The Book of Household Management Part 47

_Sufficient_ to serve with a leg of mutton.

CAPER SAUCE FOR FISH.

383. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 pint of melted b.u.t.ter No. 376, 3 dessertspoonfuls of capers, 1 dessertspoonful of their liquor, a small piece of glaze, if at hand (this may be dispensed with), 1/4 teaspoonful of salt, ditto of pepper, 1 tablespoonful of anchovy essence.

_Mode_.--Cut the capers across once or twice, but do not chop them fine; put them in a saucepan with 1/2 pint of good melted b.u.t.ter, and add all the other ingredients. Keep stirring the whole until it just simmers, when it is ready to serve.

_Time_.--1 minute to simmer. _Average cost_ for this quant.i.ty, 5d.

_Sufficient_ to serve with a skate, or 2 or 3 slices of salmon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CAPER.]

CAPERS.--These are the unopened buds of a low trailing shrub, which grows wild among the crevices of the rocks of Greece, as well as in northern Africa: the plant, however, has come to be cultivated in the south of Europe. After being pickled in vinegar and salt, they are imported from Sicily, Italy, and the south of France. The best are from Toulon.

A SUBSt.i.tUTE FOR CAPER SAUCE.

384. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 pint of melted b.u.t.ter, No. 376, 2 tablespoonfuls of cut parsley, 1/2 teaspoonful of salt, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar.

_Mode_.--Boil the parsley slowly to let it become a bad colour; cut, but do not chop it fine. Add it to 1/2 pint of smoothly-made melted b.u.t.ter, with salt and vinegar in the above proportions. Boil up and serve.

_Time_.--2 minutes to simmer. Average cost for this quant.i.ty, 3d.

PICKLED CAPSIc.u.mS.

385. INGREDIENTS.--Vinegar, 1/4 oz. of pounded mace, and 1/4 oz. of grated nutmeg, to each quart; brine.

_Mode_.--Gather the pods with the stalks on, before they turn red; slit them down the side with a small-pointed knife, and remove the seeds only; put them in a strong brine for 3 days, changing it every morning; then take them out, lay them on a cloth, with another one over them, until they are perfectly free from moisture. Boil sufficient vinegar to cover them, with mace and nutmeg in the above proportions; put the pods in a jar, pour over the vinegar when cold, and exclude them from the air by means of a wet bladder tied over.

CAYENNE VINEGAR, or ESSENCE OF CAYENNE.

386. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 oz. of cayenne pepper, 1/2 pint of strong spirit, or 1 pint of vinegar.

_Mode_.--Put the vinegar, or spirit, into a bottle, with the above proportion of cayenne, and let it steep for a month, when strain off and bottle for use. This is excellent seasoning for soups or sauces, but must be used very sparingly.

CELERY SAUCE, FOR BOILED TURKEY, POULTRY, &c.

387. INGREDIENTS.--6 heads of celery, 1 pint of white stock, No. 107, 2 blades of mace, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs; thickening of b.u.t.ter and flour, or arrowroot, 1/2 pint of cream, lemon-juice.

_Mode_.--Boil the celery in salt and water, until tender, and cut it into pieces 2 inches long. Put the stock into a stewpan with the mace and herbs, and let it simmer for 1/2 hour to extract their flavour. Then strain the liquor, add the celery and a thickening of b.u.t.ter kneaded with flour, or, what is still better, with arrowroot; just before serving, put in the cream, boil it up and squeeze in a little lemon-juice. If necessary, add a seasoning of salt and white pepper.

_Time_.--25 minutes to boil the celery. _Average cost_, 1s. 3d.

_Sufficient_, this quant.i.ty, for a boiled turkey.

This sauce may be made brown by using gravy instead of white stock, and flavouring it with mushroom ketchup or Harvey's sauce.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARROWROOT.]

ARROWROOT.--This nutritious fecula is obtained from the roots of a plant which is cultivated in both the East and West Indies.

When the roots are about a year old, they are dug up, and, after being well washed, are beaten to a pulp, which is afterwards, by means of water, separated from the fibrous part. After being pa.s.sed through a sieve, once more washed, and then suffered to settle, the sediment is dried in the sun, when it has become arrowroot. The best is obtained from the West Indies, but a large quant.i.ty of what is sold in London is adulterated with potato-starch. As a means of knowing arrowroot when it is good, it may be as well to state, that the genuine article, when formed into a jelly, will remain firm for three or four days, whilst the adulterated will become as thin as milk in the course of twelve hours.

CELERY SAUCE (a More Simple Recipe).

388. INGREDIENTS.--4 heads of celery, 1/2 pint of melted b.u.t.ter, made with milk (No. 380), 1 blade of pounded mace; salt and white pepper to taste.

_Mode_.--Wash the celery, boil it in salt and water till tender, and cut it into pieces 2 inches long; make 1/2 pint melted b.u.t.ter by recipe No.

380; put in the celery, pounded mace, and seasoning; simmer for three minutes, when the sauce will be ready to serve.

_Time_.--25 minutes to boil the celery. _Average cost_, 6d.

_Sufficient_, this quant.i.ty, for a boiled fowl.

CELERY VINEGAR.

389. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 oz. of celery-seed, 1 pint of vinegar.

_Mode_.--Crush the seed by pounding it in a mortar; boil the vinegar, and when cold, pour it to the seed; let it infuse for a fortnight, when strain and bottle off for use. This is frequently used in salads.

CHESTNUT SAUCE FOR FOWLS OR TURKEY.

390. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of chestnuts, 1/2 pint of white stock, 2 strips of lemon-peel, cayenne to taste, 1/4 pint of cream or milk.

_Mode_.--Peel off the outside skin of the chestnuts, and put them into boiling water for a few minutes; take off the thin inside peel, and put them into a saucepan, with the white stock and lemon-peel, and let them simmer for 1-1/2 hour, or until the chestnuts are quite tender. Rub the whole through a hair-sieve with a wooden spoon; add seasoning and the cream; let it just simmer, but not boil, and keep stirring all the time.

Serve very hot; and quickly. If milk is used instead of cream, a very small quant.i.ty of thickening may be required: that, of course, the cook will determine.

_Time_.--Altogether nearly two hours. _Average cost_, 8d.

_Sufficient_, this quant.i.ty, for a turkey.

BROWN CHESTNUT SAUCE.

391. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of chestnuts, 1/2 pint of stock No. 105, 2 lumps of sugar, 4 tablespoonfuls of Spanish sauce (_see_ Sauces).

_Mode_.--Prepare the chestnuts as in the foregoing recipe, by scalding and peeling them; put them in a stewpan with the stock and sugar, and simmer them till tender. When done, add Spanish sauce in the above proportion, and rub the whole through a tammy. Keep this sauce rather liquid, as it is liable to thicken.

_Time_.--1-1/2 hour to simmer the chestnuts. _Average cost_, 8d.

BENGAL RECIPE FOR MAKING MANGO CHETNEY.

392. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 lbs. of moist sugar, 3/4 lb. of salt, 1/4 lb.