_Time_.--10 minutes to boil the sugar. _Average cost_, 1s. 8d.
_Sufficient_ for 1 mould. _Seasonable_ from November to May.
TO MAKE PANCAKES.
1467. INGREDIENTS.--Eggs, flour, milk; to every egg allow 1 oz. of flour, about 1 gill of milk, 1/8 saltspoonful of salt.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PANCAKES.]
_Mode_.--Ascertain that the eggs are fresh; break each one separately in a cup; whisk them well, put them into a basin, with the flour, salt, and a few drops of milk, and beat the whole to a perfectly _smooth_ batter; then add by degrees the remainder of the milk. The proportion of this latter ingredient must be regulated by the size of the eggs, &c. &c.; but the batter, when ready for frying, should be of the consistency of thick cream. Place a small frying-pan on the fire to get hot; let it be delicately clean, or the pancakes will stick, and, when quite hot, put into it a small piece of b.u.t.ter, allowing about 1/2 oz. to each pancake.
When it is melted, pour in the batter, about 1/2 teacupful to a pan 5 inches in diameter, and fry it for about 4 minutes, or until it is nicely brown on one side. By only pouring in a small quant.i.ty of batter, and so making the pancakes thin, the necessity of turning them (an operation rather difficult to unskilful cooks) is obviated. When the pancake is done, sprinkle over it some pounded sugar, roll it up in the pan, and take it out with a large slice, and place it on a dish before the fire. Proceed in this manner until sufficient are cooked for a dish; then send them quickly to table, and continue to send in a further quant.i.ty, as pancakes are never good unless eaten almost immediately they come from the frying-pan. The batter may be flavoured with a little grated lemon-rind, or the pancakes may have preserve rolled in them instead of sugar. Send sifted sugar and a cut lemon to table with them.
To render the pancakes very light, the yolks and whites of the eggs should be beaten separately, and the whites added the last thing to the batter before frying.
_Time_.--from 4 to 6 minutes for a pancake that does not require turning; from 6 to 8 minutes for a thicker one.
_Average cost_, for 3 persons, 6d.
_Sufficient._--Allow 3 eggs, with the other ingredients in proportion, for 3 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time, but specially served on Shrove Tuesday.
RICHER PANCAKES.
1468. INGREDIENTS.--6 eggs, 1 pint of cream, 1/4 lb. of loaf sugar, 1 gla.s.s of sherry, 1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, flour.
_Mode_.--Ascertain that the eggs are extremely fresh, beat them well, strain and mix with them the cream, pounded sugar, wine, nutmeg, and as much flour as will make the batter nearly as thick as that for ordinary pancakes. Make the frying-pan hot, wipe it with a clean cloth, pour in sufficient batter to make a thin pancake, and fry it for about 5 minutes. Dish the pancakes piled one above the other, strew sifted sugar between each, and serve.
_Time_.--About 5 minutes.
_Average cost_, with cream at 1s. per pint, 2s. 3d.
_Sufficient_ to make 8 pancakes.
_Seasonable_ at any time, but specially served on Shrove Tuesday.
PEACH FRITTERS.
1469. INGREDIENTS.--For the batter: 1/2 lb. of flour, 1/2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, 2 eggs, milk;--peaches, hot lard or clarified dripping.
_Mode_.--Make a nice smooth, batter in the same manner as directed in recipe No. 1393, and skin, halve, and stone the peaches, which should be quite ripe; dip them in the batter, and fry the pieces in hot lard or clarified dripping, which should be brought to the boiling-point before the peaches are put in. From 8 to 10 minutes will be required to fry them, and, when done, drain them before the fire, and dish them on a white d"oyley. Strew over plenty of pounded sugar, and serve.
_Time_.--From 8 to 10 minutes to fry the fritters, 6 minutes to drain them.
_Average cost_, 1s.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ in July, August, and September.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PEACH.]
PEACH.--The peach and nectarine are amongst the most delicious of our fruits, and are considered as varieties of the same species produced by cultivation. The former is characterized by a very delicate down, while the latter is smooth; but, as a proof of their ident.i.ty as to species, trees have borne peaches in one part and nectarines in another; and even a single fruit has had down on one side and the other smooth. The trees are almost exactly alike, as well as the blossoms. Pliny states that the peach was originally brought from Persia, where it grows naturally, from which the name of Persica was bestowed upon it by the Romans; and some modern botanists apply this as the generic name, separating them from _Amygdalus_, or Almond, to which Linnaeus had united them. Although they are not tropical, they require a great deal of warmth to bring them to perfection: hence they seldom ripen in this country, in ordinary seasons, without the use of walls or gla.s.s; consequently, they bear a high price. In a good peach, the flesh is firm, the skin thin, of a deep bright colour next the sun and of a yellowish green next to the wall; the pulp is yellowish, full of highly-flavoured juice, the fleshy part thick, and the stone small. Too much down is a sign of inferior quality. This fruit is much used at the dessert, and makes a delicious preserve.
PEARS A L"ALLEMANDE.
1470. INGREDIENTS.--6 to 8 pears, water, sugar, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, the yolk of an egg, 1/2 oz. of gelatine.
_Mode_.--Peel and cut the pears into any form that may be preferred, and steep them in cold water to prevent them turning black; put them into a saucepan with sufficient cold water to cover them, and boil them with the b.u.t.ter and enough sugar to sweeten them nicely, until tender; then brush the pears over with the yolk of an egg, sprinkle them with sifted sugar, and arrange them on a dish. Add the gelatine to the syrup, boil it up quickly for about 5 minutes, strain it over the pears, and let it remain until set. The syrup may be coloured with a little prepared cochineal, which would very much improve the appearance of the dish.
_Time_.--From 20 minutes to 1/2 hour to stew the pears; 5 minutes to boil the syrup.
_Average cost_, 1s. 3d.
_Sufficient_ for a large dish.
_Seasonable_ from August to February.
MOULDED PEARS.
1471. INGREDIENTS.--4 large pears or 6 small ones, 8 cloves, sugar to taste, water, a small piece of cinnamon, 1/4 pint of raisin wine, a strip of lemon-peel, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 oz. of gelatine.
_Mode_.--Peel and cut the pears into quarters; put them into a jar with 3/4 pint of water, cloves, cinnamon, and sufficient sugar to sweeten the whole nicely; cover down the top of the jar, and bake the pears in a gentle oven until perfectly tender, but do not allow them to break. When done, lay the pears in a plain mould, which should be well wetted, and boil 1/2 pint of the liquor the pears were baked in with the wine, lemon-peel, strained juice, and gelatine. Let these ingredients boil quickly for 5 minutes, then strain the liquid warm over the pears; put the mould in a cool place, and when the jelly is firm, turn it out on a gla.s.s dish.
_Time_.--2 hours to bake the pears in a cool oven.
_Average cost_, 1s. 3d.
_Sufficient_ for a quart mould.
_Seasonable_ from August to February
PINEAPPLE FRITTERS.
(_An elegant Dish_.)
1472. INGREDIENTS.--A small pineapple, a small winegla.s.sful of brandy or liqueur, 2 oz. of sifted sugar; batter as for apple fritters No. 1393.
_Mode_.--This elegant dish, although it may appear extravagant, is really not so if made when pineapples are plentiful. We receive them now in such large quant.i.ties from the West Indies, that at times they may be purchased at an exceedingly low rate: it would not, of course, be economical to use the pines which are grown in our English pineries for the purposes of fritters. Pare the pine with as little waste as possible, cut it into rather thin slices, and soak these slices in the above proportion of brandy or liqueur and pounded sugar for 4 hours; then make a batter the same as for apple fritters, subst.i.tuting cream for the milk, and using a smaller quant.i.ty of flour; and, when this is ready, dip in the pieces of pine, and fry them in boiling lard from 5 to 8 minutes; turn them when sufficiently brown on one side, and, when done, drain them from the lard before the fire, dish them on a white d"oyley, strew over them sifted sugar, and serve quickly.
_Time_.--5 to 8 minutes.
_Average cost_, when cheap and plentiful, 1s. 6d. for the pine.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.