Chapter 3

Strain off the liquor from the oysters, and put it on to boil, with some butter, mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt; just as it boils, stir in a thickening of milk and flour; put in the oysters, and stir them till they are sufficiently stewed; then take them off, and put in the yelks of two eggs, well beaten; do not put this in while it is boiling, or it will curdle. Line a dish, not very deep, with puff paste; fill it with white paper, or a clean napkin, to keep the top paste from falling in; put on a lid of paste, and bake it. When done, take off the lid carefully; take out the paper or napkin, and pour in the oysters. Send it hot to table.

A Baltimore Oyster Pie.

Make a crust after the directions given for puff paste; grease the bottom of a deep dish, cover it with paste; then season two quarts of raw oysters, (without the liquor,) with spices to your taste, (some preferring nutmeg, mace, cayenne pepper,--others, black pepper alone,) add butter and a heaped tea-cup of grated bread; put all together in the dish; then cover it with your paste, cut in strips, and crossed, or ornamented as your fancy dictates; a pound of butter to two quarts of oysters makes a rich pie; if the oysters are fine, less butter will answer.

A pie of this size will bake in three-quarters of an hour, if the oven is in good order; if the heat is not quick allow it an hour.

If in baking, the crust is likely to become too brown, put a piece of paper doubled over it, and the light color will be retained; when taken from the oven, if it should look dry, pour some of the liquor that was drained from the oysters in the dish, having previously strained and boiled it.

As paste always looks more beautiful when just from the oven, arrange your dinner so that the pie may be placed on the table immediately it is done.

Plain Oyster Pie.

Take from the shell as many oysters as you want to put in the pie; strain the liquor, put it with them over the fire and give them one boil; take off the scum, put in, if you wish to make a small pie, a quarter of a pound of butter, as much flour mixed in water as will thicken it when boiled, and mace, pepper, and salt to your taste; lay a paste in a deep dish, put in the oysters and cover them with paste; cut a hole in the middle, ornament it any way you please, and bake it. A shallow pie will bake in three-quarters of an hour.

Oyster Sauce.

Plump the oysters for a few minutes over the fire; take them out and stir into the liquor some flour and butter mixed together, with a little mace and whole pepper, and salt to your taste; when it has boiled long enough, throw in the oysters, and add a glass of white wine, just as you take it up. This is a suitable sauce for boiled fowls.

To Pickle 100 Oysters.

Drain off the liquor from the oysters, wash them and put to them a table-spoonful of salt, and a tea-cup of vinegar; let them simmer over the fire about ten minutes, taking off the scum as it rises; then take out the oysters, and put to their own liquor a table-spoonful of whole black pepper, and a tea-spoonful of mace and cloves; let it boil five minutes, skim, and pour it over the oysters in a jar.

Oysters Pickled another way.

Wash and drain the oysters, and put them in salt and water, that will bear an egg; let them scald till plump, and put them in a glass jar, with some cloves and whole peppers, and when cold cover them with vinegar.

To Brown Oysters in their own Juice.

Take a quart of large oysters, wash them in their own juice, drain and dip them in the yelk of eggs; heat butter in a frying-pan, and after seasoning them with pepper and salt, put them in separately; when they are brown on both sides, draw them to one side of the pan; strain the liquor, and put it in with a piece of butter and flour enough to thicken it.

A Dish of Poached Eggs.

Have ready a kettle of boiling water, pour it in a pan or speeder, which is set on coals; have the eggs at hand; put a little salt in the water, and break them in, one at a time, till you get all in; let them remain till the white is set, and take them out with an egg-spoon, and put on a dish that has buttered toast on it.

Fried Eggs.

Slice and fry any kind of bacon, dish it; have the eggs ready in a dish, and pour them into the gravy; when done, take them up and lay them on the meat.

Fried Eggs another way.

Have your lard or butter boiling hot; break in one egg at a time; throw the hot fat over them with an egg slice, until white on the top; slip the slice under and take them out whole, and lay them on the dish or meat without breaking; season with salt.

Omelet.

Beat six or eight eggs, with some chopped parsley and a little salt; have the pan or speeder nicely washed; put in a quarter of a pound of butter, when it is hot, pour in the eggs; stir it with a spoon till it begins to form; when it is of a light-brown on the under side it is done; turn it out on a plate, and send to table immediately. Grated bread, soaked in cream, put in the omelet, some think an improvement. The dripping of a nice ham, some persons use for omelet instead of butter.

To Boil Eggs.

Have the water boiling, and look at your watch as you put them in; two minutes and a half will cook them to please most persons; if you want them very soft, two minutes will be sufficient, or if less soft three minutes. If you wish them hard, as for lettuce, let them boil ten minutes. Spoons that have been used in eating eggs should be put in water immediately, as the egg tarnishes them.

VEGETABLES.

To Boil Green Corn.

Pick out ears near the same size, and have the water boiling when you put them in; half an hour is long enough for young corn; that which is old and hard will take an hour or more; if young corn is boiled too long, it becomes hard and indigestible.

To Fricassee Corn.

Cut green corn off the cob; put it in a pot, and just cover it with water; let it boil half an hour; mix a spoonful of flour with half a pint of rich milk, pepper, salt, parsley, thyme and a piece of butter; let it boil a few minutes, and take it up in a deep dish. Corn will do to cook in this way when too old to boil on the cob.

To Keep Corn for Winter.

When boiled, cut the corn off the cob, and spread it on dishes; set these in the oven to dry after the bread comes out. If you have no oven, it can be dried in a stove of moderate heat, or round a fire. When perfectly dry, tie it up in muslin bags, and hang them in a dry place; when you use it, boil it till soft in water; mix flour, milk, butter, pepper and salt together, and stir in.

Corn Fritters.

Cut the corn through the grain, and with a knife scrape the pulp from the cob, or grate it with a coarse grater, and to about a quart of the pulp, add two eggs beaten, two table-spoonsful of flour, a little salt and pepper, and a small portion of thin cream, or new milk; beat the whole together; have the butter or lard hot in the pan, and put a large spoonful in at a time, and fry brown, turning each fritter separately; this makes an agreeable relish for breakfast, or a good side dish at dinner.

Hominy.

Large hominy, after it is washed; must be put to soak over night; if you wish to have it for dinner, put it to boil early in the morning, or it will not be done in time; eat it as a vegetable.

Small hominy will boil in an hour; it is very good at breakfast or supper to eat with milk or butter, or to fry for dinner.

Both large and small hominy will keep good in a cool place several days. Be careful that the vessel it is cooked in, is perfectly clean, or it will darken the hominy.

To Fry Hominy.

Put a little lard in your frying-pan, and make it hot; mash and salt the hominy; put it in, and cover it over with a plate; let it cook slowly for half an hour, or longer if you like it very brown; when done, turn it out in a plate. If you do not like it fried, mash it well, with a little water, salt, and butter, and warm it in a frying-pan.

To Boil Potatoes.

When the potatoes are old, pare them, put them in plenty of boiling water, and boil them till you can run a fork through easily; if you wish to have them whole, pour off all the water, throw in some salt, and let them stand a few minutes over coals, to let the steam go off; they will then be white and mealy.

It is a mistaken notion, to boil potatoes in but little water, as they are sure to turn dark and taste strong. In cold weather they may be kept pared several days in a pan of water, by changing the water every day, and will be whiter. If you like mashed potatoes, take them up when barely done, sprinkle them with salt and mash them; put in a spoonful of cream and a small lump of butter; keep them hot till they are taken to table.

In the summer when potatoes are young, put them in a small tub, with a little water, and rub them with a piece of brick, to break the skin; you can then peel enough for dinner with a knife in a few minutes. When they are older, boil them with the skins on, and squeeze them separately in a cloth, to make them mealy. New potatoes are nice with cream and butter over them.

In boiling old potatoes, some persons cut them round without paring, which allows the moisture to escape; this is an improvement: you can then either peel them or send them to table without peeling.

To Stew Potatoes.

Chop or slice cold potatoes; season with pepper and salt; stew them, with a little butter and milk, and a dust of flour; when nearly done, stir in a yelk of egg with some chopped parsley--they will cook in a few minutes, and may be sliced over night if you wish an early breakfast.

Sweet Potatoes.

To boil sweet potatoes, put them in a pot with plenty of water; let them boil fast till you can run a fork through the largest; then pour off the water, and leave them in the pot a quarter of an hour; you can then peel the skin off or leave it on. Some prefer them baked in a dutch-oven; they should have a quick heat; large potatoes will take an hour to bake. It has been found a good way to boil them, till nearly done; then peel and bake them--they are drier and nicer.

To Fry Potatoes.

Cold potatoes are very good fried for breakfast with scraps of bacon; if they have been mashed, make them out in cakes with a little flour, and fry them brown, or slice them.

Tomatoes.

If you wish to bake tomatoes in the oven with bread, pour boiling water on, and skin them; cut them in small pieces; season with salt and pepper, and put them in a pan with crumbs of bread and butter; cover the pan with a plate, and bake three-quarters of an hour; when done, mash them and take them out on a dish.

To Fry Tomatoes.

Slice them, season with pepper and salt, and fry in hot butter; if they are green, dip them in flour after being seasoned.

Tomato Omelet.

Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, skin and cut them fine; to one quart of this, put two chopped onions and a lump of butter the size of an egg; let them boil half an hour, then mash them; put in grated bread, pepper, salt, and the yelks of two eggs.

To Stew Tomatoes.

Wash and pour boiling water over them; peel off the skins, and cut them up; season them with pepper and salt; put in a lump of butter, and boil them in their own juice for half an hour; stir in enough crumbs of bread to thicken them; let them cook slowly ten minutes longer; be careful that the bread does not burn.

To Bake Tomatoes.

Take out the inside of large tomatoes, make a stuffing of bread, butter, pepper, salt and an egg; fill them with this, and set them in a deep pie-plate; let them bake slowly half an hour.

Tomato Jelly, to eat with Roast Meat.

Wash the tomatoes, and put them in a bell-metal kettle, with a little water; let them boil thirty minutes; take them out and strain them through a sieve, till you get all the pulp; let it settle and pour off the top; put the thick part in deep plates, and set them in the oven after the bread is drawn; season it with pepper and salt to your taste, and put it away in a jar. It can either be eaten cold, or warmed up with crumbs of bread and butter. Some persons slice tomatoes, and dry them on dishes in an oven.

To Fricassee Tomatoes.

Wash and cut them in two, if large; if small, leave them whole, but do not peel them or they go too much to pieces; have a broad speeder or stove-pan; put in a half spoonful of butter; season the tomatoes with pepper and salt, and flour them; cover them with a plate; they will cook in ten minutes, stirring them once; pour in half a tea-cup of cream just as they are done; let them boil up and dish them while hot: this dish is much liked either for breakfast, dinner or tea.

To Broil Tomatoes for Breakfast.

Take large round tomatoes, wash and wipe them, and put them on the gridiron over lively coals--the stem side down; when this is brown, turn them and let them cook till quite hot through; place them on a hot dish and send them quickly to table, where each one may season for himself with pepper, salt and butter.

To Bake Tomatoes for Breakfast.

Season them with pepper and salt; flour and bake them in a stove, in a deep plate with a little butter over them.

Tomatoes sliced with Onions.

Pick the best tomatoes; let them stand a little while in cold water, then peel and slice them. To about six tomatoes, you may add two red onions, also sliced; season with pepper, plenty of salt, and a small portion of vinegar.

To put up Tomatoes for Winter.

Gather a quantity of tomatoes, wash, scald, skin and cut them up; season them highly with pepper and salt, and put them in a large stone jar; set this in the oven with your bread, and leave it till it is cold; stir them, and set them in the oven every time you bake for several weeks; when the juice is nearly dried up, put a piece of white paper over the jar, melt some lard and pour on it. When you use them, stew them with bread, butter and water.

Baked Egg Plant.

Boil them ten minutes; then cut them in half and take out the seeds, fill them with a stuffing of crumbs of bread, seasoned with butter, pepper, salt, the yelk of an egg, and if you choose, the juice of a tomato; close them and tie each one with a string; put a little water in the dutch-oven, and lay them in with some of the stuffing on the top; let them cook slowly half an hour, basting them with butter; take them out, thicken the gravy, and pour it over them on the dish.

To Fry Egg Plant.

Cut them in slices half an inch thick; sprinkle them with salt, and let them stand a few minutes to extract the bitter taste; wash them in cold water, and wipe them dry; season with salt and pepper; dip them in flour, and fry them in butter.

Another way of cooking them is to cut them in thin slices, and bake them on a bake-iron that is hot enough to bake cakes.

Salsify, or Oyster Plant.

Scrape the roots, and boil them till soft; mash them, and put in butter, pepper, salt, and egg and flour enough to stick them together; make this in cakes as large as an oyster, and fry them in butter; or after boiling, you can cut them in slices and stew them in water; then butter and season, and thicken with a little flour and cream.

To Stew or Fry Mushrooms.

Be careful in gathering mushrooms that you have the right kind; they are pink underneath, and white on the top, and the skin will peel off easily, but it sticks to the poisonous ones.

After you have peeled them, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and put them in a stew pan, with a little water, and a lump of butter; let them boil fast ten minutes, and stir in a thickening of flour and cream. They may be fried in butter, or broiled on a gridiron. They are sometimes very abundant in the fall, on ground that has not been ploughed for several years; they appear after a warm rain; they may be peeled, salted, and allowed to stand some hours before cooking.

Cucumbers, to Fry or Slice.

To fry cucumbers, take off the rinds in long pieces, a quarter of an inch thick; season them with pepper and salt; dip them in flour, and fry them in butter.

Many persons think cucumbers unwholesome, and they certainly are if kept for several days before they are eaten; but if sliced thin, with onions, pepper, salt and good vinegar, they may generally be eaten without danger.

Lettuce.

Persons that are fond of lettuce may have it nearly all the year, by sowing the different kinds, and keeping it covered through the winter; the most approved way of dressing it is to cut it fine, and season with oil, mustard, pepper, salt, vinegar, and a hard egg chopped. The essence of ham is also very good to season lettuce.

Where there is a large family, it is a good and economical way to cut the fat of ham in small pieces, fry it, and make a gravy with flour, water and pepper, to eat with lettuce. To cook lettuce you must fry a little ham; put a spoonful of vinegar into the gravy; cut the lettuce, put it in the pan; give it a stir, and then dish it.

Cold Slaw.

Cut hard white cabbage across the leaves, and put it in a deep plate, scald two large spoonsful of vinegar with a piece of butter, some pepper and salt; pour this over the slaw; have an egg boiled hard; chop it fine, and spread it over the top. Some persons like it heated in a pan with vinegar and water, and the yelk of a raw egg mixed through it.

Cauliflowers, &c.

Have a pot with half milk, and the rest water; when this boils, put in the cauliflowers, and let them boil till tender; put in some salt just before you take them up; have ready drawn butter with parsley, to pour over them, or a sauce of cream and butter. Good heads of yellow Savoy cabbage, cooked in this way, resemble cauliflowers. Brocolli is a delightful vegetable, and may be cooked in the same manner.

To Boil Cabbage.

In summer, you should allow a large head of cabbage an hour to boil, but when it has been tendered by the frost, it will boil in half that time. Most persons prefer cabbage boiled with ham; the pot should be well skimmed before it goes in or the grease will penetrate the cabbage, and make it unwholesome; take it up before it boils to pieces. It is very good boiled with corned beef or pork, or with milk and water, with a little salt added. Some like it with a little salaeratus thrown in while boiling, as that tenders it and makes it of a more lively green.

To Boil Greens and Poke.

After skimming the pot that the bacon has been boiled in, put in cabbage sprouts, and let them boil till the stalks are tender; all greens are best boiled in a net. Spinach cooks in a few minutes; some persons prefer it when boiled in salt and water; you should have drawn butter or hard eggs to eat with it when done in this way. There are several kinds of wild greens to be found in the country in the spring, as wild mustard, poke and lambs-quarter, which are very good cooked as cabbage sprouts. Pour boiling water on poke, after tying it in bunches, as asparagus, let it stand a few minutes; pour off the water; boil it with a little salt in the water, and if you choose a little salaeratus; dress it with butter, and dish it as asparagus.

String Beans.

String beans, if boiled in salt and water, will require fully two hours; but if boiled in a net, in a pot with bacon, they will not take so long; if they are cooked in the same pot with cabbage, it will injure the flavor. It is a good way to boil a very small piece of pork or bacon, or a ham-bone in the pot with beans; when they are done, season them with cream, butter, salt and pepper.

Lima Beans.

Shell them, and wash them in cold water; let them boil about an hour; when done, dip them from the water, and season with salt, pepper, cream or butter; keep them hot till they are sent to table.

Dried Lima beans should be soaked over night, and boiled two hours or longer, if they are not soft.

Peas.

Early peas require about half an hour to boil, and the later kinds rather longer; the water should boil when they are put in; when they are tough and yellow, they may be made tender and green, by putting in a little pearl-ash, or ashes tied up in a rag, just before they are taken up; this will tender all green but do not put too much--when done, dip them out: drain and season them with butter, pepper and salt; put a bunch of parsley in the middle of the dish.

To Keep Green Beans for Winter.

Boil salt and water to make a strong pickle; string the beans, and put them in a tight wooden firkin; sprinkle them with salt as they go in; when the pickle is cold, pour it on, and put on a weight to keep the beans under; they will keep in the cellar till the next spring. They should soak several hours in cold water before they are boiled.

Asparagus.

All persons that have a garden should have an asparagus-bed; it is valuable as being one of the first vegetables in the spring. Put the stalks of the same length, in bunches together, and tie them with strings; boil it three-quarters of an hour in clear water; (if you put salt in, it turns it dark;) have buttered toast in the bottom of a deep dish; untie the strings, and put the asparagus in; sprinkle it over with pepper and salt, and put butter on. Asparagus is also agreeable in chicken soup.

Cymlings, or Squashes.

In cultivating this vegetable, the small bunch cymling is the best, as it takes so little room in the garden, and comes soon to maturity; if they are so hard that a pin will not run in easily, they are unfit for use. Boil the cymlings till soft; cut them open, and take out the seeds; put them in a colander, and mash them; when the water is drained off, put them in a small pot, and stew them with cream and butter for ten minutes; just as you dish them, season with pepper and salt. If boiled with salt meat, they require but little seasoning.

Pumpkins.

Young pumpkins resemble cymlings, when cooked in the same way. When they are ripe, they should be pared and cut up, and boiled till soft in a good deal of water; take them up as soon as they are done, or they will soak up the water; mash them and season them with salt, pepper and butter. They are good to eat with roast or boiled beef.

To Bake Pumpkins.

The long striped pumpkin, with a thick long neck, called by some potato pumpkin, is the best for baking; cut it up in slices, leaving on the rind; put it in a dutch-oven or dripping-pan, and let it bake an hour with a quick heat. Where sweet potatoes cannot be had, pumpkins make a very good substitute. If you put ripe pumpkins that have not been frosted; in a dry place, they will keep to make puddings till spring.

To Dry Pumpkins.

Pare them, and cut them in thin slices; have a strong thread, and string them on it with a needle; hang them out in the sun till dry, taking them in at night; tie them up in a muslin bag, and hang them in a dry place. Soak them before they are stewed, and they are nearly as good for puddings as when in season. Some dry them, as apples, by spreading on boards.

Parsnips.

Scrape and split them, and boil until quite soft, either in salt and water, or with meat; they are very good served up in this way, with plenty of butter. They may, when boiled, either be baked with a few slices of salt meat, and require no seasoning but pepper, or made into small round cakes, seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, and fried.

Carrots. Carrots should be scraped, and boiled till soft, in plenty of water; when they are done, take them up, and slice them thin; season them with salt, pepper and butter. They are suitable to eat with boiled meat or fowls.

Turnips.

Pare and quarter the turnips, and put them in a pot of clear water, or with fresh meat; boil them half an hour; drain, and season them with butter, pepper and salt; mash them.

Onions.

After they are peeled, boil them in milk and water; if small, they will cook in half an hour; when they are done, pour off the water; put in cream, butter and salt, and let them stew a few minutes. Small onions are much better for cooking, as they are not so strong.

Beets.