MEATS AND POULTRY.
To Boil Fresh Meat.
In boiling fresh meat, care is necessary to have the water boiling all the time it is in the pot; if the pot is not well scummed, the appearance of the meat will be spoiled.
Mutton and beef
are preferred, by some, a little rare; but pork and veal
should always be well done. A round of beef
that is stuffed, will take more than three hours to boil, and if not stuffed, two hours or more, according to the size; slow boiling is the best. A leg of mutton
requires from two to three hours boiling, according to the size; a fore-quarter from an hour to an hour and a half; a quarter of lamb, unless very large, will boil in an hour. Veal and pork
will take rather longer to boil than mutton.
All boiled fresh meat should have drawn butter poured over it, after it is dished, and be garnished with parsley.
The liquor that fresh meat, or poultry, is boiled in should be saved, as an addition of vegetables, herbs and dumplings make a nourishing soup of it.
A large turkey
will take three hours to boil--a small one half that time; secure the legs to keep them from bursting out; turkeys should be blanched in warm milk and water; stuff them and rub their breasts with butter; flour a cloth and pin them in. A large chicken
that is stuffed should boil an hour, and small ones half that time. The water should always boil before you put in your meat or poultry. When meat is frozen soak it in cold water for several hours, and allow more time in the cooking.
To Boil a Turkey.
Have the turkey well cleaned and prepared for cooking, let it lay in salt and water a few minutes; fill it with bread and butter, seasoned with pepper, salt, parsley and thyme; secure the legs and wings; pin it up in a towel; have the water boiling, and put it in; put a little salt in the water; when half done, put in a little milk. A small turkey will boil in an hour and a quarter; a middle sized in two hours, and a large one in two and a half or three hours; they should boil moderately all the time; if fowls boil too fast, they break to pieces;--half an hour will cook the liver and gizzard, which should be put round the turkey; when it is dished, have drawn butter, with an egg chopped and put in it, and a little parsley; oyster sauce, and celery sauce are good, with boiled turkey or chicken.
To Boil Beef Tongue, Corned Beef, &c.
If the tongue is dry, let it soak for several hours put it to boil in cold water, and keep it boiling slowly
for two hours; but if it is just out of the pickle, the water should boil when it goes in.
Corned or pickled beef, or pork, requires longer boiling than that which is dry; you can tell when it is done by the bones coming out easily. Pour drawn butter over it when dished.
To Boil a Ham.
A large ham should boil three or four hours very slowly; it should be put in cold water, and be kept covered during the whole process; a small ham will boil in two hours. All bacon
requires much the same management,--and if you boil cabbage or greens with it, skim all the grease off the pot before you put them in. Ham or dried beef, if very salt, should be soaked several hours before cooking, and should be boiled in plenty of water.
To Boil Calf's Head.
Cut the upper from the lower jaw, take out the brains and eyes, and clean the head well; let it soak in salt and water an hour or two; then put it in a gallon of boiling water, take off the scum as it rises, and when it is done, take out the bones; dish it, and pour over a sauce, made of butter and flour, stirred into half a pint of the water it was boiled in; put in a chopped egg, a little salt, pepper, and fine parsley, when it is nearly done. You can have soup of the liquor, with dumplings, if you wish.
To Boil Veal.
Have a piece of the fore-quarter nicely washed and rubbed with flour; let it boil fast; a piece of five pounds will boil in an hour and a half; dish it up with
drawn butter. Oyster sauce is an improvement to boiled veal.
Roasting Meat.
Roasting either meat or poultry requires more attention than boiling or stewing; it is very important to baste it frequently; and if the meat has been frozen, it should have time to thaw before cooking. Beef, veal, or mutton, that is roasted in a stove or oven, requires more flour dredged on it than when cooked before the fire in a tin kitchen. There should be but little water in the dripping pan, as that steams the meat and prevents its browning; it is best to add more as the water evaporates, and where there is plenty of flour on the meat it incorporates with the gravy and it requires no thickening; add a little seasoning before you take up the gravy. Meat that has been hanging up some time should be roasted in preference to boiling, as the fire extracts any taste it may have acquired. To rub fresh meat with salt and pepper will prevent the flies from troubling it, and will make it keep longer.
To Roast a Turkey--to make Gravy, &c.
A very large turkey will take three hours to roast, and is best done before the fire in a tin oven. Wash the turkey very clean, and let it lay in salt and water twenty minutes, but not longer, or it changes the color; rub the inside with salt and pepper; have ready a stuffing of bread and butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, an onion, if agreeable, and an egg; if the bread is dry, moisten it with boiling water; mix all well together, and fill the turkey; if you have fresh sausage, put some in the craw; have a pint of water in the bottom of the dripping
pan or oven, with some salt, and a spoonful of lard, or butter; rub salt, pepper and butter over the breast; baste it often, and turn it so that each part will be next the fire.
Gravy
may be made from the drippings in the oven by boiling it in a skillet, with thickening and seasoning. Hash gravy
should be made by boiling the giblets and neck in a quart of water, which chop fine, then season and thicken; have both the gravies on the table in separate tureens.
Cranberry and damson sauce are suitable to eat with roast poultry.
To Roast a Goose.
Make a stuffing of bread, butter, salt, pepper, sage, thyme and onions; it requires but little butter, as geese are generally fat; wash it well in salt and water, wipe it, and rub the inside with salt and pepper. A common sized goose will roast in an hour, and a small one in less time; pour off nearly all the fat that drips from the goose, as it will make the gravy too rich. Make hash gravy of the giblets the same as for turkey.
Ducks.
Wild ducks
are generally cooked without stuffing; and for those that like them rare, fifteen or twenty minutes will be long enough; for common ducks, a stuffing should be made the same as for a goose, they will roast in half an hour. Currant jelly and apple sauce should be eaten with ducks and geese.
Chickens.
A large fowl will roast in an hour, and a small one in half an hour; boil the livers and gizzards in a
skillet with a pint of water; thicken and season for gravy.
The breasts of the chickens should be rubbed with butter or lard to keep them from breaking. Tie the legs in, to keep them from bursting out. When butter is scarce, it is a good way to make rich short cake to stuff poultry with; it will require nothing added but pepper, parsley, &c.
To Roast Beef.
Season the beef with pepper and salt, and put it in the tin kitchen, well skewered to the spit, with a pint of water in the bottom; baste and turn it frequently, so that every part may have the fire. A very large piece of beef will take three hours to roast; when it is done, pour the gravy out into a skillet, let it boil, and thicken it with flour mixed with water; if it be too fat, skim off the top, which will be useful for other purposes.
To Roast Veal and Lamb.
Veal should be well seasoned, and rubbed with lard; when it begins to brown, baste it with salt and water; a large loin will take from two to three hours to roast, the thin part of the fore-quarter an hour; it should be well done; boil up and thicken the gravy. A leg of veal or mutton may be stuffed before baking.
Lamb and mutton do not require to be rubbed with lard, as they are generally fatter than veal; make the gravy as for veal. A quarter of lamb will roast in an hour; a loin of mutton in two hours.
To Roast a Pig--Hash Gravy, &c.
Have a pig of a suitable size, clean it well, and rub the inside with pepper and salt. Make a stuffing of
bread, butter, parsley, sage and thyme; if the bread is stale, pour a little boiling water on it; mix altogether; fill the pig, and sew it up with strong thread; put in the skewers and spit, and tie the feet with twine; have a pint and a half of water in the bottom of the tin kitchen, with a spoonful of lard and a little salt, with this baste it; and turn it, so as each part will have the benefit of the fire. It should be basted until the skin begins to get stiff with the heat of the fire; then grease it all over with butter or lard, and continue to turn it before the fire, but baste no more, or the skin will blister. A pig will take from two to three hours to roast, according to the size; when it is done, pour the water out in a skillet; season it and thicken it with flour and water. To make hash gravy,
put the liver and heart to boil in three pints of water; after they have boiled an hour, chop them very fine, put them back in the pot, and stir in a thickening of flour and water, with salt, pepper, parsley and thyme. Have the gravies in separate tureens on either side of the pig. Apple sauce and cold slaw are almost indispensable with pig.
To Roast Pork.
After washing the pork, cut the skin in squares or stripes; season it with salt and pepper, and baste it with salt and water; thicken, and boil up the gravy.
To Bake a Stuffed Leg of Veal.
Cut off the shank, and make holes round the bone for stuffing, which should be of bread and butter, the yelk of an egg, and seasoning; fill the holes with this, and spread it over the top, with little pieces of the fat of ham; dust salt and pepper over, put it in the dutch-
oven, or dripping pan, and bake it brown; put a pint of water in the bottom, and if it should dry up, put in more; when it is done, dust in some flour for the gravy. If done carefully, meat is almost as good roasted in the stove as before the fire. If you let the gravy boil over in the stove, it makes an unpleasant smell through the house, and spoils the flavor of the meat. The ham of fresh pork
is good, done in the same way.
To Bake a Pig's Head.
Have the head nicely cleaned, with the eyes taken out, and the ears cut off; season it with salt and pepper; rub crumbs of bread over, with a spoonful of lard; put it in the dutch-oven, or dripping pan, with a pint of water; bake it an hour; thicken and season the gravy.
To Cook Pigeons.
Pigeons should be roasted about fifteen minutes before a quick fire; as the meat is dry, they should have a rich stuffing, and be basted with butter.
You may bake them in a dutch-oven or stew them in a pot, with water enough to cover them, and some crumbs of bread or flour dusted over them; let them cook slowly half an hour; mix together flour and water, with salt, pepper, and parsley to season, and a lump of butter; stir this in and let it boil up; put them in a deep dish and pour the gravy over. Pigeons make a very nice pie in the same way as chickens.
To Bake a Ham.
Make a dressing of bread, seasoned with pepper and herbs, moisten it with about five eggs, instead of water. Take a ham that has been cut at the table, either fresh
or salt, fill up the place where it has been cut, and cover the top with the dressing, bake it half an hour, and garnish it with parsley before sending it to the table.
To Bake Beef's Heart.
After washing the heart, make a rich stuffing with bread and suet, highly seasoned; fill it with this, and put it in a dutch-oven, or the dripping pan of a stove, with half a pint of water; let it bake an hour and a half; the gravy will not need any thickening, as some of the stuffing will fall out. Put the gravy in the dish.
Beef Alamode.
Take part of a round of beef, bone it, and make holes for stuffing, which is made of bread, suet, thyme, parsley, chopped onions, mace, cloves, pepper, salt and a raw egg; stuff the meat, bind it with tape, and put it in a dutch-oven, with a plate in the bottom to keep it from burning; just cover it with water, and let it stew from three to four hours according to the size.
Make gravy
with some of the water it was stewed in, seasoned with claret and butter, and thickened with flour. If you wish it to taste of any other sort of wine, add a glass to the gravy.
Beef Steak.
Choose the tenderest part of beef, cut it an inch thick, broil it gently over good coals, covered with a plate; have butter, salt, pepper, and a little water in a dish; and when you turn the beef, dip it in this; be careful to have as much of the juice as you can. When done, put it in a warm dish, and pour the basting over, with some more butter.
Mutton Chops.
Cut some pieces of mutton, either with or without bone, about an inch thick; have the gridiron hot, first rubbing it with a little suet; put on the chops, turning them frequently, and butter and season them with pepper and salt as you cook them; then dish them on a hot dish and add more butter.
Rabbits and Squirrels.
Rabbits and squirrels, or birds, may be fried as chickens, or stewed in a pot with a little water. If you make a pie of rabbits or squirrels, they should be stewed first to make them tender, and then made in the same way as chicken pie. Rabbits are very good cooked with chopped onions, in a pot with a little water, and thickening of milk and flour stirred in when they are nearly done. Squirrels make very good soup.
To Fry Ham.
Slice the ham, and if it is very salt, pour boiling water on it, and let it soak a while; then fry it with a small piece of lard; when done, dish it; mix together flour, milk, parsley and pepper, let it boil, and pour it over the ham.
To Fry Beef with Kidney.
Cut the kidney in small pieces; take out all the strings, and let it soak several hours in salt and water; wash and drain it; season some pieces of beef and kidney, and put them in a frying pan, with hot lard or drippings of any kind; dust a little flour over; when it is fried on both sides, take it up in a dish; mix a spoonful of flour in some water with salt and pepper, and pour in; when it has boiled, pour it over the beef.
To Fry Liver.
Liver should be cut across the grain in slices about half an inch thick; pour boiling water over it, drain and season it with pepper and salt; flour each piece and drop it in a frying-pan of hot bacon drippings; do not fry it any longer than it is done, or it will be hard; take it up in a dish, make gravy as for beef, and pour over it.
Veal Cutlets.
Cut the veal in slices near an inch thick; wash, drain, and season it; beat up an egg, and have ready some pounded crackers or bread crumbs; dip the slices first in the egg, and then in the bread, and fry them in hot lard; mix a gravy of flour and water, with salt, pepper and parsley; when the veal is taken up, pour it in; let it boil a few minutes and pour it over the dish, and grate a little nutmeg over.
To Fry Veal, Lamb or Pork.
Cut up the meat in thin slices, and season it; dip it in flour and drop it in a pan of hot lard; when brown, take it up, and make gravy with flour, milk, parsley, pepper and salt, which stir in.
To Stew Veal, Lamb or Pork.
Cut the meat small, season it, and put it in a pot with water enough to cover it; let it cook for half an hour; then pour in thickening of flour and milk, with parsley and thyme, and a piece of butter, (if the meat is not fat;) take it up in a deep dish.
Brains and Tongue.
Pour boiling water on the brains, and skin them; tie them tight in a cloth, and boil them and the tongue
with the head; when done put them on a plate, chop three leaves of green sage fine, and beat up with the brains; spread them round a small dish, and after skining the tongue, place it in the middle.
Veal Hash.
Take the lights, heart, and some of the liver; boil them in a pint of water; when done, take them out and chop them fine; season it with salt, pepper and a little sweet marjoram; put it back in the pot, and thicken it with butter and flour; let it boil a few minutes, and dish it in a small tureen.
Brain Cakes.
When the head is cloven, take out the brains and clear them of strings, beat them up with the yelks of two eggs, some crumbs of bread, pepper, salt, fine parsley, a spoonful of cream, and a spoonful of flour; when they are well mixed, drop them with a spoon into a frying-pan with a little hot butter, and fry them of a light-brown color.
Force Meat Balls.
Take a pound of veal, half a pound of suet, two slices of ham, and some crumbs of bread, chop them very fine, and put in the yelks of two eggs; season it with parsley, thyme, mace, pepper and salt; roll it into small balls, and fry them brown.
They are nice to garnish hashes, roast veal or cutlets, and to put in soup.
To Fry Veal's Liver.
Cut the liver and heart across the grain, wash it well, pour boiling water on, and let it stand a few minutes,
then drain and season it with salt and pepper, flour it and drop it in hot lard; when it is brown on both sides, dish it; dust a little flour in the pan, and pour in some water, let it boil a minute, stirring in a seasoning of parsley, thyme, or sweet marjoram; pour the gravy over the liver. This is a good breakfast dish.
To Fry Veal Sweet Breads.
Dip them in the yelk of an egg beaten, then in a mixture of grated bread, or flour and salt and pepper; fry them a nice brown.
To Stew Sweet Breads.
Stew them in a little water, with butter, flour, and a little cream; season with salt, pepper, parsley and thyme.
To Brown a Calf's Head with the Skin on.
After scalding and washing the head clean, take out the eyes, cut off the ears, and let it boil half an hour; when cold, cleave the upper from the lower jaw, take out the tongue, strike off the nose, score the part which has the skin on, rub it over with beaten egg, sprinkle it over with salt, parsley, cayenne and black pepper; lay pieces of butter over it, and put it in a dutch-oven to brown, basting it often; cut down the lower part in slices, skin the tongue and palate, and cut them up; put them in a pot with a little water; when done, thicken it with brown flour and butter, season it with pepper, salt, some pickled oysters, wine or brandy (if you like it,) and let it stew fifteen minutes. Lay the baked head in a dish and put the hash around it, and lay force meat balls or brain cakes round the edge of the dish.
Bacon Fraise.
Cut streaked bacon in small thin slices, make a batter of a pint of milk, two eggs, and two large spoonsful of flour; some salt and pepper; put some lard or dripping in a frying-pan, and when it is hot pour in half of the batter, and strew the bacon over it; then pour on the remainder of the batter; let it fry gently, and be careful in turning, that the bacon does not come to the pan.
Irish Stew.
Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds of the neck or loin, two pounds of potatoes, peel them and cut them in halves, six onions or half a pound of onions, peel and slice them also. First put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of your stew-pan, then a couple of chops and some onions, then again potatoes, and so on till the pan is quite full; season with pepper and salt, and three gills of broth or gravy, and two tea-spoonsful of mushroom catsup; cover it very close to prevent the escape of steam, and stew on a slow fire for an hour and a half; a slice of ham is an addition. Great care should be taken not to let it brown.
To Brown Flour for Gravy, &c.
Put some flour in a dutch-oven and set it over some hot coals; keep stirring it until it is of a light-brown color; in this way several pounds can be done at once, and kept in a jar covered; and is very convenient to thicken brown soups and gravies with.
Drawn Butter.
Put half a pint of water in a skillet, rub a quarter of a pound of butter in a large spoonful of flour; when
the water boils, stir it in and let it boil a few minutes; season it with parsley, chopped fine.
Stuffing or Dressing.
Stuffing for poultry is made of bread and butter, an egg, salt, pepper, chopped parsley or thyme, mixed together; if the bread is dry, it should have a little boiling water poured on it.
Egg Sauce.
This is made as drawn butter, with one or two eggs boiled hard and chopped into it, and a little salt.
Celery Sauce.
Take a large bunch of celery, cut it fine, and boil it till soft, in a pint of water; thicken it with butter and flour, and season it with salt, pepper, and mace.
Bacon Dumplings.
Cut slices of cooked bacon, and pepper them; roll out crust as for apple dumplings; slice some potatoes very thin, and put them in the crust with the meat; close them up, and let them boil fast an hour; when done, take them out carefully with a ladle.
Drop Dumplings.
These are good for almost any kind of soup, and may be made of a quart of flour, two eggs, a spoonful of butter, some salt and pepper, wet with milk and water; drop them in while it is boiling, and let them boil ten or fifteen minutes.
Vermicelli.
Beat three fresh eggs very light, make them into a stiff paste, with flour and water; knead it well, and roll
it very thin, cut it in narrow strips, give them a twist, and dry them quickly, on tin sheets or dishes, in the sun or a moderate oven; soak them a few minutes in cold water, and put them in chicken soup. They are very good and convenient.
Hash made of Fowls.
Take the bones and pieces that have been left of roast or boiled fowls, either turkeys or chickens, crack the bones, cut off the meat, and chop it fine; put it in a small iron pot, or stew pan, cover it with water; put in the gravy that may be left from the fowls; season with pepper and salt, put in some chopped celery, crumbs of bread, a lump of butter, and if it requires it, dust in a little flour; if you like it you may slice in an onion.
Beef Steak Pudding.
Take two pounds of beef from the round or surloin, and after taking out the bone, season it according to fancy; some prefer a seasoning of pepper, salt, onions, thyme, marjoram or sage; others the pepper and salt alone. Then prepare a plain stiff crust, either with or without butter or lard; spread the crust over a deep dish or bowl, put in the beef, and if you like it, add some butter; cover it close with a crust which must be closely turned in to prevent the water from penetrating; tie it up tight in a cloth, put it in a pot of boiling water and let it boil quickly for an hour. The cloth should be dipped in hot water, and floured, as for other boiled puddings.
Beef Steak Pie.
Take some fine beef steaks, beat them well with a rolling-pin, and season them with pepper and salt
according to taste. Make a good crust; lay some in a deep dish or tin pan; lay in the beef, and fill the dish half full of water; put in a table-spoonful of butter and some chopped thyme and parsley, and cover the top with crust; bake it from one to two hours, according to the size of the pie, and eat it while hot.
Baked Beef Pudding.
Par-boil some tender pieces of beef, in water enough to barely cover it; grease a pan with lard, season the beef and lay it in; make a batter of eggs, milk and flour, with a little salt, and pour it over; bake it an hour in a stove or dutch-oven, and when done keep it hot till it is eaten. Save the water the beef was boiled in, add a little butter, flour, pepper, salt and chopped parsley, thyme or sweet marjoram, and boil it up; when you dish up the pudding pour this over, or put it in a gravy dish to be served hot at the table.
Pork Stew Pie.
Take small bones and pieces of pork that will not do for sausage; roll out some crust with but little shortening; lay in the meat and small pieces of crust alternately; sprinkle in flour and seasoning, cover it with water, and put on a crust.
Spiced Beef in the Irish Style.
To a round weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds, take a pint of salt, one ounce of saltpetre, two ounces of pepper, two ounces of cloves, one ounce of allspice, four ounces of brown sugar, all well pulverized, and mixed together; rub the round well with it, and lay it in a small tub or vessel by itself. Turn and rub it once a day for ten days. It will
not injure if it remain a week longer in the spices, if it should not be convenient to bake it. When you wish to have it cooked, strew over the top of the round a small handful of suet. Be particular to bind it tight round with a cord, or narrow strip of muslin, which must be wrapped several times round to keep it in shape; put it in a dutch-oven, and add three pints of water when it is first put down; keep water boiling in the tea-kettle, and add a little as it seems necessary, observing not to add too much. It will require a slow heat, and take four hours to bake.
This is a very fine standing dish, and will be good for three weeks after cooking. Keep the gravy that is left to pour over it to keep it moist.
To Bake Fowls.
Season and stuff them the same as for roasting; put them in a dutch-oven or stove, with a pint of water; when they are half done, put in the giblets; when these are done, chop them with a knife, and put in thickening and a lump of butter.
If chickens are young, split them down the back, and put them in a dutch-oven, with a plate in the bottom, and a pint of water; when they are done, stir in a spoonful of flour, mixed in half a pint of milk, a piece of butter, salt, pepper and parsley; let it boil up and dish them.
To Fry Chickens.
After cutting up the chickens, wash and drain them; season them with salt and pepper; rub each piece in flour, and drop them separately in a frying-pan or dutch-oven of hot lard; when brown, turn the other side to fry; make a thickening of rich milk, flour, a
piece of butter, salt, and chopped parsley; take up the chicken on a dish; pour a little water in the pan to keep the gravy from being too thick; put in the thickening, stir it, and let it boil a few minutes; then pour it over the chicken.
Chickens Fried in Batter.
Make a batter of two eggs, a tea-cup of milk, a little salt, and thickened with flour; have the chickens cut up, washed and seasoned; dip the pieces in the batter separately, and fry them in hot lard; when brown on both sides, take them up on a dish, and make a gravy as for fried chickens.
Lard fries much nicer than butter, which is apt to burn.
Chickens in Paste.
Make a crust as for pies, and roll it out in cakes, large enough to cover a chicken. The chickens should be very nicely picked and washed, and the inside wiped dry; put in each a small lump of butter, a little salt, pepper, and parsley; have the pot boiling, close the chickens in the dough, pin them up in separate cloths, and boil them three-quarters of an hour; dish them, and pour drawn butter over. Pigeons
can be cooked in the same manner.
To Fricassee Chickens.
Cut up the chickens, and put them in a pot with just water enough to cover them; let it boil half an hour; have ready some thickening made of milk, flour, and butter, seasoned with parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt; let it boil a few minutes longer, and when it is dished, grate a little nutmeg over, if you like it. This is one of the easiest, cheapest and best ways of cooking chickens.
Chicken Pie.
Cut up the chickens, and if they are old, boil them fifteen minutes in a little water, which save to put in the pie; make a paste like common pie crust, and put it round your pan, or dish; lay in the chicken, dust flour over, and put in butter, pepper, and salt; cover them with water, roll out the top crust quite thick, and close the pie round the edge; make an opening in the middle with a knife; let it bake rather more than an hour. If you warm a pie over for the next day, pour off the gravy and warm it separately, and add it to the pie.
Pot Pie.
Cut up two large chickens; grease your pot, or dutch-oven, with lard; roll out crust enough in two parts, to go round it, but not to cover the bottom, or it will burn before the pie is done. As you put in the pieces of chicken, strew in flour, salt, and pepper, some pieces of the crust rolled thin, and a few potatoes; cover this with water, and put on a covering of paste, with a slit cut in the middle; let it cook slowly for about two hours; have hot water in a tea kettle, and if it should dry up too much, pour some in; just before you dish it, add a little parsley and thyme.
Veal, lamb and pork pies,
may be made in the same way. If you like more top crust, cook it in a dutch-oven; and when the first crust is done, take it off in a pan and set it near the fire, and cover the pie again with dough.
Giblet Pie and Soup.
If you can get livers and gizzards from market, you can have a very nice pie made, the same as chicken pie, or soup with dumplings made of milk, egg and
flour, beaten together, and dropped in when the soup is nearly done, and season it with parsley, pepper, and salt.
Chicken Stewed with New Corn.
Cut up the chickens as for pies; season them well; have green corn cut off the cob; put a layer of chicken in the bottom of a stew pan, and a layer of corn, and so till you fill all in; sprinkle in salt, pepper and parsley, and put a piece of butter in; cover it with water, and put on a crust, with slits cut in it; let it boil an hour; when done, lay the crust in a deep dish; dip out the chicken and corn, and put it on the crust; stir in the gravy a thickening of milk and flour; when this boils up, pour it in with the corn and chicken. Chicken and corn boiled together in a pot, make very nice soup,
with dumplings.
To Broil Chickens.
Split the chickens down the back; season them, and put them on the gridiron over clear coals; cover them over with a plate, (which will make them cook faster;) baste with melted butter: be careful not to let them burn. Make gravy of the giblets, boiled in water and chopped fine; put in butter, thicken and season it; pour this in a dish, and put the chickens on the top.
Chicken Pudding.
Make a batter of six eggs, milk, flour and a little salt; par-boil the chickens; have each joint cut, grease a pan with lard, and lay the pieces in; put in some lumps of butter, and season it well with pepper and salt; then pour the batter over, and bake it an hour, in a stove or dutch-oven. Veal or beef makes a very nice pudding,
done in the same way; but the batter
need not be as rich as for chicken, and it requires no butter. Or it makes a good dish, if you cut slices of ham, after it will not do to appear on the table; make a batter, as for other pudding; put in a little butter and pepper, and bake it in a pan.
Cold Chicken with Vinegar.
Cut up the chicken in small pieces, and crack the bones; season it with salt and pepper, and put it in a deep baking plate, with a lump of butter and a tablespoonful of vinegar; cover it with hot water, put a plate over, and let it stew on a stove or hot embers.
Chicken Salad.
Cut up the white parts of a cold chicken, season it with oil, or drawn butter, mustard, pepper, salt, and celery, chopped very fine, and a little vinegar. Turkey salad
is made in the same manner as above.
Stewed Chickens with Rice.
The rice must first be soaked in water, and very nicely washed, or it will not be white; two tea-cupsful of rice are sufficient to serve with one chicken, and must be boiled in a quart of water, which should be boiling when you put the rice in; add a dessert-spoonful of salt; generally half an hour is long enough to boil rice, and it must not be too long in the water after it is done, or it is less wholesome. Drain the water off, if the rice has not absorbed it, and place it in the bottom of the dish; the chicken must be in preparation at the same time with the rice, and should be cut up at the joints, as for fried or fricasseed chicken, and salted and seasoned; boil it in a little more water than sufficient to cover it; and when it is
done, take it out, and lay it over the rice on the dish; then rub a small piece of butter with sufficient flour to thicken it, and stir both together in the liquor, which must remain over the fire for about two minutes; and just before it is taken up, add the yelk of an egg well beaten, and some chopped parsley; it must then be immediately poured over the chicken. In preparing this dish, take care that it does not get smoked.
FISH, OYSTERS, &C.
To Bake a Rock Fish.
RUB the fish with salt, black pepper, and a dust of cayenne, inside and out; prepare a stuffing of bread and butter, seasoned with pepper, salt, parsley and thyme; mix an egg in it, fill the fish with this, and sew it up or tie a string round it; put it in a deep pan, or oval oven and bake it as you would a fowl. To a large fish add half a pint of water; you can add more for the gravy if necessary; dust flour over and baste
it with butter. Any other fresh fish can be baked in the same way. A large one will bake slowly in an hour and a half, small ones in half an hour.
To Stew a Rock Fish.
Rub the fish with salt and pepper, and a little cayenne on the inside; put it in an oval stew-pan. To a fish that weighs six pounds, put a pint of water; when it is about half done, season it well with salt and pepper, and a little mace or cloves; rub a quarter of a pound of butter in a half a tea-cup of flour, with a little parsley and thyme; stir this in with a pint of oysters. Serve it with the gravy in the dish. A large fish should be allowed an hour, small ones half an hour.
To Broil Shad.
Soak a salt shad a day or night previous to cooking; it is best to drain an hour before you put it to the fire; if it hangs long exposed to the air, it loses its flavor: grease the gridiron to keep it from sticking; have good coals, and put the inside down first. Fresh shad is better to be sprinkled with salt, an hour before it is put to broil; put a plate over the top to keep the heat in. In broiling shad or other fresh fish you should dust them with corn meal before you put them down.
To Bake a Fresh Shad.
Make a stuffing of bread, butter, salt, pepper and parsley; fill a large shad with this, and bake it in a stove or oven.
To Fry Fresh Fish.
Have the fish well scalded, washed and drained; cut slits in the sides of each; season them with salt and
pepper, and roll them in corn flour; have in your frying-pan hot lard or bacon drippings; if the fish have been kept several days, dip them in egg before rolling them in corn flour, to keep them from breaking; fry them light brown on both sides.
To Fry Clams.
After opening them as oysters, wash them in their own liquor and drain then; make a batter of an egg flour and pepper; dip them in this, and fry them in butter.
To Stew Clams.
Strain the liquor and stew them in it for about twenty minutes; make a thickening of flour, water and pepper; stir this in and let it boil up; have some bread toasted and buttered in a deep dish, and pour the clams over.
Clam soup
may be made by putting an equal quantity of water with the liquor, and putting in toasted bread, crackers or dumplings.
To Pot Fresh Herring.
Scale and wash them well; cut off the heads and fins, and season them with salt, pepper and cloves; pack them neatly in a large jar, and pour on enough cold vinegar to cover them; put a plate over the top of the jar, and set it in a moderately warm oven, or on the top of a stove, in a pan of hot water, for five or six hours; they will keep in a cool place several weeks, and are an excellent relish. The jar or pan should be of stone ware, or fire-proof yellow ware.
To Boil Salt Cod.
Put your fish to soak over night; change the water in the morning, and let it stay till you put it on, which
should be two hours before dinner; keep it at scalding heat all the time, but do not let it boil, or it will get hard; eat it with egg sauce or drawn butter. If you have any cod fish left from dinner, mix it with mashed potatoes, and enough flour to stick them together; season with pepper; make it into little cakes, and fry them in ham drippings.
To Boil Salt Shad, Mackerel or Herring.
Wash the fish from the pickle; put it in a frying-pan; cover it with water, and let it boil fifteen minutes; take it up and drain it between two plates; put a little butter over and send it hot to the table: or, after boiling, you can flour, and fry it in drippings of any kind.
To Boil Salt Salmon.
Let salmon soak over night, and boil it slowly for two hours; eat it with drawn butter. To pickle salmon after it has been boiled, heat vinegar scalding hot, with whole peppers and cloves; cut the fish in small square pieces; put it in a jar, and pour the vinegar over. Shad
may be done in the same way.
To Boil Fresh Fish.
After being well cleaned, rub the fish with salt, and pin it in a towel; put it in a pot of boiling water, and keep it boiling fast;--a large fish will take from half to three-quarters of an hour--a small one, from fifteen to twenty minutes. A fat shad is very nice boiled, although rock and bass are preferred generally; when done, take it up on a fish dish, and cover it with egg sauce or drawn butter and parsley. Pickled mushrooms and walnuts, and mushroom catsup, are good with boiled fish.
To Stew Terrapins.
Wash four terrapins in warm water; then throw them in a pot of boiling water, which will kill them instantly; let them boil till the shells crack; then take them out, and take off the bottom shell; cut each quarter separate; take the gall from the liver; take out the eggs; put the pieces in a stew-pan, pour in all the liquor, and cover them with water; put in salt, cayenne, and black pepper, and a little mace; put in a lump of butter the size of an egg, and let them stew for half an hour; make a thickening of flour and water, which stir in a few minutes before you take it up, with two glasses of wine; serve it in a deep covered dish; put in the eggs just as you dish it.
Oyster Soup.
Strain the liquor from the oysters, and put it on to boil, with an equal quantity of water; take off the scum as it rises; put in pepper, salt, parsley, thyme and butter; stir in a thickening of flour and water; throw in the oysters, and let them scald. If you have cream, put in half a pint just before you take them up.
ANOTHER WAY.
Strain the liquor from a gallon of oysters, and add to it an equal quantity of water; put it on the fire, and boil and skim it before you add the seasoning; then put in six large blades of mace, a little cayenne, and black or white pepper; (the latter, on account of the color, is preferable, as it is desirable to have the soup as white as possible;) afterwards, permit all to boil together about five minutes; then pour in the oysters and a quarter of a pound of butter, into which a
dessert-spoonful of wheat flour has been rubbed fine; keep this at boiling heat until the oysters begin to look plump--when it is ready for the table, and must be served up very hot. If you can procure a pint of good cream, half the amount of butter will answer;--if you believe the cream to be rather old, even if it seems to be sweet, add before it goes into the soup, half a small teaspoonful of soda, well mixed with it; after you put in the cream, permit it to remain on the fire long enough to arrive at boiling heat again, when it must be taken up, or it may curdle; throw into the tureen a little finely cut parsley.
Scolloped Oysters.
Toast several slices of bread quite brown, and butter them on both sides; take a baking dish, and put the toast around the sides, instead of a crust.
Pour your oysters into the dish, and season, to your taste, with butter, pepper and salt, adding mace or cloves.
Crumb bread on the top of the oysters, and bake it with a quick heat about fifteen minutes.
To Fry Oysters.
Pick out the largest oysters and drain them; sprinkle them with pepper and salt; beat up an egg, and dip them first in it, and then in pounded crackers, and fry them in butter. It is a plainer way to dip them in corn meal.
Oyster Fritters.
Make a thick batter with two eggs, some crumbs of bread and flour, and a little milk; season this well with pepper and salt; have in a frying-pan equal parts of lard and butter; drop in a spoonful of the batter
and put into it one large oyster, or two small ones, let them brown slowly, so as not to burn; turn them carefully. This is a good way to have oysters at breakfast.
To Stew Oysters.
Open them and throw them in a stew-pan, with a lump of butter; make a thickening of flour and water, salt and pepper, and stir it in just as the oysters boil: when they are done, take them up in a deep covered dish, with buttered toast in the bottom.
A Rich Oyster Pie.
Strain off the liquor from the oysters, and put it on to boil, with some butter, mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt; just as it boils, stir in a thickening of milk and flour; put in the oysters, and stir them till they are sufficiently stewed; then take them off, and put in the yelks of two eggs, well beaten; do not put this in while it is boiling, or it will curdle. Line a dish, not very deep, with puff paste; fill it with white paper, or a clean napkin, to keep the top paste from falling in; put on a lid of paste, and bake it. When done, take off the lid carefully; take out the paper or napkin, and pour in the oysters. Send it hot to table.
A Baltimore Oyster Pie.
Make a crust after the directions given for puff paste; grease the bottom of a deep dish, cover it with paste; then season two quarts of raw oysters, (without the liquor,) with spices to your taste, (some preferring nutmeg, mace, cayenne pepper,--others, black pepper alone,) add butter and a heaped tea-cup of grated bread; put all together in the dish; then cover it with your paste, cut in strips, and crossed, or ornamented
as your fancy dictates; a pound of butter to two quarts of oysters makes a rich pie; if the oysters are fine, less butter will answer.
A pie of this size will bake in three-quarters of an hour, if the oven is in good order; if the heat is not quick allow it an hour.
If in baking, the crust is likely to become too brown, put a piece of paper doubled over it, and the light color will be retained; when taken from the oven, if it should look dry, pour some of the liquor that was drained from the oysters in the dish, having previously strained and boiled it.
As paste always looks more beautiful when just from the oven, arrange your dinner so that the pie may be placed on the table immediately it is done.
Plain Oyster Pie.
Take from the shell as many oysters as you want to put in the pie; strain the liquor, put it with them over the fire and give them one boil; take off the scum, put in, if you wish to make a small pie, a quarter of a pound of butter, as much flour mixed in water as will thicken it when boiled, and mace, pepper, and salt to your taste; lay a paste in a deep dish, put in the oysters and cover them with paste; cut a hole in the middle, ornament it any way you please, and bake it. A shallow pie will bake in three-quarters of an hour.
Oyster Sauce.
Plump the oysters for a few minutes over the fire; take them out and stir into the liquor some flour and butter mixed together, with a little mace and whole pepper, and salt to your taste; when it has boiled long enough, throw in the oysters, and add a glass of white
wine, just as you take it up. This is a suitable sauce for boiled fowls.
To Pickle 100 Oysters.
Drain off the liquor from the oysters, wash them and put to them a table-spoonful of salt, and a tea-cup of vinegar; let them simmer over the fire about ten minutes, taking off the scum as it rises; then take out the oysters, and put to their own liquor a table-spoonful of whole black pepper, and a tea-spoonful of mace and cloves; let it boil five minutes, skim, and pour it over the oysters in a jar.
Oysters Pickled another way.
Wash and drain the oysters, and put them in salt and water, that will bear an egg; let them scald till plump, and put them in a glass jar, with some cloves and whole peppers, and when cold cover them with vinegar.
To Brown Oysters in their own Juice.
Take a quart of large oysters, wash them in their own juice, drain and dip them in the yelk of eggs; heat butter in a frying-pan, and after seasoning them with pepper and salt, put them in separately; when they are brown on both sides, draw them to one side of the pan; strain the liquor, and put it in with a piece of butter and flour enough to thicken it.
A Dish of Poached Eggs.
Have ready a kettle of boiling water, pour it in a pan or speeder, which is set on coals; have the eggs at hand; put a little salt in the water, and break them in one at a time, till you get all in; let them remain
till the white is set, and take them out with an eggspoon, and put on a dish that has buttered toast on it.
Fried Eggs.
Slice and fry any kind of bacon, dish it; have the eggs ready in a dish, and pour them into the gravy; when done, take them up and lay them on the meat.
Fried Eggs another way.
Have your lard or butter boiling hot; break in one egg at a time; throw the hot fat over them with an egg slice, until white on the top; slip the slice under and take them out whole, and lay them on the dish or meat without breaking; season with salt.
Omelet.
Beat six or eight eggs, with some chopped parsley and a little salt; have the pan or speeder nicely washed; put in a quarter of a pound of butter, when it is hot, pour in the eggs; stir it with a spoon till it begins to form; when it is of a light-brown on the under side it is done; turn it out on a plate, and send to table immediately. Grated bread, soaked in cream; put in the omelet, some think an improvement. The dripping of a nice ham, some persons use for omelet instead of butter.
To Boil Eggs.
Have the water boiling, and look at your watch as you put them in; two minutes and a half will cook them to please most persons; if you want them very soft, two minutes will be sufficient, or if less soft three minutes. If you wish them hard, as for lettuce, let them boil ten minutes. Spoons that have been used in eating eggs should be put in water immediately, as the egg tarnishes them.
VEGETABLES.
To Boil Green Corn.
Pick out ears near the same size, and have the water boiling when you put them in; half an hour is long enough for young corn; that which is old and hard will take an hour or more; if young corn is boiled too long, it becomes hard and indigestible.
To Fricassee Corn.
Cut green corn off the cob; put it in a pot, and just cover it with water; let it boil half an hour; mix a spoonful of flour with half a pint of rich milk, pepper, salt, parsley, thyme and a piece of butter; let it boil a few minutes, and take it up in a deep dish. Corn will do to cook in this way when too old to boil on the cob.
To Keep Corn for Winter.
When boiled, cut the corn off the cob, and spread it on dishes; set these in the oven to dry after the bread comes out. If you have no oven, it can be dried in a stove of moderate heat, or round a fire. When perfectly dry, tie it up in muslin bags, and hang them in a dry place; when you use it, boil it till soft in water; mix flour, milk, butter, pepper and salt together, and stir in.
Corn Fritters.
Cut the corn through the grain, and with a knife scrape the pulp from the cob, or grate it with a coarse grater, and to about a quart of the pulp, add two eggs beaten, two table-spoonsful of flour, a little salt and pepper, and a small portion of thin cream, or new milk;
beat the the whole together; have the butter or lard hot in the pan, and put a large spoonful in at a time, and fry brown, turning each fritter separately; this makes an agreeable relish for breakfast, or a good side dish at dinner.
Hominy.
Large hominy, after it is washed, must be put to soak over night; if you wish to have it for dinner, put it to boil early in the morning, or it will not be done in time; eat it as a vegetable.
Small hominy will boil in an hour; it is very good at breakfast or supper to eat with milk or butter, or to fry for dinner.
Both large and small hominy will keep good in a cool place several days. Be careful that the vessel it is cooked in, is perfectly clean, or it will darken the hominy.
To Fry Hominy.
Put a little lard in your frying-pan, and make it hot; mash and salt the hominy; put it in, and cover it over with a plate; let it cook slowly for half an hour, or longer if you like it very brown; when done, turn it out in a plate. If you do not like it fried, mash it well, with a little water, salt, and butter, and warm it in a frying-pan.
To Boil Potatoes.
When the potatoes are old, pare them, put them in plenty of boiling water, and boil them till you can run a fork through easily; if you wish to have them whole, pour off all the water, throw in some salt, and let them stand a few minutes over coals, to let the steam go off; they will then be white and mealy.
It is a mistaken notion to boil potatoes in but little
water, as they are sure to turn dark and taste strong. In cold weather they may be kept pared several days in a pan of water, by changing the water every day, and will be whiter. If you like mashed potatoes,
take them up when barely done, sprinkle them with salt, and mash them; put in a spoonful of cream and a small lump of butter; keep them hot till they are taken to table.
In the summer when potatoes are young, put them in a small tub, with a little water, and rub them with a piece of brick, to break the skin; you can then peel enough for dinner with a knife in a few minutes. When they are older, boil them with the skins on, and squeeze them separately in a cloth to make them mealy. New potatoes are nice with cream and butter over them.
In boiling old potatoes, some persons cut them round without paring, which allows the moisture to escape; this is an improvement; you can then either peel them or send them to table without peeling.
To Stew Potatoes.
Chop or slice cold potatoes; season with pepper and salt; stew them with a little butter and milk, and a dust of flour; when nearly done, stir in a yelk of egg, with some chopped parsley--they will cook in a few minutes, and may be sliced over night if you wish an early breakfast.
Sweet Potatoes.
To boil sweet potatoes, put them in a pot with plenty of water; let them boil fast till you can run a fork through the largest; then pour off the water, and leave them in the pot a quarter of an hour; you can then peel the skin off or leave it on. Some prefer them
baked in a dutch-oven; they should have a quick heat; large potatoes will take an hour to bake. It has been found a good way to boil them, till nearly done; then peel and bake them--they are drier and nicer.
To Fry Potatoes.
Cold potatoes are very good fried for breakfast with scraps of bacon; if they have been mashed, make them out in cakes with a little flour, and fry them brown, or slice them.
Tomatoes.
If you wish to bake tomatoes in the oven with bread, pour boiling water on, and skin them; cut them in small pieces; season with salt and pepper, and put them in a pan with crumbs of bread and butter; cover the pan with a plate, and bake three-quarters of an hour; when done, mash them and take them out on a dish.
To Fry Tomatoes.
Slice them, season with pepper and salt, and fry in hot butter; if they are green, dip them in flour after being seasoned.
Tomato Omelet.
Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, skin and cut them fine; to one quart of this, put two chopped onions and a lump of butter the size of an egg; let them boil half an hour, then mash them; put in grated bread, pepper, salt, and the yelks of two eggs.
To Stew Tomatoes.
Wash and pour boiling water over them; peel off the skins, and cut them up; season them with pepper and
salt; put in a lump of butter, and boil them in their own juice for half an hour; stir in enough crumbs of bread to thicken them; let them cook slowly ten minutes longer; be careful that the bread does not burn.
To Bake Tomatoes.
Take out the inside of large tomatoes, make a stuffing of bread, butter, pepper, salt and an egg; fill them with this, and set them in a deep pie-plate; let them bake slowly half an hour.
Tomato Jelly, to eat with Roast Meat.
Wash the tomatoes, and put them in a bell-metal kettle, with a little water; let them boil thirty minutes; take them out and strain them through a sieve, till you get all the pulp; let it settle and pour off the top; put the thick part in deep plates, and set them in the oven after the bread is drawn; season it with pepper and salt to your taste, and put it away in a jar. It can either be eaten cold, or warmed up with crumbs of bread and butter. Some persons slice tomatoes, and dry them on dishes in an oven.
To Fricassee Tomatoes.
Wash and cut them in two, if large; if small, leave them whole, but do not peel them or they go too much to pieces; have a broad speeder or stove-pan; put in a half spoonful of butter; season the tomatoes with pepper and salt, and flour them; cover them with a plate; they will cook in ten minutes, stirring them once; pour in half a tea-cup of cream just as they are done; let them boil up and dish them while hot; this dish is much liked either for breakfast, dinner or tea.
To Broil Tomatoes for Breakfast.
Take large round tomatoes, wash and wipe them, and put them on the gridiron over lively coals--the stem side down; when this is brown, turn them and let them cook till quite hot through; place them on a hot dish and send them quickly to table, where each one may season for himself with pepper, salt and butter.
To Bake Tomatoes for Breakfast.
Season them with pepper and salt; flour and bake them in a stove, in a deep plate with a little butter over them.
Tomatoes sliced with Onions.
Pick the best tomatoes; let them stand a little while in cold water, then peel and slice them. To about six tomatoes, you may add two red onions, also sliced; season with pepper, plenty of salt, and a small portion of vinegar.
To put up Tomatoes for Winter.
Gather a quantity of tomatoes, wash, scald, skin and cut them up; season them highly with pepper and salt, and put them in a large stone jar; set this in the oven with your bread, and leave it till it is cold; stir them, and set them in the oven every time you bake for several weeks; when the juice is nearly dried up, put a piece of white paper over the jar, melt some lard and pour on it. When you use them, stew them with bread, butter and water.
Baked Egg Plant.
Boil them ten minutes; then cut them in half and take out the seeds, fill them with a stuffing of crumbs
of bread, seasoned with butter, pepper, salt, the yelk of an egg, and if you choose, the juice of a tomato; close them and tie each one with a string; put a little water in the dutch-oven, and lay them in with some of the stuffing on the top; let them cook slowly half an hour, basting them with butter; take them out, thicken the gravy, and pour it over them on the dish.
To Fry Egg Plant.
Cut them in slices half an inch thick; sprinkle them with salt, and let them stand a few minutes to extract the bitter taste; wash them in cold water, and wipe them dry; season with salt and pepper; dip them in flour, and fry them in butter.
Another way of cooking them is to cut them in thin slices, and bake them on a bake-iron that is hot enough to bake cakes.
Salsify, or Oyster Plant.
Scrape the roots, and boil them till soft; mash them, and put in butter pepper, salt, and egg and flour enough to stick them together; make this in cakes as large as an oyster, and fry them in butter; or after boiling, you can cut them in slices and stew them in water; then butter and season, and thicken with a little flour and cream.
To Stew or Fry Mushrooms.
Be careful in gathering mushrooms that you have the right kind; they are pink underneath, and white on the top, and the skin will peel off easily, but it sticks to the poisonous ones.
After you have peeled them, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and put them in a stew pan, with a little water, and a lump of butter; let them boil fast ten
minutes, and stir in a thickening of flour and cream. They may be fried in butter, or broiled on a gridiron. They are sometimes very abundant in the fall, on ground that has not been ploughed for several years; they appear after a warm rain; they may be peeled, salted, and allowed to stand some hours before cooking.
Cucumbers, to Fry or Slice.
To fry cucumbers, take off the rinds in long pieces, a quarter of an inch thick; season them with pepper and salt; dip them in flour, and fry them in butter.
Many persons think cucumbers unwholesome, and they certainly are if kept for several days before they are eaten; but if sliced thin, with onions, pepper, salt and good vinegar, they may generally be eaten without danger.
Lettuce.
Persons that are fond of lettuce may have it nearly all the year, by sowing the different kinds, and keeping it covered through the winter; the most approved way of dressing it is to cut it fine, and season with oil, mustard, pepper, salt, vinegar, and a hard egg chopped. The essence of ham is also very good to season lettuce.
Where there is a large family, it is a good and economical way to cut the fat of ham in small pieces, fry it, and make a gravy with flour, water and pepper, to eat with lettuce. To cook lettuce
you must fry a little ham; put a spoonful of vinegar into the gravy; cut the lettuce, put it in the pan; give it a stir, and then dish it.
Cold Slaw.
Cut hard white cabbage across the leaves, and put it in a deep plate, scald two large spoonsful of vinegar with a piece of butter, some pepper and salt; pour this
over the slaw; have an egg boiled hard; chop it fine, and spread it over the top. Some persons like it heated in a pan with vinegar and water, and the yelk of a raw egg mixed through it.
Cauliflowers, &c.
Have a pot with half milk, and the rest water; when this boils, put in the cauliflowers, and let them boil till tender; put in some salt just before you take them up; have ready drawn butter with parsley, to pour over them, or a sauce of cream and butter. Good heads of yellow Savoy cabbage,
cooked in this way, resemble cauliflowers. Brocoli
is a delightful vegetable, and may be cooked in the same manner.
To Boil Cabbage.
In summer, you should allow a large head of cabbage an hour to boil, but when it has been tendered by the frost, it will boil in half that time. Most persons prefer cabbage boiled with ham; the pot should be well skimmed before it goes in or the grease will penetrate the cabbage, and make it unwholesome; take it up before it boils to pieces. It is very good boiled with corned beef or pork, or with milk and water, with a little salt added. Some like it with a little salæratus thrown in while boiling, as that tenders it and makes it of a more lively green.
To Boil Greens and Poke.
After skimming the pot that the bacon has been boiled in, put in cabbage sprouts,
and let them boil till the stalks are tender; all greens are best boiled in a net. Spinach
cooks in a few minutes; some persons prefer it when boiled in salt and water; you should
have drawn butter or hard eggs to eat with it when done in this way. There are several kinds of wild greens to be round in the country in the spring, as wild mustard, poke and lambs-quarter,
which are very good cooked as cabbage sprouts. Pour boiling water on poke,
after tying it in bunches, as asparagus, let it stand a few minutes; pour off the water; boil it with a little salt in the water, and if you choose a little salæratus; dress it with butter, and dish it as asparagus.
String Beans.
String beans, if boiled in salt and water, will require fully two hours; but if boiled in a net, in a pot with bacon, they will not take so long; if they are cooked in the same pot with cabbage, it will injure the flavor. It is a good way to boil a very small piece of pork or bacon, or a ham-bone in the pot with beans; when they are done, season them with cream, butter, salt and pepper.
Lima Beans.
Shell them, and wash them in cold water; let them boil about an hour; when done, dip them from the water, and season with salt, pepper, cream or butter; keep them hot till they are sent to table.
Dried lima beans
should be soaked over night, and boiled two hours or longer, if they are not soft.
Peas.
Early peas require about half an hour to boil, and the later kinds rather longer; the water should boil when they are put in; when they are tough and yellow, they may be made tender and green, by putting in a little pearl-ash, or ashes tied up in a rag, just before they are taken up; this will tender all green vegetables,
but do not put too much;--when done, dip them out; drain and season them with butter, pepper and salt; put a bunch of parsley in the middle of the dish.
To Keep Green Beans for Winter.
Boil salt and water to make a strong pickle; string the beans, and put them in a tight wooden firkin; sprinkle them with salt as they go in; when the pickle is cold, pour it on, and put on a weight to keep the beans under; they will keep in the cellar till the next spring. They should soak several hours in cold water before they are boiled.
Asparagus.
All persons that have a garden should have an asparagus-bed; it is valuable as being one of the first vegetables in the spring. Put the stalks of the same length in bunches together, and tie them with st