Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 20

_Muscle._--Boil the muscles about one minute and make as oyster-sauce.

SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS.

_Milk._--Put in a block-tin saucepan four tablespoonfuls of sugar, one of flour, four yolks of eggs, one pint of milk; essence to flavor, and mix the whole well; set on a good but not sharp fire, stir continually till it begins to become rather thick; take off, turn over the pudding, and serve.

_Madeira._--Set a saucepan on the fire with one ounce of b.u.t.ter in it; as soon as melted, add half a tablespoonful of flour, stir till it turns rather yellow, and add also one pint of water, four ounces of sugar, and a few drops of burnt sugar; boil gently, about twenty-five minutes; add nearly a gill of Madeira wine, boil again ten minutes, and serve in a boat.

_Rum._--Proceed as for Madeira-sauce, except you use half a gill of rum instead of Madeira.

_Brandy._--Proceed as for rum-sauce, using the same proportion of brandy.

FARCES AND GARNITURES,

CALLED ALSO GARNISH AND GARNISHING, USED TO DECORATE OR ORNAMENT DISHES.

_With Bread._--Put in a tureen about a pound of the soft part of bread, and cover with broth; when it has absorbed the broth, place it in a stewpan, set it on a slow fire, and leave till it becomes a thick paste; stir now and then, then mix well with it three yolks of eggs, and it is ready for use.

_With Cabbage._--Throw into boiling water a little salt and a middling-sized cabbage; boil it half an hour, take it from the kettle with a skimmer, throw it in cold water, and drain it, pressing it a little in the drainer to force the water out; cut off the stump, and chop the cabbage fine. Have in a stewpan on the fire, three or four ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter; put the cabbage in when the b.u.t.ter is half melted, sprinkling on while stirring a teaspoonful of flour; pour on it, little by little, some broth, stirring the while, and when it has a fine brownish color, wet with broth enough to boil it; season with salt, a little grated nutmeg, and four pepper-corns; boil gently till the sauce is thick enough, take away the pepper-corns, and use.

_With Combs of Chicken._--Soak the combs over night in cold water, and then clean them well by wiping roughly with a coa.r.s.e towel, wetted and salted; wash and drain them; put a dozen of them in a saucepan with two sweetbreads blanched, cover the whole with broth, and boil till done; then add salt, pepper, a few drops of lemon-juice, and it is ready for use.

_With Cauliflowers._--Proceed as for cabbage in every particular, except that it does not require as long doing.

With _Croutons._--Cut pieces of soft part of stale bread in different shapes, and fry them on both sides in b.u.t.ter or fat.

For potage, they are cut in dice, but for decorating dishes, they are cut either round, square, oblong, or of a heart, star-like, half moon, b.u.t.terfly, or flower shape, and about one-quarter of an inch thick. Take them off with a skimmer, and turn into a colander to drain.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The cut _d_ is used for potage, and _a_, _b_, _c_, etc., are used to decorate.

_Duxelle._--Make a _fines-herbes_ sauce, and when ready to be used, add half a gill of gravy, and give one boil; add also two or three yolks of eggs, simmer one minute, and use warm.

Mushrooms, whole or in slices, may be added at the same time the yolks of eggs are added.

_With Eggs._--Mash and mix well together six hard-boiled yolks of eggs with three yolks not cooked, salt and pepper. Put the mixture in parts on the paste-board, which must be previously dusted with flour; roll each part and give it the shape of a small egg (a pigeon's egg or a little larger). When the whole is thus prepared, drop in boiling water, boil till cooked, and use to decorate meat or fish.

_Financiere._--A garniture _financiere_ is the same as a garniture with combs of chicken, to which are added some mushrooms and truffles, both cut in slices.

It is generally served with a roast chicken.

_With Livers._--Geese livers are the best, being the fattest. Drop two geese livers in boiling water and a little salt, boil three minutes and drain. Put in a saucepan one gill of broth, same of white wine, Sauterne or Catawba, a tablespoonful of gravy, six pepper-corns, two or three stalks of parsley, salt, and the livers; set on the fire and boil gently for about twenty-five minutes. Take off the livers, boil a few minutes longer to thicken the sauce, turn it over the livers through a strainer, and it is ready.

The same may be done with the livers of poultry or any other kind of birds; the seasonings are the same, and the proportion is according to the size or to the number of livers.

Besides being used as garnishing, it may be served as a breakfast dish.

_Macedoine._--Blanch a dozen of Brussels cabbages. Blanch also half a dozen asparagus cut in pieces about an inch long. Put four ounces of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan on the fire, and when melted put it into a gill of carrots, same of turnips, both cut with a vegetable spoon, also a dozen small onions; stir now and then till the whole is about half done, when add a little over a pint of broth and the Brussels cabbages; boil about ten minutes. Then add again the blanched asparagus, half a dozen mushrooms, broth just enough to cover the whole, simmer till every thing is done, salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of sugar and it is ready for use.

Water may be used instead of broth, but is inferior.

A _macedoine_ may be served with any meat--roasted, baked, or broiled.

_With Mushrooms._--Chop fine half a pint of fresh mushrooms and two tablespoonfuls of parsley. Set a saucepan on the fire with two ounces of fat grated salt pork in it, as much b.u.t.ter, and as soon as the b.u.t.ter is melted put the mushrooms and parsley in; season with salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, and a quarter of a pint of white wine; let boil gently till reduced to a jelly, and use.

When done, three or four yolks of eggs may be mixed with it.

_With Onions._--Put a dozen onions in a crockery saucepan and half cover them with broth. Cover the pan as well as possible, simmer till cooked, then add a teaspoonful of sugar, salt, simmer again for about ten minutes, basting now and then, and serve warm with beef, mutton, or venison.

_Quenelles._--Chop fine one pound of fresh veal, half lean and half fat--the fat nearest the kidney is the best; then pound it well and mash it through a sieve. Mix two yolks of eggs with it, and season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg grated, and powdered cinnamon. Spread flour on the paste-board, put a teaspoonful of meat here and there; roll gently each part into small b.a.l.l.s, using as little flour as possible. They may also be rolled of an olive shape. Throw the b.a.l.l.s into boiling broth or boiling water at the first boiling, boil five minutes and drain. As soon as cold they are ready for use.

_Boulettes_, _fricadelles_, _G.o.diveau_, and _quenelles_ are one and the same thing.

Whole eggs may be used instead of the yolks only, add also a few bread-crumbs. To the seasonings above some parsley chopped fine may be added.

Make _quenelles_ with any kind of meat--butcher's meat, poultry, and game, also with fish well boned.

To the lean meat add the same weight of fat veal, as above directed, or, in its stead, beef suet.

Truffles or mushrooms, or both, may be added to the mixture, either of meat or of fish.

_Quenelles_ are used for garnitures, etc. They may be fried instead of boiled.

_Salpicon._--Cut in dice an equal quant.i.ty of each, and to weigh altogether about one pound and a half, calf sweetbreads, livers, or flesh of fowls, and ham--three kinds in all; also two mushrooms and two truffles; all must be nearly cooked in water beforehand. Put them in a stewpan, season with salt, pepper, a bay-leaf, a clove of garlic, an onion, a sprig of parsley, and one of thyme; cover with half a pint of broth, and as much of white wine; set on a slow fire; it must not boil, but simmer gently; stir now and then till the whole is well cooked; take out the bay-leaf, onion, garlic, parsley, and thyme. In case the sauce should not be thick enough, add a little fecula, stir, and leave awhile longer on the fire, and it is ready for use.

_With Truffles._--Slice the truffles and put them in a saucepan with a pinch of sugar, broth and claret wine enough to cover them, half of each, simmer for about twenty minutes, add a little potato starch, boil gently till it begins to thicken, and use.

_Lobster b.u.t.ter._--Put the flesh of the two large claws of a boiled lobster with a little of the inside, about a tablespoonful, in a mortar and pound well. Add about the same volume of good b.u.t.ter and pound again till the whole is well mixed. It is then mashed through a fine sieve, and is ready for use. When the lobster has coral, it is pounded with the rest, and gives a fine color to the b.u.t.ter.

If the lobster has no coral, a piece of the reddest part of the sh.e.l.l is pounded with the rest, when the b.u.t.ter is to be colored.

This b.u.t.ter may be used instead of ordinary b.u.t.ter for fish-sauces, or for making a _maitre d'hotel_ for boiled fish, or for garnishing the same.

To clarify it, just put the b.u.t.ter into a bowl when made, put the bowl in a boiling _bain-marie_ for about half an hour, take off and immediately turn it through a cloth into a bowl half full of cold water.

The cloth must be rather twisted, to cause the b.u.t.ter to run through.

When it is in the bowl, stir it till rather hard; work it in a ball, and wipe it dry.

Thus clarified it is finer than when used merely mixed.

The same b.u.t.ter may be made, and in the same way, with _craw-fish_, _prawns_, and _shrimps_.

_Horse-radish b.u.t.ter._--Grate some horse-radish and mix it well with about the same volume of b.u.t.ter, mash through a sieve, and it is ready for use.