The Virginia Housewife by Mary Randolph
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Mary Randolph >> The Virginia Housewife
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* * * * *
CATFISH SOUP.
_An excellent dish for those who have not imbibed a needless prejudice
against those delicious fish._
Take two large or four small white catfish that have been caught in deep
water, cut off the heads, and skin and clean the bodies; cut each in
three parts, put them in a pot, with a pound of lean bacon, a large
onion cut up, a handful of parsley chopped small, some pepper and salt,
pour in a sufficient quantity of water, and stew them till the fish are
quite tender but not broken; beat the yelks of four fresh eggs, add to
them a large spoonful of butter, two of flour, and half a pint of rich
milk; make all these warm and thicken the soup, take out the bacon, and
put some of the fish in your tureen, pour in the soup, and serve it up.
* * * * *
ONION SOUP.
Chop up twelve large onions, boil them in three quarts of milk and water
equally mixed, put in a bit of veal or fowl, and a piece of bacon with
pepper and salt. When the onions are boiled to pulp, thicken it with a
large spoonful of butter mixed with one of flour. Take out the meat, and
serve it up with toasted bread cut in small pieces in the soup.
* * * * *
TO DRESS TURTLE.
Kill it at night in winter, and in the morning in summer. Hang it up by
the hind fins, cut off the head and let it bleed well. Separate the
bottom shell from the top, with great care, lest the gall bladder be
broken, which must be cautiously taken out and thrown away. Put the
liver in a bowl of water. Empty the guts and lay them in water; if there
be eggs, put them also in water. It is proper to have a separate bowl of
water for each article. Cut all the flesh from the bottom shell, and lay
it in water; then break the shell in two, put it in a pot after having
washed it clean; pour on as much water as will cover it entirely, add
one pound of middling, or flitch of bacon, with four onions chopped, and
set it on the fire to boil. Open the guts, cleanse them perfectly; take
off the inside skin, and put them in the pot with the shell; let them
boil steadily for three hours, and if the water boils away too much, add
more. Wash the top shell nicely after taking out the flesh, cover it,
and set it by. Parboil the fins, clean them nicely--taking off all the
black skin, and put them in water; cut the flesh taken from the bottom
and top shell, in small pieces; cut the fins in two, lay them with the
flesh in a dish; sprinkle some salt over, and cover them up. When the
shell, &c. is done, take out the bacon, scrape the shell clean, and
strain the liquor; about one quart of which must be put back in the pot;
reserve the rest for soup; pick out the guts, and cut them in small
pieces; take all the nice bits that were strained out, put them with the
guts into the gravy; lay in the fins cut in pieces with them, and as
much of the flesh as will be sufficient to fill the upper shell; add to
it, (if a large turtle,) one bottle of white wine; cayenne pepper, and
salt, to your taste, one gill of mushroom catsup, one gill of lemon
pickle, mace, nutmegs and cloves, pounded, to season it high. Mix two
large spoonsful of flour in one pound and a quarter of butter; put it in
with thyme, parsley, marjoram and savory, tied in bunches; stew all
these together, till the flesh and fins are tender; wash out the top
shell, put a puff paste around the brim; sprinkle over the shell pepper
and salt, then take the herbs out of the stew; if the gravy is not thick
enough, add a little more flour, and fill the shell; should there be no
eggs in the turtle, boil six new laid ones for ten minutes, put them in
cold water a short time, peel them, cut them in two, and place them on
the turtle; make a rich forcemeat, (see receipt for forcemeat,) fry the
balls nicely, and put them also in the shell; set it in a dripping pan,
with something under the sides to keep it steady; have the oven heated
as for bread, and let it remain in it till nicely browned. Fry the liver
and send it in hot.
* * * * *
FOR THE SOUP.
At an early hour in the morning, put on eight pounds of coarse beef,
some bacon, onions, sweet herbs, pepper and salt. Make a rich soup,
strain it and thicken with a bit of butter, and brown flour; add to it
the water left from boiling the bottom shell; season it very high with
wine, catsup, spice and cayenne; put in the flesh you reserved, and if
that is not enough, add the nicest parts of a well boiled calf's head;
but do not use the eyes or tongue; let it boil till tender, and serve it
up with fried forcemeat balls in it.
If you have curry powder, (see receipt for it,) it will give a higher
flavour to both soup and turtle, than spice. Should you not want soup,
the remaining flesh may be fried, and served with a rich gravy.
* * * * *
MOCK TURTLE SOUP OF CALF'S HEAD.
Have a large head cleaned nicely without taking off the skin, divide the
chop from the front of the head, take out the tongue, (which is best
when salted,) put on the head with a gallon of water, the hock of a ham
or a piece of nice pork, four or five onions, thyme, parsley, cloves and
nutmeg, pepper and salt, boil all these together until the flesh on the
head is quite tender, then take it up, cut all into small pieces, take
the eyes out carefully, strain the water in which it was boiled, add
half a pint of wine and a gill of mushroom catsup, let it boil slowly
till reduced to two quarts, thicken it with two spoonsful of browned
flour rubbed into four ounces of butter, put the meat in, and after
stewing it a short time, serve it up. The eyes are a great delicacy.
* * * * *
BEEF.
DIRECTIONS FOR CURING BEEF.
Prepare your brine in the middle of October, after the following manner:
get a thirty gallon cask, take out one head, drive in the bung, and put
some pitch on it, to prevent leaking. See that the cask is quite tight
and clean. Put into it one pound of saltpetre powdered, fifteen quarts
of salt, and fifteen gallons of cold water; stir it frequently, until
dissolved, throw over the cask a thick cloth, to keep out the dust; look
at it often and take off the scum. These proportions have been
accurately ascertained--fifteen gallons of cold water will exactly hold,
in solution, fifteen quarts of good clean Liverpool salt, and one pound
of saltpetre: this brine will be strong enough to bear up an egg: if
more salt be added, it will fall to the bottom without strengthening the
brine, the water being already saturated. This brine will cure all the
beef which a private family can use in the course of the winter, and
requires nothing more to be done to it except occasionally skimming the
dross that rises. It must be kept in a cool, dry place. For salting your
beef, get a molasses hogshead and saw it in two, that the beef may have
space to lie on; bore some holes in the bottom of these tubs, and raise
them on one side about an inch, that the bloody brine may run off.
Be sure that your beef is newly killed--rub each piece very well with
good Liverpool salt--a vast deal depends upon rubbing the salt into
every part--it is unnecessary to put saltpetre on it; sprinkle a good
deal of salt on the bottom of the tub. When the beef is well salted, lay
it in the tub, and be sure you put the fleshy side downward. Put a great
deal of salt on your beef after it is packed in the tub; this protects
it from animals who might eat, if they could smell it, and does not
waste the salt, for the beef can only dissolve a certain portion. You
must let the beef lie in salt ten days, then take it out, brush off the
salt, and wipe it with a damp cloth; put it in the brine with a bit of
board and weight to keep it under. In about ten days it will look red
and be fit for the table, but it will be red much sooner when the brine
becomes older. The best time to begin to salt beef is the latter end of
October, if the weather be cool, and from that time have it in
succession. When your beef is taken out of the tub, stir the salt about
to dry, that it may be ready for the next pieces. Tongues are cured in
the same manner.
* * * * *
TO DRY BEEF FOR SUMMER USE.
The best pieces for this purpose are the thin briskets, or that part of
the plate which is farthest from the shoulder of the animal, the round
and rib pieces which are commonly used for roasting. These should not be
cut with long ribs and the back-bones must be sawed off as close as
possible, that the piece may lay flat in the dish. About the middle of
February, select your beef from an animal well fatted with corn, and
which, when killed, will weigh one hundred and fifty per quarter--larger
oxen are always coarse. Salt the pieces as directed, let them lie one
fortnight, then put them in brine, where they must remain three weeks:
take them out at the end of the time, wipe them quite dry, rub them over
with bran, and hang them in a cool, dry, and, if possible, dark place,
that the flies may not get to them: they must be suspended, and not
allowed to touch any thing. It will be necessary, in the course of the
summer, to look them over occasionally, and after a long wet season, to
lay them in the sun a few hours. Your tongues may be dried in the same
manner: make a little hole in the root, run a twine through it, and
suspend it. These dried meats must be put in a good quantity of water,
to soak, the night before they are to be used. In boiling it is
absolutely necessary to have a large quantity of water to put the beef
in while the water is cold, to boil steadily, skimming the pot, until
the bones are ready to fall out; and, if a tongue, till the skin peels
off with perfect ease: the skin must also be taken from the beef. The
housekeeper who will buy good ox beef, and follow these directions
exactly, may be assured of always having delicious beef on her table.
Ancient prejudice has established a notion, that meat killed in the
decrease of the moon, will draw up when cooked. The true cause of this
shrinking, may be found in the old age of the animal, or in its diseased
state, at the time of killing. The best age is from three to five years.
Few persons are aware of the injury they sustain, by eating the flesh of
diseased animals. None but the Jewish butchers, who are paid exclusively
for it, attend to this important circumstance. The best rule for judging
that I have been able to discover, is the colour of the fat. When the
fat of beef is a high shade of yellow, I reject it. If the fat of veal,
mutton, lamb or pork, have the slightest tinge of yellow, I avoid it as
diseased. The same rule holds good when applied to poultry.
* * * * *
TO CORN BEEF IN HOT WEATHER.
Take a piece of thin brisket or plate, cut out the ribs nicely, rub it
on both sides well with two large spoonsful of pounded saltpetre; pour
on it a gill of molasses and a quart of salt; rub them both in; put it
in a vessel just large enough to hold it, but not tight, for the bloody
brine must run off as it makes, or the meat will spoil. Let it be well
covered, top, bottom and sides, with the molasses and salt. In four days
you may boil it, tied up in a cloth with the salt, &c. about it: when
done, take the skin off nicely, and serve it up. If you have an
ice-house or refrigerator, it will be best to keep it there. A fillet or
breast of veal, and a leg or rack of mutton, are excellent done in the
same way.
* * * * *
IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS ON ROASTING, BOILING, FRYING, &c.
In roasting butchers' meat, be careful not to run the spit through the
nice parts: let the piece lie in water one hour, then wash it out, wipe
it perfectly dry, and put it on the spit. Set it before a clear, steady
fire: sprinkle some salt on it, and when it becomes hot, baste it for a
time with salt and water: then put a good spoonful of nice lard into the
dripping-pan, and when melted, continue to baste with it. When your
meat, of whatever kind, has been down some time, but before it begins to
look brown, cover it with paper and baste on it; when it is nearly done,
take off the paper, dredge it with flour, turn the spit for some minutes
very quick, and baste all the time to raise a froth--after which, serve
it up. When mutton is roasted, after you take off the paper, loosen the
skin and peel it off carefully, then dredge and froth it up. Beef and
mutton must not be roasted as much as veal, lamb, or pork; the two last
must be skinned in the manner directed for mutton. You may pour a little
melted butter in the dish with veal, but all the others must be served
without sauce, and garnished with horse-radish, nicely scraped. Be
careful not to let a particle of dry flour be seen on the meat--it has a
very ill appearance. Beef may look brown, but the whiter the other meats
are, the more genteel are they, and if properly roasted, they may be
perfectly done, and quite white. A loin of veal, and hind quarter of
lamb, should be dished with the kidneys uppermost; and be sure to joint
every thing that is to be separated at table, or it will be impossible
to carve neatly. For those who _must_ have gravy with these meats, let
it be made in any way they like, and served in a boat. No meat can be
well roasted except on a spit turned by a jack, and before a steady
clear fire--other methods are no better than baking. Many cooks are in
the habit of half boiling the meats to plump them as they term it,
before they are spitted, but it destroys their fine flavour. Whatever is
to be boiled, must be put into cold water with a little salt, which will
cook them regularly. When they are put in boiling water, the outer side
is done too much, before the inside gets heated. Nice lard is much
better than butter for basting roasted meats, or for frying. To choose
butchers' meat, you must see that the fat is not yellow, and that the
lean parts are of a fine close grain, a lively colour, and will feel
tender when pinched. Poultry should be well covered with white fat; if
the bottom of the breast bone be gristly, it is young, but if it be a
hard bone, it is an old one. Fish are judged by the liveliness of their
eyes, and bright red of their gills. Dredge every thing with flour
before it is put on to boil, and be sure to add salt to the water.
Fish, and all other articles for frying, after being nicely prepared,
should be laid on a board and dredged with flour or meal mixed with
salt: when it becomes dry on one side, turn it, and dredge the other.
For broiling, have very clear coals, sprinkle a little salt and pepper
over the pieces, and when done, dish them, and pour over some melted
butter and chopped parsley--this is for broiled veal, wild fowl, birds
or poultry: beef-steaks and mutton chops require only a table-spoonful
of hot water to be poured over. Slice an onion in the dish before you
put in the steaks or chops, and garnish both with rasped horse-radish.
To have viands served in perfection, the dishes should be made hot,
either by setting them over hot water, or by putting some in them, and
the instant the meats are laid in and garnished, put on a pewter dish
cover. A dinner looks very enticing, when the steam rises from each dish
on removing the covers, and if it be judiciously _ordered_, will have a
double relish. Profusion is not elegance--a dinner justly calculated for
the company, and consisting for the greater part of small articles,
correctly prepared, and neatly served up, will make a much more pleasing
appearance to the sight, and give a far greater gratification to the
appetite, than a table loaded with food, and from the multiplicity of
dishes, unavoidably neglected in the preparation, and served up cold.
There should always be a supply of brown flour kept in readiness to
thicken brown gravies, which must be prepared in the following manner:
put a pint of flour in a Dutch oven, with some coals under it; keep
constantly stirring it until it is uniformly of a dark brown, but none
of it burnt, which would look like dirt in the gravy. All kitchens
should be provided with a saw for trimming meat, and also with larding
needles.
* * * * *
BEEF A-LA-MODE.
Take the bone from a round of beef, fill the space with a forcemeat made
of the crumbs of a stale loaf, four ounces of marrow, two heads of
garlic chopped with thyme and parsley, some nutmeg, cloves, pepper and
salt, mix it to a paste with the yelks of four eggs beaten, stuff the
lean part of the round with it, and make balls of the remainder; sew a
fillet of strong linen wide enough to keep it round and compact, put it
in a vessel just sufficiently large to hold it, add a pint of red wine,
cover it with sheets of tin or iron, set it in a brick oven properly
heated, and bake it three hours; when done, skim the fat from the gravy,
thicken it with brown flour, add some mushroom and walnut catsup, and
serve it up garnished with forcemeat balls fried. It is still better
when eaten cold with sallad.
* * * * *
BRISKET OF BEEF BAKED.
Bone a brisket of beef, and make holes in it with a sharp knife about an
inch apart, fill them alternately with fat bacon, parsley and oysters,
all chopped small and seasoned with pounded cloves and nutmeg, pepper
and salt, dredge it well with flour, lay it in a pan with a pint of red
wine and a large spoonful of lemon pickle; bake it three hours, take the
fat from the gravy and strain it; serve it up garnished with green
pickles.
* * * * *
BEEF OLIVES.
Cut slices from a fat rump of beef six inches long and half an inch
thick, beat them well with a pestle; make a forcemeat of bread crumbs,
fat bacon chopped, parsley, a little onion, some shred suet, pounded
mace, pepper and salt; mix it up with the yelks of eggs, and spread a
thin layer over each slice of beef, roll it up tight, and secure the
rolls with skewers, set them before the fire, and turn them till they
are a nice brown; have ready a pint of good gravy, thickened with brown
flour and a spoonful of butter, a gill of red wine, with two spoonsful
of mushroom catsup, lay the rolls in it, and stew them till tender;
garnish with forcemeat balls.
* * * * *
TO STEW A RUMP OF BEEF.
Take out as much of the bone as can be done with a saw, that it may lie
flat on the dish, stuff it with forcemeat made as before directed, lay
it in a pot with two quarts of water, a pint of red wine, some carrots
and turnips cut in small pieces and stewed over it, a head of cellery
cut up, a few cloves of garlic, some pounded cloves, pepper and salt,
stew it gently till sufficiently done, skim the fat off, thicken the
gravy, and serve it up; garnish with little bits of puff paste nicely
baked, and scraped horse-radish.
* * * * *
A FRICANDO OF BEEF.
Cut a few slices of beef six inches long, two or three wide, and one
thick, lard them with bacon, dredge them well, and make them a nice
brown before a brisk fire; stew them half an hour in a well seasoned
gravy, put some stewed sorrel or spinage in the dish, lay on the beef,
and pour over a sufficient quantity of gravy; garnish with fried balls.
* * * * *
AN EXCELLENT METHOD OF DRESSING BEEF.
Take a rib roasting piece that has been hanging ten days or a fortnight,
bone it neatly, rub some salt over it and roll it tight, binding it
around with twine, put the spit through the inner fold without sticking
it in the flesh, skewer it well and roast it nicely; when nearly done,
dredge and froth it; garnish with scraped horse-radish.
* * * * *
TO COLLAR A FLANK OF BEEF.
Get a nice flank of beef, rub it well with a large portion of saltpetre
and common salt, let it remain ten days, then wash it clean, take off
the outer and inner skin with the gristle, spread it on a board, and
cover the inside with the following mixture: parsley, sage, thyme
chopped fine, pepper, salt and pounded cloves; roll it up, sew a cloth
over it, and bandage that with tape, boil it gently five or six hours,
when cold, lay it on a board without undoing it, put another board on
the top, with a heavy weight on it; let it remain twenty-four hours,
take off the bandages, cut a thin slice from each end, serve it up
garnished with green pickle and sprigs of parsley.
* * * * *
TO MAKE HUNTERS' BEEF.
Select a fine fat round weighing about twenty-five pounds, take three
ounces saltpetre, one ounce of cloves, half an ounce of alspice, a large
nutmeg, and a quart of salt; pound them all together very fine, take the
bone out, rub it well with this mixture on both sides, put some of it at
the bottom of a tub just large enough to hold the beef, lay it in and
strew the remainder on the top, rub it well every day for two weeks, and
spread the mixture over it; at the end of this time, wash the beef, bind
it with tape, to keep it round and compact, filling the hole where the
bone was with a piece of fat, lay it in a pan of convenient size, strew
a little suet over the top, and pour on it a pint of water, cover the
pan with a coarse crust and a thick paper over that, it will take five
hours baking; when cold take off the tape. It is a delicious relish at
twelve o'clock, or for supper, eaten with vinegar, mustard, oil, or
sallad. Skim the grease from the gravy and bottle it; it makes an
excellent seasoning for any made dish.
* * * * *
A NICE LITTLE DISH OF BEEF.
Mince cold roast beef, fat and lean, very fine, add chopped onion,
pepper, salt, and a little good gravy, fill scollop shells two parts
full, and fill them up with potatos mashed smooth with cream, put a bit
of butter on the top, and set them in an oven to brown.
* * * * *
BEEF STEAKS.
The best part of the beef for steaks, is the seventh and eighth ribs,
the fat and lean are better mixed, and it is more tender than the rump
if it be kept long enough; cut the steaks half an inch thick, beat them
a little, have fine clear coals, rub the bars of the gridiron with a
cloth dipped in lard before you put it over the coals, that none may
drip to cause a bad smell, put no salt on till you dish them, broil them
quick, turning them frequently; the dish must be very hot, some slices
of onion in it, lay in the steaks, sprinkle a little salt, and pour over
them a spoonful of water and one of mushroom catsup, both made boiling
hot, garnish with scraped horse-radish, and put on a hot dish cover.
Every thing must be in readiness, for the great excellence of a beef
steak lies in having it immediately from the gridiron.
* * * * *
TO HASH BEEF.
Cut slices of raw beef, put them in a stew pan with a little water, some
catsup, a clove of garlic, pepper and salt, stew them till done, thicken
the gravy with a lump of butter rubbed into brown flour. A hash may be
made of any kind of meat that has been cooked, but it is not so good,
and it is necessary to have a gravy prepared and seasoned, and keep the
hash over the fire only a few minutes to make it hot.
* * * * *
BEEF STEAK PIE.
Cut nice steaks, and stew them till half done, put a puff paste in the
dish, lay in the steaks with a few slices of boiled ham, season the
gravy very high, pour it in the dish, put on a lid of paste and bake it.
* * * * *
BEEF A-LA-DAUBE.
Get a round of beef, lard it well, and put it in a Dutch oven; cut the
meat from a shin of beef, or any coarse piece in thin slices, put round
the sides and over the top some slices of bacon, salt, pepper, onion,
thyme, parsley, cellery tops, or seed pounded, and some carrots cut
small, strew the pieces of beef over, cover it with water, let it stew
very gently till perfectly done, take out the round, strain the gravy,
let it stand to be cold, take off the grease carefully, beat the whites
of four eggs, mix a little water with them, put them to the gravy, let
it boil till it looks clear, strain it, and when cold, put it over the
beef.
* * * * *
VEAL.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE PIECES IN THE DIFFERENT QUARTERS OF VEAL.
A loin of veal must always be roasted: the fillet or leg may be dressed
in various ways, the knuckle or knee is proper for soup or for boiling;
these are the pieces that compose the hind quarter. In the fore quarter,
the breast and rack admit variety in cooking; the shoulder and neck are
only fit for soup.
* * * * *
VEAL CUTLETS FROM THE FILLET OR LEG.
Cut off the flank and take the bone out, then take slices the size of
the fillet and half an inch thick, beat two yelks of eggs light, and
have some grated bread mixed with pepper, salt, pounded nutmeg and
chopped parsley; beat the slices a little, lay them on a board and wash
the upper side with the egg, cover it thick with the bread crumbs, press
them on with a knife, and let them stand to dry a little, that they may
not fall off in frying, then turn them gently, put egg and crumbs on in
the same manner, put them into a pan of boiling lard, and fry them a
light brown; have some good gravy ready, season it with a tea-spoonful
of curry powder, a large one of wine, and one of lemon pickle, thicken
with butter and brown flour, drain every drop of lard from the cutlets,
lay them in the gravy, and stew them fifteen or twenty minutes, serve
them up garnished with lemon cut in thin slices.
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