The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 30

[142-+] "They are only fit to be eaten when the blood runs from the bill, which is commonly about 6 or 7 days after they have been killed, otherwise it will have no more savour than a common fowl."--_Ude's Cookery_, 8vo. 1819, page 216.

"Gastronomers, who have any sort of aversion to a peculiar taste in game, properly kept, had better abstain from this bird, since it is worse than a common fowl, if not waited for till it acquires the _fumet_ it ought to have. Whole republics of maggots have often been found rioting under the wings of pheasants; but being _radically_ dispersed, and the birds properly washed with vinegar, every thing went right, and every guest, unconscious of the culinary ablutions, enjoyed the excellent flavour of the Phasian birds."--_Tabella Cibaria_, p. 55.

[144-*] "This bird has so insinuated itself into the favour of _refined gourmands_, that they pay it the same honours as the grand Lama, making a ragout of its excrements, and devouring them with ecstasy."--Vide _Almanach des Gourmands_, vol. i. p. 56.

That exercise produces strength and firmness of fibre is excellently well exemplified in the _woodc.o.c.k_ and the _partridge_. The former flies most--the latter walks; the wing of the woodc.o.c.k is always very tough,--of the partridge very tender hence the old doggerel distich,--

"If the _partridge_ had but the _woodc.o.c.k's_ thigh, He'd be the best bird that e'er doth fly."

The _breast_ of all birds is the most juicy and nutritious part.

FRYING.

_To clarify Drippings._--(No. 83.)

PUT your dripping into a clean sauce-pan over a stove or slow fire; when it is just going to boil, skim it well, let it boil, and then let it stand till it is a little cooled; then pour it through a sieve into a pan.

_Obs._--Well-cleansed drippings,[147-*] and the fat skimmings[147-+] of the broth-pot, when fresh and sweet, will baste every thing as well as b.u.t.ter, except game and poultry, and should supply the place of b.u.t.ter for common fries, &c.; for which they are equal to lard, especially if you repeat the clarifying twice over.

N.B. If you keep it in a cool place, you may preserve it a fortnight in summer, and longer in winter. When you have done frying, let the dripping stand a few minutes to settle, and then pour it through a sieve into a clean basin or stone pan, and it will do a second and a third time as well as it did the first; only the fat you have fried fish in must not be used for any other purpose.

_To clarify Suet to fry with._--(No. 84.)

Cut beef or mutton suet into thin slices, pick out all the veins and skins, &c., put it into a thick and well-tinned sauce-pan, and set it over a very slow stove, or in an oven, till it is melted; you must not hurry it; if not done very slowly it will acquire a burnt taste, which you cannot get rid of; then strain it through a hair-sieve into a clean brown pan: when quite cold, tie a paper over it, and keep it for use.

Hog's lard is prepared in the same way.

_Obs._--The waste occasioned by the present absurd fashion of over-feeding cattle till the fat is nearly equal to the lean, may, by good management, be in some measure prevented, by cutting off the superfluous part, and preparing it as above, or by making it into puddings; see Nos. 551 and 554, or soup, No. 229.

_Steaks._--(No. 85.)

Cut the steaks rather thinner than for broiling. Put some b.u.t.ter, or No.

83, into an iron frying-pan, and when it is hot, lay in the steaks, and keep turning them till they are done enough. For sauce, see No. 356, and for the accompaniments, No. 94.

_Obs._ Unless the fire be prepared on purpose, we like this way of cooking them; the gravy is preserved, and the meat is more equally dressed, and more evenly browned; which makes it more relishing, and invites the eye to encourage the appet.i.te.

_Beef-steaks and Onions._--(No. 86. See also No. 501.)

Fry the steaks according to the directions given in the preceding receipt; and have ready for them some onions prepared as directed in No.

299.

For stewed rump-steaks, see Nos. 500 and 501.

_Sausages_,--(No. 87.)

Are best when quite fresh made. Put a bit of b.u.t.ter, or dripping (No.

83), into a clean frying-pan; as soon as it is melted (before it gets hot) put in the sausages, and shake the pan for a minute, and keep turning them (be careful not to break or p.r.i.c.k them in so doing); fry them over a very slow fire till they are nicely browned on all sides; when they are done, lay them on a hair-sieve, placed before the fire for a couple of minutes to drain the fat from them. The secret of frying sausages is, to let them get hot very gradually; they then will not burst, if they are not stale.

The common practice to prevent their bursting, is to p.r.i.c.k them with a fork; but this lets the gravy out.

You may froth them by rubbing them with cold fresh b.u.t.ter, and lightly dredge them with flour, and put them in a cheese-toaster or Dutch oven for a minute.

Some over-economical cooks insist that no b.u.t.ter or lard, &c. is required, their own fat being sufficient to fry them: we have tried it; the sausages were partially scorched, and had that piebald appearance that all fried things have when sufficient fat is not allowed.

_Obs._ Poached eggs (No. 548), pease-pudding (No. 555), and mashed potatoes (No. 106) are agreeable accompaniments to sausages; and sausages are as welcome with boiled or roasted poultry or veal, or boiled tripe (No. 18); so are ready-dressed German sausages (see _Mem._ to No. 13); and a convenient, easily digestible, and invigorating food for the aged, and those whose teeth are defective; as is also No. 503.

For sauce No. 356; to make mustard, Nos. 369 and 370.

N.B. Sausages, when finely chopped, are a delicate "_bonne bouche_;" and require very little a.s.sistance from the teeth to render them quite ready for the stomach.

_Sweetbreads full-dressed._--(No. 88.)

Parboil them, and let them get cold; then cut them in pieces, about three-quarters of an inch thick; dip them in the yelk of an egg, then in fine bread-crumbs (some add spice, lemon-peel, and sweet herbs); put some clean dripping (No. 83) into a frying-pan: when it boils, put in the sweetbreads, and fry them a fine brown. For garnish, crisp parsley; and for sauce, mushroom catchup and melted b.u.t.ter, or anchovy sauce, or Nos. 356, 343, or 343*, or bacon or ham, as Nos. 526 and 527.

_Sweetbreads plain._--(No. 89.)

Parboil and slice them as before, dry them on a clean cloth, flour them, and fry them a delicate brown; take care to drain the fat well from them, and garnish them with slices of lemon, and sprigs of chervil or parsley, or crisp parsley (No. 318). For sauce, No. 356, or No. 307, and slices of ham or bacon, as No. 526, or No. 527, or forcemeat b.a.l.l.s made as Nos. 375 and 378.

? Take care to have a fresh sweetbread; it spoils sooner than almost any thing, therefore should be parboiled as soon as it comes in. This is called blanching, or setting it; mutton kidneys (No. 95) are sometimes broiled and sent up with sweetbreads.

_Veal Cutlets._--(No. 90 and No. 521.)

Let your cutlets be about half an inch thick; trim them, and flatten them with a cleaver; you may fry them in fresh b.u.t.ter, or good drippings (No. 83); when brown on one side, turn them and do the other; if the fire is very fierce, they must change sides oftener. The time they will take depends on the thickness of the cutlet and the heat of the fire; half an inch thick will take about fifteen minutes. Make some gravy, by putting the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a stew-pan with a little soft water, an onion, a roll of lemon-peel, a blade of mace, a sprig of thyme and parsley, and a bay leaf; stew over a slow fire an hour, then strain it; put an ounce of b.u.t.ter into a stew-pan; as soon as it is melted, mix with it as much flour as will dry it up, stir it over the fire for a few minutes, then add the gravy by degrees till it is all mixed, boil it for five minutes, and strain it through a tamis sieve, and put it to the cutlets; you may add some browning (No. 322), mushroom (No. 439), or walnut catchup, or lemon pickle, &c.: see also sauces, Nos. 343 and 348.

_Or_,

Cut the veal into pieces about as big as a crown-piece, beat them with a cleaver, dip them in eggs beat up with a little salt, and then in fine bread-crumbs; fry them a light brown in boiling lard; serve under them some good gravy or mushroom sauce (No. 307), which may be made in five minutes. Garnish with slices of ham or rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and 527), or pork sausages (No. 87).

_Obs._ Veal forcemeat or stuffing (Nos. 374, 375, and 378), pork sausages (No. 87), rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and 527), are very relishing accompaniments, fried and sent up in the form of b.a.l.l.s or cakes, and laid round as a garnish.

_Lamb, or Mutton Chops_,--(No. 92.)

Are dressed in the same way, and garnished with crisp parsley (No. 318) and slices of lemon.

If they are bread-crumbed and covered with b.u.t.tered writing-paper, and then broiled, they are called "maintenon cutlets."

_Pork Chops._--(No. 93.)

Cut the chops about half an inch thick; trim them neatly (few cooks have any idea how much credit they get by this); put a frying-pan on the fire, with a bit of b.u.t.ter; as soon as it is hot, put in your chops, turning them often till brown all over, they will be done enough in about fifteen minutes; take one upon a plate and try it; if done, season it with a little finely-minced onion, powdered sage, and pepper and salt. For gravy and sauce, see Nos. 300, 304, 341, and 356.