The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened Part 12

PAP OF OAT-MEAL

Beat Oat-meal small; put a little of it to milk, and let it boil stewingly, till you see that the milk begins to thicken with it. Then strain the milk from the Oat-meal (this is as when you soak or boil out the substance of Oatmeal with water, to make Flomery,) then boil up that milk to the height of Pap, which sweeten with a little Sugar, and put to it some yolks of Eggs dissolved in Rose or Orange-Flower-water, and let it mittonner a while upon the Chafing-dish, and a little b.u.t.ter, if you like it. You may boil a little Mace in the Milk.

PANADO

Beat a couple of New-laid-eggs in good clear broth; heat this a little, stirring it all the while. Then pour this upon a Panado made thick of the same broth; and keep them a little upon a Chafing-dish to incorporate, stirring them all the while.

BARLEY PAP

Boil Barley in water _usq. ad Putrilaginem_, with a flake or two of Mace or a quartered Nutmeg; and when it is in a manner dissolved in water with long boiling, strain out all the Cream or Pap, leaving the husks behind. At the same time beat (for one mess) two Ounces of blanched Almonds with Rose-water; and when they are throughly beaten, strain out their milk, (or you may put this to the Barley before it is strained, and strain them together) and put it to the Barley Pap, and let them stew a while together; then sweeten it with Sugar to your taste. Or when you have boiled the Barley in water very tender as above, you may put Milk to it, and boil again to fitting thickness; Then strain it, adding Almonds as above. Or if you will, and your stomack will bear it, you may eat it without straining the barley (but the Almonds must be strained) and you may put b.u.t.ter to it if you please.

You may do the like with Oat-meal or Rice; or put Pine Kernels (first well watered) with the Almonds.

OAT-MEAL PAP. SIR JOHN COLLADON

Put beaten Oat-meal to soak an hour or two in milk, as you do in water, when you make Flomery. Then strain it out into a Possnet through a fitting strainer; and if you judge it too thick of the Oat-meal for sufficient boiling, add more milk to it. Set this to boil, putting then into it a lump of Sugar, (about as big as a little Wall nut) and stir it well all the while, that it burn not too. About an hours boiling is sufficient, by which time it should be grown pretty thick. Put then a good lump of fresh-b.u.t.ter to it, which being well melted and stirred into the Pap and incorporated with it, take it from the fire, and put it into a dish, and strew some fine sugar upon it, or mingle some sugar with it to sweeten the whole quant.i.ty.

You may season it also with Rose-water or Orange flower-water, or Ambergreece, or some Yolks of New-laid-eggs. You may put in a very little Salt at the first.

RICE AND ORGE MONDe

Boil a quart of Milk in a large Pipkin; as soon as it boileth, take it from the fire, and instantly put into it five or six good spoonfuls of picked Rice, and cover it close, and so let it stand soaking in the Chimney-corner two hours. Then set in on the fire again, to make it stew or boil simpringly for an hour, or an hour and half more, till it be enough. Then put sugar to it, and so serve it in.

_Orge monde_ is done in the same manner; only, you let that stand covered and warm all the while, during three, four or five hours, and then you boil it simpringly three or four hours more. The quant.i.ty must be more or less, as you desire it thicker or thinner, which after once tryal, you will easily know how to proportion out. The chief care must be, that the Rice or Barley be well h.o.m.ogeneated with the Milk.

SMALLAGE GRUEL

In a Marble mortar beat great Oat-meal to meal (which requireth long beating) then boil it three or four hours in Spring water. To a possnet full of two or three quarts of water put about half a Porrenger full of Oat-meal, before it is beaten; for after beating it appeareth more. To this quant.i.ty put as much Smallage as you buy for a peny, which maketh it strong of the Herb, and very green. Chop the smallage exceeding small, and put it in a good half hour before you are to take your possnet from the fire. You are to season your Gruel with a little salt, at the due time; and you may put in a little Nutmeg and Mace to it. When you have taken it from the fire, put into it a good proportion of b.u.t.ter, which stir well, to incorporate with the Gruel, when it is melted.

ABOUT WATER GRUEL

When you set to the fire a big pot of Oat-meal, (which must be but once cut, that is, every corn cut once a two) and water, to make water-gruel; Let it boil long, till it be almost boiled enough, then make it rise in a great ebullition, in great galloping waves, and skim of all the top, that riseth; which may be a third part of the whole, and is the Cream, and hath no gross-visible Oat-meal in it. Boil that a while longer by it self, with a little Mace and Nutmeg, and season it with Salt. When it is enough, take it off, and put Sugar, b.u.t.ter, and a little Red rose-water to it, and an Egg with a little White-wine, if you like it, and would have it more nourishing. This is by much better, then the part which remaineth below with the body of the Oat-meal. Yet that will make good Water-gruel for the servants.

If you boil it more leisurely you must skim off the Cream, as it riseth in boiling; else it will quickly sink down again to the rest of the gross Oat-meal. And thus you may have a finer Cream then with hasty boiling.

AN EXCELLENT AND WHOLESOME WATER-GRUEL WITH WOOD-SORREL AND CURRANTS

Into a Possnet of two quarts of water, besides the due proportion of beaten Oat-meal, put two handfuls of Wood-sorrel a little-chopped and bruised, and a good quant.i.ty of picked and washed currants, tyed loosly in a thin stuff bag (as a bolter cloth). Boil these very well together, seasoning the Composition in due time, with Salt, Nutmeg, Mace, or what else you please, as Rosemary &c. when it is sufficiently boiled, strain the Oat-meal, and press out all the juyce and humidity of the Currants and Herbs, throwing away the insipid husks; and season it with Sugar and b.u.t.ter; and to each Porrenger-ful two spoonfuls of Rhenish-wine and the yolk of an Egg.

THE QUEENS BARLEY-CREAM

You must make a good barley-water, throwing away the three first waters as soon as they boil; which will take up about three quarters of an hour. Then you boil a large quant.i.ty of water with the Barley (which thus prepared makes the water no more Red or Russet) during an hours s.p.a.ce or more; (that it may be strong of the Barley; perle-Barley is best,) towards the latter end put in the Pullet flead, and the legs cut off; If it should boil too long, the emulsion would taste too fleshy. When it is enough, let the broth run clear from the Barley and pullet, and beat the Almonds with the broth, and strain them from it. Then sweeten it with Sugar. This is to make at least two English quarts of Emulsion. I should like to put some pulp of Barley, boiled by it self, to strain with the Almond-Milk, and, if you will, some Melon seeds. You may put some juyce of Limon or Orange to it.

Also season it with Cinnamon, and make the broth stronger of the flesh.

The Queens white Potage is made only of the white flesh of Capon beaten with good broth and strained, and a little juyce of Limon or Orange; but no Almonds.

PRESSIS NOURISSANT

The Queen Mothers _Pressis_ was thus made. Take _un Gigot_ of Mutton, a piece of Veal, and a Capon (or half the quant.i.ty of each of these) and put them to rost with convenient fire, till they are above half rosted, or rather, till they be two thirds rosted. Then take them off, and squeese out all their juyce in a press with screws, and sc.u.m all the fat from it, and put it between two dishes upon a Chafing-dish of Coals to boil a very little, or rather but to heat well; for by then it is through hot, the juyce will be ripened enough to drink, whereas before it was raw and b.l.o.o.d.y; then if you perceive any fat to remain and swim upon it, clense it away with a Feather. Squeese the juyce of an Orange (through a holed spoon) into half a Porrenger full of this, and add a little Salt, and drink it.

The Queen used this at nights in stead of a Supper; for when she took this, she did eat nothing else. It is of great, yet temperate nourishment. If you take a couple of Partridges in stead of a Capon, it will be of more nourishment, but hotter. Great weaknesses and Consumptions have been recovered with long use of this, and strength and long life continued notably. It is good to take two or three spoonfuls of it in a good ordinary bouillon. I should like better the boiling the same things in a close flagon _in bulliente Balneo_, as my Lady Kent, and My Mother used.

BROTH AND POTAGE

Mounsieur de Bourdeaux used to take a mornings a broth, thus made. Make a very good broth (so as to gelly, when it is cold), a lean piece of a leg of Veal, the Crag-end of a neck of Mutton, and a Pullet, seasoning it with a little Salt, Cloves and Pepper to your mind. Beat some of it with a handful of blanched Almonds and twenty husked-seeds of Citron and strain it to the whole; put Sugar to it, and so drink it as an Emulsion.

Otherwhiles He would make a Potage of the broth, (made without fruit), boiling and stewing it with some light-bread.

PAN COTTO

To make a _Pan Cotto_, as the Cardinals use in Rome, Take much thinner broth, made of the fleshes as above (or of Mutton alone) and boil it three hours, gently and close covered in _una pignata_, with lumps of fine light-bread tosted or dried. _Un Pan grattato_ is made the same way with fine light-bread grated. Season the broth of either lightly with Salt, and put in the Spice at the last, when the bread is almost boiled or stewed enough. You may use juyce of Oranges to any of these. A wholesom course of diet is, to eat one of these, or Panada, or Cream of Oat-meal, or Barley, or two New-laid-eggs for break-fast; and dine at four or five a Clock, with Capon or Pullet or Partridg, &c. beginning your meal with a little good nourishing Potage. Two Poched Eggs with a few fine dry-fryed collops of pure Bacon, are not bad for break-fast, or to begin a meal.

MY LORD LUMLEY'S PEASE-PORAGE

Take two quarts of Pease, and put them into an Ordinary quant.i.ty of Water, and when they are almost boiled, take out a pint of the Pease whole, and strain all the rest. A little before you take out the pint of Pease, when they are all boiling together, put in almost an Ounce of Coriander-seed beaten very small, one Onion, some Mint, Parsley, Winter-savoury, Sweet-Marjoram, all minced very small; when you have strained the Pease, put in the whole Pease and the strained again into the pot, and let them boil again, and a little before you take them up, put in half a pound of Sweet-b.u.t.ter. You must season them in due time, and in the ordinary proportion with Pepper and Salt.

This is a proportion to make about a Gallon of Pease-porage. The quant.i.ties are set down by guess. The Coriander-seeds are as much as you can conveniently take in the hollow of your hand. You may put in a great good Onion or two. A pretty deal of Parsley, and if you will, and the season afford them, you may add what you like of other Porage herbs, such as they use for their Porages in France. But if you take the savoury herbs dry, you must crumble or beat them to small Powder (as you do the Coriander-seed) and if any part of them be too big to pa.s.s through the strainer, after they have given their taste to the quant.i.ty, in boiling a sufficient while therein, you put them away with the husks of the Pease. The Pint of Pease that you reserve whole, is only to show that it is Pease-porage. They must be of the thickness of ordinary Pease-porage. For which these proportions will make about a Gallon.

BROTH FOR SICK AND CONVALESCENT PERSONS

Put a Crag-end of a Neck of Mutton, a Knuckle of Veal, and a Pullet into a Pipkin of water, with a spoonful or two of French-barley first scalded in a water or two. The Pullet is put in after the other meat is well skimmed, and hath boiled an hour. A good hour after that, put in a large quant.i.ty of Sorrel, Lettice, Purslane, Borage and Bugloss, and boil an hour more at least three hours in all. Before you put in the herbs, season the broth with Salt, a little Pepper and Cloves, strain out the broth and drink it.

But for Potage, put at first a good piece of fleshy young Beef with the rest of the meat. And put not in your herbs till half an hour before you take off the Pot. When you use not herbs, but Carrots and Turneps, put in a little Peny-royal and a sprig of Thyme. Vary in the season with Green-pease, or Cuc.u.mber quartered longwise, or Green sower Verjuyce Grapes; always well-seasoned with Pepper and Salt and Cloves. You pour some of the broth upon the sliced-bread by little and little, stewing it, before you put the Herbs upon the Potage.

The best way of ordering your bread in Potages, is thus. Take light spungy fine white French-bread, cut only the crusts into tosts. Tost them exceeding dry before the fire, so that they be yellow. Then put them hot into a hot dish, and pour upon them some very good strong broth, boiling hot. Cover this, and let them stew together gently, not boil; and feed it with fresh-broth, still as it needeth; This will make the bread swell much, and become like gelly.

AN EXCELLENT POSSET

Take half a pint of Sack, and as much Rhenish wine, sweeten them to your taste with Sugar. Beat ten yolks of Eggs, and eight of whites exceeding well, first taking out the c.o.c.ks-tread, and if you will the skins of the yolks; sweeten these also, and pour them to the wine, add a stick or two of Cinnamon bruised, set this upon a Chafing-dish to heat strongly, but not to boil; but it must begin to thicken. In the mean time boil for a quarter of an hour three pints of Cream seasoned duly with Sugar and some Cinnamon in it. Then take it off from boiling, but let it stand near the fire, that it may continue scalding-hot whiles the wine is heating. When both are as scalding-hot as they can be without boiling, pour the Cream into the wine from as high as you can. When all is in, set it upon the fire to stew for 1/8 of an hour. Then sprinkle all about the top of it the juyce of a 1/4 part of a Limon; and if you will, you may strew Powder of Cinnamon and Sugar, or Ambergreece upon it.

PEASE OF THE SEEDY BUDS OF TULIPS

In the Spring (about the beginning of May) the flowry-leaves of Tulips do fall away, and there remains within them the end of the stalk, which in time will turn to seed. Take that seedy end (then very tender) and pick from it the little excrescencies about it, and cut it into short pieces, and boil them and dress them as you would do Pease; and they will taste like Pease, and be very savoury.