Part 86

Eel Patties.--Skin, clean, and wash an eel, cut it up into small pieces, and cover it with vinegar. Melt in a saucepan 2 oz. butter, stir into it 1 tablespoonful flour, and 2 tablespoonfuls stock or broth, well freed from fat, add the finely minced rind of ½ lemon, some chopped capers, 1 teaspoonful minced parsley, with salt and nutmeg to taste. Take the pieces of eel out of the vinegar, put them into the sauce, and let them stew until thoroughly cooked. Have some patty-pans lined with short paste, put into each 1, 2, or 3 pieces of eel, cover over with the same paste, make a small opening in the cover, brush them over with an egg, and bake in a quick oven. The sauce should be well reduced, and served separately.

Herring Salad.--Thoroughly wash 4 soft-roed bloaters, remove the bones and skin, and put the roes aside; arrange the 4 fillets of each fish neatly round a dish. Chop finely and separately the whites and yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs, also some parsley, some shallot or parboiled onion, and some pickled beetroot, keeping each separate. Lay these different things in some sort of pattern in the centre of the dish. Take the roes and mash them by means of a spoon with enough oil and vinegar, in the proportions of 2 to 1, to make a thickish sauce; add pepper to taste, and pour the same over the herring fillets, avoiding to disarrange the minced eggs, &c., in the centre.

Oysters.--(_a_) Open some oysters, beard them, and loosen them carefully from their shells. Sprinkle over each oyster a small proportion of anchovies, well washed, boned, and finely minced, a little pounded mace, squeeze over a few drops of lemon juice, add a small piece of butter, and lastly sprinkle a little flour or fine breadcrumbs over. Put the shells into a slow oven to bake until the contents are of a light brown colour. Serve very hot with cut lemons.

(_b_) Remove some oysters from their shells, and put them into a stewpan with their liquor; add 4 finely minced, boned, and skinned sardines, the juice of ½ lemon, a few chopped capers, and grated nutmeg to taste; lastly, add flour and butter in due proportions, and stew gently until cooked. Have ready some shapes lined with short paste. Put 2 or 3 oysters into each, cover over with paste, make an incision in the top, and bake in a quick oven.

(_c_) When they have been well cleaned put them, with some sea-water, some lemon juice, and grated nutmeg, into a saucepan. Let them just come once to the boil, remove them from the fire, and let them stand until the next day, then put them into earthenware jars, pour melted butter over them, and keep them in a cool place. When prepared in this way they can be used for patties, sauces, and also for scalloping.

(_d_) Soak for one night 3 or 4 herring-roes, dry them on a cloth, and cut them up in 3 or 4 pieces, about the size of an oyster. Get some scallop shells, put in each a piece of fresh butter the size of a small nut, the least bit of pounded mace, a few drops of anchovy sauce, or ¼ anchovy well washed, boned, and minced. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice and sprinkle a little flour or breadcrumbs over; then lay a piece of roe on this, with 3 or 4 capers, and again sprinkle a little flour or breadcrumbs over, and put them into a slow oven till they begin to colour.

Parsley and Lemon Sauce.--Wash a handful of parsley and mince it up finely with the pulp and rind of a lemon; melt a pat of butter in a saucepan, mix with it 1 tablespoonful flour, add the minced parsley and lemon, sufficient broth or stock to make the sauce, a little pounded mace and a few capers; stir over the fire, and when partly cooked add, off the fire, the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up.

Pike.--(_a_) Soup.--Boil until quite soft 2 oz. well-washed rice in sufficient salt and water, with a small piece of butter. Take 1 lb. flesh of pike well freed from bones and skin, divide it into small pieces, and toss them in butter until cooked; mince it finely, together with 3 hard-boiled yolks of eggs, pound in a mortar, and stir them into the rice, with salt and pepper to taste; add sufficient water to make the soup, and pass the whole through a fine sieve. Let the soup come to the boil, and serve over small sippets of toast.

(_b_) Stewed, with Butter Sauce.--Prepare some stock. Cleanse the fish, remove the inside, cut off the fins, rub it well with salt, and pour over it a glass of vinegar. Lay the fish in the stock, and simmer gently until thoroughly cooked, strain, and serve with the following sauce: Put 3 oz. butter in a saucepan, add to it 2 spoonfuls milk and some grated nutmeg, add sufficient stock strained from the fish to make the sauce. Let the sauce boil, then add, off the fire, the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with 1 gill cream, pour over the fish, and serve. This dish is improved by stewing the fish the previous day, then allowing it to get cold in the stock, and stewing it a second time when wanted.

Sardine Sauce.--Remove the tails, skin, and bone from 1 doz. sardines, cut them up into small pieces. Take a shallot, a small quantity of parsley, and the thin rind and pulp of ½ lemon; mince all very finely. Melt in a saucepan a pat of butter with 1 tablespoonful flour. When it has taken colour, add the above mince, with enough stock to make the sauce; let it boil, and lastly add a little grated nutmeg.

Sorrel Sauce.--Pick from the stalks and wash carefully 2 handfuls of sorrel, drain, and then chop it somewhat coarsely. Melt in a saucepan a pat of butter, mix with it 1 small tablespoonful flour, add the sorrel and ½ pint cream, a little stock, salt, and grated nutmeg; let it come to the boil, and it is ready.

Trout.--(_a_) Choose small fish, cleanse and wash them, remove the fins, and rub them well over with salt; mix a handful of flour with some salt and pepper, roll the fish over in it, and then fry them in hot fat until of a light brown colour, drain and serve.

(_b_) Take some rather small trout, remove the insides, cut off the fins, wash them carefully, and sprinkle them with vinegar. Put into a stewpan one pint of stock or broth well freed from fat, ½ pint wine, ¼ pint vinegar, a few slices of onion, some parsley, bay leaf, whole pepper and salt to taste, lay the trout in this and simmer gently, without letting them quite boil, until done. Strain off the sauce, place the fish on a hot dish, garnish with parsley, and serve either with oil and vinegar, or with the following sauce. Melt a small piece of butter in a saucepan, stir into it 1 tablespoonful flour, and add some of the strained sauce from the fish, let it boil, and pour over the trout.

_German._--Beer Soup.--Bake to a good dark-brown ½ lb. bread, which has been previously soaked in oiled fresh butter, crumble it up, and add 1½ pint beer, the same quantity of red wine, some thin rind of lemon peel finely chopped, some cinnamon, cloves, and pounded white sugar. Boil the whole up lightly, and serve with some thin slices of bread fried in butter, laid on the top.

Bowle.--The drink one gets in Germany under the name of “bowle” is prepared in several ways, according to the season. In principle it is a simple mixture of wine and some aromatic herb or seasonable fruit, and sweetened to taste, which is sometimes further improved by a slice of orange. Some people add champagne, others, more economically, some effervescing water, additions which are not always improvements. It is best to dissolve the sugar in a little water, and pour it upon the herb or fruit in a suitable receptacle, and then add a light (still) Rhenish or Moselle wine; the latter is preferable. An agreeable variation may be made by using some red wine, perhaps 1 bottle in 4 or 5. This mixture should stand covered until the taste has become pleasingly noticeable, and then, in some cases, the substance used should be removed to avoid the bitter flavour which comes later. The quantities required can only be learnt by experience. The favourite German bowle is the Maibowle, made of Maikraut or Waldmeister (Asperula odorata, woodruff), which is found late in April and May. Strawberries (wild strawberries are better), apricots, peaches, pineapples, crushed or sliced, make delicious drinks. Celery is also used. There are also numerous “essences” and “extracts” in common use, which make one independent of the seasons, but they only indifferently take the place of fresh fruit, with perhaps the exception of the essence of pineapple, which is not bad.

Bretzeln.--Mix 1 large tablespoonful yeast into a good ½ pint warm milk; stir it into 1½ lb. of flour, and beat it well. In another pan beat ½ lb. butter to cream; add to this 2 oz. sifted sugar, 3 eggs, another tablespoonful yeast, and a little salt. Put the dough into this, and beat altogether thoroughly till quite smooth; cut off pieces the size of an egg, roll them into round bars 6-8 in. long, and tapering off at the ends. Lay them on buttered tins, curving them in half circles or new-moon shapes, leaving space between each. Put them by gentle warmth to rise, and when light brush them over with egg; dust sugar over, and bake them a pale brown.

Carnival Krapfen.--Whisk 2 eggs well, add to them 1 oz. sifted sugar, 2 oz. warmed butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of yeast, 1 teacupful lukewarm milk, and a little salt. Whip all well together, then stir in by degrees 1 lb. of flour, and, if requisite, more milk, making thin dough. Beat it until it falls from the spoon, then set it to rise. When it has risen, make butter or lard hot in a frying-pan, cut from the light dough little pieces the size of a walnut, and, without moulding or kneading, fry them pale brown. As they are done, lay them on a napkin to absorb any of the fat.

Cherry Soup.--1 lb. cherries (sour cherries are best in summer, and dry ones in winter), a little spice, a little potato flour or arrowroot, a glass or so of red wine (viz. common claret). Remove the stones from 1 lb. cherries, pour water over them, and stew them with a little spice and cinnamon for about an hour; then rub them through a hair sieve, and let them boil with a little potato flour or arrowroot. Add sugar and red wine (common claret) to taste; a wineglassful is about enough. Serve with sippets of roll or toast.

Chocolate Soup.--3 pints milk, ½ lb. chocolate, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful potato flour or arrowroot, a little sugar and cinnamon. Break the chocolate into small pieces, and mix it with a little boiling water until it becomes a paste. Boil the milk, and mix it all together with the addition of 1 teaspoonful arrowroot or potato flour. Let it all boil for a minute or so, stirring it the while, and then add sugar and cinnamon to taste. Before serving beat up the yolks of 2 eggs, and put them in the tureen, pouring part of the soup in first while well stirring it, and then adding the rest. Sippets of rusk (toast is not general in Germany, but would do as well) are sometimes sent up in it.

Dicke Milch.--This is merely new milk put into a pie dish or other shallow vessel, and allowed to stand 2-3 days, according to the weather, until it is sour and thick, but not quite so stiff as blanc mange. Only experience can guide one as to the exact stage at which it is ready to use. If left too long, a watery fluid rises to the top. It is eaten with breadcrumbs and sugar.

Dingy Pudding.--Stir together the yolks of 4 eggs, 2 oz. sugar, and 1½ oz. almonds, sliced in their peel. Then stir in 2 oz. grated chocolate, 2 teaspoonfuls grated brown bread, soaked in red wine, 2 oz. currants, ½ teaspoonful allspice or 6 pounded cloves, and add the egg whites whisked to a snow. Steam the pudding in a covered mould, and serve with chocolate sauce poured over. Allow 1½ hour to steam.

Dresdener Torte.--Take ½ lb. butter, and beat it with 4 eggs and 5 yolks for ½ hour; put in after you have beaten it 8 oz. castor sugar, 3 spoonfuls cream, ½ lb. fine flour, 1 spoonful white wine, the rind of a grated lemon; beat it well together, fill the whole in a buttered form, and bake it for ¾ hour.

Egg Dumplings.--Beat 2 oz. butter to a cream, and stir in the yolks of 3 eggs, with 1 oz. powdered sugar; mix 2 tablespoonfuls good yeast with 1 teacupful lukewarm milk; add this to the above. Having warmed 1 lb. fine flour, stir this in by degrees; the mass should be as thick as a light bread dough. Beat it well and set it to rise; then dredge a paste-board with plenty of flour. Form, with light handling, egg-sized rolls, and set them to rise a second time on the board. Put 2 oz. butter and the same of loaf sugar in a stewpan, with milk enough to cover the bottom nearly 1 in. deep; let this boil by the time the dough has risen; place carefully in the stewpan as many as it will hold without crowding. Bake them in the oven or over a clear fire, with red coals on the lid: ½ hour should bake them sufficiently.

Flummery.--Dissolve 1 oz. isinglass in 1 pint boiling water, let it stand 2 hours, pour it into a saucepan with ¼ lb. sugar, the juice and peel of a lemon, and the yolks of 4 eggs; set it on the fire, and keep stirring till it boils; strain it through a flannel bag, and when almost cold pour it into the mould, which must be dipped in cold water before you fill it.

Fricadel.--Take 1 lb. uncooked lean veal and ½ lb. lean ham, mince both finely with a small bunch of parsley, lemon thyme, and lemon peel, add a little grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful salt, half that quantity of white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne; mix well with the above 4 oz. good butter and 5 oz. biscuit powder, beat 4 eggs well, add to them 1 teacup cold water, and stir these to the other ingredients; when thoroughly mixed take your baking pan, and mould your fricadel in the centre of it to a flat round or oval shape, cover it with biscuit powder, put some butter in the pan to baste it with, and cook it until of a nice golden brown, either in an oven or before the fire. When nearly done, put 2-3 tablespoonfuls thick cream in the pan and baste the fricadel with it; when done, which will be in about ¾ hour, lift it with 2 egg slices carefully on to the dish you will serve it on, and surround it with a thick rich brown gravy. Thick captain’s biscuits are best for the biscuit powder.

Frothed Milk Soup.--Pound 6 bitter almonds and boil them in 2 qt. milk, or, instead of the almonds, use half a stick of vanilla; add sugar to taste, and a little salt. Beat separately 4 eggs; the whites must be whisked to a stiff froth, then mixed with the yolks. Let the milk just cease boiling, and whisk in the eggs till it froths well, but not over the fire or the eggs will curdle. Serve with small sponge biscuits.

Frothed Wine Soup.--Beat 4 eggs and the yolks of 4 others in a stewpan; add 4-6 oz. sugar, ½ pint water, the grated peel and rind of a lemon, and a bottle of white wine; place it over a slow fire, and whisk it continually till quite frothy and on the point of boiling, but no further; serve as soon as it is ready, or the froth will subside; hand sponge or other light cake with it.

Groat Pudding.--Boil raspberries or red currants, press and strain the juice. To 1 pint this add 1 pint red wine, and set it on the fire with ample sugar to sweeten. When it boils sprinkle in ¼ lb. coarsely-ground corn, barley, or groats; stir this till it thickens and is done, then put it into a wetted mould; when quite cold, turn it out on a dish. Any fruit sauce may be poured over it. The same red pudding may be made with rice, nudels, or sago. It should turn out of the mould in a jelly, but not too stiff.

Grütze.--(_a_) As made in Hamburg and Norway, 3½ lb. red currant juice, 3 pints water, sugar _ad lib._, flavouring of almonds or cinnamon 1 oz. Set this mixture on the fire, and when it boils add 1 lb. sago or 1¼ lb. ground rice; boil for ¼ hour, stirring frequently. Pour into moulds to cool. Should be eaten in soup plates with sifted sugar and milk. Any acid fruit-juice will do as well.

(_b_) 2 lb. red currants, ½ lb. raspberries, boiled in 1½ pint water; when quite soft pass through a sieve; make this juice quite boil; add ¾ lb. sago well soaked in water; let it boil ¼ hour, stirring it all the time. Wet a mould with cold water, pour in, and when cold turn it out. To be eaten with milk, cream, or custard. Any other fruit or preserve will do.

Gulasch.--Cut a tender piece of steak into quite small pieces, lay them in a deep frying-pan, with a little bacon, some slices of onion, a little pepper and salt, and fry them in butter till the gravy looks brown; then add a little lemon juice, a small quantity of water, and a wineglassful of wine if liked; cover the pan, and let the contents simmer till the meat is quite done.

Honigküchen.--1 lb. honey, 1 lb. flour, ¼ lb. butter, ¼ lb. almonds pounded coarsely, 1 dr. pounded cloves, the grated peel of a lemon, and ½ oz. soda carbonate dissolved in water. Let the honey and butter come to a boil over the fire, take this off, and in a few minutes stir in the flour and spice by degrees, then the almonds, and lastly the soda. Let the mass stand all night in a cool place, In the morning roll it ½ in. thick, cut it into little square cakes, put ½ almond in each corner, and a slice of peel in the middle. Bake them in a moderate oven a pale brown.

Knödeln.--(_a_) Beat ¼ lb. butter to a cream, beat 3 eggs to a froth, and add gradually to the butter; then add about 2 breakfastcupfuls breadcrumbs; mix and make into balls the size of a walnut. Perhaps salt ought to be added. In clear soup they are excellent.

(_b_) Mash 3 or 4 large potatoes smoothly with 1 large tablespoonful flour, mix with 1 well-beaten egg; make into balls the size of a walnut, and boil. These are served with meat in the place of other vegetables, or baked.

Köche (Moulds).--We have no suitable term for this sort of dish in English. Sponge pudding is the nearest, but this does not do it justice; nor is custard right. We must therefore call it a mould.

(_a_) Bread.--Stir well together the yolks of 6 eggs and 3 oz. powdered sugar, mix in 2 oz. grated bread, any approved flavouring of spice or grated lemon peel, and the whites of 4 eggs whisked to a stiff snow, stirred lightly in at last; have a mould well buttered, sprinkle in it some finely shred blanched almonds, and lay here and there a thin slice of candied peel; put the mass into the mould and steam it with care; boil sugar to a thread height and pour it over when the köche is turned out of the mould. Serve it without delay.

(_b_) Chestnut.--Stir 2 oz. butter with 3 oz. sugar, the yolks of 6 eggs, and 4 bitter almonds pounded fine. Have chestnuts boiled and pounded smooth or grated; add ¼ lb. these, and then stir in the whites of 4 eggs whisked to a snow. Steam the mass in a well-buttered mould; when turned out serve with any approved sauce.

Kräplen.--1 pint milk, 2 lb. flour, 2 oz. fresh butter, 5 eggs, 1 tablespoonful pounded sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls rosewater, 2 tablespoonfuls good yeast, and a good pinch of salt. These ingredients must be mixed in the following manner. Having warmed the milk just lukewarm, stir in the flour, working it as dry as possible. The butter should be placed in a cup near the fire till warm, and then pour it on to the dough, and work it well in; then beat up the eggs, and pour them little by little on to the dough, kneading it well all the time. Lastly, mix in the sugar, salt, rosewater, and yeast, and beat it well together until you see blisters coming in it. Now divide it in pieces about the size of 2 fingers and ½ in. thick. Let these stand in a warm place until they have well risen, and then bake them on buttered tins till they are of a rich golden colour, and, while warm, sprinkle well with white sugar and grated cinnamon, if the flavouring is not objected to.

Lebkuchen.--1 pint honey, ¾ lb. sugar, 1½ lb. fine flour, ¼ lb. almonds in the skins, each one sliced into 4 or 5, ½ lb. mixed candied peel sliced and cut up ½ in. long, the peel of a lemon cut very small, ½ oz. powdered cinnamon, 1 dr. powdered cloves, ½ nutmeg grated, a small glass of rum, and 1 saltspoonful carbonate soda. Put the honey and sugar in a stewpan over the fire, and when it boils up throw in the almonds; let them simmer 5 minutes, then take the pan from the fire, put in the spice and peel. Let it cool a little, then stir in the soda, next the rum, and lastly work in the flour. While this dough is still warm roll it out as thin as possible; cut oblong pieces, about 4 in. long and 2 broad; lay them nearly close together on buttered or well-floured tins, and let them remain all night in a cool place. Bake them next day, after the bread in a baker’s oven. They must not be done brown. As soon as they are taken out, draw a knife across the tins to divide them in the pieces above described, and when cold break them apart. Boil some moist sugar in a little water till it will draw into threads, glaze them on one side with this, and let them dry.

Marzipan.--Blanch, and then pound very fine 1 lb. sweet and a few bitter almonds, adding a few spoonfuls of rosewater; put the almond paste in a stewpan with 1 lb. powdered sugar, and stir over the fire till a smooth paste is obtained, which will not stick to the finger when touched. Turn it out on to a pasteboard well strewn with powdered sugar; roll out the paste, divide it into cakes of any shape you like, and put them on sheets of paper on the baking sheet well sprinkled with sugar; bake in a slow oven until of a pale yellow colour.

Marien Cakes.--To 1 lb. flour add ½ lb. butter, 10 oz. sugar, 6 eggs, the rind of a lemon finely grated, and a little nutmeg and cinnamon. These must be well worked into a rather stiff paste, and cut into round cakes after being rolled out nearly 1 in. thick. These must be placed on tins for baking after being ornamented on the top with currants and pieces of sweet almonds cut small.

Monastery Wine Soup.--Boil ¼ lb. rice in 1½ pint water until quite soft, and with it the thin yellow rind of a lemon; add by degrees a bottle of any white wine; sweeten with 3-4 oz. sugar, and whisk in the yolks of 4 eggs when ready to serve.

Neun-loth Pudding.--This favourite pudding is made as follows:--Stir ½ pint milk into 4½ oz. fine flour and 4½ oz. powdered loaf sugar. Put into a stewpan 4½ oz. butter and ½ pint milk. When this is hot and the butter melted, stir in the other milk and flour; keep the mixture stirred over the fire till it boils and thickens, then turn it out in a pan to cool. Stir in the yolks of 9 eggs, 4½ oz. almonds blanched and pounded, and, lastly, the 9 egg-whites whisked to a stiff snow. Stir all briskly together, butter a mould or basin, fill it, and boil the pudding 1½ hour. The water must not cease boiling. Serve arrack sauce or white wine sauce with it.