The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 35

Put them over a slow fire, and let them simmer about two hours; when you dish them, turn them upside down, and pour the sauce over.

Young onions stewed, see No. 296.

_Salads._--(No. 138*, _also_ No. 372).

Those who desire to see this subject elaborately ill.u.s.trated, we refer to "EVELYN'S _Acetaria_," a discourse of Sallets, a 12mo. of 240 pages.

London, 1699.

Mr. E. gives us "an account of seventy-two herbs proper and fit to make sallet with;" and a table of thirty-five, telling their seasons and proportions. "In the composure of a sallet, every plant should come in to bear its part, like the notes in music: thus the comical Master Cook introduced by Damoxenus, when asked, 'what harmony there was in meats?'

'the very same,' says he, 'as the 3d, 5th, and 8th have to one another in music: the main skill lies in this, not to mingle' ('_sapores minime consentientes_'). 'Tastes not well joined, inelegant,' as our Paradisian bard directs Eve, when dressing a sallet for her angelical guest, in MILTON'S _Paradise Lost_."

He gives the following receipt for the oxoleon:--

"Take of clear and perfectly good oyl-olive three parts; of sharpest vinegar (sweetest of all condiments, for it incites appet.i.te, and causes hunger, which is the best sauce), limon, or juice of orange, one part; and therein let steep some slices of horseradish, with a little salt.

Some, in a separate vinegar, gently bruise a pod of Ginny pepper, and strain it to the other; then add as much mustard as will lie upon a half-crown piece. Beat and mingle these well together with the yelk of two new-laid eggs boiled hard, and pour it over your sallet, stirring it well together. The super-curious insist that the knife with which sallet herb is cut must be of silver. Some who are husbands of their oyl, pour at first the oyl alone, as more apt to communicate and diffuse its slipperiness, than when it is mingled and beaten with the acids, which they pour on last of all; and it is incredible how small a quant.i.ty of oyl thus applied is sufficient to imbue a very plentiful a.s.sembly of sallet herbs."

_Obs._ Our own directions to prepare and dress salads will be found under No. 372.

FOOTNOTES:

[155-*] "Next to bread, there is no vegetable article, the preparation of which, as food, deserves to be more attended to, than the potato."--Sir JOHN SINCLAIR'S _Code of Health_, vol. i. p. 354.

"By the _a.n.a.lysis of potato_, it appears that 16 ounces contained 11-1/2 ounces of water, and the 4-1/2 ounces of solid parts remaining, afforded scarce a drachm of earth."--PARMENTIER'S _Obs. on Nutritive Vegetables_, 8vo. 1783, p. 112.

[155-+] Or the small ones will be done to pieces before the large ones are boiled enough.

[159-*] Sweet potatoes, otherwise called Carolina potatoes, are the roots of the _Convolvulus batatas_, a plant peculiar to and princ.i.p.ally cultivated in America. It delights in a warm climate, but is raised in Connecticut, New-York, and all the states of the Union south of New-York. It is an excellent vegetable for the dinner-table, and is brought on boiled. It has an advantage over common potatoes, as it may be eaten cold; and it is sometimes cut into thin slices and brought to the tea-table, as a delicate relish, owing to its agreeable nutritious sweetness. A.

[163-*] After parsnips are boiled, they should be put into the frying-pan and browned a little. Some people do not admire this vegetable, on account of its sickish sweetness. It is, however, a wholesome, cheap, and nourishing vegetable, best calculated for the table in winter and spring. Its sweetness may be modified by mashing with a few potatoes. A.

[164-*] These, and all other fruits and vegetables, &c., by Mr. APPERT'S plan, it is said, may be preserved for twelve months. See APPERT'S _Book_, 12mo. 1812. We have eaten of several specimens of preserved pease, which looked pretty enough,--but _flavour_ they had none at all.

[166-*] Cuc.u.mbers may be cut into quarters and boiled like asparagus, and served up with toasted bread and melted b.u.t.ter. This is a most delicate way of preparing cuc.u.mbers for the dinner-table, and they are a most luscious article, and so rich and savoury that a small quant.i.ty will suffice.

The ordinary method of cutting cuc.u.mbers into slices with raw onions, served up in vinegar, and seasoned with salt and pepper, is most vulgar and most unwholesome. In their season they are cheap and plenty; and as they are crude and unripe they require the stomach of an ostrich to digest them. They cause much sickness in their season, creating choleras, cramps, and dysenteries. If stewed or boiled as above directed, they would be more nutritious and wholesome. A.

_FISH._

See _Obs._ on Codfish after No. 149.

_Turbot to boil._--(No. 140).

This excellent fish is in season the greatest part of the summer; when good, it is at once firm and tender, and abounds with rich gelatinous nutriment.

Being drawn, and washed clean, if it be quite fresh, by rubbing it lightly with salt, and keeping it in a cold place, you may in moderate weather preserve it for a couple of days.[168-*]

An hour or two before you dress it, soak it in spring-water with some salt in it, then score the skin across the thickest part of the back, to prevent its breaking on the breast, which will happen from the fish swelling, and cracking the skin, if this precaution be not used. Put a large handful of salt into a fish-kettle with cold water, lay your fish on a fish-strainer, put it in, and when it is coming to a boil, skim it well; then set the kettle on the side of the fire, to boil as gently as possible for about fifteen or twenty minutes (if it boils fast, the fish will break to pieces); supposing it a middling-sized turbot, and to weigh eight or nine pounds.

Rub a little of the inside red coral sp.a.w.n of the lobster through a hair sieve, without b.u.t.ter; and when the turbot is dished, sprinkle the sp.a.w.n over it. Garnish the dish with sprigs of curled parsley, sliced lemon, and finely-sc.r.a.ped horseradish.

If you like to send it to table in full dress, surround it with nicely-fried smelts (No. 173), gudgeons are often used for this purpose, and may be bought very cheap when smelts are very dear; lay the largest opposite the broadest part of the turbot, so that they may form a well-proportioned fringe for it; or oysters (No. 183*); or cut a sole in strips, crossways, about the size of a smelt; fry them as directed in No. 145, and lay them round. Send up lobster sauce (No. 284); two boats of it, if it is for a large party.

N.B. Cold turbot, with No. 372 for sauce; or take off the fillets that are left as soon as the turbot returns from table, and they will make a side dish for your next dinner, warmed in No. 364--2.

_Obs._ The thickest part is the favourite; and the carver of this fish must remember to ask his friends if they are fin-fanciers. It will save a troublesome job to the carver, if the cook, when the fish is boiled, cuts the spine-bone across the middle.

_A Brill_,--(No. 143.)

Is dressed the same way as a turbot.

_Soles to boil._--(No. 144.)

A fine, fresh, thick sole is almost as good eating as a turbot.

Wash and clean it nicely; put it into a fish-kettle with a handful of salt, and as much cold water as will cover it; set it on the side of the fire, take off the sc.u.m as it rises, and let it boil gently; about five minutes (according to its size) will be long enough, unless it be very large. Send it up on a fish-drainer, garnished with slices of lemon and sprigs of curled parsley, or nicely-fried smelts (No. 173), or oysters (No. 183).

_Obs._ Slices of lemon are a universally acceptable garnish with either fried or broiled fish: a few sprigs of crisp parsley may be added, if you wish to make it look very smart; and parsley, or fennel and b.u.t.ter, are excellent sauces (see Nos. 261 and 265), or chervil sauce (No. 264), anchovy (No. 270).

N.B. Boiled soles are very good warmed up like eels, Wiggy's way (No.

164), or covered with white sauce (No. 364--2; and see No. 158).

_Soles, or other Fish, to fry._--(No. 145.)

Soles are generally to be procured good from some part of the coast, as some are going out of season, and some coming in, both at the same time; a great many are brought in well-boats alive, that are caught off Dover and Folkstone, and some are brought from the same places by land-carriage. The finest soles are caught off Plymouth, near the Eddystone, and all the way up the channel, and to Torbay; and frequently weigh eight or ten pounds per pair: they are generally brought by water to Portsmouth, and thence by land; but the greatest quant.i.ty are caught off Yarmouth and the Knole, and off the Forelands.

Be sure they are quite fresh, or the cleverest cook cannot make them either look or eat well.

An hour before you intend to dress them, wash them thoroughly, and wrap them in a clean cloth, to make them perfectly dry, or the bread-crumbs will not stick to them.

Prepare some bread-crumbs,[170-*] by rubbing some stale bread through a colander; or, if you wish the fish to appear very delicate and highly-finished, through a hair-sieve; or use biscuit powder.

Beat the yelk and white of an egg well together, on a plate, with a fork; flour your fish, to absorb any moisture that may remain, and wipe it off with a clean cloth; dip them in the egg on both sides all over, or, what is better, egg them with a paste-brush; put the egg on in an even degree over the whole fish, or the bread-crumbs will not stick to it even, and the uneven part will burn to the pan. Strew the bread-crumbs all over the fish, so that they cover every part, take up the fish by the head, and shake off the loose crumbs. The fish is now ready for the frying-pan.

Put a quart or more of fresh sweet olive-oil, or clarified b.u.t.ter (No.

259), dripping (No. 83), lard,[170-+] or clarified drippings (No. 83); be sure they are quite sweet and perfectly clean (the fat ought to cover the fish): what we here order is for soles about ten inches long; if larger, cut them into pieces the proper size to help at table; this will save much time and trouble to the carver: when you send them to table, lay them in the same form they were before they were cut, and you may strew a little curled parsley over them: they are much easier managed in the frying-pan, and require less fat: fry the thick part a few minutes before you put in the thin, you can by this means only fry the thick part enough, without frying the thin too much. Very large soles should be boiled (No. 144), or fried in fillets (No. 147). Soles cut in pieces, crossways, about the size of a smelt, make a very pretty garnish for stewed fish and boiled fish.

Set the frying-pan over a sharp and clear fire; watch it, skim it with an egg-slice, and when it boils,[170-++] _i. e._ when it has done bubbling, and the smoke just begins to rise from the surface, put in the fish: if the fat is not extremely hot, it is impossible to fry fish of a good colour, or to keep them firm and crisp. (Read the 3d chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.)

The best way to ascertain the heat of the fat, is to try it with a bit of bread as big as a nut; if it is quite hot enough, the bread will brown immediately. Put in the fish, and it will be crisp and brown on the side next the fire, in about four or five minutes; to turn it, stick a two-p.r.o.nged fork near the head, and support the tail with a fish-slice, and fry the other side nearly the same length of time.