The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 30

After skinning part of the fillet, cut it into slices, and hack it with the back of your knife; season with pepper, salt, thyme, and sage, minced small. Broil the slices on the gridiron, and serve with sauce made with drawn b.u.t.ter, sugar, and mustard.

_Spring of Pork, to roast._

Cut off the spring of a knuckle of pork, and leave as much skin on the spring as you can, parting it from the neck, and taking out the bones.

Rub it well with salt, and strew it all over with thyme shred small, parsley, sage, a nutmeg, cloves, and mace, beaten small and well mixed together. Rub all well in, and roll the whole up tight, with the flesh inward. Sew it fast, spit it lengthwise, and roast it.

_Potatoes, to boil._ No. 1.

The following is the celebrated Lancashire receipt for cooking potatoes:--Cleanse them well, put them in cold water, and boil them with their skins on exceedingly slow. When the water bubbles, throw in a little cold water. When they are done, drain the water completely away through a colander; return them into a pot or saucepan without water; cover them up, and set them before the fire for a quarter of an hour longer. Do not pare the potatoes before they are boiled, which is a very unwholesome and wasteful practice.

_Potatoes, to boil._ No. 2.

Sc.r.a.pe off the rind; put them into an iron pot; simmer them till they begin to crack, and allow a fork to pierce easily; then pour off the water, and put aside the lid of the pot, and sprinkle over some salt.

Place your pot at the edge of the fire, and there let it remain an hour or more, and during this time all the moisture of the potatoes will gradually exhale in steam, and you will find them white or flaky as snow. Take them out with a spoon or ladle.

_Potatoes, to boil._ No. 3.

Boil them as usual; half an hour before sending to table, throw away the water from them, and set the pot again on the fire; sufficient moisture will come from the potatoes to prevent the pot from burning; let them stand on the half stove, and not be peeled until sent to table.

_Potatoes, to bake._

Wash nicely, make into b.a.l.l.s, and bake in the Dutch oven a light brown.

This forms a neat side or corner dish.

_Potato b.a.l.l.s._

Pound some boiled potatoes in a mortar, with the yolks of two eggs, a little pepper, and salt; make them in b.a.l.l.s about the size of an egg; do them over with yolk of egg and crumbs of bread; then fry them of a light brown for table; five b.a.l.l.s for a corner dish.

_Croquets of Potatoes._

Boil some potatoes in water, strain them, and take sufficient milk to make them into a mash, rather thick; before you mix the potatoes put the peel of half a lemon, finely grated, one lump of sugar, and a pinch of salt; strain the milk after heating it, and add the potatoes; mash them well together; let the mash cool; roll it into b.a.l.l.s of the shape and size of an egg; let there be ten or twelve of them; brush them over with the yolk of egg, and roll them in crumbs of bread and a pinch of salt.

Do this twice over; then fry them of a fine brown colour, and serve them with fried parsley round.

_Potatoes, to fry._

After your potatoes are nicely boiled and skinned, grate them, and to every large table-spoonful of potatoes add one egg well beat, and to each egg a small spoonful of cream, with some salt. Drop as many spoonfuls as are proper in a pan in which is clarified b.u.t.ter.

_Potatoes, to mash._

After the potatoes are boiled and peeled, mash them in a mortar, or on a clean board, with a broad knife, and put them into a stewpan. To two pounds of potatoes put in half a pint of milk, a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, and a little salt; set them over the fire, and keep them stirred till the b.u.t.ter is melted; but take care they do not burn to the bottom.

Dish them up in what form you please.

_Potatoes, French way of cooking._

Boil the potatoes in a weak white gravy till nearly done; stir in some cream and vermicelli, with three or four blades of mace, and let it boil till the potatoes are sufficiently done, without being broken.

_Potatoes, a-la-Maitre d'hotel._

Cut boiled potatoes into slices, not too thin; simmer them in a little plain gravy, a bit of b.u.t.ter rubbed in a little flour, chopped parsley, pepper, and salt, and serve hot.

_Rice, to boil._

To boil rice well, though a simple thing, is rarely well done. Have two quarts of water boiling, while you wash six ounces of rice, picked clean. Change the water three or four times. When the rice is clean, drain and put it into the boiling water. Boil twenty minutes; add three quarters of a table-spoonful of salt. Drain off the water well--this is the most essential point--set it before the fire, spread thin to dry.

When dry, serve it up. If the rice is not dry, so that each grain separates easily from the others, it is not properly boiled.

_Another way._

Put one pound of rice into three quarts of boiling water; let it remain twenty minutes. Skim the water, and add one ounce of hog's lard and a little salt and pepper. Let it simmer gently over the fire closely covered, for an hour and a quarter, when it will be fit for use. This will produce eight pounds of savoury rice.

_Rissoles._ No. 1.

Take a roasted fowl, turkey, or pullet; pull it into shreds; there must be neither bone nor skin. Cut some veal and ham into large dice; put it into a stewpan, with a little thyme, carrots, onions, cloves, and two or three mushrooms. Make these ingredients simmer over a slow fire for two hours, taking care they do not burn; put in a handful of flour, and stir well, with a pint of cream and as much good broth; let the whole then stew for a quarter of an hour; continue to stir with a wooden spoon to prevent its burning. When it is done enough, strain it through a woollen strainer; then put in the whole meat of the poultry you have cut, with which you must make little b.a.l.l.s of the size of pigeons' eggs.

Dip them twice in very fine crumbs of bread; wrap them in paste, rolled very thin; then fry them in lard, which should be very hot.

_Rissoles._ No. 2.

Take the fleshy parts and b.r.e.a.s.t.s of two fowls, which cut into small dice, all of an equal size; then throw them into some white sauce, and reduce it till it becomes very thick and stiff. When this is cold, cut it into several pieces, and roll them to the size and shape of a cork; then roll them in crumbs of bread very fine; dip them into some white and yolks of eggs put up together with a little salt, and roll them again in bread. If they are not stiff enough to keep their shape, this must be repeated; then fry them of a light brown colour, drain them, wipe off the grease, and serve them with fried parsley between them.

_Rissoles._ No. 3.

Take of the pure made as directed for pheasant, veal, or game, (see Pheasant under the head Game) a sufficient quant.i.ty for eight rissoles, then a little of the jelly of veal, say about half a pint; put in it a pinch of salt and of cayenne pepper, two table-spoonfuls of cream, the yolk of one egg, and a piece of b.u.t.ter of the size of a walnut; mix this sauce well together over the fire, strain it, and then add the pure. Let it cool, and prepare a little puff-paste sufficient to wrap the rissoles once over with it, taking care to roll the paste out thin. Fry them, and send them up with fried parsley, without sauce. The rissoles must be made stiff enough not to break in the frying.

_Rice._

One pound of veal or fowl, chopped fine; have ready some good bechamel sauce mixed with parsley and lemon-juice; mix it of a good thickness.

When cold, make it up into b.a.l.l.s, or what shape you please; dip them in yolks of eggs and bread crumbs, and fry them a few minutes before they go to table. They should be of a light brown, and sent up with fried parsley.

_A Robinson, to make._

Take about eight or ten pounds of the middle of a brisket of beef; let it hang a day; then salt it for three days hung up; afterwards put it in strong red pickle, in which let it remain three weeks. Take it out, put it into a pot with plenty of water, pepper, a little allspice, and onion; let it simmer for seven or eight hours, but never let it boil.

When quite tender, take out all the bones, spread it out on a table to cool, well beat it out with a rollingpin, and sprinkle with cayenne, nutmeg, and very little cloves, pounded together. Put it in a coa.r.s.e cloth after it is rolled; twist it at each end to get out the fat, and bind it well round with broad tape; in that state let it remain three days.