The Art of Cookery Continued: Chapter II: Made Dishes, Part 5/5

This is the last section of Hannah Glasse’s longest chapter.  Aside from a few more curious ingredients, there is a gruesome passage about how to dress ruffs and reifs; it is actually a similar process to the production of foie gras, the industry of which I don’t support by eating it.  There are also some pretty mysterious instructions for a “hasty dish”, involving a chair and burning papers.  There was a linguistic surprise for me in this chapter; I would have sworn that transmorgify was a word invented by Calvin & Hobbes; but nope.  Hannah uses it!

 

Pigeons in compote with white sauce.

Let your pigeons be drawn, picked, scalded, and flayed; then put them into a stew-pan with veal sweetbreads*, cocks-combs, mushrooms, truffles, morels, pepper, salt, a pint of thin gravy, a bundle of sweet-herbs, an onion, and a blade or two of mace:  cover them close, let them stew half an hour, then take out the herbs and onion, beat up the yolks of two or three eggs, with some chopped parsley, in a quarter of a pint of cream, and a little nutmeg; mix all together, stir in one way till thick; lay the pigeons in the dish, and the sauce all over.  Garnish with lemon.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

A French pupton of Pigeons.

Take savoury force-meat* rolled out like paste, put it in a butter dish, lay a layer of very thin bacon, squab** pigeons, sliced sweetbread***, asparagus-tops, mushrooms, cocks-combs, a palate boiled tender and cut into pieces, and the yolks of hard eggs; make another force-meat and lay over like a pye, bake it; and when enough turn it into a dish, and pour gravy round it.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

**Squab: A young domestic pigeon or its meat. Dark chicken meat can be substituted.

***Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

Pigeons boiled with rice.

Take six pigeons, stuff their bellies with parsley, pepper, and salt, rolled in a very little piece of butter; put them into a quart of mutton broth, with a little beaten mace, a bundle of sweet-herbs, and an onion; cover them close, and let them boil a full quarter of an hour; then take out the onion and sweet-herbs, and take a good piece of butter rolled in flour, put it in and give it a shake, season it with salt, if it wants it, then have ready half a pound of rice boiled tender in milk; when it begins to be thick (but take great care it do not burn) take the yolks of two or three eggs, beat up with two or three spoonfuls of cream and a little nutmeg, stir it together till it is quite thick, then take up the pigeons and lay them in a dish; pour the gravy to the rice, stir all together and pour over the pigeons.  Garnish with hard eggs cut into quarters.

Pigeons transmogrified.

Take your pigeons, season them with pepper and salt, take a large piece of butter, make a puff-paste*, and roll each pigeon in a piece of paste; tie them in a cloth, so that the paste do not break; boil them in a good deal of water.  They will take an hour and a half boiling; untie them carefully that they do not bread; lay them in the dish, and you may pour a little good gravy in the dish.  They will eat exceeding good and nice, and will yield sauce enough of a very agreeable relish.

* paste = Puff pastry dough, Phyllo dough

Pigeons in Fricandos.

After having trussed your pigeons with their legs in their bodies, divide them in two, and lard them with bacon; then lay them in a stew-pan with the larded side downwards, and two whole leeks cut small, two ladlefuls of mutton broth, or veal gravy; cover them close over a very slow fire, and when they are enough make your fire very brisk, to waste away what liquor remains:  when they are of a fine brown take them up, and pour out all the fat that is left in the pan; then pour in some veal gravy to loosen what sticks to the pan, and a little pepper; stir it about for two or three minutes and pour it over the pigeons.  This is a pretty little side-dish.

To roast Pigeons with farce*.

Make a farce with the livers minced small, as much sweet suet or marrow, grated bread, and hard egg, an equal quantity of each; season with beaten mace, nutmeg, a little pepper, salt, and a little sweet-herbs; mix all these together with the yolk of an egg, then cut the skin of your pigeon between the legs and the body, and very carefully with your finger raise the skin from the flesh, but take care you do not break it:  then force them with this farce between the skin and flesh, then truss the legs close to keep it in; spit them and roast them, drudge them with a little flour, and baste them with a piece of butter; save the gravy which runs from them, and mix it up with a little red wine, a little of the force-meat, and some nutmeg.  Let it boil, then thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour, and the yolk of an egg beat up, and some minced lemon; when enough lay the pigeons in the dish and pour in the sauce.  Garnish with lemon.

*Farce: (late 14th C.), force-meat (a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base)

To dress pigeons à la soleil.

First stew your pigeons in a very little gravy till enough, and take different sorts of flesh according to your fancy, &c. both of butcher’s meat and fowl, chop it small, season it with beaten mace, cloves, pepper, and salt, and beat it in a mortar till it is like paste; roll your pigeons in it, then roll them in the yolk of an egg, shake flour and crumbs of bread thick all over, have ready some beef dripping or hog’s lard boiling; fry them brown, and lay them in your dish.  Garnish with fried parsley.

Pigeons in a hole.

Take your pigeons, season them with beaten mace, pepper, and salt; put a little piece of butter in the belly, lay them in a dish, and pour a little batter all over them, made with a quart of milk and eggs, and four or five spoonfuls of flour.  Bake it and send it to table.  It is a good dish.

Pigeons in Pimlico.

Take the livers, with some fat and lean of ham or bacon, mushrooms, truffles, parsley, and sweet-herbs; season with beaten mace, pepper, and salt; beat all this together, with two raw eggs, put it into the bellies, roll them in a thin slice of veal, over that a thin slice of bacon, wrap them up in white paper, spit them on a small spit, and roast them.  In the mean time make for them a ragoo of truffles and mushrooms chopped small with parsley cut small, put to it half a pint of good veal gravy, thicken with a piece of butter rolled in flour.  An hour will do you pigeons; baste them, when enough lay them in your dish, take off the paper, and pour your sauce over them.  Garnish with patties, made thus: take veal and cold ham, beef-suet, an equal quantity, some mushrooms, sweet-herbs, and spice, chop them small, set them on the fire, and moisten with milk or cream; then make a little puff paste, roll it and make little patties, about an inch deep and two inches long; fill them with the above ingredients, cover them close and bake them; lay six of them round a dish.  This makes a fine dish for a first course.

To jugg pigeons.

Pull, crop, and draw pigeons, but don’t wash them; save the livers and put them in scalding water, and set them on the fire for a minute or two:  then take them out and mince them small, and bruise them with the back of a spoon; mix with them a little pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and lemon-peel shred very fine, chopped parsley, and two yolks of eggs very hard; bruise them as you do the liver, and put as much suet as liver shaved exceeding fine, and as much grated bread; work these together with raw eggs, and roll it in fresh butter; put a piece into the crops and bellies, and sew up the necks and vents:  then dip your pigeons in water, and season them with pepper and salt as for a pie, put them in your jugg, with a piece of celery, stop them close, and set them in a kettle of cold water; first cover them close, and lay a tile on the top of the jugg, and lay them in a dish, take out the celery, put in a piece of butter rolled in flour, shake it about till it is thick, and pour it on your pigeons.  Garnish with lemon.

To stew pigeons.

Season your pigeons with pepper, salt, cloves, mace, and some sweet-herbs; wrap this seasoning up in a piece of utter, and put in their bellies; then tie up the neck and vent, and half-roast them; then put them into a stew-pan with a quart of good gravy, a little white wine, some pickled mushrooms, a few pepper-corns, three or four blades of mace, a bit of lemon-peel, a bunch of sweet-herbs, a bit of onions, and some oysters pickled; let them stew till they are enough, then thicken it up with butter and yolks of eggs.  Garnish with lemon.

Do ducks the same way.

To dress a calf’s liver in a caul.

Take off the under skins, and shred the liver very small, then take an ounce of truffles and morels chopped small, with parsley; roast two or three onions, take off their outermost coats, pound six cloves, and a dozen coriander-seeds, add them to the onions, and pound them together in a marble mortar; then take them out, and mix them with the liver, take a pint of cream, half a pint of milk, and seven or eight new-laid eggs; beat them together, boil them, but do not let them curdle, shred a pound of suet as small as you can, half melt it in a pan, and pour it into your egg and cream, then pour it into your liver, then mix all well together, season it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little thyme, and let it stand till it is cold:  spread a caul over the bottom and sides of the stew-pan, and put in your hashed liver and cream all together, fold it up in the caul, in the shape of a calf’s liver, then turn it upside-down carefully, lay it in a dish that will bear the oven, and do it over with beaten egg, drudge it with grated bread, and bake it in an oven.  Serve it up hot for a first course.

To dress a calf’s liver.

Lard it with bacon, spit it first, and roast it; serve it up with good gravy.

To roast partridges.

Let them be nicely roasted, but not too much, drudge them with a little flour, and baste them moderately; let them have a fine froth, there be good gravy-sauce in the dish, and bread-sauce in basons made thus:  take a pint of water, put in a good thick piece of bread, some whole pepper, a blade or two of mace; boil it five or six minutes till the bread is soft, then take out all the spice, and pour out all the water, only just enough to keep it moist, beat it soft with a spoon, throw in a little salt, and a good piece of fresh butter; stir it well together, set it over the fire for a minute or two, then put it into a boat.

To boil partridges.

Boil them in a good deal of water, let them boil quick, and fifteen minutes will be sufficient.  For sauce, take a quarter of a pint of cream, and a piece of fresh butter as big as a large walnut; stir it one way till it is melted, and pour it into the dish.

Or this sauce:  take a bunch of celery clean washed, cut all the white very small, wash it again very clean, put it into a sauce-pan with a blade of mace, a little beaten pepper, and a very little salt; put to it a pint of water, let it boil till the water is just wasted away, then add a quarter of a pint of cream, and a piece of butter rolled in flour; stir all together, and when it is thick and fine pour it over the birds.

Or this sauce:  take the livers and bruise them fine, some parsley chopped fine, melt a little nice fresh butter, and then add the livers and parsley to it, squeeze in a little lemon, just give it a boil, and pour over your birds.

Or this sauce:  take a quarter of a pint of cream, the yolk of an egg beat fine, a little grated nutmeg, a little beaten mace, a piece of butter as big as a nutmeg, rolled in flour, and one spoonful of white wine; stir all together one way, when fine and thick pour it over the birds.  You may add a few mushrooms.

Or this sauce:  take a few mushrooms, fresh peeled, and wash them clean, put them in a sauce-pan with a little salt, put them over a quick fire, let them boil up, then put in a quarter of a pint of cream and a little nutmeg; shake them together with a very little piece of butter rolled in flour, give it two or three shakes over the fire, three or four minutes will do; then pour it over the birds.

Or this sauce:  boil half a pound of rice very tender in beef gravy; season with pepper and salt, and pour over your birds.  These sauces do for boiled fowls; a quart of gravy will be enough, and let it boil till it is quite thick.

To dress partridges à la braise.

Take two brace*, truss the legs into the bodies, lard them, season them with beaten mace, pepper, and salt; take a stew-pan, lay slices of bacon at the bottom, then slices of beef, and then slices of veal, all cut thin, a piece of carrot, an onions cut small, a bundle of sweet-herbs, and some whole pepper:  lay the partridges with the breasts downward, lay some thin slices of beef and veal over them, and some parsley shred fine; cover them and let them stew eight or ten minutes over a very slow fire, then give your pan a shake, and pour in a pint of boiling water; cover it close, and let it stew half an hour over a little quicker fire; then take out your birds, keep them hot, pour into the pan a pint of thin gravy, let them boil till there is about half a pint, then strain it off and skim off all the fat:  in the mean time, have a veal sweetbread*** cut small, truffles and morels, cocks-combs, and fowls livers stewed in a pint of good gravy half an hour, some artichoke-bottoms and asparagus-tops, both blanched in warm water, and a few mushrooms, then add the other gravy to this, and put in your partridges to heat, if it is not thick enough, take a piece of butter rolled in flour, and toss up in it; if you will be at the expence, thicken it with veal and ham cullis**, but it will be full as good without.

* Brace:  A pair of game birds

** Cullis /Coulis:  A strong broth made of meat or fowl with other ingredients used as a base for various sauces or as a restorative for the sick.

***Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To make partridge panes*.

Take two roasted partridges and the flesh of a large fowl, a little parboiled bacon, and a little marrow or sweet-suet chopped very fine, a few mushrooms and morels chopped fine, truffles, and artichoke-bottoms, season with beaten mace, pepper and a little nutmeg, salt, sweet-herbs chopped fine, and the crumb of a two-penny loaf soaked in hot gravy; mix all well together with the yolks of two eggs, make your panes on paper, or a round figure, and the thickness of an egg, at a proper distance from one another, dip the point of a knife in the yolk of an egg, in order to shape them; bread them neatly, and bake them a quarter of an hour in a quick oven:  observe that the truffles and morels be boiled tender in the gravy you soak the bread in.  Serve them up for a side-dish, or they will serve to garnish the above dish, which will be a very fine one for a first course.

Note, When you have cold fowls in the house, this make a pretty addition in an entertainment.

*Pane:  Hannah also spelled this “pain”, but I could find neither.  By her referral to paper, and direction on how it is done, I infer that it is referring to a decorative baking shape, perhaps in the shape of window panes.  If anyone is the wiser, let me know!

To roast pheasants.

Pick and draw your pheasants, and singe them, lard one with bacon, but not the other, spit them, roast them fine, and paper them all over the breast; when they are just done, flour and baste them with a little nice butter, and let them have a fine white froth; then take them up, and pour good gravy in the dish and bread-sauce in plates.

Or you may put water-cresses nicely picked and washed, and just scalded, with gravy in the dish, and lay the cresses under the pheasants.

Or you may make celery-sauce stewed tender, strained and mixed with cream, and poured into the dish.

If you have but one pheasant, take a large fine fowl about the bigness of a pheasant, pick it nicely with the head on, draw it and truss it with the head turned as you do a pheasant’s, lard the fowl all over the breast and legs with a large piece of bacon cut in little pieces; when roasted put them both in a dish, and no body will know it.  They will take an hour doing, as the fire must not be too brisk.  A Frenchman would order fish-sauce to them, but then you quite spoil your pheasants.

A stewed pheasant.

Take your pheasant and stew it in veal gravy, take artichoke-bottoms parboiled, some chestnuts roasted and blanched:  when your pheasant is enough (but it must stew till there is just enough for sauce, then skim it) put in the chestnuts and artichoke-bottoms, a little beaten mace, pepper, and salt just enough to season it, and a glass of white wine, and if you don’t think it thick enough, thicken it with a little piece of butter rolled in flour:  squeeze in a little lemon, pour the sauce over the pheasant, and have some force-meat* balls fried and put into the dish.

Note, a good fowl will do full as well, trussed with the head on like a pheasant.  You may fry sausages instead of force-meat balls.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To dress a pheasant à la braise.

Lay a layer of beef all over your pan, then a layer of veal, a little piece of bacon, a piece of carrot, an onion stuck with cloves, a blade or two of mace, a spoonful of pepper, black and white, and a bundle of sweet-herbs; then lay in the pheasant, lay a layer of veal, and then a layer of beef to cover it, set it on the fire five or six minutes, then pour in two quarts of boiling water:  cover it close, and let it stew very softly an hour and a half, then take up your pheasant, keep it hot, and let the gravy boil till there is about a pint; then strain it off, and put it in again, and put in a veal sweet-bread, first being stewed with the pheasant, then put in some truffles and morels, some livers of fowls, artichoke-bottoms, and asparagus-tops, if you have them; let all these simmer in the gravy about five or six minutes, then add two spoonfuls of catchup, two of red wine, and a little piece of butter rolled in flour, shake all together, put in your pheasant, let them stew all together with a few mushrooms about five or six minutes more, then take up your pheasant and pour your ragoo all over, with a few force-meat* balls.  Garnish with lemon.  You may lard it, if you chuse.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To boil a pheasant.

Take a fine pheasant, boil it in a good deal of water, keep your water boiling; half an hour will do a small one, and three quarters of an hour a large one.  Let your sauce be celery stewed and thickened with cream, and a little piece of butter rolled in flour; take up the pheasant, and pour the sauce all over.  Garnish with lemon.  Observe to stew your celery so, that the liquor will not be all wasted away before you put your cream in; if it wants salt, put in some to your palate.

To roast snipes or woodcocks.

Spit them on a small bird-spit, flour them and baste them with a piece of butter, then have ready a slice of bread toasted brown, lay it in a dish, and set it under the snipes for the trail to drop on; when they are enough, take them up and lay them on a toast; have ready for two snipes, a quarter of a pint of good beef-gravy hot, pour it into the dish, and set it over a chaffing-dish two or three minutes.  Garnish with lemon, and send them hot to table.

Snipes in a surtout*, or woodcocks.

Take force-meat** made with veal, as much beef-suet chopped and beat in a mortar, with an equal quantity of crumbs of bread; mix in a little beaten mace, pepper and salt, come parsley, and a little sweet-herbs, mix it with the yolk of an egg, lay some of this meat round the dish, then lay in the snipes, being first drawn and half roasted.  Take care of the trail; chop it, and throw it all over the dish.

Take some good gravy, according to the bigness of your surtout, some truffles and morels, a few mushrooms, a sweetbread cut into pieces, and artichoke-bottoms cut small; let all stew together, shake them, and take the yolks of two or three eggs, according as you want them, and take the yolks of two or three eggs, according as you want them, beat them up with a spoonful or two of white wine, stir all together one way, when it is thick take it off, let it cool, and pour it into the surtout:  have the yolks of a few hard eggs put in here and there, season with beaten mace, pepper and salt, to your taste; cover it with the force-meat all over, rub the yolks of eggs all over to colour it, then send it to the oven.  Half an hour does it, and send it hot to table.

* Surtout – A surtout coat was a man’s frock coat, of the kind worn by cavalry officers over their uniforms in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It is also a French word meaning “above all” or “especially”.

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To boil snipes or woodcocks.

Boil them in good strong broth, or beef gravy made thus:  take a pound of beef, cut it into little pieces, put it into two quarts of water, an onion, a bundle of sweet-herbs, a blade or two of mace, six cloves, and some whole pepper; cover it close, let it boil till about half wasted, then strain it off, put the gravy into a sauce-pan with salt enough to season it, take the snipes and gut them clean (but take care of the guts) put them into the gravy and let them boil, cover them close, and ten minutes will boil them, if they keep boiling.  In the mean time, chop the guts and liver small, take a little of the gravy the snipes are boiling in, and stew the guts in, with a blade of mace.  Take some crumbs of bread, and have them ready fried in a little fresh butter crisp, of a fine light brown.  You must take about as much bread as the inside of the stale roll, and rub them small into a clean cloth; when they are done, let them stand ready in a plate before the fire.

When your snipes are ready, take about half a pint of the liquor they are boiled in, and add to the guts two spoonfuls of red wine, and a piece of butter about as big as a walnut, rolled in a little flour; set them on the fire, shake your sauce-pan often (but do not stir it with a spoon) till the butter is all melted, then put in the crumbs, give your sauce-pan a shake, take up your birds, lay them in the dish, and pour this sauce over them.  Garnish with lemon.

To dress ortolans.

Spit them sideways, with a bay-leaf between; baste them with butter, and have fried crumbs of bread round the dish.  Dress quails the same way.

To dress ruffs and reifs.

Photo credit: Wikipedia, DickDaniels (http://carolinabirds.org/)

They are Lincolnshire birds, and you may fatten them as you do chickens, with white bread, milk and sugar:  they feed fast, and will die in their fat if not killed in time:  truss them cross-legged as you do a snipe, spit them the same way, but you must gut them, and you must have gravy in the dish thickened with butter and toast under them.  Serve them up quick.

To dress larks.

Spit them on a little bird-spit, roast them; when enough, have a good many crumbs of bread fried, and throw all over them; and lay them thick round the dish.

Or they make a very pretty ragoo with fowls livers; first fry the larks and livers very nicely, then put them into some good gravy to stew; just enough for sauce, with a little red wine.  Garnish with lemon.

To dress plovers*.

To two plovers take two artichoke-bottoms boiled, some chestnuts roasted and blanched, some skirrets** boiled, cut all very small, mix with it some marrow or beef-suet, the yolks of two hard eggs, chop all together, season with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little sweet-herbs, fill the bodies of the plovers, lay them in a sauce-pan, put to them a pint of gravy, a glass of white wine, a blade or two of mace, some roasted chestnuts blanched, and artichoke-bottoms cut into quarters, two or three yolks of eggs, and a little juice of lemon; cover them close, and let them stew very softly an hour.  If you find the sauce is not thick enough, take a piece of butter rolled in flour, and put into the sauce, shake it around, and when it is thick take up your plovers and pour the sauce over them.  Garnish with roasted chestnuts.

Ducks are very good done this way.

Or you may roast your plovers as you do any other fowl, and have gravy-sauce in the dish.

Or boil them in good celery-sauce, either white or brown, just as you like.

The same way you may dress wigeons***.

* Plover:  A small wading bird

** Skirret:  a perennial plant sometimes grown as a root vegetable; also called Water Parsnip.

*** Wigeon:  A type of dabbling duck, also known as the Baldpate.

To dress larks, pear fashion.

You must truss the larks close, and cut off the legs, season them with salt, pepper, cloves, and mace; make a force-meat* thus:  take a veal sweetbread, as much beef suet, a few morels and mushrooms, chop all fine together, some crumbs of bread, and a few sweet-herbs, a little lemon-peel cut small, mix all together with the yolk of an egg, wrap up every lark in force-meat, and shape them like a pear, stick one leg in the top like the stalk of a pear, rub them over with the yolk of an egg and crumbs of bread, bake them in a gentle oven, serve them without sauce; or they make a good garnish to a very fine dish.

You may use veal, if you have not a sweetbread.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To dress a hare.

As to roasting of a hare, I have given full directions in the beginning of the book.

A jugged hare.

Cut it into little pieces, lard them here and there with little slips of bacon, season them with a very little pepper and salt, put them into an earthen jugg, with a blade or two of mace, an onion stuck with cloves, and a bundle of sweet-herbs; cover the jugg or jar you do it in so close that nothing can get in, then set it in a pot of boiling water, keep the water boiling, and three hours will do it.  Then turn it out into the dish, and take out the onions and sweet-herbs, and send it to table hot.  If you don’t like it larded, leave it out.

To seare a hare.

Lard your hare and put a pudding in the belly; put it into a pot or fish-kettle, then put to it two quarts of strong drawed gravy, one of red wine, a whole lemon cut, a faggot of sweet-herbs, nutmeg, pepper, a little salt, and six cloves:  cover it close, and stew it over a very slow fire, till it is three parts done; then take it up, put it into a dish, and strew it over with crumbs of bread, a few sweet-herbs chopped fine, and baste it till it is all of a fine light brown.  In the mean time take the fat off your gravy, and thicken it with the yolk of an egg; take six eggs boiled hard and chopped small, some picked cucumbers cut very thin; mix these with the sauce, and pour it into the dish.

A fillet of mutton or neck of venison may be done the same way.

Note, You may do rabbits the same way, but it must be veal gravy, and white wine; adding mushrooms for cucumbers.

To stew a hare.

Cut it into pieces, and put it into a stew-pan, with a blade or two of mace, some whole pepper black and white, an onion stuck with cloves, an anchovy, a bundle of sweet-herbs, and a nutmeg cut to pieces, and cover it with water; cover the stew-pan close, let it stew till the hare is tender, but not too much done:  then take it up, and with a fork take out the hare into a clean pan, strain the sauce through a coarse sieve, empty all out of the pan, put in the hare again with the sauce, take a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour, and put in likewise one spoonful of catchup, and one of red wine; stew all together (with a few fresh mushrooms, or pickled ones if you have any) till it is thick and smooth; then dish it up, and send it to table.  You may cut a hare in two, and stew the fore-quarters thus, and roast the hind-quarters with a pudding in the belly.

A hare civet*.

Bone the hare, and take out all the sinews, then cut one half in thin slices, and the other half in pieces an inch thick, flour them and fry them in a little fresh butter as collops, quick, and have ready some gravy made good with the bones of the hare and beef, put a pint of it into the pan to the hare, some mustard and a little elder vinegar; cover it close, and let it do softly till it is as thick as cream, then dish it up with the head in the middle.

*Civet:  Meaning uncertain.  It is not referring to the nocturnal mammal. It could be referring to the French term civette, cream, froth or foam.

Portuguese rabbits.

I have, in the beginning of my book, given directions for boiled and roasted.  Get some rabbits, truss them chicken fashion, the head must be cut off, and the rabbit turned with the back upwards, and two of the legs stripped to the claw-end, and so trussed with two skewers.  Lard them, and roast them with what sauce you please.  If you want chickens, and they are to appear as such, they must be dressed in this manner:  but if otherwise the head must be skewered back, and come to the table on, with liver, butter, and parsley, as you have for rabbits, and they look very pretty boiled and trussed in this manner, and smothered with onions:  or if they are to be boiled for chickens, cut off the head, and cover them with white celery-sauce, or rice-sauce tossed up with cream.

Rabbits surprise.

Roast two half-grown rabbits, cut off the heads close to the shoulders and the first joints; then take off all the lean meat from the back bones, cut it small, and toss it up with six or seven spoonfuls of cream and milk, and a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour, a little nutmeg and a little salt, shake it all together till it is as thick as good cream, and set it to cool; then make a force-meat* with a pound of veal, a pound of suet, as much crumbs of bread, two anchovies, a little piece of lemon-peel cut fine, a little sprig of thyme, and a nutmeg grated; let the veal and suet be chopped very fine and beat in a mortar, then mix it all together with the yolks of two raw eggs, place it all round the rabbits, leaving a long trough in the back bone open, that you think will holt the meat you cut out with the sauce, pour it in and cover it with the force-meat, smooth it all over with your hand as well as you can with a raw egg, square at both ends, throw on a little grated bread, and butter a mazarine, or pan, and take them from the dresser where you formed them, and place them on it very carefully.  Bake them three quarters of an hour till they are of a fine brown colour.  Let your sauce be gravy thickened with butter and the juice of a lemon; lay them into the dish, and pour in the sauce.  Garnish with orange cut into quarters, and serve it up for a first course.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To boil rabbits.

Truss them for boiling, boil them quick and white; for sauce take the livers, boil and shred them, and some parsley shred fine, and pickled astertion-buds chopped fine, or capers, mix these with half a pint of good gravy, a glass of white wine, a little beaten mace and nutmeg, a little pepper and salt, if wanted, a piece of butter as big as a large walnut rolled in flour; let it all boil together till it is thick, take up the rabbits and pour the sauce over them.  Garnish with lemon.  You may lard them with bacon, if it is liked.

*Astertion:  meaning uncertain.  She most likely meant Nasturtium, an edible perennial flower.

To dress rabbits in casserole.

Divide the rabbits into quarters.  You may lard them or let them alone, just as you please, shake some flour over them and fry them with lard or butter, then put them into an earthen pipkin* with a quart of good broth, a glass of white wine, a little pepper and salt, if wanted, a bunch of sweet-herbs, and a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour; cover them close and let them stew half an hour, then dish them up and pour the sauce over them.  Garnish with Seville orange, cut into thin slices and notched; the peel that is cut out lay prettily between the slices.

* Pipkin: An earthenware cooking pot used for cooking over direct heat from coals or a wood fire. It has a handle and three feet.

Mutton kebob’d.

Take a loin of mutton, and joint it between every bone:  season it with pepper and salt moderately, grate a small nutmeg all over, dip them in the yolks of three eggs, and have ready crumbs of bread and sweet-herbs, dip them in and clap them together in the same shape again, and put it on a small spit, roast them before a quick fire, set a dish under and baste it with a little piece of butter, and then keep basting with what comes from it, and throw some crumbs of bread all over them as it is roasting; when it is enough take it up, and lay it in the dish, and have ready half a pint of good gravy, and what comes from it; take two spoonfuls of catchup, and mix a tea-spoonful of flour with it and put to the gravy, stir it together and give it a boil, and pour over the mutton.

Note, You must observe to take off all the fat of the inside, and the skin of the top of the meat, and some of the fat, if there be too much.  When you put in what comes from your meat into the gravy, observe to pour out all the fat.

A neck of mutton, called the hasty dish.

Take a large pewter or silver dish, make like a deep soup-dish, with an edge about an inch deep on the inside, on which the lid fixes (with an handle at top) so fast that you may lift it up full by that handle without falling.  This dish is called a necromancer.  Take a neck of mutton about six pounds, take off the skin, cut it into chops, not too thick, slice a French roll thin, peel and slice a very large onions, pare and slice three or four turnips, lay a row of mutton in the dish, on that a row of roll, then a row of turnips, and then onions, a little salt, then the meat, and so on; put in a little bundle of sweet-herbs, and two or three blades of mace; have a tea-kettle of water boiling, fill the dish and cover it close, hang the dish on the back of two chairs by the rim, have ready three sheets of brown paper, tear each sheet into five pieces, and draw them through your hand, light one piece and hold it under the bottom of the dish, moving the paper about; as fast as the paper burns, light another till all is burnt, and your meat will be enough.  Fifteen minutes just does it.  Send it to table hot in the dish.

Note, this dish was first contrived by Mr. Rich, and is much admired by the nobility.

To dress a loin of pork with onions.

Take a fore-loin of pork, and roast it as at another time, peel a quarter of a peck of onions, and slice them thin, lay them in the dripping-pan, which must be very clean, under the pork; let the fat drop on them; when the pork is nigh enough, put the onions into the sauce-pan, let them simmer over the fire a quarter of an hour, shaking them well, then pour out all the fat as well as you can, shake in a very little flour, a spoonful of vinegar, and three tea-spoonfuls of mustard, shake all well together, and stir in the mustard, set it over the fire for four or five minutes, lay the pork in a dish, and the onions in a bason.  This is an admirable dish to those who love onions.

To make a currey the Indian way.

Take two small chickens, skin them and cut them as for a fricasey, wash them clean, and stew them in about a quart of water, for about five minutes, then strain off the liquor and put the chickens in a clean dish; take three large onions, chop them small, and fry them in about two ounces of butter, then put in the chickens and fry them together till they are brown, take a quarter of an ounce of turmerick, a large spoonful of ginger and beaten pepper together, and a little salt to your palate; strew all these ingredients over the chickens whilst it is frying, then pour in the liquor, and let it stew about half an hour, then put in a quarter of a pint of cream, and the juice of two lemons, and serve it up.  The ginger, pepper and tumerick must be beat very fine.

To boil the rice.

Put two quarts of water to a pint of rice, let it boil till you think it is done enough, then throw in a spoonful of salt, and turn it out into a cullender; then let it stand about five minutes before the fire to dry, and serve it up in a dish by itself.  Dish it up and send it to table, the rice in a dish by itself.

To make a pellow the Indian way.

Take three pounds of rice, pick and wash it very clean, put it into a cullender, and let it drain very dry; take three quarters of a pound of butter, and put it into a pan over a very slow fire till it melts, then put in the rice and cover it over very close, that it may keep all the steam in; add to it a little salt, some whole pepper, half a dozen blades of mace, and a few cloves.  You must put in a little water to keep it from burning, then stir it up very often, and let it stew till the rice if soft.  Boil two fowls, and a fine piece of bacon of about two pounds weight as common, cut the bacon in two pieces, lay it in the dish with the fowls, cover it over with the rice, and garnish it with about half a dozen hard eggs and a dozen of onions fried whole and very brown.

Note, This is the true Indian way of dressing them.

Another way to make a pillow.

Take a leg of veal about twelve or fourteen pounds weight, an old cock skinned, chop both to pieces, put it into a pot with five or six blades of mace, some whole white pepper, and three gallons of water, half a pound of bacon, two onions, and six cloves; cover it close, and when it boils let it do very softly till the meat is good for nothing, and above two-thirds is wasted, then strain it; the next day put this soup into a sauce-pan, with a pound of rice, set it over a very slow fire, take great care it do not burn; when the rice is very thick and dry, turn it into a dish.  Garnish with hard eggs cut in two, and have roasted fowls in another dish.

Note, You are to observe, if your rice simmers too fast it will burn, when it comes to be thick.  It must be very thick and dry, and the rice not boiled to a mummy.

To make essence of ham.

Take off the fat of a ham, and cut the lean in slices, beat them well and lay them in the bottom of a stew-pan, with slices of carrots, parsnips, and onions; cover your pan, and set it over a gentle fire:  let them stew till they begin to stick, then sprinkle on a little flour, and turn them; then moisten with broth and veal gravy.  Season them with three or four mushrooms, as many truffles, a whole leek, some parsley, and half a dozen cloves:  or instead of a leek, a clove of garlick.  Put in some crusts of bread, and let them simmer over the fire for a quarter of an hour; strain it, and set away for use.  Any pork or ham does for this, that is well made.

Rules to be observed in all made-dishes.

First, that the stew-pans, or sauce-pans, and cover, be very clean, free from sand, and well tinned; and that all the white sauces have a little tartness, and be very smooth and of a fine thickness, and all the time any white sauce is over the fire keep stirring it one way.

And as to brown sauce, take great care no fat swims at the top, but that it be all smooth alike, and about as thick as good cream, and not to taste of one thing more than another.  As to pepper and salt, season to your palate, but do not put too much of either, for that will take away the fine flavour of everything.  As to most made dishes, you may put in what you think proper to enlarge it, or make it good; as mushrooms pickled, dried, fresh or powdered; truffles, morels, cocks-combs stewed, ox palates cut in little bits, artichoke-bottoms, either pickled, fresh or boiled, or dried ones softened in warm water, each cut in four pieces, asparagus-tops, the yolks of hard eggs, force-meat* balls, &c.  The best things to give a sauce tartness, are mushroom-pickle, white walnut-pickle, elder vinegar, or lemon-juice.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

The Art of Cookery, Chapter III: “Read this Chapter, and you will find how expensive a French cook’s sauce is.”

This is one of my favourite chapters in Hannah Glasse’s 1747 work; it minces no words in her opinions about French cooks.  Taken the historic context, it’s understandable:  The English had a love-hate relationship with the French, ever since France began breaking away (again and again) from the English kings’ rules, from the 1340s to the 19th century.  Quite a long time to build an opinion, that.  Even when at war, French fashion and trends were eyed enviously from the British side of the Channel, though usually in secret; in public it was usually an acceptable pasttime to blast the French whether they were at war at the time or not.  Hannah takes to it like a duck to the soup pot.  I’ve coloured the text of her jabs in the entire chapter, as follows:

A Macaroni French Cook, by M. Darly, 1772

Chapter III:  Read this Chapter, and you will find how expensive a French cook’s sauce is.

The French way of dressing Partridges.

When they are newly picked and drawn, singe them:  you must mince their livers with a bit of butter, some scraped bacon, green truffles, if you have any, parsley, chimbol*, salt, pepper, sweet-herbs, and all-spice**.  The whole being minced together, put it into the inside of your partridges, then stop both ends of them, after which give them a fry in the stew-pan; that being done, spit them, and wrap them up in slices of bacon and paper; then take a stew-pan, and having put in an onion cut into slices, a carrot cut into little bits, with a little oil, give them a few tosses over the fire; then moisten them with gravy, cullis, and a little essence of ham.  Put therein half a lemon cut into slices, four cloves of garlic, a little sweet basil, thyme, a bay-leaf, a little parsley, chimbol, two glasses of white wine, and four of the carcasses of the partridges; let them be pounded, and put them in this sauce.  When the fat of your cullis is taken away, be careful to make it relishing; and after your pounded livers are put into your cullis, you must strain them through a sieve.  Your partridges being done, take them off; as also take off the bacon and paper, and lay them in your dish with your sauce over them.

This dish I do not recommend; for I think it an odd jumble of trash; but by that time the cullis, the essence of ham, and all the other ingredients are reckoned, the partridges will come to a fine penny.  But such receipts as this is what you have in most books of cookery yet printed.

*Chimbol:  Probably Chibbol, a type of rock onion or stone leek of medium size.

**Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, pimento, or newspice, is a spice that is the dried unripe fruit (“berries”) of Pimenta dioica

To make essence of ham.

Take the fat off a Westphalia ham, cut the lean in slices, beat them well and lay them in the bottom of a stew-pan, with slices of carrots, parsnips, and onions, cover your pan, and set it over a gentle fire.  Let them stew till they begin to stick, then sprinkle on a little flour and turn them; then moisten with broth and veal gravy; season with three or four mushrooms, as many truffles, a whole leek, some basil, parsley, and half a dozen cloves; or instead of the leek, you may put a clove of garlic.  Put in some crusts of bread, and let them simmer over the fire for three quarters of an hour.  Strain it, and set it by for use.

A cullis for all sorts of ragoo.

Having cut three pounds of lean veal, and half a pound of ham into slices, lay it into the bottom of a stew-pan, put in carrots and parsnips, an onion sliced; cover it, and set it a stewing over a stove:  when it has a good colour, and begins to stick, put to it a little melted butter, and shake in a little flour, keep it moving a little while till the flour is fried; then moisten it with gravy and broth, of each a like quantity, then put in some parsley and basil, a whole leek, a bay-leaf, some mushrooms and truffles minced small, three or four cloves, and the crust of two French rolls:  let all these simmer together for three quarters of an hour; then take out the slices of veal; strain it, and keep it for all sorts of ragoos.  Now compute the expence and see if this dish cannot be dressed full as well without this expence.

A cullis* for all sorts of butcher’s meat.

You must take meat according to your company; if ten or twelve, you cannot take less than a leg of veal and a ham, with all the fat, skin, and outside cut off.  Cut the leg of veal in pieces about the bigness of your fist, place them in your stew-pan, and then slices of ham, two carrots, an onions cut in two; cover it close, let it stew softly at first, and as it begins to be brown, take off the cover and turn it, to colour it on all sides the same; but take care not to burn the meat.  When it has a pretty brown colour, moisten your cullis with broth made of beef, or other meat; season your cullis with a little sweet basil, some cloves, with some garlic; pare a lemon, cut it in slices, and put it into your cullis, with some mushrooms.  Put into a stew-pan a good lump of butter, and set it over a slow fire; put into it two or three handfuls of flour, stir it with a wooden ladle, and let it take a colour; if your cullis be pretty brown, you must put in some flour.  Your flower being brown with your cullis, then pour it very softly into your cullis, keeping your cullis stirring with a wooden ladle; then let your cullis stew softly, and skim off all the fat, put in two glasses of champaign, or other white wine; but take care to keep your cullis very thin, so that you may take the fat well off and clarify it.  To clarify it, you must put it in a stove that draws well, and cover it close, and let it boil without uncovering, till it boils over; then uncover it, and take off the fat that is round the stew-pan, then wipe it off the cover also, and cover it again.  When you cullis is done, take out the meat, and strain your cullis through a silk strainer.  This cullis is for all sorts of ragoos, fowls, pies, and terrines.

*Cullis:  A strong broth made of meat or fowl with other ingredients used as a base for various sauces or as a restorative for the sick.

Cullis* the Italian way.

Put into a stew-pan half a ladleful of cullis, as much essence of ham, half a ladleful of gravy, as much of broth, three or four onions cut into slices, four or five cloves of garlic, a little beaten coriander-seed, with a lemon pared and cut into slices, a little sweet basil, mushrooms, and good oil; put all over the fire, let it stew a quarter of an hour, take the fat well off, let it be of a good taste, and you may use it with all sorts of meat and fish, particularly with glazed fish.  This sauce will do for two chickens, six pigeons, quails, or ducklings, and all sorts of tame and wild fowl.  Now this Italian or French sauce, is saucy.

*Cullis:  A strong broth made of meat or fowl with other ingredients used as a base for various sauces or as a restorative for the sick.

Cullis* of craw-fish.

You must get the middling sort of craw-fish, put them over the fire, seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion cut in slices; being done, take them out, pick them, and keep the tails after they are scalded, pound the rest together in a mortar; the more they are pounded the finer your cullis will be.  Take a bit of veal, the bigness of your fist, with a small bit of ham, an onion cut into four, put it into sweat gently:  if it sticks but a very little to the pan, powder it a little.  Moisten it with broth, put in some cloves, sweet basil in branches, some mushrooms, with lemon pared and cut in slices:  being done, skim the fat well, let it be of a good taste; then take out your meat with a skimmer, and go on to thicken it a little with essence of ham:  then put in your craw-fish, and strain it off.  Being strained, keep it for a first course of craw-fish.

*Cullis:  A strong broth made of meat or fowl with other ingredients used as a base for various sauces or as a restorative for the sick.

A white cullis*.

Take a piece of veal, cut it into small bits, with some thin slices of ham, and two onions cut into four pieces; moisten it with broth, seasoned with mushrooms, a bunch of parsley, green onions, three cloves, and so let it stew.  Being stewed, take out all your meat and roots with a skimmer, put in a few crumbs of bread, and let it stew softly:  take the white of a fowl, or two chickens, and pound it in a mortar; being well pounded, mix it in your cullis, but it must not boil, and your cullis must be very white; but if it is not white enough you must pound two dozen of sweet almonds blanched, and put into your cullis; then boil a glass of milk, and put it in your cullis:  let it be of a good taste, and strain it off; then put it in a small kettle, and keep it warm.  You may use it for white loaves, white crust of bread and bisquets.

*Cullis:  A strong broth made of meat or fowl with other ingredients used as a base for various sauces or as a restorative for the sick.

Sauce for a brace of partridges, pheasants, or anything you please.

Roast a partridge, pound it well in a mortar with the pinions of four turkies, with a quart of strong gravy, and the livers of the partridges and some truffles, and let it simmer till it be pretty thick, let it stand in a dish for a while, then put two glasses of Burgundy into a stew-pan, with two or three slices of onions, a clove or two of garlic, and the above sauce.  Let it simmer a few minutes, then press it through a hair-bag into a stew-pan, add the essence of ham, let it boil for some time, season it with good spice and pepper, lay your partridges, &c. in the dish, and pour your sauce in.

They will use as many fine ingredients to stew a pigeon, or fowl, as will make a very fine dish, which is equal to boiling a leg of mutton in champaign.

It would be needless to name any more; though you have much more expensive sauce than this; however, I think here is enough to shew the folly of these fine French cooks.  In their own country, they will make a grand entertainment with the expence of one of these dishes; but here they want the little petty profit; and by this sort of legerdemain, some fine estates are juggled into France.

Scandinavian Scotland

An ancient broch along the road near Ben Hope, Highlands (taken July 2012, ©Stephanie Huesler)

Having lived in Scotland, I have a deep love of all things Scottish (except the freezing cold horizontal winter rains).  My husband’s and my wedding rings were handmade in Orkney, and are covered with runes that translate as “Dreams of Everlasting Love.”  And of course we had to go to Orkney to pick them out…

A novel I’m working on between my more pressing projects (an 18th century English historical trilogy) is set in 8th century Scotland and Norway, as well as modern Scotland.  It’s a great excuse to go on holidays to those places, and I’ll be heading to Norway soon for a research trip.  If you’re unfamiliar with ancient Scotland, here’s your chance to learn something new:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Scotland has a great article, covering quite a few aspects of history.  Enjoy reading, but don’t forget that the best way to experience history is by going to that place and imbibing in the atmosphere itself.  It’s my invitation to you, to go on holiday to the Highlands of Scotland!

The Art of Cookery Continued: Chapter II: Made Dishes, Part 4

After this, there’s one more part of the longest chapter in Hannah Glasse’s 1747 “Art of Cookery”.  In this particular section there are a few interesting aspects:  “Raspings” were used as decoration, as thickener, as a way to keep something burning to the bottom of a pan (a “buffer” layer, so to speak) – and all it was was toasted bread, scraped.  So the next time you burn a piece of toast, just think of that unique opportunity presented.  Several new terms are explained, some of which were completely new to me and difficult to track down; collops, chitterlings, swerd, Canary, chine, Rocambole and scraig … you can’t accuse them of a boring language.  And if anyone finds out what a matelote is, please let me know.

Once again, some of her recipes prove why they haven’t stood the test of time; one combines pig’s feet and eels, with craw-fish thrown in for good measure… Another is “Calf’s Head Surprise” – need I say more?

Veal rolls.

Take ten or twelve little thin slices of veal, lay on them some force-meat* according to your fancy, roll them up, and tie them just across the middle with coarse thread, put them on a bird-spit, rub them over with the yolks of eggs, flour them, and baste them with butter.  Half an hour will do them.  Lay them into a dish, and have ready some good gravy, with a few truffles and morels, and some mushrooms.  Garnish with lemon.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Olives of veal the French way.

Take two pounds of veal, some marrow, two anchovies, the yolks of two hard eggs, a few mushrooms, and some oysters, a little thyme, marjoram, parsley, spinach, lemon-peel, salt, pepper, nutmeg and mace, finely beaten; take your veal caul, lay a layer of bacon and a layer of the ingredients, roll it in the veal caul, and either roast it or bake it.  An hour will do either.  When enough, cut it into slices, lay it into your dish, and pour good gravy over it.  Garnish with lemon.

Scotch collops à la Francois.

Take a leg of veal, cut it very thin, lard it with bacon, then take half a pint of ale boiling, and pour over it till the blood is out, and then pour the ale into a bason; take a few sweet-herbs chopped small, strew them over the veal and fry it in butter, flour it a little till enough, then put it into a dish and pour the butter away, toast little thin pieces of bacon and lay round, pour the ale into the stew-pan with two anchovies and a glass of white wine, then beat up the yolks of two eggs and stir in, with a little nutmeg, some pepper, and a piece of butter, shake all together till thick, and then pour it into the dish.  Garnish with lemon.

* collops – a small piece of meat, either thin slices or minced meat of either beef, lamb or venison.

To make a savoury dish of veal.

Cut large collops out of a leg of veal, spread them abroad on a dresser, hack them with the back of a knife, and dip them in the yolks of eggs; season them with cloves, mace, nutmeg and pepper, beat fine; make force-meat* with some of your veal, beef-suet, oysters chopped, sweet-herbs shred fine, and the aforesaid spice, strew all these over your collops, roll and tie them up, put them on skewers, tie them to a spit, and roast them; to the rest of your force-meat add a raw egg or two, roll them in balls and fry them, put them in your dish with your meat when roasted, and make the sauce with strong broth, an anchovy, a shallot, a little white-wine, and some spice.  Let it stew, and thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour, pour the sauce into the dish, lay the meat in, and garnish with lemon.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Scotch collops* larded.

Prepare a fillet of veal, cut into thin slices, cut off the skin and fat, lard them with bacon, fry them brown, then take them out, and lay them in a dish, pour out all the butter, take a quarter of a pound of butter and met it in the pan, then strew in a handful of flour; stir it till it is brown, and pour in three pints of good gravy, a bundle of sweet-herbs, and an onion, which you must take out soon; let it boil a little, then put in the collops, let them stew half a quarter of an hour, put in some force-meat** balls fried, the yolks of two eggs, a piece of butter, and a few pickled mushrooms; stir all together, for a minute or two till it is thick; and then dish it up.  Garnish with lemon.

* collops – a small piece of meat, either thin slices or minced meat of either beef, lamb or venison.

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To do them white.

After you have cut your veal in thin slices, lard it with bacon; season it with cloves, mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt, some grated bread, and sweet-herbs.  Stew the knuckle in as little liquor as you can, a bunch of sweet-herbs, some whole pepper, a blade of mace, and four cloves; then take a pint of the broth, stew the cutlets in it, and add to it a quarter of a pint of white wine, some mushrooms, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and the yolks of two eggs; stir all together till it is thick, and then dish it up.  Garnish with lemon.

Veal blanquets.

Roast a piece of veal, cut off the skin and nervous parts, cut it into little thin bits, put some butter into a stew-pan over the fire with some chopped onions, fry them a little, then add a dust of flour, stir it together, and put in some good broth, or gravy, and a bundle of sweet-herbs:  season it with spice, make it of a good taste, and then put in your veal, the yolks of two eggs beat up with cream and grated nutmeg, some chopped parsley, a shallot, some lemon-peel grated, and a little juice of lemon.  Keep it stirring one way; when enough, dish it up.

A shoulder of veal à la Piemontoise.

Take a shoulder of veal, cut off the skin that it may hang at one end, then lard the meat with bacon and ham, and season it with pepper, salt, mact, sweet-herbs, parsley and lemon-peel; cover it again with the skin, stew it with gravy, and when it is just tender take it up; then take sorrel, some lettuce chopped small, and stew them in some butter with parsley, onions and mushrooms:  the herbs being tender put to them some of the liquor, some sweetbreads* and some bits of ham.  Let all stew together a little while, then lift up the skin, lay the stewed herbs over and under, cover it with the skin again, wet it with melted butter, strew it over with crumbs of bread, and send it to the oven to brown; serve it hot, with some good gravy in the dish.  The French stew it over with parmesan before it goes to the oven.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

A calf’s head surprise.

You must bone it, but not split it, cleanse it well, fill it with a ragoo (in the form it was before) made thus:  take two sweetbreads*, each sweetbread being cut into eight pieces, an ox’s palate boiled tender and cut into little pieces, some cocks-combs, half an ounce of truffles and morels, some mushrooms, some artichoke bottoms, and asparagus tops; stew all these in half a pint of good gravy, season it with two or three blades of mace, four cloves, half a nutmeg, a very little pepper, and some salt, pound all these together, and put them into the raggo:  when it has stewed about half an hour, take the yolks of three eggs beat up with two spoonfuls of cream and two of white wine, put it to the ragoo, keep it stirring one way for fear of turning, and stir in a piece of butter rolled in flour; when it is very thick and smooth fill the head, make a force-meat** with half a pound of veal, half a pound of beef-suet, as much crumbs of bread, a few sweet-herbs, a little lemon-peel, and some pepper, salt and mace, all beat fine together in a marble mortar; mix it up with two eggs, make a few balls, (about twenty) put them into the ragoo in the head, then fasten the head with fine wooden skewers, lay the force-meat over the head, do it over with the solks of two eggs, and send it to the oven to bake.  It will take about two hours baking.  You must lay pieces of butter all over the head, and then flour it.  When it is baked enough, lay it in your dish, and have a pint of good fried gravy.  If there is any gravy in the dish the head was baked in, put it to the other gravy, and boil it up; pour it into your dish, and garnish with lemon.  You may throw some mushrooms over the head.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Sweetbreads* of veal à la Dauphine.

Take the largest sweetbreads you can get, open them in such a manner as you can stuff in force-meat**, three will make a fine dish; make your force-meat with a large fowl or young cock, skin it, and pick off all the flesh, take half a pound of fat and lean bacon, cut these very fine and beat them in a mortar; season it with an anchovy, some nutmeg, a little lemon-peel, a very little thyme, and some parsley:  mix these up with the yolk of an egg, fill your sweetbreads and fasten them with fine wooden skewers; take the stew-pan, lay layers of bacon at the bottom of the pan, season them with pepper, salt, mace, cloves, sweet-herbs, and a large onion sliced, upon that lay thin slices of veal, and then lay on your sweetbreads; cover it close, let it stand eight or ten minutes over a slow fire, and then pour in a quart of boiling water or broth; cover it close, and let it stew two hours very softly, then take out the sweetbreads, keep them hot, strain the gravy, skim all the fat off, boil it up till there is about half a pint, put in the sweetbreads, and give them two or three minutes stew in the gravy, then lay them in the dish, and pour the gravy over them.  Garnish with lemon.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Another way to dress sweetbreads.

Do not put any water or gravy into the stew-pan, but put the same veal and bacon over the sweetbreads*, and season as under directed; cover them close, put fire over as well as under, and when they are enough, take out the sweetbreads, put in a ladleful of gravy, boil it, and strain it, skim off all the fat, let it boil till it jellies, and then put in the sweetbreads to glaze:  lay essence of ham in the dish, and lay the sweetbreads upon it; or make a very rich gravy with mushrooms, truffles and morels, a glass of white wine, and two spoonfuls of catchup.  Garnish with cocks-combs forced and stewed in the gravy.

Note, You may add to the first, truffles, morels, mushrooms, cocks-combs, palates, artichoke bottoms, two spoonfuls of white wine, two of catchup, or just as you please.

N.B. There are many ways of dressing sweetbreads: you may lard them with thin slips of bacon, and roast them with what sauce you please; or you may marinate them, but them into thin slices, flour them and fry them.  Serve them up with fried parsley, and either butter or gravy.  Garnish with lemon.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

Calf’s chitterlings or àndouilles.

Take some of the largest calf’s guts, cleanse them, cut them in pieces proportionable to the length of the puddings you design to make, and tie one end to these pieces; then take some bacon, with a calf’s udder and chaldron blanched, and cut into dice or slices, put them into a stew-pan and season with fine spice pounded, a bay-leaf, some salt, pepper, and shallot cut small, and about half a pint of cream; toss it up, take off the pan, and thicken your mixture with four or five yolks of eggs and some crumbs of bread, then fill up your chitterlings* with the stuffing, keep it warm, tie the other end with packthread, blanch and boil them like hog’s chitterlings, let them grow cold in their own liquor before you serve them up; boil them over a moderate fire, and serve them up pretty hot.  These sort of andouilles, or puddings, must be made in summer, when hogs are seldom killed.

* Chitterling:  Guts, bowls, tripe, entrails

To dress calf’s chitterlings curiously.

Cut a calf’s nut in slices of its length, and the thickness of a finger, together with some ham, bacon, and the white of chickens, cut after the same manner; put the whole into a stew-pan, seasoned with salt, pepper, sweet-herbs, and spice, then take the guts cleansed, cut and divide them in parcels, and fill them with your slices; then lay in the bottom of a kettle or pan some slices of bacon and veal, season them with some pepper, salt, a bay leaf, and an onion, and lay some bacon and veal over them; then put in a pint of white wine, and let it stew softly, close covered with fire over and under it, if the pot or pan will allow it; then broil the puddings on a sheet of white paper, well buttered on the inside.

To dress a ham à la Braise.

Clear the knuckle, take off the swerd*, and lay it in water to freshen; then tie it about with a string, take slices of bacon and beef, beat and season them well with spice and sweet-herbs; then lay them in the bottom of a kettle with onions, parsnips and carrots sliced, with some chives and parsley; lay in your ham the fat side uppermost, and cover it with slices of beef and over that slices of bacon, then lay on some sliced roots and herbs, the same as under it:  cover it close, and stop it close with paste, but fire both over and under it, and let it stew with a very slow fire twelve hours; put it in a pan, drudge it well with grated bread, and brown it with a hot iron; then serve it upon a clean napkin:  garnish with raw parsley.

Note, If you eat it hot, make a ragoo thus:  take a veal sweetbread**, some livers of fowls, cocks-combs, mushrooms, and truffles; toss them up in a pint of good gravy, seasoned with spice as you like, thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a glass of red wine; then brown your ham as above, and let it stand a quarter of an hour to drain the fat out; take the liquor it was stewed in, strain it, skim all the fat off, put it to the gravy, and boil it up.  It will do as well as the essence of ham.  Sometimes you may serve it up with a ragoo of crawfish, and sometimes with carp sauce.

* Swerd = skin

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To roast a ham or gammon.

Take off the swerd, or what we call the skin, or rhind, and lay it in lukewarm water for two or three hours; then lay it in a pan, pour upon it a quart of canary*, and let it steep in it for ten or twelve hours.  When you have spitted it, put some sheets of white paper over the fat side, pour the canary in which it was soaked in the dripping-pan, and baste with it all the time it is roasting; when it is roasted enough, pull off the paper, and drudge it well with crumbled bread and parsley shred fine; make the fire brisk, and brown it well.  If you eat it hot, garnish it with rasping of bread; if cold, serve it on a clean napkin, and garnish it with green parsley for a second course.

* Canary:  She is most likely referring to a type of white wine from the Canary Islands; it was made from the Malvasia wine grape, and grown historically in the Mediterranean regions, Balearic islands, and Madeira.

To stuff a chine* of pork.

Make a stuffing of the fat leaf of pork, parsley, thyme, sage, eggs, crumbs of bread; season it with pepper, salt, shallot, and nutmeg, and stuff it thick; then roast it gently, and when it is about a quarter roasted, cut the skin in slips, and make your sauce with apples, lemon-peel, two or three cloves, and a blade of mace; sweeten it with sugar, put some butter in, and have mustard in a cup.

Chine:  A cut of meat including at least part of the backbone.

Various ways of dressing a pig.

First skin your pig up to the ears whole, then make a good plumb-pudding batter, with good beef fat, fruit, eggs, milk, and flour, fill the skin, and sew it up; it will look like a pig; but you must bake it, flour it very well, and rub it all over with butter, and when it is near enough, draw it to the oven’s mouth, rub it dry, and put it in again for a few minute; lay it in the dish, and let the sauce be small gravy and butter in the dish:  cut the other part of the pig into four quarters, roast them as you do lamb, throw mint and parsley on it as it roasts; then lay them on water-cresses, and have mint-sauce in a bason.

Any one of these quarters will make a pretty side-dish:  or take one quarter and roast, cut the other in steaks, and fry them fine and brown.  Have stewed spinach in the dish, and lay the roast upon it, and the fried in the middle.  Garnish with hard eggs and Seville oranges cut into quarters, and have some butter in a cup:  or for a change, you may have good gravy in the dish, and garnish with fried parsley and lemon; or you may make a ragoo of sweetbreads*, artichoke-bottoms, truffles, morels, and good gravy, and pour over them.  Garnish with lemon.  Either of these will do for a top dish of a first course, or bottom dishes at a second course.  You may fricasey it white for a second course at top, or a side-dish.

You may take a pig, skin him, and fill him with force-meat** made thus:  take two pounds of young pork, fat and all, two pounds of veal the same, some sage, thyme, parsley, a little lemon-peel, pepper, salt, mace, cloves, and a nutmeg;: mix them, and beat them fine in a mortar, then fill the pig, and sew it up.  You may either roast or bake it.  Have nothing but good gravy in the dish.  Or you may cut it into slices, and lay the head in the middle.  Save the head whole with the skin on, and roast it by itself:  when it is enough cut it in two, and lay it in your dish:  have ready some good gravy and dried sage rubbed in it, thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour, take out the brains, beat them up with the gravy, and pour them into the dish.  You may add a hard egg chopped, and put into the sauce.

Note, You may make a very good pie of it, as you may see in the directions for pies, which you may either make a bottom or side-dish.

You must observe in your white fricasey that you take off the fat; or you may make a very good dish thus:  take a quarter of pig skinned, cut it into chops, season them with spice, and wash them with the yolks of eggs, butter the bottom of a dish, lay these steaks on the dish, and upon every steak lay some force-meat the thickness of half a crown, made thus:  take half a pound of veal, and of fat pork the same quantity, chop them very well together, and beat them in a mortar fine; add some sweet-herbs and sage, a little lemon-peel, nutmeg, pepper and salt, and a little beaten mace; upon this lay a layer of bacon or ham, and then a bay-leaf; take a little fine skewer and stick just in about two inches long, to hold them together, then pour a little melted butter over them, and send them to the oven to bake; when they are enough lay them in your dish, and pour good gravy over them, with mushrooms, and garnish with lemon.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

A pig in jelly.

Cut it into quarters, and lay it into your stew-pan, put in one calf’s foot and the pig’s feet, a pint of Rhenish wine*, the juice of four lemons, and one quart of water, three or four blades of mace, two or three cloves, some salt, and a very little piece of lemon-peel; stove it, or do it over a slow fire two hours; then take it up, lay the pig into the dish you intended it for, then strain the liquor, and when the jelly is cold, skim off the fat, and leave the settling at the bottom.  Warm the jelly again, and pour over the pig; then serve it up cold in the jelly.

* Rhenish wine:  Wine from the Rhine valley in Germany; it could refer to either red or white.

T dress a pig the French way.

Spit your pig, lay it down to the fire, let it roast till it is thoroughly warm, then cut it off the spit, and divide it in twenty pieces.  Set them to stew in half a pint of white wine, and a pint of strong broth, seasoned with grated nutmeg, pepper, two onions cut small, and some stripped thyme.  Let it stew an hour, then put to it half a pint of strong gravy, a piece of butter rolled in flour, some anchovies, and a spoonful of vinegar, or mushroom pickle:  when it is enough, lay it in your dish, and pour the gravy over it, then garnish with orange and lemon.

To dress a pig au pere duillet .

Cut off the head, and divide it into quarters, lard them with bacon, season them well with mace, cloves, pepper, nutmeg, and salt.  Lay a layer of fat bacon at the bottom of a kettle, lay the head in the middle, and the quarters round; then put in a bay-leaf, one racambole*, an onion sliced, lemon, carrots, parsnips, parsley, and chives; cover it again with bacon, put in a quart of broth, stew it over the fire for an hour, and then take it up, put your pig into a stew-pan or kettle, pour in a bottle of white wine, cover it close, and let it stew for an hour very softly.  If you would serve it cold, let it stand till it is cold; then drain it well, and wipe it, that it may look white, and lay it in a dish with the head in the middle, and the quarters round, then throw some green parsley all over:  or any one of the quarters is a very pretty little dish, laid on water-cresses.  If you would have it hot, whilst your pig is stewing in the wine, take the first gravy it was stewed in, and strain it, skim off all the fat, then take a sweetbread** cut into five or six slices, some truffles, morels, and mushrooms; stew all together till they are enough, thicken it with the yolks of two eggs, or a piece of butter rolled in flour, and when your pig is enough take it out, and lay it in your dish; and put the wine it was stewed in to the ragoo; then pour all over the pig, and garnish with lemon.

*Racambole:  Rocambole is an alternative name for the shallot, or sand-leek, a type of wild onion.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

A pig matelote.

Gut and scald your pig, cut off the head and pettytoes, then cut your pig in four quarters, put them with the head and toes into cold water; cover the bottom of a stew-pan with slices of bacon, and place over them the said quarters, with the pettytoes and the head cut in two.  Season the whole with pepper, salt, thyme, bay-leaf, an onion, and a bottle of white wine; lay over more slices of bacon, put over it a quart of water, and let it boil.  Take two large eels, skin and gut them, anc cut them about five or six inches long; when your pig is half done, put in your eels, then boil a dozen large craw-fish, cut off the claws, and take off the shells of the tails; and when your pig and eels are enough, lay first your pig and the pettytoes round it, but don’t put in the head (it will be a pretty dish cold), then lay your eels and craw-fish over them, and take the liquor they were stewed in, skim off all the fat, then add to it half a pint of strong gravy thickened with a little piece of burnt butter, and pour over it, then garnish with craw-fish and lemon.  This will do for a first course, or remove.  Fry the brains and lay round, and all over the dish.

To dress a pig like a fat lamb.

Take a fat pig, cut off his head, slit and truss him up like a lamb; when he is slit through the middle and skinned, parboil him a little, then throw some parsley over him, and roast it and drudge it.  Let your sauce be half a pound of butter and a pint of cream, stirred all together till it is smooth; then pour it over and send it to table.

To roast a pig with the hair on.

Draw your pig very clean at vent, then take out the guts liver, and lights; cut off his feet, and truss him, prick up his belly, spit him, lay him down to the fire, but take care not to scorch him:  when the skin begins to rise up in blisters, pull off the skin, hair and all:  when you have cleared the pig of both, scorch him down to the bones, and baste him with butter and cream or half a pound of butter, and a pint of milk, put it into the dripping-pan, and keep basting it well; then throw some salt over it, and drudge it with crumbs of bread till it is half an inch or an inch thick.  When it is enough, and of a fine brown, but not scorched, take it up, lay it in your dish, and let your sauce be good gravy, thickened with butter rolled in a little flour; or else make the following sauce:  take half a pound of butter and a pint of cream, put them on the fire, and keep them stirring one way all the time; when the butter is melted, and the sauce thickened, pour it into your dish.  Don’t garnish with any thing, unless some rasping of bread; and then with your fingers figure it as you fancy.

To roast a pig with the skin on.

Let your pig be newly killed, draw him, flay him, and wipe him very dry with a cloth; then make a hard meat with a pint of cream, the yolks of six eggs, grated bread, and beef-suet, seasoned with salt, pepper, mace, nutmeg, thyme and lemon-peel:  make of this a pretty stiff pudding, stuff the belly of the pig, and sew it up; then spit it, and lay it down to roast.  Let your dripping-pan be very clean, then pour into it a pint of red wine, grate some nutmeg all over it, then throw a little salt over, a little thyme, and some lemon-peel minced; when it is enough shake a little flour over it, and baste it with butter, to have a fine froth.  Take it up and lay it in a dish, cut off the head, take the sauce which is in your dripping-pan, and thicken it with a piece of butter; then take the brains, bruise them, mix them with the sauce, rub in a little dried sage, pour it into your dish, serve it up.  Garnish with hard eggs cut into quarters, and if you have not sauce enough, add half a pint of good gravy.

Note, You must take great care no ashes fall into the dripping-pan, which may be prevented by having a good fire, which will not want any stirring.

To make a pretty dish of a breast of venison.

Take half a pound of butter, flour your venison, and fry it of a fine brown on both sides; then take it up and keep it hot covered in the dish:  take some flour, and stir it into the butter till it is quite thick and brown (but take care it don’t burn) stir in half a pound of lump-sugar beat fine, and pour in as much red wine as will make it of the thickness of a ragoo; squeeze in the juice of a lemon, give it a boil up, and pour it over the venison.  Don’t garnish the dish, but send it to table.

To boil a haunch or neck of venison.

Lay it in salt for a week, then boil it in a cloth well floured; for every pound of venison allow a quarter of an hour for the boiling.  For sauce you must boil some cauliflowers, pulled into little sprigs in milk and water, some fine white cabbage, some turnips cut into dice, with some beetroot cut into long narrow pieces, about an inch and a half long, and half an inch thick:  lay a sprig of cauliflower, and some of the turnips mashed with some cream and a little butter; let your cabbage be boiled, and then beat in a saucepan with a piece of butter and salt, lay that next the cauliflower, then the turnips, then cabbage, and so on, till the dish is full; place the beetroot here and there, just as you fancy; it looks very pretty, and is a fine dish.  Have a little butter in a cup, if wanted.

Note, A leg of mutton cut venison fashion, and dressed the same way, is a pretty dish:  or a fine neck, with the scraig* cut off.  This eats well boiled or hashed, with gravy and sweet sauce the next day.

* Scraig:  Scrag, the lean end of a neck of veal

To boil a leg of mutton like venison.

Take a leg of mutton cut venison fashion, boil it in a cloth well floured; and have three or four cauliflowers boiled, pulled into sprigs, stewed in a saucepan with butter, and a little pepper and salt; then have some spinach picked and washed clean, put it into a saucepan with a little salt, covered close, and stewed a little while; then drain the liquor, and pour in a quarter of a pint of good gravy, and good piece of butter rolled in flour, and a little pepper and salt; when stewed enough lay the spinach in the dish, the mutton in the middle, and the cauliflower over it, then pour the butter the cauliflower was stewing in over it all:  but you are to observe in stewing the cauliflower, to melt your butter nicely, as for the sauce, before the cauliflower goes in.  This is a genteel dish for a first course at bottom.

To roast tripe.

Cut your trip in two square pieces, somewhat long, have a force-meat* made of crumbs of bread, pepper, salt, nutmeg, sweet-herbs, lemon-peel, and the yolks of eggs mixt all together; spread it on the fat side of the trip, and lay the other fat side next it; then roll it as light as you can, and tie it with a packthread; spit it, roast it, and baste it with butter; when roasted lay it in your dish, and for sauce melt some butter, and add what drops from the tripe.  Boil it together, and garnish with rasping**.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

**Raspings = dried bread crumbs, scraped or “rasped” from toasted bread.

To dress poultry

To roast a turkey.

The best way to roast a turkey is to loosen the skin on the breast of the turkey, and fill it with force-meat* thus:  take a quarter of a pound of beef-suet, as many crumbs of bread, a little lemon-peel, an anchovy, some nutmeg, pepper, parsley, and a little thyme.  Chop and beat them all together, mix them with the yolk of an egg, and stuff up the breast; when you have no suet, butter will do:  or you may make your force-meat thus:  spread bread and butter thin, and grate some nutmeg over it:  when you have enough roll it up, and stuff the breast of the turkey; then roast it of a fine brown, but be sure to pin some white paper on the breast till it is near enough.  You must have good gravy in the dish, and bread sauce made thus:  take a good piece of crumb, put it into a pint of water, with a blade or two of mace, two or three cloves, and some whole pepper.  Boil it up five or six times, then with a spoon take out the spice you had before put in, and then you must pour off the water (you may boil an onion in it if you please); then beat up the bread with a good piece of butter and a little salt; or onion-sauce, made thus:  take some onions, peel them and cut them into thin slices, and boil them half an hour in milk and water; then drain the water from them and beat them up with a good piece of butter; shake a little flour in, and stir it together with a little cream, if you have it, (or milk will do); put the sauce into boats, and garnish with lemon.

Another way to make sauce:  Take half a pint of oysters, strain the liquor, and put the oysters with the liquor into a sauce-pan, with a blade or two of mace; let them just lump, then pour in a glass of white wine, let it boil once, and thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour.  Serve this up in a bason by itself, with good gravy in the dish, for every body don’t love oyster-sauce. This makes a pretty side-dish for supper, or a corner-dish of a table for dinner.  If you chafe it in the dish, add half a pint of gravy to it, and boil it up together.  This sauce is good either with boiled or roasted turkies or fowls; but you may leave the gravy out, adding as much butter as will do for sauce, and garnishing with lemon.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To make mock oyster sauce, either for turkies or fowls boiled.

Force the turkies or fowls as above, and make your sauce thus:  take a quarter of a pint of water, an anchovy, a blade or two of mace, a piece of lemon-peel, and five or six whole peppercorns.  Boil these together, then strain them, add as much butter with a little flour as will do for sauce; let it boil, and lay sausages round the fowl or turkey.  Garnish with lemon.

To make mushroom sauce for white fowls of all sorts.

Take a pint of mushrooms, wash and pick them very clean, and put them into a saucepan, with a little salt, some nutmeg, a blade of mace, a pint of cream, and a good piece of butter rolled in flour.  Boil these all together, and keep stirring them; then pour your sauce into your dish, and garnish with lemon.

Mushroom sauce for white fowls boiled.

Take half a pint of cream, and a quarter of a pound of butter, stir them together one way till it is thick; then add a spoonful of mushrooms pickle, pickled mushrooms, or fresh if you have them.  Garnish only with lemon.

To make celery-sauce, either for roasted or boiled fowls, turkies, partridges, or any other game.

Take a large bunch of celery, wash and pare it very clean, cut it into little thin bits, and boil it softly in a little water till it is tender; then add a little beaten mace, some nutmeg, pepper, and salt, thickened with a good piece of butter rolled in flour; then boil it up, and pour in your dish.  You may make it with cream thus:  boil your celery as above, and add some mace, nutmeg, a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour, and half a pint of cream; boil them all together, and you may add, if you will, a glass of white wine, and a spoonful of catchup.

To make brown celery-sauce.

Stew the celery as above, then add mace, nutmeg, pepper, salt, a piece of butter rolled in flour, with a glass of red wine, a spoonful of catchup, and half a pint of good gravy; boil all these together, and pour into the dish.  Garnish with lemon.

To stew a turkey or fowl in celery-sauce.

You must judge according to the largeness of your turkey or fowl, what celery or sauce you want.  Take a large fowl, put it into a saucepan or pot, and put to it one quart of good broth or gravy, a bunch of celery washed clean and cut small, with some mace, cloves, pepper, and allspice tied loose in a muslin rag; put in an onions and a sprig of thyme; let these stew softly till they are enough, then add a piece of butter rolled in flour; take up your fowl, and pour the sauce over it.  An hour will do for a large fowl, or a small turkey; but a very large turkey will take two hours to do it softly.  If it is overdone or dry it is spoiled; but you may be a judge of that, if you look at it now and then.  Mind to take out the onion, thyme, and spice, before you send it to table.

Note, A neck of veal done this way is very good, and will take two hours doing.

To make egg sauce, proper for roasted chickens.

Melt your butter thick and fine, chop two or three hard-boiled eggs fine, put them into a bason, pour the butter over them, and have good gravy in the dish.

Shalot-sauce for roasted fowls.

Take five or six shallots peeled and cut small, put them into a saucepan, with two spoonfuls of white wine, two or water, and two of vinegar; give them a boil up, and pour them into your dish, with a little pepper and salt.  Fowls roasted and laid on watercresses is very good, without any other sauce.

Shalot-sauce for a scrag of mutton boiled.

Take two spoonfuls of the liquor the mutton is boiled in, two spoonfuls of vinegar, two or three shallots cut fine, with a little salt; put it into a saucepan, with a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in a little flour; stir it together, and give it a boil.  For those who love shallot, it is the prettiest sauce that can be made to a scraig* of mutton.

* Scraig:  Scrag, the lean end of a neck of veal

To dress livers with mushroom-sauce.

Take some pickled or fresh mushrooms, cut small; both if you have them; and let the livers be bruised fine, with a good deal of parsley chopped small, a spoonful or two of catchup, a glass of white wine; and as much good gravy as will make sauce enough; thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour.  This does either for roasted or boiled.

A pretty little sauce.

Take the liver of a fowl, bruise it with a little of the liquor, cut a little lemon-peel fine, melt some good butter, and mix the liver by degrees; give it a boil, and pour it into the dish.

To make lemon-sauce for boiled fowls.

Take a lemon, pare off the rind, then cut it into slices, and cut it small; take all the kernels out, bruise the liver with two or three spoonfuls of gravy, then melt some butter, mix it all together, give them a boil, and cut in a little lemon-peel very small.

A German way of dressing fowls.

Take a turkey or fowl, stuff the breast with what force-meat* you like, and fill the body with roasted chestnuts peeled.  Roast it, and have some more roasted chestnuts, peeled, put them in half a pint of good gravy, with a little piece of butter rolled in flour; boil these together, with some small turnips and sausages cut in slices, and fried or boiled.  Garnish with chestnuts.

Note, you may dress ducks the same way.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To dress a turkey or fowl, to perfection.

Bone them, and make a force-meat* thus:  take the flesh of a fowl, cut it small, then take a pound of veal, beat it in a mortar, with half a pound of beef-suet, as much crumbs of bread, some mushrooms, truffles and morels cut small, a few sweet-herbs and parsley, with some nutmeg, pepper, and salt, a little mace beaten, some lemon-peel cut fine; mix all these together, with the yolks of two eggs, then fill your turkey, and roast it.  This will do for a large turkey, and so in proportion for a fowl.  Let your sauce be a good gravy, with mushrooms, truffles and morels in it: then garnish with lemon, and for variety sake you may lard your fowl or turkey.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To stew a turkey brown.

Take your turkey, after it is nicely picked and drawn, fill the skin of the breast with force-meat*, and put an anchovy, a shallot, and a little thyme in the belly, lard the breast with bacon, then put a good piece of butter in the stew-pan, flour the turkey, and fry it just of a fine brown; then take it out, and put it into a deep stew-pan, or little pot, that will just hold it, and put in as much gravy as will barely cover it, a glass of red wine, some whole pepper, mace, two or three cloves, and a little bundle of sweet-herbs; cover it close, and stew it for an hour, then take up the turkey, and keep it hot covered by the fire, and boil the sauce to about a pint, strain it off, add the yolks of two eggs, and a piece of butter rolled in flour; stir it till it is thick, and then lay your turkey in the dish, and pour your sauce over it.  You may have ready some little French loaves, about the bigness of an egg, cut off the tops, and take out the crumb; then fry them of a fine brown, fill them with stewed oysters, lay them round the dish, and garnish with lemon.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To stew a turkey brown the nice way.

Bone it, and fill it with a force-meat* made thus:  take the flesh of a fowl, half a pound of veal, and the flesh of two pigeons, with a well-pickled or dry tongue, peel it, and chop it all together, then beat in a mortar, with the marrow of a beef bone, or a pound of the fat of a loin of veal; season it with two or three blades of mace, two or three cloves, and half a nutmeg dried at a good distance from the fire, and pounded, with a little pepper and salt:  mix all these together, fill your turkey, fry them of a fine brown, and put it into a little pot that will just hold it; lay four or five skewers at the bottom of the pot, to keep the turkey from sticking; put in a quart of good beef and veal gravy, wherein was boiled spice and sweet-herbs, cover it close, and let it stew half an hour; then put in a glass of red wine, one spoonful of catchup, a large spoonful of pickled mushrooms, and a few fresh ones, if you have them, a few truffles and morels, a piece of
butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour; cover it close, and let it stew half an hour longer; get the little French rolls ready fried, take some oysters, and strain the liquor from them, then put the oysters and liquor into a saucepan, with a blade of mace, a little white wine, and a piece of butter rolled in flour; let them stew till it is thick, then fill the loaves, lay the turkey in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.  If there is any fat on the gravy take it off, and lay the loaves on each side of the turkey.  Garnish with lemon when you have no loaves, and take oysters dipped in batter and fried.

Note, The same will do for any white fowl.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

A fowl à la braise.

Truss your fowl, with the leg turned into the belly, season it both inside and out, with beaten mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt, lay a layer of bacon at the bottom of a deep stew-pan, then a layer of veal, and afterwards the fowl, then put in an onion, two or three cloves stuck in a little bundle of sweet-herbs, with a piece of carrot, then put at the top a layer of bacon, another of veal, and a third of beef, cover it close, and let it stand over the fire for two or three minutes, then pour in a pint of broth, or hot water; cover it close, and let it stew an hour, afterwards take up your fowl, strain the sauce, and after you have skimmed off the fat, thicken it with a little piece of butter.  You may add just what you please to the sauce.  A ragoo of sweet-herbs, cocks-combs, truffles and morels, or mushrooms, with force-meat* balls, looks very pretty, or any of the sauces above.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To force a fowl.

Take a good fowl, pick and draw it, slit the skin down the back, and take the flesh from the bones, mince it very small, and mix it with one pound of beef-suet shred, a pint of large oysters chopped, two anchovies, a shallot, a little grated bread, and some sweet-herbs; shred all this very well, mix them together, and make it up with the yolks of eggs, then turn all these ingredients on the bones again, and draw the skin over again, then sew up the back, and either boil the fowl in a bladder an hour and a quarter, or roast it, then stew some more oysters in gravy, bruise in a little of your force-meat*, mix it up with a little fresh butter, and a very little flour; then give it a boil, lay your fowl in the dish, and pour the sauce over it, garnishing with lemon.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To roast a fowl with chestnuts.

First take some chestnuts, roast them very carefully, so as not to burn them, take off the skin, and peel them, take about a dozen of them cut small, and bruise them in a mortar; parboil the liver of the fowl, bruise it, cut about a quarter of a pound of ham or bacon, and pound it; then mix them all together, with a good deal of parsley chopped small, a little sweet-herbs, some mace, pepper, salt, and nutmeg; mix these together and put into your fowl, and roast it.  The best way of doing it is to tie the neck, and hang it up by the legs to roast with a string, and baste it with butter.  For sauce take the rest of the chestnuts peeled and skinned, put them into some good gravy, with a little white wine, and thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour; then take up your fowl, lay it in the dish, and pour in the sauce.  Garnish with lemon.

Pullets à la Saint Menehout.

After having trussed the legs in the body, slit them along the back, spread them open on a table, take out the thigh bone, and beat them with a rolling pin; then season them with pepper, salt, mace, nutmeg, and sweet-herbs; after that take a pound and a half of veal, cut it into thin slices, and lay it in a stew-pan of a convenient size to stew the pullets in:  cover it and set it over a stove or slow fire, and when it begins to cleave to the pan, stir in a little flour, shake the pan about till it be a little brown, then pour in as much broth as will stew the fowls, stir in together, put in a little whole pepper, an onions, and a little piece of bacon or ham; then lay in your fowls, cover them close, and let the stew half an hour; then take them out, lay them on the gridiron to brown on the inside, then lay them before the fire to do on the outside; strew them over with the yolk of an egg, some crumbs of bread, and baste them with a little butter:  let them be of a fine brown, and boil the gravy till there is about enough for sauce, strain it, and put a few mushrooms in, and a little piece of butter rolled in flour; lay the pullets in the dish, and pour in the sauce.  Garnish with lemon.

Note, You may brown them in the oven, or fry them, which you please.

Chicken surprize.

If a small dish, one large fowl will do; roast it, and take the lean from the bone, cut it in thin slices, about an inch long, toss it up with six or seven spoonfuls of cream, and a piece of butter rolled in flour, as big as a walnut.  Boil it up and set it to cool; then cut six or seven thin slices of bacon round, place them in a petty-pan, and put some force-meat* on each side, work them up in the form of a French-roll, with a raw egg in your hand, leaving a hollow place in the middle; put in your fowl, and cover them with some of the same force-meat, rubbing them smooth with your hand and raw egg; make them of the height and bigness of a French-roll, and throw a little fine grated bread over them.  Bake them three quarters or an hour in a gentle oven, or under a baking cover, till they come to a fine brown, and place them on your mazarine, that they may not touch one another, but place them so that they may not fall flat in the baking; or you may form them on your table with a broad kitchen knife, and place them on the thing you intend to bake them on.  You may put the leg of a chicken into one of the loaves your intend for the middle.  Let your sauce be gravy thickened with butter and a little juice of lemon.  This is a pretty side-dish for a first course, summer or winter, if you can get them.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Mutton chops in disguise.

Take as many mutton chops as you want, rub them with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little parsley; roll each chop in half a sheet of white paper, well buttered on the inside, and rolled on each end close.  Have some hog’s lard, or beef-dripping boiling in a stew-pan, put in the steaks, fry them of a fine brown, lay them in your dish, and garnish with fried parsley; throw some all over, have a little good gravy in a cup, but take great care you do not break the paper, nor have any fat in the dish, but let them be well drained.

Chickens roasts with force-meat* and cucumbers.

Take two chickens, dress them very neatly, bread the breast-bone, and make force-meat thus:  take the flesh of a fowl, and of two pigeons, with some slices of ham or bacon, chop them all well together, take the crumb of a penny loaf soaked in milk and boiled, then set to cool; when it is cool mix it all together, season it with beaten mace, nutmeg, pepper, and a little salt, a very little thyme, some parsley, and a little lemon-peel, with the yolks of two eggs; then fill your fowls, spit them, and tie them at both ends; after you have papered the breast, take four cucumbers, cut them in two, and lay them in salt and water two or three hours before; then dry them, and fill them with some of the force-meat (which you must take care to save) and tie them with a packthread, flour them and fry them of a fine brown; when your chickens are enough, lay them in the dish and untie your cucumbers, but take care the meat do not come out; then lay them round the chicken with the fat side downwards, and the narrow end upwards.  You must have some rich fried gravy, and pour into the dish; then garnish with lemon.

Note, One large fowl done this way, with the cucumbers laid round it, looks very pretty, and is a very good dish.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Chickens à la braise.

You must take a couple of fine chicken, lard them, and season them with pepper, salt, and mace; then lay a layer of veal in the bottom of a deep stew-pan, with a slice or two of bacon, an onion cut to pieces, a piece of carrot and a layer of beef; then lay in the chickens with the breast downward, and a bundle of sweet-herbs:  after that lay a layer of beef, and put in a quart of broth or water; cover it close, let it stew very softly for an hour after it begins to simmer.  In the mean time, get ready a ragoo thus:  take a good veal sweetbread*, or two, cut them small, set them on the fire, with a very little broth or water, a few cocks-combs, truffles and morels, cut small with an ox-palate, if you have it; stew them all together till they are enough; and when your chickens are done, take them up, and keep them hot; then strain the liquor they were stewed in, skim the fat off, and pour into your ragoo, add a glass of red wine, a spoonful of catchup, and a few mushrooms; then boil all together, with a few artichoke bottoms cut in four, and asparagus-tops.  If your sauce is not thick enough, take a little piece of butter rolled in flour, and when enough lay your chickens in the dish, and pour the ragoo over them.  Garnish with lemon.

Or you may make your sauce thus:  take the gravy the fowls were stewed in, strain it, skim off the fat, have ready half a pint of oysters, with the liquor strained, put them to your gravy with a glass of white wine, a good piece of butter rolled in flour; then boil them all together, and pour over your fowls.  Garnish with lemon.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To marinate fowls.

Take a fine large fowl or turkey, raise the skin from the breast-bone with your finger, then take a veal sweetbread* and cut it small, a few oysters, a few mushrooms, an anchovy, some pepper, a little nutmeg, some lemon-peel, and a little thyme; chop all together small, and mixt with the yolk of an egg, stuff it in between the skin and the flesh, but take great care you do not break the skin, and then stuff what oysters you please into the body of the fowl.  You may lard the breast of the fowl with bacon, if you chuse it.  Paper the breast, and roast it.  Make good gravy, and garnish with lemon.  You may add a few mushrooms to the sauce.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To broil chickens.

Slit them down the back, and season them with pepper and salt, lay them on a very clear fire, and at a great distance.  Let the inside lie next the fire till it is above half done:  then turn them, and take great care the fleshy side do not burn, throw some fine raspings of bread over it, and let them be of a fine brown, but not burnt.  Let your sauce be good gravy, with mushrooms, and garnish with lemon and the livers broiled, the gizzards cut, slashed, and broiled with pepper and salt.

Or this sauce; take a handful of sorrel, dipped in boiling water, drain it, and have ready half a pint of good gravy, a shallot shred small, and some parsley boiled very green; thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour, and add a glass of red wine, then lay your sorrel in heaps round the fowls, and pour the sauce over them.  Garnish with lemon.

Note, You may make just what sauce you fancy.

Pulled chickens.

Take three chickens, boil them just fit for eating, but not too much; when they are boiled enough, flay all the skin off, and take the white flesh off the bones, pull it into pieces about as thick as a large quill, and half as long as your finger.  Have ready a quarter of a pint of good cream and a piece of fresh butter about as big as an egg, stir them together till the butter is all melted, and then put in your chickens with the gravy that came from them, give them two or three tosses round on the fire, put them into a dish, and send them up hot.

Note, The leg makes a very pretty dish by itself, broiled very nicely with some pepper and salt; the livers being broiled and the gizzards broiled, cut, and slashed, and lay round the legs, with good gravy-sauce in the dish.  Garnish with lemon.

A pretty way of stewing chickens.

Take two fine chickens, half boil them, then take them up in a pewter, or silver dish, if you have one; cut up your fowls, and separate all the joint-bones one from another, and then take out the breast-bones.  If there is not liquor enough from the fowls, add a few spoonfuls of water they were boiled in, put in a blade of mace, and a little salt; cover it close with another dish, set it over a stove or chaffing-dish of coals, let it stew till the chickens are enough, and then send them hot to the tale in the same dish they were stewed in.

Note, This is a very pretty dish for any sick person, or for a lying-in lady.  For change it is better than butter, and the sauce is very agreeable and pretty.

N.B. You may do rabbits, partridges, or moor-game this way.

Chickens chiringrate.

Cut off their feet, break the breast-bone flat with a rolling pin, but take care you don’t break the skin; flour them, fry them of a fine brown in butter, then drain all the fat out of the pan, but leave the chickens in.  Lay a pound of gravy-beef cut very thin over your chickens, and a piece of veal cut very thin, a little mace, two or three cloves, some whole pepper, an onion, a little bundle of sweet-herbs, and a piece of carrot, and then pour in a quart of boiling water; cover it close, let it stew for a quarter of an hour, then take out the chickens and keep them hot:  let the gravy boil till it is quite rich and good, then strain it off and put it into your pan again, with two spoonfuls of red wine and a few mushrooms; put in your chickens to heat, then take them up, lay them into your dish, and pour your sauce over them.  Garnish with lemon, and a few slices of cold ham warmed in the gravy.

Note, You may fill your chickens with force-meat*, and lard them with bacon, and add truffles, morels, and sweetbreads** cut small, but then it will be a very high dish.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

**Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

Chickens boiled with bacon and celery.

Boil two chickens very white in a pot by themselves, and a piece of ham, or good thick bacon; boil two bunches of celery tender, then cut them about two inches long, all the white part, put it into a saucepan with half a pint of cream, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and some pepper and salt; set it on the fire, and shake it often:  when it is thick and fine, lay your chickens in the dish and pour your sauce in the middle, that the celery may lie between the fowls, and garnish the dish all round with slices of ham or bacon.

Note, if you have cold ham in the house, that, cut into slices and broiled, does full as well, or better, to lay round the dish.

Chickens with tongues.  A good dish for a great deal of company.

Take six small chickens boiled very white, six hogs tongues, boiled and peeled, a cauliflower boiled very white in milk and water whole, and a good deal of spinach boiled green; then lay your cauliflower in the middle, the chickens close all round, and the tongues round them with the roots outward, and the spinach in little heaps between the tongues.  Garnish with little pieces of bacon toasted, and lay a little piece on each of the tongues.

Scotch chickens.

First wash your chickens, dry them in a clean cloth, and singe them, then cut them into quarters; put them into a stew-pan or saucepan, and just cover them with water, put in a blade or two of mace and a little bundle of parsley; cover them close, and let them stew half an hour, then chop half a handful of clean washed parsley, and throw in, and have ready six eggs, whites and all, beat fine.  Let your liquor boiled up, and pour the egg all over them as it boils; then send all together hot in a deep dish, but take out the bundle of parsley first.  You must be sure to skim them well before you put in your mace, and the broth will be fine and clear.

Note, This is also a very pretty dish for sick people, but the Scotch gentlemen are very fond of it.

To marinate chickens.

Cut two chickens into quarters, lay them in vinegar for three or four hours, with pepper, salt, a bay-leaf, and a few cloves, make a very thick batter, first with half a pint of wine and flour, then the yolks of two eggs, a little melted butter, some grated nutmeg and chopped parsley; beat all very well together, dip your fowls in the batter, and fry them in a good deal of hog’s lard, which must first boil before you put your chickens in.  Let them be of a fine brown, and lay them in your dish like a pyramid, with fried parsley all round them.  Garnish with lemon, and have some good gravy in boats or basons.

To stew chickens.

Take two chickens, cut them into quarters, wash them clean, and then put them into a saucepan; put to them a quarter of a pint of water, half a pint of red wine, some mace, pepper, a bundle of sweet-herbs, an onions, and a few raspings; cover them close, let them stew half an hour, then take a piece of butter about as big as an egg rolled in flour, put in, and cover it close for five or six minutes, shake the saucepan about, then take out the sweet-herbs and onion.  You may take the yolks of two eggs, beat and mixed with them; if you don’t like it, leave them out.  Garnish with lemon.

Ducks à la mode.

Take two fine ducks, cut them into quarters, fry them in butter a little brown, then pour out all the fat, and throw a little flour over them; and half a pint of good gravy, a quarter of a pint of red wine, two shallots, an anchovy, and a bundle of sweet-herbs; cover them close, and let them stew a quarter of an hour; take out the herbs, skim off the fat, and let your sauce be as thick as cream; send it to table, and garnish with lemon.

To dress a wild duck the best way.

First half roast it, then lay it in a dish, carve it, but leave the joints hanging together, throw a little pepper and salt, and squeeze the juice of a lemon over it, turn it on the breast, and press it hard with a plate, and add to its own gravy, two or three spoonfuls of gravy, cover it close with another dish, and set over a stove ten minutes, then send it to table hot in the dish it was done in, and garnish with lemon.  You may add a little red wine, and a shallot cut small, if you like, but it is apt to make the duck eat hard, unless you first heat the wine and pour it in just as it is done.

To boil a duck or rabbit with onions.

Boil your duck or rabbit in a good deal of water; be sure to skim your water, for there will always rise a scum, which if it boils down will discolour your fowls, &c.  They will take about half an hour boiling; for sauce, your onions must be peeled, and throw them into water as you peel them, then cut them into thin slices, boil them in milk and water, and skim the liquor.  Half an hour will boil them.  Throw them into a clean sieve to drain them, put them into a saucepan and chop them small, shake in a little flour, put to them two or three spoonfuls of cream, a good piece of butter, stew all together over the fire till they are thick and fine, lay the duck or rabbit in the dish, and pour the sauce all over; if a rabbit, you must cut off the head, cut it in two, and lay it on each side of the dish.

Or you may make this sauce for a change:  take one large onion, cut it small, half a handful of parsley clean washed and picked, chop it small, a lettuce cut small, a quarter of a pint of good gravy, a good piece of butter rolled in a little flour; add a little juice of lemon, a little pepper and salt, let all stew together for half an hour, then add two spoonfuls of red wine.  This sauce is most proper for a duck; lay your duck in the dish, and pour your sauce over it.

To dress a duck with green pease.

Put a deep stew-pan over the fire, with a piece of fresh butter; singe your duck and flour it, turn it in the pan two or three minutes, then pour out all the fat, but let the duck remain in the pan; put to it half a pint of good gravy, a pint of pease, two lettuces cut small, a small bundle of sweet-herbs, a little pepper and salt, cover them close, and let them stew for half an hour, now and then give the pan a shake; when they are just done, grate in a little nutmeg, and put in a very little beaten mace, and thicken it either with a piece of butter rolled in flour, or the yolk of an egg bet up with two or three spoonfuls of cream; shake it all together for three or four minutes, take out the sweet-herbs, lay the duck in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.  You may garnish with boiled mint chopped, or let it alone.

To dress a duck with cucumbers.

Take three or four cucumbers, pare them, take out the seeds, cut them into little pieces, lay them in vinegar for two or three hours before, with two large onions peeled and sliced, then do your duck as above; then take the duck out, and put in the cucumbers and onions, first drain them in a cloth, let them be a little brown, shake a little flour over them; in the mean time let your duck be stewing in the saucepan with half a pint of gravy for a quarter of an hour, then add to it the cucumbers and onions, with pepper and salt to your palate, a good piece of butter rolled in flour, and two or three spoonfuls of red wine; shake all together, and let it stew together for eight or ten minutes, then take up your duck and pour the sauce over it.

Or you may roast your duck, and make this sauce and pour over it, but then a quarter or a pint of gravy will be enough.

To dress a duck à la braise.

Take a duck, lard it with little pieces of bacon, season it inside and out with pepper and salt, lay a layer of bacon cut thin, in the bottom of a stew-pan, and then a layer of lean beef cut thin, then lay your duck with some carrot, an onions, a little bundle of sweet-herbs, a blade or two or mace, and lay a thin layer of beef over the duck; cover it close, and set it over a slow fire for eight or ten minutes, then take off the cover and shake in a little flour, give the pan a shake, pour in a pint of small broth, or boiling water; give the pan a shake or two, cover it close again, and let it stew half an hour, then take off the cover, take out the duck and keep it hot, let the sauce boil till there is about a quarter of a pint or little better, then strain it and put it into the stew-pan again, with a glass of red wine; put in your duck, shake the pan, and let it stew four or five minutes; then lay your duck in the dish and pour the sauce over it, and garnish with lemon.  If you love your duck very high, you may fill it with the following ingredients:  take a veal sweetbread* cut in eight or ten pieces, a few truffles, some oysters, a little sweet-herbs and parsley chopped fine, a little pepper, salt, and beaten mace; fill your duck with the above ingredients, tie both ends tights, and dress as above; or you may fill it with force-meat** made thus:  take a little piece of veal, take all the skin and fat off, beat in a mortar, with as much suet, and an equal quantity of crumbs of bread, a few sweet-herbs, some parsley chopped, a little lemon-peel, pepper, salt, beaten mace, and nutmeg, and mix it up with the yolk of an egg.

You may stew an ox’s palate tender, and cut it into pieces, with some artichoke bottoms cut into four, and tossed up in the sauce.  You may lard your duck or let it alone, just as you please; for my part I think it best without.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To boil ducks the French way.

Let your ducks be larded, and half roasted, then take them off the spit, put them into a large earthen pipkin, with half a pint of red wine, and a pint of good gravy, some chestnuts, first roasted and peeled, half a pint of large oysters, the liquor strained, and the beards taken off, two or three little onions minced small, a very little stripped thyme, mace, pepper and a little ginger beat fine; cover it close, and let them stew half an hour over a slow fire, and the crust of a French roll grated when you put in your gravy and wine; when they are enough take them up, and pour the sauce over them.

To dress a goose with onions or cabbage.

Salt the goose for a week, then boil it.  It will take an hour.  You may either make onion-sauce as we do for ducks, or cabbage boiled, chopped and stewed in butter, with a little pepper and salt; lay the goose in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.  It eats very good with either.

Directions for roasting a goose.

Take sage, wash it, pick it clean, chop it small, with pepper and salt; roll them with butter, and put them into the belly; never put onion into any thing, unless you are sure every body loves it; take care that your goose be clean picked and washed.  I think the best way is to scald a goose, and then you are sure it is clean, and not so strong:  let your water be scalding hot, dip in your goose for a minute, then all the feathers will come off clean:  when it is quite clean wash it with cold water, and dry it with a cloth; roast it and baste it with butter, and when it is half done throw some flour over it, that it may have a fine brown.  Three quarters of an hour will do it at a quick fire, if it is not too large, otherwise it will require an hour.  Always have good gravy in a bason, and apple-sauce in another.

A green goose.

Never put any seasoning into it, unless desired.  You must either put good gravy, or green-sauce in the dish, made thus:  Take a handful of sorrel, beat it in a mortar, and squeeze the juice out, add to it the juice of an orange or lemon, and a little sugar, heat it in a pipkin, and pour it into your dish; but the best way is to put gravy in the dish, and green-sauce in a cup or boat.  Or made thus:  take half a pint of the juice of sorrel, a spoonful of white wine, a little grated nutmeg, a little grated bread; boil these a quarter of an hour softly, then strain it, and put it into the saucepan again, and sweeten it with a little sugar, give it a boil, and pour it into a dish or bason; some like a little piece of butter rolled in flour, and put into it.

A dry a goose.

Get a fat goose, take a handful of common salt, a quarter of an ounce of salt-petre*, a quarter of a pound of coarse sugar, mix all together, and rub your goose very well:  let it lie in this pickle a fortnight, turning and rubbing it every day, then roll it in bran, and hang it up in a chimney where wood-smoke is for a week.  If you have not that conveniency, send it to the baker’s the smoke of the over will dry it; or you may hang it in your own chimney, not too near the fire, but make a fire under it, and lay horse-dung and saw dust on it, and that will smother and smoke-dry it; when it is well dried keep it in a dry place, you may keep it two or three months or more; when you boil it put in a good deal of water, and be sure to skim it well.

Note, You may boil turnips, or cabbage boiled and stewed in butter or onion-sauce.

* Saltpeter is a nitrate compound used as a food preservative.

To dress a goose in ragoo.

Flat the breast down with a cleaver, then press it down with your hand, skin it, dip it into scalding water, let it be cold, lard it with bacon, season it well with pepper, salt, and a little beaten mace, then flour it all over, take a pound of good beef-suet cut small, put it into a deep stew-pan, let it be melted, then put in your goose, let it be brown on both sides; when it is brown put in a pint of boiling water, an onion or two, a bundle of sweet-herbs, a bay-leaf, some whole pepper, and a few cloves; cover it close, and let it stew softly till it is tender.  About half an hour will do it, if small; if a large one, three quarters of an hour.  In the mean time make a ragoo, boil some turnips almost enough, some carrots and onions quite enough; cut them all into little pieces, put them into a sauce-pan with half a pint of good beef gravy, a little pepper and salt, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and let this stew altogether a quarter of an hour.  Take the goose and drain it well, then lay it in the dish, and pour the ragoo over it.

Where the onion is disliked, leave it out.  You may add cabbage boiled and chopped small.

A goose à la mode.

Take a large fine goose, pick it clean, skin it, and cut it down the back, bone it nicely, take the fat off, then take a dried tongue, boil it and peel it:  take a fowl, and do it in the same manner as the goose, season it with pepper, salt, and beaten mace, roll it round the tongue, season the goose with the same, put the tongue and fowl in the goose, and sew the goose up again in the same form it was before; put it into a little pot that will just hold it, put to it two quarts of beef-gravy, a bundle of sweet-herbs and an onion; put some slices of ham, or good bacon, between the fowl and goose; cover it close, and let it stew an hour over a good fire:  when it begins to boil let it do very softly, then take up your goose and skim off all the fat, strain it, put in a glass of red wine, two spoonfuls of catchup, a veal sweetbread* cut small, some truffles, morels, and mushrooms, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and some pepper and salt, if wanted; put in the goose again, cover it close, and let it stew half an hour longer, then take it up and pour the ragoo over it.  Garnish with lemon.

Note, This is a very fine dish.  You must mind to save the bones of the goose and fowl, and put them into the gravy when it is first set on, and it will be better if you roll some beef-marrow between the tongue and the fowl, and between the fowl and goose, it will make them mellow and eat fine.  You may add six or seven yolks of hard eggs whole in the dish, they are a pretty addition.  Take care to skim off the fat.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To stew giblets.

Let them be nicely scalded and picked, break the two pinion bones in two, cut the head in two, and cut off the nostrils; cut the liver in two, the gizzard in four, and the neck in two; slip off the skin of the neck, and make a pudding with two hard eggs chopped fine, the crumbs of a French roll steeped in hot milk two or three hours, then mix it with the hard egg, a little nutmeg, pepper, salt, and a little sage chopped fine, a very little melted butter, and stir it together; tie one end of the skin, and fill it with ingredients, tie the other end tight, and put all together in the sauce-pan, with a quart of good mutton broth, a bundle of sweet-herbs, an onion, some whole pepper, mace, two or three cloves tied up loose in a muslin rag, and a very little piece of lemon-peel; cover them close, and let them stew till quite tender, then take a small French roll toasted brown on all sides, and put it into the sauce-pan, give it a shake, and let it stew till there is just gravy enough to eat with them, then take out the onion, sweet-herbs, and spice, lay the roll in the middle, the giblets round, the pudding cut into slices and laid round, and then pour the sauce over all.

Another way.

Take the giblets clean picked and washed, the feet skinned and bill cut off, the head cut in two, the pinion bones broke into two, the liver cut in two, the gizzard cut into four, the pipe pulled out of the neck, the neck cut in two:  put them into a pipkin with half a pint of water, some whole pepper, black and white, a blade of mace, a little sprig of thyme, a small onion, a little crust of bread, then cover them close, and set them on a very slow fire.  Wood-embers is best.  Let them stew till they are quite tender, then take out the herbs and onions, and pour them into a little dish.  Season them with salt.

To roast pigeons.

Fill them with parsley clean washed and chopped, and some pepper and salt rolled in butter; fill the bellies, tie the neck-end close, so that nothing can run out, put a skewer through the legs, and have a little iron on purpose, with six hooks to it, and on each hook hang a pigeon; fasten one end of the string to the chimney, and the other end to the iron (this is what we call the poor man’s spit) flour them, baste them with butter, and turn them gently for fear of hitting the bars.  They will roast nicely, and be full of gravy.  Take care how you take them off, not to lose any of the liquor.  You may melt a very little butter, and put into the dish.  Your pigeons ought to be quite fresh, and not too much done.  This is by much the best way of doing them, for then they will swim in their own gravy, and a very little melted butter will do.

When you roast them on a spit all the gravy runs out, or if you stuff them and broil them whole you cannot save the gravy so well, though they will be very good with parsley and butter in the dish, or split and broiled with pepper and salt.

To boil pigeons.

Boil them by themselves, for fifteen minutes, then boil a handsome square piece of bacon and lay in the middle; stew some spinach to lay round, and lay the pigeons on the spinach.  Garnish your dish with parsley laid in a plate before the fire to crisp.  Or you may lay one pigeon in the middle, and the rest round, and the spinach between each pigeon, and a slice of bacon on each pigeon.  Garnish with slices of bacon and melted butter in a cup.

To à la daube pigeons.

Take a large sauce-pan, lay a layer of bacon, then a layer of veal, a layer of coarse beef, and another little layer of veal, about a pound of veal and a pound of beef cut very thin, a piece of carrot, a bundle of sweet-herbs, on onion, some black and white pepper, a blade or two of mace, four or five cloves, a little crust of bread toasted very brown.  Cover the sauce-pan close, set it over a slow fire for five or six minutes, shake in a little flour, then pour in a quart of boiling water, shake it round, cover it close, and let it stew till the gravy is quite rich and good, then strain it off and skim off all the fat.  In the mean time stuff the bellies of the pigeons with force-meat*, made thus:  take a pound of veal, a pound of beef-suet, beat both in a mortar fine, an equal quantity of crumbs of bread, some pepper, salt, nutmeg, beaten mace, a little lemon-peel cut small, some parsley cut small, and a very little thyme stripped; mix all together with the yolk of an egg, fill the pigeons, and flat the breast down, flour them and fry them in fresh butter a little brown:  then pour the fat clean out of the pan, and put to the pigeons the gravy, cover them close, and let them stew a quarter of an hour, or till you think they are quite enough; then take them up, lay them in a dish, and pour in your sauce:  on each pigeon lay a bay-leaf, and on the leaf a slice of bacon.  You may garnish with a lemon notched, or let it alone.

Note, You may leave out the stuffing, they will be very rich and good without it, and it is the best way of dressing them for a fine made dish.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Pigeons au poir.

Make a good force-meat* as above, cut off the feet quite, stuff them in the shape of a pear, roll them in the yolk of an egg, and then in crumbs of bread, stick the leg at the top, and butter a dish to lay them in; then send them to an oven to bake, but do not let them touch each other.  When they are enough, lay them in a dish, and pour in good gravy thickened with the yolk of an egg, or butter rolled in flour:  do not pour your gravy over the pigeon.  You may garnish with lemon.  It is a pretty genteel dish:  or, for change, lay one pigeon in the middle, the rest round, and stewed spinach between; poached eggs on the spinach.  Garnish with notched lemon and orange cut into quarters, and have melted butter in boats.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

Pigeons stoved.

Take a small cabbage lettuce, just cut out the heart and make a force-meat* as before, only chop the heart of the cabbage and mix with it; then you must fill up the place, and tie it across with a packthread; fry it of a light brown in fresh butter, pour out all the fat, lay the pigeons round, flat them with your hand, season them a little with pepper, salt, and beaten mace (take great care not to put too much salt), pour in half a pint of Rhennish** wine, cover it close, and let it stew about five or six minutes; then put in half a pint of good gravy, cover them close, and let them stew half an hour.  Take a good piece of butter rolled in flour, shake it in:  when it is fine and thick take it up, untie it, lay the lettuce in the middle, and the pigeons round:  squeeze in a little lemon juice, and pour the sauce all over them.  Stew a little lettuce, and cut it into pieces for garnish with pickled red cabbage.

Note, Or for change, you may stuff your pigeons with the same force-meat, and cut two cabbage lettuces into quarters, and stew as above:  so lay the lettuce between each pigeon, and one in the middle, with the lettuce round it, and pour the sauce all over them.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

** Rhenish wine:  Wine from the Rhine valley in Germany; it could refer to either red or white.

Pigeons surtout.

Force your pigeons as above, then lay a slice of bacon on the breast, and a slice of veal beat with the back of a knife, and seasoned with mace, pepper, and salt, tie it on with a small packthread, or two little fine skewers is better; spit them on a fine bird spit, roast them and baste with a piece of butter, then with the yolk of an egg, and then baste them again with crumbs of bread, a little nutmeg and sweet-herbs; when enough lay them in your dish, have good gravy ready, with truffles, morels, and mushrooms, to pour into your dish.  Garnish with lemon.

Just sayin’…

 

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all lessons of history.”

Aldous Huxley

The Art of Cookery Continued: Chapter II: Made Dishes, Part 3

Selling curds and whey

Chapter two is by far the longest chapter in Hannah Glasse’s cookery book; it shows just how much emphasis was placed on meats on the eighteenth century table.  In this section there are quite a few unusual terms, all of which I’ve added explanations for:  Force-meat and sweetbread (both meats), burnt butter, astertium and broom-buds, mushroom powder, neat and pippen, just to name a few.  So, without further ado:

To fry beef steaks.

Take rump steaks, beat them very well with a roller, fry them in half a pint of ale that is not bitter, and whilst they are frying cut a large onion small, a very little thyme, some parsley shred small, some grated nutmeg, and a little pepper and salt; roll all together in a piece of butter, and then in a little flour, put this into the stew-pan, and shake all together.  When the steaks are tender, and the sauce of a fine thickness, dish it up.

A second way to fry beef steaks.

Cut the lean by itself, and beat them well with the back of a knife, fry them in just as much butter as will moisten the pan, pour out the gravy as it runs out of the meat, turn them often, do them over a gentle fire, then fry the fat by itself and lay upon the meat, and put to the gravy a glass of red wine, half an anchovy, a little nutmeg, a little beaten pepper, and a shallot cut small; give it two or three little boils, season it with salt to your palate, pour it over the steaks, and send them to table.

Another way to do beef steaks.

Cut your steaks, half broil them, then lay them in a stew-pan, season them with pepper and salt, just cover them with gravy and a piece of butter rolled in flour.  Let them stew for half an hour, beat up the yolks of two eggs, stir all together for two or three minutes, and then serve it up.

A pretty side-dish of beef.

Roast a tender piece of beef, lay fat bacon all over it, and roll it in paper, baste it, and when it is roasted cut about two pounds in thin slices, lay them in a stew-pan, and take six large cucumbers, peel them, and chop them small, lay over them a little pepper and salt, stew them in butter for about ten minutes, then drain out the butter, and shake some flour over them; toss them up, pour in half a pint of gravy, let them stew till they are thick, and dish them up.

To dress a fillet of beef.

It is the inside of a sirloin.  You must carefully cut it all out from the bone, grate some nutmeg over it, a few crumbs of bread, a little pepper and salt, a little lemon-peel, a little thyme, some parsley shred small, and roll it up tight; tie it with a packthread, roast it, put a quart of milk and a quarter of a pound of butter into the dripping-pan, and baste it; when it is enough, take it up, untie it, leave a little skewer in it to hold it together, have a little good gravy in the dish, and some sweet sauce in a cup.  You may baste it with red wine and butter, if you like it better; or it will do very well with butter only.

Beef steaks rolled.

Take three or four beef steaks, flat them with a cleaver, and make a force-meat* thus; take a pound of veal beat fine in a mortar, the flesh of a large fowl thus cut small, half a pound of cold ham chopped small, the kidney-fat of a loin of veal chopped small, a sweetbread** cut in little pieces, an ounce of truffles and morels first stewed and then cut small, some parsley, the yolks of four eggs, a nutmeg grated, a very little thyme, a little lemon-peel cut fine, a little pepper and salt, and half a pint of cream:  mix all together, lay it on your steaks, roll them up firm, of a good size, and put a little skewer into them, put them into the stew-pan, and fry them of a nice brown; then pour all the fat quite out, and put in a pint of good fried gravy (as in “To make gravy,”  Chapter I), put one spoonful of catchup, two spoonfuls of red wine, a few mushrooms, and let them stew for a quarter of an hour.  Take up the steaks, cut them in two, lay the cut side uppermost, and pour the sauce over it.  Garnish with lemon.

Note, Before you put the force-meat into the beef, you are to stir it all together over a slow fire for eight or ten minutes.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

**Sweetbread:  Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To stew a rump of beef.

Having boiled it till it is little more than half enough, take it up, and peel off the skin:  take salt, pepper, beaten mace, grated nutmeg, a handful of parsley, a little thyme, winter-savory, sweet-marjoram, all chopped fine and mixed, and stuff them in great hold in the fat and lean, the rest spread over it, with yolks of two eggs; save the gravy that runs out, put to it a pint of claret, and put the meat in a deep pan, pour the liquor in, cover it close, and let it bake two hours, then put it into the dish, pour the liquor over it, and sent it to table.

Another way to stew a rump of beef.

You must cut the meat off the bone, lay it in your stew pan, cover it with water, put in a spoonful of whole pepper, two onions, a bundle of sweet herbs, some salt, and a pint of red wine; cover it close, set it over a stove or slow fire for four hours, shaking it sometimes, and turning it four or five times; make gravy as for soup, put in three quarts, keep it stirring till dinner is ready:  take ten or twelve turnips, cut them into slices the broad way, then cut them into four, flour them, and fry them brown in beef dripping.  Be sure to let your dripping boil before you put them in; then drain them well from the fat, lay the beef in your soup-dish, toast a little bread very nice and brown, cut in three corner dice, lay them into the dish, and the turnips likewise; strain in the gravy, and send it to table.  If you have the convenience of a stove, put the dish over it for five or six minutes; it gives the liquor a fine flavour of the turnips, makes the bread eat better, and is a great addition.  Season it with salt to your palate.

Portugal beef.

Take a rump of beef, cut it off the bone, cut it across, flour it, fry the thin part brown in butter, the thick end stuff with suet, boiled chesnuts, an anchovy, an onion, and a little pepper.  Stew it in a pan of strong broth, and when it is tender, lay both the fried and stewed together in your dish, cut the friend in two and lay on each side of the stewed, strain the gravy it was stewed in, put to it some pickled gerkins chopped, and boiled chestnuts, thicken it with a piece of burnt butter*, give it two or three boils up, season it with salt to your palate, and pour it over the beef.  Garnish with lemon.

* burnt butter:  Melt the butter on a gentle heat in a small saucepan until nutty brown.

To stew a rump of beef, or the briscuit, the French way.

Take a rump of beef, put it into a little pot that will hold it, cover it with water, put on the cover, let it stew an hour; but if the briscuit, two hours.  Skim it clean, then slash the meat with a knife to let out the gravy, put in a little beaten pepper, some salt, four cloves, with two or three large blades of mace beat fine, six onions sliced, and half a pint of red wine; cover it close, let it stew an hour, then put in two spoonfuls of capers or astertium-buds* pickled, or broom-buds**, chop them;  two spoonfuls of vinegar, and two of verjuice; boil fix cabbage lettuces in water, then put them in a pot, put in a pint of good gravy, let all stew together for half an hour, skim all the fat off, lay the meat into the dish, and pour the rest over it, have ready some pieces of bread cut three corner ways, and fried crisp, stick them about the meat, and garnish them.  When you put in the cabbage, put with it a good piece of butter rolled in flour.

* astertium-buds pickled:  She must mean “Nasturtium” buds, of a flowering plant; for more information, see the culinary section under “Tropaeolum” at Wikipedia.

**broom-buds:  She may be referring to either the Spartium plant, or the broom shrub, which was used raw or pickled, even though it is now known to be potentially toxic, effecting the heart and / or causing problems during pregnancy!

To stew beef gobbets.

Get any piece of beef, except the leg, cut it in pieces about the bigness of a pullet’s egg, put them in a stew-pan, cover them with water, let them stew, skim them clean, and when they have stewed an hour, take mace, cloves, and whole pepper tied in a muslin rag loose, some celery cut small, put them into the pan with some salt, turnips and carrots, pared and cut in slices, a little parsley, a bundle of sweet-herbs, and a large crust of bread.  You may put in an ounce of barley or rice, if you like it.  Cover it close, and let it stew till it is tender, take out the herbs, spices, and bread, and have ready fried a French roll cut in four.  Dish up all together, and send it to table.

Beef royal.

Take a sirloin of beef, or a large rump, bone it and beat it very well, then lard it with bacon, season it all over with salt, pepper, mace, cloves, and nutmeg, all beat fine, some lemon-peel cut small, and some sweet-herbs; in the mean time make a strong broth of the bones, take a piece of butter with a little flour, brown it, put in the beef, keep it turning often till it is brown, then strain the broth, put all together into a pot, put in a bay-leaf, a few truffles, and some ox palates cut small; cover it close, and let it stew till it is tender, take out the beef, skim off all the fat, pour in a pint of claret, some fried oysters, an anchovy, and some gerkins shred small; boil all together, put in the beef to warm, thicken your sauce with a piece of butter rolled in flour, or mushroom powder**, or burnt butter**.  Lay your meat in the dish, pour the sauce over it, and send it to table.  This may be eat either hot or cold.

* mushroom powder:  Dried mushrooms ground to a powder in a mortar, used as flavouring.  This is still used in Asian cuisine, and you might be able to find it in a good Asian supermarket or health food store in the Vegetarian section.

**burnt butter:  Melt the butter on a gentle heat in a small saucepan until nutty brown.

A tongue and udder forced.

First parboil your tongue and udder, blanch the tongue and stick it with cloves; as for the udder, you must carefully raise it, and fill it with force-meat made with veal:  first wash the inside with the yolk of an egg, then put in the force-meat*, tie the ends close and spit them, roast them, and baste them with butter when enough, have good gravy in the dish, and sweet sauce in a cup.  Note, For variety, you may lard the udder.

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To fricasey neat’s tongues.

Take neats tongues, boil them tender, peel them, cut them into thin slices, and fry them in fresh butter; then pour out the butter, put in as much gravy as you shall want for sauce, a bundle of sweet herbs, an onion, some pepper and salt, and a blade or two of mace; simmer all together half an hour, then take out your tongue, strain the gravy, put it with the tongue in the stew-pan again, beat up the yolks of two eggs with a glass of white wine, a little grated nutmeg, a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour, shake all together for four or five minutes, dish it up, and send it to table.

Neat is an Old English word for an ox, bullock or cow, from the Proto-Germanic word “nautam,” meaning a possession of value.

To force a tongue.

Boil it till it is tender; let it stand till it is cold, then cut a hole at the root end of it, take out some of the meat, chop it with as much beef suet, a few pippins*, some pepper and salt, a little mace beat, some nutmeg, a few sweet herbs, and the yolks of two eggs; chop it all together, stuff it, cover the end with a veal caul** or buttered paper, roast it, baste it with butter, and dish it up.  Have for sauce good gravy, a little melted butter, the juice of an orange or lemon, and some grated nutmeg; boil it up, and pour it into the dish.

* Pippin:  Varieties of apples grown from the seed, or “pip.”

** Caul :  The membrane.

To stew neat’s tongues whole.

Take two tongues, let them stew in water just to cover them for two hours, then peel them, put them in again with a pint of strong gravy, half a pint of white wine, a bundle of sweet-herbs, a little pepper and salt, some mace, cloves, and whole pepper tied in a muslin rag, a spoonful of capers chopped, turnips and carrots sliced, and a piece of butter rolled in flour; let all stew together very softly over a slow fire for two hours, then take out the spice and sweet-herbs, and send it to table.  You may leave out the turnips and carrots, or boil them by themselves, and lay them in a dish, just as you like.

To fricasey ox palates.

After boiling your palates very tender, (which you must do by setting them on in cold water, and letting them do softly) then blanch them and scrape them clean; take mace, nutmeg, cloves and pepper beat fine, rub them all over with those, and with crumbs of bread; have ready some butter in a stew-pan, and when it is hot put in the palates; fry them brown on both sides, then pour out the fat, and put to them some mutton or beef gravy, enough for sauce, an anchovy, a little nutmeg, a little piece of butter rolled in flour, and the juice of a lemon:  let it simmer all together for a quarter of an hour, dish it up, and garnish with lemon.

To roast ox palates.

Having boiled your palates tender, blanch them, cut them into slices about two inches long, lard half with bacon, then have ready two or three pigeons and two or three chicken-peepers, draw them, truss them, and fill them with force-meat*; let half of them be nicely larded, spit them on a bird-spit; spit them thus:  a bird, a palate, a sage-leaf, and a piece of bacon and so on, a bird, a palate, a sage-leaf, and a piece of bacon.  Take cocks-combs and lamb stones, parboiled and blanched, lard them with little bits of bacon, large oysters parboiled, and each one larded with one piece of bacon, put these on a skewer with a little piece of bacon and a sage-leaf between them, tie them on to a spit and roast them, then beat up the yolks of three eggs, some nutmeg, a little salt and crumbs of bread; baste them with these all the time they are a-roasting, and have ready two sweetbreads** each cut in two, some artichoke-bottoms cut into four and fried, and then rub the dish with shallots: lay the birds in the middle, piled upon one another, and lay the other things all separate by themselves round about in the dish.  Have ready for sauce a pint of good gravy, a quarter of a pint of red wine, an anchovy, the oyster liquor, a piece of butter rolled in flour; boil all these together and pour into the dish, with a little juice of lemon.  Garnish your dish with lemon.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

**Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To dress a leg of mutton à la royale.

Having taken off all the fat, skin, and shank-bone, lard it with bacon, season it with pepper and salt, and a round piece of about three or four pounds of beef or leg of veal, lard it, have ready some hog’s lard boiling, flour your meat, and give it a colour in the lard, then take the meat out and put it into a pot, with a bundle of sweet herbs, some parsley, an onion stuck with cloves, two or three blades of mace, some whole pepper, and three quarts of water; cover it close, and let it boil very softly for two hours, mean while get ready a sweetbread* split, cut into four, and broiled, a few truffles and morels stewed in a quarter of a pint of strong gravy, a glass of red wine, a few mushrooms, two spoonfuls of catchup, and some asparagus-tops; boil all these together, then lay the mutton in the middle of the dish, cut the beef or veal into slices, make a rim round your mutton with the slices, and pour the ragoo over it; when you have taken the meat out of the pot, skim all the fat off the gravy; strain it, and add as much to the other as will fill the dish.  Garnish with lemon.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

A leg of mutton à la hautgout*

Let it hang a fortnight in an airy place, then have ready some cloves of garlic, and stuff it all over, rub it with pepper and salt; roast it, have ready some good gravy and red wine in the dish, and sent it to table.

*high taste

To roast a leg of mutton with oysters.

Take a leg about two or three days killed, stuff it all over with oysters, and roast it.  Garnish with horse-raddish.

To roast a leg of mutton with cockles.

Stuff it all over with cockles, and roast it.  Garnish with horse-raddish.

A shoulder of mutton in epigram.

Roast it almost enough, then very carefully take off the skin about the thickness of a crown-piece, and the shank-bone with it at the end; then season that skin and shank-bone with pepper and salt, a little lemon-peel cut small, and a few sweet-herbs and crumbs of bread, then lay this on the gridiron, and let it be of a fine brown; in the mean time take the rest of the meat and cut it like a hash about the bigness of a shilling; have the gravy and put to it, with a few spoonfuls of strong gravy, half an onion cut fine, a little nutmeg, a little pepper and salt, a little bundle of sweet-herbs, some gerkins cut very small, a few mushrooms, two or three truffles cut small, two spoonfuls of wine, either red or white, and throw a little flour over the meat:  Let all these stew together very softly for five or six minutes, but be sure it do not boil; take out the sweet-herbs, and put the hash into the dish, lay the broiled upon it, and send it to table.

a harrico* of mutton.

Take a neck or loin of mutton, cut it into six pieces, flour it, and fry it brown on both sides in the stew-pan, then pour out all the fat; put in some turnips and carrots cut like dice, two dozen of chestnuts blanched, two or three lettuces cut small, six little round onions, a bundle of sweet-herbs, some pepper and salt, and two or three blades of mace; cover it close, and let it stew for an hour, then take off the fat and dish it up.

*From what I have been able to find, which isn’t much, it must come from the Old English word hnecca “neck, nape, back of the neck” (a fairly rare word)

To French a hind-saddle of mutton.

It is the two rumps.  Cut off the rump, and carefully lift up the skin with a knife:  begin at the broad end, but be sure you do not crack it nor take it quite off:  then take some slices of ham or bacon chopped fine, a few truffles, some young onions, some parsley, a little thyme, sweet-marjoram, winter savoury, a little lemon-peel, all chopped fine, a little mace and two or three cloves beat fine, half a nutmeg, and a little pepper and salt; mix all together, and throw over the meat where you took off the skin, then lay on the skin again, and fasten it with two fine skewers at each side, and roll it in well buttered paper.  It will take three hours doing:  then take off the paper, baste the meat, strew it all over with crumbs of bread, and when it is of a fine brown take it up.  For sauce take six large shallots, cut them very fine, put them into a saucepan with two spoonfuls of vinegar, and two of white wine; boil them for a minute or two, pour it into the dish, and garnish with horse raddish.

Another French way, called St. Menehout.

Take the hind saddle of mutton, take off the skin, lard it with bacon, season it with pepper, salt, mace, cloves beat, and nutmeg, sweet-herbs, young onions, and parsley, all chopped fine; take a large oval or a large gravy-pan, lay layers of bacon, and then layers of beef all over the bottom, lay in the mutton, then lay layers of bacon on the mutton, and then a layer of beef, put in a pint of wine, and as much good gravy as will stew it, put in a bay-leaf, and two or three shallots, cover it close, put fire over and under it, if you have a close pan, and let it stand stewing for two hours; when done, take it out, strew crumbs of bread all over it, and put it into the oven to brown, strain the gravy it was stewed in, and boil it till there is just enough for sauce, lay the mutton into a dish, pour the sauce in, and serve it up.  You must brown it before a fire, if you have not an oven.

Cutlets à la Maintenon.  A very good dish.

Cut your cutlets handsomely, beat them thin with your cleaver, season them with pepper and salt, make a force-meat* with veal, beef, suet, spice and sweet-herbs, rolled in yolks of eggs, roll force-meat round each cutlet, within two inches of the top of the bone, then have as many half sheets of white paper as cutlets, roll each cutlet in a piece of paper, first buttering the paper well on the inside, dip the cutlets in melted butter and them in crumbs of bread, lay each cutlet on half a sheet of paper cross the middle of it, leaving about an inch of the bone out, then close the two ends of your paper as you do a turnover tart, and cut off the paper that is too much; broil your mutton cutlets half an hour, your veal cutlets three quarters of an hour, and then take the paper off and lay them round in the dish, with the bone outwards.  Let your sauce be good gravy thickened, and serve it up.

** Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

To make a mutton hash.

Cut your mutton in little bits as think as you can, strew a little flour over it, have ready some gravy (enough for sauce) wherein sweet-herbs, onion, pepper and salt, have been boiled; strain it, put in your meat, with a little piece of butter rolled in flour, and a little salt, a shallot cut fine, a few capers and gerkins chopped fine, and a blade of mace:  toss all together for a minute or two, have ready some bread toasted and cut into thin sippets, lay them round the dish, and pour in your hash.  Garnish your dish with pickles and horse-raddish.

Note, Some love a glass of red wine, or walnut pickle.  You may put just what you will into a hash.  If the sippets are toasted it is better.

*Sippet is the diminutive of sop, which was usually a small piece of bread to dip into a soup or broth.

To dress a pig’s petty-toes.

Put your petty-toes into a saucepan with half a pint of water, a blade of mace, a little whole pepper, a bundle of sweet-herbs, and an onion.  Let them boil five minutes, then take out the liver, lights, and heart, mince them very fine, grate a little nutmeg over them, and shake a little flour on them; let the feet do till they are tender, then take them out and strain the liquor, put all together with a little salt, and a piece of butter as big as a walnut, shake the saucepan often, let it simmer five or six minutes, then cut some toasted sippets and lay round the dish, lay the mince-meat and sauce in the middle, and the petty-toes split round it.  You may add the juice of half a lemon, or a very little vinegar.

A second way to roast a leg of mutton with oysters.

Stuff a leg of mutton with mutton suet, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and the yolks of eggs; then roast it, stick it all over with cloves, and when it is about half done, cut off some of the under-side of the fleshy end in little bits, put these into a pipkin with a pint of oysters, liquor and all, a little salt and mace, and half a pint of hot water:  stew them till half the liquor is wasted, then put in a piece of butter rolled in flour, shake all together, and when the mutton is enough take it up; pour this sauce over it, and send it to table.

To dress a leg of mutton to eat like venison.

Take a hind-quarter of mutton, and cut the leg in the shape of a haunch of venison, save the blood of the sheep and steep it in for five or six hours, then take it out and roll it in three or four sheets of white paper well-buttered on the inside, tie it with a packthread, and roast it, basting it with good beef-dripping or butter.  It will take two hours at a good fire, for your mutton must be fat and thick.  About five or six minutes before you take it up, take off the paper, baste it with a piece of butter, and shake a little flour over it to make it have a fine froth, and then have a little good drawn gravy in a bason, and sweet-sauce in another.  Don’t garnish with any thing.

To dress mutton the Turkish way.

First cut your meat into thin slices, then wash it in vinegar, and put it into a pot or saucepan that has a close cover to it, put in some rice, whole pepper, and three or four whole onions; let all these stew together, skimming it frequently; when it is enough, take out the onions, and season it with salt to your palate, lay the mutton in the dish, and pour the rice and liquor over it.

Note, The neck or leg are the best joins to dress this way:  Put in to a leg four quarts of water, and a quarter of a pound of rice; to a neck two quarts of water, and two ounces of rice.  To every pound of meat allow a quarter of an hour, being close covered.  If you put in a blade or two of mace, and a bundle of sweet-herbs, it will be a great addition.  When it is just enough put in a piece of butter, and take care the rice don’t burn to the pot.  In all these things you should lay skewers at the bottom of the pot to lay your meat on, that it may not stick.

A shoulder of mutton with a ragoo of turnips.

Take a shoulder of mutton, get the blade-bone taken out as neat as possible, and in the place put a ragoo, done thus:  take one or two sweetbreads*, some cocks-combs, half an ounce of truffles, some mushrooms, a blade or two of mace, a little pepper and salt; stew all these in a quarter of a pint of good gravy, and thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour, or yolks of eggs, which you please:  let it be cold before you put it in, and fill up the place where you took the bone out just in the form it was before, and sew it up tight:  take a large deep stew-pan, or one of the round deep copper pans with two handles, lay at the bottom thin slices of bacon, then slices of veal, a bundle of parsley, thyme, and sweet-herbs, some whole pepper, a blade or two of mace, three or four cloves, a large onion, and put in just think gravy enough to cover the meat; cover it close, and let it stew two hours, then take eight or ten turnips, pare them, and cut them into what shape you please, put them into boiling water, and let them be just enough, throw them into a sieve to drain over the hot water, that they may keep warm, then take up the mutton, drain it from the fat, lay it in a dish, and keep it hot covered; strain the gravy it was stewed in, and take off all the fat, put in a little salt, a glass of red wine, two spoonfuls of catchup, and a piece of butter rolled in flour, boil together till there is just enough for sauce, then put in the turnips, give them a boil up, pour them over the meat, and sent it to table.  You may fry the turnips of a light brown, and toss them up with the sauce; but that is according to your palate.

Note, For a change you may leave out the turnips, and add a bunch of celery cut and washed clean, and stewed in a very little water, till it is quite tender, and the water almost boiled away.  Pour the gravy, as before directed, into it, and boil it up till the sauce is good:  or you may leave both these out, and add truffles, morels, fresh and pickled mushrooms, and artichoke-bottoms.

N.B. A shoulder of veal without the knuckle, first fried, and then done just as the mutton, eats very well.  Don’t garnish your mutton, but garnish your veal with lemon.

*Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To stuff a leg or shoulder of mutton.

Take a little grated bread, some beef suet, the yolks of hard eggs, three anchovies, a bit of onion, some pepper and salt, a little thyme and winter savoury, twelve oysters, and some nutmeg grated; mix all these together, shred them very fine, work them up with raw eggs like a paste, stuff your mutton under the skin in the thickest place, or where you please, and roast it:  for sauce, take some of the oyster liquor, some claret, one anchovy, a little nutmeg, a bit of an onion, and a few oysters; stew all these together, then take out your onion, pour sauce under your mutton, and send it to table.  Garnish with horse-raddish.

Sheep rumps with rice.

Take six rumps, put them into a stew-pan with some mutton gravy, enough to fill it, stew them about half an hour, take them up and let them stand to cool, then put into the liquor a quarter of a pound of rice, an onion stuck with cloves, and a blade or two of mace; let it boil till the rice is as thick as a pudding, but take care it don’t stick to the bottom, which you must do by stirring it often:  in the mean time take a clean stew-pan, put a piece of butter into it; dip your rumps in the yolks of eggs beat, and then in crumbs of bread with a little nutmeg, lemon-peel, and a very little thyme in it, fry them in the butter of a fine brown, then take them out, lay them in a dish to drain, pour out all the fat, and toss the rice into that pan; stir it all together for a minute or two, then lay the rice into the dish, lay the rumps all round upon the rice, have ready four eggs boiled hard, cut them into quarters, lay them round the dish with friend parsley between them, and send it to table.

To make lamb and rice.

Take a neck and loin of lamb, half roast it, take it up, cut it into steaks, then take half a pound of rice, put it into a quart of good gravy, with two or three blades of mace, and a little nutmeg.  Do it over a stove or slow fire till the rice begins to be thick; then take it off, stir in a pound of butter, and when that is quite melted stir in the yolks of six eggs; first beat, then take a dish and butter it all over, take the steaks and put a little pepper and salt over them, dip them in a little melted butter, lay them into the dish, pour the gravy which comes out of them over them, and then the rice; beat the yolks of three eggs and pour all over, send it to the oven, and bake it better than half an hour.

Baked mutton chops.

Take a loin or neck of mutton, cut it into steaks, put some pepper and salt over it, butter your dish and lay in your steaks; then take a quart of milk, six eggs beat up fine, and four spoonfuls of flour; beat your flour and eggs in a little milk first, and then put the rest to it, put in a little beaten ginger, and a little salt.  Pour this over the steaks, and send it to the over; an hour and an half will bake it.

A forced leg of lamb.

Take a large leg of lamb, cut a long slit on the back side, but take great care you don’t deface the other side; then chop the meat small with marrow, half a pound of beef-suet, some oysters, an anchovy unwashed, an onion, some sweet-herbs, a little lemon peel, and some beaten mace and nutmeg; beat all these together in a mortar, stuff it up in the shape it was before, sew it up, and rub it over with the yolks of eggs beaten, spit it, flour it all lover, lay it to the fire, and baste it with butter.  An hour will roast it.  You may bake it, if you please, but then you must butter the dish, and lay the butter over it:  cut the loin into steaks, season them with pepper, salt, and nutmeg, lemon-peel cut fine, and a few sweet-herbs; fry them in fresh butter of a fine brown, then pour out all the butter, put in a quarter of a pint of white wine, shake it about, and put in half a pint of strong gravy, wherein good spice has been boiled, a quarter of a pint of oysters and the liquor, some mushrooms and a spoonful of the pickle, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and the yolk of an egg beat; stir all these together till it is thick, then lay your leg of lamb in the dish, and the loin around it; pour the sauce over it, and garnish with lemon.

To fry a loin of lamb.

Cut the loin into thin steaks, put a very little pepper and salt, and a little nutmeg on them, and fry them in fresh butter; when enough, take out the steaks, lay them in a dish before the fire to keep hot, then pour out the butter, shake a little flour over the bottom of the pan, pour in a quarter of a pint of boiling water, and put in a piece of butter; shake all together, give it a boil or two up, pour it over the steaks, and send it to table.

Note, You may do mutton the same way, and add two spoonfuls of walnut-pickle.

Another way of frying a neck or loin of lamb.

Cut into thin steaks, beat them with a rolling pin, fry them in half a pint of ale, season them with a little salt, and cover them close; when enough, take them out of the pan, lay them in a plate before the fire to keep hot, and pour all out of the pan into a bason; then put in half a pint of white wine, a few capers, the yolks of two eggs beat, with a little nutmeg and a little salt; add to this the liquor they were fried in, and keep stirring it one way all the time till it is thick, then put in the lamb, keep shaking the pan for a minute or two, lay the steaks into the dish, pour the sauce over them, and have some parsley in a plate before the fire a-crisping.  Garnish your dish with that and lemon.

To make a ragoo of lamb.

Take a fore-quarter of lamb, cut the knuckle-bone off, lard it with little thin bits of bacon, flour it, fry it of a fine brown, and then put it into an earthen pot or stew-pan; put to it a quart of broth or good gravy, a bundle of herbs, a little mace, two or three cloves, and a little whole pepper; cover it close, and let it stew pretty fast for half an hour, pour the liquor all out, strain it, keep the lamb hot in the pot till the sauce is ready.  Take half a pint of oysters, flour them, fry them brown, drain out all the fat clean that you fried them in, skim all the fat off the gravy, then pour it into the oysters, put in an anchovy, and two spoonfuls of either red or white wine; boil all together, till there is just enough for sauce, add some fresh mushrooms (if you can get them) and some pickled onions, with a spoonful of the pickle, or the juice of half a lemon.  Lay your lamb in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.  Garnish with lemon.

To stew a lamb’s, or calf’s head.

First wash it, and pick it very clean, lay it in water for an hour, take out the brains, and with a sharp penknife carefully take out the bones and the tongue, but be careful you do not bread the meat; then take out the two eyes, and take two pounds of veal and two pounds of beef-suet, a very little thyme, a good piece of lemon-peel minced, a nutmeg grated, and two anchovies: chop all very well together, grate two stale rolls, and mix all together with the yolks of four eggs:  save enough of this meat to make about twenty balls, take half a pint of fresh mushrooms clean peeled and washed, or pickled cockles; mix all these together, but first stew your oysters, and put to it two quarts of gravy, with a blade or two of mace.  It will be proper to tie the head with packthread, cover it close, and let it stew two hours:  in the mean time beat up the brains with some lemon-peel cut fine, a little parsley chopped, half a nutmeg grated, and the yolk of an egg; have some dripping boiling, fry half the brains in little cakes, and fry the balls, keep them both hot by the fire; take half an ounce of truffles and morels, then strain the gravy the head was stewed in, put the truffles and morels to it with the liquor, and a few mushrooms; boil all together, then put in the rest of the brains that are not fried, stew them together for a minute or two, pour it over the head, and lay the fried brains and balls around it.  Garnish with lemon.  You may fry about twelve oysters.

To dress veal à la Bourgoise.

Cut pretty thick slices of veal, lard them with bacon, and season them with pepper, salt, beaten mace, cloves, nutmeg, and chopped parsley, then take the stew-pan and cover the bottom with slices of fat bacon, lay the veal upon them, cover it, and set it over a very slow fire for eight or ten minutes, just to be hot and no more, then brisk up your fire and brown your veal on both sides, then shake some flour over it and brown it; pour in a quart of good broth or gravy, cover it close, and let it stew gently till it is enough; when enough, take out the slices of bacon, and skim all the fat off clean, and beat up the yolks of three eggs with some of the gravy; mix all together, and keep it stirring one way till it is smooth and thick, then take it up, lay your meat in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.  Garnish with lemon.

A disguised leg of veal and bacon.

Lard your veal all over with slips of bacon and a little lemon-peel, and boil it with a piece of bacon:  when enough, take it up, cut the bacon into slices, and have ready some dried sage and pepper rubbed fine, rub it over the bacon, lay the veal in the dish and the bacon round it, strew it all over with fried parsley, and have green sauce in cups, made thus:  take two handfuls of sorrel, pound it in a mortar, and squeeze out the juice, put it into a sauce-pan with some melted butter, a little sugar, and the juice of lemon.  Or you may make it thus:  beat two handfuls of sorrel in a mortar, with two pippins* quartered, squeeze the juice out, with the juice of a lemon or vinegar, and sweeten it with sugar.

* Pippin:  Varieties of apples grown from the seed, or “pip.”

A pillaw of veal.

Take a neck or breast of veal, half roast it, then cut it into six pieces, season it with pepper, salt, and nutmeg:  take a pound of rice, put to it a quart of broth, some mace, and a little salt, do it over a stove or very slow fire till it is thick, but butter the bottom of the dish or pan you do it in:  beat up the yolks of six eggs and stir into it, then take a little round deep dish, butter it, lay some of the rice at the bottom, then lay the veal on a round heap, and cover it all over with rice, wash it over with the yolks of eggs, and bake it an hour and a half, then open the top and pour in a pint of rich good gravy.  Garnish with a Seville orange cut in quarters, and send it to table hot.

Bombarded veal.

You must get a fillet of veal, cut out of it five lean pieces as thick as your hand, round them up a little, then lard them very thick on the round side with little narrow thin pieces of bacon, and lard five sheeps tongues being first boiled and blanched), lard them here and there with very little bits of lemon-peel, and make a well-seasoned force-meat* of veal, bacon, ham, beef-suet, and an anchovy beat well; make another tender force-meat of veal, beef-suet, mushrooms, spinach, parsley, thyme, sweet-marjoram, winter savory, and green onions.  Season with pepper, salt, and mace; beat it well, make a round ball of the other force-meat and stuff in the middle of this, roll it up in a veal caul, and bake it; what is left, tie up like a Bologna sausage, and boil it, but first rub the caul with the yolk of an egg; put the larded veal into a stew-pan with some good gravy, and when it is enough skim off the fat, put in some truffles and morels, and some mushrooms.  Your force-meat being baked enough, lay it in the middle, the veal round it, and the tongues fried, and laid in between, the boiled cup into slices, and fried, and throw all over.  Pour on them the sauce.  You may add artichoke-bottoms, sweetbreads**, and cocks-combs, if you please.  Garnish with lemon.

* Force-meat – a stuffing, with either meat or bread as a base.

**Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

The Art of Cookery Continued: Chapter II: Made Dishes, Part 2

One cooking technique that is described a few times in this chapter is touched on briefly in Hannah’s recipe for roasting a turkey “the genteel way”:  It was to gut the bird, or animal part (sometimes even the skull), cook the removed bits in some form, and then re-stuff the carcass to make it appear as if it were whole.  It was about presentation of the final dish on the dining table, and eighteenth century dining presentations were elaborate, to say the least.  The American holidays use the same idea, in stuffing a turkey; it’s just that our modern sensibilities find it more tasteful to serve it without feet and head!  In that time and age, however, every part of the animal was used; you’ll even find quite a few recipes calling for cox-combs…

To collar a breast of mutton.

Do it the same way, and it eats very well.  But you must take off the skin.

Another way to dress a breast of mutton.

Collar it as before, roast it, and baste it with half a pint of red wine, and when that is all soaked in, baste it well with butter, have a little good gravy, set the mutton upright in the dish, pour in the gravy, have a sweet sauce as for venison, and send it to table.  Don’t garnish the dish, but be sure to take the skin off the mutton.

The inside of a sirloin of beef is very good done this way.  If you don’t like the wine, a quart of milk, and a quarter of a pound of butter, put into the dripping-pan, does full as well to baste it.

To force a leg of lamb.

With a sharp knife carefully take out all the meat, and leave the skin whole and the fat on it, make the lean you cut out into the force-meat thus:  to two pounds of meat, add three pounds of beef-suet cut fine, and beat in a marble mortar till it is very fine, and take away all the skin of the meat and suet, when mix with it four spoonfuls of grated bread, eight or ten cloves, five or six large blades of mace dried and beat find, half a large nutmeg grated, a little pepper and salt, a little lemon-peel cut fine, a very little thyme, some parsley and four eggs; mix all together, put into the skin again just as it was, in the same shape, sew it up, roast it, baste it with butter, cut the loin into steaks and fry it nicely, lay the leg in the dish and the loin round it, with stewed cauliflower (see “to dress cauliflowers”) all round upon the loin; pour a pint of good gravy into the dish, and send it to table.  If you don’t like the cauliflower, it may be omitted.

To boil a leg of lamb.

Let the leg be boiled very white.  An hour will do it.  Cut the loin into steaks, dip them into a few crumbs of bread and egg, fry them nice and brown, boil a good deal of spinach and lay in the dish; put the leg in the middle, lay the loin round it, cut an orange in four and garnish the dish, and have butter in a cup.  Some love the spinach boiled, then drained, put into a sauce-pan with a good piece of butter, and stewed.

To force a large fowl.

Cut the skin down the back, and carefully flip it up so as to make out all the meat, mix it with one pound of beef-suet, cut it small, and beat them together in a marble mortar:  take a pint of large oysters cut small, two anchovies cut small, one shallot cut fine, a few sweet-herbs, a little pepper, a little nutmeg grated, and the yolks of four eggs; mix altogether and lay this on the bones, draw over the skin and sew up the back, pout the fowl into a bladder, boil it an hour and a quarter, stew some oysters in a good gravy thickened with a piece of butter rolled in flour, take the fowl out of the bladder, lay it in your dish and pour the sauce over it.  Garnish with lemon.

It eats much better roasted with the same sauce.

To roast a turkey the genteel way.

First cut it down the back, and with a sharp penknife bone it, then make your force-meat thus:  Take a large fowl, or a pound of veal, as much grated bread, half a pound of suet cut and beat very fine, a little beaten mace, two cloves, half a nutmeg grated, about a large tea-spoonful of lemon-peel, and the yolks of two eggs; mix all together, with a little pepper and salt, fill up the places where the bones came out, and fill the body, that it may look just as it did before, sew up the back, and roast it.  You may have oyster-sauce, celery sauce, or just as you please; but good gravy in the dish, and garnish with lemon, is as good as any thing.  Be sure to leave the pinions* on.

*pinion:  She is either referring to the wings, or to the bindings one might have used in the sewing up and “make it look just as it did before” – process.

To stew a turkey or fowl.

First let your pot be very clean, lay four clean skewers at the bottom, lay your turkey or fowl upon them, put in a quart of gravy, take a bunch of celery, cut it small, and wash it very clean, put it into your pot, with two or three blades of mace, let it stew softly till there is just enough for sauce, then add a good piece of butter rolled in flour, two spoonfuls of red wine, two of catchup, and just as much pepper and salt as will season it, lay your fowl or turkey in the dish, pour the sauce over and sent it to table.  If the fowl or turkey is enough before the sauce, take it up, and keep it up till the sauce is boiled enough, then put it in, let it boil a minute or two, and dish it up.

To stew a knuckle of veal.

Be sure to let the pot or saucepan be very clean, lay at the bottom four clean wooden skewers, wash and clean the knuckle very well, then lay it in the pot with two or three blades of mace, a little whole pepper, a little piece of thyme, a small onion, a crust of bread, and two quarts of water.  Cover it down close, make it boil, then only let it simmer for two hours, and when it is enough take it up; lay it in a dish, and strain the broth over it.

Another way to stew a knuckle of veal.

Clean it as before directed, and boil it till there is just enough for sauce, add one spoonful of catchup, one of red wine, and one of walnut pickle, some truffles and morels, or some dried mushrooms cut small; boil it all together, take up the knuckle, lay it in a dish, pour the sauce over it, and send it to table.

Note, It eats very well done as the turkey, before directed.

To ragoo a piece of beef.

Take a large piece of the flank, which has fat at the top cut square, or any piece that is all meat, and has fat at the top, but no bones.  The rump does well.  Cut all nicely off the bone (which makes fine soup), then take a large stew-pan, and with a good piece of butter fry it a little brown all over, flouring your meat well before you put it into the pan, then pour in as much gravy as will cover it, made thus:  take about a pound of coarse beef, a little piece of veal cut small, a bundle of sweet-herbs, an onion, some whole black pepper and white pepper, two or three large blades of mace, four or five cloves, a piece of carrot, a little piece of bacon steeped in vinegar a little while, a crust of bread toasted brown; put to this a quart water, and let it boil till half is wasted.  While this is making, pour a quart of boiling water into the stew-pan, cover it close, and let it be stewing softly; when the gravy is done strain it, pour into the pan where the beef is, take an ounce of truffles and morels cut small, some fresh or dried mushrooms cut small, two spoonfuls of catchup, and cover it close.  Let all this stew till the sauce is rich and thick; then have ready some artichoke bottoms cut into four, and a few pickled mushrooms, give them a boil or two, and when your meat is tender and your sauce quite rich, lay the meat into a dish and pour the sauce over it.  You may add a sweetbread* cut in six pieces, a palate stewed tender cut into little pieces, some cocks-combs, and a few force meat balls.  These are a great addition, but it will be good without.

Note, For variety, when the beef is ready and the gravy put to it, add a large bunch of celery cut small and washed clean, two spoonfuls of catchup, and a glass of red wine.  Omit all the other ingredients.  When the meat and celery are tender, and the sauce is rich and good, serve it up.  It is also very good this way:  take six large cucumbers, scoop out the seeds, pare them, cut them into slices, and do them just as you do the celery.

 *Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

To force the inside of a sirloin of beef.

Take a sharp knife, and carefully lift up the fat of the inside, take out all the meat close to the bone, chop it small, take a pound of suet, and chop fine, about as many crumbs of bread, a little thyme and lemon peel, a little pepper and salt, half a nutmeg grated, and two shallots chopped fine; mix all together, with a glass of red wine, then put it into the same place, cover it with the skin and fat, skewer it down with fine skewers, and cover it with paper.  Don’t take the paper off till the meat is on the dish.  Take a quarter of a pint of red wine, two shallots shred small, boil them, and pour into the dish, with the gravy which comes out of the meat; it eats well.  Spit your meat before you take out the inside.

Another way to force a sirloin.

When it is quite roasted, take it up, and lay it in the dish with the inside uppermost, with a sharp knife lift up the skin, hack and cut the inside very fine, shake a little pepper and salt over it, with two shallots, cover it with the skin, and send it to table.  You may add red wine or vinegar, just as you like.

To force the inside of a rump of beef.

You may do it just in the same manner, only lift up the outside skin, take the middle of the meat, and do as before directed; put it into the same place, and with fine skewers put it down close.

A rolled rump of beef.

Cut the meat all off the bone whole, slit the inside down from top to bottom, but not through the skin, spread it open, take the flesh of two fowls and beef-suet, an equal quantity, and as much cold boiled ham, if you have it, a little pepper, an anchovy, a nutmeg grated, a little thyme, a good deal of parsley, a few mushrooms, and chop them all together, beat them in a mortar, with a half-pint bason full of crumbs of bread; mix all these together, with four yolks of eggs, lay it into the meat, cover it up, and roll it round, stick one skewer in, and tie it with a packthread cross and cross to hold it together; take a pot or large saucepan that will just hold it, lay a layer of bacon and a layer of beef cut in thin slices, a piece of carrot, some whole pepper, mace, sweet herbs, and a large onion, lay the rolled beef on it, just put water enough to the top of the beef; cover it close, and let it stew very softly on a slow fire for eight or ten house, but not to fast.  When you find the beef tender, which you will know by running a skewer into the meat, then take it up, cover it up hot, boil the gravy till it is good, then strain it off, and add some mushrooms chopped, some truffles and morels cut small, two spoonfuls of red or white wine, the yolks of two eggs and a piece of butter rolled in flour; boil it together, set the meat before the fire, baste it with butter, and throw crumbs of bread all over it:  when the sauce is enough, lay the meat into the dish and pour the sauce over it.  Take care the eggs do not curd.

To boil a rump of beef the French fashion.

Take a rump of beef, boil it half an hour, take it up, lay it into a large deep pewter dish or stew-pan, cut three or four gashes in it all along the side, rub the gashes with pepper and salt, and pour into the dish a pint of red wine, as much hot water, two or three large onions cut small, the hearts of eight or ten lettuces cut small, and a good piece of butter rolled in a little flour; lay the fleshy part of the meat downwards, cover it close, let it stew an hour and a half over a charcoal fire, or a very slow coal fire.  Observe that the butcher chops the bone so close, that the meat may lie as flat as you can in the dish.  When it is enough, take the beef, lay it in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.

Note,  When you do it in a pewter dish, it is best done over a chaffing-dish of hot coals, with a bit or two of charcoal to keep it alive.

Beef escarlot.

Take a briscuit of beef, half a pound of coarse sugar, two ounces of bay salt, a pound of common salt; mix all together, and rub the beef, lay it in an earthen pan, and turn it every day.  It may lie a fortnight in the pickle; then boil it, and serve it up either with savoys or pease pudding.

Note, It eats much finer cold, cut into slices, and sent to table.

Beef à la daub.

You may take a buttock or a rump of beef, lard it, fry it brown in some sweet butter, then put it into a pot that will just hold it; put in some broth or gravy hot, some pepper, cloves, mace, and a bundle of sweet-herbs, stew it four hours till it is tender, and season it with salt; take half a pint of gravy, two sweetbreads* cut into eight pieces, some truffles and morels, palates, artichoke bottoms, and mushrooms, boil all together, lay your beef into the dish; strain the liquor into the sauce, and boil all together.  If it is not thick enough, roll a piece of butter in flour, and boil in it; pour this all over the beef.  Take forcemeat rolled in pieces half as long as one’s finger; dip them into batter made with eggs, and fry them brown; fry some sippets** dipped into batter cut three corner-ways, stick them into the meat, and garnish with the force meat.

** Sippet is the diminutive of sop, which was usually a small piece of bread to dip into a soup or broth.

* Culinary names for the thymus (throat, gullet, or neck) or the pancreas (also heart, stomach, or belly) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d’agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).

Beef à la mode in pieces.

You must take a buttock of beef, cut it into two-pound pieces, lard them with bacon, fry them brown, put them into a pot that will just hold them, put in two quarts of broth or gravy, a few sweet-herbs, an onion, some mace, cloves, nutmeg, pepper and salt; when that is done, cover it close, and stew it till it is tender, skim off all the fat, lay the meat in the dish, and strain the sauce over it.  You may serve it up hot or cold.

Beef à la mode, the French way.

Take a piece of the buttock of beef, and some fat bacon cut into little long bits, then take two tea-spoonfuls of salt, one teaspoonful of beaten pepper, one of beaten mace, and one of nutmeg; mix all together, have your larding pins ready, first dip the bacon in vinegar, then roll it in your spice, and lard your beef very thick and nice; put the meat into a pot with two or three large onions, a good piece of lemon-peel, a bundle of herbs, and three or four spoonfuls of vinegar; cover it down close, and put a wet cloth round the edge of the cover, that no steam can get out, and set it over a very slow fire:  when you think one side is done enough, turn the other, and cover it with the rind of the bacon; cover the pot close again as before, and when it is enough (which it will be when quite tender) take it up and lay it in your dish, take off all the fat from the gravy, and pour the gravy over the meat.  If you chuse your beef to be red, you may rub it with saltpetre overnight.

Note, You must take great care in doing your beef this way that your fire is very slow; it will at least take six hours doing, if the piece be any thing large.  If you would have the sauce very rich, boil half an ounce of truffles and morels in half a pint of good gravy, till they are very tender, and all a gill of pickled mushrooms, but fresh ones are best; mix all together with the gravy of the meat, and pour it over your beef.  You must mind and beat all your spices very fine; and if you have not enough, mix some more, according to the bigness of your beef.

Beef olives.

Take a rump of beef, cut it into steaks half a quarter long, about an inch thick, let them be square; lay on some good forcemeat made with veal, roll them, tie them once round with a hard knot, dip them in egg, crumbs of bread, and grated nutmeg, and a little pepper and salt.  The best way is to roast them, or fry them brown in fresh butter, lay them every one on a bay-leaf, and cover them over one with a piece of bacon toasted, have some good gravy, a few truffles and morels, and mushrooms; boil all together, pour into the dish, and send it to table.

Veal olives.

They are good done the same way, only roll them narrow at one end and broad at the other.  Fry them of a fine brown.  Omit the bay leaf, but lay little pieces of bacon about two inches long on them.  The same sauce.  Garnish with lemon.

Beef collops.

Cut them into thin pieces about two inches long, beat them with the back of a knife very well, grate some nutmeg, flour them a little, lay them in a stew-pan, put in as much water as you think will do for sauce, half an onion cut small, a little piece of lemon-peel cut small, a bundle of sweet-herbs, a little pepper and salt, a piece of butter rolled in a little flour.  Set them on a slow fire:  when they begin to simmer, stir them now and then; when they begin to be hot, ten minutes will do them, but take care they do not boil.  Take out the sweet-herbs, pour it into the dish, and send it to table.

Note, You may do the inside of a sirloin of beef in the same manner, the day after it is roasted, only do not beat them, but cut them thin.

N.B. You may do this dish between two pewter dishes, hang them between two chairs, take six sheets of white brown paper, tear them into slips, and burn them under the dish once piece at a time.

* collops – a small piece of meat, either thin slices or minced meat of either beef, lamb or venison.

To stew beef-steaks.

Take rump steaks, pepper and salt them, lay them in a stew-pan, pour in half a pint of water, a blade or two of mace, two or three cloves, a little bundle of sweet-herbs, an anchovy, a piece of butter rolled in flour, a glass of white wine, and an onion; cover them close, and let them stew softly till they are tender, then take out the steaks, flour them, fry them in fresh butter, and pour away all the fat, strain the sauce they were stewed in, and pour into the pan; toss it all up together till the sauce is quite hot and thick.  If you add a quarter of a pint of oysters, it will make it the better.  Lay the steaks into the dish, and pour the sauce over them.  Garnish with any pickle you like.