The Compleat Cook Part 6

_To hash a Shoulder of Mutton._

Take a Shoulder of Mutton and slice it very thin till you have almost nothing but the Bone, then put to the meat some Claret wine, a great Onion, some Gravy of Mutton, six Anchoves, a hand full of Capers, the tops of a little Tyme, mince them very well together, then take nine or tenne Egges, the juyce of one or two Lemons, to make it tart, and make leere of them, then put the meat all in a Frying-Pan over the fire till it be very hot; then put in the leere of Eggs and soak altogether over the fire till it be very thick; then boyle your bone, and put it on the top of your meat being Dished, Garnish your Dish with Lemons, serve it up.

_To dresse Flounders or Playce with Garlick and Mustard._

Take Flounders very new, and cut all the Fins and Tailes, then take out the Guts and wipe them very clean, they must not be at all washt, then with your Knife scorch them on both sides very grosely; then take the Tops of Tyme and cut them very small, and take a little Salt, Mace, and Nutmeg, and mingle the Tyme and them together, and season the Flounders; then lay them on the Grid-iron and bast them with Oyle or b.u.t.ter, let not the fire be too hot, when that side next the fire is brown; turn it, and when you turn it, bast it on both sides till you have broyl'd them brown, when they are enough make your sauce with Mustard two or three Spoonfull according to discretion, six Anchoves dissolved very well, about halfe a pound of b.u.t.ter drawn up with garlick, vinegar, or bruised garlick in other vinegar, rubb the bottome of your Dish with garlick. So put your sauce to them, and serve them, you may fry them if you please.

_A Turkish Dish._

Take fat of Beefe or Mutton cut in thin slices, wash it well, put it into a pot that hath a close cover, then put into it a good quant.i.ty of clean pick'd rice, skim it very well; then put into it a quant.i.ty of whole Pepper, two or three whole Onyons; let all this boyle very well, then take out the Onyon and dish it in Sippets, the thicker it is the better.

_To dresse a Pyke._

Cut him in peices, and strew upon him salt and scalding vinegar, boyle him in water and White wine, when he is boyling put in sweet Herbs, Onyon, Garlick, Ginger, Nutmeg, and salt; when he is boyled take him out of the Liquor, and let him drayn, in the mean time beat b.u.t.ter and Anchoves together, and pour it on the fish, squeezing a little Orange and Lemon upon it.

_To dresse Oysters._

Take Oysters and open them, and save the Liquor, and when you have opened so many as you please, adde to this Liquor, some White-wine, wherein you must wash your Oysters one by one very clean, and lay them in another Dish; then strain to them that mixed wine and Liquor wherein they were washed, adding a little more Wine to them with an Onion divided with some Salt and Pepper, so done, cover the Dish and stew them till they be more then halfe done; then take them and the Liquor, and pour it in to a Frying-Pan, wherein they must fry a pretty while, then put into them a good peice of sweet b.u.t.ter, and fry them therein so much longer; in the mean time you must have beaten the yolks of some Eggs, as four or five to a quart of Oysters; These Eggs must be beaten with some Vinegar, wherein you must put some minced Parsly and Nutmeg finely sc.r.a.ped, and put therein the Oysters in the Pan, which must still be kept stirring least the Liquor make the Eggs curddle, let this all have a good warme on the fire, and serve it up.

_To dresse Flounders._

Flea of the black skin, and scowre the Fish over on that side with a Knife, lay them in a dish, and poure on them some Vinegar, and strew good store of Salt, let them lie for halfe an houre; in the mean time set on the fire some water with a little White-Wine, Garlick, and sweet Herbs as you please, putting into it the Vinegar and Salt wherein they lay, when it boyles put in the biggest fish, then the next till all be in; when they are boyled, take them out and drain them very well, then draw some sweet b.u.t.ter thick, and mix with it some Anchoves shred small, which being dissolved in the b.u.t.ter, poure it on the fish, strewing a little sliced Nutmeg, and minced Oranges and Barberries.

_To dresse Snails._

Take Snailes, and put them in a Kettle of water, and let them boyle a little, then take them out, and shake them out of the shels into a Bason; then take some Salt and scoure them very well, and wash them in warme water, untill you find the slime cleane gone from them; then put them into a Cullender and let them draine well, then mince some sweet hearbs, and put them into a Dish with a little Pepper and Sallet-Oyle together, then let them stand an hour or two; then wash the shels very well and dry them, and put into every sh.e.l.l a Snail, and fill up the sh.e.l.l with Sallet-Oyle and herbs, then set them on a gridiron upon a soft fire, and so let them stew a little while, and dish them up warm and serve them up.

_To dresse pickle fish._

Wash them well while they are in the sh.e.l.l in salt water, put them into a Kettle over the fire with out water; and stirre them till they are open, then take them out of their shels, and wash them in hot water and salt, then take some of their owne liquor that they have made in the Kettle, a little white wine, b.u.t.ter, vinegar, Spice, Parsley; let all these boyle together, and when it is boyled, take the yolk of three or four Eggs and put into the broth. Scollops may be dressed on this manner or broiled like oysters with Oyle or juyce of Lemons.

_To fricate Beefe Pallats._

Take Beefe Pallats after they be boyled very tender, blaunch and pare them clean, season them with fine beaten cloves Nutmeg, Pepper, Salt and some grated bread; then have some b.u.t.ter in a frying Pan, put your pallats therein, and so fricate them till they be browne on both sides, then take them forth and put them on a dish, and put thereto some Gravy of Mutton, wherein two or three Anchoves are dissolved, grate in your sauce a little Nutmeg, wring in the juyce of a Lemon, so serve them.

_A Spanish Olio._

Take a peice of Bacon not very fat, but sweet and safe from being rusty, a peice of fresh beefe, a couple of hoggs Eares, and foure feet if they can be had, and if not, some quant.i.ty of sheeps feet, (Calves feet are not proper) a joynt of Mutton, the Leg, Rack, or Loyne, a Hen, halfe a dozen pigeons, a bundle of Parsley, Leeks, and Mint, a clove of Garlick when you will, a small quant.i.ty of Pepper, Cloves, and Saffron, so mingled that not one of them over-rule, the Pepper and Cloves must be beaten as fine as possible may be, and the Saffron must be first dryed, and then crumble in powder and dissolved apart in two or three spoonfuls of broth, but both the Spices and the Saffron may be kept apart till immediately before they be used, which must not be, till within a quarter of a houre before the Olio be taken off from the fire; a pottle of hard dry pease, when they have first steept in water some dayes, a pint of boyl'd Chesnuts: particular care must be had that the pot wherein the Olio is made, be very sweet; Earthen I thinke is the best, and judgement is to be had carefully both in the size of the Pot, and in the quant.i.ty of the Water at the first, that so the Broth may grow afterwards to be neither too much nor too little, nor too grosse, nor too thin; thy meat must be long in boyling, but the fire not too fierce, the Bacon, the Beef, the Pease, the Chesnuts, the Hogs Eares may be put in at the first. I am utterly against those confused Olios into which men put almost all kinds of meats and Roots, and especially against putting of Oyle, for it corrupts the Broath, instead of adding goodnesse to it. To do well, the Broth is rather to be drunk out of a Porringer then to be eaten with a spoon, though you add some smal slices of bread to it, you wil like it the worse. The Sauce for thy meat must be as much fine Sugar beaten smal to powder, with a little Mustard, as can be made to drink the Sugar up, and you wil find it to be excellent, but if you make it not faithfully and justly according to this prescript, but shall neither put Mace, or Rosemary, or Tyme to the Herbs as the manner is of some, it will prove very much the worse.

_To make Metheglin._

Take all sorts of Herbs that are good and wholesome, as Balme, Mint, Fennell, Rosemary, Angelica, wilde Tyme, Isop, Burnet, Egrimony, and such other as you think fit; some Field Herbs, but you must not put in too many, but especially Rosemary or any strong Hearb, lesse then halfe a handfull will serve of every sort, you must boyle your Herbs and straine them, and let the Liquor stand till to Morrow and settle them, take off the clearest Liquor, two Gallons and a halfe to one Gallon of Honey, and that proportion as much as you will make, and let it boyle an houre, then set it a cooling as you doe Beere, when it is cold take some very good Ale Barme, and put into the bottome of the Tubb a little and a little as they doe Beere, keeping backe the thicke setling, that lyeth in the bottome of the Vessell that it is cooled in, and when it is all put together, cover it with a Cloth, and let it worke very neere three dayes, and when you mean to put it up, skim off all the Barme clean, put it up into the Vessell, but you must not stop your Vessell very close in three or four dayes, but let it have all the vent, for it will worke, and when it is close stopped, you must looke very often to it, and have a peg in the top to give it vent; when you heare it make a noyse, as it will do, or else it will breake the Vessell; sometime I make a Bag and put in good store of Ginger sliced, some Cloves and Cinnamon, and boyl it in, and other times I put it into the Barrel and never boyle it, it is both good, but Nutmeg and Mace do not well to my Tast.

_To make a Sallet of Smelts._

Take halfe a hundred of Smelts, the biggest you can get, draw them and cut off their Heads, put them into a Pipkin with a Pint of White wine, and a Pint of White wine Vinegar, an Onion shred a couple of Lemons, a Race of Ginger, three or foure blades of Mace, a Nutmeg sliced, whole Pepper, a little Salt, cover them, and let them stand twenty foure houres; if you will keep them three or four dayes, let not your Pickle be to strong of the Vinegar, when you will serve them, take them out one by one, sc.r.a.pe and open them as you do Anchoves, but throw away the bones, lay them close one by one, round a Silver dish, you must have the very utmost rind of a Lemon or Orange so small as grated bread and the Parsley, then mix your Lemon Pill, Orange and Parsley together with a little fine beaten Pepper, and strew this upon the dish of Smelts with the meat of a Lemon minced very small, also then power on excellent Sallet Oile, and wring in the juyce of two Lemons, but be sure none of the Lemon-seed be left in the Sallet, so serve it.

_To Roast a Fillet of Veal._

Take a Fillet of Beefe which is the tenderest part of the Beast, and lieth only in the inward part of the Surloyne next to the Chine, cut it as big as you can, then broach it on a broach not too big, and be carefull you broach it not thorow the best of the meat, roast it leasurely and baste it with sweet b.u.t.ter. Set a Dish under it to save the Gravy while the Beefe is roasting, prepare the Sauce for it, chop good store of Parsley with a few sweet Herbs shred small, and the yolks of three or foure Eggs, and mince among them the pill of an Orange, and a little Onyon, then boyle this mixture, putting into it sweet b.u.t.ter, Vinegar, and Gravy, a spoonfull of strong broth, when it is well boyled, put it into your beef, and serve it very warm, sometimes a little grosse Pepper or Ginger into your sauce, or a pill of an Orange or Lemon.

_To make a Sallet of a cold Hen or a Capon._

Take the breast of a hen or Capon, and slice it as thin as you can in steaks, put therein Vinegar, and a little Sugar as you thinke fit, then take six Anchoves, and a handfull of Capers, a little long, grosse or a carrigon, and mince them together, but not too small, strew them on the Sallet, Garnish it with Lemons, Oranges or barberies, so serve it up with a little salt.

_To stew Mushrums._

Take them fresh gathered and cut off the hard end of the stalk, & as you Pil them throw them into a Dish of white Wine, after they have lain half an houre or thereupon draine them from the wine, and put them between two silver Dishes, then set them on a soft fire without any liquor, and when they have so stewed a while, pour away the liquor that comes from them which will be very black, then put your Mushrums into another clean Dish with a sprig or two of Tyme, an Onion whole, four or five cornes of whole Pepper, two or three Cloves, a bit of an Orange, a little Salt, a bit of sweet b.u.t.ter, and some pure gravy of Mutton, cover them, and set them on a gentle fire, so let them stew softly till they be enough and very tender, when you dish them blow off all the fat from them, and take out the Time, spice, and Orange, then wring in the juyce of a Lemon, and grate a little Nutmeg among the Mushrums, tosse them two or three times; put them in a clean dish, and serve them hot to the Table.

_The Lord_ Conway _his Lordships receipt for the making of Amber Puddings._

First take the Guts of a young hog, and wash them very clean, and then take two pound of the best hogs fat, and a pound and a halfe of the best Jurden almonds, the which being blancht, take one half of them, & beat them very small, and the other halfe reserve whole unbeaten, then take a pound and a halfe of fine Sugar and four white Loaves, and grate the Loaves over the former composition, and mingle them well together in a bason having so done, put to it halfe an ounce of Ambergreece, the which must be sc.r.a.pt very small over the said composition, take halfe a quarter of an ounce of levant musk and bruise it in a marble morter, with a quarter of a Pint of orange flower water, then mingle these all very well together, and having so done, fill the said Guts therwith, this Receipt was given his Lordship by an Italian for a great rariety, and has been found so to be by those Ladies of honour to whom his lordship has imparted the said reception.

_To make a Partridge Tart._

Take the flesh of four or five Partridges minced very small with the same weight of Beef marrow as you have Partridge flesh, with two ounces of Orangeadoes and green citron minced together as small as your meate, season it with Cloves and Mace and Nutmeg and a little salt and Sugar, mix all together, and bake it in puff past; when it is baked, open it, and put in halfe a Grain of Muske or Amber braid in a Morter or Dish, and with a spoonfull of Rosewater and the juyce of three or four Oranges, when you put all these therein, stir the meat and cover it again, and serve it to the Table.

_To keepe Venison all the yeare._

Take the hanch, and parboyle it a while, then season it with two Nutmegs, a spoonfull of Pepper, and a good quant.i.ty of salt, mingle them altogether, then put two spoonfulls of white Wine-Vinegar, and having made the Venison full of holes, as you do when you Lard it, when it is Larded, put in the Venison at the holes, the Spice and Vinegar, and season it therewith, then put part into the Pot with the fat side downwards, cover it with two pound of b.u.t.ter, then close it up close with course Past, when you take it out of the Oven take away the Past, and lay a round Trencher with a weight on the top of it to keep it down till it be cold, then take off the Trencher, and lay the b.u.t.ter flat upon the Venison, then cover it close with strong white Pepper, if your Pot be narrow at the bottom it is the better, for it must be turned upon a Plate, and stuck with Bayleaves when you please to eat it.

_To bake Brawn._

Take two b.u.t.tocks and hang them up two or three dayes, then take them down and dip them into hot Water, and pluck off the skin, dry them very well with a clean Cloth, when you have so done, take Lard, cut it in peices as big as your little finger, and season it very well with Pepper, Cloves, Mace, Nutmeg, and Salt, put each of them into an earthen Pot, put in a Pint of Claret wine, a pound of Mutton Suet. So close it with past let the Oven be well heated; and so bake them, you must give them time for the baking according to the bignesse of the Haunches, and the thicknesse of the Pots, they commonly allot seven hours for the baking of them; let them stand three dayes, then take off their Cover, and poure away all the Liquor, then have clarified b.u.t.ter, and fill up both the Pots, to keep it for the use, it will very well keep two or three moneths.

_To roast a Pike._

Take a Pike, scoure off the slime, take out the Entralls, Lard it with the backs of Pickled Herrings, you must have a sharp Bodkin to make the holes, no Larding pins will go thorow, then take some great Oysters, Claret Wine, season it with Pepper, Salt, and Nutmeg, stuff the belly of the Pike with these Oysters, intermix with them Rosemary, Tyme, Winter-Savory, sweet Marjoram, a little Onyon and Garlick, sow these in the belly of the Pike, prepare two sticks about the breadth of a Lath, these two sticks and the Spit must be as broad as the Pike being tyed on the Spit, tye the Pike on, winding Pack-thread about the Pike along, but there must be tyed by the Pack-thred all a long the side of the pike which is not defended by the spit, and the Lathes Rosemary and Bayes, bast the Pike with b.u.t.ter and Claret-Wine, with some Anchoves dissolved in it, when it is wasted, rip up the belly of the Pike and the Oyster will be the same, but the Herbs which are whole must be taken out.