A Poetical Cook-Book Part 5

BOILED TURKEY.

But man, cursed man, on _turkeys_ preys, And Christmas shortens all our days.

Sometimes with oysters we combine, Sometimes a.s.sist the savory chine.

From the low peasant to the lord, The _turkey_ smokes on every board.

GAY.

Make a stuffing of bread, salt, pepper, nutmeg, lemon-peel, a few oysters, a bit of b.u.t.ter, some suet, and an egg; put this into the crop, fasten up the skin, and boil the turkey in a floured cloth to make it very white. Have ready some oyster sauce made rich with b.u.t.ter, a little cream, and a spoonful of soy, and serve over the turkey.

DEVILLED TURKEY.

And something's here with name uncivil, For our cook christens it "_A Devil_,"

"_A Devil_, in any shape, sweet maid, A parson fears not," Syntax said; "I'll make him minced meat; 'tis my trade."

Take cold roast turkey legs, score them well, season them with salt and plenty of cayenne pepper and mustard, then broil them. Serve them _hot_.

CAPON.

In good roast beef my landlord sticks his knife, The _capon_ fat delights his dainty wife.

GAY.

Take a quart of white wine, season the capon with salt, cloves, and whole pepper, a few shallots, and then put the capon in an earthen pan; you must take care it has not room to shake; it must be covered close, and done over a slow charcoal fire.

CHICKEN CROQUETTES.

Gargilius, sleek, voluptuous lord, A hundred dainties smoke upon his board; Earth, air, and ocean ransack'd for the feast, In masquerade of foreign olios dress'd.

WARTON.

Reduce two spoonfuls of veloute or sauce tournee, and add to the yolks of four eggs; put to this the white meat of a chicken, minced very small, and well mixed with the sauce; take it out, and roll it into b.a.l.l.s, about the size of a walnut; roll them in breadcrumbs, giving them an elongated form; then beat them in some well-beaten egg; bread them again, and fry them of a light brown.

LEG OF MUTTON.

But hang it, to poets, who seldom can eat, Your very good _mutton's_ a very good treat.

GOLDSMITH.

Cut off the shank bone, and trim the knuckle, put it into lukewarm water for ten minutes, wash it clean, cover it with cold water, and let it simmer very gently, and skim it carefully; a leg of nine pounds will take two and a half or three hours, if you like it thoroughly done, especially in very cold weather.

The liquor the mutton is boiled in, you may convert into good soup in five minutes, and Scotch barley broth. Thus managed, a leg of mutton is a most economical joint.

TO CURE HAMS.

Or urged thereunto by the woes he endured, The way to be _smoked_, is the way to be _cured_.

ANONYMOUS.

But to the fading palate bring relief, By the _Westphalian ham_ or Belgic beef.

KING.

When the weather will permit, hang the ham three days; mix an ounce of saltpetre with one quarter of a pound of bay salt, ditto common salt, ditto of coa.r.s.est sugar, and a quart of strong beer; boil them together, and pour over immediately on the ham; turn it twice a day in the pickle for three weeks. An ounce of black pepper, ditto of pimento in finest powder, added to the above, will give still more flavor. Cover with bran when wiped, and smoke from three to four weeks, as you approve; the latter will make it harder, and more of the flavor of Westphalia. Sew hams in hessings, _i. e._ coa.r.s.e wrapper, if to be smoked where there is a strong fire.

HAM PIES.

Each mortal has his pleasure; none deny Scarsdale his bottle, Darby his _ham pie_.

DODSLEY.

Take two pounds of veal cutlets, cut them in middling sized pieces, season with pepper and a very little salt; likewise one of raw or dressed ham, cut in slices, lay it alternately in the dish, and put some forced or sausage meat at the top, with some stewed mushrooms, and the yolks of three eggs boiled hard, and a gill of water; then proceed as with rumpsteak pie.

N. B. The best end of a neck is the fine part for a pie, cut into chops, and the chine bone taken away.

ROASTED HARE.

Turkey and fowl, and ham and chine, On which the cits prefer to dine, With partridge, too, and eke a _Hare_, The luxuries of country fare, She nicely cooked with bounteous care.

Cut the skin from a hare that has been well soaked, put it on the spit, and rub it well with Madeira, p.r.i.c.king it in various places that it may imbibe plenty of wine; cover it entirely with a paste, and roast it.

When done, take away the paste, rub it quickly over with egg, sprinkle breadcrumbs, and baste it gently with b.u.t.ter (still keeping it turning before the fire), until a crust is formed over it, and it is of a nice brown color; dish it over some espagnole with Madeira wine boiled in it; two or three cloves may be stuck into the knuckles, if you think proper.

FRICASEED RABBITS.

Your _rabbits fricaseed_ and chicken, With curious choice of dainty picking, Each night got ready at the Crown, With port and punch to wash 'em down.

LLOYD.

Take two fine white rabbits, and cut them in pieces; blanch them in boiling water, and skim them for one minute; stir a few tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of mushrooms in a stewpan over the fire, with a bit of b.u.t.ter, till it begins to fry, then stir in a spoonful of flour; mix into the flour, a little at a time, nearly a quart of good consomme, which set on the fire, and when it boils put the rabbits in, and let them boil gently till done; then put them in another stewpan, and reduce the sauce till nearly as thick as paste; mix in about half a pint of good boiling cream, and when it becomes the thickness of bechamelle sauce in general, squeeze it through the tammy to the rabbits; make it very hot, put in a few mushrooms, the yolk of an egg, a little cream, and then serve it to table.

BIRDS.

TO ROAST PHEASANTS.

Little birds fly about with the _true pheasant taint_, And the geese are all born with the liver[56-*] complaint.

MOORE.

Chop some fine raw oysters, omitting the head part, mix them with salt and nutmeg, and add some beaten yolk of egg to bind the other ingredients. Cut some very thin slices of cold ham or bacon, and cover the birds with them, then wrap them in sheets of paper well b.u.t.tered, put them on the spit, and roast them before a clear fire.

TO ROAST ORTOLANS.

With all the luxury of statesmen dine, On daily feasts of _ortolans_ and wine.

CAWTHORN.