GRAVIES, SAUCES, &,C

(Coarse pieces of lean beef or veal stewed with a little water, make an excellent sauce. For poultry or game use the giblets or trimmings. Gravy should be rich but not greasy. Salt is the only seasoning that should be used.

BROWN GRAVY WITHOUT MEAT. — Take of water and ale thai is not bitter one pint each ; of walnut pickle, mushroom pickle, and catsup, two lable-spoonfuls each; two anchovies, two onions shred, some salt, two or three blades of mace, and some whole pepper; to the above ingredients add a quarter of a pound of butter, with a small portion of flour, having previously made it brown by stirring it till the froth sinks. Then boil the whole together for twenty minutes, strain it, and use it.

RICH SAUCE FOR FISH on TURKEY. — Roll three-quarters of a pound of butter with a. tabl-e-spoonful of flour, to which add a small quantity of water, and melt it ; to this you must add half a pint of thick cream, one anchovy finely minced, but not washed ; place the whole aver the fire, and, as it boils, add two or three table-spoonfuls of soy. Pour it into the sauceboat, with the addition of salt and lemon.

In making this sauce, great care is requisite to keep it stir- ring, as it will otherwise curdle.

SAUCE FOR A FOWL. — Stew the neck and gizzard, with a small piece of lemon-peel, in about a cupful of water; then take the liver of the fowl, and bruise it with some of the liquor ; melt a little good butter, and mix the liver and the gravy from the neck and gizzard gradually into it ; then give it a boil up, and pour it into your dish.

SAUCE FOR FISH PIES. — Take a gill of vinegar, and the same quantity of white wine, oyster liquor, and catchup ; boil these ingredients with two anchovies, and, when done, strain them, and pour them into the pie after it is baked.

NASTURTIAN SA.UCE is eaten with boiled mutton. It is made

64 GEAVIES, SAUCES, ETC.

with the green seeds of nasturtians, pickled simply in cold vine* gar. Cut about six ounces of butter into small bits, and put them into a small saucepan. Mix with a wine-glass of water sufficient flour to make a thick batter, pour it on the butter, and hold the saucepan over hot coals, shaking it quickly round, till the butter is mehed. Let it just boil up, and then take it from the fire. Thicken it with the pickled nasturthns, and send it to table in a boat.

OYSTER SAUCE. — Set over the fire the liquor of the oysters, with the beards, with a blade of mace and some lemon-peel; when boiled, strain the liquor, and add the oysters, with some tnilk, and butler rubbed in flour. Set the whole over the fire again till it boils (observing to stir it all the time), and then serve it.

LOBSTER SAUCE. — Beat the spaAvn in a mortar with three aii chovies, pour on three spoonfuls of good gravy, and strain the whole into melted butter; then add the meat of the lobster, with a little lemon-juice, and give the whole one boil. The anchovies and gravy may be omitted, if inconvenient to procure them.

CRANBERRY SAUCE. — This sauce is very simply made. A quart of cranberries are washed and stewed with sufficient wa- ter to cover them ; when they burst mix with them a pound of brown sugar and stir them well. Before you remove them from the fire, all the berries should have burst. When cold they will be jellied, and if thrown into a form while warm, wilj turn out whole.

CELERY SAUCE.— Wash and pare a bunch of celery, cut it int . pieces, and boil it gently until it is tender ; add half a pint of cream, and a small piece of butter rolled in flour ; now boil it gently. This is a good sauce for fowls of all kinds, either Toasted or boiled.

MINT SAUCE. — Soak a bunch of young mint until all the grav el is removed from it, strip the stalks and chop up the leaves, then mix them with vinegar, water, and powdered white sugar The sugar should be well melted before the sauce is served. It is genera ly eaten with roast lamb, and imparts to it a deli- cious flavour.

MUSHROOM SAUCE. — Clean half a pint of young mushrooms, take off the skin by rubbing them with salt, lay them in a stew- pan with a small quantity of salt, half a pint of cream, a little

CATCHUPS 65

mace and'nutmeg , thicken the whole with buttet anJ flour. Let them boil, and, to prevent curdling, they must be stirred till done. The above sauce is excellent for fowls and rabbits.

APPLE SAUCE. — Core and peel six large apples ; then slice them thin, and put them in a jar, which place in a saucepan of water over a gentle tire. When done, pulp them ; after which, add butter and brown sugar. This sauce is very excellent wi h goose and roast pork.

To MELT BUTTER THICK. — Barely moisten the bottom of your saucepan with water ; cut your butter into slices, and lay it in the saucepan before the water you have put in becomes warm. As the butter melts, stir the pan one way frequently, and when it is melted let it boil up ; it will then be smooth, thick, an l fine. No flour must be used.

EGG-BALLS. — Pound the yolks of as many hard eggs as will be wanting in a marble mortar, with a litile flour and salt ; add as much raw yolk of egg as will make this up into balls, and boil them before they are put into soups, or any other prepara- tion.

MUSHROOM CATCHUP. — Take the full grown flaps of musn- rooms, wipe them clean, crush them with the hands, throw a handful of salt with every peck of mushrooms, and let them stand all night ; then put them into stewpans, and set them in a quick oven for twelve hours ; strain them through a hair sieve and press out all the juice. To every gallon of liquor put of cloves, Jamaica and black pepper, and of ginger, one ounce each, and half a pound of common salt. Set it on a slow tire and let it boil until half the liquor is wasted, then put it into a clean china vessel, and when cold bottle it.

Another mode of making Mushroom Catchup, is to take a siewpan full of the large flap mushrooms that are not worm eaten, and the skins and fringe of those you have pickled ; throw a handful of salt among them, and set them by a blow fire. They will produce a great deal of liquor, which you must strain, and put to it four ounces of shalots, two cloves of garlic, an ounce of pepper, a table spoonful of ginger, mace, and cloves , boil the liquor slowly and skim it well. When cold, bottle and cork it close. In two months boil it again with a little addi- tional spice, and a stick of horse radish, — it will then keep a year; which mushroom catchup rarely does, il not boiled a se- cond time.

66 VEGETABLES.

TOMATO CATCHUP.— Take six pounds of tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt and let them remain for a day or two, then boil them until the skins will separate easily ; pour them into a co- lander or coarse sieve, and press ther™ through, leaving the skins behind ; put into the liquor a pint of Chili vinegar, half a pint of wine, pepper, cloves, ginger and allspice ; boil them to- gether until a third part has wasted — bottle them tight. The catchup must be shaken before it is used. If it is boiled down to one-third, and the corks sealed, it will be much richer, and keep for years.

WALNUT CATCHUP. — Take six half-sieves of green walnut- shells, put them into a tub, mix them up well with commou salt, (from two to three pounds,) let them stand for six days, frequently beating and mashing them; by this time the shells become soft and pulpy. Then by banking it up on one side of the tub, and at the same time by raising the tub on that side, the liquor will drain clear off to the other ; then take lhat liquor out; the mashing and banking up may be repeated as often as liquor is found. The quantity will be about six quarts. When done let it be simmered in an iron boiler as long as any scum arises ; then bruise a quarter of a pound of ginger, a quarter ol a pound of allspice, two ounces of long pepper, two ounces of cloves, with the above ingredients ; let it slowly boil for half an hour. When boiled, let an equal quantity of the spice go into each bottle ; when corked, let the bottle be filled quite up ; cork them tight, seal them over, and put them into a cool and dry place for one year before they are used.

VEGETABLES.

Vegetables should be as fresh as it is practicab1** to get them vVash them well, and cook till perfectly tender. Nothing is more unwholesome than vegetables which are undone.

POTATOES. — To boil potatoes, peel round a narrow strip in a ring, before putting them into the pot, to give them a chance to burst and become mealy. Do not let them stop boiling for an instant ; and when they are done, turn the water off com- pletely, and throw in a little salt, which will absorb the mois- ture remaining. Most potatoes will boil in the course of half an hour — new ones take less time. , Sweet potatoes are better baked than boiled.

To make potatoe snow-balls, take boiled mealy potatoes, and press them tight in a strong cloth into the shape of balls.

VEGETABLES.

The first consideration in the purchase of vegetables is to have due regard to the variations of taste and appearance which the same vegetable's undergo in different seasons. Spring carrots, for instance, are very different from those of autumn and winter.

GREEN PEAS WITH CREAM. — Boil a quart of young peas perfectly tender in salt and water, and drain them as dry as possible. Dissolve an ounce and a half of butter in a clean stew-pan, stir smoothly to it when it boils a dessert-spoonful of flour, and shake these over the fire for three or four min- utes, but without allowing them to take the slightest color; pour gradually to them a cup of rich cream, add a small lump of sugar pounded; let the sauce boil, then put in the peas and toss them gently in it until they are very hot ; dish, and serve them quickly.

FRIED POTATOES. — After having washed them, wipe and pare some raw potatoes, cut them in slices of equal thick- ness, or into thin shavings, and throw them into plenty of boiling butter, or very pure clarified dripping. Fry them of a fine light brown, and very crisp; lift them out with a skimmer, drain them on a soft, warm cloth, dish them very hot, and sprinkle fine salt over them.