The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 74

_Coffee._[340-*]

Coffee, as used on the Continent, serves the double purpose of an agreeable tonic, and an exhilarating beverage, without the unpleasant effects of wine.

Coffee, as drunk in England, debilitates the stomach, and produces a slight nausea. In France and in Italy it is made strong from the best coffee, and is poured out hot and transparent.

In England it is usually made from bad coffee, served out tepid and muddy, and drowned in a deluge of water, and sometimes deserves the t.i.tle given it in "the Pet.i.tion against Coffee," 4to. 1674, page 4, "a base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking puddle water."

To make Coffee fit for use, you must employ the German filter,--pay at least 4_s._ the pound for it,--and take at least an ounce for two breakfast-cups.

No coffee will bear drinking with what is called milk in London.

London people should either take their coffee pure, or put a couple of tea-spoonfuls of cream to each cup.

N.B. The above is a contribution from an intelligent traveller, who has pa.s.sed some years on the Continent.

_Suet Pudding, Wiggy's way._--(No. 551.)

Suet, a quarter of a pound; flour, three table-spoonfuls; eggs, two; and a little grated ginger; milk, half a pint. Mince the suet as fine as possible, roll it with the rolling-pin so as to mix it well with the flour; beat up the eggs, mix them with the milk, and then mix all together; wet your cloth well in boiling water, flour it, tie it loose, put it into boiling water, and boil it an hour and a quarter.

Mrs. Gla.s.se has it, "when you have made your water boil, then put your pudding into your pot."

_Yorkshire Pudding under roast Meat, the Gipsies' way._--(No. 552.)

This pudding is an especially excellent accompaniment to a sir-loin of beef,--loin of veal,--or any fat and juicy joint.

Six table-spoonfuls of flour, three eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a pint of milk, so as to make a middling stiff batter, a little stiffer than you would for pancakes; beat it up well, and take care it is not lumpy; put a dish under the meat, and let the drippings drop into it till it is quite hot and well greased; then pour in the batter;--when the upper surface is brown and set, turn it, that both sides may be brown alike: if you wish it to cut firm, and the pudding an inch thick, it will take two hours at a good fire.

N.B. The true Yorkshire pudding is about half an inch thick when done; but it is the fashion in London to make them full twice that thickness.

_Plum Pudding._--(No. 553.)

Suet, chopped fine, six ounces; Malaga raisins, stoned, six ounces; currants, nicely washed and picked, eight ounces; bread-crumbs, three ounces; flour, three ounces; eggs, three; sixth of a nutmeg; small blade of mace; same quant.i.ty of cinnamon, pounded as fine as possible; half a tea-spoonful of salt; half a pint of milk, or rather less; sugar, four ounces: to which may be added, candied lemon, one ounce; citron, half an ounce. Beat the eggs and spice well together; mix the milk with them by degrees, then the rest of the ingredients; dip a fine close linen cloth into boiling water, and put it in a hair-sieve; flour it a little, and tie it up close; put it into a saucepan containing six quarts of boiling water: keep a kettle of boiling water along side of it, and fill up your pot as it wastes; be sure to keep it boiling six hours at least.

_My Pudding._--(No. 554.)

Beat up the yelks and whites of three eggs; strain them through a sieve (to keep out the treddles), and gradually add to them about a quarter of a pint of milk,--stir these well together; rub together in a mortar two ounces of moist sugar, and as much grated nutmeg as will lie on a sixpence,--stir these into the eggs and milk; then put in four ounces of flour, and beat it into a smooth batter; by degrees stir into it seven ounces of suet (minced as fine as possible), and three ounces of bread-crumbs; mix all thoroughly together at least half an hour before you put the pudding into the pot; put it into an earthenware pudding-mould that you have well b.u.t.tered; tie a pudding-cloth over it very tight; put it into boiling water, and boil it three hours.

Put one good plum into it, and Moost-Aye says, you may then tell the economist that you have made a good plum pudding--without plums: this would be what schoolboys call "mile-stone pudding," _i. e._ "a mile between one plum and another."

N.B. Half a pound of Muscatel raisins cut in half, and added to the above, will make a most admirable plum pudding: a little grated lemon-peel may be added.

_Obs._--If the water ceases to boil, the pudding will become heavy, and be spoiled; if properly managed, this and the following will be as fine puddings of the kind as art can produce.

Puddings are best when mixed an hour or two before they are boiled; the ingredients by that means amalgamate, and the whole becomes richer and fuller of flavour, especially if the various articles be thoroughly well stirred together.

A table-spoonful of treacle will give it a rich brown colour. See pudding sauce, No. 269, and pudding catchup, No. 446.

N.B. This pudding may be baked in an oven, or under meat, the same as Yorkshire pudding (No. 552); make it the same, only add half a pint of milk more: should it be above an inch and a quarter in thickness, it will take full two hours: it requires careful watching, for if the top gets burned, an empyreumatic flavour will pervade the whole of the pudding. Or, b.u.t.ter some tin mince-pie patty-pans, or saucers, and fill them with pudding, and set them in a Dutch oven; they will take about an hour.

_Maigre Plum Pudding._

Simmer half a pint of milk with two blades of mace, and a roll of lemon-peel, for ten minutes; then strain it into a basin; set it away to get cold: in the mean time beat three eggs in a basin with three ounces of loaf-sugar, and the third of a nutmeg: then add three ounces of flour; beat it well together, and add the milk by degrees: then put in three ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter broken into small pieces, and three ounces of bread-crumbs; three ounces of currants washed and picked clean, three ounces of raisins stoned and chopped: stir it all well together. b.u.t.ter a mould; put it in, and tie a cloth tight over it. Boil it two hours and a half. Serve it up with melted b.u.t.ter, two table-spoonfuls of brandy, and a little loaf-sugar.

_A Fat Pudding._

Break five eggs in a basin; beat them up with a tea-spoonful of sugar and a table-spoonful of flour; beat it quite smooth; then put to it a pound of raisins, and a pound of suet; it must not be chopped very fine; b.u.t.ter a mould well; put in the pudding; tie a cloth over it tight, and boil it five hours.

N.B. This is very rich, and is commonly called a marrow pudding.

_Pease Pudding._--(No. 555.)

Put a quart of split pease into a clean cloth; do not tie them up too close, but leave a little room for them to swell; put them on in cold water, to boil slowly till they are tender: if they are good pease they will be boiled enough in about two hours and a half; rub them through a sieve into a deep dish, adding[343-*] to them an egg or two, an ounce of b.u.t.ter, and some pepper and salt; beat them well together for about ten minutes, when these ingredients are well incorporated together; then flour the cloth well, put the pudding in, and tie it up as tight as possible, and boil it an hour longer. It is as good with boiled beef as it is with boiled pork; and why not with roasted pork?

_Obs._--This is a very good accompaniment to cold pork or cold beef.

N.B. Stir this pudding into two quarts of the liquor meat or poultry has been boiled in; give it a boil up, and in five minutes it will make excellent extempore pease soup, especially if the pudding has been boiled in the same pot as the meat (see No. 218, &c.) Season it with pease powder, No. 458.

_Plain Bread Pudding._--(No. 556.)

Make five ounces of bread-crumbs; put them in a basin; pour three quarters of a pint of boiling milk over them; put a plate over the top to keep in the steam; let it stand twenty minutes, then beat it up quite smooth with two ounces of sugar and a salt-spoonful of nutmeg. Break four eggs on a plate, leaving out one white; beat them well, and add them to the pudding. Stir it all well together, and put it in a mould that has been well b.u.t.tered and floured; tie a cloth over it, and boil it one hour.

_Bread and b.u.t.ter Pudding._--(No. 557.)

You must have a dish that will hold a quart: wash and pick two ounces of currants; strew a few at the bottom of the dish; cut about four layers of very thin bread and b.u.t.ter, and between each layer of bread and b.u.t.ter strew some currants; then break four eggs in a basin, leaving out one white; beat them well, and add four ounces of sugar and a drachm of nutmeg; stir it well together with a pint of new milk; pour it over about ten minutes before you put it in the oven; it will take three quarters of an hour to bake.

_Pancakes and Fritters._--(No. 558.)

Break three eggs in a basin; beat them up with a little nutmeg and salt; then put to them four ounces and a half of flour, and a little milk; beat it of a smooth batter; then add by degrees as much milk as will make it of the thickness of good cream: the frying-pan must be about the size of a pudding plate, and very clean, or they will stick; make it hot, and to each pancake put in a bit of b.u.t.ter about as big as a walnut: when it is melted, pour in the batter to cover the bottom of the pan; make them the thickness of half a crown; fry them of a light brown on both sides.

The above will do for apple fritters, by adding one spoonful more of flour; peel your apples, and cut them in thick slices; take out the core, dip them in the batter, and fry them in hot lard; put them on a sieve to drain; dish them neatly, and grate some loaf-sugar over them.

_Tansy Pancakes._

The batter for the preceding may be made into tansy pancakes by cutting fine a handful of young green tansy, and beating it into the batter. It gives the cakes a pleasant aromatic flavour, and an agreeable, mild bitter taste. A.

No. 560