The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 49

_Obs._--Some boil, and mince fine a few leaves of parsley, or chervil, or tarragon, and add these to the sauce; others the juice of half a Seville orange, or lemon.

_Mem._--Keep the caper bottle very closely corked, and do not use any of the caper liquor: if the capers are not well covered with it, they will immediately spoil; and it is an excellent ingredient in hashes, &c. The Dutch use it as a fish sauce, mixing it with melted b.u.t.ter.

_Mock Caper Sauce._--(No. 275, or No. 295.)

Cut some pickled green pease, French beans, gherkins, or nasturtiums, into bits the size of capers; put them into half a pint of melted b.u.t.ter, with two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, or nice vinegar.

_Oyster Sauce._--(No. 278.)

Choose plump and juicy natives for this purpose: don't take them out of their sh.e.l.l till you put them into the stew-pan, see _Obs._ to No. 181.

To make good oyster sauce for half a dozen hearty fish-eaters, you cannot have less than three or four dozen oysters. Save their liquor; strain it, and put it and them into a stew-pan: as soon as they boil, and the fish plump, take them off the fire, and pour the contents of the stew-pan into a sieve over a clean basin; wash the stew-pan out with hot water, and put into it the strained liquor, with about an equal quant.i.ty of milk, and about two ounces and a half of b.u.t.ter, with which you have well rubbed a large table-spoonful of flour; give it a boil up, and pour it through a sieve into a basin (that the sauce may be quite smooth), and then back again into the saucepan; now shave the oysters, and (if you have the honour of making sauce for "a committee of taste," take away the gristly part also) put in only the soft part of them: if they are very large, cut them in half, and set them by the fire to keep hot: "if they boil after, they will become hard."

If you have not liquor enough, add a little melted b.u.t.ter, or cream (see No. 388), or milk beat up with the yelk of an egg (this must not be put in till the sauce is done). Some barbarous cooks add pepper, or mace, the juice or peel of a lemon, horseradish, essence of anchovy, Cayenne, &c.: plain sauces are only to taste of the ingredient from which they derive their name.

_Obs._--It will very much heighten the flavour of this sauce to pound the soft part of half a dozen (unboiled) oysters; rub it through a hair-sieve, and then stir it into the sauce: this essence of oyster (and for some palates a few grains of Cayenne) is the only addition we recommend. See No. 441.

_Preserved Oysters._[234-*]--(No. 280.)

Open the oysters carefully, so as not to cut them except in dividing the gristle which attaches the sh.e.l.ls; put them into a mortar, and when you have got as many as you can conveniently pound at once, add about two drachms of salt to a dozen oysters; pound them, and rub them through the back of a hair-sieve, and put them into a mortar again, with as much flour (which has been previously thoroughly dried) as will make them into a paste; roll it out several times, and, lastly, flour it, and roll it out the thickness of a half-crown, and divide it into pieces about an inch square; lay them in a Dutch oven, where they will dry so gently as not to get burnt: turn them every half hour, and when they begin to dry, crumble them; they will take about four hours to dry; then pound them fine, sift them, and put them into bottles, and seal them over.

N.B. Three dozen of natives required 7-1/2 ounces of dried flour to make them into a paste, which then weighed 11 ounces; when dried and powdered, 6-1/4 ounces.

To make half a pint of sauce, put one ounce of b.u.t.ter into a stew-pan with three drachms of oyster powder, and six table-spoonfuls of milk; set it on a slow fire; stir it till it boils, and season it with salt.

This powder, if made with plump, juicy natives, will abound with the flavour of the fish; and if closely corked, and kept in a dry place, will remain good for some time.

_Obs._--This extract is a welcome succedaneum while oysters are out of season, and in such inland parts as seldom have any, is a valuable addition to the list of fish sauces: it is equally good with boiled fowl, or rump steak, and sprinkled on bread and b.u.t.ter makes a very good sandwich, and is especially worthy the notice of country housekeepers, and as a store sauce for the army and navy. See Anchovy Powder, No. 435.

_Shrimp Sauce._--(No. 283.)

Sh.e.l.l a pint of shrimps; pick them clean, wash them, and put them into half a pint of good melted b.u.t.ter. A pint of unsh.e.l.led shrimps is about enough for four persons.

_Obs._--Some stew the heads and sh.e.l.ls of the shrimps, (with or without a blade of bruised mace,) for a quarter of an hour, and strain off the liquor to melt the b.u.t.ter with, and add a little lemon-juice, Cayenne, and essence of anchovy, or soy, cavice, &c.; but the flavour of the shrimp is so delicate, that it will be overcome by any such additions.

MEM.--If your shrimps are not quite fresh, they will eat tough and thready, as other stale fish do. See _Obs._ to No. 140.

_Lobster Sauce._--(No. 284.)

Choose a fine sp.a.w.ny hen lobster;[236-*] be sure it is fresh, so get a live one if you can, (one of my culinary predecessors says, "let it be heavy and lively,") and boil it as No. 176; pick out the sp.a.w.n and the red coral into a mortar, add to it half an ounce of b.u.t.ter, pound it quite smooth, and rub it through a hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon; cut the meat of the lobster into small squares, or pull it to pieces with a fork; put the pounded sp.a.w.n into as much melted b.u.t.ter (No. 256) as you think will do, and stir it together till it is thoroughly mixed; now put to it the meat of the lobster, and warm it on the fire; take care it does not boil, which will spoil its complexion, and its brilliant red colour will immediately fade.

The above is a very easy and excellent manner of making this sauce.

Some use strong beef or veal gravy instead of melted b.u.t.ter, adding anchovy, Cayenne, catchup, cavice, lemon-juice, or pickle, or wine, &c.

_Obs._--Save a little of the inside red coral sp.a.w.n, and rub it through a sieve (without b.u.t.ter): it is a very ornamental garnish to sprinkle over fish; and if the skin is broken, (which will sometimes happen to the most careful cook, when there is a large dinner to dress, and many other things to attend to,) you will find it a convenient and elegant veil, to conceal your misfortune from the prying eyes of piscivorous _gourmands_.

N.B. Various methods have been tried to preserve lobsters, see No. 178, and lobster sp.a.w.n, for a store sauce. The live sp.a.w.n may be kept some time in strong salt and water, or in an ice-house.

The following process might, perhaps, preserve it longer. Put it into a saucepan of boiling water, with a large spoonful of salt in it, and let it boil quick for five minutes; then drain it on a hair-sieve; spread it out thin on a plate, and set it in a Dutch oven till it is thoroughly dried; grind it in a clean mill, and pack it closely in well-stopped bottles. See also Potted Lobsters, No. 178.

_Sauce for Lobster, &c._--(No. 285. See also No. 372.)

Bruise the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs with the back of a wooden spoon, or rather pound them in a mortar, with a tea-spoonful of water, and the soft inside and the sp.a.w.n of the lobster; rub them quite smooth, with a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of vinegar; season it with a very little Cayenne pepper, and some salt.

_Obs._--To this, elder or tarragon vinegar (No. 396), or anchovy essence (No. 433), is occasionally added.

_Liver and Parsley Sauce_,--(No. 287.) _or Liver and Lemon Sauce._

Wash the liver (it must be perfectly fresh) of a fowl or rabbit, and boil it five minutes in five table-spoonfuls of water; chop it fine, or pound or bruise it in a small quant.i.ty of the liquor it was boiled in, and rub it through a sieve: wash about one-third the bulk of parsley leaves, put them on to boil in a little boiling water, with a tea-spoonful of salt in it; lay it on a hair-sieve to drain, and mince it very fine; mix it with the liver, and put it into a quarter pint of melted b.u.t.ter, and warm it up; do not let it boil. _Or_,

_To make Lemon and Liver Sauce._

Pare off the rind of a lemon, or of a Seville orange, as thin as possible, so as not to cut off any of the white with it; now cut off all the white, and cut the lemon into slices, about as thick as a couple of half-crowns; pick out the pips, and divide the slices into small squares: add these, and a little of the peel minced very fine to the liver, prepared as directed above, and put them into the melted b.u.t.ter, and warm them together; but do not let them boil.

N.B. The poulterers can always let you have fresh livers, if that of the fowl or rabbit is not good, or not large enough to make as much sauce as you wish.

_Obs._--Some cooks, instead of pounding, mince the liver very fine (with half as much bacon), and leave out the parsley; others add the juice of half a lemon, and some of the peel grated, or a tea-spoonful of tarragon or Chili vinegar, a table-spoonful of white wine, or a little beaten mace, or nutmeg, or allspice: if you wish it a little more lively on the palate, pound an eschalot, or a few leaves of tarragon or basil, with anchovy, or catchup, or Cayenne.

_Liver Sauce for Fish._--(No. 288.)

Boil the liver of the fish, and pound it in a mortar with a little flour; stir it into some broth, or some of the liquor the fish was boiled in, or melted b.u.t.ter, parsley, and a few grains of Cayenne, a little essence of anchovy (No. 433), or soy, or catchup (No. 439); give it a boil up, and rub it through a sieve: you may add a little lemon-juice, or lemon cut in dice.

_Celery Sauce, white._--(No. 289.)

Pick and wash two heads of nice white celery; cut it into pieces about an inch long; stew it in a pint of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt, till the celery is tender;[238-*] roll an ounce of b.u.t.ter with a table-spoonful of flour; add this to half a pint of cream, and give it a boil up.

N.B. See No. 409.

_Celery Sauce Puree, for boiled Turkey, Veal, Fowls, &c._ (No. 290.)

Cut small half a dozen heads of nice white celery that is quite clean, and two onions sliced; put in a two-quart stew-pan, with a small lump of b.u.t.ter; sweat them over a slow fire till quite tender, then put in two spoonfuls of flour, half a pint of water (or beef or veal broth), salt and pepper, and a little cream or milk; boil it a quarter of an hour, and pa.s.s through a fine hair-sieve with the back of a spoon.

If you wish for celery sauce when celery is not in season, a quarter of a drachm of celery-seed, or a little essence of celery (No. 409), will impregnate half a pint of sauce with a sufficient portion of the flavour of the vegetable.

See _Obs._ to No. 214.