The Book of Household Management Part 135

_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.

_Seasonable_.--Meadow mushrooms in September and October; cultivated mushrooms may be had at any time.

FUNGI.--These are common parasitical plants, originating in the production of copious filamentous threads, called the mycelium, or sp.a.w.n. Rounded tubers appear on the mycelium; some of these enlarge rapidly, burst an outer covering, which is left at the base, and protrude a thick stalk, bearing at its summit a rounded body, which in a short time expands into the pileus or cap. The gills, which occupy its lower surface, consist of parallel plates, bearing naked sporules over their whole surface. Some of the cells, which are visible by the microscope, produce four small cells at their free summit, apparently by germination and constriction. These are the sporules, and this is the development of the Agarics.

BROILED MUSHROOMS.

(A Breakfast, Luncheon, or Supper Dish.)

1125. INGREDIENTS.--Mushroom-flaps, pepper and salt to taste, b.u.t.ter, lemon-juice.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BROILED MUSHROOMS.]

_Mode_.--Cleanse the mushrooms by wiping them with a piece of flannel and a little salt; cut off a portion of the stalk, and peel the tops: broil them over a clear fire, turning them once, and arrange them on a very hot dish. Put a small piece of b.u.t.ter on each mushroom, season with pepper and salt, and squeeze over them a few drops of lemon-juice. Place the dish before the fire, and when the b.u.t.ter is melted, serve very hot and quickly. Moderate-sized flaps are better suited to this mode of cooking than the b.u.t.tons: the latter are better in stews.

_Time_.--10 minutes for medium-sized mushrooms.

_Average cost_, 1d. each for large mushrooms.

_Sufficient_.--Allow 3 or 4 mushrooms to each person.

_Seasonable_.--Meadow mushrooms in September and October; cultivated mushrooms may be had at any time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MUSHROOMS.]

VARIETIES OF THE MUSHROOM.--The common mushroom found in our pastures is the _Agaricus campestris_ of science, and another edible British species is _A. Georgii;_ but _A. primulus_ is affirmed to be the most delicious mushroom. The morel is _Morch.e.l.la esculenta_, and _Tuber cibarium_ is the common truffle. There is in New Zealand a long fungus, which grows from the head of a caterpillar, and which forms a horn, as it were, and is called _Sphaeria Robertsii_.

TO PRESERVE MUSHROOMS.

1126. INGREDIENTS.--To each quart of mushrooms, allow 3 oz. of b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of 1 lemon, clarified b.u.t.ter.

_Mode_.--Peel the mushrooms, put them into cold water, with a little lemon-juice; take them out and _dry_ them very carefully in a cloth. Put the b.u.t.ter into a stewpan capable of holding the mushrooms; when it is melted, add the mushrooms, lemon-juice, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; draw them down over a slow fire, and let them remain until their liquor is boiled away, and they have become quite dry, but be careful in not allowing them to stick to the bottom of the stewpan. When done, put them into pots, and pour over the top clarified b.u.t.ter. If wanted for immediate use, they will keep good a few days without being covered over. To re-warm them, put the mushrooms into a stewpan, strain the b.u.t.ter from them, and they will be ready for use.

_Average cost_, 1d. each.

_Seasonable_.--Meadow mushrooms in September and October; cultivated mushrooms may be had at any time.

LOCALITIES OF THE MUSHROOM.--Mushrooms are to be met with in pastures, woods, and marshes, but are very capricious and uncertain in their places of growth, mult.i.tudes being obtained in one season where few or none were to be found in the preceding. They sometimes grow solitary, but more frequently they are gregarious, and rise in a regular circular form. Many species are employed by man as food; but, generally speaking, they are difficult of digestion, and by no means very nourishing. Many of them are also of suspicious qualities.

Little reliance can be placed either on their taste, smell, or colour, as much depends on the situation in which they vegetate; and even the same plant, it is affirmed, may be innocent when young, but become noxious when advanced in age.

STEWED MUSHROOMS.

1127. INGREDIENTS.--1 pint mushroom-b.u.t.tons, 3 oz. of fresh b.u.t.ter, white pepper and salt to taste, lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful of flour, cream or milk, 1 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg.

_Mode_.--Cut off the ends of the stalks, and pare neatly a pint of mushroom-b.u.t.tons; put them into a basin of water, with a little lemon-juice, as they are done. When all are prepared, take them from the water with the hands, to avoid the sediment, and put them into a stewpan with the fresh b.u.t.ter, white pepper, salt, and the juice of 1/2 lemon; cover the pan closely, and let the mushrooms stew gently from 20 to 25 minutes; then thicken the b.u.t.ter with the above proportion of flour, add gradually sufficient cream, or cream and milk, to make the sauce of a proper consistency, and put in the grated nutmeg. If the mushrooms are not perfectly tender, stew them for 5 minutes longer, remove every particle of b.u.t.ter which may be floating on the top, and serve.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, from 9d. to 2s. per pint.

_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.

_Seasonable_.--Meadow mushrooms in September and October.

TO PROCURE MUSHROOMS.--In order to obtain mushrooms at all seasons, several methods of propagation have been had recourse to. It is said that, in some parts of Italy, a species of stone is used for this purpose, which is described as being of two different kinds; the one is found in the chalk hills near Naples, and has a white, porous, stalactical appearance; the other is a hardened turf from some volcanic mountains near Florence. These stones are kept in cellars, and occasionally moistened with water which has been used in the washing of mushrooms, and are thus supplied with their minute seeds. In this country, gardeners provide themselves with what is called _sp.a.w.n_, either from the old manure of cuc.u.mber-beds, or purchase it from those whose business it is to propagate it.

When thus procured, it is usually made up for sale in quadrils, consisting of numerous white fibrous roots, having a strong smell of mushrooms. This is planted in rows, in a dry situation, and carefully attended to for five or six weeks, when the bed begins to produce, and continues to do so for several months.

STEWED MUSHROOMS IN GRAVY.

1128. INGREDIENTS.--1 pint of mushroom-b.u.t.tons, 1 pint of brown gravy No. 436, 1/4 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, cayenne and salt to taste.

_Mode_.--Make a pint of brown gravy by recipe 436; cut nearly all the stalks away from the mushrooms and peel the tops; put them into a stewpan, with the gravy, and simmer them gently from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. Add the nutmeg and a seasoning of cayenne and salt, and serve very hot.

_Time_.--20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, 9d. to 2s. per pint.

_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.

_Seasonable_.--Meadow mushrooms in September and October.

a.n.a.lYSIS OF FUNGI.--The fungi have been examined chemically with much care, both by MM. Bracannot and Vauquelin, who designate the insoluble spongy matter by the name of fungin, and the soluble portion is found to contain the bolotic and the fungic acids.

BAKED SPANISH ONIONS.

1129. INGREDIENTS.--4 or 5 Spanish onions, salt, and water.

_Mode_.--Put the onions, with their skins on, into a saucepan of boiling water slightly salted, and let them boil quickly for an hour. Then take them out, wipe them thoroughly, wrap each one in a piece of paper separately, and bake them in a moderate oven for 2 hours, or longer, should the onions be very large. They may be served in their skins, and eaten with a piece of cold b.u.t.ter and a seasoning of pepper and salt; or they may be peeled, and a good brown gravy poured over them.

_Time_.--1 hour to boil, 2 hours to bake.

_Average cost_, medium-sized, 2d. each.

_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to January.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ONION.]

THE GENUS ALLIUM.--The Onion, like the Leek, Garlic, and Shalot, belongs to the genus _Allium_, which is a numerous species of vegetable; and every one of them possesses, more or less, a volatile and acrid penetrating principle, p.r.i.c.king the thin transparent membrane of the eyelids; and all are very similar in their properties. In the whole of them the bulb is the most active part, and any one of them may supply the place of the other; for they are all irritant, excitant, and vesicant. With many, the onion is a very great favourite, and is considered an extremely nutritive vegetable. The Spanish kind is frequently taken for supper, it being simply boiled, and then seasoned with salt, pepper, and b.u.t.ter. Some dredge on a little flour, but many prefer it without this.

BURNT ONIONS FOR GRAVIES.

1130. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of onions, 1/3 pint of water, 1/2 lb. of moist sugar, 1/3 pint of vinegar.

_Mode_.--Peel and chop the onions fine, and put them into a stewpan (not tinned), with the water; let them boil for 5 minutes, then add the sugar, and simmer gently until the mixture becomes nearly black and throws out bubbles of smoke. Have ready the above proportion of boiling vinegar, strain the liquor gradually to it, and keep stirring with a wooden spoon until it is well incorporated. When cold, bottle for use.

_Time_.--Altogether, 1 hour.

PROPERTIES OF THE ONION.--The onion is possessed of a white, acrid, volatile oil, holding sulphur in solution, alb.u.men, a good deal of uncrystallizable sugar and mucilage; phosphoric acid, both free and combined with lime; acetic acid, citrate of lime, and lignine. Of all the species of allium, the onion has the volatile principle in the greatest degree; and hence it is impossible to separate the scales of the root without the eyes being affected. The juice is sensibly acid, and is capable of being, by fermentation, converted into vinegar, and, mixed with water or the dregs of beer, yields, by distillation, an alcoholic liquor. Although used as a common esculent, onions are not suited to all stomachs; there are some who cannot eat them either fried or roasted, whilst others prefer them boiled, which is the best way of using them, as, by the process they then undergo, they are deprived of their essential oil. The pulp of roasted onions, with oil, forms an excellent anodyne and emollient poultice to suppurating tumours.