CHAPTER VIII.

ON THE PREPARATION OF HASHES, GRAVIES, AND SAUCES.

There is nothing worse for the health, or for the palate, than _a poor hash_, while a _good_ hash is not only a favorite dish in most families, but an essential article of economy and convenience. For this reason, a separate article is devoted to this subject.

The following are the ways in which hashes are spoilt.

The first is by _cooking them_. Meat, when once cooked, should only be _heated_. If it is again stewed or fried, it tends to make it hard and tough, and diminishes its flavor.

The second is by _frying_ the _butter_ or _gravy_ in which they are prepared. It has been shown that this is very injurious to the healthfulness of food. Butter and oils may be _melted_ without changing their nature, but when _cooked_, they become much more indigestible and injurious to weak stomachs.

The third mode of injuring hashes is by putting in flour in such ways that it is not properly cooked. Flour dredged on to hashes while they are cooking generally imparts the raw taste of dough.

The fourth mode is by putting in so much water as to make them vapid, or else so much grease as to make them gross.

The fifth is by seasoning them with so little care, that they either have very little savory taste, or else are so hot with pepper and spice as to be unhealthy.

If a housekeeper will follow these directions, or give them to a cook who will follow them exactly, she will always have good and healthful hashes.

_To prepare Gravy for a Cold Beef Hash, or Steak Hash._

For a small dish for six persons, put a tea-cup and a half of boiling water into a small sauce-pan, and make a thin paste with a heaping teaspoonful of flour, wet with a great spoonful of cold water. Stir it in, and boil it three minutes. Then put in half a teaspoonful of black pepper and rather more salt, and let it stand where it will be kept hot, but not boiling, till fifteen minutes before it is to be used.

Then cut the beef into half-inch mouthfuls and take as many mouthfuls of cold boiled potato, and half as many of cold turnip. Put these all together into a tin pan the size of a dining plate. Then stir in two great spoonfuls of butter into the gravy till melted, and, if you like tomato catsup, add a great spoonful, and pour it over the hash, and cover it with a plate and let it heat on the stove, or trivet, ten minutes, and then serve it.

If the hash is made without vegetables, take only a tea-cup full of water, and a teaspoonful of flour, and a little less pepper and salt.

If you have the beef gravy of yesterday, use it instead of butter, and put in less pepper, salt, butter, and water, and only one spoonful of butter.

If tomatoes are liked, peel and slice two large ones, and add with the potatoes and turnips.

Let a housekeeper try this, and then vary it to her own taste, or the taste of her family, and then write the exact proportions for the use of all the future cooks of her family.

_Gravy for a Mutton Hash, or Venison Hash._

For a dish for six persons, take a tea-cup and a half of boiling water, and slice fine one small onion (say one an inch in diameter) into it, to give a slight flavor of onion, and thus hide the strong mutton taste. Mix a thin paste made with a heaping teaspoonful of flour, wet with a great spoonful of water, stir it in, and let it boil three minutes, adding a half a teaspoonful of black pepper, and rather more salt. Then set it where it will keep hot, but not boil, till wanted.

Cut the mutton into half-inch mouthfuls, leaving out most of the fat. Cut up the same number of mouthfuls of cold boiled potatoes, and half as much cold boiled turnips, and slice in two large peeled tomatoes, or cold boiled parsnip, or both. Mix them in a tin pan the size of a dining plate, stir two great spoonfuls of butter into the gravy, and, if you like, a great spoonful of tomato catsup, and pour it on to the hash. Cover it with a plate, and set it to heat ten minutes on the stove, or on a trivet over coals.

If you do not put in vegetables, take less water, salt, and pepper. If you do not put in onion, put in a wine-glass of currant, plum, or grape jelly, or squeeze in some lemon juice when you add the butter, and leave out the catsup, or not, as you like. Modify to suit your taste, and then write the proportions exactly, for all future cooks of your family.

_To prepare a Veal Hash._

Take a tea-cup of boiling water in a sauce-pan, and mix in an even teaspoonful of flour wet with a spoonful of cold water, and let it boil five minutes. Then add, not quite half a teaspoonful of black pepper, as much salt, and two great spoonfuls of butter, and set it where it will keep hot, but not boil.

Chop the veal very fine, and mix with it, while chopping, half as much stale bread crumbs. Put it in a tin pan and pour the gravy on to it, and let it heat on a stove or trivet ten minutes.

Toast some bread and cut it into triangular pieces, and lay it on the bottom of a dish. Spread the hash over, and pour on the gravy. Cut slices of lemon to lay on the top and around the edge of the platter.

If you like a seasoning of sweet herbs with this hash, the nicest way is to tie some in a rag and boil it in the water of the gravy when you first mix it.

_Common Gravies._

Pour out the drippings of the tin roaster through a gravy strainer, into a pan, and set it away till cold. Next day, scrape the sediment from the bottom and then use it to make gravy in place of butter, for hashes. Mutton drippings must never be used for cooking.

It is not fashionable to have gravy made for roast beef or mutton, as the juice of the meat is preferred, which, on the plate, is mixed with catsup or whatever is preferred.

Gravies for poultry are made as directed in the article on roasting meats.

_Drawn butter_ is the foundation of most common gravies, and is to be prepared in either of the two ways described below.

_Drawn Butter, or Melted Butter._

Rub in two teaspoonfuls of flour into a quarter of a pound of butter. Add five tablespoonfuls of cold water. Set it into boiling water and let it melt, and heat until it begins to simmer, and it is done. Never simmer it on coals, as it fries the oil and spoils it. Be careful not to have the flour in lumps. If it is to be used with fish, put in chopped eggs and nasturtions, or capers.

If used with boiled fowl, put in oysters while it is simmering, and let them heat through.

_Another Mode of preparing Drawn Butter._

Make three teaspoonfuls of flour into a thin batter, and stir it into a tea-cup of boiling water in a sauce-pan, and let it boil five minutes. Then take it off, and cut up a quarter of a pound of butter into pieces, and put in and keep it hot till it is melted. This is the easiest way, and if it is for very rich cooking more butter may be added.

_Drawn Meat Gravies, or Brown Gravies._

Put into a sauce-pan fresh meat cut in small pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of butter, and heat it half an hour, till brown, stirring so that it shall not stick.

Pour on boiling water, a pint for each pound--simmer three hours and skim it well. Settle and strain it, and set it aside to use. Thicken, when you need it, with brown flour, a teaspoonful to a half pint.

_A Nice Article to use for Gravy, or Soup._

Take butter the size of an egg, add a tablespoonful of sugar, put it in a skillet, and stir it till a dark brown, then dredge in flour, and use it to darken gravy or soup.

_Burnt Butter for Fish, or Eggs._

Heat two ounces of butter in a frying-pan, till a dark brown, then add a tablespoonful of vinegar, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a dozen shakes from the pepper box.

_Sauce for Salad, or Fish._

Take the yolk of two eggs boiled hard, mash them with a mustard spoonful of mustard, a little black pepper, a little salt, three tablespoonfuls of salad oil, and three of vinegar. A tablespoonful of catsup would improve it for many.

_Wine Sauce for Mutton, or Venison._

Take half a pint of the liquor in which the meat was cooked, and when boiling, put in pepper, salt, currant jelly, and wine to your taste; add about a teaspoonful of scorched flour, mixed with a little water.

_Oyster Sauce._

Take a pint of oyster juice, add a little salt and pepper, and a stick of mace, boil it five minutes, and then add two teaspoonfuls of flour, wet up in half a tea-cup of milk. Let this boil two minutes, then put in the oysters and a bit of butter the size of an egg; in two minutes take them up.

_Lobster Sauce._

Mix in six tablespoonfuls of vinegar, the yolks of two boiled eggs, some of the lobster spawn, a mustard spoonful of mustard, two tablespoonfuls of salad oil or melted butter, and a little salt and pepper.

_Apple Sauce._

Boil peeled and quartered tart apples, and put in butter and sugar to your taste. If boiled in cider with quinces, it will keep a long time. The fresh-made is best.

_Celery Sauce for Boiled Fowls._

Take four or five celery heads, and cut up all but the green tops into small pieces, and boil it in half a pint of water till tender. Mix two teaspoonfuls of flour with a little milk and put in, with a salt spoonful of salt, and butter the size of an egg. When it boils, take it up.

_Celery Vinegar._

This is fine to keep in the castor stand. Pound two gills of celery seed, and add sharp vinegar. Shake every day for a week or two. The flavor of sweet herbs and sage can be obtained by pouring vinegar on to them, and for three successive days taking them out, and putting in a fresh supply of herbs. It must be kept corked and sealed.

_Essence of Celery, to flavor Soup._

Bruise celery seed, and steep it in brandy for a fortnight. An ounce to half a pint of brandy is enough. Half a teaspoonful will flavor soup.

_Herb Spirit._

It is convenient sometimes to use herb spirit instead of the herbs. It is made thus. Take all the sweet herbs, as thyme, marjoram, sweet basil, and summer savory, dry, pound, sift, and steep in brandy for a fortnight; an ounce to half a pint.

_Soup Powder._

The following is a very convenient article for soups. Dry, pound, and sift the following ingredients together. Take one ounce each, of lemon, thyme, basil, sweet marjoram, summer savory, and dried lemon peel, with two ounces of dried parsley, and a few dried celery seeds. Bottle it tight. Horseradish can be sliced thin, dried and pounded, and kept in a bottle for use. Mushrooms can be dried in a moderately warm oven, then powdered with a little mace and pepper, and kept to season soup or sauces.

_Soy._

One pound of salt, two pounds of sugar, fried half an hour over a slow fire, then add three pints of boiling water, half a pint of essence of anchovies, a dozen cloves, and some sweet herbs. Boil till the salt dissolves, then strain and bottle it.

_Tomato Catsup._

Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, let them stand until you can rub off the skin, then cover them with salt, and let them stand twenty-four hours. Then strain them, and to two quarts put three ounces of cloves, two ounces of pepper, two nutmegs. Boil half an hour, then add a pint of wine.

_Mushroom Catsup._

Put the mushrooms in layers, with salt sprinkled over each layer, and let them stand four days. Then mash them fine, and to every quart add two-thirds of a teaspoonful of black pepper, and boil it in a stone jar set in boiling water two hours. Strain it without squeezing, boil the liquor, let it stand to cool and settle, then bottle, cork, and seal it, and set it in a cool place.

_Walnut Catsup._

Bruise ten dozen young walnuts, add a quart of vinegar, and three-fourths of a pound of fine salt. Let them stand two weeks, stirring every day. Strain off the liquor, and add half an ounce of black pepper whole, thirty cloves, half an ounce of bruised nutmeg, half an ounce of ginger, and four sticks of mace. Boil the whole an hour, then strain and bottle tight.