good colour.
The sirloin of beef I likewise divide into three parts ; I
first have it nicely boned.
The under part, or fillet, as the French call it, will dress
(when cut into slices) excellently, either as plain steaks (No.
94), curry (No. 197), or it may be larded whole, and gently
stewed in two quarts of water (a bay-leaf, two onions, their
skins roasted brown, four cloves, allspice, &c. &c.) till tender,
when it should be taken out, drained quite dry, and put away;
it is then ready to be used at any time in the following-
manner : season and dredge it well, then put it into a stew-
pan in which a piece of butter has been previously fried to a
fine froth ; when the meat is sufficiently brown, take it out,
and throw into the pan half a dozen middle-sized onions, to
do a fine gold colour ; that accomplished, (during which the
dredger should be in constant use,) add half a pint of stock,
and a tea-spoonful of tarragon vinegar (No. 396), and let
the onions stew gently till nearly tender : the beef should
then be returned to the stew-pan, and the whole suffered to
simmer till the meat is warm through : care must be taken
that the onions dp not break, and they should be served
round the beef with as much sauce as will look graceful in
the dish. The fillet is likewise very good without the fried
onions ; in that case you should chop and mix up together
an eschalot, some parsley, a few capers, and the yelk of
a hard egg, and strew them lightly over the surface of the
beef.
The fat end of the sirloin and bones should be put to
simmer in the liquor in which the fillet was first stewed, and
done till the beef looks loose ; it should then be put away
into a deep vessel, and the soup strained over it, whicn
cooling with the fat upon the top (thereby excluding the air),
will keep as long as may be required : when the soup is to
be used, the fat must be cleared from it ; a carrot, parsnip,
a head of celery, a leek,, and three turnips, cleaned and
scalded, should be added to it, and the whole suffered to
simmer gently till the vegetables are quite done, when they
must be strained from the liquor, and the soup served up with
large square thick pieces of toasted bread.
c
302 MADE DISHES, &C.
Those who like a plain bouilli warm the beef in the soup,
and serve it up with the turnips and carrots which had been
strained before from the soup. A white cabbage quartered
is no bad addition to the garnish of the bouilli, or to the
flavour of the soup. If it is a dressed bouilli, sliced carrots
and button onions should be stewed in thickened stock, and
poured over the meat.
A neck of mutton boned, sprinkled with dried sage, pow-
dered fine, or (No. 378) seasoned, rolled, and roasted, is very
good. The bones and scrag make excellent gravy stewed
down, and if done very gently, the meat is not bad eating.
The same herbs should be put to it as to other stocks, with
the addition of a carrot ; this will make very good mutton
broth. In short, wherever there are bones or trimmings to
be got out of any meat that is dressed in my kitchen, they
are made to contribute towards soup or gravy, or No. 252.
Instead of roasting a hare, (which at best is but dry food),
stew it, if young, plain ; if an old one, lard it. The shoulders
and legs should be taken off, and the back cut into three
pieces ; these, with a bay-leaf, half a dozen eschalots, one.
onion pierced with four cloves, should be laid with as much
good vinegar as will cover them, for twenty-four hours, in a
deep dish. In the mean time, the head, neck, ribs, liver,
heart, &c. &c. should be browned in frothed butter well
seasoned ; add half a pound of lean bacon, cut into small
pieces, a large bunch of herbs, a carrot, and a few allspice ;
simmer these in a quart of water till it be reduced to about
half the quantity, when it should be strained, and those
parts of the hare which have been infused in the vinegar,
should (with the whole contents of the dish) be added to it,
and stewed till quite done. Those who like onions may
brown half a dozen, stew them in a part of the gravy, and
dish them round the hare.
When it comes from the table, supposing some to be left,
the meat should be taken from the bones, and with a few
forcemeat balls, the remains of the gravy, about a quarter of
a pint of red wine, and a proportionable quantity of water,
it will make a very pretty soup ; to those who have no objec-
tion to catchup (No. 439,) a spoonful in the original gravy is
an improvement, as indeed it is in every made dish, where
the mushroom itself is not at command.
Every ragout, in my opinion, should be dressed the day
before it is wanted, that any fat which has escaped tho
skimming spoon, may with ease be taken off when cold.
CALF'S HEAD. Take the half of one, with the skin on ;
put it into a large stew-pan, with as much water as will
MADE DISHES, &C. 303
coyer it, a knuckle of ham, and the usual accompaniments of
onions, herbs, &c. &c., and let it simmer till the flesh may
be separated from the bone with a spoon ; do so, and while
still hot, cut it into as large a sized square as the piece will
admit of; the trimmings and half the liquor put by in a
tureen ; to the remaining half add a gill of white wine, and
reduce the whole of that by quick boiling till it is again half
consumed, when it should be poured over the large square
piece in an earthen vessel, surrounded with mushrooms, white
button onions, small pieces of pickled pork, half an inch in
breadth, and one and a half in length, and the tongue in
slices, and simmered till the whole is fit to serve up ; some
browned forcemeat balls are a pretty addition. After
this comes from the table, the remains should be cut
into small pieces, and mixed up with the trimmings and
liquor, which (with a little more wine), properly thick-
ened, will make a very good mock turtle soup for a future
occasion.
To hash Mutton, &c. (No. 484.)
Cut the meat into slices, about the thickness of two shil-
lings, trim off all the sinews, skin, gristle, &c. ; put in
nothing but what is to be eaten, lay them on a plate, ready ;
prepare your sauce to warm it in, as receipt (No. 360, or No.
451, or No. 486), put in the meat, and let it simmer gently
till it is thoroughly warm : do not let it boil, as that will
make the meat tough and hard,* and it will be, as Joan
Cromwellf has it, a harsh.
Obs. Select for your hash those parts of the joint that
are least done.
MEM. Hashing is a mode of cookery by no means suited
to delicate stomachs : unless the meat, &c. be considerably
under-done the first time, a second dressing must spoil it, for
what is done enough the first time, must be done too much
the second.
* Hashes and meats dressed a second time, should only simmer gently till just
warm through ; it is supposed they have been done very nearly, if not quite enough,
already ; select those parts of the joint that have been least done.
In making a hash from a leg of mutton, do not destroy the marrow-bone to help
the gravy of your hash, to which it will make no perceptible addition ; but saw it
in two, twist writing-paper round the ends, and send it up on a plate as a side dish,
garnished with sprigs of parsley : if it is a roast leg, preserve the end bone, and send
it up between the marrowbones. This is a very pretty luncheon, or supper dish.
t See " The Court and Kitchen of ELIZABETH, commonly called Joan Cromwell."
Ifimo. London, 1664, page 106.
304 MADE DISHES, &C.
To warm Hashes,* Made Dishes, Stews, Ragouts, Soups, $ -
(No. 485.)
Put what you have left into a deep hash-dish or tureen ;
when you want it, set this in a stew-pan of boiling water :
let it stand till the contents are quite warm.
To hash Beef, 4*c. (No. 486.)
Put a pint and a half of broth, or water, with an ounce of
No. 252, or a large table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, into
a stew-pan with the gravy you have saved that was left from
the beef, and put in a quarter ounce of onion sliced very fine,
and boil it about ten minutes ; put a large table-spoonful of
flour into a basin, just wet it with a little water, mix it well
together, and then stir it into the broth, and give it a boil for
five or ten minutes ; rub it through a sieve, and it is ready to
receive the beef, &c ; let it stand by the side of the fire till
the meat is warm.
N.B. A tea-spoonful of parsley chopped as fine as possible
and put in five minutes before it is served up, is a great
addition ; others like half a wine-glass of port wine, and a
dessert-spoonful of currant jelly.
See also No. 360, which will show you every variety of
manner of making and flavouring the most highly finished
hash sauce, and Nos. 484, 485, and 506.
Cold Meat broiled, with Poached Eggs. (No. 487.)
The inside of a sirloin of beef is best for this dish, or a
leg of mutton. Cut the slices of even and equal thickness,
and broil and brown them carefully and slightly over a clear
smart fire, or in a Dutch oven ; give those slices most fire
that are least done ; lay them in a dish before the fire to keep
hot, while you poach the eggs, as directed in No. 546, and
mashed potatoes (No. 106).
* The "bain-marie," or water-bath (see note to No. 529), is the best utensil t<-
warm up made dishes, and things that have been already sufficiently dressed, as if
neither consumes the sauce, nor hardens the meat. If you have not a water-bath
a Dutch oven will sometimes supply the place of it.
" Bain-marie is aflat vessel containing boiling water; you put all your stew-pans
into the water, and keep that water always very hot, but it must not boil : the
pftect of this bain-marie is to keep every thing warm without altering either thi>
quantity or the quality, particularly the quality. When I had the honour of serving
R nobleman, who kept a very extensive hunting establishment, and the hour of
dinner was consequently uncertain, I was in the habit of using bain-marie, as a
certain means of preserving the flavour of all my dishes. If you keep your sauce,
Or broth, or soup, by the fireside, the soup reduces, and becomes too strong, and the
sauce thickens as well as reduces. This is the best way of warming turtle, or mock
turtle soup, as the thick part is always at the bottom, and this method prevents it
troyi burning, and keeps it always good." Uos's Cookery, page 18.
MADE DISHES, &C. 305
Oos. This makes a savoury luncheon or supper, but is
more relishing- than nourishing, unless the meat was under-
done the first time it was dressed.
No. 307 for sauce, to which some add a few drops of
eschalot wine or vinegar. See No. 402, or No. 439, or No.
359, warmed ; or Grill Sauce (No. 355.)
MRS. PHILLIPS'S Irish Stew. (No. 488.)
Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck
or loin ; two pounds of potatoes ; peel them, and cut them
in halves ; six onions, or half a pound of onions ; peel and
slice them also : first put a layer of potatoes at the bottom
of your stew-pan, then a couple of chops and some of the
onions ; then again potatoes, and so on, till the pan is quite
full ; a small spoonful of white pepper, and about one and a
half of salt, and three gills of broth or gravy, and two tea-
spoonfuls of mushroom catchup ; cover all very close in, so
as to prevent the steam from getting out, and let them stew
for an hour and a half on a very slow fire. A small slice of
fyam is a great addition to this dish. The cook will be the
best judge when it is done, as a great deal depends on the fire*
you have.
N.B. Great care must be taken not to let it burn, and that
it does not do too fast.
To make an Irish Stew, or Hunter's Pie.
Take part of a neck of mutton, cut it into chops, season
it well, put it into a stew-pan, let it brase for half an hour,
take two dozen of potatoes, boil them, mash them, and
season them, butter your mould, and line it with the
potatoes, put in the mutton, bake it for half an hour, then
it will be done, cut a hole in the top, and add some good
gravy to it.
N.B. The above is the contribution of Mr. Morrison, Of
the Leinster hotel, Dublin.
A good Scotch Haggis. (No. 488*.)
Make the haggis-bag perfectly clean ; parboil the draught ;
boil the liver very well, so as it will grate ; dry the meal
before the fire ; mince the draught and a pretty large piece
of beef very small; grate about half of the liver; mince
plenty of the suet and some onions small; mix all these
materials very well together, with a handful or two of the
dried meal; spread them on the table, and season them
CcS
306 MADE DISHES, &C.
properly with salt and mixed spices ; take any of the scraps
of beef that are left from mincing 1 , and some of the water
that boiled the draught, and make about a choppin (i. e.
a quart) of good stock of it ; then put all the haggis meat
into the bag, and that broth in it; then sew up the bag;
but be sure to put out all the wind before you sew it quite
close. If you think the bag is thin, you may put it in a
cloth. If it is a large haggis, it will take at least two hours
boiling.
N.B. The above we copied verbatim from Mrs. MACIVER.
a celebrated Caledonian professor of the culinary art, who
taught, and published a book of cookery, at Edinburgh,
A. D. 1787.
Minced Collops.
s " This is a favourite Scotch dish ; few families are with-
out it: it keeps well, and is always ready to make an
extra dish.
" Take beef, and chop and mince it very small ; to which
add some salt and pepper. Put this, in its raw state, into
small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter. When
intended for use, put the clarified butter into a frying-pan,
and slice some onions into the pan, and fry them. Add a
little water to it, and then put in the minced meat. Stew it
well, and in a few minutes it will be fit to serve up."
The Hon. JOHN COCHRANE'S Seaman's Guide, 8vo. 1797,
page 42.
Haricot* Mutton. (No. 489.)
Cut the best end of a neck or loin of mutton, that has
been kept till tender, into chops of equal thickness, one rib
to each (" les bons homines de bouche de Paris" cut two chops
to one bone, but it is more convenient to help when there is
only one ; two at a time is too large a dose for John Bull),
trim off some of the fat, and the lower end of the chine
bone, and scrape it clean, and lay them in a stew-pan, with
an ounce of butter ; set it over a smart fire ; if your fire is
not sharp, the chops will be done before they are coloured :
the intention of frying them is merely to give them a very
light browning.
While the chops are browning, peel and boil a couple
of dozen of young button onions in about three pints of
water for about fifteen or twenty minutes, set them by, and
* Probably a contraction of "hart ragout."
MADE DISHES, &C. 307
pour off the liquor they were boiled in into the stew-pan
with the chops : if that is not sufficient to cover them, add
as much boiling water as will ; remove the scum as it rises,
and be careful they are not stewed too fast or too much ;
so take out one of them with a fish-slice, and try it : when
they are tender, which will be in about an hour and a half,
then pass the gravy through a sieve into a basin, set it in
the open air that it may get cold, you may then easily and
completely skim off the fat ; in the mean time set the meat
and vegetables by the fire to keep hot, and pour some boiling
water over the button onions to warm them. Have about
six ounces of carrots, and eight ounces of turnips, peeled
and cut into slices, or shaped into balls about as big as a
nutmeg; boil the carrots about half an hour, the turnips
about a quarter of an hour, and put them on a sieve to drain,
and then put them round the dish, the last thing.
Thicken the gravy by putting an ounce of butter into a
stew-pan ; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will
stiffen it ; pour the gravy to it by degrees, stir together till it
boils ; strain it through a fine sieve or tamis into a stew-pan,
put in the carrots and turnips to get warm, and let it simmer
gently while you dish up the meat lay the chops round a
dishj put the vegetables in the middle, and pour the thickened
gravy over. Some put in capers, &c. minced gherkins, &c.
06s. Rump-steaks, veal-cutlets, and beef-tails, make ex-
cellent dishes dressed in the like manner.
Mutton-Chops delicately stewed, and good Mutton Broth,
(No. 490.)
Put the chops into a stew-pan with cold water enough to
cover them, and an onion : when it is coming to a boil, skim
it, cover the pan close, and set it over a very slow fire till the
chops are tender : if they have been kept a proper time, they
will take about three quarters of an hour's very gentle sim-
mering. Send up turnips with them (No. 130) ; they may
be boiled with the chops ; skim well, and then send all up in
a deep dish, with the broth they were stewed in.
N. B. The broth will make an economist one, and the
meat another, wholesome and comfortable meal.
Shoulder of Lamb grilled. (No. 491.)
Boil it ; score it in checkers about an inch square, rub it
over with the yelk of an egg, pepper and salt it, strew it with
bread-crumbs and dried parsley, or sweet herbs, or No. 457,
or No. 459, and Carbonado, i, e. grill, i. e. broil it over a clear
308 MADE DISHES, &C.
fire, or put it in a Dutch oven till it is a nice light brown ;
send up some gravy with it, or make a sauce for it of flour
and water well mixed together with an ounce of fresh butter,
a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, and the
juice of half a lemon. See also grill sauce (No. 355).
N.B. Breasts of lamb are often done in the same way,
and with mushroom or mutton sauce (No. 307).
Lamb's Fry. (No. 492.)
Fry it plain, or dip it in an egg well beaten on a plate, and
strew some fine stale bread-crumbs over it; garnish with
crisp parsley (No. 389). For sauce, No. 355, or No. 356.
Shin of Beef* stewed. (No. 493.)
Desire the butcher to saw the bone into three or four
pieces, put it into a stew-pan, and just cover it with cold
water ; when it simmers, skim it clean ; then put in a bundle
of sweet herbs, a large onion, a head of celery, a dozen ber-
ries of black pepper, and the same of allspice : stew very
gently over a slow fire till the meat is tender ; this will take
from about three hours and a half, to four and a half.
Take three carrots, peel and cut them into small squares ;
peel and cut ready in small squares a couple of turnips, with
a couple of dozen of small young round silver button onions ;
boil them, till tender ; the turnips and onions will be enough
in about fifteen minutes ; the carrots will require about twice
as long : drain them dry.
When the beef is quite tender, take it out carefully with a
slice, and put it on a dish while you thicken a pint and a half
of the gravy : to do this, mix three table-spoonfuls of flour
with a tea-cupful of the beef liquor ; to make soup of the rest
of it, see No. 238 ; stir this thoroughly together till it boils,
skim off the fat, strain it through a sieve, and put your vege-
tables in to warm ; season with pepper, salt, and a wine-glass
of mushroom catchup (No. 439), or port wine, or both, and
pour it over the beef.
Send up Wow-wow sauce (No. 328) in a boat.
N.B. Or, instead of sending up the beef whole, cut the
meat into handsome pieces fit to help at table, and lay it in
the middle of the dish, with the vegetables and sauce (which,
if you flavour with No. 455, you may call " beef curry")
* The proverb says, " Of all the fowls of the air, commend me to the shin of beef,
for there 's marrovv for the master, meat for the mistress, gristles for the servants,
and bones for the dogs."
MADE DISHES, &.C. 300
round it. A leg of mutton is excellent dressed in the same
way ; equal to " le gigot de sept heures" so famous in the
French kitchen.
Obs. This stew has every claim to the attention of the-
rational epicure, being one of those in which " frugality,"
' nourishment," and " palatableness," are most happily com-
bined; and you get half a gallon of excellent broth into the
bargain.
We advise the mistress of the table to call it "ragotit
beef:" this will ensure its being eaten with unanimous
applause ; the homely appellation of " shin of beef stewed,"
is enough to give your genteel eater the locked jaw.
" Remember, when the judgment's weak, the prejudice is strong."
Our modern epicures resemble the ancient,* who thought
the dearest dish must be the most delicious :
" And think all wisdom lies
In being impertinently nice."
Thus, they reckon turtle and punch to be " sheventy-foive
per shent" more inviting than mock turtle and good malt
liquor : however bad the former may be, and however good
the latter, we wish these folks could be made to understand,
that the soup for each, and all the accompaniments, are pre-
cisely the same : there is this only difference, the former is
commonly made with a " starved turtle" (see Notes at the
ixot of page 266), the latter with a " fatted calf." See Nos.
247, 343, and 343*.
The scarcity of tolerably good cooks ceases to be sur-
prising, when we reflect how much more astonishing is the
ignorance of most of those who assume the character of
scientific gourmands,! so extremely ignorant of " the affairs
of the mouth," they seem hardly to " know a sheep's head
from a carrot;" and their real pretensions to be profound
palaticians, are as moderate as the wine-merchant's cus-
* The remotest parts of the world were visited, and earth, air, and ocean ran-
sacked, to furnish the complicated delicacies of a Roman supper.
" Suidas tells us, that Pityllus, who had a hot tongue and a cold stomach, in order
to gratify the latter without offending the former, made a sheath for his tongue, so
:hat he could swallow his pottage scalding hot ; yea, I myself have known a Shrop-
shire gentleman of the like quality ! !" See Dr. MOFFAT on Food, 4to. 1655.
" In the refined extravagance of the tables of the great, where the culinary arts
are pushed to excess, luxury becomes false to itself, and things are valued, not as
they are nutritious, or agreeable to the appetite, but in proportion as they are rare,
out of season, or costly." CADOGAN on Gout, 8vo. 1771, p. 48.
t " Cookery is an art, appreciated by only a very few individuals, and which
requires, in addition to a most studious and diligent application, no small share of
i ntellect, and the strictest sobriety and punctuality." Preface to UDE'SJ Cookery, p. $
310 MADE DISHES, &C.
tomer, whose sagacity in the selection of liquors was only
so exquisite, that he knew that Port wine was black, and
that if he drank enough of it, it would make him drunk.
Brisket of Beef sterved.(No. 494.)
This is prepared in exactly the same way as *' soup and
bouilli." See Nos. 5, 238, or 493.
Haricot of Beef (No. 495.)
A stewed brisket cut in slices, and sent up with the same
sauce of roots, &c., as we have directed for haricot of mut-
ton (No. 489), is a most excellent dish, of very moderate
expense.
Savoury Salt Beef baked. (No. 496.)
The tongue side of a round of beef is the best bit for this
purpose : if it weighs fifteen pounds, let it hang two or three
days; then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of
coarse sugar, a quarter, of an ounce of black pepper, and the
same of allspice (some add a quarter of an ounce of ginger,
or No. 457), and some minced sweet and savouiy herbs (No.
459), and three quarters of a pound of common salt; incor-
porate these ingredients by pounding them together in a
mortar; then take the bone out, and rub the meat well with
the above mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a
fortnight.
When you dress it, put it into a pan with a quart of water;
cover the meat, with about three pounds of mutton suet*
shredded rather thick, and an onion or two minced small ;
cover the whole with a flour crust to the top or brim of the
pan, and let it be baked in a moderate-heated oven for about
six hours : (or, just cover it with water, and let it stew very
gently for about five hours, and when you send it to table,
cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley.) If the beef
weighs more, put a proportional addition of all the ingre-
dients.
The gravy you will find a strong consommt, excellent for
sauce or soup ; or making soy, or browning, see No. 322, and
being impregnated with salt, will keep several days.
This joint should not be cut till it is cold : and then, with a
* This suet is not to be wasted : when it comes from the oven, take out the beef,
and strain the contents of the pan through a sieve ; let it stand till it is cold ; then