Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 60

_The same, with Almonds._--Pound well four or six ounces of sweet almonds, place them in the bowl with the rest, and then mix, bake, and serve as the above one.

Do the same with _bitter almonds_, _hazel-nuts_, _peanuts_, _filberts_, and _raisins_; flavor with any kind of essence.

_With Chocolate._--When the cake is cut in pieces, glaze it as directed for _eclair au chocolat_.

_With Sweetmeats._--When the cake is cut in pieces, with a sharp-pointed knife, cut off a part of each piece, on the top and right in the centre, so as to make a small hole, which you fill with any kind of sweetmeat or with any _cream_, and then serve. When thus served, they are called under several names.

_Macaroons._--Throw into boiling water for five minutes ten ounces of sweet almonds, and two ounces of bitter ones; skin them well; put in a mortar, and pound them to a paste, adding a few drops of the white of eggs during the process. Grind well also a pound of white sugar, with the quarter of a rind of lemon well grated; then mix well together almonds, sugar, and the whites of two eggs. Make b.a.l.l.s of any size with it; put the b.a.l.l.s on a piece of paper, beat the yolk of an egg with half a gill of water, and glaze the top of the b.a.l.l.s with it by means of a brush; put them in a slow oven; it will take about fifteen minutes to cook them.

_Macaroons with Chocolate._--Melt on a slow fire and in a tin pan three ounces of chocolate without sugar (known as Baker's chocolate); then work it to a thick paste with one pound of pulverized sugar, and three whites of eggs. Roll the mixture down to a thickness of about one-quarter of an inch; cut it in small round pieces with a paste-cutter, either plain or scalloped; b.u.t.ter a pan slightly and dust it with flour and sugar, half of each, place the pieces of paste or mixture in and bake in a hot but not quick oven. Serve cold.

_Madeleines._--Mix well together in a bowl three ounces of sugar, three of flour, and two eggs, then again one ounce of melted b.u.t.ter and a few drops of essence to flavor. b.u.t.ter slightly small tin moulds, dust them slightly also with flour and sugar, half of each, turn the mixture in, filling the moulds only two-thirds full, and bake in an oven at about 340. Serve cold.

_The same, with Almonds._--Chop rather fine some sweet almonds, and when the mixture is in the moulds as described above, spread the almonds over them; bake, and serve as above.

Do the same with _hazel-nuts_, _filberts_, _peanuts_, or _raisins_.

_Meringues or Kisses._--Put half a pound of pulverized sugar in a plate, beat six whites of eggs to a stiff froth as directed, then have somebody to sprinkle the half pound of sugar into the eggs, and while you are still beating, which must be done in two seconds; stop beating and mix gently with a spoon, not by stirring but by turning the whole upside down several times. If it is stirred too much, it may turn too liquid.

Put the mixture in the pastry-bag, with tin tube No. 2 at the end of it; spread the mixture on paper in a baking-pan, in oblong cakes about three inches long; dust them with pulverized sugar, and put in an oven at from 220 to 230 Fahr. It requires some time to dry them, about one hour. As soon as taken from the oven, place one in your left hand, the top downward; press gently on the under side which is up, with the first finger of the right hand, so as to make a hollow; put in that hollow twice as much cream as is necessary to fill it; place another cake prepared alike over the cream; so that the two will be united and kept together by the cream; do the same with the rest; place them tastefully on a dish; dust them with sugar, and serve. They are generally filled with _whipped cream_, but may be filled with _creme legere_ or _creme cuite_. They may also be filled with _creme Chantilly_.

_Swiss Meringue._--Instead of squeezing the mixture out and spreading it in oblong cakes, make a crown of it, then another and another, four in all, dust and bake in the same way; place them on a dish, one above the other, and fill the middle of the dish with cream as above. Serve cold.

The mixture may also be placed on paper by the spoonful, but they are not as sightly as by means of the pastry-bag.

_Zephyrs._--Proceed as for meringues as far as mixing the sugar with the whites of eggs, when mix also with both a few drops of cochineal. Put the mixture in the pastry-bag, with tin tube No. 1 at the end of it.

Squeeze the mixture out and spread it on paper in a baking-pan, in different shapes: dentilated, convoluted, overlapping, waved, etc., according to fancy, about three inches and a half long. Bake in same oven as meringues, and serve when cold, as they are.

_Nougat._--Throw a pound of sweet almonds into boiling water for five minutes; skin them well, and when cool cut them in four or five pieces lengthwise; then melt a pound of fine white sugar with two spoonfuls of water, in a copper or crockery pan, and on a good fire, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon; when well melted, put the almonds in; keep stirring about five minutes longer, take from the fire, add a little of the rind of a lemon well grated, oil the mould, put it on the corner of the range in a warm but not too hot place; put the almonds and sugar in the mould, and little by little take off when of a brown color, turn on a plate, remove the mould, and serve.

_Pancakes._--Make a thin paste with one pound of flour, four eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sweet-oil, one of French brandy, a little salt, the necessary quant.i.ty of lukewarm water and milk, about half of each; let it remain thus two or three hours at least; then put about an ounce of lard, b.u.t.ter, or oil in a frying-pan, and set it on a brisk fire; when hot, put some of the paste in it with a ladle, spread the paste so as to cover the bottom of the pan; fry on both sides, place it on a dish, dust it with fine white sugar on both sides, and serve warm.

Buckwheat and other pancakes are made in the same way.

_Waffles._--Make a thin paste with eight ounces of flour, six ounces of pulverized sugar, two eggs, a few drops of essence to flavor, half a liquor-gla.s.s of brandy or rum, and milk. Warm and b.u.t.ter both sides of the mould, put some of the paste into it, close it gently, set it on the fire, turn over to heat both sides equally, dust them with sugar when done, and serve either warm or cold. It takes hardly a minute for each with a good fire.

BREAD.

It is next to an impossibility to bake bread in a small oven; half the time the bread is too much or not enough baked. In cities, where good baker's bread can be bought, it comes as cheap as it can be made at home, if not cheaper, and saves a great deal of time and labor. It is not difficult to make good bread with good flour. There are several ways of making and of using yeast. Some are better than others; but many, though differently manipulated, bring about the same results. The only difficulty is the baking of it. Bakers can almost always bake bread properly, having large brick ovens. If they do not bake their bread enough, which is generally the case, it is not because they cannot, but because under-baked bread is heavier, and people, especially the poorer cla.s.s, buy it in preference to the other; judging by the weight, they think they have more of it for a certain sum of money. Under-baked bread is difficult of digestion. (_See_ Food.)

The best bread is made with the best wheat-flour, all that can be said by anybody to the contrary notwithstanding. Rye, corn, and barley bread are excellent, and may be partaken of by those whose const.i.tution, occupation, etc., allow it. In every thing, bread included, the people, or what may be called "the million," are wiser than _soi-disant_ philosophers; and if oat-meal or Indian-meal were better than wheat-flour, they would be dearer. To describe or discuss the innumerable methods of making bread would require several volumes. We have perused carefully hundreds of them; they nearly all differ theoretically, but practically, when practical (which is not always the case), they amount to about the same thing. We think that the only difficulty, if difficulty there be, is in the use of the yeast, the making of the same, and the baking. Chemical processes for rising will never equal the processes of nature and time. Many bakers do not use the yeast properly, their bread being sour or musty; some sweeten their bread, to disguise an inferior quality of flour, or as an antidote to sourness or mustiness.

Bread gets dry after a while, and is inferior in quality and taste. The lighter the bread the better, although many do not think so. The belief may come from the fact that the lighter bread is the more porous, and therefore the quicker it evaporates and loses its taste. Warm bread, besides being injurious to the teeth, is difficult of digestion. When perfectly cold, let it stand in a dry place, neither cold nor warm, for one or two hours, and use. We give below the best methods of making bread--French bread, or rather good light bread, for we do not see that it is more French than Chinese or American, as long as it can be made everywhere with good flour; it is certainly the best for inhabitants of a large city, and especially for those having a sedentary occupation.

Let us apply the proverb to bread as well as to every thing else: "Feed me with food convenient for me."--_Bible._

Mix well together one gill of good strong yeast with half a pound of flour, so that it makes a rather stiff paste. Knead so that you shape it like a ball. Make two cuts with a knife on the top, across and about one-quarter of an inch deep; then place the paste in a bowl of tepid water (milk-warm), the cuts upward. After it has been in the water for a few minutes it will float and swell; let it float about two minutes, when take off and use. Put six ounces of flour on the paste-board, and make a hole in the middle; put into it the yeast prepared as above, tepid water enough to make an ordinary dough, and salt to taste. Knead well, shape according to fancy, put in a warm place (about 78 deg.

Fahr.) to rise, and bake. It requires about six hours to rise.

_Another._--Wash and clean thoroughly half a pound of potatoes, and then steam them with the skins on. Mash them well with half a pint of flour, about half a pint of tepid water, and half an ounce of salt. When thoroughly mixed, put away in a warm place (about 78 deg. Fahr.) for one hour. Then add and mix with it half a pint of good yeast, and put away in the same place for about nine hours. It may take a little longer than nine hours or a little less, but it is very easy to know, and in this way: after a while it will rise slowly and gradually for some time, and then begin to fall; as soon as it begins to fall, mix a little tepid water with it and strain through a sieve; throw away potato skins and eyes; mix what is strained with two pounds of flour and tepid water enough to make an ordinary dough. Put it away again in the same place until it cracks on the top, which will take place in about an hour. Then put six pounds of flour on the paste-board, and make a hole in the middle; put into it a little tepid water and the dough when cracked; knead the whole well with water enough to make an ordinary dough, salt to taste. To knead it well, it is necessary to raise the dough or part of it, and then throw it back on the paste-board with force. The more the dough is kneaded, the better and lighter the bread. Then shape the loaves, let rise, and bake in a very quick oven.

_To shape._--Divide the dough, as soon as kneaded, in as many parts as you wish to make loaves; then knead each part, one after another, so as to make a kind of ball; then, by rolling and pulling it, give it an elongated, sausage-like shape. A pound loaf can be made a foot and a half long, as well as four inches; it will only be narrower and thinner, and will have more crust. When the dough is thus elongated, take a round stick or a small rolling-pin, place it on the top of the dough, right on the middle, lengthwise, and then press on it and roll just a little, to and fro, so as to make a kind of furrow in the middle. Have a towel well dusted with flour, place the dough on it upside down, that is, the furrowed side under; let rise as ordinary bread; turn it into a pan, but so that the furrowed side will be up (the side that was down in rising must be up in baking); dust the furrow well with rye-flour to prevent the paste from closing, so that the top of the loaf will be concave instead of convex when baked.

_Another._--Steam half a pound of potatoes and mash them well; then mix them immediately and while hot with about a pint of flour, a quart of water, and half a pint of good strong yeast. Leave the mixture six hours in a rather warm place, then strain through a sieve, pressing the potato-skins so as to squeeze all the liquid out of them. Immediately add to the strained mixture flour enough to make ordinary dough, which you knead a little, and let stand as it is from one to two hours and a half, according to temperature. Knead then with it about six pounds of flour, salt to taste, and tepid water to make ordinary dough, and leave it thus two hours, then shape in the same way as the above; put it to rise in the same way also (it will take from one to two hours, according to temperature); dust with rye-flour, and bake.

French bread may be shaped like other bread, round or square; it is just as good.

Rolls, or rather French rolls as they are generally called, are made, shaped, and baked in the same way.

It is a mistake to call _bread_ certain mixtures of flour, soda, and milk; or flour, milk, and b.u.t.ter, etc.; it is no more bread than a mixture of carbonic acid, water, alcohol, mola.s.ses, vitriol, etc., is wine. No one can give a name to such a mixture except chemists.

BILLS OF FARE.

_Dinner-Time._--On account of the various occupations of members of the same family, this is often the first and only time of the day that sees them all a.s.sembled. It is the dinner that mostly supplies the waste that the system has undergone for twenty-four hours. Being taken after the day's work is over, it gives to the stomach time to digest (mind and stomach never working at the same time). (_See_ Food, Economy, Coffee, and Tea.)

The dinner, being the most substantial meal of the day, requires more preparation than any other meal; the bill of fare of it should, therefore, be made the day before, or at least early in the morning. It should always be made between the mistress or master of the house and the cook; written and hung in the kitchen, near the clock. The first thing to put down is what may be left from the preceding day, and also what may be in the larder; then what is wanted in butcher's meat or poultry, or both; the fish or game, or both, and which, with vegetables, are according to the market. It is then one of the duties of the cook to make a list of what is wanted as accessories; such as flour, eggs, sugar, spices, etc.

Besides the above, it is also the duty of the cook to send the dishes to the table in their regular order; for, if the whole dinner is sent at once, all the dishes have to be eaten at once also, else the last get cold and are unpalatable, or, by mixing them, they are rendered tasteless, as the flavor of one neutralizes (if it does not destroy) the taste of another.

To make models of bills of fare is not difficult, but to follow them is nearly impossible; hardly one in a hundred would suit any one.

Bills of fare vary according to the season of the year, and therefore to the produce in the market.

We will try to give another, and we think a better way of making them to suit everybody, every purse, and at any time.

A dinner, no matter how grand, is composed of three courses, and seven kinds of dishes.

The first course comprises dishes of four kinds, viz.: potages, _hors-d'oeuvres_, _releves_, _and entrees_.

The second course comprises dishes of two kinds, viz.: _rots_ and _entremets_.

The third course comprises dishes of one kind, the dessert.

The number of dishes of each kind is generally according to the number of guests.

It may also be according to the importance of the occasion for which the dinner is given; to the honor the giver or givers wish to show the personage or personages invited; to the amount of money they are willing to spend, etc.

The following table shows how many dishes of each kind are to be served at dinner to a certain number of persons:

-----+-+-+-+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---------------------------------------- For..|2|4|6|10|16|20|30|40|50|60|80|100| Persons.

Serve|1|1|1| 2| 2| 2| 4| 4| 4| 6| 8| 8| Potages.

" |2|2|2| 4| 4| 6| 6|10|10|12|12| 16| Hors-d'oeuvres.

" |1|1|1| 2| 2| 2| 4| 4| 4| 6| 8| 8| Releves of fish.

" |1|1|1| 2| 2| 2| 4| 4| 4| 6| 8| 8| " of meat.

" |2|2|2| 4| 4| 4| 8| 8| 8|12|16| 16| Entrees.

" |1|1|1| 2| 2| 2| 4| 4| 4| 6| 8| 8| Rots.