SAGO PUDDING. Boil a pint and a half of new milk, with four spoonfuls of sago nicely washed and picked; then add lemon peel, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sweeten the pudding, mix in four eggs, put a paste round the dish, and bake it slowly.
SAIL CLOTH. The old mode of painting canvas was to wet it, and prime it with Spanish brown. Then to give it a second coat of a chocolate colour, made by mixing Spanish brown and black paint; and lastly, to finish it with black. This was found to harden to such a degree as to crack, and eventually to break, the canvas, and so to render it unserviceable in a short time. The new method, which is greatly superior, is to grind ninety-six pounds of English ochre with boiled oil, and to add sixteen pounds of black paint, which mixture forms an indifferent black. A pound of yellow soap, dissolved in six pints of water over the fire, is mixed while hot, with the paint. This composition is then laid upon the canvas, without being wetted as formerly, and as stiff as can conveniently be done with a brush, so as to form a smooth surface. Two days afterwards, a second coat of ochre and black is laid on, with a very small portion of soap; and allowing this coat an intermediate day for drying, the canvas is then finished with black paint as usual. Three days being then allowed for it to dry and harden, it does not stick together when taken down, and folded in cloths of sixty or seventy yards each.
SALAD MIXTURE. Salad herbs should be gathered in the morning, as fresh as possible, or they must be put into cold spring water for an hour.
Carefully wash and pick them, trim off all the dry or cankered leaves, put them into a cullender to drain, and swing them dry in a coa.r.s.e clean napkin. Then pound together the yolks of two hard eggs, an ounce of sc.r.a.ped horseradish, half an ounce of salt, a table-spoonful of made mustard, four drams of minced shalots, one dram of celery seed, one dram of cress seed, and half a dram of cayenne. Add by degrees a wine gla.s.s of salad oil, three gla.s.ses of burnet, and three of tarragon vinegar.
When thoroughly incorporated, set it over a very gentle fire, and stir it with a wooden spoon till it has simmered to the consistence of cream.
Then pa.s.s it through a tammis or fine sieve, and add it to the salad.
SALAD SAUCE. Mix two yolks of eggs boiled hard, as much grated Parmesan cheese as will fill a dessert-spoon, a little patent mustard, a small spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a large one of ketchup. Stir them well together, then put in four spoonfuls of salad oil, and one spoonful of elder vinegar, and beat them up very smooth.
SALADS. Cold salads are proper to be eaten at all seasons of the year, but are particularly to be recommended from the beginning of February to the end of June. They are in greater perfection, and consequently more powerful, during this period, than at any other, in opening obstructions, sweetening and purifying the blood. The habit of eating salad herbs tends considerably to prevent that pernicious and almost general disease the scurvy, and all windy humours which offend the stomach. Also from the middle of September till December, and during the winter, if the weather be mild and open, all green herbs are wholesome, and highly beneficial. It is true that they have not so much vigour in the winter season, nor are they so medicinal as in the spring of the year; yet those which continue fresh and green, will retain a considerable portion of their natural qualities; and being eaten as salads, with proper seasoning, they will operate much in the same way as at other periods of the year. It is a necessary consequence of cold weather, that the heat of the body is driven more inward than in warm weather, as the cold of the atmosphere repels it from the surface. Hence arises an appet.i.te for strong and solid food, and strong drinks, which for want of temperance and care, lays the foundation for diseases that commonly make their appearance in the summer following. Eating freely of salads and other vegetables in the winter, will prevent in a great treasure these ill effects; and if properly seasoned and prepared, they will warm the stomach, and be found exhilarating. The effect produced is in unison with all the operations of the human const.i.tution, while the use of strong stimulants excites to unnatural action, which is soon succeeded by a cold and chilling languor. Green herbs in winter are much more beneficial than is generally imagined; they are particularly salutary to aged persons, and such as are subject to stoppages, or shortness of breath. In this case, instead of an onion, a clove of garlic may be put into the salad, which is a preferable way of eating it. This will open and warm the stomach, and give a general glow to the whole system.--The following are the princ.i.p.al herbs used as salads.
Basil, balm, borage, burnet, celery, chervil, colewort, coriander, corn-salad, cresses, endive, French fennel, lettuce, mint, mustard, nasturtiums, nettle-tops, parsley, pennyroyal, radishes, rape, sage, sorrel, spinage, tarragon, and water-cresses. Onions, both young and full grown, shalots, garlic, and chives, are all used as seasoning to salads. Red beet-root, boiled and cold, is often sliced into them.
Several of these herbs are very little in use as salads, but there are none of them that may not be recommended as good for the purpose. The usual salads are too much limited to what is specifically called small salading, lettuce, celery, and endive. These are all excellent in their kind, but to prefer them to the exclusion of every thing else, is a mere prejudice. With a wish therefore to counteract it, and to provide a larger a.s.sortment of wholesome salads, the following particulars are given, with directions for preparing several different dishes of this description. In general it may be proper to observe, that salads of all kinds should be very fresh; or if not immediately procured in this state, they may be refreshed by being put into cold spring water. They should be very carefully washed and picked, and drained quite dry in a clean cloth. In dressing lettuce, or small herbs, it is best to arrange them, properly picked and cut, in the salad dish; then to mix the sauce in something else, and pour it to the salad down the side of the dish, so as to let it run to the bottom, and not to stir it up till used at table. This preserves the crispness of the salad, which is one of its princ.i.p.al delicacies. With celery and endive the sauce should be poured upon them, and the whole well stirred together to mix it equally.
Lettuce, endive, and celery, may be eaten with salt only; and if well chewed, as all salads ought to be, they often agree better than when mixed with seasonings. If mustard in salad sauces occasion sickness, or otherwise disagrees, cayenne pepper will often prove an excellent subst.i.tute.--The following salads are remarkably wholesome, and have a cooling and salutary effect upon the bowels. 1. Take spinage, parsley, sorrel, lettuce, and a few onions. Then add oil, vinegar, and salt, to give it a high taste and relish, but let the salt rather predominate above the other ingredients. The wholesomest way of eating salads is with bread only, in preference to bread and b.u.t.ter, bread and cheese, or meat and bread; though any of these may be eaten with it, when the salad is seasoned only with salt and vinegar. It is not advisable to eat b.u.t.ter, cheese, or meat with salads, or any thing in which there is a mixture of oil. All fat substances are heavy of digestion, and to mix such as disagree in their nature, is to encrease this evil to a degree that the stomach can hardly overcome. 2. Prepare some lettuce, spinage tops, pennyroyal, sorrel, a few onions, and some parsley. Then season them with oil, vinegar, and salt. 3. Another salad may be made of lettuce, sorrel, spinage, tops of mint, and onions, seasoned as before.
4. Take spinage, lettuce, tarragon, and parsley, with some leaves of balm. Or sorrel, tarragon, spinage, lettuce, onions, and parsley. Or tops of pennyroyal, mint, lettuce, spinage, sorrel, and parsley. Or lettuce, spinage, onions, pennyroyal, balm, and sorrel. Or sage, lettuce, spinage, sorrel, onions, and parsley; seasoned with salt, oil, and vinegar. 5. Make a salad of pennyroyal, sage, mint, balm, a little lettuce, and sorrel; seasoned with oil, vinegar, and salt. This is an excellent warming salad, though the above are all of an exhilarating tendency. 6. Mix some lettuce, sorrel, endive, celery, spinage, and onions, seasoned as above. 7. Take the fresh tender leaves of cole wort, or cabbage plants, with lettuce, sorrel, parsley, tarragon, nettle tops, mint, and pennyroyal; and season them with salt, oil, and vinegar. If highly seasoned, this is a very warm and relishing salad. 8. For winter salad, take some tender plants of colewort, sorrel, lettuce, endive, celery, parsley, and sliced onions; and season them as before. 9.
Another winter salad may be made of lettuce, spinage, endive, celery, and half a clove of garlic. Season it well with oil, vinegar, and salt.
This salad is very warming and wholesome. All these aromatic herbs are particularly proper for phlegmatic and weakly persons, as they have the property of warming the stomach, and improving the blood. To supply the want of oil in salads, make some thick melted b.u.t.ter, and use it in the same proportion as oil. Some sweet thick cream is a still better subst.i.tute, and will do as well as oil, especially as some persons have an aversion to oil. Cream also looks well in salads. A good salad sauce may be made of two yolks of eggs boiled hard, mixed with a spoonful of Parmesan cheese grated, a little patent mustard, a spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a larger one of ketchup. When stirred well together, add four spoonfuls of salad oil, and one of elder vinegar, and beat them up very smooth. It is very common in France, amongst all cla.s.ses of people, to dress cauliflowers and French beans to eat cold, as salads, with a sauce of oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. In some parts of France, raw salads, composed entirely of herbs growing wild in the fields, are in frequent use; and for distinction sake, are called rural salads. The English, who are not so fond of pungent flavours, are in the habit of subst.i.tuting sugar instead of pepper and salt, where oil is not used, in order to soften the asperity of the vinegar.
SALMAGUNDY. This is a beautiful small dish, if in a nice shape, and the colours of the ingredients be properly varied. For this purpose chop separately the white part of cold chicken or veal, yolks of eggs boiled hard, the whites of eggs, beet root, parsley, half a dozen anchovies, red pickled cabbage, ham and grated tongue, or any thing well flavoured and of a good colour. Some people like a small proportion of onion, but it may be better omitted. A saucer, large teacup, or any other base, must be put into a small dish; then make rows round it wide at the bottom, and growing smaller towards the top, choosing such ingredients for each row as will most vary the colours. At the top, a little sprig of curled parsley may be stuck in; or without any thing on the dish, the salmagundy may be laid in rows, or put into the half-whites of eggs, which may be made to stand upright by cutting off a little bit at the round end. In the latter case, each half egg receives but one ingredient. Curled b.u.t.ter and parsley may be put as garnish between.
SALMON. If fresh and good, the flesh will be of a fine red, the gills particularly; the scales very bright, and the whole fish stiff. When just killed there is a whiteness between the flakes, which gives great firmness; by keeping, this melts down, and the fish is more rich. The Thames salmon bears the highest price; that caught in the Severn is next in goodness, and by some it is preferred. Those with small heads, and thick in the neck, are best.
SALMON AU COURT-BOUILLON. Scale and clean a fresh salmon very well, score the sides deep, to take the seasoning; take of mace and cloves, and white pepper, a quarter of an ounce each, a small nutmeg, and an ounce of salt; beat these very fine in a mortar; cut a little lemon peel fine, and shred some parsley, mix all together, and season the fish inside and out; then work up near a pound of b.u.t.ter in flour, and fill up the notches; the rest put into the belly of the fish; lay it in a clean cloth or napkin, roll it up, and bind it round with packthread, lay it into a fish-kettle, and put to it as much white wine vinegar, and water in an equal quant.i.ty, as will be sufficient to boil it in. Set it over a good charcoal fire, and when you think it is enough, draw it off your stove, so that it may but just simmer. Fold a clean napkin the length of your dish the fish is to go up in; take up the fish, unbind it, and lay it on the napkin. Garnish your dish with picked raw parsley, and horseradish. Send plain b.u.t.ter in a bason, and shalots chopped fine, and simmered in vinegar in a boat.
SALMON A LA BRAISE. Clean a middling salmon, take the flesh of a tench, or a large eel, and chop it very fine, with two anchovies, a little lemon peel shred, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little thyme and parsley; mix all together with a good piece of b.u.t.ter, put into the belly of the fish, and sew it up; put it into an oval stew-pan that will just hold it; brown about half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, and put to it a pint of fish broth, and a pint and a half of white wine; pour this over your fish; if it does not cover it, add some more wine and broth; put in a bundle of sweet herbs, and an onion, a little mace, two or three cloves, and some whole pepper tied up in a piece of muslin: cover it close, and let it stew gently over a slow fire. Before it is quite done, take out your onion, herbs, and spice; then put in some mushrooms, truffles, and morels, cut in pieces; let them stew all together, till the salmon is enough; take it up carefully, take off all the sc.u.m, and pour your sauce over. Garnish with horseradish, barberries, and lemon. Either of these is a fine dish for a first course.
SALMON PIE. Make puff paste, and lay over your dish; clean and scale a middling piece of salmon; cut it into three or four pieces, according to the size of your dish, and season it pretty high with mace, cloves, pepper, and salt; put some b.u.t.ter at the bottom, and lay in the salmon; take the meat of a lobster cut small, and bruise the body with an anchovy; melt as much b.u.t.ter as you think proper, stir the lobster into it, with a gla.s.s of white wine, and a little nutmeg; pour this over the salmon, lay on the top crust, and let it be well baked.
SALOOP. Boil together a little water, wine, lemon peel, and sugar. Mix in a small quant.i.ty of saloop powder, previously rubbed smooth with a little cold water. Stir it all together, and boil it a few minutes.
SALT. The properties of common salt are such as to render it an article of the greatest importance in the preparation of food, and in the preservation of health. If salt be withheld for any length of time, diseases of the stomach become general, and worms are gendered in the bowels, which are removed with great difficulty. In Ireland, salt is a well-known common remedy for bots in the horse; and among the poor people, a dose of common salt is esteemed a sufficient cure for the worms. It is supposed by some medical men, that salt furnishes soda to be mixed with the bile: without this necessary addition, the bile would be deprived of the qualities necessary to a.s.sist in the operation of digestion. One of the greatest grievances of which the poor man can complain is the want of salt. Many of the insurrections and commotions among the Hindoos, have been occasioned by the cruel and unjust monopolies of certain unworthy servants of the East India Company, who to aggrandize their own fortunes have oftentimes bought up, on speculation, all the salt in the different ports and markets, and thus have deprived the ingenious but wretched natives of their only remaining comfort, salt being the only addition they are usually enabled to make to their poor pittance of rice. Many of the poor in England, previously to the late reduction especially, have loudly lamented the high price of salt, which thousands are in the habit of using as the only seasoning to their meal of potatoes. Salt is also of the greatest use in agriculture. From one to two bushels makes fine manure for an acre of land, varied according to the quality of the soil. This answers better than almost any other compost. The Chinese have for ages been accustomed to manure their fields by sprinkling them with sea water. The Persians sprinkle the timber of their buildings with salt, to prevent them from rotting. It is used in Abyssinia instead of money, where it pa.s.ses from hand to hand, under the shape of a brick, worth about eighteen pence. In feeding of cattle, it is also found to be highly beneficial. A n.o.bleman who purchased two hundred Merino sheep in Spain, attributes the health of his flock princ.i.p.ally to the constant use of salt. These sheep having been accustomed to that article in their native land, it was thought necessary to supply them with it, especially in this damp climate, and in the rich pastures of some parts of this country. A ton of salt is used annually for every thousand sheep: a handful is put in the morning on a flat stone or slate, ten of which, set a few yards apart, are sufficient for a hundred sheep. This quant.i.ty is given twice a week. Out of a flock of nearly a thousand, there were not ten old sheep that did not readily take it, and not a single lamb which did not consume it greedily. Salt is likewise a preventive of disorders in stock fed with rank green food, as clover or turnips, and it is deemed a specific for the rot. Horses and horned cattle are also very fond of salt: the cow gives more milk, and richer in quality, when salt is mixed with her food. The wild beasts of the American forests leave their haunts at certain seasons, and travel in company to various places where salt is to be found. There they lick the ground on which the salt lies, or which is strongly impregnated by it. Cattle fed on gra.s.s which grows on the sea sh.o.r.e, are always fatter and in better condition, than those which graze on in land-pastures. Considering its various uses in agriculture, as an article of food, and as a preservative from putrefaction, salt may be p.r.o.nounced one of the most generally useful and necessary of all the minerals; and it is truly lamentable, that in almost all ages and countries, particularly in those where despotism prevails, this should be one of those necessaries of life, on which the most heavy taxes are imposed. Bay salt is a kind of brownish impure salt, obtained in France, Italy, and other countries, by evaporating sea water in pits. The princ.i.p.al part of bay salt sold in this country is however of home manufacture, being a coa.r.s.e grained chrystalized salt, made dirty by powdered Turkey umber, or some such colouring material, to give it the appearance of a foreign article. The only utility which this salt appears to possess, beyond that of the common fine-grained salt usually found in the shops, is that it dissolves more slowly by moisture, and therefore is better calculated for salting of fish, and other animal substances, which cannot be wholly covered with brine. Basket salt is made from the water of the salt springs in Cheshire and other places. It differs from the common brine salt in the fineness of the grain, as well as on account of its whiteness and purity. It is princ.i.p.ally used at table.
SALT BEEF. Great attention is requisite in salting meat; and in the country, where large quant.i.ties are often cured, this is of particular importance. Beef and pork should be well sprinkled, and a few hours afterwards hung to drain, before it is rubbed with the salt. This method, by cleansing the meat from the blood, serves to keep it from tasting strong. It should be turned every day; and if wanted soon, it should be rubbed daily. A salting tub or lead may be used, and a cover to fit close. Those who use a good deal of salt meat will find it answer well to boil up the pickle, and skim it clean; and when cold, pour it over meat that has been sprinkled and drained.--To salt beef red, which is extremely good to eat fresh from the pickle, or to hang to dry, choose a piece of the flank, or any part that has but little bone.
Sprinkle it, and let it drain a day. Then rub it with common salt, bay salt, and a small proportion of saltpetre, all in fine powder. A few grains of cochineal may be added. Rub the pickle into the meat every day for a week, and afterwards turning it only will be sufficient. It will be excellent in about eight days; and in sixteen days it may be drained from the pickle. Smoke it at the mouth of the oven, when heated with wood, or send it to the baker"s; a few days will be sufficient to smoke it. A little of the coa.r.s.est sugar added to the salt, will be an improvement. Red beef boiled tender, eats well with greens or carrots.
If it is to be grated as Dutch beef, then cut a lean bit, boil it extremely tender, and put it hot under a press. When cold fold it in a sheet of paper, and it will keep in a dry place two or three months, ready for serving on bread and b.u.t.ter.--If a piece of beef is to be prepared for eating immediately, it should not weigh more than five or six pounds. Salt it thoroughly before it is to be put into the pot, take a coa.r.s.e cloth, flour it well, put the meat into it, and fold it up close. Put it into a pot of boiling water, and boil it as another piece of salt meat of the same size, and it will be as salt as if it had been in pickle four or five days.
SALT COD. Soak and clean the piece intended to be dressed, and lay it all night in water, with a gla.s.s of vinegar. Boil it enough, then break it into flakes on the dish; pour over it parsnips boiled, beaten in a mortar, and boiled up with cream. Add to it a large piece of b.u.t.ter, rubbed in a little flour. Egg sauce may be sent up instead, or the parsnip root whole. The fish may also be boiled without flaking, and served with either of the sauces as above.
SALT FISH. Backlio, old ling, and tusk, are reckoned the best salt fish.
Old ling and backlio, must be laid in water for ten or twelve hours, then taken out, and scaled very clean; wash the fish, and let it lay out of water till you want to use it; if it is the next day, it will be the better. When you dress it, put it into cold water, and let it do as gently as possible; let it be boiled so tender, that you may put a fork into any part of it without sticking, then it is enough. Lay a clean napkin over your dish, take up the fish, lay it upon the napkin, and throw the corners over each other. Send it to table with egg sauce in a basin, parsnips sliced, and b.u.t.ter and mustard in a boat.
SALT FISH WITH CREAM. Soak and boil some good barrel cod, till about three parts done. Divide it into flakes, put them into a saucepan with some cream, a little pepper, and a handful of parsley scalded and chopped. Stew it gently till tender, thicken the sauce with two or three yolks of eggs, and serve it up.
SALT FISH PIE. Boil a side of salt fish as you would for eating; cut a square bit out of the middle, about the bigness of your hand; take the skin off the other, and take out all the bones; mince this very small with six eggs boiled hard; season it with pepper, nutmeg, and beaten mace, then slice the crumb of French rolls thin into a pan, pour over it a quart of boiling milk, and let it stand to soak; in the mean time, make a good puff paste, and sheet the dish all over; have in readiness the quant.i.ty of two spoonfuls of parsley shred very fine, beat the bread well together, then put in the fish and eggs, and chopped parsley; stir all well together; melt about three quarters of a pound of b.u.t.ter, and stir it into the ingredients, with a gill of Mountain; pour this into the dish, lay the square piece of fish in the middle; lay on the lid, and bake it an hour, or a little more.--You may make ling, or stock-fish pie in this manner; but you are to observe, that all the skin is to be taken off, and not to put a piece whole into the pie, according to this receipt; but mince all the fish with the yolks of hard eggs, leaving out the whites, and adding a large spoonful of made mustard when you stir the ingredients together, before you put them into the pie.
SALT PORK. To a hundred weight of pork or beef, take ten pounds of common salt, and half a pound of saltpetre. Let the meat be well cleaned from those particles of blood which hang about it when cut into four pound pieces: this is best done by washing it in salt and water, or brine that has been used, provided it be sweet. Lay the meat in rows, and rub the upper side moderately with salt; then place another layer of meat, and repeat the operation as on the first layer. In this manner continue the same proportion of salt and saltpetre, till the whole quant.i.ty is heaped up in a tub, or some other vessel, not of lead, in order to preserve the pickle from issuing from it. In this state it must remain for three days, then turn it into another tub, sprinkling it with salt in the act of turning the meat. When all is turned and salted, let the pickle procured by the first salting, be slowly poured about the meat. In this state let it remain for a week, and it will be excellent for home use. If wanted for exportation, pack it in this state into casks. But as the greatest care is required for its preservation, when sent abroad, a layer of salt must first be put into the barrel, and then a layer of meat, till the cask is full, taking care to use the hand only in packing in the pieces. When the barrel is headed, the pickle must be filtered through a coa.r.s.e cloth; and when perfectly fine, fill up the cask with the pickle to the bung hole. Let it remain in this state till the next day, in order to ascertain whether the cask be quite tight, and then bung it up. Beef or pork cured in this manner will not fail to keep any reasonable length of time. The too great rubbing of meat will not keep it the better, it frequently r.e.t.a.r.ds the operation of the salt by filling the outward pores of the meat only to the destruction of the middle of the piece, which frequently perishes.
SALTING OF b.u.t.tER. After the b.u.t.ter is well worked up and cleared from the milk, it is ready for salting. The tub in which it is to be preserved being perfectly clean, should be rubbed in the whole inside with common salt; and a little melted b.u.t.ter should be poured into the cavity between the bottom and the sides, before the b.u.t.ter is put in.
Although common salt is generally employed on this occasion, yet the following composition not only preserves the b.u.t.ter more effectually from taint, but also makes it look better, taste sweeter, richer, and more marrowy, than if it had been cured with common salt only. Take of best common salt two parts, saltpetre one part, lump sugar one part, and beat them up together in a mortar, so that they may be completely blended. To every pound of b.u.t.ter, add one ounce of this composition: mix it well in the ma.s.s, and close it up for use. b.u.t.ter prepared in this manner will keep good for three years, and cannot be distinguished from that which is recently salted; but it does not taste well till it has stood a fortnight or three weeks. To preserve b.u.t.ter for winter use, take some that is fresh and good in the month of August or September, and put it into an unglazed jar, in layers about two inches thick, till the jar is full, within three inches of the top. Make a strong brine of salt and water, boil and skim it; and when it is quite cold, pour a sufficient quant.i.ty over the b.u.t.ter, so that the brine may be an inch deep. Tie paper over it, and set it in a cool place. When wanted for use, cut it no deeper than the first layer till that is all used. Then cut the second in the same manner, and so on to the bottom of the tub or jar. By this means there will be no more than a part of one layer that is not covered with the brine. To make it eat like fresh b.u.t.ter, dip each piece into water when it is cut out of the jar; or work it over again in fresh b.u.t.termilk or milk, and make it into shapes like fresh b.u.t.ter. It will eat much better with toast, than most of the fresh b.u.t.ter that is made in winter. It is a false idea, that b.u.t.ter, to be preserved for winter use, requires a greater quant.i.ty of salt: experience has proved the contrary. b.u.t.ter salted in the common way, and put in pots with brine over the top, retains its flavour, and is better preserved than by an additional quant.i.ty of salt. One more observation on the preservation of b.u.t.ter is necessary. It is universally allowed that cleanliness is indispensible, but it is not generally suspected, that b.u.t.ter from being made in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or in glazed earthenware pans, which glaze is princ.i.p.ally composed of lead, is too apt to be contaminated by particles of that deleterious metal. If the b.u.t.ter is in the least degree rancid, this can hardly fail to take place, and it cannot be doubted, that during the decomposition of the salts, the glazing is acted on. It is better therefore to use tinned vessels for mixing the preservative with the b.u.t.ter, and to pack it either in wooden vessels, or in jars of the Vauxhall ware, which being vitrified throughout, do not require an inside glazing.
SAMPHIRE. This should be boiled in plenty of water, with a good deal of salt in it. Put it in when the water boils, and let it boil till quite tender. Serve it up with melted b.u.t.ter.
SANDWICHES. Properly prepared, these form an elegant and convenient luncheon; but they have got much out of fashion, from the bad manner in which they are commonly made. They have consisted of any offal or odd ends, that cannot be sent to table in any other form, merely laid between slices of bread and b.u.t.ter. Whatever kind of meat is used however, it must be carefully trimmed from every bit of skin and gristle, and nothing introduced but what is relishing and acceptable.
Sandwiches may be made of any of the following materials. Cold meat, poultry, potted meat, potted shrimps or lobsters, potted cheese; grated ham, beef, or tongue; anchovy, sausages, cold pork; hard eggs, pounded with a little b.u.t.ter and cheese; forcemeats, and curry powder. Mustard, pepper, and salt, are to be added, as occasion requires.
SAVOURY BEEF. The tongue side of a round of beef is best adapted for the purpose; and if it weighs about fifteen pounds, let it hang two or three days. Then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coa.r.s.e sugar, a quarter of an ounce of black pepper, some minced herbs, and three quarters of a pound of salt. Incorporate these ingredients by pounding them together in a mortar; and if approved, add a quarter of an ounce of ginger. Take out the bone, and rub the meat well with the above mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a fortnight. When it is to be dressed, put it into a pan with a quart of water. Cover the meat with about three pounds of mutton suet chopped, and an onion or two minced small. Put the whole into a pan, cover it with a flour crust, and bake it in a moderate oven for six hours. Instead of baking it may be covered with water, and stewed very gently for about five hours; and when sent to table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley. The gravy will be excellent for sauce or soup, or making of soy, or browning; and being impregnated with salt, it will keep several days.
That the suet may not be wasted, when the dish comes from the oven, take out the beef, and strain the contents of the pan through a sieve.
Clarify the fat when cold, and it will do for frying. The meat should not be cut till it is cold, and then with a sharp knife to prevent waste, and keep it smooth and even. This is a most excellent way of preparing savoury beef for sandwiches, and for other elegant and economical purposes.
SAVOURY JELLY. If to put over cold pies, make it of a small bare knuckle of veal, or of a scrag of mutton. If the pie be of fowl or rabbit, the carcases, necks, and heads, added to any piece of meat, will be sufficient, observing to give it a consistence by adding cow heel, or shanks of mutton. Put the meat into a stewpan that shuts very close, adding a slice of lean ham or bacon, a f.a.ggot of different herbs, two blades of mace, an onion or two, a small bit of lemon peel, a tea-spoonful of Jamaica pepper bruised, and the same of whole pepper, with three pints of water. As soon as it boils skim it well, let it simmer very slowly till it is quite strong, and then strain it. When cold take off the fat with a spoon first, and then, to remove every particle of grease, lay on it a clean piece of blotting paper. If not clear, after being cold, boil it a few minutes with the whites of two eggs, but do not add the sediment. Pour it through a clean sieve, with a napkin in it, which has been dipped in boiling water, to prevent waste.
SAVOURY PIES. Few articles of cookery are more generally approved than relishing pies, if properly made; and there are various things adapted to this purpose. Some eat best cold, and in that case, no suet should be put into the forcemeat that is used with them. If the pie is either made of meat that will take more dressing, to make it quite tender, than the baking of the crust will allow; or if it is to be served in an earthen pie-form, the following preparation must be observed. For instance, take three pounds of a veiny piece of beef, that has fat and lean; wash it, and season it with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice, in fine powder, rubbing them in well. Set it by the side of a slow fire, in a stewpot that will just hold it. Add about two ounces of b.u.t.ter, cover it quite close, and let it just simmer in its own steam till it begins to shrink.
When it is cold, add more seasoning, forcemeat, and eggs. If in a dish, put some gravy to it before baking: if in a crust only, the gravy must not be added till after it is cold, and in a jelly. Forcemeat may be put both under and over the meat, if preferred to b.a.l.l.s.
SAVOURY RICE. Wash and pick some rice quite clean, stew it very gently in a small quant.i.ty of veal or rich mutton broth, with an onion, a blade of mace, pepper and salt. When swelled, but not boiled to a mash, dry it on the shallow part of a sieve before the fire, and either serve it dry, or put it in the middle of a dish, and pour hot gravy round it.
SAVOURY VEAL PIE. Make a good puff-paste, and sheet your dish; cut the veal into pieces, season it with pepper, mace, and nutmeg, finely beat, and a little salt; lay it into the crust, with lambstones, sweetbreads, the yolks of hard eggs, an artichoke bottom boiled, and cut in dice, and the tops of asparagus; put in about half a pint of water, lay pieces of b.u.t.ter over the top, put on the lid, and ornament it to your fancy. In a quick oven about an hour and an half will bake it. Make a caudle for it thus: take half a pint of strong veal broth, a gill of white wine, and the yolks of three eggs; set this over the stove, and keep it stirring; put in some grated nutmeg, and a little salt; when it boils, if there is any sc.u.m, take it off; pour in a gill of cream, keep it stirring till it simmers, then take the lid of your pie off carefully, and pour the caudle over it, shake it round, lay on the lid as exact as you can, and send it to table. You may do lamb this way.
SAVOURY VEGETABLES. Wash a dish with the white of eggs. Make several divisions with mashed potatoes and yolks of eggs mixed together and put on the dish, and bake it of a nice colour. In the first division put stewed spinach, in the second mashed turnips, in the third slices of carrots, in the fourth some b.u.t.ton onions stewed in gravy, or any other kind of vegetables to make a variety.
SAVOY BISCUITS. Take six eggs, separate the yolks and whites, mix the yolks with six ounces of sugar finely powdered, and the rind of a grated lemon. Beat them together for a quarter of an hour, then whisk the whites up in a broad dish till they are well frothed, and mix them with the yolks, adding five ounces of flour well dried. Stir the whole well together; then, with a piece of flat ivory, take out the batter, and draw it along clean white paper to the proper size of the biscuit.