PREPARATION OF FOOD COOKERY. 



pound of steak in the bottom of the dish, and 

 seasoning only with black pepper and a very little 

 onion. The pigeons must be cleaned well, a bit 

 of butter rolled in pepper and salt put in each, and 

 the gizzard, liver, and heart along with them. 



Rook or Crow Pie is also made as above, put- 

 ting a piece of fat bacon in each, and in the bottom 

 of the dish, instead of the steak. The rooks 

 which should be young birds have to be skinned, 

 and care must be taken not to burst the gall- 

 bladder in gutting them. 



Veal Pie is made in the same way, with bacon, 

 the seasonings being white pepper, salt, parsley, a 

 little bit of onion, and a slice of lemon, keeping 

 out the seeds of the latter and the end portions of 

 the rind. Chicken Pie is made with the same 

 seasonings. 



SAUCES, PICKLES, AND FLAVOURS. 



Sauces are liquid preparations, to be used in 

 giving a flavour or relish to dishes, and are of 

 various kinds. A number are formed of melted 

 butter, with an infusion of some other ingredients ; 

 others are in the form of gravies drawn from fresh 

 juicy meat ; and a third kind are composed partly 

 of water, and some preserves, condiments, or 

 spices. There is little merit in making a good 

 sauce when a person has good and proper materials 

 to make it with ; the chief merit consists in fur- 

 nishing a fine flavour from inadequate materials ; 

 as, for instance, giving a rich flavour of meat to a 

 mass of potatoes, or some other plain dish, when 

 no meat has been employed. This can only be 

 done by knowing the qualities of various vege- 

 table products, and how these may be made to 

 resemble the juices of animal food. The vegetable 

 products of which by far the most can be made by 

 a skilful cook are onions, mushrooms, and carrots. 

 Onions and mushrooms alone furnish the most 

 effectual substitutes for animal juices, and may be 

 dressed so exquisitely as hardly to be distinguished 

 from the gravy of beef. 



Onion Flavour. Onion flavour is made by 

 stewing. Take several large onions, and remove 

 the thin outer film from them. Put them in a 

 saucepan with a little salt and flour, and a small 

 piece of butter or dripping, to prevent their burn- 

 ing. Cover them quite close, and set by the fire 

 to brown and stew gently. Two hours will dress 

 them, and at the end of this time they will be 

 quite soft, and, with the addition of a little water, 

 they will yield a rich gravy. This may be used to 

 fiy potatoes with, or to flavour any other dish. 



Mushroom Sauce. Pick out the stems, and 

 skin the mushrooms and the stems. Cut them in 

 small pieces, and wash them. Then put them in 

 a saucepan, with rather more water than will cover 

 them. Let them stew gently for about half an 

 hour, or till they are soft. They will now have 

 yielded a fine rich sauce Stir in a little flour and 

 butter kneaded together, and season with pepper 

 and salt. This preparation may be eaten with 

 potatoes, the same as meat ; it also forms an 

 excellent sauce to many dishes. 



Melted Butter. This must be made of fresh 

 butter. Cut down the butter into small pieces, 

 and put them into a small saucepan with cold 

 water, in the proportion of an ounce of butter to a 

 table-spoonful of water. Throw in flour from a 

 dredger with the one hand, while with the other 



you turn the saucepan rapidly round, so as to 

 cause the flour to mix without lumping. A small 

 quantity of flour is sufficient. You now for the first 

 time take the saucepan to the fire, and continue 

 turning or shaking it till the butter is thoroughly 

 melted. When it boils, it is ready ; it should then 

 have the consistency of rich cream. If it should 

 oil in making, it may be partially recovered by 

 putting a little cold water into it, and pouring it 

 several times into and out of a basin. This sauce 

 is the foundation of a number of other sauces, 

 various additions being made to it for the sake of 

 variety. 



Onion Sauce. Skin the onions, and boil in 

 plenty of water. When soft, take them from the 

 water, and chop them very fine. Melt butter as 

 above, stir them in, and season with pepper and 

 salt 



Caudle Sauce for Plum-pudding. Melt butter, 

 as above directed, and stir into it a glass of sherry, 

 half a glass of brandy or rum, a little sugar, grated 

 lemon-peel, and nutmeg. Do not let it boil after 

 the spirits have been added. 



Lobster and Crab Sauce. Melt the butter, as 

 above directed. Pick out the meat of a boiled 

 lobster or crab ; chop it down very fine, and put 

 it amongst the butter. Season with Cayenne 

 pepper and salt. If the lobster be procured raw, 

 with berries or spawn on the outside, these should 

 be taken off previous to boiling, and being mashed 

 in a little cold water, may be added to the sauce 

 after the lobster is put in. By boiling a little, the 

 whole will become a bright red. This forms an 

 improvement on common lobster sauce. 



Mint Sauce. Take the leaves of fresh green 

 mint. Wash them in boiling water, and after 

 drying them, chop them very fine. Mix them 

 with vinegar, and add a little sugar. 



Beef Gravy. A pound and a half of beef will 

 make a pint of good gravy. Cut the beef in slices, 

 or score it very deeply. Place in a saucepan, 

 with a bit of butter to prevent it from sticking, 

 and a sliced onion. Brown the meat gently, being 

 careful not to let it burn. Cover closely, and let 

 it stand beside the fire for about half an hour, to 

 allow the gravy to run from the meat Then put 

 in about a pint of hot water, and let it boil slowly 

 for an hour and a half, with some whole pepper. 

 Boil along with it a piece of bread toasted hard 

 and brown, which thickens the gravy, and adds to 

 its richness. Season with salt, and strain through 

 a hair-sieve. 



To make a Stuffing. Roast veal, fowls, turkey, 

 and some other meats require stuffing. These 

 stuffings have been alluded to in various receipts 

 in the preceding pages, and may here be expressly 

 defined. Take a quarter of a pound of the 

 crumbs of stale white bread, a quarter of a pound 

 of chopped beef-suet or marrow, as much chopped 

 parsley as will lie on a table-spoon, about half a 

 spoonful of chopped sweet marjoram, and a little 

 grated lemon-peel, pepper, and salt Mix all 

 these thoroughly together with one beat egg and 

 a little sweet-milk. This forms a species of 

 dough in sufficient quantity for a small turkey or 

 large fowL 



Raspberry Vinegar. Pour a bottle of vinegar on 

 two quarts of raspberries the wild are the best 

 and let them stand covered for two days. Put 

 through a sieve, pressing the fruit very gently, add 

 to each imperial pint of the liquor one pound of 



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