For this dish, you must have beans enough to absorb nearly all the liquid. They must on no account float about in it, as it is intended for a seasoning, not a gravy.
Stewed beans will be improved by adding a small piece of cold ham, to be removed before they go to table. If ham is used, omit any salt in the seasoning, as the ham will make it quite salt enough.
TO STEW COLD POTATOES.--Take cold potatoes, (either white or sweet ones,) and cut them into round or circular slices. Have ready some nice gravy of roast beef, veal, or fresh pork, that has been left from the preceding day, and well skimmed. Care should every day be taken to save whatever gravy is left of roast meat, skimming off _all_ the fat from the surface, and putting away the gravy in a covered vessel set in a cool place. The gravy of cold mutton or lamb is so like tallow that it is unfit to use in any sort of cookery, and should always be consigned to the crock of soap-fat.
Season the sliced potatoes slightly with pepper, and putting them into a skillet with the cold gravy among them, stew them in that only, without a drop of water. Let them stew but a quarter of an hour. They are nice at breakfast, done in this manner; sweet potatoes especially.
TO IMPROVE OLD POTATOES.--In the spring when the potatoes of the preceding autumn have become old, and deteriorated in quality, they will be greatly improved if, previous to boiling, a piece about the size of a shilling or a twelve-cent-piece, is cut off from each end; like "topping and tailing" them. Afterwards boil these potatoes with the skins on, and see that they are thoroughly done. _Old_ potatoes require very long boiling, and are unfit to eat if hard in the centre, being then extremely indigestible. Their specks and blemishes make them so unsightly when sent to table whole, that it is best when sufficiently boiled, to peel and mash them. Mash them with milk or cream, if you cannot obtain good fresh b.u.t.ter. Salt b.u.t.ter will spoil their flavour instead of improving it, and all bad b.u.t.ter (whether salt or fresh) is unwholesome, as well as unpalatable, and should never be used for any purpose.
SYDNEY SMITH"S SALAD-DRESSING.--Have ready two well-boiled potatoes, peeled and rubbed through a sieve; they will give peculiar smoothness to the mixture. Also, a very small portion of raw onion, not more than a _quarter_ of a tea-spoonful, (as the presence of the onion is to be scarcely hinted,) and the pounded yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. Mix these ingredients on a deep plate with two small tea-spoonfuls of salt; one of made mustard; three table-spoonfuls of olive oil; and one table-spoonful of vinegar. Add, lastly, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy; mash, and mix the whole together (using a boxwood spoon) and see that all the articles are thoroughly amalgamated. Having cut up a sufficiency of lettuce, (that has been well washed in cold water, and drained,) add to it the dressing immediately before dinner, mixing the lettuce through it with a boxwood fork.
This salad dressing was invented by the Rev. Sydney Smith, whose genius as a writer and a wit is well-known on both sides the Atlantic. If _exactly_ followed, it will be found very fine on trial; no peculiar flavour predominating, but excellent as a whole. The above directions are taken from a ma.n.u.script receipt given by Mr. Smith to an American gentleman then in London.
In preparing this, or any other salad-dressing, take care not to use that excessively pungent and deleterious combination of drugs which is now so frequently imposed upon the public, as _the best white wine vinegar_. In reality, it has no vinous material about it, and it may be known by its violent and disagreeable sharpness, which overpowers and destroys the taste (and also the substance) of whatever it is mixed with. And it is also very unwholesome. Its colour is always very pale, and it is nearly as clear as water. No one should buy or use it. The first quality of _real_ cider vinegar is good for all purposes.
The above receipt may be tried for lobster-dressing.
LETTUCE CHICKEN SALAD.--Having skinned a pair of cold fowls, remove the fat, and carve them as if for eating, cut all the flesh entirely from the bones, and either mince it or divide it into small shreds. Mix with it a little smoked tongue or cold ham, grated rather than chopped. Have ready one or two fine fresh lettuces, picked, washed, drained, and cut small. Put the cut lettuce on a dish, (spreading it evenly,) or into a large bowl, and place upon it the minced chicken in a close heap in the centre. For the dressing, mix together the following ingredients, in the proportion of the yolks of four eggs well beaten; a tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar; a salt-spoon of cayenne; (no salt if you have ham or tongue with the chicken;) two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard; two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, and four table-spoonfuls of salad oil. Stir this mixture well: put it into a small sauce-pan, set it over the fire, and let it boil three minutes, (not more,) stirring it all the time.
Then set it to cool. When quite cold, cover with it thickly the heap of chicken in the centre of the salad. To ornament it, have ready half a dozen or more hard-boiled eggs, which after the sh.e.l.l is peeled off, must be thrown directly into a pan of cold water to prevent their turning blue. Cut each egg (white and yolk together) lengthways into four long pieces of equal size and shape; lay the pieces upon the salad all round the heap of chicken, and close to it; placing them so as to follow each other round in a slanting direction, something in the form of a circular wreath of leaves. Have ready, also, some very red cold beet, cut into small cones or points all of equal size; arrange them in a circle upon the lettuce, outside of the circle of cut egg. To be decorated in this manner, the salad should be placed in a dish rather than a bowl. In helping it, give each person a portion of every thing, and they will mix them together on their plates.
This salad should be prepared immediately before dinner or supper, as standing long will injure it. The colder it is the better.
ITALIAN CHICKEN SALAD.--Make a dressing in the proportion of the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, mashed or pounded fine; a salt-spoon of salt; and the same quant.i.ty of mustard, and of cayenne; and a salt-spoon of powdered white sugar; four table-spoonfuls of salad-oil; and two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, (tarragon vinegar will be best.) Simmer this dressing over the fire, but do not let it come to a boil. Stir it all the time. Take a sufficiency of the white meat of cold fowls, and pull or cut it into flakes. Pile it in the middle of a dish, and pour the salad-dressing over it. Have ready two fine fresh lettuces that have been laid in cold water. Strip off the outside leaves; cut up the best part of the lettuces, and arrange it evenly in a ridge, or circular heap all round the pile of chicken in the centre. On the top of the ridge of lettuce, place the whites of the eggs, cut into rings and laid round so as to form a chain. Of course, a portion of the lettuce is to be helped with the chicken.
A lobster salad may be made as above; also a salad of minced prawns or crabs.
Persons who have no dislike to a very slight flavour of garlic, will find this chicken-salad improved, by a clove of garlic being lightly rubbed over the dish while empty.
In dressing and helping every sort of salad, use a boxwood spoon and fork.
TARRAGON SAUCE.--Take a large handful of tarragon leaves, stripped from the stalks: put them into a small sauce-pan with half a pint of boiling water, and four blades of mace. Cover the sauce-pan, and let it stew slowly till the liquid is reduced to one half, and the flavour of the tarragon is well drawn out. Then strain it; and put the liquid into a clean sauce-pan. Mix together a table-spoonful of flour, and six ounces of b.u.t.ter, and when it has been well-stirred, and beaten smoothly, stir it into the tarragon water. Place the sauce-pan over the fire, and watch it closely. When it has simmered well, and is just beginning to boil, take it off immediately and transfer it to a sauce-boat. Eat it with any sort of boiled meat or poultry, or with boiled fish. The tarragon will give it a fine flavour.
You may add to the tarragon, while stewing, a small white onion cut in slices.
This sauce may be coloured a fine green, by pounding in a mortar a sufficient quant.i.ty of young parsley or spinach. Then take some of the juice, and add it to the liquid after you have strained it from the tarragon leaves, and before you put in the b.u.t.ter.
Tarragon is an herb well worth cultivating. It grows from a slip or root, and is easily raised. The leaves are fit to gather in July and August. They impart a fine and peculiar flavour to sauces, soups, and salad; and are indispensable in making French mustard. Tarragon may be kept a year or more by drying it in bunches. Also by filling a bottle half with tarragon leaves, and half with good vinegar.
FINE LEMON PICKLE.--Take some fresh ripe lemons, and (having first rolled each one under your hand upon the table) cut them into quarters, and remove all the seeds. Put the pieces of lemon, with all the juice, into a stone jar. Have ready a sufficient quant.i.ty of excellent vinegar to cover the lemon well; the vinegar being boiled with a clove or two of garlic; some blades of mace; a broken up nutmeg; whole pepper, (the white or peeled pepper-corns will be best;) some cayenne or bird-pepper; and a very little salt. The proportion of these ingredients may be according to your taste, but the seasoning should be high, yet not so as to overpower the lemon-flavour. Having boiled the vinegar, with all these articles, about ten minutes, pour the whole boiling hot upon the lemon in the jar, and immediately cover it closely. Let the jar stand three weeks in the chimney-corner, stirring it frequently, and setting it occasionally in the oven after the baking is done. Then roll a sheet of blotting paper into a cone, pinning up the side, and folding the cone so as to close up the pointed end. Have ready some small clean black bottles. Set the paper cone into the mouth of the bottle, and through it filter the liquid. Seal the corks. This will be found an excellent sauce for fish, or any sort of white meat; and will keep for years.
PEACH PICKLES.--Stir two pounds of white sugar into two quarts of the best cider vinegar. Boil it ten minutes, skimming it well. Have ready some large fully-ripe peaches; rub them with a clean flannel to take off the down, and stick four cloves into each. Put them into gla.s.s or white-ware jars, (rather more than half-full,) and pour on them the vinegar boiling hot. Cover them closely, set them in a cool place, and let them rest for a week. Then pour off the liquid, and give it another boiling. Afterwards pour it again on the peaches; cover them closely, corking the jars, and tying leather over each, and put them away till wanted for use.
Instead of cloves you may stick the peaches with blades of mace, six blades to each peach.
Apricots may be pickled as above. Morella cherries also, using mace instead of cloves.
If you find a coat of mould on the top of a jar of pickles, remove it carefully, and do not throw away the pickles, as they may still be quite good beneath.
CUc.u.mBER CATCHUP.--For a small quant.i.ty, take twelve fine full-grown cuc.u.mbers, and lay them an hour in cold water. Then pare them, and grate them down into a deep dish. Grate also six small onions, and mix them with the grated cuc.u.mber. Season the mixture to your taste, with pepper, salt, and vinegar; making it of the consistence of rich marmalade or jam. When thoroughly incorporated, transfer it to a gla.s.s jar, cover it closely, tying down over the top a piece of bladder, so as to make it perfectly air-tight.
It will be found very nice (when fresh cuc.u.mbers are not in season) to eat with beef or mutton, and if properly made and tightly covered will keep well. It should be grated very fine, and the vinegar must be of excellent quality--real cider vinegar.
ONION CUSTARD.--Peel and slice some mild onions, (ten or twelve, in proportion to their size,) and fry them in fresh b.u.t.ter; draining them well when you take them up. Then mince them as fine as possible. Beat four eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a pint of milk, in turn with the minced onions. Season the whole with plenty of grated nutmeg, and stir it very hard. Then put it into a deep, white dish, and bake it about a quarter of an hour. Send it to table as a side dish to be eaten with meat or poultry. It is a French preparation of onions, and will be found very fine.
MEATS, ETC.
STEWED LAMB.--Take a fine quarter of lamb, and for a large dish, cut the whole of it into steaks; for a small dish, cut up the loin only; or slice only the leg. Remove the skin, and all the fat. Place at the bottom of a large stew-pot a fresh lettuce split into long quarters.
Having seasoned the steaks with a little salt and cayenne, and some powdered nutmeg and mace, lay them upon the lettuce, pour on just sufficient water to cover the whole, and let it stew gently for an hour, skimming it occasionally. Then put in a quart or two of young green peas, (in proportion to the quant.i.ty of meat,) a sprig of fresh green mint, a lump of loaf-sugar, and some bits of fresh b.u.t.ter. Let it cook slowly about half an hour longer, or till the peas are all soft and well-done. In sending it to table, place the meat upon the lettuce, and the peas round it.
Cold ham sliced, and stewed in this manner, will be found excellent. The ham having been already cooked, half an hour will be sufficient to stew it with the lettuce, and another half-hour after the peas are in.
LAMB CUTLETS, (_a French dish_.)--Cut a loin of lamb into chops. Remove all the fat, trim them nicely, sc.r.a.pe the bone, and see that it is the same length in all the cutlets. Lay them in a deep dish, and cover them with salad oil. Let them steep in the oil for an hour. Mix together a sufficiency of finely grated bread-crumbs, and a little minced parsley, seasoned with a very little pepper and salt, and some grated nutmeg.
Having drained the cutlets from the oil, cover them with the mixture, and broil them over a bed of hot, live coals, on a previously heated gridiron, the bars of which have been rubbed with chalk. The cutlets must be thoroughly cooked. When half done, turn them carefully. You may bake them in a dutch-oven, instead of broiling them. Have ready some boiled potatoes, mashed smooth and stiff with cream or b.u.t.ter. Heap the mashed potatoes high on a heated dish, and make it into the form of a dome or bee-hive. Smooth it over with the back of a spoon, and place the lamb cutlets all round it, so that they stand up and lean against it, with the broad end of each cutlet downward. In the top of the dome of potatoes, stick a handsome bunch of curled parsley.
FILLET OF MUTTON.--Cut a fillet or round from a leg of mutton; remove all the fat from the outside, and take out the bone. Beat it well on all sides with a meat-beetle or a rolling-pin, to make it more tender, and rub it slightly all over with a very little pepper and salt. Have ready a stuffing made of finely-minced onions, bread-crumbs, and b.u.t.ter; seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and well-mixed. Fill, with some of this stuffing, the place of the bone. Make deep incisions or cuts all over the surface of the meat, and fill them closely with the same stuffing. Bind a tape round the meat to keep it in shape. Put it into a stew-pan, with just water enough to cover it, and let it stew slowly and steadily during four, five, or six hours, in proportion to its size; skimming it frequently. When done, serve it up with its own gravy.
Tomato sauce is an excellent accompaniment to stewed mutton.
A thick piece of a round of fresh beef will be found very good, stuffed and stewed in the above manner. It will require much longer stewing than the mutton.
STEWED MUTTON CUTLETS.--Having removed all the fat and the bone, beat the cutlets to make them tender, and season them with pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Put them into a circular tin kettle, with some bits of fresh b.u.t.ter that have been rolled in flour. Set the kettle (closely covered) upon a trivet inside of a flat-bottomed pot or stew-pan. Pour boiling water all round, but not so as to come up to the top of the inner kettle. Set the pot over a slow fire, and let the stew simmer for two hours. Then lift up the meat, and put under it a lettuce cut in four; and three cuc.u.mbers, pared, split, and quartered; two onions sliced; and four young turnips cut small. Add a few blades of mace, a salt-spoon of salt, and a little more b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Set it again in boiling water, taking care that the water does not reach the top of the inner kettle, the lid of which must be kept very tight. Let it boil slowly, or rather simmer, two hours longer. Then dish it, placing the meat upon the vegetables, and laying all round a ridge of green peas that have been boiled in the usual way.
The bone (nicely trimmed and sc.r.a.ped) may be left in each cutlet; in which case, when dishing them, stand them up in a circle, with the ends of the bones leaning against each other at the top, somewhat as we see poles placed in circles for lima-bean vines.
VEAL LOAF.--Take a cold fillet of veal, and (omitting the fat and skin) mince the meat as fine as possible. Mix with it a quarter of a pound of the fattest part of a cold ham, also chopped small. Add a tea-cupful of grated bread-crumbs; a grated nutmeg; half a dozen blades of mace powdered; the grated yellow rind of a lemon; and two beaten eggs. Season with a salt-spoon of salt, and half a salt-spoon of cayenne. Mix the whole well together, and make it into the form of a loaf. Then glaze it over with beaten yolk of egg; and strew the surface evenly, all over, with bread raspings, or with pounded cracker. Set the dish into a dutch-oven, and bake it half an hour, or till hot all through. Have ready a gravy made of the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of the veal, stewed in some of the gravy that was left when the fillet was roasted the day before. When sufficiently cooked, take out the meat, and thicken the gravy with beaten yolk of egg, stirred in about three minutes before you take it from the fire.
Send the veal loaf to table in a deep dish, with the gravy poured round it.
Chicken loaf, or turkey loaf, may be made in this manner.