The New England Cook Book Part 2

Take meat that is tender, pound it out thin, and boil it ten minutes.

Take it up, cut off the bony and gristly parts, season the meat highly with pepper and salt, b.u.t.ter it, and cut it in narrow strips. Line a deep dish, with piecrust, put in the meat, and to each layer, put a tea spoonful of tomato catsup, and a table spoonful of water, sprinkle flour over the whole, and cover it with piecrust, ornament it as you please with pastry. Cold roast, or boiled beef and mutton, cut in bits, and seasoned highly with salt and pepper, make a nice pie, put them in a dish, and turn a little melted b.u.t.ter over them, pour on water till you can just see it at the top.

33. _Chicken and Veal Pot Pie._

Boil the meat until about half done, if chickens they should be jointed.

Take up the meat, and put it in a pot with a layer of crust, to each layer of meat; have a layer of crust on the top, cover the whole with the liquor the meat was boiled in. Keep a tea kettle of boiling water, to turn in when the water boils away, (cold water makes the crust heavy.) If you wish to have it brown, heat a bake pan lid, and cover the pot while it is cooking, which takes about an hour. The crust for the pie is good, made like common pie crust, only very plain, roll it about an inch thick, cut it with a tumbler, into small cakes. Raised pie crust, is generally preferred to any other, it is made in the following manner. Rub together, three pints of flour one cup of b.u.t.ter, half a tea spoonful of salt, and then turn in a tea cup of yeast, and half a pint of water. Set it in a warm place to rise, when risen, (which will be in the course of ten or twelve hours, in cold weather,) roll it out, and cut it into small cakes. If it is not stiff enough to roll out, knead in a little flour, if too stiff, put in a little water. Potatoe pie crust is good, boil the potatoes, peel and mash them fine, put in a tea spoonful of salt, a piece of b.u.t.ter of the size of a hen's egg, and half a pint of milk, mix flour with it till of the right consistency to roll out, cut it into cakes, and put them with the meat. A very good way to make the crust, when you happen to have unbaked wheat bread; is to roll out the dough several times and spread b.u.t.ter on it each time, let it lay about half an hour, before you put it with the meat.

34. _To Frizzle Beef._

Take tender smoked beef and shave it off thin, put it in a stew pan, with boiling water enough to cover it, let it stew ten or fifteen minutes; three or four minutes before it is done, thicken the water it is stewed in with a little flour, when taken up sprinkle on a little pepper. This makes a nice dish for breakfast, provided the beef is moist and tender.

35. _Warmed over Meats._

Boiled or roasted veal makes a nice dish, chopped very fine, and warmed up with a little pepper, a small piece of b.u.t.ter, and a little water, if you have gravy, it is very good instead of the b.u.t.ter and water. A little nutmeg and the rind and juice of half a lemon improve it, the rind should be chopped very fine, (none of the white part should be used.) When well heated through, take it up and cut a couple of lemons in slices, and lay over it. Veal and fresh or salt beef, are all of them good, minced fine, with boiled potatoes, and warmed up with pepper, salt and gravy, if you have not gravy, use a little b.u.t.ter and water. Some people like boiled onions, or turnips, chopped fine, and mixed with the minced meat, instead of potatoes. Veal, lamb and mutton, are good cut in small strips, and warmed with boiled potatoes, cut in slices, and pepper, salt, and gravy. Roast beef and mutton, if not cooked too much, are nice cut in slices, and just scorched on a gridiron. Meat when warmed over, should only be on the fire just long enough to get heated well through, if on the fire long, most of the nourishment of the meat will be extracted, and it will be very indigestible. Cold fowls are nice jointed and warmed up, with a little water and salt, then take the fowls out of the water, put them in a frying pan, that has a little hot b.u.t.ter in it, and fry them, till of a light brown, they should have a little flour sprinkled over them before they are browned. Thicken the water with flour, that the fowls were warmed in, put a little b.u.t.ter in it, and turn it over the meat, when taken up.

36. _A Ragout of Cold Veal._

Cut boiled or roasted veal, in nice slices, flour and fry them in b.u.t.ter, till of a light brown. Then take them up and turn a little hot water into the b.u.t.ter they were fried in, mix a little flour with water and into the gravy, season it with salt, pepper, mace, and catsup, if you have any, and a little lemon juice. Put in the meat and stew it till very hot.

37. _Drawn b.u.t.ter._

Mix a couple of tea spoonsful of flour, gradually with a little water, stir it till free from lumps, thin it, and stir it into half a pint of boiling water, let it boil four or five minutes, then put in about a quarter of a lb. of b.u.t.ter, previously cut in small pieces, set it where it will melt gradually. If carefully mixed it will be free from lumps, if not strain it, before it is put on to the table. If the b.u.t.ter is to be eaten on fish, cut up several boiled eggs into it. A little curry powder sprinkled in it, will convert it into curry sauce.

38. _Burnt b.u.t.ter._

Put a couple of ounces of b.u.t.ter, in a frying pan, set it on the fire, when of a dark brown color, put in a table spoonful of vinegar, a little pepper and salt. This is nice for fish, or boiled eggs.

39. _Roast Meat Gravy._

Meat when put down to roast, should have about a pint of water in the dripping pan. If you like your gravy very rich, skim off the top of the drippings to your meat, and use them, if you like it plain, stir up the drippings, strain them and put in a skillet and boil them. Mix a tea spoonful of flour, with a little cold water, and stir it into the gravy.

Lamb and veal require a little b.u.t.ter in the gravy.

40. _Sauce for cold Meat, Fish or Salad._

Mix the yolks of two eggs boiled soft, with a mustard spoonful of made mustard, a little salt and pepper, two table spoonsful of salad oil, or melted b.u.t.ter, when well mixed, put in three table spoonsful of vinegar.

A table spoonful of tomato, or mushroom, catsup, improves it.

41. _Wine Sauce for Venison or Mutton._

Warm half a pint of the drippings, or the liquor, the meat was boiled in. When it boils, mix a tea spoonful of scorched flour, with a little water, and stir it in, put in a little pepper, salt, and quarter of a tea spoonful of cloves, put in a table spoonful of currant jelly, and half a tumbler full of wine, just before you take it from the fire. Many people prefer melted currant jelly, to any other sauce for venison.

42. _Rice Sauce._

Boil half a tea cup of rice, till soft, then stir in two table spoonsful of milk, a little salt, and a nutmeg, or mace, sweet herbs, a boiled onion, and strain it. This is a very nice accompaniment to game.

43. _Oyster Sauce._

Take the juice of your oysters, and to a pint put a couple of sticks of mace, a little salt and pepper, put it on the fire, when it boils, mix two tea spoonsful of flour, with a little milk, and stir it in. When it has boiled two or three minutes, put in about half a pint of solid oysters, a piece of b.u.t.ter of the size of half an egg, when scalded through take them up.

44. _Liver Sauce for Fish._

Boil the liver of the fish, then mash it fine, stir it into drawn b.u.t.ter, put in a little cayenne or black pepper, a couple of tea spoonsful of lemon juice, and a table spoonful of catsup.

45. _Lobster Sauce._

Mash the yolks of two eggs, boiled soft, with the sp.a.w.n of the lobster, and a tea spoonful of water, when rubbed smooth, put in a mustard spoonful of made mustard, two table spoonsful of salad oil, or melted b.u.t.ter, a little salt, pepper, and five table spoonsful of vinegar.

46. _Chicken Salad._

Boil four eggs three minutes, take them out of the sh.e.l.l mash, and mix them, with a couple of table spoonsful, of olive oil, or melted b.u.t.ter, two thirds of a tumbler of vinegar, a tea spoonful of mixed mustard, half a tea spoonful of salt, quarter of a tea spoonful of pepper, and a little essence of celery, if you have any. Cut up a boiled chicken that weighs two or three pounds, into small strips, and turn the sauce over it.

47. _Sauce for Turtle, or Calf's Head._

To half a pint of drawn b.u.t.ter, or thickened beef gravy, put the juice of half a lemon, a little sage, basil, or sweet marjoram, a little cayenne pepper, and a wine gla.s.s of white wine, just before you take it up.

48. _Apple Sauce._

Pare and quarter the apples, take out the cores, stew them in cider.

When soft take them up, put in a piece of b.u.t.ter of the size of a walnut, to every quart of the sauce, sweeten it to your taste, with brown sugar. Another way which is very good, is to boil the apples, with a few quinces, in new cider, and mola.s.ses enough to sweeten them, till reduced to half the quant.i.ty. This kind of sauce will keep good for several months.

49. _Pudding Sauce._

Mix a tea cup of b.u.t.ter, with two of nice brown sugar, when white, put in a wine gla.s.s of wine, or brandy, flavor it with nutmeg, essence of lemon or rosewater. If you wish to have it liquid make two thirds of a pint of thin starch, and stir it into the b.u.t.ter and sugar. If you wish to have it foam, put in a little cider. Cider instead of wine, or brandy, answers very well, for common pudding sauce.

50. _Tomato Catsup._

Wipe the tomatoes, which should be perfectly ripe. Boil them till soft in a little water. Strain the whole through a sieve, season it highly, with salt, pepper, cloves, allspice and mace, then boil it fifteen minutes. Let it stand twenty four hours, then take off the watery part, bottle the remainder, seal it tight, and keep it in a cool place. Made in this way it will keep the year round. The catsup, should be stewed in tin, and the later in the season it is made, the less liable will it be to spoil.

51. _Mushroom Catsup._