The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 22

_Boar's Head, to dress whole._

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

_Brawn, to keep._

Put some bran and three handfuls of salt into a kettle of water; boil and strain it through a sieve, and, when cold, put your brawn into it.

_Hog's head like Brawn._

Wash it well; boil it till the bones will come out; when cold, put the inside of the cheek together with salt between; put the ears round the sides. Put the cheeks into a cloth, press them into a sieve, or anything round; lay on a weight for two days. Have ready a pickle of salt and water, with about a pint of malt, boiled together; when cold, put in the head.

_Mock Brawn._

Take two pair of neats' feet; boil them very tender, and take the flesh clean from the bones. Boil the belly piece of pork till nearly done, then bone it, and roll the meat of the feet up very tight in the pork.

Take a strong cloth, with some coa.r.s.e tape; roll it round very tight; tie it up in the cloth; boil it till it is so tender that a skewer may go through it; let it be hung in a cloth till it is quite cold; after which put it into some sousing liquor, and keep it for use.

_Cabbage, farced._

Take a fine white-heart cabbage, about as big as a quarter of a peck, lay it in water two or three hours, half boil it, put it in a colander to drain, then cut out the heart, but take very great care not to break off any of the outside leaves. Fill it with forcemeat made thus:--take a pound of veal, half a pound of bacon, fat and lean together; cut them small, and beat them fine in a mortar, with the yolks of four eggs boiled hard; season with pepper and salt, a little beaten mace, a very little lemon-peel, some parsley chopped fine, a very little thyme, and three anchovies. When these are beat fine, take the crumb of a stale roll, some mushrooms, either fresh or pickled, and the heart of the cabbage which you cut out. Chop it very fine; mix all together with the yolk of an egg; fill the hollow of the cabbage, and tie it round with thread. Lay some slices of bacon in the bottom of a stewpan, and upon these some thin slices of coa.r.s.e beef, about one pound: put in the cabbage, cover it close, and let it stew gently over a slow fire, until the bacon begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Shake in a little flour; then put in a quart of good broth, an onion stuck with cloves, two blades of mace, some whole pepper, a little bundle of sweet-herbs; cover close, and let it stew gently an hour and a half. Put in a gla.s.s of red wine, give it a boil, and take it up; lay it in a dish, and strain the gravy over it, untying the packthread first. This is a very good dish, and makes the next day an excellent hash, with a veal steak nicely boiled and laid on it.

_Calf's Head._

Scald the hair off; trim and pare it, and make it look as neat as possible. Take out the bones, and have ready palates boiled tender, hard-boiled yolks of eggs, oysters just scalded, and very good forcemeat: stuff all this into the head, and sew it close in a cloth.

Boil it gently for full three hours. Make a strong good gravy for sauce.

Garnish with fried bacon.

_Calf's Head, to dress like Turtle._

The wool must be scalded off in the same manner as the hair is taken off a little pig, which may be done at the butcher's; then wash and parboil it; cut the meat from the bones, and put it in a saucepan, with as much of the broth as will just cover it. Put in half a tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper, and some common pepper and salt, a large onion, and a f.a.ggot of sweet-herbs; take out the herbs and the onion before it breaks. About half an hour before it is done, put three quarters of a pint of white or raisin wine; have ready the yolks of six or eight eggs boiled hard, which you must make into small b.a.l.l.s, and put in just before you serve it up. It will take two hours and a half, or perhaps three hours doing, over a slow fire.

_Calf's Head, to hash._ No. 1.

Let the calf's head be washed dean, and boiled tender; then cut the meat off one half of the head in small slices. To make the sauce, take some parsley, thyme, and a very little onion, let them be chopped fine; then pa.s.s them in a stewpan over the fire, with some b.u.t.ter, till tender. Add some flour, a very little pepper and salt, and some good strong broth, according to your quant.i.ty of meat; let it boil, then skim it, put the meat into it, and add a little lemon-juice and a little white wine; let all boil together about ten minutes. There may be some force-meat b.a.l.l.s added, if liked. The other half of the head must be scored like diamonds, cross and across; then rub it with some oiled b.u.t.ter and yolk of egg; mix some chopped parsley and thyme, pepper, salt, a little nutmeg, and some bread crumbs; strew the head all over with this; broil it a nice light brown, and put it on the hash when dished. Scald the brains, and cut them in four pieces; rub them with yolk of egg, then let them be crumbed, with the same crumbs and herbs as the head was done with, and fried a light brown; lay them round the dish with a few slices of bacon or ham fried. The brains may be done, to be sent up alone on a plate, as follows:--Let the brains be washed and skinned; let them be boiled in broth, about twenty-five minutes; make a little white sauce of some b.u.t.ter, flour, salt, a little cream, and a little good broth; let it just boil; then pick a little green sage, a little parsley picked very small, and scalded till tender; the brains, parsley, and sage, must be strained off, and put into the white sauce, and let it come to a boil, just before you put them on the dish to send up.

_Calf's Head, to hash._ No. 2.

Take half a calf's head, cover it with water in a large saucepan, and boil it till the meat comes from the bone. Cut it into pieces; put it into some of the liquor in which the head was boiled, and let it stew till it becomes thick. Add a little salt and mace, and put it into a mould.

_Calf's Head, to hash._ No. 3.

Your calf's head being half boiled and cooled, cut it in thin slices, and fry it in a pan of brown b.u.t.ter; put it into your tossing pan with gravy; stew it till tender; toss it up with burnt b.u.t.ter, or b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Garnish with forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, and fritters, made of the brains, mixed up with eggs, a little cream, a dust of flour, nutmeg, and a little parsley, boiled and chopped fine. Mix them all well together, and fry them in little cakes; put a few bits of bacon and lemon round the dish.

_Calf's Head, to hash._ No. 4.

Half boil the head; cut it into round pieces; season with nutmeg, salt, pepper, and a large onion. Save all the gravy, put in a pint of white wine, a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, and four spoonfuls of oyster liquor: let it stew with the meat, not too fast: thicken it with a little b.u.t.ter and a dozen of oysters, and, when dished, add some rolled bacon, forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, and the brains fried in thin cakes, very brown, and the size of a crown-piece, laid round the dish. Garnish with lemon and pickled mushrooms; lemon pickle is an addition.

_Calf's Head, to hash._ No. 5.

Have the head well cleaned; boil it well, cut in slices half of the head, and have some good ragout of forcemeat, truffles, mushrooms, morels, and artichoke bottoms, also some veal sweet-herbs. Season your ragout, and throw in your slices, a bit of garlic and parsley, with some thyme, and squeeze a lemon in it, but be cautious to have it skimmed well. Take the other part of the head, and score it like diamonds; season with salt and pepper, and rub it over with an egg and some crumbs of bread. Then broil it, pour the hash into the dish; let the half head lie in the middle, and cut and set off the brains afterwards in slices.

Fry bacon, and lay slices round the dish with sliced lemon.

_Calf's Head frica.s.see._

Clean well a calf's head, boil it and cut in square pieces of about an inch; put half a pint of its own liquor, and mix it well with some mushrooms, sweetbreads, yolks of eggs, artichoke bottoms, and cream.

Season with nutmeg and mace, and squeeze in a lemon: but serve it up hot.

_Calf's Head, to pickle._

Take out the bones and clean the head carefully: wash it well with eggs, seasoning it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, thyme, and parsley. Put some forcemeat on it, and roll it up. Boil it tender; take it up, lay it in sturgeon-pickle for four days; and if you please you may cut it in pieces as you would sturgeon.

_Calf's Liver._

Lay it for a few hours in milk, then dry and fry it in b.u.t.ter.

_Cauliflowers, with White Sauce._

Boil the cauliflowers in small pieces till tender; drain them in a sieve; when quite dry lay them in a dish; season the sauce with a little pepper and salt, and pour it pretty thick over them.

_Celery, to stew._

Cut and trim a dozen heads of celery; put them in cold water to blanch; stew them in a little b.u.t.ter, salt, and water. When done enough they should be quite soft, but not broken. Drain them, and have ready a rich white sauce, the same that is used for boiled chickens, only without truffles or mushrooms; pour this sauce over the celery, and serve hot.

_Another way._

Take a dozen white heads of celery, cut about two inches long, wash them clean, and put them in a stewpan, with a pint of gravy, a gla.s.s of white wine, a bundle of sweet-herbs, pepper, and salt: cover close, and stew them till they are tender. Then take out the sweet-herbs; put in a piece of b.u.t.ter mixed with flour; let it stew till it is thick, and dish it up.

_Celery a la Creme._

Take a dozen white heads of celery, cut about two inches long; wash them very clean, and boil them in water till they are very tender; have ready half a pint of cream, a little b.u.t.ter mixed with flour, a little nutmeg, and salt; boil it up till thick and smooth; put in the celery, give it a toss or two, and dish it up.