The Virginia Housewife Part 23

Wash the sago clean, and put it on the fire with a stick of cinnamon, and as much water as will boil it thick and soft; take out the cinnamon, and add rich boiled custard till it is of a proper thickness; sweeten it, and serve in gla.s.ses or cups, with grated nutmeg on the top.

BARLEY CREAM.

Is made the same way--you may add a little white wine to both; it will give an agreeable flavour.

GOOSEBERRY FOOL.

Pick the stems and blossoms from two quarts of green gooseberries; put them in a stew pan, with their weight in loaf sugar, and a very little water--when sufficiently stewed, pa.s.s the pulp through a sieve; and when cold, add rich boiled custard till it is like thick cream; put it in a gla.s.s bowl, and lay frothed cream on the top.

TO MAKE SLIP.

Make a quart of rich milk moderately warm: then stir into it one large spoonful of the preparation of rennet, (see receipt to prepare rennet,) set it by, and when cold, it will be as stiff as jelly. It should be made only a few hours before it is used, or it will be tough and watery; in summer, set the dish in ice after it has jellied--it must be eaten with powdered sugar, cream, and nutmeg.

CURDS AND CREAM.

Turn one quart of milk as for the slip--let it stand until just before it is to be served: then take it up with a skimming dish, and lay it on a sieve--when the whey has drained off, put the curds in a dish, and surround them with cream--use sugar and nutmeg. These are Arcadian dishes; very delicious, cheap, and easily prepared.

BLANC MANGE.

Break one ounce of isingla.s.s into very small pieces; wash it well, and pour on a pint of boiling water; next morning, add a quart of milk, boil it till the isingla.s.s is dissolved, strain it, put in two ounces sweet almonds, blanched and pounded; sweeten it, and put it in the mould--when stiff, turn them into a deep dish, and put raspberry cream around them.

For a change, stick thin slips of blanched almonds all over the blanc mange, and dress round with syllabub, nicely frothed. Some moulds require colouring--for an ear of corn, mix the yelk of an egg with a little of the blanc mange; fill the grains of the corn with it--and when quite set, pour in the white, but take care it is not warm enough to melt the yellow: for a bunch of asparagus, colour a little with spinach juice, to fill the green tops of the heads. Fruit must be made the natural colour of what it represents. Cochineal and alkanet root pounded and dissolved in brandy, make good colouring; but blanc mange should never be served, without raspberry cream or syllabub to eat with it.

TO MAKE A HEN'S NEST.

Get five small eggs, make a hole at one end, and empty the sh.e.l.ls--fill them with blanc mange: when stiff and cold, take off the sh.e.l.ls, pare the yellow rind very thin from six lemons, boil them in water till tender, then cut them in thin strips to resemble straw, and preserve them with sugar; fill a small deep dish half full of nice jelly--when it is set, put the straw on in form of a nest, and lay the eggs in it. It is a beautiful dish for a dessert or supper.

Little Dishes for a Second Course, or Supper.

PHEASANTS A-LA-DAUB.

Roast two pheasants in the nicest manner--get a deep dish, the size and form of the one you intend to serve the pheasants in--it must be as deep as a tureen; put in savoury jelly about an inch and a half at the bottom; when that is set, and the pheasants cold, lay them on the jelly with their b.r.e.a.s.t.s down; fill the dish with jelly up to their backs; take care it is not warm enough to melt the other, and that the birds are not displaced--just before it is to be served, set it a moment in hot water to loosen it; put the dish on the top, and turn it out carefully.

PARTRIDGES A-LA-DAUB.

Truss six partridges neatly, cover them with thin slices of fat bacon taken from the top of a middling; this keeps them white, and gives a good flavour; they must be wrapped entirely in it--roast them, and when done, take off the bacon; let them get cold, and use jelly as for the pheasants.

CHICKENS A-LA-DAUB.

Roast two half grown chickens, cut off the legs and wings, pull the breast from each side entire, take the skin from all the pieces, lay it in the dish, and cover it with jelly.

TO MAKE SAVOURY JELLY.

Put eight or ten pounds of coa.r.s.e lean beef, or the same quant.i.ty of the inferior parts of the fore quarter of veal, into a pot with two gallons of water, a pound of lean salt pork, three large onions chopped, three carrots, a large handful of parsley, and any sweet herb that you choose, with pepper and salt; boil it very gently till reduced to two quarts; strain it through a sieve--next day, take off the fat, turn out the jelly, and separate it from the dregs at the bottom; put it on the fire with half a pint of white wine, a large spoonful of lemon pickle, and the whites and sh.e.l.ls of four eggs beaten: when it boils clear on one side, run it through the jelly bag.

TURKEY A-LA-DAUB.

Bone a small turkey, put pepper and salt on the inside, and cover it with slices of boiled ham or tongue; fill it with well seasoned forcemeat, sew it up and boil it--cover it with jelly.

SALMAGUNDI.

Turn a bowl on the dish, and put on it in regular rings, beginning at the bottom, the following ingredients, all minced:--anchovies with the bones taken out, the white meat of fowls without the skin, hard boiled eggs, the yelks and whites chopped separately, parsley, the lean of old ham sc.r.a.ped, the inner stalks of celery; put a row of capers round the bottom of the bowl, and dispose the others in a fanciful manner; put a little pyramid of b.u.t.ter on the top, and have a small gla.s.s with egg mixed as for sallad, to eat with the salmagundi.

AN EXCELLENT RELISH AFTER DINNER.

Put some soup or gravy from any of the dishes on the table, into the stew dish; add a good portion of pepper, vinegar, wine, catsup and salt; let it be very highly seasoned; broil the legs, liver, and gizzard of a turkey, the kidney of veal, or any thing you fancy; cut it up in small pieces: when broiled, put it in the gravy, and stew it at table.

TO STEW PERCH.

Lay the perch in a deep pan with the heads on; sprinkle salt, pepper, and a little chopped onion over each layer; when they are all in, take as much water as will be sufficient to fill the pan less than half full; add a gill of wine, one of catsup, a little lemon pickle and spice; cover the pan, and let it stew gently till done; take out the fish without breaking, put them in a deep dish, pour the gravy on, and neatly turn them out.

PRESERVES.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING PRESERVES.

The preserving pan should be made of bell metal, flat at the bottom, very large in diameter, but not deep. It should have a cover to fit closely, and handles at the sides of the pan, for taking it off with ease when the syrup boils too fast. There should also be a large chafing-dish with long legs, for the convenience of moving it to any part of the room. The process is a tedious one; and if the superintendent be not comfortably situated, the preserves cannot be properly managed. A ladle the size of a saucer, pierced and having a long handle, will be necessary for taking up the fruit without syrup.

When a chafing-dish cannot be procured, the best subst.i.tute is a brick stove, with a grating, to burn charcoal. The sugar should be the best double refined; but if the pure amber coloured sugar house syrup from the West Indies can be got, it is greatly superior; it never ferments, and the trouble is very much lessened by having ready made syrup, in which it is only necessary to boil the fruit till clear. All delicate fruit should be done gently, and not allowed to remain more than half an hour after it begins to stew, before it is laid on dishes to cool; it must be put into the syrup again for the same time; continue this until it is sufficiently transparent. The advantage of this method is that the preserves are less liable to boil to pieces, than when done all at one time. It is injudicious to put more in the pan at once, than can lie on the bottom without crowding. The pan must be made bright, and nothing permitted to cool in it, lest it should canker. Delicate preserves should be kept in small gla.s.ses or pots, that will not hold more than one or two pounds, for the admission of air injures them; put letter paper wet with brandy on the preserves, and cover the tops with many folds of soft paper, that will tie round closely; keep them in a dry place, and expose them constantly to the sun to check fermentation.

Fruit for preserving should be in full perfection, but not too ripe.