Valuable Cooking Receipts

Codfish is about the best fish that comes to our market, but it is so cheap and plentiful that we do not appreciate it quite as much as we would if the price was twenty-five cents a pound and its season to last not over two months. Trout and all delicate fish lose their flavor long before they reach New York, and they should be eaten within half an hour after they are caught; while the cod improves in flavor if kept for a day or two with the addition of a little salt to give it firmness.

The “shoulder part” pleases my palate the most. Have you ever tried a codfish steak for breakfast, dredged in corn meal and fried in salt pork-fat? It is splendid. A rasher of bacon served with it does no harm.

In broiling cod, haddock, bass, etc., always tie them up in a bag or towel, and lay the fish in the fish-pan, adding a little salt, a pint of Rhine wine, or cupful of vinegar, and cover the fish with cold water, allowing it to boil gently till done. Drawn-butter sauce with boiled fish is easy to make and pleases almost everybody.

Baked Cod.—When purchasing a four-pound cod ask your fish-dealer to send you three or four “codfish-heads,” and as soon as the basket comes into the house rub a little salt 13on the fish, chop the heads into six pieces each, and sprinkle a little salt over them. Place them in the centre of the baking-pan (to be used as supports for the fish), with two ounces of butter, one carrot, a turnip, a potato, and one onion cut into slices, two blades of mace, a teaspoonful white pepper, one tablespoonful celery-seed, six cloves, and a cupful of red wine. Set the pan in the oven while you prepare the cod.

Soak in cold water until soft a sufficiency of bread to fill the fish; drain off the water and pound the bread to a paste; mix with it two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, two raw eggs, a tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce, with salt and pepper to taste. Put this stuffing inside the fish and sew it up; place the cod in the pan with two or three pieces of butter on the upper side of the fish, and baste it frequently; when it is cooked lay the fish on a hot platter, and garnish with fried oysters, if convenient. Add two tablespoonfuls of Barlow’s prepared flour to the pan, a wineglass of sherry; mix, and strain the gravy into a sauce-boat.

Salt Codfish with Cream.—Soak one pound and a half of salt codfish over-night. Next morning set the fish to simmer for about two hours; drain off the water and strip the fish into shreds; place it in a saucepan with a quart of milk and two ounces of butter; mix a tablespoonful of flour with two tablespoonfuls of cold milk, and add to the fish. Let the whole come to a boil, remove the dish from the fire, beat up one egg to a froth, add it to the fish, stir, and serve immediately.

Salt Mackerel Broiled.—Soak a No. 2 chicken mackerel in cold water over-night; pour off the water and let the fish stand in milk enough to cover it for one hour before broiling; baste the fish with butter, and broil. When done plunge the fish into hot water for one minute, and send to table with a dish of melted butter, the juice of one lemon, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley mixed together.

Broiled Lobster (for breakfast).—Cut the tail part of a lobster in two, rub a little sweet oil over the meat, and broil. 14When done brush a little butter over it, with the juice of half a lemon and just the suspicion of cayenne. Place the meat back into the shell, and send to table with a dish of broiled tomatoes and a fresh-baked potato.

Lobster en Brochette.—Cut up the tail of a lobster into square pieces; take a few thin slices of bacon and cut into lengths to match the pieces of lobster; place them on a skewer alternately, and broil; baste as in “broiled lobster,” and send to table on a bed of water-cress.

Baked Shad.—Make a dressing of bread-crumbs, butter, pepper, and salt worked to a paste; fill the shad with the mixture, sew it up, and place it lengthwise in a baking-pan with a little water and an ounce of butter. Fill the space between the fish and the sides of the pan with slices of raw potatoes one-fourth of an inch thick, and serve fish and potatoes together. Add a spoonful of Barlow’s prepared flour to the gravy, and serve.

“Tenderloin” Trout.—Take a large catfish and cut it up into pieces two inches in length and one inch in thickness. Beat up three eggs with a little salt and pepper and a teaspoonful of Worcestershire; dip the fish in the egg-batter, and roll in corn meal or bread-crumbs. Fry a deep brown, garnish with lemon, parsley, or celery-tops, and send to table with a cucumber salad.

Fricasseed Eels.—Cut up three pounds of eels into pieces of three inches in length; put them into a stew-pan, and cover them with Rhine wine (or two-thirds water and one-third vinegar); add fifteen oysters, two pieces of lemon, a bouquet of herbs, one onion quartered, six cloves, three stalks celery, a pinch of cayenne, pepper and salt to taste. Stew the eels one hour; remove them from the dish; strain the liquor. Put it back into the stew-pan with a gill of cream and an ounce of butter rolled in flour; simmer gently a few minutes, pour over the fish, and serve with a toasted milk cracker.

15Soyer’s Boiled Salmon.—I always prefer dressing this fish in slices from an inch to two inches in thickness, boiling it in plenty of salt and water twenty minutes. The whole fish may be boiled, but it requires longer boiling. Salmon eats firmer by not putting it into water until it is boiling. Dress the fish upon a napkin and serve with lobster sauce, or plain melted butter with a few sprigs of parsley boiled a few minutes in it.

I generally boil a salmon whole, or head and shoulders in one piece, with salt, and cover the fish with equal parts of warm water and Rhine wine, two or three bay-leaves, a few cloves, etc. When done I use the water in making sauce by reducing one-half, adding butter rolled in flour to thicken, pinch of cayenne, and the juice of one lemon.

Eel Patties.—Take three medium-sized eels and cut them up into inch pieces. Put them in a stew-pan, add salt, and cover them with cold water. When the water comes to a boil take them off the fire, wash them in cold water, scrape off any fat that may adhere, return them to the stew-pan with just enough hot water to cover them, and add a blade of mace, a bay-leaf, a few whole peppers, a few sprigs of parsley, and one lemon cut into slices. Stew gently until the fish will separate from the bone; remove the fish from the broth, pick it into small pieces, and set them aside; reduce the broth a little, strain, and thicken with flour and butter. Return the fish to the broth, simmer a moment, fill your patties and serve; make patty-shells as directed for oyster patties.

Drawn-Butter Sauce.—Season a cupful of flour with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg, mix it with some water into a paste, and work in a piece of butter about the size of an egg; put the pan over the fire and boil for twenty minutes; then take it off, add some fresh butter in small portions at a time, stirring continually to prevent the butter from rising to the top. Add the juice of half a lemon before serving.

Maitre d’Hotel Butter.—Mix four ounces of butter with a heaping tablespoonful of chopped parsley, salt and pepper, and the juice of three lemons; serve with boiled fish, etc.

16Anchovy Sauce.—An easy way of making anchovy sauce is to stir two or three teaspoonfuls of prepared essence or paste of anchovy (which may be bought at your grocer’s) into a pint of melted butter; let the sauce boil a few minutes, and flavor with lemon-juice.

Lobster Sauce.—Break the shell of the lobster into small pieces. Pour over them one pint of water or veal stock and a pinch of salt; simmer gently until the liquid is reduced one-half. Mix two ounces of butter with an ounce of flour, strain the liquid upon it, and stir all over the fire until the mixture thickens; do not let it boil. Add two tablespoonfuls of the lobster meat, the juice of half a lemon, and serve.

The spawn and coral mixed with double the quantity of butter, a little cayenne, and pounded in a mortar to a paste, then pressed through a hair sieve, is called lobster-butter; a spoonful of it added to the sauce will improve it; the rest of the butter may be used in garnishing and decorating cold salmon, etc.

Caper Sauce.—Chop up two tablespoonfuls of capers and add them to half a pint of melted butter, with the piece of one lemon, a teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch of cayenne; put on the fire and simmer a few minutes; mix a teaspoonful of flour with a very little cold water, and add to the sauce.

Celery Sauce.—Put two ounces of butter into a saucepan, melt it, and add two heads of celery cut up into inch pieces; stir the celery in the pan until it is quite tender; add salt and pepper, with a little mace. Mix a tablespoonful of flour in a cupful of stock and simmer half an hour. A cupful of cream may be used instead of the stock.

Oyster Sauce.—Blanch one dozen oysters in their own liquor; then take the oysters out and add two blades of mace, an ounce of melted butter, and a cupful of thickened cream; return the oysters to the sauce, let them come to a boil, and serve; salt to taste.

17Oyster Sauce, No. 2.—Take a dozen large oysters and boil them in their own liquor two minutes; remove them from the liquid, and quarter them. Mix an ounce of butter and an ounce of flour in a stew-pan, add the oyster liquor, a pinch of cayenne or two drops tobasco pepper-sauce, with a little nutmeg and half a pint of cream. Stir the whole gently over the fire until the sauce is smooth and thick. Add the pieces of oysters, simmer a moment longer, and serve.

Egg Sauce.—Put two ounces of butter into a saucepan with a dessert-spoonful of flour and a very little water; simmer gently. When ready to boil take the saucepan from the fire and stir in two ounces more of butter and three cold hard-boiled eggs cut up small; sprinkle a little salt on the egg.

Dutch Sauce.—Blend together two ounces of butter and a teaspoonful of flour; put it into a stew-pan with equal quantities of stock and vinegar (from the bottle containing imported mixed pickles), say a wineglassful of each; stir for two minutes, and add the beaten yolks of two eggs, keeping up the stirring till the mixture thickens; if you let it boil it will curdle. Add the juice of half a lemon before serving.

Gravy for Baked Fish.—Brown a sliced onion in a little butter and add gradually a pint of stock; thicken with a tablespoonful of Barlow’s prepared flour, and let the mixture simmer with a bunch of parsley nearly half an hour; strain the gravy and add salt and a teaspoonful walnut-catsup.

Before boiling joints of meat the cook should think for a moment whether she desires the juices to go into the water, as in soup, gravies, etc., or to be retained in the meat itself. If they are to be retained put the meat into fast-boiling water, and let it boil for ten minutes to make the outside hard and thus prevent the juice escaping; then add cold 18water equal in quantity to about one-half of the boiling water; this will reduce the temperature to about 160° (Liebig), at which point the meat (raw) should be kept until thoroughly done, which, however, takes a much longer time than the ordinary mode. Care must be taken to remove the scum when the water is on the point of boiling, or it will quickly sink and spoil the appearance of the meat.

If it is desired to extract the juice from raw meat, cover it with cold water and simmer slowly as before.

Salted meat requires longer boiling than fresh meat.

Dried and smoked meat should be soaked for some hours before it is put into the water. Place your meat in a saucepan sufficiently large to contain the joint easily and cover with water, and no more.

Boiled Leg of Mutton.—Cut off the shank-bone, trim the knuckle, and wash the mutton; put it into a pot with salt and cover with boiling water. Allow it to boil a few minutes; skim the surface clean, draw your pot to the side of the fire, and simmer until done. Time, from two to two hours and a half.

Do not try the leg with a fork to determine whether it is done or not. You will lose all the juices of the meat by so doing.

Serve with caper sauce, or melted butter with a few small capers added.

The liquor from the boiling may be converted into soup with the addition of a ham-bone and a few vegetables boiled together.

English housekeepers hang up a leg of mutton from two days to at least a week before using, weather allowing.

Corned Beef.—Put your corned beef in a saucepan or pot and cover with cold water; boil gently until done. Allow half an hour to the pound after it has come to a boil.

The ingredients used in making a pickle for corned beef harden the fibres of the meat, so that to plunge it into hot water would not only make it tough and hard but indigestible.

19Boiled Tongue.—Soak a smoked or dry tongue over-night. Next morning set it in a pot of water and simmer slowly for five or six hours. Remove the pot from the fire, and when the water has cooled take out the tongue, tear off the skin, and trim off the ragged end.

Boiled Ham.—Soak the ham over-night; scrape off the rusty spots, put into a pot, and cover with plenty of cold water; add a bouquet of herbs and a few cloves to the water, and boil very slowly until done; remove the pot from the fire, and when cold take out the ham, take off the skin, trim the fat off around the edge. Take half a cupful of brown sugar, a teaspoonful of prepared browned flour, and moisten with port wine; cover this paste over the fat of the ham, and set it in a very hot oven until the mixture froths.

Boiled Chicken.—Wash a chicken in lukewarm water; truss it, put it into hot water, let it come to a boil, then draw it to one side of the fire and let it simmer gently until ready; remove the scum as it rises. The more slowly it boils the whiter and tenderer it will be. Add a very little salt, and half a lemon cut into small pieces, to the water before boiling. Serve with any white or cream sauce.

Boiled Turkey.—Cassell’s work on cookery tells us that “there is an old proverb which says that a turkey boiled is a turkey spoiled, but in this couplet there is more rhyme than reason, as a boiled turkey forms a dainty dish, most acceptable to persons with delicate stomachs, who fear the richness of the roasted bird.” Take a plump hen-turkey, singe, draw it, and truss as you would to roast; make a stuffing of herbs, salt, pepper, bread-crumbs, a little mace and grated lemon-peel, with a few oysters chopped up, a spoonful of butter, and a raw egg; mix your dressing well together, fill the bird, and sew it up; tie up the turkey in a flowered cloth to make it white, and simmer until tender. Time, about two hours and a half.

Serve with oyster sauce.

20Boiled Capon.—Boil a capon as you would a large chicken, add a bouquet of herbs to the water, and serve with egg sauce.

When a boiled fowl has been so far used that meat slices cannot be carved from it, the remains may be cut up for hash, seasoned with salt and pepper, moistened with hot water (or the water in which the fowl has been boiled); stir the dish while it is simmering to prevent burning; serve on a piece of buttered toast, and place two poached eggs on top of the hash for each person. Or mince the remains of fowl very fine with an equal quantity of calf’s brains or sweet-breads; season with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg; add a little cracker-dust, two raw eggs; moisten with Rhine wine or cream, mix well together, roll into balls the size of an egg, dip into egg-batter, then into crumbs, and fry in very hot fat.

Fillet of Beef.—Cut the fillet (tenderloin) out of a sirloin of beef; trim off the fat and the sack or skin, and lard it with fat pork cut into narrow strips two inches long. Put each strip of pork (or bacon) into a larding-needle, and with the point of your needle take up as much flesh as will hold the strip of pork, allowing about half an inch of each end exposed after removing the needle; repeat this process as neatly and as evenly as possible and at equal distances until finished. Rub a little sweet oil and salt over the fillet; set it one side a few minutes while you prepare the roasting (baking) pan for it.

Chop up into small pieces a few beef or veal bones, and cover the bottom of your pan with them. Add three slices of bacon, two carrots, two onions, and one turnip sliced, with a pint of stock. Season with salt, bruised whole peppers, a bay-leaf, a few cloves, and a blade of mace. Place the fillet in the pan with the larded side up. Moisten it with 21a wineglassful of vinegar, and bake. When done remove the fillet, add a tablespoonful of Barlow’s prepared flour and a glass of sherry or port to the pan, mix, and strain the sauce on to the fillet. Chop up half a dozen button-mushrooms, sprinkle over the meat, and serve.

Beef a la Mode.—Take three pounds of fresh rump of beef; remove the fat and sinews. Cut fat bacon into long strips and lard the meat with it through and through. Mix together a few cloves, mace, allspice, whole peppers, salt-spoonful of cayenne, a tablespoonful of powdered herbs, and a clove of garlic, with half a pint of vinegar. Put the meat into an earthen crock or deep stew-pan, with a thin piece of bacon under it; add the vinegar and seasoning and a pint of stock, with a walnut of butter rolled in flour. Cover the crock and simmer gently until done. When preferred vegetables may be added and served with the beef, allowing plenty of stock or water for them to boil nicely.

Beef Stew.—Take a three pound piece of rump of beef; remove the bone, bind it up tight, and put it in a pot or stew-pan that will just hold it. Season with ground spices. Fry two large onions sliced, and add them to it, with two carrots, two turnips, a few cloves, a blade of mace, a head of celery, and a potato quartered; add stock enough to cover the meat. Simmer as gently as possible until quite tender. Remove the fat, take out the meat, and add half a pint of port, a wineglassful of vinegar, a tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce to the gravy; strain over the meat, and serve with a garnish of assorted vegetables arranged neatly around the dish.

Beefsteak Pie.—Cover the sides of a raised pie-mould with butter, and put a lining of paste made in the following manner neatly into it: Chop a quarter of a pound of suet; put it into a stew-pan with the same quantity of butter and a pint of water. When boiling pass them through a sieve into two pounds of flour, and stir it with a spoon until cold. When the paste is quite smooth roll it out and it is ready 22for the lining. Cut up two pounds of round or rump steak into pieces about two inches square; dust them with flour; season with parsley, salt, and pepper; lay them round the mould; fill it with alternate layers of potatoes cut into quarters, and meat. Make a lid for the mould with some of the paste, brush it over with beaten egg, and bake three hours. Put an ornamental centre to the cover, that it may be more easily raised to throw in some gravy as soon as it is baked.

Calf’s Head.—The first thing to do on receiving a calf’s head is to remove the brains, throw them into cold water for an hour, drain, then boil them in salt and water for twenty minutes, and set them aside.

Put the head into cold water and wash it well, and leave it there to draw out the blood for an hour; then take it out and dry it well with a towel.

Bone a calf’s head in the following manner: Place the calf’s head on the table with the front part of the head facing you; draw the sharp point of a knife from the back part of the head right down to the nose, making an incision down to the bone of the skull; then with the knife clear the scalp and cheeks from the bones right and left, always keeping the point of the knife close to the bone. If you have not previously removed the brains, chop the head in two and remove them as carefully as possible.

When the head has been boned wash it well, wipe it with a clean cloth, season the inside with salt and pepper, roll it up with the tongue, tie it up, and blanch it in hot water for ten minutes; then put it into cold water a few minutes, wipe it dry, and set it aside until wanted.

Fried Calf’s Head.—Cut the prepared calf’s head into pieces two inches wide; lay them for three hours in a pickle made of two tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, a wineglassful of Rhine wine, salt and pepper, and a pinch of mace. Take them out, drain them, and dip each piece in egg-batter; roll in cracker-dust, fry in hot fat, and send to table with sauce tartare.

23Sauce Tartare.—Mince two small English pickles, one-fourth of an onion, and a few sprigs of parsley together. Add them to three tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise sauce, and the juice of half a lemon. Mix and serve (see mayonnaise sauce). A few tarragon leaves will improve the sauce.

Calf’s Head, Maitre d’Hotel.—Cut up your prepared calf’s head into neat slices, and simmer gently for two hours; take out the pieces of meat, place on a hot dish, and cover them with Maitre d’Hotel sauce; garnish with parsley.

Calf’s Head Broiled.—Cut up a prepared calf’s head into pieces quite three inches wide; place them in a saucepan, cover with water. Add a wineglassful of vinegar, and simmer half an hour; then place them in cold water a few minutes, dry them on a towel, rub a little sweet oil over each piece, and broil. When done brush melted butter over them with the juice of half a lemon.

Calf’s Head Collared.—Bone a calf’s head carefully, wash it well, and wipe it dry; lay the head on the table, and spread on it a force-meat made of the brain and tongue, and a very little ham mixed with a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of thyme, a teaspoonful of marjoram, the minced yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, a wineglassful brandy, and a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Roll the head as tightly as possible, and tie it in a cloth, binding it with tape. Put it into a saucepan with stock enough to cover it, and add a carrot, a parsnip, one onion, a sliced lemon, a few bay-leaves, salt, and a dozen bruised peppers.

Let it boil gently three hours; then take it out of the cloth and pour round it a sauce made of a pint of the liquid in which it was boiled, with a little lemon-juice, two small pickles, and four button-mushrooms chopped fine.

Calf’s Brains en Matelotte.—Wash the brains in several waters, remove the skin, and boil them in salt and water with a little vinegar in it for ten minutes. Take them out and lay them in cold water until wanted. Melt a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, and mix with it a teaspoonful of 24flour. Add three button-onions sliced, a teaspoonful Worcestershire, a clove, a bay-leaf, half a pint of stock, and a wineglassful of Rhine wine. When these are mixed thoroughly together put the brains with them and let them stew twenty minutes.

Calf’s Brains Fried.—Prepare the brains as in the foregoing receipt. Cut them into slices, dip them in egg-batter, roll in crumbs, and fry in hot fat or butter; garnish with fried parsley.

Calf’s Brains and Tongue.—Prepare the brains as heretofore recommended, and chop them. Put them in a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of butter, a little chopped parsley, the juice of half a lemon, salt, and cayenne pepper. Skin and trim the boiled tongue, place it in the middle of the dish and pour the sauce and brains round it, and send to table.

Stewed Sweet-Breads.—Soak two sweet-breads in cold water for one hour; change the water twice; put them in boiling water ten minutes till they are firm, then take them out and place them in cold water until wanted.

Place them in a stew-pan, cover them with stock, and simmer nearly an hour; take them out, place them on a hot dish, remove the gravy from the fire a minute, and add to it gradually the yolk of an egg and four tablespoonfuls of cream; put this over a fire till the sauce thickens, but do not let it boil. Before serving add the juice of a lemon, pour the sauce around the sweet-breads, and send to table with a dish of green peas.

They may be cut up and fried after dipping in egg and rolled in crumbs.

Sweet-breads are very nice broiled and served with Maitre d’Hotel butter; garnish with parsley.

Pork Chops, Tomato Sauce.—Broil three nice pork chops, and when well done sprinkle them with pepper and salt, place on a hot dish, and serve with tomato sauce poured around them.

25Tomato Sauce.—Stew half a dozen tomatoes in a pint of stock, with a slice of ham cut into dice, a bay-leaf, a blade of mace, three drops of tabasco pepper-sauce, and three small pickled onions; stir the whole over a gentle fire until done, then press them through a sieve, add salt, and put the sauce again upon the fire till it is very hot.

Pork tenderloin baked or broiled is acceptable with sauce Robert.

Sauce Robert.—Slice two onions, and fry them in butter until they begin to turn yellow; pour over them as much brown gravy as will cover them; add a tablespoonful of French or German mustard (do not use English mustard), a teaspoonful of salt, a salt-spoonful of pepper. Simmer very gently, adding more gravy, if necessary, till the onions are tender. Rub them through a fine sieve. Mix with the pulp a very little more stock or gravy, and boil once. This is a simple recipe, and one that any housekeeper can easily make.

Pork Sausages.—The most wholesome way to cook sausages is to bake them. Place them in a baking-pan in a single layer, and bake in a moderate oven; turn them over when they are half done, that they may be equally browned all over. Send to table with pieces of toast between each sausage. Cut the toast about the same size as the sausage, and moisten it with a very little of the sausage-fat.

They make a nice entrée by placing them on a mound of mashed potatoes and served with apple-sauce, or small apple-fritters neatly arranged round them.

About the best sausages that come to the New York market are the Deerfoot Farm sausages; fancy grocers retail them for about twenty cents a pound. Split them in two and broil them, and send to table with Boston brown bread toast, buttered. Use your sausage-fat for frying hash, etc.

Breast of Mutton with Peas.—Cut up two pounds of the breast of mutton into square pieces; put them into a stew-pan with an ounce of butter, and brown them nicely; then cover 26with hot water and stew for an hour. Take the meat from the pan and skim all the fat from the gravy; place the meat in a clean saucepan with one onion sliced, a bouquet of herbs, pepper and salt; pour in the gravy, and stew for one hour; add a quart of young peas, remove the herbs, simmer fifteen minutes, and serve.

String beans cut into dice, or boiled macaroni, may be substituted for the peas.

Curry of Mutton.—Put six button-onions, cut fine, and an ounce of butter into a saucepan with an ounce of curry-powder, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of flour, and half a pint of cream; stir until smooth. Remove the bones from two pounds of mutton, cut it into neat pieces, and fry a light brown; put the meat into a saucepan, pour the sauce over it, and boil gently one hour and a half. Place the meat on a hot dish and arrange a border of broiled rice neatly round it.

Cold boiled mutton cut into slices may be used instead of the raw meat.

Veal may be used instead of mutton.

Mutton Hash with Poached Eggs.—Take a pound and a half of the remains of roast mutton, chop it up fine, and put it in a stew-pan with a cupful of mutton gravy or stock; season with salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg; add a tablespoonful of Barlow’s prepared flour, and let the meat heat gradually until hot. Do not let it boil. Simmer twenty minutes, and serve with poached eggs placed neatly round the dish.

A spoonful of Worcestershire sauce may be added to the dish, if desired.

Ragout of Mutton.—Slice two turnips, two carrots, and two onions; put them in a saucepan with two ounces of butter, and brown them. Dust in a little flour and stir the whole to prevent browning too quickly, and turn them out upon a hot dish until wanted.

Cut up cold roast mutton into square pieces, and brown them on each side in the same pan in which you browned your vegetables; then add half a pint of hot water, salt and 27pepper, a few sprigs of parsley, and the sliced vegetables. Stew gently until the vegetables are tender; arrange the vegetables in the centre of the dish, with the meat as a border; pour the sauce over all, and serve.

Mutton Pie.—Cut into square pieces about two pounds of cold roast or boiled mutton; trim off a portion of the fat; quarter three kidneys; put the meat into a pie-dish, season with two tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley, a tablespoonful of powdered herbs, salt and pepper, and half an onion minced; add half a pint of light stock or water, a wineglassful of port wine; cover the dish with puff paste, brush an egg over it, and bake an hour and a half.

Cold lamb makes a very nice pie.

Veal Croquettes.—Remove the gristle, skin, and sinews from a pound of cold veal; mince it finely with four ounces of cold boiled beef or calf’s tongue; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Put into a saucepan an ounce of butter rolled in flour, a wineglassful of cream; add the minced meat, and stir for twenty minutes over a slow fire. (If too dry moisten with stock.) Turn the preparation upon a round pie-board; spread it to a smooth layer about an inch thick, and set it in the ice-box to get cold and stiff. It must then be divided into about two dozen pieces, each piece rolled into the form of a cork or round ball over bread-crumbs, then dipped in beaten egg and again rolled in crumbs. Handle carefully so as not to break them. Fry in boiling fat.

Fricassee of Veal.—Take two pounds of lean veal free from skin and bone, and cut it into pieces convenient for serving; fry them in melted butter until the flesh is firm without having acquired any color; dredge a tablespoonful of flour upon them, add a little grated lemon-peel, and gradually as much boiling veal stock as will cover the meat; simmer until tender. Take out the meat and add to the gravy a gill of boiling cream, salt, cayenne, and a pinch of powdered mace. Beat the yolks of two eggs in a bowl; add gradually a little of the sauce (after it has cooled a few minutes), then add it 28carefully to the remainder. Return the meat to the sauce, and let the saucepan remain near the fire until the eggs are set. Add the juice of half a lemon and serve immediately.

Fricassee of Lamb.—Take a breast of lamb and cut it into pieces about an inch and a half square; season with salt and pepper. Put them into a saucepan, with a quartered onion, three cloves, a bay-leaf, and three ounces of butter. Cover the saucepan closely, and let it steam gently for half an hour, shaking it occasionally to prevent sticking. Add a pint of boiling water; cover closely once more and boil gently for one hour; then strain the sauce and thicken with a tablespoonful of flour (mix the flour smoothly with a little cold water before adding it to the sauce), boil a moment longer, and serve.

A tablespoonful of very small A. G. capers may be added before serving.

Breast of Lamb with Asparagus Tops.—Remove the skin and part of the fat from a breast of lamb, and cut it into neat pieces; dredge a little flour over them, and place them in a stew-pan with an ounce of butter; let them remain until nicely browned; cover the meat with warm water, add a bunch of parsley, two button-onions; simmer until the meat is cooked; skim off the fat, take out the onions and parsley, and mince the latter finely; return it to the gravy with a pint of the tops of boiled asparagus, add salt and pepper, simmer a few minutes longer, and serve. Canned asparagus may be used when the fresh vegetable is out of season.

Fricassee of Chicken.—Take the remains of a cold chicken, cut it into joints, make a gravy by simmering the trimmings in stock enough to cover them, with one onion, stock with three cloves, a bouquet of herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer the gravy for one hour; strain and thicken a cupful of it with a teaspoonful of flour; let this boil, then put in the chicken. Draw the saucepan from the fire a few minutes, mix a little of the sauce with the beaten yolks of two eggs and a cupful of cream. Add this last mixture to the saucepan, 29let it get hot, but on no account allow it to boil, or the eggs will curdle. Serve with the sauce poured over the chicken, and sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top.

Fried Chicken.—Take the remains of a cold chicken, place it in a pan, and simmer with an ounce of butter, a finely-chopped onion, the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper; let them simmer nearly half an hour; take the pieces out and dredge them in flour, and fry in boiling fat; turn the pieces over while cooking, and fry a deep brown.

Make a dressing of flour, mixed smoothly in a cupful of cold milk and a little chopped parsley. Add to the pan that the chicken simmered in, boil gently, strain over the chicken and serve.

Chicken with Rice a la Maryland.—Cut up a chicken into joints, and put it into a stew-pan with the heart, gizzard, and liver, and a slice or two of bacon; cover with warm water, and boil gently until the chicken is quite tender; then take the meat out of the stew-pan, and set it where it will be kept warm; wash half a pint of rice, add it to the gravy, season highly with salt and pepper. When done place the rice upon a dish, lay the chicken on top, and if too dry brush a little melted butter over it.

Chicken Croquettes.—Pound the white meat of a cold chicken with a cold boiled sweetbread in a mortar; add a little salt, beat up an egg with a teaspoonful of flour and a wineglassful of cream; mix the pounded meat with the batter, put it in a saucepan, and simmer long enough to absorb the moisture, stirring all the time; then turn it into a flat dish, and set it in the ice-box to get cold and stiff, roll it into balls or cones, dip in egg-batter, then roll them in crumbs or cracker-dust and fry in boiling fat.

Chicken a l’Italienne.—Take half a pound of La Favorita macaroni, and boil it in water with a lump of butter. When it has boiled a quarter of an hour, drain off the water and cover the macaroni with milk; add salt and pepper and a 30whole onion, stock with a few cloves; boil until the macaroni is tender but unbroken.

Boil a chicken in the usual manner, cut it up and lay it on a hot dish, pour the macaroni over it (remove the onion), grate a quarter of a pound of Parmesan cheese over the dish, and brown it in the oven or with a salamander.

Chicken Patties.—Pick the meat from a cold chicken, and cut it up into small dice; place it in a saucepan with a cupful of chicken stock, a cupful of cream, a piece of butter the size of an egg, rolled in flour, salt and pepper, and a little grated nutmeg and lemon-peel; simmer gently until it begins to thicken, remove the dish from the fire a few minutes to cool; beat up the yolks of two eggs with a half teaspoonful flour, moistened in milk or cream, and add to the saucepan, mix thoroughly, and draw towards the fire (but do not let it boil) until it thickens; before serving add the juice of half a lemon.

Fill your patty-shells with the mixture, one for each person, and serve (see Oyster Patties for patty-shells).

Chicken Pie.—Line the sides of a pie-dish with a good puff paste. Have your chicken cooked as for a fricassee, seasoned with salt and pepper and a little chopped parsley. When they are nearly cooked lay them in a pie-dish with half a pound of salt pork cut into inch squares, and some of the paste cut into inch and a half pieces; pour in a part of the chicken gravy, thicken with a little flour, and cover the dish with the paste cover. Cut a hole the size of a dollar in the cover, and cover it with a piece of dough twice the size of the hole (when baked remove this piece occasionally and examine the interior), brush egg over the pie, and bake in a quick oven.

Should the pie become dry pour in more of the gravy. Pigeon Pie may be made by the above recipe.

Chicken Panada (Invalid cookery).—Take a fresh young chicken and boil it until quite tender, in sufficient water to cover it. Strip the meat from the bones and pound in a mortar until quite smooth, with a little of the liquor it was 31boiled in; add salt, nutmeg, and a very little grated lemon-peel. Boil this gently for a few minutes, with sufficient liquid to make it the consistency of custard.

Chicken with Dumplings.—Disjoint one chicken, and put to boil in cold water until done. Make dumplings with one pint of flour, one teaspoonful of yeast-powder, and same quantity of salt. Wet this mixture with milk and put with chicken until boiled. Take them out and fry in hot fat until brown; do same with chicken afterwards. Use water in which chicken was boiled to make gravy.

Chicken Toast.—Take the remains of a cold chicken and chop up fine, put in a saucepan, season with salt and pepper and just a little onion, with a lump of butter; break over the meat two or three raw eggs; stir all together, pour it upon nicely-buttered toast, and serve.

Chicken Liver en Brochette.—Wash the livers in cold water, dry them on a towel, and cut them in two; cut slices of bacon into pieces about the same size, and put them on a skewer alternately, and broil. When done brush over them a sauce of melted butter, lemon-juice, pepper and salt.

Braise of Duck with Turnips.—Prepare a domestic duck as for roasting. Line a small pan, just large enough for the duck, with slices of bacon; strew over the bottom a little parsley, powdered herbs, and lemon-peel; lay in the duck, and add a carrot cut into strips, an onion stuck with a few cloves, and a dozen whole peppers; cover with stock and add a table spoonful of strong vinegar; baste frequently and simmer until done. Fry some slices of turnip in butter to a light brown, drain and add them to the stew-pan after removing the duck, which should be kept hot. When the turnips are tender remove them, strain the gravy, thickening if necessary with a little flour or arrowroot; put the duck on a dish, throw the hot gravy over it, and garnish with the turnips.

Braise of Duck with Peas.—Prepare and cook a duck as in the above receipt, using green peas instead of carrots and 32onion, and fry two onions in butter till they are of a pale brown; boil them to a thick sauce with some of the duck gravy; season with salt and pepper, and serve with the peas around the duck and the gravy thrown over.

Salmi of Wild Duck.—Cut up the remains of two roast, underdone wild ducks into neat pieces and set them aside. Take the bones, giblets, and ragged pieces, and put them in a stew-pan with a minced onion or shallot, a salt-spoonful salt; and a very little cayenne; add a pint of stock and a glass of port wine, boil gently half an hour, strain and thicken the sauce with a teaspoonful of prepared brown flour. Put the pieces of duck in a stew-pan, pour the sauce over them, and simmer until quite hot. Add the juice of a sour orange to the dish and serve. A garnish of olives is considered an improvement by some. Soak the olives in cold water one hour; remove the stones with a small vegetable-cutter and add them to the sauce, before taking the dish from the fire.

Salmi of Partridge, Hunter’s Style.—Take two cold roast partridges, cut them into joints, and lay them in a saucepan with two ounces of butter, a gill of Bordeaux or port, the grated rind and juice of a large lemon, salt, and a little cayenne; thicken with a little flour if desired; simmer gently until very hot and serve.

Venison Epicurean.—Cut a steak from the leg or a chop from the loin of venison, about an inch and a half thick. Put a walnut of butter, salt and pepper, into a chafing-dish; light the spirit-lamp under it, and when the butter melts put in the chop or steak; let it cook on one side a few minutes, then turn it over, and add a wineglassful of sherry or port and a tablespoonful of currant-jelly. Simmer gently about seven minutes if it is to be eaten rare, and allow twelve minutes cooking if required well done.

Hot plates and a glass of Mr. Clair’s old East India Madeira are all that is requisite to make the feast Apician in character.

Venison Chops, broiled and served with currant-jelly, are 33not to be despised. Trim the ends as you would a French lamb-chop.

Breast of Venison may be dressed according to the receipt given for breast of mutton.

Venison Patties.—Make a nicely-flavored mince of the remains of cold roast venison; moisten it with a little sherry or gravy, and warm it in a saucepan; fill the patty-shells with the meat and serve. (See oyster patty for patty-shells.)

Broiled Tripe.—Cut up honeycomb tripe into pieces of three to four inches wide; rub a little oil or melted butter over them, dredge them in flour, and broil over a charcoal fire; squeeze a little lemon-juice over each piece, and serve.

Never broil tripe over a hard-coal fire; the gases arising from the coal spoil the flavor of the tripe, making it indigestible and unpalatable.

Tripe Lyonnaise.—Take a pound of cold boiled tripe and cut it into pieces an inch square. Dissolve two ounces of butter in a frying-pan, add a sliced onion to it, and fry until it is tender. Put the pieces of tripe with the onion, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a tablespoonful of vinegar, salt, and a little cayenne; heat all gently together. Cover the bottom of a platter with tomato sauce, add the tripe and serve.

Tripe Fricassee.—Cut up the tripe into square pieces; put them into a stew-pan with a blade of mace, a bouquet of herbs, an onion quartered, salt, and cayenne. Cover the tripe with Rhine wine or water and a little vinegar; stew for one hour. Strain the sauce; put the tripe and sauce in a clean saucepan, with a walnut of butter rolled in flour, a gill of cream, a tablespoonful chopped parsley. Simmer ten minutes, squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and serve.

Pork and Beans.—Wash a quart of beans thoroughly; cover them with cold water and let them soak over-night. Change the water in the morning once or twice. Then put them in 34a pot and simmer slowly for three hours until they begin to crack open; pour them into a colander to drain off all the water. Heat an earthen bean-pot with hot water, and wipe it dry; place a small piece of pork on the bottom of the pot and pour in the beans. Cut the rind of another piece of pork into strips, and sink it into the beans, leaving only the rind of the pork exposed at the top. Dissolve a tablespoonful of New Orleans molasses, with a teaspoonful of salt, in a pint of warm water, and add it to the pot; set it in the oven and bake slowly for three or four hours, or place the pot in a baker’s oven over-night, instructing the baker to add a little water to the pot should the beans become dry.

Serve with Boston brown bread.

Baked Macaroni.—For a small dish one-half pound macaroni, boiled until soft, with a little salt in the water. Drain through a colander; then put in the baking-dish, with one pint and a half of milk, a lump of butter, pepper and salt, and grated cheese (enough to suit taste), and distribute over top. Bake in a hot oven until brown.

Rice Croquettes.—Put a quarter of a pound of Carolina “head” rice, one pint of milk, three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, a walnut of butter, and a teaspoonful of best extract of vanilla into a saucepan; simmer gently until the rice is tender and the milk absorbed. It must be boiled until thick and dry, or it will be difficult to mould it into croquettes. Beat it thoroughly for three or four minutes; turn it out on a flat tin, and when cold and stiff form it into balls or cones; dip these in beaten egg, roll lightly in crumbs, and fry in hot fat or butter.

Stuffed Tomatoes.—Take six ripe tomatoes of equal size; cut off the tops and scoop out the insides; press the pulp through a sieve and mix with it a little salt and cayenne, 35two ounces of butter broken into little pieces, and two heaping tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs; fill the tomatoes with the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven. Before serving them brown the stuffing by holding a salamander or a small shovel containing hot coals over them.

Any good force-meat may be used to stuff tomatoes; the remains of game or poultry minced, and mixed with herbs and bread-crumbs, seasoned and bound together with yolk of egg, will suit the most fastidious.

Stuffed Egg-Plant.—Cut the egg-plant in two; scrape out all the inside and put it in a saucepan with a little minced ham; cover with water and boil until soft; drain off the water; add two tablespoonfuls grated crumbs, tablespoonful butter, half a minced onion, salt, and pepper; stuff each half of the hull with the mixture; add a small lump of butter to each and bake fifteen minutes.

Stuffed Egg-Plant, No. 2.—Pare off the purple rind of the egg-plant and quarter it; round off the edges as neatly as possible, then place them in salt and water for an hour. Take them out of the water, scrape out the centre, and mix it with a force-meat of veal, bread-crumbs, seasoning, and yolk of egg; put the mixture in the hollow egg-plant, with a lump of butter upon the top of each, and bake a light brown.

Stuffed Potatoes.—Take a number of firm-skin potatoes of equal size; clean them well and bake them. When done cut off a piece of the end of each potato and scoop out as much of the inside as can be obtained without injury to the skin; mash it with cream and butter; add a little salt; set the dish on the range to keep hot. Take the whites of three eggs, whip them to a froth, and add to the potatoes; mix all together; simmer until quite hot; fill up the skins with the potato paste; fasten the covers with white of egg, and bake fifteen minutes.

Potato Balls.—Boil a small potful of potatoes; wash them well, and mix with them butter, salt, chopped parsley or chives, grated nutmeg, and two raw eggs; work the paste into 36small balls, dip in beaten egg, roll in cracker-dust or flour, and fry.

Potato Cake.—Take half a pound of dry mealy potatoes, either baked or boiled; mash them until they are free from lumps; mix with them three ounces of flour, salt and pepper, and as much lukewarm milk and butter as will make a smooth, firm dough; add one egg and half a teaspoonful of Royal Baking Powder. Roll the paste out with a rolling-pin till it is nearly two inches thick; dredge a little flour over it, and cut it out the exact size of the frying-pan. Rub the pan over with butter; lay the cake carefully into it; cover with a plate; shake it every now and then to prevent it burning; when it is half done on one side turn it over carefully on the other. Serve on a hot dish with plenty of good fresh butter.

Cold potatoes, if dry and mealy, may be warmed up in this manner.

Sweet potatoes make very good potato cake.

Potato Fritters.—Burst open four nicely-baked potatoes; scoop out the insides with a spoon, and mix with them a wineglassful of cream, a tablespoonful of brandy, two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, the juice of one lemon, half a teaspoonful of Thurber’s best extract vanilla, and the well-beaten yolks of four and the whites of three eggs; beat the batter for several minutes until it is quite smooth, and drop large tablespoonfuls of the mixture into boiling fat, and fry a light brown; dust powdered sugar over them, and send to table.

Parsnip Fritters.—Boil four good-sized parsnips in salted water until tender; drain them, beat them to a pulp, and squeeze the water from them as much as possible; bind them together with a beaten egg and a little flour. Shape them into cakes, and fry in hot fat.

Oyster-Plant Croquettes.—Wash, scrape, and boil the oyster-plant till tender; rub it through a colander, and mix with the pulp a little butter, cream, salt, cayenne, and lemon-juice; 37mix the ingredients thoroughly together to a smooth paste, and set the dish in the ice-box to get cold; then shape it into small cones, dip them in beaten egg and roll in crumbs, and fry crisp and brown.

Fritters.—The following receipt will serve for many kinds of fruit or vegetable fritters: Make a batter of ten ounces of flour, half a pint of milk, and two ounces of butter; sweeten and flavor to taste; add a glass of brandy, rum, or sherry; stir in the whites of two eggs well beaten; dip the fruit in the batter, and fry. Small fruit and vegetables should be mixed with the batter.

Arrowroot for Batters and Sauces.—Arrowroot may be used to thicken batters, sauces, etc., for those who object to butter, as invalids very often do. Mix a tablespoonful of Beatty’s Bermuda Arrowroot smoothly with a little cold water, and stir it into a pint of the batter or sauce.

Omelettes.—Numerous kinds of omelettes may be served as the last entrée, and, if properly made, they generally give satisfaction. As a rule an omelette is a wholesome, inexpensive dish, but yet one in the preparation of which cooks frequently fail owing to ignorance of detail. The flavoring and the ingredients used may be varied indefinitely, but the process is always the same. In making an omelette care should be taken that the frying-pan is hot and dry. The best way to ensure this is to put a small quantity of fat into the pan, let it simmer a few minutes, then pour it out; wipe the pan dry with a towel and put in a little fresh fat, in which the omelette should be fried; care should be taken that the fat does not burn, thereby spoiling the color of the omelette.

It is better to make two or three small omelettes than one large one. The eggs should be but slightly beaten, just long enough to mix them, and no more; a tablespoonful of cream to every two eggs will be found an improvement. Salt mixed with the eggs prevents them from rising and gives the omelette a flabby appearance; without salt your omelette will taste 38insipid; sprinkle a little salt on the omelette just before turning out on the dish.

Oyster Omelette.—Stew six oysters in their own liquor; remove the oysters and thicken the liquid with butter rolled in flour; season with salt, cayenne, and mix with it a teaspoonful chopped parsley. Chop up the oysters and add them to the sauce; simmer gently until the sauce thickens. Beat three eggs lightly with a tablespoonful and a half of cream, and fry until they are delicately set; before folding over put a few spoonfuls of the mixture in the centre; turn it out carefully on a hot dish, with the balance of the sauce round it, and serve immediately.

If small oysters are used put them in the centre of the omelette, whole, fold and serve with sauce round it.

Rum Omelette.—Fry an omelette in the usual way; fold it with a little salt, and turn it out on a hot dish; dust sugar over it, and singe the sugar into stripes with a hot iron rod; pour a wineglassful of warm rum round the omelette, set a light to it, and send to table flaming.

Omelette Souffle.—Break six eggs into separate cups; beat four of the yolks, and mix with them a teaspoonful of flour, three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, very little salt, and any flavoring extract that may be preferred. Whisk the white of the six eggs to a firm froth; mix them lightly with the yolks; pour the mixture into a greased pan or dish, and bake in a quick oven. When it is well risen and lightly browned on the top it is done; take it out of the oven, dust a little powdered sugar over it carefully, and send to table immediately. It must be served in the same dish in which it is baked.

Welsh Rarebit.—Select the richest and best American factory cheese—the milder it is the better, as the melting brings out the strength. To make five rarebits take one pound of cheese, grate it, and put it in a tin or porcelain-lined saucepan; add ale enough to thin the cheese sufficiently, say about a wineglassful to each rarebit; stir until all is melted. Have a 39slice of toast ready for each rarebit (crusts trimmed); put a slice on each plate, and pour cheese enough over each piece to cover it. Eat while hot.

To make a “Golden Buck.”—A “Golden Buck” is merely the addition of a poached egg, which is put carefully on the top of the rarebit.

“Yorkshire Rarebit.”—This is the same as a “Golden Buck,” only it has two thin slices of broiled bacon on the top.—George Browne, in Thurber’s Epicure.

Roasting is an excellent method of rendering food wholesome and nourishing. Without making any great change in the chemical properties of meat it renders it more tender and highly flavored, while there is not so much waste of its nutritive juices as in baking. But where can the average American get a slice of roast beef? Our homes are not provided with spits, bottle-jacks, Dutch ovens, and the like; and as a very sensible writer in the New York Times stated, “ninety-nine roasts in the United States are baked in ovens, and there is no help for it.” I can see no possible way out of the dilemma but to submit gracefully to baked meats for ever. The leading hotels and restaurants overcome the difficulty by purchasing the very best of beef, and keeping it from eight to fifteen days in their ice-houses. Thus the excellent quality of the beef overcomes, in a measure, the bad effects created by the superheated volatile portions that escape from the beef during the process of baking.

No finer, better, or sweeter piece of meat was ever tasted, either in England or America, than the Astor House roast beef; and the secret is in securing the best quality, and taking proper care of it before submitting it to the oven.

Roast Beef.—The best roasting-pieces are the fore and middle ribs and the sirloin. The chuck-ribs, although cheaper, 40are not as profitable to families, there being too much waste in the carving of them. The ends of the ribs should be removed from the flank, and the latter folded under the beef and securely fastened with skewers. Rub a little salt into the fat part; place the meat in the dripping-pan with a pint of stock or water; baste freely, and dredge with flour half an hour before taking the joint from the oven.

Should the oven be very hot place a buttered paper over the meat to prevent it scorching while yet raw, in which case it will need very little basting; or turn the rib side up towards the fire for the first twenty minutes. The time it will take in cooking depends entirely upon the thickness of the joint and the length of time it has been killed. Skim the fat from the gravy and add a tablespoonful of prepared brown flour and a glass of sherry to the remainder.

Roast Loin of Veal.—Make an incision in the flank or skirt of the loin of veal, and into the cavity thus made, just over the end of the bone, put a well-flavored veal force-meat. Roll in the flank to cover the kidney-fat, and bind it firmly with string or tape. Place a few small veal bones with a few assorted vegetables, cut up, in a dripping-pan; put the loin upon this bed, add half a pint of stock or water, and set it in the oven for twenty minutes; in the meantime work together a tablespoonful of flour with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter; draw the joint from the oven, baste it with the flour and butter, return it to the oven again, and baste occasionally until done.

Veal should be thoroughly done. When it is underdone it is decidedly indigestible and should be avoided.

The breast of veal boned, with a layer of force-meat spread over the inside and rolled and tightly bound, may be substituted for loin of veal.

Mutton.—The choicest mutton in the United States comes from the mountainous regions of Pennsylvania. The animals are semi-domestic and almost as shy and as timid as a deer. In 1878 Col. Duffy, one of Pennsylvania’s fish commissioners, dined a party of English gentlemen on mountain-mutton, 41and they pronounced it the finest-flavored morsel of venison they had ever eaten.

Roast Leg of Mutton.—Take a leg of well-kept mutton, rub it lightly with salt, and put it in a dripping-pan with a very little water; cut a potato in two lengthwise, and set it under the leg; baste with a little good dripping at first, and when within twenty minutes of being done, dredge it with flour to get it frothed. Turn the joint two or three times while cooking. Time, about a quarter of an hour to the pound.

Loin of Mutton.—Follow the directions given for roast leg of mutton, but trim off all unnecessary fat, cover the joint with paper until within twenty minutes of its being done, then remove, baste, and flour slightly; serve with currant-jelly. If properly cooked and served hot it is a royal dish, but if the fat is not turned to account, a very expensive one.

Lamb.—Put a four or five pound joint of lamb in a dripping-pan with a gill of stock or water; salt and pepper; roll two ounces of butter in a very little flour, divide it into small pieces, and add it here and there upon the meat; set the pan in a moderate oven, and baste frequently until done.

Skim the fat from the gravy, and serve with the lamb; or serve mint sauce with the joint.

Mint Sauce.—Wash the sprigs of mint, let them dry on a towel, strip off the leaves, and chop them very fine; put in a sauce-boat with a cupful of vinegar and four lumps of sugar; let it stand an hour, and before serving stir all together. Mint sauce, if bottled, will keep for some time, and be just as good, if not better, than it was the first day.

Saddle of Lamb.—A saddle of lamb is a dainty joint for a small party. Sprinkle a little salt over it, and set it in the dripping-pan, with a few small pieces of butter on the meat; baste it occasionally with tried-out lamb-fat; dredge 42a little flour over it a few minutes before taking from the oven. Serve with the very best of currant-jelly, and send to table with it a few choice early vegetables. Mint sauce may be served with the joint, but in a very mild form.

Pork.—Pork, more than any other meat, requires to be chosen with the greatest care. The pig, from its gluttonous habits, is particularly liable to disease; and if killed and eaten when in an unhealthy condition, those who partake of it will probably pay dearly for their indulgence. Dairy-fed pork is the best; and knowing this fact, a number of our first-class hotels raise their own pork on farms connected with their country residences. Among them may be mentioned the Continental Hotel, Philadelphia; the Astor, Union Square, Sturtevant, Hoffman, Fifth Avenue, Windsor, and several other leading hotels in New York City. We are indebted to Chas. Lamb for the history of roast pig. In his essays he says: “The art of roasting, or rather broiling (which I take to be the elder brother), was accidentally discovered in the manner following: The swineherd Ho-ti, having gone out into the woods one morning, as his manner was, to collect mast for his hogs, left his cottage in the care of his eldest son, Bo-bo, a great, lubberly boy, who, being fond of playing with fire, let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw, which, kindling quickly, spread the conflagration over every part of their poor mansion till it was reduced to ashes. Together with the cottage, what was of much more importance, a fine litter of new farrowed pigs, no less than nine in number, perished. Bo-bo was in the utmost consternation, as you may think, not so much for the sake of the tenement—which his father and he could easily build up again with a few dry branches, and the labor of an hour or two, at any time—as for the loss of the pigs. While he was thinking what he should say to his father, and wringing his hands, an odor assailed his nostrils unlike any scent which he had before experienced. What could it proceed from? Not from the burnt cottage; he had smelt that before. Indeed, this was by no means the first accident which had occurred 43through the negligence of this unlucky firebrand. A premonitory moistening at the same time overflowed his nether lip. He knew not what to think. He next stooped down to feel the pig, if there were any signs of life in it. He burnt his fingers, and to cool them he applied them in his booby fashion to his mouth. Some of the crumbs of the scorched skin had come away with his fingers, and for the first time in his life (in the world’s, indeed, for before him no man had known it) he tasted—crackling! Again he felt and fumbled at the pig. It did not burn him so much now; still, he licked his fingers from a sort of habit. The truth at length broke into his slow understanding that it was the pig that smelt so and the pig that tasted so delicious; and surrendering himself up to the new-born pleasure, he fell to tearing up whole handfuls of the scorched skin, with the flesh next it, and was cramming it down his throat in his beastly fashion when his sire entered amid the smoking rafters, and, finding how affairs stood, began to rain blows upon the young rogue’s shoulders as thick as hailstones, which Bo-bo heeded not any more than if they had been flies. The tickling pleasure which he experienced in his lower regions had rendered him quite callous to any inconveniences he might feel in those remote quarters. Bo-bo’s scent, being wonderfully sharpened since morning, soon raked out another pig, and, fairly rending it asunder, thrust the lesser half by main force into the fists of Ho-ti, still shouting out, ‘Eat, eat! Eat the burnt pig, father! Only taste!’ It is needless to state that both father and son despatched the remainder of the litter. Bo-bo was strictly enjoined not to let the secret escape. Nevertheless strange stories got about; it was observed that Ho-ti’s cottage was burnt down now more frequently than ever. As often as the sow farrowed, so soon was the house of Ho-ti seen to be in a blaze. At length they were watched, the terrible mystery discovered, and father and son summoned to take their trial at Peking, then an inconsiderable assize town. Evidence was given, the obnoxious food itself produced in court, and verdict about to be pronounced, when the foreman of the jury 44begged that some of the burnt pig of which the culprit stood accused might be handed into the box. He handled it, and they all handled it; and burning their fingers as Bo-bo and his father had done before them, and nature prompting to each of them the same remedy, against the face of all the facts and the clearest charge which judge had ever given, to the surprise of the whole court, townsfolk, strangers, reporters (they had Howards and Raymonds in those days), and all present, without leaving the box, or any manner of consultation whatever, they brought in a simultaneous verdict of not guilty.”

Dr. Kitchiner on Pork.—“Take particular care it be done enough. Other meats underdone are unpleasant, but pork is absolutely uneatable; the sight of it is enough to appall the sharpest appetite, if its gravy has the least tint of redness. Be careful of the crackling; if this be not crisp, or if it be burned, you will be scolded.”

The Turkey.—The turkey, says Brillat-Savarin, “is the largest, and, if not the most delicate, at least the most savory of domestic poultry. It enjoys the singular advantage of assembling around it every class of society. When our farmers and wine-growers regale themselves on a winter’s evening, what do we see roasting before the kitchen fire, close to which the white-clothed table is set? A turkey! When the useful tradesman or the hard-worked artist invites a few friends to an occasional treat, what dish is he expected to set before them? A nice roast turkey stuffed with sausage-meat and Lyons chestnuts. And in our highest gastronomical society, when politics are obliged to give way to dissertations on matters of taste, what is desired, what is awaited, what is looked out for at the second course? A truffled turkey. In my ‘Secret Memoirs’ I find sundry notes recording that on many occasions its restorative juice has illumined diplomatic faces of the highest eminence.”

Now, the average American could not be induced to eat a turkey stuffed with sausage-meat; he would naturally say 45that if the useful tradesman “or the hard-working artist” experienced any pleasure over such a compound, he was welcome to it; to him sausage-meat was too suggestive of pork and—mystery. But the Lyons chestnuts—ah! yes, that will do, for he has tasted chestnut stuffing and has learned to like it. A dissertation on truffles, while waiting for the “truffled turkey” to be served, is all that is necessary to make him say he is passionately fond of them in any form, otherwise he would be apt to ask the waiter to remove the dressing from his plate, “as it was full of small pieces of charcoal” (an actual occurrence).

Roast Turkey.—Singe the bird, and in drawing it preserve the heart, gizzard, and liver; remove the gall-bag from the liver, and be very careful not to break it, as if any of the liquid touches the bird no amount of washing will remove the bitter taste. Cut off the neck close to the body, and before doing so push back the skin of the neck so that sufficient may be left on to turn over the back; remove a part of the fat adhering to the skin; split the breast-bone from the inside, or place several folds of cloth on the high breast-bone and break and flatten it a little with a rolling-pin to make the bird look plump. Fill the breast and body with stuffing; sew up the opening with coarse thread; turn the neck-skin over the back and fasten it; truss the legs close to the breast, the wings turn over the back, using skewers or twine to hold them in proper position. Put the turkey in the dripping-pan with a little hot water, dredge it with flour, and lay a few small pieces of butter upon it, and the feet, scalded and scraped, under it. Baste frequently. Time, from two to three hours, according to the size of the bird.

Should he prove to be of doubtful age and rich in spurs and scaly feet, parboil him. Put him in a saucepan or pot, cover with cold water, add a teaspoonful of salt, and when the water comes to a boil take out the bird and dry it well before stuffing it.

Chestnut Stuffing.—Roast a pint of chestnuts and peel off the outer and inner skin; weigh them, and simmer half a pound 46of them for twenty minutes in as much veal gravy as will cover them; drain and let them cool; then pound them in a mortar with four ounces of butter, three ounces of bread-crumbs, a trifle of grated lemon-peel and powdered mace, salt, and a pinch of cayenne; bind the mixture with the yolks of three eggs.

Chestnuts roasted or boiled may be added to almost any stuffing for fowl, etc., and give general satisfaction. I once made a stuffing of chestnuts, apple-sauce, bread-crumbs, and the proper seasoning for a ’possum, and all who tasted of it pronounced it a dainty dish. One of the party, Dr. H——, never tires of talking about “that ’possum with the chestnuts.”

Oyster Stuffing.—Remove the heart (or what some call the eye) from two dozen oysters, mince them finely, pound them to a paste, and mix with them five ounces of bread-crumbs, an ounce of butter, the grated rind of half a lemon, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a pinch of cayenne, an even teaspoonful of salt, and half a teaspoonful of pepper. When well mixed bind the mixture with the yolk of an egg and a small quantity of the oyster liquid added gradually.

Bread Stuffing.—Grate sufficient bread to fill the bird; moisten it with milk, and season with salt, pepper, sweet marjoram, and the grated rind of one lemon. Add a tablespoonful of butter, and bind the mixture with yolk of egg. Add a few raw whole oysters, if desired.

Roast Capon.—They should be managed in the same way as turkeys, and served with the same sauces. I cannot quite come to the conclusion that a roast capon is equal in flavor to one boiled and served with egg sauce.

Roast Chicken.—Singe your chickens and truss them carefully. Broilers, as they are called, are better without stuffing, unless they are very large. Season with salt, put small bits of butter over the meat, and place them in the pan with a little water or veal stock; baste occasionally and dredge 47with flour before taking from the oven. A few tarragon leaves with the sauce are acceptable.

A spring chicken cooked in any style is not to be despised by any means, but I quite agree with that appreciative epicure, Mr. Sam Ward, when he said:

Roast Pigeon.—Raise the skin from the breast-bones of the pigeons with your finger; make a small quantity of finely-flavored stuffing, and stuff it between the skin and flesh, using care not to break the skin. Fasten a long, thin slice of bacon over the breasts of the birds with toothpicks; put them in a dripping-pan with a little water, and dredge with flour. When done remove the bacon, set them neatly around the edge of a dish, fill the centre with new green peas or Godillot French peas, and serve. (A favorite dish of the members of the Club of Lindenthorpe, on the Delaware.)

Roast Domestic Duck.—Americans, as a rule, do not take kindly to domestic duck, owing to its peculiar flavor and richness, and also to the fact of the bird being usually accompanied with a very highly-seasoned onion stuffing. Nevertheless, a young domestic duck stuffed with a bread stuffing seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, and a suspicion of onion, is a dish that should often appear upon the tables of our American families. A pair of ducklings with no other stuffing than an onion placed inside the birds while roasting, and removed before serving, will make a splendid dinner for a family of five or six. Serve with apple-fritters or apple-sauce.

Roast Goose.—Singe, draw, and truss the goose, and, if an old one, parboil it. The best stuffing for a goose is a sage-and-onion stuffing. The way in which this is made must depend upon the taste of those who have to eat it. If a strong flavor of onions is liked the onion should be chopped raw. If this is not the case they should be boiled in one or two waters, and mixed with bread-crumbs, powdered sage, salt 48and pepper, nutmeg, and two small apples chopped fine; fill the bird with the stuffing, sew it up with coarse thread, sprinkle salt over it, and set it in a pan with a little warm water; baste frequently, and do not take it from the oven until thoroughly cooked.

Ham a la Russe.—If the ham be hard and salty soak it for several hours. If a fresh-cured Ferris ham it will not need soaking. Trim and cut away all the rusty parts, and cover it with a coarse paste of flour and water half an inch thick, and fasten it securely to prevent the juice escaping. Time, from three to four hours, according to size of the ham. Remove the paste and skin while the ham is hot, cover the fat with a sugar paste (see boiled ham) moistened with port, and return it to the oven a few minutes to brown.

The Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, makes a specialty of Ham à la Russe, and it is a splendid dish served with champagne sauce.

Canvas-Back Duck.—Pluck, draw, and singe the duck; wipe out the blood from the inside with a clean towel; cut off the head and neck, and put them in the body of the duck, allowing the head to protrude. Sprinkle a little celery-salt over the breast, with a bit of butter; put it on a small buttered pan, and set it in the oven for seventeen minutes. Serve with currant-jelly.

A few outer stalks of celery placed inside the duck will improve its flavor.

A red-head duck stuffed with grated bread, chopped celery, seasoning, and mixed with yolk of egg, will taste very much like a canvas-back.

A blue-winged teal duck is very nice broiled. Cut it down the back, brush a little melted butter over it, and broil, keeping the inner part of the duck to the fire most of the time. To roast a teal place a strip of bacon over the breast and set it in the oven for fifteen minutes.

Roast Venison.—Take a leg of well-kept venison, wipe it thoroughly, rub a little salt over it, and dredge with flour. 49Place it in a dripping-pan with the ragged pieces you have trimmed off of it, and a little water or wine. Put small bits of butter here and there over the meat, set it in the oven, and baste frequently till done. If the leg is not very fat it is a good plan to lard it with strips of bacon or pork. Serve with currant-jelly, and don’t forget the hot plates.

I am not a lover of venison à l’Anglaise, for I do not fancy the flour paste daubed over the meat as most English cooks prepare it, though the buttered paper is an advantage when cooking large joints of game.

Roast Prairie Chicken.—The bird being a little strong, and its flesh when cooked a little dry, it should be either larded or wide strips of bacon or pork placed over its breast. A mild seasoned stuffing will improve the flavor of old birds. Dust a little flour over them, baste occasionally, and serve.

Pheasants may be managed in the same manner.

Roast Quail.—Pluck and draw the birds, rub a little butter over them, tie a strip of bacon over the breasts, and set them in the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes.

Roast Woodcock.—Pluck the bird carefully, do not cut off the head or draw the trail; punch a few holes in the back of the bird with a fork, and lay it in the pan on a piece of buttered toast. A little salt is all the seasoning required. Time, twenty minutes. A woodcock is the only gamebird I send to table without currant-jelly; its own fine flavor needs no bush.

Roast Snipe.—Pluck and draw the snipe, preserving the trail and head; tie a thin strip of bacon over the breast; chop up the trail and spread it on buttered toast (one slice for each bird); lay the birds in the pan with the toast between them, and roast twenty minutes. Remove the bacon, place the birds on the toast, and serve.

Rail-Birds.—Rail-birds are decidedly inferior to either snipe or woodcock. They should be skinned, as much of 50their rankness lies in the skin. The trail is a trifle too strong for the average American palate. They make a very good pie; manage them as you would snipe for roasting, broiling, etc.

Reed-Birds.—These delicious “lumps of sweetness,” as they are appropriately called, are always acceptable, but to thoroughly appreciate a reed-bird dinner one must mingle with the gunners on the Delaware River as guest or member of one of the many clubs whose houses are situated within a few hundred yards from the hunting-grounds.

After the judge’s decision as to who has high boat, the birds are plucked (and, at some of the club-houses, drawn), arranged neatly in a dripping-pan with bits of fresh country butter between them. They are allowed to cook on one side a few minutes, and with a long-handled spoon are turned over to brown the other side. A little salt is added, and they are then placed upon a hot platter en pyramide and the gravy poured over them; they are then sent to table with fried chip potatoes. The scene that follows baffles description. Not a voice is heard, “at least as long as the birds last.” The painful silence is only broken by the sounds of crumbling bones between the teeth of the assemblage, and an occasional More birds, Mr. Caterer! from that prince of gourmets, Mayor S——.

Reed-Birds a la Lindenthorpe.—On “Ladies’ Day” the members of this club are more particular than on “members’ day.” They prepare the birds by drawing the trail and removing the heads; they then take large sweet or Irish potatoes, cut them in two, scoop out the insides, and put an oyster or a small piece of bacon inside of each bird, and put the birds inside the potato, tie them up with twine, and bake until the potatoes are done. The common twine is then removed and the potatoes are tied with a narrow piece of white or colored tape, in a neat bow-knot, and sent to table on a napkin.