Note.—Small vol-au-vents may be made like those shown in the engraving, and filled with minced veal, chicken, &c. They should be made of the same paste as the larger ones, and stamped out with a small fluted cutter.
Ingredients.—¾ lb. of puff-paste, 1 pint of freshly-gathered strawberries, sugar to taste, a plateful of whipped cream. Mode.—Make a vol-au-vent case, only not quite so large nor so high as for a savoury one. When nearly done, brush the paste over with the white of an egg, then sprinkle on it some pounded sugar, and put it back in the oven to set the glaze. Remove the interior, or soft crumb, and, at the moment of serving, fill it with the strawberries, which should be picked, and broken up with sufficient sugar to sweeten them nicely. Place a few spoonfuls of whipped cream on the top and serve. Time.—½ hour to 40 minutes to bake the vol-au-vent. Average cost, 2s. 3d. Sufficient for 1 vol-au-vent. Seasonable in June and July.
Ingredients.—¾ lb. of puff-paste, about 1 pint of fruit compôte. Mode.—Make ½ lb. of puff-paste, taking care to bake it in a good brisk oven, to draw it up nicely and make it look light. Have ready sufficient stewed fruit, the syrup of which must be boiled down until very thick; fill the vol-au-vent with this, and pile it high in the centre; powder a little sugar over it, and put it back in the oven to glaze, or use a salamander for the purpose: the vol-au-vent is then ready to serve. It may be made with any fruit that is in season, such as rhubarb, oranges, gooseberries, currants, cherries, apples, &c.; but care must be taken not to have the syrup too thin, for fear of its breaking through the crust. Time.—½ hour to 40 minutes to bake the vol-au-vent. Average cost, exclusive of the compôte, 1s. 1d. Sufficient for 1 entremets.
Ingredients.—2 eggs, 3 oz. butter, 3 oz. flour, 3 oz. pounded sugar. Mode.—Well whisk the eggs; put them into a basin, and stir to them the butter, which should be beaten to a cream; add the flour and sifted sugar gradually, and then mix all well together. Butter a baking-sheet, and drop on it a teaspoonful of the mixture at a time, leaving a space between each. Bake in a cool oven; watch the pieces of paste, and, when half done, roll them up like wafers, and put in a small wedge of bread or piece of wood, to keep them in shape. Return them to the oven until crisp. Before serving, remove the bread, put a spoonful of preserve in the widest end, and fill up with whipped cream. This is a very pretty and ornamental dish for the supper-table, and is very nice and easily made. Time.—Altogether from 20 to 25 minutes. Average cost, exclusive of the preserve and cream, 7d. Sufficient for a nice-sized dish. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—100 walnuts, 1 handful of salt, 1 quart of vinegar, ¼ oz. of mace, ¼ oz. of nutmeg, ¼ oz. of cloves, ¼ oz. of ginger, ¼ oz. of whole black pepper, a small piece of horseradish, 20 shalots, ¼ lb. of anchovies, 1 pint of port wine. Mode.—Procure the walnuts at the time you can run a pin through them, slightly bruise, and put them into a jar with the salt and vinegar; let them stand 8 days, stirring every day; then drain the liquor from them, and boil it, with the above ingredients, for about ½ hour. It may be strained or not, as preferred, and, if required, a little more vinegar or wine can be added, according to taste. When bottled well, seal the corks. Time.—½ hour. Seasonable.—Make this from the beginning to the middle of July, when walnuts are in perfection for pickling purposes.
Ingredients.—½ sieve of walnut-shells, 2 quarts of water, salt, ½ lb. of shalots, 1 oz. of cloves, 1 oz. of mace, 1 oz. of whole pepper, 1 oz. of garlic. Mode.—Put the walnut-shells into a pan, with the water, and a large quantity of salt; let them stand for 10 days, then break the shells up in the water, and let it drain through a sieve, putting a heavy weight on the top to express the juice; place it on the fire, and remove all scum that may arise. Now boil the liquor with the shalots, cloves, mace, pepper, and garlic, and let all simmer till the shalots sink; then put the liquor into a pan, and, when cold, bottle, and cork closely. It should stand 6 months before using: should it ferment during that time, it must be again boiled and skimmed. Time.—About ¾ hour. Seasonable in September, when the walnut-shells are obtainable.
Ingredients.—To every pint of water allow 1 teaspoonful of salt. Mode.—Place the walnuts in the salt and water for 24 hours at least; then take them out, and rub them dry. Old nuts may be freshened in this manner; or walnuts, when first picked, may be put into an earthen pan with salt sprinkled amongst them, and with damped hay placed on the top of them, and then covered down with a lid. They must be well wiped before they are put on table. Seasonable.—Should be stored away in September or October.
Ingredients.—100 walnuts, salt and water. To each quart of vinegar allow 2 oz. of whole black pepper, 1 oz. of allspice, 1 oz. of bruised ginger. Mode.—Procure the walnuts while young; be careful they are not woody, and prick them well with a fork; prepare a strong brine of salt and water (4 lbs. of salt to each gallon of water), into which put the walnuts, letting them remain 9 days, and changing the brine every third day; drain them off, put them on a dish, place it in the sun until they become perfectly black, which will be in 2 or 3 days; have ready dry jars, into which place the walnuts, and do not quite fill the jars. Boil sufficient vinegar to cover them, for 10 minutes, with spices in the above proportion, and pour it hot over the walnuts, which must be quite covered with the pickle; tie down with bladder, and keep in a dry place. They will be fit for use in a month, and will keep good 2 or 3 years. Time.—10 minutes. Seasonable.—Make this from the beginning to the middle of July, before the walnuts harden.
Note.—When liked, a few shalots may be added to the vinegar, and boiled with it.
Perch, tench, soles, eels, and flounders are considered the best fish for this dish. For the souchy, put some water into a stewpan with a bunch of chopped parsley, some roots, and sufficient salt to make it brackish. Let these simmer for 1 hour, and then stew the fish in this water. When they are done, take them out to drain, have ready some finely-chopped parsley, and a few roots cut into slices of about one inch thick and an inch in length. Put the fish in a tureen or deep dish, strain the liquor over them, and add the minced parsley and roots. Serve with brown bread and butter.
Ingredients.—Wheatears; fresh butter. Mode.—After the birds are picked, gutted, and cleaned, truss them like larks, put them down to a quick fire, and baste them well with fresh butter. When done, which will be in about 20 minutes, dish them on fried bread-crumbs, and garnish the dish with slices of lemon. Time.—20 minutes. Seasonable from July to October.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of ripe white currants, the rind of 2 lemons, ¼ oz. of grated ginger, 1 quart of whiskey, 1 lb. of lump sugar. Mode.—Strip the currants from the stalks; put them into a large jug; add the lemon-rind, ginger, and whiskey; cover the jug closely, and let it remain covered for 24 hours. Strain through a hair-sieve, add the lump sugar, and let it stand 12 hours longer; then bottle, and cork well. Time.—To stand 24 hours before being strained; 12 hours after the sugar is added. Seasonable.—Make this in July.
Ingredients.—A little flour, hot lard, seasoning of salt. Mode.—This fish should be put into iced water as soon as bought, unless they are cooked immediately. Drain them from the water in a colander, and have ready a nice clean dry cloth, over which put 2 good handfuls of flour. Toss in the whitebait, shake them lightly in the cloth, and put them in a wicker-sieve to take away the superfluous flour. Throw them into a pan of boiling lard, very few at a time, and let them fry till of a whitey-brown colour. Directly they are done, they must be taken out, and laid before the fire for a minute or two on a sieve reversed, covered with blotting-paper to absorb the fat. Dish them on a hot napkin, arrange the fish very high in the centre, and sprinkle a little salt over the whole. Time.—3 minutes. Seasonable from April to August.
Ingredients.—½ pint of white stock, ½ pint of cream, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, salt to taste. Mode.—Have ready a delicately-clean saucepan, into which put the stock, which should be well flavoured with vegetables, and rather savoury; mix the flour smoothly with the cream, add it to the stock, season with a little salt, and boil all these ingredients very gently for about 10 minutes, keeping them well stirred the whole time, as this sauce is very liable to burn. Time.—10 minutes. Average cost, 1s. Sufficient for a pair of fowls. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—2 oz. of butter, 2 small onions, 1 carrot, ½ a small teacupful of flour, 1 pint of new milk, salt and cayenne to taste. Mode.—Cut up the onions and carrot very small, and put them into a stewpan with the butter; simmer them till the butter is nearly dried up; then stir in the flour, and add the milk; boil the whole gently until it thickens, strain it, season with salt and cayenne, and it will be ready to serve. Time.—¼ hour. Average cost, 5d. Sufficient for a pair of fowls. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—1½ pint of milk, 1½ oz. of rice, 1 strip of lemon-peel, 1 small blade of pounded mace, salt and cayenne to taste. Mode.—Boil the milk with the lemon-peel and rice until the latter is perfectly tender, then take out the lemon-peel and pound the milk and rice together; put it back into the stewpan to warm, add the mace and seasoning, give it one boil, and serve. This sauce should be of the consistency of thick cream. Time.—About 1½ hour to boil the rice. Average cost, 4d. Sufficient for a pair of fowls. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—¼ lb. of salt to each gallon of water. Mode.—Cleanse the fish, but do not skin them; lay them in a fish-kettle, with sufficient cold water to cover them, and salt in the above proportion. Bring them gradually to a boil, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, or rather more should the fish be very large. Dish them on a hot napkin, and garnish with tufts of parsley. Serve with anchovy or caper sauce, and plain melted butter. Time.—After the water boils, 5 minutes. Average cost for small whitings, 4d. each. Seasonable all the year, but best from October to March. Sufficient.—1 small whiting for each person.
To Choose Whiting.—Choose for the firmness of its flesh, and the silvery hue of its appearance.
Ingredients.—Salt and water; flour. Mode.—Wash the whiting in salt and water, wipe them thoroughly, and let them remain in the cloth to absorb all moisture. Flour them well, and broil over a very clear fire. Serve with maître d’hôtel sauce, or plain melted butter (see Sauces). Be careful to preserve the liver, as by some it is considered very delicate. Time.—5 minutes for a small whiting. Average cost, 4d. each. Seasonable all the year, but best from October to March. Sufficient.—1 small whiting for each person.
Whiting, pike, haddock, and other fish, when of a sufficiently large size, may be carved in the same manner as salmon. When small, they may be cut through, bone and all, and helped in nice pieces, a middling-sized whiting serving for two slices.
Ingredients.—Egg and bread-crumbs, a little flour, hot lard, or clarified dripping. Mode.—Take off the skin, clean, and thoroughly wipe the fish free from all moisture, as this is most essential, in order that the egg and bread-crumbs may properly adhere. Fasten the tail in the mouth by means of a small skewer, brush the fish over with egg, dredge with a little flour, and cover with bread-crumbs. Fry them in hot lard or clarified dripping of a nice colour, and serve them on a napkin, garnished with fried parsley. Send them to table with shrimp sauce and plain melted butter. Time.—-About 6 minutes. Average cost, 4d. each. Seasonable all the year, but best from October to March. Sufficient.—1 small whiting for each person.
Note.—Large whitings may be filleted, rolled, and served as fried filleted soles. Small fried whitings are frequently used for garnishing large boiled fish, such as turbot, cod, &c.
Ingredients.—4 whiting, butter, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, a few chopped mushrooms when obtainable; pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste; butter, 2 glasses of sherry or Madeira, bread-crumbs. Mode.—Grease the bottom of a baking-dish with butter, and over it strew some minced parsley and mushrooms. Scale, empty, and wash the whitings, and wipe them thoroughly dry, carefully preserving the livers. Lay them in the dish, sprinkle them with bread-crumbs and seasoning, adding a little grated nutmeg, and also a little more minced parsley and mushrooms. Place small pieces of butter over the whiting, moisten with the wine, and bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven. If there should be too much sauce, reduce it by boiling over a sharp fire for a few minutes, and pour under the fish. Serve with a cut lemon, and no other sauce. Time.—20 minutes. Average cost, 4d. each. Seasonable all the year, but best from October to March. Sufficient.—This quantity for 4 or 5 persons.
Ingredients.—1 bunch of sweet herbs chopped very fine; butter. Mode.—Clean and skin the fish, fasten the tails in the mouths, and lay them in a baking-dish. Mince the herbs very fine, strew them over the fish, and place small pieces of butter over; cover with another dish, and let them simmer in a Dutch oven for ¼ hour or 20 minutes. Turn the fish once or twice, and serve with the sauce poured over. Time.—¼ hour or 20 minutes. Average cost, 4d. each. Seasonable all the year, but best from October to March. Sufficient.—1 small whiting for each person.
Ingredients.—Widgeons, a little flour, butter. Mode.—These are trussed in the same manner as wild duck, but must not be kept so long before they are dressed. Put them down to a brisk fire; flour, and baste them continually with butter, and, when browned and nicely frothed, send them to table hot and quickly. Serve with brown gravy, or orange gravy, and a cut lemon. Time.—¼ hour; if liked well done, 20 minutes. Average cost, 1s. each: but seldom bought. Sufficient.—2 for a dish. Seasonable from October to February.
Widgeon may be carved in the same way as described in regard to wild duck.
Ingredients.—1 pint of melted butter, 3 heaped teaspoonfuls of pounded sugar; 1 large wineglassful of port or sherry, or ¾ of a small glassful of brandy. Mode.—Make ½ pint of melted butter, omitting the salt; then stir in the sugar and wine or spirit in the above proportion, and bring the sauce to the point of boiling. Serve in a boat or tureen separately, and, if liked, pour a little of it over the pudding. To convert this into punch sauce, add to the sherry and brandy a small wineglassful of rum and the juice and grated rind of ½ lemon. Liqueurs, such as Maraschino or Curaçoa, substituted for the brandy, make excellent sauces. Time.—Altogether, 15 minutes. Average cost, 8d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Ingredients.—½ pint of sherry, ¼ pint of water, the yolks of 5 eggs, 2 oz. of pounded sugar, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, a few pieces of candied citron cut thin. Mode.—Separate the yolks from the whites of 5 eggs; beat them, and put them into a very clean saucepan (if at hand, a lined one is best); add all the other ingredients, place them over a sharp fire, and keep stirring until the sauce begins to thicken; then take it off and serve. If it is allowed to boil, it will be spoiled, as it will immediately curdle. Time.—To be stirred over the fire 3 or 4 minutes; but it must not boil. Average cost, 2s. Sufficient for a large pudding; allow half this quantity for a moderate-sized one. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—The yolks of 4 eggs, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 2 oz. of pounded sugar, 2 oz. of fresh butter, ¼ saltspoonful of salt, ½ pint of sherry or Madeira. Mode.—Put the butter and flour into a saucepan, and stir them over the fire until the former thickens; then add the sugar, salt, and wine, and mix these ingredients well together. Separate the yolks from the whites of 4 eggs; beat up the former, and stir them briskly to the sauce; let it remain over the fire until it is on the point of simmering; but do not allow it to boil, or it will instantly curdle. This sauce is delicious with plum, marrow, or bread puddings; but should be served separately, and not poured over the pudding. Time.—From 5 to 7 minutes to thicken the butter; about 5 minutes to stir the sauce over the fire. Average cost, 1s. 10d. Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Ingredients.—To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar, and spice to taste. Mode.—In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, when serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately clean, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean, they will spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purposes.
Ingredients.—Woodcocks; butter, flour, toast. Mode.—Woodcocks should not be drawn, as the trails are, by epicures, considered a great delicacy. Pluck, and wipe them well outside; truss them with the legs close to the body, and the feet pressing upon the thighs; skin the neck and head, and bring the beak round under the wing. Place some slices of toast in the dripping-pan to catch the trails, allowing a piece of toast for each bird. Roast before a clear fire from 15 to 25 minutes; keep them well basted, and flour and froth them nicely. When done, dish the pieces of toast with the birds upon them, and pour round a very little gravy; send some more to table in a tureen. These are most delicious birds when well cooked; but they should not be kept too long: when the feathers drop, or easily come out, they are fit for for table. Time.—When liked underdone, 15 to 20 minutes; if liked well done, allow an extra 5 minutes. Average cost.—Seldom bought. Sufficient.—2 for a dish. Seasonable from November to February.
This bird, like a partridge, may be carved by cutting it exactly into two like portions, or made into three helpings, as described in carving partridge. The backbone is considered the tit-bit of a woodcock, and by many the thigh is also thought a great delicacy. This bird is served in the manner advised by Brillat Savarin, in connection with the pheasant, viz., on toast which has received its drippings whilst roasting; and a piece of this toast should invariably accompany each plate.
Ingredients.—A few slices of hot buttered toast; allow 1 anchovy to each slice. For the sauce,—¼ pint of cream, the yolks of 3 eggs. Mode.—Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs; beat the former, stir to them the cream, and bring the sauce to the boiling-point, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle. Have ready some hot buttered toast, spread with anchovies pounded to a paste; pour a little of the hot sauce on the top, and serve very hot and very quickly. Time.—5 minutes to make the sauce hot. Sufficient.—Allow ½ slice to each person. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—1½ lb. of flour, ½ lb. of butter, ½ pint of milk, 1½ tablespoonful of good yeast, 3 eggs, ¾ lb. of currants, ½ lb. of white moist sugar, 2 oz. of candied peel. Mode.—Put the milk and butter into a saucepan, and shake it round over a fire until the butter is melted, but do not allow the milk to get very hot. Put the flour into a basin, stir to it the milk and butter, the yeast and eggs, which should be well beaten, and form the whole into a smooth dough. Let it stand in a warm place, covered with a cloth, to rise, and, when sufficiently risen, add the currants, sugar, and candied peel cut into thin slices. When all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, line 2 moderate-sized cake-tins with buttered paper, which should be about six inches higher than the tin; pour in the mixture, let it stand to rise again for another ½ hour, and then bake the cakes in a brisk oven for about 1½ hour. If the tops of them become too brown, cover them with paper until they are done through. A few drops of essence of lemon, or a little grated nutmeg, may be added when the flavour is liked. Time.—From 1¼ to 1½ hour. Average cost, 2s. Sufficient to make 2 moderate-sized cakes. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—½ quartern of dough, boiling water. Mode.—Make a very light dough as for bread, using to mix it, milk, instead of water; divide it into 7 or 8 dumplings; plunge them into boiling water, and boil them for 20 minutes. Serve the instant they are taken up, as they spoil directly, by falling and becoming heavy; and in eating them do not touch them with a knife, but tear them apart with two forks. They may be eaten with meat gravy, or cold butter and sugar; and if not convenient to make the dough at home, a little from the baker’s answers as well, only it must be placed for a few minutes near the fire, in a basin with a cloth over it, to let it rise again before it is made into dumplings. Time.—20 minutes. Average cost, 4d. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable at any time.
Ingredients.—1½ oz. of hops, 3 quarts of water, 1 lb. of bruised malt, ½ pint of yeast. Mode.—Boil the hops in the water for 20 minutes; let it stand for about 5 minutes, then add it to 1 lb. of bruised malt prepared as for brewing. Let the mixture stand covered till about lukewarm; then put in not quite ½ pint of yeast; keep it warm, and let it work 3 or 4 hours; then put it into small ½-pint bottles (ginger-beer bottles are the best for the purpose), cork them well, and tie them down. The yeast is now ready for use; it will keep good for a few weeks, and 1 bottle will be found sufficient for 18 lbs. of flour. When required for use, boil 3 lbs. of potatoes without salt, mash them in the same water in which they were boiled, and rub them through a colander. Stir in about ½ lb. of flour; then put in the yeast, pour it in the middle of the flour, and let it stand warm on the hearth all night, and in the morning let it be quite warm when it is kneaded. The bottles of yeast require very careful opening, as it is generally exceedingly ripe. Time.—20 minutes to boil the hops and water, the yeast to work 3 or 4 hours. Sufficient.—½ pint sufficient for 18 lbs. of flour.
Ingredients.—2 oz. of hops, 4 quarts of water, ½ lb. of flour, ½ pint of yeast. Mode.—Boil the hops and water for 20 minutes; strain, and mix with the liquid ½ lb. of flour and not quite ½ pint of yeast. Bottle it up, and tie the corks down. When wanted for use, boil potatoes according to the quantity of bread to be made (about 3 lbs. are sufficient for about a peck of flour); mash them, add to them ½ lb. of flour, and mix about ½ pint of the yeast with them; let this mixture stand all day, and lay the bread to rise the night before it is wanted. Time.—20 minutes to boil the hops and water. Sufficient.—½ pint of this yeast sufficient for a peck of flour, or rather more.
[A] An American writer says he has followed this recipe, substituting pike, shad, &c., in the place of carp, and can recommend all these also, with a quiet conscience. Any fish, indeed, may be used with success.