The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 67

MEM.--Has.h.i.+ng is a mode of cookery by no means suited to delicate stomachs: unless the meat, &c. be considerably under-done the first time, a second dressing must spoil it, for what is done enough the first time, must be done too much the second.

_To warm Hashes,[304-*] Made Dishes, Stews, Ragouts, Soups, &c._--(No.

485.)

Put what you have left into a deep hash-dish or tureen; when you want it, set this in a stew-pan of boiling water: let it stand till the contents are quite warm.

_To hash Beef, &c._--(No. 486.)

Put a pint and a half of broth, or water, with an ounce of No. 252, or a large table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, into a stew-pan with the gravy you have saved that was left from the beef, and put in a quarter ounce of onion sliced very fine, and boil it about ten minutes; put a large table-spoonful of flour into a basin, just wet it with a little water, mix it well together, and then stir it into the broth, and give it a boil for five or ten minutes; rub it through a sieve, and it is ready to receive the beef, &c.; let it stand by the side of the fire till the meat is warm.

N.B. A tea-spoonful of parsley chopped as fine as possible and put in five minutes before it is served up, is a great addition; others like half a wine-gla.s.s of port wine, and a dessert-spoonful of currant jelly.

See also No. 360, which will show you every variety of manner of making and flavouring the most highly finished hash sauce, and Nos. 484, 485, and 506.

_Cold Meat broiled, with Poached Eggs._--(No. 487.)

The inside of a sirloin of beef is best for this dish, or a leg of mutton. Cut the slices of even and equal thickness, and broil and brown them carefully and slightly over a clear smart fire, or in a Dutch oven; give those slices most fire that are least done; lay them in a dish before the fire to keep hot, while you poach the eggs, as directed in No. 546, and mashed potatoes (No. 106).

_Obs._--This makes a savoury luncheon or supper, but is more relis.h.i.+ng than nouris.h.i.+ng, unless the meat was under-done the first time it was dressed.

No. 307 for sauce, to which some add a few drops of eschalot wine or vinegar. See No. 402, or No. 439, or No. 359, warmed; or Grill Sauce (No. 355.)

MRS. PHILLIPS'S _Irish Stew._--(No. 488.)

Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck or loin; two pounds of potatoes; peel them, and cut them in halves; six onions, or half a pound of onions; peel and slice them also: first put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of your stew-pan, then a couple of chops and some of the onions; then again potatoes, and so on, till the pan is quite full; a small spoonful of white pepper, and about one and a half of salt, and three gills of broth or gravy, and two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom catchup; cover all very close in, so as to prevent the steam from getting out, and let them stew for an hour and a half on a very slow fire. A small slice of ham is a great addition to this dish. The cook will be the best judge when it is done, as a great deal depends on the fire you have.

N.B. Great care must be taken not to let it burn, and that it does not do too fast.

_To make an Irish Stew, or Hunter's Pie._

Take part of a neck of mutton, cut it into chops, season it well, put it into a stew-pan, let it brase for half an hour, take two dozen of potatoes, boil them, mash them, and season them, b.u.t.ter your mould, and line it with the potatoes, put in the mutton, bake it for half an hour, then it will be done, cut a hole in the top, and add some good gravy to it.

N.B. The above is the contribution of Mr. Morrison, of the Leinster hotel, Dublin.

_A good Scotch Haggis._--(No. 488*.)

Make the haggis-bag perfectly clean; parboil the draught; boil the liver very well, so as it will grate; dry the meal before the fire; mince the draught and a pretty large piece of beef very small; grate about half of the liver; mince plenty of the suet and some onions small; mix all these materials very well together, with a handful or two of the dried meal; spread them on the table, and season them properly with salt and mixed spices; take any of the sc.r.a.ps of beef that are left from mincing, and some of the water that boiled the draught, and make about a choppin (_i.

e._ a quart) of good stock of it; then put all the haggis meat into the bag, and that broth in it; then sew up the bag; but be sure to put out all the wind before you sew it quite close. If you think the bag is thin, you may put it in a cloth. If it is a large haggis, it will take at least two hours boiling.

N.B. The above we copied _verbatim_ from Mrs. MACIVER. a celebrated Caledonian professor of the culinary art, who taught, and published a book of cookery, at Edinburgh, A. D. 1787.

_Minced Collops._

"This is a favourite Scotch dish; few families are without it: it keeps well, and is always ready to make an extra dish.

"Take beef, and chop and mince it very small; to which add some salt and pepper. Put this, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified b.u.t.ter. When intended for use, put the clarified b.u.t.ter into a frying-pan, and slice some onions into the pan, and fry them. Add a little water to it, and then put in the minced meat. Stew it well, and in a few minutes it will be fit to serve up."--The Hon. JOHN COCHRANE'S _Seaman's Guide_, 8vo. 1797, page 42.

_Haricot[306-*] Mutton._--(No. 489.)

Cut the best end of a neck or loin of mutton, that has been kept till tender, into chops of equal thickness, one rib to each ("_les bons hommes de bouche de Paris_" cut two chops to one bone, but it is more convenient to help when there is only one; two at a time is too large a dose for John Bull), trim off some of the fat, and the lower end of the chine bone, and sc.r.a.pe it clean, and lay them in a stew-pan, with an ounce of b.u.t.ter; set it over a smart fire; if your fire is not sharp, the chops will be done before they are coloured: the intention of frying them is merely to give them a very light browning.

While the chops are browning, peel and boil a couple of dozen of young b.u.t.ton onions in about three pints of water for about fifteen or twenty minutes, set them by, and pour off the liquor they were boiled in into the stew-pan with the chops: if that is not sufficient to cover them, add as much boiling water as will; remove the sc.u.m as it rises, and be careful they are not stewed too fast or too much; so take out one of them with a fish-slice, and try it: when they are tender, which will be in about an hour and a half, then pa.s.s the gravy through a sieve into a basin, set it in the open air that it may get cold, you may then easily and completely skim off the fat; in the mean time set the meat and vegetables by the fire to keep hot, and pour some boiling water over the b.u.t.ton onions to warm them. Have about six ounces of carrots, and eight ounces of turnips, peeled and cut into slices, or shaped into b.a.l.l.s about as big as a nutmeg; boil the carrots about half an hour, the turnips about a quarter of an hour, and put them on a sieve to drain, and then put them round the dish, the last thing.

Thicken the gravy by putting an ounce of b.u.t.ter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will stiffen it; pour the gravy to it by degrees, stir together till it boils; strain it through a fine sieve or tamis into a stew-pan, put in the carrots and turnips to get warm, and let it simmer gently while you dish up the meat; lay the chops round a dish; put the vegetables in the middle, and pour the thickened gravy over. Some put in capers, &c. minced gherkins, &c.

_Obs._--Rump-steaks, veal-cutlets, and beef-tails, make excellent dishes dressed in the like manner.

_Mutton-Chops delicately stewed, and good Mutton Broth_,--(No. 490.)

Put the chops into a stew-pan with cold water enough to cover them, and an onion: when it is coming to a boil, skim it, cover the pan close, and set it over a very slow fire till the chops are tender: if they have been kept a proper time, they will take about three quarters of an hour's very gentle simmering. Send up turnips with them (No. 130); they may be boiled with the chops; skim well, and then send all up in a deep dish, with the broth they were stewed in.

N. B. The broth will make an economist one, and the meat another, wholesome and comfortable meal.

_Shoulder of Lamb grilled._--(No. 491.)

Boil it; score it in checkers about an inch square, rub it over with the yelk of an egg, pepper and salt it, strew it with bread-crumbs and dried parsley, or sweet herbs, or No. 457, or No. 459, and _Carbonado_, _i.

e._ grill, _i. e._ broil it over a clear fire, or put it in a Dutch oven till it is a nice light brown; send up some gravy with it, or make a sauce for it of flour and water well mixed together with an ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter, a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, and the juice of half a lemon. See also grill sauce (No. 355).

N.B. b.r.e.a.s.t.s of lamb are often done in the same way, and with mushroom or mutton sauce (No. 307).

_Lamb's Fry._--(No. 492.)

Fry it plain, or dip it in an egg well beaten on a plate, and strew some fine stale bread-crumbs over it; garnish with crisp parsley (No. 389).

For sauce, No. 355, or No. 356.

_s.h.i.+n of Beef[308-*] stewed._--(No. 493.)

Desire the butcher to saw the bone into three or four pieces, put it into a stew-pan, and just cover it with cold water; when it simmers, skim it clean; then put in a bundle of sweet herbs, a large onion, a head of celery, a dozen berries of black pepper, and the same of allspice: stew very gently over a slow fire till the meat is tender; this will take from about three hours and a half, to four and a half.

Take three carrots, peel and cut them into small squares; peel and cut ready in small squares a couple of turnips, with a couple of dozen of small young round silver b.u.t.ton onions; boil them, till tender; the turnips and onions will be enough in about fifteen minutes; the carrots will require about twice as long: drain them dry.

When the beef is quite tender, take it out carefully with a slice, and put it on a dish while you thicken a pint and a half of the gravy: to do this, mix three table-spoonfuls of flour with a tea-cupful of the beef liquor; to make soup of the rest of it, see No. 238; stir this thoroughly together till it boils, skim off the fat, strain it through a sieve, and put your vegetables in to warm; season with pepper, salt, and a wine-gla.s.s of mushroom catchup (No. 439), or port wine, or both, and pour it over the beef.

Send up Wow-wow sauce (No. 328) in a boat.

N.B. Or, instead of sending up the beef whole, cut the meat into handsome pieces fit to help at table, and lay it in the middle of the dish, with the vegetables and sauce (which, if you flavour with No. 455, you may call "beef curry") round it. A leg of mutton is excellent dressed in the same way; equal to "_le gigot de sept heures_," so famous in the French kitchen.