Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 9

_Since we must eat to live, let us prepare our food in such a manner, that our physical, intellectual, and moral capacities may be extended as far as is designed by our CREATOR._

DIVERS RECEIPTS.

ALMONDS.

Two kinds are used in cooking, the sweet and the bitter.

They are sh.e.l.led first, then by pouring boiling water on them and leaving them in it for two or three minutes, they are easily skinned.

They are sometimes used as soon as skinned, and sometimes dried after being skinned and just before using.

When wanted dried, place them in a pan in a slow oven with the door open, and turn them occasionally.

LEMONADE OR ORANGEADE.

Put two ounces of loaf sugar in a quart of water, also the rind of an orange or one of lemon. Half an hour after strain the whole, and press into it the juice of the orange, and a few drops of lemon-juice. If found too strong, add water and sugar. It is a very good drink in summer, or for evening parties. A little currant jelly may be added to make a variety.

LEMONADE WITH BARLEY.

To the above lemonade or orangeade you add, instead of water and sugar, some barley-water and sugar; it is very good and very refres.h.i.+ng.

Barley-water is made by soaking in lukewarm water a pint of barley, drain it two or three minutes after; put the barley in a crockery pan, cover it with cold water (about three quarts), set it on the fire, and boil till the barley is perfectly cooked; skim off the sc.u.m during the cooking, drain, let cool, and use the water.

BARLEY SUGAR FOR CHILDREN.

Soak a quart of barley in lukewarm water for two or three minutes, and drain. Put the barley in a crockery stewpan, with four or five quarts of water, and set it on a good fire, boil till the barley is overdone, and then take from the fire, mash it as well as possible and strain, throwing away what there is in the strainer, and if the remainder does not make a kind of jelly when cool, the barley has not been boiled enough.

Mix that jelly with sugar and fry it; it is better than any other candy, barley being refres.h.i.+ng, and the princ.i.p.al substance of it.

BAVAROISE WITH CHOCOLATE.

Put in a tin pan a pint of milk, with one ounce of chocolate, and two of sugar; set it over the fire, but do not allow it to boil; stir well with a wooden spoon during the process, and when the whole is well mixed, serve warm in cups.

It is an excellent and wholesome drink in the evening.

_The same with Coffee or Tea._--Proceed as above in every particular, except that you put in the pan a small cup of coffee or tea instead of chocolate, and a little more sugar.

b.i.+.c.hOF.

Put in a crockery tureen two bottles of white wine, with an orange and a lemon, both cut in slices; cover, and place it in a warm place for about ten hours; then strain into a vessel, and mix well with the liquor about a pound of loaf sugar, and a little grated cinnamon.

It may be served warm or cold.

_Another way._--Melt a pound of loaf sugar in half a pint of cold water, and then mix with it two bottles of white wine, a pinch of grated cinnamon, the juice of an orange, and that of a lemon, and use. It takes only a few minutes to make it.

If found too strong, add water and sugar.

TO PRESERVE BIRDS.

Broil or roast, according to our directions, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, partridges, pheasants, prairie hens, quails, etc.; then carve them; take the bones out of the pieces, place them in a crockery pot, which you fill with melted b.u.t.ter or lard, and cover well when cold.

Place the pot in a cool and dry place, and they will keep for months.

When you wish to eat them, take out the quant.i.ty you want, and place it in a frying-pan, with the b.u.t.ter or lard that is around; fry till warm, and serve.

BREAD-CRUMBS.

Put slices of stale bread in a slow oven till they are perfectly dried up. Break them in pieces and reduce them to coa.r.s.e powder with a rolling pin; sift them, and they are ready for use.

Bread-crumbs are better than cracker-crumbs; the latter, when reduced to powder, are too floury, and besides, there is always stale bread enough in a kitchen to make crumbs.

The above crumbs are rather brown.

_White crumbs._--Cut in rather large dice the soft part of stale bread, put the pieces in a new and coa.r.s.e towel, rub between the hands so as to reduce the pieces of bread to crumbs; pa.s.s through a colander or through a sieve, according to need, coa.r.s.e or fine, and use.

BURNT SUGAR.

Take an old tin ladle and place it over a sharp fire, with two ounces of loaf sugar in it; stir with a stick or skewer till it is thoroughly black and burnt. Then add, little by little, about one gill of water; stir a little, boil about four minutes, but not fast, lest it should boil over the ladle; strain, and it is made.

As soon as cold, bottle it and use when wanted.

It keeps any length of time.

It is used to color broth, sauces, gravies, etc.

It is called _caramel_ in French.

COFFEE.

It is simple to make coffee. Of course, when properly made, with good berries, the liquor is good.

When good roasted coffee can be bought, it saves the trouble of roasting it, and is, or rather ought to be, cheaper than it can be done in a family.

If coffee is roasted a long time before being used it loses much of its aroma, therefore a family ought not to roast more than it can use in about a week, while twenty or twenty-five pounds can be roasted at one time and by one person.

Three or four different kinds, roasted separately, and properly mixed, make better coffee than one kind alone.