoroughly in a cloth, and arrange them nicely in a flat baking-dish. Cover them with fine bread-crumbs, and place little pieces of butter all over them. Season and bake for fifteen minutes. Just before serving, add a squeeze of lemon juice, and garnish with fried parsley and cut lemon.
RED HERRINGS OR YARMOUTH BLOATERS.
The best way to cook these is to make incisions in the skin across the fish, because they do not then require to be so long on the fire, and will be far better than when cut open. The hard roe makes a nice relish by pounding it in a mortar, with a little anchovy, and spreading it on toast. If very dry, soak in warm water one hour before dressing.
POTTED FISH.
Take out the backbone of the fish; for one weighing two pounds take a tablespoon of allspice and cloves mixed; these spices should be put into little bags of not too thick muslin; put sufficient salt directly upon each fish; then roll in a cloth, over which sprinkle a little cay- enne pepper; put alternate layers of fish, spice and sago in an earthen jar; cover with the best cider vinegar; cover the jar closely with a plate and over this put a covering of dough, rolled out to twice the thickness of pie crust. Make the edges of paste to adhere closely to the sides of the jar, so as to make it air-tight. Put the jar into a pot of cold water and let it boil from three to five hours, according to quantity. Ready when cold.
OYSTERS ON THE SHELL.
Wash the shells and put them on hot coals or upon the top of a hot stove, or bake them in a hot oven; open the shells with an oyster-knife, taking care to lose none of
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 49
the liquor, and serve quickly on hot plates, with toast. Oysters may be steamed in the shells, and are excellent eaten in the same manner.
OYSTERS STEWED WITH MILK.
Take a pint of fine oysters, put them with their own liquor, and a gill of milk into a stew-pan, and if liked, a blade of mace; set it over the fire, take off any scum which may rise; when they are plump and white turn them into a deep plate; add a bit of butter, and pepper to taste. Serve crackers and dressed celery with them. Oysters may be stewed in their own liquor without milk.
OYSTERS FRIED IN BATTER.
Half pint of oysters, two eggs, half pint of milk, suf- ficient flour to make the batter; pepper and salt to taste; wnen liked, a little nutmeg; hot lard. Scald the oysters in their own liquor, beard them, and lay them on acloth. to drain thoroughly. Break^the eggs into a basin, mix the Hour with them, add the milk gradually, with nut- meg aud seasoning, and put the oysters in a batter. Make some lard hot in a deep frying-pan, put in the oysters, one at a time; when done, take them up with a sharp-pointed skewer, and dish them on a napkin. Fried oysters are frequently used for garnishing boiled fish, and then a few bread-crumbs should be added to the floui.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS.
Two tablespoonfuls of white stock, two tablespoonfuls of cream; pepper and salt to taste; bread-crumbs, oiled butter. Scald the oysters in their own liquor, take them out, beard them, and strain the liquor free from grit. Put one ounce of butter into a stewpan; when melted, dredge in sufficient flour to dry it up; add the stock, cream, and
SO THE E VERY-DA'S COOK-BOOK.
strained liquor, and give one boil. Put in the oysters and seasoning; let them gradually heat through, but not boil. Have ready the scallop-shells buttered; lay in the oysters, and as much of the liquid as they will hold; cover them over with bread-crumbs, over which drop a little oiled butter. Brown them in the oven, or before the fire, and serve quickly, and very hot.
FRIED OYSTERS.
Take large oysters from their own liquor on to a thickly folded napkin to dry them off; then make a tablespoonful of lard or beef fat hot, in a thick bottomed frying-pan, add to it half a saltspoonful of salt; dip each oyster in wheat flour, or cracker rolled fine, until it will take up no more, then lay them in the pan, hold it over a gentle fire until one side is a delicate brown; turn the other by sliding a fork under it; five minutes will fry them after they are in the pan. Oysters may be fried in butter, but it is not so good; lard and butter half and half is very nice for frying. Some persons like a very little of the oyster liquor poured in the pan after tha oysters are done; let it boil up, then put it in the dish with the oysters; when wanted for breakfast, this should be done.
Oysters to be fried, after drying as directed, may be dipped into beaten egg first, then into rolled cracker.
OYSTER PATTIES.
Make some rich puff paste and bake it in very small tin patty pans; when cool, turn them out upon a large dish; stew some large fresh oysters with a few cloves, a little mace and nutmeg; then add the )'olk of one egg, boiled hard and grated; add a little butter, and as much of the oyster liquor as will cover them. When they have stewed a little while, take them out of the pan and set
THE EVEKY-DAY COOK- BOOK. 5*
them cool. When quite cold, la}' two or three oysters in each shell of puff paste.
BROILED OYSTERS.
Drain thu oysters well and dry them with a napkin. Have ready a griddle hot and well buttered; season the oysters; lay them to griddle and brown them on both sides. Serve them on a hot plate with plenty of butter.
CLAM FRITTERS.
Take fifty small or twenty-five large sand clams from th-eir shells; if large, cut each in two, lay them on a thickly folded napkin; put a pint bowl of wheat flour into a basin, add to it two well-beaten eggs, half a pint of sweet milk, and nearly as much of their own liquor; beat the batter until it is smooth and perfectly free from lumps; then stir in the clams. Put plenty of lard or beef fat into a thick-bottomed frying pan, let it become boiling hot; put in the batter by the spoonful; let them fry gently; when one side is a delicate brown, turn the other.
SOFT-SHELLED CLAMS.
These are very fine if properly prepared. They are good only during cold weather and must be perfectly fresh.
Soft-shelled clams may be boiled from the shells, and served with butter, pepper, and salt over.
TO BOIL SOFT-SHELL CLAMS.
Wash the shells clean, and put the clams, the edges downwards, in a kettle; then pour about a quart of boil- ing water over them; cover the pot and set it over a brisk fire for three quarters of an hour; pouring boiling1
52 THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOC'K.
..ater on them causes the shells to open quickly and let out the sand which may be in them.
Take them up when done; take off the black skin which covers the hard part, trim them clean, and put them into a stew-pan; put to them some of the liquor in which they were boiled; put to it a good bit of butter and pepper and salt to taste ; make them hot; serve with cold butter and lolls.
CLAM CHOWDER.
Butter a deep tin basin, strew it thickly with grated bread crumbs, or soaked cracker; sprinkle some pepper over and Kits of butter the size of a hickory nut, and, if liked, son.j finely chopped parsley; then put a double layer of clams, season with pepper, put bits of butter over, then another layer of soaked cracker; after that clams and bits of butter; sprinkle pepper over; add a cup of milk or water, and lastly a layer of soaked crackers. Turn a plate over the basin, and bake in a hot oven for three quarters of an hour; use half a pound of soda biscuit, and Quarter of a pound of butter with fifty clams.
MEATS.
ROAST BEEF.
Prepare for the oven by dredging lightly with flour, and seasoning with salt and pepper; place in the oven, and baste frequently while roasting. Allow a quarter of an hour for a pound of meat, if you like it rare; longer if you like it well done. Serve with a sauce made from the drippings in the pan, to which has been added a tablespoon of Harvey or Worcestershire sauce, and a tablespoon of tomato catsup.
ROUND OF BEEF BOILED.
See that it is not too large, and that it is tightly bound all round. About twelve pounds or fourteen pounds forms a convenient size, and a joint of that weight will require from three hours to three hours and a quarter to boil. Put on with cold water — as the liquor is valuable for making pea-soup — and let it come slowly to the boil. Boil carefully but not rapidly, and skim frequently; as a rule, keep the lid of the pot well fixed. The meat may be all the better if taken out once or twice in the pro- cess of cooking. Carrots and turnips may be boiled to serve with the round; they will, of course, cook in about a third of the time necessary to boil the beef.
BEEF SALTED, or CORNED, RED, To keep for years.
Cut up a quarter of beef. For each hundredweight take half a peck of coarse salt, quarter <ji a pound of
54 THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
saltpetre, the same weight of saleratus, and a qufc>. of molasses, or two pounds of coarse brown sugar. Mace, cloves and allspice may be added for spiced beef.
Strew some of the salt in the bottom of a pickle-tub or barrel; then put in a layer of meat, strew this with salt, then add another layer of meat, and salt and meat alternately, until all is used. Let it remain one night. Dissolve the saleratus and saltpetre in a little warm water, and put it to the molasses or sugar ; then put it over the meat, add water enough to cover the meat, lay a board on it to keep it under the brine. The meat is fit for use after ten days. This receipt is for winter beef. Rather more salt may be used in warm weather.
Towards spring take the brine from the meat, make it boiling hot, skim it clear, and when it is cooled, return it to the meat.
Beef tongues and smoking pieces are fine pickled in this brine. Beef liver put in this brine for ten days and then wiped dry and smoked, is very fine. Cut it in slices, and fry or broil it. The brisket of beef, after being corned, may be smoked, and is very fine for boil- ing.
Lean pieces of beef, cut properly from the hind quar- ter, are the proper pieces for being smoked There may be some fine pieces cut from the fore-quarter.
After the beef has been in brine ten days or more wipe it dry, and hang it in a chimney where wood is burnt, or make a smothered fire of sawdust or chips, and keep it smoking for ten days; then rub fine black pepper over every part, to keep the flies from it, and hang it in a dry, dark, cool place. After a week it is fit for use. A strong, coarse brown paper, folded around beef, and fastened with paste, keeps it nicely.
Tongues are smoked in the same manner. Hang them by a string put through the root end. Spiced brine for smoked beef or tongues will be generally liked
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 51
*•
For convenience make a pickle as mentioned: for beet, keep it in the cellar, ready for pickling beef at any t^sne. Beef may remain in three or four or more days.
TO BOIL CORNED BEEF.
Put the beef in water enough to cover it. and let it heat slowly, and boil slowly, and be careful to take off the grease. Many think it much improved by boiling potatoes, turnips, and cabbages with it. In this case the vegetables must be pealed and all the grease carefully skimmed as fast as it rises. Allow about twenty minutes of boiling for each pound of meat.
A NICE WAY TO SERVE COLD BEEF.
Cut cold roast beef in slices, put gravy enough to cover them, and a wineglass of catsup or wine, or a lemon sliced thin; if you have not gravy, put hot water and a good bit of butter, with a teaspoonful or more of browned flour; put it in a closely covered stew-pan, and let it simmer gently for half an hour. If you choose, when the meat is down, cut a leek in thin slices, and chop a bunch of parsley small, and add it; serve boiled or mashed potatoes with it. This is equal to beef a-k> mode.
Or, cold beef may be served cut in neat slices, gar' nished with sprigs of parsley, and made mustard, and tomato catsup in the castor; serve mashed, if not new potatoes, with it, and ripe fruit, or pie, or both, for des- sert, for a small family dinner.
SPICED BEEF.
Four pounds of round of beef chopped fine; take from it all fat; add to it three dozen small crackers rolled fine, four eggs, one cup of milk, one tablespoon ground mace, two tablespoons of black pepper, one tablespoon
$6 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
melted 6iktter; mix well and put in any tin pan that it will just fill, packing it well; baste with butter and water, and bake two hours in a slow oven.
BROILED BEEFSTEAK.
Lay a thick tender steak upon a gridiron over hot coals, having greased the bars with butter before the steak has been put upon it; (a steel gridiron with slender bars is to be preferred, the broad flat iron bars of grid- irons commonly used fry and scorch the meat, imparting a disagreeable flavor). When done on one side, have ready your platter warmed, with a little butter on it; lay the steak upon the platter with the cooked side down, tnat the juices which have gathered may run on the platter, but do not press the meat; then lay your beef- steak again upon the gridiron quickly and cook the other side. When done to your liking, put again on the platter, spread lightly with butter, place where it will keep warm for a few moments, but not to let the butter become oily (over boiling steam is best); and then serve on hot plates. Beefsteak should never be seasoned with salt and pepper while cooking. If your meat is tough, pound well with a steak mallet on both sides.
FRIED BEEFSTEAKS.
Cut some of the fat from the steak, and put it in a fry ing pan and set it over the fire; if the steaks are not very tender, beat them with a rolling pin, and when the fat is boiling hot, put the steak evenly in. cover the pan and let it fry briskly until one side is done, sprinkle a little pepper and salt over, and turn the other; let it be rare or well-done as may be liked; take the steak on a hot dish, add a wineglass or less of boiling water or catsup to the gravy; let it boil up once, and pour it in the dish with the steak.
THE E VERY-DA Y COOK-BOOK. 57
BEEFSTEAK PIE.
Take some fine tender steaks, beat them a little, season with a saltspoonful of pepper and a teaspoonful of salt to a two-pound steak ; put bits of butter, the size of a hickory • nut, over the whole surface, dredge a teaspoon- ful of flour over, then roll it up and cut it in pieces two inches long ; put a rich pie paste around the sides and bottom of a tin basin ; put in the pieces of steak, nearly fill the basin with water, add a piece of butter the size of a large egg, cut small, dredge' in a teaspoonful of flour, add a little pepper and salt, lay skewers across the basin, roll a top crust to half an inch thickness, cut a slit in the centre ; dip your fingers in flour and neatly pinch the top and side crust together all around the edge. Bake one hour in a quick oven.
BOUSED LEG OF MUTTON.
Mutton, water, salt. A leg of mutton for boiling should not hang too long, as it will not look a good color when dressed. Cut off the shank-bone, trim the knuckle, and wash and wipe it very clean ; plunge it into sufficient boil- ing water to cover it ; let it boil up, then draw the sauce- pan to the side of the fire, where it should remain till the finger can be borne in the water. Then place it suffi- ciently near the fire that the water may gently simmer, and be very carettn mat it does not boil fast, or the meat will be hard. Skim well, add a little salt, and in about two and one quarter hours after the water begins to sim- mer, a moderate-sized leg of mutton will be done. Serve with carrots and mashed turnips, which may be boiled with the meat, and send caper sauce to table with it in a tureen.
58 THE EVERf-DAY COOK-BOOK.
ROAST LOIN OF MUTTON.
Loin A mutton, a little salt. Cut and trim off the superfluous fat, and see that the butcher joints the meat prope.Hy, as thereby much annoyance is saved to the carver, when it comes to table. Have ready a nice clear fire (it need not be a very wide, large one), put down the meat, dredge with flour, and baste well until it is done.
BROILED MUTTON CHOPS.
Loin of mutton, pepper and salt, a small piece of but- ten Cut the chops from a well-hung, tender loin of mutton, remove a portion of the fat, and trim them into a nice shape; slightly beat and level them; place the gridiron over a bright, clear fire, rub the bars with a lit- tle fat, and lay on the chops. While broiling, frequently turn them, and in about eight minutes they will be done. Season with pepper and salt, dish them on a very hot dish, rub a small piece of butter on each chop, and serve very hot and expeditiously.
MUTTON CHOP FRIED.
Cut some fine mutton chops without much fat, rub aver both sides with a mixture of salt and pepper, dip them in wheat flour or rolled crackers, and fry in hot lard or beef drippings, when both sides are a fine brown, take them on a hot dish, put a wine-glass of hot water in the pan, let it become hot, stir in a teaspoonful ot browned flour, let it boil up at once, and serve in the pan with the meat.
ROAST FORE-QUARTER OF LAMB.
Lamb, a little salt. To obtain the flavor of lamb in perfection it should not be long kept; time to cool is all
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOO 'A*. £9
that Is required; and though the meat may be somewha'f thready, the juices and flavor will he infinitely «uperior to that of lamb that has been killed two or three days Make up the fire in good time, that li may be clear and brisk when the joint is put down. Place it at sufficient distance to prevent the fat irom burning, and baste it constantly till the moment of serving. Lamb should be very thoroughly done without being dried up, and not the slightest appearance of red gravy should be visible, as in roast mutton: this rule is applicable to all young white meats. Serve with a little gravy made in the dripping-pan, the same cfc for other roasts, and send to table with it a tureen of mint sauce.
LAMBS' SWEETBREADS.
Two or three sweetbreads, one-half pint of veal stock, white pepper and salt to taste, a small bunch of green onions, one blade of pounded rnace, thickening of butter and flour, two eggs, nearly one-half pint of cream, one teaspoonful of minced parsley, a very little grated nut. meg.
Mode : — Soak the sweetbreads in lukewarm water, and put them into a saucepan with sufficient boiling water to cover them, and let them simmer for ten minutes; then take them out and put them into cold water. Now lard them, lay them in a stewpan, add the stock, seasoning, onions, mace, and a thickening of butter and flour, and stew gently for one quarter of an hour or twenty min- utes. Beat up the egg with the cream, to which add the minced parsley and very little grated nutmeg. Put this to the other ingredients; stir it well till quite hot, but do not let it boil after the cream is added, or it will curdle. Have ready some asparagus-tops, boiled; add these ttf the sweetbreads, and serve.
LAMB STEAK dipped in egg, and then in biscuit cr
6c THE £ VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
bread-crumbs, and fried until it is brown, helps to make variety for the breakfast table. With baked sweet potatoes, good coffee, and buttered toast or corn muffins, one may be- gin the day with courage.
TO ROAST VEAL.
Rinse the meat in cold water ; if any part is bloody, wash it off ; make a mixture of pepper and salt, allowing a large teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper for each pound of meat ; wipe the meat dry ; then rub the seasoning into every part, shape it neatly, and fasten it with skewers, and put it on a spit, or set it on a trivet or muffin rings, in a pan ; stick bits of butter over the whole upper surface ; dredge a little flour over, put a pint of water in the pan to baste with, and roast it before the fire in a Dutch oven or reflector, or put it into a hot oven ; baste it occasionally, turn it if necessary that every part may be done ; if the water wastes add more, that the gravy may not burn ; allow fifteen minutes for each pound of meat ; a piece weighing four or five pounds will then require one hour, or an hour and a quarter.
VEAL CHOPS.
Cut veal chops about an inch thick ; beat them flat with a rolling-pin, put them in a pan, pour boiling water over them, and set them over the fire for five minutes ; then take them up and wipe them dry; mix a table- spoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of pepper for each pound of meat ; rub each chop over with this, then dip them, first into beaten egg, then into rolled crackers as much as they will take up ; then finish by frying in hot lard or beef dripping ; or broil them. For the broil have some sweet butter on a steak dish; broil the chops until well done, over a bright clear fire of coals; (let them do gently that they may be well done,) then take them on
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. 6 1
to the butter, turn them carefully once or twice in "it, and serve. Or dip the chops into a batter, made of one egg beaten with half a teacup of milk, and as much wheat flour as may be necessary. Or simply dip the chops without parboiling into wheat flour ; make some lard or beef fat hot in a frying-pan ; lay the chops in, and when one side is a fine delicate brown, turn the other. When all are done, take them up, put a very little hot water into the pan, then put it in the dish with the chops.
Or make a flour gravy thus : After frying them as last directed, add a tablespoonful more of fat to that in the pan, let it become boiling hot ; make a thin batter, of a small tablespoonful of wheat flour and cold water; add a little more salt and pepper to the gravy, then gradually stir in the batter ; stir it until it is cooked and a nice brown ; then put it over the meat, or in the dish with it ; if it is thicker than is liked, add a little boiling water.
VEAL CUTLETS.
Two or three pounds of veal cutlets, egg and bread-crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of minced savory herbs, salt and pepper to taste, a little grated nutmeg.
Cut the cutlets about three quarters of an inch in thickness, flatten them, and brush them over with the yolk of an egg ; dip them into bread-crumbs and minced herbs, season with pepper and salt and 'grated nutmeg, and fold each cutlet in a piece of buttered paper. Broil them, and send them to table with melted butter or a good gravy.
STUFFED FILLET OF VEAL WITH BACON
Take out the bone from the meat, and pin into a round with skewers. Bind securely with soft tapes. Fill the cavity left by the bone with a force-meat of crumbs, chopped pork, thyme, and parsley, seasoned
62 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
W***
with pepper, salt, nutmeg and a pinch of lemon-peel. Cover the top of the fillet with thin slices of cold cooked, fat bacon or salt pork, tying them in place with twines crossing the meat in all directions. Put into a pot with two cups of boiling water, and cook slowly and steadily two hours. Then take from the pot and put into a drip- ping-pan. Undo the strings and tapes. Brush the meat all over with raw egg, sift rolled cracker thickly over it, and set in the oven for half an hour, basting often with gravy from the pot. When it is well browned, lay upon a hoi dish with the pork about it. Strain and thicken the gravy, and serve in a boat.
If your fillet be large, cook twice as long in the pot. Th» time given above is for one weighing five pounds.
-, VEAL CAKE (a Convenient Dish for a Picnic.)
A few slices of cold roast veal, a few slices of cold ham two hard-boiled eggs, two tablespoonfuls of minced parsley a little pepper, good gravy, or stock No. 109. • Cut off all the brown outside from the veal, and cut the eggs into slices. Procure a pretty mould ; lay veal, ham, eggs, and parsley in layers, with a little pepper between each, and when the mould is full, get some strong stock, and fill up the shape. Bake for one half hour, and when cold, turn it out.
VEAL PIE.
Cut a breast of veal small, and put it in a stewpan, with hot water to cover it ; add to it a tablespoonful of salt, and set it over the fire ; take off the scum as it rises ; when the meat is tender, turn it into a dish to cool ; take out all the smali bones, butter a tin or earthen basin or pudding-pan, line it with a pie paste, lay some of the parboiled meat in to half fill it ; put bits of butter the
THE £ VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. 63
size of a hickory nut all over the meat ; shake pepper over, dredge wheat flour over until it looks white ; then fill it nearly to the top with some of the water in which the meat was boiled ; roll a cover for the top of the crust, puff paste it, giving it two or three turns, and roll it to nearly half an inch thickness ; cut a slit in the centre, and make several small incisions on either side of it ; lay some skewers across the pie, put the crust on, trim the edges neatly with a knife ; bake one hour in a quick oven. A breast of veal will make two two-quart basin pies ; half a pound of nice corned pork, cut in thin slices and parboiled with the meat, will make it very nice, and very little, if any butter, will be required for the pie ; when pork is used, no other salt will be necessary.
>
BOILED CALF'S HEAD (without the skin>
Calf's head, water, a little salt, four tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one tablespoonful of minced parsley, pepper and salt to taste, one tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
After the head has been thoroughly cleaned, and the brains removed, soak it in warm water to blanch it. Lay the brains also into warm wate, to soak, and let them remain for about an hour. Put the head into a stew- pan, with sufficient cold water to cover it, and when it boils, add a little salt ; take off every particle of scum as it rises, and boil the head until perfectly tender. Boil the brains, chop them, and mix with them melted butter, minced parsley, pepper, salt, and lemon-juice in the above proportion. Take up the head, skin the longue, and put it on a small dish with the brains round it. Have ready some parsley and butter, smother the head with it, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. Bacon, ham, pickled pork, or a pig's cheek are indispensable with calf s head. The brains are sometimes chopped with hard-boiled eggs.
64 THE E VER Y-DA F COOK-BOOK.
CALF'S HEAD CHEESE.
Boil a calf's head in water enough to cover it, until the meat leaves the bones, then take it with a skimmer into a wooden bowl or tray ; take from it every particle of bone ; chop it small ; season with pepper and salt : a heaping tablespoonful of salt, and a teaspoonful of pepper will be sufficient ; if liked, add a tablespoonful of finely chopped sweet herbs ; lay a cloth in a colander, put the minced meat into it, then fold the cloth closely over it, lay a plate over, and on it a gentle weight. When cold it may be sliced thin for supper or sandwiches. Spread each slice with made mustard.
BOILED CALF'S FEET AND PARSLEY AND BUTTER.
Two calf's feet, two slices of bacon, two ounces of butter, two tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, salt and whole pepper to taste, one onion, a bunch of savory herbs, four cloves, one blade of mace, water, parsley and butter.
Procure two white calf's feet ; bone them as far as the first joint, and put them into warm water to soak for two hours. Then put the bacon, butter, lemon-juice, onion, herbs, spices, and seasoning into a stewpan ; lay in the feet, and pour in just sufficient water to cover the whole. Stew gently for about three hours ; take out the feet, dish them, and cover with parsley and butter.
The liquor they were boiled in should be strained and put by in a clean basin for use ; it will be found very good as an addition to gravies, etc., etc.
CALF'S LIVER AND BACON.
Two or three pounds of liver, bacon, pepper and salt to taste, a small piece of butter, flour, two tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, one quarter pint of water.
Cut the liver in thin slices, and cut as many slices of
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 65
bacon as there are of liver; fry the bacon first, and put that on a hot dish before the fire. Fry the liver in the fat which comes from the bacon, after seasoning it with pepper and salt, and dredging over it a very little flour. Turn the liver occasionally to prevent its burning, and when done, lay it round the dish with a piece of bacon between each. Pour away the bacon fat, put in a small piece of butter, dredge in a little flour, add the lemon- juice and water, give one boil, and pour it in the middle of the dish.
SWEETBREAD,
•
Three sweetbreads, egg, and bread-crumbs, oiled but- ter, three slices of toast, brown gravy.
Choose large white sweetbreads; put them into warm water to draw out the blood, and to improve their color; let them remain for rather more than one hour; then put them into boiling water, and allow them to simmer for about ten minutes, which renders them firm. Take them up, drain them, brush over the egg, sprinkle with bread- crumbs; dip them in egg again, and then into more bread-crumbs. Drop on them a little oiled butter, and put the sweetbreads into a moderately heated oven, and let them bake for nearly three quarters of an hour. Make three pieces of toast; place the sweetbreads on the toast, and pour round, but not over them, a good brown gravy.
EGGED VEAL HASH.
Chop fine remnants of coal roast veal. Moisten with the gravy or water. When hot, break into it three or four eggs, according to the quantity of veal. When the eggs are cooked, stir into it a spoonful of butter, and serve quickly. If to your taste, shake in a little parsley. Should you lack quantity, half a cup of fine stale bres*i crumbs are no disadvantage.
(36 THE £ VER Y-DA V COOK-BOOK.
ROAST BEEP, WITH YORKSHIRE PUDDING.
Have your meat ready for roasting on Saturday, always, Roast upon a grating of several clean sticks (not pine) laid over the dripping-pan. Dash a cup of boiling water ovei the beef when it goes into the oven ; baste often, and see that the fat does not scorch. About three-quarters of in hour before it is done, mix the pudding.
YORKSHIRE PUDDING.
One pint of milk, four eggs, whites and yolks beaten sepa- rately ; two cups of flour — prepared flour is best ; one tea- spoonful of salt.
Use less flour if the batter grows too stiff. Mix quickly ; pour off the fat from the top of the gravy in the dripping-pan, leaving just enough to prevent the pudding from sticking to the bottom. Pour in the batter and continue to roast the beef, letting the dripping fall upon the pudding below. The oven should be brisk by this time. Baste the meat with the gravy you have taken out to make room for the batter. In serving, cut the pudding into squares and lay about the meat in the dish. It is very delicious.
BEEP HEART BAKED OR ROASTED.
Cut a beef heart in two, take out the strings from the in- side ; wash it with warm water, rub the inside with pep- per and salt, and fill it with a stuffing made of bread and butter moistened with water, and seasoned with pep- per and salt, and, if liked, a sprig of thyme made fine ; put it together and tie a string around it, rub the outside with pepper and salt ; stick bits of butter on, then dredge flour over, and set it on a trivet, or muffin rings, in a dripping pan ; put a pint of water in to baste with, then
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 6?
roast it before a hot fire, or in a hot oven; turn it around and baste frequently. One hour will roast or bake it; when done, take it up, cut a lemon in thin slices, and put it in the pan with a bit of butter; dredged in a teaspoon- ful of flour; let it brown; add a sma'l teacup of boiling water, stir it smooth, and serve in a £ravy tureen.
BEEF KIDNEY.
Cut the kidney into thin slices, flour them, and fry of a nice brown. Whe'i done, make a gravy in the pan by pouring away the fat* putting in a small piece of butter, one quarter pint of boiling wate ,pepper and salt, and a tablespoonful of mushroom catsi' p. Let the gravy just boil up, pour over the kidney, and serve.
POTTED BEEF.
Two pounds of lean beef, one tablespoonfuf of water, one quarter pound of butter, a seasoning to taste of salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and black pepper. Procure a nice piece of lean beef, as possible from gristle, skin, etc., and put it into a jar (if at hand, one with a lid) with one teaspoonful of water. Cover it closely, and put the jar into a saucepan of boiling water, letting the water come within two inches of the top of the jar. Boil gently for three and a half hours, then take the beef, chop it very small with a chopping-knife, and pound it thoroughly in a mortar. Mix with it by degrees all, or a portion of the gravy that will have run from it, and a little cLrified butter; add the seasoning, put it in small pots for use, and cover with a little butter just warmed and poured over. If much gravy is added to it, it will keep but a short time; on the contrary, if a large proportion of but- ter is used, it may be preserved for some time.
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK
BOILED TONGUE.
One tongue, a bunch of savory herbs, water. In choosing a tongue, ascertain how long it has been dried or pickled, and select one with a smooth skin, which de- notes its being young and tender. If a dried one, and rather hard, soak it at least for twelve hours previous to cooking it; if, however, it is fresh from the pickle, two or +'iiree hours will be sufficient for it to remain in soak. Put the tongue into a stewpan with plenty of cold water and a bunch of savory herbs; let it gradually come to a boil, skim well, and simmer very* gently until tender. Peel off the skin, garnish with tufts of cauliflowers or Brussels sprouts, and serve. Boiled tongue is frequently sent to table with boiled poultry, instead of ham, and is, by many persons, preferred. If to serve cold, peel it, fasten it down to a piece of board by sticking a fork through the root, and another through the top, to straighten it. When cold, glaze it, and put a paper ruche round the root, and garnish with tufts of parsley.
FRICASEED TRIPE.
Cut a pound of tripe in narrow strips, put a small cup of water or milk to it, add a bit of butter the size of an egg, dredge in a large teaspoonful of flour, or work it with the butter; season with pepper and salt, let it sim- mer gently for half an hour, serve hot. A bunch of par- sley cut small and put with it is an improvement,
BROILED TRIPE.
Prepare tripe as for frying: lay it on a gridiron over a clear fire of coals, let it broil gently; when one side is a fine brown, turn the other side (it must be nearly done through before turning); take it up on a hot dish, butter
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. 9
it, and if liked, add a little catsup or vinegar to the gravy.
ROAST RABBIT.
Empty, skin, and thoroughly wash the rabbit; wipe it dry, line the inside with sausage-meat and force-meat (the latter of bread-crumbs, well-seasoned, and worked up). Sew the stuffing inside, skewer back the head between the shoulders, cut off the fore-joints of the shoulders and legs, bring them close to the body, and secure them by means of a skewer. Wrap the rabbit in buttered paper, keep it well basted, and a few minutes before it is done remove the paper, flour and froth it, and let it acquire a nice brown color. It should be done in three-quarters of an hour. Take out the skewers, and serve with brown gravy and red-currant jelly. To bake the rabbit, proceed in the same manner as above; in a good oven it will take about the same time as roasting. Most cooks garnish the rabbit with slices of lemon and serve up with currant jelly. Sometimes the head is cut off before sending to the table; but this is a matter of individual taste.
STEWED RABBIT, Larded.
One rabbit, a few strips of bacon, rather more than one pint of good broth or stock, a bunch of savory herbs, salt and pepper to taste, thickening of butter and flour, one glass of sherry. Well wash the rabbit, cut it into quarters, lard them with slips of bacon, and fry them; then put them into a stewpan with the broth, herbs, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; simmer gently until the rabbit is tender, then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add the sherry, give one boil, pour it over the rabbit, and serve. Garnish with slices of one lemon.
y0 THE EVER Y-DA Y COOK-BOO 'A.
FRICASSEED RABBITS.
The best way of cooking rabbits is to fricassee them Cut them up, or disjoint them. Put them into a stewpan ; season them with cayenne pepper, salt and some chopped parsley. Pour in a pint of warm water (or of veal broth, U you have it) and stew it over a slow fire till the rabbits are quite tender ; adding (when they are about half done) some bits of butter rolled in flour. Just before you take it from the fire, enrich the gravy with a gill or more of thick cream with some nutmeg grated into it. Stir the gravy well, but take care not to let it boil after the cream is in, lest it curdle. Put the pieces of rabbit on a hot dish, and pour the gravy over them.
A PRETTY DISH OF VENISON.
Cut a breast of venison in steaks,, make quarter of a pound of butter hot, in a pan, rub the steaks over with a mixture of a little salt and pepper, dip them in wheat flour, or rolled crackers, and fry a rich brown"; when both sides are done, take them up on a dish, and put a tin cover over; dredge a heaping teaspoonful of flour in- .to the butter in the pan, stir it with a spoon until it is brown, without burning, put to it a small teacup of boil- ing water, with a tablespoonful of currant jelly dissolved into it, stir it for a few minutes, then strain it over the meat and serve. A glass of wine, with a tablespoonful of white sugar dissolved in it, may be used for the gravy, instead of the jelly and water. Venison may be boiled, and served with boiled vegetables, pickled beets, etc., and sauce.
TO BOIL VENISON STEAKS.
Let the gridiron become hot, rub the bars with a bit ol suet, then lay on the steaks, having dipped them w
THE E VERY-DAY COOKBOOK. 71
^''foiled crackers or wheat flour, and set it over a bright, clear, but not fierce fire of coals; when one side is done, take the steak carefully over the steak dish, and hold it so that the blood may fall into the dish, than turn them on the gridiron, let it broil nicely; set a steak dish where it will become hot, put on it a bit of butter the size of an egg for each pound of vension, put to it a saltspoon of salt, and the same of black pepper, put to it a table- spoonful of current jelly, made liquid with a tabiespoon- ful of hot water or wine, lay the steaks on, turn them once or twice in the gravy, and serve hot. Or they may be simply broiled, and served with butter, pepper, and salt; or having broiled one side, and turned the steaks, lay thin slices of lemon over, and serve in the dish with the steaks.
/ BEEFSTEAK AND KIDNEY PUDDING.
Two pounds of rump-steak, two kidneys, seasoning to taste of salt and black pepper, suet crust made with milk (see PASTRY), in the proportion of six ounces of suet to each one pound of flour.
Mode : Procure some tender rump-steak (that which has been hung a little time), and divide it into pieces about an inch square, and cut each kidney into eighth pieces. Line the dish (of which we have given an en- graving) with crust made with suet and flour in the above proportion, leaving a small piece of crust to over- lap the edge. Then cover the bottom with a portion of the steak and a few pices of kidney; season with salt and pepper (some add a little flour to thicken the gravy, but it is not necessary), and then add another layer of ste.^k. kidney, and seasoning. Proceed in this manner till the dish is full, when pour in sufficient water to come with- in two inches of the top of ihe basin. Moisten the edges oi the crust, cover the pudding over, press the two crustt
72 THE EVERY-DAY COOK-300K.
together, that the gravy may not escape, and turn up the overhanging paste. Wring out a cloth in hot water, flour it, and tie up the pudding; put it into boiling water, and let it bcil for at least four hours. If the water diminishes, always replenish with some, hot in a jug, as the pudding should be kept covered all the time, and not allowed to stop boiling. When the cloth is removed, cut a round piece in the top of the crust, to prevent the pudding bursting, and send it to table in the basin, either in an ornamental dish, or with a napkin pinned round it. Serve quickly.
BREAKFAST DISHES.
HASHED COLD MEAT.
Take your bones, and stew them in a little water an onion, some salt and pepper, and, if you like, a little savory herbs; when the goodness is all out of the boaes, and it tastes nice, thicken the gravy with a teaspoonful of corn starch, and if it is not very strong put in a b't of butter, then place your stew pan on the hot hearth, and put in your slices of meat. Warm but not boil. Serve with toasted bread.
POTATO AND BEEF HASH.
Mince some cold beef, a little fat with the lean, put to it as much cold boiled potatoes chopped as you like, (the quantity as of meat or twice as much,) season with pep- per and salt; add as much gravy or hot water as will make it moist, then put in a stew-pan over a gentle lire: dredge in a small quantity of wheat flour;, stir it about with a spoon, cover the stew-pan, and let it simmer for half an hour — take care that it does not burn. Dish it with or without a slice of toast under it, for breakfast This hash may be made without potatoes; if water is used instead of gravy, a bit of butter may be added, more or less, according to the proportion of tat with the lean meat,
74 THE E VERY-DAY COOK- BOOK.
DRIED BEEF.
The most common way of serving dried or smoked beef is to shave it into thin slices or chips, raw; but a more savory relish may be made of it with little trouble. Put the slices of uncooked beef into a frying pan with just enough boiling water to cover them; set them over the fire for ten minutes, drain off all the water, and with a knife and fork cut the meat into small bits. Return to the pan, which should be hot, with a tablespoonful of butter and a little pepper. Have ready some well-beaten eggs, allowing four to a half pound of beef; stir them into the pan with the minced meal/ and toss and stir the mixture for about two minutes. Send to table in a covered dish.
CHICKEN CUTLETS.
Season pieces of cold chicken or turkey with salt and pepper. Dip in melted butter; let this cool on the meat, and dip in beaten egg and in fine bread-crumbs. Fry in butter till a delicate brown. Serve on slices of hot toast, with either a white or curry sauce poured around. Pieces of cold veal make a nice dish, if prepared in this manner.
BEEF PATTIES.
Chop fine some cold beef; beat two eggs and mix with the meat and add a little milk, melted butter, and salt and pepper. Make into rolls and fry.
JELLIED VEAL.
Boil the veal tender, pick it up fine, put in a mould, add the v>ater it was boiled in, and set it in a cold place; season with salt and pepper to taste; a layer of hard- boiled eggs improves it.
THE E VERY-DAY C60K-&OOK. 75
RICE AND MEAT CROQUETTES.
One cupful of boiled rice, one cupful of finely-chopped cooked meat — any kind; one teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, two tablespoonfuls of butter, half a cupful of milk, one egg. Put the milk on to boil, and add the meat, rice and seasoning. When this boils, add the egg, well beaten; stir one minute. After cooling, shape, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry as before directed.
AMERICAN TOAST.
To one egg thoroughly beaten, put one cup of sweet milk and a little salt. Slice light bread, and dip into the mixture, allowing each slice to absord some of the milk; then brown on a hot buttered griddle; spread with but- ter, and serve hot.
MEAT AND POTATOES.
Mince beef or mutton, small, with onions, pepper and salt; add a little gravy, put into scallop shells or small cups, making them three parts full, and fill them up with potatoes mashed with a little cream, put a bit of butter on the top and brown them in an oven.
BREADED SAUSAGES.
Wipe the sausages dry. Dip them in beaten egg and bread-crumbs. Put them in the frying-basket and plunge into boiling fat. Cook ten minutes. Serve with a gar- nish of toasted bread and parsley.
HAM CROQUETTES.
One cupful of finely-chopped cooked ham, one of bread-crumbs, two of hot mashed potatoes, one large tablespoonful of butter, three eggs, a speck ct cayenne. Ueat the ham, cayenne, butter, and two of the eggs into
76 THE EVERYDAY COOKBOOK.
the potato. Let the mixture cool slightly, and shape it like croquettes. Roll in the bread-crumbs, dip in beaten egg and again in crumbs, put in the frying-basket and plunge into boiling fat. Cook two minutes. Drain, and Serve.
A NICE BREAKFAST DISH.
Chopped cold meat \vell seasoned; wet with gravy, if convenient, put it on a platter; then take cold rice made moist with milk and one egg, season with pepper and salt; if not sufficient rice, add powdered bread-crumbs; place this around the platter quite thick; set in oven to heat and brown.
CHICKEN IN JELLY.
A little cold chicken (about one pint), one cupful of water or stock, one-fifth of a box of gelatine, half a tea- sA.6onful of curry powder, salt, pepper. Cut the meat from the bones of a chicken left from dinner. Put the bones on with water to cover, and boil down to one cup- ful. Put the gelatine to soak in one-fourth of a cupful of cold water. When the stock is -reduced as much as is necessary, strain and season. Add the curry and chicken. Season, and simmer ten minutes; then add the gelatine, and stir on the table until it is dissolved. Turn all into a mould, and set away to harden. This make a nice relish for tea or lunch. If you have mushrooms, omit % the curry, and cut four of them into dice. Stir into the mixture while cooking. This dish can be varied by using tha whites of hard-boiled eggs, or bits o*" boi.ed ham. To serve: Dip the mould in warm water, and turn Jut or .he dish. Garnish with parsley.
A GOOD BISH.
Mince cold beef or lamb; it beef put in a pinch of pul- verized cloves; if lamb, a pinch of summer savory ju
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 7?
season it, very little pepper and some salt, and put it in a baking dish; mash potatoes and mix them with cream and butter and a little salt, and spread them over the meat; beat up an egg with cream or milk, a very little; spread it over the potatoes, and bake it a short time, sufficient to warm it through and brown the potatoes.
POULTRY, GAME, ETC.
In choosing pouitiy, the best way to determine whether it is young, is to try the skin under the leg or wing; if it is easily broken, it is young; or, turn the wing back- wards; if the joint yields readily, it is tender; a fat fowl is best for any purpose.
After a chicken or fowl is killed, plunge it into a pot of scalding hot water; then pluck off the feathers, taking care not to tear the skin; when it is picked clean, roll up a sheet of white wrapping paper, set file to it, and singe off all the hairs. Poultry should be carefully picked, and nicely singed.
If a fowl is fresh killed, the vent will be close, and the flesh have a pleasant smell.
ROAST TURKEY.
Carefully pluck the bird, singe it with white paper, and wipe it thoroughly with a cloth; draw it, preserve the liver and gizzard, and be particular no* to break the gall-bag, as no washing will remove the bitter taste it imparts where it once touches. Wash it inside well, and. wipe it thoroughly with a dry cloth; the outside merely requires wiping nicely. Cut off the neck close to tl1^ back, but leave enough of the crop-skin to turn over; break the leg-bones close below the knee; draw out the strings from the thighs, and flatten the breast-bone to make it look plump. Have ready, your dressing of
THE EVERYDAY COOK-BOOK. 79
bread-crumbs, mixed with butter, pepper, salt, thyme or sweet marjoram; fill the breast with this, and sew the neck over to the back. Be particular that the turkey is firmly trussed. Dredge it lightly with flour, and put a piece of butter into the basting-ladle; as the butter melts, baste the bird with it. When of a nice brown and well- frothed, serve with a tureen of good brown gravy and one of bread-sauce. The liver should be put under one pinion, and the gizzard under the other. Fried sausages are a favorite addition" to roast-turkey; they make a pretty garnish, besides adding much to the flavor. When these are not at hand, a few force-meat balls should be placed round the dish as a garnish. Turkey may also be stuffed with sausage-meat, and a chestnut force-meat with the same sauce is, by many persons, much esteemed as an accompaniment to this favorite dish.
SECOND RECIPE. — After drawing and cleansing the turkey, prepare a dressing of chopped sausage and bread crumbs, mixing in butter, pepper, salt and thyme to flavor. Fill the craw and the body of the turkey with this, and sew up carefully. Dredge with flour and put in the oven to roast, basting freely first with butter and water, then with the gravy from the pan. The time it takes to roast will depend both on the age and the weight of the turkey. If you have a good fire, you will be safe to allow ten minutes or so to the pound. Roast to a fine brown, and serve with the chopped giblets, which should be well stewed, add cranberry sauce.
'4
BOILED TURKEY.
Hen turkeys are the best for boiling. They eye the whitest, and, if nicely kept, tenderest. Of course the rinews ms>"t be drawn, and they ought to be trussed witfc
8O THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
the legs out, so as to be easily carved. Take care to clean the animal well after it has been singed. Place the fowl in a sufficiently large pot with clean water sufficient to cover it, and a little more; let the fire be a clear one, but not too fierce, as the slower the turkey boils the plumper it will be. Skim carefully and constantly, and simmer for two hours and a half in the case of a large fowl, and two hours for a smaller beast, and from an hour and ten to an hour and forty minutes for still smaller turkeys. Some people boil their turkeys in a floured cloth. I don't; the whiteness being mostly in the animal itself. My stuffing for a boiled turkey is thought good. I pre- pare it of crumbs of stale bread, with a little marrow or butter, some finely-shred parsley, and two dozen of small oysters, minus their beards, of course, and neatly trim- med. Stuff with this and a little chopped ham in ad- dition if desired.
TO ROAST A FOWL OR CHICKEN.
Have a bright, clear, and steady fire for roasting poul- try; prepare it as directed; spit it, put a pint of hot water in the dripping pan, add to it a small tablespoonful of salt, and a small teaspoonful of pepper, baste frequently, and let it roast quickly, without scorching; when nearly done, put a piece of butter the size of a large egg to the water in the pan; when it melts, baste with it, dredge a little flour over, baste again, and let it finish; half an hour will roast a full-grown chicken, if the fire is right. When done take it up, let the giblets (heart, liver, and gizzard) boil tender, and chop them very fine, and put them in the gravy; add a tablespoonful of browned flour, and a bit of butter, stir it over the fire for a few minutes, then serve in a gravy tureen. Or put the giblets in the pan and let them roast.
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. Si
BOILED CHICKENS.
Clean, wash, and stuff as for roasting. Baste a floured cloth around each, and put into a pot with enough boil- ing water to cover them well. The hot water cooks the skin at once, and prevents the escape of the juices. The broth will not be so rich as if the fowls are put on in cold water, but this is a proof that the meat will be more nutritious and better flavored. Stew very slowly, for the first half hour especially. Boil an hour or more, guiding yourself by size and toughness. Serve with egg or bread sauce.
BROILED CHICKEN.
Prepare in the same way as for boiling, cut them in two through the back, and flatten them ; place on a cold gridiron over a nice red fire. After a little time, when they have become thoroughly hot, set them on a plate or other dish, and lard them well with a piece of butter ; pepper and salt them to taste, chiefly on the inside, then place them on the brander and continue turning till done — they will take fully twenty minutes. Serve hot, with a little dab of butter and plenty of stewed mushrooms — a delightful dish.
FRIED CHICKEN.'
Cut the chicken in pieces, lay it in salt and water, which change several times ; roll each piece in flour ; fry in very hot lard or butter, season with salt and pepper ; fry pars- ley with them also. Make a gravy of cream seasoned with salt, pepper and a little mace, thickened with a little flour in the pan in which the chickens w ere fried, pouring off the lard.
g2 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
FRICASSEE OF CHICKEN.
Cut into joints, scald and skin, place in a stewpan, with two raw onions cut into eight parts, a little chopped parsley, salt and pepper, and the least squeeze of lemon juice. Add a bit of butter as large as an egg, and fill in a pint of water. Stew for an hour under a very close lid, then lift and strain off the gravy, into which beat gradually a teacupful of cream and the yolks of two eggs ; heat up the gravy, taking care that it does not boil, and pour it over the fricassee.
TO CURRY CHICKEN.
Slice an onion and brown in a little butter ; add a spoon- ful of curry powder ; allow it to remain covered for a few minutes to cook ; add a little more butter and put in chicken, veal, etc., etc. ; cut up small, thicken with a little flour. This is excellent.
PRESSED CHICKEN.
Cut up the fowls and place in a kettle with a tight cover, so as to retain the steam ; put about two teacups of water and plenty of salt and pepper over the chicken, then let it cook until the meat cleaves easily from the bones ; cut or chop all the meat (freed from skin, bone and gristle) about as for chicken salad ; season well, put into a dish and pour the remnant of the juice in which it was cooked over it. This will jeliy when cold, and can then be sliced or set on the table in shape. Nice for tea or lunch. The knack of making this simple dish is not having too much water ; it will not jelly if too weak, or if the water is allowed to boil away entirely while cook- ing.
TUE E VEK \ '-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
CHICKEN POT-PIE.
Skin and cut up the fowls into joints, and put the neck, legs and backbones in a stew-pan, with a little water, an onion, a bunch of savory herbs, and a blade of mace ; let these stew for an hour, and, when done, strain off the liquor : this is for gravy. Put a layer of fowl at the bottom of a pie-dish, then a layer of ham, then one of force-meat and hard-boiled eggs, cut in rings ; between the layers put a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt. Pour in about half a pint of water, border the edge of dish with puff-crust, put on the cover, ornament the top and glaze it by brushing over it the /oik of an egg. Bake for about an hour and a half, and, when done, pour in at the top, the gravy r ade from the bones.
A CHICKEN SAT. AD.
Take a fine white bunch of celery (four or five heads), scrape and wash it white ; reserve the delicate green leaves; shred the white part like straws, lay this in a glass, or white china dish, in the form of a nest. Mince all the white meat of a boiled, or white stewed fowl, without the skin, and put it in the nest.
Make a salad dressing thus : Rub the yolks of two hard- boiled eggs to a smooth paste, with a dessertspoonful of salad oil, or melted butter ; add to it two teaspoonfuls of made mustard, and a small teaspoonful of fine white sugar, and put to it gradually (stirring it in) a large cup of strong vinegar.
Make a wreath of the most delicate leaves of the celery, around the edge of the nest, between it and the chicken ', pour the dressing over the chicken, when ready
84 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
to serve; if the dressing is poured over too soon it will discolor the celery.
White heart lettuce may be used for the nest, instead of celery.
JELLIED CHICKEN.
Boil a fowl until it will slip easily from the bones; let the water be reduced to about one pint in boiling; pick the meat from the bones in good sized pieces, taking out all gristle, fat, and bones; place in a wet mould; skim the fat from the liquor; a little butter; pepper and salt to the taste, and one half ounce of gelatine. When this dissolves, pour it hot over the chicken. The liquor must be seasoned pretty high, for the chicken absorbs.
CHICKEN PATES.
Mince chicken that has been previously roasted t>i boiled, and season well; stir into this a sauce made of half a pint of milk, into which while boiling ateaspoonful of corn starch has been added to thicken, season with butter, about a teaspoonful, and salt and pepper to taste. Have ready small pate pans lined with a good puff paste. Bake the crust in a brisk oven; then fill the pans and set in the oven a few minutes to brown very slightly.
SAGE-AND-ONION STUFFING, FOR GEESE, DUCKS AND PORK.
Four large onions, ten sage-leaves, one quarter pound of bread-crumbs ^-.e ?. .i one half ounce of butter, salt and pepper to taste, o v gg. Pee. ".he onions, cut them >nto boiling water, let ti. n simmer for five minutes or rather longer, and, just be. ore they are taken out, put in tne sage-leaves for a minute or two to take of their raw- ness. Chop both these very fine, add toe bread, season
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 8$
ing, and butter, and work the whole together with the yolk of an egg, when the stuffing will be ready for use. It should be rather highly seasoned, and the sage-leaves should be very finely chopped. Many cooks do not par- boil the onions in the manner just stated, but merely use them raw. The stuffing then, however, is not nearly so mild, and, to many tastes, its strong flavor would be very objectionable. When made for goose, a portion of the liver of the bird, simmered fora few minutes and very finely minced, is frequently added to this stuffing; and where economy is studied", the egg may be dispensed with.
TO ROAST A GOOSE.
Having drawn and singed the goose, wipe out the in- side with a cloth, and sprinkle in some pepper and salt. Make a stuffing of four good sized onions, minced fine, and half their quantity of green sage leaves, minced also, a large teacupful of grated bread-crumbs, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and the beaten yolks of two eggs, with a little pepper and salt. Mix the whole to- gether, and incorporate them well. Put the stuffing into the goose, and press it in hard; but do not entirely fill up the cavity, as the mixture will swell in cooking. Tie the goose securely round with a greased or wetted string; and paper the breast to prevent it from scorch- ing. The fire must be brisk and well kept up. It will require from two hours to two -and a half to roast. Baste jt at first with a little salt and water, and then with its own gravy. Take off the paper when the goose is about half done, and dredge it with a little flour towards the last. Having parboiled the liver and heart, chop them and put them into the gravy, which must be skim- med well and thickened with a little browned flour.
Send apple sauce to table with the goose; also mashed potatoes.
S6 THE E VERY-DAY COOKBOOK.
A goose may be stuffed entirely with potatoes, boiled and mashed with milk, butter, pepper and salt.
You may make a gravy of the giblets, that is the neck, pinions, liver, heart and gizzard, stewed in a little water, thickened with butter, rolled in flour, and seasoned with pepper and salt. Before you send it to table, take out all but the liver and heart; mince them and leave them irv the gravy. This gravy is by many preferred to that which comes from the goose in roasting. It is well to have both.
If a goose is old it is useless to cook it, as when hard and tough it cannot be eaten.
ROAST DUCKS.
Wash and dry the ducks carefully. Make a stuffing of sage and onion; insert, and sew up completely that the seasoning may not escape. If tender, ducks do not require more than an hour to roast. Keep them well basted, and a few minutes before serving, dredge lightly with flour, to make them froth and look plump. Send to table hot, with a good brown gravy poured not round but over them. Accompany with currant jelly, and, if in season, green peas.
ROAST PIGEONS.
Clean the pigeons, and stuff them the same as chick- ens; leave the feet on, dip them into scalding water, strip off the skin, cross them, and tie them together below the breast bone; or cut them off; the head may remain on; if so, dip it in scalding water, and pick it clean; twist the wings back, put the liver between the right wing and the body, and turn the head under the other; rub the outside of each bird with a mixture of pepper and salt; spit them, and put some water in the dripping-pan; for
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOO^. 87
each bird put a bit of butter the size of a small egg, put them before a hot fire, 'and let them roast quickly; baste frequently, half an hour will do them; when nearly done, dredge them with wheat flour and baste with the butter in the pan; turn them, that they may be nicely and easily browned; when done, take them up, set the pan over the fire, make a thin batter of a teaspoonful of wheat flour, and cold water, when the gravy is boiling hot, stir it in; continue to stir it for a few minutes, until it is brown, then pour it through a gravy sieve into a tureen, and serve with the pigeons.
TO MAKE A BIRD'S NEST.
Boil some yellow macaroni gently, until it is quite swelled out and tender, then cut it in pieces, the length of a finger, and lay them on a dish like a straw nest.
Truss pigeons with the heads on, (having scalded and picked them clean,) turned under the left wing, leave the feet on, and having stewed them, arrange them as in a nest; pour the gravy over and serve.
The nest may be made of boiled rice, or bread cut in pieces, the length and thickness of a finger, and fried a nice brown in hot lard, seasoned with pepper and salt. Or, make it of bread, toasted a yellow brown. Any small birds may be stewed or roasted, and served in this way.
PIGEONS IN JELLY.
Wash and truss one dozen pigeons. Put them in a kettle with four pounds of the shank of veal, six cloves, twenty-five pepper-corns, an onion that has been fried in one spoonful of butter, one stalk of celery, a bouquet of sweet herbs and four and a half quarts of water. Have the veal shank broken in small pieces. As soon as the contents of the kettle come to a boil, skim carefully, and se'; for three hours where they will just simmer. After
88 THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
they have been cooking one hour, add two tablespoon- fuls of salt. When the pigeons are done, take them up, being careful not to break them, and remove the strings. Draw the kettle forward, where it will boil rapidly, and keep there for forty minutes; then strain the liquor through a napkin, and taste to see if seasoned enough. The water should have boiled down to two and a half quarts. Have two moulds that will each hold six pig- eons. Put a thin layer of the jelly in these, and set on ice to harden. When hard, arrange the pigeons in them, and cover with the jelly, which must be cold, but liquid. Place in the ice chest for six or, better still, twelve hours. There should be only one layer of the pigeons in the mould.
To serve: Dip the mould in a basin of warm water for one minute, and turn on a cold dish. Garnish with pickled beets and parsley. A Tartare sauce can be served with this dish.
If squabs are used, two hours will cook them. All small birds, as well as partridge, grouse, etc., can be pre- pared in the same manner. Remember that the bird* must be cooked tender, and that the liquor must be s«> reduced that it will become jellied.
PIGEON PIE.
Clean and truss three or four pigeons, rub the outside and in with a mixture of pepper and salt; rub the inside with a bit of butter, and fill it with a bread-and-butter stuffing, or mashed potatoes; sew up the slit, butter the sides of a tin basin or pudding-dish, and line (the sides only,) with pie paste, rolled to quarter of an inch thick» ness; lay the birds in; for three large tame pigeons, cut quarter of a pound of sweet butter and put it over them; strew over a large teaspoonful of salt, and a small tea- spoonful of pepper, with a bunch of finely cut parsley, if liked; dredge a large tablespoonful of wheat flour over;
THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK, 89
put in water to nearly fill the pic; lay skewers across the top, cover with a puff paste crust; cut a slit in the mid- dle, ornament the edge with leaves, braids, or shells of paste, and put it in a moderately hot or quick oven, for one hour; when nearly done, brush the top over with the yolk of an egg beaten with a little milk, and finish. The pigeons for this pie may be cut in two or more pieces, if preferred.
Any small birds may be done in this manner.
WILD DUCKS.
Nearly all wild ducks are liable to have a fishy flavor, and when handled by inexperienced cooks, are some- times uneatable from this cause. Before roasting thei.v guard against this by parboiling them with a small car- rot, peeled, put within each. This will absorb the uiv pleasant taste. An onion will have the same effect; but, unless you mean to use onion in the stuffing, the carrot is preferable. In my own kitchen, I usually put in the onion, considering a suspicion of garlic a desideratum in roast duck, whether wild or tame.
ROAST WILD DUCK.
Parboil as above directed; throw away the carrot or onion, lay in fresh water half an hour; stuff with bread- crumbs seasoned with pepper, salt, sage, and onion, and roast until brown and tender, basting for half the: time with butter and water, then with the drippings. Add to the gravy, when you have taken up the ducks, a tea- spoonful of currant jelly, and a pinch of cayenne. Thicken with browned flour and serve in a tureen.
WILD TURKEY.
Draw and wash the inside very carefully, as with a! , game. Domestic fowls are, or should be, kept up with-
QO THE E VERY-DAY COCK-BOOK,
out eating for at least twelve hours before they are killed; but we must shoot wild when we can get the chance, and of course it often happens that their crops are distented by a recent hearty meal of rank or green food. Wipe the cavity with a dry soft cloth before you stuff. Have a rich force-meat, bread-crumbs, some bits of fat pork, chopped fine, pepper, and salt. Moisten with rnilk, and beat in an egg and a couple of table- spoomuls of melted butter. Baste with butter and water for the first hour, then three or four times with gravy; lastly, five or six times with melted butter. A generous and able housekeeper told me once that she always allowed a pound of butter for basting a large wild turkey. This was an extravagant quantity, but the meat is drier than that of the domestic fowl, and not nearly so fat. Dredge with flour at the last, froth with butter, and when he is of a tempting brown, serve. Skim the gravy, add a little hot water, pepper, thicken with the giblets chopped fine and browned flour, boil up, and pour into a tureen. At the South the giblets are not put in the grav)r, but laid whole, one under each wing, when the turkey is dished. Garnish with small fried sausages, not larger than a dollar, crisped parsley between them. Send around currant jelly and cranberry sauce with it.
TO ROAS I SNIPES, WOODCOCKS, OR PLOVERS.
Pick them immediately; wipe them, and season them slightly with pepper and salt. Cut as many slices of bread as you have birds. Toast them brown, butter them, and lay them in the pan. Dredge the birds \vitk flour, and put them in the oven with a brisk fire. Baste them with lard, or fresh butter. They will be done in twenty or thirty minutes. Serve them up laid on the toast, and garnished with sliced orange, or with orange iellv
THE E VERY-DAY COO V- BOOK. 9?
ROAST PARTRIDGE.
Choose young birds, with dark-colored bills and yel- iowish legs, and let them hang a few days, or there will b" no flavor to the flesh, nor will it be tender. The time they should be kept entirely depends on the taste of those for whom they are intended, as what some persons would consider delicious, would be to others disgusting and offensive. They may be trussed with or without the head, the latter mode being now considered the most fashionable. Pluck, draw, and wipe the partridge care- fully inside and out; cut off the head, leaving sufficient skin on the neck to skewer back; bring the legs close to the breast, between it and the side-bones, and pass a skewer through the pinions and thick part of the thighs. When the head is left on, it should be brought round and fixed on to the point of the skewer. When the bird is firmly and plumply trussed, roast it before a nice bright fire; keep it well basted, and a few minutes before serving, flour and froth it well. Dish it, and serve with gravy and bread-sauce, and send to table hot and quickly, \ little of the gravy should be poured over the bird.
• ROAST QUAIL.
Pluck and draw the birds, rub a little butter over them, tie a strip of bacon over the breasts, and set them in the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes.
ROAST PRAIRIE CHICKEN.
The bird being a little strong, and its flesh when cooked a little dry, it should be either larded or wide strips of bacon or pork placed over its breast. A mild seasoned stuffing will improve the flavor of old birds. Dust a little flour over them, baste occasionally, and serve. Pheasant* vnay be managed in the same manner.
Q2 THE E VERY-DAY COOKBOOK.
LARDED GROUSE.
•
Clean and wash the grouse. Lard the breast ariot legs. P_un a small skewer into the legs and through the tail. Tie firmly with twine. Dredge with salt, and rub the breast with soft butter; then dredge thickly with flour. Put into a quick oven. If to be very rare, cook twenty minutes; if wished better done, thirty minutes. The former time, as a general thing, suits gentlemen better, but thirty minutes is preferred by ladies. If the birds are cooked in a tin-kitchen, it should be for thirty or thirty-five minutes. When done, place on a hot dish, on which has been spread bread sauce. Sprinkle fried crumbs over both grouse and sauce. Garnish with parsley. The grouse may, instead, be served on a hot dish, with the parsley garnish, and the sauce and crumbs served in separate dishes. The first method is the bet- ter, however, as you get in th& sauce all the gravy that comes from the birds.
PORK, HAMS, etc.
To CHOOSE PoaK. — If the rind of pork is tough and thick, and cannot easily be impressed with the finger, it is old.
If fresh, the flesh will look cool and smooth; when moist or clammy it is stale. The knuckle is the first to become tainted.
Pork is often what is called measly, and is then almost poisonous; measly pork may easily be detected, the fat being fi\ll of small kernels. Swill or still-fed pork is not fit for curing; either dairy or corn fed is good.
Fresh pork is in season from October to April.
In cutting up a large hog, it is first cut in two down tne back and belly. The chine or backbone should be cut out from each side the whole length, and ij either
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 93
boiled or roasted. The chine is considered the prime part. The sides of the hog are made into bacon, and the inside or ribs is cut with very little meat; this is the spare-rib.
CURING HAMS.
Hang up the hams a week or ten days, the longer the tenderer and better, if kept perfectly sweet; mix for each good-sized ham, one teacup of salt, one tablespoon of molasses, one ounce of saltpetre; lay the hams in a clean dry tub; heat the mixture and rub well into the hams, especially around the bones and recesses; repeat the process once or twice, or until all the mixture is used; then let the hams lie two or three days, when they must be put for three weeks in brine strong enough to bear an egg; then soak eight hours in cold water; hang up to dry in the kitchen or other more convenient place for a week or more; smoke from three to five days, being careful not to heat the hams. Corn-cobs and apple-tree wood are good for smoking. The juices are better re- tained if smoked with the hock down. Tie up carefully in bags for the summer.
TO ROAST A LEG OF PORK.
Take a sharp knife and score the skin across in narrow stripes (you may cross it again so as to form diamonds) and rub in some powdered sage. Raise the skin at the knuckle and put in a stuffing of minced onion and sage, bread crumbs, pepper, salt, and beaten yolk of egg, Fasten it down with a buttered string, or with Sttewers You may make deep incisions in the meat of the largh end of the leg, and stuff them also, pressing in the filling very hard. Rub a little sweet oil. all over the skin with a brush or a goose feather, to make it crisp and of a handsome brown. A leg of pork will require from thre<5
94 THE E VERY-DAY COOK BOOK.
to i'our hours to roast. Moisten it all the time by brush- ing it with sweet oil, ;V> with fresh butter tied in a rag. To baste it with its own dripping will make the skin tough and hard. Skim the fat carefully from the gravy, which should be thickened with a little flour.
A roast leg of pork should always be accompanied by apple sauce, and by mashed potatoes and mashed turnips.
PORK AND BEANS.
Pick over carefully a quart of beans and let them soak over night; in the morning wash and drain in another water, put on to boil in cold water with half a teaspoon of soda; boil about thirty minutes (when done the skin of a bean will crack if taken out and blown upon), drain, and put in an earthen pot first a slice of pork and then the beans, with two or three tablespoons of molasses. When the beans are in the pot, put in the centre half or three fourths of a pound of well-washed salt oork with the rind scored in slices or squares, and uppermost; sea- Bon with pepper and salt if needed; cover all with hot Ivater, and bake six hours or longer in a moderate oven, adding hot water as needed; they cannot be baked too long. Keep covered so that the}' will not burn on the top, but remove cover an hour or two before serving, to brown the top and crisp the pork.
PORK SAUSAGES.
Take such a proportion of fat and lean pork as you jfke; chop it quite fine, and for every ten pounds of meat '.ake four ounces of fine salt, and one of fine pepper; \lried sage, or lemon thyme, finely powdered, may be added if liked; a teaspoonful of sage, and the same of ground alspice and cloves, to each ten pounds of meat. Mix the seasoning through the meat; pack it down in
THE ETERY-DAY COO k'- BOOK. 95
Stone pots, or put it in muslin bags. Or fill the hog's or ox's guts, having first made them perfectly clean, thus: empty them, cut them in lengths, and lay them three or four days in salt and water, or weak lime water; turn, them inside out once or twice, scrape them; then rinse them, and fill with the meat.
If you do not use the skins or guts, make the sausage meat up the size and shape of sausages, dip them in beaten egg, and then into wheat flour, or rolled crackers, or simply into wheat flour, and fry in hot lard. Turn them, that every side may be a fine color. Serve hc-% with boiled potatoes or hominy; either taken fro / the gravy, or after they are fried, pour a little boilii ir »vater into the gravy in the pan, and pour it over them; or first dredge in a teaspoonful of wheat flour, stir it un'il i'- .s smooth and brown; then add a little boiling water, let it boil up once, then put it in the dish with the sausages.
Chopped onion and green parsley may be added to the sausage meat, when making ready to fry.
Or sausage meat may be tied in a muslin bag, and boiled, and served with vegetables; or let it become cold, and cut in slices.
PORK CHOPS, STEAKS AND CUTLETS.
Fry or stew pork chops, after taking off the rind or skin, the same as for veal.
Cutlets and steaks are also fried, broiled, or stewed, the same as veal.
ROAST PIG.
Thoroughly clean the pig, then rinse it in cold water, wipe it dry; then rub the inside with a mixture of salt and pepper, and if liked, a little pounded and sifted sage; make a stuffing thus: cut some wheat bread in slices half an inch thick, spread butter on to half its thicknrss,
96 TffE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
sprinkled with pepper and salt, and if liked, a little pounded sage and minced onion; pour enough hot water over the bread to make it moist or soft, then fill the body with it and sew it together, or tie a cord around it to keep the dressing in, then spit it; put a pint of water in the dripping-pan, put into it a tablespoonful of salt, and a teaspoonful of pepper, let the fire be hotter at each end than in the middle, put the pig down at a little distance from the fire, baste it as it begins to roast, and gradually draw it nearer; continue to baste occa- sionally; turn it that it may be evenly cooked; when the eyes drop out it is done; or a better rule is to judge by the weight, fifteen minutes for each pound of meat, if the fire is right.
Have a bright clear fire, with a bed of coals at the bottom; first put the roast at a little distance, and grad- ually draw it nearer; when the pig is done stir up the fire, take a coarse cloth with a good bit of butter in it, and wet the pig all over with it, and when the crackling is crisp take it up; dredge a little flour into the gravy, let it boil up once, and having boiled the heart, liver, etc., tender, and chopped it fine, add it to the gravy, give it one boil, then serve.
PIG'S CHEEK.
Is smoked and boiled like ham with vegetables; boiled cabbage or fried parsnips may be served with it.
ROAST SPARE-RIB.
Trim off the rough ends neatly, crack the ribs across the middle, rub with salt and sprinkle with pepper, fold over, stuff with turkey-dressing, sew up tightly, place in dripping-pan with pint of water, baste frequently, turn- ing over once so as to bake both sides equally until a rich brown.
THE E VER y DA Y CO OK-BOOK.
FORE FRITTERS.
Have at hand a thick batter of Indian meal and flour ; cut a few slices of pork and fry them in the frying-pan until the fat is fried out ; cut a few more slices of the pork, dip them in the batter, and drop them in the bubbling fat, seasoning with salt and pepper ; cook until light brown, and eat while hot.
BAKED HAM.
Cover your ham with cold water, and simmer gently just long enough to loosen the skin, so that it can be pulled off. This will probably be from two to three hours, ac- cording to the size of your ham. When skinned, put in a dripping pan in the oven, pour over it a teacup of vinegar and one of hot water, in which dissolve a teaspoonful of English mustard, bake slowly, basting with the liquid, for two hours. Then cover the ham all over to the depth of one inch with coarse brown sugar, press it down firmly, and do not baste again until the sugar has formed a thick crust, which it will soon do in a very slow oven. Let it remain a full hour in, after covering with the sugar, until it becomes a rich golden brown. When done, drain from the liquor in the pan and put on a dish to cool. When it is cool, but not cold, press by turning another flat dish on top, with a weight over it. You will never want to eat ham cooked in any other way when you have tasted this, and the pressing makes it cut firmly for sandwiches or slicing.
TO BOIL A HAM.
Wash thoroughly with a cloth. Select a small size to boil, put it in a large quantity of cold water, and boil twenty minutes for each pound, allowing it to boil slowly ;
c>8 THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
take off the rind while hot and put in the oven to brown half an hour ; remove and trim.
TO BROIL HAM.
Cut some slices of ham, quarter of an inch thick, lay them in hot water for half an hour, or give them a scald- ing in a pan over the fire ; then take them up, and lay them on a gridiron, over bright coals ; when the outside is browned, turn the other ; then take the slices on a hot dish, butter them freely, sprinkle pepper over and serve. Or, after scalding them, wipe them dry, dip each slice in beaten egg, and then into rolled crackers, and fry or broil.
FRIED HAM AND EGGS (a Breakfast Dish).
Cut the ham into slices, and take care that they are of the same thickness in every part. Cut off the rind, and if the ham should be particularly hard and salt, it will be be found an improvement to soak it for about k.n minutes in hot water, and then dry it in a cloth. Put it into a cold frying-pan, set it over the fire, and turn the slices three or four times whilst they are cooking. When done, place them on a dish, which should be kept hot in front of the fire during the time the eggs are being poached. Poach the eggs, slip them on to the slices of ham, and serve quickly.
HAM TOAST.
Mince finely a quarter of a pound of cooked ham with an anchovy boned and washed ; add a little cayenne and pounded mace ; beat up two eggs ; mix with the mince, and add just sufficient milk to deep it moist ; make it quite hot, and serve on small rounds of toast or fried bread.
THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
HEAD CHEESE.
Having thoroughly cleaned a hog's head or pig's head, split it in two with a sharp knife, take out the eyes, take out the brains, cut off the ears, and pour scalding water over them and the head, and scrape them clean. Cut off any part of the nose which may be discolored so as not to be scraped clean ; then rinse all in cold water, and put it into a large kettle with hot (not boiling) water to cover it, and set the kettle (having covered it) over the fire ; let it boil gently, taking off the scum as it rises ; when boiled so that the bones leave the meat readily, take it from the water with a skimmer into a large wooden bowl or tray ; take from it every particle of bone ; chop the meat small and season to taste with salt and pepper, and if liked, a little chopped sage or thyme ; spread a cloth in a colander or sieve ; set it in a deep dish, and put the meat in, then fold the cloth closely over it, lay a weight on which may press equally the whole surface (a sufficiently large plate will serve). Let the weight be more or less heavy, according as you may wish the cheese to be fat or lean ; a heavy weight by pressing out the fat will of course leave the cheese lean. When cold, take the weight off ; take it from the colander or sieve, scrape off whatever fat may be found or. the outside of the cloth, and keep the cheese in the cloth in a cool place, to be eaten sliced thin, with or without mus- tard, and vinegar, or catsup. After the water is cold in which the head was boiled, take off the fat from it, and whatever may have drained from the sieve, or colander, and cloth ; put it together in some clean water, give it one boil; then strain it through a cloth, and set it to become cold; then take off the cake of fat. It is fit for any use.
1 00 THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
PIGS' FEET SOUSED.
Scald and scrape clean the feet ; if the covering of the toes will not come off without, singe them in hot embers, until they are loose, then take them off. Many persons lay them in weak lime water to whiten them. Having scraped them clean and white, wash them and put them in a pot of hot (not boiling) water, with a little salt, and let them boil gently, until by turning a fork in the flesh it will easily break and the bones are loosened. Take off the scum as it rises. When done, take them from the hot water into cold vinegar, enough to cover them, add to it one third as much of the water in which they were boiled ; add whole pepper and allspice, with cloves and mace if liked, put a cloth and a tight fitting cover over the pot or jar.- Soused feet may be eaten cold from the vinegar, split in two from top to toe, or having split them, dip them in wheat flour and fry in hot lard, or broil and butter them. In either case, let them be nicely browned.
TO MAKE LARD.
Take the leaf fat from the inside of a bacon hog, cut it small, and put it in an iron kettle, which must be per- fectly free from any musty taste ; set it over a steady, moderate fire, until nothing but scraps remain of the meat ; the heat must be kept up, but gentle, that it may not burn the lard ; spread a coarse cloth in a wire sieve, and strain the liquid into tin basins which will hold two or three quarts ; squeeze out all the fat from the scraps. :When the lard in the pans is cold, press a piece of new muslin close upon it, trim it off at the edge of the pan, and keep it in a cold place. Or it may be kept in wooden kegs with close covers. Lard made with one-third as much beef suet as fat, is supposed by many persons to keep better.
THE £ VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK. JOi
TO TELL GOOD EGGS.
Put them in water — if the large end turns up, they are not fresh. This is an infallible rule to distinguish a good egg from a bad one.
KEEPING EGGS FRESH.
"All it is necessary to do to. keep eggs through summer is to procure small, clean wooden or tin vessels, holding from ten to twenty gallons, and a barrel, more or less, of common, fine-ground land plaster. Begin by putting on the bottom of the vessel two or three inches of plaster, and then, having fresh eggs, with the yolks unbroken, set them up, small end down, close to each other, but not crowd- ing, and make the first layer. Then add more plaster and enough so the eggs will stand upright, and set up the second layer ; then another deposit of plaster, followed by a layer of eggs, till the vessel is full, and finish by covering the top layer with plaster. Eggs so packed and subjected to a temperature of at least 85 degrees, if not 90 degrees, during August and September, came- out fresh, and if one could be certain of not having a temperature of more than 75 degrees to contend with, I am confident eggs could be kept by these means all the year round. Observe that the eggs must be fresh laid, the yolks unbroken, the packing done in small vessels, and with clean, fine ground land plas- ter, and care must be taken that no egg so presses on an- other as to break the shell."
Eggs may be kept good for a year in the following man- ner :
To a pail of water, put of unslacked lime and coarse salt each a pint ; keep it in a cellar, or cool place, and put the eggs in, as fresh laid as possible.
It is well to keep a stone pot of this lime water ready
1 02 THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-KOOK.
to receive the eggs as soon as laid ; make a fresh supply every few months. This lime water is of exactly the proper strength ; strong lime water will cook the eggs. Very strong lime water will eat the shell.
POACHED EGGS.
Two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of butter. Beat the eggs, and add the salt and milk. Put the butter in a small sauce- pan, and when it melts, add the eggs. Stir over the fire until the mixture thickens, being careful not to let it cook hard. About two minutes will cook it. The eggs, when done, should be soft and creamy. Serve imme- diately.
DROPPED EGGS.
Have one quart of boiling water and one tablespoon- ful of salt in a frying-pan. Break the eggs, one by one, into a saucer, and slide carefully into the salted water. Cook until the white is firm, and lift out with a griddle- cake turner and place on toasted bread. Serve immedi- ately.
STUFFED EGGS.
Six hard-boiled eggs cut in two, take out the yolks and mash fine ; then add two teaspoonfuls of butter, one of cream, two or three drops of onion juice, salt and pep- per to taste. Mix all thoroughly and fill the eggs with this mixture ; put them together. Then there will be a little of the filling left, to which add one well-beaten egg. Cover the eggs with this mixture, and then roll in cracker crumbs. Fry a light brown in boiling fat. Plain baked eggs make a quite pretty breakfast dish. Take a round white-ware dish thick enough to stand the
THE ETERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 1 03
heat of the oven, put into it sufficient fresh butter, and break as many eggs in it as are desirable, putting a few bits of butter on the tap, and set in a rather slow oven until they are cooked. Have a dish of n;cely made but- tered toast arranged symmetrically on a plate, and garnish it and the dish of eggs with small pieces of curled pars- ley.
EGGS A LA SUISSE.
Spread the bottom of a dish with two ounces of fresh butter; corer this with grated cheese; break eight whole eggs upon the cheese without breaking the yolks. Sea- son with red pepper and salt if necessary; pour a little cream on the surface, strew about two ounces of grated cheese on the top, and set the eggs in a moderate oven for about a quarter of an hour. Pass a hot salamander over the top to brown it.
EGGS BROUILLE.
Six eggs, half a cupful of milk, or, better still, of cream; two mushrooms, one teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, three tablespoonfuls of butter, a slight grating o{ nutmeg. Cut the mushrooms into dice, and fry them for one minute in one tablespoonful of the butter. Beat the eggs, salt, pepper, and cream together, and put them in a saucepan. Add the butter and mushrooms to these ingredients. Stir over a moderate heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Take from the fire and beat rapidly until the eggs become quite thick and creamy. Have slices of toast on a hot dish. Heap the mixture on these, and garnish with points of toast. Serve immedi- ately.
CURRIED EGGS.
Slice two onions and fry in butter, add a tablespoon curry-powder and one pint gooc> hroth or stock, stew till
IO4 THE EVERY-DAY COOK-BOOK.
onions are quite tender, add a cup of cream thickened with arrowroot or rice flour, simmer a few moments, then add eight or ten hard-toiled. eggs, cut in slices, and be»* them well, but do not boil.
CREAMED EGGS.
Boil six eggs twenty minutes. Make one pint of cream sauce. Have six slices of toast on a hot dish. Put a layer of sauce on each one, and then part of the whites of the eggs, cut in thin strips; and rub part of the yolks through a sieve on to the toast. Repeat this, and finish with a third layer of sauce. Place in the oven for about three minutes. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
SOFT-BOILED EGGS.
Place the eggs in a warm saucepan, and cover with boiling water. Let them stand where they will keep hot, but not boil, for ten minutes. This method will cook both whites and yolks.
EGGS UPON TOAST.
Put a good lump of butter into the frying-pan. When i« is hot, stir in four or five well-beaten eggs, with pepper, salt, and a little parsley. Stir and toss for three min- utes. Have ready to your hand some slices of buttered toast (cut round with a tin cake cutter before they are toasted); spread thickly with ground or minced tongue, chicken, or ham. Heap the stirred egg upon these in mounds, and set in a hot dish garnished with parsley and pickled beets.
DUTCH OMELET.
Break eight eggs into a basin, season with pepper and salt, add two ounces of butter cut small, beat these well
THE E VERY-DAY COOK-BOOK. 10}
together, make an ounce of butter hot in a frying-pan, put the eggs in, continue to stir it, drawing it away from the sides, that it may be evenly done, shake it now and then to free it. from the pan; when the under side is a little browned, turn the omelet into a dish, and serve; this must be done over a moderate fire.
EGGS POACHED IN BALLS.
Put three pints of boiling water into a stewpan; set. it on a hot stove or coals; stir the water with a stick un- til it runs rapidly around, then having broken an egg into a cup, taking care not to break the yolk, drop it into the whirling water ; continue to stir it until the egg is cooked; then take it into a dish with a skimmer and set it over a pot of boiling water; boil one at a time, until you have enough. These will remain soft for a long time.
OMELET AU NATURAL.
Break eight or ten eggs into a basin; add a small tea- spoonful of salt and a little pepper, with a tablespoonful of cold water; beat the whole well with a spoon or whisk. In the meantime put some fresh sweet butter into an omelet pan, and when it is nearly hot, put in an omelet; while it is frying, with a skimmer spoon raise the edges from the pan that it may be properly done. When the eggs are set and one side is a fine brown, double it half over and serve hot. These omelets should be put quite thin in the pan; the butter required for each will be about the size of a small egg.
OMELET IN BATTER.
Fry an omelet; when done, cut it in squares or dia- monds; dip each piece in batter made of two eggs and a
106 THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
pint of milk with enough wheat flour, and • fry them ii, nice salted lard to a delicate brown. Serve hot.
SCRAMBLED EGGS.
Four eggs, one tablespoo'nful of butter, half a tea- spoonful of salt. Beat the eggs, and add the salt to them. Melt the butter in a sauce-pan. Turn in the beaten eggs, stir quickly over a hot fire for one minute, and serve.
OMELET (SPLENDID.)
Six eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately ; half pint rnilk, six teaspoons corn starch, one teaspoon baking powder, and a little salt; add the whites, beaten to a stiff froth, last; cook in a little butter.
VEGETABLES.
BOILED POTATOES.
Old potatoes are better for being peeled and put in cold water an hour before being put over to boi'.» They should then be put into fresh cold water, when set over the fire. New potatoes should always be put in o boiling water, and it is best to prepa -e them just in time for cooking. Are better steamed th.-.i- boiled.
MASHED POTATOES.
Potatoes are not good for mashing until they .ire full grown; peel them, and lay them in water for an hour or more before boiling, for mashing.
Old potatoes, when unfit for plain boiling, may be served mashed; cut out all imperfections, take off all the skin, and lay them in cold water for one hour or more; then put them into a dinner-pot or stewpan, with a tea- spoonful of salt; cover the stewpan, and let them boil for half an hour, unless they are large, when three quarters of an hour will be required; when they are done, take them up with a skimmer into a wooden bowl or tray, and mash them fine with a potato beetle; melt a piece of butter, the size of a large egg, into half a pint of hot milk; mix it with tne mashed potatoes until it k- taoroughly incorporated, and a smooth mass; then put it in a deep dish, smooth the top over, 'and mark it neatly with a knife; put pepper over, and serve, The
1 08 THE E VER Y-DA Y COOK-BOOK.
quantity of milk used must be in proportion to the quantity of potatoes.
Mashed potatoes may be heaped on a flat dish ; make it in a crown or pineapple; stick a sprig of green celery or parsley in the top ; or first brown it before the fire or in an oven.
Mashed potatoes mny be made a highly ornamental dish ; after shaping it, as taste may direct, trim the edge of the plate with a wreath of celery leaves or green pars- ley; or first brown the outside in an oven or before the fire.
TRIED POTATOES.
Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices, as nearly the same size as possible ; make some butter or dripping quite hot in a frying-pan ; put in the potatoes, and fry them on both sides of a nice brown. When they are crisp and done, take them up, place them on a cloth before the fire to drain the grease from them, and serve very hot, after sprinkling them with salt. These are delicious with rump- steak, and in France are frequently served thus as a breakfast dish. The remains of cold potatoes may also be sliced and fried by the above recipe, but the slices must be cut a little thicker.
BROILED POTATOES.
Cut cold boiled potatoes in slices lengthwise, quarter of an inch thick; dip each slice in wheat flour, and lay them on a gridiron over a bright fire of coals ; when both sides are browned nicely, take them on a hot dish, put a bit of butter, pepper and salt to taste over, and serve hot.
POTATOES AND CREAM.
Mince cold boiled potatoes fine ; put them into a spider with melted butter in it; let them fry a little in the but-
THE E VERY-DAY COOKBOOK.
ter, well covered; then put in a fresh piece of butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, and pour over cream or rich milk; let it boil up once and serve.
POTATO PUFFS.
Prepare the potaotes as directed for mashed potato. While /iot, shape in balls about the size of an egg. Have a tin sheet well buttered, and place the balls on it. As soon as all are done, brush over with beaten egg. Brown ;n the oven. When done, slip a knife under them and slide them upon a hot platter. Garnish with parsley, and serve immediately.
POTATO SNOW.
Choose large white potatoes, as free from spots as possible; boil them in their skins in salt and water until perfectly tender, drain and dry them thoroughly by the side of the fire, and peel them. Put a hot dish before the fire, rub the potatoes through a coarse sieve on to this dish; do not touch them afterwards, or the flakes will fall, and serve as hot as possible.
POTATO BORDER.
Six potatoes, three eggs, one tablespoonful of butter, &ne of salt, half a cupful of boiling milk. Pare, boil and mash the potatoes. When fine and light, add the butter, salt and pepper and two well-beaten eggs. Butter the border mould and pack the potato in it. Let this stand on the kitchen table ten minutes; then turn out on a dish and brush over with one well-beaten egg. Brown in the oven.
WHIPPED POTATOES.
Instead of mashing in the ordinary way whip with a *ork until light and dry; then whip in a