The Book of Household Management Part 202

_Average cost_, with the gravy and cheese, 1s. 3d.

_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

POUNDED CHEESE.

1648. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of cheese allow 3 oz. of fresh b.u.t.ter.

_Mode_.--To pound cheese is an economical way of using it, if it has become dry; it is exceedingly good spread on bread, and is the best way of eating it for those whose digestion is weak. Cut up the cheese into small pieces, and pound it smoothly in a mortar, adding b.u.t.ter in the above proportion. Press it down into a jar, cover with clarified b.u.t.ter, and it will keep for several days. The flavour may be very much increased by adding mixed mustard (about a teaspoonful to every lb.), or cayenne, or pounded mace. Curry-powder is also not unfrequently mixed with it.

RAMAKINS, to serve with the CHEESE COURSE.

1649. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of Cheshire cheese, 1/4 lb. of Parmesan cheese, 1/4 lb. of fresh b.u.t.ter, 4 eggs, the crumb of a small roll; pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste.

_Mode_.--Boil the crumb of the roll in milk for 5 minutes; strain, and put it into a mortar; add the cheese, which should be finely sc.r.a.ped, the b.u.t.ter, the yolks of the eggs, and seasoning, and pound these ingredients well together. Whisk the whites of the eggs, mix them with the paste, and put it into small pans or saucers, which should not be more than half filled. Bake them from 10 to 12 minutes, and serve them very hot and very quickly. This batter answers equally well for macaroni after it is boiled tender.

_Time_--10 to 12 minutes. _Average cost_, 1s. 4d.

_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

PASTRY RAMAKINS, to serve with the CHEESE COURSE.

1650. INGREDIENTS.--Any pieces of very good light puff-paste Cheshire, Parmesan, or Stilton cheese.

_Mode_.--The remains or odd pieces of paste left from large tarts, &c.

answer for making these little dishes. Gather up the pieces of paste, roll it out evenly, and sprinkle it with grated cheese of a nice flavour. Fold the paste in three, roll it out again, and sprinkle more cheese over; fold the paste, roll it out, and with a paste-cutter shape it in any way that may be desired. Bake the ramakins in a brisk oven from 10 to 15 minutes, dish them on a hot napkin, and serve quickly. The appearance of this dish may be very much improved by brushing the ramakins over with yolk of egg before they are placed in the oven. Where expense is not objected to, Parmesan is the best kind of cheese to use for making this dish.

_Time_.--10 to 15 minutes. _Average cost_, with 1/2 lb. of paste, 10d.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TOASTED CHEESE, or SCOTCH RARE-BIT.

1651. INGREDIENTS.--A few slices of rich cheese, toast, mustard, and pepper.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOT-WATER CHEESE-DISH.]

_Mode_.--Cut some nice rich sound cheese into rather thin slices; melt it in a cheese-toaster on a hot plate, or over steam, and, when melted, add a small quant.i.ty of mixed mustard and a seasoning of pepper; stir the cheese until it is completely dissolved, then brown it before the fire, or with a salamander. Fill the bottom of the cheese-toaster with hot water, and serve with dry or b.u.t.tered toasts, whichever may be preferred. Our engraving ill.u.s.trates a cheese-toaster with hot-water reservoir: the cheese is melted in the upper tin, which is placed in another vessel of boiling water, so keeping the preparation beautifully hot. A small quant.i.ty of porter, or port wine, is sometimes mixed with the cheese; and, if it be not very rich, a few pieces of b.u.t.ter may be mixed with it to great advantage. Sometimes the melted cheese is spread on the toasts, and then laid in the cheese-dish at the top of the hot water. Whichever way it is served, it is highly necessary that the mixture be very hot, and very quickly sent to table, or it will be worthless.

_Time_.--About 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

_Average cost_, 1-1/2d. per slice.

_Sufficient_.--Allow a slice to each person. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TOASTED CHEESE, or WELSH RARE-BIT.

1652. INGREDIENTS.--Slices of bread, b.u.t.ter, Cheshire or Gloucester cheese, mustard, and pepper.

_Mode_.--Cut the bread into slices about 1/2 inch in thickness; pare off the crust, toast the bread slightly without hardening or burning it, and spread it with b.u.t.ter. Cut some slices, not quite so large as the bread, from a good rich fat cheese; lay them on the toasted bread in a cheese-toaster; be careful that the cheese does not burn, and let it be equally melted. Spread over the top a little made mustard and a seasoning of pepper, and serve very hot, with very hot plates. To facilitate the melting of the cheese, it may be cut into thin flakes or toasted on one side before it is laid on the bread. As it is so essential to send this dish hot to table, it is a good plan to melt the cheese in small round silver or metal pans, and to send these pans to table, allowing one for each guest. Slices of dry or b.u.t.tered toast should always accompany them, with mustard, pepper, and salt.

_Time_.--About 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

_Average cost_, 1-1/2d. each slice.

_Sufficient_.--Allow a slice to each person. _Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note_.--Should the cheese be dry, a little b.u.t.ter mixed with it will be an improvement.

"COW CHEESE."--It was only fifty years after Aristotle--the fourth century before Christ--that b.u.t.ter began to be noticed as an aliment. The Greeks, in imitation of the Parthians and Scythians, who used to send it to them, had it served upon their tables, and called it at first "oil of milk," and later, _bouturos_, "cow cheese."

SCOTCH WOODc.o.c.k.

1653. INGREDIENTS.--A few slices of hot b.u.t.tered toast; allow 1 anchovy to each slice. For the sauce,--1/4 pint of cream, the yolks of 3 eggs.

_Mode_.--Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs; beat the former, stir to them the cream, and bring the sauce to the boiling-point, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle. Have ready some hot b.u.t.tered toast, spread with anchovies pounded to a paste; pour a little of the hot sauce on the top, and serve very hot and very quickly.

_Time_.--5 minutes to make the sauce hot.

_Sufficient_.--Allow 1/2 slice to each person. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TO CHOOSE EGGS.

1654. In choosing eggs, apply the tongue to the large end of the egg, and, if it feels warm, it is new, and may be relied on as a fresh egg.

Another mode of ascertaining their freshness is to hold them before a lighted candle, or to the light, and if the egg looks clear, it will be tolerably good; if thick, it is stale; and if there is a black spot attached to the sh.e.l.l, it is worthless. No egg should be used for culinary purposes with the slightest taint in it, as it will render perfectly useless those with which it has been mixed. Eggs that are purchased, and that cannot be relied on, should always be broken in a cup, and then put into a basin: by this means stale or bad eggs may be easily rejected, without wasting the others.

EGGS contain, for their volume, a greater quant.i.ty of nutriment than any other article of food. But it does not follow that they are always good for weak stomachs; quite the contrary; for it is often a great object to give the stomach a large surface to work upon, a considerable volume of _ingesta_, over which the nutritive matter is diffused, and so exposed to the action of the gastric juice at many points. There are many persons who cannot digest eggs, however cooked. It is said, however, that their digestibility decreases in proportion to the degree in which they are hardened by boiling.

TO KEEP EGGS FRESH FOR SEVERAL WEEKS.

1655. Have ready a large saucepan, capable of holding 3 or 4 quarts, full of boiling water. Put the eggs into a cabbage-net, say 20 at a time, and hold them in the water (which must be kept boiling) _for_ 20 _seconds_. Proceed in this manner till you have done as many eggs as you wish to preserve; then pack them away in sawdust. We have tried this method of preserving eggs, and can vouch for its excellence: they will be found, at the end of 2 or 3 months, quite good enough for culinary purposes; and although the white may be a little tougher than that of a new-laid egg, the yolk will be nearly the same. Many persons keep eggs for a long time by smearing the sh.e.l.ls with b.u.t.ter or sweet oil: they should then be packed in plenty of bran or sawdust, and the eggs not allowed to touch each other. Eggs for storing should be collected in fine weather, and should not be more than 24 hours old when they are packed away, or their flavour, when used, cannot be relied on. Another simple way of preserving eggs is to immerse them in lime-water soon after they have been laid, and then to put the vessel containing the lime-water in a cellar or cool outhouse.

_Seasonable_.--The best time for preserving eggs is from July to September.

EGGS.--The quality of eggs is said to be very much affected by the food of the fowls who lay them. Herbs and grain together make a better food than grain only. When the hens eat too many insects, the eggs have a disagreeable flavour.

TO BOIL EGGS FOR BREAKFAST, SALADS, &c.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EGG-STAND FOR THE BREAKFAST-TABLE.]

1656. Eggs for boiling cannot be too fresh, or boiled too soon after they are laid; but rather a longer time should be allowed for boiling a new-laid egg than for one that is three or four days old. Have ready a saucepan of boiling water; put the eggs into it gently with a spoon, letting the spoon touch the bottom of the saucepan before it is withdrawn, that the egg may not fall, and consequently crack. For those who like eggs lightly boiled, 3 minutes will be found sufficient; 3-3/4 to 4 minutes will be ample time to set the white nicely; and, if liked hard, 6 to 7 minutes will not be found too long. Should the eggs be unusually large, as those of black Spanish fowls sometimes are, allow an extra 1/2 minute for them. Eggs for salads should be boiled from 10 minutes to 1/4 hour, and should be placed in a basin of cold water for a few minutes; they should then be rolled on the table with the hand, and the sh.e.l.l will peel off easily.

_Time_.--To boil eggs lightly, for invalids or children, 3 minutes; to boil eggs to suit the generality of tastes, 3-3/4 to 4 minutes; to boil eggs hard, 6 to 7 minutes; for salads, 10 to 15 minutes.