The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 48

which will swim on the top; let it stand a minute or two for the impurities to sink to the bottom; then pour the clear b.u.t.ter through a sieve into a clean basin, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the stew-pan.

_Obs._ b.u.t.ter thus purified will be as sweet as marrow, a very useful covering for potted meats, &c., and for frying fish equal to the finest Florence oil; for which purpose it is commonly used by Catholics, and those whose religious tenets will not allow them to eat viands fried in animal oil.

_Burnt b.u.t.ter._--(No. 260.)

Put two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter into a small frying-pan; when it becomes a dark brown colour, add to it a table-spoonful and a half of good vinegar, and a little pepper and salt.

_Obs._ This is used as sauce for boiled fish, or poached eggs.

_Oiled b.u.t.ter._--(No. 260*.)

Put two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter into a saucepan; set it at a distance from the fire, so that it may melt gradually, till it comes to an oil; and pour it off quietly from the dregs.

_Obs._ This will supply the place of olive oil; and by some is preferred to it either for salads or frying.

_Parsley and b.u.t.ter._--(No. 261.)

Wash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully leaf by leaf; put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water: boil the parsley about ten minutes; drain it on a sieve; mince it quite fine, and then bruise it to a pulp.

The delicacy and excellence of this elegant and innocent relish depends upon the parsley being minced very fine: put it into a sauce-boat, and mix with it, by degrees, about half a pint of good melted b.u.t.ter (No.

256); only do not put so much flour to it, as the parsley will add to its thickness: never pour parsley and b.u.t.ter over boiled things, but send it up in a boat.

_Obs._ In French cookery-books this is called "melted b.u.t.ter, English fashion;" and, with the addition of a slice of lemon cut into dice, a little allspice and vinegar, "Dutch sauce."

N.B. To preserve parsley through the winter: in May, June, or July, take fine fresh-gathered sprigs; pick, and wash them clean; set on a stew-pan half full of water; put a little salt in it; boil, and skim it clean, and then put in the parsley, and let it boil for a couple of minutes; take it out, and lay it on a sieve before the fire, that it may be dried as quick as possible; put it by in a tin box, and keep it in a dry place: when you want it, lay it in a basin, and cover it with warm water a few minutes before you use it.

_Gooseberry Sauce._--(No. 263.)

Top and tail them close with a pair of scissors, and scald half a pint of green gooseberries; drain them on a hair-sieve, and put them into half a pint of melted b.u.t.ter, No. 256.

Some add grated ginger and lemon-peel, and the French, minced fennel; others send up the gooseberries whole or mashed, without any b.u.t.ter, &c.

_Chervil, Basil, Tarragon, Burnet, Cress, and b.u.t.ter._--(No. 264.)

This is the first time that chervil, which has so long been a favourite with the sagacious French cook, has been introduced into an English book. Its flavour is a strong concentration of the combined taste of parsley and fennel, but more aromatic and agreeable than either; and is an excellent sauce with boiled poultry or fish. Prepare it, &c. as we have directed for parsley and b.u.t.ter, No. 261.

_Fennel and b.u.t.ter for Mackerel, &c._--(No. 265.)

Is prepared in the same manner as we have just described in No. 261.

_Obs._ For mackerel sauce, or boiled soles, &c., some people take equal parts of fennel and parsley; others add a sprig of mint, or a couple of young onions minced very fine.

_Mackerel-roe Sauce._--(No. 266.)

Boil the roes of mackerel (soft roes are best); bruise them with a spoon with the yelk of an egg, beat up with a very little pepper and salt, and some fennel and parsley boiled and chopped very fine, mixed with almost half a pint of thin melted b.u.t.ter. See No. 256.

Mushroom catchup, walnut pickle, or soy may be added.

_Egg Sauce._--(No. 267.)

This agreeable accompaniment to roasted poultry, or salted fish, is made by putting three eggs into boiling water, and boiling them for about twelve minutes, when they will be hard; put them into cold water till you want them. This will make the yelks firmer, and prevent their surface turning black, and you can cut them much neater: use only two of the whites; cut the whites into small dice, the yelks into bits about a quarter of an inch square; put them into a sauce-boat; pour to them half a pint of melted b.u.t.ter, and stir them together.

_Obs._ The melted b.u.t.ter for egg sauce need not be made quite so thick as No. 256. If you are for superlative egg sauce, pound the yelks of a couple of eggs, and rub them with the melted b.u.t.ter to thicken it.

N.B. Some cooks garnish salt fish with hard-boiled eggs cut in half.

_Plum-pudding Sauce._--(No. 269.)

A gla.s.s of sherry, half a gla.s.s of brandy (or "cherry-bounce"), or Curacoa (No. 474), or essence of punch (Nos. 471 and 479), and two tea-spoonfuls of pounded lump sugar (a very little grated lemon-peel is sometimes added), in a quarter of a pint of thick melted b.u.t.ter: grate nutmeg on the top.

See Pudding Catchup, No. 446.

_Anchovy Sauce._--(No. 270.)

Pound three anchovies in a mortar with a little bit of b.u.t.ter; rub it through a double hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and stir it into almost half a pint of melted b.u.t.ter (No. 256); or stir in a table-spoonful of essence of anchovy, No. 433. To the above, many cooks add lemon-juice and Cayenne.

_Obs._ Foreigners make this sauce with good brown sauce (No. 329), or white sauce (No. 364); instead of melted b.u.t.ter, add to it catchup, soy, and some of their flavoured vinegars, (as elder or tarragon), pepper and fine spice, sweet herbs, capers, eschalots, &c. They serve it with most roasted meats.

N.B. Keep your anchovies well covered; first tie down your jar with bladder moistened with vinegar, and then wiped dry; tie leather over that: when you open a jar, moisten the bladder, and it will come off easily; as soon as you have taken out the fish, replace the coverings; the air soon rusts and spoils anchovies. See No. 433, &c.

_Garlic Sauce._--(No. 272.)

Pound two cloves of garlic with a piece of fresh b.u.t.ter, about as big as a nutmeg; rub it through a double hair-sieve, and stir it into half a pint of melted b.u.t.ter, or beef gravy or make it with garlic vinegar, Nos. 400, 401, and 402.

_Lemon Sauce._--(No. 273.)

Pare a lemon, and cut it into slices twice as thick as a half-crown piece; divide these into dice, and put them into a quarter of a pint of melted b.u.t.ter, No. 256.

_Obs._--Some cooks mince a bit of the lemon-peel (pared very thin) very fine, and add it to the above.

_Caper Sauce._--(No. 274. See also No. 295.)

To make a quarter of a pint, take a table-spoonful of capers, and two tea-spoonfuls of vinegar.

The present fashion of cutting capers is to mince one-third of them very fine, and divide the others in half; put them into a quarter of a pint of melted b.u.t.ter, or good thickened gravy (No. 329); stir them the same way as you did the melted b.u.t.ter, or it will oil.