Part 8

_With Livers._--Geese livers are the best, being the fattest. Drop two geese livers in boiling water and a little salt, boil three minutes and drain. Put in a saucepan one gill of broth, same of white wine, Sauterne or Catawba, a tablespoonful of gravy, six pepper-corns, two or three stalks of parsley, salt, and the livers; set on the fire and boil gently for about twenty-five minutes. Take off the livers, boil a few minutes longer to thicken the sauce, turn it over the livers through a strainer, and it is ready.

The same may be done with the livers of poultry or any other kind of birds; the seasonings are the same, and the proportion is according to the size or to the number of livers.

Besides being used as garnishing, it may be served as a breakfast dish.

_Macedoine._--Blanch a dozen of Brussels cabbages. Blanch also half a dozen asparagus cut in pieces about an inch long. Put four ounces of butter in a saucepan on the fire, and when melted put it into a gill of carrots, same of turnips, both cut with a vegetable spoon, also a dozen small onions; stir now and then till the whole is about half done, when add a little over a pint of broth and the Brussels cabbages; boil about ten minutes. Then add again the blanched asparagus, half a dozen mushrooms, broth just enough to cover the whole, simmer till every thing is done, salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of sugar and it is ready for use.

Water may be used instead of broth, but is inferior.

A _macedoine_ may be served with any meat--roasted, baked, or broiled.

_With Mushrooms._--Chop fine half a pint of fresh mushrooms and two tablespoonfuls of parsley. Set a saucepan on the fire with two ounces of fat grated salt pork in it, as much butter, and as soon as the butter is melted put the mushrooms and parsley in; season with salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, and a quarter of a pint of white wine; let boil gently till reduced to a jelly, and use.

When done, three or four yolks of eggs may be mixed with it.

_With Onions._--Put a dozen onions in a crockery saucepan and half cover them with broth. Cover the pan as well as possible, simmer till cooked, then add a teaspoonful of sugar, salt, simmer again for about ten minutes, basting now and then, and serve warm with beef, mutton, or venison.

_Quenelles._--Chop fine one pound of fresh veal, half lean and half fat--the fat nearest the kidney is the best; then pound it well and mash it through a sieve. Mix two yolks of eggs with it, and season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg grated, and powdered cinnamon. Spread flour on the paste-board, put a teaspoonful of meat here and there; roll gently each part into small balls, using as little flour as possible. They may also be rolled of an olive shape. Throw the balls into boiling broth or boiling water at the first boiling, boil five minutes and drain. As soon as cold they are ready for use.

_Boulettes_, _fricadelles_, _godiveau_, and _quenelles_ are one and the same thing.

Whole eggs may be used instead of the yolks only, add also a few bread-crumbs. To the seasonings above some parsley chopped fine may be added.

Make _quenelles_ with any kind of meat--butcher's meat, poultry, and game, also with fish well boned.

To the lean meat add the same weight of fat veal, as above directed, or, in its stead, beef suet.

Truffles or mushrooms, or both, may be added to the mixture, either of meat or of fish.

_Quenelles_ are used for garnitures, etc. They may be fried instead of boiled.

_Salpicon._--Cut in dice an equal quantity of each, and to weigh altogether about one pound and a half, calf sweetbreads, livers, or flesh of fowls, and ham--three kinds in all; also two mushrooms and two truffles; all must be nearly cooked in water beforehand. Put them in a stewpan, season with salt, pepper, a bay-leaf, a clove of garlic, an onion, a sprig of parsley, and one of thyme; cover with half a pint of broth, and as much of white wine; set on a slow fire; it must not boil, but simmer gently; stir now and then till the whole is well cooked; take out the bay-leaf, onion, garlic, parsley, and thyme. In case the sauce should not be thick enough, add a little fecula, stir, and leave awhile longer on the fire, and it is ready for use.

_With Truffles._--Slice the truffles and put them in a saucepan with a pinch of sugar, broth and claret wine enough to cover them, half of each, simmer for about twenty minutes, add a little potato starch, boil gently till it begins to thicken, and use.

_Lobster Butter._--Put the flesh of the two large claws of a boiled lobster with a little of the inside, about a tablespoonful, in a mortar and pound well. Add about the same volume of good butter and pound again till the whole is well mixed. It is then mashed through a fine sieve, and is ready for use. When the lobster has coral, it is pounded with the rest, and gives a fine color to the butter.

If the lobster has no coral, a piece of the reddest part of the shell is pounded with the rest, when the butter is to be colored.

This butter may be used instead of ordinary butter for fish-sauces, or for making a _maitre d'hotel_ for boiled fish, or for garnishing the same.

To clarify it, just put the butter into a bowl when made, put the bowl in a boiling _bain-marie_ for about half an hour, take off and immediately turn it through a cloth into a bowl half full of cold water. The cloth must be rather twisted, to cause the butter to run through. When it is in the bowl, stir it till rather hard; work it in a ball, and wipe it dry.

Thus clarified it is finer than when used merely mixed.

The same butter may be made, and in the same way, with _craw-fish_, _prawns_, and _shrimps_.

_Horse-radish Butter._--Grate some horse-radish and mix it well with about the same volume of butter, mash through a sieve, and it is ready for use.

_Tarragon_ and _garlic_ butter are made as the above.

If the butter be found too strong, use more butter and less of garlic, etc.

_Ravigote Butter_ (called also _Beurre de Montpellier_).--Blanch the following spices: parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil--parsley and chervil in equal proportion and about half as much of the two others, about two handfuls altogether--drain dry and put them in a mortar with two anchovies boned, one shallot chopped and bruised in a coarse towel, half a dozen capers, a rather small piece of pickled cucumber, four ounces of butter, two hard-boiled yolks of eggs, and the juice of half a lemon. Pound the whole well together, then add a tablespoonful of essence of spinach, mix well, mash through a sieve, and use.

This butter is excellent to decorate and to eat with cold fish. It is sometimes used with cold birds.

_Hazel-nut Butter._--Pound some hazel-nuts or filberts and then mix throughly with good butter, mash through a sieve, and use as ordinary butter. The proportion according to taste. It is easily prepared, and is delicious.

Do the same with _pea-nuts_, or any other nut.

_Melted Butter._--Put butter in a crockery vessel and place it above a pan of water or some other liquid, heated but not boiling, so that the butter will melt slowly and gradually. Sometimes the butter may be wanted soft only, or what is called melted soft, or thoroughly melted. It is easy to obtain those different states above with heated liquor, and the butter, though melted, is more firm than when melted on the fire.

_Scented Butter._--Whenever a certain flavor is desired with butter, put a piece of firm and good butter in a bowl with a few drops of essence, knead well, and then mash through a sieve.

PUREES.

_Purees_ are made with vegetables, but when the flesh or poultry or other birds is mashed through a sieve after being cooked, it is sometimes called a _puree_ also.

The bones of a ham, after the flesh is disposed of, is the most excellent thing you can put with the vegetables to boil them in order to make _purees_.

One-third of the bones of a middling-sized ham is enough for about a quart of vegetables.

When you have no ham bones, use four ounces of good salt pork, as lean as possible; but never use smoked pork, it gives a disagreeable taste to the puree.

_Of Dry Beans, white or colored, Kidney, Lima, or any other kind._--Dry beans must be soaked in cold water, or even in lukewarm water, when in a hurry. According to the nature of the beans, they must be soaked for from six to twenty-four hours.

Soak a quart of beans as directed above; drain and put them in a saucepan with one-third of the bones of a ham, or about four ounces of salt pork; cover with cold water, season with a bay-leaf, a sprig of thyme, two of parsley, two middling-sized onions, with two cloves stuck in them, and a carrot cut in pieces; when the whole is well cooked, throw away thyme, bay-leaf, onions, and cloves; mash well through a colander all the rest except the bacon.

While mashing them through the colander, wet them with some of the water in which they have boiled, else it would be difficult and long.

When mashed, put them in a saucepan with a little broth or water, salt, and two ounces of butter; stir now and then till the butter is melted and thoroughly mixed with the rest, and it is ready for use. The quantity of broth or water is according to how thick or thin they are wanted. The salt pork is good to eat.

_Of Lentils._--It is made in the same way as that of beans, except that they do not require to be soaked more than five or six hours in cold water.

_Of Peas (dry or split)._--Proceed as for lentils in every particular.

_Of Chestnuts._--Remove the skin of a quart of chestnuts and drop them in boiling water, with a little salt. As soon as the under skin comes off easily, take them from the fire, drain, drop them in cold water, and then remove the under or white skin; put them in a saucepan with about one quart of broth, set on the fire and boil gently till well done, and mash through a colander.

Then put the chestnuts, and what is left of the broth, in a saucepan, set on the fire, stir, add a pinch of sugar and an ounce of butter; give one boil, and it is made.

_Of Green Peas._--Wash a quart of green peas in cold water, and drain; put two quarts of cold water on the fire in a saucepan, with a little salt, and at the first boil throw the peas in, season with three or four sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, two onions, and two cloves, a carrot in slices, salt, and pepper; boil till tender. It may take only two minutes, or it may require half an hour, according to how tender the peas are.

Mash through a colander, and finish like puree of beans, using either broth or water. With broth it is richer and better.

_Of Lima Beans._--Proceed for green Limas as for green peas.

_Of Sweet Corn._--It is made like that of green peas.

_Of Asparagus._--Cut the eatable part of the asparagus in pieces, and proceed as for _puree_ of green peas.

_Of Potatoes._--Steam a quart of potatoes, and then mash them well; put them in a saucepan with half a pint of milk, two ounces of butter, and salt; set on the fire, stir now and then, take off and use. It takes about fifteen minutes after being set back on the fire.

_Another way._--Proceed as above, using broth or water instead of milk.

_Of Jerusalem Artichokes._--Prepared as potatoes.

_Of Carrots._--Clean well, and cut in slices, a dozen middling-sized carrots; put them in a stewpan with four ounces of butter, and set on the fire; when about half fried, cover with broth or water; season with half a bay-leaf, a small sprig of thyme, one of parsley, a small onion, and a clove stuck in it; when the whole is well cooked, throw away onion, clove, bay-leaf, and thyme, mash the rest through a colander; then put back on the fire, with a little butter; simmer for about two hours, stirring occasionally, and it is made.

In case it should turn too thick, add broth or water.

The longer they are simmered, the better the taste.

_Of Turnips._--Proceed as with carrots in every particular.

_Of Celery._--It is always made with turnip-rooted celery. Clean the celery well, wash and cut it in pieces, and prepare as _puree of carrots_, adding a teaspoonful of sugar.

_Of Cauliflowers._--Separate the branches, and throw them in boiling water and salt; boil two minutes and drain. Put them on the fire with broth or water, enough just to cover them, two or three stalks of parsley, and salt to season.

Boil gently till tender; remove the parsley; mash through a colander; put back on the fire with a little butter and white pepper, simmer about ten minutes, stirring now and then the while, and it is ready for use.

Instead of butter, some cream may be added.

_Of Pumpkin._--Made exactly the same as that of cauliflowers, after the pumpkin is peeled and cut in pieces.

_Of Squash._--Same as pumpkin.

_Of Spinach._--Clean the spinach, and cut off the stem; the leaf only is good; wash and drain it; put cold water and a little salt on the fire, and throw the spinach in at the first boil. When tender, drain and drop immediately in cold water; drain again, and then chop it very fine. After being chopped, it may be mashed through a sieve, to have it finer; put it back on the fire without any water at all, and when it gets rather dry, add a little flour; stir and mix; add again a little gravy or good broth; stir, then salt to taste, and it is ready for use.

If the spinach is young and tender, it takes only two or three minutes boiling before chopping it.

From the time it is put back on the fire, it takes about five or six minutes to finish it.

_Of Sorrel._--Proceed as with spinach in every particular.

_Of Mushrooms._--Clean well and cut in pieces a quart of fresh mushrooms; soak them in cold water, in which you have put the juice of a lemon; drain, and chop them fine. Put a stewpan on the fire, with a piece of butter the size of a duck's egg; when melted, put your mushrooms in; when half fried, add the juice of a lemon, finish frying, then cover with some roux-sauce; let simmer till it becomes rather thick, strain and use.

_Of Onions._--Peel, quarter, and blanch for eight minutes, a dozen onions. Drain and put them in a saucepan with four or six ounces of butter, according to the size of the onions; set on a slow fire, stir now and then till well done; then season with salt, a little flour, stir for two minutes to cook the flour, and mix it thoroughly with the rest; take from the fire; add cream, little by little, stirring the while. It does not require much cream to make the _puree_ of a proper thickness. Mash through a sieve or fine colander, add a pinch of sugar, and it is ready for use.

It makes an excellent _puree_, and is good served with nearly every kind of meat.

Made with white onions, and properly mashed through a sieve, it looks like cream, and is almost as white as snow.

FISH.

The Indians bleed the fish as soon as caught, because the flesh is firmer when cooked.

The Dutch and the French bleed the cod, which accounts for the better quality and whiteness of their cod-fish.

_To select._--To be good, fish must be fresh. It is fresh when the eyes are clear, the fins stiff, the gills red, hard to open, and without bad odor.

_To clean and prepare for boiling._--The sooner fish is cleaned the better. Cut the belly open, take the inside out, wash well and wipe dry immediately with a clean towel, inside and out. Place the eggs or soft roes inside, and tie with twine. It is then ready to be boiled.

If not cooked as soon as cleaned and prepared, keep it on ice.

_To clean and prepare for baking, frying, roasting, and to cut in pieces, etc._--Scale the fish well, holding it by the head or tail; cut the belly open and take the inside out; trim off the fins, gills, and tail; wash well inside and out, and wipe dry immediately.

Keep it on ice if not used immediately.

_Same Family, or Kind._--We give only one receipt for all the fishes of the same family, or having the same kind of flesh, as they are cooked alike, and require the same spices.

Almost every kind of fish is boiled, broiled, fried, or stewed. Some are better boiled than broiled, others better fried than stewed, etc. With few exceptions, any eatable fish may be cooked in these four ways. Few are roasted.

_To know when cooked enough._--It is very difficult, if not entirely impossible, to tell how long it takes to cook fish, as it depends as much on the size, kind, or quality of the fish as on the fire; but as soon as the flesh comes off the bones easily, the fish is cooked; this is very easy to be ascertained with a knife.

_To improve._--Clean the fish as for baking, etc., and lay it in a crockery vessel with the following seasonings under and upon it: parsley and onions chopped fine, salt, pepper, thyme, bay-leaves, and vinegar or oil; turn it over occasionally, and leave thus for two or three hours.

_To bone._--Slit the fish on one side of the backbone and fins, from head to tail; then run the knife between the bones and the flesh so as to detach the whole side from the rest; do the same for the other side.

For a flounder, or any other flat fish, slit right in the middle of both sides of the fish so as to make four instead of two pieces.

The head, bones, and fins are not used at all, and are left in one piece.

_To serve, when boiled._--The fish is placed on a napkin and on a dish or platter, surrounded with parsley, and the sauce served in a saucer.

_To skin._--Take hold of the piece of fish by the smaller end, and with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand; run the knife between the flesh and skin, moving the knife to and fro as if you were sawing. Throw away the skin, and the fish is ready for cooking.

If the skin were breaking, as it happens sometimes, take hold of it again, and proceed as before.

_To decorate._--Fish may be decorated with jelly, but it is easier and more sightly with craw-fish. The skewers are stuck in the fish as they are in a _fillet of beef_.

The craw-fish when boiled are red like the lobster, and, besides using them with skewers, some may be placed all around the fish; it is delicate eating as well as sightly. Skewers are never used with fish in _vinaigrette_, or when the fish is cut in pieces. The craw-fish has only to be boiled before using it for decorating fish.

_Shrimps_ and _prawns_ are used the same as craw-fish.

_Oysters_ are also used, raw or blanched; run the skewer through a large oyster or craw-fish, then through a slice of truffle; again through an oyster, truffle, etc.; through two, three, or more of each, according to the size of the skewer or of the fish.

_Fish-kettle._--A fish-kettle must have a double bottom. It is more handy to take the fish off without breaking it, and there is no danger of having it spoiled while cooking. Fish-kettles are found in every house-furnishing store.

_Baked._--Clean and prepare the fish, as directed for baking; put it in a baking-pan with salt, pepper, and butter spread all over it; just cover the bottom of the pan with water or broth; place a piece of buttered paper over it and bake. Baste two or three times; take off when done, and serve warm with a sauce.

While the fish is baking you prepare the sauce, put it in a boat, and serve warm with the fish.

A baked fish may be served with its gravy only, adding a few drops of lemon-juice or vinegar, or with any kind of sauce, according to taste.

_Balls._--Fish-balls are often called _fish-cakes_ or _fish-croquettes_. They are generally made with cold fish, but it may be cooked especially to make balls.

Fish, full of bones, like shad, is not fit to make balls; cod is the easiest.

Commence by chopping the flesh very fine, then chop fine also a small piece of onion and fry it with butter (half a middling-sized onion with two ounces of butter are enough for half a pound of fish); when fried stir in it a tablespoonful of flour, and about half a minute after turn the fish in with about a gill of broth or water, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg; stir till it turns rather thick, which will take two or three minutes; take from the fire, mix two yolks of eggs with it; put back on the fire for about one minute, stirring the while; then add two or three mushrooms or one truffle, or both, chopped fine. Turn the mixture into a dish, spread it, and put it away to cool for two or three hours, or over night.

Before cooking, mix the whole well, the upper part being more dry than that which is under; put it in parts on the paste-board, roll each part to the shape you wish, either round, oval, or flat; the paste-board must be dusted with bread-crumbs or flour to help in handling the mixture, then boil or fry, according to taste.

It may also be baked in cakes.

When fried, they may be dipped in beaten egg, rolled in bread-crumbs, and then fried in hot fat. (_See_ Frying.)

_Boiled._--Clean and prepare the fish as directed, and put it in a fish-kettle; cover it with cold water (sea-water is the best); add the following seasonings to a pound of fish: two stalks of parsley, one of tarragon if handy, one tablespoonful of vinegar, and half a middling-sized onion sliced; salt if boiled in fresh water. Set on the fire, and, for a fish weighing two pounds or under, take off at the first boiling--it is done enough. For a fish weighing five pounds, boil five minutes, etc., that is, about one minute for each pound. If it were a thick slice of fish instead of a whole one, weighing two or three pounds, it should be boiled two or three minutes longer, etc., according to thickness.

_Broiled._--Slit the fish on the back and clean it; salt and pepper it; have a little melted butter and spread it all over the fish, on both sides, with a brush, and broil it. (_See_ Broiling.)

While the fish is broiling, prepare a _maitre d'hotel_ sauce, spread it on the fish as soon as dished, and serve.

It may also be served with anchovy butter.

_Fried._--Any small fish of the size of a smelt, or smaller, is better fried than prepared in any other way.

Clean and prepare the fish as directed, wipe it dry. Dip it in milk, place in a colander for five minutes, then roll in flour, and fry. It may also be fried just rolled in flour.

_Another way._--When wiped dry, dip in beaten egg, roll in bread-crumbs, and fry.

_Another._--When wiped dry, dip the fish in butter, and fry. Then the fish is dropped in hot fat (_see_ Frying), turned into a colander, salted, and served hot, with fried parsley around or in the middle, according to how the fish is arranged in the dish.

Fry the following as above: _carp_, _tench_, _frost_, _bass_, _perch_, _black and blue fish_, _gold_, _loach_, _mullet_, _porgy_, _weak_, _flounder_, _pike_, _pickerel_, _smelt_, _sun_, _herring_, and _white-fish of the lakes_.

_A la Orly._--If it is small fish, like the smelt, it is prepared whole; if the fish is larger, it must be boned and skinned, and cut in pieces about two inches long. Roll the fish, or pieces of fish, slightly in flour; dip it in beaten egg, and roll it again in bread-crumbs; then fry it in hot fat as above.

When fried, serve it with a tomato-sauce.

The fish may be served on a napkin in a dish, and the sauce in a boat or saucer.

_Roasted._--The following fishes only are roasted: _eel_, _salmon_, _shad_, _pike_, _turbot_.

Clean and prepare as directed, and then tie with twine. Spread salt, pepper, and melted butter (with a brush) all over the fish, and then envelop it in buttered paper; set on the spit and roast. Baste with a little melted butter, and remove the paper about five minutes before it is done.

When on the dish the twine is cut off and removed, and it is served as hot as possible with the following sauces, to which tarragon is added in making them, if handy: _caper_, _Hollandaise_, _Mayonnaise_, _piquante_, _poivrade_, and _remolade_. A roast fish is served after roast meat.