English Housewifery Part 10

Take as much flour as you would have dumplings in quant.i.ty, put it to a spoonful of sugar, a little salt, a little nutmeg, a spoonful of light yeast, and half a pound of currans well washed and cleaned, so knead them the stiffness you do a common dumpling, you must have white wine, sugar and b.u.t.ter for sauce; you may boil them either in a cloth or without; so serve them up.

173. _To make_ OYSTER LOAVES.

Take half a dozen French loaves, rasp them and make a hole at the top, take out all the crumbs and fry them in b.u.t.ter till they be crisp; when your oysters are stewed, put them into your loaves, cover them up before the fire to keep hot whilst you want them; so serve them up.

They are proper either for a side-dish or mid-dish.

You may make c.o.c.kle loaves or mushroom-loaves the same way.

174. _To make a_ GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.

Take a quart of green gooseberries, pick, coddle, bruise and rub them through a hair-sieve to take out the pulp; take six spoonfuls of the pulp, six eggs, three quarters of a pound of sugar, half a pound of clarified b.u.t.ter, a little lemon-peel shred fine, a handful of bread-crumbs or bisket, a spoonful of rose-water or orange-flower water; mix these well together, and bake it with paste round the dish; you may add sweetmeats if you please.

175. _To make an_ EEL PIE.

Case and clean the eels, season them with a little nutmeg, pepper and salt, cut them in long pieces; you must make your pie with hot b.u.t.ter paste, let it be oval with a thin crust; lay in your eels length way, putting over them a little fresh b.u.t.ter; so bake them.

Eel pies are good, and eat very well with currans, but if you put in currans you must not use any black pepper, but a little Jamaica pepper.

176. _To make a_ TURBOT-HEAD PIE.

Take a middling turbot-head, pretty well cut off, wash it clean, take out the gills, season it pretty well with mace, pepper and salt, so put it into a deep dish with half a pound of b.u.t.ter, cover it with a light puff-paste, but lay none in the bottom; when it is baked take out the liquor and the b.u.t.ter that it was baked in, put it into a sauce-pan with a lump of fresh b.u.t.ter and flour to thicken it, with an anchovy and a gla.s.s of white wine, so pour it into your pie again over the fish; you may lie round half a dozen yolks of eggs at an equal distance; when you have cut off the lid, lie it in sippets round your disk, and serve it up.

177. _To make a Caudle for a sweet_ VEAL PIE.

Take about a jill of white wine and verjuice mixed, make it very hot, beat the yolk of an egg very well, and then mix them together as you would do mull'd ale; you must sweeten it very well, because there is no sugar in the pie.

This caudle will do for any other sort of pie that is sweet.

178. _To make_ SWEET-MEAT TARTS.

Make a little sh.e.l.l-paste, roll it, and line your tins, p.r.i.c.k them in the inside, and so bake them; when you serve 'em up put in any sort of sweet-meats, what you please.

You may have a different sort every day, do but keep your sh.e.l.ls bak'd by you.

179. _To make_ ORANGE TARTS.

Take two or three Seville oranges and boil them, s.h.i.+ft them in the boiling to take out the bitter, cut them in two, take out the pippens, and cut them in slices; they must be baked in crisp paste; when you fill the petty-pans, lay in a layer of oranges and a layer of sugar, (a pound will sweeten a dozen of small tins, if you do not put in too much orange) bake them in a slow oven, and ice them over.

180. _To make a_ TANSEY _another Way_.

Take a pint of cream, some biskets without seeds, two or three spoonfuls of fine flour, nine eggs, leaving out two of the whites, some nutmeg, and orange-flower water, a little juice of tansey and spinage, put it into a pan till it be pretty thick, then fry or bake it, if fried take care that you do not let it be over-brown. Garnish with orange and sugar, so serve it up.

181. _A good_ PASTE _for_ TARTS.

Take a pint of flour, and rub a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter into it, beat two eggs with a spoonful of double-refin'd sugar, and two or three spoonfuls of cream to make it into paste; work it as little as you can, roll it out thin; b.u.t.ter your tins, dust on some flour, then lay in your paste, and do not fill them too full.

182. _To make_ TRANSPARENT TARTS.

Take a pound of flour well dried, beat one egg till it be very thin, then melt almost three quarters of a pound of b.u.t.ter without salt, and let it be cold enough to mix with an egg, then put it into the flour and make your paste, roll it very thin, when you are setting them into the oven wet them over with a little fair water, and grate a little sugar; if you bake them rightly they will be very nice.

183. _To make a_ Sh.e.l.l PASTE.

Take half a pound of fine flour, and a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, the yolks of two eggs and one white, two ounces of sugar finely sifted, mix all these together with a little water, and roll it very thin whilst you can see through it; when you lid your tarts p.r.i.c.k them to keep them from blistering; make sure to roll them even, and when you bake them ice them.

184. _To make_ PASTE _for_ TARTS.

Take the yolks of five or six eggs, just as you would have paste in quant.i.ty; to the yolks of eggs put a pound of b.u.t.ter, work the b.u.t.ter with your hands whilst it take up all the eggs, then take some London flour and work it with your b.u.t.ter whilst it comes to a paste, put in about two spoonfuls of loaf sugar beat and sifted, and about half a jill of water; when you have wrought it well together it is fit for use.

This is a paste that seldom runs if it be even roll'd; roll it thin but let your lids be thiner than your bottoms; when you have made your tarts, p.r.i.c.k them over with a pin to keep it from blistering; when you are going to put them into the oven, wet them over with a feather dipt in fair water, and grate over them a little double-refined loaf sugar, it will ice them; but don't let them be bak'd in a hot oven.

185. _A short_ PASTE _for_ TARTS.

Take a pound of wheat-flour, and rub it very small, three quarters of a pound of b.u.t.ter, rub it as small as the flour, put to it three spoonfuls of loaf sugar beat and sifted; take the yolks of four eggs, and beat them very well; put to them a spoonful or two of rose-water, and work them into a paste, then roll them thin, and ice them as you did the other if you please, and bake 'em in a slow oven.

186. _To make a_ LIGHT PASTE _for a_ VENISON PASTY, _or other_ PIE.

Take a quarter of a peck of fine flour, or as much as you think you have occasion for, and to every quartern of flour put a pound and a quarter of b.u.t.ter, break the third part of your b.u.t.ter into the flour; then take the whites of three or four eggs, beat them very well to a froth, and put to them as much water as will knead the meal; do not knead it over stiff, so then roll it in the rest of your b.u.t.ter; you must roll it five or six times over at least, and strinkle a little flour over your b.u.t.ter every time you roll it up, lap it up the cross way, and it will be fit for use.

187. _To make a Paste for a_ STANDING PIE.

Take a quartern of flour or more if you have occasion, and to every quartern of flour put a pound of b.u.t.ter, and a little salt, knead it with boiling water, then work it very well, and let it lie whilst it is cold.

This paste is good enough for a goose pie, or any other standing-pie.

188. _A light Paste for a_ DISH PIE.

Take a quartern of flour, and break into it a pound of b.u.t.ter in large pieces, knead it very stiff, handle it as lightly as you can, and roll it once or twice, then it is fit for use.

189. _To make_ CHEESE CAKES.

Take a gallon of new milk, make of it a tender curd, wring the whey from it, put it into a bason, and break three quarters of a pound of b.u.t.ter into the curd, then with a clean hand work the b.u.t.ter and curd together till all the b.u.t.ter be melted, and rub it in a hair-sieve with the back of spoon till all be through; then take six eggs, beat them with a few spoonfuls of rose-water or sack, put it into your curd with half a pound of fine sugar and a nutmeg grated; mix them all together with a little salt, some currans and almonds; then make up your paste of fine flour, with cold b.u.t.ter and a little sugar; roll your paste very thin, fill your tins with the curd, and set them in an oven, when they are almost enough take them out, then take a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, with a little rose-water, and part of a half pound of sugar, let it stand on the coals till the b.u.t.ter be melted, then pour into each cake some of it, set them in the oven again till they be brown, so keep them for use.