BIRD DUMPLINGS.--Take a large tender beef steak, trim off all the fat, and remove the bone. Make a large sheet of nice suet paste. Lay the beef steak upon it, seasoned with pepper and a very little salt. In the centre of the meat place either a partridge, a quail, a plover, or any nice game, or three or four reed-birds--season with powdered mace and nutmeg. Add some bits of excellent fresh b.u.t.ter, dredged with flour.
Inclose the birds completely in the steak, so that the game flavor may pervade the whole. Close the crust over all, so as to form a large dumpling. Tie it in a cloth. Put it into a pot of fast-boiling water, and boil it well, turning it several times with a fork. Dish it very hot.
If game is not convenient, a fine tame fat pigeon may be subst.i.tuted.
TO ROAST WOODc.o.c.kS OR SNIPES.--Be very careful in plucking these to pull out the feathers as carefully and handle them as lightly as possible; for the skin is very easily torn or broken. Do not draw them, for epicures have decided, that the trail, (as they call the intestines,) is the most delicious part of the bird, and should by all means be saved for eating. Having wiped the outside carefully with a soft cloth, truss them with the head under the wing, and the bill laid along upon the breast. Keep the legs bent from the knees, retaining that posture by means of a splinter skewer. Suspend the birds to a bird-spit, with their feet downward. Melt some fresh b.u.t.ter in the dripping-pan, and baste them with it, having first dredged the birds with flour. Before the trail begins to drop, (which it will do as soon as they are well heated,) lay a thick round of very nice toast, (with the crust pared off,) b.u.t.tered on both sides, and placed in the dripping-pan beneath, so as to catch the trail as it falls; allowing a slice of toast to each bird, with the trail spread equally over it. Continue the basting, letting the b.u.t.ter fall back from them into the basting spoon. When the birds are done, which will be in less than half an hour at a brisk fire--carefully transfer the toasts to a very hot dish; place the birds upon them, and pour some gravy round the toast.
Snipes require less cooking than woodc.o.c.ks. These birds are very fashionable; but we do not think either of them superlative. They seldom appear except at supper parties.
PLOVERS.--This is a very nice bird, with a peculiar and pleasant flavor.
They abound near our large bays and estuaries in the vicinity of the ocean. There are two sorts, the green plover and the gray. Roast them plain; basting them only with b.u.t.ter. Or fill them with a forcemeat, and go entirely over the outside, first with beaten egg, and then roll each plover in finely grated bread-crumbs.
If very fat, stew them plain in b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Then serve them up in their own gravy, enriched with a beaten egg. They make a nice breakfast dish, either roasted or stewed. And are excellent in pies.
REED BIRDS.--Reed birds and rice birds are the same. They are very small, (only a mouthful on each side of the breast,) but very delicious, and _immensely fat_ in the summer and autumn. They are brought to market with a lump of fat skewered on the outside, and are sold by the dozen strung on a stick like cherries.
To cook them, roast them on a bird-spit, basting with their own fat, as it drips. A nice way for retaining the whole flavor is to tie each bird closely in a vine leaf, and bake them in a dutch oven. Or wrap them in double vine leaves, and roast them in the ashes of a wood fire. Remove the vine leaves before the birds are dished.
ROASTED PIGEONS.--Take fine fat _tame_ pigeons, and clean and truss them nicely. Four pigeons, at least, are requisite to make a dish. Prepare a stuffing or forcemeat of finely minced veal, and an equal quant.i.ty of cold-boiled ham, seasoned with powdered mace and a very little cayenne.
Also, two slices of bread and b.u.t.ter soaked in as much milk as they will absorb. Fill their bodies with this, (tying a string round to keep it in,) and roast the pigeons till thoroughly done; basting with fresh b.u.t.ter or lard.
Or you may stuff the pigeons with chopped mushrooms, seasoned with a little cayenne, and putting into each a piece of fresh b.u.t.ter rolled in flour.
Or you may stuff them with sweet potatos, boiled well, and mashed with plenty of fresh b.u.t.ter. Or with chestnuts, boiled, peeled, and mashed with b.u.t.ter.
Wild pigeons are generally too poor to roast. In places where they abound, it has been found very profitable to catch them in nets, clip their wings, and put them into inclosures, feeding them well with corn so as to make them fat. They will then bring as high a price as tame pigeons.
SAUCES.
MELTED b.u.t.tER.--_For Sauces._--This is frequently called Drawn b.u.t.ter.
For this purpose none should be used but fresh b.u.t.ter of the very best quality. It is usually sent to table with boiled fish and boiled poultry. Also, with boiled mutton, lamb, and veal. It is never served up with any thing roasted, fried or broiled. Numerous sauces are made with melted b.u.t.ter. If mixed with too much flour and water, and not enough of b.u.t.ter, it will be very poor, particularly if the water is in too large proportions. To prepare it properly, allow a quarter of a pound of nice b.u.t.ter, to a heaped table-spoonful of flour. Mix the b.u.t.ter and flour thoroughly, _before_ it goes on the fire. Then add to it four large table-spoonfuls of milk, or hot water, well mixed in. Hold it over the fire in a small sauce-pan, kept for the purpose. One lined with what is called porcelain or enamel is best. Take care there is no blaze where the sauce-pan is held. Cover it, and shake it over the fire till it boils. Then having skimmed it, add three or four hard-boiled eggs chopped small, and give it one more boil up; or season it with any other ingredient with which you wish to distinguish the sauce.
CLARIFIED b.u.t.tER.--For this purpose use none but the very best fresh b.u.t.ter, such as is made in summer, when the cows are well pastured. Cut up the b.u.t.ter, put it into an enameled or porcelain stew-pan, and melt it gently over a clear and moderate fire. When it simmers, skim it thoroughly, draw it from the fire, and let it stand five minutes, that the milk or sediment may sink to the bottom. Then pour it clear from the sediment through a muslin strainer, or a fine clean hair sieve. Transfer to jars with close covers, and keep them in a cool dry place. If well prepared, and originally very good, this b.u.t.ter will answer for sauces, stews, &c., and continue good a long time. In France, where they do not _salt_ any b.u.t.ter, large quant.i.ties are melted in this way for winter use.
COLORING FOR SAUCES.--_For Pink Sauce._ Take a few chips of red alkanet root, (to be had at the druggist"s.) Pick it clean, and tie it in a very thin muslin bag. Put the alkanet into the mixture, and let it infuse in the boiling drawn b.u.t.ter. It will communicate a beautiful pink color, which you may heighten, by pressing the bag a little. When done, take out the bag, and stir the alkanet color evenly through the sauce. The alkanet has no taste, and is very cheap. Beet juice will color a tolerable red.
_For Green Sauce._--Pound some fresh spinach leaves, till you extract a tea-cup or more of the clear green juice. Stir it into the melted b.u.t.ter while boiling.
_For Yellow Sauce._--Tie up a very little turmeric powder in a muslin bag. Let it boil in the b.u.t.ter. When done, take it out of the sauce-pan, and stir the yellow coloring evenly through the sauce.
_For White Sauce._--Make this with cream instead of milk.
_For Brown Sauce._--Stir in plenty of French mustard.
_For Wine Sauce._--Stir in, just before you take the sauce from the fire, a large wine-gla.s.s or more of _very good_ white wine, and grate in half a large nutmeg, adding the grated yellow rind, and the juice of a lemon. The wine must be of excellent quality, otherwise it will give a bad taste to the sauce.
WHITE THICKENING--(_French Roux._)--Cut up a quarter of a pound of the best fresh b.u.t.ter, and put it into a well tinned or enameled sauce-pan.
Set it over a moderate fire, and melt it slowly, shaking it round frequently, and taking care to skim it well. When no more sc.u.m appears on the surface, let it settle a few minutes; then pour it off from the sediment at the bottom. Wash the sauce-pan or get another clean one.
Return the melted b.u.t.ter to it, and set it again over the fire. Then dredge in gradually sufficient sifted flour to make it very thick and smooth, stirring it well after each addition of flour. Do not allow it to brown in the slightest degree, but keep it perfectly white to the last; simmering, but not actually boiling, and take care that there is no smoke about the fire.
To thicken white sauces, or soups, stir in a table-spoonful or two of this roux, p.r.o.nounced _roo_. In French cooking it pa.s.ses for cream.
Browned thickening is made in the same manner; but with b.u.t.ter and browned flour, and is used for brown soups and gravies.
BROWNING.--This is to enrich the taste and improve the color of gravies, stews, and soups. Mix a quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar with two ounces of fine fresh b.u.t.ter; and, having stirred them well together, put them into a sauce-pan over the fire, and simmer till it begins to froth; then diminish the heat a little. When its color becomes a fine dark brown, add two gla.s.ses of port wine, and three or four blades of mace, powdered. When it comes to a boil, take it off, and stir it into whatever you intend to color.
Another browning is mushroom catchup, or walnut catchup. They communicate a slightly acid taste. So also does French mustard. Stir it in at the last. Its tarragon flavor is very generally liked.
BROWNED FLOUR.--Sift some fine flour, spread it on a large dish, or clean tin-pan. Place it before the fire, so as to brown but not to scorch or burn. It will color first at the edges; therefore watch it, and keep it evenly mixed with the white flour from the centre. When all is nicely browned, set it to cool, and then put it away for use in a large clean bottle or jar, well corked. Flour may be browned in an oven, after baking is over, taking care to stir it well.--Have two dredging boxes. One for browned flour and one for white. It is convenient also to have dredging-boxes for powdered herbs. The cost of these boxes is very trifling, and it saves time and trouble to have things ready when wanted. A small sieve for powdered white sugar is indispensable.
LOBSTER SAUCE.--This sauce is for fresh salmon or turbot, or sheep"s-head fish. Also for salmon-trout, blue-fish, or the lake white-fish.
Put a large hen lobster into a hard-boiling pot of highly-salted water, that the animal may die immediately. Continue the boiling with a steady heat, and in about three quarters, or an hour, the lobster will be done.
When cold, extract all the meat from the sh.e.l.l, and cut it into small bits. Pound the coral, or red substance, in a marble mortar, with some fresh b.u.t.ter, or plenty of salad oil; and a little cayenne. Add the coral to the cut-up lobster, and put the whole into a stew-pan, with some powdered mace and nutmeg, and a large table-spoonful of sweet oil.
Divide into four bits a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, each bit rolled in flour. If your b.u.t.ter is not fresh and very good, omit it entirely and subst.i.tute a larger quant.i.ty of oil. As bad b.u.t.ter spoils every thing, never on any account, use it. Set the sauce-pan over the fire, and let it boil up once. Then take it off, and while very hot, stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs.
Crab sauce is made in the same manner. Prawn sauce also.
SHRIMP SAUCE.--Shrimps are the smallest sh.e.l.l-fish of the lobster species. Put them into salted boiling water. They are done when they have turned entirely red. When cold, pull off the heads, and peel off the sh.e.l.ls from the bodies; or _squeeze_ out the meat with your fingers.
Have ready some nice drawn b.u.t.ter, and thicken it with the shrimps, either chopped or whole. Season the sauce with mace or nutmeg powdered, and give it one boil up. Shrimp sauce is eaten with salmon and other fine fish.
PICKLED SHRIMPS.--Having boiled, in salted water, three quarts or more of shrimps, and taken them from the sh.e.l.ls, boil two quarts of the best cider vinegar, and season it well with blades of mace and pepper-corns, and pour it hot on the shrimps, in a stone jar. Cork the jar, and seal the cork with the usual red cement for pickle jars: a mixture of one-third beeswax with two-thirds powdered rosin, and some fine brickdust, all melted together.
OYSTER SAUCE.--Take a pint of the liquor of _fresh_ oysters, and strain it into a sauce-pan. If your oysters are salt, and you can get no others, boil a pint of milk instead of the oyster liquor, seasoning with powdered nutmeg and mace, and enriching it with fresh b.u.t.ter dredged with flour. When it has come to a boil, put in the oysters (having removed from each the gristle, or hard part.) Let them simmer, but take them from the fire without letting them come to a boil, which will shrivel them, and render them tough and tasteless. A new fashion is to season oyster sauce with the grated yellow rind and juice of a fresh lemon. Others stir in a gla.s.s of sherry or Madeira. If you use wine or lemon, you must not make the sauce with milk, as it will curdle. Use in this case the oyster liquor, if it is fresh, thickened well with finely grated bread-crumbs. The small, highly-flavored oysters, abounding on the coast of New England, are excellent for sauce, or soups.
CLAM SAUCE.--Make this of half milk and half clam liquor, seasoned with whole mace, and whole pepper. Use only the soft part of the clams, cut up small, and simmer them from the beginning; adding bits of b.u.t.ter dredged all over with flour Clams require longer cooking than oysters.
EGG SAUCE.--Boil four eggs from eight to twelve minutes. Then lay them in a pan of fresh water, and let them remain till quite cold. Peel off the sh.e.l.ls, and take out the eggs. Chop the yolks and whites separately; mix them, lightly, into half a pint of melted fresh b.u.t.ter, made in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter to two large table-spoonfuls of flour, and four of milk and hot water. Add some powdered mace, or nutmeg. Egg sauce is eaten with boiled fish and poultry.