A Poetical Cook-Book Part 4

Fair fa' your honest sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin' race; Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm, Weel are ye wordy of a grace As langs my arm.

His knife see rustic labor dight, An' cut you up with ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrail bright Like onie ditch, And then, O! what a glorious sight, Warm reekin' rich.

Ye powers wha mak mankind your care, And dish them out their bill of fare, Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware That jaups in luggies, But if ye wish her grateful pray'r, Gie her a _Haggis_.

BURNS.

Make the haggis bag perfectly clean; parboil the draught, boil the liver very well, so as it will grate, dry the meal before the fire, mince the draught and a pretty large piece of beef, very small; grate about half the liver, mince plenty of the suet and some onions small; mix all these materials very well together with a handful or two of the dried meal; spread them on the table, and season them properly with salt and mixed spices; take any of the sc.r.a.ps of beef that are left from mincing, and some of the water that boiled the draught, and make about a choppin (_i. e._ a quart) of good stock of it; then put all the haggis meat into the bag, and that broth in it; then sew up the bag; put out all the wind before you sew it quite close. If you think the bag is thin, you may put it in a cloth.

If it is a large haggis, it will take at least two hours boiling.

N. B. The above is a receipt from Mrs. MacIver, a celebrated Caledonian professor of the culinary art, who taught and published a book of cookery, at Edinburgh, A. D. 1787.

SALT BEEF.

The British fleet, which now commands the main, Might glorious wreaths of victory obtain, Would they take time, would they with leisure work, With care would _salt their beef_, and cure their pork.

There is no dish, but what _our_ cooks have made And merited a charter by their trade.

KING.

Make a pickle of rock salt and cold water strong enough to bear an egg, let a little salt remain in the bottom of the tub; two quarts of mola.s.ses and a quarter pound of saltpetre is sufficient for a cwt. of beef. It is fit for use in ten days. Boil the beef slowly until the bones come out easily, then wrap it in a towel, and put a heavy weight on it till cold.

TO PICKLE TONGUES FOR BOILING.

Silence is commendable only In a _neat's tongue_ dried.

SHAKSPEARE.

Cut off the root, leaving a little of the kernel and fat. Sprinkle some salt, and let it drain till next day; then for each tongue, mix a large spoonful of common salt, the same of coa.r.s.e sugar, and about half as much of saltpetre; rub it well in, and do so every day. In a week add another heaped spoonful of salt. If rubbed every day, a tongue will be ready in a fortnight; but if only turned in the pickle daily, it will keep four or five weeks without being too salt. Smoke them or plainly dry them, if you like best. When to be dressed, boil it extremely tender; allow five hours, and if done sooner, it is easily kept hot. The longer kept after drying, the higher it will be; if hard, it may require soaking three or four hours.

ROASTED CALF'S LIVER.

Pray a slice of your _liver_.

GOLDSMITH.

Wash and wipe it, then cut a long hole in it, and stuff it with crumbs of bread, chopped, an anchovy, a good deal of fat bacon, onion, salt, pepper, a bit of b.u.t.ter, and an egg; sew the liver up, lard it, wrap it in a veal caul, and roast it. Serve with good brown gravy and currant jelly.

SCOTCH COLLOPS.

A cook has mighty things professed; Then send us but two dishes nicely dressed,-- One called _Scotch Collops_.

KING.

Cut veal in thin bits, about three inches over and rather round, beat with a rolling-pin; grate a little nutmeg over them; dip in the yolk of an egg, and fry them in a little b.u.t.ter of a fine brown; have ready, warm, to pour upon them, half a pint of gravy, a little bit of b.u.t.ter rubbed into a little flour, to which put the yolk of an egg, two large spoonfuls of cream, and a little salt.

Do not boil the sauce, but stir until of a fine thickness to serve with the collops.

STEWED FILLET OF VEAL.

In truth, I'm confounded And bothered, my dear, 'twixt that troublesome boy's (Bob's) cookery language, and Madame Le Roi's.

What with fillets of roses and _fillets of veal_, Things garni with lace, and things garni with eel, One's hair and one's cutlets both en papillote, And a thousand more things I shall ne'er have by rote.

MOORE.

Bone, lard, and stuff a fillet of veal; half roast and then stew it with two quarts of white stock, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle, and one of mushroom ketchup. Before serving strain the gravy, thicken it with b.u.t.ter rolled in flour, add a little cayenne, salt, and some pickled mushrooms; heat it and pour it over the veal. Have ready two or three dozen forcemeat b.a.l.l.s to put round it and upon the top. Garnish with cut lemon.

CALF'S HEAD SURPRISED.

And the dish set before them,--O dish well devised!-- Was what Old Mother Gla.s.se calls "_a calf's head surprised_."

MOORE.

Clean and blanch a calf's head, boil it till the bones will come out easily, then bone and press it between two dishes, so as to give it a headlong form; beat it with the yolks of four eggs, a little melted b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt. Divide the head when cold, and brush it all over with the beaten eggs, and strew over it grated bread, which is put over one half; a good quant.i.ty of finely minced parsley should be mixed; place the head upon a dish, and bake it of a nice brown color. Serve it with a sauce of parsley and b.u.t.ter, and with one of good gravy, mixed with the brains, which have been previously boiled, chopped, and seasoned with a little cayenne and salt.

CALF'S HEAD ROASTED.

Good L--d! to see the various ways Of dressing a calf's head.

SHENSTONE.

Wash and clean it well, parboil it, take out the bones, brains, and tongue; make forcemeat sufficient for the head, and some b.a.l.l.s with breadcrumbs, minced suet, parsley, grated ham, and a little pounded veal or cold fowl; season with salt, grated nutmeg, and lemon-peel; bind it with an egg beaten up; fill the head with it, which must then be sewed up, or fastened with skewers and tied; while roasting baste it well with b.u.t.ter; beat up the brains with a little cream, the yolk of an egg, some minced parsley, a little pepper and salt; blanch the tongue and cut it into slices, and fry it with the brains, forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, and thin slices of bacon.

Serve the head with white or brown thickened gravy, and place the tongue and forcemeat b.a.l.l.s round it. Garnish with cut lemon. It will require one hour and a half to roast.

SALMIS OF WILD DUCK.

Long as, by bayonets protected, we Watties May have our full fling at their _salmis_ and pates.

MOORE.

Cut off the best parts of a couple of roasted wild ducks, and put the rest of the meat into a mortar, with six shallots, a little parsley, some pepper, and a bay leaf; pound all these ingredients well, and then put into a saucepan, with four ladlesful of stock, half a gla.s.s of white wine, the same of broth, and a little grated nutmeg; reduce these to half, strain them, and having laid the pieces on a dish, cover them with the above; keep the whole hot, not boiling, until wanted for table.

STEWED DUCK AND PEAS.

I give thee all my kitchen lore, Though poor the offering be; I'll tell thee how 'tis cooked, before You come to dine with me.

The duck is truss'd from head to heels, Then stew'd with b.u.t.ter well, And streaky bacon, which reveals A most delicious smell.

When duck and bacon, in a ma.s.s, You in a stewpan lay, A spoon around the vessel pa.s.s, And gently stir away; A tablespoonful of flour bring, A quart of water plain, Then in it twenty onions fling, And gently stir again.

A bunch of parsley, and a leaf Of ever verdant bay, Two cloves,--I make my language brief,-- Then add your peas you may; And let it simmer till it sings In a delicious strain; Then take your duck, nor let the strings For trussing it remain.

The parsley fail not to remove, Also the leaf of bay; Dish up your duck,--the sauce improve In the accustom'd way, With pepper, salt, and other things I need not here explain; And if the dish contentment brings, You'll dine with me again.

FOWL a LA HOLLANDAISE.

Our courtier walks from dish to dish, Tastes from his friends of _fowl_ and fish, Tells all their names, lays down the law, "Que ca est bon." "Ah! goutez ca."

POPE.

Make a forcemeat of grated bread, half its quant.i.ty of minced suet, an onion, or a few oysters and some boiled parsley, season with pepper, salt, and grated lemon-peel, and an egg beaten up to bind it. Bone the breast of a good sized young fowl, put in the forcemeat, cover the fowl with a piece of white paper b.u.t.tered, and roast it half an hour; make a thick batter of flour, milk, and eggs, take off the paper, and pour some of the batter over the fowl; as soon as it becomes dry, add more, and do this till it is all crusted over and a nice brown color, serve it with melted b.u.t.ter and lemon pickle, or a thickened brown gravy.