Take a leg of young Pork, two pound of Beef-suet, two handfuls of Sage, two loaves of white bread, Salt and Pepper to your tast, halfe the pork, and halfe the suet, must be very well beat in a stone Morter, the rest cut very small, be sure to cut out all the gresles and Lenets in the pork, when you have mixed these altogether, knead them into a stiffe past with the yolks of two or three Eggs, so rowle them into Sausages. To dresse a Pike. Take a Male Pike, rub his skin off whil'st he lives, with bay salt, having well cleared the outside, lay him in a large Dish or Tray, open him so as you break not his gall, cut him according to the size of the fish, in two or three peices, from the head to the taile must be slit, this done, they are to be layd as flat as you can, in a great Dish or Tray, poure upon it halfe a pint of White wine-Vinegar, more or lesse, according to the size of the Fish, then strew upon the inside of the Fish, white Salt plentifully, Bay salt beaten very small is better, whilest this is a doing, let a Skellet with a sufficient quantity of Renish Wine, or good white Wine be pat over the fire, with the Wine, Salt, Ginger, Nutmeg, an Onion, foure or five Cloves of Garlick, a bunch of sweet herbs, viz. Sweet Marjoram, Rosemary, peel of halfe a Lemon, let these boyl to the heighth, put in the Pike, with the Vinegar, in such manner as not to quench or allay, if possibly the heat of the Liquor, but the thickest peece first that will aske most boyling, and the Vinegar last of all; while the Pike boyles, take two quarters of a pound of Anchoves, one quarter of very good butter, a Saucer of the Liquor your Pike was boyled in, dissolved Anchoves. Note that the Liquor, Sauce, the Spice, and the other ingredients must follow the proportion of the Pike; if your Sauce be too strong of the Anchoves, adde more faire water to it. Note also that the Liquor wherein this Pike was dressed, is better to boyle a second Pike therein, then it was at the first. To dresse Eeles. Cut two or three Eeles into pieces of a convenient length, set them end-wayes in a pot of Earth, put in a spoolful or two of Water, and to them put some Herbs and Sage chopt small, some Garlick Pepper, and Salt, so let them be baked in an Oven.
Ices are too often regarded as expensive luxuries, and show how completely custom rules the majority of our housekeepers. There are many houses where the dinner may consist daily of soup, fish, entrees, joint, game, and wine, and yet, were we to suggest a course of ices, the worthy housekeeper would hesitate on the ground of extravagance. It is difficult to argue with persons whose definition of economy is what they have always been accustomed to since they were children, and whose definition of extravagance is anything new. The fact remains, however, that there is many a worthy signor who sells ices in the streets at a penny each, and manages to make a living out of the profit not only for himself, but for his signora as well. Under these circumstances, the manufacture of these "extravagances" is worthy of inquiry. Ices can be made at home very cheaply with an ice machine, which can now be obtained at a, comparatively speaking, small cost. With a machine there is absolutely no trouble, and directions will be given with each machine, so that any details here, which vary with the machine, will be useless. Ices can be made at home without a machine with a little trouble, and, to explain how to do this, it is necessary to explain the theory of ice-making, which is exceedingly simple. We will not allude to machines dependent on freezing-powders, but to those which rely for their cold simply on ice and salt mixed. We will suppose we want a lemon-water ice, i.e., we have made some very strong and sweet lemonade, and we want to freeze it. It is well known that water will freeze at a certain temperature, called freezing-point. By mixing chopped ice and salt and a very little water together, a far greater degree of cold can be immediately produced, viz., a thermometer would stand at 32 degrees below freezing-point were it to be plunged into this mixture. An ice machine is a metal pail placed in another pail much larger than itself. The "sweet lemonade" is placed in the middle pail, and chopped ice and salt placed outside it. The proportion of ice to salt should be double the weight of the former to the latter. It is now obvious that if we have filled two pails, the one with "the sweet lemonade," and the other with the ice and salt, very soon our lemonade will be a solid block of ice. To prevent this it must be constantly stirred, and, as the lemonade would of course freeze first against the sides of the pail, these sides must be constantly scraped. Inside the inner pail, consequently, there is a stirrer, which, by means of a handle, continually scrapes the side of the pail. It is obvious that if the stirrer is fixed, and the pail itself made to revolve, that is the same as if the pail were fixed and the stirrer made to revolve. To make lemon-water ice, therefore, place the lemonade in the inner pail, surrounded with chopped ice and salt, two parts of the former to one of the latter, turn the handle, and in a few minutes the ice is made. Now, suppose you have not got a machine, proceed as follows: Take an empty, clean, round coffee-tin (the larger the better). [We mention coffee-tin as the most probable one to be in the house, but any round tin will do.] Get a clean piece of wood, the same width as the inside diameter of the tin, only it must be a great deal longer. We will suppose the tin rather more than a foot deep and five inches in diameter. Our piece of wood, which should be clean and smooth, must be nearly five inches wide, say a quarter of an inch thick, and about two feet long. Next get a small tub, say nine inches deep, place the round tin in the middle, with the sweet lemonade inside; next place the piece of wood upright in the tin, so that the wood touches the bottom. Next surround the tin with chopped ice and salt up to the edge of the tub, fill it as high as you can, and then cover it round with a blanket, i.e., cover the ice and salt. Now get someone to hold the wooden board steady; take the tin in your two hands, and turn it round and round, first one way and then another. In a very short time you will find the tin to contain lemon-water ice. The following hints, rather than recipes, for making ices, i.e., for making the liquid, which must be frozen as directed above, are given, not because they are the best recipes, but because cream, which is the basis of all first-class ices, is often too expensive to be used constantly. Of course, real cream is far superior to any substitute.
Take a Pike, scoure off the slime, take out the Entralls, Lard it with the backs of Pickled Herrings, you must have a sharp Bodkin to make the holes, no Larding pins will go thorow, then take some great Oysters, Claret Wine, season it with Pepper, Salt, and Nutmeg, stuff the belly of the Pike with these Oysters, intermix with them Rosemary, Tyme, Winter-Savory, sweet Marjoram, a little Onyon and Garlick, sow these in the belly of the Pike, prepare two sticks about the breadth of a Lath, these two sticks and the Spit must be as broad as the Pike being tyed on the Spit, tye the Pike on, winding Pack-thread about the Pike along, but there must be tyed by the Pack-thred all a long the side of the pike which is not defended by the spit, and the Lathes Rosemary and Bayes, bast the Pike with Butter and Claret-Wine, with some Anchoves dissolved in it, when it is wasted, rip up the belly of the Pike and the Oyster will be the same, but the Herbs which are whole must be taken out.
Take an onion, carrot, small head of celery, and some turnip, and boil them till they are tender in some stock. The water in which some rice has been boiled is very well suited for the purpose. Add also to every quart a brimming tablespoonful of mixed savoury herbs. Rub the whole through a wire sieve, thicken it with brown roux till it is as thick as cream; add a few drops of Parisian essence--(sold in bottles by all grocers)--to give it a dark colour. Add a wineglassful of sherry or Madeira, or, if the use of wine be objected to, the juice of a hard lemon. Flavour the soup with a little cayenne pepper, and serve some egg forcemeat balls in it, about the size of small marbles.
Take a cod's head, wash and clean it, take out the gills, cut it open, and make it to lie flat; (if you have no conveniency of boiling it you may do it in an oven, and it will be as well or better) put it into a copper-dish or earthen one, lie upon it a littler butter, salt, and flour, and when it is enough take off the skin. SAUCE for the COD'S HEAD. Take a little white gravy, about a pint of oysters or cockles, a little shred lemon-peel, two or three spoonfuls of white wine, and about half a pound of butter thicken'd with flour, and put it into your boat or bason. Another SAUCE for a COD'S HEAD. Take a pint of good gravy, a lobster or crab, which you can get, dress and put it into your gravy with a little butter, juice of lemon, shred lemon-peel, and a few shrimps if you have them; thicken it with a little flour, and put it into your bason, set the oysters on one side of the dish and this on the other; lay round the head boiled whitings, or any fried fish; pour over the head a little melted butter. Garnish your dish with horse-radish, slices of lemon and pickles.
Remove the scales and clean. Do not remove the head, tail, or fins. Put into a double boiler one tablespoon of butter, two cups of stale bread crumbs, one tablespoon of chopped onion, one teaspoon of chopped parsley, two teaspoons of chopped capers, one-fourth cup of sherry. Heat all the above ingredients, season with paprika and salt, and stuff the bass with the mixture. Sew up the fish, put into a hot oven, bake and baste with sherry wine and butter. A fish weighing four or five pounds is required for the above recipe.
Take twelve small Carps, and one great one, all Male Carps, draw them and take out all the Melts, flea the twelve small Carps, cut off their Heads and take out their Tongues and take the fish from the bones of the flead Carps, and twelve Oysters, two or three yelks of Hard eggs, mash altogether, season it with Cloves, Mace and Salt, and make thereof a stiffe searce, add thereto the yolks of foure or five Eggs to bind it, fashion that first into bals or Lopings as you please, lay them into a deep Dish or Earthen Pan, and put thereto twenty or thirty great Oysters, two or three Anchoves, the Milts and Tongues of your twelve Carps, halfe a pound of fresh butter, the Liquor of your Oysters, the juyce of a Lemon or two; a little White-wine some of Corbilion wherein your great Carpe is boyled, and a whole Onyon, so set them a stewing on a soft fire and make a hoop therewith; for the great Carp you must scald him and draw him, and lay him for half an hour with the other Carps Heads in a deep Pan with so much White wine Vinegar as will cover and serve to boyle him, and the other Heads in; put therein Pepper, whole Mace, a race of Ginger, Nutmeg, Salt sweet Herbs, an Onyon or two sliced, a Lemon; when you boyle your Carps, poure your Liquor with the Spice into the Kettle wherein you will boyle him; when it is boyled put in your Carp, let it not boyle too fast for breaking; after the Carp hath boyled a while put in the Head, when it is enough take off the Kettle, and let the Carps and the Heads keep warme in the Liquor till you goe to dish them. When you dresse your Bisque, take a large Silver dish, set it on the fire, lay therein Sippets of bread, then put in a Ladle-full of your Corbilion, then take up your great Carp and lay him in the midst of the Dish, then range the twelve heads about the Carp, then lay the searce of the Carp, lay that in, then your Oysters, Milts, and Tongues, then poure on the Liquor wherein the searce was boyled, wring in the juyce of a Lemon and two Oranges; Garnish your Dish with pickled Barberries, Lemons and Oranges, and serve it very hot to the Table.
Put on to boil in fish kettle, one glass water, one-half glass vinegar, two tablespoons of brown sugar, one-half dozen cloves, one-half teaspoon of ground cinnamon, one onion cut in round slices. Boil thoroughly, then strain and add to it one lemon cut in round slices, one goblet of red wine, one dozen raisins, one tablespoon of pounded almonds; put on stove again, and when it comes to a boil, add fish that has been cut up and salted. Cook until done, remove fish to a platter, and to the liquor add a small piece Leb-kuchen or ginger cake, and stir in the well-beaten yolks of four eggs; stir carefully or it will curdle. If not sweet enough add more sugar. Pour over fish. Shad or trout is the best fish to use.
Take cold meat, fish, game or poultry of any kind; remove all skin, sinew, etc., and either cut it small or pound it to a paste in a mortar, together with a proper proportion of spices and salt; then either toss it in a buttered frying pan over a clear fire till it begins to brown and pour beaten eggs upon it, or beat it up with the eggs, or spread it upon them after they have begun to set in the pan. In any case serve hot, with or without a sauce, but garnish with crisp herbs in branches, pickles, or sliced lemon. The right proportion is one tablespoonful of meat to four eggs. A little milk, gravy, water, or white wine, may be advantageously added to the eggs while they are being beaten. Potted meats make admirable omelets in the above manner.
The head and feet being well scalded and cleaned, open the head, taking the brains, wash, pick and cleanse, salt and pepper and parsley them and put bye in a cloth; boil the head, feet and heartslet one and quarter, or one and half hour, sever out the bones, cut the skin and meat in slices, drain the liquor in which boiled and put by; clean the pot very clean or it will burn too, make a layer of the slices, which dust with a composition made of black pepper one spoon, of sweet herbs pulverized, two spoons (sweet marjoram and thyme are most approved) a tea spoon of cayenne, one pound butter, then dust with flour, then a layer of slices with slices of veal and seasoning till compleated, cover with the liquor, stew gently three quarters of an hour. To make the forced meat balls--take one and half pound veal, one pound grated bread, 4 ounces raw salt pork, mince and season with above and work with 3 whites into balls, one or one an half inch diameter, roll in flour, and fry in very hot butter till brown, then chop the brains fine and stir into the whole mess in the pot, put thereto, one third part of the fryed balls and a pint wine or less, when all is heated thro' take off and serve in tureens, laying the residue of the balls and hard boiled and pealed eggs into a dish, garnish with slices of lemon.
