A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes Part 2

When a pig is killed, the blood should be caught in a pan, and a little salt must be stirred in with it while yet warm, to prevent its coagulation or thickening. This will serve to make you some hog's puddings, excellent things in their way, and for the preparation of which you must attend to the following instructions, viz.:--To every pound of blood, add eight ounces of fat cut up in small squares, two ounces of rice or grits, boiled quite soft in milk; season with pepper and salt, chopped sage, thyme, and winter savory, and some chopped onions boiled soft in a little milk or water; mix all these things well together, and use a tin funnel for filling in the cleansed guts with the preparation, taking care to tie the one end of each piece of gut with string, to prevent waste. The puddings being thus prepared, tie them in links, each pudding measuring about six inches in length, and when all are tied, let them be dropped into a pot containing boiling-water, just taken off the fire, and allow them to remain in this until they become set, or slightly firm; the puddings must then be carefully lifted out, and hung to a nail driven into the wall, to drain them from all excess of moisture; and before they are fried or broiled, they must be slightly scored with a sharp knife, to prevent them from bursting while they are being cooked.

No. 36. HOW TO MELT DOWN THE SEAM, OR LOOSE FAT.

Cut up the seam in small pieces, put it into a pot with about a gill of water, and set it over a slow fire to melt down, stirring it frequently with a spoon to prevent it from burning; and as soon as all is melted, let it be strained off into a jar for use. This will produce what is called lard, and will serve for making lard cakes, pie or pudding crusts, and also for general cooking purposes, instead of b.u.t.ter, etc.

No. 37. ITALIAN CHEESE.

This is prepared by chopping up the whole of the pig's pluck, the chitterlings, and a couple of pounds of the fat; mix this in a pan with seasoning composed of chopped sage, thyme, winter savory, allspice, pepper, and salt, and with it fill earthen pots or jars having lids to them; bake the contents in moderate heat; or if you have no oven of your own, send them to the baker's. A jar containing two pounds would require about an hour and three-quarters' baking. Italian cheese is to be eaten cold, spread upon bread.

No. 38. PIG'S FEET.

These are to be well salted for about four days, and then boiled in plenty of water for about three hours; they may be eaten either hot or cold.

No. 39. CURRIED RICE.

Boil one or more pounds of rice, as directed in No. 92, and drain all the water from it; slice some onions very thin, and fry them brown with a little b.u.t.ter; then add the boiled rice, a spoonful of curry-powder, and a little salt to season; mix all together. This is excellent with boiled or fried fish.

No. 40. A PLAIN RICE PUDDING.

To every quart of milk add six ounces of rice, one ounce of brown sugar, a pinch of allspice, and ditto of salt; put all these in a proper sized pie-dish, with one ounce of b.u.t.ter, and set the pudding to bake for one hour and-a-half. When the pudding has been in the oven half an hour, stir it round with a fork.

No. 41. A GROUND RICE PUDDING.

Ingredients, eight ounces of ground rice, three pints of skim milk, one ounce of b.u.t.ter, four ounces of sugar, a pinch of allspice or bit of lemon-peel, a pinch of salt, and two or three eggs; mix all the above ingredients (except the eggs) in a saucepan, and stir them on the fire till the batter boils; then beat up the eggs with a fork in a basin, and mix them well into the rice batter, and pour the whole into a well-greased pie-dish, and bake the pudding for an hour.

No. 42. A BREAD PUDDING FOR A FAMILY.

Ingredients, a two-pound loaf, two quarts of milk, two ounces of b.u.t.ter, four ounces of sugar, four ounces of plums or currants, three eggs, a piece of lemon-peel chopped, and a spoonful of salt. Divide the loaf into four equal-sized pieces, and soak them in boiling-water for twenty minutes, then squeeze out the water, and put the bread into a saucepan with the milk, b.u.t.ter, sugar, lemon-peel, and salt, and stir all together on the fire till it boils; next add the beaten eggs and the currants; pour the pudding into a proper sized greased baking-dish, and bake it for an hour and a-quarter.

No. 43. A BATTER AND FRUIT PUDDING.

Ingredients, two quarts of milk, one pound of flour, four eggs, eight ounces of sugar, one quart of fruit (either plums, gooseberries, currants, &c.), one ounce of b.u.t.ter, a good pinch of salt. First, mix the flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and a pint of the milk, by working all together in a basin or pan, with a spoon, and when quite smooth, add the remainder of the milk; work the batter thoroughly, and pour it into a large pie-dish, greased with the b.u.t.ter; add the fruit, and bake the pudding for an hour and a-quarter.

No. 44. A TREACLE PUDDING.

Ingredients, two pounds of flour, twelve ounces of treacle, six ounces of suet or dripping fat, a quarter of an ounce of baking-powder, a pinch of allspice, a little salt, one pint of milk, or water. Mix the whole of the above-named ingredients in a pan, into a firm compact paste; tie it up in a well-greased and floured pudding-cloth; boil the pudding for at least two hours and a-half, and when done, cut it in slices, and pour a little sweetened melted b.u.t.ter over it.

No. 45. APPLE PUDDING.

Ingredients, one pound and a-half of flour, six ounces of suet chopped fine, two pounds of peeled apples, four ounces of sugar, a little salt, and three gills of water. Mix the flour, suet, and salt with three quarters of a pint of water into a firm paste; roll this out with flour shaken over the table, using a rolling-pin to roll it out; and line a greased cloth, which you have spread in a hollow form within a large basin, with the rolled-out paste; fill up the hollow part of the paste with the peeled apples, gather up the sides of the paste in a purse-like form, and twist them firmly together; tie up the pudding in the cloth, boil it in plenty of boiling water for two hours, and when it is turned out of the cloth on to its dish, cut out a round piece from the top, and stir in the sugar.

No. 46. RICE AND APPLES.

Ingredients, one pound of rice, twelve apples, two ounces of sugar. Tie up the rice very loose in a pudding-cloth, so as to admit that while boiling it may have sufficient room to swell out to five times its original quant.i.ty. While the rice is boiling, which will take about one hour, peel the apples, and put them in a saucepan with nearly half-a-pint of water, a bit of b.u.t.ter, lemon-peel, and the sugar, and stew them on the fire till dissolved, stirring them while boiling for a few minutes. When your rice pudding is done and turned out on its dish, pour the apple-sauce over it. This cheap kind of rice pudding may also be eaten with all kinds of fruits, prepared in the same manner as herein directed for apples.

No. 47. BROWN AND POLSON PUDDING.

Ingredients, six ounces of Brown and Polson's prepared Indian corn, two quarts of milk, two ounces of sugar, a bit of cinnamon or lemon-peel, a pinch of salt, three eggs. Mix all the above ingredients (except the eggs) in a saucepan, and stir them on the fire till they come to a boil; then add the eggs beat up; mix thoroughly, pour the batter into a pie-dish greased with b.u.t.ter, and bake the pudding for one hour. Brown and Polson's prepared Indian corn is a most excellent and economical article of food, equal to arrow-root, and will prove, on trial, to be both substantial and nutritive, and also easy of digestion to the most delicate stomachs.

No. 48. BROWN AND POLSON FRUIT PUDDING.

Prepare the pudding batter as indicated in the foregoing Number, and when you have poured one-half of it into the greased pie-dish, strew about two pounds of any kind of fruit upon this, such as gooseberries, currants, plums, cherries, etc., and then pour the remainder of the batter all over the fruit. Bake the pudding an hour and a quarter.

Peeled apples or pears may be used for the same purpose.

No. 49. BROWN AND POLSON THICK MILK.

Ingredients, three ounces of Brown and Polson's prepared Indian corn, one quart of milk, one ounce of sugar, a bit of cinnamon, a pinch of salt. Mix all the above-named ingredients together in a saucepan, and stir them constantly while boiling on the fire for ten minutes. This thick milk is most excellent for children's breakfast or supper, and would be found both cheaper and better for their health than a sloppy mess of tea.

No. 50. POTATO PUDDING.

Ingredients, three pounds of potatoes, two quarts of milk, two ounces of b.u.t.ter, two ounces of sugar, a bit of lemon-peel, a good pinch of salt, and three eggs. First, bake the potatoes, if you have means to do so, or let them be either steamed or boiled; when done, scoop out all their floury pulp without waste into a large saucepan, and immediately beat it up vigorously with a large fork or a spoon; then add all the remainder of the above-named ingredients (excepting the eggs), stir the potato batter carefully on the fire till it comes to a boil, then add the beaten eggs; pour the batter into a greased pie-dish, and bake the pudding for an hour in your oven, if you have one; if not, send it to the baker's.

No. 51. YEAST DUMPLINGS.

Ingredients, two pounds of flour, a halfpenny worth of yeast, a pinch of salt, one pint of milk or water. Put the flour into a pan, with your fist hollow out a hole in the centre of the flour, place the yeast and salt at the bottom, then add the milk (which should be lukewarm), and with your clean hand gradually mix the whole well together, and work the dough perfectly smooth and elastic. The pan containing the dough must then be covered over with a cloth, and in the winter must be placed on a stool in a corner near the fire, that it may rise, or increase in size to nearly double its original quant.i.ty. When the dough has risen in a satisfactory manner, which will take about an hour, dip your hand in some flour and work it, or rather knead it together, without allowing it to stick to your hands; divide it into about twelve equal parts; roll these with flour into b.a.l.l.s, and as you turn them out of hand, drop them gently into a pot on the fire, half full of _boiling_ water; allow the water to boil up once as you drop each dumpling in separately, before you attempt to put in another, in order to prevent the dumplings from sticking together, as this accident would produce a very unsatisfactory result, and spoil your dinner. Yeast dumplings must not boil too fast, as then they might boil out of the pot. They will require about half-an-hour's boiling to cook them; they must be eaten immediately, with a little b.u.t.ter or dripping, and salt or sugar.

No. 52. NORFOLK DUMPLINGS.

Ingredients, two pounds of flour, a pint of milk, a good pinch of salt.

Let all these ingredients be well mixed in a pan, and after dividing the paste into twelve equal parts, roll these into b.a.l.l.s, drop each of them into a pot half full of _boiling_ water on the fire, and allow the dumplings to continue boiling rather fast for half-an-hour, at the end of which time they will be done. They should then be eaten while hot, with a little b.u.t.ter or dripping, and either sugar, treacle, or salt.

Norfolk dumplings are most excellent things to eke out an insufficient supply of baked meat for the dinner of a large family of children.

No. 53. STEWED EELS.

First skin, gut, and trim away the fins from the eels, and then cut them into pieces three inches long; put these into a saucepan, add a bit of b.u.t.ter, a spoonful of flour, some chopped parsley, pepper and salt, a little mushroom ketchup, and enough water to cover the pieces of eel; put them on the fire to boil gently for about ten minutes, shaking them round in the saucepan occasionally until they are done.

No. 54. STEWED OYSTERS.

Put the oysters, with their liquor and a little water or milk, into a saucepan; add a bit of b.u.t.ter kneaded, that is, well mixed with a table-spoonful of flour; pepper, and a little salt; stir the oysters over the fire until they have gently boiled for about five minutes, and then pour them into a dish containing some slices of toasted bread.