Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery The "All About It" Books

Part 59

Chapter 593,971 wordsPublic domain

_Ingredients._—3 oz. of tapioca, 1 quart of milk, 2 oz. of butter, ¼ lb. of sugar, 4 eggs, flavouring of vanilla, grated lemon-rind, or bitter almonds. _Mode._—Wash the tapioca, and let it stew gently in the milk by the side of the fire for ¼ hour, occasionally stirring it; then let it cool a little; mix with it the butter, sugar, and eggs, which should be wall beaten, and flavour with either of the above ingredients, putting in about 12 drops of the essence of almonds or vanilla, whichever is preferred. Butter a pie-dish, and line the edges with puff-paste; put in the pudding, and bake in a moderate oven for an hour. If the pudding is boiled, add a little more tapioca, and boil it in a buttered basin 1½ hour. _Time._—1 hour to bake, 1½ hour to boil. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 2_d._ _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TAPIOCA SOUP.

_Ingredients._—5 oz. of tapioca, 2 quarts of stock. _Mode._—Put the tapioca into cold stock, and bring it gradually to a boil. Simmer gently till tender, and serve. _Time._—Rather more than 1 hour. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 6_d._ per quart. _Seasonable_ all the year. _Sufficient_ for 8 persons.

TARTLETS.

_Ingredients._—Trimmings of puff-paste, any jam or marmalade that may be preferred. _Mode._—Roll out the paste to the thickness of about ½ inch; butter some small round patty-pans, line them with it, and cut off the superfluous paste close to the edge of the pan. Put a small piece of bread into each tartlet (this is to keep them in shape), and bake in a brisk oven for about 10 minutes, or rather longer. When they are done, and are of a nice colour, take the pieces of bread out carefully, and replace them by a spoonful of jam or marmalade. Dish them high on a white d’oyley, piled high in the centre, and serve. _Time._—10 to 15 minutes. _Average cost_, 1_d._ each. _Sufficient._—1 lb. of paste will make 2 dishes of tartlets. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TARTLETS, Polish.

_Ingredients._—Puff-paste, the white of an egg, pounded sugar. _Mode._—Roll some good puff-paste out thin, and cut it into 2½-inch squares; brush each square over with the white of an egg, then fold down the corners, so that they all meet in the middle of each piece of paste; slightly press the two pieces together, brush them over with the egg, sift over sugar, and bake in a nice quick oven for about ¼ hour. When they are done, make a little hole in the middle of the paste, and fill it up with apricot jam, marmalade, or red-currant jelly. Pile them high in the centre of a dish, on a napkin, and garnish with the same preserve the tartlets are filled with. _Time._—¼ hour or 20 minutes. _Average cost_, with ½ lb. of puff-paste, 1_s._ _Sufficient_ for 2 dishes of pastry. _Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note._—It should be borne in mind, that, for all dishes of small pastry, such as the preceding, trimmings of puff-paste, left from larger tarts, answer as well as making the paste expressly.

TEA, to make.

There is very little art in making good tea; if the water is boiling, and there is no sparing of the fragrant leaf, the beverage will almost invariably be good. The old-fashioned plan of allowing a teaspoonful to each person, and one over, is still practised. Warm the teapot with boiling water; let it remain for two or three minutes for the vessel to become thoroughly hot, then pour it away. Put in the tea, pour in from ½ to ¾ pint of _boiling_ water, close the lid, and let it stand for the tea to draw from 5 to 10 minutes; then fill up the pot with water. The tea will be quite spoiled unless made with water that is actually _boiling_, as the leaves will not open, and the flavour not be extracted from them; the beverage will consequently be colourless and tasteless,—in fact, nothing but tepid water. Where there is a very large party to make tea for, it is a good plan to have two teapots, instead of putting a large quantity of tea into one pot; the tea, besides, will go farther. When the infusion has been once completed, the addition of fresh tea adds very little to the strength; so, when more is required, have the pot emptied of the old leaves, scalded, and fresh tea made in the usual manner. Economists say that a few grains of carbonate of soda, added before the boiling water is poured on the tea, assist to draw out the goodness; if the water is very hard, perhaps it is a good plan, as the soda softens it; but care must be taken to use this ingredient sparingly, as it is liable to give the tea a soapy taste if added in too large a quantity. For mixed tea, the usual proportion is four spoonfuls of black to one of green; more of the latter when the flavour is very much liked; but strong green tea is highly pernicious, and should never be partaken of too freely. _Time._—2 minutes to warm the teapot, 5 to 10 minutes to draw the strength from the tea. _Sufficient._—Allow 1 teaspoonful to each person.

TEA-CAKES.

_Ingredients._—2 lbs. of flour, ½ teaspoonful of salt, ¼ lb. of butter or lard, 1 egg, a piece of German yeast the size of a walnut, warm milk. _Mode._—Put the flour (which should be perfectly dry) into a basin; mix with it the salt, and rub in the butter or lard; then beat the egg well, stir to it the yeast, and add these to the flour with as much warm milk as will make the whole into a smooth paste, and knead it well. Let it rise near the fire, and, when well risen, form it into cakes; place them on tins, let them rise again for a few minutes before putting them into the oven, and bake from ¼ to ½ hour in a moderate oven. These are very nice with a few currants and a little sugar added to the other ingredients, they should be put in after the butter is rubbed in. These cakes should be buttered, and eaten hot as soon as baked; but, when stale, they are very nice split and toasted; or, if dipped in milk, or even water, and covered with a basin in the oven till hot, they will be almost equal to new. _Time._—¼ to ½ hour. _Average cost_, 10_d._ _Sufficient_ to make 8 tea-cakes. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TEA-CAKES, to toast.

Cut each tea-cake into three or four slices, according to its thickness; toast them on both sides before a nice clear fire, and as each slice is done, spread it with butter on both sides. When a cake is toasted, pile the slices one on the top of the other, cut them into quarters, put them on a very hot plate, and send the cakes immediately to table. As they are wanted, send them in hot, one or two at a time, as, if allowed to stand, they spoil, unless kept in a muffin-plate over a basin of boiling water.

TEAL, Roast.

_Ingredients._—Teal, butter, a little flour. _Mode._—Choose fat, plump birds, after the frost has set in, as they are generally better flavoured; truss them in the same manner as wild duck; roast them before a brisk fire, and keep them well basted. Serve with brown or orange gravy, water-cresses, and a cut lemon. The remains of teal make excellent hash. _Time._—From 9 to 15 minutes. _Average cost_, 1_s._ each; but seldom bought. _Sufficient._—2 for a dish. _Seasonable_ from October to February.

TEAL.

TEAL, being of the same character as widgeon and wild duck, may be treated, in carving, in the same style.

TENCH, Matelot of.

_Ingredients._—½ pint of stock, ½ pint of port wine, 1 dozen button onions, a few mushrooms, a faggot of herbs, 2 blades of mace, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, thyme, 1 shalot, 2 anchovies, 1 teacupful of stock, flour, 1 dozen oysters, the juice of ½ lemon; the number of tench, according to size. _Mode._—Scale and clean the tench, cut them into pieces, and lay them in a stewpan; add the stock, wine, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and mace, and simmer gently for ½ hour. Put into another stewpan all the remaining ingredients but the oysters and lemon-juice, and boil slowly for 10 minutes, when add the strained liquor from the tench, and keep stirring it over the fire until somewhat reduced. Rub it through a sieve, pour it over the tench with the oysters, which must be previously scalded in their own liquor, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve. Garnish with croûtons. _Time._—¾ hour. _Seasonable_ from October to June.

TENCH, Stewed with Wine.

_Ingredients._—½ pint of stock, ½ pint of Madeira or sherry, salt and pepper to taste, 1 bay-leaf, thickening of butter and flour. _Mode._—Clean and crimp the tench, carefully lay it in a stewpan with the stock, wine, salt and pepper, and bay-leaf, let it stew gently for ½ hour; then take it out, put it on a dish, and keep hot. Strain the liquor, and thicken it with butter and flour kneaded together, and stew for 5 minutes. If not perfectly smooth, squeeze it through a tammy, add a very little cayenne, and pour over the fish. Garnish with balls of veal forcemeat. _Time._—Rather more than ½ hour. _Seasonable_ from October to June.

TENDRONS DE VEAU, Stewed (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—The gristles from 2 breasts of veal, white stock, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, 4 cloves, 2 carrots, 2 onions, a strip of lemon-peel. _Mode._—The _tendrons_ or gristles, which are found round the front of a breast of veal, are now very frequently served as an entrée, and when well dressed, make a nice and favourite dish. Detach the gristles from the bone, and cut them neatly out, so as not to spoil the joint for roasting or stewing. Put them into a stewpan, with sufficient stock to cover them; add the herbs, mace, cloves, carrots, onions, and lemon, and simmer these for nearly, or quite, 4 hours. They should be stewed until a fork will enter the meat easily. Take them up, drain them, strain the gravy, boil it down to a glaze, with which glaze the meat. Dish the _tendrons_ in a circle with croûtons fried of a nice colour placed between each; and put mushroom sauce, or a purée of green peas or tomatoes, in the middle. _Time._—4 hours. _Sufficient_ for 1 entrée. _Seasonable._—With peas, from June to August.

TENDRONS DE VEAU (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—The gristles from 2 breasts of veal, white stock, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 1 blade of pounded mace, 4 cloves, 2 carrots, 2 onions, a strip of lemon-peel, egg and bread-crumbs, 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, the yolk of 1 egg, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream. _Mode._—After removing the gristles from a breast of veal, stew them for 4 hours, as in the preceding recipe, with stock, herbs, mace, cloves, carrots, onions, and lemon-peel. When perfectly tender, lift them out and remove any bones or hard parts remaining. Put them between two dishes, with a weight on the top, and when cold, cut them into slices. Brush these over with egg, sprinkle with bread-crumbs, and fry a pale brown. Take ½ pint of the gravy they were boiled in, add 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, a seasoning of salt and pepper, the sherry, and the yolk of an egg beaten with 3 tablespoonfuls of cream. Stir the sauce over the fire until it thickens; when it is on the _point of boiling_, dish the tendrons in a circle, and pour the sauce in the middle. Tendrons are dressed in a variety of ways,—with sauce à l’Espagnole, vegetables of all kinds: when they are served with a purée, they should always be glazed. _Time._—4½ hours. _Average cost._—Usually bought with breast of veal. _Sufficient_ for an entrée. _Seasonable_ from March to October.

TETE DE VEAU EN TORTUE (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—Half a calf’s head, or the remains of a cold boiled one; rather more than 1 pint of good white stock, 1 glass of sherry or Madeira, cayenne and salt to taste, about 12 mushroom-buttons (when obtainable), 6 hard-boiled eggs, 4 gherkins, 8 quenelles, or forcemeat balls, 12 crayfish, 12 croûtons. _Mode._—Half a calf’s head is sufficient to make a good entrée, and if there are any remains of a cold one left from the preceding day, it will answer very well for this dish. After boiling the head until tender, remove the bones, and cut the meat into neat pieces; put the stock into a stewpan, add the wine, and a seasoning of salt and cayenne; fry the mushrooms in butter for 2 or 3 minutes, and add these to the gravy. Boil this quickly until somewhat reduced; then put in the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs _whole_, and the whites cut in small pieces, and the gherkins chopped. Have ready a few veal quenelles, add these, with the slices of head, to the other ingredients, and let the whole get thoroughly hot, _without boiling_. Arrange the pieces of head as high in the centre of the dish as possible; pour over them the ragoût, and garnish with the crayfish and croûtons placed alternately. A little of the gravy should also be served in a tureen. _Time._—About ½ hour to reduce the stock. _Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons. _Average cost_, exclusive of the calf’s head, 2_s._ 9_d._ _Seasonable_ from March to October.

TIPSY CAKE.

_Ingredients._—1 moulded sponge or Savoy cake, sufficient sweet wine or sherry to soak it, 6 tablespoonfuls of brandy, 2 oz. of sweet almonds, 1 pint of rich custard. _Mode._—Procure a cake that is three or four days old,—either sponge, Savoy, or rice answering for the purpose of a tipsy cake. Cut the bottom of the cake level, to make it stand firm in the dish; make a small hole in the centre, and pour in and over the cake sufficient sweet wine or sherry, mixed with the above proportion of brandy, to soak it nicely. When the cake is well soaked, blanch and cut the almonds into strips, stick them all over the cake, and pour round it a good custard, made by our recipe, allowing 8 eggs instead of 5 to the pint of milk. The cakes are sometimes crumbled and soaked, and a whipped cream heaped over them, the same as for trifles. _Time._—About 2 hours to soak the cake. _Average cost_, 4_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 1 dish. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TIPSY CAKE, an easy way of making.

_Ingredients._—12 stale small sponge-cakes, raisin wine, ½ lb. of jam, 1 pint of custard (_see_ Custard). _Mode._—Soak the sponge-cakes, which should be stale (on this account they should be cheaper), in a little raisin wine; arrange them on a deep glass dish in four layers, putting a layer of jam between each, and pour round them a pint of custard, made by recipe, decorating the top with cut preserved-fruit. _Time._—2 hours to soak the cakes. _Average cost_, 2_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 1 dish. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE (Cold Meat Cookery).

_Ingredients._—6 oz. of flour, 1 pint of milk, 3 eggs, butter, a few slices of cold mutton, pepper and salt to taste, 2 kidneys. _Mode._—Make a smooth batter of flour, milk, and eggs in the above proportion; butter a baking-dish, and pour in the batter. Into this place a few slices of cold mutton, previously well seasoned, and the kidneys, which should be cut into rather small pieces; bake about 1 hour, or rather longer, and send it to table in the dish it was baked in. Oysters or mushrooms may be substituted for the kidneys, and will be found exceedingly good. _Time._—Rather more than 1 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold meat, 8_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE (a Homely but Savoury Dish).

_Ingredients._—1½ lb. of rump-steak, 1 sheep’s kidney, pepper and salt to taste. For the batter, 3 eggs, 1 pint of milk, 4 tablespoonfuls of flour, ½ saltspoonful of salt. _Mode._—Cut up the steak and kidney into convenient-sized pieces, and put them into a pie-dish, with a good seasoning of salt and pepper; mix the flour with a small quantity of milk at first, to prevent its being lumpy; add the remainder, and the 3 eggs, which should be well beaten; put in the salt, stir the batter for about 5 minutes, and pour it over the steak. Place it in a tolerably brisk oven immediately, and bake for 1½ hour. _Time._—1½ hour. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 9_d._ _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note._—The remains of cold beef, rather underdone, may be substituted for the steak, and, when liked, the smallest possible quantity of minced onion or shalot may be added.

TOAST, to make Dry.

To make dry toast properly, a great deal of attention is required; much more, indeed, than people generally suppose. Never use new bread for making any kind of toast, as it eats heavy, and, besides, is very extravagant. Procure a loaf of household bread about two days old; cut off as many slices as may be required, not quite ¼ inch in thickness; trim off the crusts and ragged edges, put the bread on a toasting-fork, and hold it before a very clear fire. Move it backwards and forwards until the bread is nicely coloured; then turn it and toast the other side, and do not place it so near the fire that it blackens. Dry toast should be more gradually made than buttered toast, as its great beauty consists in its crispness, and this cannot be attained unless the process is slow and the bread is allowed gradually to colour. It should never be made long before it is wanted, as it soon becomes tough, unless placed on the fender in front of the fire. As soon as each piece is ready, it should be put into a rack, or stood upon its edges, and sent quickly to table.

TOAST, to make Hot Buttered.

A loaf of household bread about two days old answers for making toast better than cottage bread, the latter not being a good shape, and too crusty for the purpose. Cut as many nice even slices as may be required, rather more than ¼ inch in thickness, and toast them before a very bright fire, without allowing the bread to blacken, which spoils the appearance and flavour of all toast. When of a nice colour on both sides, put it on a hot plate; divide some good butter into small pieces, place them on the toast, set this before the fire, and when the butter is just beginning to melt, spread it lightly over the toast. Trim off the crust and ragged edges, divide each round into 4 pieces, and send the toast quickly to table. Some persons cut the slices of toast across from corner to corner, so making the pieces of a three-cornered shape. Soyer recommends that each slice should be cut into pieces as soon as it is buttered, and when all are ready, that they should be piled lightly on the dish they are intended to be served on. He says that by cutting through 4 or 5 slices at a time, all the butter is squeezed out of the upper ones, while the bottom one is swimming in fat liquid. It is highly essential to use good butter for making this dish.

TOAST-AND-WATER.

_Ingredients._—A slice of bread, 1 quart of boiling water. _Mode._—Cut a slice from a stale loaf (a piece of hard crust is better than anything else for the purpose), toast it of a nice brown on every side, but _do not allow it to burn or blacken_. Put it into a jug, pour the boiling water over it, cover it closely, and let it remain until cold. When strained, it will be ready for use. Toast-and-water should always be made a short time before it is required, to enable it to get cold: if drunk in a tepid or lukewarm state, it is an exceedingly disagreeable beverage. If, as is sometimes the case, this drink is wanted in a hurry, put the toasted bread into a jug, and only just cover it with the boiling water; when this is cool, cold water may be added in the proportion required, the toast-and-water strained; it will then be ready for use, and is more expeditiously prepared than by the above method.

TOAST SANDWICHES.

_Ingredients._—Thin cold toast, thin slices of bread-and-butter, pepper and salt to taste. _Mode._—Place a very thin piece of cold toast between 2 slices of thin bread-and-butter in the form of a sandwich, adding a seasoning of pepper and salt. This sandwich may be varied by adding a little pulled meat, or very fine slices of cold meat, to the toast, and in any of these forms will be found very tempting to the appetite of an invalid.

TOFFEE, Everton.

_Ingredients._—1 lb. of powdered loaf sugar, 1 teacupful of water, ¼ lb. of butter, 6 drops of essence of lemon. _Mode._—Put the water and sugar into a brass pan, and beat the butter to a cream. When the sugar is dissolved, add the butter, and keep stirring the mixture over the fire until it sets, when a little is poured on to a buttered dish; and just before the toffee is done, add the essence of lemon. Butter a dish or tin, pour on it the mixture, and when cool, it will easily separate from the dish. Butter-Scotch, an excellent thing for coughs, is made with brown, instead of white sugar, omitting the water, and flavoured with ½ oz. of powdered ginger. It is made in the same manner as toffee. _Time._—18 to 35 minutes. _Average cost_, 10_d._ _Sufficient_ to make a lb. of toffee.

TOMATO SAUCE for Keeping (Excellent).

_Ingredients._—To every quart of tomato-pulp allow 1 pint of cayenne vinegar, ¾ oz. of shalots, ¾ oz. of garlic, peeled and cut in slices; salt to taste. To every six quarts of liquor, 1 pint of soy, 1 pint of anchovy-sauce. _Mode._—Gather the tomatoes quite ripe; bake them in a slow oven till tender; rub them through a sieve, and to every quart of pulp add cayenne vinegar, shalots, garlic, and salt, in the above proportion; boil the whole together till the garlic and shalots are quite soft; then rub it through a sieve, put it again into a saucepan, and, to every six quarts of the liquor, add 1 pint of soy and the same quantity of anchovy-sauce, and boil altogether for about 20 minutes; bottle off for use, and carefully seal or resin the corks. This will keep good for 2 or 3 years, but will be fit for use in a week. A useful and less expensive sauce may be made by omitting the anchovy and soy. _Time._—Altogether 1 hour. _Seasonable._—Make this from the middle of September to the end of October.

TOMATO SAUCE for Keeping (Excellent).

_Ingredients._—1 dozen tomatoes, 2 teaspoonfuls of the best powdered ginger, 1 dessertspoonful of salt, 1 head of garlic chopped fine, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful of Chili vinegar (a small quantity of cayenne may be substituted for this). _Mode._—Choose ripe tomatoes, put them into a stone jar, and stand them in a cool oven until quite tender; when cold, take the skins and stalks from them, mix the pulp with the liquor which is in the jar, but do not strain it; add all the other ingredients, mix well together, and put it into well-sealed bottles. Stored away in a cool, dry place, it will keep good for years. It is ready for use as soon as made, but the flavour is better after a week or two. Should it not appear to keep, turn it out, and boil it up with a little additional ginger and cayenne. For immediate use, the skins should be put into a wide-mouthed bottle with a little of the different ingredients, and they will be found very nice for hashes or stews. _Time._—4 or 5 hours in a _cool_ oven. _Seasonable_ from the middle of September to the end of October.

TOMATO SAUCE for Keeping (Excellent).