Part 6
Make a dressing to suit you; there are several to choose from in this book, made from bread, or forcemeat. Stuff the turkey, season it with salt, pepper, and a little butter, dredge it with flour and put it in the oven; let the fire be slow at first, and hotter as it begins to cook. Baste frequently with butter; when the turkey is well plumped up, and the steam draws toward the fire, it is nearly done; then dredge again with flour, and baste with more butter until it is a nice brown. Serve with gravy and bread sauce; some like chestnuts stewed in the turkey gravy, and served with it. A very large turkey will take three hours to roast, one of eight pounds will take two hours.
ROAST TURKEY A LA PERIGORD
For this purpose choose a fine young hen turkey; make an incision at the back of the neck, and through this take out the entrails, as the turkey looks so much nicer than when otherwise cut. Cut away the vent, and sew up the place with coarse thread; singe off the hairs and scald the legs to get off the black skin, if the skin is black, as it sometimes is. The neck should be cut off close into the back, and the crop left entire; some cooks can do this and some think it too much trouble. Break the breast bone and take it out. Lay a little salt on the turkey, and cover it up, while you prepare the stuffing. Wash three pounds of truffles, if the hen turkey is a large one; if it is small two pounds will do. Peel the truffles and slice them; throw them into water, and scald them; add two pounds of fat ham, or bacon, also the turkey liver, and a quarter of a pound of veal liver; season this with pepper, salt, nutmeg, chopped thyme, and a clove of garlic. Set the stew-pan, containing all these ingredients, on a slow fire, and let them cook for an hour, stirring them occasionally, with a wooden spoon. Mash them all up and let it get cool; when cool, stuff the turkey full of the truffle dressing, and fill the crop also; sew it up carefully, and tie it with a string, then truss the turkey, and if time allows, put it away for the next day. It should then be roasted, keeping it well basted with the liquor the truffles were boiled in, and butter added to it.
BOILED TURKEY AND CELERY SAUCE
Draw a fine, young turkey hen, and remove the angular part of the breast bone; take two pounds of fat veal dressing and stuff the turkey with it. Put over the fire to cook the veal, bones, and turkey giblets, to make some white soup stock; season this and let it boil until you want to put the turkey on to cook. Now truss your turkey and put it in a boiling pot with a carrot, two onions, a head of celery, and a bunch of sweet herbs; now pour over the turkey the stock from the veal and giblets; cover with it, if enough; if not, put in water to cover it and set it to boil; when it has boiled one hour, put it on the back of the stove, and let it simmer and braise, until dinner. Take off any strings that may look badly; dish it up. Pour over it a well-made _puree_ of celery, or oyster sauce, and send to table. This is an elegant mode of serving turkey.
BOILED TURKEY WITH OYSTER SAUCE
Clean and truss it the same as for baking. Stuff the turkey with oysters, bread crumbs, butter and mace, all mixed and seasoned. Put it on the fire in a kettle of water not hot, but slightly warm; do not drop it into boiling water or it will break the skin and spoil the appearance of the turkey. Cover it close, and when the scum rises take it off. Let the boiling continue for one hour, then put the pot containing the turkey on the coolest part of the stove, and let it simmer for half an hour. Serve with oyster sauce in a sauce boat.
DUCK ROASTED
Pick, draw and singe the duck; wash it out carefully and stuff it with potatoes, mashed with butter, onions, and parsley. Put it down to a good fire or in a hot oven, pour in a cup of water; let it roast for half an hour if it is fat and tender, longer if tough. As soon as the duck is cleaned, boil the giblets, and before serving, chop them up fine with some of the gravy from the duck, two tablespoonfuls of catsup, a lump of butter, and a little brown flour. Have lemons cut on side dishes, or serve with brown duck sauce No. 1. See sauces for meats, ducks, etc.
DUCKS, TAME AND WILD
Tame ducks are prepared for the table the same as young geese, that is, stuffed with bread, butter, pepper and onion, or with mashed and seasoned Irish potatoes. Wild ducks should be fat, the claws small and supple; the hen is the more delicate. Do not scald wild ducks, but pick them clean and singe over a blaze. Draw and wipe them well inside with a cloth; rub pepper and salt inside and out; stuff each duck well with bread and butter stuffing. If the ducks are at all fishy, use onion in the stuffing, and baste very freely. It is well to parboil them in onion and water before stuffing; throw away the water and then proceed to stuff and roast them. Put in the pan a teacup of butter, baste well with this, and when nearly done, dredge flour over the ducks, and brown them nicely. For the gravy you must boil the giblets; while the ducks are cooking mince these fine; add pepper, salt, and a teaspoonful of browned flour. Take a glass of wine and a large spoonful of currant jelly; heat them and serve with the ducks, mixed with the giblets, or serve it in a dish alone; as you like.
CANVAS-BACK DUCKS
These are cooked the same as wild ducks, without onion however, in the basting, as they have no disagreeable taste. Serve wine and currant jelly with canvas-back ducks.
TO STEW DUCKS WITH GREEN PEAS
Truss the ducks as for baking and boiling, and put them away in the pantry; then put two ounces of butter in a stew-pan on the fire, stir in two tablespoonfuls of flour, stir until it becomes brown or a fawn color; then pour in a pint of broth or gravy made from veal, or from water in which the ducks or chickens have been boiled. Stir this while cooking, and when it boils, put in the ducks; let them cook for half an hour, or until done or nearly so, then add a quart of green peas, an onion chopped, and a sprig of parsley; allow these to stew gently until done; remove the parsley and the ducks, and if there is too much sauce, cook it down a little; dish up, pour the peas and gravy over the ducks and serve.
ROASTED DUCK
Clean, draw and truss the duck, or ducks, wash them nicely, salt and pepper them, and get ready a sage and onion stuffing (see roast goose) or stuff with mashed potatoes, or bread, butter, onions, pepper and salt mixed, and bound together with an egg.
BROILED TEAL DUCK
Split the duck like a partridge down the back, broil on clear coals, butter freely, and serve on buttered toast; pepper and salt when broiled, just before putting on the butter; if salted before it extracts the fine flavor.
WILD DUCKS
There are several kinds of ducks South, and some are very fine. Truss wild ducks and lay them in a pan to bake with a small onion in the body; put butter over them, with a bunch of celery, a little pepper and salt; cook slowly and garnish with lemon. Wild ducks should be wiped dry after they are drawn, and rubbed on the inside with pepper and salt, except the canvas-back, which should be left to its own delicious flavor.
WILD GEESE
Wild geese should be cooked rare, and stuffed with a dressing of bread, butter, and a small quantity of pungent seasoning, such as onion, cayenne, or mustard.
ROAST GOOSE, WITH SAGE AND ONION
Draw a fine fat goose, stuff it with a seasoning of the following mixture: Take four onions, peel them and boil them ten minutes in plenty of water to take from them the strong taste. When the onions have boiled take them from the fire, chop fine, and add to them a large spoonful of sage leaves dried and powdered, then add a cupful of stale white bread crumbs, a teaspoon of black pepper, a little cayenne, and a teaspoon of salt. Mix all together with a cup of milk or beef water, and stuff the goose with it. Put it in the oven and brown it nicely; baste often with butter; when done dish it with its own rich brown gravy, and send to table with a boat of apple sauce.
GOOSE, WITH CHESTNUTS A LA CHIPOLITA
Get the goose ready as usual. To prepare the stuffing take sixty large chestnuts, peel them by scalding, then put them in a stew pan with two ounces of butter, one onion chopped fine, and a sprig of parsley; chop and mix all together and stuff the goose with it; mix with the chestnuts one pint of good broth, and stew them down in it before stuffing the goose. Boil down the gravy very much, and when the goose is served, add the juice of two oranges, half a pound of currant jelly, and a lemon peel in the gravy. Pour this over the goose when it goes to the table.
GAME, VENISON, ETC.
Venison is the finest game we have South. The haunch or saddle is always roasted; it requires constant attention, and should be turned and basted frequently while cooking. Cover the fat with thick white paper while cooking; when nearly done, take off the paper and baste well with claret wine, butter and flour. Currant jelly is the usual accompaniment of roasted venison, and is preferred by some to wine, in cooking it.
VENISON STEAK
Venison steak is good fried or broiled. If to be broiled, season with pepper, salt, and butter, and cook quickly on a hot gridiron. If the meat is not fat, make a gravy for it of wine, flour, and butter. Serve hot.
VENISON PASTY
This is a pie made from the bones, meat, etc., of venison, after the steak and haunch are taken off. Cut up and stew, or braise the parts of meat intended for the pie; season with pepper, salt, port wine, butter, and if liked, mushrooms; stew all until tender, then make a paste and finish like chicken pie. This is better to eat cold than hot and should be rich enough to be a solid jelly when cold.
SQUIRREL, OR YOUNG RABBIT PIE
Cut up two or three young squirrels or rabbits; put them in a saucepan to cook with two ounces of butter, a handful of chopped mushrooms, a bunch of parsley and two shallots chopped; season with pepper and salt, and a little thyme or sweet herbs; cook them a light brown. Throw in a glass of white wine, a half cup of brown gravy from veal or chicken, and the juice of half a lemon. Toss all up on the fire fifteen or twenty minutes, and it is ready to be put in the pie. If you have no gravy on hand, add to the rabbits a cup of sweet milk, and a piece of butter, as large as a hen’s egg. Make a nice paste, line the sides of the pan, pour in the stewed rabbit, and cover with paste. Bake until a light brown, and eat cold or hot. It is almost as good as venison pie.
HARE OR RABBIT ROASTED
If the hares and rabbits are young, the ears will be tender. Clean the rabbits and wash them through several waters. If to be roasted, they must be stuffed with grated bread crumbs, suet or butter, a chopped onion, the liver of the rabbit chopped, and a lemon peel grated. Moisten with eggs and a little claret. Put this in the rabbit and sew it up; baste with butter, and cook for two hours. Make the gravy with the drippings in the pan, a little cream or milk, and flour. If the rabbits are old, they are good stewed slowly with sweet herbs, wine, water, and chopped onions, and thickened with flour and butter.
CEDAR, OR CAROLINA RICE BIRDS
These are very small, but make a delicious pie by stewing them with butter and sweet herbs, and baking them in a light paste, with plenty of gravy.
PARTRIDGE OR QUAILS
Are nice roasted or broiled, and served on toast. If baked they require constant basting.
PIGEON PIE. VERY NICE
Take six pigeons, truss them, and stuff them with their own livers, a little bacon, some butter, parsley, and rolled cracker or a small piece of bread; salt to taste; cover the bottom of the baking dish with slices of veal or beef; season with chopped parsley, mushrooms, pepper, salt, and butter. Place the pigeons on this, and cover with a nice pie crust. When the pigeons are placed in the pan, lay between each two pigeons the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. Be sure and have enough gravy to keep the pie very moist. This can be done by adding plain beef-stock or water as the pie bakes. Parboil the pigeons a little, also the beef, before putting them in the pan, and then keep the water they were boiled in to fill up the pie.
ROAST PIGEONS
Truss them when plucked and drawn, lay thin slices of fat bacon on their breasts; bake them three-quarters of an hour, and then make a gravy with their giblets, which should have been boiling for the purpose. Chop up the livers, etc., brown them and serve with the pigeons. Thin the gravy with the stock the liver was boiled in.
TO ROAST A SUCKING PIG
In selecting a pig for the table, one four weeks old is to be preferred. Let the pig be prepared in the usual way by the butcher, that is scalded, drawn, etc. Stuff it with a mixture of two or three onions, say half a pint when sliced and chopped, and a dozen leaves of sage, pepper and salt; set this to simmer on the fire, then throw in half a pint of bread crumbs if the pig is small--if a large one, put a pint of crumbs--a quarter of a pound of butter, and the yolks of four eggs. Cook this and stuff the pig with it; sew the pig up and put it in the oven to roast; baste it often with a brush or swab dipped in olive oil, dust a little sugar over it, and brown it evenly. Take off the head before serving, take out the brains, put them in a stew pan; add to them some chopped parsley, pepper, and salt, a cup of the gravy from the pig, and the juice of a lemon. Stir this over the fire, and send it to the table hot in a separate boat.
VEGETABLES
IRISH POTATOES, MASHED AND BROWNED
Boil them without peeling; peel them while hot, mash them up with sweet butter, a little milk, pepper and salt. Many like them better when mashed and smoothed over with a knife blade, and slightly browned in the oven. They can be kept hot in this way if the meal is kept back for a guest, which is convenient on some occasions.
STEWED IRISH POTATOES. A NICE BREAKFAST DISH
Wash, peel, and slice six potatoes; throw them for a few moments into cold, salted water, take them out in five minutes and place them in a stew pan on the fire; cover them with cold water; when tender, throw off all the water, pour over them half a cup of sweet milk, a little salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, and thicken them with a spoonful of butter, rolled in flour, or a teaspoonful of flour, beaten in carefully to prevent it from lumping; stew a few moments and serve in a covered dish.
PUFFS
Very nice potato puffs may be made by mashing seven or eight potatoes smoothly, and mixing in with them two well-beaten eggs, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, also well-beaten, and a cup of milk. Pour it into a pan and bake in a hot stove.
FRIED POTATOES
Wash and pare a sufficient quantity for the meal. Slice them in the machine, taking care to bear down lightly, so as to have the slices very thin. Have ready a vessel of very hot lard, and drop the sliced potatoes into it, letting them remain till they begin to brown. Take them out with a wire ladle, scatter a little fine salt over them, and serve while hot. Success depends almost entirely upon having the lard sufficiently hot. If the potatoes do not brown, but absorb fat, and are limp and greasy, be sure the lard must be made hotter. Properly fried, they may be eaten with relish when cold, as they are crisp and palatable.
FRIED POTATOES
Pare and cut the potatoes in thin slices; throw them as you cut them into salted water to cool, and make them crisp. Put them piece by piece on a dry towel and wipe dry, then drop them into boiling fat, enough to float them. As they brown dip them out with a skimmer, and salt them a little.
POTATO CROQUETS
Take six boiled potatoes (cold mashed potatoes will do), add three tablespoonfuls of grated ham, a little pepper, salt, and chopped parsley, also, the yolks of three eggs; form into balls, dip in egg and roll in bread crumbs; fry in hot lard; garnish with parsley.
SWEET POTATOES
Are good baked plain in their skins; or boiled, peeled and sliced, served with butter; or boiled, and then sliced in a pan, butter and sugar thrown over them, and baked in the stove. Some persons like them boiled and mashed with butter, and browned in the oven like Irish potatoes.
TURNIPS, TO COOK
Boil or steam them after peeling; when they are quite tender, you must mash them like potatoes, and season with pepper, salt and butter.
ONIONS BOILED AND FRIED
Trim and peel them, and boil them in water until quite tender, then dish them. Season with salt, pepper and butter. Many like them cut in slices and fried a light brown; they are good on a beefsteak when washed in two or three waters after being sliced, then put into hot lard and some of the beefsteak gravy, fried gently until a light color, and served around the steak.
GREEN CORN ON THE COB
Get it as fresh from the field as possible, and if you desire it boiled on the cob you must (when it is well silked) throw it into boiling salted water. Corn requires only fifteen minutes boiling; too long boiling takes out the sweetness from the grain.
STEWED GREEN CORN
Take a dozen fresh, tender ears of corn; cut it off the cob, and put it in a stew pan with a quart of cold water. No salt at first. Let it cook half an hour and then stir in a lump of fresh butter, a spoonful of flour, and salt and pepper to taste. If too dry, add a cup of sweet milk, or water, if the milk is not convenient.
GREEN CORN FRITTERS
Beat three eggs with a cup of milk; to this add a pint of boiled green corn grated; throw in flour enough to make a batter thick enough to drop from a spoon; salt and pepper to taste, beat it very hard, and drop into boiling lard one spoonful at a time. This is a great luxury and a good substitute for oysters during the hot season.
SUCCOTASH, OR CORN AND BEANS MIXED
Boil for half an hour two pints of green shelled beans, or the same amount of string beans; then pour off the water, cut the corn from two dozen ears, put it in the pot among the beans; add salt and pepper, and cover them with boiling water. Let it boil for half an hour, and add a lump of butter as big as a hen’s egg, rolled in flour; let this boil up once and it is done.
CORN OYSTERS
One pint of grated green corn, one cup of flour, one dessertspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper and an egg. Mix all together, and drop and fry in hot lard. This is a nice breakfast dish.
ROASTING EAR PUDDING
Cut as much corn from the cob as you require; a dozen ears make a large pudding. To every three ears allow an egg, a spoonful of butter, a little pepper and salt, to suit your taste; fill and cover it with sweet milk. Let this bake an hour.
OKRA AND CORN FRICASSEE
Put a pint of cut okra in a frying pan in which there is a cupful of hot lard, or the fat of side meat; let it fry a little, then cut into it a pint and a half of corn; fry it until it is thoroughly cooked, pour off some of the grease, and dredge in a little flour, and a half cup of milk; pepper and salt, to taste, must be added just before dishing it up.
A NICE WAY TO COOK OKRA OR GOMBO
Take a pint of young tender okra, chop it up fine, add to it half as much skinned, ripe tomatoes, an onion cut up in slices, a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt and pepper, and a spoonful of water; stew all together till tender, and serve with meat or poultry.
SALSIFY FRIED IN BATTER
Scrape the salsify, throw it for a few moments into cold water, then parboil it, drain it and cut into lengths of three inches; allow it now to steep until cold, in a bowl with two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, one of French vinegar, pepper and salt; let it remain in this, occasionally turning it until ready to fry it. Then make a batter with eggs, milk, and flour; dip the salsify in this batter, and fry in hog’s lard; fry parsley with it and serve.
TOMATOES STUFFED
Take five large tomatoes, slice off that part which joins the stalk, cut out a little of their pulp, take out the seeds, and strain them; chop up the pulp with a handful of parsley, a slice of fat bacon, a slice of ham, and a cup of bread crumbs; fry all these, and season with butter, pepper, salt, thyme, and the yolks of two eggs; take it off the fire as soon as the eggs are beaten in, and stuff the tomatoes. Bake them for half an hour, pour some brown sauce or gravy over them and serve.
TOMATOES TO BROIL
Take ripe, red tomatoes, place them on the gridiron, broil, and turn until done through; then serve them whole, so that they can be seasoned at the table.
STEWED TOMATOES, WITH OR WITHOUT SUGAR