The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 81

_Chicken and Ham Patties._--(No. 29.)

Use the white meat from the breast of chickens or fowls, and proceed as in the last receipt.

_Ripe Fruit Tarts._--(No. 30.)

Gooseberries, damsons, morrello cherries, currants mixed with raspberries, plums, green gages, white plums, &c. should be quite fresh picked, and washed: lay them in the dish with the centre highest, and about a quarter of a pound of moist or loaf sugar pounded to a quart of fruit (but if quite ripe they will not require so much); add a little water; rub the edges of the dish with yelk of egg; cover it with tart paste (No. 4), about half an inch thick; press your thumb round the rim, and close it well; pare it round with a knife; make a hole in the sides below the rim; bake it in a moderate-heated oven; and ten minutes before it is done, take it out and ice it, and return it to the oven to dry.

_Icing for Fruit Tarts, Puffs, or Pastry._--(No. 31.)

Beat up in a half-pint mug the white of two eggs to a solid froth; lay some on the middle of the pie with a paste-brush; sift over plenty of pounded sugar, and press it down with the hand; wash out the brush, and splash by degrees with water till the sugar is dissolved, and put it in the oven for ten minutes, and serve it up cold.

_Apple Pie._--(No. 32.)

Take eight russetings, or lemon pippin apples; pare, core, and cut not smaller than quarters; place them as close as possible together into a pie-dish, with four cloves; rub together in a mortar some lemon-peel, with four ounces of good moist sugar, and, if agreeable, add some quince jam; cover it with puff paste; bake it an hour and a quarter. (Generally eaten warm.)

_Apple Tart creamed._--(No. 33.)

Use green codlings, in preference to any other apple, and proceed as in the last receipt. When the pie is done, cut out the whole of the centre, leaving the edges; when cold, pour on the apple some rich boiled custard, and place round it some small leaves of puff paste of a light colour.

_Tartlets, such as are made at the Pastry Cooks._--(No. 34.)

Roll out puff paste (No. 1,) of a quarter of an inch thick, cut it into pieces, and sheet pans about the size of a crown piece, pare them round with a knife, and put a small quant.i.ty of apricot, damson, raspberry, strawberry, apple, marmalade, or any other kind of jam (No. 92), in the centre; take paste (No. 7), and string them crossways; bake them from six to ten minutes in a quick oven: they should be of a very light brown colour.

_French Tart of preserved Fruit._--(No. 35.)

Cover a flat dish, or tourte pan, with tart paste (No. 4), about an eighth of an inch thick; roll out puff paste (No. 1), half an inch thick, and cut it out in strips an inch wide; wet the tart paste, and lay it neatly round the pan by way of a rim; fill the centre with jam or marmalade of any kind, ornament it with small leaves of puff paste, bake it half an hour, and send it to table cold.

N.B. The above may be filled before the puff paste is laid on, neatly strung with paste, as No. 7, and the rim put over after.

_Obs._--The most general way of sending tourtes to table, is with a croquante of paste (No. 86), or a caramel of spun sugar (No. 85), put over after it is baked.

_Small Puffs of preserved Fruit._--(No. 36.)

Roll out, a quarter of an inch thick, good puff paste (No. 1), and cut it into pieces four inches square; lay a small quant.i.ty of any kind of jam on each, double them over, and cut them into square, triangle, or, with a tin cutter, half moons; lay them with paper on a baking-plate; ice them (as at No. 31), bake them about twenty minutes, taking care not to colour the icing.

_Cranberry Tart._--(No. 37.)

Take Swedish, American, or Russian cranberries, pick and wash them in several waters, put them into a dish, with the juice of half a lemon, a quarter of a pound of moist or pounded loaf sugar, to a quart of cranberries. Cover it with puff (No. 1) or tart paste (No. 4), and bake it three quarters of an hour; if tart paste is used, draw it from the oven five minutes before it is done, and ice it as No. 31, return it to the oven, and send it to table cold.

_Mince Pies._--(No. 38.)

Sheet with tart paste (No. 4), half a dozen of tin pans of any size you please; fill them with mince meat (No. 39), and cover with puff paste, a quarter of an inch thick; trim round the edges with a knife, make an aperture at the top with a fork, bake them in a moderate-heated oven, and send them to table hot, first removing the tin.

N.B. Some throw a little sifted loaf sugar over.

_Mince Meat._--(No. 39.)

Two pounds of beef suet, picked and chopped fine; two pounds of apple, pared, cored, and minced; three pounds of currants, washed and picked; one pound of raisins, stoned and chopped fine; one pound of good moist sugar; half a pound of citron, cut into thin slices; one pound of candied lemon and orange-peel, cut as ditto; two pounds of ready-dressed roast beef, free from skin and gristle, and chopped fine; two nutmegs, grated; one ounce of salt, one of ground ginger, half an ounce of coriander seeds, half an ounce of allspice, half an ounce of cloves, all ground fine; the juice of six lemons, and their rinds grated; half a pint of brandy, and a pint of sweet wine. Mix the suet, apples, currants, meat-plums, and sweetmeats, well together in a large pan, and strew in the spice by degrees; mix the sugar, lemon-juice, wine, and brandy, and pour it to the other ingredients, and stir it well together; set it by in close-covered pans in a cold place: when wanted, stir it up from the bottom, and add half a gla.s.s of brandy to the quant.i.ty you require.

N.B. The same weight of tripe is frequently subst.i.tuted for the meat, and sometimes the yelks of eggs boiled hard.

_Obs._--The lean side of a b.u.t.tock, thoroughly roasted, is generally chosen for mince meat.

_Cheesecakes._--(No. 40.)

Put two quarts of new milk into a stew-pan, set it near the fire, and stir in two table-spoonfuls of rennet: let it stand till it is set (this will take about an hour); break it well with your hand, and let it remain half an hour longer; then pour off the whey, and put the curd into a colander to drain; when quite dry, put it in a mortar, and pound it quite smooth; then add four ounces of sugar, pounded and sifted, and three ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter; oil it first by putting it in a little potting-pot, and setting it near the fire; stir it all well together: beat the yelks of four eggs in a basin, with a little nutmeg grated, lemon-peel, and a gla.s.s of brandy; add this to the curd, with two ounces of currants, washed and picked; stir it all well together; have your tins ready lined with puff paste (No. 1), about a quarter of an inch thick, notch them all round the edge, and fill each with the curd. Bake them twenty minutes.

When you have company, and want a variety, you can make a mould of curd and cream, by putting the curd in a mould full of holes, instead of the colander: let it stand for six hours, then turn it out very carefully on a dish, and pour over it half a pint of good cream sweetened with loaf sugar, and a little nutmeg. What there is left, if set in a cool place, will make excellent cheesecakes the next day.

_Lemon Cheesecakes._--(No. 41.)

Grate the rind of three, and take the juice of two lemons, and mix them with three sponge biscuits, six ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter, four ounces of sifted sugar, a little grated nutmeg and pounded cinnamon, half a gill of cream, and three eggs well beaten; work them with the hand, and fill the pans, which must be sheeted as in the last receipt with puff paste, and lay two or three slices of candied lemon-peel, cut thin, upon the top.

_Orange Cheesecakes._--(No. 42.)

To be made in the same way, omitting the lemons, and using oranges instead.

_Almond Cheesecakes._--(No. 43.)

Blanch six ounces of sweet, and half an ounce of bitter almonds; let them lie half an hour in a drying stove, or before the fire; pound them very fine in a mortar, with two table-spoonfuls of rose or orange-flower water, to prevent them from oiling; set into a stew-pan half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter; set it in a warm place, and cream it very smooth with the hand, and add it to the almonds, with six ounces of sifted loaf sugar, a little grated lemon-peel, some good cream, and four eggs; rub all well together with the pestle; cover a patty-pan with puff paste; fill in the mixture; ornament it with slices of candied lemon-peel and almonds split, and bake it half an hour in a brisk oven.

_Mille Feuilles, or a Pyramid of Paste._--(No. 44.)

Roll out puff paste (No. 1,) half an inch thick; cut out with a cutter made for the purpose, in the shape of an oval, octagon, square, diamond, or any other form, (and to be got of most tinmen,) observing to let the first piece be as large as the bottom of the dish you intend sending it to table on: the second piece a size smaller, and so on in proportion, till the last is about the size of a shilling; lay them with paper on a baking-plate, yelk of egg the top, and bake them of a light brown colour: take them from the paper, and when cold put the largest size in the dish, then a layer of apricot jam; then the next size, a layer of raspberry jam, and so on, varying the jam between each layer of paste to the top, on which place a bunch of dried fruit, and spin a caramel (No.

85) of sugar over it.

_Brunswick Tourte._--(No. 45.)

Make a crust as for vol au vent (No. 25); pare and core with a scoop eight or ten golden pippins; put them into a stew-pan, with a gill of sweet wine, and four ounces of sifted loaf sugar, a bit of lemon-peel, a small stick of cinnamon, and a blade of mace; stew them over a slow fire till the apples are tender; set them by: when cold, place them in the paste, and pour round them some good custard (No. 53).

_Blancmange._--(No. 46.)