A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes Part 3

No. 55. STEWED MUSCLES, OR MUSSELS.

Thoroughly wash the muscles, and pull off any weeds there may be hanging to them; next put them in a clean saucepan with a little water, and salt enough to season, and set them on the fire to boil, tossing them occasionally, until you find that their sh.e.l.ls begin to open; they must then be taken off the fire, and their liquor poured off into a basin.

Next, after removing one of the sh.e.l.ls from each muscle, put them back into the saucepan; add the liquor, a bit of b.u.t.ter, a spoonful of flour, some pepper, chopped parsley, and a little drop of vinegar, toss the whole over the fire until the muscles have boiled five minutes, and then you will enjoy a treat for supper. c.o.c.kles and whelks are cooked in the same way.

No. 56. BAKED BEEF AND POTATOES.

The cheapest pieces of beef, suitable for baking or roasting, consist of the thick part of the ribs, cut from towards the shoulder, the mouse b.u.t.tock and gravy pieces, and also what is commonly called the chuck of beef, which consists of the throat boned and tied up with string in the form of a small round. Whichever piece of beef you may happen to buy, it should be well sprinkled over with pepper, salt, and flour, and placed upon a small iron trivet in a baking dish containing peeled potatoes and about half-a-pint of water, and either baked in your own oven or else sent to the baker's. If you bake your meat in your own oven, remember that it must be turned over on the trivet every twenty minutes, and that you must be careful to baste it all over now and then with the fat which runs from it into the dish, using a spoon for that purpose. It would be very economical if, when you have baked meat for dinner, you were always to make a Yorkshire pudding to be baked under it. There are baking dishes made with a parting down the middle which just suit this purpose.

In this case the potatoes are put in one part and the pudding in the other part.

No. 57. YORKSHIRE PUDDING.

To one pound of flour add three pints of skim milk, two eggs, nutmeg and salt; mix smoothly, and pour the pudding into the greased dish, and bake it under the meat, as recommended above.

No. 58. BAKED SUET PUDDING.

To one pound of flour add six ounces of chopped suet, three pints of skim milk, nutmeg and salt; mix thoroughly and smoothly, and bake the pudding in the dish under the meat.

No. 59. TOAD IN THE HOLE.

To make this a cheap dinner, you should buy 6_d._ or 1_s._ worth of bits or pieces of any kind of meat, which are to be had cheapest at night when the day's sale is over. The pieces of meat should be first carefully overlooked, to ascertain if there be any necessity to pare away some tainted part, or perhaps a fly-blow, as this, if left on any one piece of meat, would tend to impart a bad taste to the whole, and spoil the dish. You then rub a little flour, pepper, and salt all over the meat, and fry it brown with a little b.u.t.ter or fat in the frying-pan; when done, put it with the fat in which it has been fried into a baking-dish containing some Yorkshire or suet pudding batter, made as directed at Nos. 57 and 58, and bake the toad-in-the-hole for about an hour and a half, or else send it to the baker's.

No. 60. BOILED SHOULDER OF MUTTON WITH ONIONS.

Put the shoulder of mutton to boil in your two-gallon pot, with a handful of salt and plenty of water, allow it to boil gently for about two hours, and when done, and placed on its dish, smother it over with the following sauce:--Chop six or eight large onions, and boil them with a pint of water for twenty minutes, by which time the water must be reduced to half a pint; then add two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a pint of milk, four ounces of flour, pepper, and salt, and stir the sauce whilst boiling for ten minutes. A shoulder of mutton for boiling is all the better for its being salted for two or three days previous to its being cooked.

No. 61. MEAT PIE.

Of whatever kind, let the pieces of meat be first fried brown over a quick fire, in a little fat or b.u.t.ter, and seasoned with pepper and salt; put these into a pie-dish with chopped onions, a few slices of half-cooked potatoes, and enough water just to cover the meat. Cover the dish with a crust, made with two pounds of flour and six ounces of b.u.t.ter, or lard, or fat dripping, and just enough water to knead it into a stiff kind of dough or paste, and then bake it for about an hour and a-half.

No. 62. GIBLET PIE.

Giblets of fowls are always to be bought at a low price at most poulterers'; when you have a mind to lay out 6_d._ or 1_s._ in this way, first scald the necks and feet, to remove the feathers from the head and the rough skin from the feet; split the gizzard and sc.r.a.pe out the stones, etc., and the yellow skin therefrom, and when the giblets are thoroughly cleaned, put them into a saucepan with some thyme, winter savory, chopped onions, pepper and salt, and about a quart of water, and set them on the fire to stew very gently for an hour, by which time the liquor should be boiled down to half that quant.i.ty; then add two ounces of flour and a little mushroom ketchup; stir all together, and put the giblets into a pie-dish; cover this over with a dripping crust, and bake it for about an hour and a quarter.

No. 63. A FISH PIE.

Cut up any kind of fish into pieces the size of an egg; season these with chopped parsley, thyme, a little onion, pepper and salt, and put them into a pie-dish, with a pint of water, well mixed with three ounces of flour and a little mushroom ketchup; cover the pie with a flour crust, or else with stiff mashed potatoes, and bake it for an hour and a quarter.

No. 64. POTATO PIE.

Slice up four onions and boil them in a saucepan with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a quart of water, and pepper and salt, for five minutes; then add four pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut in slices; stew the whole until the potatoes are done, and pour them into a pie-dish; cover this with stiff mashed potatoes, and bake the pie of a light brown colour.

No. 65. BACON ROLL-PUDDING.

Boil a pound of fat bacon for half an hour, and then cut it up into thin slices. Peel six apples and one onion, and cut them in slices. Make two pounds of flour into a stiff dough, roll it out thin; first lay the slices of bacon out all over this, and then upon the slices of bacon spread out the slices of apples and the slices of onion; roll up the paste so as to secure the bacon, etc., in it; place the bolster pudding in a cloth, tied at each end, and let it boil for two hours in a two-gallon pot, with plenty of water.

No. 66. RABBIT PUDDING.

Skin and wash the rabbit, and cut it up in pieces; fry these brown with a bit of b.u.t.ter, season with chopped onions, parsley, and winter savory, pepper and salt, shake in a good spoonful of flour, moisten with a little ketchup and a gill of water; toss the saucepan about on the fire while the pieces of rabbit boil for about ten minutes, and then pour the whole into a proper sized basin lined with a suet or dripping crust; let the pudding be covered in with some of the paste, put into a baking-dish half full of hot water, and placed in the oven, to bake for an hour and a-half.

No. 67. STEWED OX KIDNEY.

Cut up the kidney in thin slices, fry them brown with a bit of b.u.t.ter or fat in a frying-pan, over a brisk fire, season with chopped parsley, shalot, pepper and salt, shake in a good table-spoonful of flour, add a few drops of vinegar, and nearly half a pint of water; stir the whole on the fire, while it boils, very gently, for a quarter of an hour; this, with a dish of well-boiled or baked potatoes, will produce a cheap and excellent dinner sufficient for six persons.

No. 68. BAKED BULLOCK'S HEART.

Wash and wipe the heart, cut it into four pieces, season these with pepper and salt, chopped thyme, and bay-leaves, add about two ounces of dripping, eight onions cut in slices, and four parsnips cut also in slices; let all this be placed in an earthen pot, with a pint of water, and the lid being put on, set the stew in the oven to bake for two hours.

No. 69. BULLOCK'S HEART STUFFED.

Chop fine four onions and twelve sage-leaves; put these into a saucepan with a bit of fat or b.u.t.ter, and fry them for a few minutes on the fire; then add eight ounces of crumb of bread, soaked in milk or water, pepper and salt; stir this stuffing on the fire for a few minutes, add one egg, put the stuffing inside the bullock's heart, place a round of greased paper on the stuffing, and fasten it on with four wooden twigs. Next, put the stuffed heart upon an iron trivet in a baking dish, containing peeled potatoes, two ounces of dripping or b.u.t.ter, and half a pint of water; season well with pepper and salt, and while baking let the heart be frequently basted with the fat from the dish. In case you have no oven, send it to the baker's.

No. 70. STEWED SHEEP'S TROTTERS.

Sheep's trotters are sold ready cleaned and very cheap at all tripe shops. When about to cook them, by way of a treat, for supper, or otherwise, let them be put on in two quarts of water and milk, seasoned with peppercorns, salt, a good sprig of thyme, and a wine-gla.s.sful of vinegar, and set them to boil very gently on the fire for three hours, at least. When the trotters are done quite tender, skim off all the grease, and boil down the liquor to a pint; then add two ounces of flour, mixed with a gill of milk, some chopped parsley, and one ounce of b.u.t.ter; stir all together while boiling on the fire for ten minutes, and pour out into the dish.

No. 71. BAKED SHEEP'S HEADS.

Buy a couple of sheep's heads, get the butcher to split them for you, place them in an earthen baking-dish, with two ounces of dripping, some chopped shalots, thyme, bay-leaf, winter savory, pepper and salt, and a good pinch of allspice; moisten with a quart of cider, or water, strew a coating of bread-raspings all over the surface of the heads, and bake them for two hours.

No. 72. SHEEP'S PLUCK.

A sheep's pluck, properly cooked, will furnish a meat dinner enough for twelve persons, at a very moderate cost. Cut the whole of the pluck, consisting of the heart, liver, lights, etc., into rather thick slices, and season them well with pepper, salt, allspice, thyme, and winter savory; grease the bottom of a baking-dish with two ounces of dripping, lay a bed of slices of onions upon this, and then place the slices of pluck, already seasoned, upon the onions; moisten with water enough to reach half-way up the meat, strew a thick coating of bread-raspings all over the top, and bake the savoury mess for an hour and a-half.

No. 73. BELGIAN f.a.gGOTS.

These may be prepared with sheep's pluck, or even with bullock's liver, and other similar parts of meat; but a pig's pluck is preferable for the purpose. Chop up the heart, liver, lights, and the fat crow; season well with pepper, salt, allspice, thyme, sage, and shalots, and divide this sausage-meat into b.a.l.l.s the size of an apple, which must be each secured in shape with a piece of pig's caul fastened with a wooden twig, or skewer, and placed in rows in a tin baking-dish, to be baked for about half an hour in a brisk oven. When the f.a.ggots are done, place them on some well-boiled cabbages, chopped up, in an earthen dish, and having poured the grease from the f.a.ggots over all, set them in the oven to stew gently for half an hour.

No. 74. FRIED STEAKS AND ONIONS.