The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 31

_Obs._ A little powdered sage, &c. strewed over them, will give them a nice relish, or the savoury powder in No. 51, or forcemeat sausages like No. 378.

Do not have them cut too thick, about three chops to an inch and a quarter; trim them neatly, beat them flat, have ready some sweet herbs, or sage and onion chopped fine, put them in a stew-pan with a bit of b.u.t.ter about as big as a walnut, let them have one fry, beat two eggs on a plate with a little salt, add to them the herbs, mix it all well together, dip the chops in one at a time all over, and then with bread-crumbs fry them in hot lard or drippings till they are a light brown.

_Obs._ Veal, lamb, or mutton chops, are very good dressed in like manner.

To fry fish, see No. 145.

N.B. To fry eggs and omelets, and other things, see No. 545, and the Index.

FOOTNOTES:

[147-*] MRS. MELROE, in her _Economical Cookery_, page 7, tells us, she has ascertained from actual experiments, that "the _drippings_ of roast meat, combined with wheat flour, oatmeal, barley, pease, or potato-starch, will make delicious soup, agreeable and savoury to the palate, and nutritive and serviceable to the stomach; and that while a joint is roasting, good soup may be made from the drippings of the FAT, which is the _essence of meat_, as seeds are of vegetables, and impregnates SOUP _with the identical taste of meat_."

"Writers on cookery give strict directions to carefully _skim off the fat_, and in the next sentence order b.u.t.ter (a much more expensive article) to be added: instead of this, when any fat appears at the top of your soup or stew, _do not skim it_ off, but unite it with the broth by means of the vegetable mucilages, flour, oatmeal, ground barley, or potato-starch; when suspended the soup is equally agreeable to the palate nutritive to the stomach," &c.

"Cooks bestow a great deal of pains to make gravies; they stew and boil lean meat for hours, and, after all, their cookery tastes more of pepper and salt than any thing else. If they would add the bulk of a chesnut of solid fat to a common-sized sauce-boatful of gravy, it will give it more sapidity than twenty hours' stewing lean meat would, unless a larger quant.i.ty was used than is warranted by the rules of frugality." See Nos.

205 and 229.

"The experiments of _Dr. Stark_ on the nourishing powers of different substances, go very far to prove that three ounces of the fat of boiled beef are equal to a pound of the lean. _Dr. Pages_, the traveller, confirms this opinion: 'Being obliged,' says he, 'during the journey from North to South America by land, to live solely on animal food, I experienced the truth of what is observed by hunters, who live solely on animal food, viz. that besides their receiving little nourishment from the leaner parts of it, it soon becomes offensive to the taste; whereas the fat is both more nutritive, and continues to be agreeable to the palate. To many stomachs fat is unpleasant and indigestible, especially when converted into oil by heat; this may be easily prevented, by the simple process of combining the fat completely with water, by the intervention of vegetable mucilage, as in melting b.u.t.ter, by means of flour, the b.u.t.ter and water are united into a h.o.m.ogeneous fluid.'"--From _Practical Economy, by a Physician_. Callow, 1801.

[147-+] See note at the foot of No. 201.

BROILING.

_Chops or Steaks._[151-*]--(No. 94.)

To stew them, see No. 500, ditto with onions, No. 501.

Those who are nice about steaks, never attempt to have them, except in weather which permits the meat to be hung till it is tender, and give the butcher some days' notice of their wish for them.

If, friendly reader, you wish to entertain your mouth with a superlative beef-steak, you must have the inside of the sirloin cut into steaks. The next best steaks are those cut from the middle of a rump, that has been killed at least four days in moderate weather, and much longer in cold weather, when they can be cut about six inches long, four inches wide, and half an inch thick: do not beat them, which vulgar trick breaks the cells in which the gravy of the meat is contained, and it becomes dry and tasteless.

N.B. If your butcher sends steaks which are not tender, we do not insist that you should object to let him be beaten.

Desire the butcher to cut them of even thickness; if he does not, divide the thicker from the thinner pieces, and give them time accordingly.

Take care to have a very clear, brisk fire; throw a little salt on it; make the gridiron hot, and set it slanting, to prevent the fat from dropping into the fire, and making a smoke. It requires more practice and care than is generally supposed to do steaks to a nicety; and for want of these little attentions, this very common dish, which every body is supposed capable of dressing, seldom comes to table in perfection.

Ask those you cook for, if they like it under, or thoroughly done; and what accompaniments they like best; it is usual to put a table-spoonful of catchup (No. 439), or a little minced eschalot, or No. 402, into a dish before the fire; while you are broiling, turn the steak, &c. with a pair of steak-tongs, it will be done in about ten or fifteen minutes; rub a bit of b.u.t.ter over it, and send it up garnished with pickles and finely-sc.r.a.ped horse-radish. Nos. 135, 278, 299, 255, 402, 423, 439, and 356, are the sauces usually composed for chops and steaks.

N.B. Macbeth's receipt for beef-steaks is the best--

----"_when 't is done, 't were well If 't were done quickly._"

_Obs._ "_Le veritable_ BIFTECK, _comme il se fait en Angleterre_," as Mons. Beauvilliers calls (in his _l'Art du Cuisinier_, tom. i. 8vo.

Paris, 1814, p. 122) what he says we call "_romesteck_," is as highly esteemed by our French neighbours, as their "_ragouts_" are by our countrymen, who

----"post to Paris go, Merely to taste their soups, and mushrooms know."

KING'S _Art of Cookery_, p. 79.

These lines were written before the establishment of Albion house, Aldersgate Street, where every luxury that nature and art produce is served of the primest quality, and in the most scientific manner, in a style of princely magnificence and perfect comfort: the wines, liqueurs, &c. are superlative, and every department of the business of the banquet is conducted in the most liberal manner.

The French author whom we have before so often quoted, a.s.sures _les amateurs de bonne chere_ on the other side of the water, it is well worth their while to cross the channel to taste this favourite English dish, which, when "_mortifiee a son point_" and well dressed, he says, is superior to most of the subtle double relishes of the Parisian kitchen. _Almanach des Gourmands_, vol. i. p. 27.

Beef is justly accounted the most nutritious animal food, and is ent.i.tled to the same rank among solid, that brandy is among liquid stimuli.

The celebrated TRAINER, Sir Thomas Parkyns, of Bunny Park, Bart., in his book on _Wrestling_, 4to. 3d edit. 1727, p. 10, &c., greatly prefers beef-eaters to sheep-biters, as he called those who ate mutton.

When Humphries the pugilist was trained by Ripsham, the keeper of Ipswich jail, he was at first fed on beef, but got so much flesh, it was changed for mutton, roasted or broiled: when broiled, great part of the nutritive juices of the meat is extracted.

The principles upon which training[153-*] is conducted, resolve themselves into temperance without abstemiousness, and exercise without fatigue.

_Kidneys._--(No. 95.)

Cut them through the long way, score them, sprinkle a little pepper and salt on them, and run a wire skewer through them to keep them from curling on the gridiron, so that they may be evenly broiled.

Broil them over a very clear fire, turning them often till they are done; they will take about ten or twelve minutes, if the fire is brisk: or fry them in b.u.t.ter, and make gravy for them in the pan (after you have taken out the kidneys), by putting in a tea-spoonful of flour; as soon as it looks brown, put in as much water as will make gravy; they will take five minutes more to fry than to broil. For sauce, Nos. 318, 355, and 356.

_Obs._ Some cooks chop a few parsley-leaves very fine, and mix them with a bit of fresh b.u.t.ter and a little pepper and salt, and put a little of this mixture on each kidney.

_A Fowl or Rabbit, &c._--(No. 97.)

We can only recommend this method of dressing when the fire is not good enough for roasting.

Pick and truss it the same as for boiling, cut it open down the back, wipe the inside clean with a cloth, season it with a little pepper and salt, have a clear fire, and set the gridiron at a good distance over it, lay the chicken on with the inside towards the fire (you may egg it and strew some grated bread over it), and broil it till it is a fine brown: take care the fleshy side is not burned. Lay it on a hot dish; pickled mushrooms, or mushroom sauce (No. 305), thrown over it, or parsley and b.u.t.ter (No. 261), or melted b.u.t.ter flavoured with mushroom catchup (No. 307).

Garnish it with slices of lemon; and the liver and gizzard slit and notched, seasoned with pepper and salt, and broiled nicely brown, with some slices of lemon. For grill sauce, see No. 355.

N.B. "It was a great mode, and taken up by the court party in Oliver Cromwell's time, to roast half capons, pretending they had a more exquisite taste and nutriment than when dressed whole." See JOAN CROMWELL'S _Kitchen_, London, 1664, page 39.

_Pigeons_,--(No. 98.)

To be worth the trouble of picking, must be well grown, and well fed.

Clean them well, and pepper and salt them; broil them over a clear, slow fire; turn them often, and put a little b.u.t.ter on them: when they are done, pour over them, either stewed (No. 305) or pickled mushrooms, or catchup and melted b.u.t.ter (No. 307, or No. 348 or 355).

Garnish with fried bread-crumbs or sippets (No. 319): or, when the pigeons are trussed as for boiling, flat them with a cleaver, taking care not to break the skin of the backs or b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Season them with pepper and salt, a little bit of b.u.t.ter, and a tea-spoonful of water, and tie them close at both ends; so that when they are brought to table, they bring their sauce with them. Egg and dredge them well with grated bread (mixed with spice and sweet herbs, if you please); then lay them on the gridiron, and turn them frequently: if your fire is not very clear, lay them on a sheet of paper well b.u.t.tered, to keep them from getting smoked. They are much better broiled whole.

The same sauce as in the preceding receipt, or No. 343 or 348.