Part 19

Rub a half pound of fresh lard into a pound of flour; use just enough of very cold water to bind it together; roll it out rather thin, and spread butter over the surface; now fold the paste, turning it twice; roll it out again, dredging the board (a marble slab is preferable) with flour; spread on more butter as before, and fold it again. The same process is continued a third time, using in all a quarter of a pound of butter, which should at first be divided into three equal parts.[G]

A COMMON PASTE (_for Meat-pies and Puddings_).

Ingredients: One pound of flour, half a pound of lard, two tea-spoonfuls of yeast-powder, and a little cold water.

First mix well the yeast-powder into the sifted flour; then rub in very carelessly and lightly the lard, distributing it in rather coarse pieces. Now pour in enough cold water to bind it together loosely, using the separated fingers of the right hand to turn the flour lightly, while the water is being poured in with the left hand; roll it out in its rough state; prepare the dish, and bake or boil immediately.

AN APPLE-PIE (_Carême_).

Select fine apples; pare them, and take out the cores without breaking them. Boil several whole in a stew-pan with a little lemon-juice, a very little of the _yellow_ part of the peel, some sugar, and enough water to cover them, until nearly done. Quarter other apples; put them also on the fire with a little water, lemon-peel, lemon-juice, and sugar; boil these to a kind of marmalade; add some butter and peach marmalade, and rub it through a colander. Have some pie-plates covered with puff paste; fill the bottom with the marmalade, and put in four small apples (whole) to each pie, filling the cavities between with peach marmalade. Put two strips of crust (half an inch wide) across the pie, which will divide the apples. Bake in a quick oven. This is especially good served with cream.

A PLAIN APPLE-PIE (_Miss Amanda Newton_).

Slice pippin apples, and put them between two layers of pie-paste, with enough water to keep them moist. When they are baked, lift the crust carefully off with a knife, and put it aside; now mash the apples with a spoon, season them with plenty of sugar, butter, and grated nutmeg; replace the top crust and sprinkle sugar over it. These pies are especially nice when freshly made, then allowed to cool, and served with cream poured over each piece as it is cut, ready to be eaten.

I think the flavor of the apple is better preserved in this manner than if the seasoning were cooked in it. However, many stew the apples first, before baking them in the pie.

FRUIT AND BERRY PIES, OR TARTS.

In England, only an upper crust is made. In this country there is generally only an under crust, with bars of paste crossed over the top. I prefer this mode; but these tarts should always be served fresh, or the under crust will become soaked and unwholesome. The berries or fruits are first stewed with sugar to taste, then baked, or not baked in the crust, as preferred.

LEMON-PIE (_Mrs. Hunt_), No. 1.

Ingredients: One heaping table-spoonful of corn starch, one cupful of boiling water, one cupful of sugar, one egg, one table-spoonful of butter, and one small lemon.

Moisten a heaping table-spoonful of corn starch with a little cold water, then add a cupful of boiling water; stir this over the fire for two or three minutes, allowing it to boil, and cook the starch; add a tea-spoonful of butter and a cupful of sugar; remove the mixture from the fire, and when slightly cooled, add an egg, well-beaten, and the juice and grated rind of a fresh lemon. This makes one pie, and should be baked with the crust.

LEMON-PIE (_Long Branch_), No. 2.

Ingredients: Four eggs, four table-spoonfuls of sugar, two-thirds of a cupful of flour, nearly a quart of milk, two small lemons, a little salt.[H]

Bake two under-crusts. Mix the egg-yolks and sugar well together. Bring the milk to the boiling-point, then add the flour mixed with some of the milk, to prevent lumping. Stir it until it has thickened and cooked, when remove it from the fire to stir in the yolks and sugar; return it for a minute to set the eggs; again remove it, and flavor with lemon-juice and grated rind; when the crusts are done, spread over cream, and over this spread the beaten whites of the eggs sweetened and flavored. Put it into the oven a few minutes to color.

ORANGE-PIE (_Mrs. Miller_).

Ingredients: Half a pound of sugar, quarter of a pound of butter, two oranges, six eggs.

Grate the rinds of the oranges, and squeeze the juice. Cream the butter, and by degrees add the sugar. Beat in the yolks of the eggs (already well beaten), then the rind and juice of the oranges. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and mix them lightly in the other ingredients. Bake in paste-lined tin pie-plates.

PUMPKIN-PIE (_Mrs. Otis, of Boston_), No. 1.

Pare a small pumpkin, and take out the seeds; stew it rather dry, and strain it through a colander; add two quarts of milk, three eggs, and three table-spoonfuls of molasses; let the remainder of the sweetening (to taste) be of sugar; season it with two table-spoonfuls of ground cinnamon, one of ginger, and two tea-spoonfuls of salt.

PUMPKIN-PIE (No. 2).

Cut the pumpkin into large pieces, and bake with the skins on; scoop out the soft pumpkin pulp, and proceed as with stewed pumpkin.

MINCE-PIES (_Mrs. Bonner_), No. 1.

Ingredients: Four pounds of lean, cold boiled meat chopped fine, nine pounds of apples chopped fine, one and a half pounds of suet chopped fine, three pounds of raisins, two pounds of currants, half a pound of citron sliced fine, five pounds of sugar, three tea-spoonfuls of ground cloves, ten tea-spoonfuls of ground cinnamon, five tea-spoonfuls of ground mace, one tea-spoonful of ground black pepper, six table-spoonfuls of salt, one quart of cider and vinegar mixed with one quart of molasses.

Mix all, and add the juice and grated rinds of two lemons; or, instead of cider, vinegar, and molasses, one quart of sherry and one pint of brandy may be substituted. Keep this mince-meat in stone jars; add a little more liquor, if it should become too dry, when about to make pies.

MINCE-PIES (_Mrs. Hazard_), No. 2.

Boil, until tender, a beef’s tongue which has been kept in salt four or five days; when cold, chop it fine, and add to it two pounds of suet (also chopped fine), two pounds of raisins, two pounds of Zante currants (previously washed and drained), twelve large apples (chopped), four pounds of sugar, the grated rind of one, and the juice and pulp of two large oranges, a cupful of strawberry or of raspberry jam, a cupful of quince preserve, three-quarters of a pound of citron shaved fine, two table-spoonfuls of ground cinnamon, and one table-spoonful of nutmeg. Moisten it with the spiced vinegar from the sweet peach-pickle jar, and add the juice and grated rinds of four lemons.

POTATO-PIE (_Mrs. Osborne_).

Ingredients: Two pounds of boiled potatoes sifted, six eggs, three-quarters of a pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one lemon grated and squeezed into the potatoes while hot, half a nutmeg grated, half a pint of wine, one and a half of rich milk.

Rub the sugar and butter to a cream; add the yolks well beaten, then the potatoes, etc., lastly the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Bake with an under crust only.

PINE-APPLE-PIE (“_Choice Receipts_”).

Ingredients: A grated pine-apple and its weight in sugar, half its weight in butter, five eggs (the whites beaten to a stiff froth), one cupful of cream.

Cream the butter, and beat it with the sugar and yolks until very light; add the cream, the pine-apple, and the whites of the eggs. Bake with an under crust. To be eaten cold.

CHESS-PIE.

A gentleman friend spoke to me so often about a wonderfully delicious pie that a lady friend in the country made, that it is not surprising that a person of my culinary tastes should have been very curious. “I will send for the receipt,” said I. “But that will not benefit you,” he replied, “for I have given the receipt to several of my friends, and they never succeed. Instead of the light production three or four inches high of my country friend, the others are heavy, waxy affairs, very different.” I actually took a little journey to see the lady, to get any side explanations from her own lips. I was repaid, as you will see by trying the pie.

Ingredients: For two pies, five eggs, three quarters of a cupful of butter, one cupful of sugar, and necessary flavoring.

Beat the yolks and sugar together until they are a perfect froth. Beat the butter until it is a creamy froth also. Now quickly add them together, flavoring with a little extract of vanilla. Bake it in a crust: it will rise very light. As soon as done, have ready the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, sweetened with a little sugar, and flavored with a few drops of the extract. Spread this over the tops of the pies, which return to the oven, to receive a delicate coloring.

The lady says the secret of the pies not becoming heavy is in cutting them, and distributing them on the plates, as soon as they are cooked, and still hot; that if they are allowed to cool without cutting them, they will fall. This is rather strange; nevertheless, it seems to be true.

SMALL VOLS-AU-VENT, OR PATTY-CASES.

Make puff paste as before described; give it six or seven turns, wetting the top of the paste, before turning it the last time, with water or a little lemon-juice; roll it out evenly about a third of an inch thick. Cut out as many cakes as are required with a circular tin cutter (a scolloped one is prettier) about two inches in diameter. Now take a second cutter about half an inch smaller in diameter than the first, and press it into the tops of the patties, allowing it to sink half-way through the crust; or cut the patties with a sharp penknife, tracing it around a little paste-board model.

When all are cut, brush over the tops with beaten egg, being careful not to moisten the edges; if they are to be filled with sweetmeats, sprinkle sugar over the tops. When baked, take off the marked-out covers, and cut out the centres without defacing the outsides. Keep them in a warm place until just before serving, when they should be filled, and covered with the little crust tops.

In entertaining, it will be found very convenient to purchase patty-cases at the confectioner’s. They can be reheated the last five minutes, and filled with any thing preferred made at home. They are also quite cheap.

OYSTERS FOR VOLS-AU-VENT, SCALLOP-SHELLS, OR SERVED ON BUTTERED TOAST FOR BREAKFAST (No. 1).

Bring a canful or a quart of oysters to the boiling-point in their liquor; then drain them. Put butter the size of half an egg into a saucepan, and when hot add half a small onion (cut very fine) and a tea-spoonful of flour, stirring them well; add then half a tea-cupful of the juice in a can of mushrooms, pepper, salt, a sprig of parsley (cut very fine), half a box of mushrooms (chopped not too fine); then add the oysters. Stir all together over the fire for a minute; add a few drops of lemon-juice. This is a very nice filling for _vols-au-vent_ made as in receipt.

OYSTERS FOR VOLS-AU-VENT, SCALLOP-SHELLS, OR SERVED ON BUTTERED TOAST FOR BREAKFAST (No. 2).

Put the oysters on the fire in their own liquor, and when they are just beginning to simmer skim them out quickly with a perforated ladle; if there is too much juice in the saucepan, pour out all except what is necessary for making a sauce of creamy thickness for the oysters; skim this well, and make it as thick as rich cream with flour and butter smoothed together (_roux_). Season it well with salt and Cayenne pepper; some add also a little nutmeg. When cooked enough, take the sauce off the fire, add the yolks of two or three eggs well beaten, and the oysters. Let them merely become hot again on the range without allowing them to boil. Serve immediately. If these preparations are used for scallop-shells, sprinkle some cracker-crumbs over the tops, and brown them quickly with a salamander.

VOLS-AU-VENT OF OYSTERS (No. 3).

Fill the _vols-au-vent_ (made as in preceding article) with oysters prepared as follows: Beard and put them into a stew-pan with a little stock; as soon as they are cooked, cut them in two; add three or four table-spoonfuls of the oyster-liquor to the stock, and add to it a _roux_ of a little butter and flour; add then a very little cayenne, a little nutmeg, and two or three table-spoonfuls of cream. It should be rather thicker than cream. Fill the pastry the last thing before serving, and cover with the tops.

VOLS-AU-VENT OF SWEET-BREADS.

Prepare the sweet-breads as described in receipt for frying them in the _sauté_ pan (see page 152), preparing also the same cream-sauce. After the sweet-breads are cooked, cut them into dice, or into rather small pieces; fill the _vols-au-vent_ with them, pouring over them a little of the cream-sauce; cover with the _vols-au-vent_ tops.

VOLS-AU-VENT OF CHICKENS, SHRIMPS, SALMON, MUSHROOMS, VEAL, GAME, ETC.

Fill the _vols-au-vent_ with almost any kind of meat or fish cut into dice, pouring over them a very little sauce. Do not add too much sauce, as it would run through the sides. For chicken, a _Bechamel_ or a cream sauce is good; for shrimps, a shrimp-sauce; for salmon or any other kind of fish, Hollandaise, shrimp, pickle, or any fish sauce; for veal or lamb, a little thickened gravy. This is a very good way of using up remnants of any kind of fish or meat.

VOLS-AU-VENT, WITH STRAWBERRIES, RASPBERRIES, OR CURRANTS (_English Lady_).

Instead of sprinkling sugar over the tops of the _vols-au-vent_, glaze them on top with four ounces of sugar boiled to a candy, on which sprinkle some fine pieces of pounded loaf-sugar. Take about one-fourth of the ripest of the strawberries to be used, mash them fine, add a little more sugar to what remains of the sugar used for glazing, and after boiling it so that it is not quite ready to candy, add the mashed strawberries and their juice; skim the mixture, and as soon as it sticks to the fingers take it off the fire.

Just before serving, fill the _vols-au-vent_ with the fresh strawberries, and cover them with the sirup, when it is cold. Proceed in the same manner with raspberries and red and white currants.

VOLS-AU-VENT, WITH STRAWBERRIES, ETC.

When the _vols-au-vent_ are nearly or quite done, take them out of the oven, brush the tops over with the white of an egg, then sprinkle over this coarse sugar; return them to the oven to set the glaze. At the moment of serving, fill the _vols-au-vent_ with fresh strawberries, raspberries, or any kind of preserved fruit. Place a few spoonfuls of whipped cream over the tops of the fruit.

LEMON PASTE (_for Tarts or Patties_).

To one pound of lump-sugar add six eggs, leaving out the whites of two, the juice of four large lemons, with the grated rinds of three of them, and one quarter of a pound of very good butter. Put all into a stew-pan, and stir gently over a slow fire (or set the basin into a pan of boiling water) until it becomes thick and looks like honey; do not let it boil. Pour it into bottles or jars, and keep it in a cool place. It will keep three or four years.

Bake the crust for the tarts. Put in a little of the lemon paste while the crusts are hot. Then return them to the oven, to remain until the paste is nicely melted, when the tarts will be quite ready.

MINCE-MEAT PATTIES.

Either make or purchase the patty-shells, and just before serving fill them with mince-meat (see page 239), and heat them for a few minutes in the oven.

CREAM RISSOLES (_Rissoles à la Crême_).

The cream _rissoles_ are made as meat _rissoles_ (see page 142), substituting the corn-starch pudding described for fried cream (see page 230) for the prepared meat; or the _rissoles_ may be filled with apple-sauce, marmalade, or any of the stewed fruits or berries.

CANNING.

This is a most valuable manner of preserving vegetables and fruits. In cities where vegetables, fruits, or berries are bought at high prices, and perhaps not entirely fresh at that, my experience has taught me that it is cheaper to buy the canned fruits than to have them put up in the house. In the country the expense is very little, as the cans may be purchased in quantities very cheap; and, with proper care in cleaning and drying them, they can be used several times.

The manner of canning one kind of fruit or vegetable applies to almost all kinds, except corn. I would not advise any one to attempt canning corn without the correct process direct from Mr. Winslow himself. By mixing corn and tomatoes together no difficulty will be found. Gumbo and tomato mixed are valuable for soup. Canned tomatoes are invaluable in a household. They are very easily managed, and are as desirable for soups and sauces as for a separate vegetable dish. If fruits or vegetables of any kind are quite fresh, and there is not too large a quantity scalded at one time to prevent careful management of each can, not one can in a hundred will be lost. I also advise the _canning_ of sweetmeats of every kind. In that case the same amount of sugar is not required, and the fruit does not have to be boiled until the natural flavor is entirely lost. If glass jars are used instead of cans, they must be put on the fire in cold water with a plate or piece of wood in the bottom of the kettle. They should not be filled until the water is boiling, and then they will not be broken. They should be sealed as soon as possible after they are filled, and when they are cold the covers should again be tightened, as the glass will contract a little after cooling.

TO CAN TOMATOES.

Let them be entirely fresh. Put scalding water over them to aid in removing the skins. When the cans with their covers are in readiness upon the table, the red sealing-wax (which is generally too brittle, and requires a little lard melted with it) is in a cup at the back of the fire, the tea-kettle is full of boiling water, and the tomatoes are all skinned, we are ready to begin the canning. First put four cans (if there are two persons, three if only one person) on the hearth in front of the fire; fill them with boiling water. Put enough tomatoes in a porcelain preserving kettle to fill these cans; add no water to them. With a good fire let them come to the boiling-point, or let them all be well scalded through. Then, emptying the hot water from the cans, fill them with the hot tomatoes; wipe off the moisture from the tops with a soft cloth, and press the covers on tightly. While pressing each cover down closely with a knife, pour carefully around it the hot sealing-wax from the tin cup, so bent at the edge that the wax may run out in a small stream. Hold the knife still a moment longer, that the wax may set. When these cans are sealed, continue the operation until all the tomatoes are canned. Now put the blade of an old knife in the coals, and when it is red-hot run it over the tops of the sealing-wax to melt any bubbles that may have formed; then, examining each can, notice if there is any hissing noise, which will indicate a want of tightness in the can, which allows the steam to escape. If any holes are found, wipe them, and cover them while the cans are hot with a bit of the sealing-wax. There will be juice left after the tomatoes are canned. Season this and boil it down for catchup.

TO CAN PEACHES.

Cling-stones are best. Pare, halve, and stone them. Boil the stones or pits until all the flavor is extracted; then, having every thing in readiness, as described in the preceding article, pour off the water from the pits, and when it is at boiling-point, throw into it enough peaches to fill three or four cans; sprinkle over sugar to taste, or about as much as would be sprinkled over fresh peaches for the table. When just scalded, can them, placing round pieces of writing-paper dipped in brandy over the tops of the peaches before putting on the covers.

Pears, plums, and all kinds of fruit and berries are thrown into a little boiling water sweetened to taste, scalded, and canned in the same manner as tomatoes.

STRING-BEANS.

Next to tomatoes, the vegetable easiest to can is, perhaps, the string-bean. Remove the tough strings at the sides, and break the bean into two or three pieces. When all ready, throw them into a little boiling water, scald, and then can them.

OKRA AND TOMATOES

are merely mixed and scalded together. Some add pepper and salt, yet these are not necessary in canning. This makes a most delicious soup added to a little stock.

RASPBERRIES

are especially easy to can. They are merely thrown into a little boiling water (which is slightly sweetened), scalded, and then canned. They are very wholesome and nice as a sauce for tea.

GREENGAGES

should be canned without skinning. They should be well scalded in a little sweetened boiling water before canning.

CORN.

Since writing the preceding discouraging remark about corn, I have found, in a Supreme Court decision, Mr. Winslow’s receipt for canning corn, as follows:

Fill the cans with the uncooked corn (freshly gathered) cut from the cob, and seal them hermetically; surround them with straw to prevent them striking against each other, and put them into a boiler over the fire, with enough cold water to cover them. Heat the water gradually, and when they have boiled an hour and a half, puncture the tops of the cans to allow the escape of gases, then seal them immediately while they are still hot. Continue to boil them for two hours and a half.

In packing the cut corn in the can, the liberated milk and juices surround the kernels, forming a liquid in which they are cooked.

This process, patented by Mr. Winslow, is by far the best one for preserving the natural flavor of green sweet corn.

SUCCOTASH.

Lima beans and corn mixed. They should be boiled until they are thoroughly done.

CORN AND TOMATOES

make a good combination for canning. The corn, however, should be thoroughly cooked, and mixed with the tomatoes, after the latter have been scalded merely.

PRESERVES.

To make clear, good preserves requires: 1st. No economy of trouble; 2d. That the fruit be perfectly fresh, _alive_ from the tree or bush, or, as a friend says, “tasting of the sun.”

The French make the clearest, best preserves, because they spare no pains. They first prepare their sirup or clarified sugar; then, after neatly and carefully paring or dressing their fruit, cook a few pieces at a time, or only as many as they can oversee, carefully lifting each piece out of the sirup the moment it is done. How they preserve strawberries in bottle (each little bottle of which sells for seventy-five cents), retaining the full flavor and almost the firmness of the fresh strawberries, is something for me to investigate.

I consider the peach marmalade the most valuable preserve, as it is useful in preparing desserts. It is a good sauce for almost any kind of pudding, especially corn-starch and rice puddings. Preserves are generally made too sweet. Before hermetically sealed cans or jars were in general use, it required a large quantity of sugar to keep the preserves from fermenting. Now, in using cans, one can suit the taste as to the sweetness of the preserve. I prefer tin cans to glass bottles, as sometimes the bottled jelly or preserves will ferment, requiring a second cooking. Tin cans have never failed me. Others prefer bottles, having no trouble, they say, in tightening them perfectly. The citron preserve, flavored with root ginger and lemon, is a success. It has the flavor of the ginger preserve from the West Indies, which is so fashionable, expensive, and serviceable as an accompaniment for ice-cream, etc.; it is also inexpensive.