The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 54

Take your chops out of the frying-pan; for a pound of meat keep a table-spoonful of the fat in the pan, or put in about an ounce of b.u.t.ter; put to it as much flour as will make it a paste; rub it well together over the fire till they are a little brown; then add as much boiling water as will reduce it to the thickness of good cream, and a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, or pickle, or browning (No. 322, or No. 449); let it boil together a few minutes, and pour it through a sieve to the steaks, &c.

_Obs._--To the above is sometimes added a sliced onion, or a minced eschalot, with a table-spoonful of port wine, or a little eschalot wine (Nos. 402, 423, or 135). Garnish with finely-sc.r.a.ped horseradish, or pickled walnuts, gherkins, &c. Some beef-eaters like chopped eschalots in one saucer, and horseradish grated in vinegar, in another. Broiled mushrooms are favourite relishes to beef-steaks.

_Sauce Piquante for cold Meat, Game, Poultry, Fish, &c. or Salads._--(No. 359. See also No. 372, and Cuc.u.mber Vinegar, Nos. 399 and 453.)

Pound in a mortar the yelks of two eggs that have been boiled hard (No.

547), with a mustard-spoonful of made mustard, and a little pepper and salt; add two table-spoonfuls of salad oil; mix well, and then add three table-spoonfuls of vinegar; rub it up well till it is quite smooth, and pa.s.s it through a tamis or sieve.

_Obs._--To the above, some add an anchovy, or a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or walnut pickle, some finely-chopped parsley, grated horseradish, or young onions minced, or burnet (No. 399), horseradish (No. 399*, or No. 402), or tarragon, or elder vinegar (No. 396), &c., and Cayenne or minced pickles, capers, &c. This is a _piquante_ relish for lobsters, crabs, cold fish, &c.

_Sauce for Hashes of Mutton or Beef._--(No. 360. See also Nos. 451, 485, and to make Plain Hash, No. 486.)

Unless you are quite sure you perfectly understand the palate of those you are working for, show those who are to eat the hash this receipt, and beg of them to direct you how they wish it seasoned.

Half the number of the ingredients enumerated will be more than enough: but as it is a receipt so often wanted we have given variety. See also No. 486.

To prepare the meat, see No. 484.

Chop the bones and fragments of the joint, &c., and put them into a stew-pan; cover them with boiling water, six berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, a small bundle of parsley, half a head of celery cut in pieces, and a small sprig of savoury, or lemon-thyme, or sweet marjoram; cover up, and let it simmer gently for half an hour.

Slice half an ounce of onion, and put it into a stew-pan with an ounce of b.u.t.ter; fry it over a sharp fire for about a couple of minutes, till it takes a little colour; then stir in as much flour as will make it a stiff paste, and by degrees mix with it the gravy you have made from the bones, &c.; let it boil very gently for about a quarter of an hour, till it is the consistence of cream; strain it through a tamis or sieve into a basin; put it back into the stew-pan: to season it, see No. 451, or cut in a few pickled onions, or walnuts, or a couple of gherkins, and a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or walnut or other pickle liquor; or some capers, and caper liquor; or a table-spoonful of ale; or a little eschalot, or tarragon vinegar; cover the bottom of the dish with sippets of bread (that they may become savoury reservoirs of gravy), which some toast and cut into triangles. You may garnish it with fried bread sippets (No. 319).

N.B. To hash meat in perfection, it should be laid in this gravy only just long enough to get properly warm through.

_Obs._ If any of the gravy that was sent up with, or ran from the joint when it was roasted, be left, it will be a great improvement to the hash.

If you wish to make mock venison, instead of the onion, put in two or three cloves, a table-spoonful of currant jelly, and the same quant.i.ty of claret or port wine, instead of the catchup.

You may make a curry hash by adding some of No. 455.

N.B. A pint of No. 329 is an excellent gravy to warm up either meat or poultry.

_Sauce for hashed or minced Veal._--(No. 361. See No. 511.)

Take the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with flour, and put them into a stew-pan with a pint and a half of broth or water, a small onion, a little grated or finely-minced lemon-peel, or the peel of a quarter of a small lemon, pared as thin as possible, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace; to thicken it, rub a table-spoonful of flour into half an ounce of b.u.t.ter; stir it into the broth, and set it on the fire, and let it boil very gently for about half an hour; strain through a tamis or sieve, and it is ready to put to the veal to warm up; which is to be done by placing the stew-pan by the side of the fire. Squeeze in half a lemon, and cover the bottom of the dish with toasted bread sippets cut into triangles, and garnish the dish with slices of ham or bacon. See Nos. 526 and 527.

_Bechamel, by English Cooks commonly called White Sauce._ (No. 364.)

Cut in square pieces, half an inch thick, two pounds of lean veal, half a pound of lean ham; melt in a stew-pan two ounces of b.u.t.ter; when melted, let the whole simmer until it is ready to catch at the bottom (it requires great attention, as, if it happen to catch at the bottom of the stew-pan, it will spoil the look of your sauce); then add to it three table-spoonfuls of flour; when well mixed, add to it three pints of broth or water (pour a little at a time, that the thickening be smooth); stir it until it boil; put the stew-pan on the corner of the stove to boil gently for two hours; season it with four cloves, one onion, twelve pepper-corns, a blade of mace, a few mushrooms and a f.a.got made of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and a bay-leaf. Let the sauce reduce to a quart, skim the fat off, and strain it through a tamis cloth.

To make a bechamel sauce, add to a quart of the above a pint of good cream; stir it until it is reduced to a good thickness; a few mushrooms give a good flavour to that sauce; strain it through a tamis cloth.

_Obs._ The above was given us by a French artist.

_A more economical Method of making a Pint of White Sauce._--(No.

364--2.)

Put equal parts of broth and milk into a stew-pan with an onion and a blade of mace; set it on the fire to boil ten minutes; have ready and rub together on a plate an ounce of flour and b.u.t.ter; put it into the stew-pan; stir it well till it boils up; then stand it near the fire or stove, stirring it every now and then till it becomes quite smooth; then strain it through a sieve into a basin; put it back into the stew-pan; season it with salt and the juice of a small lemon; beat up the yelks of two eggs well with about three table-spoonfuls of milk, strain it through a sieve into your sauce, stir it well and keep it near the fire, but be sure and do not let it boil, for it will curdle.

_Obs._ A convenient veil for boiled fowls, &c. whose complexions are not inviting.

_Mem._ With the a.s.sistance of the Magazine of Taste (No. 462) you may give this sauce a variety of flavours.

_Obs._ Bechamel implies a thick white sauce, approaching to a batter, and takes its name from a wealthy French Marquis, _maitre d'hotel de Louis XIV._, and famous for his patronage of "_les Officiers de Bouche_," who have immortalized him, by calling by his name this delicate composition.

Most of the French sauces take their name from the person whose palate they first pleased, as "_a la Maintenon_;" or from some famous cook who invented them, as "Sauce Robert," "_a la Montizeur_," &c.

We have in the English kitchen, our "Argyll" for gravy, and the little "Sandwich," "_monumentum aere perennius_."

----"And thus MONTEITH Has, by one vessel, saved his name from death."

KING'S _Art of Cookery_.

_Poivrade Sauce._--(No. 365.)

This, as its t.i.tle tells us, is a sauce of French extraction. The following receipt is from "_La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise_," page 408.

"Put a bit of b.u.t.ter as big as an egg into a stew-pan with two or three bits of onion, carrot, and turnip, cut in slices, two eschalots, two cloves, a bay-leaf, thyme, and basil; keep turning them in the pan till they get a little colour; shake in some flour, and add a gla.s.s of red wine, a gla.s.s of water, a spoonful of vinegar, and a little pepper and salt; boil half an hour; skim and strain it."

_Mustard in a minute._--(No. 369.)

Mix very gradually, and rub together in a mortar, an ounce of flour of mustard, with three table-spoonfuls of milk (cream is better), half a tea-spoonful of salt, and the same of sugar; rub them well together till quite smooth.

_Obs._ Mustard made in this manner is not at all bitter, and is therefore instantly ready for the table.

N.B. It has been said that flour of mustard is sometimes adulterated with common flour, &c. &c.

_Mustard._--(No. 370.)

Mix (by degrees, by rubbing together in a mortar) the best Durham flour of mustard, with vinegar, white wine, or cold water, in which sc.r.a.ped horseradish has been boiled; rub it well together for at least ten minutes, till it is perfectly smooth; it will keep in a stone jar closely stopped, for a fortnight: only put as much into the mustard-pot as will be used in a day or two.

The ready-made mustard prepared at the oil shops is mixed with about one-fourth part salt: this is done to preserve it, if it is to be kept long; otherwise, by all means, omit it. The best way of eating salt is in substance.

? See also recipe No. 427.

_Obs._ Mustard is the best of all the stimulants that are employed to give energy to the digestive organs. It was in high favour with our forefathers; in the _Northumberland Household Book_ for 1512, p. 18, is an order for an annual supply of 160 gallons of mustard.

Some opulent epicures mix it with sherry or Madeira wine, or distilled or flavoured vinegar, instead of horseradish water.

The French flavour their mustard with Champaigne and other wines, or with vinegar flavoured with capers, anchovies, tarragon, elder, basil, burnet, garlic, eschalot, or celery, see No. 395 to No. 402: warming it with Cayenne, or the various spices; sweet, savoury, fine herbs, truffles, catchup, &c. &c., and seem to consider mustard merely as a vehicle of flavours.