BROWN APPLE SAUCE.
364. INGREDIENTS.--6 good-sized apples, 1/2 pint of brown gravy, cayenne to taste.
_Mode_. Put the gravy in a stewpan, and add the apples, after having pared, cored, and quartered them. Let them simmer gently till tender; beat them to a pulp, and season with cayenne. This sauce is preferred by many to the preceding.
_Time_.--According to the apples, about 3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 6d.
ASPARAGUS SAUCE.
365. INGREDIENTS.--1 bunch of green asparagus, salt, 1 oz. of fresh b.u.t.ter, 1 small bunch of parsley, 3 or 4 green onions, 1 large lump of sugar, 4 tablespoonfuls of sauce tournee.
_Mode_.--Break the asparagus in the tender part, wash well, and put them into boiling salt and water to render them green. When they are tender, take them out, and put them into cold water; drain them on a cloth till all moisture is absorbed from them. Put the b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, with the parsley and onions; lay in the asparagus, and fry the whole over a sharp fire for 5 minutes. Add salt, the sugar and sauce tournee, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Rub all through a tammy, and if not a very good colour, use a little spinach green. This sauce should be rather sweet.
_Time_.--Altogether 40 minutes.
_Average cost_ for this quant.i.ty, 1s. 4d.
ASPIC, or ORNAMENTAL SAVOURY JELLY.
366. INGREDIENTS.--4 lbs. of knuckle of veal, 1 cow-heel, 3 or 4 slices of ham, any poultry tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 1 f.a.ggot of savoury herbs, 1 gla.s.s of sherry, 3 quarts of water; seasoning to taste of salt and whole white pepper; 3 eggs.
_Mode_.--Lay the ham on the bottom of a stewpan, cut up the veal and cow-heel into small pieces, and lay them on the ham; add the poultry tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, vegetables, herbs, sherry, and water, and let the whole simmer very gently for 4 hours, carefully taking away all sc.u.m that may rise to the surface; strain through a fine sieve, and pour into an earthen pan to get cold. Have ready a clean stewpan, put in the jelly, and be particular to leave the sediment behind, or it will not be clear.
Add the whites of 3 eggs, with salt and pepper, to clarify; keep stirring over the fire, till the whole becomes very white; then draw it to the side, and let it stand till clear. When this is the case, strain it through a cloth or jelly-bag, and use it for moulding poultry, etc.
(See Explanation of French Terms, page 44.) Tarragon vinegar may be added to give an additional flavour.
_Time_.--Altogether 4-1/2 hours. _Average cost_ for this quant.i.ty, 4s.
WHITE PEPPER.--This is the produce of the same plant as that which produces the black pepper, from which it is manufactured by steeping this in lime and water, and rubbing it between the hands till the coats come off. The best berries only will bear this operation; hence the superior qualities of white pepper fetch a higher price than those of the other. It is less acrid than the black, and is much prized among the Chinese. It is sometimes adulterated with rice-flour, as the black is with burnt bread. The berries of the pepper-plant grow in spikes of from twenty to thirty, and are, when ripe, of a bright-red colour. After being gathered, which is done when they are green, they are spread out in the sun, where they dry and become black and shrivelled, when they are ready for being prepared for the market.
BECHAMEL, or FRENCH WHITE SAUCE.
367. INGREDIENTS.--1 small bunch of parsley, 2 cloves, 1/2 bay-leaf, 1 small f.a.ggot of savoury herbs, salt to taste; 3 or 4 mushrooms, when obtainable; 2 pints of white stock, 1 pint of cream, 1 tablespoonful of arrowroot.
_Mode_.--Put the stock into a stewpan, with the parsley, cloves, bay-leaf, herbs, and mushrooms; add a seasoning of salt, but no pepper, as that would give the sauce a dusty appearance, and should be avoided.
When it has boiled long enough to extract the flavour of the herbs, etc., strain it, and boil it up quickly again, until it is nearly half-reduced. Now mix the arrowroot smoothly with the cream, and let it simmer very gently for 5 minutes over a slow fire; pour to it the reduced stock, and continue to simmer slowly for 10 minutes, if the sauce be thick. If, on the contrary, it be too thin, it must be stirred over a sharp fire till it thickens. This is the foundation of many kinds of sauces, especially white sauces. Always make it thick, as you can easily thin it with cream, milk, or white stock.
_Time_.--Altogether, 2 hours. _Average cost_, 1s. per pint.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CLOVE.]
THE CLOVE.--The clove-tree is a native of the Molucca Islands, particularly Amboyna, and attains the height of a laurel-tree, and no verdure is ever seen under it. From the extremities of the branches quant.i.ties of flowers grow, first white; then they become green, and next red and hard, when they have arrived at their clove state. When they become dry, they a.s.sume a yellowish hue, which subsequently changes into a dark brown. As an aromatic, the clove is highly stimulating, and yields an abundance of oil. There are several varieties of the clove; the best is called the _royal clove_, which is scarce, and which is blacker and smaller than the other kinds. It is a curious fact, that the flowers, when fully developed, are quite inodorous, and that the real fruit is not in the least aromatic. The form is that of a nail, having a globular head, formed of the four petals of the corolla, and four leaves of the calyx not expanded, with a nearly cylindrical germen, scarcely an inch in length, situate below.
BECHAMEL MAIGRE, or WITHOUT MEAT.
368. INGREDIENTS.--2 onions, 1 blade of mace, mushroom tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, a small bunch of parsley, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, flour, 1/2 pint of water, 1 pint of milk, salt, the juice of 1 lemon, 2 eggs.
_Mode_.--Put in a stewpan the milk, and 1/2 pint of water, with the onions, mace, mushrooms, parsley, and salt. Let these simmer gently for 20 minutes. In the mean time, rub on a plate 1 oz. of flour and b.u.t.ter; put it to the liquor, and stir it well till it boils up; then place it by the side of the fire, and continue stirring until it is perfectly smooth. Now strain it through a sieve into a basin, after which put it back in the stewpan, and add the lemon-juice. Beat up the yolks of the eggs with about 4 dessertspoonfuls of milk; strain this to the sauce, keep stirring it over the fire, but do not let it boil, lest it curdle.
_Time_.--Altogether, 3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 5d. per pint.
This is a good sauce to pour over boiled fowls when they are a bad colour.
PICKLED BEETROOT.
369. INGREDIENTS.--Sufficient vinegar to cover the beets, 2 oz. of whole pepper, 2 oz. of allspice to each gallon of vinegar.
_Mode_.--Wash the beets free from dirt, and be very careful not to p.r.i.c.k the outside skin, or they would lose their beautiful colour. Put them into boiling water, let them simmer gently, and when about three parts done, which will be in 1-1/2 hour, take them out and let them cool. Boil the vinegar with pepper and allspice, in the above proportion, for ten minutes, and when cold, pour it on the beets, which must be peeled and cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Cover with bladder to exclude the air, and in a week they will be fit for use.
_Average cost_, 3s. per gallon.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BLACK PEPPER.]
BLACK PEPPER.--This well-known aromatic spice is the fruit of a species of climbing vine, and is a native of the East Indies, and is extensively cultivated in Malabar and the eastern islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, and others in the same lat.i.tude.
It was formerly confined to these countries, but it has now been introduced to Cayenne. It is generally employed as a condiment; but it should never be forgotten, that, even in small quant.i.ties, it produces detrimental effects on inflammatory const.i.tutions. Dr. Paris, in his work on Diet, says, "Foreign spices were not intended by Nature for the inhabitants of temperate climes; they are heating, and highly stimulant. I am, however, not anxious to give more weight to this objection than it deserves. Man is no longer the child of Nature, nor the pa.s.sive inhabitant of any particular region. He ranges over every part of the globe, and elicits nourishment from the productions of every climate. Nature is very kind in favouring the growth of those productions which are most likely to answer our local wants. Those climates, for instance, which engender endemic diseases, are, in general, congenial to the growth of plants that operate as antidotes to them. But if we go to the East for tea, there is no reason why we should not go to the West for sugar. The dyspeptic invalid, however, should be cautious in their use; they may afford temporary benefit, at the expense of permanent mischief. It has been well said, that the best quality of spices is to stimulate the appet.i.te, and their worst to destroy, by insensible degrees, the tone of the stomach. The intrinsic goodness of meats should always be suspected when they require spicy seasonings to compensate for their natural want of sapidity." The quality of pepper is known by rubbing it between the hands: that which withstands this operation is good, that which is reduced to powder by it is bad.
The quant.i.ty of pepper imported into Europe is very great.
BENTON SAUCE (to serve with Hot or Cold Roast Beef).
370. INGREDIENTS.--1 tablespoonful of sc.r.a.ped horseradish, 1 teaspoonful of made mustard, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 4 tablespoonfuls of vinegar.
_Mode_.--Grate or sc.r.a.pe the horseradish very fine, and mix it with the other ingredients, which must be all well blended together; serve in a tureen. With cold meat, this sauce is a very good subst.i.tute for pickles.
_Average cost_ for this quant.i.ty, 2d.
BREAD SAUCE (to serve with Roast Turkey, Fowl, Game, &c.).
I.
371. INGREDIENTS.--1 pint of milk, 3/4 of the crumb of a stale loaf, 1 onion; pounded mace, cayenne, and salt to taste; 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter.
_Mode_.--Peel and quarter the onion, and simmer it in the milk till perfectly tender. Break the bread, which should be stale, into small pieces, carefully picking out any hard outside pieces; put it in a very clean saucepan, strain the milk over it, cover it up, and let it remain for an hour to soak. Now beat it up with a fork very smoothly, add a seasoning of pounded mace, cayenne, and salt, with 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter; give the whole one boil, and serve. To enrich this sauce, a small quant.i.ty of cream may be added just before sending it to table.
_Time_.--Altogether, 1-3/4 hour.
_Average cost_ for this quant.i.ty, 4d.
_Sufficient_ to serve with a turkey, pair of fowls, or brace of partridges.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MACE.]
MACE.--This is the membrane which surrounds the sh.e.l.l of the nutmeg. Its general qualities are the same as those of the nutmeg, producing an agreeable aromatic odour, with a hot and acrid taste. It is of an oleaginous nature, is yellowish in its hue, and is used largely as a condiment. In "Beeton"s Dictionary" we find that the four largest of the Banda Islands produce 150,000 lbs. of it annually, which, with nutmegs, are their princ.i.p.al articles of export.
II.
372. INGREDIENTS.--Giblets of poultry, 3/4 lb. of the crumb of a stale loaf, 1 onion, 12 whole peppers, 1 blade of mace, salt to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream or melted b.u.t.ter, 1 pint of water.