STEWED LAMB.—Take a fine quarter of lamb, and for a large dish, cut the whole of it into steaks; for a small dish, cut up the loin only; or slice only the leg. Remove the skin, and all the fat. Place at the bottom of a large stew-pot a fresh lettuce split into long quarters. Having seasoned the steaks with a little salt and cayenne, and some powdered nutmeg and mace, lay them upon the lettuce, pour on just sufficient water to cover the whole, and let it stew gently for an hour, skimming it occasionally. Then put in a quart or two of young green peas, (in proportion to the quantity of meat,) a sprig of fresh green mint, a lump of loaf-sugar, and some bits of fresh butter. Let it cook slowly about half an hour longer, or till the peas are all soft and well-done. In sending it to table, place the meat upon the lettuce, and the peas round it.
Cold ham sliced, and stewed in this manner, will be found excellent. The ham having been already cooked, half an hour will be sufficient to stew it with the lettuce, and another half-hour after the peas are in.
LAMB CUTLETS, (a French dish.)—Cut a loin of lamb into chops. Remove all the fat, trim them nicely, scrape the bone, and see that it is the same length in all the cutlets. Lay them in a deep dish, and cover them with salad oil. Let them steep in the oil for an hour. Mix together a sufficiency of finely grated bread-crumbs, and a little minced parsley, seasoned with a very little pepper and salt, and some grated nutmeg. Having drained the cutlets from the oil, cover them with the mixture, and broil them over a bed of hot, live coals, on a previously heated gridiron, the bars of which have been rubbed with chalk. The cutlets must be thoroughly cooked. When half done, turn them carefully. You may bake them in a dutch-oven, instead of broiling them. Have ready some boiled potatoes, mashed smooth and stiff with cream or butter. Heap the mashed potatoes high on a heated dish, and make it into the form of a dome or bee-hive. Smooth it over with the back of a spoon, and place the lamb cutlets all round it, so that they stand up and lean against it, with the broad end of each cutlet downward. In the top of the dome of potatoes, stick a handsome bunch of curled parsley.
FILLET OF MUTTON.—Cut a fillet or round from a leg of mutton; remove all the fat from the outside, and take out the bone. Beat it well on all sides with a meat-beetle or a rolling-pin, to make it more tender, and rub it slightly all over with a very little pepper and salt. Have ready a stuffing made of finely-minced onions, bread-crumbs, and butter; seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and well-mixed. Fill, with some of this stuffing, the place of the bone. Make deep incisions or cuts all over the surface of the meat, and fill them closely with the same stuffing. Bind a tape round the meat to keep it in shape. Put it into a stew-pan, with just water enough to cover it, and let it stew slowly and steadily during four, five, or six hours, in proportion to its size; skimming it frequently. When done, serve it up with its own gravy.
Tomato sauce is an excellent accompaniment to stewed mutton.
A thick piece of a round of fresh beef will be found very good, stuffed and stewed in the above manner. It will require much longer stewing than the mutton.
STEWED MUTTON CUTLETS.—Having removed all the fat and the bone, beat the cutlets to make them tender, and season them with pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Put them into a circular tin kettle, with some bits of fresh butter that have been rolled in flour. Set the kettle (closely covered) upon a trivet inside of a flat-bottomed pot or stew-pan. Pour boiling water all round, but not so as to come up to the top of the inner kettle. Set the pot over a slow fire, and let the stew simmer for two hours. Then lift up the meat, and put under it a lettuce cut in four; and three cucumbers, pared, split, and quartered; two onions sliced; and four young turnips cut small. Add a few blades of mace, a salt-spoon of salt, and a little more butter rolled in flour. Set it again in boiling water, taking care that the water does not reach the top of the inner kettle, the lid of which must be kept very tight. Let it boil slowly, or rather simmer, two hours longer. Then dish it, placing the meat upon the vegetables, and laying all round a ridge of green peas that have been boiled in the usual way.
The bone (nicely trimmed and scraped) may be left in each cutlet; in which case, when dishing them, stand them up in a circle, with the ends of the bones leaning against each other at the top, somewhat as we see poles placed in circles for lima-bean vines.
VEAL LOAF.—Take a cold fillet of veal, and (omitting the fat and skin) mince the meat as fine as possible. Mix with it a quarter of a pound of the fattest part of a cold ham, also chopped small. Add a tea-cupful of grated bread-crumbs; a grated nutmeg; half a dozen blades of mace powdered; the grated yellow rind of a lemon; and two beaten eggs. Season with a salt-spoon of salt, and half a salt-spoon of cayenne. Mix the whole well together, and make it into the form of a loaf. Then glaze it over with beaten yolk of egg; and strew the surface evenly, all over, with bread raspings, or with pounded cracker. Set the dish into a dutch-oven, and bake it half an hour, or till hot all through. Have ready a gravy made of the trimmings of the veal, stewed in some of the gravy that was left when the fillet was roasted the day before. When sufficiently cooked, take out the meat, and thicken the gravy with beaten yolk of egg, stirred in about three minutes before you take it from the fire.
Send the veal loaf to table in a deep dish, with the gravy poured round it.
Chicken loaf, or turkey loaf, may be made in this manner.
STEWED CALF’S HEAD.—Take a fine, large calf’s head; empty it; wash it clean, and boil it till it is quite tender, in just water enough to cover it. Then carefully take out the bones, without spoiling the appearance of the head. Season it with a little salt and cayenne, and a grated nutmeg. Pour over it the liquor in which it has been boiled, adding a jill of vinegar, and two table-spoonfuls of capers, or of green nasturtian-seeds, that have been pickled. Let it stew very slowly for half an hour. Have ready some force-meat balls made of minced veal-suet, grated bread-crumbs, grated lemon-peel, and shred sweet-marjoram,—adding beaten yolk of egg to bind the other ingredients together. Put in the force-meat balls, and stew it slowly a quarter of an hour longer, adding some bits of butter rolled in flour to enrich the gravy. Send it to table hot.
CORNED FILLET OF VEAL.—Take a large fillet of veal, and make deep incisions or cuts all over it with a sharp knife, and insert a slip of the fat into each, pressing it down well to keep it in. Mix a table-spoonful of powdered saltpetre with half a pound of fine salt, and rub the meat all over with it. Make a brine of salt and water strong enough to swim an egg on its surface, adding a lump of saltpetre about the size of a walnut. Put the veal into the brine, (of which there must be enough to more than cover it,) and let it remain ten days; turning it every day. Then take it out, wash off the brine, and boil the veal till thoroughly done and tender all through. It is best to eat it cold, and sliced thin.
FRENCH WAY OF DRESSING A SHOULDER OF VEAL.—Cut the veal into nice square pieces or mouthfuls, and parboil them. Put the bone and trimmings into another pot, and stew them slowly a long time, in a very little water, to make the gravy. Then put the meat into the dish in which it is to go to table, and season it with a very little salt and cayenne pepper, the yellow rind of a large lemon grated, and some powdered mace and nutmeg. Add some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour, or some cold dripping of roast veal. Strain the gravy and pour it in. Set it in a hot dutch-oven, and bake it brown. When nearly done, add two glasses of white wine, and serve it up hot.
Any piece of veal may be cooked in this way.
EXCELLENT MINCED VEAL.—Take three or four pounds of the lean only of a fillet or loin of veal, and mince it very finely, adding a slice or two of cold ham, minced also. Add three or four small young onions, chopped small, a tea-spoonful of sweet-marjoram leaves rubbed from the stalks, the yellow rind of a small lemon grated, and a tea-spoonful of mixed mace and nutmeg powdered. Mix all well together, and dredge it with a little flour. Put it into a stew-pan, with sufficient gravy of cold roast veal to moisten it, and a large table-spoonful or more of fresh butter. Stir it well, and let it stew till thoroughly done. If the veal has been previously cooked, a quarter of an hour will be sufficient. It will be much improved by adding a pint or more of small button mushrooms, cut from the stems, and then put in whole. Also, by stirring in two table-spoonfuls of cream about five minutes before it is taken from the fire.
MINCED TURKEY OR CHICKEN.—Take a cold turkey, or one or two cold fowls; remove all the skin, and cut the flesh from the bones. Then mince it fine, with two or three thin slices of cold smoked tongue, and from half a pint to a pint of button mushrooms well chopped. Add some mace and nutmeg, and put the whole into a stew-pan, with a piece of fresh butter rolled in flour, and sufficient cream to moisten it well. Let it stew ten minutes. Then serve it up in a deep dish.
Instead of mushrooms, you may mix two or three dozen oysters, chopped, and seasoned with pepper and powdered mace.
VEAL WITH OYSTERS.—Take two fine cutlets of about a pound each. Divide them into several pieces, cut thin. Put them into a frying-pan, with boiling lard, and let them fry awhile. When the veal is about half done, add to it a quart of large, fine oysters,—their liquor thickened with a few grated bread-crumbs, and seasoned with mace and nutmeg powdered. Continue the frying till the veal and oysters are thoroughly done. Send it to table in a covered dish.
TERRAPIN VEAL.—Take some cold roast veal (the fillet or the loin) and cut it into very small mouthfuls. Put into a skillet or stew-pan. Have ready a dressing made of six or seven hard-boiled eggs minced fine; a small tea-spoonful of made mustard; a salt-spoonful of salt; and the same of cayenne pepper; a large tea-cupfull (half a pint) of cream, and two glasses of sherry or Madeira wine. The dressing must be thoroughly mixed. Pour it over the veal, and then give the whole a hard stir. Cover it, and let it stew over the fire for ten minutes. Then transfer it to a deep dish, and send it to table hot.
Cold roast duck or fowl may be drest as above. Also venison.
VEAL OLIVES.—Take some cold fillet of veal and cold ham, and cut them into thin square slices of the same size and shape, trimming the edges evenly. Lay a slice of veal on every slice of ham, and spread some beaten yolk of egg over the veal. Have ready a thin force-meat, made of grated bread-crumbs, sweet-marjoram rubbed fine, fresh butter, and grated lemon-peel, seasoned with nutmeg and a little cayenne pepper. Spread this over the veal, and then roll up each slice tightly with the ham. Tie them round securely with coarse thread or fine twine; run a bird-spit through them, and roast them well. For sauce, simmer in a small sauce-pan, some cold veal gravy with two spoonfuls of cream, and some mushroom catchup.
VEAL RISSOLES.—Take as much fine wheat bread as will weigh one pound, after all the crust is cut off. Slice it; put it into a pan and pour over it as much rich milk as will soak it thoroughly. After it has soaked a quarter of an hour, lay it in a sieve and press it dry. Mince as finely as possible a pound of veal cutlet with six ounces of veal suet; then mix in gradually the bread; adding a salt-spoonful of salt, a slight sprinkling of cayenne, and a small tea-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg mixed; also the yellow rind of a lemon grated. Beat two eggs, and moisten the mixture with them. Then divide it into equal portions, and with a little flour on your hands roll it into oval balls rather smaller than an egg. Strew over them some dry bread-crumbs; then fry them in lard or fresh butter—drain them well, and send them to table hot. For gravy (which should be commenced before the rissoles) put some bits and trimmings of veal into a small sauce-pan, with as much water as will cover them; a very little pepper and salt; and three or four blades of mace. Cover the sauce-pan closely, and let the meat stew till all the strength is extracted; skimming it well. Then strain it; return the liquid to the sauce-pan; add a bit of butter rolled in flour; and squeeze in the juice of a lemon. Give it a boil up; and then, at the last, stir in the beaten yolk of an egg. Serve up this gravy in a sauce-boat, to eat with the rissoles.
Instead of stewing meat for the purpose you may make this gravy with the drippings of roast veal saved from the day before. You have then only to melt it over the fire; adding the seasoning; and giving it one boil.
Similar rissoles may be made of minced chicken or turkey.
SWEETBREAD CROQUETTES.—Having trimmed some sweetbreads nicely, and removed the gristle, parboil them, and then mince them very fine. Add grated bread, and season with a very little salt and pepper; some powdered mace and nutmeg; and some grated lemon-rind. Moisten the whole with cream, and make them up into small cones or sugar-loaves; forming and smoothing them nicely. Have ready some beaten egg, mixed with grated bread-crumbs. Dip into it each croquette, and fry them slowly in fresh butter. Serve them hot; standing up on the dish, and with a sprig of parsley in the top of each.
Sweetbreads should never be used unless perfectly fresh. They spoil very rapidly. As soon as they are brought from market they should be split open, and laid in cold water. Never attempt to keep sweetbreads till next day, except in cold weather.
Similar croquettes may be made of cold boiled chicken; or cold roast veal; or of oysters, minced raw, and seasoned and mixed as above.
FRICASSEED SWEETBREADS.—Take half a dozen sweetbreads; clean them thoroughly, and lay them for an hour or two in a pan of water, having first removed the strings and gristle. Then put them into a stew-pan with as much rich milk or cream as will cover them well, and a very little salt. Stew them slowly, till tender throughout, and thoroughly done, saving the liquid. Then take them up; cover them; and set them near the fire to keep warm. Prepare a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided into four pieces, and rolled in flour. Put the butter into the milk in which the sweetbreads were boiled, and add a few sprigs of parsley cut small; five or six blades of mace; half a nutmeg grated; and a very little cayenne pepper. Have ready the yolks of three eggs well-beaten. Return the sweetbreads to the gravy; let it just come to a boil; and then stir in the beaten egg immediately before you take the fricassee from the fire, otherwise it will curdle. Serve it up in a deep dish with a cover.
Chickens, cut up, may be fricasseed in this manner.
TOMATO SWEETBREADS.—Cut up a quarter of a peck (or more) of fine ripe tomatoes; set them over the fire, and let them stew with nothing but their own juice till they go entirely to pieces. Then press them through a sieve, to clear the liquid from the seeds and skins. Have ready four or five sweetbreads that have been trimmed nicely, cleared from the gristle, and laid open to soak in warm water. Put them into a stew-pan with the tomato-juice, seasoned with a little salt and cayenne. Add two or three table-spoonfuls of butter rolled in flour. Set the sauce-pan over the fire, and stew the sweetbreads in the tomato-juice till they are thoroughly done. A few minutes before you take them off, stir in two beaten yolks of eggs. Serve up the sweetbreads in a deep dish, with the tomato poured over them.
SWEETBREADS AND CAULIFLOWERS.—Take four large sweetbreads, and two fine cauliflowers. Split open the sweetbreads and remove the gristle. Soak them awhile in lukewarm water. Then put them into a sauce-pan of boiling water, and let them boil ten minutes over the fire. Afterwards, lay them in a pan of very cold water. The parboiling will render them white; and putting them directly from the hot water into the cold will give them firmness. Having washed and drained the cauliflowers, quarter them, and lay them in a broad stew-pan with the sweetbreads upon them, seasoned with a very little cayenne, two or three blades of mace, and some nutmeg. Add as much water as will cover them; put on closely the lid of the pan; and let the whole stew for about an hour. Then take a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and roll it in a table-spoonful of flour. Add it to the stew with a tea-cupfull of rich milk or cream; and give it one boil up—not more, or the milk may curdle. Serve it hot in a deep dish; the sweetbreads in the middle with the gravy poured over them, and the quartered cauliflowers laid handsomely round. This stew will be found delicious.
Broccoli may be thus stewed with sweetbreads.
STEWED SWEETBREADS WITH OYSTERS.—Take four fine sweetbreads; cut them open; extract the gristle, and lay them in warm water till all the blood is soaked out. Then transfer them to another vessel, and scald them with boiling water, to render them white and firm. Cover them closely, and let them boil ten minutes in the hot water. Then throw them directly into a pan of cold water. Take them out when quite cold; drain them; and put them into a stew-pan with the liquor of three dozen large fine oysters seasoned with half a grated nutmeg, or more; and eight or ten blades of mace. Add two ounces of fresh butter, mixed very smoothly with a tea-spoonful of flour. Cover the pan; and let them stew gently for half an hour or more. Then put in the oysters, and let them stew with the sweetbreads a little more than five minutes. Lastly stir in a jill (two wine-glasses) of cream, immediately before you take the stew from the fire. Sent it to table in a deep dish with a slice of buttered toast at the bottom.
CLAM SWEETBREADS may be stewed exactly as above, only that clams must be substituted for oysters; the clams being cut up very small, and put in at the beginning along with the liquor, &c. The flavour they impart to the stew is by many persons considered superior to that of oysters.
In stewing sweetbreads you may either divide them into halves or quarters.
When cooked with oysters or clams they require no salt.
Sweetbreads should be large, fine, of a delicate colour, and perfectly fresh; otherwise they are unfit to eat. They spoil sooner than any part of the calf.
SWEETBREAD OMELET.—For an omelet of six or seven eggs, take two fine sweetbreads. Split them; take out the gristle; and soak them in two lukewarm waters, to extract all the blood. Then put them into very hot water; boil them ten minutes; take them out; set them away to cool; and afterwards mince them small, and season them with a very little salt and cayenne pepper, and some grated nutmeg. Beat the eggs (omitting the whites of two) till very light. Then mix in the chopped sweetbreads. Put three ounces or more of fresh butter into a small frying-pan, and place it over the fire. Stir the butter with a spoon, as it melts; and when it comes to a boil, put in the mixture, stirring it awhile after it is all in. Fry it a rich brown. Heat the plate or dish in which you turn it out of the pan. An omelet should never be turned while frying. The top may be well browned by holding about it a salamander or a red-hot shovel.
If you wish it very thick have three sweetbreads.
While frying the omelet, lift the edge occasionally by slipping a knife-blade under it, that the butter may get well beneath.
If the omelets are cooked too much they will become tough, and leather-like. Many persons prefer having them sent to table as soft omelets, before they have set, or taken the form of a cake. In this case, serve up the omelet in a deep dish, and help it with a spoon.
A ROUND OF BEEF STEWED BROWN.—Take a round of fresh beef; the larger it is the more tender it will be: a small round is always, comparatively, hard and tough. Remove the fat; with a sharp knife make deep cuts or incisions all over the meat, and stuff into them a seasoning of finely minced onions, mixed with powdered mace, nutmeg, and a little pepper and salt. Then go all over the meat with the drippings or cold gravy of roast beef, and dredge it slightly with flour. Have ready an iron dutch-oven and its lid, well heated by standing up both lid and oven before the fire. Then put the meat into the oven, cover it, and let it brown on all sides. Have ready, cut into small pieces, two turnips; four carrots; four oyster plants or salsify; three stalks of celery; two small onions; and two large tomatoes, or a large table-spoonful of tomato catchup. After the meat is browned, raise it up, and place the vegetables underneath it, and pour on three half-pints of water, or more if the round is very large. Let it cook slowly in the oven, with a regular fire, for several hours, till it is entirely done all through; taking care to keep it closely covered. After the meat is taken out, place it on a large hot dish, with the vegetables round it. Cover it, and keep it hot while you thicken the gravy with a small tea-spoonful of flour, and the beaten yolk of an egg. Simmer this gravy a few minutes, then put it into a sauce-boat, and serve it up with the meat.
What is left will be very good stewed over again the next day, with fresh vegetables; letting the meat cook no longer than till the vegetables are sufficiently done. Observe this rule with all stews, soups, hashes, &c., when cooked the second time.
STEWED BEEF STEAKS.—Take beef steaks from the sirloin. Cut them thin; remove the fat and bone, and trim them nicely. Beat them well with a beetle or a rolling-pin. Season them slightly with pepper and salt, and spread them over some finely minced onions, or some chopped mushrooms. Lay among them some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Put them into a stew-pan with a very close cover, and without any water. Set the pan not on the fire, but before it or beside it, (turning it round frequently,) and let them stew slowly for two or three hours, or till they are thoroughly done. Then serve them up in their own gravy.
A BEEF STEAK POT-PIE.—Remove the fat and bone from two pounds or more of fine, tender beef steaks, and cut them into small pieces. Season them slightly with a very little salt and pepper; put them into a pot with a piece of fresh butter rolled in flour, and just water enough to cover them. Let them stew slowly (skimming them as soon as the water comes to a boil) for an hour. Boil in another pot some white potatoes, (a dozen small or eight large ones,) cut into quarters. While the steak is stewing, make a paste of finely minced beef-suet and flour, in the proportion of a pound and a half of suet to three pounds of flour. For a large pot-pie, you should have more than the above quantity of paste; the paste being always considered the best part of the pie, and much liked by those who eat it at all. Having rubbed the minced suet into the pan of flour, add a very little salt, and as little water as will suffice to make it into a lump of dough. Beat the dough hard on both sides with the rolling-pin, to assist in making it light and flaky. Divide the dough into two portions; roll out one sheet thicker than the other. Line the sides of a clean iron pot about half-way or two-thirds up with the thin paste. Then, having poured a little of the gravy into the bottom of the pot, put in a layer of the half-stewed beef; then a layer of the thick paste, cut into long squares. Then a layer of the quartered potatoes; then meat; then paste; then potatoes, and so on till the whole is in. Pour on the remainder of the gravy, and add also a pint of warm water. Cover the whole with a sheet of thin paste for a top crust, which must not fit closely round the edge, as there must be room for the gravy to boil up over it. Then place the pot over a moderate fire, and boil it for an hour and a half. Send it to table on a large dish,—the meat, and potatoes, and soft crust in the middle, and the hard crust cut into pieces and laid round. Serve up the gravy in a boat.
This pie will be much improved by a few fresh mushrooms, cut from the stalks, peeled, and put in when the stewed meat is transferred to the pie-pot.
A pot-pie of fowls or rabbits may be made as above.
If you prefer butter to suet for making the paste, allow half a pound of fresh butter to each pound of flour. Cut up the butter into the pan of flour, rub it fine with your hands, wet it with as little water as possible, beat and roll it out as above.
BEEF STEAKS WITH MUSHROOMS.—Take four pounds of the best sirloin steaks, cut thin. Season them with black pepper, and a very little salt. Put four table-spoonfuls of butter into a frying-pan, and set it over the fire. When it is quite hot, put in the steaks and let them brown. Have ready a quart of mushrooms, stemmed and skinned, and moistened with a pint of water, seasoned with a little pepper and salt, and thickened slightly with a good dredging of flour. Pour it over the steaks in the frying-pan, and then let them cook till thoroughly done.
Venison steaks will be found excellent dressed in this manner, but the venison must be fresh.
MINCED BEEF.—Take the lean of some cold roast beef. Chop it very fine, adding a small minced onion; and season it with pepper and salt. Put it into a stew-pan, with some of the gravy that has been left from the day before, and let it stew for a quarter of an hour. Then put it (two-thirds full) into a deep dish. Fill up the dish with mashed potatoes, heaped high in the centre, smoothed on the surface, and browned with a salamander or a red-hot shovel.
Cold roast mutton or lamb may be minced as above, adding some sweet-marjoram to the seasoning, and filling up the dish with mashed turnips instead of potatoes.
Also, cold roast pork; flavouring the seasoning with a little chopped sage. Cover the top with sweet potatoe, boiled and mashed, or with apple-sauce, that has been stewed as thick as possible.
TO STEW COLD CORNED BEEF.—Cut about four pounds of lean from a cold round of beef, that tastes but little of the salt. Lay it in a stew-pan, with a quarter of a peck of tomatoes quartered, and the same quantity of ochras sliced; also, two small onions peeled and sliced, and two ounces of fresh butter rolled in flour. Add a tea-spoonful of whole pepper-corns, (no salt,) and four or five blades of mace. Place it over a steady but moderate fire. Cover it closely, and let it stew three or four hours. The vegetables should be entirely dissolved. Serve it up hot.
This is an excellent way of using up the remains of a cold round of beef at the season of tomatoes and ochras, particularly when the meat has been rather under-boiled the first day of cooking it.
A few pounds of the lean of a fresh round of beef, will be still better cooked in this manner, increasing the quantity of ochras and tomatoes, and stewing it six hours.
Cold fillet of veal is very good stewed with tomatoes, ochras, and an onion or two. Also, the thick or upper part of a cold leg of mutton; or of pork, either fresh or corned.
TO STEW SMOKED BEEF.—The dried beef, for this purpose, must be fresh and of the very best quality. Cut it (or rather shave it) into very thin, small slices, with as little fat as possible. Put the beef into a skillet, and fill up with boiling water. Cover it, and let it soak or steep till the water is cold. Then drain off that water, and pour on some more, but merely enough to cover the chipped beef, which you may season with a little pepper. Set it over the fire, and (keeping on the cover) let it stew for a quarter of an hour. Then roll a few bits of butter in a little flour, and add it to the beef, with the yolk of one or two beaten eggs. Let it stew five minutes longer. Take it up on a hot dish, and send it to the breakfast or tea-table.
Cold ham may be sliced thin, and stewed in the same manner. Dried venison also.
FRENCH BEEF.—Take a circular piece from the round, (having removed the bone,) and trim it nicely from the fat, skin, &c. Then lard it all over with long slips of fat pork or bacon. The place from whence the bone was taken must be filled with a force-meat, made of minced suet; grated bread-crumbs; sweet-marjoram rubbed fine; and grated lemon-peel; add a little salt and pepper, and mix in the beaten yolk of an egg to bind together the other ingredients. Tie a twine or tape closely round the outside of the beef, to keep it compact, and in shape. Put it into a broad earthen jar with a cover; or into an iron bake-oven. Add some whole pepper; a large onion stuck over with a dozen cloves; a bunch of sweet herbs; three bay-leaves; a quarter of a pound of butter, divided into small bits, (each piece rolled in flour,) and half a pint of claret, or port-wine. Bake or stew it thus in its own liquor, for five, six, or seven hours, (in proportion to its size,) for it must be thoroughly done, quite tender, and brown all through the inside. Serve it up hot with the gravy round it. It is also very good when cold.
A fillet of veal may be cooked in this manner. Also a fillet of fresh pork, cut from the upper part of a hind leg; or a fillet of fresh venison.
BEEF OLIVES.—Take the lean of some cold roast beef; cut it into slices about half an inch thick, and four inches square. They must all be of the same size and shape. Trim the edges nicely. Make a force-meat of grated bread-crumbs, finely-chopped beef-suet; minced onion; grated nutmeg or powdered mace; sweet-marjoram leaves rubbed fine; a very little salt and pepper; and some beaten yolk of egg. Having mixed all thoroughly together, spread very thickly a portion of the force-meat upon each slice of the cold beef. Then roll them up, and tie every one securely round with coarse thread or fine twine. Have ready some roast-beef gravy left from the day before, or make a fresh gravy by boiling, or rather stewing the beef bones with as little water as possible. When the gravy is ready, strain it into a clean stew-pan; put in the beef olives; cover the pan, and let them stew slowly for half an hour. Serve them up with their gravy. Remove the strings before the olives go to table.
Veal olives may be made in the above manner, with a cold roast fillet of veal, and veal gravy.
A PLAIN STEW.—Cut steaks from a sirloin or a tender round of beef, omitting the fat and bone. Season them with pepper and a little salt. Put them into a pot, and to three pounds of meat allow a quart of water. When it has simmered for an hour, and been well skimmed, mix among it a dozen potatoes, and half a dozen turnips, all pared and quartered; and (if you like them) two onions sliced thin. If the stew appears too dry, pour in a little boiling water from a kettle. Let it stew slowly with the vegetables another hour, or till the whole is perfectly tender. Serve it up with the vegetables round it on a large dish.
Beef stewed with parsnips only is very good.
Lamb or veal cutlets may be stewed in this manner.
A fillet or round of fresh pork is excellent stewed with sweet potatoes, which must be scraped or pared, and split in half.
BEEF’S TONGUE STEWED.—Take a fresh beef’s tongue of the largest size. Remove the little bones, skin, &c., from about the root, and trim it nicely. Take a table-spoonful each of salt, pepper, and powdered cloves, and mix them all together. Rub the tongue well all over with this seasoning. Lay it in a deep earthen pan, cover it with the best cider vinegar, and let it stand three days, turning it frequently, and keeping it closely covered. Then (having wiped off all the seasoning) put the tongue into a stew-pot, and add half a pint of water—not more—and stew it slowly till quite done. Have ready some force-meat balls, made with minced veal, mixed with the ingredients usual in force-meat. Put in the balls about twenty minutes before you take up the tongue. When it is thoroughly done, and tender all through, peel it, and send it to table with the force-meat balls round it.
BAKED TONGUE.—Take a large smoked tongue, put it into warm water and soak it all day. Change the water in the evening, and then let it remain in soak all night. Before you cook it, trim the root handsomely. Make a coarse paste or dough, merely of flour and water, as it is not to be eaten. Roll it out thin, and enclose the tongue in it. Put it into an oven, and bake it slowly. It will require four hours or more. When you think it is done, break a little of the paste just over the thickest part, and try it by sticking a fork through it. If not perfectly tender, let it bake a while longer. When quite done, remove the paste, and either serve up the tongue, or set it away to get cold. This is the best way of cooking a tongue to be eaten cold. If to be eaten warm, send it to table surrounded with mashed potatoes, and the root concealed with parsley sprigs. The best way to carve a tongue, is to cut it across in round slices, beginning at the middle. If cut lengthways the flavour will be impaired. Nevertheless, if you have two tongues, and wish to make a large handsome-looking dish of them, (having first removed the root,) split one lengthways, and lay the two halves spread open and near together on a bed of mashed potatoes; and cut the other tongue into circular slices. Arrange these slices in a handsome form or pattern all round the split tongue that occupies the centre of the mashed potatoe; and decorate the whole with sprigs of double parsley. If the tongues are cold, instead of mashed potatoe, lay them on a bed of salad-dressed lettuce, cut or chopped very small; or on chopped celery, dressed as lettuce.
FILLET OF PORK.—Cut a fillet or round, handsomely and evenly, from a fine leg of fresh pork. Remove the bone. Make a stuffing or force-meat of grated bread-crumbs; butter; a tea-spoonful of sweet-marjoram or tarragon leaves; and sage leaves enough to make a small table-spoonful, when minced or rubbed fine; all well mixed, and slightly seasoned with pepper and salt. Add some beaten yolk of egg to bind the whole together; then stuff it closely into the hole from whence the bone was taken. Score the skin of the pork in circles to go all round the fillet. These circles should be very close together, or not quite half an inch apart. Rub into them, slightly, a little powdered sage. Put it on the spit, and roast it well, till it is thoroughly done throughout; as pork, if the least underdone, is not fit to eat. Place it for the first hour not very close to the fire, that the meat may get well heated all through, before the skin begins to harden so as to prevent the heat from penetrating sufficiently. Then set it as near the fire as it can be placed without danger of scorching. Keep it roasting steadily with a bright, good, regular fire, for two or three hours, or longer still if it is a large fillet. It may require near four hours. Baste it at the beginning with sweet oil (which will make the skin very crisp) or with lard. Afterwards, baste it with its own gravy. When done, skim the fat from the gravy, and then dredge in a little flour to thicken it. Send the pork to table with the gravy in a boat; and a small tureen of apple-sauce, made very thick, flavoured with lemon, and sweetened well.
A fillet of pork is excellent stewed slowly in a very little water, having in the same stew-pot some sweet potatoes, peeled, split, and cut into long pieces. If stewed, put no sage in the stuffing; and remove the skin of the pork. This is an excellent family dish in the autumn.
ITALIAN PORK.—Take a nice leg of fresh pork; rub it well with fine salt, and let it lie in the salt for a week or ten days. When you wish to cook it, put the pork into a large pot with just sufficient water to cover it; and let it simmer, slowly, during four hours; skimming it well. Then take it out, and lay it on a large dish. Pour the water from the pot into an earthen pan; skim it, and let it cool while you are skinning the pork. Then put into the pot, a pint of good cider vinegar, mixed with half a pound of brown sugar, and a pint of the water in which the pork has been boiled, and from which all the fat has been carefully skimmed off. Put in the pork with the upper side towards the bottom of the pot. Set it again over the fire, (which must first be increased,) and heat the inside of the pot-lid by standing it upright against the front of the fire. Then cover the pot closely, and let the pork stew for an hour and a half longer; basting it frequently with the liquid around it, and keeping the pot-lid as hot as possible that the meat may be well browned. When done, the pork will have somewhat the appearance of being coated with molasses. Serve up the gravy with it. What is left of the meat may be sliced cold for breakfast or luncheon.
You may stew with it when the pork is put into the pot a second time, some large chesnuts, previously boiled and peeled. Or, instead of chesnuts, sweet potatoes, scraped, split, and cut into small pieces.
PORK OLIVES.—Cut slices from a fillet or leg of cold fresh pork. Make a force-meat in the usual manner, only substituting for sweet herbs some sage-leaves chopped fine. When the slices are covered with the force-meat, and rolled up and tied round, stew them slowly either in cold gravy left of the pork, or in fresh lard. Drain them well before they go to table. Serve them up on a bed of mashed turnips or potatoes, or of mashed sweet potatoes, if in season.
PIGS’ FEET FRIED.—Pigs’ feet are frequently used for jelly, instead of calves’ feet. They are very good for this purpose, but a larger number is required (from eight to ten or twelve) to make the jelly sufficiently firm. After they have been boiled for jelly, extract the bones, and put the meat into a deep dish; cover it with some good cider-vinegar, seasoned with sugar and a little salt and cayenne. Then cover the dish, and set it away for the night. Next morning, take out the meat, and having drained it well from the vinegar, put it into a frying-pan in which some lard has just come to a boil, and fry it for a breakfast dish.
CONNECTICUT SAUSAGE-MEAT.—To fifteen pounds of the lean of fresh pork, allow five pounds of the fat. Having removed the skin, sinews, and gristle, chop both the fat and lean as fine as possible, and mix them well together. Rub to a powder sufficient sage-leaves to make four ounces when done. Mix the sage with three ounces of fine salt, two ounces of brown sugar, an ounce of powdered black pepper, and a quarter of an ounce of cayenne. Add this seasoning to the chopped pork, and mix it thoroughly. Pack the sausage-meat down, hard and closely, into stone jars, which must be kept in a cool place, and well covered. When wanted for use, make some of it into small, flat cakes, dredge them with flour, and fry them well. The fat that exudes from the sausage-cakes, while frying, will be sufficient to cook them in.
A FINE VENISON PIE.—Cut steaks from a loin, or haunch of venison, which should be as freshly killed as you can get it. The strange prejudice in favour of hard, black-looking venison, that has been kept till the juices are all dried up, is fast subsiding; the preference is now given to that which has been newly killed, whenever it can be obtained. Those who have eaten venison fresh from the woods, will never again be able to relish it in the state in which it is brought to the Atlantic cities.
Having removed the bones, and seasoned it with a little salt and pepper, put the venison into a pot, with barely as much water as will cover it, and let it stew till perfectly tender, skimming it occasionally. Then take it out, and set it to cool, saving the gravy in a bowl. Make a light paste, in the proportion of three quarters of a pound of fresh butter to a pound and a half of flour. Divide the paste into two portions, and roll it out rather thick. Butter a deep dish, and line it with one of the sheets of paste. Then put in the venison. Season the gravy with a glass of very good wine, either red or white, a few blades of mace, and a powdered nutmeg. Stir into it the crumbled yolks of some hard-boiled eggs. Pour the gravy over the meat, and put on the other sheet of paste as the lid of the pie. Notch it handsomely round the edges, and bake it well. If a steady heat is kept up, it will be done in an hour. Send it to table hot.
Instead of wine, you may put into the gravy a glass of currant-jelly.
Any sort of game may be made into a pie, in the above manner.
A VERY PLAIN VENISON PIE.—Cut from the bone some good pieces of fresh venison; season them a little with salt and pepper, and put them into a pot, with plenty of sliced potatoes, (either white or sweet,) and barely as much water as will cover the whole. Set it over the fire, and let it stew slowly, till the meat is tender, and the potatoes also. Make a paste of flour shortened with cold gravy, or drippings saved from roast venison. The fat must be removed from the surface of the cold gravy, of which you may allow half a pint to each pound of flour. Mix half the shortening with the flour, using a broad knife or a spoon for the purpose, and adding gradually sufficient cold water to make it into a stiff dough. Beat the lump of dough well on all sides, with the rolling-pin. Then take it out of the pan, roll it into a thick sheet, and spread evenly over it with a knife the remainder of the drippings. Flour it, fold it up, beat it with the rolling-pin, let it rest a short time, and then roll it out again. Divide it into two sheets; grease a pie-dish, and line the bottom and sides with one sheet. Put in the venison and potatoes, with a portion of the gravy. Lay on the other sheet of paste, as a lid, and crimp the edges. Set the pie into the oven, and bake it brown. Eat it either hot or cold.
If you have no cold venison drippings, use drippings of cold roast-beef; or an equal mixture of lard and butter.
A beef-pie may be made as above.
Mutton-pies are not recommended; as mutton cooked in a pie is entirely too strong. The fat or drippings of mutton should never be used in any sort of cooking, as it tastes exactly like tallow, which it really is.
The above quantity of paste is only sufficient for a small pie. Paste for meat-pies should be made very thick.
An excellent pot-pie may be made with venison and potatoes previously stewed together. Boiled paste is always best when shortened with minced suet. Beef-suet is superior to any other.
A VENISON PUDDING.—Take nice steaks of fresh venison; season them slightly with salt and pepper; put them into a pot, with a piece of fresh butter, and stew them in barely sufficient water to keep them from scorching. When they are quite tender, take them, up; cut all the meat from the bones, and set it to cool. Save the gravy, and when cold carefully remove all the fat from the surface. Prepare a paste, in the proportion of three quarters of a pound of beef-suet, finely minced, to two pounds of flour. Rub the suet thoroughly into the flour, adding a small salt-spoon of salt, and sufficient cold water to moisten it into a stiff dough. Beat the lump of dough, on all sides, with the rolling-pin, to increase the lightness of the paste. Roll it out thick; put the venison into it; and pour on enough of the gravy to wet the meat all through. Then close over the paste, so as to form a large dumpling, with the venison in the middle. Have ready a thick pudding-cloth, that has been dipped in boiling water, shaken out, dredged with flour, and spread open in a broad pan. Place the pudding in the cloth, tie it firmly, leaving room for the pudding to swell; and, to prevent the water getting in, stop up the tying-place with a bit of coarse dough. Lay an old plate at the bottom of a large pot of boiling water; put in the pudding, and keep it boiling steadily for an hour or more, turning it several times. When done, dip it into cold water, untie the cloth, and turn out the pudding. Send it to table hot.
A beef-steak pudding may be made as above.
You may make the crust of fresh butter, instead of suet; allowing a pound of butter to two pounds, or two quarts of flour.
VENISON CHESNUT PUDDING.—Take some steaks of fresh-killed venison; season them slightly with pepper and salt. Have ready a sufficient quantity of large chesnuts, boiled and peeled. Make a crust of flour and suet, in the proportion of three quarters of a pound of finely minced suet to two pounds of flour. Roll it out thick, in two pieces, and place on one piece the venison and chesnuts, in alternate layers. Pour on a little water. Cover it with the other piece of paste, uniting it closely round the edges. Put it into a strong pudding-cloth; tie it tightly, and plaster the tying-place with a lump of flour and water. Put the pudding into a pot of boiling water, and boil it four hours.
For the chesnuts, you may substitute cold, boiled sweet potatoes, cut into round, thick slices.
This is an excellent pudding in a venison country; but the meat must be very fresh and juicy. The paste may be made with butter.
FRENCH STEW OF RABBITS.—Having cut up the rabbits, lay the pieces in cold water, to soak out the blood. Then wash them through another water. Season them with a little pepper, some powdered mace and nutmeg, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated. Put them into a jar, or a wide-mouthed pitcher, adding some chopped celery, sweet-marjoram, and tarragon leaves. Intersperse them with a few small thin slices of cold ham or smoked tongue, and add a tea-cup full of water and two glasses of white wine. Cover the jar very closely, so that none of the flavour may escape with the steam; set it over the fire in a large kettle of cold water, and let it stew slowly two hours. When nearly done, add some pieces of butter rolled in flour.
Hares may be stewed in the same manner; also, fresh venison.
For the wine, you may substitute two wine-glasses of rich cream.
TONGUE TOAST.—Take a cold smoked tongue that has been well boiled; and grate it with a coarse grater, or mince it fine. Mix it with cream, and beaten yolk of egg; and give it a simmer over the fire. Having first cut off all the crust, toast very nicely some slices of bread; and then butter them rather slightly. Lay them in a flat dish that has been heated before the fire; and cover each slice of toast thickly with the tongue-mixture, spread on hot; and send them to table covered. This is a nice breakfast or supper dish.
For tongue, you may substitute cold ham finely minced.
BISCUIT SANDWICHES.—Split some light soft milk biscuits (or small French rolls) and butter them. Cover the lower half thickly with grated ham, or smoked tongue; pressing it down upon the butter. Then put on the upper half or lid; pressing that on, to make it stick. Pile the biscuits handsomely in a pyramid upon a flat dish, and place among them, at regular distances, green sprigs of pepper-grass, corn-salad, water-cresses, or curled parsley, allowing four or six to each biscuit. Put in the sprigs between the upper and lower halves of the biscuits, so that they may stick out at the edges.
To make more space for the grated ham, you may scoop out a little of the inside of the upper-half of each milk biscuit or roll. They should be fresh, of that day’s baking.
This is a nice supper-dish.
POTTED HAM.—Take some cold ham, slice it, and mince it small, fat and lean together. Then pound it in a mortar; seasoning it as you proceed with cayenne pepper, powdered mace, and powdered nutmeg. Then fill with it a large deep pan, and set it in an oven for half an hour. Afterwards pack it down hard in a stone jar, and fill up the jar with lard. Cover it closely, and paste down a thick paper over the jar. If sufficiently seasoned, it will keep well in winter; and is convenient for sandwiches, or on the tea-table. A jar of this will be found useful to travellers in remote places.
A FRENCH HAM PIE.—Having soaked and boiled a small ham, and taken out the bone, trim the ham nicely so as to make it a good shape; and of the bone and trimmings make a rich gravy, by stewing them in a sauce-pan with a little water; carefully skimming off the fat. Make a sufficient quantity of force-meat, out of cold roast chicken or veal, minced suet, grated bread-crumbs, butter, pepper, chopped sweet-marjoram or tarragon; and grated lemon-peel, adding the lemon-juice, and some beaten egg. Mix the ingredients thoroughly. You may add some chopped oysters.
Having made a standing crust, allowing to two pounds of flour half a pound of butter, and a pound of minced suet, wetted to a paste with boiling water, put in the ham, (moistening it with the gravy,) and fill in all the vacancies with the force-meat, having a layer of force-meat at the bottom and top. Then put on the lid, pinching the edges together so as to close them well. Brush the paste all over with beaten yolk of egg; then put on the ornamental flowers and leaves that have been cut out of the dough. Bake it three or four hours. It may be eaten warm, but is generally preferred cold. It keeps well, if carefully secluded from the air.
TONGUE PIE is made as above; only substituting a smoked tongue for the ham. The tongue must be nicely trimmed and peeled, and the root minced fine, and mixed with the veal or chicken force-meat.
Either of these pies may be made and baked in deep dishes, and with paste made in the usual way of butter and flour, wetted with a little cold water.
HAM TOAST.—Grate a sufficiency of the lean of cold ham. Mix some beaten yolk of egg with a little cream, and thicken it with the grated ham. Then put the mixture into a sauce-pan over the fire, and let it simmer awhile. Have ready some slices of bread nicely toasted (all the crust being pared off) and well buttered. Spread it over thickly with the ham mixture, and send it to table warm.
