Choice Cookery Part 8

_English Manner of Making Game Pie in a Crust._--Use at least two kinds of game, which for this purpose must not be long kept; high game is acceptable to epicures when roasted or stewed, but never in a pie.

Discard all parts blackened by shot. Cut into neat joints, from which bones must be removed. Take all the fragments from the carca.s.s after the breast and joints are removed, and the flesh of a small bird or hare, or, failing that, some calf's liver fried in dice; pound whichever you may have for force-meat in a mortar with four ounces of bacon that has been boiled; when the whole forms a paste (from which you have removed all strings, sinew, or gristle while pounding), season with pepper and salt--a teaspoonful of salt to a pound of force-meat, and a scant half saltspoonful of pepper. Put on the bones, _without vegetables_, in cold water to simmer until it is a rich broth, which strain, and boil rapidly till a little set on ice in a saucer will jelly. Make what is called "raised" paste in the following way: To two pounds of flour use three quarters of a pound of b.u.t.ter and half a pint of scalding milk; pour this into a hole in the centre of the flour, and knead into a firm paste, adding a little more milk if necessary (but it seldom is). This paste is not to be rolled, but beaten out with the hand while warm to half an inch thickness. Line a well-b.u.t.tered meat-pie mould, with a hinge opening at the side; leave half an inch of paste above the mould; trim off neatly with scissors. Then lay in the game and force-meat in alternate layers, seasoning the joints with pepper and salt as you lay them. A few slices of tongue and truffles to form one layer are desirable. When the mould is full, lay on the cover, moisten the under edge, and pinch round in tiny scallops. Make a hole in the centre, round which put an ornament; stick in a bone to prevent the hole closing, and bake two to four hours in a moderate oven, according to size, remembering always that the crust will not be injured by long baking, and that the game in this pie is uncooked. When it is removed from the oven, let it stand half an hour, taking the mould off, that it may cool; then brush the sides and top with an egg beaten with milk, and return the pie to the oven that the sides may brown; cover the top, if it is already highly colored, with a sheet of paper. Remove the bone from the centre, insert a small funnel, and after removing all fat from it, pour in the gravy from the bones. The gravy must be poured very slowly or it will bubble up, and care must be taken to have all the pie will hold, yet not a drop too much, or it will ooze somewhere. These pies, when quite cold, may be sent any distance, and are much used in England and Scotland for hunting-parties, besides being a standard breakfast and luncheon dish. The crust is merely a frame to hold the game.

XXI.

GARNISHES.

In all choice cookery the appearance of dishes has to be carefully studied. However good the taste may be, the effect will be spoiled if its appearance on the table does not come up to the expectation raised by the name on the _menu_. For this reason the subject of garnishes requires to be considered apart from the dishes they adorn. In the old time garnishes were few and simple, and when not simple, very ugly, as the camellias cut from turnips and stained with beet juice. Nowadays garnishes are many, and many so termed form part of the dish, as what are termed, "floating garnishes for soup," quenelles, etc. Garnishes that are merely ornamental need not be so expensively made as those intended for eating. Foremost among fas.h.i.+onable floating garnishes for soup are the colored custards known as pate royale; they are perfectly easy to make, yet very effective served in clear bouillon.

_Colored Custard._--Prepare the custard with five yolks of eggs, a gill of cream or strong bouillon, and a pinch of salt; b.u.t.ter small saucers or cups; divide the custard in three--color one with spinach juice or pulp of green asparagus, another with red tomato pulp or the pulp of red carrot boiled, and a third with pulp of beets. A few drops of cochineal may be added to intensify the color of the last, which is apt to be a beautiful pink instead of red. The custard for which pulps are used must be strained after they are added, expressing as much of the juice as possible. The custard should be flavored delicately with the vegetable used for color.

_Spinach Juice_ is very frequently directed to be used as coloring, but scarcely anywhere is any indication given that the juice without preparation is of very little use. It should be prepared as follows: Take a large handful of fresh green spinach, wash it, and remove decayed leaves only; drain well, then pound in a mortar or chopping-bowl until quite mashed. Let it stand a quarter of an hour, then squeeze the ma.s.s in a cloth, and put the green water into a cup, which set over the fire in a small saucepan of water; watch the sc.u.m rise; when it stands quite thick at the top and turns a vivid green, remove at once (if it remains on the fire after this the green darkens); pour the contents of the cup through cheese-cloth or thin muslin laid in a strainer. The sc.u.m that remains is your coloring matter. It must be carefully sc.r.a.ped off with a spoon, and mix with the custard only as much as is required to give a delicate green tint. If any is left it may be mixed with an equal quant.i.ty of salt and put away; it loses color, however, after a few days.

The colored custards must be set in water, a small piece of b.u.t.tered paper over each, and the water allowed to boil gently round them till they are firm. Let them get quite cold; then cut them into cubes or diamonds.

_Profiterolles._--Perhaps the next in popularity of these floating garnishes are _profiterolles_, or "prophet's rolls," as cooks call them.

They are made exactly like those intended for dessert, omitting sweetening of course, and a very small quant.i.ty is required, as they must be dropped no larger than a pea, and baked a _pale_ fawn-color.

Put a gill of water and a pinch of salt and two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a small saucepan; as soon as they begin to boil draw the saucepan back and stir in four ounces of flour; beat well over the fire with a wooden spoon until it becomes a soft paste, then add the yolks of two eggs and white of one, beating each yolk in separately. It will be seen that the paste is similar to that made for cream cakes.

A similar garnish is made in the following way: Beat an egg with a pinch of salt, and then stir in as much dry sifted flour as the egg will moisten; work it well with the hands till it is elastic, although stiff.

Roll it on a pastry board until it is as thin as paper, then roll it on a clean linen cloth still thinner, and leave it a quarter of an hour to dry. Then fold the paste, press it very tightly together, and with a tin cylinder, not larger in diameter than a cent, cut out, with considerable pressure, as many small disks as you require to allow five or six to each plate of soup. Have ready in a small saucepan some _smoking hot_ lard. Drop the disks in; they will puff and swell till they are like marbles. Stir them, and take them out of the fat; they require only a few seconds to brown, and must be taken out very pale. Add to the soup the last thing before serving.

While aspic jelly is certainly the handsomest of garnishes for cold dishes, it is generally part of the food itself, and should not be so lavishly used that when helped there is more jelly than meat served.

Where the jelly is intended only for a garnish not to be eaten, simple gelatine is sufficient. For instance, a large platter containing a galantine or a _chaudfroid_ may have a handsome wreath glued on the border, of red and green leaves, or holly leaves and red berries, or any device that need not be disturbed by the carver.

For such decorations as these gelatine is melted in proportion of three ounces to a scant quart of water, cleared with white of egg, and then colored pale yellow with caramel or saffron, vivid red with cochineal, and bright green with spinach; it saves time and trouble to let this congeal on dishes in thin sheets. Small cutters of ivy, oak, and other leaves can readily be purchased at the large house-furnis.h.i.+ng stores.

One word here about uneatable decorations, never admit them at a children's party; they are the very part of the feast the little people will most crave; red leaves for them must be of red currant-jelly, yellow of white, etc.

"Forced b.u.t.ter" is another form of garnish which adds much to the appearance of glazed ham or tongue. It is b.u.t.ter beaten to a white cream, then put in a forcer, and a pattern traced on the ham, which must be followed just as in icing a cake.

_A Few Ways of Cooking Vegetables._--It is not intended to go into the general cooking of vegetables, although it may be said that even the choicest cooking can offer no greater luxury, or, alas! a greater rarity, than a dish of early peas or asparagus _perfectly cooked_. But this is not the place to remedy the wholesale spoiling of summer vegetables that goes on in almost every kitchen. I will only give what may be a few new ways of preparing familiar vegetables.

_Stuffed Artichokes._--Wash the artichokes; boil till nearly tender; drain them; remove the middle leaves and "chokes" (this is the fibrous part round the base); lay in each a little rich force-meat, and put them in the oven to cook until the meat is done. Serve with rich brown gravy.

_Fried Artichokes._--Cut in slices lengthwise; remove the chokes, cut off the tops of the leaves, wash them in vinegar and water, drain them, and dip them in frying batter. Fry in very hot oil or lard. Serve with fried parsley sprinkled with salt.

_Beet-root Fritters._--Cut boiled beets in slices; slice raw onions; scald them; dry them well; then lay one slice of onion, sprinkled with chopped chervil, pepper, and salt, between two slices of beet. Dip them carefully in frying batter, and plunge into boiling fat; when pale brown take them up.

_Cauliflower Fritters._--Parboil the cauliflower--that is to say, boil until it begins to be tender--about fifteen minutes; then plunge it into ice-cold water; this keeps it white. Break it up into branches. Dip each one into thick bechamel sauce slightly warmed; let them get cold; then take each piece separately and dip it into carefully made frying batter, and drop them into boiling lard; fry a pale brown, and serve garnished with fried parsley.

XXII.

VARIOUS WAYS OF SERVING VEGETABLES.

_Stuffed Cuc.u.mbers._--Cut large-sized young cuc.u.mbers into slices about two inches thick, rejecting the ends. Peel, and remove the seeds; scald the slices for ten minutes, plunge them into cold water, and drain them.

Line a fire-proof china dish with very thin slices of unsmoked bacon which has been scalded; make some veal force-meat such as directed for galantines; fill the holes in the centre of the rings of cuc.u.mber till it is level with the surface on both sides; wrap each up in a slice of bacon broad enough to cover it. Tie round with a string, pour a pint of strong stock into the dish, and bake twenty minutes in a slow oven. When done, take up the cuc.u.mber, drain, and remove the bacon carefully so as not to disturb the stuffing. Lay in a dish, and serve with Robert sauce.

In the following recipes the mushrooms to be used are the large flap ones. When canned ones will serve, the fact will be stated.

_Mushrooms Stuffed a la Lucullus._--Wash, dry, and trim large mushrooms; chop up the stalks and broken ones fine with a teaspoonful of minced parsley, pepper, salt, and a tomato; make these hot in a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter. Fill the mushrooms with the mixture, place them on a b.u.t.tered baking-dish, and bake six minutes, basting them once or twice with clarified b.u.t.ter.

_Mushrooms and Tomatoes._--Toast some slices of bread, cut them into rounds two inches in diameter, and b.u.t.ter them. Peel some firm tomatoes, cut them into thick slices, and lay them on the toast. On the top of each place a peeled mushroom. Put them on a dish that can go to table, pour a little clarified b.u.t.ter over them, put them in a hot oven for three minutes, and baste well. Serve hot and quickly.

_Mushroom Jelly._--Take two pounds of mushrooms, put them in a stewpan over the fire with a gill of strong consomme. Squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice, add a little pepper and salt, unless the consomme was salt enough. Melt in a gill of water half an ounce of gelatine, and strain it. When the mushrooms are quite soft, pa.s.s them through a sieve, mixed with the gelatine, and pour the mixture into a mould which has been rinsed with water. When set, turn out and garnish with finely chopped aspic, and a few cherry tomatoes if in season.

_Mushroom Baskets._--Make some puff-paste; roll it out _very_ thin. Line some small suitably shaped moulds (darioles will do very nicely); fill the centre with uncooked rice or flour to keep the shape while baking; cut some strips of paste, twist them, and bend them into the shape of handles; bake them very pale. When the pastry cases are done, empty out the rice, remove them from the moulds, and fill with the following mixture: chop as many canned mushrooms as you require with a small shallot, squeeze to them the juice and pulp of a large tomato, and put them in a stewpan with a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a tablespoonful of very thick white sauce. Stir till about the consistency to eat with a fork. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over the top. Put the handles in so that they stand over the tops. Decorate with fried parsley.

The large Spanish or Portuguese onion that has of late years appeared in the markets is not often properly cooked. It is the most delicate and delicious of all onions, lacking the usual intense heat and rank odor.

For this reason persons who wish to eat onions, either for health or inclination, will find this large onion cut up with ordinary salad dressing a great improvement even on Bermudas. This onion is full of a milky juice, which is lost in cooking if it is cut. Therefore, where a simple dish is required, the best way is to boil it, without peeling or tr.i.m.m.i.n.g, for three hours if it weighs three pounds (it must be tender right through); then take it up, strip it, and remove the root, stalk, etc. Pour over it a rich white sauce, and serve, taking care that the gravy that runs from the onion is served with it. A still better way when an oven is not wanted is to bake them. Put them in a dripping-pan in the oven without removing peel or stalk. Bake at least four hours in a moderate oven. It will burn and blacken outside, which is of no consequence. Keep it turned so that the darkening may not go deeper one side than the other. When quite tender (but do not try it until it begins to shrink, or you will let out the juices), so that a knitting-needle will run through it, take it out of the oven, strip off three or four skins, remove root and stalk, and place the onion, without breaking it, on a dish; put a piece of b.u.t.ter as large as an egg, with a saltspoonful of salt and a quarter one of pepper worked in it, on the onion; cover it, and put in the oven till the b.u.t.ter melts, and serve very hot.

_Stuffed Spanish Onion._--Parboil a Spanish onion; then drop it into ice-water; take out the centre and fill it with force-meat; cover with a thin slice of sweet fat pork; sprinkle with a teaspoonful of salt and the same of sugar; add four tablespoonfuls of stock, cover closely, and cook over a good fire. When the onion is tender, take it up, remove the pork, strain and skim the gravy, pour it over, and serve. The best force-meat for the stuffing is made of cold chicken, a shred of boiled ham, a little chopped parsley, half a dozen mushrooms, all chopped well and mixed with a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and pepper and salt.

_Potatoes a la Provencale._--Mash and pa.s.s through a wire sieve two pounds of potatoes; season with pepper and salt. Grate two ounces of Gruyere (Swiss) cheese, pound it with enough b.u.t.ter to make a paste, add a gill of milk and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley; put this in a saute pan, add the potato, mix all well, and stir until the ma.s.s is pale brown; serve as a pyramid.

_Milanese Potatoes._--Bake large potatoes till just tender; cut off the tops, which keep. Scoop out the potatoes, but do not break the skin.

Mash the inside with b.u.t.ter, pepper, salt, and grated Parmesan; about a teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter and cheese to each will be the right proportion.

Beat the potato mixture with a fork for a minute to make it light, refill the skins, put on the covers, and heat them in the oven.

_Scalloped Potatoes._--Mash two pounds of potatoes with milk, and pa.s.s through a sieve; add three ounces of b.u.t.ter melted, two ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, and a little pepper and salt. Fill sh.e.l.ls with this mixture, and brown them in the oven. Glaze them over with b.u.t.ter melted and grated Parmesan; return one minute to the hottest part of the oven.

Serve very hot.

_Tomato Jelly._--Two pounds of tomatoes, half a grain of red pepper, and two small shallots. Place them in a stewpan and boil till quite soft.

Melt half an ounce of gelatine in as little white stock as possible; add this to the tomatoes, and strain; if not perfectly clear, clarify with white of egg in the usual way. Mould, and serve with chopped aspic round it. A little grated Parmesan may be sometimes sprinkled over it for a change.

_Tomato Souffle._--Prepare some tomato pulp, taking care to boil it down if too liquid; stir in the yolks of three eggs, then the whites well beaten; salt to taste. Fill either a large souffle case or several small ones. Bake in a hot oven till it rises very high and is set in the centre; serve instantly.

_Spinach Fritters._--Boil the spinach till it is quite tender; drain, press, and mince it fine; add half the quant.i.ty of grated stale bread, one grate of nutmeg, and a _small_ teaspoonful of sugar; add a gill of cream and as many eggs as will make a batter, beating the whites separately; pepper and salt to taste. Drop a little from a spoon into boiling lard; if it separates, add a little more crumb of bread; when they rise to the surface of the fat they are done. Drain them, and serve very quickly, or they will fall.

XXIII.

JELLIES.

In this country culinary skill seems to run to sweet rather than to savory cooking; very few housekeepers but make excellent preserves and cakes, yet the list of sweet dishes manufactured at home is very limited; as soon as anything not in this category is required the caterer is applied to, and he has his list of water-ices, cream-ices, and meringues, with very little variation; sometimes, indeed, a new name appears on the list, but it turns out to be some old friend with a new garnish, or put in a different mould and given an alluring name. There are many delicious sweet dishes not difficult to make when once the processes of making jelly and of freezing are understood (and very many who do not pretend to be good cooks are expert at these two things), and others which do not require even that ability. To put a sweet dish on the table, however, in perfection, especially if it be an iced one, requires the utmost care and skill; the slightest carelessness in packing a frozen pudding, any delay between removing it from the ice and getting it on the dish, will destroy that dull, marble-like appearance it ought to wear when first it makes its entry, although it will gleam with melting sweetness long before it reaches the partakers. Happily there are many delightful sweets which are beautiful in appearance and less depending on atmosphere than any of the family of ices. The simplest of these are fruit jellies.

I spoke just now of the art of making jelly, and many readers may think in using such a term for so simple a thing I am exaggerating, and perhaps "art" is hardly the word, yet there is a daintiness and nicety in making jelly which almost deserves the term.