JENNIE JUNE'S
AMERICAN COOKERY BOOK,
CONTAINING UPWARDS OF TWELVE HUNDRED CHOICE AND CAREFULLY
TESTED RECEIPTS; EMBRACING ALL THE POPULAR DISHES,
AND THE BEST RESULTS OF MODERN SCIENCE, RE-
DUCED TO A SIMPLE AND PRACTICAL FORM.
ALSO,
A CHAPTER FOR INVALIDS, FOR INFANTS, ONE ON JEWISH COOKERY;
AND A VARIETY OF MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS OF SPECIAL
VALUE TO HOUSEKEEPERS GENERALLY.
BY MRS. J. C. CROLY, (JENNIE JUNE.)
AUTHOR OF "TALKS ON WOMEN'S TOPICS," ETC.
"What does cookery mean?"
"It means the knowledge of Medea, and of Circe, and of Calypso, and of Helen, and of Rebekah, and of the Queen of Sheba. It means the knowledge of all fruits, and herbs, and balms, and spices--and of all that is healing, and sweet in fields, and groves, and savory in meats--it means carefulness, and inventiveness, and watchfulness, and willingness, and readiness of appliance. It means the economy of your great-grandmothers, and the science of modern chemists--it means much tasting, and no wasting--it means English thoroughness, and French art, and Arabian hospitality, and it means in fine, that you are to be perfectly, and always 'ladies,'--'loaf givers,' and as you are to see imperatively that everybody has something pretty to put on,--so you are to see, even yet more imperatively, that everybody has something nice to eat."--RUSKIN.
NEW YORK:
THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY,
119 & 121 NASSAU STREET.
1870.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866 by
THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY.
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York
Dedicated
TO THE YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS OF AMERICA.
INTRODUCTION
"Why another cook-book, when there are already so many?"
Well, for several reasons, one of which is, that when an inquiry was made for a good, practical cook-book, we knew not which to recommend. We examined a great many, and found some good for one thing, and some for another; but few containing just what young, middle class housekeepers want to know--arranged in a clear, available form, unencumbered with unnecessary and wordy details.
A very small number of the printed cookery and housekeeping books have been written by women, and still less by persons possessing any practical knowledge of the subject of which they were treating. The majority are clumsy compilations of all kinds of receipts--good, bad, and indifferent, collected from various sources, and put together with an ignorance as profound, of their results, as if they had been written in an unknown language.
There are certain "high art" cookery books that are very good and complete, in their way; but they are too elaborate and pretentious for the class for whom this was written. They go into the mysteries of French dishes, and tell how to get up grand dinners, but they leave the poor young wife, who wants to cook a chop or a chicken,
stuff a piece of veal, and make a pudding, or a loaf of bread for the first time in her life, quite in the dark.
It is not claimed for the present volume, by the author, that it fully meets the necessities of the case, or has satisfactorily accomplished its task, even within the modest limits assigned to it. It is one thing to think how something may be done, and another thing to do it; but it is claimed that the object of the work has been constantly kept in view, that it has been executed lovingly, with a strong appreciation of the benefit and pleasure to be derived from good cooking, from the intermingling of the finer with the grosser elements, with a pleasant remembrance of good times spent in the kitchen, and with an earnest wish to make these duties seem attractive to the conscientious young wives who would willingly perform their part, if they but knew how.
Nearly all the receipts and recommendations in the following pages have been carefully tested and found sensible and practical. We have omitted some things, which nearly all cook-books contain, such as directions for carving, setting table, etc.; because it seemed a waste of valuable space. Carving is partly a gift of nature, and partly of grace; it is never learned from a book. Directions of this kind, moreover, are useless without illustrations; and these did not come within the scope of the present work. Information as to how to put the knives and forks on a dinner table is another work of supererogation. Few persons who use a cookery book are so benighted as not to have seen a table neatly set sometime or other, and if they have, it is worth more to them than a dozen printed rules. Young housekeepers will, however, find a great many hints,--the result of experience and observation,--which we hope will prove useful to them, and help to keep
them from the errors and perplexities of many who have preceded them.
Dear friends,--for it is you, for whom this book is written, and to whom it is dedicated,--I believe in you, I sympathize with you, because I am one of you. I see you in your lovely young wife-hood, so happy in your treasures of pantry and closet, so proud of your first culinary success, and of your lord and master's high appreciation of it; and I would, if it were possible, extend the loving halo which glorifies every act of affection during these first happy months, to all your future; so that no weariness, no pain, no distrust, no loss of anything that now makes life beautiful, might ever come near you. But this is out of my power. I can only wish for every one no more clouds than is necessary, to vary and make beautiful the matrimonial sky, and so dear friends,
FAREWELL.
TO THE READER
A NEW edition gives me the opportunity to add a chapter to this little work, which, I hope, will give it additional interest and value, and also to offer a word of apology and explanation to my readers.
A longer experience has demonstrated one error, which is of such importance to young mothers that I desire to correct it here. This is in regard to diluting milk, in the chapter upon Food for Infants. If cow's milk is used as a substitute for mother's milk, I believe now, from experience and observation, that it is best to get the best from one cow, and use it pure. The child is better nourished on a much smaller quantity than when it is diluted, and is much less liable to flatulence and colic. Sweeten the milk slightly with powdered sugar, and warm it by putting the bottle in water, which should be gradually heated. I may remark, however, that my faith in prepared barley, as food for infants, has been strengthened, and I am very glad it is rapidly being brought into general use.
All that I have to say in regard to the receipts contained in the additional chapter is, that they are genuine, and were obtained directly, excepting in one instance, (where it was furnished by a friend,) from the parties themselves. All that I have to beg of young housekeepers is, that they will try them with their own hands, and not turn them over to the tender mercies of Bridget. It is not the personal extravagance of American women that is sapping the foundation of American homes. It is the disintegrating quality of our domestic service.
JENNIE JUNE CROLY.
HOUSEKEEPING.
The great question when a young couple are going to be married is, whether they shall keep house or board. The gentleman, as a general rule, wishes to keep house, he is tired of boarding; moreover, he had anticipated so much enjoyment in a snug little house of their own, and so much pride and pleasure in seeing his pretty Nellie at the head of his table, doing the honors to the choicest of his friends.
But Nellie has quite different ideas; in the first place, she knows nothing about cooking. She has, with the help of her mother, or the cook, made cake once or twice, or possibly blanc-mange, which was very much praised; but of the practical details required in the getting up of the most ordinary breakfast, dinner, or supper, she knows nothing, and has not the remotest intention or inclination to become acquainted with them.
The final result is, that they go to "board" in some highly genteel establishment, where the prices are high in proportion to the gentility and lack of real comfort, and some fine morning the young gentleman wakes up to the knowledge that he is tied to a wife who doubles his expenses, but has added nothing to his happiness, or at any rate, nothing to the real value and usefulness of his life.
This is a matrimonial swindle. Girls ought not to marry until they are ready and willing to accept the position of head of a household, and capable of making a home what it should be to husband and children.
If a man can find a woman to act as his mistress for her board and clothes, well and good--there is no law to prevent it; but for a woman bearing the honored name of wife to hold so dependent and humilating a position, is fearful degradation.
The marriage relation is one of reciprocal interests, duties, and responsibilities; and no young lady ought to marry until she is
willing to assume her share of them. True affection on the part of the husband will lighten, and make duties pleasures, but whatever aspect they bear, she must not shrink from them. If she has not received the training necessary to fit her for the position, it is her misfortune; but it will be her fault, if she does not try as far as possible to remedy the evil.
Want of means constitutes no sort of reason why young married people should not go to housekeeping. What we spend on foolish and useless gewgaws and presents would, in nine cases out of ten, if usefully applied, set them up in a style quite in accordance with their means, if not their inclination.
But it is not for themselves they fear. They are willing, or at least they think so, to live together in an attic; but society! Well, what has society got to do with it? Society will not pay your butcher's and grocer's bills, nor care a copper whether they are paid or not. Society will eat ice-cream, oysters, and cake of your providing, but that is not what you are marrying for.
You have chosen a comparatively poor man, your business is to adapt yourself to his circumstances, to make the most of his means in providing a pleasant home, and bringing up carefully and conscientiously the children which may be given you. If society find you out, or if you find it worth while to fill up any of the chinks or interstices with occasional glimpses of the false, glittering, outside world--good! you will come back to your sweet home with so much the more relish; but do not marry it, do not sacrifice your own sense of duty, and the happiness and welfare of husband and family to it.
Talk of happiness,--there is none like that of an intelligent, affectionate family circle. There is no pleasure, no enjoyment equal to that of a mother ministering to the wants, or gratifying the natural and innocent tastes of her children. The pleasure is all the greater, because it is a surprise.
Young women very often dread the exacting care of a family, and expect to find wifely and maternal duties irksome and wearisome; that is the reason why they would so willingly escape them, as they fancy, by boarding, and not having children.
But unfortunately, or fortunately, God has managed it so that we cannot take the pleasures of life without bearing its pains; we
cannot shirk a plain line of duty, without incurring the penalty. But we can, and do, by taking upon ourselves bravely, its burdens, find an exaltation of womanhood, and a hight and depth of happiness, such as we never before dreamed of.
Exceptions are said to exist to every general rule; but there are very few to this, that when people marry, they ought to set right about making a home of their own. If you can only afford two rooms, live in two rooms. If your means will compass a small house, but not a large one, then take the small one, and be happy and thankful.
I would not give a wisp of straw for a young woman who does not want, on her marriage, to occupy her own little domain; who does not revel in anticipation over the contents of kitchen and closet, if there is only a small cook stove in one, and a set of delf in the other. But this suggests a matter of some importance.
KITCHEN FURNISHING.
In selecting a house to live in, particularly if it is a small one, give the preference to a pleasant, sunny kitchen, which will at least look clean when it is clean, and into which it will not be disagreeable to enter.
As a general rule, buy as little as possible on first going to housekeeping; it is easy to add more when experience has discovered to you precisely what you want; but if you should indulge in any extravagance, let it be in the kitchen furnishing.
It is a real pleasure to get a glimpse of an orderly kitchen and neat closets, newly fitted up with all the useful modern contrivances for saving labor, and making it agreeable, and as the whole cost would not amount to more than one expensive carpet, it is not worth while to do without them.
It is economical, moreover, to have all kitchen utensils of the best quality; cheap pans, brushes, pails, earthenware and the like, are not only an "eyesore" in a house, and bad or disagreeable to use, but they are good for nothing; they eternally want replacing,
while a really good article is not only taken better care of, but will stand infinitely more of hard usage.
Oil cloth is the best material for covering a kitchen floor; it is easily kept clean, and does not absorb the dirt and grease.
Short, white muslin curtains to kitchen windows are considered "nonsense" by some people, but they are tidy, and the cost and washing are not much.
Of course the kitchen will be supplied with dresser, table with drawer, and ironing table. As to chairs, three and a common rocker are sufficient; but I would enliven the walls with a picture or two, if possible, and encourage the cook, or maid of all work, to have her monthly rose or pot of geranium in the window.
Under the shelves of the kitchen closets, it is a good plan to have narrow strips of board, in which nails or tacks can be inserted, for the purpose of hanging up all sorts of small articles, such as iron and wooden spoons, sugar and flour sifters, tin strainers, lemon squeezer, lemon grater, egg beater, skewers, small sauce pans, cake turner, rolling pin, and such things as one is most likely to want, and which it is convenient to have in sight.
The floors of all closets should be covered with oil-cloth, so that they can be easily washed up, and kept neat and clean.
HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT.
Women are sometimes accused of managing too much, and sometimes of not managing at all; but the most perfect system of management is, undoubtedly, that which outwardly betrays itself least, and in the results of which, there is not suspected to have been any management at all.
Regularity is the pivot upon which all household management turns; where there is a lack of system there is a lack of comfort, that no amount of individual effort can supply. Forethought also is necessary, so that the work may be all arranged beforehand; done in its proper order, and at the right time. Never, except in cases of extreme emergency, allow Monday's washing to be put
off till Tuesday; Tuesday's ironing till Wednesday, or Wednesday's finishing up and "setting to rights," till Thursday. Leave Thursday for extra work; or when that is not required, for resting day, or half holiday, and as a preparation for the up stairs' sweeping and dusting of Friday, and the downstairs' baking and scrubbing of Saturday.
Arrange work so as to save fuel as much as possible. Mix bread at night, so that it will be ready to bake with that "first fire" which always makes the oven hot in the morning. Prepare fruit over night, so that pies or other things can be quickly made and baked immediately after. Prepare hashes for breakfast, over night. Have the kitchen and dining room put in order before retiring to rest. Have kindlings and whatever is needed for building fires laid ready, and the fire in the kitchen raked down, so that it can be built up in the shortest possible space of time. This is not only a saving in the morning, but will be found useful in case of illness in the night, when a fire is often required at a moment's notice.
Try to buy in as large quantities as possible, so as to save the perpetual running out to the grocery. Supplies on hand also enable the housekeeper to provide a more varied table, with far greater economy than is possible where every thing is bought by the half a pound, more or less.
Every family that can possibly find means to do it, or a place to properly keep the articles, should commence winter with fuel, potatoes, apples, flour, and butter, enough to last till Spring. A good supply of hominy, rice, farina, Indian meal, preserved fish, and other staples, including sugar, should also be laid in, not forgetting a box of raisins, one of currants, a third of soap, and a fourth of starch.
There is such an immense saving in soap well dried, that it is surprising so many housekeepers content themselves with buying it in damp bars. Starch also is frightfully wasted by quarter, and half pound purchases, which are frequently all absorbed at one time, by careless girls, in doing the washing for a small family.
But in most American families, the largest amount of waste, probably, takes place in the use of fuel. Heretofore, fuel of all kinds has been comparatively cheap, and very little supervision has
been exercised over its use. At present rates however, it is an item of considerable importance; and it is quite time that servants were taught how to employ it to the best advantage.
In nine out of ten kitchens, when there is any cooking to be done the range is made red hot; when the cooking is done, the fire is left to go down to ashes, and is then raised by means of a wasteful pile of kindling wood. When no cooking is going on, and a large fire is not needed, the dampers will frequently be left open, and the fuel allowed to blaze itself out up the chimney instead of being kept in reserve for actual service.
The general principle of construction upon which American kitchen stoves and ranges is based, renders them either very economical, or very much otherwise, according to the way they are managed. After the fire is first built in an ordinary stove, or range, the dampers ought all to be closed up and not opened again during the day, except while broiling, or something of that sort. If the grate is kept clear, and the fire replenished with a small quantity of coal, before it begins to get low, both the oven, and the top of the range will be kept sufficiently hot for any kind of cooking, and it will be done all the better for being done somewhat more slowly, than is customary with the well meaning, but terribly blundering, and irresponsible race of wild Irish girls, who officiate as the high priestesses of our domestic altars.
The strictest attention on the part of a house-keeper, is necessary, to see that certain articles are kept for their proper use; for instance, that the dish cloth is not used for a floor cloth, that the napkins are not used to wipe up the dishes, the dish towels as dusters, a new broom to sweep out the back yard, and the best new enamelled sauce pan, for melting down grease.
Where the lady of the house attends partly to her own work, she will naturally see to all these things; but where it is left wholly to servants, there are always complaints of missing articles, and an inspection of the kitchen, or ironing table drawer, would generally bring them all to light, although in a state almost unrecognizable, from dirt, and their contiguity to whitening, hair oil, candle grease, combs and brushes, and other articles, all of which it is found "handy" to keep in a drawer in the kitchen, with mats, table cloths, towels, and other things destined for family use.
It is hardly necessary after this to say that a kitchen being once provided with necessary and convenient articles for cleaning and cooking, the presiding genius should be held to a strict accountability for them. Pudding cloths should be forthcoming whenever wanted,--dry, clean, and free from stains; towels, napkins, pans, bowls, and cooking utensils, should be kept strictly to their uses, and not put away till perfectly clean and dry.
Ironing sheets, blankets, skirt board, bosom board, iron holder, rubber, and the like, should be kept smoothly folded in the drawer of the ironing table, when not in use.
The shelves of kitchen, dining-room, and other closets, should be covered with fresh paper, neatly cut out on the edges, once in two weeks, and dusted down twice a week.
Pot closets, safes, and refrigerators, should be thoroughly scrubbed out every week, and the latter aired every day.
Good brooms and brushes will last a long time if care is taken of them. When first bought they should be allowed to stand in cold water for twelve hours, and then thoroughly dried before using. When not in use, they should be hung up by a loop of twine, or cord, so that the weight may not rest on the edge of the splinters, and break them. Four large brooms should be provided, one for the kitchen, one for the parlor, one for the sleeping rooms, and one for the family, or "living" room. A "whisk" will be required for every room in the house, besides one for the hall.
As soon as the kitchen broom is worn down so as to render it unfit to sweep the floor with ease and comfort, take it for the cellar, door steps, and back yard; take the one from the sitting room for the kitchen, the one from the parlor to the sitting room, and get a new one for the parlor.
Exact punctuality in serving the meals, and punctual attendance at them; it is oftener the fault of the family, than the servants, that meals are served at irregular hours. Where the members make a practice of sitting down any time, and food is kept waiting until it suits their pleasure or convenience to partake of it, irrespective of household necessities, servants, or any one else, will naturally become careless and neglectful.
HOUSEHOLD MEMORANDA.
Dried herbs should be tied each separately in a paper bag, and
hung against the wall in the store-room. Mint, pennyroyal, catnip, sage, thyme, summer-savory and parsley, are all good to have in the house.
Parsley should be bunched before it goes to seed, and hung up to dry. In a week, or two, it may be put in paper bags, and is ready for use, for soup, stuffing, or fricassee.
PIECE BAGS.
Out of an old calico dress make three piece bags, and label each one of them with its written name upon a small square piece of white muslin, which must be sewn upon the side of the bag. One should be the "rag-bag," another the "white piece-bag," a third, the "colored piece-bag,"--they will be found very useful.
DUSTERS.
Provide a duster, as well as a feather brush, and a whisk broom, for every room in the house, and see that they are kept in their place, when not in use.
KITCHEN HOLDERS.
Make three kitchen holders, one to put away with the ironing apparatus, two others, to be hung up, one each side, under the kitchen mantle piece, so as to be ready for lifting pots and kettles off the fire, or taking hold of the hot handle of a sauce pan, or skillet. Small squares of old, or new carpet, are best, with an inner lining of old cloth, and an outer one of dark twilled cotton, which may either be sewed to the edge of the carpet, or the whole may be bound with worsted binding. Add a loop to hang it up by.
PAPER AND STRING.
When parcels are brought to the house, take the nice white, or brown tissue paper, in which the goods have been wrapped, fold it and put it away in a drawer, with the string tied round it, to be ready for use in case of emergency.
MENDING.
When you put the clean clothes away for the family, examine every piece, and see if a string, or a button needs replacing, or
a fracture requires mending. Pile all together, and repair them at once, remembering that a stitch in time saves nine.
MENDING STOCKINGS.
Mending stockings for a large family, is a somewhat onerous, and not altogether agreeable duty. As soon as the daughters are old enough they should be set to mending their own; but even then, there is sometimes a large pile for "mother's" work basket. Do not hurry them; however, mend them conscientiously, if it is only one pair at a time. Have needle and darning cotton of the proper size, take a large area in every direction beyond the hole, leave loops at each end of the thread, as it is drawn out, for shrinkage--and darn carefully and extensively over all the thin places. Hose mended in this way will not require the process more than twice, during their existence, provided the quality in the first place was the best. Cheap hose are not worth buying at all.
RAINY DAYS.
Make the house look as bright as possible inside, have something good for tea, put on a pretty dress, light up early, romp with the children, tell them stories, and determine at least to have sunshine in the house, if you cannot have it outside.
PACKING AWAY SUMMER OR WINTER CLOTHES.
Before packing away summer or winter clothes, devote a day to an examination of them; mend, and clean any spots off that may require it, brush, and shake them well, fold up smoothly, and sprinkle between every fold a little gum camphor, unless you are so fortunate as to have cedar chests, and then you will not need it. Sprinkle a little gum camphor also on the bottom of common trunks or chests, pack closely, filling up all the crevices, with small articles such as stockings, gloves, scarfs, hoods and the like, reserving the body part of the box for the larger garments.
Nice dresses, velvet cloaks, opera cloaks, furs, and the like, should be folded in sheets, or towels, pinned tightly down, and be placed in the trays, or hollow part of trunks, by themselves, if possible.
CAKE BOX.
Have a japanned box, or large jar, for cake, which will shut down tight. Cover it with a linen cloth, which should be put in the wash once in two weeks. Empty the box, scald it out, and let it dry in the sun, or before the fire, every week.
CHAMBER, MANTEL, AND TOILET COVERS.
White Marseilles, thin pique or Allendale quilting, edged with white ball, or twisted fringe, makes nice covers for toilet stands, or chamber mantels, especially where cottage furniture is used. If the furniture is very handsome black walnut, or rosewood, elegant mantel covers may be made, by tacking patent maroon velvet on a thin board, and edging it with bullion fringe.
TO CLEAN LOOKING GLASSES.
Divide a newspaper in two halves, fold up one in a small square and dip it in cold water. Rub the glass first with the wet half of the paper, and dry with the other. Fly specks, and all other dirty marks will disappear as if by magic.
TO TAKE OUT SCORCH.
If a shirt bosom, or any other article has unfortunately been scorched in ironing, lay it where bright sunshine will fall straight upon it. It will take it entirely out, leaving it clean and white as snow.
LABEL CHILDREN.
Into the crowns of the hats or bonnets of little children, sew a square of writing paper, stating age, and residence. This will save them from any danger of being lost.
WASH RAGS.
Small squares of crash hemmed, make very nice wash rags, or small, coarse tea napkins, fringed on the sides; very good ones may also be made out of the best part of old dinner napkins, or tablecloths. Be careful always to supply them to every sleeping-room with the towels, and see that they are changed once a week.
NIGHT CLOTHES.
Never wear anything at night that you have worn during the day, nor during the day, that you have worn at night.
TO PUT OUT FIRE.
In all such cases, great promptitude and quickness is necessary. The thing to be done is, to crush it out; either with rugs, mats, blankets, or whatever else is handy.
If the fire is in a chimney, fire a pistol into it, or put salt on it, and close up the draft of the fire-place, by pinning a quilt up over it. This last precaution alone will generally prevent danger, unless there should happen to be a high wind.
SHEETS.
When sheets are beginning to wear in the middle, sew the selvage sides together, tear them in two, and hem down the sides; they will last enough longer to pay for the trouble, especially at present price of muslin.
PAY AS YOU GO.
Keep no books, and never run accounts with stores; pay for what you buy when you buy it, and so save much money and trouble and prevent many very disagreeable mistakes.
HOW TO CLEAR A TABLE.
Collect all the food together first, and dispose of it, neatly, and carefully. Put all the spoons together, all the forks together, and all the knives together, If you have a small pitcher partly full of warm water on the table, put the knives into that, blades down. Scrape the plates clean, and empty all the slops from the tea and coffee cups, into the slop bowl. Have ready your clean light wooden tub, two thirds full of hot water, little mop, piece of soap, and tin pan of warm water for rinsing. Wash the glasses first, with a little soap, and rinse them, then the spoons, then the cups and saucers, then the silver forks, then the plates, lastly, the larger dishes. Dry quickly with nice large fine linen crash towels. Be careful not to put the handle of knives into hot water, or silver
knives where they can touch the forks, as that will scratch them. The quicker the whole operation is performed, the brighter and nicer the ware will be.
MATTRESSES.
Mattresses are used universally now in preference to feather beds; and to save trouble, some people straighten the clothes over them, just as they rise. This is very bad, they ought to be turned every day, and exposed to the air some time before the bed is made up.
HINTS ON ECONOMY.
PROVIDE ON SATURDAY for Monday, so as not to take up the fire with cooking, or time in running errands, any more than is possible on washing day.
WAIT TILL ARTICLES, fruit, fish, poultry and vegetables, are in full season, before purchasing. They are then not only much lower in price than when first brought to market, but finer in quality and flavor.
OUTSIDE GARMENTS, bonnets, cloaks, hats, shawls, scarfs and the like, will last clean and fresh much longer, if the dust is carefully removed from them by brushing and shaking after returning from a ride or a walk.
WHEN YOUR APPLES begin to rot, pick the specked ones out carefully; stew them up with cider and sugar, and fill all your empty self-sealing cans. In this way you may keep in nice apple sauce till apples come again.
PICKLE OR PRESERVE JARS should be washed in lukewarm or cold water, and dried in the sun or near the fire. Hot water cracks the polished surface of the inside, and renders them unfit for their specific use.
NEVER ALLOW CHILDREN to eat butter with meat or gravy; it is both wasteful and injurious.
HOT BUCKWHEAT CAKES will go farther and last longer than any other single article of food. A celebrated judge declared that he could remain in court all day, without feeling a symptom of hunger, after a breakfast of buckwheat cakes.
A STEW is not a bad dish for a family dinner, once a week; make it of good meat, and savory with sweet herbs, and the most fastidious will not object to it.
RISE EARLY on fine summer mornings, and throw all the windows of the house open, so that it may exchange its close atmosphere, for the cool, fresh air. Have the work done before the heat of the day comes on, and save it as much as possible during the warmest weather.
TAKE CARE OF THE FOOD that is brought into the house, and see that none of it is wasted; but do not be always on the lookout for cheap things. Beans are cheap, and very good sometimes; corn meal is cheap too, and even more available, because it can be made into a great variety of dishes, but people would not care to live on beans and corn meal all the time, because they are cheap. Eating is intended as a means of enjoyment, as well as of sustaining life; and it is right to avail ourselves of the abundant resources provided, as far as we can consistently.
USE TEA LEAVES, or short, freshly cut grass, to sprinkle upon carpets before sweeping. It will freshen up the colors, and save the usual cloud of dust.
HAVE EVERYTHING CLEAN, on Saturday night, something nice for tea, and also for Sunday morning breakfast. Let the approach of the Sabbath be anticipated in all things, with pleasure. Stay at home with the children on Sabbath evening, and finish the day with a sacred concert.
ALLOW NO HOLES, or corners in the house, in drawers, on shelves, or in closets, for the stowing away of dirty rags, old bottles, grease-pots, and broken crockery. When bottles are emptied, let them be cleaned, and put down in the cellar, until they are wanted. Harbor no dirty grease pots, and when an article is broken past recovery, throw it away at once; there is no use in keeping it to collect dust, and cobwebs.
MAKE A POINT of examining safe, refrigerator, closets, drawers, and all receptacles for food, and kitchen articles, at least as often as once a week, either Saturday, or washing day. Look into pickle jars, bread jars, cake jars, butter tubs, apple, and potato barrels, everything in fact, examine their condition, see if they are kept covered and clean, and that food put away, is not left to spoil, or be wasted.
THE FEWER SERVANTS THE BETTER--two requires a third to wait upon them, and so on ad infinitum. Have good servants however, pay good wages, and make them responsible for their work.
IF IT IS POSSIBLE, and when there is a will there is a way, call your household together, after breakfast every morning, and have domestic worship, be it ever so short. A verse of a hymn, a passage from the Bible, and just a few words of heartfelt prayer, and praise, sets everything right for the day, smooths ruffled tempers, and puts the domestic machine in nicely running order. It is also no bad preparation for the temptations and annoyances of business.
BEFORE SWEEPING a room, have the furniture, and especially all the small articles, dusted and removed. This keeps them looking fresh, and new.
WEAR PRETTY MORNING DRESSES; they are inexpensive, and easily preserved from injury, by a large calico apron enveloping the skirt of the dress, and sleeves of the same kind, gathered into a band, top, and bottom, and extending over the elbows. These can be slipped on and off in a minute, and with a bib added to the
apron in front, affords complete protection, while engaged in dusting, making pastry, and the like.
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR TABLE served neatly, and then if friends "happen in," you will not be ashamed to ask them to share your meal. Be hospitable, if it is only a crust, and a cup of cold water; if it is clean and good of its kind, there is no reason to blush for it; the hearty welcome will make amends for the absence of rich viands.
IF CHILDREN WANT ANYTHING between meals, which they should not, give them a cracker, or an apple; do not encourage an irregular and unhealthy appetite, by giving them pie, cake, or ginger-bread.
RULES FOR EATING.
1. Eat slowly as if it was a pleasure you desired to prolong, rather than a duty to be got rid of as quickly as possible.
2. Don't bring your prejudices, your dislikes, your annoyances, your past misfortunes, or future forebodings, to the table--they would spoil the best dinner.
3. Respect the hours of meals, you have no right to injure the temper of the cook, destroy the flavor of the viands, and the comfort of the family, by your want of punctuality.
4. Have as much variety in your food as possible, but not many dishes served at one time.
5. Find as little fault with the food prepared as possible, and praise whenever you can.
6. Finally, be thankful, if you have not meat, that you have at least an appetite, and hope for something more and better in the future.
THE USE OF FUEL.
There is no department of housekeeping in which our national spirit of waste and extravagance is more clearly exemplified, than
in our use of fuel. Even the enormous advance in prices has led to no retrenchment or reform in this respect. Coal and wood are just as recklessly as ever, shovelled into the cellar. Bridget makes the same blazing fires, subject to no supervision, except a faint, general direction, to "sift the cinders every morning;" and Bridget says "yes'm" as usual, but there being nobody to see, or know whether she does or not, in nineteen cases out of twenty, she does not do it.
Every little while through the day, the fires are raked down, and fresh coal put on, the dampers of stove or range left wide open, and for so much cooking as a cup of tea, or a dish of potatoes, a fresh fire built with range made red hot, and as much fuel wasted as would have cooked a thanksgiving dinner.
GRATE FIRES.
These are generally considered as requiring a great deal of coal, and so they do, under the usual system of management in this country. But let us see how they manage grate fires in England.
The grate is cleared, with the exception of a few scattering cinders, which forms a sort of body, for the paper, which is torn up in small pieces, and crushed down, and the wood, which is neatly and compactly laid "across and across." When the largest and best cinders remaining are picked out and thrown on, a match is applied, cinders are still put on wherever they are needed to catch the blaze, and when the wood is burnt down, and the cinders are all a-glow, fresh coal is used to fill up the grate. The ashes are then sifted, the cinders, which are fine and small, damped, and when the fire has burned red through, without the use of the blower, the wet cinders are thrown on the top. In this way a grate fire will last through a whole day with once replenishing, and keep a room warmer than we do, without blaze, our frequent use of the blower, and reckless waste of fuel.
KITCHEN RANGES.
Nearly all of these are built on the air tight principle, and should be kept closed up tight all the time. The fire will be found to burn equally well, though more moderately; the oven will be always hot, and cooking can be done slowly, as it ought, on the
top of the range, with much less trouble, and infinitely better than if "rushed through," at a red heat.
PARLOR HEATERS.
These new heaters are very good for small houses; we used one for years, with great satisfaction, and found it quite as efficient, and much safer, more convenient and more economical than a furnace.
Parlor heaters are fitted into the wall, and take up no more room than a grate; they should be attended to with regularity, and then the fire will hardly ever need to go out; once in two months is quite as often as it requires to be made up fresh. At night, wetted cinders should be thrown on the fire so as to thickly cover it while it is good, and the dampers shut up close; these will keep the fire almost intact till the next morning, when a thorough raking down will be needed. A parlor heater properly managed, burns out about as much coal as one large grate or two small stoves; but excepting in the very coldest weather, it will comfortably heat the whole house.
SPRING FUEL.
Coke is excellent fuel for spring and fall, if it is carefully and rightly used; but if it is mixed with hard coal and thrown on a kitchen fire by a reckless servant, at discretion, it becomes equally extravagant and useless. Coke makes a bright, hot fire, kindles easily, and goes out easily; but it can also be made to last a long while, by packing it a little on top, and neglecting to rake it down. This is the method for early spring, when fires are required in the morning and evening, but not much through the sunshiny part of the day.
A great saving is effected in spring fuel, by putting the "slack" from coal, in a heap by itself, and with it, ashes from which the cinders have not been taken. Dampen the heap occasionally with a little water, and add to it, whenever there is material. Doing this through the coldest weather will form a sort of compost, hard and insoluble, which can be broken apart, and furnishes splendid fuel for spring grate fires, or for parlor heaters.
SOUPS.
STOCKS.
Stock is the foundation of soups, and also of good gravies, sauces, and the like. A French cook can do nothing without the stock pot, and keeps it supplied in a way that is both useful, and economical.
Stock can be made to keep for a considerable time, and be used for many purposes, if occasional additions are made, and the whole of the liquor re-scalded. It may be made from meat, or from bones, or from both, or it may be made from bones with the addition of refuse meat, the trimmings of regular joints. Chicken and turkey bones may be thrown in, and will help to enrich, and give flavor to the preparation. Any kind of bones with a little meat upon them, will make good stock, if they are simmered, not boiled, long enough, and beef, mutton, veal, poultry, and other bones may be stewed together. In stewing them down, use the liquor if you have it, in which other meat has been boiled, so that nothing may be wasted. Shank bones, trimmings from chops, any thing of this sort may be thrown in, simmered all day, then poured into a jar, and the fat removed the next morning. It is then frequently a jelly, and ready to convert into soup, with the aid of herbs, and vegetables--or kept for other uses. Stock sours very soon after the vegetables have been boiled in it, so it is best not to put the vegetables in till needed for soup.
If your stock is made of meat, or partly of meat, cut it up fine, and always put it on in cold water, if the water is hard, put a pinch of soda in it. This will extract all the pieces of the bones and meat. If on the contrary, you want to boil meat, and retain its pieces, put it on in boiling water. [See the Principles of Cooking.]
STOCK FROM BONES.
Take the bones of a sirloin of beef, break them into half a dozen pieces or more, put them in the stock pot with a gallon of cold water; and let them simmer gently for five or six hours. Then take it off, strain it--it ought to make about two quarts--and set it aside for several hours, or over night. When cold, skim off the fat. Then return it to the pot with a turnip, and a large carrot cut up in two or three pieces, two onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, a sprig or two of parsley, and a head of celery if it can be obtained, or a teaspoonful of celery-seed tied in a piece of muslin. Let these simmer together gently for two hours, adding boiling water to keep the quantity two quarts, and putting in also while boiling a little salt and a large lump of sugar; when done, strain it off into a jar, and you have a good stock, which can be kept several days, in a cool place in winter, or by being boiled over each day, in summer.
STOCK WITHOUT MEAT.
Put into a stew pan ten carrots, as many turnips and onions cut in small pieces, two lettuces, two sticks of celery, a handful of chervil, half a cabbage and a parsnip cut in slices; add to these three ounces of butter and a quart of water; stew them till the liquid is nearly dried up, and then fill the stewpan with water; add a quart of peas, green or dried, according to the season, two chives, some pepper and salt; stew slowly three or four hours and strain through a colander for use.
BRAN STOCK.
Put a large handful of bran into a quart of water, boil and leave to simmer till the quantity is reduced to half. This will do excellently for the thickening of meat soup. It will make very good soup of itself, if onions, salt and pepper, with a few vegetables, are mixed in it. It will also be good sweetened with molasses or honey.
COW HEEL STOCK.
A cow heel in two quarts of water will make first rate stock, but
do not get boiled cow heels. The others take more boiling, but make much richer stock, and may be used more than once.
FOUR QUARTS OF BROWN STOCK.
Heat an iron pot and rub the bottom with garlic. Put in ten pounds of shin of beef, fresh killed, and a pint of water; let it stand by the fire for an hour, then add three quarters of a pound of lean ham, three onions, three carrots, a small head of celery, four cloves, six allspice, ten peppercorns, a table-spoonful of brown sugar, a tea-spoonful of mustard, a tea-spoonful of salt, a large black onion, and six quarts of water. Simmer and skim frequently for six hours. Strain into an earthen dish, and when cold, remove the fat; a fine hair sieve dipped in cold water is good to strain it with.
FOUR QUARTS OF WHITE STOCK.
Put into an iron pot a knuckle of veal, about seven pounds, a cow heel, and an old fowl; add a turnip, two onions, a lettuce, a blade of mace, quarter of a nutmeg, half a pound of lean ham, a tea-spoonful of salt, a small bunch of sweet herbs, and six quarts of water. Simmer gently, and skim frequently, for six hours. Strain into an earthen dish, and when cold, take off the fat.
COMMON SOUP.
Take the neck, shanks, scraps of fresh meat, or old fowls. Let your meat, beef, mutton, fowls, or game, be cut into small pieces, and the bones cracked up well. Put the pieces into a pot and cover them with as much water as will stew them into rags; stew them very slowly, then pour in some boiling water, and keep the soup boiling to within a few minutes of serving. Skim it entirely free from grease. Take out whatever you wish to set away for the next day before you put in the vegetables. Now cut up vegetables (previously cooked by themselves), in it slice potatoes, okra, turnips, carrots, any vegetable you like, or rice or barley. If there is any vegetable,--for instance, onions, cabbage, or tomatoes,--which you wish to give distinctive character to your soup, use that vegetable entirely, in connection with potatoes and okra, which give consistency without any very discernible taste. If your soup lacks
richness, a few spoonfuls of drawn butter will help; if consistency, some gelatine may be dissolved in it. A bouquet of sweet herbs is indispensable. A rich soup is sometimes flavored with wine or catsup. It is as well to offer these articles to each person, as also the castor at the table. Vermicelli or macaroni may be used as a substitute for okra.
SOUP OR STOCK FROM ONE POUND OF BEEF.
Take one pound of lean beef, free from fat, mince it finely and add to it its own weight of cold water; heat it very slowly to boiling, two or three hours is not too much, let it boil briskly a minute or two, strain it through a towel. Mix the liquid with salt and other seasoning, tinge it darker with roast onions or burnt sugar. Dr. Liebig says this forms the best soup that can be prepared from one pound of flesh.
FISH SOUPS.
A variety of good soups can be made of fish by stewing them down in the same manner as meat, with the same addition of vegetables and herbs. If the skin is coarse, strip it off before using the fish, and when stewing skim off the oily particles.
WINTER SOUP.
Take a shin of beef, boil it in two gallons of water down to one gallon; pour it out after removing the bones, and let it cool. This will be one mass of jelly, from which as much can be taken daily as may be needed in the quantity of soup desired. Stew the vegetables or cook the rice, split peas, beans, and add all together with as much water as may be necessary, and let it boil well.
SORREL SOUP WITHOUT MEAT.
Wash a handful of sorrel, add some chervil, lettuce, and leeks; chop all very fine, and stew with salt and butter; when the vegetables are done enough, add some stock without meat or water. Let it stew again, and before you serve, add the yolks of three or four eggs well beaten, with some cream or good milk, taking care it does not boil after the eggs are added. Season to taste. Sorrel is prepared for winter in jars, first chopped, then pounded and seasoned. It must be closely covered.
RABBIT SOUP.
Cut up your rabbit and put it into a soup-pot, with a ham bone, a bunch of sweet herbs, a bay leaf, an onion stuck with cloves, some whole pepper, and let it simmer till the meat is tender, then cut off the meat into neat squares, return the bones and trimmings into the soup, and let it simmer till the meat is in rags; then strain it, and thicken it with flour and butter, mixed on the fire, without being browned; add a pint of highly seasoned stock, or if desired a pint of red wine--port is best--season to taste and let all simmer together with the meat that was cut off. Serve hot.
SPRING SOUP.
Cut an equal quantity of carrots, turnips, onions and leeks; stew them in some good stock; then add some French beans, peas, bean cucumbers, asparagus tops, lettuces, sorrel and chervil; add a little bit of white sugar; let these reduce to nearly a glaze; then add them to some stock thickened with grean peas rubbed through a tammy. The soup might be thickened, to vary it, with asparagus rubbed through a tammy; in this case all the vegetables should be strained off, and some asparagus tops served only in the soup.
SOUP FOR INVALIDS.
Boil two pounds of lean veal and a quarter of a pound of pearl barley in a quart of water very slowly, until it becomes of the consistency of cream. Pass it through a fine sieve and salt it to taste. Flavor it with celery seed, if the taste be liked, or use fresh celery, if in season,--a very small quantity would suffice. It should simmer very slowly. This soup is very nourishing.
GUMBO.
Take a large fowl, cut in pieces, beat up and fry very brown, and make with it a highly seasoned and rich gravy. Cut into it a half gallon of tender green okra, as many ripe tomatoes, and pour on three pints of boiling water; boil until the vegetables are of the softest consistency, and chicken in rags. Stir in a heaping tablespoon of young sassafras leaves, dried and reduced to a
powder. Strain into your dish hot. When well made this will almost rope like candy. Pepper, onions, and sweet herbs are used profusely in this soup, with salt to savor it.
WHITE SOUP.
Put four or five turnips, four leeks, two heads of celery, washed and sliced, into the saucepan with a piece of butter and a knuckle of ham; add a quart of stock, and let all stew together till tender. When nearly done, put in a pint of milk and some small pieces of bread; boil up two or three times, strain it and serve it hot.
MOCK TURTLE SOUP.
Parboil a calf's head divided, and cut all the meat in small pieces; then break the bones and boil them in some beef broth; fry some shalots in butter, add flour to thicken, and stir it in; skim it carefully while it boils up, and add a pint of white wine; let it simmer till the meat is perfectly tender, then put in some chives, parsley, basil, salt, cayenne, soy, and mushroom catsup to your taste, and boil it in for ten minutes; squeeze a little lemon juice into your tureen, pour your soup on it, and serve with force meat balls.
SHEEP'S-HEAD SOUP.
Cut the liver and lights into pieces, and stew them in four quarts of water, with some onions, carrots, and turnips, half pound of pearl barley, pepper, salt, cloves, and a little marjoram, parsley and thyme. Stew all these until nearly done enough, then put in the head and boil it until quite tender, then it should be taken out and everything strained from the liquor. Let this stand till cool, then take off the fat, and thicken it with butter and flour in the same way as mock turtle. A glass of wine may be put into the tureen if desired, before pouring in the soup.
CONCORD SOUP.
Three pounds of neck of beef, one cowheel, one pennyworth of carrots and turnips, part of a head of celery, one bunch of tied up sweet herbs, four onions browned, one pint of peas, all put together
into three quarts of water. After boiling for some hours, to be well strained before serving up.
CALF'S HEAD SOUP BROWNED.
Strain the liquor the head was boiled in, and set it away until next day; take off all the fat; fry an onion in a little butter in the soup pot, dredge in a little flour, stir until brown; cut up two carrots, two onions, two turnips, and whatever is left of the head, in inch pieces, put them in with the stock, a dozen cloves, pepper and salt; boil it about two hours; braid up a little flour and butter, stir it into the soup, and boil about ten minutes; add, if desired, half a tumbler of red wine; serve hot.
BROWN GRAVY SOUP.
Cut a few onions in pieces, fry them in dripping brown; cut three pounds of beef in pieces, brown this also, stirring and turning both meat and onions as they fry, then put them in the saucepan with a carrot, a turnip cut small, and a little celery if you have it, or two seeds of celery, add three quarts of water to this, stir all together with a little pepper and salt; simmer very slowly and skim off what rises; in three or four hours the soup will be clear. When served, add a little vermicelli, which should have previously been boiled in water; the liquor should be carefully poured off through a sieve.
CHICKEN SOUP.
Take two large old fat chickens; chop up the pieces and mash the bones. Put in a few slices of boiled ham if not too strong. Stew slowly until in rags. Then pour on three quarts of boiling water, and boil it down to half a gallon. Chop up the chickens' hearts, the yolks of four hard boiled eggs, and stir, with a tea cup half full of grated bread crumbs, into a cup of rich sweet cream; strain the soup, return it to the kettle with a bouquet of herbs, boil five minutes, stir in the cream, etc., and take it off quickly. Any soup of fowl or game may be made in the same way. Instead of the thickening prepared as above, you may boil in it some rice, or use vermicelli, or macaroni, previously simmered until soft.
OYSTER SOUP.--1.
Take a shin of veal, put it in a pot with three quarts of water, and a head of celery, pepper, and salt; boil it three hours; then strain it all through a sieve; add a small piece of butter, braided in a table-spoonful of flour; stir it in and give it one boil; have ready, washed out of the liquor, one gallon of oysters; strain the liquor into the soup, let it boil up, then put in the oysters with a spoonful of mushroom sauce; give it one boil and send it to the table very hot.
OYSTER SOUP.--2.
Slice some onions, fry them a light brown in a quarter of a pound of butter, then put them on the fire to stew in some stock, as much as required for your soup,--about half an hour is sufficient; before you serve, add two or three dozen of oysters, with their liquor strained. Thicken with the yolks of three eggs, and season it with white pepper, mace, and salt; it must not boil after the eggs are put in, but thicken like custard. Any kind of good broth or stock makes the foundation. Some add to this before the eggs are put in, a glass of white wine.
OYSTER SOUP.--3.
Mix one pint of water with whatever liquor you can drain from two quarts of fresh oysters. When this liquor comes to a full boil, put the oysters in, and boil until nearly done; then pour in a quart of fresh milk. Season with salt, pepper, and a blade of mace. If you prefer the soup a little thick, powder a half dozen crackers fine, and sift them into it.
OYSTER MOUTH SOUP.
First make a rich mutton broth, pour it on the oysters. Add a small piece of butter rolled in flour, let it simmer gently for about quarter of an hour, then serve it in a dish with crackers in the bottom.
ASPARAGUS SOUP WITH GREEN PEAS.
After cutting the greenest part of the asparagus into pieces
about an inch or two long, blanch them in boiling water until quite done; add some good stock to it and strain it. Boil the pieces separately, add them to the soup and serve toasted bread with it, if desired.
GREEN PEA SOUP
Take some young carrots, turnips, onions, celery, and cabbage lettuces; cut them in slices, and put them into a stewpan with a little butter, and some lean ham cut in pieces. Cover them closely and let them stew for a short time. Fill up with stock sufficient for the soup required, and let it boil until the vegetables are quite soft, adding a few leaves of mint and the crust of a roll; pound all, and having boiled a quart of peas, as green as you can, strain them off and pound them also; mix them with the rest of the ingredients and pass through a sieve. Heat it, and season with salt, pepper and sugar; add a few young boiled peas, and use the spinach to restore it.
PEA SOUP WITHOUT MEAT.
Boil a pint of split peas in two quarts of water for four or five hours, or until quite tender. Then add two turnips, two carrots, a stick of celery, and some potatoes all cut in pieces. When tender, pulp it through a sieve. Cut a large onion in slices and fry it in butter and flour, to thicken the soup. Season to taste. If desired, a ham bone or a piece of beef can be stewed with the peas, to be taken out when the soup is pulped through the sieve. Serve with the soup pieces of bread fried crisp in butter.
ENGLISH PEA SOUP.
Take a half of a shin of beef, some beef and ham bones, and, if possible, a knuckle of veal, and boil all together, in a gallon of water, with a little salt. Clear it of the scum, as it rises, and have ready a quart of split peas, which have been soaked in cold water over night. Boil the meat very slowly, for two hours, then put in the peas, which will have absorbed the water, with a root of celery, and two or three carrots scraped, and cut in pieces. Sift in, also, a little dried mint, and season to taste. Cook slowly, stirring often with a wooden spoon, for four hours.
ARTICHOKE SOUP.
Have a knuckle of veal (weighing about five pounds) for dinner. When all have dined, return the bones into the stewpan, with the liquor in which it was boiled, a nice, white onion, and two turnips. Boil some Jerusalem artichokes in milk, (skim milk will do,) then beat up all with the liquor, which, of course, must be first strained, then thickened with a small quantity of flour rubbed smooth in a tea cup, with a little milk. Use white pepper for the seasoning, to keep the color pure.
PARSNIP SOUP.
Cut in pieces half a dozen parsnips, a head of celery, and two onions; stew them in two quarts of stock until they are tender, take them out and pulp them through a coarse sieve, and pour the pulp back into the soup, flavor with pepper and salt, and before serving pour in a little milk.
CARROT SOUP.
Take half a gallon of stock; add three turnips, six carrots, three or four onions, and let them stew till tender. Take out the vegetables, strain the soup; take off the red part of the carrots, and rub it through a colander, make the soup about as thick as cream, with the pulped carrot. Heat it well through and serve.
COLANDERED SOUP.
Boil in water some peas with salt, pepper, and any vegetables. When quite soft mash the whole and bray through a sieve or colander. Instead of split peas you may use carrots, turnips, asparagus, or green peas, etc., as the staple. Put your colandered vegetables back into the pot, and if you have any stock, thin the soup with it; if you have no stock, thin with water, or milk and water. Boil up, and your dish is fit for table.
BARLEY SOUP.
In four quarts of water put two pounds of trimmings or odd pieces of meat, a quarter of a pound of pearl barley, four sliced onions, salt and pepper, with a little parsley, if you have it. Simmer for three hours or more.
FRENCH SOUP.
Put first a gallon of water to a sheep's head nicely cleaned, then reduce it to half the quantity, and add a teacupful of pearl barley, half a dozen large onions, a turnip, a carrot, a bunch of sweet herbs, pepper, salt, cloves, and a little mushroom or walnut catsup. Strain all off, cut part of the head in pieces and serve it in the soup, with a small quantity of white wine.
PUMPKIN SOUP.
Take three pounds of ripe pumpkin, peel and remove the seeds, cut into pieces of moderate size, and place in a stewpan over the fire with a pint of water; let it boil slowly till soft, strain off all the water, and pass the pumpkin through a colander; return the pulp into the stew pan adding nearly three pints of milk, one ounce or more of butter, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a few lumps of loaf sugar; boil for ten minutes, stirring often. Pour it boiling into the dish, on very thin slices of bread. The sugar improves the flavor, but may be omitted. It can be seasoned with a blade of mace or a little nutmeg.
GOURD SOUP.
Cut two pounds of the gourd into large slices, put it into a pan with three ounces of butter, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, two of moist sugar, a little pepper, and half a pint of water; set on the fire and stew gently for twenty minutes. When reduced to a pulp, add two table-spoonfuls of flour, stir and moisten with three pints of new milk; boil with care ten minutes longer, and serve with toast in slices. Vegetable marrow is equally good, made into soup according to this receipt.
ONION SOUP WITH MILK.
Slice some onions into a stew pan, with a piece of dripping, or lard, and a little flour. When brown add a quart of boiling milk, pepper, salt, and any cold cooked vegetables at hand. Boil up once or twice, and you have a delicious food, without meat or stock.
ONION SOUP WITH WATER.
Slice some onions into a stewpan, with any grease at hand, and keep them moving about till half brown, then sift in a little flour or fine bread-crumbs, and brown well. Now add a quart of boiling hot water, with salt, pepper, and some cold cooked vegetables. This would be greatly improved if you could contrive to fry in grease a few bits of bread cut into small pieces, and add them to the soup when brown.
TOMATO SOUP.
Boil a shin of veal three hours, or take some soup stock. Cut up two onions, two carrots, and two turnips, and put with it; also pepper, salt and one dozen tomatoes. Boil this two hours, and strain it through a sieve. Toast some pieces of bread a light brown; cut them in dice form, and put them into the dish. The soup should be turned on to the toast just before it is taken to the table, as soaking long spoils it.
BREAD SOUP.
Set the stock on the fire to boil; let it simmer three or four hours. Place in a bowl bits of bread, no matter how hard and stale. Pour over them enough hot broth to soak them well; mash fine, and put the whole into the stock. Let it continue to simmer a few minutes more after the bread mash has been added.
VERMICELLI SOUP.
Put a shin of veal, one onion, two carrots, two turnips, and a little salt, into four quarts of water. Boil this three hours; add two cups of vermicelli, and boil it an hour and a half longer. Before serving take out the bone and vegetable.
JENNY LIND'S SOUP.
The following soup is stated by Miss Bremer, to be the soup constantly served to Mademoiselle Jenny Lind, as prepared by her own cook. The sago and eggs were found by her soothing to the chest, and beneficial to the voice. Wash a quarter of a pound of best pearl sago thoroughly, then stew it quite tender and very
thick in water or thick broth; (it will require nearly or quite a quart of liquid, which should be poured to it cold and heated slowly;) then mix gradually with it a pint of good boiling cream or milk, and the yolks of four fresh eggs, and mingle the whole carefully with two quarts of strong veal or beef stock, which should always be kept ready boiling. Serve immediately.
GERMAN PANCAKE SOUP.
Make a batter with a pound of flour, a little salt, half a pint of milk; stir well, and add two eggs beaten; it should be of the consistency of cream. Make this into pancakes, fried very pale yellow. As each one is fried, lay it on a board and double over once. Roll each slightly, and cut into strips half an inch wide, and put them into the soup tureen and pour good stock, well seasoned and strained, over them. Serve hot.
SOUP JARDINIERE.
Put a bouquet of finely cut vegetables, consisting of celery, a carrot, an onion, tomatoes,--two if fresh, two table-spoonfuls if canned,--a leek, and a bunch of parsley, in a stew pan, with two ounces of butter, pepper, salt, and cover down for nearly an hour; when cooked soft in the butter add a quart or more of broth, and two table-spoonfuls of cold jelly gravy, and leave the whole to simmer together an hour longer, or until dinner time. During the process of coming to a boil, the butter or grease rising to the top should be skimmed off and preserved, to be clarified for further use.
AN INEXPENSIVE SOUP.
Take three pounds of the neck of beef, one cow heel, carrots and turnips, half a head of celery, one bunch of tied up sweet herbs, four onions browned, one pint of peas; put together into three quarts of water and, after boiling some hours, strain through a sieve. The best part of the cow heel may be cut in square pieces and served up in the soup.
BAKED SOUP.
When baking is more convenient, in four quarts of water put
one pound of trimmings or odd pieces of meat, two onions, and two sliced carrots, two ounces of rice or bits of bread, one pint of split peas, pepper and salt. Put the whole into a close jar, and bake slowly for four hours. This will make a good, wholesome food for a large family.
HOTCH POTCH.
Put a pint of peas into a quart of water; boil them until they are so tender as easily to be pulped through a sieve. Take of the leanest end of a loin of mutton three pounds, cut it into chops, put it into a saucepan with a gallon of water, four carrots, four turnips, cut in small pieces; season with pepper and salt. Boil until all the vegetables are quite tender; put in the pulped peas a head of celery and a sliced onion. Boil fifteen minutes, and serve.
SCOTCH MUTTON BROTH.
Take the scrag end of a large sized neck of mutton, reserving the best half for cutlets, put it into a stewpan and boil it with three quarts of water, half a pint of Scotch barley, three leeks, three onions, a little parsley and thyme. Skim it, and after it has boiled up, let it stand on the top of the stove and simmer for two hours, then skim again, and if it is too thick with barley add half a pint of boiling water, three or four turnips, a head of celery, and two carrots cut in pieces; after which, let it simmer slowly an hour and a half more; the barley should be almost wholly dissolved. The meat may be cut in pieces and served with the broth or served separately.
BROTH FOR AN INVALID.
Cut the chicken, veal, mutton or beef, up into pieces, and put into a jar with a cover; fill with water, adding a little salt; close down tight, and let it simmer all day on the stove or range; strain, and season to taste. This method extracts all the juices and strength of the meat, and is infinitely better than boiling.
MEATS.
TO BOIL BEEF.
If the beef is very salt put it in cold water; if it is only slightly corned put it in boiling water, and let it cook very slowly. This will render it quite as tender as if put into cold water, and at the same time all the juices of the meat will be retained. Boil until tender, but not until ragged, so that the meat will cut clean and clear, when cold.
Never buy poor, cheap pieces of corned beef, they are full of bone and gristle; there is no satisfaction in eating from them, and they prove the most costly in the end.
Fresh beef should never be boiled plain, unless it is boiled down for soup; it may be stewed, or cooked alamode, or stuffed and baked, provided the piece is not suitable for roasting.
STEWED BEEF.
Take six pounds of round of beef, place it in a deep kettle, with half a pint of water, half a pint of broth, a gill of good vinegar, a bunch of parsley, a few cloves, a sprig of sweet marjoram, and some salt, and pepper. Let it lay in this over night, turning it several times, if it is warm weather; it is best to give the mixture a boil up, putting the meat to it cold. The next day simmer four or five hours, adding two onions chopped small; take up the meat, add a tea spoonful of butter braided in flour to the strained liquor, with a dash of mushroom catsup. Pour it over the meat, and serve. If more liquid is required while stewing, put in broth or gravy, if you have it,-if not, water.
CURED BRISKET OF BEEF FOR CHRISTMAS.
At night rub fourteen pounds of brisket of beef, with one ounce of saltpetre pounded very fine; the next morning mix together
half a pound of sugar, and four handfuls of common salt, and rub the beef well over with it. Let it remain in the pickle two weeks, turning and rubbing it every day; then take it out, and put it into an earthen pan, with some suet chopped fine to cover the bottom of the pan, and the same on the top of the beef, with a little water to keep the pan from burning. Bake it slowly for six hours. Eaten cold.
CURED BEEF, TO EAT COLD.
Put three fourths of a pound of coarse sugar, one pound of bay salt, nearly an ounce of allspice, a tea-spoonful or less of cloves, a small piece of saltpetre, and three cents worth of cochineal, into four quarts of water; let these all boil slowly together fully twenty minutes; then take from the fire, and let it stand till quite cool. Take a round of beef, from twenty to twenty-five pounds, and pour this pickle over it, turning it once or twice a day, continuing this for two or three weeks. At the end of this time it will be ready for use.
BOILED BEEF STEAKS.
It is not necessary to beat them; cut them half an inch thick and place them on the gridiron. The fire should be clear and brisk, the gridiron should be hot, the bars rubbed with suet. Sprinkle a little salt over the fire. Turn the steaks often, keeping a dish close to the fire, in which to drain the gravy from the top of the steak as you lift it. The gridiron is best set in a slanting direction, so that fat will not fall on the coals and make a smoke. If there is a smoke, take the steak off for a moment. Over a brisk fire of coals steaks will be done in ten minutes. Then lay them on a hot plate with a small slice of butter on each piece, pouring over them the gravy, and sprinkling on a very little salt.
BEEF ALAMODE.
Lard a round of beef with slices of fat bacon dipped in vinegar; roll it up with chopped seasoning, cloves, sage, parsley, thyme, pepper and green onions; bind it close and put it in a sauce pan. Tnrn it when half done, and let it stand for twelve hours on a stove. It can be eaten hot or cold.
BRAISED BEEF.
Take five or six pounds of rump, and cover down close in a pan, with enough butter or clarified dripping to prevent burning or sticking to the pan; let it cook slowly for an hour, then pour off the grease and put in a little broth, half a cup of rich gravy, a few drops of vinegar, and a little calf's-foot jelly, if convenient; cover down closely again and let it cook, with the heat all about it, for two hours longer, basting frequently; when it is quite tender, take it up, and mix half a table-spoonful of flour with a little cream, and put into the gravy, which season to taste, and then pour over the meat, that is to say, a part of it, for an economical cook will reserve part to assist in the preparation of next day's dinner.
BRISKET OF BEEF STUFFED.
A piece weighing eight pounds requires about five or six hours to boil. Make a dressing of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, sweet herbs, a little mace, and one onion chopped fine and mixed with an egg. Put the dressing in between the fat and the lean of the beef and sew it up tight; flour the cloth; pin the beef up very tight in it; boil it five or six hours. When it is done take the cloth off, and press it until it is cold. This is to be cut in thin slices and eaten cold.
MOCK DUCK.
Procure a steak cut from the rump of beef, and fill it with a dressing made of chopped bread, pork, sage, onions and sweet marjoram, and well seasoned; sew it up, put a slice or two of pork, or some of the dressing, on the top, and set it in a pan, into which pour a pint of water; cover down tight, and let it cook slowly in the oven three hours; then take off the lid, brown quickly, and serve hot.
OX CHEEK STUFFED AND BAKED.
Mash and soak thoroughly an ox cheek; put it into plenty of warm water and boil gently an hour, throwing in a large tea spoonful of salt and skimming occasionally. Lift it out, and when cool take out the bones. Put in a good roll of forcemeat; bind up the
cheek securely, and bake it in a moderate oven an hour or an hour and a half, until it is quite tender clear through. Drain it from fat, unbind it, and serve it with a good brown gravy, or any sauce preferred, or with melted butter in a tureen, a cut lemon and cayenne.
SPICED BEEF.
This can be made from either the round, brisket or rump of beef, but ribs are the most tender eating. Procure from eight to ten pounds of the ribs of beef; those which have a good amount of fat upon them are the best; remove the bone, rub the meat well with one ounce of saltpetre pounded very finely, and three hours after this has been applied, rub on half a pound of moist sugar; let the meat lay in this for two days, then take one ounce of ground pepper, half an ounce of pounded mace, a few cloves well pounded, and a tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper. Mix all these ingredients well, and rub them well into the beef, particularly into the holes, adding occasionally a little salt. Roll up the meat as a round, and bind it with a strong fillet. Chop some suet very finely, cover the beef with it, and bake it in a moderately heated oven, from five to six hours. While baking, it may be placed either upon a meat tin, or in an earthen jar as nearly of its size as possible. In both cases there should be a cup full of gravy or water under the meat, to prevent it from burning; if a jar is used there should be a cover to it.
FILLETS OF BEEF.
Take two pounds of steak from a round of beef, cut thin, divide it into strips about three inches broad; beat them with a chopper till flat and tender, then chop finely some fresh gathered mushrooms, and add a little pepper, salt, and fresh butter in small pieces. Lay the mushrooms and seasoning half over the strips of steak; roll them up, fasten them with a coarse needle and thread, (or with very tiny skewers,) and lay the fillets in a pie dish to bake. The baking dish should be covered with another dish of the same size, to prevent the steam from evaporating, otherwise the outside of the meat will be dry. Thicken the gravy which is in the baking dish with flour and butter, and add mushroom catsup as a seasoning.
The fillets will require turning whilst baking. But a less troublesome plan of cooking a steak in this mode, is to have it dressed in one piece. The steak should be cut thin and rolled as described, but instead of mushrooms add a fine forcemeat or plain veal stuffing.
FILLETS OF BEEF WITH ANCHOVY.
Soak five or six anchovies in water for about two hours, split them and put the fillet with them, mixed with some bacon; boil it on a slow fire with a small quantity of broth, a glass of white wine, a clove of garlic, two cloves, and a bunch of herbs. When sufficiently done, strain the sauce, add to it a piece of butter rolled in flour, two spoonsful of cream, and a few capers; mix in a little yolk of egg, and pour it over the fillet.
FILLETS OF BEEF WITH FORCEMEAT.
Make forcemeat with fowls' livers, grated bacon, a little butter, parsley, shallots, three yolks of eggs, and spices. Cut a fillet of beef in two, flatten it with a cleaver, lard it through, then lay the forcemeat between it, and also about a pint of small mushrooms which have been previously stewed in a little butter; tie the meat up in a cloth, boil it in broth, with a glass of wine and a bunch of sweet herbs.
HUNTER'S BEEF.
Take a round of beef weighing fifteen pounds, and let it hang two or three days. Reduce to a very fine powder two ounces of saltpetre, two ounces of sugar, three quarters of an ounce of cloves, the same of nutmeg, one third of an ounce of allspice, two handsful of common salt. Bone the beef, and rub the spices well into it, and do so every day for two or three weeks. When you wish to dress the meat, wash the spices off the outside with cold water, bind it up tightly with tape, and place it in a pan with a tea-cupful of water at the bottom; cover the top of the meat with chopped suet; cover the pan with a coarse paste, and brown paper over that. Let it bake five hours, and when it is cold remove the paste and the tape. Some persons stuff the hole left by taking out the bone, with chopped parsley and sweet herbs.
HUNG BEEF.
Make a strong brine of bay salt, saltpetre and pump water. Place in it a piece of ribs of beef, and let it lie for nine days. Then hang it in a chimney in the smoke of wood or sawdust. When it is nearly dry, wash the outside with bullock's blood, and when this is dry, boil it and serve it with vegetables.
HAMBURGH PICKLE FOR BEEF, HAMS AND TONGUE.
Take two gallons of water, three pounds of bay salt, or if that cannot be got, five pounds of common salt, two pounds of coarse sugar, two ounces of saltpetre, and two ounces of black pepper bruised and tied in a fold of muslin; boil all together twenty minutes, removing the scum as it rises. Pour the pickle into a deep earthen jar, and when it is cold lay in the meat so that every part is covered. Turn the meat occasionally. A middling sized round of beef will be ready for the table in a fortnight.
MEAT PIE FOR LUNCH.
Place a thick rump steak well larded and rubbed with shallot in the bottom of a saucepan, cut up some game into small pieces without bones, and lay over the steak, mixed with pepper and salt and some pieces of bacon; stew them all well, and add chopped mushrooms and a rich gravy, before making them into the pie. The pie should have a thick ornamental crust round the sides and on the bottom. Let the top crust be loose, so that additional gravy can be poured in; and bake until it is a light brown.
BEEF BALLS.
Take a piece of beef boiled tender, chop it very finely with an onion, season with salt and pepper, add parsley, bread crumbs, lemon peel, and grated nutmeg; moisten it with an egg, mix well together, and roll it into balls. Then dip them in flour and fry them in boiling lard or fresh dripping. Serve them with thickened brown gravy, or fried bread crumbs.
BEEF CROQUETTES.
Mince some dressed beef very fine, melt a piece of butter in a
stew pan, add three or four onions, chopped fine, and fried a pale brown; add a spoonful of flour, and moisten with a little good stock, or gravy, seasoned with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little parsley chopped fine. When the sauce is done enough, put in the minced beef; let it stew a short time till the sauce is dry, then form the meat into either balls or rolls; dip each into the beaten white of eggs; have some butter, or lard, hot; put each ball very gently into the frying pan, shaking a little flour over them, roll them about gently in the pan to brown them alike, and when a good color, drain them on a cloth, and serve on dressed parsley.
HASHED BEEF.
Take cold roast beef, cut in slices, and remove skin and gristle. Place in a stewpan a small piece of butter, an onion chopped fine, a table-spoonful of flour; put it on the fire and stir it till it browns, but be careful it does not burn. Then stir in gradually half a pint of stock, flavored with herbs, with a little salt, and let it boil up thick. Put in two table-spoonsful of hot green pickles chopped small, and the slices of beef. Heat them through and serve with sippets of toast.
COLD MINCED BEEF.
Having removed the fat and skin, mince the beef nearly to a paste: stew gently--if possible over night, so that the fat may be skimmed off. Season with pepper and salt, and sprinkle with oat-meal; chop a half handful of parsley and thyme and throw in; boil a large onion nearly tender, chop it and mix it in; add sufficient broth or skim-milk and water to cover the beef; let it simmer two hours; then thicken with a little oatmeal, and add a dessert spoonful of mushroom or walnut catsup; stir well, boil a minute and serve with pieces of bread toasted. The bones from which the meat is cut will do for the broth in which the meat is stewed, if broth is used. Even then, however, a tea-cupful of milk may be added with the thickening.
DRIED BEEF COOKED.
After being thinly sliced, as usual, freshen it in water; stew it in a little water until tender; then beat an egg with a little flour, put
a lump of butter to the beef, stir in the egg and flour, and serve on toast bread with the gravy over it.
KEEPING BEEF.
Cut up the meat in pieces as large as you wish, and pack it in a barrel or cask. Then make a brine as follows: one pound and half of salt to one gallon of water, one ounce of saltpetre to one hundred pounds of beef, one table-spoonful of ground pepper to one hundred pounds of beef. Put in the salt and saltpetre, heat it boiling hot, skim it, then add the pepper. Pour it on the beef boiling hot and cover closely.
TOUGH BEEF.
Carbonate of soda will remedy tough beef. Cut the steaks the day before using into slices about two inches thick; rub over them a small quantity of soda; wash off next morning, cut it into suitable thickness, and cook. The same process will answer for fowls, legs of mutton, etc.
A LEG OF MUTTON IN FOUR MEALS.
For the first meal, cut off a handsome knuckle and boil it; for the second meal, take as many cutlets as required for the family from the joint; for the third meal, roast the remainder of the joint. The remains of both the boiled and roasted meat, may then be hashed for a fourth meal.
BOILED LEG OF MUTTON.
Cut off the shank bone and trim the knuckle. Boil with salt in the water, skimming. If it weighs nine or ten pounds it will need to cook three hours. It may be served with parsley or celery and butter, or caper sauce, or pickled kidney beans and onion sauce; mashed turnips, spinach and potatoes are good with it.
ROAST LEG OF MUTTON.
A leg of mutton weighing ten pounds should be roasted two hours. When half done, turn the fat out of the roaster; then baste the meat with the dripping. Make the gravy the same as for roast beef, or add a few spoonsful of current jelly and a cup of
red wine. Ten minutes more should be allowed for every extra pound of mutton.
LEG OF MUTTON WITH OYSTERS.
Parboil fat oysters and mix with them some parsley, minced onions, and sweet herbs, boiled and chopped fine, and the yolks of two hard boiled eggs. Cut five or six holes in the fleshy part of a leg of mutton, and put in the mixture; dress it as follows: Tie it up in a cloth and let it boil gently two and a half or three hours, according to the size.
ROAST SHOULDER OF LAMB.
A nice way to cook a shoulder of lamb is to bone it, and fill the space with a stuffing made of chopped mushrooms, parsley, salt pork, cracker crumbs, some sweet herbs, pepper and salt, and a raw egg. Braise it with some good stock gravy, and send it to table surrounded by spinach, garnished with slices of egg.
ROAST QUARTER OF LAMB.
To roast a quarter of lamb, lard it slightly with salt pork, and sprinkle it with bread crumbs and finely-chopped parsley. Make a sauce of some stock gravy, a table-spoonful of vinegar, chopped mint, a little yolk of egg, and mushroom catsup; pour over the joint, and let it stand in the oven a few moments. Serve with green peas, with which a little bunch of mint has been boiled.
ROAST JOINT OF MUTTON.
Roast the joint