MACARONI SOUP

_Ingredients._—3 oz. of macaroni, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, salt to taste, 2 quarts of clear stock. _Mode._—Throw the macaroni and butter into boiling water, with a pinch of salt, and simmer for ½ an hour. When it is tender, drain and cut it into thin rings or lengths, and drop it into the boiling stock. Stew gently for 15 minutes, and serve grated Parmesan cheese with it. _Time._—¾ to 1 hour. _Average cost_, 1_s._ per quart. _Seasonable_ all the year. _Sufficient_ for 8 persons.

MACARONI, a Sweet Dish of.

_Ingredients._—¼ lb. of macaroni, 1½ pint of milk, the rind of ½ lemon, 3 oz. of lump sugar, ¾ pint of custard. _Mode._—Put the milk into a saucepan, with the lemon-peel and sugar; bring it to the boiling-point, drop in the macaroni, and let it gradually swell over a gentle fire, but do not allow the pipes to break. The form should be entirely preserved; and, though tender, should be firm, and not soft, with no part beginning to melt. Should the milk dry away before the macaroni is sufficiently swelled, add a little more. Make a custard, place the macaroni on a dish, and pour the custard over the hot macaroni; grate over it a little nutmeg, and, when cold, garnish the dish with slices of candied citron. _Time._—From 40 to 50 minutes to swell the macaroni. _Average cost_, with the custard, 1_s._ _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

MACAROONS.

_Ingredients._—½ lb. of sweet almonds, ½ lb. of sifted loaf sugar, the whites of three eggs, wafer paper. _Mode._—Blanch, skin and dry the almonds, and pound them well with a little orange flower or plain water, then add the sifted sugar and the whites of the eggs, which should be beaten to a stiff froth, and mix all the ingredients well together. When the paste looks soft, drop it at equal distances from a biscuit syringe on to sheets of wafer paper: put a strip of almond on the top of each; strew some syrup over, and bake the macaroons in rather a slow oven, of a light brown colour. When hard and set, they are done. They must not be allowed to get very brown, as that would spoil their appearance. If the cakes when baked, appear heavy, add a little more white of egg, which should be well whisked up before it is added to the other ingredients. _Time._—From 15 to 20 minutes. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 8_d._ per lb.

In choosing this fish, purchasers should, to a great extent, be regulated by the brightness of its appearance. If it has a transparent, silvery hue, the flesh is good; but if it be red about the head, it is stale.

MACKEREL, Baked.

_Ingredients._— 4 middling-sized mackerel, a nice delicate forcemeat, 3 oz. of butter; pepper and salt to taste. _Mode._—Clean the fish, take out the roes, and fill up with forcemeat, and sew up the slit. Flour, and put them in a dish, heads and tails alternately, with the roes; and, between each layer, put some little pieces of butter, and pepper and salt. Bake for ½ an hour, and either serve with plain melted butter or a _maître d’hôtel_ sauce. _Time._—½ hour. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1_s._ 10_d._ _Seasonable_ from April to July. _Sufficient_ for 6 persons.

_Note._—Baked mackerel may be dressed in the same way as baked herrings, and may also be stewed in wine.

MACKEREL, Boiled.

_Ingredients._—¼ lb. of salt to each gallon of water. _Mode._—Cleanse the inside of the fish thoroughly, and lay it in the kettle with sufficient water to cover it with salt as above; bring it gradually to boil, skim well, and simmer gently till done; dish them on a hot napkin, heads and tails alternately, and garnish with fennel. Fennel sauce and plain melted butter are the usual accompaniments to boiled mackerel; but caper or anchovy sauce is sometimes served with it. _Time._—After the water boils, 10 minutes; for large mackerel, allow more time. _Average cost_, from 4_d._ _Seasonable_ from April to July.

_Note._—When variety is desired, fillet the mackerel, boil it, and pour over parsley and butter; send some of this, besides, in a tureen.

MACKEREL, Broiled.

_Ingredients._—Pepper and salt to taste, a small quantity of oil. _Mode._—Mackerel should never be washed when intended to be broiled, but merely wiped very clean and dry, after taking out the gills and insides. Open the back, and put in a little pepper, salt, and oil; broil it over a clear fire, turn it over on both sides, and also on the back. When sufficiently cooked, the flesh can be detached from the bone, which will be in about 10 minutes for a small mackerel. Chop a little parsley, work it up in the butter with pepper and salt to taste, and a squeeze of lemon-juice, and put it in the back. Serve before the butter is quite melted, with a _maître d’hôtel_ sauce in a tureen. _Time._—Small mackerel 10 minutes. _Average cost_, from 4_d._ _Seasonable_ from April to July.

MACKEREL, Fillets of.

_Ingredients._—2 large mackerel, 1 oz. butter, 1 small bunch of chopped herbs, 3 tablespoonfuls of medium stock, 3 tablespoonfuls of béchamel; salt, cayenne, and lemon-juice to taste. _Mode._—Clean the fish, and fillet it; scald the herbs, chop them fine, and put them with the butter and stock into a stewpan. Lay in the mackerel, and simmer very gently for 10 minutes; take them out, and put them on a hot dish. Dredge in a little flour, add the other ingredients, give one boil, and pour it over the mackerel. _Time._—20 minutes. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1_s._ 6_d._ _Seasonable_ from April to July. _Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Note._—Fillets of mackerel may be covered with egg and bread-crumbs, and fried of a nice brown. Serve with _maître d’hôtel_ sauce and plain melted butter.

MACKEREL, Pickled.

_Ingredients._—12 peppercorns, 2 bay-leaves, ½ pint of vinegar, 4 mackerel. _Mode._—Boil the mackerel, and lay them in a dish; take half the liquor they were boiled in; add as much vinegar, peppercorns, and bay-leaves; boil for 10 minutes, and when cold, pour over the fish. _Time._—½ hour. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 6_d._

MACKEREL, Potted.

_Ingredients._—Mackerel, a blade of mace, cayenne, salt, and 2 oz. or more butter, according to the quantity of mackerel. _Mode._—Any remains of cooked mackerel may be potted as follows; pick it well from the bones, break it into very small pieces, and put into a stewpan with the butter, pounded mace, and other ingredients; warm it thoroughly, but do not let it boil; press it into potting pots and pour clarified butter over it.

MAIGRE SOUP (i.e., Soup without Meat).

_Ingredients._—6 oz. butter, 6 onions sliced, 4 heads of celery, 2 lettuces, a small bunch of parsley, 2 handfuls of spinach, 3 pieces of bread-crust, 2 blades of mace, salt and pepper to taste, the yolks of 2 eggs, 3 teaspoonfuls of vinegar, 2 quarts of water. _Mode._—Melt the butter in a stewpan, and put in the onions to stew gently for 3 or 4 minutes; then add the celery, spinach, lettuces, and parsley, cut small. Stir the ingredients well for 10 minutes. Now put in the water, bread, seasoning, and mace. Boil gently for 1½ hour, and, at the moment of serving, beat in the yolks of the eggs and the vinegar, but do not let it boil, or the eggs will curdle. _Time._—2 hours. _Average cost_, 6_d._ per quart. _Seasonable_ all the year. _Sufficient_ for 8 persons.

MAIZE, Boiled.

_Ingredients._—The ears of young and green Indian wheat; to every ½ gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt. _Mode._—This vegetable, which makes one of the most delicious dishes, brought to table, is unfortunately very rarely seen in Britain; and we wonder that, in the gardens of the wealthy, it is not invariably cultivated. Our sun, it is true, possesses hardly power sufficient to ripen maize; but, with well-prepared ground, and in a favourable position, it might be sufficiently advanced by the beginning of autumn to serve as a vegetable. The outside sheath being taken off and the waving fibres removed, let the ears be placed in boiling water, where they should remain for about 25 minutes (a longer time may be necessary for larger ears than ordinary); and, when sufficiently boiled and well drained, they may be sent to table whole, and with a piece of toast underneath them. Melted butter should be served with them. _Time._—25 to 35 minutes. _Average cost._—Seldom bought. _Sufficient_ 1 ear for each person. _Seasonable_ in autumn.