Scald and clean the head, and put it to boil with two gallons of water, a shank of veal, three onions, two carrots, a little bacon, and a bunch of sweet herbs. When they have boiled half an hour, take out the head and shank of veal, and cut all the meat off the bones into pieces of two inches square; let the soup boil half an hour longer, when strain it, and put in the meat; season it with salt, cayenne and black pepper, and cloves, if you like; thicken it with b.u.t.ter and browned flour, and let it boil nearly an hour; put some fried force meat b.a.l.l.s in the tureen, and just before you pour out the soup, stir into it a table-spoonful of sugar, browned in a frying pan, and half a pint of wine. This resembles turtle soup.
Beef Shin Soup, Mutton Soup, &c.
Crack the shin in several pieces, and wash it through three waters; put it in a pot of water four hours before dinner; when it begins to boil, take off the sc.u.m as it risen, and keep it covered; an hour before it is done, skim off all the fat, and put in potatoes, onions, turnips, carrots, and cut cabbage, if you like it; either beat up dumplings with eggs and milk, or roll them out of dough made as pie crust; a few minutes before it is done, stir in thickening with parsley, thyme, pepper and salt, and tomatoes, if they are in season; then dish it for dinner.
A shin will make a good dinner for a large family, and will do to warm up, if any is left. To eat pickles with it, or pour a little vinegar in your plate, is an improvement.
Soup made of mutton, veal and lamb, does not require many vegetables; carrots and potatoes are the most suitable. A shank of veal or mutton will make a small pot of very good soup. Celery, cut fine, is very nice seasoning.
Gumbo Soup.
Take two pounds fresh beef; put this in a dinner-pot, with two gallons of water; after boiling two hours, throw in a quarter of a peck of ocra, cut into small slices, and about a quart of ripe tomatoes, peeled and cut up; slice four or five large onions; fry them brown, and dust in while they are frying from your dredge box, several spoonsful of flour; add these, with pepper, salt and parsley, or other herbs, to your taste, about an hour before the soup is finished; it will require six hours moderate boiling.
Another Way.
Cut up a large fat chicken; boil it in two gallons of water, adding at the time you put in the chicken the same quant.i.ty of ocra, two large onions cut fine; season with pepper, salt, thyme and parsley; and when nearly done, drop in dumplings made of one egg, half a pint of rich milk, and flour sufficient to make them so that they will drop from a spoon. This soup requires from four to five hours moderate boiling. Just before serving, take up the chicken, and after taking out all the bones, return the chicken into the soup, and dish it up.
Pea Soup.
Leave a pint of peas in the pot, with the water they were boiled in; make a thickening of flour, milk and b.u.t.ter, seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley and thyme; toast two or three slices of bread; cut it up in the tureen; and when the soup has boiled about ten minutes, pour it over.
Children are mostly fond of pea soup, and it seldom disagrees with them.
A few slices of fat ham will supply the place of b.u.t.ter.
Soup of Dried White Beans, &c.
Dried beans or peas should be soaked before boiling; they make very good soup with a small piece of bacon or salt pork boiled with them; put them to boil in plenty of water, and after they have boiled an hour, pour it off, and put in cold water--and the meat or bones, and let them boil an hour longer; stir in a little thickening, with pepper, salt, parsley and thyme; mix up some dumplings, and drop in half an hour before the soup is done. Where you have a large family, you should always be provided with dried beans for winter use.
A Vegetable Soup.
Take an onion, a turnip, two pared potatoes, a carrot, a head of celery; boil them in three pints of water till the vegetables are cooked; add a little salt; have a slice of bread toasted and b.u.t.tered, put it into a bowl, and pour the soup over it. Tomatoes when in season form an agreeable addition.
FISH, OYSTERS, &c.
To Bake a Rock Fish.
Rub the fish with salt, black pepper, and a dust of cayenne, inside and out; prepare a stuffing of bread and b.u.t.ter, seasoned with pepper, salt, parsley and thyme; mix an egg in it, fill the fish with this, and sew it up or tie a string round it; put it in a deep pan, or oval oven and bake it as you would a fowl. To a large fish add half a pint of water; you can add more for the gravy if necessary; dust flour over and baste it with b.u.t.ter. Any other fresh fish can be baked in the same way. A large one will bake slowly in an hour and a half, small ones in half an hour.
To Stew a Rock Fish.
Rub the fish with salt and pepper, and a little cayenne on the inside; put it in an oval stew-pan. To a fish that weighs six pounds, put a pint of water; when it is about half done; season it well with salt and pepper, and a little mace or cloves; rub a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter in a half a tea-cup of flour, with a little parsley and thyme; stir this in with a pint of oysters. Serve it with the gravy in the dish. A large fish should be allowed an hour, small ones half an hour.
To Broil Shad.
Soak a salt shad a day or night previous to cooking, it is best to drain an hour before you put it to the fire; if it hangs long exposed to the air, it loses its flavor: grease the gridiron to keep it from sticking; have good coals, and put the inside down first. Fresh shad is better to be sprinkled with salt, an hour before it is put to broil; put a plate over the top to keep the heat in. In broiling shad or other fresh fish you should dust them with corn meal before you put them down.
To Bake a Fresh Shad.
Make a stuffing of bread, b.u.t.ter, salt, pepper and parsley; fill a large shad with this, and bake it in a stove or oven.
To Fry Fresh Fish.
Have the fish well scalded, washed and drained; cut slits in the sides of each; season them with salt and pepper, and roll them in corn flour; have in your frying-pan hot lard or bacon drippings; if the fish have been kept several days, dip them in egg before rolling them in corn flour, to keep them from breaking; fry them light brown on both sides.
To Fry Clams.
After opening them as oysters, wash them in their own liquor and drain then; make a batter of an egg, flour and pepper; dip them in this, and fry them in b.u.t.ter.
To Stew Clams.
Strain the liquor and stew them in it for about twenty minutes; make a thickening of flour, water and pepper; stir this in and let it boil up; have some bread toasted and b.u.t.tered in a deep dish, and pour the clams over.
Clam soup may be made by putting an equal quant.i.ty of water with the liquor, and putting in toasted bread, crackers or dumplings.
To Pot Fresh Herring.
Scale and wash them well; cut off the heads and fins, and season them with salt, pepper and cloves; pack them neatly in a large jar, and pour on enough cold vinegar to cover them; put a plate over the top of the jar, and set it in a moderately warm oven, or on the top of a stove, in a pan of hot water, for five or six hours; they will keep in a cool place several weeks, and are an excellent relish. The jar or pan should be of stone ware, or fire-proof yellow ware.
To Boil Salt Cod.
Put your fish to soak over night; change the water in the morning, and let it stay till you put it on, which should be two hours before dinner; keep it at scalding heat all the time, but do not let it boil, or it will get hard; eat it with egg sauce or drawn b.u.t.ter. If you have any cod fish left from dinner, mix it with mashed potatoes, and enough flour to stick them together; season with pepper; make it into little cakes, and fry them in ham drippings.
To Boil Salt Shad, Mackerel Or Herring.
Wash the fish from the pickle; put it in a frying-pan; cover it with water, and let it boil fifteen minutes; take it up and drain it between two plates; put a little b.u.t.ter over and send it hot to the table: or, after boiling, you can flour, and fry it in drippings of any kind.
To Boil Salt Salmon.
Let salmon soak over night, and boil it slowly for two hours; eat it with drawn b.u.t.ter. To pickle salmon after it has been boiled, heat vinegar scalding hot, with whole peppers and cloves; cut the fish in small square pieces; put it in a jar, and pour the vinegar over. Shad may be done in the same way.