Chapter 30

A GOOD KETCHUP.--Boil one bushel of tomatoes until soft enough to rub through a sieve. Then add to the liquid a half gallon of vinegar, 1-1/2 pints salt, 2 ounces of cloves, 1/4 pound allspice, 3 ounces good cayenne pepper, five heads of garlic, skinned and separated, 1 pound of sugar. Boil slowly until reduced to one-half. It takes about one day. Set away for a week, boil over once, and, if too thick, thin with vinegar; bottle and seal as for chow-chow. HOW TO KEEP KETCHUP TWENTY YEARS.--Take a gallon of strong stale beer, 1 lb. of anchovies, washed from the pickle; 1 lb. of shalots, 1/2 oz. of mace, 1/2 oz. of cloves, 1/4 oz. whole pepper, 1/2 oz. of ginger, 2 quarts of large mushroom flaps, rubbed to pieces; cover all close, and simmer till it is half wasted, strain, cool, then bottle. A spoonful of this ketchup is sufficient for a pint of melted butter.

MUSHROOM KETCHUP.--Sprinkle mushroom flaps, gathered in September, with common salt, stir them occasionally for two or three days; then lightly squeeze out the juice, and add to each gallon bruised cloves and mustard seed, of each, half an ounce; bruised allspice, black pepper, and ginger, of each, one ounce; gently heat to the boiling point in a covered vessel, macerate for fourteen days, and strain; should it exhibit any indication of change in a few weeks, bring it again to the boiling point, with a little more spice.

OYSTER KETCHUP:--Beard the oysters; boil them up in their liquor; strain, and pound them in a mortar; boil the beards in spring water, and strain it to the first oyster liquor; boil the pounded oysters in the mixed liquors, with beaten mace and pepper. Some add a very little mushroom ketchup, vinegar, or lemon-juice; but the less the natural flavor is overpowered the better; only spice is necessary for its preservation. This oyster ketchup will keep perfectly good longer than oysters are ever out of season.

TOMATO KETCHUP.--Put them over the fire crushing each one as you drop it into the pot; let them boil five minutes; take them off, strain through a colander, and then through a sieve, get them over the fire again as soon as possible, and boil down two-thirds, when boiled down add to every gallon of this liquid one ounce of cayenne pepper, one ounce of black pepper, one pint vinegar, four ounces each of cinnamon and mace, two spoonfuls salt.

VERY FINE WALNUT KETCHUP.--Boil a gallon of the expressed juice of green tender walnuts, and skim it well; then put in 2 lbs. of anchovies, bones and liquor, 2 lbs. shalots, 1 oz. each of cloves, mace, pepper, and one clove of garlic. Let all simmer till the shalots sink; then put the liquor into a pan till cold; bottle and divide the spice to each. Cork closely, and tie a bladder over. It will keep twenty years, but is not good the first. Be very careful to express the juice at home; for it is rarely unadulterated, if bought.

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HOW TO ROAST, BOIL, OR BROIL POULTRY

HOW TO ROAST CHICKENS.--Pluck carefully, draw and truss them, and put them to a good fire; singe, dust, and baste them with butter. Cover the breast with a sheet of buttered paper; remove it ten minutes before it is enough; that it may brown. A chicken will take 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with butter and parsley.

HOW TO BOIL CHICKENS.--Fasten the wings and legs to the body by threads tied round. Steep them in skim milk two hours. Then put them in cold water, and boil over a slow fire. Skim clean. Serve with white sauce or melted butter sauce, or parsley and butter.--Or melt 1 oz. of butter in a cupful of milk; add to it the yolk of an egg beat up with a little flour and cream; heat over the fire, stirring well.

GEESE (A LA MODE).--Skin and bone the goose; boil and peel a dried tongue, also a fowl; season with pepper, salt and mace, and then roll it round the tongue; season the goose in the same way, and lay the fowl and tongue on the goose, with slices of ham between them. Beef marrow rolled between the fowl and the goose, will greatly enrich it. Put it all together in a pan, with two quarts of beef gravy, the bones of the goose and fowl, sweet herbs and onion; cover close, and stew an hour slowly; take up the goose; skim off the fat, strain, and put in a glassful of good port wine, two tablespoonfuls of ketchup, a veal sweetbread cut small, some mushrooms, a piece of butter rolled in flour, pepper and salt; stew the goose half an hour longer; take up and pour the ragout over it. Garnish with lemon.

HOW TO ROAST PIGEONS.--Take a little pepper and salt, a piece of butter, and parsley cut small; mix and put the mixture into the bellies of the pigeons, tying the necks tight; take another string; fasten one end of it to their legs and rumps, and the other to a hanging spit, basting them with butter; when done, lay them in a dish, and they will swim with gravy.

HOW TO BOIL PIGEONS.--Wash clean; chop some parsley small; mix it with crumbs of bread, pepper, salt and a bit of butter; stuff the pigeons, and boil 15 minutes in some mutton broth or gravy. Boil some rice soft in milk; when it begins to thicken, beat the yolks of two or three eggs, with two or three spoonfuls of cream, and a little nutmeg; mix well with a bit of butter rolled in flour.

HOW TO BROIL PIGEONS.--After cleaning, split the backs, pepper and salt them, and broil them very nicely; pour over them either stewed or pickled mushrooms, in melted butter, and serve as hot as possible.

SCALLOPED COLD CHICKENS..--Mince the meat very small, and set it over the fire, with a scrape of nutmeg, a little pepper and salt, and a little cream, for a few minutes, put it into the scallop shells, and fill them with crumbs of bread, over which put some bits of butter, and brown them before the fire. Veal and ham eat well done the same way, and lightly covered with crumbs of bread, or they may be put on in little heaps.

HOW TO ROAST TURKEY.--The sinews of the legs should be drawn whichever way it is dressed. The head should be twisted under the wing; and in drawing it, take care not to tear the liver, nor let the gall touch it.

Put a stuffing of sausage-meat; or, if sausages are to be served in a dish a bread stuffing. As this makes a large addition to the size of the bird, observe that the heat of the fire is constantly to that part; for the breast is often not done enough. A little strip of paper should be put on the bone to hinder it from scorching while the other parts roast. Baste well and froth it up. Serve with gravy in the dish, and plenty of bread-sauce in a sauce-tureen. Add a few crumbs, and a beaten egg to the stuffing of sausage-meat.

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SAUCES FOR MEATS, FISH, ETC.

ANCHOVY SAUCE.--Chop one or two anchovies, without washing, put to them some flour and butter, and a little water; stir it over the fire till it boils once or twice. If the anchovies are good, they will dissolve.

ESSENCE OF ANCHOVIES.--Take two dozen of anchovies, chop them, and without the bone, but with some of their liquor strained, add to them sixteen large spoonfuls of water; boil gently till dissolved, which will be in a few minutes--when cold, strain and bottle it.

APPLE SAUCE..--Pare, core, and quarter half a dozen good sized apples, and throw them into cold water to preserve their whiteness. Boil them in a saucepan till they are soft enough to mash--it is impossible to specify any particular time, as some apples cook much more speedily than others. When done, bruise them to a pulp, put in a piece of butter as large as a nutmeg, and sweeten them to taste. Put into saucepan only sufficient water to prevent them burning. Some persons put the apples in a stone jar placed in boiling water; there is then no danger of their catching.

APPLE SAUCE FOR GOOSE OR ROAST PORK.--Pare, core, and slice some apples, and put them in a strong jar, into a pan of water. When sufficiently boiled, bruise to a pulp, adding a little butter, and a little brown sugar.

A SUBSTITUTE FOR CREAM.--Beat up the whole of a fresh egg in a basin, and then pour boiling tea over it gradually to prevent its curdling; it is difficult from the taste, to distinguish it from rich cream.

BECHAMEL SAUCE.--Put a few slices of ham into a stew-pan, a few mushrooms, two or three shalots, two cloves, also a bay leaf and a bit of butter. Let them stand a few hours. Add a little water, flour and milk or cream; simmer forty minutes. Scalded parsley, very fine may be added.

BREAD SAUCE.--Break three-quarters of a pound of stale bread into small pieces, carefully excluding any crusty and outside bits, having previously simmered till quite tender, an onion, well peeled and quartered in a pint of milk. Put the crumbs into a very clean saucepan, and, if you like the flavor, a small teaspoonful of sliced onion, chopped, or rather minced, as finely as possible. Pour over the milk, taking away the onion simmered in it, cover it up, and let it stand for an hour to soak. Then, with a fork, beat it quite smooth, and seasoned with a very little powdered mace, cayenne and salt to taste, adding one ounce of butter; give the whole a boil, stirring all the time, and it is ready to serve. A small quantity of cream added at the last moment, makes the sauce richer and smoother. Common white pepper may take the place of cayenne, a few peppercorns may be simmered in the milk, but they should be extracted before sending to table.

BREAD SAUCE.--Grate some old bread into a basin; pour boiling new milk over it; add an onion with five cloves stuck in it, with pepper and salt to taste. Cover it and simmer in a slow oven. When enough, take out the onion and cloves; beat it well, and add a little melted butter. The addition of cream very much improves this sauce.

CAPER SAUCE.--Melt some butter, chop the capers fine, boil them with the butter. An ounce of capers will be sufficient for a moderate size sauce-boat. Add, if you like, a little chopped parsley, and a little vinegar. More vinegar, a little cayenne, and essence of anchovy, make it suitable for fish.

As a substitute for capers, some use chopped pickled gherkins.

ESSENCE OF CELERY.--Soak the seeds in spirits of wine or brandy; or infuse the root in the same for 24 hours, then take out, squeezing out all the liquor, and infuse more root in the same liquor to make it stronger. A few drops will [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'flvor'] flavor broth, soup, etc.

CELERY SAUCE.--Wash well the inside leaves of three heads of celery; cut them into slices quarter inch thick, boil for six minutes, and drain; take a tablespoonful of flour, two ounces of butter, and a teacupful of cream; beat well, and when warm, put in the celery and stir well over the fire about twelve minutes. The sauce is very [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'goood'] good for boiled fowl, etc.

COCOA SAUCE.--Scrape a portion of the kernel of a Cocoa nut, adding the juice of three lemons, a teaspoonful of the tincture of cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of shallot vinegar, and half a cupful of water. Gently simmer for a few hours.

EGG SAUCE.--Boil two eggs hard, half chop the whites, put in the yolks, chop them together, but not very fine, put them with 1/4 lb. of good melted butter.

EGG SAUCE.--Four eggs boiled twelve minutes, then lay them in fresh water, cold, pull off the shells, chop whites and yolks separately, mix them lightly, half pint melted butter, made in proportion of quarter pound of butter, to a large tablespoon flour, four of milk and hot water, add powdered mace or nutmeg, to be eaten with pork, boiled, or poultry, use chicken gravy or the water the chicken were boiled in.

HORSERADISH SAUCE.--Perhaps a good receipt for horseradish sauce, which is so excellent with both hot and cold beef, but which we do not always see served up with either. Two tablespoonfuls of mustard, the same of vinegar, three tablespoonfuls of cream or milk and one of pounded white sugar, well beaten up together with a small quantity of grated horseradish. This is, of course, to be served up cold.

MINT SAUCE.--Pick, mash and chop fine green spearmint, to two tablespoons of the minced leaves, put eight of vinegar, adding a little sugar. Serve cold.

MINT SAUCE.--Wash fresh gathered mint; pick the leaves from the stalks; mince them very fine, and put them into a sauce-boat with a teaspoonful of sugar and four tablespoonfuls of vinegar. It may also be made with dried mint or with mint vinegar.

ONION SAUCE.--Peel the onions, and boil them tender; squeeze the water from them, then chop them, and add to them butter that has been melted, rich and smooth, as will be hereafter directed, but with a little good milk instead of water; boil it up once, and serve it for boiled rabbits, partridge, scrag, or knuckle of veal, or roast mutton. A turnip boiled with the onions makes them milder.

QUIN'S FISH SAUCE.--Half a pint of mushroom pickle, the same of walnut, six long anchovies pounded, six cloves of garlic, three of them pounded; half a spoonful of cayenne pepper; put them into a bottle, and shake well before using. It is also good with beefsteaks.

SAUCE FOR COLD PARTRIDGES, MOOR-GAME, ETC.--Pound four anchovies and two cloves of garlic in a mortar; add oil and vinegar to the taste. Mince the meat, and put the sauce to it as wanted.

SAUCE FOR DUCKS.--Serve a rich gravy in the dish; cut the breast into slices, but don't take them off; cut a lemon, and put pepper and salt on it, then squeeze it on the breast, and pour a spoonful of gravy over before you help.

SAUCE FOR FOWL OF ANY SORT.--Boil some veal gravy, pepper, salt, the juice of a Seville orange and a lemon, and a quarter as much of port wine as of gravy; pour it into the dish or a boat.

SAUCE FOR HOT OR COLD ROAST BEEF.--Grate, or scrape very fine, some horseradish, a little made mustard, some pounded white sugar and four large spoonfuls of vinegar. Serve in a saucer.

SAUCE FOR SALMON.--Boil a bunch of fennel and parsley chop them small, and put into it some good melted butter. Gravy sauce should be served with it; put a little brown gravy into a saucepan, with one anchovy, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle, a tablespoonful of walnut pickle, two spoonfuls of water in which the fish was boiled, a stick of horseradish, a little browning, and salt; boil them four minutes; thicken with flour and a good lump of butter, and strain through a hair sieve.

SAUCE FOR SAVOURY PIES.--Take some gravy, one anchovy, a sprig of sweet herbs, an onion, and a little mushroom liquor; boil it a little, and thicken it with burnt butter, or a bit of butter rolled in flour; add a little port wine, and open the pie, and put it in. It will serve for lamb, mutton, veal or beef pies.

SAUCE FOR A TURKEY.--Open some oysters into a basin, and wash them in their own liquor, and as soon as settled pour into a saucepan; add a little white gravy, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle; thicken with flour and butter; boil it three or four minutes; add a spoonful of thick cream, and then the oysters; shake them over the fire till they are hot, but do not let them boil.

SAUCE FOR WILD FOWL.--Simmer a teacupful of port wine, the same quantity of good meat gravy, a little shalot, a little pepper, salt, a grate of nutmeg and a bit of mace, for ten minutes; put in a bit of butter and flour, give it all one boil, and pour it through the birds. In general they are not stuffed as tame, but may be done so if liked.

FRENCH TOMATO SAUCE.--Cut ten or a dozen tomatoes into quarters, and put them into a saucepan, with four onions, sliced, a little parsley, thyme, a clove, and a quarter of a pound of butter; then set the saucepan on the fire, stirring occasionally for three-quarters of an hour; strain the sauce through a horse-hair sieve, and serve with the directed articles.

TOMATO SAUCE.--Take 12 tomatoes, very red and ripe; take off the stalks, take out the seeds, and press out the water. Put the expressed tomatoes into a stewpan, with 1-1/2 ozs. of butter, a bay leaf, and a little thyme; put it upon a moderate fire, stir it into a pulp; put into it a good cullis, or the top of broth, which will be better. Rub it through a search, and put it into a stewpan with two spoonfuls of cullis; put in a little salt and cayenne.

ANOTHER.--Proceed as above with the seeds and water. Put them into a stewpan, with salt and cayenne, and three tablespoonfuls of beef gravy. Set them on a slow stove for an hour, or till properly melted. Strain, and add a little good stock; and simmer a few minutes.

WHITE SAUCE.--One pound of knuckle of veal, or any veal trimmings, or cold white meat, from which all brown skin has been removed; if meat has been cooked, more will be required. It is best to have a little butcher's meat fresh, even if you have plenty of cold meat in the larder; any chicken bones greatly improve the stock. This should simmer for five hours, together with a little salt, a dozen white peppercorns, one or two small onions stuck with cloves, according to taste, a slice or two of lean ham, and a little shred of celery and a carrot (if in season) in a quart of water. Strain it, and skim off all the fat; then mix one dessert-spoonful of flour in a half pint of cream; or, for economy's sake, half milk and half cream, or even all good new milk; add this to the stock, and if not salt enough, cautiously add more seasoning. Boil all together very gently for ten minutes, stirring all the time, as the sauce easily burns and very quickly spoils. This stock, made in large quantities, makes white soup; for this an old fowl, stewed down, is excellent, and the liquor in which a young turkey has been boiled is as good a foundation as can be desired.

ECONOMICAL WHITE SAUCE.--Cut up fine one carrot, two small onions, and put them into a stewpan with two ounces of butter, and simmer till the butter is nearly absorbed. Then mix a small teacupful of flour in a pint of new milk, boil the whole quietly till it thickens, strain it, season with salt and white pepper or cayenne, and it is ready to serve. Or mix well two ounces of flour with one ounce of butter; with a little nutmeg, pepper and salt; add a pint of milk, and throw in a strip of lemon peel; stir well over the fire till quite thick, and strain.

WINE SAUCE.--One and 1/2 cups sugar, three quarters cup of wine, a large spoonful flour, and a large piece of butter.

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HOW TO MAKE SOUPS ... AND BROTHS

ARTICHOKE SOUP.--Take Jerusalem artichokes according to the quantity of soup required to be made, cut them in slices, with a quarter of a pound of butter, two or three onions and turnips, sliced into a stewpan, and stew over a very slow fire till done enough, and thin it with good veal stock. Just before you serve, at the last boil, add a quarter of a pint of good cream. This is an excellent soup. Season to taste with a little salt and cayenne. As it is necessary to vary soups, we shall give you a few to choose from according to season and taste. All brown soups must be clear and thin, with the exception of mock turtle, which must be thickened with flour first browned with butter in a stewpan. If the flour is added without previous browning, it preserves a raw taste that by no means improves the flavor.

ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Three or four pounds of veal cut fine, a little salt pork, two or three bunches of asparagus and three quarts of water. Boil one-half of the asparagus with the meat, leaving the rest in water until about twenty minutes before serving; then add the rest of the asparagus and boil just before serving; add one pint of milk; thicken with a little flour, and season. The soup should boil about three hours before adding the last half of the asparagus.

BEEF BROTH.--Put two pounds of lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound of scrag of mutton, sweet herbs, and ten peppercorns, into a nice tin saucepan, with five quarts of water; simmer to three quarts, and clear from the fat when cold. Add one onion, if approved.

Soup and broth made of different meats are more supporting, as well as better flavored.

To remove the fat, take it off, when cold, as clean as possible; and if there be still any remaining, lay a bit of clean blotting or cap paper on the broth when in the basin, and it will take up every particle.

BEEF SOUP.--Cut all the lean off the shank, and with a little beef suet in the bottom of the kettle, fry it to a nice brown; put in the bones and cover with water; cover the kettle closely; let it cook slowly until the meat drops from the bones; strain through a colander and leave it in the dish during the night, which is the only way to get off all the fat. The day it is wanted for the table, fry as brown as possible a carrot, an onion, and a very small turnip sliced thin. Just before taking up, put in half a tablespoonful of sugar, a blade of mace, six cloves, a dozen kernels of allspice, a small tablespoonful of celery seed. With the vegetables this must cook slowly in the soup an hour; then strain again for the table. If you use vermicelli or pearl barley, soak in water.

DR. LIEBIG'S BEEF TEA.--When one pound of lean beef, free from fat, and separated from the bones, in a finely-chopped state in which it is used for mince-meat, or beef-sausages, is uniformly mixed with its own weight of cold water, slowly heated till boiling, and the liquid, after boiling briskly for a minute or two, is strained through the towel from the coagulated albumen and the fibrine, now become hard and horny, we obtain an equal weight of the most aromatic soup, of such strength as cannot be obtained even by boiling for hours from a piece of flesh. When mixed with salt and the other additions by which soup is usually seasoned, and tinged somewhat darker by means of roasted onions, or burnt bread, it forms the very best soup which can, in any way, be prepared from one pound of flesh.

BROWN GRAVY SOUP.--Shred a small plate of onions, put some dripping into a frying-pan and fry the onions till they are of a dark brown; then, having about three pounds of beef cut up in dice, without fat or bone, brown that in a frying-pan. Now get a sauce-pan to contain about a gallon, and put in the onions and meat, with a carrot and a turnip cut small, and a little celery, if you have it; if not, add two seeds of celery; put three quarts, or three and a half quarts of water to this, and 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 liquid should be carefully poured off through a sieve. A large quantity may be made in the same proportions. Of course, the meat and onions must be stirred whilst frying, and constantly turned; they should be of a fine brown, not black, and celery-seed will give a flavor, it is so strong.

CARROT SOUP.--Put some beef bones, with four quarts of the liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, two large onions, a turnip, pepper and salt into a sauce-pan, and stew for three hours. Have ready six large carrots, scraped and cut thin, strain the soup on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair sieve or coarse cloth, then boil the pulp with the soup, which is to be as thick as pea-soup. Use two wooden spoons to rub the carrots through. Make the soup the day before it is to be used. Add cayenne. Pulp only the red part of the carrot, and not the yellow.

CLAM SOUP.--Cut salt pork in very small squares and fry light brown; add one large or two small onions cut very fine, and cook about ten minutes; add two quarts water and one quart of raw potatoes, sliced; let it boil; then add one quart of clams. Mix one tablespoonful of flour with water, put it with one pint of milk, and pour into the soup, and let it boil about five minutes. Butter, pepper, salt. Worcestershire sauce to taste.