The Book of Household Management Part 221

_Time_.--10 minutes.

_Sufficient_ to make a pint of gruel.

INVALID'S JELLY.

1869. INGREDIENTS.--12 shanks of mutton, 3 quarts of water, a bunch of sweet herbs, pepper and salt to taste, 3 blades of mace, 1 onion, 1 lb.

of lean beef, a crust of bread toasted brown.

_Mode_.--Soak the shanks in plenty of water for some hours, and scrub them well; put them, with the beef and other ingredients, into a saucepan with the water, and let them simmer very gently for 5 hours.

Strain the broth, and, when cold, take off all the fat. It may be eaten either warmed up or cold as a jelly.

_Time_.--5 hours. _Average cost_, 1s.

_Sufficient_ to make from 1-1/2 to 2 pints of jelly.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

LEMONADE FOR INVALIDS.

1870. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lemon, lump sugar to taste, 1 pint of boiling water.

_Mode_.--Pare off the rind of the lemon thinly; cut the lemon into 2 or 3 thick slices, and remove as much as possible of the white outside pith, and all the pips. Put the slices of lemon, the peel, and lump sugar into a jug; pour over the boiling water; cover it closely, and in 2 hours it will be fit to drink. It should either be strained or poured off from the sediment.

_Time_.--2 hours. _Average cost_, 2d.

_Sufficient_ to make 1 pint of lemonade. _Seasonable_ at any time.

NOURIs.h.i.+NG LEMONADE.

1871. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 pint of boiling water, the juice of 4 lemons, the rinds of 2, 1/2 pint of sherry, 4 eggs, 6 oz. of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--Pare off the lemon-rind thinly, put it into a jug with the sugar, and pour over the boiling water. Let it cool, then strain it; add the wine, lemon-juice, and eggs, previously well beaten, and also strained, and the beverage will be ready for use. If thought desirable, the quant.i.ty of sherry and water could be lessened, and milk subst.i.tuted for them. To obtain the flavour of the lemon-rind properly, a few lumps of the sugar should be rubbed over it, until some of the yellow is absorbed.

_Time_.--Altogether 1 hour to make it. _Average cost_, 1s. 8d.

_Sufficient_ to make 2-1/2 pints of lemonade. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TO MAKE MUTTON BROTH.

1872. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of the scrag end of the neck of mutton, 1 onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, 4 turnip, 1/2 pints of water, pepper and salt to taste.

_Mode_.--Put the mutton into a stewpan; pour over the water cold and add the other ingredients. When it boils, skim it very carefully, cover the pan closely, and let it simmer very gently for an hour; strain it, let it cool, take off all the fat from the surface, and warm up as much as may be required, adding, if the patient be allowed to take it, a teaspoonful of minced parsley which has been previously scalded. Pearl barley or rice are very nice additions to mutton broth, and should be boiled as long as the other ingredients. When either of these is added, the broth must not be strained, but merely thoroughly skimmed. Plain mutton broth without seasoning is made by merely boiling the mutton, water, and salt together, straining it, letting the broth cool, skimming all the fat off, and warming up as much as is required. This preparation would be very tasteless and insipid, but likely to agree with very delicate stomachs, whereas the least addition of other ingredients would have the contrary effect.

_Time_.--1 hour. _Average cost_, _7d._

_Sufficient_ to make from 1-1/2 to 2 pints of broth.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note_.--Veal broth may be made in the same manner; the knuckle of a leg or shoulder is the part usually used for this purpose. It is very good with the addition of the inferior joints of a fowl, or a few shank-bones.

MUTTON BROTH, QUICKLY MADE.

1873. INGREDIENTS.--1 or 2 chops from a neck of mutton, 1 pint of water, a small bunch of sweet herbs, 1/4 of an onion, pepper and salt to taste.

_Mode_.--Cut the meat into small pieces, put it into a saucepan with the bones, but no skin or fat; add the other ingredients; cover the saucepan, and bring the water quickly to boil. Take the lid off, and continue the rapid boiling for 20 minutes, skimming it well during the process; strain the broth into a basin; if there should be any fat left on the surface, remove it by laying a piece of thin paper on the top: the greasy particles will adhere to the paper, and so free the preparation from them. To an invalid nothing is more disagreeable than broth served with a quant.i.ty of fat floating on the top; to avoid this, it is always better to allow it to get thoroughly cool, the fat can then be so easily removed.

_Time_.--20 minutes after the water boils. _Average cost_, 5d.

_Sufficient_ to make 1/2 pint of broth. _Seasonable_ at any time.

STEWED RABBITS IN MILK.

1874. INGREDIENTS.--2 very young rabbits, not nearly half grown; 1-1/2 pint of milk, 1 blade of mace, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, a little salt and cayenne.

_Mode_.--Mix the flour very smoothly with 4 tablespoonfuls of the milk, and when this is well mixed, add the remainder. Cut up the rabbits into joints, put them into a stewpan, with the milk and other ingredients, and simmer them _very gently_ until quite tender. Stir the contents from time to time, to keep the milk smooth and prevent it from burning. 1/2 hour will be sufficient for the cooking of this dish.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.

_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 meals. _Seasonable_ from September to February.

RICE-MILK.

1875. INGREDIENTS.--3 tablespoonfuls of rice, 1 quart of milk, sugar to taste; when liked, a little grated nutmeg.

_Mode_.--Well wash the rice, put it into a saucepan with the milk, and simmer gently until the rice is tender, stirring it from time to time to prevent the milk from burning; sweeten it, add a little grated nutmeg, and serve. This dish is also very suitable and wholesome for children; it may be flavoured with a little lemon-peel, and a little finely-minced suet may be boiled with it, which renders it more strengthening and more wholesome. Tapioca, semolina, vermicelli, and macaroni, may all be dressed in the same manner.

_Time_.--From 3/4 to 1 hour. _Seasonable_ at any time.

TO MAKE TOAST-AND-WATER.

1876. INGREDIENTS.--A slice of bread, 1 quart of boiling water.

_Mode_.--Cut a slice from a stale loaf (a piece of hard crust is better than anything else for the purpose), toast it of a nice brown on every side, but _do not allow it to burn or blacken_. Put it into a jug, pour the boiling water over it, cover it closely, and let it remain until cold. When strained, it will be ready for use. Toast-and-water should always be made a short time before it is required, to enable it to get cold: if drunk in a tepid or lukewarm state, it is an exceedingly disagreeable beverage. If, as is sometimes the case, this drink is wanted in a hurry, put the toasted bread into a jug, and only just cover it with the boiling water; when this is cool, cold water may be added in the proportion required,--the toast-and-water strained; it will then be ready for use, and is more expeditiously prepared than by the above method.

TOAST SANDWICHES.

1877. INGREDIENTS.--Thin cold toast, thin slices of bread-and-b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt to taste.