Read Ebook: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes by Francatelli Charles Elm

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Peel and chop four onions, and put them into a gallon saucepan, with two ounces of dripping fat, or butter, or a bit of fat bacon; add rather better than three quarts of water, and set the whole to boil on the fire for ten minutes; then throw in four pounds of peeled and sliced-up potatoes, pepper and salt, and with a wooden spoon stir the soup on the fire for about twenty-five minutes, by which time the potatoes will be done to a pulp, and the soup ready for dinner or breakfast.

Chop fine six onions, and fry them in a gallon saucepan with two ounces of butter or dripping fat, stirring them continuously until they become of a very light colour; then add six ounces of flour or oatmeal, and moisten with three quarts of water; season with pepper and salt, and stir the soup while boiling for twenty minutes, and when done, pour it out into a pan or bowl containing slices of bread.

No. 7. BROTH MADE FROM BONES FOR SOUP.

Fresh bones are always to be purchased from butchers at about a farthing per pound; they must be broken up small, and put into a boiling-pot with a quart of water to every pound of bones; and being placed on the fire, the broth must be well skimmed, seasoned with pepper and salt, a few carrots, onions, turnips, celery, and thyme, and boiled very gently for six hours; it is then to be strained off, and put back into the pot, with any bits of meat or gristle which may have fallen from the bones . Let this broth be thickened with peasemeal or oatmeal, in the proportion of a large table-spoonful to every pint of broth, and stirred over the fire while boiling for twenty-five minutes, by which time the soup will be done. It will be apparent to all good housewives that, with a little trouble and good management, a savoury and substantial meal may thus be prepared for a mere trifle.

No. 8. THICK MILK FOR BREAKFAST.

Milk, buttermilk, or even skim-milk, will serve for this purpose. To every pint of milk, mix a piled-up table-spoonful of flour, and stir the mixture while boiling on the fire for ten minutes; season with a little salt, and eat it with bread or a boiled potato. This kind of food is well adapted for the breakfast of women and children, and is far preferable to a sloppy mess of tea, which comes to more money.

To five pints of skim or buttermilk, add a couple of onions chopped fine, and set them to boil on the fire; meanwhile, mix six table-spoonfuls of oatmeal with a pint of milk or water very smoothly, pour it into the boiling milk and onions, and stir the porridge on the fire for ten minutes; season with salt to taste.

No. 10. OX-CHEEK SOUP.

An ox-cheek is always to be bought cheap; let it be thoroughly washed in several waters, place it whole in a three gallon boiling-pot filled up with water, and set it to boil on the fire; skim it well, season with carrots, turnips, onions, celery, allspice, pepper, and salt; and allow the whole to boil very gently by the side of the hob for about three hours and a-half, by which time the ox-cheek, etc., will be done quite tender; the cheek must then be taken out on to a dish, the meat removed from the bone, and after being cut up in pieces, put back into the soup again. Next mix smoothly twelve ounces of flour with a quart of cold water, pour this into the soup, and stir the whole on the fire, keeping it boiling for about twenty-five minutes longer; when it will be ready for dinner. One ox-cheek, properly managed, will, by attending to the foregoing instructions, furnish an ample quantity of substantial and nutritious food, equal to the wants of a large family, for three days' consumption.

No. 11. SHEEP'S-HEAD BROTH.

Get the butcher to split the sheep's head into halves, wash these clean, and put them into a boiling-pot with two gallons of water; set this on the fire to boil, skim it well, add carrots, turnips, onions, leeks, celery, thyme or winter savory, season with pepper and salt; add a pint of Patna rice, or Scotch barley; and all the whole to keep gently boiling by the side of the fire for three hours, adding a little water to make up for the deficiency in quantity occasioned by boiling.

No. 12. COW-HEEL BROTH.

Put a couple of cow-heels into a boiling-pot, with a pound of rice, a dozen leeks washed free from grit and cut into pieces, and some coarsely chopped parsley; fill up with six quarts of water, set the whole to boil on the fire, skim it well, season with thyme, pepper, and salt, and allow the whole to boil very gently on the hob for about two hours. You will thus provide a savoury meal at small cost.

No. 13. BACON AND CABBAGE SOUP.

No. 14. STEWED LEG OF BEEF.

Four pounds of leg or shin of beef cost about one shilling; cut this into pieces the size of an egg, and fry them of a brown colour with a little dripping fat, in a good sized saucepan, then shake in a large handful of flour, add carrots and onions cut up in pieces the same as the meat, season with pepper and salt, moisten with water enough to cover in the whole, stir the stew on the fire till it boils, and then set it on the hob to continue boiling very gently for about an hour and a half, and you will then be able to enjoy an excellent dinner.

No. 15. COCKY LEEKY.

I hope that at some odd times you may afford yourselves an old hen or cock; and when this occurs, this is the way in which I recommend that it be cooked, viz.:--First pluck, draw, singe off the hairs, and tie the fowl up in a plump shape; next, put it into a boiling-pot with a gallon of water, and a pound of Patna rice, a dozen leeks cut in pieces, some peppercorns and salt to season; boil the whole very gently for three hours, and divide the fowl to be eaten with the soup, which will prove not only nourishing but invigorating to the system.

No. 16. ROAST FOWL AND GRAVY.

Let us hope that at Christmas, or some other festive season, you may have to dress a fowl or turkey for your dinner. On such occasions I would recommend the following method:--First, draw the fowl, reserving the gizzard and liver to be tucked under the wings; truss the fowl with skewers, and tie it to the end of a skein of worsted, which is to be fastened to a nail stuck in the chimney-piece, so that the fowl may dangle rather close to the fire, in order to roast it. Baste the fowl, while it is being roasted, with butter, or some kind of grease, and when nearly done, sprinkle it with a little flour and salt, and allow the fowl to attain a bright yellow-brown colour before you take it up. Then place it on its dish, and pour some brown gravy over it.

No. 17. THIS IS THE BROWN GRAVY FOR THE FOWL.

Chop up an onion, and fry it with a sprig of thyme and a bit of butter, and when it is brown, add a good tea-spoonful of moist sugar and a drop of water, and boil all together on the fire until the water is reduced, and the sugar begins to bake of a dark brown colour. It must then be stirred on the fire for three minutes longer; after which moisten it with half-a-pint of water, add a little pepper and salt; boil all together for five minutes, and strain the gravy over the fowl, etc.

No. 18. BREAD SAUCE FOR A ROAST FOWL.

Chop a small onion or shalot fine, and boil it in a pint of milk for five minutes; then add about ten ounces of crumb of bread, a bit of butter, pepper and salt to season; stir the whole on the fire for ten minutes, and eat this bread sauce with roast fowl or turkey.

No. 19. EGG SAUCE FOR ROAST FOWLS, ETC.

Boil two or three eggs for about eight minutes; remove the shells, cut up each egg into about ten pieces of equal size, and put them into some butter-sauce made as follows:--viz., Knead two ounces of flour with one ounce and-a-half of butter; add half-a-pint of water, pepper and salt to season, and stir the sauce on the fire until it begins to boil; then mix in the pieces of chopped hard-boiled eggs.

No. 20. PORK CHOPS, GRILLED OR BROILED.

Score the rind of each chop by cutting through the rind at distances of half-an-inch apart; season the chops with pepper and salt, and place them on a clean gridiron over a clear fire to broil; the chops must be turned over every two minutes until they are done; this will take about fifteen minutes. The chops are then to be eaten plain, or, if convenient, with brown gravy, made as shown in No. 17.

No. 21. SHARP SAUCE FOR BROILED MEATS.

Chop fine an onion and a pennyworth of mixed pickles; put these into a saucepan with half-a-gill of vinegar, a tea-spoonful of mustard, a small bit of butter, a large table-spoonful of bread-raspings, and pepper and salt to season; boil all together on the fire for at least six minutes; then add a gill of water, and allow the sauce to boil again for ten minutes longer. This sauce will give an appetizing relish to the coarsest meats or fish when broiled or fried, and also when you are intending to make any cold meat into a hash or stew. In the latter case, the quantity of water and raspings must be doubled.

No. 22. ROAST VEAL, STUFFED.

A piece of the shoulder, breast, or chump-end of the loin of veal, is the cheapest part for you, and whichever of these pieces you may happen to buy, should be seasoned with the following stuffing:--To eight ounces of bruised crumb of bread add four ounces of chopped suet, shalot, thyme, marjoram, and winter savory, all chopped fine; two eggs, pepper and salt to season; mix all these ingredients into a firm compact kind of paste, and use this stuffing to fill a hole or pocket which you will have cut with a knife in some part of the piece of veal, taking care to fasten it in with a skewer. If you intend roasting the veal, and should not possess what is called a bottle-jack, nor even a Dutch oven, in that case the veal should be suspended by, and fastened to, the end of a twisted skein of worsted, made fast at the upper end by tying it to a large nail driven into the centre of the mantelpiece for that purpose. This contrivance will enable you to roast the veal by dangling it before your fire; the exact time for cooking it must depend upon its weight. A piece of veal weighing four pounds would require rather more than an hour to cook it thoroughly before your small fire.

No. 23. VEAL CUTLETS AND BACON.

You may sometimes have a chance to purchase a few trimmings or cuttings of veal, or a small piece from the chump end of the loin, which you can cut up in thin slices, and after seasoning them with pepper and salt, and rolling them in flour, they are to be fried in the fat that remains from some slices of bacon which you shall have previously fried; and, after placing the fried veal and bacon in its dish, shake a table-spoonful of flour in the frying-pan; add a few drops of ketchup or vinegar and a gill of water; stir all together on the fire to boil for five minutes, and pour this sauce over the cutlets. A dish of cutlets of any kind of meat may be prepared as above.

No. 24. A PUDDING MADE OF SMALL BIRDS.

Industrious and intelligent boys who live in the country, are mostly well up in the cunning art of catching small birds at odd times during the winter months. So, my young friends, when you have been so fortunate as to succeed in making a good catch of a couple of dozen of birds, you must first pluck them free from feathers, cut off their heads and claws, and pick out their gizzards from their sides with the point of a small knife, and then hand the birds over to your mother, who, by following these instructions, will prepare a famous pudding for your dinner or supper. First, fry the birds whole with a little butter, shalot, parsley, thyme, and winter savory, all chopped small, pepper and salt to season; and when the birds are half done, shake in a small handful of flour, add rather better than a gill of water, stir the whole on the fire while boiling for ten minutes, and when the stew of birds is nearly cold, pour it all into a good-sized pudding basin, which has been ready-lined with either a suet and flour crust, or else a dripping-crust, cover the pudding in with a piece of the paste, and either bake or boil it for about an hour and-a-half.

No. 25. BAKED PIG'S HEAD.

Split the pig's head into halves, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and lay them with the rind part uppermost upon a bed of sliced onions in a baking dish. Next bruise eight ounces of stale bread-crumb, and mix it with four ounces of chopped suet, twelve sage leaves chopped fine, pepper and salt to season, and sprinkle this seasoning all over the surface of the pig's head; add one ounce of butter and a gill of vinegar to the onions, and bake the whole for about an hour and-a-half, basting the pig's head occasionally with the liquor.

No. 26. BAKED GOOSE.

Pluck and pick out all the stubble feathers thoroughly clean, draw the goose, cut off the head and neck, and also the feet and wings, which must be scalded to enable you to remove the pinion feathers from the wings and the rough skin from the feet; split and scrape the inside of the gizzard, and carefully cut out the gall from the liver. These giblets well stewed, as shown in No. 62, will serve to make a pie for another day's dinner. Next stuff the goose in manner following, viz.:--First put six potatoes to bake in the oven, or even in a Dutch oven; and, while they are being baked, chop six onions with four apples and twelve sage leaves, and fry these in a saucepan with two ounces of butter, pepper and salt; when the whole is slightly fried, mix it with the pulp of the six baked potatoes, and use this very nice stuffing to fill the inside of the goose. The goose being stuffed, place it upon an iron trivet in a baking dish containing peeled potatoes and a few apples; add half-a-pint of water, pepper and salt, shake some flour over the goose, and bake it for about an hour and a-half.

No. 27. BAKED SUCKING PIG.

Let the pig be stuffed in the same manner as directed for a goose, as shown in the preceding Number; score it all over crosswise, rub some grease or butter upon it, place it upon a trivet in a dish containing peeled potatoes and a few sliced onions, season with pepper and salt; add half-a-pint of water, and bake the pig for about two hours, basting it frequently with its own dripping, or, a bit of butter tied up in a piece of muslin.

No. 28. BAKED OR ROAST DUCKS.

These are to be dressed in the same way as directed for dressing geese.

No. 29. HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF A PIG, AFTER IT IS KILLED.

Cottagers sometimes feed a pig for their own consumption, and, therefore, in the hope that many of you may have it in your power to do so, I will give you proper instructions as to the best way to make the most of it. First, when the pig is killed, should the hair or bristles be wet, wipe them dry with a wisp of hay or straw, and having laid it on the ground upon a narrow bed of dry straw three inches in thickness, and laid some loose straw all over it, set fire to it, and as the upper straw burns out, lay on another covering of loose straw, and, by the time this has burnt out, all the hairs of the upper part of the pig will probably be singed off, if not, burn a little more straw upon the remaining parts; and, on turning the pig over, should it be found that any of the hairs yet remain, let them be singed off with a lighted wisp of straw. Throw a pail of water over the pig, and scrape it clean and dry with an old knife. The next thing to be done, is to insert a stout stick, pointed at the ends, into the hocks of the hind legs; fasten a strong cord to the stick, and hoist up the pig so as to enable you to stand up and finish your work with ease to yourself. With a sharp knife rip up the belly, and stretch out the flaps with two sticks to enable you to throw in some water to cleanse the pig's inside, having first removed the guts, etc.; hang up the pluck to cool, and also the chitterlings, and loose fat; and, after thoroughly wiping the pig, let it hang in the draught to become quite cold. You then split the pig in halves, commencing between the hind quarters; and, when this is done, first cut off the hocks, then the hams, and the head; next cleverly remove, slicing away, what is called the spare-rib--that is, the lean meat about the ribs--reaching up about four inches toward the breast part, and lay the spare-ribs aside to be sold or reserved for your own use. The head may be baked as shown in No. 25. The spare-rib may be dressed as in No. 27.

No. 30. HOW TO CURE HAMS.

No. 31. HOW TO SMOKE HAMS.

When the hams have been well pickled, as shown in the preceding Number, they must be pressed between boards with heavy stones to render them flat; the hams should remain in press for twenty-four hours; and, at the end of that time, must be well rubbed all over with peasemeal mixed with a little salt; they are then to be smoked in a close shed or in the chimney, burning for that purpose some branches of juniper or any other wood, and some sawdust. The smoking must last five days. The hams, when sufficiently smoked, must be kept in a cool place. They will not be ripe for cooking before six months after their curing. Remember that a couple of well-cured hams, kept in reserve for a case of need, will always prove a ready means to realize some twenty-five shillings towards paying the rent, etc.

No. 32. HOW TO CURE BACON.

Mind that your pickling-trough is well scalded out before using it for pickling the bacon. Allow at the rate of four ounces of salt to every pound of meat, and to every ten pounds of salt six ounces of saltpetre, two ounces of salprunella, and eight ounces of sugar; rub the salt, etc., well into the bacon every morning for twelve successive days; and at the end of that time, let the sides of bacon be pressed between boards with heavy stones placed upon them to keep them flat; and at the end of twenty-four hours, rub them over with peasemeal in which there has been mixed a little salt, and smoke the bacon in the same manner as the hams; and thus, by timely thriftiness, you will be provided with a meat dinner for a long while.

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