The Book of Household Management - The Original Classic Edition. Beeton Mrs

colour; cut, but do not chop it fine. Add it to 1/2 pint of smoothly-made melted butter, with salt and vinegar in the above proportions. Boil up and serve. Time.--2 minutes to simmer. Average cost for this quantity, 3d. PICKLED CAPSICUMS. 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; thick- ening of butter and flour, or arrowroot, 1/2 pint of cream, lemon-juice. 198 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 but- 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 quantity, 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. [Illustration: 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 passed 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 quantity 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 butter, 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 butter 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 quantity, 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 quantity of thickening may be required: that, of course, the cook will determine. Time.--Altogether nearly two hours. Average cost, 8d. Sufficient, this quantity, for a turkey. BROWN CHESTNUT SAUCE. 199 391. 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. of garlic, 1/4 lb. of onions, 3/4 lb. of powdered ginger, 1/4 lb. of dried chilies, 3/4 lb. of mustard-seed, 3/4 lb. of stoned raisins, 2 bottles of best vinegar, 30 large unripe sour apples. Mode.--The sugar must be made into syrup; the garlic, onions, and ginger be finely pounded in a mortar; the mustard-seed be washed in cold vinegar, and dried in the sun; the apples be peeled, cored, and sliced, and boiled in a bottle and a half of the vinegar. When all this is done, and the apples are quite cold, put them into a large pan, and gradually mix the whole of the rest of the ingredients, including the remaining half-bottle of vinegar. It must be well stirred until the whole is thoroughly blended, and then put into bottles for use. Tie a piece of wet bladder over the mouths of the bottles, after they are well corked. This chetney is very superior to any which can be bought, and one trial will prove it to be delicious. Note.--This recipe was given by a native to an English lady, who had long been a resident in India, and who, since her return to her native country, has become quite celebrated amongst her friends for the excellence of this Eastern relish. [Illustration: GARLIC.] GARLIC.--The smell of this plant is generally considered offensive, and it is the most acrimonious in its taste of the whole of the alliaceous tribe. In 1548 it was introduced to England from the shores of the Mediterranean, where it is abundant, and in Sicily it grows naturally. It was in greater repute with our ancestors than it is with ourselves, although it is still used as a seasoning herb. On the continent, especially in Italy, it is much used, and the French consider it an essential in many made dishes. CHILI VINEGAR. 393. INGREDIENTS.--50 fresh red English chilies, 1 pint of vinegar. Mode.--Pound or cut the chilies in half, and infuse them in the vinegar for a fortnight, when it will be fit for use. This will be found an agreeable relish to fish, as many people cannot eat it without the addition of an acid and cayenne pepper. CHRISTOPHER NORTH'S SAUCE FOR MEAT OR GAME. 394. INGREDIENTS.-1 glass of port wine, 2 tablespoonfuls of Harvey's sauce, 1 dessertspoonful of mushroom ketchup, ditto of pounded white sugar, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1/4 teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, ditto of salt. Mode.--Mix all the ingredients thoroughly together, and heat the sauce gradually, by placing the vessel in which it is made in a saucepan of boiling water. Do not allow it to boil, and serve directly it is ready. This sauce, if bottled immediately, will keep good for a fortnight, and will be found excellent. CONSOMME, or WHITE STOCK FOR MANY SAUCES. 395. Consomme is made precisely in the same manner as stock No. 107, and, for ordinary purposes, will be found quite good enough. When, however, a stronger stock is desired, either put in half the quantity of water, or double that of the meat. This is a very good foundation for all white sauces. CRAB SAUCE FOR FISH (equal to Lobster Sauce). 396. INGREDIENTS.--1 crab; salt, pounded mace, and cayenne to taste; 1/2 pint of melted butter made with milk (see No. 380). Mode.--Choose a nice fresh crab, pick all the meat away from the shell, and cut it into small square pieces. Make 1/2 pint of melted 200 butter by recipe No. 380, put in the fish and seasoning; let it gradually warm through, and simmer for 2 minutes. It should not boil. Average cost, 1s. 2d. CREAM SAUCE FOR FISH OR WHITE DISHES. 397. INGREDIENTS.--1/3 pint of cream, 2 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of flour, salt and cayenne to taste; when liked, a small quantity of pounded mace or lemon-juice. Mode.--Put the butter in a very clean saucepan, dredge in the flour, and keep shaking round till the butter is melted. Add the seasoning and cream, and stir the whole till it boils; let it just simmer for 5 minutes, when add either pounded mace or lemon-juice to taste, to give it a flavour. Time.--5 minutes to simmer. Average cost for this quantity, 7d. This sauce may be flavoured with very finely-shredded shalot. CUCUMBER SAUCE. 398. INGREDIENTS.--3 or 4 cucumbers, 2 oz. of butter, 6 tablespoonfuls of brown gravy. Mode.--Peel the cucumbers, quarter them, and take out the seeds; cut them into small pieces; put them in a cloth, and rub them well, to take out the water which hangs about them. Put the butter in a saucepan, add the cucumbers, and shake them over a sharp fire until they are of a good colour. Then pour over it the gravy, mix this with the cucumbers, and simmer gently for 10 minutes,