BOILED RHUBARB PUDDING.
1338. INGREDIENTS.--4 or 5 sticks of fine rhubarb, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar, 3/4 lb. of suet-crust No. 1215.
_Mode_.--Make a suet-crust with 3/4 lb. of flour, by recipe No. 1215, and line a b.u.t.tered basin with it. Wash and wipe the rhubarb, and, if old, string it--that is to say, pare off the outside skin. Cut it into inch lengths, fill the basin with it, put in the sugar, and cover with crust. Pinch the edges of the pudding together, tie over it a floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil from 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Turn it out of the basin, and serve with a jug of cream and sifted sugar.
_Time_.--2 to 2-1/2 hours. _Average cost_, 7d.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons. _Seasonable_ in spring.
RHUBARB TART.
1339. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of puff-paste No. 1206, about 5 sticks of large rhubarb, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar.
_Mode_.--Make a puff-crust by recipe No. 1206; line the edges of a deep pie-dish with it, and wash, wipe, and cut the rhubarb into pieces about 1 inch long. Should it be old and tough, string it, that is to say, pare off the outside skin. Pile the fruit high in the dish, as it shrinks very much in the cooking; put in the sugar, cover with crust, ornament the edges, and bake the tart in a well-heated oven from 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
If wanted very nice, brush it over with the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth, then sprinkle on it some sifted sugar, and put it in the oven just to set the glaze: this should be done when the tart is nearly baked. A small quant.i.ty of lemon-juice, and a little of the peel minced, are by many persons considered an improvement to the flavour of rhubarb tart.
_Time_.--1/2 to 3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 9d.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ in spring.
[Ill.u.s.tration: RHUBARB.]
RHUBARB.--This is one of the most useful of all garden productions that are put into pies and puddings. It was comparatively little known till within the last twenty or thirty years, but it is now cultivated in almost every British garden.
The part used is the footstalks of the leaves, which, peeled and cut into small pieces, are put into tarts, either mixed with apples or alone. When quite young, they are much better not peeled. Rhubarb comes in season when apples are going out. The common rhubarb is a native of Asia; the scarlet variety has the finest flavour. Turkey rhubarb, the well-known medicinal drug, is the root of a very elegant plant (_Rheum palmatum_), coming to greatest perfection in Tartary. For culinary purposes, all kinds of rhubarb are the better for being blanched.
RAISED PIE OF POULTRY OR GAME.
1340. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 1/2 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 1/2 pint of water, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoonful of salt (these are for the crust); 1 large fowl or pheasant, a few slices of veal cutlet, a few slices of dressed ham, forcemeat, seasoning of nutmeg, allspice, pepper and salt, gravy.
[Ill.u.s.tration: RAISED PIE.]
_Mode_.--Make a stiff short crust with the above proportion of b.u.t.ter, flour, water, and eggs, and work it up very smoothly; b.u.t.ter a raised-pie mould, as shown in No. 1190, and line it with the paste.
Previously to making the crust, bone the fowl, or whatever bird is intended to be used, lay it, breast downwards, upon a cloth, and season the inside well with pounded mace, allspice, pepper, and salt; then spread over it a layer of forcemeat, then a layer of seasoned veal, and then one of ham, and then another layer of forcemeat, and roll the fowl over, making the skin meet at the back. Line the pie with forcemeat, put in the fowl, and fill up the cavities with slices of seasoned veal and ham and forcemeat; wet the edges of the pie, put on the cover, pinch the edges together with the paste-pincers, and decorate it with leaves; brush it over with beaten yolk of egg, and bake in a moderate oven for 4 hours. In the mean time, make a good strong gravy from the bones, pour it through a funnel into the hole at the top; cover this hole with a small leaf, and the pie, when cold, will be ready for use. Let it be remembered that the gravy must be considerably reduced before it is poured into the pie, as, when cold, it should form a firm jelly, and not be the least degree in a liquid state. This recipe is suitable for all kinds of poultry or game, using one or more birds, according to the size of the pie intended to be made; but the birds must always be boned.
Truffles, mushrooms, &c., added to this pie, make it much nicer; and, to enrich it, lard the fleshy parts of the poultry or game with thin strips of bacon. This method of forming raised pies in a mould is generally called a _timbale_, and has the advantage of being more easily made than one where the paste is raised by the hands; the crust, besides, being eatable. (_See_ coloured plate N 1.) _Time_.--Large pie, 4 hours.
_Average cost_, 6s. 6d.
_Seasonable_, with poultry, all the year; with game, from September to March.
RAISED PIE OF VEAL AND HAM.
1341. INGREDIENTS.--3 or 4 lbs. of veal cutlets, a few slices of bacon or ham, seasoning of pepper, salt, nutmeg, and allspice, forcemeat No.
415, 2 lbs. of hot-water paste No. 1217, 1/2 pint of good strong gravy.
_Mode_.--To raise the crust for a pie with the hands is a very difficult task, and can only be accomplished by skilled and experienced cooks. The process should be seen to be satisfactorily learnt, and plenty of practice given to the making of raised pies, as by that means only will success be insured. Make a hot-water paste by recipe No. 1217, and from the ma.s.s raise the pie with the hands; if this cannot be accomplished, cut out pieces for the top and bottom, and a long piece for the sides; fasten the bottom and side-piece together by means of egg, and pinch the edges well together; then line the pie with forcemeat made by recipe No.
415, put in a layer of veal, and a plentiful seasoning of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice, as, let it be remembered, these pies taste very insipid unless highly seasoned. Over the seasoning place a layer of sliced bacon or cooked ham, and then a layer of forcemeat, veal seasoning, and bacon, and so on until the meat rises to about an inch above the paste; taking care to finish with a layer of forcemeat, to fill all the cavities of the pie, and to lay in the meat firmly and compactly. Brush the top edge of the pie with beaten egg, put on the cover, press the edges, and pinch them round with paste-pincers. Make a hole in the middle of the lid, and ornament the pie with leaves, which should be stuck on with the white of an egg; then brush it all over with the beaten yolk of an egg, and bake the pie in an oven with a soaking heat from 3 to 4 hours. To ascertain when it is done, run a sharp-pointed knife or skewer through the hole at the top into the middle of the pie, and if the meat feels tender, it is sufficiently baked. Have ready about 1/2 pint of very strong gravy, pour it through a funnel into the hole at the top, stop up the hole with a small leaf of baked paste, and put the pie away until wanted for use. Should it acquire too much colour in the baking, cover it with white paper, as the crust should not in the least degree be burnt. Mushrooms, truffles, and many other ingredients, may be added to enrich the flavour of these pies, and the very fleshy parts of the meat may be larded. These pies are more frequently served cold than hot, and form excellent dishes for cold suppers or breakfasts. The cover of the pie is sometimes carefully removed, leaving the perfect edges, and the top decorated with square pieces of very bright aspic jelly: this has an exceedingly pretty effect.
_Time_.--About 4 hours. _Average cost_, 6s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for a very large pie. _Seasonable_ from March to October.
BAKED RICE PUDDING.
I.
1342. INGREDIENTS.--1 small teacupful of rice, 4 eggs, 1 pint of milk, 2 oz. of fresh b.u.t.ter, 2 oz. of beef marrow, 1/4 lb. of currants, 2 tablespoonfuls of brandy, nutmeg, 1/4 lb. of sugar, the rind of 1/2 lemon.
_Mode_.--Put the lemon-rind and milk into a stewpan, and let it infuse till the milk is well flavoured with the lemon; in the mean time, boil the rice until tender in water, with a very small quant.i.ty of salt, and, when done, let it be thoroughly drained. Beat the eggs, stir to them the milk, which should be strained, the b.u.t.ter, marrow, currants, and remaining ingredients; add the rice, and mix all well together. Line the edges of the dish with puff-paste, put in the pudding, and bake for about 3/4 hour in a slow oven. Slices of candied-peel may be added at pleasure, or Sultana raisins may be subst.i.tuted for the currants.
_Time_.--3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. 3d.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_.--Suitable for a winter pudding, when fresh fruits are not obtainable.
RICE, with proper management in cooking it, forms a very valuable and cheap addition to our farinaceous food, and, in years of scarcity, has been found eminently useful in lessening the consumption of flour. When boiled, it should be so managed that the grains, though soft, should be as little broken and as dry as possible. The water in which it is dressed should only simmer, and not boil hard. Very little water should be used, as the grains absorb a great deal, and, consequently, swell much; and if they take up too much at first, it is difficult to get rid of it. Baking it in puddings is the best mode of preparing it.
II.
(_Plain and Economical; a nice Pudding for Children_.)
1343. INGREDIENTS.--1 teacupful of rice, 2 tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, 1 quart of milk, 1/2 oz. of b.u.t.ter or 2 small tablespoonfuls of chopped suet, 1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg.
_Mode_.--Wash the rice, put it into a pie-dish with the sugar, pour in the milk, and stir these ingredients well together; then add the b.u.t.ter cut up into very small pieces, or, instead of this, the above proportion of finely-minced suet; grate a little nutmeg over the top, and bake the pudding, in a moderate oven, from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. As the rice is not previously cooked, care must be taken that the pudding be very slowly baked, to give plenty of time for the rice to swell, and for it to be very thoroughly done.
_Time_.--1-1/2 to 2 hours. _Average cost_, 7d.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 children. _Seasonable_ at any time.
PLAIN BOILED RICE PUDDING.
1344. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of rice.
_Mode_.--Wash the rice, tie it in a pudding-cloth, allowing room for the rice to swell, and put it into a saucepan of cold water; boil it gently for 2 hours, and if, after a time, the cloth seems tied too loosely, take the rice up and tighten the cloth. Serve with sweet melted b.u.t.ter, or cold b.u.t.ter and sugar, or stewed fruit, jam, or marmalade; any of which accompaniments are suitable for plain boiled rice.
_Time_.--2 hours after the water boils. _Average cost_, 2d.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.
BOILED RICE PUDDING.
I.
1345. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of rice, 1-1/2 pint of new milk, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 4 eggs, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, 4 large tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, flavouring to taste.