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Collection of Old British Stews, Braises, Boiled Dishes, & Ragoûts Recipes

Table of Contents

A HANDBOOK OF COOKERY FOR A SMALL HOUSE BY JESSIE CONRAD [1923]

Haricot Breakfast Dish

Put to soak for twelve hours a pint of small haricot beans. Strain them and pick out the brown ones which are not needed. Turn them into a saucepan three parts full of boiling water with salt and a little pinch of soda. Boil gently for two hours, or until quite soft but whole; strain and put into a stone jar.

Cover them with good beef stock. Add three cut rashers of bacon, fat and lean together, with one slice of very finely chopped onion and some tomato sauce (made after the recipe given with skinned tomatoes).

Leave in the oven all night and make it hot in the morning before serving.

To Dress Cold Fowl

Cut into small pieces, leg generally in two. Put into a saucepan and cover with milk, first putting a little water in the saucepan to prevent the milk burning. Grate half a nutmeg, add pepper and salt. When it has boiled, but not before, slice half of a fairly large Spanish onion into the saucepan.

Boil for three-quarters of an hour.

Thicken before serving with a little flour and butter, which should be mixed very smooth with a little of the boiling milk out of the saucepan. Bring to a boil and serve in the saucepan with a napkin wrapped round it.

Haricot Mutton

Soak a pint of small haricot beans overnight, carefully pick out the brown ones and rinse through three waters in the morning. Have ready a metal saucepan with about three pints of water. When boiling, pour the haricots into it with a good pinch of salt and a small piece of soda. Boil gently for two and a half hours. They are then ready to be added to the mutton.

Cut into small pieces two or three pounds of best end of neck of mutton, remove the fat and put the meat into a stone saucepan, cover with water, add one turnip cut into long pieces, one Spanish onion, pepper and salt and a pinch of fine herbs. Remove the scum as it rises and cook for two hours.

Add then the beans which should be quite soft and peel of their own accord when exposed to the air. Thicken with a little carefully mixed flour and water and serve in the stone saucepan with a table napkin wrapped round it.

Pigeons with Carrots

Split the roasted pigeons in halves and lay cut side down in a stone saucepan with half a claret glass of white wine, pepper and salt, with four carrots cut lengthwise, each into eight pieces then cut across. Add a little good meat juice.

Put enough water to just cover the pigeons. Stew gently for three-quarters of an hour. Thicken with a little flour and water and serve in the stone saucepan, or in a deep dish.

Ragoût of Veal

Cut into small pieces two pounds of neck of veal. Put into a saucepan and cover with cold water, and a teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, one piece of loaf sugar, six spring onions, bottoms and green tops, six small carrots split in two, and one small turnip.

Stew gently for one and a half to two hours, adding a little water if required. Half an hour before serving add a half pint of fresh green peas, a pinch of mixed herbs, half a glass of white wine.

Thicken with a little smoothly mixed flour and water, stirred into the veal. Best served in the earthenware saucepan, with a napkin tied round it. If green peas are not available a little Patna rice may be used after it has been washed through several waters; or a few cut scarlet runners.

Cold veal may be treated as above but in that case a little good meat juice must be used instead of the extra half pint of water.

Spaghetti

Put half a pound of spaghetti into boiling water with a good pinch of salt. If you carefully put the spaghetti upright in the saucepan and give them a twist they won’t break. Boil gently, being careful to add boiling water as needed to keep the same amount. It is important never to add cold water as that chills the spaghetti and causes it to become tough. Cook for one hour and meantime prepare the following sauce:

Put six good-sized tomatoes cut in quarters into a saucepan (or a pudding basin may be used in the oven), with one large round of Spanish onion chopped fine, three pieces of loaf sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper, half a bottle of tomato catsup, and an ounce of fresh butter. Stew gently on the side of the stove for three-quarters of an hour. Strain all the water off the spaghetti with the lid, into a salad bowl (or good-sized dish), stir in the tomato sauce which has been strained thoroughly, and serve very hot with some grated cheese in another dish.

Salt Beef and Carrots

Soak over night in cold water a piece of salt beef, say about four pounds. Put it into a saucepan three parts full of boiling water. Time for cooking: one and a half hours. When the meat has been boiling for half an hour add four carrots cut in four lengthwise.

Make about six suet dumplings in the same way as suet crust for pudding and put in the saucepan twenty minutes before the meat is ready.

Care must be taken that no salt is added to anything. Serve with the dumplings and carrots round the dish.

Stewed Steak

Cut into pieces about a finger’s length one and a half pounds of rump steak. Have ready in an enamelled frying pan about an ounce of fresh butter made hot, or dripping. Lay the steak in this and fry briskly on a clear fire for ten minutes.

Remove the meat and put it into an earthenware saucepan with a slice. Fry in the same butter or dripping one large Spanish onion. Cut two large or six small carrots into pieces; add this and the onion to the steak with a piece of loaf sugar, pepper and salt, and half a teaspoonful of Worcester sauce or mushroom catsup.

Cover with cold water and stew gently for two hours. Thicken with a little carefully mixed flour and water. Best served in the earthenware saucepan wrapped in a napkin.

Boiled Mutton


Boil the bottom half of a leg of mutton in a saucepan three parts full of water for one and a half hours with a teaspoonful of salt. Serve on a flat dish with a little parsley as garniture.
Serve with caper sauce.

Boiled Fish and Melted Butter

Plaice. Lay your fish on a perforated white stone strainer in a fish kettle. Cover with cold water, add a teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of vinegar. Put over a quick fire, bring to a boil and keep it boiling for about fifteen minutes. Have ready the following sauce:—

Mix one dessertspoonful of flour smoothly with one ounce of butter. Add sufficient boiling milk to make up to half a pint, and a little salt. Put it into a double saucepan the bottom half containing boiling water. Stir with a spoon always the same way until it thickens. Chop about six sprigs of parsley (not stalk) and add to the sauce. Dish the fish in a flat dish and serve the sauce in a sauce boat.

Cod may be cooked in the same way only it must boil for fully half an hour after it has been brought to the boil.

Hake. As for cod but boil only for twenty-five minutes.

Halibut. Is seldom bought whole. Buy say two pounds and boil for twenty-five to forty minutes according to the thickness.

Turbot. Say two pounds. Must be put into boiling water and boiled gently for thirty minutes. Oyster sauce, foundation as above, only the oysters (each cut in two) must be added after the sauce has thickened and kept stirred for four to five minutes.

Boiled Mutton for an Invalid

Take a little of the best end of the neck of mutton and, after removing the fat, put it in a stone saucepan which has been previously rinsed in cold water, with half a pint of fresh milk and a little salt. While boiling add half an onion cut up small. Boil gently for an hour and a half. Thicken with a little flour and serve.

Boiled Mutton with Mushrooms or Olives

Take some mutton cutlets from which all the fat has been removed. Put them into a frying pan with a little good dripping and some finely sliced onion. Fry to a light brown. Cut into dice one or more sound turnips and a carrot and put into a small saucepan together with one or two stoned olives or mushrooms cut up, unless the button ones are used.

Add the fried meat and onion and if possible a little strong meat gravy to just cover the whole. (The stones of the olives should be put in as well and removed before serving). Add pepper and salt and allow to stew gently an hour and a half. Thicken with a little smoothly mixed flour and water stirred into it. Bring to a boil and serve in a deep dish.

Hashed Mutton

Take the remains of cold roast mutton. Remove the fat and cut the meat into nice small slices not too thin. Fry lightly a large onion cut into thin slices, a little diced turnip, and half a dozen dry chillies. Put all together into an enamelled saucepan and if possible a little mutton stock made from the bone.

Stew gently for an hour, add two tablespoonfuls of washed rice, thicken with a little flour and water mixed smooth, and serve hot.

Stewed Lamb and Green Peas

Take two and a half pounds of lean lamb cutlets; put them into an enamelled saucepan with an onion cut into thin slices, one or two fresh young turnips peeled and cut into squares, salt and pepper, and a piece of loaf sugar.

Stew gently for an hour, add a breakfast-cupful of freshly shelled green peas and let them boil all together for twenty minutes. Thicken with a little smoothly mixed flour and water. Serve very hot with a little chopped parsley dusted over the top.

Boiled Shoulder of Pork

Put into boiling water without salt, and boil for one and a half hours if only half a shoulder; for two hours if whole.

Boiled Ham

Must be put into boiling water. If a whole ham, boil for three to three and a half hours. Let it steam for a few minutes on a dish (with a strainer under it) and then roll in baked breadcrumbs. Never put the paper collar on the knuckle till thoroughly cold.

Calf’s Head

Half a calf’s head is more than enough for three or four persons. The best plan is to soak the head in a bowl of cold water and a little salt all night, previously removing the brains. It will take from two and a half to three hours’ gentle boiling and care must be taken that the cooking vessel is large enough to allow the head to lie flat and the water to cover it.

It must be put into cold water with a good piece of salt, a knob of loaf sugar, one onion (large and whole), two carrots (whole), and two teacupfuls of white wine.

Serve with the meat carefully removed from the bone, either cold with ravigote sauce or with the cooked vegetables cut into small squares and a few button mushrooms which have been cooked in the stock.

Arrange this on the dish and pour over it the following brown gravy: Fry lightly two slices of onion in a little butter allowing it to get brown a little.

Add some of the stock from the head, a few drops of A. 1. sauce, and a good teaspoonful of bovril, or meat juice from some other joint. Thicken with a little mixed flour and water, pour into the frying pan, bring to a boil and strain over the meat and vegetables in the dish. The brains may be cooked separately and beaten into this gravy after it is strained.

Calf’s Feet

Calf’s feet are of great use in the cooking for invalids. Soak as for calf’s head over night. Put into a saucepan with cold water and a good piece of salt, one onion whole and one whole carrot. This will make an excellent soup served with the meat cut into nice little pieces and the vegetables cut as directed for calf’s head.

But if the feet are intended for jelly it is better to omit the vegetables. Half a pint of good port wine can be added to the stock after it is cooked. Before straining add a teacupful of cold water to clear it.

Pig’s Trotters

Pig’s trotters can be served as an addition to a dish of tripe and onions in which case they require soaking over night as they would be already salted. Boil them without salt until tender and add to the cooked tripe. As a separate dish you must, when cooked, roll them in a freshly beaten egg and then in baked breadcrumbs and fry a golden brown in a little butter.

Stewed Eels

Two or three freshly skinned eels cut into small pieces about two inches long. Put into a stone saucepan with a little salt and a piece of loaf sugar, one claret glass of white claret or cooking sherry, and about a teacupful of good beef stock.

Cover the eels with water and slice a small Spanish onion into it. Stew gently for three-quarters of an hour, thicken with a little flour mixed with water and serve in the stone saucepan. Care must be taken not to break the fish when stirring in the thickening.

Boiled Fowl

Take a lean fowl and fasten a slice of lean bacon over the breast with a small skewer. Put into a saucepan, with enough boiling water to cover it, with an onion and a little white wine.

Stew gently for an hour. Remove the fowl whole and serve with melted butter sauce as for fish without the parsley. The liquid in which it boiled should make excellent soup if you boil in it any remains of chicken carcass just for flavouring, or add some good beef stock.

Chicken Jelly

Take an old fowl trussed and slash it well across the breast and thighs with a sharp knife. Place it in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, add a little salt, two big pieces of loaf sugar, and one whole onion.

Stew gently for three hours, strain from the fowl into a deep basin, add quickly a teacupful of cold water and set it to get cold.

It can be used either as chicken broth or, with the addition of a glass of good white wine, as a jelly in which to serve a young roast fowl.

Allied Cookery Arranged by Grace Clergue Harrison and Gertrude Clergue [1916]

STEWED KIDNEYS (English)

Take away the skin from three lamb kidneys; split them lengthwise in halves; take out the white nerve from the centre, and cut each half into small slices. Put 3 ozs. of oil in a pan, colour in it a small chopped onion, add the sliced kidneys, salt, pepper. Stir with a spoon briskly over a good fire until all the pieces are equally coloured; sprinkle with a tablespoonful of flour; mix and stir well. Add a cupful of wine and one of gravy, stir until boiling. Cook two minutes longer; taste if well seasoned; at the last add the juice of half a lemon and chopped parsley.

Note.—Mushrooms stewed with the kidneys are an improvement.

SHEEP’S HEAD (Scotch)

Choose a nice sheep’s head, get it slightly singed, then have it sawn up the middle, steep it all night with a little soda in the water, then clean it thoroughly, take out the brains, put on with cold water, slowly bring to boil, and boil slowly for three hours. Boil the brains in a cloth for a quarter of an hour, then mince small, make a white sauce, stir in the minced brains, lay the head flat on a dish and pour sauce over. Decorate with a few small bits of parsley.

The Healthy Life Cook Book by Florence Daniel [Second Edition, 1915]

VEGETARIAN IRISH STEW.

1 lb. tomatoes, 7 small Spanish onions, 8 medium potatoes, 1 oz. nutter or butter, 2 small carrots or parsnips, or 1 cup fresh green peas.

A saucepan with a close-fitting lid, and, if a gas stove is used, an asbestos mat (price 3-1/2d. at any ironmongers) is needed for this stew. Skin the tomatoes, peel and quarter the onions, and put them into the saucepan with the nutter and shut down the lid tightly.

If a gas or oil flame is used, turn it as low as possible. Put the asbestos mat over this and stand the saucepan upon it. At the end of 1 hour the onions should be gently stewing in a sea of juice. Add the potatoes now (peeled and cut in halves). Also the peas, if in season.

Cook for another hour. If carrot or parsnip is the extra vegetable used, cut into quarters and put in with the onions. When done, the onions are quite soft, and the potatoes, etc., just as if they had been cooked in a steamer.

Note that the onions and tomatoes must be actually stewing when the potatoes are put in, as the latter cook in the steam arising from the former. Consequently, they should be laid on top of the onions, etc., not mixed with them. If cooked on the kitchen range, a little longer time may be needed, according to the state of the fire. Never try to cook quickly, or the juice will dry up and burn. The slow heat is the most important point.

VEGETABLE STEW.

1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 potato, 1 parsnip, 2 Jerusalem artichokes, 2 onions, 2 tomatoes, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, nutter size of small walnut.

Scrub and scrape the carrot, turnip, parsnip and artichokes. Peel the potato and onions. Shred the onions and put them into a stew-pan with the nutter. Shake over the fire, and fry until brown, but do not burn or the flavour of the stew will be completely spoilt. Cut the carrot and parsnip and potato into quarters, the artichokes into halves, and put into the stew-pan with the onions. Barely cover with water.

Bring to the boil and stew very gently until tender. Skin the tomatoes, break in halves, and cook slowly to a pulp in a separate pan. Add these, with the lemon juice, to the stew, and slightly thicken with a little wholemeal flour just before serving.

MACARONI AND TOMATO.


1/4 lb. macaroni, 1 oz. butter, 1/2 lb. tomatoes, parsley.


Use the best quality of macaroni. The smaller kinds are the most convenient as they cook more quickly. Spargetti is a favourite kind with most cooks. Break the macaroni into small pieces and drop it into fast boiling water. Cook with the lid off until quite tender. Be particular about this, as underdone macaroni is not a pleasant dish. (With a little practise the cook will be able to calculate how much water is needed for it all to be absorbed by the time the macaroni is done.) When done, drain well, add the butter, and shake over the fire until hot.
While the macaroni is cooking, skin the tomatoes, break in halves, and put into a tightly-covered saucepan. (Do not add water.) Set at the side of the stove to cook very slowly. They should never boil. When reduced to pulp they are done.
Pile the macaroni in the middle of a rather deep dish, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Pour the tomato round and serve.

LENTILS, STEWED.

1 cup lentils, 1-1/2 cups water, butter (size of walnut), 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

Use either the red Egyptian, or the green German lentils. Wash well in several waters, drain, and put to soak overnight in the water. Use this same water for cooking. Cook very slowly until the lentils are soft and dry. They should just absorb the quantity of water given. (If cooked too quickly it may be necessary to add a little more.)

A little thyme or herb powder may be cooked with the lentils, if liked. When done, drain off any superfluous water, add the butter and the lemon juice, shake over the fire until hot. Serve with baked potatoes and tomato sauce.

HARICOT BEANS, BOILED.

1/2 pint beans, 1 oz. butter, water, 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

The small white or brown haricots should be used for this dish. Wash well, and soak overnight in the water. In the morning put in a saucepan in the same water and bring to the boil. Simmer slowly for 3 hours. When done they mash readily and look floury. Drain off any water not absorbed. Add the butter and lemon juice, and shake over the fire until hot. Serve with parsley or white sauce.

CHESTNUT SAVOURY.

Boil for 15 minutes. Shell. Fry in a very little nut fat for 10 minutes. Barely cover with water, and stew gently until tender. When done, add some chopped parsley and thicken with chestnut flour or fine wholemeal. For those who prefer it, milk and dairy butter may be substituted for the water and nut fat.

CHESTNUTS, BOILED.

An excellent dish for children and persons with weak digestive powers. The chestnuts need not be peeled or pricked, but merely well covered with cold water and brought to the boil, after which they should boil for a good half hour. Drain off the water and serve hot. They may also be boiled, peeled, mashed and eaten with hot milk.

RICE, BOILED.

1 cup unpolished rice, 3 cups water.

Put the rice on in cold water, and bring it gradually to the boil. Boil hard for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Draw it to the side of the stove, where it is comparatively cool, or, if a gas stove is used, put the saucepan on an asbestos mat and turn the gas as low as possible. The water should now gradually steam away, leaving the rice dry and well cooked. Serve plain or with curry.

RICE, SAVOURY.

Cook rice as in foregoing recipe. Fry a small, finely-chopped onion in very little fat. Add this to the cooked rice with butter the size of a walnut, and a pinch of savoury herbs. Shake over the fire until hot. Serve with peeled baked potatoes and baked tomatoes.

BOILED EGGS FOR INVALIDS.

Put the egg on in cold water. As soon as it boils take the saucepan off the fire and stand on one side for 5 minutes. At the end of this time the egg will be found to be very lightly, but thoroughly, cooked.

STEWED NUTTOLENE.

Slice one half-pound nuttolene into a baking dish, adding water enough to cover nicely. Place it in the oven, and let it bake for an hour. A piece of celery may be added to give flavour, or a little mint. When done, thicken the water with a little flour, and serve.

[Note from Leigh – Nutolene was a vegetarian meat substitute popular during the early 20th Century, made from peanuts and wheat gluten, and used in various recipes like sandwiches and roasts. It was produced by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, known for promoting vegetarianism. Nutolene has since been discontinued, but Nut Luncheon, a similar product made from peanuts and soy, serves as a good alternative for vintage recipes.]

Victorian Recipes From New Vegetarian Dishes by Mrs Bowdich [1892]

Brighton Stew.

  • ½ pound cooked haricot beans.
  • ½ pint fresh green peas.
  • 1 small cauliflower.
  • 6 small onions.
  • 1 pint haricot bean stock.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • The juice of half a lemon.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.

Dissolve the butter in a stewpan, peel and halve the onions and fry them for about ten minutes, but do not allow to brown, stir in the flour, add the peas and stock, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, stirring frequently, then add the beans, lemon juice, and seasonings. Boil the cauliflower separately, break up the white part into neat pieces, add them to the stew, and simmer altogether for a few minutes. Pour into an entrée dish and serve very hot.

Note.—Good tinned peas will answer the purpose when fresh ones are not obtainable.

Carrot Stew.

  • 3 carrots.
  • 1 large onion.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • 1½ pints water.
  • 6 ounces cooked rice.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.

Slice the carrots and onion, and fry them in the butter for ten minutes, but do not let them brown; add salt and water, and boil for one and a half hours; then stir in the rice, simmer for another half hour, stirring frequently, and serve.

Stewed Cucumber.

  • 1 cucumber.
  • 1 shalot.
  • ½ ounce butter.
  • ¼ pint water.
  • A little pepper and salt.

Peel and slice the cucumber, place it in an enamelled stewpan with the shalot finely minced, the butter, pepper, salt and water. Simmer very gently for about half an hour, or until quite tender.

Note.—May be served plain, or with tomato sauce [see recipe below]

Tomato Sauce Piquante. [for recipe above]

  • 1½ pounds tomatoes.
  • 3 middling-sized apples.
  • 2 small onions.
  • ½ gill vinegar.
  • 1 gill water.
  • Pepper and salt to taste.

Slice the tomatoes, onions, and apples into a small stewpan, add water and vinegar and a little pepper and salt, simmer gently until tender, rub through a hair sieve, re-warm and serve.

Stewed Cucumber and Beetroot.

  • 1 small cucumber.
  • 12 slices of beetroot.
  • 1 shalot.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ¼ pint water.
  • A little pepper and salt.

Slice the cucumber and beetroot, and fry them separately in half an ounce of butter for about five minutes. Place them together in a stewpan with the shalot finely minced, the pepper, salt and water, and stew gently for half an hour.

Stewed Cucumber with Sauce Piquante.

  • 2 cucumbers.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • Pepper to taste.
  • 1 gill of water.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ½ pint sauce piquante. [see recipe below]

Peel and slice the cucumbers, place them in a stewpan with the other ingredients, and simmer for, half or three-quarters of an hour, leaving the lid off the last few minutes in order that none of the liquor may remain. Serve with piquante sauce  poured over, and sippets of toast.

Sauce Piquante. [for recipe above]

  • 1 ounce butter.
  • 1 ounce flour.
  • 1 gill water. [125 millilitres or half a cup]
  • Pepper and salt to taste.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and when dissolved shake in the flour, stirring all the time until the paste is quite smooth; add a little salt and pepper, and then pour in gradually the water and vinegar; stir well until the sauce has boiled for a few minutes. It will then be quite ready.

Braized Cucumber with Tomato Sauce.

  • 1 cucumber.
  • 1 shalot.
  • ½ pound tomatoes.
  • 1 gill of water.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper.
  • 3 teaspoons semolina.

Dissolve the butter in a small stewpan, peel and slice the cucumber in slices about a quarter of an inch thick, remove the seeds with a pointed knife, dry the slices in a clean cloth and braize them in the butter until tender (about a quarter of an hour), adding a little salt and pepper. When done (they must on no account be allowed to break), remove them carefully with a fork one by one on to a suitable sized dish, and place on one side. To make the sauce, cut up the tomatoes and shalot, and place them with the seeds and any rough pieces of the cucumber in the butter which has just cooked the cucumber, adding water and salt if needed; simmer for half an hour, strain, and thicken with semolina, or flour if preferred. Re-warm the cucumber by placing it in the oven, pour the sauce over, and serve.

Stewed Mushrooms.

For Mushroom Patties, etc.

  • 6 ounces mushrooms.
  • ¾ pint of milk.
  • Pepper and salt to taste.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.

Place the butter and flour in a small stewpan, and stir over a gentle heat until thoroughly mixed, add the milk and seasonings, and stir until it boils. Then place in the mushrooms, which have been cleaned and prepared, and boil gently until perfectly tender, stirring all the time. They are then ready for use.

Potato Stew.

  • 6 or 8 small potatoes.
  • 1 gill water.
  • ½ pint milk.
  • 1 small shalot.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ½ dozen peppercorns.
  • 1 strip of lemon peel.

Dissolve half an ounce of butter in a stewpan, place in the potatoes peeled, the shalot finely sliced, milk, water and seasonings (the peppercorns and lemon peel tied in muslin), and stew until tender. When done, lift the potatoes carefully out and place in a hot vegetable dish, remove the seasoning, thicken the liquor with the half ounce each of flour and butter, stirring until it boils; then pour over the potatoes, and serve.

Baked Potato Stew.

  • Potatoes according to size.
  • 1½ pint good stock or sauce.

Peel sufficient potatoes to cover the bottom of a large and deep pie-dish (a cook’s comfort is the best shape for this purpose), pour over them the sauce or stock, which must be highly seasoned and flavoured with herbs and spices. Bake in a moderate oven for one or one and a half hours, according to the size of the potatoes.

Note.—Light dumplings and boiled cabbage should accompany this dish.

Stewed Green Peas.

  • 1 pint shelled peas.
  • 1 lettuce.
  • 1 gill of water.
  • 1 onion sliced.
  • A sprig of mint.
  • ½ ounce of butter.
  • Salt to taste.

Wash the lettuce and cut it up rather fine, place it with the other ingredients in a stewpan, and simmer without the lid about half an hour, or until the peas are quite tender.

Haricot Bean Stew.

  • 1 pint soaked haricot beans.
  • 4 potatoes.
  • 2 large onions.
  • ½ ounce butter
  • 1 quart water.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.

Prepare and slice the vegetables, place them with the butter, beans, and water, in a stewpan, and simmer gently for two hours and a half; add salt.

Haricot Bean and Green Pea Stew.

  • ½ pint soaked haricot beans.
  • ½ pint shelled green peas.
  • 1½ pints of water.
  • 1 onion.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • 1½ teaspoons of salt.
  • A sprig of mint.

Boil the haricot beans in the usual way with one pint of the water, one teaspoon of salt, and the onion sliced. When cooked, thicken with a paste of the flour and butter. Boil the green peas with the remainder of the water, salt, and mint. When tender, mix with the haricot beans, and serve with sippets of toast.

Haricot Bean Stew.

  • 1 pint soaked haricot beans.
  • 1 quart water.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ½ ounce butter.
  • 1 good-sized onion.
  • 1 tablespoon semolina.
  • ½ pint stewed tomatoes.

Dissolve the butter in a stewpan, place in the beans, the onion cut up, and the water, and boil for two hours; add salt. Simmer for half an hour longer, then shake in the semolina, and continue stirring for about ten minutes. Cooked semolina will do equally well, and need only be added five minutes before serving (about a quarter of a pound will be required). Lastly, add tomatoes, which should have been previously stewed (see recipe below), and serve.

Stewed Tomatoes. [for recipe above]

  • 1 dozen tomatoes.
  • 1½ ounces butter.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Scald the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them, then place in cold water for half a minute. Remove the skins, which will now come off quite easily, slice the tomatoes into about four pieces with a very sharp knife. Have ready a stewpan in which the butter has been dissolved, place the tomatoes in it, add the seasoning, and stew gently for about twenty minutes, stirring frequently.

Note.—When strained, this constitutes a very choice sauce, and it may be slightly thickened.

Haricot Bean Stew.

  • ½ pint soaked haricot beans.
  • 2 carrots.
  • 2 turnips.
  • 2 onions.
  • ½ ounce butter.
  • 1 pint water.
  • ½ pint
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • 1 dozen peppercorns tied in muslin.
  • 1 tablespoon soaked or crushed tapioca.

Boil the beans in the water with the butter, vegetables sliced, and the peppercorns, for two hours; remove the peppercorns, add salt and tapioca, and stir until it thickens.

Haricot Bean Ragoût.

  • 1 pint soaked haricots.
  • 1 quart water.
  • 2 carrots.
  • 2 turnips.
  • 2 onions.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • 1 tablespoon flour.

Boil the haricot beans until tender, adding salt a short time previously. Strain and spread the beans on a dish that they may dry. Slice the carrots and turnips very fine, and boil for half an hour in the liquor; strain also. Slice the onions, and fry ten minutes in the butter, but do not allow them to brown; add haricots and flour, and simmer altogether another five minutes, stirring all the time. Chop the vegetables very fine, add to the beans and onions, pour in the liquor, stir until it boils and thickens, and serve.

Green Pea and Potato Stew.

  • 1 pint shelled green peas.
  • 6 new potatoes.
  • 2 onions.
  • A sprig of mint.
  • 1½ pints water.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ½ ounce butter rolled in flour.

Slice the potatoes and onions, and place them in a stewpan with the peas, mint and water. Simmer gently for one hour, remove the mint, add salt and butter, and stir for a few minutes over the fire.

Irish Stew. [made with lentils]

  • ½ pint soaked lentils.
  • 6 potatoes.
  • 2 large onions.
  • ½ ounce butter.
  • 1 pint water.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Place the lentils and butter with the vegetables, which must be sliced, in a saucepan with the water, and stew gently for one hour. Add seasonings a quarter of an hour before serving.

Lentil Stew with Forcemeat Cutlets.

  • 1 quart soaked lentils.
  • 1 carrot.
  • 1 turnip.
  • 1 onion.
  • 1 teaspoon Worcester sauce.
  • 2 teaspoons salt.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • Forcemeat. [see recipe below]

Simmer the lentils gently in three pints of water for one and a half hours. Strain. Put a quarter of a pound of the lentils on one side to cool. Rub the rest through the wire sieve with a wooden spoon until nothing but the skins remain. In the meantime, boil the vegetables with sufficient water to cover, until quite tender. When thoroughly cooked pour into the lentil purée, add the sauce and salt, and re-warm. Prepare the forcemeat recipe below, adding the quarter of a pound of lentils chopped fine; shape into little cutlets (about twelve), brown in a frying-pan with the butter, place on a hot dish, pour the gravy over, and serve at once.

Forcemeat. [for recipe above]

  • 6 teaspoons chopped parsley.
  • 3 teaspoons mixed sweet herbs.
  • 3 teaspoons grated lemon rind.
  • 2 teaspoons pepper.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ½ teaspoon powdered mace.
  • 4 ounces bread crumbs.
  • 2 eggs.
  • 2 ounces butter.

Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly, then add the butter (which has been previously warmed) and the beaten eggs, and stir all well together.

Rice Stew.

  • ½ pound cooked rice.
  • 1 pint water.
  • 1 carrot.
  • 1 turnip.
  • ½ ounce each flour and butter.
  • 1 potato.
  • 1 onion.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • A little curry powder or Worcester sauce, if liked.

Slice the vegetables, place them in a saucepan with the salt and water, and boil for one hour, or until tender. When done, stand the saucepan on one side for a few minutes to get thoroughly off 31the boil. Mix the flour and butter well together, add them to the stew; re-boil and stir until it thickens; add rice, and boil for one or two minutes. If curry powder is liked, it should be mixed with the flour and butter, but the Worcester sauce may be added at the last moment.

Spanish Onion Stew.

  • 3 Spanish onions.
  • 1 carrot.
  • 1 turnip.
  • 1½ pints water.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ½ dozen peppercorns tied in muslin.
  • A few sticks of celery.

Slice the carrot and turnip and fry a few minutes in the butter, place them in a saucepan together with the onions cut in quarters, the water, salt, celery and peppercorns. Boil gently until quite tender, remove the peppercorns, reduce the gravy, and serve with sippets of toast.

Tennis Stew.

  • ½ pound mashed potato.
  • ½ pound cold greens of any kind.
  • 6 medium-sized carrots.
  • ½ pint rich brown sauce.
  • 1 egg.
  • A few bread crumbs.
  • Pepper and salt.

Mix well together the potatoes, greens (which must be finely chopped), egg, and seasoning to taste, adding as many bread crumbs as are needful to render the mixture firm enough to roll into balls. Fry the balls in a little butter, or they may be rolled in egg and bread crumbs and dropped into boiling oil. (The latter way is specially recommended when only half the above quantity of vegetables is being used, and consequently only half an egg is needed; the other half should then be reserved for this purpose.) Arrange a circle of balls on a hot dish, have ready the carrots boiled, slice them rather thickly and shape them into the form of tennis bats; place them in the centre, and pour the sauce over them. If curried sauce be used, rice may either be served separately, or a border of it placed round the balls.

Tomato Ragoût.

  • 9 tomatoes.
  • 1 large onion.
  • 1 large turnip.
  • 1 large carrot.
  • 1 small stick of celery.
  • 1½ pints water.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ½ teaspoon pepper.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • 1 ounce brown flour.

Slice the onion, turnip and carrot, and cut the two latter into very neat or ornamental pieces, cut the celery very small, place altogether in a stewpan with the water and salt, and simmer gently for two and a half hours. Stew the tomatoes according to the Stewed Tomato recipe below,  in a separate stewpan, using one ounce of butter. When the vegetables are quite tender, the tomato juice, which has been previously strained, should be added to them, and the whole thickened with the flour and remaining ounce of butter thoroughly mixed to a paste. The stew must be allowed to boil gently for a few minutes after it has been thickened, to cook the flour.

Note.—A small teaspoonful of Worcester sauce may be used instead of the pepper.

Stewed Tomatoes. [for recipe above]

  • 1 dozen tomatoes.
  • 1½ ounces butter.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Scald the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them, then place in cold water for half a minute. Remove the skins, which will now come off quite easily, slice the tomatoes into about four pieces with a very sharp knife. Have ready a stewpan in which the butter has been dissolved, place the tomatoes in it, add the seasoning, and stew gently for about twenty minutes, stirring frequently.

Note.—When strained, this constitutes a very choice sauce, and it may be slightly thickened.

Rich Baked Vegetable Stew.

  • 2 large young carrots.
  • 4 fresh tomatoes.
  • 3 or 4 new potatoes.
  • 1 shalot.
  • A pinch of sweet herbs.
  • 2 eggs.
  • Pepper and salt.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • 2 ounces bread crumbs.

Melt the butter in a stewpan and fry in it the carrots and potatoes, sliced very thin, for about ten minutes, or until they begin to brown. Scald the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them, remove the skins, slice them, and place in the stewpan with a sprinkle each of salt, pepper, sweet herbs, and the shalot, very finely minced. Stew altogether gently for about half an hour (the juice from the tomatoes with the butter makes sufficient liquor), and when thoroughly cooked, pour into a shallow pie-dish. Break the eggs and separate yolks from whites, beat the former and stir in the bread crumbs, with which have been mixed a pinch of salt and pepper; then beat the whites to a stiff froth, mix in with the yolks, stir well altogether and place over the stew in the form of crust, and bake a quarter of an hour in a very brisk oven. Serve hot or cold.

Vegetable Ragoût.

  • 2 carrots.
  • 2 turnips.
  • 2 onions.
  • 2 potatoes.
  • 2 tomatoes.
  • 1 quart water.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • 2½ ounces butter.
  • 1 ounce flour.

Prepare the vegetables, cutting the onions and turnips in quarters, and slicing the potatoes and carrots, place them together with the water, salt34and half an ounce of butter in a saucepan, and boil for one hour. Scald the tomatoes, remove the skins, quarter and add to the ragoût; simmer for a quarter of an hour longer, then carefully strain away the vegetables and place them in a deep dish; return the liquor to the saucepan, and thicken with the flour and butter made into a paste; stir until the sauce boils and is free from lumps, then pour over the vegetables, and serve hot. Sippets of toast may be added with advantage.

Note.—Should the sauce remain lumpy it should be poured over the vegetables through a strainer.

Stewed Vegetable Marrow.

  • 1 middling-sized vegetable marrow.
  • 1 pint water.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.

Peel and slice the marrow and remove the seeds; place these in a saucepan with the water and salt, and simmer for a quarter of an hour. Dissolve half an ounce of butter in a stewpan, put in the slices of marrow, and strain the liquor from the seeds over them; stew gently for half or one hour, according to the age of the marrow. When quite done, lift the pieces out carefully. Mix the other half ounce butter and flour into a paste, thicken the gravy with this, pour it over the marrow, and serve. A sprig of mint may be boiled with the seeds if liked.

Note.—This method of boiling vegetable marrows will be found greatly superior to that generally adopted, as in this case there is no waste nor loss of flavour.

MODERN COOKERY FOR PRIVATE FAMILIES (New Edition) by ELIZA ACTON [1882]

STEWED BEEF STEAK (ENTRÉE).

This may be cut from one to two inches thick, and the time of stewing it must be proportioned to its size. Dissolve a slice of butter in a large saucepan or stewpan, and brown the steak on both sides, moving it often that it may not burn; then shake in a little flour, and when it is coloured pour in by degrees rather more than sufficient broth or water to cover the meat. When it boils, season it with salt, take off the scum, slice in one onion, a carrot or two, and half a turnip; add a small bunch of sweet herbs, and stew the steak very softly from two hours and a half to three hours.

A quarter of an hour before it is served, stir well into the gravy three teaspoonsful of rice flour smoothly mixed with a little cayenne, half a wineglassful of mushroom catsup, and a slight seasoning of spice. A teaspoonful of currie powder, in addition, will improve both the flavour and the appearance of the sauce. The onion is sometimes browned with the meat; and the quantity is considerably increased. Eschalots may be used instead, where their strong flavour is approved. A few button-mushrooms, stewed from twenty to thirty minutes with the meat, will render the catsup unnecessary. Wine, or any favourite store sauce, can be added at will.

2-1/2 to 3 hours.

BEEF STEAK STEWED IN ITS OWN GRAVY.

(Good and wholesome.)

Trim all the fat and skin from a rump steak of nearly an inch thick, and divide it once or twice; just dip it into cold water, let it drain for an instant, sprinkle it on both sides with pepper, and then flour it rather thickly; lay it quite flat into a well-tinned iron saucepan or stewpan, which has been rinsed with cold water, of which three or four tablespoonsful should be left in it.

Place it over (not upon) a very gentle fire, and keep it just simmering from an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters, when, if the meat be good, it will have become perfectly tender. Add salt to it when it first begins to boil, and turn it when rather more than half done. A couple of spoonsful of gravy, half as much catsup, and a slight seasoning of spice, would, to many tastes, improve this dish, of which, however, the great recommendation is its wholesome simplicity, which renders it suitable to the most delicate stomach. A thick mutton cutlet from the middle of the leg is excellent dressed thus.

1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hour.

GERMAN STEW.

Cut into about three-inch squares, two pounds and a half of the leaner part of the veiny piece of beef, or of any joint which is likely to be tender, and set it on to stew, with rather less than a quart of cold broth or water, and one large onion sliced. When these begin to boil, add a teaspoonful of salt, and a third as much of pepper, and let them simmer gently for an hour and a half. Have ready some young white cabbages, parboiled; press the water well from them, lay them in with the beef, and let the whole stew for another hour.

More onions, and a seasoning of mixed spices, or a few bits of lean bacon, or of ham, can be added to this stew when a higher flavour is desired; but it is very good without.

Beef, 2-1/2 lbs.; water, or broth, 1-3/4 pint; onion, 1; salt, 1 teaspoonful; third as much pepper: 1-1/2 hour. Parboiled cabbages, 3 or 4: 1 hour.

WELSH STEW.

Take the same proportions of beef, and of broth or water, as for the German Stew. When they have simmered gently for an hour, add the white part of from twenty to thirty leeks, or two dozens of button onions, and five or six young mild turnips, cut in slices, a small lump of white sugar, nearly half a teaspoonful of white pepper and more than twice as much salt. Stew the whole softly from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, after the vegetables are added.

Beef and water as above: 1 hour. Leeks, 20 to 30: or small onions, 24; young turnips, 6; small lump of sugar; white pepper, nearly 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, twice as much: 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour.

A GOOD ENGLISH STEW.

On three pounds of tender rump of beef, freed from skin and fat, and cut down into about two-inch squares, pour rather more than a quart of cold broth or gravy. When it boils add salt if required, and a little cayenne, and keep it just simmering for a couple of hours; then put to it the grated rind of a large lemon, or of two small ones, and half an hour after, stir to it a tablespoonful of rice-flour, smoothly mixed with a wineglassful of mushroom catsup, a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, and a teaspoonful of soy: in fifteen minutes it will be ready to serve.

A glass and a half of port, or of white wine, will greatly improve this stew, which may likewise be flavoured with a store-sauce, or with another, which we find excellent for the purpose, made with half a pint of port wine, the same of mushroom-catsup, a quarter pint of walnut pickle, a tablespoonful of the best soy, and a dessertspoonful of cayenne-vinegar, all well shaken together and poured into a bottle containing the thin rind of a lemon and two fine mellow anchovies, of moderate size. A few delicately fried forcemeat-balls may be slipped into it after it is dished.

Obs.—The limits of our work will not permit us to devote a further space to this class of dishes, but an intelligent cook will find it easy to vary them in numberless ways. Mushrooms, celery, carrots, sweet herbs, parboiled new potatoes, green peas, rice, and currie-powder may be advantageously used for that purpose. Ox-tails, just blanched and cut into joints, will be found excellent substitutes for the beef: mutton and veal also may be dressed in the same way. The meat and vegetables can be browned before broth or water is poured to them; but though, perhaps, more savoury, the stew will then be much less delicate. Each kind of vegetable should be allowed something more than sufficient time to render it perfectly tender, but not so much as would reduce it to pulp.

TO STEW SHIN OF BEEF.

Wash, and set it on to stew in sufficient cold water to keep it just covered until it is done. When it boils, take off the scum and put an ounce and a quarter of salt to the gallon of water. It is usual to add a few cloves and some black pepper, slightly bruised and tied up loosely in a fold of muslin, two or more onions, a root of celery, a bunch of savoury herbs, four or five carrots, and as many turnips, either whole or sliced: if to be served with the meat, the two last will require a little more than the ordinary time of boiling, but otherwise they may be simmered with the meat from the beginning.

Give the beef from four to five hours’ gentle stewing; and serve it with part of its own liquor thickened and flavoured, or quite plain. An excellent dish for a family may be made by stewing the thick fleshy part of the shin or leg, in stock made of the knuckle, with a few bits of lean ham, or a slice of hung beef from which the smoked edges have been carefully pared away, and some spice, salt, and vegetables: by frying these last before they are thrown into the soup-pot the savour of the stew will be greatly heightened; and a tureen of good soup may be made of its remains, after it has been served at table.

Ox-cheek, after having been soaked for four or five hours, and washed with great nicety, may be dressed like the shin; but as it has little flavour, the gravy should be strained, and quite cleared from fat, then put into a clean saucepan, and thickened as soon as it boils, with the following mixture:—three dessertspoonsful of rice-flour, nearly a wineglassful of catsup, a teaspoonsful of currie-powder, or a little powdered ginger and cayenne. When these have stewed for ten minutes, dish the head, pour the sauce over, and serve it.

Shin of beef, 4 to 5 hours. Ox-cheek, 2 to 3 hours.

STEWED SIRLOIN OF BEEF.

As a matter of convenience we have occasionally had this joint stewed instead of roasted, and have found it excellent. Cut out the inside or fillet as entire as possible, and reserve it for a separate dish; then remove the bones with care, or let the butcher do this. Spread the meat flat on a table and cover the inside with thin slices of striped bacon, after having first strewed over it a mixed seasoning of a small teaspoonful of salt, half as much mace or nutmeg, and a moderate quantity of pepper or cayenne. Roll and bind the meat up firmly, lay it into a stewpan or thick iron saucepan nearly of its size, and add the bones and as much good beef broth as will nearly cover the joint.

Should this not be at hand, put a few slices of lean ham or bacon under the beef, and lay round it three pounds of neck or knuckle of veal, or of stewing beef divided into several parts; then pour to it cold water instead of broth. In either case, so soon as it has boiled a few minutes and been well cleaned from scum, throw in a large faggot of savoury herbs, three or four carrots, as many leeks, or a large onion stuck with a dozen cloves; and an hour later two blades of mace, and half a teaspoonful of peppercorns.

Stew the beef very gently indeed from four to five hours, and longer, should the joint be large: serve it with a good Espagnole sauce piquante, or brown caper sauce. Add what salt may be needed before the vegetables are thrown in; and, after the meat is lifted out, boil down to soup or gravy the liquor in which it has been stewed.

To many tastes it would be an improvement to flour and brown the outside of the beef in butter before the broth or water is poured to it: it may also be stewed (but somewhat longer) half-covered with rich gravy, and turned when partially done. Minced eschalots may be strewed over the inside before it is rolled, when their strong savour is relished, or veal forcemeat may supply their place.

TO STEW A RUMP OF BEEF.

This joint is more easily carved, and is of better appearance when the bones are removed before it is dressed. Roll and bind it firmly with a fillet of tape, cover it with strong cold beef broth or gravy, and stew it very gently indeed from six hours to between seven and eight; add to it, after the scum has been well cleared off, one large or two moderate-sized onions stuck with thirty cloves, a head of celery, two carrots, two turnips, and a large faggot of savoury herbs.

When the beef is perfectly tender quite through, which may be known by probing it with a sharp thin skewer, remove the fillets of tape, dish it neatly, and serve it with a rich Espagnole, and a garnish of forced tomatas, or with a highly-flavoured brown English gravy, and stewed carrots in the dish: for these last the mild preparation of garlic or eschalots, may be substituted with good effect. They should be well drained, laid round the meat, and a little brown gravy should be poured over the whole.

This is the most simple and economical manner of stewing the beef; but should a richer one be desired, half roast the joint, and stew it afterwards in strong gravy to which a pint of mushrooms, and a pint of sherry or Madeira, should be added an hour before it is ready for table. Keep it hot while a portion of the gravy is thickened with a well-made brown roux, and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and any other spice it may require. Garnish it with large balls of forcemeat highly seasoned with minced eschalots, rolled in egg and bread-crumbs, and fried a fine golden brown.

Plainly stewed from 6 to 7 or 8 hours. Or: half roasted then stewed from 4 to 5 hours.

Obs.—Grated horseradish, mixed with some well-thickened brown gravy, a teaspoonful of mustard, and a little lemon-juice or vinegar, is a good sauce for stewed beef.

AN EXCELLENT HASH OF COLD BEEF.

Put a slice of butter into a thick saucepan, and when it boils throw in a dessertspoonful of minced herbs, and an onion (or two or three eschalots) shred small: shake them over the fire until they are lightly browned, then stir in a tablespoonful of flour, a little cayenne, some mace or nutmeg, and half a teaspoonful of salt. When the whole is well coloured, pour to it three-quarters of a pint or more of broth or gravy, according to the quantity of meat to be served in it. Let this boil gently for fifteen minutes; then strain it, add half a wineglassful of mushroom or of compound catsup, lay in the meat, and keep it by the side of the fire until it is heated through and is on the point of simmering, but be sure not to let it boil. Serve it up in a very hot dish, and garnish it with fried or toasted sippets of bread.

A COMMON HASH OF COLD BEEF OR MUTTON.

Take the meat from the bones, slice it small, trim off the brown edges, and stew down the trimmings with the bones well broken, an onion, a bunch of thyme and parsley, a carrot cut into thick slices, a few peppercorns, four cloves, some salt, and a pint and a half of water. When this is reduced to little more than three quarters of a pint, strain it, clear it from the fat, thicken it with a large dessertspoonful of rice flour, or rather less of arrow-root, add salt and pepper if needed, boil the whole for a few minutes, then lay in the meat and heat it well. Boiled potatoes are sometimes sliced hot into a very common hash.

Obs.—The cook should be reminded that if the meat in a hash or mince be allowed to boil, it will immediately become hard, and can then only be rendered eatable by very long stewing, which is by no means desirable for meat which is already sufficiently cooked.

CALF’S HEAD, THE WARDER’S WAY.

(An excellent Receipt.)

Boil the half-head until tolerably tender; let it cool, and bone it entirely; replace the brain, lay the head into a stewpan, and simmer it gently for an hour in rich gravy. From five-and-twenty to thirty minutes before it is dished, add half a pint of mushroom-buttons. Thicken the gravy, if needful, with rice flour or with flour and butter, and serve plenty of forcemeat-balls round the head. For dishes of this kind, a little sweet-basil wine, or a few sprigs of the herb itself, impart a very agreeable flavour. When neither these nor mushrooms are within reach, the very thin rind of a small but fresh lemon may be boiled in the gravy, and the strained juice added at the instant of serving.

Boiled from 1 to 2 hours; stewed 1 hour.

Obs.—The skin, with the ear, may be left on the head for this receipt, and the latter slit into narrow strips from the tip to within an inch and a half of the base; which will give it a feathery and ornamental appearance, the head may then be glazed or not at pleasure.

STEWED SHOULDER OF VEAL. (English Receipt.)

Bone a shoulder of veal, and strew the inside thickly with savoury herbs minced small; season it well with salt, cayenne, and pounded mace; and place on these a layer of ham cut in thin slices and freed from rind and rust. Roll up the veal, and bind it tightly with a fillet; roast it for an hour and a half, then simmer it gently in good brown gravy for five hours; add forcemeat balls before it is dished; skim the fat from the gravy, and serve it with the meat.

This receipt, for which we are indebted to a correspondent on whom we can depend, and which we have not therefore considered it necessary to test ourselves, is for a joint which weighs ten pounds before it is boned.

VEAL GOOSE. (City of London receipt.)

“This is made with the upper part of the flank of a loin of veal (or sometimes that of the fillet) covered with a stuffing of sage and onions, then rolled, and roasted or broiled. It is served with brown gravy and apple sauce, is extremely savoury, and has many admirers.” We transcribe the exact receipt for this dish, which was procured for us from a house in the city, which is famed for it. We had it tested with the skin of the best end of a fine neck of veal, from which it was pared with something more than an inch depth of the flesh adhering to it. It was roasted one hour, and answered extremely well. It is a convenient mode of dressing the flank of the veal for eaters who do not object to the somewhat coarse savour of the preparation.

When the tendrons or gristles of a breast, or part of a breast of veal, are required for a separate dish, the remaining portion of the joint may be dressed in this way after the bones have been taken out; or, without removing them, the stuffing may be inserted under the skin.

SPRING-STEW OF VEAL.

Cut two pound of veal, free from fat, into small half-inch thick cutlets; flour them well, and fry them in butter with two small cucumbers sliced, sprinkled with pepper, and floured, one moderate sized lettuce, and twenty-four green gooseberries cut open lengthwise and seeded. When the whole is nicely browned, lift it into a thick saucepan, and pour gradually into the pan half a pint, or rather more, of boiling water, broth, or gravy.

Add as much salt and pepper as it requires. Give it a minute’s simmer, and pour it over the meat, shaking it well round the pan as this is done. Let the veal stew gently from three quarters of an hour to an hour. A bunch of green onions cut small may be added to the other vegetables if liked; and the veal will eat better, if slightly seasoned with salt and pepper before it is floured; a portion of fat can be left on it if preferred.

Veal 2 lbs.; cucumbers, 2; lettuce, 1; green gooseberries, 24; water or broth, 1/2 pint or more: 3/4 to 1 hour.

NORMAN HARRICO.

Brown in a stewpan or fry lightly, after having sprinkled them with pepper, salt, and flour, from two to three pounds of veal cutlets. If taken from the neck or loin, chop the bones very short, and trim away the greater portion of the fat. Arrange them as flat as they can be in a saucepan; give a pint of water a boil in the pan in which they have been browned, and pour it on them; add a small faggot of parsley, and, should the flavour be liked, one of green onions also. Let the meat simmer softly for half an hour; then cover it with small new potatoes which have had a single boil in water, give the saucepan a shake, and let the harrico stew very gently for another half hour, or until the potatoes are quite done, and the veal is tender.

When the cutlets are thick and the potatoes approaching their full size, more time will be required for the meat, and the vegetables may be at once divided: if extremely young they will need the previous boil. Before the harrico is served, skim the fat from it, and add salt and pepper should it not be sufficiently seasoned. A few bits of lean ham, or shoulder of bacon browned with the veal, will much improve this dish, and for some tastes, a little acid will render it more agreeable. Very delicate pork chops may be dressed in the same way. A cutlet taken from the fillet and freed from fat and skin, answers best for this dish.

Additional vegetables, cooked apart, can be added to it after it is dished. Peas boiled very green and well drained, or young carrots sliced and stewed tender in butter, are both well suited to it.

Veal, 2 to 3 lbs.; water (or gravy), 1 pint; new potatoes 1-1/2 to 2 lbs.; faggot, parsley, and green onions: 1 hour or more.

STEWED CALF’S FEET.

(Cheap and Good.)

This is an excellent family dish, highly nutritious, and often very inexpensive, as the feet during the summer are usually sold at a low rate. Wash them with nicety, divide them at the joint, and split the claws; arrange them closely in a thick stewpan or saucepan, and pour in as much cold water as will cover them about half an inch: three pints will be sufficient for a couple of large feet. When broth or stock is at hand, it is good economy to substitute it for the water, as by this means a portion of strong and well-flavoured jellied gravy will be obtained for general use, the full quantity not being needed as sauce for the feet.

The whole preparation will be much improved by laying a thick slice of the lean of an unboiled ham, knuckle of bacon, hung beef, or the end of a dried tongue, at the bottom of the pan, before the other ingredients are added; or, when none of these are at hand, by supplying the deficiency with a few bits of lean beef or veal: the feet being of themselves insipid, will be much more palatable with one or the other of these additions.

Throw in from half to three quarters of a teaspoonful of salt when they begin to boil, and after the scum has been all cleared off, add a few branches of parsley, a little celery, one small onion or more, stuck with half a dozen cloves, a carrot or two, a large blade of mace, and twenty corns of whole pepper; stew them softly until the flesh will part entirely from the bones; take it from them, strain part of the gravy, and skim off all the fat, flavour it with catsup or any other store sauce, and thicken it, when it boils, with arrow-root or flour and butter; put in the flesh of the feet, and serve the dish as soon as the whole is very hot.

A glass of wine, a little lemon juice, and a few forcemeat balls, will convert this into a very superior stew; a handful of mushroom-buttons also simmered in it for half an hour before it is dished, will vary it agreeably.

Calf’s feet (large), 2; water, 3 pints; salt, 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoonful; onions, 1 to 3; cloves, 6; peppercorns, 20; mace, large blade; little celery and parsley; carrots, 1 or 2: stewed softly, 2-1/2 to 3-1/4 hours. Mushroom catsup, 1 tablespoonful; flour, or arrow-root, 1 large teaspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz. Cayenne, to taste.

CALF’S LIVER STOVED, OR STEWED.

From three to four pounds of the best part of the liver will be sufficient for a dish of moderate size. First lard it quite through, with large lardoons, rolled in a seasoning of spice, and of savoury herbs very finely minced; then lay it into a stewpan or saucepan just fitted to its size, and pour in about half a pint of broth or gravy; heat it very gently, and throw in, when it begins to simmer, a sliced carrot, a small onion cut in two, a small bunch of parsley, and a blade of mace; stew the liver as softly as possible over a very slow fire from two hours and a half to three hours; thicken the gravy with a little brown roux, or with a dessertspoonful of browned flour; add a couple of glasses of white wine, and a little spice if needed, and serve it very hot, after having taken out the herbs and vegetable.

The liver may be stewed without being larded; it may likewise be browned all over in a carefully made roux, before the gravy is poured to it: this must then be made to boil, and be added in small portions, the stewpan being well shaken round as each is thrown in.

The wine can be altogether omitted; or a wineglassful of port mixed with a little lemon-juice, may take the place of sherry. After the liver has been wiped very dry, minced herbs may be strewed thickly over it before it is laid into the stewpan; and it may be served in its own gravy, or with a sauce piquante.

Liver, 3 to 4 lbs: 2 to 3 hours.

A BOILED LEG OF MUTTON WITH TONGUE AND TURNIPS.

(An excellent Receipt.)

Trim into handsome form a well-kept, but perfectly sweet leg of mutton, of middling weight; wash, but do not soak it; lay it into a vessel as nearly of its size as convenient, and pour in rather more than sufficient cold water[80] to cover it; set it over a good fire, and when it begins to boil take off the scum, and continue to do so until no more appears; throw in a tablespoonful of salt (after the first skimming), which will assist to bring it to the surface, and as soon as the liquor is clear, add two moderate-sized onions stuck with a dozen cloves, a large faggot of parsley, thyme, and winter savoury, and four or five large carrots, and half an hour afterwards as many turnips. Draw the pan to the side of the fire, and let the mutton be simmered gently from two hours to two and a half, from the time of its first beginning to boil.

Serve it with caper, brown cucumber, or oyster sauce. If stewed softly, as we have directed, the mutton will be found excellent dressed thus; otherwise, it will but resemble the unpalatable and ragged-looking joints of fast-boiled meat, so constantly sent to table by common English cooks. Any undressed bones of veal, mutton, or beef, boiled with the joint will improve it much, and the liquor will then make excellent soup or bouillon. A small smoked ox-tongue boiled very tender will generally be much approved as an accompaniment to the mutton, though it is out of the usual course to serve them together: innovation on established usages is, however, sometimes to be recommended. The tongue should be garnished with well-prepared mashed turnips, moulded with a tablespoon into the form of a half-egg, and sent to table as hot as possible; or the turnips may be dished apart.

80.  We have left this receipt unaltered, instead of applying to it Baron Liebeg’s directions for his improved method of boiling meat, because his objections to the immersion of the joint in cold water are partially obviated, by its being placed immediately over a sound fire, and heated quickly; and the mutton is very good thus dressed.

2 to 2-1/2 hours.

ROAST OR STEWED FILLET OF MUTTON.

Cut some inches from either end of a large and well-kept leg of mutton, and leave the fillet shaped like one of veal. Remove the bone, and fill the cavity with forcemeat, which may be flavoured with a little minced eschalot, when its flavour is liked: more forcemeat may be added by detaching the skin sufficiently on the flap side to admit it.

When thus prepared, the fillet may be roasted, and served with currant-jelly and brown gravy, or with only melted butter poured over it; or it may be stewed gently for nearly or quite four hours, in a pint of gravy or broth, after having been floured and browned all over in a couple of ounces of butter: it must then be turned every hour that it may be equally done. Two or three small onions, a faggot of herbs, a couple of carrots sliced, four or five cloves, and twenty whole peppercorns can be added to it at will.

Roasted 2 hours, or stewed 4 hours.

Obs.—At a large fire, half an hour less of time will roast the mutton sufficiently for English taste in general.

MUTTON CUTLETS STEWED IN THEIR OWN GRAVY.

(Good.)

Trim the fat entirely from some cutlets taken from the loin; just dip them into cold water, dredge them moderately with pepper, and plentifully on both sides with flour; rinse a thick iron saucepan with spring water, and leave three or four tablespoonsful in it; arrange the cutlets in one flat layer, if it can be done conveniently, and place them over a very gentle fire; throw in a little salt when they begin to stew, and let them simmer as softly as possible, but without ceasing, from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. If dressed with great care, which they require, they will be equally tender, easy of digestion, and nutritious; and being at the same time free from everything which can disagree with the most delicate stomach, the receipt will be found a valuable one for invalids.

The mutton should be of good quality, but the excellence of the dish mainly depends on its being most gently stewed; for if allowed to boil quickly all the gravy will be dried up, and the meat will be unfit for table.

The cutlets must be turned when they are half done: two or three spoonsful of water or gravy may be added to them should they not yield sufficient moisture; or if closely arranged in a single layer at first, water may be poured in to half their depth. The advantage of this receipt is, that none of the nutriment of the meat is lost; for that which escapes from the cutlets remains in the gravy, which should all be served with them: any fat which may be perceived upon it should be carefully skimmed off. Cold broth used for it instead of water will render it extremely good.

1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.

A GOOD FAMILY STEW OF MUTTON.

Put into a broad stewpan or saucepan, a flat layer of mutton chops, freed entirely from fat and from the greater portion of the bone, or in preference a cutlet or two from the leg, divided into bits of suitable size, then just dipped into cold water, seasoned with pepper, and lightly dredged with flour; on these put a layer of mild turnips sliced half an inch thick, and cut up into squares; then some carrots of the same thickness, with a seasoning of salt and black pepper between them; next, another layer of mutton, then plenty of vegetables, and as much weak broth or cold water as will barely cover the whole; bring them slowly to a boil, and let them just simmer from two to three hours, according to the quantity.

One or two minced onions may be strewed between the other vegetables when their flavour is liked. The savour of the dish will be increased by browning the meat in a little butter before it is stewed, and still more so by frying the vegetables lightly as well, before they are added to it. A head or two of celery would to many tastes improve the flavour of the whole. In summer, cucumber, green onions, shred lettuces, and green peas may be substituted for the winter vegetables.

Mutton, free from fat, 2-1/2 lbs.; turnips, 3 lbs; carrots, 3 lbs.; celery (if added), 2 small heads: 2 to 3 hours.

Obs.—The fat and trimmings of the mutton used for this and for other dishes into which only the lean is admissible, may be turned to useful account by cutting the whole up rather small, and then boiling it in a quart of water to the pound, with a little spice, a bunch of herbs and some salt, until the fat is nearly dissolved: the liquid will then, if strained off and left until cold, make tolerable broth, and the cake of fat which is on the top, if again just melted and poured free of sediment into small pans, will serve excellently for common pies and for frying kitchen dinners. Less water will of course produce broth of better quality, and the addition of a small quantity of fresh meat or bones will render it very good.

AN IRISH STEW.

Take two pounds of small thick mutton cutlets with or without fat, according to the taste of the persons to whom the stew is to be served; take also four pounds of good potatoes, weighed after they are pared; slice them thick, and put a portion of them in a flat layer into a large thick saucepan or stewpan; season the mutton well with pepper, and place some of it on the potatoes; cover it with another layer, and proceed in the same manner with all, reserving plenty of the vegetable for the top; pour in three quarters of a pint of cold water, and add, when the stew begins to boil, an ounce of salt; let it simmer gently for two hours, and serve it very hot. When the addition of onion is liked, strew some minced over the potatoes.

Mutton cutlets, 2 lbs.; potatoes, 4 lbs.; pepper, 1/2 oz.; salt, 1 oz.; water, 3/4 pint: 2 hours.

Obs.—For a real Irish stew the potatoes should be boiled to a mash: an additional quarter of an hour may be necessary for the full quantity here, but for half of it two hours are quite sufficient.

A BAKED IRISH STEW.

Fill a brown upright Nottingham jar with alternate layers of mutton (or beef), sliced potatoes, and mild onions; and put in water and seasoning as above; cover the top closely with whole potatoes (pared), and send the stew to a moderate oven. The potatoes on the top should be well cooked and browned before the stew is served.

We have not considered it necessary to try this receipt, which was given to us by some friends who keep an excellent table, and who recommended it much. It is, of course, suited only to a quite plain family dinner. The onions can be omitted when their flavour is not liked.

TO BOIL A HAM.

The degree of soaking which must be given to a ham before it is boiled, must depend both on the manner in which it has been cured, and on its age. If highly salted, hard, and old, a day and night, or even longer, may be requisite to dilate the pores sufficiently, and to extract a portion of the salt. To do either effectually the water must be several times changed during the steeping. We generally find hams cured by any of the receipts which we have given in this chapter quite enough soaked in twelve hours; and they are more frequently laid into water only early in the morning of the day on which they are boiled.

Those pickled by Monsieur Ude’s receipt need much less steeping than any others. After the ham has been scraped, or brushed, as clean as possible, pare away lightly any part which, from being blackened or rusty, would disfigure it; though it is better not to cut the flesh at all unless it be really requisite for the good appearance of the joint. Lay it into a ham-kettle, or into any other vessel of a similar form, and cover it plentifully with cold water; bring it very slowly to boil, and clear off carefully the scum which will be thrown up in great abundance. So soon as the water has been cleared from this, draw back the pan quite to the edge of the stove, that the ham may be simmered softly but steadily, until it is tender. On no account allow it to boil fast.

A bunch of herbs and three or four carrots, thrown in directly after the water has been skimmed, will improve it. When it can be probed very easily with a sharp skewer, or larding-pin, lift it out, strip off the skin, and should there be an oven at hand, set it in for a few minutes after having laid it on a drainer; strew fine raspings over it, or grate a hard-toasted crust, unless it is to be glazed, when neither of these must be used.

Small ham, 3-1/2 to 4 hours; moderate sized, 4 to 4-1/2 hours; very large, 5 to 5-1/2 hours.

Obs.—We have seen the following manner of boiling a ham recommended, but we have not tried it:—“Put into the water in which it is to be boiled, a quart of old cider and a pint of vinegar, a large bunch of sweet herbs, and a bay leaf. When it is two-thirds done, skin, cover it with raspings, and set it in an oven until it is done enough: it will prove incomparably superior to a ham boiled in the usual way.”

STEWED DUCK. (ENTRÉE.)

A couple of quite young ducks, or a fine, full-grown, but still tender one, will be required for this dish. Cut either down neatly into joints, and arrange them in a single layer if possible, in a wide stewpan; pour in about three quarters of a pint of strong cold beef stock or gravy; let it be well cleared from scum when it begins to boil, then throw in a little salt, a rather full seasoning of cayenne, and a few thin strips of lemon-rind.

Simmer the ducks very softly for three quarters of an hour, or somewhat longer should the joints be large; then stir into the gravy a tablespoonful of the finest rice-flour, mixed with a wineglassful or rather more of port wine, and a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice: in ten minutes after, dish the stew and send it to table instantly.

The ducks may be served with a small portion only of their sauce, and dished in a circle, with green peas à la Française heaped high in the centre: the lemon-rind and port wine should then be altogether omitted, and a small bunch of green onions and parsley, with two or three young carrots, may be stewed down with the birds, or three or four minced eschalots, delicately fried in butter, may be used to flavour the gravy.

The turnips au beurre, may be substituted for the peas; and a well made Espagnole may take the place of beef stock, when a dish of high savour is wished for. A duck is often stewed without being divided into joints. It should then be firmly trussed, half roasted at a quick fire, and laid into the stewpan as it is taken from the spit; or well browned in some French thickening, then half covered with boiling gravy, and turned when partially done: from an hour to an hour and a quarter will stew it well.

Victorian Recipes from HIGH-CLASS COOKERY MADE EASY. [Economical Cookery] By Mrs. Hart. [1880]

LARDED FILLETS OF BEEF.

Take bacon, cut as for larded sweetbreads, and lard in the same manner. Place a few pieces of chopped suet at the bottom of a stew-pan, half an onion, one clove, a slight sprinkling of flour, brown, and add one cup of second stock. Cover with a close lid, and simmer slowly for one hour. Dish the fillets of beef, skim the grease, and sprinkle a few mushrooms in the sauce, and serve.

BOILED LEG OF MUTTON.

Place a trimmed leg of mutton in a pot with plenty of water to cover, and set it to boil. After skimming, add a handful of salt, two carrots and turnips, one parsnip; and when the leg has boiled two hours and a-half, it is done. Make a paper frill for the shank, and garnish with vegetables.

STEW OF RUMP BEEF.

Rump beef is the best part for stewing or braising. It should be of a fine quality, a deep red colour, rich grained, and covered with fat. When done, garnish it with some vegetables cut out with a round vegetable-cutter the size of marbles, and braise the same as braised leg of mutton.

BRAISED LEG OF MUTTON.

Put a small leg of mutton on the fire in a flat sauce-pan, with plenty of room, and brown it slowly on both sides; then add one quart of cold water, and let it simmer, one spoonful of browning, one of Worcestershire sauce. Boil three ounces of macaroni in cold water, and garnish round the mutton when about to serve.

TO BOIL A ROUND OF BEEF.

Put on a large pot with plenty of cold water, tie the meat up in a nice round shape, and secure it tightly with skewers. It must never be allowed to boil too fast, as that spoils salt meat. Garnish round the base with nice-shaped carrots, and a cup of its liquor coloured with browning over a few Brussels sprouts in four bunches round the dish. Boil the beef fifteen minutes to the pound.

BOILED HAM.

Soak a ham in cold water, and, before putting it on to boil, scrape all the grit and dirt off it. Boil from four to five hours, according to size. When the skin easily peels off, it is done. Plunge it in cold water, and remove the skin; make a glaze, and garnish in the following manner:—Put one half-ounce of gelatine to soak in as much water as will soak it to the thickness of cream. When it is melted, colour with a few drops of browning, and glaze the ham. Make an icing with two tea-spoonfuls of corn-flour, and one ounce fresh butter. Ornament with a paper coronet. Garnish with bunches of parsley and paper frill. This glaze will do for all kinds of meat requiring to be glazed.

BOILED LEG OF PORK.

Put a leg of pork on to boil. When it has boiled one hour, have two carrots, half a turnip, and one parsnip tied in a cotton cloth, and boil with pork for garnishing. Have half-a-pint of split pease soaked over night. Tie the pease up loosely in a napkin, and boil in the same pot with the pork. A leg of pork weighing eight pounds will take two hours and a-half. Dish, and garnish with the vegetables. Serve the pease pudding in a separate dish.

PILLAU AU RIZ.

Boil a tea-cupful of rice in cold water for ten minutes, then take a roast chicken from a previous day’s dinner; set it into a stew-pan with the rice over, and one ounce of butter, half of an onion, a piece of mace, pepper and salt, and a cup of stock. Simmer slowly for three-quarters of an hour. Dish with the rice all over the chicken.

BOILED CHICKEN.

Truss a chicken by cutting the legs off at the second joint. Stick the legs into the body, make a parsley sauce, and pour over the chicken. Time to cook, one hour. Serve with streaky boiled bacon in a separate dish. Garnish with a few nice-shaped vegetables.

TO BOIL RABBITS WHOLE.

Truss same as a roast hare; boil gently for one hour and a-half; serve with onion sauce. If there is a pair of rabbits, dish them in a reversed way, and pour the onion sauce over.

Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management [1861]

STEWED CARP.

243. INGREDIENTS.—1 carp, salt, stock, 2 onions, 6 cloves, 12 peppercorns, 1 blade of mace, 1/4 pint of port wine, the juice of 1/2 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste, a faggot of savoury herbs.

Mode.—Scale the fish, clean it nicely, and, if very large, divide it; lay it in the stewpan, after having rubbed a little salt on it, and put in sufficient stock to cover it; add the herbs, onions, and spices, and stew gently for 1 hour, or rather more, should it be very large. Dish up the fish with great care, strain the liquor, and add to it the port wine, lemon-juice, and cayenne; give one boil, pour it over the fish, and serve.

Time.—1-1/4 hour. Average cost. Seldom bought.

Seasonable from March to October.

Sufficient for 1 or 2 persons.

Note.—This fish can be boiled plain, and served with parsley and butter. Chub and Char may be cooked in the same manner as the above, as also Dace and Roach.

STEWED EELS.

I.

250. INGREDIENTS.—2 lbs. of eels, 1 pint of rich strong stock, 1 onion, 3 cloves, a piece of lemon-peel, 1 glass of port or Madeira, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream; thickening of flour; cayenne and lemon-juice to taste.

Mode.—Wash and skin the eels, and cut them into pieces about 3 inches long; pepper and salt them, and lay them in a stewpan; pour over the stock, add the onion stuck with cloves, the lemon-peel, and the wine. Stew gently for 1/2 hour, or rather more, and lift them carefully on a dish, which keep hot. Strain the gravy, stir to the cream sufficient flour to thicken; mix altogether, boil for 2 minutes, and add the cayenne and lemon-juice; pour over the eels and serve.

Time.—3/4 hour. Average cost for this quantity, 2s. 3d.

Seasonable from June to March.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

II.

251. INGREDIENTS.—2 lbs. of middling-sized eels, 1 pint of medium stock, 1/4 pint of port wine; salt, cayenne, and mace to taste; 1 teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, the juice of 1/2 a lemon.

Mode.—Skin, wash, and clean the eels thoroughly; cut them into pieces 3 inches long, and put them into strong salt and water for 1 hour; dry them well with a cloth, and fry them brown. Put the stock on with the heads and tails of the eels, and simmer for 1/2 hour; strain it, and add all the other ingredients. Put in the eels, and stew gently for 1/2 hour, when serve.

Time.—2 hours. Average cost, 1s. 9d.

Seasonable from June to March.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

STEWED OYSTERS.

288. INGREDIENTS.—1 pint of oysters, 1 oz. of butter, flour, 1/3 pint of cream; cayenne and salt to taste; 1 blade of pounded mace.

Mode.—Scald the oysters in their own liquor, take them out, beard them, and strain the liquor; put the butter into a stewpan, dredge in sufficient flour to dry it up, add the oyster-liquor and mace, and stir it over a sharp fire with a wooden spoon; when it comes to a boil, add the cream, oysters, and seasoning. Let all simmer for 1 or 2 minutes, but not longer, or the oysters would harden. Serve on a hot dish, and garnish with croutons, or toasted sippets of bread. A small piece of lemon-peel boiled with the oyster-liquor, and taken out before the cream is added, will be found an improvement.

Time.—Altogether 15 minutes.

Average cost for this quantity, 3s. 6d.

Seasonable from September to April.

Sufficient for 6 persons.

PERCH STEWED WITH WINE.

294. INGREDIENTS.—Equal quantities of stock and sherry, 1 bay-leaf, 1 clove of garlic, a small bunch of parsley, 2 cloves, salt to taste; thickening of butter and flour, pepper, grated nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce.

Mode.—Scale the fish and take out the gills, and clean them thoroughly; lay them in a stewpan with sufficient stock and sherry just to cover them. Put in the bay-leaf, garlic, parsley, cloves, and salt, and simmer till tender. When done, take out the fish, strain the liquor, add a thickening of butter and flour, the pepper, nutmeg, and the anchovy sauce, and stir it over the fire until somewhat reduced, when pour over the fish, and serve.

Time.—About 20 minutes.

Seasonable from September to November.

STEWED PLAICE.

298. INGREDIENTS.—4 or 5 plaice, 2 onions, 1/2 oz. ground ginger, 1 pint of lemon-juice, 1/4 pint water, 6 eggs; cayenne to taste.

Mode.—Cut the fish into pieces about 2 inches wide, salt them, and let them remain 1/4 hour. Slice and fry the onions a light brown; put them in a stewpan, on the top of which put the fish without washing, and add the ginger, lemon-juice, and water. Cook slowly for 1/2 hour, and do not let the fish boil, or it will break. Take it out, and when the liquor is cool, add 6 well-beaten eggs; simmer till it thickens, when pour over the fish, and serve.

Time.—3/4 hour. Average cost for this quantity, 1s. 9d.

Seasonable from May to November.

Sufficient for 4 persons; according to size.

THE PLAICE.—This fish is found both in the Baltic and the Mediterranean, and is also abundant on the coast of England. It keeps well, and, like all ground-fish, is very tenacious of life. Its flesh is inferior to that of the sole, and, as it is a low-priced fish, it is generally bought by the poor. The best brought to the London market are called Dowers plaice, from their being caught in the Dowers, or flats, between Hastings and Folkstone.

TENCH STEWED WITH WINE.

335. INGREDIENTS.—1/2 pint of stock, 1/2 pint of Madeira or sherry, salt and pepper to taste, 1 bay-leaf, thickening of butter and flour.

Mode.—Clean and crimp the tench; carefully lay it in a stewpan with the stock, wine, salt and pepper, and bay-leaf; let it stew gently for 1/2 hour; then take it out, put it on a dish, and keep hot. Strain the liquor, and thicken it with butter and flour kneaded together, and stew for 5 minutes. If not perfectly smooth, squeeze it through a tammy, add a very little cayenne, and pour over the fish. Garnish with balls of veal forcemeat.

Time.—Rather more than 1/2 hour.

Seasonable from October to June.

A SINGULAR QUALITY IN THE TENCH.—It is said that the tench is possessed of such healing properties among the finny tribes, that even the voracious pike spares it on this account.

      The pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain,
      With ravenous waste devours his fellow train;
      Yet howsoe’er with raging famine pined,
      The tench he spares, a medicinal kind;
      For when by wounds distress’d, or sore disease,
      He courts the salutary fish for ease;
      Close to his scales the kind physician glides,
      And sweats a healing balsam from his sides.

In our estimation, however, this self-denial in the pike may be attributed to a less poetical cause; namely, from the mud-loving disposition of the tench, it is enabled to keep itself so completely concealed at the bottom of its aqueous haunts, that it remains secure from the attacks of its predatory neighbour.

STEWED TROUT.

336. INGREDIENTS.—2 middling-sized trout, 1/2 onion cut in thin slices, a little parsley, 2 cloves, 1 blade of mace, 2 bay-leaves, a little thyme, salt and pepper to taste, 1 pint of medium stock, 1 glass of port wine, thickening of butter and flour.

Mode.—Wash the fish very clean, and wipe it quite dry. Lay it in a stewpan, with all the ingredients but the butter and flour, and simmer gently for 1/2 hour, or rather more, should not the fish be quite done. Take it out, strain the gravy, add the thickening, and stir it over a sharp fire for 5 minutes; pour it over the trout, and serve.

Time.—According to size, 1/2 hour or more.

Average cost.—Seldom bought.

Seasonable from May to September, and fatter from the middle to the end of August than at any other time.

Sufficient for 4 persons.

Trout may be served with anchovy or caper sauce, baked in buttered paper, or fried whole like smelts. Trout dressed a la Génévese is extremely delicate.

THE TROUT.—This fish, though esteemed by the moderns for its delicacy, was little regarded by the ancients. Although it abounded in the lakes of the Roman empire, it is generally mentioned by writers only on account of the beauty of its colours. About the end of September, they quit the deep water to which they had retired during the hot weather, for the purpose of spawning. This they always do on a gravelly bottom, or where gravel and sand are mixed among stones, towards the end or by the sides of streams. At this period they become black about the head and body, and become soft and unwholesome. They are never good when they are large with roe; but there are in all trout rivers some barren female fish, which continue good throughout the winter. In the common trout, the stomach is uncommonly strong and muscular, shell-fish forming a portion of the food of the animal; and it takes into its stomach gravel or small stones in order to assist in comminuting it.

HASHED BEEF

(Cold Meat Cookery).

I.

628. INGREDIENTS.—Gravy saved from the meat, 1 teaspoonful of tomato sauce, 1 teaspoonful of Harvey’s sauce, 1 teaspoonful of good mushroom ketchup, 1/2 glass of port wine or strong ale, pepper and salt to taste, a little flour to thicken, 1 onion finely minced, a few slices of cold roast beef.

Mode.—Put all the ingredients but the beef into a stewpan with whatever gravy may have been saved from the meat the day it was roasted; let these simmer gently for 10 minutes, then take the stewpan off the fire; let the gravy cool, and skim off the fat. Cut the beef into thin slices, dredge them with flour, and lay them in the gravy; let the whole simmer gently for 5 minutes, but not boil, or the meat will be tough and hard. Serve very hot, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—20 minutes. Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 4d.

Seasonable at any time.

II.

629. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of ribs or sirloin of beef, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 blade of pounded mace, thickening of flour, rather more than 1 pint of water.

Mode.—Take off all the meat from the bones of ribs or sirloin of beef; remove the outside brown and gristle; place the meat on one side, and well stew the bones and pieces, with the above ingredients, for about 2 hours, till it becomes a strong gravy, and is reduced to rather more than 1/2 pint; strain this, thicken with a teaspoonful of flour, and let the gravy cool; skim off all the fat; lay in the meat, let it get hot through, but do not allow it to boil, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread. The gravy may be flavoured as in the preceding recipe.

Time.—Rather more than 2 hours.

Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 2d.

Seasonable at any time.

Note.—Either of the above recipes may be served in walls of mashed potatoes browned; in which case the sippets should be omitted. Be careful that hashed meat does not boil, or it will become tough.

MIROTON OF BEEF.

637. INGREDIENTS.—A few slices of cold roast beef, 3 oz. of butter, salt and pepper to taste, 3 onions, 1/2 pint of gravy.

Mode.—Slice the onions and put them into a frying-pan with the cold beef and butter; place it over the fire, and keep turning and stirring the ingredients to prevent them burning. When of a pale brown, add the gravy and seasoning; let it simmer for a few minutes, and serve very hot. This dish is excellent and economical.

Time.—5 minutes. Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 6d.

Seasonable at any time.

STEWED OX-CHEEK.

638. INGREDIENTS.—1 cheek, salt and water, 4 or 5 onions, butter and flour, 6 cloves, 3 turnips, 2 carrots, 1 bay-leaf, 1 head of celery, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, cayenne, black pepper and salt to taste, 1 oz. of butter, 2 dessertspoonfuls of flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of Chili vinegar, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, 2 tablespoonfuls of port wine, 2 tablespoonfuls of Harvey’s sauce.

Mode.—Have the cheek boned, and prepare it the day before it is to be eaten, by cleaning and putting it to soak all night in salt and water. The next day, wipe it dry and clean, and put it into a stewpan. Just cover it with water, skim well when it boils, and let it gently simmer till the meat is quite tender. Slice and fry 3 onions in a little butter and flour, and put them into the gravy; add 2 whole onions, each stuck with 3 cloves, 3 turnips quartered, 2 carrots sliced, a bay-leaf, 1 head of celery, a bunch of herbs, and seasoning to taste of cayenne, black pepper, and salt. Let these stew till perfectly tender; then take out the cheek, divide into pieces fit to help at table, skim and strain the gravy, and thicken 1-1/2 pint of it with butter and flour in the above proportions. Add the vinegar, ketchup, and port wine; put in the pieces of cheek; let the whole boil up, and serve quite hot. Send it to table in a ragout-dish. If the colour of the gravy should not be very good, add a tablespoonful of browning.

Time.—4 hours. Average cost, 3d. per lb.

Sufficient for 8 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

STEWED OX-TAILS.

640. INGREDIENTS.—2 ox-tails, 1 onion, 3 cloves, 1 blade of mace, 1 teaspoonful of whole black pepper, 1 teaspoonful of allspice, 1/2 a teaspoonful of salt, a small bunch of savoury herbs, thickening of butter and flour, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.

Mode.—Divide the tails at the joints, wash, and put them into a stewpan with sufficient water to cover them, and set them on the fire; when the water boils, remove the scum, and add the onion cut into rings, the spice, seasoning, and herbs. Cover the stewpan closely, and let the tails simmer very gently until tender, which will be in about 2-1/2 hours. Take them out, make a thickening of butter and flour, add it to the gravy, and let it boil for 1/4 hour. Strain it through a sieve into a saucepan, put back the tails, add the lemon-juice and ketchup; let the whole just boil up, and serve. Garnish with croûtons or sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—2-1/2 hours to stew the tails.

Average cost, 9d. to 1s. 6d., according to the season.

Sufficient for 8 persons.

Seasonable all the year.

RIB OF BEEF BONES.

(A Pretty Dish.)

644. INGREDIENTS.—Rib of beef bones, 1 onion chopped fine, a few slices of carrot and turnip, 1/4 pint of gravy.

Mode.—The bones for this dish should have left on them a slight covering of meat; saw them into pieces 3 inches long; season them with pepper and salt, and put them into a stewpan with the remaining ingredients. Stew gently, until the vegetables are tender, and serve on a flat dish within walls of mashed potatoes.

Time.—3/4 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the bones, 2d.

Seasonable at any time.

BRISKET OF BEEF, a la Flamande.

649. INGREDIENTS.—About 6 or 8 lbs. of the brisket of beef, 4 or 5 slices of bacon, 2 carrots, 1 onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, 4 cloves, 4 whole allspice, 2 blades of mace.

Mode.—Choose that portion of the brisket which contains the gristle, trim it, and put it into a stewpan with the slices of bacon, which should be put under and over the meat. Add the vegetables, herbs, spices, and seasoning, and cover with a little weak stock or water; close the stewpan as hermetically as possible, and simmer very gently for 4 hours. Strain the liquor, reserve a portion of it for sauce, and the remainder boil quickly over a sharp fire until reduced to a glaze, with which glaze the meat. Garnish the dish with scooped carrots and turnips, and when liked, a little cabbage; all of which must be cooked separately. Thicken and flavour the liquor that was saved for sauce, pour it round the meat, and serve. The beef may also be garnished with glazed onions, artichoke-bottoms, &c.

Time.—4 hours. Average cost, 7d. per lb.

Sufficient for 6 or 8 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

TO DRESS BEEF PALATES

(an Entree).

653. INGREDIENTS.—4 palates, sufficient gravy to cover them, cayenne to taste, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of pickled-onion liquor, thickening of butter and flour.

Mode.—Wash the palates, and put them into a stewpan, with sufficient water to cover them, and let them boil until perfectly tender, or until the upper skin may be easily peeled off. Have ready sufficient gravy (No. 438) to cover them; add a good seasoning of cayenne, and thicken with roux, No. 625, or a little butter kneaded with flour; let it boil up, and skim. Cut the palates into square pieces, put them in the gravy, and let them simmer gently for 1/2 hour; add ketchup and onion-liquor, give one boil, and serve.

Time.—From 3 to 5 hours to boil the palates.

Sufficient for 4 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

Note.—Palates may be dressed in various ways with sauce tournée, good onion sauce, tomato sauce, and also served in a vol-au-vent; but the above will be found a more simple method of dressing them.

STEWED BEEF AND CELERY SAUCE

(Cold Meat Cookery).

667. INGREDIENTS.—3 roots of celery, 1 pint of gravy, 2 onions sliced, 2 lbs. of cold roast or boiled beef.

Mode.—Cut the celery into 2-inch pieces, put them in a stew-pan, with the gravy and onions, simmer gently until the celery is tender, when add the beef cut into rather thick pieces; stew gently for 10 minutes, and serve with fried potatoes.

Time.—From 20 to 25 minutes to stew the celery.

Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 6d.

Seasonable from September to January.

STEWED BEEF WITH OYSTERS

(Cold Meat Cookery).

668. INGREDIENTS.—A few thick steaks of cold ribs or sirloin of beef, 2 oz. of butter, 1 onion sliced, pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 glass of port wine, a little flour to thicken, 1 or 2 dozen oysters, rather more than 1/2 pint of water.

Mode.—Cut the steaks rather thick, from cold sirloin or ribs of beef; brown them lightly in a stewpan, with the butter and a little water; add 1/2 pint of water, the onion, pepper, and salt, and cover the stewpan closely, and let it simmer very gently for 1/2 hour; then mix about a teaspoonful of flour smoothly with a little of the liquor; add the port wine and oysters, their liquor having been previously strained and put into the stewpan; stir till the oysters plump, and serve. It should not boil after the oysters are added, or they will harden.

Time.—1/2 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 1s. 4d.

Seasonable from September to April.

STEWED BRISKET OF BEEF.

669. INGREDIENTS.—7 lbs. of a brisket of beef, vinegar and salt, 6 carrots, 6 turnips, 6 small onions, 1 blade of pounded mace, 2 whole allspice pounded, thickening of butter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of ketchup; stock, or water.

Mode.—About an hour before dressing it, rub the meat over with vinegar and salt; put it into a stewpan, with sufficient stock to cover it (when this is not at hand, water may be substituted for it), and be particular that the stewpan is not much larger than the meat. Skim well, and when it has simmered very gently for 1 hour, put in the vegetables, and continue simmering till the meat is perfectly tender. Draw out the bones, dish the meat, and garnish either with tufts of cauliflower or braised cabbage cut in quarters. Thicken as much gravy as required, with a little butter and flour; add spices and ketchup in the above proportion, give one boil, pour some of it over the meat, and the remainder send in a tureen.

Time.—rather more than 3 hours. Average cost, 7d. per lb.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

Note.—The remainder of the liquor in which the beef was boiled may be served as a soup, or it may be sent to table with the meat in a tureen.

STEWED RUMP OF BEEF.

670. INGREDIENTS.—1/2 rump of beef, sufficient stock to cover it, 4 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 2 tablespoonfuls of ketchup, 1 large bunch of savoury herbs, 2 onions, 12 cloves, pepper and salt to taste, thickening of butter and flour, 1 glass of port wine.

Mode.—Cut out the bone, sprinkle the meat with a little cayenne (this must be sparingly used), and bind and tie it firmly up with tape; put it into a stewpan with sufficient stock to cover it, and add vinegar, ketchup, herbs, onions, cloves, and seasoning in the above proportion, and simmer very gently for 4 or 5 hours, or until the meat is perfectly tender, which may be ascertained by piercing it with a thin skewer. When done, remove the tape, lay it into a deep dish, which keep hot; strain and skim the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add a glass of port wine and any flavouring to make the gravy rich and palatable; let it boil up, pour over the meat, and serve. This dish may be very much enriched by garnishing with forcemeat balls, or filling up the space whence the bone is taken with a good forcemeat; sliced carrots, turnips, and onions boiled with the meat, are also a great improvement, and, where expense is not objected to, it may be glazed. This, however, is not necessary where a good gravy is poured round and over the meat.

Time.—1/2 rump stewed gently from 4 to 5 hours.

Average cost, 10d. per lb. Sufficient for 8 or 10 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

Note.—A stock or gravy in which to boil the meat, may be made of the bone and trimmings, by boiling them with water, and adding carrots, onions, turnips, and a bunch of sweet herbs. To make this dish richer and more savoury, half-roast the rump, and afterwards stew it in strong stock and a little Madeira. This is an expensive method, and is not, after all, much better than a plainer-dressed joint.

THE BARON OF BEEF.—This noble joint, which consisted of two sirloins not cut asunder, was a favourite dish of our ancestors. It is rarely seen nowadays; indeed, it seems out of place on a modern table, as it requires the grim boar’s head and Christmas pie as supporters. Sir Walter Scott has described a feast at which the baron of beef would have appeared to great advantage. We will quote a few lines to remind us of those days when “England was merry England,” and when hospitality was thought to be the highest virtue.

      “The fire, with well-dried logs supplied,
      Went roaring up the chimney wide;
      The huge hall-table’s oaken face,
      Scrubb’d till it shone, the day to grace,
      Bore then, upon its massive board,
      No mark to part the squire and lord.
      Then was brought in the lusty brawn,
      By old blue-coated serving-man;
      Then the grim boar’s head frown’d on high,
      Crested with bays and rosemary.
      Well can the green-garb’d ranger tell
      How, when, and where the monster fell;
      What dogs before his death he tore,
      And all the baiting of the boar;
      While round the merry wassel bowl,
      Garnish’d with ribbons, blithe did trowl.
      There the huge sirloin reek’d; hard by
      Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie;
      Nor fail’d old Scotland to produce,
      At such high tide, her savoury goose.”

When a lord’s son came of age, in the olden time, the baron of beef was too small a joint, by many degrees, to satisfy the retainers who would flock to the hall; a whole ox was therefore generally roasted over a fire built up of huge logs. We may here mention, that an ox was roasted entire on the frozen Thames, in the early part of the present century.

STEWED SHIN OF BEEF.

671. INGREDIENTS.—A shin of beef, 1 head of celery, 1 onion, a faggot of savoury herbs, 1/2 teaspoonful of allspice, 1/2 teaspoonful of whole black pepper, 4 carrots, 12 button onions, 2 turnips, thickening of butter and flour, 3 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, 2 tablespoonfuls of port wine; pepper and salt to taste.

Mode.—Have the bone sawn into 4 or 5 pieces, cover with hot water, bring it to a boil, and remove any scum that may rise to the surface. Put in the celery, onion, herbs, spice, and seasoning, and simmer very gently until the meat is tender. Peel the vegetables, cut them into any shape fancy may dictate, and boil them with the onions until tender; lift out the beef, put it on a dish, which keep hot, and thicken with butter and flour as much of the liquor as will be wanted for gravy; keep stirring till it boils, then strain and skim. Put the gravy back in the stewpan, add the seasoning, port wine, and ketchup, give one boil, and pour it over the beef; garnish with the boiled carrots, turnips, and onions.

Time.—The meat to be stewed about 4 hours. Average cost, 4d. per lb. with bone.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

BOILED TONGUE.

673. INGREDIENTS.—1 tongue, a bunch of savoury herbs, water.

Mode.—In choosing a tongue, ascertain how long it has been dried or pickled, and select one with a smooth skin, which denotes its being young and tender. If a dried one, and rather hard, soak it at least for 12 hours previous to cooking it; if, however, it is fresh from the pickle, 2 or 3 hours will be sufficient for it to remain in sock. Put the tongue in a stewpan with plenty of cold water and a bunch of savoury herbs; let it gradually come to a boil, skim well and simmer very gently until tender. Peel off the skin, garnish with tufts of cauliflowers or Brussels sprouts, and serve. Boiled tongue is frequently sent to table with boiled poultry, instead of ham, and is, by many persons, preferred. If to serve cold, peel it, fasten it down to a piece of board by sticking a fork through the root, and another through the top, to straighten it. When cold, glaze it, and put a paper ruche round the root, and garnish with tufts of parsley.

Time.—A large smoked tongue, 4 to 4-1/2 hours; a small one, 2-1/2 to 3 hours. A large unsmoked tongue, 3 to 3-1/2 hours; a small one, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.

Average cost, for a moderate sized tongue, 3s. 6d.

Seasonable at any time.

BOILED BREAST OF MUTTON AND CAPER SAUCE.

704. INGREDIENTS.—Breast of mutton, bread crumbs, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced savoury herbs (put a large proportion of parsley), pepper and salt to taste.

Mode.—Cut off the superfluous fat; bone it; sprinkle over a layer of bread crumbs, minced herbs, and seasoning; roll, and bind it up firmly. Boil gently for 2 hours, remove the tape, and serve with caper sauce, No. 382, a little of which should be poured over the meat.

Time.—2 hours. Average cost, 6d. per lb.

Sufficient for 4 or 6 persons.

Seasonable all the year.

BOILED LEG OF MUTTON.

705. INGREDIENTS.—Mutton, water, salt.

Mode.—A. leg of mutton for boiling should not hang too long, as it will not look a good colour when dressed. Cut off the shank-bone, trim the knuckle, and wash and wipe it very clean; plunge it into sufficient boiling water to cover it; let it boil up, then draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, where it should remain till the finger can be borne in the water. Then place it sufficiently near the fire, that the water may gently simmer, and be very careful that it does not boil fast, or the meat will be hard. Skim well, add a little salt, and in about 2-1/4 hours after the water begins to simmer, a moderate-sized leg of mutton will be done. Serve with carrots and mashed turnips, which may be boiled with the meat, and send caper sauce (No. 382) to table with it in a tureen.

Time.—A moderate-sized leg of mutton of 9 lbs., 2-1/4 hours after the water boils; one of 12 lbs., 3 hours.

Average cost, 8-1/2d. per lb.

Sufficient.—A moderate-sized leg of mutton for 6 or 8 persons.

Seasonable nearly all the year, but not so good in June, July, and August.

Note.—When meat is liked very thoroughly cooked, allow more time than stated above. The liquor this joint was boiled in should be converted into soup.

BRAISED FILLET OF MUTTON, with French Beans.

707. INGREDIENTS.—The chump end of a loin of mutton, buttered paper, French beans, a little glaze, 1 pint of gravy.

Mode.—Roll up the mutton in a piece of buttered paper, roast it for 2 hours, and do not allow it to acquire the least colour. Have ready some French beans, boiled, and drained on a sieve; remove the paper from the mutton, glaze it; just heat up the beans in the gravy, and lay them on the dish with the meat over them. The remainder of the gravy may be strained, and sent to table in a tureen.

Time.—2 hours. Average cost, 8-1/2d. per lb.

Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

HASHED MUTTON.

719. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast shoulder or leg of mutton, 6 whole peppers, 6 whole allspice, a faggot of savoury herbs, 1/2 head of celery, 1 onion, 2 oz. of butter, flour.

Mode.—Cut the meat in nice even slices from the bones, trimming off all superfluous fat and gristle; chop the bones and fragments of the joint, put them into a stewpan with the pepper, spice, herbs, and celery; cover with water, and simmer for 1 hour. Slice and fry the onion of a nice pale-brown colour, dredge in a little flour to make it thick, and add this to the bones, &c. Stew for 1/4 hour, strain the gravy, and let it cool; then skim off every particle of fat, and put it, with the meat, into a stewpan. Flavour with ketchup, Harvey’s sauce; tomato sauce, or any flavouring that may be preferred, and let the meat gradually warm through, but not boil, or it will harden. To hash meat properly, it should be laid in cold gravy, and only left on the fire just long enough to warm through.

Time.—1-1/2 hour to simmer the gravy.

Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 4d.

Seasonable at any time.

HASHED MUTTON.—Many persons express a decided aversion to hashed mutton; and, doubtless, this dislike has arisen from the fact that they have unfortunately never been properly served with this dish. If properly done, however, the meat tender (it ought to be as tender as when first roasted), the gravy abundant and well flavoured, and the sippets nicely toasted, and the whole served neatly; then, hashed mutton is by no means to be despised, and is infinitely more wholesome and appetizing than the cold leg or shoulder, of which fathers and husbands, and their bachelor friends, stand in such natural awe.

HODGE-PODGE

(Cold Meat Cookery).

720. INGREDIENTS.—About 1 lb. of underdone cold mutton, 2 lettuces, 1 pint of green peas, 5 or 6 green onions, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 teacupful of water.

Mode.—Mince the mutton, and cut up the lettuces and onions in slices. Put these in a stewpan, with all the ingredients except the peas, and let these simmer very gently for 3/4 hour, keeping them well stirred. Boil the peas separately, mix these with the mutton, and serve very hot.

Time.—3/4 hour.

Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.

Seasonable from the end of May to August.

IRISH STEW.

I.

721. INGREDIENTS.—3 lbs. of the loin or neck of mutton, 5 lbs. of potatoes, 5 large onions, pepper and salt to taste, rather more than 1 pint of water.

Mode.—Trim off some of the fat of the above quantity of loin or neck of mutton, and cut it into chops of a moderate thickness. Pare and halve the potatoes, and cut the onions into thick slices. Put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a stewpan, then a layer of mutton and onions, and season with pepper and salt; proceed in this manner until the stewpan is full, taking care to have plenty of vegetables at the top. Pour in the water, and let it stew very gently for 2-1/2 hours, keeping the lid of the stewpan closely shut the whole time, and occasionally shaking it to prevent its burning.

Time.—2-1/2 hours.

Average cost, for this quantity, 2s. 8d.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

Seasonable.—More suitable for a winter dish.

II.

722. INGREDIENTS.—2 or 3 lbs. of the breast of mutton, 1-1/2 pint of water, salt and pepper to taste, 4 lbs. of potatoes, 4 large onions.

Mode.—Put the mutton into a stewpan with the water and a little salt, and let it stew gently for an hour; cut the meat into small pieces, skim the fat from the gravy, and pare and slice the potatoes and onions. Put all the ingredients into the stewpan in layers, first a layer of vegetables, then one of meat, and sprinkle seasoning of pepper and salt between each layer; cover closely, and let the whole stew very gently for 1 hour of rather more, shaking it frequently to prevent its burning.

Time.—Rather more than 2 hours. Average cost, 1s, 6d.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

Seasonable.—Suitable for a winter dish.

Note.—Irish stew may be prepared in the same manner as above, but baked in a jar instead of boiled. About 2 hours or rather more in a moderate oven will be sufficient time to bake it.

BOILED NECK OF MUTTON.

730. INGREDIENTS.—4 lbs. of the middle, or best end of the neck of mutton; a little salt.

Mode.—Trim off a portion of the fat, should there be too much, and if it is to look particularly nice, the chine-bone should be sawn down, the ribs stripped halfway down, and the ends of the bones chopped off; this is, however, not necessary. Put the meat into sufficient boiling water to cover it; when it boils, add a little salt and remove all the scum. Draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and let the water get so cool that the finger may be borne in it; then simmer very slowly and gently until the meat is done, which will be in about 1-1/2 hour, or rather more, reckoning from the time that it begins to simmer.

Serve with turnips and caper sauce, and pour a little of it over the meat. The turnips should be boiled with the mutton; and, when at hand, a few carrots will also be found an improvement. These, however, if very large and thick, must be cut into long thinnish pieces, or they will not be sufficiently done by the time the mutton is ready. Garnish the dish with carrots and turnips placed alternately round the mutton.

Time.—4 lbs. of the neck of mutton, about 1-1/2 hour.

Average cost, 8-1/2 d. per lb.

Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

MUTTON COLLOPS

(Cold Meat Cookery).

731. INGREDIENTS.—A few slices of a cold leg or loin of mutton, salt and pepper to taste, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs minced very fine, 2 or 3 shalots, 2 or 3 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2 pint of gravy, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.

Mode.—Cut some very thin slices from a leg or the chump end of a loin of mutton; sprinkle them with pepper, salt, pounded mace, minced savoury herbs, and minced shalot; fry them in butter, stir in a dessertspoonful of flour, add the gravy and lemon-juice, simmer very gently about 5 or 7 minutes, and serve immediately.

Time.—5 to 7 minutes.

Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 6d.

Seasonable at any time.

RAGOUT OF COLD NECK OF MUTTON

(Cold Meat Cookery).

736. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of a cold neck or loin of mutton, 2 oz. of butter, a little flour, 2 onions sliced, 1/4 pint of water, 2 small carrots, 2 turnips, pepper and salt to taste.

Mode.—Cut the mutton into small chops, and trim off the greater portion of the fat; put the butter into a stewpan, dredge in a little flour, add the sliced onions, and keep stirring till brown; then put in the meat. When this is quite brown, add the water, and the carrots and turnips, which should be cut into very thin slices; season with pepper and salt, and stew till quite tender, which will be in about 3/4 hour. When in season, green peas may be substituted for the carrots and turnips: they should be piled in the centre of the dish, and the chops laid round.

Time.—3/4 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 4d.

Seasonable, with peas, from June to August.

STEWED BREAST OF LAMB.

745. INGREDIENTS.—1 breast of lamb, pepper and salt to taste, sufficient stock, to cover it, 1 glass of sherry, thickening of butter and flour.

Mode.—Skin the lamb, cut it into pieces, and season them with pepper and salt; lay these in a stewpan, pour in sufficient stock or gravy to cover them, and stew very gently until tender, which will be in about 1-1/2 hour. Just before serving, thicken the sauce with a little butter and flour; add the sherry, give one boil, and pour it over the meat. Green peas, or stewed mushrooms, may be strewed over the meat, and will be found a very great improvement.

Time.—1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 10d. per lb.

Sufficient for 3 persons.

Seasonable,—grass lamb, from Easter to Michaelmas.

BOILED LEG OF LAMB A LA BECHAMEL.

751. INGREDIENTS.—Leg of lamb, Béchamel sauce

Mode.—Do not choose a very large joint, but one weighing about 5 lbs. Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, into which plunge the lamb, and when it boils up again, draw it to the side of the fire, and let the water cool a little. Then stew very gently for about 1-1/4 hour, reckoning from the time that the water begins to simmer. Make some Béchamel sauce, dish the lamb, pour the sauce over it, and garnish with tufts of boiled cauliflower or carrots. When liked, melted butter may be substituted for the Béchamel: this is a more simple method, but not nearly so nice. Send to table with it some of the sauce in a tureen, and boiled cauliflowers or spinach, with whichever vegetable the dish is garnished.

Time.—1-1/4 hour after the water simmers.

Average cost, 10d. to 1s. per lb. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.

BRAISED LOIN OF LAMB.

753. INGREDIENTS.—1 loin of lamb, a few slices of bacon, 1 bunch of green onions, 5 or 6 young carrots, a bunch of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, 1 pint of stock, salt to taste.

Mode.—Bone a loin of lamb, and line the bottom of a stewpan just capable of holding it, with a few thin slices of fat bacon; add the remaining ingredients, cover the meat with a few more slices of bacon, pour in the stock, and simmer very gently for 2 hours; take it up, dry it, strain and reduce the gravy to a glaze, with which glaze the meat, and serve it either on stewed peas, spinach, or stewed cucumbers.

Time.—2 hours. Average cost, 11d. per lb.

Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB’S SWEETBREADS, LARDED, AND ASPARAGUS

(an Entree).

757. INGREDIENTS.—2 or 3 sweetbreads, 1/2 pint of veal stock, white pepper and salt to taste, a small bunch of green onions, 1 blade of pounded mace, thickening of butter and flour, 2 eggs, nearly 1/2 pint of cream, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, a very little grated nutmeg.

Mode.—Soak the sweetbreads in lukewarm water, and put them into a saucepan with sufficient boiling water to cover them, and let them simmer for 10 minutes; then take them out and put them into cold water. Now lard them, lay them in a stewpan, add the stock, seasoning, onions, mace, and a thickening of butter and flour, and stew gently for 1/4 hour or 20 minutes. Beat up the egg with the cream, to which add the minced parsley and a very little grated nutmeg. Put this to the other ingredients; stir it well till quite hot, but do not let it boil after the cream is added, or it will curdle. Have ready some asparagus-tops, boiled; add these to the sweetbreads, and serve.

Time.—Altogether 1/2 hour. Average cost, 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. each.

Sufficient—3 sweetbreads for 1 entrée.

Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.

HASHED PORK.

801. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast pork, 2 onions, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 2 blades of pounded mace, 2 cloves, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar, 1/2 pint of gravy, pepper and salt to taste.

Mode.—Chop the onions and fry them of a nice brown, cut the pork into thin slices, season them with pepper and salt, and add these to the remaining ingredients. Stew gently for about 1/2 hour, and serve garnished with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—1/2 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 3d.

Seasonable from October to March.

BOILED BACON.

804. INGREDIENTS.—Bacon; water.

Mode.—As bacon is frequently excessively salt, let it be soaked in warm water for an hour or two previous to dressing it; then pare off the rusty parts, and scrape the under-side and rind as clean as possible. Put it into a saucepan of cold water, let it come gradually to a boil, and as fast as the scum rises to the surface of the water, remove it. Let it simmer very gently until it is thoroughly done; then take it up, strip off the skin, and sprinkle over the bacon a few bread raspings, and garnish with tufts of cauliflower or Brussels sprouts. When served alone, young and tender broad beans or green peas are the usual accompaniments.

Time.—1 lb. of bacon, 1/4 hour; 2 lbs., 1-1/2 hour.

Average cost, 10d. to 1s. per lb. for the primest parts.

Sufficient.—2 lbs., when served with poultry or veal, sufficient for 10 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

TO BOIL A HAM.

811. INGREDIENTS.—Ham, water, glaze or raspings.

Mode.—In choosing a ham, ascertain that it is perfectly sweet, by running a sharp knife into it, close to the bone; and if, when the knife is withdrawn, it has an agreeable smell, the ham is good; if, on the contrary, the blade has a greasy appearance and offensive smell, the ham is bad. If it has been long hung, and is very dry and salt, let it remain in soak for 24 hours, changing the water frequently. This length of time is only necessary in the case of its being very hard; from 8 to 12 hours would be sufficient for a Yorkshire or Westmoreland ham. Wash it thoroughly clean, and trim away from the under-side, all the rusty and smoked parts, which would spoil the appearance. Put it into a boiling-pot, with sufficient cold water to cover it; bring it gradually to boil, and as the scum rises, carefully remove it. Keep it simmering very gently until tender, and be careful that it does not stop boiling, nor boil too quickly. When done, take it out of the pot, strip off the skin, and sprinkle over it a few fine bread-raspings, put a frill of cut paper round the knuckle, and serve. If to be eaten cold, let the ham remain in the water until nearly cold: by this method the juices are kept in, and it will be found infinitely superior to one taken out of the water hot; it should, however, be borne in mind that the ham must not remain in the saucepan all night. When the skin is removed, sprinkle over bread-raspings, or, if wanted particularly nice, glaze it. Place a paper frill round the knuckle, and garnish with parsley or cut vegetable flowers. (See Coloured Plate P.)

Time.—A ham weighing 10 lbs., 4 hours to simmer gently; 15 lbs., 5 hours; a very large one, about 5 hours.

Average cost, from 8d. to 10d. per lb. by the whole ham.

Seasonable all the year.

HOW TO BOIL A HAM TO GIVE IT AN EXCELLENT FLAVOUR.

812. INGREDIENTS.—Vinegar and water, 2 heads of celery, 2 turnips, 3 onions, a large bunch of savoury herbs.

Mode.—Prepare the ham as in the preceding recipe [see recipe above], and let it soak for a few hours in vinegar and water. Put it on in cold water, and when it boils, add the vegetables and herbs. Simmer very gently until tender, take it out, strip off the skin, cover with bread-raspings, and put a paper ruche or frill round the knuckle.

Time.—A ham weighing 10 lbs., 4 hours.

Average cost, 8d. to 10d. per lb. by the whole ham.

Seasonable at any time.

BOILED LEG OF PORK.

826. INGREDIENTS.—Leg of pork; salt.

Mode.—For boiling, choose a small, compact, well-filled leg, and rub it well with salt; let it remain in pickle for a week or ten days, turning and rubbing it every day. An hour before dressing it, put it into cold water for an hour, which improves the colour. If the pork is purchased ready salted, ascertain how long the meat has been in pickle, and soak it accordingly. Put it into a boiling-pot, with sufficient cold water to cover it; let it gradually come to a boil, and remove the scum as it rises. Simmer it very gently until tender, and do not allow it to boil fast, or the knuckle will fall to pieces before the middle of the leg is done. Carrots, turnips, or parsnips may be boiled with the pork, some of which should be laid round the dish as a garnish, and a well-made pease-pudding is an indispensable accompaniment.

Time.—A leg of pork weighing 8 lbs., 3 hours after the water boils, and to be simmered very gently.

Average cost, 9d. per lb.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable from September to March.

Note.—The liquor in which a leg of pork has been boiled, makes excellent pea-soup.

TO BOIL PICKLED PORK.

834. INGREDIENTS.—Pork; water.

Mode.—Should the pork be very salt, let it remain in water about 2 hours before it is dressed; put it into a saucepan with sufficient cold water to cover it, let it gradually come to a boil, then gently simmer until quite tender. Allow ample time for it to cook, as nothing is more disagreeable than underdone pork, and when boiled fast, the meat becomes hard. This is sometimes served with boiled poultry and roast veal, instead of bacon: when tender, and not over salt, it will be found equally good.

Time.—A piece of pickled pork weighing 2 lbs., 1-1/4 hour; 4 lbs., rather more than 2 hours.

Average cost, 10d. per lb. for the primest parts.

Seasonable at any time.

STEWED BREAST OF VEAL AND PEAS.

858. INGREDIENTS.—Breast of veal, 2 oz. of butter, a bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley; 2 blades of pounded mace, 2 cloves, 5 or 6 young onions, 1 strip of lemon-peel, 6 allspice, 1/4 teaspoonful of pepper, 1 teaspoonful of salt, thickening of butter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, 2 tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, green peas.

Mode.—Cut the breast in half, after removing the bone underneath, and divide the meat into convenient-sized pieces. Put the butter into a frying-pan, lay in the pieces of veal, and fry until of a nice brown colour. Now place these in a stewpan with the herbs, mace, cloves, onions, lemon-peel, allspice, and seasoning; pour over them just sufficient boiling water to cover the meat; well close the lid, and let the whole simmer very gently for about 2 hours. Strain off as much gravy as is required, thicken it with butter and flour, add the remaining ingredients, skim well, let it simmer for about 10 minutes, then pour it over the meat. Have ready some green peas, boiled separately; sprinkle these over the veal, and serve. It may be garnished with forcemeat balls, or rashers of bacon curled and fried. Instead of cutting up the meat, many persons prefer it dressed whole;—in that case it should be half-roasted before the water, &c. are put to it.

Time.—2-1/4 hours. Average cost, 8-1/2d. per lb.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

Seasonable from March to October.

VEAL A LA BOURGEOISE.

(Excellent.)

869. INGREDIENTS.—2 to 3 lbs. of the loin or neck of veal, 10 or 12 young carrots, a bunch of green onions, 2 slices of lean bacon, 2 blades of pounded mace, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, pepper and salt to taste, a few new potatoes, 1 pint of green peas.

Mode.—Cut the veal into cutlets, trim them, and put the trimmings into a stewpan with a little butter; lay in the cutlets and fry them a nice brown colour on both sides. Add the bacon, carrots, onions, spice, herbs, and seasoning; pour in about a pint of boiling water, and stew gently for 2 hours on a very slow fire. When done, skim off the fat, take out the herbs, and flavour the gravy with a little tomato sauce and ketchup. Have ready the peas and potatoes, boiled separately; put them with the veal, and serve.

Time.—2 hours. Average cost, 2s. 9d.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

Seasonable from June to August with peas;—rather earlier when these are omitted.

STEWED FILLET OF VEAL.

873. INGREDIENTS.—A small fillet of veal, forcemeat, thickening of butter and flour, a few mushrooms, white pepper to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, 2 blades of pounded mace, 1/2 glass of sherry.

Mode.—If the whole of the leg is purchased, take off the knuckle to stew, and also the square end, which will serve for cutlets or pies. Remove the bone, and fill the space with a forcemeat No. 417. Roll and skewer it up firmly; place a few skewers at the bottom of a stewpan to prevent the meat from sticking, and cover the veal with a little weak stock. Let it simmer very gently until tender, as the more slowly veal is stewed, the better. Strain and thicken the sauce, flavour it with lemon-juice, mace, sherry, and white pepper; give one boil, and pour it over the meat. The skewers should be removed, and replaced by a silver one, and the dish garnished with slices of cut lemon.

Time.—A. fillet of veal weighing 6 lbs., 3 hours’ very gentle stewing.

Average cost, 9d. per lb.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

Seasonable from March to October.

BOILED CALF’S HEAD (with the Skin on).

876. INGREDIENTS.—Calf’s head, boiling water, bread crumbs, 1 large bunch of parsley, butter, white pepper and salt to taste, 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 2 or 3 grains of cayenne.

Mode.—Put the head into boiling water, and let it remain by the side of the fire for 3 or 4 minutes; take it out, hold it by the ear, and with the back of a knife, scrape off the hair (should it not come off easily, dip the head again into boiling water). When perfectly clean, take the eyes out, cut off the ears, and remove the brain, which soak for an hour in warm water. Put the head into hot water to soak for a few minutes, to make it look white, and then have ready a stewpan, into which lay the head; cover it with cold water, and bring it gradually to boil. Remove the scum, and add a little salt, which assists to throw it up. Simmer it very gently from 2-1/2 to 3 hours, and when nearly done, boil the brains for 1/4 hour; skin and chop them, not too finely, and add a tablespoonful of minced parsley which has been previously scalded. Season with pepper and salt, and stir the brains, parsley, &c., into about 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter; add the lemon-juice and cayenne, and keep these hot by the side of the fire. Take up the head, cut out the tongue, skin it, put it on a small dish with the brains round it; sprinkle over the head a few bread crumbs mixed with a little minced parsley; brown these before the fire, and serve with a tureen of parsley and butter, and either boiled bacon, ham, or pickled pork as an accompaniment.

Time.—2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Average cost, according to the season, from 3s. to 7s. 6d.

Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.

Seasonable from March to October.

BOILED CALF’S HEAD (without the Skin).

877. INGREDIENTS.—Calf’s head, water, a little salt, 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.

Mode.—After the head has been thoroughly cleaned, and the brains removed, soak it in warm water to blanch it. Lay the brains also into warm water to soak, and let them remain for about an hour. Put the head into a stewpan, with sufficient cold water to cover it, and when it boils, add a little salt; take off every particle of scum as it rises, and boil the head until perfectly tender. Boil the brains, chop them, and mix with them melted butter, minced parsley, pepper, salt, and lemon-juice in the above proportion. Take up the head, skin the tongue, and put it on a small dish with the brains round it. Have ready some parsley and butter, smother the head with it, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. Bacon, ham, pickled pork, or a pig’s cheek, are indispensable with calf’s head. The brains are sometimes chopped with hard-boiled eggs, and mixed with a little Béchamel or white sauce.

Time.—From 1-1/2 to 2-1/4 hours.

Average cost, according to the season, from 3s. to 5s.

Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.

Seasonable from March to October.

Note.—The liquor in which the head was boiled should be saved: it makes excellent soup, and will be found a nice addition to gravies, &c. Half a calf’s head is as frequently served as a whole one, it being a more convenient-sized joint for a small family. It is cooked in the same manner, and served with the same sauces, as in the preceding recipe.

HASHED CALF’S HEAD

(Cold Meat Cookery).

878. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of a cold boiled calf’s head, 1 quart of the liquor in which it was boiled, a faggot of savoury herbs, 1 onion, 1 carrot, a strip of lemon-peel, 2 blades of pounded mace, salt and white pepper to taste, a very little cayenne, rather more than 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, forcemeat balls.

Mode.—Cut the meat into neat slices, and put the bones and trimmings into a stewpan with the above proportion of liquor that the head was boiled in. Add a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion, 1 carrot, a strip of lemon-peel, and 2 blades of pounded mace, and let these boil for 1 hour, or until the gravy is reduced nearly half. Strain it into a clean stewpan, thicken it with a little butter and flour, and add a flavouring of sherry, lemon-juice, and ketchup, in the above proportion; season with pepper, salt, and a little cayenne; put in the meat, let it gradually warm through, but not boil more than two or three minutes. Garnish the dish with forcemeat balls and pieces of bacon rolled and toasted, placed alternately, and send it to table very hot.

Time.—Altogether 1-1/2 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the remains of the head, 6d.

Seasonable from March to October.

TO RAGOUT A KNUCKLE OF VEAL.

884. INGREDIENTS.—Knuckle of veal, pepper and salt to taste, flour, 1 onion, 1 head of celery, or a little celery-seed, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, thickening of butter and flour, a few young carrots, 1 tablespoonful of ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of tomato sauce, 3 tablespoonfuls of sherry, the juice of 1/4 lemon.

Mode.—Cut the meat from a knuckle of veal into neat slices, season with pepper and salt, and dredge them with flour. Fry them in a little butter of a pale brown, and put them into a stewpan with the bone (which should be chopped in several places); add the celery, herbs, mace, and carrots; pour over all about 1 pint of hot water, and let it simmer very gently for 2 hours, over a slow but clear fire. Take out the slices of meat and carrots, strain and thicken the gravy with a little butter rolled in flour; add the remaining ingredients, give one boil, put back the meat and carrots, let these get hot through, and serve. When in season, a few green peas, boiled separately, and added to this dish at the moment of serving, would be found a very agreeable addition.

Time.—2 hours. Average cost, 5d. to 6d. per lb.

Sufficient for 4 or 6 persons.

STEWED KNUCKLE OF VEAL AND RICE.

885. INGREDIENTS.—Knuckle of veal, 1 onion, 2 blades of mace, 1 teaspoonful of salt, 1/2 lb. of rice.

Mode.—Have the knuckle cut small, or cut some cutlets from it, that it may be just large enough to be eaten the same day it is dressed, as cold boiled veal is not a particularly tempting dish. Break the shank-bone, wash it clean, and put the meat into a stewpan with sufficient water to cover it. Let it gradually come to a boil, put in the salt, and remove the scum as fast as it rises. When it has simmered gently for about 3/4 hour, add the remaining ingredients, and stew the whole gently for 2-1/4 hours. Put the meat into a deep dish, pour over it the rice, &c., and send boiled bacon, and a tureen of parsley and butter to table with it.

Time.—A knuckle of veal weighing 6 lbs., 3 hours’ gentle stewing.

Average cost, 5d. to 6d. per lb.

Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

Seasonable from March to October.

Note.—Macaroni, instead of rice, boiled with the veal, will be found good; or the rice and macaroni may be omitted, and the veal sent to table smothered in parsley and butter.

RAGOUT OF COLD VEAL

(Cold Meat Cookery).

900. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold veal, 1 oz. of butter, 1/2 pint of gravy, thickening of butter and flour, pepper and salt to taste, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of sherry, 1 dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, forcemeat balls.

Mode.—Any part of veal will make this dish. Cut the meat into nice-looking pieces, put them in a stewpan with 1 oz. of butter, and fry a light brown; add the gravy (hot water may be substituted for this), thicken with a little butter and flour, and stew gently about 1/4 hour; season with pepper, salt, and pounded mace; add the ketchup, sherry, and lemon-juice; give one boil, and serve. Garnish the dish with forcemeat balls and fried rashers of bacon.

Time.—Altogether 1/2 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 6d.

Seasonable from March to October.

Note.—The above recipe may be varied, by adding vegetables, such as peas, cucumbers, lettuces, green onions cut in slices, a dozen or two of green gooseberries (not seedy), all of which should be fried a little with the meat, and then stewed in the gravy.

STEWED VEAL, with Peas, young Carrots, and new Potatoes.

905. INGREDIENTS.—3 or 4 lbs. of the loin or neck of veal, 15 young carrots, a few green onions, 1 pint of green peas, 12 new potatoes, a bunch of savoury herbs, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup.

Mode.—Dredge the meat with flour, and roast or bake it for about 3/4 hour: it should acquire a nice brown colour. Put the meat into a stewpan with the carrots, onions, potatoes, herbs, pepper, and salt; pour over it sufficient boiling water to cover it, and stew gently for 2 hours. Take out the meat and herbs, put it in a deep dish, skim off all the fat from the gravy, and flavour it with lemon-juice, tomato sauce, and mushroom ketchup in the above proportion. Have ready a pint of green peas boiled; put these with the meat, pour over it the gravy, and serve. The dish may be garnished with a few forcemeat balls. The meat, when preferred, may be cut into chops, and floured and fried instead of being roasted; and any part of veal dressed in this way will be found extremely savoury and good.

Time.—3 hours. Average cost, 9d. per lb.

Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.

Seasonable, with peas, from June to August.

STEWED SWEETBREADS

(an Entree).

908. INGREDIENTS.—3 sweetbreads, 1 pint of white stock, thickening of butter and flour, 6 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 blade of pounded mace, white pepper and salt to taste.

Mode.—Soak the sweetbreads in warm water for 1 hour, and boil them for 10 minutes; take them out, put them into cold water for a few minutes; lay them in a stewpan with the stock, and simmer them gently for rather more than 1/2 hour. Dish them; thicken the gravy with a little butter and flour; let it boil up, add the remaining ingredients, allow the sauce to get quite hot, but not boil, and pour it over the sweetbreads.

Time.—To soak 1 hour, to be boiled 10 minutes, stewed rather more than 1/2 hour.

Average cost, from 1s. to 5s., according to the season.

Sufficient for an entrée.

Seasonable.—In full season from May to August.

Note.—A few mushrooms added to this dish, and stewed with the sweetbreads, will be found an improvement.

HASHED DUCK

(Cold Meat Cookery).

932. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast duck, rather more than 1 pint of weak stock or water, 1 onion, 1 oz. of butter, thickening of butter and flour, salt and cayenne to taste, 1/2 teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, 1/2 glass of port wine.

Mode.—Cut the duck into nice joints, and put the trimmings into a stewpan; slice and fry the onion in a little butter; add these to the trimmings, pour in the above proportion of weak stock or water, and stew gently for 1 hour. Strain the liquor, thicken it with butter and flour, season with salt and cayenne, and add the remaining ingredients; boil it up and skim well; lay in the pieces of duck, and let them get thoroughly hot through by the side of the fire, but do not allow them to boil: they should soak in the gravy for about 1/2 hour. Garnish with sippets of toasted bread. The hash may be made richer by using a stronger and more highly-flavoured gravy; a little spice or pounded mace may also be added, when their flavour is liked.

Time.—1-1/2 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the cold duck, 4d.

Seasonable from November to February; ducklings from May to August.

TO RAGOUT A DUCK WHOLE.

933. INGREDIENTS.—1 large duck, pepper and salt to taste, good beef gravy, 2 onions sliced, 4 sage-leaves, a few leaves of lemon thyme, thickening of butter and flour.

Mode.—After having emptied and singed the duck, season it inside with pepper and salt, and truss it. Roast it before a clear fire for about 20 minutes, and let it acquire a nice brown colour. Put it into a stewpan with sufficient well-seasoned beef gravy to cover it; slice and fry the onions, and add these, with the sage-leaves and lemon thyme, both of which should be finely minced, to the stock. Simmer gently until the duck is tender; strain, skim, and thicken the gravy with a little butter and flour; boil it up, pour over the duck, and serve. When in season, about, 1-1/2 pint of young green peas, boiled separately, and put in the ragoût, very much improve this dish.

Time.—20 minutes to roast the duck; 20 minutes to stew it.

Average cost, from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. each.

Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable from November to February; ducklings from April to August.

STEWED DUCK AND PEAS

(Cold Meat Cookery).

935. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast duck, 2 oz. of butter, 3 or 4 slices of lean ham or bacon, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 2 pints of thin gravy, 1, or a small bunch of green onions, 3 sprigs of parsley, 3 cloves, 1 pint of young green peas, cayenne and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar.

Mode.—Put the butter into a stewpan; cut up the duck into joints, lay them in with the slices of lean ham or bacon; make it brown, then dredge in a tablespoonful of flour, and stir this well in before adding the gravy. Put in the onion, parsley, cloves, and gravy, and when it has simmered for 1/4 hour, add a pint of young green peas, and stew gently for about 1/2 hour. Season with cayenne, salt, and sugar; take out the duck, place it round the dish, and the peas in the middle.

Time.—3/4 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the cold duck, 1s.

Seasonable from June to August.

STEWED DUCK AND TURNIPS

(Cold Meat Cookery).

937. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast duck, 1/2 pint of good gravy, 4 shalots, a few slices of carrot, a small bunch of savoury herbs, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 lb. of turnips, weighed after being peeled, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste.

Mode.—Cut up the duck into joints, fry the shalots, carrots, and herbs, and put them, with the duck, into the gravy; add the pounded mace, and stew gently for 20 minutes or 1/2 hour. Cut about 1 lb. of turnips, weighed after being peeled, into 1/2-inch squares, put the butter into a stewpan, and stew them till quite tender, which will be in about 1/2 hour, or rather more; season with pepper and salt, and serve in the centre of the dish, with the duck, &c. laid round.

Time.—Rather more than 1/2 hour to stew the turnips.

Average cost, exclusive of the cold duck, 1s.

Seasonable from November to February.

BOILED FOWLS OR CHICKENS.

938. INGREDIENTS.—A pair of fowls; water.

Choosing and Trussing.—In choosing fowls for boiling, it should be borne in mind that those that are not black-legged are generally much whiter when dressed. Pick, draw, singe, wash, and truss them in the following manner, without the livers in the wings; and, in drawing, be careful not to break the gall-bladder:—Cut off the neck, leaving sufficient skin to skewer back. Cut the feet off to the first joint, tuck the stumps into a slit made on each side of the belly, twist the wings over the back of the fowl, and secure the top of the leg and the bottom of the wing together by running a skewer through them and the body. The other side must be done in the same manner. Should the fowl be very large and old, draw the sinews of the legs before tucking them in. Make a slit in the apron of the fowl, large enough to admit the parson’s nose, and tie a string on the tops of the legs to keep them in their proper place.

Mode.—When, they are firmly trussed, put them into a stewpan with plenty of hot water; bring it to boil, and carefully remove all the scum as it rises. Simmer very gently until the fowl is tender, and bear in mind that the slower it boils, the plumper and whiter will the fowl be. Many cooks wrap them in a floured cloth to preserve the colour, and to prevent the scum from clinging to them; in this case, a few slices of lemon should be placed on the breasts; over these a sheet of buttered paper, and then the cloth; cooking them in this manner renders the flesh very white. Boiled ham, bacon, boiled tongue, or pickled pork, are the usual accompaniments to boiled fowls, and they may be served with Béchamel, white sauce, parsley and butter, oyster, lemon, liver, celery, or mushroom sauce. A little should be poured over the fowls, after the skewers are removed, and the remainder sent in a tureen to table.

Time.—Large fowl, 1 hour; moderate-sized one, 3/4 hour; chicken, from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

Average cost, in full season, 5s. the pair.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.

BOILED FOWL AND RICE.

940. INGREDIENTS.—1 fowl, mutton broth, 2 onions, 2 small blades of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1/4 pint of rice, parsley and butter.

Mode.—Truss the fowl as for boiling, and put it into a stewpan with sufficient clear well-skimmed mutton broth to cover it; add the onion, mace, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; stew very gently for about 1 hour, should the fowl be large, and about 1/2 hour before it is ready put in the rice, which should be well washed and soaked. When the latter is tender, strain it from the liquor, and put it on a sieve reversed to dry before the fire, and, in the mean time, keep the fowl hot. Dish it, put the rice round as a border, pour a little parsley and butter over the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen.

Time.—A large fowl, 1 hour.

Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d.

Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.

Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.

BOILED FOWLS A LA BECHAMEL.

943. INGREDIENTS.—A pair of fowls, 1 pint of Béchamel, a few bunches of boiled brocolli or cauliflower.

Mode.—Truss and boil the fowls by recipe No. 938 [see recipe above for boiled fowls or chicken]; make a pint of Béchamel sauce; pour some of this over the fowls, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. Garnish the dish with bunches of boiled cauliflowers or brocoli, and serve very hot. The sauce should be made sufficiently thick to adhere to the fowls; that for the tureen should be thinned by adding a spoonful or two of stock.

Time.—From 1/2 to 1 hour, according to size.

Average cost, in full season, 5s. a pair.

Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.

Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.

BOILED FOWL, with Oysters.

(Excellent.)

944. INGREDIENTS.—1 young fowl, 3 dozen oysters, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1/4 pint of cream.

Mode.—Truss a young fowl as for boiling; fill the inside with oysters which have been bearded and washed in their own liquor; secure the ends of the fowl, put it into a jar, and plunge the jar into a saucepan of boiling water. Keep it boiling for 1-1/2 hour, or rather longer; then take the gravy that has flowed from the oysters and fowl, of which there will be a good quantity; stir in the cream and yolks of eggs, add a few oysters scalded in their liquor; let the sauce get quite hot, but do not allow it to boil; pour some of it over the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. A blade of pounded mace added to the sauce, with the cream and eggs, will be found an improvement.

Time.—1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 4s. 6d.

Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.

Seasonable from September to April.

FRICASSEED FOWL OR CHICKEN

(an Entree).

945. INGREDIENTS.—2 small fowls or 1 large one, 3 oz. of butter, a bunch of parsley and green onions, 1 clove, 2 blades of mace, 1 shalot, 1 bay-leaf, salt and white pepper to taste, 1/4 pint of cream, the yolks of 3 eggs.

Mode.—Choose a couple of fat plump chickens, and, after drawing, singeing, and washing them, skin, and carve them into joints; blanch these in boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes; take them out, and immerse them in cold water to render them white. Put the trimmings, with the necks and legs, into a stewpan; add the parsley, onions, clove, mace, shalot, bay-leaf, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; pour to these the water that the chickens were blanched in, and simmer gently for rather more than 1 hour. Have ready another stewpan; put in the joints of fowl, with the above proportion of butter; dredge them with flour, let them get hot, but do not brown them much; then moisten the fricassee with the gravy made from the trimmings, &c., and stew very gently for 1/2 hour. Lift the fowl into another stewpan, skim the sauce, reduce it quickly over the fire, by letting it boil fast, and strain it over them. Add the cream, and a seasoning of pounded mace and cayenne; let it boil up, and when ready to serve, stir to it the well-beaten yolks of 3 eggs: these should not be put in till the last moment, and the sauce should be made hot, but must not boil, or it will instantly curdle. A few button-mushrooms stewed with the fowl are by many persons considered an improvement.

Time.—1 hour to make the gravy, 1/2 hour to simmer the fowl.

Average cost, 5s. the pair.

Sufficient.—1 large fowl for one entrée.

Seasonable at any time.

RAGOUT OF FOWL.

951. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast fowls, 3 shalots, 2 blades of mace, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 or three slices of lean ham, 1 pint of stock or water, pepper and salt to taste, 1 onion, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1/2 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 oz. of butter.

Mode.—Cut the fowls up into neat pieces, the same as for a fricassee; put the trimmings into a stewpan with the shalots, mace, herbs, ham, onion, and stock (water may be substituted for this). Boil it slowly for 1 hour, strain the liquor, and put a small piece of butter into a stewpan; when melted, dredge in sufficient flour to dry up the butter, and stir it over the fire. Put in the strained liquor, boil for a few minutes, and strain it again over the pieces of fowl. Squeeze in the lemon-juice, add the sugar and a seasoning of pepper and salt, make it hot, but do not allow it to boil; lay the fowl neatly on the dish, and garnish with croûtons.

Time.—Altogether 1-1/2 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 9d.

Seasonable at any time.

HASHED FOWL

an Entree

(Cold Meat Cookery).

955. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 pint of water, 1 onion, 2 or three small carrots, 1 blade of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, thickening of butter and flour, 1-1/2 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.

Mode.—Cut off the best joints from the fowl, and the remainder make into gravy, by adding to the bones and trimmings a pint of water, an onion sliced and fried of a nice brown, the carrots, mace, seasoning, and herbs. Let these stew gently for 1-1/2 hour, strain the liquor, and thicken with a little flour and butter. Lay in the fowl, thoroughly warm it through, add the ketchup, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—Altogether 1-3/4 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 4d.

Seasonable at any time.

MINCED FOWL

an Entree (Cold Meat Cookery).

956. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 2 hard-boiled eggs, salt, cayenne, and pounded mace, 1 onion, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 6 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 oz. of butter, two teaspoonfuls of flour, 1/2 teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.

Mode.—Cut out from the fowl all the white meat, and mince it finely without any skin or bone; put the bones, skin, and trimmings into a stewpan with an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, a blade of mace, and nearly a pint of water; let this stew for an hour, then strain the liquor. Chop the eggs small; mix them with the fowl; add salt, cayenne, and pounded mace, put in the gravy and remaining ingredients; let the whole just boil, and serve with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—Rather more than 1 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.

Seasonable at any time.

Note.—Another way to make this is to mince the fowl, and warm it in white sauce or Béchamel. When dressed like this, 3 or 4 poached eggs may be placed on the top: oysters, or chopped mushrooms, or balls of oyster forcemeat, may be laid round the dish.

HASHED GOOSE.

967. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast goose, 2 onions, 2 oz. of butter, 1 pint of boiling water, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of port wine, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup.

Mode.—Cut up the goose into pieces of the size required; the inferior joints, trimmings, &c., put into a stewpan to make the gravy; slice and fry the onions in the butter of a very pale brown; add these to the trimmings, and pour over about a pint of boiling water; stew these gently for 3/4 hour, then skim and strain the liquor. Thicken it with flour, and flavour with port wine and ketchup, in the above proportion; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and put in the pieces of goose; let these get thoroughly hot through, but do not allow them to boil, and serve with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—Altogether, rather more than 1 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the cold goose, 4d.

Seasonable from September to March.

STEWED PIGEONS.

976. INGREDIENTS.—6 pigeons, a few slices of bacon, 3 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced parsley, sufficient stock No. 104 to cover the pigeons, thickening of butter and flour, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of port wine.

Mode.—Empty and clean the pigeons thoroughly, mince the livers, add to these the parsley and butter, and put it into the insides of the birds. Truss them with the legs inward, and put them into a stewpan, with a few slices of bacon placed under and over them; add the stock, and stew gently for rather more than 1/2 hour. Dish the pigeons, strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add the ketchup and port wine, give one boil, pour over the pigeons, and serve.

Time.—Rather more than 1/2 hour. Average cost, 6d. to 9d. each.

Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable from April to September.

BOILED RABBIT.

977. INGREDIENTS.—Rabbit; water.

Mode.—For boiling, choose rabbits with smooth and sharp claws, as that denotes they are young: should these be blunt and rugged, the ears dry and tough, the animal is old. After emptying and skinning it, wash it well in cold water, and let it soak for about 1/4 hour in warm water, to draw out the blood. Bring the head round to the side, and fasten it there by means of a skewer run through that and the body. Put the rabbit into sufficient hot water to cover it, let it boil very gently until tender, which will be in from 1/2 to 3/4 hour, according to its size and age. Dish it, and smother it either with onion, mushroom, or liver sauce, or parsley-and-butter; the former is, however, generally preferred to any of the last-named sauces. When liver-sauce is preferred, the liver should be boiled for a few minutes, and minced very finely, or rubbed through a sieve before it is added to the sauce.

Time.—A very young rabbit, 1/2 hour; a large one, 3/4 hour; an old one, 1 hour or longer.

Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.

Sufficient for 4 persons.

Seasonable from September to February.

RAGOUT OF RABBIT OR HARE.

982. INGREDIENTS.—1 rabbit, 3 teaspoonfuls of flour, 3 sliced onions, 2 oz. of butter, a few thin slices of bacon, pepper and salt to taste, 2 slices of lemon, 1 bay-leaf, 1 glass of port wine.

Mode.—Slice the onions, and put them into a stewpan with the flour and butter; place the pan near the fire, stir well as the butter melts, till the onions become a rich brown colour, and add, by degrees, a little water or gravy till the mixture is of the consistency of cream. Cut some thin slices of bacon; lay in these with the rabbit, cut into neat joints; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, the lemon and bay-leaf, and let the whole simmer until tender. Pour in the port wine, give one boil, and serve.

Time.—About 1/2 hour to simmer the rabbit.

Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable from September to February.

STEWED RABBIT.

984. INGREDIENTS.—1 rabbit, 2 large onions, 6 cloves, 1 small teaspoonful of chopped lemon-peel, a few forcemeat balls, thickening of butter and flour, 1 large tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.

Mode.—Cut the rabbit into small joints; put them into a stewpan, add the onions sliced, the cloves, and minced lemon-peel. Pour in sufficient water to cover the meat, and, when the rabbit is nearly done, drop in a few forcemeat balls, to which has been added the liver, finely chopped. Thicken the gravy with flour and butter, put in the ketchup, give one boil, and serve.

Time.—Rather more than 1/2 hour. Average cost, 1s. to 1s. 6d each.

Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable from September to February.

STEWED RABBIT, Larded.

985. INGREDIENTS.—1 rabbit, a few strips of bacon, rather more than 1 pint of good broth or stock, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, thickening of butter and flour, 1 glass of sherry.

Mode.—Well wash the rabbit, cut it into quarters, lard them with Blips of bacon, and fry them; then put them into a stewpan with the broth, herbs, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; simmer gently until the rabbit is tender, then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add the sherry, give one boil, pour it over the rabbit, and serve. Garnish with slices of cut lemon.

Time.—Rather more than 1/2 hour.

Average cost, 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.

Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable from September to February.

BOILED TURKEY.

986. INGREDIENTS.—Turkey; forcemeat.

Choosing and Trussing.—Hen turkeys are preferable for boiling, on account of their whiteness and tenderness, and one of moderate size should be selected, as a large one is not suitable for this mode of cooking. They should not be dressed until they have been killed 3 or 4 days, as they will neither look white, nor will they be tender. Pluck the bird, carefully draw, and singe it with a piece of white paper, wash it inside and out, and wipe it thoroughly dry with a cloth. Cut off the head and neck, draw the strings or sinews of the thighs, and cut off the legs at the first joint; draw the legs into the body, fill the breast with forcemeat made; run a skewer through the wing and the middle joint of the leg, quite into the leg and wing on the opposite side; break the breastbone, and make the bird look as round and as compact as possible.

Mode.—Put the turkey into sufficient hot water to cover it; let it come to a boil, then carefully remove all the scum: if this is attended to, there is no occasion to boil the bird in a floured cloth; but it should be well covered with the water. Let it simmer very gently for about 1-1/2 hour to 1-3/4 hour, according to the size, and serve with either white, celery, oyster, or mushroom sauce, or parsley-and-butter, a little of which should be poured over the turkey. Boiled ham, bacon, tongue, or pickled pork, should always accompany this dish; and when oyster sauce is served, the turkey should be stuffed with oyster forcemeat.

Time.—A small turkey, 1-1/2 hour; a large one, 1-3/4 hour.

Average cost, 5s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. each, but more expensive at Christmas, on account of the great demand.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable from December to February.

HASHED TURKEY.

989. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast turkey, 1 onion, pepper and salt to taste, rather more than 1 pint of water, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 blade of mace, a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of port wine, thickening of butter and flour.

Mode.—Cut the turkey into neat joints; the best pieces reserve for the hash, the inferior joints and trimmings put into a stewpan with an onion cut in slices, pepper and salt, a carrot, turnip, mace, herbs, and water in the above proportion; simmer these for an hour, then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, flavour with ketchup and port wine, and lay in the pieces of turkey to warm through; if there is any stuffing left, put that in also, as it so much improves the flavour of the gravy. When it boils, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—1 hour to make the gravy.

Seasonable from December to February.

HASHED WILD DUCK.

1020. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast wild duck, 1 pint of good brown gravy, 2 tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, 1 glass of claret, salt, cayenne, and mixed spices to taste; 1 tablespoonful of lemon or Seville orange-juice.

Mode.—Cut the remains of the duck into neat joints, put them into a stewpan, with all the above ingredients; let them get gradually hot by the side of the fire, and occasionally stir the contents; when on the point of boiling, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—About 1/4 hour.

Seasonable from November to February.

RAGOUT OF WILD DUCK.

1021. INGREDIENTS.—2 wild ducks, 4 shalots, 1 pint of stock, 1 glass of port wine, 1 oz. of butter, a little flour, the juice of 1/2 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste.

Mode.—Ducks that have been dressed and left from the preceding day will answer for this dish. Cut them into joints, reserve the legs, wings, and breasts until wanted; put the trimmings into a stewpan with the shalots and stock, and let them simmer for about 1/2 hour, and strain the gravy. Put the butter into a stewpan; when melted, dredge in a little flour, and pour in the gravy made from the bones; give it one boil, and strain it again; add the wine, lemon-juice, and cayenne; lay in the pieces of duck, and let the whole gradually warm through, but do not allow it to boil, or the duck will be hard. The gravy should not be too thick, and should be very highly seasoned. The squeeze of a Seville orange is a great improvement to this dish.

Time.—About 1/2 hour to make the gravy; 1/4 hour for the duck gradually to warm through.

Seasonable from November to February.

HASHED GAME

(Cold Meat Cookery).

1023. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold game, 1 onion stuck with 3 cloves, a few whole peppers, a strip of lemon-peel, salt to taste, thickening of butter and flour, 1 glass of port wine, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful of ketchup, 1 pint of water or weak stock.

Mode.—Cut the remains of cold game into joints, reserve the best pieces, and the inferior ones and trimmings put into a stewpan with the onion, pepper, lemon-peel, salt, and water or weak stock; stew these for about an hour, and strain the gravy; thicken it with butter and flour; add the wine, lemon-juice, and ketchup; lay in the pieces of game, and let them gradually warm through by the side of the fire; do not allow it to boil, or the game will be hard. When on the point of simmering, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread.

Time.—Altogether 1-1/4 hour.

Seasonable from August to March.

Note.—Any kind of game may be hashed by the above recipe, and the flavour may be varied by adding flavoured vinegars, curry powder, &c.; but we cannot recommend these latter ingredients, as a dish of game should really have a gamy taste; and if too many sauces, essences, &c., are added to the gravy, they quite overpower and destroy the flavour the dish should possess.

HASHED HARE.

1030. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold roast hare, 1 blade of pounded mace, 2 or 3 allspice, pepper and salt to taste, 1 onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, 3 tablespoonfuls of port wine, thickening of butter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup.

Mode.—Cut the cold hare into neat slices, and put the head, bones, and trimmings into a stewpan, with 3/4 pint of water; add the mace, allspice, seasoning, onion, and herbs, and stew for nearly an hour, and strain the gravy; thicken it with butter and flour, add the wine and ketchup, and lay in the pieces of hare, with any stuffing that may be left. Let the whole gradually heat by the side of the fire, and, when it has simmered for about 5 minutes, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread. Send red-currant jelly to table with it.
Time.—Rather more than 1 hour.

Average cost, exclusive of the cold hare, 6d.

Seasonable from September to the end of February.

JUGGED HARE.

(Very Good.)

1031. INGREDIENTS.—1 hare, 1-1/2 lb. of gravy beef, 1/2 lb. of butter, 1 onion, 1 lemon, 6 cloves; pepper, cayenne, and salt to taste; 1/2 pint of port wine.

Mode.—Skin, paunch, and wash the hare, cut it into pieces, dredge them with flour, and fry in boiling butter. Have ready 1-1/2 pint of gravy, made from the above proportion of beef, and thickened with a little flour. Put this into a jar; add the pieces of fried hare, an onion stuck with six cloves, a lemon peeled and cut in half, and a good seasoning of pepper, cayenne, and salt; cover the jar down tightly, put it up to the neck into a stewpan of boiling water, and let it stew until the hare is quite tender, taking care to keep the water boiling. When nearly done, pour in the wine, and add a few forcemeat balls: these must be fried or baked in the oven for a few minutes before they are put to the gravy. Serve with red-currant jelly.

Time,—3-1/2 to 4 hours. If the hare is very old, allow 4-1/2 hours.

Average cost, 7s.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable from September to the end of February.

II. (A Quicker and more Economical Way.)

1032. INGREDIENTS.—1 hare, a bunch of sweet herbs, 2 onions, each stuck with 3 cloves, 6 whole allspice, 1/2 teaspoonful of black pepper, a strip of lemon-peel, thickening of butter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, 1/4 pint of port wine.

Mode.—Wash the hare nicely, cut it up into joints (not too large), and flour and brown them as in the preceding recipe; then put them into a stewpan with the herbs, onions, cloves, allspice, pepper, and lemon-peel; cover with hot water, and when it boils, carefully remove all the scum, and let it simmer gently till tender, which will be in about 1-3/4 hour, or longer, should the hare be very old. Take out the pieces of hare, thicken the gravy with flour and butter, add the ketchup and port wine, let it boil for about 10 minutes, strain it through a sieve over the hare, and serve. A few fried forcemeat balls should be added at the moment of serving, or instead of frying them, they may be stewed in the gravy, about 10 minutes before the hare is wanted for table. Do not omit to serve red-currant jelly with it.

Time.—Altogether 2 hours. Average cost, 5s. 6d.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable from September to the end of February.

Note.—Should there be any left, rewarm it the next day by putting the hare, &c. into a covered jar, and placing this jar in a saucepan of boiling water: this method prevents a great deal of waste.

BROILED PARTRIDGE

(a Luncheon, Breakfast, or Supper Dish).

1035. INGREDIENTS.—3 partridges, salt and cayenne to taste, a small piece of butter, brown gravy or mushroom sauce.

Mode.—Pluck, draw, and cut the partridges in half, and wipe the inside thoroughly with a damp cloth. Season them with salt and cayenne, broil them over a very clear fire, and dish them on a hot dish; rub a small piece of butter over each half, and send them to table with brown gravy or mushroom sauce.

Time.—About 1/4 hour. Average cost, 1s. 6d. to 2s. a brace.

Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.

Seasonable from the 1st of September to the beginning of February.

HASHED VENISON.

1050. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of roast venison, its own or mutton gravy, thickening of butter and flour.

Mode.—Cut the meat from the bones in neat slices, and, if there is sufficient of its own gravy left, put the meat into this, as it is preferable to any other. Should there not be enough, put the bones and trimmings into a stewpan, with about a pint of mutton gravy; let them stew gently for an hour, and strain the gravy. Put a little flour and butter into the stewpan, keep stirring until brown, then add the strained gravy, and give it a boil up; skim and strain again, and, when a little cool, put in the slices of venison. Place the stewpan by the side of the fire, and, when on the point of simmering, serve: do not allow it to boil, or the meat will be hard. Send red-currant jelly to table with it.

Time.—Altogether, 1-1/2 hour.

Seasonable.—Buck venison, from June to Michaelmas; doe venison, from November to the end of January.

Note.—A small quantity of Harvey’s sauce, ketchup, or port wine, may be added to enrich the gravy: these ingredients must, however, be used very sparingly, or they will overpower the flavour of the venison.

STEWED VENISON.

1051. INGREDIENTS.—A shoulder of venison, a few slices of mutton fat, 2 glasses of port wine, pepper and allspice to taste, 1-1/2 pint of weak stock or gravy, 1/2 teaspoonful of whole pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful of whole allspice.

Mode.—Hang the venison till tender; take out the bone, flatten the meat with a rolling-pin, and place over it a few slices of mutton fat, which have been previously soaked for 2 or 3 hours in port wine; sprinkle these with a little fine allspice and pepper, roll the meat up, and bind and tie it securely. Put it into a stewpan with the bone and the above proportion of weak stock or gravy, whole allspice, black pepper, and port wine; cover the lid down closely, and simmer, very gently, from 3-1/2 to 4 hours. When quite tender, take off the tape, and dish the meat; strain the gravy over it, and send it to table with red-currant jelly. Unless the joint is very fat, the above is the best mode of cooking it.

Time.—3-1/2 to 4 hours.

Average cost, 1s. 4d. to 1s. 6d. per lb.

Sufficient for 10 or 12 persons.

Seasonable.—Buck venison, from June to Michaelmas; doe venison, from November to the end of January.

Victorian Recipes From A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes BY CHARLES ELMÉ FRANCATELLI, [1852]

Stewed Eels.

First skin, gut, and trim away the fins from the eels, and then cut them into pieces three inches long; put these into a saucepan, add a bit of butter, a spoonful of flour, some chopped parsley, pepper and salt, a little mushroom ketchup, and enough water to cover the pieces of eel; put them on the fire to boil gently for about ten minutes, shaking them round in the saucepan occasionally until they are done.

Stewed Oysters.

Put the oysters, with their liquor and a little water or milk, into a saucepan; add a bit of butter kneaded, that is, well mixed with a table-spoonful of flour; pepper, and a little salt; stir the oysters over the fire until they have gently boiled for about five minutes, and then pour them into a dish containing some slices of toasted bread.

Stewed Muscles, or Mussels.

Thoroughly wash the muscles, and pull off any weeds there may be hanging to them; next put them in a clean saucepan with a little water, and salt enough to season, and set them on the fire to boil, tossing them occasionally, until you find that their shells begin to open; they must then be taken off the fire, and their liquor poured off into a basin. Next, after removing one of the shells from each muscle, put them back into the saucepan; add the liquor, a bit of butter, a spoonful of flour, some pepper, chopped parsley, and a little drop of vinegar, toss the whole over the fire until the muscles have boiled five minutes, and then you will enjoy a treat for supper. Cockles and whelks are cooked in the same way.

Boiled Shoulder of Mutton with Onions.

Put the shoulder of mutton to boil in your two-gallon pot, with a handful of salt and plenty of water, allow it to boil gently for about two hours, and when done, and placed on its dish, smother it over with the following sauce:—Chop six or eight large onions, and boil them with a pint of water for twenty minutes, by which time the water must be reduced to half a pint; then add two ounces of butter, a pint of milk, four ounces of flour, pepper, and salt, and stir the sauce whilst boiling for ten minutes. A shoulder of mutton for boiling is all the better for its being salted for two or three days previous to its being cooked.

Stewed Ox Kidney.

Cut up the kidney in thin slices, fry them brown with a bit of butter or fat in a frying-pan, over a brisk fire, season with chopped parsley, shalot, pepper and salt, shake in a good table-spoonful of flour, add a few drops of vinegar, and nearly half a pint of water; stir the whole on the fire, while it boils, very gently, for a quarter of an hour; this, with a dish of well-boiled or baked potatoes, will produce a cheap and excellent dinner sufficient for six persons.

Stewed Sheep’s Trotters.

Sheep’s trotters are sold ready cleaned and very cheap at all tripe shops. When about to cook them, by way of a treat, for supper, or otherwise, let them be put on in two quarts of water and milk, seasoned with peppercorns, salt, a good sprig of thyme, and a wine-glassful of vinegar, and set them to boil very gently on the fire for three hours, at least. When the trotters are done quite tender, skim off all the grease, and boil down the liquor to a pint; then add two ounces of flour, mixed with a gill of milk, some chopped parsley, and one ounce of butter; stir all together while boiling on the fire for ten minutes, and pour out into the dish.

Stewed Steaks.

Fry the steaks brown over a very brisk fire, without allowing them to be hardly half done, and place them in a saucepan with onions, carrots, turnips, and celery, all cut in pieces about the size of a pigeon’s egg; season with thyme, pepper, and salt, and two ounces of flour; moisten with a quart of water, and stir the stew on the fire till it boils, and then set it by the side of the fire on the hob, to simmer very gently for an hour and a-half. It will then be ready for dinner.

Stewed Sausages.

First, prick your sausages well all over with a fork, and soak them in very hot water, for two or three minutes, to swell them out; next, roll them in flour, and fry them brown without overdoing them, as that renders them dry, and spoils them. When the sausages are done and put on a plate, fry some slices of bread, and put these on a dish; then put the sausages on the fried bread, and shake a spoonful of flour in the pan; add a pennyworth of chopped mixed pickles, a gill of water, and a little pepper and salt; give this gravy a boil up, and pour it over the sausages.

Hashed Meats.

I strongly recommend that you never allow yourselves to be persuaded, that cold meat dinners are cheap dinners; just the reverse of this assumption is the fact. And, let me tell you, that those who make the former assertion, do so only because they know no better, and as an excuse for their idleness. I am well aware that in your homes it is not a common every-day occurrence for you to dress a large joint of meat, from which enough would be left for one or more days’ dinner; but still it may, and does sometimes occur, that you have cold meat at your disposal, upon which you may exercise your knowledge in domestic economy. Besides, some of you who are living close to noblemen and gentlemen’s mansions in the country, or otherwise, may perhaps stand a chance of now and then receiving a donation of this kind.

And whenever you have any cold meat, I advise you to cook it up into stews of the various kinds described in this work, or else make it into a hash as follows: First, chop two onions fine, and put them to boil with pepper and salt and a pint of water, in a saucepan for ten minutes, then throw in the meat cut in thin slices, mixed with a little flour; boil all together gently for ten minutes longer, and pour the hash into a dish containing either some ready boiled potatoes, or else some slices of toasted bread.

Boiled Tripe.

Tripe is not exactly a cheap commodity for food; yet, as you may feel occasionally inclined to indulge in a treat of this kind, I will give you instructions to cook it in the most economical manner. When you have procured any given quantity of tripe, cut it up in pieces the size of two inches square, put these into a saucepan containing skim milk, or milk and water, enough to swim the tripe; add some peeled onions, pepper, and salt, and a sprig of thyme, and boil gently for at least an hour; and when the tripe is done, eat it with mustard and some well boiled potatoes.

Knuckle of Veal and Rice.

A small knuckle, or scrag-end of neck of veal, is sometimes to be purchased very cheap; I will therefore suppose that you may, once in a way, provide such a thing, and this is the way you should cook it to the best advantage. Put the knuckle of veal into a boiling pot, with a pound of bacon, two pounds of rice, six onions, three carrots cut in pieces, some peppercorns, and salt in moderation on account of the bacon; add three or four quarts of water, and set the whole to stew very gently over a moderate fire for about three hours. This will produce a good substantial dinner for at least ten persons.

Irish Stew.

Inferior parts of any kind of meat make a good Irish stew. Let the meat be cut in pieces the size of an egg, well rubbed all over with pepper and salt, and placed in a good-sized pot or saucepan; add peeled onions in the proportion of six to the pound of meat, and enough water just to cover in the whole. Next, set the stew on the fire to boil very gently for an hour and a-half, then add such quantity of peeled and split potatoes as you may think will suffice for the number of persons about to dine off the stew, and put the whole back on the fire to boil briskly until the potatoes are thoroughly done soft; the Irish stew will then be ready to eat.

How to Stew Potatoes.

First boil the potatoes, and then put a little butter, a chopped onion, half a pint of milk, or water, pepper and salt to season; boil this for ten minutes, then add the potatoes, previously cooked; boil all together for ten minutes, and dish them up.

Boiled Beef.

This is an economical dinner, especially where there are many mouths to feed. Buy a few pounds of either salt brisket, thick or thin flank, or buttock of beef; these pieces are always to be had at a low rate. Let us suppose you have bought a piece of salt beef for a Sunday’s dinner, weighing about five pounds, at 6 1/2d.per pound, that would come to 2s. 8 1/2d.; two pounds of common flour, 4d., to be made into suet pudding or dumplings, and say 8 1/2d. for cabbages, parsnips, and potatoes; altogether 3s. 9d. This would produce a substantial dinner for ten persons in family, and would, moreover, as children do not require much meat when they have pudding, admit of there being enough left to help out the next day’s dinner, with potatoes.

How to Boil Beef.

Put the beef into your three or four gallon pot, three parts filled with cold water, and set it on the fire to boil; remove all the scum that rises to the surface, and then let it boil gently on the hob; when the meat has boiled an hour and is about half done, add the parsnips in a net, and at the end of another half hour put in the cabbages, also in a net. A piece of beef weighing five or six pounds will require about two hours’ gentle boiling to cook it thoroughly. The dumplings may, of course, be boiled with the beef, etc. I may here observe that the dumplings and vegetables, with a small quantity of the meat, would be all-sufficient for the children’s meal.

Pig’s Feet.

These are to be well salted for about four days, and then boiled in plenty of water for about three hours; they may be eaten either hot or cold.

The Lady’s Own Cookery Book, And New Dinner-Table Directory; In which will be found A LARGE COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL RECEIPTS, Including not only THE RESULT OF THE AUTHERESS’S MANY YEARS OBSERVATION, EXPERIENCE, AND RESEARCH, but also the CONTRIBUTIONS OF AN EXTENSIVE CIRCLE OF ACQUAINTANCE: Adapted to the use of PERSONS LIVING IN THE HIGHEST STYLE, as well as those of MODERATE FORTUNE. [1844]

Carp, to stew.

Scale, gut, and cleanse them; save the roes and milts; stew them in some good broth: season, to your taste, with a bundle of herbs, onions, anchovies, and white wine; and, when they are stewed enough, thicken the sauce with the yolks of five eggs. Pass off the roes, dip them in yolk of egg and flour, and fry them with some sippets of French bread; then fry a little parsley, and, when you serve up, garnish the dish with the roes, parsley, and sippets.

Another way.

Have your carp fresh out of the water; scale and gut them, washing the blood out of each fish with a little claret; and save that after so doing. Cut your carp in pieces, and stew in a little fresh butter, a few blades of mace, winter savory, a little thyme, and three or four onions; after stewing awhile, take them out, put them by, and fold them up in linen, till the liquor is ready to receive them again, as the fish would otherwise be boiled to pieces before the liquor was reduced to a proper thickness. When you have taken out your fish, put in the claret that you washed out the blood with, and a pint of beef or mutton gravy, according to the quantity of your fish, with some salt and the butter in which you stewed the carp; and when this butter is almost boiled to a proper thickness put in your fish again; stew all together, and serve it up. Two spoonfuls of elder vinegar to the liquor when taken up will give a very agreeable taste.

Carp and Tench.

Scale the fish, take out the gut and gall; save all the blood. Split the carp if large; cut it in large pieces, and salt it. Boil some sliced parsley roots and onions tender in half a pint of water, adding a little cayenne pepper, ginger, cloves, and allspice, a lemon sliced, a little vinegar, and moist sugar, one glass of red wine, and some butter rolled in flour. Then put in the fish, and let it boil very fast for half an hour in a stewpan. The blood is to be put in the sauce.

Cod, to stew.

Cut a cod into thin pieces or slices; lay them in rows at the bottom of a dish; put in a pint of white wine, half a pound of butter, a few oysters, with their liquor, a little pepper and salt, with some crumbs of bread. Stew them all till they are done enough. Garnish the dish with lemon.

Cod, Ragout of.

Wash the cod clean, and boil it in warm water, with vinegar, pepper, salt, a bay-leaf, and lemon. Make a sauce of burnt butter, fried flour, capers, and oysters. When you serve it up put in some black pepper and lemon-juice.

Crab, or Lobster, to stew. No. 1.

A little cayenne, vinegar, butter, flour, and salt. Cover it with water and let it stew gently.

Crab, or Lobster, to stew. No. 2.

When the lobsters are boiled, take out the tail and claws, and dip them in white wine; strew over them nutmeg, cloves, mace, salt, and pepper, mixed together. Then pour over them some melted butter with a little white wine in it; send them to the bakehouse, and let them stand in a slow oven about half an hour. Pour out the butter and wine, and pour on some fresh butter; when cold, cover them, and keep them in a cold place.

Crab, or Lobster, to stew. No. 3.

Boil the lobsters; when cold take out all the meat; season it well with pepper, salt, nutmeg and mace pounded. Put it into an earthen pot with as much clarified butter as will cover it; bake it well. While warm, take it out of the pot, and let the butter drain from it. Break it as fine as you can with a spoon or knife; add more seasoning if required; put it as close as possible in the pot, and cover with clarified butter. The hen lobsters are best for this purpose, as the eggs impart a good colour. It may be pounded in a marble mortar, but, if baked enough, will do as well without it.

Eels, to stew.

Take five pounds of middling shafflings, cut off their heads, skin, and cut them in pieces as long as your finger. Wash them in several waters; dry them well with a cloth, lay them in a pan, sprinkle over them half an ounce of white salt, and let them lie an hour. Lay them in a stewpan, and add half a pint of French white wine, a quarter of a pint of water, two cloves beaten, a blade of mace, a large onion peeled, and the rind of a lemon; stew all these gently half an hour: then take the eels out of the liquor, skim off all the fat, and flour the eels all over; put to the liquor in which they were stewed an anchovy, washed and boned, and mix sorrel and parsley, half a handful of each, and half a pound of fresh butter. Let it just boil up; put in the eels; when they boil, lay them on sippets in your dish, and send them up hot to table.

Another way.

Cover the fish close in a stewpan with a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour, and let it stew till done enough, which you will know by the eels being very tender. Take them up and lay them on a dish; strain your sauce, and give it a quick boil and pour it over the fish. Garnish with lemon.

Lobsters, to hash.

Take the meat out of a boiled lobster as whole as you can. Break all the shells; to these and the remains of the body, the large claws excepted, as they have no goodness in them, put some water, cayenne pepper, salt, and common pepper. Let them stew together till the liquor has a good flavour of the lobster, but observe that there must be very little water, and add two teaspoonfuls of anchovy pickle. Strain through a common sieve; put the meat of the lobster to the gravy; add some good rich melted butter, and send to table. Lobster sauce is made in the same way, only the meat should be cut smaller than for hashing. Hen lobsters are best.

Lobsters, to stew.

Half boil two fine lobsters; break the claws and take out the meat as whole as you can; cut the tails in two, and take out the meat; put them in a stewpan, with half a pint of gravy, a gill of white wine, a little beaten mace, cayenne pepper, salt, a spoonful of ketchup, a little anchovy liquor, and a little butter rolled in flour. Cover and stew them gently for twenty minutes. Shake the pan round frequently to prevent the contents from sticking; squeeze in a little lemon. Cut the chines in four; pepper, salt, and broil them. Put the meat and sauce in a dish, and the chines round for garnish.

Oysters, to stew.

Take a quart of large oysters; strain the liquor from them through a sieve; wash them well, and take off the beards. Put them in a stewpan, and drain the liquor from the settlings. Add to the oysters a quarter of a pound of butter mixed with flour and a gill of white wine, and grate in a little nutmeg with a gill of cream. Keep them stirred till they are quite thick and smooth. Lay sippets at the bottom of the dish; pour in your oysters, and lay fried sippets all round.

Another way.

Put a quarter of a pound of butter into a clean stewpan, and let it boil. Strain a pint of oysters from their liquor; put them into the butter; and let them stew with some parsley minced small, a little shalot shred small, and the yolks of three eggs well beaten up with the liquor strained from the oysters. Put all these together into the stewpan with half a pound more butter; shake it and stew them a little; if too much, you make the oysters hard.

Oysters, ragout of.

Twenty-five oysters, half a table-spoonful of soy, double the quantity of vinegar, a piece of butter, and a little pepper, salt, and flour.

Pike stuffed, to boil.

Clean a large pike; take out the gills; prepare a stuffing with finely grated bread, all sorts of sweet-herbs, particularly thyme, some onions, grated lemon-peel, oysters chopped small, a piece of butter, the boiled yolk of two eggs, and a sufficient quantity of suet to hold the ingredients together. Put them into the fish, and sew it up. Turn the tail into the mouth, and boil it in pump water, with two spoonfuls of vinegar and a handful of salt. It will take forty minutes to boil, if a large fish.

Pike, to boil, à-la-Française.

Wash well, clean, and scale a large pike, and cut it into three pieces; boil an equal quantity of white wine and water with lemon-peel, and when the liquor boils put your pike in, with a handful of salt. When done, lay it on sippets, and stick it with bits of fried bread. Sauce—melted butter, with slices of lemon in it, the yolks of three eggs, and some grated nutmeg. Pour your sauce over the pike, and serve it up.

Soles, to boil, à-la-Française.

Put a quart of water and half a pint of vinegar into an earthen dish; skin and clean a pair of soles; put them into vinegar and water, let them remain there for two hours. Dry them with a cloth, and put them into a stewpan, with a pint of wine, a quarter of a pint of water, a little sweet marjoram, a very little thyme, an onion stuck with four cloves, and winter savory. Sprinkle a very little bay salt, covering them close. Let them simmer gently till they are done; then take them out, and lay them in a warm dish before the fire. Put into the liquor, after it is strained, a piece of butter rolled in flour; let it boil till of a proper thickness; lay your soles in the dish, and pour the sauce over them.

A small turbot or any flat fish may be done the same way.

Soles, to stew.

Cut and skin the soles, and half fry them; have ready the quantity you like of half white wine and half water, mixed with some gravy, one whole onion, and a little whole pepper. Stew them all together, with a little shred lemon, and a few mushrooms. When they are done enough, thicken the sauce with good butter, and serve it up.

Turbot, plain boiled.

Make a brine with two handfuls of salt in a gallon of water, let the turbot lie in it two hours before it is to be boiled; then set on a fish-kettle, with water enough to cover it, and about half a pint of vinegar, or less if the turbot is small; put in a piece of horseradish; when the water boils put in the turbot, the white side uppermost, on a fish-plate; let it be done enough, but not too much, which will be easily known by the look. A small one will take twenty minutes, a large one half an hour. Then take it up, and set it on a fish-plate to drain, before it is laid in the dish. See that it is served quite dry. Sauce—lobster and white sauce.

Turbot, to boil.

Put the turbot into a kettle, with white wine vinegar and lemon; season with salt and onions; add to these water. Boil it over a gentle fire, skimming it very clean. Garnish with slices of lemon on the top.

Turbot, to boil in Gravy.

Wash and well dry a middling sized turbot; put it with two bay-leaves into a deep stew-dish, with some cloves, a handful of parsley, a large onion, and some salt and pepper, add a pint of boiling hot white wine, strain in some strong veal gravy that will more than cover the fish, and remove it on one side that the ingredients may be well mixed together. Lay it on a hot dish, strain the gravy into a saucepan with some butter and flour, pour a little over the fish, and put the remainder in a sauce terrine.

Ragout for made dishes.

Boil and blanch some cocks’ combs, with sweetbreads sliced and lambs’ stones; mix them up in gravy, with sweet-herbs, truffles, mushrooms, oysters, and savoury spice, and use it when you have occasion.

Alamode Beef. No. 1.

Take a piece of the round of beef, fresh and tender; beat it well, and to six pounds of beef put one pound of bacon, cut into large pieces for larding, and season it with pepper, cloves, and salt. Lard your beef, and put it into your stewpan, with a bay-leaf or two, and two or three onions, a bunch of parsley, a little lemon-peel, three spoonfuls of vinegar, and the same quantity of beer. Cover it close, and set it over a gentle charcoal fire; stew it very gently that your liquor may come out; and shake it often to prevent its sticking. As the liquor increases, make your fire a little stronger, and, when enough done, skim off all the fat, and put in a glass of claret. Stew it half an hour longer, and when you take it off your fire squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and serve up. It must stew five hours; and is as good cold as hot.

Alamode Beef. No. 2.

Lard the mouse-buttock with fat bacon, sprinkled with parsley, scallions, mushrooms, truffles, morels, one clove of garlic shred fine, salt, and pepper. Let it stew five or six hours in its own gravy, to which add, when it is about half done, a large spoonful of brandy. It should be done in an earthen vessel just large enough to contain it, and may be served hot or cold.

Alamode Beef. No. 3.

Lard a piece of beef with fat bacon, dipped in pepper, vinegar, allspice, and salt; flour it all over; cut two or three large onions in thin slices; lay them at the bottom of the stewpan with as much butter as will fry your beef; lay it in and brown it all over; turn it frequently. Pour to it as much boiling water as will cover it; add a little lemon-peel, and a bunch of herbs, which must be taken out before done enough; when it has stewed about two hours turn it. When finished, put in some mushrooms or ketchup, and serve up.

Alamode Beef, in the French manner.

Take the best part of the mouse-buttock, between four and seven pounds, larded well with fat bacon, and cut in square pieces the length and thickness of your beef. Before you lard it, take a little mace, six cloves, some pepper and salt, ground all together, and mix it with some parsley, shalot, and a few sweet-herbs; chop them small, roll your bacon in this mixture, and lard your beef. Skewer it well, and tie it close with a string; put two or three slices of fat bacon at the bottom of your stewpan, with three slices of carrot, two onions cut in two, and half a pint of water; put your beef in, and set your stewpan on the fire. After the beef has stewed about ten minutes, add more hot water, till it half covers the meat; let it boil till you feel with your finger that your beef is warm or hot through. Lay two or three slices of fat bacon upon your beef, add a little mace, cloves, pepper, and salt, a few slices of carrot, a small bunch of sweet-herbs, and celery tied together, a little garlic if you like it. Cut a piece of paper, of the size of your cover; well grease it with butter or lard; put it over your pan, cover it close, and let it stew over a very slow fire seven or eight hours. If you like to eat the beef cold, do not uncover the pan till it is so, for it will be the better for it. If you choose to stew a knuckle of veal with the beef, it will add greatly to the flavour.

Rump of Beef, with onions.

Having extracted the bones, tie it compactly in a good shape, and stew it in a pan that will allow for fire at the top. Put in a pint of white wine, some good broth, a slice of veal, two of bacon, or ham, which is better, a large bunch of kitchen herbs, pepper and salt. When the beef is nearly half done, add a good quantity of onions. The beef being thoroughly done, take it out and wipe off the grease; place it in the dish in which it is to be served at table, put the onions round it, and pour over it a good sauce, any that suits your taste.

Ribs and Sirloin of Beef.

When the ribs and sirloin are tender, they are commonly roasted, and eaten with their own gravy. To make the sirloin still better, take out the fillet: cut it into thin slices, and put it into a stewpan, with a sauce made with capers, anchovies, mushrooms, a little garlic, truffles, and morels, the whole shred fine, turned a few times over the fire, with a little butter, and moistened with some good cullis. When the sauce is skimmed and seasoned to your taste, put in the fillet with the gravy of the meat, and heat and serve it over the ribs or sirloin.

Brisket of Beef, stewed German Fashion.

Cut three or four pounds of brisket of beef in three or four pieces of equal size, and boil it a few minutes in water; in another pan boil the half of a large cabbage for a full quarter of an hour; stew the meat with a little broth, a bunch of parsley, scallions, a little garlic, thyme, basil, and a laurel-leaf; and an hour afterwards put in the cabbage, cut into three pieces, well squeezed, and tied with packthread, and three large onions. When the whole is nearly done, add four sausages, with a little salt and whole pepper, and let it stew till the sauce is nearly consumed; then take out the meat and vegetables, wipe off the grease, and dish them, putting the beef in the middle, the onions and cabbage round, and the sausages upon it. Strain the sauce through a sieve, and, having skimmed off the fat, serve it over the ragout. The beef will take five hours and a quarter at the least to stew.

Beef bouilli.

Take the thick part of the brisket of beef, and let it lie in water all night; tie it up well, and put it to boil slowly, with a small faggot of parsley and thyme, a bag of peppercorns and allspice, three or four onions, and roots of different sorts: it will take five or six hours, as it should be very tender. Take it out, cut the string from it, and either glaze it or sprinkle some dry parsley that has been chopped very fine over it; sprinkle a little flour on the top of it, with gherkin and carrot. The chief sauce for it is sauce hachée, which is made thus: a little dressed ham, gherkin, boiled carrot, and the yolk of egg boiled, all chopped fine and put into brown sauce.

Another way.

Take about eight or nine pounds of the middle part of the brisket; put it into your stew-kettle (first letting it hang up for four or five days) with a little whole pepper, salt, and a blade or two of mace, a turnip or two, and an onion, adding about three pints or two quarts of water. Cover it up close, and when it begins to boil skim it; let it stand on a very slow fire, just to keep it simmering. It will take five hours or more before it is done, and during that time you must take the meat out, in order to skim off the fat. When it is quite tender take your stewpan, and brown a little butter and flour, enough to thicken the gravy, which you must put through a colander, first adding sliced carrots and turnips, previously boiled in another pot. You may also, if you choose, put in an anchovy, a little ketchup, and juice of lemon; but these are omitted according to taste. When the gravy is thus prepared, put the meat in again; give it a boil, and dish it up.

Beef, to stew.

Take a pound and a half of the fat part of a brisket, with four pounds of stewing beef, cut into pieces; put these into a stewpan, with a little salt, pepper, a bunch of sweet-herbs and onions, stuck with cloves, two or three pieces of carrots, two quarts of water, and half a pint of good small beer. Let the whole stew for four hours; then take some turnips and carrots cut into pieces, a small leek, two or three heads of celery, cut small, and a piece of bread toasted hard. Let these stew all together one hour longer; then put the whole into a terrine, and serve up.

Another way.

Put three pounds of the thin part of the brisket of beef and half a pound of gravy beef in a stewpan, with two quarts of water, a little thyme, marjoram, parsley, whole pepper and salt, a sufficient quantity, and an onion; let it stew six hours or more; then add carrots, turnips, (cut with a machine) and celery cut small, which have all been previously boiled; let the vegetables be stewed with the beef one hour. Just before you take it off the fire, put in some boiled cabbage chopped small, some pickled cucumbers and walnuts sliced, some cucumber liquor, and a little walnut liquor. Thicken the sauce with a lump of butter rolled in flour. Strew the cut vegetables over the top of the meat.

Beef Steaks, to stew.

Pepper and salt two fine rump steaks; lay them in a stewpan with a few cloves, some mace, an onion, one anchovy, a bundle of sweet herbs, a gill of white wine, and a little butter mixed with flour; cover them close, stew them very gently till they are tender, and shake the pan round often to keep them from sticking. Take them carefully out, flour and fry them of a nice brown in fresh butter, and put them in a dish. In the mean time strain off the gravy from the fat out of the frying-pan, and put it in the sauce, with a dozen oysters blanched, and a little of the oyster liquor; give it a boil up, pour it over the steaks, and garnish with horseradish. You may fry them first and then stew them; put them in a dish, and strain the sauce over them without any oysters, as a common dish.

Another way.

Beat three pounds of rump steaks; put them in a stewpan, with a pint of water, the same quantity of small beer, six cloves, a large onion, a bunch of sweet-herbs, a carrot, a turnip, pepper, and salt. Stew this very gently, closely covered, for four or five hours; but take care the meat does not go to rags, by being done too fast. Take up the meat, and strain the gravy over it. Have turnips cut into balls, and carrots into shapes, and put them over the meat.

Boar’s Head, to dress whole.

When the head is cut off, the neck part must be boned, and the tongue taken out. The brains also must be taken out on the inside, so as not to break the bone and skin on the outside. When boned, singe the hair off, and clean it; then put it for four or five days into a red pickle made of saltpetre, bay salt, common salt, and coarse brown sugar, rubbing the pickle in every day. When taken out of the pickle, lay the tongue in the centre of the neck or collar; close the meat together as close as you can, and bind it with strong tape up to the ears, the same as you would do brawn; then put it into a pot or kettle, the neck downward, and fill the pot with good broth and Rhenish wine, in the proportion of one bottle of wine to three pints of broth, till it is covered a little above the ears. Season the wine and broth with small bunches of sweet-herbs, such as basil, winter savory, and marjoram, bay-leaves, shalots, celery, carrots, turnips, parsley-roots, with different kinds of spices. Set it over the fire to boil; when it boils, put it on one side to boil gently, till the head is tender. Take it out of the liquor, and put it into an earthen pan; skim all the fat off the liquor; strain it through a sieve into the head; put it by until it is quite cold, and then it will be fit for use.

Calf’s Head.

Scald the hair off; trim and pare it, and make it look as neat as possible. Take out the bones, and have ready palates boiled tender, hard-boiled yolks of eggs, oysters just scalded, and very good forcemeat: stuff all this into the head, and sew it close in a cloth. Boil it gently for full three hours. Make a strong good gravy for sauce. Garnish with fried bacon.

Collops, to mince.

Chop some beef as fine as possible; the under part of roasted beef without any fat is best. Put some onions, pepper, and salt to it. Then put a little butter in the frying-pan; when it is melted, put in the meat, and stew it well. Add a cupful of gravy; if you have none, water will do. Just before it is done put in a little vinegar.

Leg of Lamb, to boil.

Divide the leg from the loin of a hind quarter of lamb; slit the skin off the leg, and cut out the flesh of one side of it, and chop this flesh very small; add an equal quantity of shred beef suet and some sweet-herbs shred small; season with nutmeg, pepper, and salt; break into it two eggs. Mix all well together, put it into the leg, sew it up, and boil it. Chop the loin into steaks, and fry them, and, when the leg is boiled enough, lay the steaks round it. Take some white wine, anchovies, nutmeg, and a quarter of a pound of butter; thicken with the yolks of two eggs; pour it upon the lamb, and so serve it up. Boil your lamb in a cloth.

Lamb, to ragout.

Roast a quarter of lamb, and when almost done dredge it well with grated bread, which must be put into the dish you serve it up in; take veal cullis, salt, pepper, anchovy, and lemon juice; warm it, lay the lamb in it, and serve it up.

Mutton chops, to stew.

Put them in a stewpan, with an onion, and enough cold water to cover them; when come to a boil, skim and set them over a very slow fire till tender; perhaps about three quarters of an hour.

Turnips may be boiled with them.

Haricot Mutton.

Take a neck of mutton, and cut it in the same manner as for mutton chops. When done, lay them in your stewpan, with a blade of mace, some whole peppercorns, a bunch of sweet-herbs, two onions, one carrot, one turnip, all cut in slices, and lay them over your mutton. Set your stewpan over a slow fire, and let the chops stew till they are brown; turn them, that the other side may be the same. Have ready some good gravy, and pour on them, and let them stew till they are very tender. Your ragout must be turnips and carrots cut into dice, and small onions, all boiled very tender, and well stirred up in the liquor in which your mutton was stewed.

Another way.

Fry mutton chops in butter till they are brown, but not done through. Lay them flat in a stewpan, and just cover them with gravy. Put in small onions, whole carrots, and turnips, scooped or cut into shapes; let them stew very gently for two hours or more. Season the chops before you fry them with pepper and salt.

Loin of Mutton, to stew.

Cut your mutton in steaks, and put it into as much water as will cover it. When it is skimmed, add four onions sliced and four large turnips.

Neck of Mutton, to boil.

Lard a neck of mutton with lemon-peel, and then boil it in salt and water, with sweet-herbs. While boiling, stew a pint of oysters in their own liquor, half a pint of white wine, and the like quantity of broth; put in two or three whole onions and some anchovies, grated nutmeg, and a little thyme. Thicken the broth with the yolks of four eggs, and dish it up with sippets. Lay the oysters under the meat, and garnish with barberries and lemon.

Mutton to eat like Venison.

Boil and skin a loin of mutton; take the bones, two onions, two anchovies, a bunch of sweet-herbs, some pepper, mace, carrot, and crust of bread; stew these all together for gravy; strain it off, and put the mutton into a stewpan with the fat side downward; add half a pint of port wine. Stew it till thoroughly done.

Ox-cheek, to stew.

Choose one that is fat and young, which may be known by the teeth; pick out the eye-balls; 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 butter 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 butter 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 butter, 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 scraped 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 butter, 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 faggot of mint, and one onion; pass them over the fire with a small bit of butter, 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.

Pigs’ Feet and Ears, ragout of.

Split the feet, and take them out of souse; dip them in eggs, then in bread-crumbs and chopped parsley; fry them in lard. Drain them; cut the ears in long narrow slips; flour them; put them into some good gravy; add ketchup, morels, and pickled mushrooms; stew them into the dish, and lay on the feet.

Pork, to collar.

Bone and season a breast of pork with savoury spice, parsley, sage, and thyme; roll it in a hard collar of cloth; tie it close, and boil it, and, when cold, keep it in souse.

Sweetbreads, ragout of.

Wash your sweetbreads; put them into boiling water, and, after blanching them, throw them into cold water; dry them with a linen cloth; and put them in a saucepan over the fire with salt, pepper, melted bacon, and a faggot of sweet-herbs. Shake them together, and put some good gravy to moisten them; simmer over the fire, and thicken to your liking.

Another.

Take sweetbreads and lamb’s fry, and parboil them, cutting them into slices, and cocks’-combs sliced and blanched, and season them with pepper and salt, and other spices; fry them in a little lard; drain and toss them in good gravy, with two shalots, a bunch of sweet-herbs, mushrooms, and truffles. Thicken it with a glass of claret; garnish with red beet root.

Truffles and Morels, to stew.

Well wash the truffles, cut them into slices, of the size and about the thickness of half-a-crown; put them into a stewpan, with a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper, and a little butter, to prevent their being burnt. Let them stew ten minutes; have ready a good brown sauce of half a pint of beef and the same of veal jelly, thickened with a little butter and flour; add to it any trimmings of the truffles or morels, and boil them also in it; put in one pinch of cayenne pepper. Strain the truffles or morels from the butter they were first stewed in; throw them into the sauce; warm the whole again, and serve hot.

Veal, to stew.

Cut the veal into small pieces; season with an onion, some salt and pepper, mace, lemon-peel, and two or three shalots; let them stew in water, with a little butter, or port wine, if you like. When enough done, put in some yolks of eggs beaten, and boil them quick. Dish and serve them up.

Veal, with Rice, to stew.

Boil half a pound of rice in three quarts of water in a small pan with some good broth, about a pint, and slices of ham at the bottom, and two good onions. When it is almost done, spread it, about twice the thickness of a crown-piece, over a silver or delft dish in which it is to be served [it must be a dish capable of bearing the fire]. Lay slices of veal and ham alternately—the veal having already been dressed brown. Cover the meat with rice in such a manner that it cannot be seen; put your dish upon a hot stove; brown the rice with a salamander; drain off the fat that may be in the dish, and serve it dry, or, if it is preferred, with any of the good sauces, for which there are directions, poured under it.

Breast of Veal, with Cabbage and Bacon.

Cut the breast of veal in pieces, and parboil it; parboil also a cabbage and a bit of streaked bacon, cut in slices, leaving the rind to it. Tie each separately with packthread, and let them stew together with good broth; no salt or pepper, on account of the bacon. When the whole is done, take out the meat and cabbage, and put them into the terrine you serve to table. Take the fat off the broth, put in a little cullis, and reduce the sauce over the stove. When of a proper thickness pour it over the meat, and serve up.

Breast of Veal, to stew with Peas.

Cut the nicest part of the breast of veal, with the sweetbread; roast it a little brown; take a little bit of the meat that is cut off the ends, and fry it with butter, salt, pepper, and flour; take a little hot water just to rinse out the gravy that adheres to the frying-pan, and put it into a stewpan, with two quarts of hot water, a bundle of parsley, thyme, and marjoram, a bit of onion or shalot, plenty of lemon-peel, and a pint of old green peas, the more mealy the better. Let it stew two or three hours, then rub it through a sieve with a spoon; it should be all nice and thick; then put it again in the stewpan with the meat, having ready some hot water to add to the gravy in case it should be wanted. A thick breast will take two hours, and must be turned every now and then. Boil about as many nice young peas as would make a dish, the same as for eating; put them in about ten minutes before you take it up, skimming all the fat nicely off; and season it at the same time with salt and cayenne to your taste.

Another way.

Cut your veal into pieces, about three inches long; fry it delicately; mix a little flour with some beef broth, with an onion and two cloves; stew this some time, strain it, add three pints or two quarts of peas, or heads of asparagus, cut like peas. Put in the meat; let it stew gently; add pepper and salt.

Fillet of Veal, to boil.

Cut out the bone of a fillet of veal; put it into good milk and water for a little while: make some forcemeat with boiled clary, raw carrots, beef suet, grated bread, sweet-herbs, and a good quantity of shrimps, nutmeg, and mace, the yolks of three eggs boiled hard, some pepper and salt, and two raw eggs; roll it up in butter, and stuff the veal with it. Boil the veal in a cloth for two hours, and scald four or five cucumbers, in order to take out the pulp the more easily. This done, fill them with forcemeat, and stew them in a little thin gravy. For sauce take strong white gravy, thickened with butter, a very little flour, nutmeg, mace, and lemon-peel, three anchovies dissolved in lemon-juice, some good cream, the yolk of an egg beaten, and a glass of white wine. Serve with the cucumbers.

Half a Fillet of Veal, to stew.

Take a stewpan large enough for the piece of veal, put in some butter, and fry it till it is firm, and of a fine brown colour all round; put in two carrots, two large onions, whole, half a pound of lean bacon, a bunch of thyme and of parsley, a pinch of cayenne pepper and of salt: add a cupful of broth, and let the whole stew over a very slow fire for one hour, or according to the size of your piece of veal, until thoroughly done. Have ready a pint of jelly soup, in which stew a table-spoonful of mustard and the same of truffles cut in small pieces; add one ounce of butter and a dessert spoonful of flour to thicken; unite it well together; put in a glass of white wine, and boil. When ready to serve, pour it over the veal; let there be sauce sufficient to fill the dish; the veal must be strained from the vegetables, and great care taken that the sauce is well passed through the sieve, to keep it clear from grease.

Neck of Veal, stewed with Celery.

Take the best end of a neck, put it into a stewpan with beef broth, salt, whole pepper, and two cloves, tied in a bit of muslin, an onion, and a piece of lemon-peel. Add a little cream and flour mixed, some celery ready boiled, and cut into lengths; and boil it up.

Vegetables, to stew.

Cut some onions, celery, turnips, and carrots, into small squares, like dice, but not too small; stew them with a bunch of thyme in a little broth and butter; fry them till they are of a fine brown colour; turn them with a fork, till quite soft; if they are not done enough, put a little flour from the dredging-box to brown them; skim the sauce well, and pass it through a sieve; add a little cayenne pepper and salt; put the vegetables in, and serve them up.

Water Cresses, to stew.

When the cresses are nicely picked and well washed, put them into a stewpan with a little butter under them. Let them stew on a clear fire until almost done; then rub them through a sieve; put them again into a pan, with a dust of flour, a little salt, and a spoonful of good cream: give it a boil, and dish it up with sippets. The cream may be omitted, and the cresses may be boiled in salt and water before they are rubbed through the sieve, and afterwards stewed, but it takes the strength out, therefore it is best not to boil them first.

Cream of Chicken, or Fowl.

For this purpose fowls are preferable, because the breasts are larger. Take two chickens, cut off the breast, and roast them; the remainder put in a stewpan with two pounds of the sinewy part of a knuckle of veal. Boil the whole together to make a little clear good broth: when the breasts are roasted, and your broth made, take all the white of the breast, put it in a small stewpan, and add to it the broth clean and clear. It will be better to cut the white of the chickens quite fine, and, when you find that it is boiled soft, proceed in the same manner as for cream of rice and pass it. Just in the same way, make it of the thickness you judge proper, and warm in the same manner as the cream of rice: put in a little salt if it is approved of.

Duck, to boil.

Pour over it boiling milk and water, and let it lie for an hour or two. Then boil it gently for a full half hour in plenty of water. Serve with onion sauce.

Duck, to boil, à la Française.

To a pint of rich beef gravy put two dozen of roasted peeled chesnuts, with a few leaves of thyme, two small onions if agreeable, a race of ginger, and a little whole pepper. Lard a fine tame duck, and half roast it; put it into the gravy; let it stew ten minutes, and add a pint of port wine. When the duck is done, take it out; boil up your gravy to a proper thickness, but skim it very clean from the fat; lay your duck in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.

Duck, to stew with Cucumbers.

Half roast the duck, and stew it as before. Slice some cucumbers and onions; fry and drain them very dry; put them to the duck, and stew all together.

Duck, to stew with Peas.

Half roast the duck, put it into some good gravy with a little mint and three or four sage-leaves chopped. Stew this half an hour; thicken the gravy with a little flour; throw in half a pint of green peas boiled, or some celery, in which case omit the mint.

Fowl with Rice, called Pilaw.

Boil a pint of rice in as much water as will cover it. Put in with it some whole black pepper, a little salt, and half a dozen cloves, tied up in a bit of cloth. When the rice is tender take out the cloves and pepper, and stir in a piece of butter. Boil a fowl and a piece of bacon; lay them in a dish, and cover them with the rice. Lay round the dish and upon the rice hard eggs cut in halves and quarters, and onions, first boiled and then fried.

Pigeons, to boil.

Chop sweet-herbs and bacon, with grated bread, butter, spice, and the yolk of an egg; tie both ends of the pullets, and boil them. Garnish with sliced lemon and barberries.

Pigeons, to stew. No. 1.

Truss your pigeons as for boiling. Take pepper, salt, cloves, mace, some sweet-herbs, a little grated bread, and the liver of the birds chopped very fine; roll these up in a bit of butter, put it in the stomach of the pigeons, and tie up both ends. Make some butter hot in your stewpan, fry the pigeons in it till they are brown all over, putting to them two or three blades of mace, a few peppercorns, and one shalot. Take them out of the liquor, dust a little flour into the stewpan, shaking it about till it is brown. Have ready a quart of small gravy and a glass of white wine; let it just boil up: strain out all the spice, and put the gravy and pigeons into the stewpan. Let them simmer over the fire two hours; put in some pickled mushrooms, a little lemon juice, a spoonful of ketchup, a few truffles and morels. Dish and send to table with bits of bacon grilled. Some persons add forcemeat balls, but they are very rich without.

Pigeons, to stew. No. 2.

Shred the livers and gizzards, with as much suet as there is meat; season with pepper, salt, parsley, and thyme, shred small; fill the pigeons with this stuffing; lay them in the stewpan, breasts downward, with as much strong broth as will cover them. Add pepper, salt, and onion, and two thin rashers of bacon. Cover them close; let them stew two hours or more, till the liquor is reduced to one half, and looks like gravy, and the pigeons are tender; then put them in a dish with sippets. If you have no strong broth, you may stew in water; but you must not put so much water as broth, and they must stew more slowly.

Pigeons in disguise.

Draw, truss, and season the pigeons with salt and pepper, and make a nice puff; roll each pigeon in a piece of it; tie them in a cloth, but be careful not to let the paste break. Boil them in plenty of water for an hour and a half; and when you untie them take great care they do not break; put them into a dish, and pour a little good gravy to them.

Rabbits, to boil.

Truss and lard them with bacon, boiling them white. Take the liver, shred with it fat bacon for sauce, and put to it very strong broth, vinegar, white wine, salt, nutmeg, mace, minced parsley, barberries, and drawn butter. Lay your rabbits in the dish, and let the sauce be poured over them. Garnish the dish with barberries and lemon.

Rabbits, to boil with Onions.

Truss the rabbits close; well wash; boil them white; boil the onions by themselves, changing the water three times. Strain them well, and chop and butter them, putting in a quarter of a pint of cream; then serve up the rabbits covered with onions.

Rabbits, brown fricassee of.

Fry your rabbits brown, and stew it in some gravy, with thyme, an onion, and parsley, tied together. Season, and thicken it with brown thickening, a few morels, mushrooms, lemon, and forcemeat balls.

Rabbits, white fricassee of. No. 1.

Cut the rabbits in slices; wash away the blood; fry them on a slow fire, and put them into your pan with a little strong broth; seasoning, and tossing them up with oysters and mushrooms. When almost done, put in a pint of cream, thickened with a piece of butter and flour.

Turkey, to boil.

Fill a large turkey with oysters; take a breast of veal, cut in olives; bone it, and season it with pepper, salt, nutmegs, cloves, mace, lemon-peel, and thyme, cut small; take some lean veal to make forcemeat, with the ingredients before mentioned, only adding shalot and anchovies; put some in the olives and some in the turkey, in a cloth; roast or bake the olives. Take three anchovies, a little pepper, a quarter of a pint of gravy, as much white wine; boil these with a little thyme till half is consumed; then put in some butter, meat, oysters, mushrooms, fried balls, and bacon; put all these in a pan, and pour on the turkey; lay the olives round, and garnish the dish with pickles and lemon. If you want sauce, add a little gravy, and serve it up.

Turkey, with Oysters.

Boil your turkey, and serve with the same sauce as for pullets, only adding a few mushrooms.

Hare, to jug. No. 1.

Cut and put it into a jug, with the same ingredients as for stewing, but no water or beer; cover it closely; set it in a kettle of boiling water, and keep it boiling three hours, or until the hare is tender; then pour your gravy into the stewpan, and put to it a glass of red wine and a little cayenne; but if necessary put a little more of the gravy, thicken it with flour; boil it up; pour it over the hare, and add a little lemon-juice.

Hare, to jug. No. 2.

Cut and joint the hare into pieces; scald the liver and bruise it with a spoon; mix it with a little beaten mace, grated lemon-peel, pepper, salt, thyme, and parsley shred fine, and a whole onion stuck with a clove or two; lay the head and neck at the bottom of the jar; lay on it some seasoning, a very thin slice of fat bacon, then some hare, and bacon, seasoned well in. Stop close the jug or jar with a cork, to prevent any water getting in or the steam evaporating; set it in a pot of hot water, and let it boil three hours; then have ready some strong beef gravy boiling, and pour it into the jug till the hare is just covered; shake it, pour it into your dish, and take out the onion.

Hare, to mince.

Boil the hare with onions, parsley, and apples, till tender; shred it small, and put in a pint of claret, a little pepper, salt, and nutmeg, with two or three anchovies, and the yolks of twelve eggs boiled hard and shred very small; stirring all well together. In serving up, put sufficient melted butter to make it moist. Garnish the dish with whites of eggs, cut in half, and some of the bones.

Hare, to stew.

Cut off the legs and shoulders, and cut out the back bone; cut into slices the meat that comes off the sides: put all these into a vessel with three quarters of a pint of small beer, the same of water, a large onion stuck with cloves, whole pepper, some salt, and a slice of lemon. Let this stew gently for an hour closely covered, and then put a quart of good gravy to it, stewing it gently two hours longer, till tender. Take out the hare, and rub half a spoonful of smooth flour in a little gravy; put it to the sauce and boil it up; add a little cayenne and salt if necessary; put in the hare, and, when hot through, serve it up in a terrine stand.

Partridge, to boil.

Cover them with water, and fifteen minutes will boil them. Sauce—celery, liver, mushroom, or onion sauces.

Partridge stewed.

Stuff the craws with bread crumbs, grated lemon-peel, a bit of butter, shalot chopped, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and yolk of egg; rub the inside with pepper and salt. Half roast them; then stew them with rich gravy and a little Madeira, a piece of lemon-peel, an onion, savory, and spice, if necessary, for about half an hour. Take out the lemon-peel and onion, and thicken with a little flour; garnish with hard yolks of eggs; add artichoke bottoms boiled and quartered.

Pheasant, to boil.

Boil the birds in abundance of water; if they are large, they will require three quarters of an hour; if small, about half an hour. For sauce—stewed white celery, thickened with cream, and a bit of butter rolled in flour; pour this over them.

Pheasant à l’Italienne.

Cut the liver small: and to one bird take but six oysters; parboil them, and put them into a stewpan with the liver, a piece of butter, some parsley, green onions, pepper and salt, sweet-herbs, and a little allspice; let them stand a little over the fire, and stuff the pheasant with them; then put it into a stewpan, with some oil, green onions, sweet basil, parsley, and lemon juice, for a few minutes; take them off, cover your pheasant with slices of bacon, and put it upon a spit, tying some paper round it while roasting. Then take some oysters, and stew them in their own liquor a little, and put in your stewpan four yolks of eggs, half a lemon cut in dice, a little beaten pepper, scraped nutmeg, parsley cut small, an anchovy cut small, a rocambole, a little oil, a small glass of white wine, a little of ham cullis; put the sauce over the fire to thicken, then put in the oysters, and make the sauce relishing, and, when the pheasant is done, lay it in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.

Pheasant à la Braise.

Put a layer of beef, the same of veal, at the bottom of the stewpan, with a thin slice of bacon, a little bit of carrot, an onion stuck with cloves, a bunch of sweet-herbs, some black and white pepper, and a little beaten mace, and put in your pheasant; put over it a layer of veal and the same of beef; set it on the fire for five or six minutes; then pour two quarts of boiling water, cover it down close, and put a damp cloth round the outside of the cover to prevent the steam escaping: it must stew gently for an hour and a half; then take up the pheasant and keep it hot, and let the gravy stew till reduced to about a pint; strain it off, and put it into a saucepan, with a sweetbread, which must have been stewed with the bird, some liver of fowls, morels, truffles, artichoke bottoms, and the tops of asparagus, and let these simmer in the gravy; add two spoonfuls of red wine and of ketchup, and a piece of butter rolled in flour; let them stew for five or six minutes: lay the pheasant in the dish, pour the ragout over it, and lay forcemeat balls round it.

The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined By John Mollard, Cook, [1802]

Hodge Podge, or English Olio.

Take four beef tails cut into joints, bouille beef two pieces about a quarter of a pound each, and two pieces of pickle pork of the same weight. Put them into a pot, cover with water, and when it boils skim clean, and add half a savoy, two ounces of champignons, some turnips, carrots, onions, leeks, celery, one bay leaf, whole black pepper, a few allspice, and a small quantity of mace.

When the meats are nearly done, add two quarts of strong veal stock, and when tender take them out, put them into a deep dish, and preserve them hot till they are to be served up; then strain the liquor, skim it free from fat, season to the palate with cayenne pepper, a little salt, and lemon juice, and add a small quantity of colour; then have ready turnips and carrots cut into haricots, some celery heads trimmed three inches long, and some whole onions peeled. Let them be sweated down, till three parts tender, in separate stewpans, and strain the essences of them to the above liquor; clear it with whites of eggs, strain it through a tamis cloth, mix the vegetables, add the liquor to them, boil them gently for ten minutes, and serve them over the meats.

To stew Fish.

Add to some cullis a few chopped eshallots, anchovies, a bay leaf, horseradish scraped, a little quantity of lemon peel, and some red port; season it well with cayenne pepper, salt, and juice of lemon, and when it boils let it be of a proper thickness, and strain it to the fish; then stew it gently, and serve it up in a deep dish with the liquor, and fried bread round it. If carp or tench, some of the hard roe mixed in batter and fried in pieces.

The roes likewise of different fish may be stewed in the same manner, and served up as a dish of themselves. Eels, soles, or other fish may be done the same way.

Stewed Cucumbers.

Take fresh gathered cucumbers, pare them, cut them into shapes if seedy, or slices if young. Put them into a stewpan, and add a little salt, vinegar, and an onion.

Simmer them over a fire till nearly done and the liquor reduced, or fry them with a bit of fresh butter, and add a good strong cullis. Let the cucumbers stew till done, and serve them up with the mutton, which may be roasted with larding (or plain).

N. B. The cucumbers may be served as an entrée of itself, and fried bread put round them.

Cutlets a la Irish Stew.

Get the best end of a neck of mutton, take off the under bone, and cut it into chops; season them with pepper, salt, a little mushroom powder, and beaten mace. Put them into a stewpan, add a large onion sliced, some parsley and thyme tied in a bunch, and a pint of veal broth. Simmer the chops till three parts done, then add some whole potatoes peeled, and let them stew till done. Serve it up in a deep dish.

N. B. Let the parsley and thyme be taken out when the stew is to be served up.

To stew Cabbage.

Cut the cabbage into slips, and blanch and drain them dry. Put them into a stewpan, with a bit of fresh butter, pepper, salt, an onion, some vinegar, half a pint of veal broth, and a little allspice tied in a cloth. Stew the cabbage gently till done and the liquor nearly reduced, and then take the spice and onion out.

Compotte of Pigeons.

Cut off the pinions, draw the legs in close, colour the breast in boiling hot lard, and then blanch and wash them; which done, put them in a stewpan, add a little veal broth, and simmer them gently till nearly done, and then make a ragout of blanched sweetbreads, button mushrooms, truffles, morells, artichoke bottoms, egg balls, cullis, and the liquor of the pigeons strained, and season well to the palate. Let the ingredients stew for ten minutes, then add them to the pigeons, and serve up all together in a deep dish.

Breast of Veal Ragout.

Take off the under bone and cut the breast in half, lengthways; then cut them in middling-sized pieces, fry them in a little lard till of a light brown colour, wipe them dry, put them into a stewpan with half a pint of veal stock, simmer them till nearly done and the liquor almost reduced; then add blanched morell, truffles, slices of throat sweetbread, egg balls, artichoke bottoms, a little ketchup, and some cullis; season to the palate with cayenne pepper and salt, and a little lemon juice. Let all stew together till done.

Pulled Chicken (or Turkey).

Boil a fowl till three parts done, and let it stand till cold; then take off the skin, cut the white meat into slips, put them into a stewpan, add a little cream, a very small quantity of grated lemon-peel and pounded mace, cayenne, salt, one eschallot chopped, a little lemon juice, and a spoonful of consumé; thicken with a little flour and water, simmer it over a fire ten minutes, during which time score the legs and rump, season them with pepper and salt, broil them of a good colour, and serve them up over the pulled chicken.

Chickens with Peas.

Truss them as for boiling, blanch them five minutes, and wash them clean; then braise them till tender with a little veal stock and bards of fat bacon or with white paper over them. When they are to be served up wipe them dry, glaize the tops lightly, and put pea sauce under.

Another way to stew Chickens with Peas.

Cut the chickens into pieces, blanch and drain them dry, and put them into a stewpan with a little veal stock; then stew them till tender and the liquor almost reduced. When they are to be served up, put them on a dish, and the peas sauce over.

Fricassee of Chickens or Rabbits (brown).

Cut the chickens into pieces, and fry them in a little lard till of a light brown colour; then drain them with a cloth very dry; after which put them into a stewpan, add button mushrooms stewed, pieces of artichoke bottoms, blanched truffles, morells, egg balls, and some good-seasoned cullis [gravy]. Set them over a moderate fire, stew them gently till done, and serve up with fried oysters round them.

Directions for Poultry, &c. plain boiled.

Let it be observed that turkies, chickens, and meats, intended to be plain boiled, should be soaked in cold water, and put afterwards into plenty of boiling pump water, kept skimmed and preserved as white as possible. The time they will take dressing depends on a little practice, as in roasting. Be particular in trimming the meats neat, and in trussing the poultry. The carving, likewise, should be carefully attended to, which is frequently expressed by the phrase of cutting into pieces.

Jugged Hare.

Case the hare, cut off the shoulders and legs, and the back into three pieces. Daub them well with fat bacon, and put them into a stewpot with the trimmings. Add to them allspice, mace, whole pepper, a little of each; a small clove of garlick, three onions, two bay leaves, parsley, thyme, and savory, tied together in a small bunch; a quart of veal stock, three gills of red port; and simmer them over a fire till three parts done. Then take out the shoulders, legs, and back; put them into another stewpan, strain the liquor to them, and add some passed flour and butter to thicken it a little.

Let it stew till tender, skim it free from fat, season with cayenne, salt, and lemon juice, and serve it up in a deep dish.

Hashed Fowls.

Cut into pieces (very neat) ready-dressed fowls, turkies, or rabbits, and put them into a stewpan; then make a thickening with a bit of fresh butter, flour, and chopped eschallots or onions mixed over a slow fire. Discharge it with veal stock, add a little lemon pickle and ketchup, season to the palate, put a small quantity of liquid of colour, boil for ten minutes, strain to the poultry, and let it stew gently. When served up, there may be put a few pieces of the fowl grilled round it.

N. B. Instead of the thickening and veal stock, may be added cullis with lemon pickle and ketchup.

Stewed Giblets plain.

Cut two pair of scalded goose giblets into pieces of two inches long; then blanch them, trim the bones from the ends, and wash the giblets; after which drain them dry, put them into a stewpan with half a pint of stock, cover the pan close, simmer over a slow fire till  three parts done and the liquor nearly reduced, then add good-seasoned cullis [gravy], and stew them till tender.

Stewed Giblets with Peas.

Proceed as with the above, except, instead of plain cullis, take a pint of shelled young green peas, and sweat them till three parts done with a bit of fresh butter and a little salt; then add some cullis, put them to the giblets, and stew them till tender. If requisite put a little liquid of colour.

Ham braised.

Take a mellow smoked ham perfectly clean; then well trim and put it into a braising pan; after which, add to it four quarts of water, a bottle of madeira wine, and a few bay leaves. Cover the pan close, and simmer the ham over a moderate fire till very tender. Then wipe it quite dry, take off the rind, glaize the top part, and serve it up on a large dish with stewed spinach on one side and mashed turnips on the other.

N. B. Hams may be plain boiled and served up in the same manner.

Pickled tongues may be stuffed with marrow and boiled, then peeled, and served up with the above vegetables and in the same manner.

Stewed Mushrooms (brown).

Clean with a knife a pottle of fresh forced mushrooms, put them into water, and when they are to be stewed take them out with the hands to avoid the sediment. Then put them into a stewpan with an ounce and an half of fresh butter, a little salt, and the juice of half a lemon. Cover the stewpan close, put it over a fire, and let the mushrooms boil for five minutes. Then thicken them with a little flour and water mixed, add a small quantity of liquid of colour, (some cayenne if approved,) and stew them gently for five minutes more.

Stewed Mushrooms (white).

Let the same process be followed as above; but instead of adding liquid of colour put to them a gill of good cream.

Stewed Watercresses.

Pick and wash twelve bunches of watercresses, boil them till half done, and drain and squeeze them dry; then chop and put them into a stewpan, add to them cullis [gravy], cream, salt, pepper, and flour, a little of each. Stew them gently ten minutes, and serve them up with fried bread round.

To stew Peas for a Dish.

Put a quart of fresh shelled young peas into a stewpan, add to them a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, a middling-sized onion sliced very fine, a cos or cabbage lettuce washed and cut into pieces, and a very little salt. Cover the pan close, put it over a moderate fire, and sweat the peas till half done. Make them of a proper thickness with flour and water, add a spoonful of essence of ham, season to the palate with cayenne pepper, and add a small lump of sugar if approved. Let the peas stew gently till tender, being careful not to let them burn.

Stewed Asparagus for Sauce.

Scale sprue or large asparagus, then cut off the heads as far as they are eatable, boil them till nearly done, strain them, and pour cold water over to preserve them green. Then make (boiling) a good strong cullis [gravy], and put in the heads five minutes before the sauce is served up, which may be put over tendrons of veal, lamb, &c.

N. B. Some tops of sprue grass may be boiled in a little stock till tender, and rubbed through a tamis. The pulp to be put to the cullis before the heads are added.

To stew Maccaroni.

Boil a quarter of a pound of riband maccaroni in beef stock till nearly done; then strain it and add a gill of cream, two ounces of fresh butter, a table spoonful of the essence of ham, three ounces of grated parmezan cheese, and a little cayenne pepper and salt. Mix them over a fire for five minutes, then put it on a dish, strew grated parmezan cheese over it, smooth it with a knife, and colour with a very hot salamander.

Stewed Cheese.

Cut small into a stewpan cheshire and gloucester cheese, a quarter of a pound of each; then add a gill of lisbon wine, a table spoonful of water, and (if approved) a tea spoonful of mustard. Mix them over a fire till the cheese is dissolved; then have ready a cheese plate with a lighted lamp beneath, put the mixture in, and serve it up directly. Send with it some fresh toasted bread in a toast rack.

Stuart Era Recipes from The Queen-like Closet or Rich Cabinet by Hannah Woolley Stored with all manner of RARE RECEIPTS For Preserving, Candying and Cookery. Very Pleasant and Beneficial to all Ingenious Persons of the FEMALE SEX. [1670] 2nd Edition

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