Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches Part 56

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK.

CHICKEN JELLY.

Take a large chicken, cut it up into very small pieces, bruise the bones, and put the whole into a stone jar with a cover that will make it water tight. Set the jar in a large kettle of boiling water, and keep it boiling for three hours. Then strain off the liquid, and season it slightly with salt, pepper, and mace; or with loaf-sugar and lemon juice, according to the taste of the person for whom it is intended.

Return the fragments of the chicken to the jar, and set it again in a kettle of boiling water. You will find that you can collect nearly as much jelly by the second boiling.

This jelly may be made of an old fowl.

BREAD JELLY.

Measure a quart of boiling water, and set it away to get cold.

Take one-third of a six cent loaf of bread, slice it, pare off the crust, and toast the crumb nicely of a light brown. Then put it into the boiled water, set it on hot coals in a covered pan, and boil it gently, till you find by putting some in a spoon to cool, that the liquid has become a jelly. Strain it through a thin cloth, and set it away for use. When it is to be taken, warm a tea-cupful, sweeten it with sugar, and add a little grated lemon-peel.

ARROW ROOT JELLY.

Mix three table-spoonfuls of arrow root powder in a tea-cup of water till quite smooth, cover it, and let it stand a quarter of an hour. Put the yellow peel of a lemon into a skillet with a pint of water, and let it boil till reduced to one half. Then take out the lemon-peel, and pour in the dissolved arrow root, (while the water is still boiling;) add sufficient white sugar to sweeten it well, and let it boil together for five or six minutes. It may be seasoned (if thought necessary) with two tea-spoonfuls of wine, and some grated nutmeg.

It may be boiled in milk instead of water, or in wine and water, according to the state of the person for whom it is wanted.

RICE JELLY.

Having picked and washed a quarter of a pound of rice, mix it with half a pound of loaf-sugar, and just sufficient water to cover it.

Boil it till it becomes a glutinous ma.s.s; then strain it; season it with whatever may be thought proper; and let it stand to cool.

PORT WINE JELLY.

Melt in a little warm water an ounce of isingla.s.s; stir it into a pint of port wine, adding two ounces of sugar candy, an ounce of gum arabic, and half a nutmeg grated. Mix all well, and boil it ten minutes; or till every thing is thoroughly dissolved. Then strain it through muslin, and set it away to get cold.

SAGO.

Wash the sago through two or three water, and then let it soak for two or three hours. To a tea-cupful of sago allow a quart of water and some of the yellow peel of a lemon. Simmer it till all the grains look transparent. Then add as much wine and nutmeg as may be proper, and give it another boil altogether. If seasoning is not advisable, the sago may be boiled in milk instead of water, and eaten plain.

TAPIOCA.

Wash the tapioca well, and let it steep for five or six hours, changing the water three times. Simmer it in the last water till quite clear, then season it with sugar and wine, or lemon juice.

GRUEL.

Allow three large table-spoonfuls of oatmeal or Indian meal to a quart of water. Put the meal into a large bowl, and add the water, a little at a time, mixing and bruising the meal with the back of a spoon. As you proceed, pour off the liquid into another bowl, every time, before adding fresh water to the meal, till you have used it all up. Then boil the mixture for twenty minutes, stirring it all the while; add a little salt. Then strain the gruel and sweeten it. A piece of b.u.t.ter may be stirred into it; and, if thought proper, a little wine and nutmeg. It should be taken warm.

OATMEAL GRUEL.

Put four table-spoonfuls of the best grits (oatmeal coa.r.s.ely ground) into a pint of boiling water. Let it boil gently, and stir it often, till it becomes as thick as you wish it. Then strain it, and add to it while warm, b.u.t.ter, wine, nutmeg, or whatever is thought proper to flavour it.

If you make the gruel of fine oatmeal, sift it, mix it first to a thick batter with a little cold water, and then put it into the sauce-pan of boiling water. Stir it all the time it is boiling, lifting the spoon gently up and down, and letting the gruel fall slowly back again into the pan.

PANADA.

Having pared off the crust, boil some slices of bread in a quart of water for about five minutes. Then take out the bread, and beat it smooth in a deep dish, mixing in a little of the water it has boiled in; and mix it with a bit of fresh b.u.t.ter, and sugar and nutmeg to your taste. Another way is to grate some bread, or to grate or pound a few crackers. Pour on boiling water, beat it well, and add sugar and nutmeg.

BARLEY WATER.

Wash clean some barley, (either pearl or common) and to two ounces of barley allow a quart of water. Put it into a sauce-pan, adding, if you choose, an equal quant.i.ty of stoned raisins; or some lemon-peel and sugar; or some liquorice root cut up. Let it boil slowly till the liquid is reduced one half. Then strain it off, and sweeten it.

GROUND RICE MILK.

Mix in a bowl two table-spoonfuls of ground rice, with sufficient milk to make a thin batter. Then stir it gradually into a pint of milk and boil it with sugar, lemon-peel or nutmeg.

BEEF TEA.

Cut a pound of the lean of fresh juicy beef into small thin slices, and sprinkle them with a very little salt. Put the meat into a wide-mouthed gla.s.s or stone jar closely corked, and set it in a kettle or pan of water, which must be made to boil, and kept boiling hard round the jar for an hour or more. Then take out the jar and strain the essence of the beef into a bowl. Chicken tea may be made in the same manner.

MUTTON BROTH.

Cut off all the fat from a loin of mutton, and to each pound of the lean allow a quart of water. Season it with a little salt and some shred parsley, and put in some large pieces of the crust of bread. Boil it slowly for two or three hours, skimming it carefully.

Beef, veal, or chicken broth may be made in the same manner.

Vegetables may be added if approved. Also barley or rice.

MUTTON BROTH MADE QUICKLY.

Cut three chops from the best part of a neck of mutton, and remove the fat and skin. Beat the meat on both sides and slice it thin.

Put into a small sauce-pan with a pint of water, a little salt, and some crust of bread cut into pieces. You may add a little parsley, and a small onion sliced thin. Cover the sauce-pan, and set it over the fire. Boil it fast, skim it, and in half an hour it should be ready for use.

WINE WHEY.

Boil a pint of milk; and when it rises to the top of the sauce-pan, pour in a large gla.s.s of sherry or Madeira. It will be the better for adding a gla.s.s of currant wine also. Let it again boil up, and then take the sauce-pan off the fire, and set it aside to stand for a few minutes, but do not stir it. Then remove the curd, (if it has completely formed,) and pour the clear whey into a bowl and sweeten it.

When wine is considered too heating, the whey may be made by turning the milk with lemon juice.