A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes Part 9

Rinse and well shake off all moisture from a couple of cos lettuce, cut them up into a bowl or basin, add a few roughly-chopped green onions, half a gill of cream, a table-spoonful of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste. Mix all together.

No. 171. A BACON SALAD.

Having prepared any kind of salad you may happen to have, such as endive, corn salad, lettuce, celery, mustard and cress, seasoned with beet-root, onions, or shalot; let the salad be cut up into a bowl or basin ready for seasoning in the following manner:--Cut eight ounces of fat bacon into small square pieces the size of a cob-nut, fry these in a frying-pan, and as soon as they are done, pour the whole upon the salad; add two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly.

No. 172. A PLAIN SALAD.

Cos lettuce cut up in a bowl or basin, seasoned with chopped green mint and green onions, a spoonful of moist sugar, vinegar, pepper and salt.

Mix thoroughly.

No. 173. CELERY CRAB SALAD.

First thoroughly wash and wipe clean, and then cut a stick of celery into a basin; add two ounces of any kind of cheese sliced very thinly, season with a good tea spoonful of made mustard, a table-spoonful of salad oil, ditto of vinegar, with pepper and salt. Mix thoroughly.

No. 174. HOW TO MIX MUSTARD.

Put half an ounce of mustard into a tea-cup, or a small basin, add a little salt; mix thoroughly with just enough boiling water to work the whole into a smooth compact soft paste.

COOKERY AND DIET FOR THE SICK ROOM.

No. 175. BEEF TEA.

Chop up a pound of lean beef, and put it on to boil in a saucepan with a quart of water, stirring it on the fire occasionally while it boils rather fast, for at least half an hour; at the end of this time the beef tea will have become reduced to a pint; season with salt to taste, strain it through a clean bit of muslin or rag, and give a tea-cupful of it with dry toast to the patient.

No. 176. MUTTON BROTH.

Chop a pound of scrag end of neck of mutton into small pieces, and put it into a saucepan, with two ounces of barley, and rather better than a quart of water; set the broth to boil gently on the fire, skim it well, season with a little salt, thyme, parsley, and a couple of turnips; the whole to continue gently boiling on the side of the hob for an hour and a-half; at the end of this time serve some of the broth strained through a clean rag into a basin; or, if the patient is allowed it, serve the broth with some of the barley and pieces of the meat in it.

No. 177. CHICKEN BROTH.

Draw, singe, and cut a chicken into four quarters; wash these, put them into a clean saucepan with a quart of water, and set the broth to boil on the fire; skim it well, season with two ounces of sago, a small sprig of thyme and parsley, and a little salt. Allow the broth to boil very gently for an hour, and then serve some of it with the sago in a cup, and, if allowed, give the patient the chicken separately.

No. 178. A CHEAPER KIND OF CHICKEN BROTH.

In large towns it is easy to purchase sixpenny-worth of fowls' necks, gizzards, and feet, which, prepared as indicated in the foregoing Number, make excellent broth at a fourth part of the cost occasioned by using a fowl for the same purpose.

No. 179. VEAL AND RICE BROTH.

Cut up one pound and a-half of knuckle of veal, and put it on to boil in a saucepan with a quart of water, four ounces of rice, a small sprig of thyme, and a little parsley; season with a few peppercorns and a little salt; boil very gently for two hours.

No. 180. MEAT PANADA FOR INVALIDS AND INFANTS.

First, roast whatever kind of meat is intended to be made into panada, and, while it is yet hot, chop up all the lean thereof as fine as possible, and put this with all the gravy that has run from the meat on the plate into a small saucepan with an equal quant.i.ty of crumb of bread previously soaked in hot water; season with a little salt (and, if allowed, pepper), stir all together on the fire for ten minutes, and give it in small quant.i.ties at a time. This kind of meat panada is well adapted as a nutritious and easily-digested kind of food for old people who have lost the power of mastication, and also for very young children.

No. 181. HOW TO PREPARE SAGO FOR INVALIDS.

Put a large table-spoonful of sago into a small saucepan with half a pint of hot water, four lumps of sugar, and, if possible, a small gla.s.s of port wine; stir the whole on the fire for a quarter of an hour, and serve it in a tea-cup.

No. 182. HOW TO PREPARE TAPIOCA.

This may be prepared in the same manner as sago; It may also be boiled in beef tea, mutton broth, or chicken broth, and should be stirred while boiling.

Arrow-root is to be prepared exactly after the directions given for the preparation of sago and tapioca.

No. 183. HOW TO MAKE GRUEL.

Mix a table-spoonful of Robinson's prepared groats or grits with a tea-cupful of cold water, pour this into a saucepan containing a pint of hot water, and stir it on the fire while it boils for ten minutes; strain the gruel through a sieve or colander into a basin, sweeten to taste, add a spoonful of any kind of spirits, or else season the gruel with salt and a bit of b.u.t.ter.

No. 184. BROWN AND POLSON GRUEL.

Brown and Polson's excellent preparation of Indian corn is to be purchased of all grocers throughout the kingdom. Mix a dessert-spoonful of the prepared Indian corn with a wine-gla.s.sful of cold water, and pour this into a small saucepan containing half a pint of hot water; stir on the fire for ten minutes, sweeten with moist sugar, flavour with nutmeg or a spoonful of spirits.

No. 185. GRUEL MADE WITH OATMEAL.

In the absence of groats, oatmeal furnishes the means of making excellent gruel. Mix two table-spoonfuls of oatmeal with a gill of cold water; pour this into a saucepan containing a pint of hot water, stir the gruel on the fire while it boils very gently for about a quarter of an hour, then sweeten with moist sugar, or, if preferred, the gruel may be eaten with a little salt and a bit of b.u.t.ter.

No. 186. HOW TO MAKE CAUDLE.

Mix four ounces of prepared groats or oatmeal with half a pint of cold ale in a basin, pour this into a saucepan containing a quart of boiling ale, or beer, add a few whole allspice, and a little cinnamon, stir the caudle on the fire for about half an hour, and then strain it into a basin or jug; add a gla.s.s of any kind of spirits, and sugar to taste.

No. 187. RICE GRUEL, A REMEDY FOR RELAXED BOWELS.

Boil very gently eight ounces of rice in a quart of water for about an hour in a saucepan covered with its lid, and placed on the side of the hob; the rice must be so thoroughly done as to present the appearance of the grains being entirely dissolved; a bit of orange-peel or cinnamon should be boiled with the rice, and when quite soft, the gruel is to be sweetened with loaf sugar, and a table-spoonful of brandy added.

No. 188. HOW TO PREPARE ARROW-ROOT.

Mix a piled-up dessert-spoonful of arrow-root with half a gill of cold water, and pour this into a small saucepan containing nearly half a pint of boiling water, four lumps of sugar, and a gla.s.s of wine; stir the arrow-root while it is boiling on the fire for a few minutes, and then give it to the patient.