_Mutton in epigram._
Roast a shoulder of mutton till it is three parts done, and let it cool; raise the skin quite up to the knuckle, and cut off all to the knuckle.
Sauce the blade-bone; broil it, and hash the rest, putting in some capers, with good gravy, pickled cuc.u.mbers, and shalots. Stir them well up, and lay the blade-bone on the skin.
_Mushrooms, to stew brown._
Take some pepper and salt, with a little cayenne and a little cream; thicken with b.u.t.ter and flour. To do them white, cut out all the black inside.
_Newmarket John._
Cut the lean part of a leg of mutton in little thin collops; beat them; b.u.t.ter a stewpan, and lay the collops all over. Have ready pepper, salt, shalot or garlic, and strew upon them. Set them over a very slow fire.
As the gravy draws, turn over the collops, and dredge in a very little flour; have ready some good hot gravy. Shake it up all together, and serve with pickles.
_Ox-cheek, to stew._
Choose one that is fat and young, which may be known by the teeth; pick out the eye-b.a.l.l.s; cut away the snout and all superfluous bits. Wash and clean it perfectly; well dry it in a cloth, and, with the back of a cleaver, break all the bones in the inside of the cheek; then with a rollingpin beat the flesh of the outside. If it is intended for the next day"s dinner, proceed in this manner:--quarter and lard it with marrow; then pour on it garlic or elder vinegar so gently that it may sink into the flesh; strew salt over it, and let it remain so till morning. Then put it into a stewpan, big enough, if you do both cheeks, to admit of their lying flat close to one another; but first rub the pan well with garlic, and with a spoon spread a pound of b.u.t.ter and upwards at the bottom and sides of the pan. Strew cloves and beaten mace on the cheeks, also thyme and sweet marjoram, finely chopped; then put in as much white wine as will cover them an inch or more above the meat, but wash not off the other things by pouring it on. Rub the lid of the pan with garlic, and cover it so close that no steam can escape. Make a brisk fire under it, and, when the cover is so hot that you cannot bear your hand on it, then a slack fire will stew it, but keep it so that the cover be of the same heat as long as it is stewing. It must not be uncovered the whole time it is doing: about three hours will be sufficient. When you take it up, be careful not to break it; take out the loose bones; pour the liquor on the cheek; clear from the fat and the dross, and put lemon-juice to it. Serve it hot.
_Another way._
Soak it in water, and make it very clean; put it in a gallon of water, with some potherbs, salt, and whole pepper. When stewed, so that the bones will slip out easily, take it up and strain off the soup; put a bit of b.u.t.ter in the frying-pan with some flour, and fry the meat brown, taking care not to burn it. Put some of the soup to the flour and b.u.t.ter, with ketchup, mushrooms, anchovy, and walnut liquor. Lay the cheek in a deep dish, and pour the sauce over it.
_Ox-tail ragout._
Some good gravy must first be made, and the tail chopped through every joint, and stewed a long time in it till quite tender, with an onion stuck with cloves, a table-spoonful of port or Madeira wine, a tea-spoonful of soy, and a little cayenne. Thicken the gravy with a little flour.
_Another._
Take two or three ox-tails; put them in a saucepan, with turnips, carrots, onions, and some black peppercorns; stew them for four hours.
Take them out; cut them in pieces at every joint; put them into a stewpan with some good gravy, and sc.r.a.ped turnip and carrot; or cut them into the shape of a ninepin; pepper and salt to your taste; add the juice of half a lemon; and send it to table very hot.
_Peas, to stew._
Take a quart of fine peas, and two small or one large cabbage lettuce; boil the lettuce tender; take it out of the water, shake it well, and put it into the stewpan, with about two ounces of b.u.t.ter, three or four little onions cut small, and the peas. Set them on a very slow fire, and let them stew about two hours; season them to your taste with pepper and a tea-spoonful of sugar; and, instead of salt, stew in some bits of ham, which you may take out or leave in when you serve it. There should not be a drop of water, except what inevitably comes from the lettuce.
_Another way._
To your peas, add cabbage lettuces cut small, a small f.a.ggot of mint, and one onion; pa.s.s them over the fire with a small bit of b.u.t.ter, and, when they are tender and the liquor from them reduced, take out the onion and mint, and add a little white sauce. Take care it be not too thin; season with a little pepper and salt.
_Green Peas, to keep till Christmas._
Gather your peas, when neither very young nor old, on a fine dry day.
Sh.e.l.l, and let two persons holding a cloth, one at each end, shake them backward and forward for a few minutes. Put them into clean quart bottles; fill the bottles, and cork tight. Melt some rosin in a pipkin, dip the necks of the bottles into it, and set them in a cool dry place.
_Another way._
Sh.e.l.l the peas, and dry them in a gentle heat, not much greater than that of a hot summer"s day. Put them when quite dry into linen bags, and hang them up in a dry place. Before they are boiled, at Christmas or later, steep them in half milk, half water, for twelve or fourteen hours; then boil them as if fresh gathered. Beans and French beans may be preserved in the same manner.
_Red Pickle, for any meat._
A quarter of a pound of saltpetre, a large common basinful of coa.r.s.e sugar, and coa.r.s.e salt. A leg of pork to lie in it a fortnight.
_Beef Steak Pie._
Rump steaks are preferable to beef; season them with the usual seasoning, puff-paste top and bottom, and good gravy to fill the dish.
_Calf"s Head Pie._
Parboil the head; cut it into thin slices; season with pepper and salt; lay them into a crust with some good gravy, forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, and yolks of eggs boiled hard. Bake it about an hour and a half; cut off the lid; thicken some good gravy with a little flour; add some oysters; serve it with or without a lid.
_Mutton or Gra.s.s Lamb Pie._
Take a loin of mutton or lamb, and clear it from fat and skin; cut it into steaks; season them well with pepper and salt; almost fill the dish with water; lay puff paste at top and bottom.
_Veal Pie (common)._
Make exactly as you would a beef-steak pie.
_Veal Pie (rich)._
Take a neck, a fillet, or a breast of veal, cut from it your steaks, seasoned with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a few cloves, truffles, and morels; then slice two sweetbreads; season them in the same manner, and put a layer of paste round the dish; then lay the meat, yolks of eggs boiled hard, and oysters at the top: fill it with water. When taken out of the oven, pour in at the top through a funnel some good boiled gravy, thickened with cream and flour boiled up.
_Veal and Ham Pie._
Take two pounds of veal cutlets, or the best end of the neck, cut them in pieces about half the size of your hand, seasoned with pepper and a very little salt, and some dressed ham in slices. Lay them alternately in the dish with forcemeat or sausage meat, the yolks of three eggs boiled hard, and a gill of water.
_Veal Olive Pie._
Make your olives as directed in the receipt for making olives; put them into a crust; fill the pie with water: when baked, pour in some good gravy, boiled and thickened with a little good cream and flour boiled together. These ingredients make an excellent pie.
_Beef Olive Pie._