The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Part 30

Strain and skim off all the fat. Add the jelly and stir over the fire until it is melted. Serve with game.

BROWN SAUCE.

Delicious sauce for meats is made in this way: Slice a large onion and fry in b.u.t.ter till it is brown; then cover the onion with rich brown gravy, which is left from roast beef; add mustard, salt and pepper, and if you choose a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce; let this boil up, and if too thick, thin it with a little stock or gravy, or even a little hot water with b.u.t.ter. Pour this when done through a fine sieve. Of course a larger quant.i.ty can be prepared at once than is mentioned here.

MUSHROOM SAUCE.

Wash a pint of small b.u.t.ton mushrooms, remove the stems and outside skins, stew them slowly in veal gravy or milk or cream, adding an onion, and seasoning with pepper, salt and a little b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Their flavor will be heightened by salting a few the night before, to extract the juice. In dressing mushrooms only those of a dull pearl color on the outside and the under part tinged with pale pink should be selected. If there is a poisonous one among them, the onion in the sauce will turn black. In such a case throw the whole away. Used for poultry, beef or fish.

APPLE SAUCE.

When you wish to serve apple sauce with meat prepare it in this way: Cook the apples until they are very tender, then stir them thoroughly so there will be no lumps at all; add the sugar and a little gelatine dissolved in warm water, a tablespoonful in a pint of sauce; pour the sauce into bowls, and when cold it will be stiff like jelly, and can be turned out on a plate. Cranberry sauce can be treated in the same way. Many prefer this to plain stewing.

Apples cooked in the following way look very pretty on a tea-table, and are appreciated by the palate. Select firm, round greenings; pare neatly and cut in halves; place in a shallow stewpan with sufficient boiling water to cover them, and a cupful of sugar to every six apples. Each half should cook on the bottom of the pan, and be removed from the others so as not to injure its shape. Stew slowly until the pieces are very tender; remove to a dish carefully; boil the syrup half an hour longer; pour it over the apples and eat cold. A few pieces of lemon boiled in the syrup adds to the flavor. These sauces are a fine accompaniment to roast pork or roast goose.

CIDER APPLE SAUCE.

Boil four quarts of new cider until it is reduced to two quarts; then put into it enough pared and quartered apples to fill the kettle; let the whole stew over a moderate fire four hours; add cinnamon if liked.

This sauce is very fine with almost any kind of meat.

OLD-FASHIONED APPLE SAUCE.

Pare and chop a dozen medium-sized apples, put them in a deep pudding-dish; sprinkle over them a heaping coffeecupful of sugar and one of water. Place them in the oven and bake slowly two hours or more, or until they are a deep red brown; quite as nice as preserves.

CRANBERRY SAUCE.

One quart of cranberries, two cupfuls of sugar and a pint of water.

Wash the cranberries, then put them on the fire with the water, but in a covered saucepan. Let them simmer until each cranberry bursts open; then remove the cover of the saucepan, add the sugar and let them all boil twenty minutes without the cover. The cranberries must never be stirred from the time they are placed on the fire. This is an unfailing recipe for a most delicious preparation of cranberries. Very fine with turkey and game.

APPLE OMELET.

Apple omelet, to be served with broiled sparerib or roast pork, is very delicate. Take nine large, tart apples, four, eggs, one cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter; add cinnamon or other spices to suit your taste; stew the apples till they are very soft; mash them so that there will be no lumps; add the b.u.t.ter and sugar while they are still warm; but let them cool before putting in the beaten eggs; bake this till it is brown; you may put it all in a shallow pudding-dish or in two tin plates to bake. Very good.

FLAVORED VINEGARS.

Almost all the flavorings used for meats and salads may be prepared in vinegar with little trouble and expense, and will be found useful to impart an acid to flavors when lemons are not at hand.

Tarragon, sweet basil, burnet, green mint, sage, thyme, sweet marjoram, etc., may be prepared by putting three ounces of either of these herbs, when in blossom, into one gallon of sharp vinegar, let stand ten days, strain off clear, and bottle for use.

Celery and cayenne may be prepared, using three ounces of the seed as above.

CUc.u.mBER VINEGAR.

_Ingredients_.--Ten large cuc.u.mbers, or twelve smaller ones, one quart of vinegar, two onions, two shallots, one tablespoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of pepper, a quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne.

_Mode_.--Pare and slice the cuc.u.mbers, put them in a stone jar, or wide-mouthed bottle, with the vinegar; slice the onions and shallots, and add them, with all the other ingredients, to the cuc.u.mbers. Let it stand four or five days; boil it all up, and when cold, strain the liquor through a piece of muslin, and store it away in small bottles well sealed. This vinegar is a very nice addition to gravies, hashes, etc., as well as a great improvement to salads, or to eat with cold meat.

CURRY POWDER.

To make curry powder, take one ounce of ginger, one ounce of mustard, one ounce of pepper, three ounces of coriander seed, three ounces of turmeric, half an ounce of cardamoms, one-quarter ounce of cayenne pepper, one-quarter ounce of cinnamon, and one-quarter ounce of c.u.min seed. Pound all these ingredients very fine in a mortar; sift them and cork tight in a bottle.

This can be had ready prepared at most druggists, and it is much less trouble to purchase it than to make it at home.

CURRY SAUCE.

One tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one of flour, one teaspoonful of curry powder, one large slice of onion, one large cupful of stock, salt and pepper to taste. Cut the onion fine, and fry brown in the b.u.t.ter. Add the flour and curry powder. Stir for one minute, add the stock and season with the salt and pepper. Simmer five minutes; then strain and serve. This sauce can be served with a broil or _saute_ of meat or fish.

TO BROWN b.u.t.tER.

Put a lump of b.u.t.ter into a hot frying pan and toss it about until it browns. Stir brown flour into it until it is smooth and begins to boil. Use it for coloring gravies, and sauces for meats.

TO BROWN FLOUR.

Spread flour upon a tin pie-plate, set it upon the stove or in a _very_ hot oven, and stir continually, after it begins to color, until it is brown all through.

Keep it always on hand; put away in gla.s.s jars covered closely. It is excellent for coloring and thickening many dishes.

TO MAKE MUSTARD.

Boil some vinegar; take four spoonfuls of mustard, half of a teaspoonful of sugar, a saltspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter; mix well.

FRENCH MUSTARD.

Three tablespoonfuls of mustard, one tablespoonful of granulated sugar, well worked together, then beat in an egg until it is smooth; add one teacupful of vinegar, a little at a time, working it all smooth; then set on the stove and cook three or four minutes, stirring all the time; when cool, add one tablespoonful of the best olive oil, taking care to get it all thoroughly worked in and smooth. You will find this very nice. _Mrs. D. Riegel_.

KITCHEN PEPPER.

Mix one ounce of ground ginger, half an ounce each of black pepper, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, one teaspoonful of ground cloves, and six ounces of salt. Keep in a tightly corked bottle. _The Caterer_.

PREPARED COCOANUT. (For Pies, Puddings, etc.)

To prepare cocoanut for future use, first cut a hole through the meat at one of the holes in the end, draw off the milk, then loosen the meat by pounding the nut well on all sides. Crack the nut and take out the meat, and place the pieces of meat in a cool open oven over night, or for a few hours, to dry; then grate it. If there is more grated than is needed for present use, sprinkle it with sugar, and spread out in a cool dry place. When dry enough put away in dry cans or bottles.