The New England Cook Book Part 3

Put a layer of fresh mushrooms, in a deep dish, sprinkle a little salt over them, then put in another layer of mushrooms, and salt, and so on, till you get in all the mushrooms, let them stand several days, then mash them fine; to each quart, put a tea spoonful, of black pepper, put it in a stone jar tightly covered, set it in a pot of boiling water, boil it two hours, then strain it without squeezing the mushrooms. Boil the juice half an hour, skim it well, let it stand a few hours to settle, then turn it off carefully through a sieve, bottle, cork, and seal it tight, set it in a cool place.

52. _Essence of Celery._

Steep half an oz. of bruised celery seed, in a quarter of a pint of brandy, for a fortnight. A few drops of this, will give a fine flavor to soup.

53. _Soup Herb Spirit._

Those who like a variety of herbs, in soup, will find it very convenient, to have the following mixture. Take when in their prime, thyme, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, and summer savory, dry, pound, and sift them, steep them in brandy. The herb spirit will be fit for use, in the course of a fortnight.

54. _Veal Soup._

A leg of veal, after enough has been cut off for cutlets, makes a soup nearly as good as calves head. Boil it with a cup two thirds full of rice, a pound and a half of pork, season it with salt, pepper, and sweet herbs, if you like, a little boiled celery cut in slices, or a little essence of celery improves it, parsly, carrot, and onions, boiled in the soup, are liked by some people.

If you wish for b.a.l.l.s in your soup, chop veal fine, mix it with a couple of eggs, a few bread crumbs, a small piece of b.u.t.ter, or raw pork chopped fine, put in salt and pepper, to your taste, or a little curry powder, boil them in the soup. Just before you take the soup up, put in a couple of slices of toast, cut into small pieces. The veal should be taken up before the soup is seasoned.

55. _Black Soup._

The shank of beef, is the best part for soup, cold roast beef bones, and beef steak, make very good soup. Boil the shank four or five hours, in water enough to cover it. Half an hour before the soup goes on the table, take out the meat, thicken the soup with scorched flour mixed with cold water, season it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and cloves, a little tomato catsup improves it, put in sweet herbs or herb spirit if you like.

Some people boil onions in the soup, but as they are very disagreeable to many persons, it is better to boil them and put them in a dish by themselves. Take bread soaked soft, mash it well and put in a little of the boiled beef chopped fine, a couple of eggs, a very little flour, season it highly with salt, pepper, cloves, and mace, do it up in small b.a.l.l.s and boil them in the soup fifteen minutes.

56. _Calf's Head or mock Turtle Soup._

Boil the head till perfectly tender, then take it out, strain the liquor, and set it away till the next day, then skim off the grease. Cut up the meat, and put it in the liquor, together with the lights, (the brains should be reserved for the b.a.l.l.s) warm it, and season it with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and sweet herbs if you like and onions, let it stew gently for half an hour. Just before taking it up add half a pint of white wine. For the b.a.l.l.s chop lean veal fine, with a small piece of raw salt pork, add the brains, and season it highly with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and sweet herbs, or curry powder, make it up into b.a.l.l.s, about the size of half a hen's egg, boil part in the soup, and fry the remainder, and put them in a dish by themselves.

57. _Chicken or Turkey Soup._

The liquor that turkey or chicken is boiled in makes a good soup, with half a tea cup of rice, and a lb. of pork boiled in it. If you do not like it very fat, let it stand till the next day after the turkey is boiled, skim off the fat, season it with salt, pepper, and sweet herbs.

If you like vegetables in soup, boil them by themselves, slice them up when done and put them in the turreen with toasted bread, cut in small pieces; or toasted crackers. When the soup is hot, turn it on them.

58. _Oyster Soup._

Take a couple of quarts of oysters out of the liquor with a fork, strain the liquor, and if there are any sh.e.l.ls in them rinse them off. To each quart put a pint of milk or water. Set them on the fire, when it begins to simmer skim it, mix three tea spoonsful of flour, with a little milk, stir it in when the oysters boil, when it boils again take it up and season it with salt, pepper, a table spoonful of tomato catsup, a table spoonful of vinegar and a small lump of b.u.t.ter; turn it on to a slice of toast cut in pieces.

59. _Pea Soup._

To a quart of peas, put a quart of cold water soak them over night, in a warm place. Next day set them to boiling four or five hours, before they are to be eaten, put in a couple of lbs. of pork to two quarts of the peas, add in a little more water, if not likely to be sufficiently soft, put in a tea spoonful of saleratus half an hour before you take up the soup.

60. _To Bake Beans._

Pick over the beans, wash, and put them in a pot with cold water enough to cover them, hang them over the fire where they will keep just lukewarm. When they begin to grow soft, stew them over a hot fire several minutes, with a heaping tea spoonful of saleratus. Then take them up with a skimmer, and put them in a baking pot, gash a lb. of pork and put it down in the pot so as to have the beans just cover it, pour in cold water till you can see it at the top. They will bake in a hot oven in the course of three hours; but they will be better to remain in it five or six. Beans are very good stewed, without being baked.

61. _Poached Eggs._

Break your eggs into a dish and beat them to a foam. Then put them on a few coals, put in a small lump of b.u.t.ter, a little salt, let them cook very slowly, stirring them constantly till they become quite thick, then take them up, and turn them on b.u.t.tered toast.

62. _To Boil Eggs._

They should be put into boiling water, and if you wish to have them soft, three minutes is long enough to boil them, if you wish to have them hard, they should boil five minutes. Another way to boil them, is to break the sh.e.l.ls and drop the eggs, into a frying pan of boiling water, let them boil three or four minutes. If you do not use the eggs, as a garnish, salt and b.u.t.ter them, when you take them up.

63. _Omelet._

Beat your eggs to a froth, leaving out half the whites, put in a couple of ounces, of fine minced ham, corned beef or veal, when veal is used, a little salt will be requisite. Fry it in b.u.t.ter, till it begins to thicken. When it is brown on the underside, it is sufficiently cooked.

If you wish to have it brown on the top, put a heated bake pan lid over it, as soon as it has set.

64. _Fresh Fish._

Fresh fish for boiling, or broiling, are the best the day after they are caught. They should be cleaned, washed, and half a tea cup of salt, sprinkled on the inside of them, and a little pepper, if they are to be broiled. Set them in a cool place. When fresh fish are boiled, they should be put in a strainer, or sewed up in a cloth carefully; put them in cold water, with the backbone down; with eight or ten pounds of fish, boil half a tea cup of salt. Many people do not put their fish into the pot, until the water boils, but it is not a good plan, as the outside gets cooked too much, before the inside is cooked sufficiently. Fish for frying, should be wiped dry after being washed, and flour sprinkled on them. For five or six lbs. of fish, fry three or four slices of pork, when brown, take them up, and put in the fish, if the pork does not make sufficient fat, to fry the fish in, add a little lard. For good plain gravy, mix a tea spoonful or two of flour with a little water, and turn in, when you have taken up the fish; when well mixed, add a little b.u.t.ter and pepper, when it boils, turn it on to the fish. Boiled fish, should be served up with drawn b.u.t.ter, or liver sauce. For a garnish to boiled fish, boil several eggs five minutes, cool them in water, then take off the sh.e.l.ls, and cut them in slices, and lay them round the fish; parsly and pepper gra.s.s, are also a pretty garnish for boiled fish. For broiling fish the gridiron should be greased with a little b.u.t.ter, the inside of the fish should be broiled first.

65. _Fresh Cod_,

Is good boiled, fried, baked, or made into a chowder. It is too dry a fish to broil.

66. _Halibut_,

Is nice cut in slices, and broiled or fried; the fins and the thick part, are good boiled.

67. _Striped and Sea Ba.s.s_,

Are good fried, boiled, broiled, baked or made into a chowder.

68. _Black Fish._

Black fish are the best fried, or boiled, they will do to broil but are not so nice as cooked in any other way.

69. _Shad._

Fresh shad are the best bloated and broiled; but they are good boiled or fried, the sp.a.w.n and liver are nice fried in lard. Salt shad is good boiled, without any soaking, if liked quite salt, if not pour on scalding water, and let them soak in it, half an hour, then drain off the water, and boil them twenty minutes. Salt shad and mackerel for broiling, should be soaked twenty four hours, in cold water, the water should be changed several times. To salt twenty five shad, mix one pound of sugar, a peck of rock salt, two quarts of fine salt, and quarter of a pound of salt petre. Put a layer of it at the bottom of the keg, then a layer of shad, with the skin side down, sprinkle on the mixed salt, sugar, and salt petre, and so on till you get in all the shad. Lay a heavy weight on the shad, to keep it under brine. If there is not brine enough in the course of a week, add a little more sugar, salt, and salt petre.