The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened Part 15

TO MAKE A SHOULDER OF MUTTON LIKE VENISON

Save the blood of your sheep, and strain it. Take grated bread almost the quant.i.ty of a Peny loaf, Pepper, Thyme, chopp'd small; mingle these Ingredients with a little of the blood, and stuff the Mutton. Then wrap up your shoulder of Mutton, and lay it in the blood twenty four hours; p.r.i.c.k the shoulder with your Knife, to let the blood into the flesh, and so serve it with Venison Sawce.

TO STEW A RUMP OF BEEF

Take a Rump of Beef, and season it with Nutmegs grated, and some Pepper and Salt mingled together, and season the Beef on the Bony-side; lay it in a pipkin with the flat-side downward. Take three pints of Elder-wine-vinegar, and as much water, and three great Onions, and a bunch of Rosemary tyed up together. Put them all into a Pipkin, and stew them three or four hours together with a soft fire being covered close. Then dish it up upon sippets, blowing off the fat from the Gravy; and some of the Gravy put into the Beef, and serve it up.

TO BOIL SMOAKED FLESH

Mounsieur Overbec doth tell me, that when He boileth a Gambon of Bacon, or any salted flesh and hanged in the smoak (as Neats-tongues, Hung-beef, and Hogs-cheeks, &c.), He putteth into the Kettle of water to boil with them three or four handfuls of _fleur de foin_, (more or less according to the quant.i.ty of flesh and water,) tyed loosly in a bag of course-cloth. This maketh it much tenderer, shorter, mellower, and of a finer colour.

A PLAIN BUT GOOD SPANISH OGLIA

Take a Rump of Beef, or some of Brisket or b.u.t.tock cut into pieces, a loin of Mutton, with the superfluous fat taken off, and a fleshy piece of the Leg of Veal or a Knuckle, a piece of enterlarded Bacon, three or 4 Onions (or some Garlike) and if you will, a Capon or two, or three great tame Pigeons. First, put into the water the Beef and the Bacon; After a while, the Mutton and Veal and Onions. But not the Capon or Pigeons till only so much time remain, as will serve barely to boil them enough. If you have _Garavanzas_, put them in at the first, after they have been soaked with Ashes all night in heat, and well washed with warm water, after they are taken out; or if you will have Cabbage, or Roots, or Leeks, or whole Onions, put them in time enough to be sufficiently boiled. You may at first put in some Crusts of Bread, or Venison Pye crust. It must boil in all five or six hours gently, like stewing after it is well boiled. A quarter or half an hour before you intend to take it off, take out a porrenger full of broth, and put to it some Pepper and five or six Cloves and a Nutmeg, and some Saffran, and mingle them well in it. Then put that into the pot, and let it boil or stew with the rest a while. You may put in a bundle of Sweet-herbs. Salt must be put in as soon as the water is skimmed.

VUOVA LATTATE

Take a quart of good, but fine broth; beat with it very well eight New laid-eggs (whites and all) and put in a little Sugar, and if you will a little Amber, or some Mace, or Nutmeg. Put all this into a fit Pipkin, and set this in a great one, or a kettle of boiling water, till it be stiffened like a Custard.

VUOVA SPERSA

When some broth is boiling in a Pipkin, pour into it some Eggs well beaten, and they will curdle in a lump, when they are enough; take them out with a holed ladle, and lay them upon the bread in the Minestra.

TO MAKE EXCELLENT BLACK-PUDDINGS

Take a quart of Sheeps blood, and a quart of Cream; ten Eggs, the yolks and the whites beaten well together; stir all this Liquor very well, then thicken it with grated Bread, and Oat-meal finely beaten, of each a like quant.i.ty; Beef-suet finely shred and Marrow in little lumps: season it with a little Nutmeg and Cloves and Mace mingled with Salt, a little Sweet-marjoram, Thyme and Peny-royal shred very well together, and mingle them with the other things: Some put in a few Currants; then fill them in cleansed guts, and boil them carefully.

A RECEIPT TO MAKE WHITE PUDDINGS

Take a fillet of Veal, and a good fleshy Capon; then half rost them both, and take off their skins: which being done, take only the wings and brawns with an equal proportion of Veal, which must be shred very small as is done for Sa.s.sages. To this shred half a pound of the belly part of interlarded Bacon, and half a pound of the finest leaf (_la panne_) of Hog cleared from the skin; then take the yolks of eighteen or twenty Eggs, and the whites of six well beaten with as much Milk and Cream, as will make it of convenient thickness; and then season it with Salt, Cloves, Nutmeg, Mace, Pepper, and Ginger, if you please. The Puddings must be boiled in half Milk and half water. You are to use small-guts, such as for white-Marrow-puddings, and they are to be cleansed in the Ordinary manner; and filled very lankley; for they will swell much in the boiling, and break if they be too full.

TO MAKE AN EXCELLENT PUDDING

Take of the Tripes of Veal the whitest and finest you can find; wash them well, and let them lie in fair Fountain or River water, till they do not smell like Tripes. This done, cut them so small as is necessary to pa.s.s through a Funnel. Take also one or two pounds of Pork, that hath not been salted, and cut it as small as the Tripes, and mingle them altogether; which season with Salt, White-pepper, Anis-seeds beaten and Coriander-seeds; Then make a Liaison with a little Milk and yolks of Eggs; and after all is well mingled and thickned, as it ought to be, you must fill with it the greatest guts of a Hog, that may be had, with a Funnel of White iron, having first tyed the end of the gut below. Do not fill it too full, for fear they should break in the boiling, but leave room enough for the flesh to swell. When you are going to boil them, put them into a Kettle with as much Milk as will cover and boil them, being boiled, let them lie in the liquor till they are almost cold, then take them out and lay them in a basket upon a clean linnen cloth to cool. If they are well seasoned, they will keep twelve or fifteen days; provided you keep them in a good place, not moist, nor of any bad smell. You must still turn them and remove them from one place to another.

SCOTCH COLLOPS

My Lord of Bristol's Scotch Collops are thus made: Take a leg of fine Sweet-Mutton, that, to make it tender, is kept as long as possible may be without stinking. In Winter seven or eight days. Cut it into slices with a sharp Knife as thin as possibly you can. Then beat it with the back of a heavy Knife, as long as you can, not breaking it in pieces. Then sprinkle them with Salt, and lay them upon the Gridiron over a small Charcoal-fire, to broil, till you perceive that side is enough, and before any moisture run out of them upon the fire. Then lay the Collops into a warm dish close covered, till the Gravy be run out of them. Then lay their other side upon the Gridiron, and make an end of broiling them, and put them again into the dish, where the former Gravy run out. Add to this more Gravy of Mutton, heightened with Garlike or Onions, or Eschalots; and let them stew a while together, then serve them in very hot.

They are also very good of a Rump of tender Beef.

TO ROST WILD-BOAR

At Franckfort, when they rost Wild-boar (or Robuck or other Venison) they lay it to soak, six or eight or ten days (according to the thickness and firmness of the piece and Penetrability of it) in good Vinegar, wherein is Salt and Juniper-berries bruised (if you will, you may add bruised Garlick or what other _Haut-goust_ you like) the Vinegar coming up half way the flesh, and turn it twice a day. Then if you will, you may Lard it.

When it is rosted, it will be very mellow and tender. They do the like with a leg or other part of Fresh-pork.

PYES

I made good Pyes there with two Hares, a good Goose and (as much as the Goose is) the lean of fresh good Pork, all well hashed and seasoned; then larded with great Lardons well seasoned (first sprinkled with Vinegar and Wine) and covered with Bay-leaves, and sheets of Lard; then laid inpast, and baked.

I made also good Pyes of Red-Deer, larding well the lean, then laying under it a thick Plastron (or Cake of a Finger thick) of Beef-suet, first chapped small, and seasoned well with Pepper and Salt, then beaten into a Cake fit for the meat. And another such Cake upon the Deers-flesh, and so well baked in strong crust, and soaked two or three hours in the oven after it was baked enough, which required six good hours. If you use no Suet, put in b.u.t.ter enough; as also, put in enough to fill the paste, after it is baked and half cold, by a hole made in the top, when it is near half baked.

BAKED VENISON

My Lady of Newport bakes her Venison in a dish thus; A side or a hanch serves for two dishes. Season it as for a Pasty. Line the dish with a thin crust, of good pure Past, but make it pretty thick upwards towards the brim, that it may be there Pudding crust. Lay then the Venison in a round piece upon the Paste in the dish, that must not fill it up to touch the Pudding, but lie at ease; put over it a cover, and let it over-reach upon the brim with some carved Pasty work to grace it, which must go up with a border like a lace growing a little way upwards upon the Cover, which is a little arched up, and hath a little hole in the top to pour in unto the meat the strong well seasoned broth that is made of the broken bones, and remaining lean flesh of the Venison. Put a little pure b.u.t.ter or Beef-suet to the Venison, before you put the cover on, unless it be exceeding fat.

This must bake five or six hours or more as an ordinary Pasty. An hour, or an hour and half before you take it out to serve it up, open the Oven, and draw out the dish far enough to pour in at the little hole of the cover the strong decoction (in stead of decoction in water, you may boil it by it self in _Balneo in duplici vase_; or bake it in a pot with broth and Gravy of Mutton) of the broken bones and flesh. Then set it in again, to make an end of his baking and soaking. The meat within (even the lean) will be exceeding tender and like a gelly; so that you may cut all of it with a spoon. If you bake a side at once in two dishes, the one will be very good to keep cold; and when it is so, you may, if you please, bake it again, to have it hot; not so long as at first, but enough to have it all perfectly heated through. She bakes thus in Pewter-dishes of a large cise.

Mutton or Veal may be thus baked with their due seasoning; as with Onions, or Onions and Apples, or Larding, or a Cawdle, &c. Sweetbreads, Beatilles, Champignons, Treuffles, &c.

AN EXCELLENT WAY OF MAKING MUTTON STEAKS

Cut a Rack of Mutton into tender Steaks, Rib by Rib, and beat the flesh well with the back of a Knife. Then have a composition ready, made of Crumbs of stale Manchet grated small, and a little Salt (a fit proportion to Salt the meat) and a less quant.i.ty of White-pepper. Cover over on both sides all the flesh with this, pretty thick, pressing it on with your fingers and flat Knife, to make it lie on. Then lay the Steaks upon a Gridiron over a very quick fire (for herein consisteth the well doing) and when the fire hath pierced in a little on the one side, turn the other, before any juyce drop down through the Powder. This turning the steaks will make the juyce run back the other way; and before it run through, and drop through this side, you must turn again the other side; doing so till the Steaks be broiled enough. Thus you keep all the juyce in them, so that when you go to eat them (which must be presently, as they are taken from the fire) abundance of juyce runneth out as soon as your Knife entereth into the flesh. The same Person, that doth this, rosteth a Capon so as to keep all its juyce in it. The mystery of it is in turning it so quick, that nothing can drop down. This maketh it the longer in rosting. But when you cut it up, the juyce runneth out, as out of a juycie leg of Mutton; and it is excellent meat.

EXCELLENT GOOD COLLOPS

Take two legs of fleshy juycie tender young Mutton, cut them into as thin slices as may be. Beat them with the back of a thick Knife, with smart, but gentle blows, for a long time, on both sides. And the stroaks crossing one another every way, so that the Collops be so short, that they scarce hang together. This quant.i.ty is near two hours beating. Then lay them in a clean frying-pan, and hold them over a smart fire: And it is best to have a fit cover for the Pan, with a handle at the top of it, to take it off when you will. Let them fry so covered, till the side next the Pan be done enough; then turn the other side, and let that fry, till it be enough. Then Pour them with all the Gravy (which will be much) into a hot dish, which cover with another hot one, and so serve it in to eat presently. You must season the Collops with Salt sprinkled upon them, either at the latter end of beating them, or whiles they fry. And if you love the taste of Onions, you may rub the Pan well over with one, before you lay in the Steaks or Collops; or when they are in the dish, you may beat some Onion-water amongst the Gravy. You may also put a little fresh-b.u.t.ter into the pan to melt, and line it all over before you put in the Collops, that you may be sure, they burn not to the pan. You must put no more Collops into one pan, at once, then meerly to cover it with one Lare; that the Collops may not lye one upon another.

BLACK PUDDINGS

Take three pints of Cream, and boil it with a Nutmeg quartered, three or four leaves of large Mace, and a stick of Cinnamon. Then take half a pound of Almonds, beat them and strain them with the Cream. Then take a few fine Herbs, beat them and strain them to the Cream, which came from the Almonds.

Then take two or three spoonfuls (or more) of Chickens blood; and two or three spoonfuls of grated-bread, and the Marrow of six or seven bones, with Sugar and Salt, and a little Rose-water. Mix all together, and fill your Puddings. You may put in eight or ten Eggs, with the whites of two well-beaten. Put in some Musk or Ambergreece.

TO MAKE PITH PUDDINGS

Take a good quant.i.ty of the pith of Oxen, and let it lie all night in water to soak out the blood. The next morning, strip it out of the skin, and so beat it with the back of a spoon, till it be as fine as Pap: You must beat a little Rose-water with it. Then take three pints of good thick Cream, and boil it with a Nutmeg quartered, three or four leaves of large Mace; and a stick of Cinnamon. Then take half a pound of the best Jordan Almonds.

Blanch them in cold water all night; then beat them in a Mortar with some of your Cream; and as they grow dry, still put in more Cream; and when they be well beaten, strain the Cream from the Almonds into the Pith. Then beat them still, until the Cream be done, and strain it still to the pith. Then take the yolks of ten Eggs, with the Whites of two; beat them well, and put them to your former Ingredients. Then take a spoonful of grated-bread.

Mingle all these together, with half a pound of fine-sugar, the Marrow of six or seven bones, and some Salt, and so fill your Puddings.

They will be much the better, if you put in some Ambergreece.