Slice beef thin: broil a part of it, over a very clear quick fire, just enough to give colour to the gravy, but not to dress it: put that, and the raw into a very nicely tinned stewpan, with two onions, a clove, or two Jamaica and black peppers, and a bunch of sweet herbs: cover it with hot water; give it one boil, and skim it well two or three times: then cover it and simmer till quite strong.
Cut thin lean beef: put it in a fryingpan without any butter: set it on a fire covered, but take care it does not burn: let it stay till all the gravy that comes out of the meat be dried up into it again; then put as much water as will cover the meat, and let that stew away. Then put to the meat a small quantity of water, herbs, onions, spice, a bit of lean ham: simmer till it is rich, then keep it in a cool place. Remove the fat only when going to be used.
Cut beef in thin slices, according to the quantity wanted: slice onions thin, and flour both: fry them of a light pale brown, but on no account suffer them to go black: put them into a stewpan, and pouring boiling water on the browning in the fryingpan, boil it up, and pour on the meat. Put to it a bunch of parsley, thyme, savory, and a small bit of knotted marjorum, and the same of tarragon, some mace, Jamaica and black peppers, a clove or two, and a bit of ham or gammon. Simmer till you have all the juices of the meat; and be sure to skim the moment it boils, and frequently after. If for a hare, or stewed fish, anchovy should be added.
The shankbones of mutton are a great improvement to the richness of the gravy; being first well soaked, and scoured clean.
Note. Jelly gravy for cold pies should be brown or white, as the meat or fowl is. It must be drawn without frying, relished, and made quite clean, by running it through a flannel bag. To give it the consistence of jelly, shanks, or knuckle, or feet, should be boiled with the bones.
Clean a maid: put it with three quarts of water, an ounce and a half of isinglass, a bit of mace, lemonpeel, white peppers, a stick of horseradish, and a little ham or gammon. Stew, till on trying with a spoon you find that it jellies: then strain it off, and add to it the whites of five eggs, a glass of sherry wine, and the juice of a lemon; give it another boil, and pour it through a jellybag till quite transparent.
When cold, lay it over the fish with a spoon.
Lay as much lean veal over the bottom of a stewpan as will cover it an inch thick: then cover the veal with thin slices of undressed gammon, two or three onions, two or three bayleaves, some sweet herbs, two blades of mace, and three cloves. Cover the stewpan, and set it over a slow fire. When the juices come out, let the fire be a little quicker. When the meat is of a fine brown, fill the pan with good beef broth, boil and skim it, then simmer an hour: add a little water, mixed with as much flour as will make it properly thick; boil it half an hour, and strain it.
This will keep a week.
Make as directed for the cullis, leaving out the spice, herbs, and flour. It should be drawn very slowly: and if for white dishes, do not let the meat brown.
Cut lean veal in small slices, and the same quantity of lean bacon or ham: put them in a stewpan, with a good piece of butter, an onion, a blade of mace, a few mushroom buttons, a bit of thyme, and a bayleaf. Fry the whole over a very slow fire, but not to brown it: add flour to thicken; then put an equal quantity of good broth, and rich cream. Let it boil half an hour, stirring it all the time: strain it through a soup strainer.
N. B. Soups and gravies are far better by putting the meat at the bottom of the pan, and stewing it, and the herbs, roots, &c. with butter, than by adding the water to the meat at first; and the gravy that is drawn from the meat, should be nearly dried up before the water is put to it. Do not use the sediment of gravies, &c. that have stood to be cold. When onions are strong, boil a turnip with them, if for sauce, which will make them mild.
Simmer ten minutes a teacupful of port wine, the same of good meat gravy, a little shalot, a little pepper, salt, a grate of nutmeg, and a bit of mace: put a bit of butter and flour: give one boil, and pour through the birds; which in general are not stuffed as tame, but may be done so, if liked.
Serve a rich gravy in the dish: cut the breast in slices, but do not take them off; cut a lemon, and put pepper and salt on it; then squeeze it on the breast, and pour a spoonful of gravy over before you help.
Note. In cutting up any wild fowl, duck, goose, or turkey for a large party, if you cut the slices down from pinion to pinion, without making wings, there will be more prime pieces.
Put into a saucepan a piece of butter the size of an egg: set it over the fire, and when browning, throw in a handful of sliced onions cut small: fry them brown, but do not let them burn: add half a spoonful of flour, shake the onions in it, give another fry, then put four spoonfuls of gravy, pepper, and salt, and boil gently ten minutes. Skim off the fat: add a teaspoonful of made mustard, a spoonful of vinegar, and half a lemon juice: boil, and pour round the steaks, which should be of a fine yellow brown, and garnished with fried parsley and lemon.
Rub half a pound of butter with a teaspoonful of flour; put to it a little water, melt it, and add near a quarter of a pint of thick cream, and half an anchovy chopped fine, unwashed; set it over the fire, and as it boils up, add a large spoonful of real India soy. If that does not give it a fine colour, put a little more. Turn it into the sauce tureen, and put some salt, and half a lemon. Stir it well to prevent curdling.
Rub down in a mortar the yelks of two eggs boiled hard, an anchovy, two dessert spoonfuls of oil, a little shalot, and a teaspoonful of mustard, (all should be pounded before the oil be added) then strain it.
Chop fine mint, parsley, and shalot, and add salt, oil, and vinegar. It may be poured over, or sent in a boat.
Grate, or scrape very fine, horseradish, a little made mustard, some pounded white sugar, and four large spoonfuls of vinegar.
Serve in a saucer.
On a clean trencher, mix a little flour to a large piece of butter, in the proportion of a teaspoonful to a full quarter of a pound; then put into a saucepan, and pour on it two large spoonfuls of hot water; set it on the fire, and let it boil quick. You should stir it round one way, and serve it as soon as ready.
On the goodness of this depends the look and flavour of every sauce in which it is put.
Pound the spawn, and two anchovies: pour on two spoonfuls of gravy: strain it into some butter melted as above; then put in the meat of the lobster, give one boil, and add a squeeze of lemon.
Leave out the anchovies and gravy, and do as above, with a little salt, and catsup, or not, as you like. Many prefer the flavour of the lobster and salt only.
If not picked at home, pour a little water over to wash, and put them to butter melted thick and smooth: give them one boil, and add the juice of lemon.
Chop one or two without washing: put to some flour and butter, and a little drop of water: stir it over the fire till it boil once or twice. When the anchovies are good, they will be dissolved; and the colour will be better than by the usual way.
Simmer very gently a quarter of a pint of vinegar, half a pint of water (which must not be hard) with an onion, half a handful of horseradish, and the following spices lightly bruised: four cloves, two blades of mace, and half a teaspoonful of black pepper. When the onion is quite tender, chop it small with two anchovies: and set the whole on the fire to boil for a few minutes, with a spoonful of catsup. Mean time, have ready and well beaten the yelks of three fresh eggs: strain; mix in the liquor by degrees with them; and when well mixed, set the saucepan over a gentle fire, keeping a bason in one hand, into which toss the sauce to and fro, shaking the saucepan over the fire, that the eggs may not curdle. Do not boil, only let the sauce be hot enough to give the thickness of melted butter.
Cut thin slices of lemon into very small dice, and put into melted butter; give one boil, and pour over boiled fowls.
Chop boiled liver of rabbits or fowls, and do as above, with a very little pepper and salt, and some parsley.
Cut the livers, slices of lemon in dice, scalded parsley, and hard eggs: add salt, and mix with butter: boil up, and pour over the fowls.
Or for roast rabbit.
Boil the eggs hard, and cut them in small pieces: then put them to melted butter.
Beat four or five eggs, yelk and white together: put a quarter of a pound of butter in a bason and then put that in boiling water; stir it till melted: then pour that butter and the eggs into a saucepan. Keep a bason in your hand: just hold the saucepan in the other over a slow part of the fire, shaking it one way; as it begins to warm, pour it into a bason, and back; then hold it again over the fire, stirring it constantly in the saucepan, and pouring it into the bason, more perfectly to mix the egg and butter, until they shall be hot without boiling.
Serve on toasted bread; or in a bason to eat with salt fish or red herrings.
Peel, and boil onions tender: squeeze the water from them; then chop, and add butter that has been melted rich and smooth as before, but with a little good milk instead of water: boil up once, and serve for boiled rabbits, partridges, scrag, or knuckle of veal; or roast mutton.
Save the liquor in opening, and boil with the beards, a bit of mace, and lemonpeel. Mean time throw the oysters into cold water, and drain it off. Strain the liquor, and put it into a saucepan with them, and as much butter, mixed with a little milk, as will make sauce enough; a little flour being previously rubbed with it.
Set them over the fire, stir all the time; and when the butter has boiled once or twice, take them off, and keep the saucepan near, but not on the fire; for if done too much, the oysters will be hard. Squeeze a little lemonjuice, and serve.
If for company, a little cream is a great improvement. Observe the oysters will thin the sauce, and put butter accordingly.
Boil a large onion, cut in four, with some black peppers, and milk, until the former be quite a pap. Pour the milk strained on grated white stale bread, and cover it. In an hour put it into a saucepan, with a good piece of butter, mixed with a little flour: boil the whole up together, and serve.
Some people like the bread pulped through a colander before the butter be added. A large spoonful of cream improves it.
Boil three eggs hard: beat the yelks fine with the raw yelk of an egg; then make up the paste into small eggs, and throw them into a little boiling water to harden.
Thicken a quarter of a pound of butter with flour, and brown it; then put to it a pound of the best anchovies, cut small, six blades of pounded mace, ten cloves, forty black and Jamaica peppers, a few small onions, a faggot of sweet herbs; namely, savory, thyme, basil, and knotted marjorum; a little parsley, and sliced horseradish. On these pour half a pint of the best sherry wine, and a pint and a half of strong gravy: simmer all gently for twenty minutes; then strain it through a sieve, and bottle it for use: the way of which, is to boil some of it in the butter, as melting.
Put into a very nice tin saucepan, a pint of fine port wine, one gill of mountain, half a pint of walnut catsup that is fine, twelve anchovies, and the liquor that belongs to them, one gill of walnut pickle, the rind and juice of a large lemon, four or five shalots, Cayenne to taste, three ounces of scraped horseradish, three blades of mace, and two teaspoonfuls of made mustard: boil gently, till the rawness go off, then put it in small bottles for use.
Cork very close, and seal the top.