The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 40

_Pheasant a l'Italienne._

Cut the liver small: and to one bird take but six oysters; parboil them, and put them into a stewpan with the liver, a piece of b.u.t.ter, some parsley, green onions, pepper and salt, sweet-herbs, and a little allspice; let them stand a little over the fire, and stuff the pheasant with them; then put it into a stewpan, with some oil, green onions, sweet basil, parsley, and lemon juice, for a few minutes; take them off, cover your pheasant with slices of bacon, and put it upon a spit, tying some paper round it while roasting. Then take some oysters, and stew them in their own liquor a little, and put in your stewpan four yolks of eggs, half a lemon cut in dice, a little beaten pepper, sc.r.a.ped nutmeg, parsley cut small, an anchovy cut small, a rocambole, a little oil, a small gla.s.s of white wine, a little of ham cullis; put the sauce over the fire to thicken, then put in the oysters, and make the sauce relishing, and, when the pheasant is done, lay it in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.

_Pheasant, Pure of._

Chop the fleshy parts of a pheasant, the wings, breast, and legs, very fine, and pound them well in a mortar. Warm a pint of veal jelly, and stew the bird in it. Strain the whole through a sieve. Mix it all to the consistency of mashed potatoes. Serve in a dish with fried bread round it.

_Widgeon, to dress._

To eat widgeon in perfection, half roast the birds. When they come to table, slice the breast, strew on pepper and salt, pour on a little red wine, and squeeze the juice of an orange or lemon over; put some gravy to this; set the plate on a lamp; cut up the bird; let it remain over the lamp till enough done, turning it. A widgeon will take nearly twenty minutes to roast, to eat plain with good gravy only.

_Wild Duck, to roast._

It will take full twenty minutes--gravy sauce to eat with it.

_Woodc.o.c.ks and Snipes, to roast._

Twenty minutes will roast the woodc.o.c.ks, and fifteen the snipes. Put under either, while roasting, a toast to receive the trail, which lay under them in the dish. Melted b.u.t.ter and good gravy for sauce.

_Woodc.o.c.ks a la Francaise._

Pick them, then draw and truss them; let their b.r.e.a.s.t.s be larded with broad pieces of bacon; roast and serve them up on toasts dipped in verjuice.

_Woodc.o.c.ks, to pot._

The same as you pot pigeons.

SAUCES.

_Essence of Anchovies._

Take two pounds of anchovies, one ounce of bay salt, three pints of spring water, half a gill of red port, half a gill mushroom ketchup; put them into a saucepan until the anchovies are all dissolved; let them boil; strain off the liquor with a one hair sieve, and be careful not to cork it until it is quite cold.

_Anchovy Pickle._

Take two pounds of bay salt, three quarters of a pound of saltpetre, three pints of spring water, and a very little bole armeniac, to grate on the liquor to give it a colour; it must not be put to the anchovies until it is cold.

If anchovies are quite dry, put them into a jar, with a layer of bay salt at the bottom, and a little on the top.

_Anchovy Sauce._

Take one or two anchovies; scale, split, and put them into a saucepan, with a little water, or good broth, a spoonful of vinegar, and a small round onion. When the anchovy is quite dissolved, strain off the liquor, and put into your melted b.u.t.ter to your taste.

_To recover Anchovies._

When anchovies have, through the loss of the pickle, become rusty or decayed, put two pounds of saltpetre to a gallon of water, and boil it till reduced to a fourth part, continuing to skim it as it rises; then add a quarter of an ounce of crystal tartar; mix these, and stir them well. Take away the spoiled fish, put them together lightly, and pour in the new pickle, mixed with a pint of good old pickle, and stop them up close for twenty-four days. When you open them again, cover them with fine beaten bay salt; let them remain about four days; and, as you take them out for use, cover them carefully down.

_Baccha.n.a.lian Sauce._

Take a spoonful of sweet oil, a gill of good broth, and a pint of white wine vinegar, adding two gla.s.ses of strong white wine: boil them together till half is consumed; then put in some shalot, garden cresses, tarragon, chervil, parsley, and scallions, all shred very fine, with some large pepper. Let the whole boil up, and serve it. A little cullis added will improve it.

_Bechamel, or White Sauce._ No. 1.

Take half a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, three pounds of veal, cut into small slices, a quarter of a pound of ham, some tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of mushrooms, truffles, and morels, two white onions, a bunch of parsley, and thyme, put the whole into a stewpan, and set it on the fire till the meat is made firm; then put in three spoonfuls of flour, moistened with boiling hot thin cream. Keep this sauce rather thin, so that while you reduce it the ingredients may have time to be stewed thoroughly. Season with a little salt and cayenne pepper, and strain it through a sieve. This is excellent for pouring over roast veal instead of b.u.t.ter, and is a good sauce for hashed veal, for any white meat, and for all sorts of vegetables.

_Bechamel._ No. 2.

Two pounds of lean veal, cut in square pieces, half an inch thick; half a pound of lean ham. Melt in your stewpan two ounces of b.u.t.ter; simmer it until nearly ready to catch the stewpan, which must be avoided: add three table-spoonfuls of flour. When well mixed, add three pints of broth, or water, pouring in a little at a time that the thickening may be smooth. Stir till it boils; set it on the corner of the hob to boil gently for two hours. Season with an onion, twelve peppercorns, a few mushrooms, a f.a.ggot of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and a bay-leaf. Let the sauce be reduced to a quart; skim off the fat; and strain through a tamis.

_Bechamel._ No. 3.

Proceed much in the same way as for the brown sauce, (see Cullis) only it is not to be drawn down brown, but filled up and thickened with flour and water, some good cream added to it, and then strained.

_Sauce for Beef Bouilli._

Four hard eggs well mixed up with half a table-spoonful of made mustard, eight capers, and one table spoonful of Reading sauce.

_Sauce for boiled Beef a la Russe._

Sc.r.a.pe a large stick of horseradish, tie it up in a cloth, and boil it with the beef; when boiled a little, put it into some melted b.u.t.ter; boil it some time, and send it up in the b.u.t.ter. Some persons like to have it sent up in vinegar.

_Bread Sauce._ No. 1.

Put into half a pint of water a good sized piece of bread-crumb, not new, with an onion, a blade of mace, a few peppercorns, in a bit of cloth; boil them a few minutes; take out the onion and spice, mash the bread smooth, add a little salt and a piece of b.u.t.ter.

_Bread Sauce._ No. 2.

Take a French roll, or white bread crumb; set it on the fire, with some good broth or gravy, a small bag of peppercorns, and a small onion; add a little good cream, and a little pepper and salt; you may rub it through a sieve or not.