Catherine Owen

“ In this country culinary skill seems to run to sweet rather than to savory cooking; very few housekeepers but make excellent preserves and cakes, yet the list of sweet dishes manufactured at home is very limited; as soon as anything not in this category is required the caterer is applied to, and he has his list of water-ices, cream-ices, and méringues, with very little variation; sometimes, indeed, a new name appears on the list, but it turns out to be some old friend with a new garnish, or put in a different mould and given an alluring name. ”

“ It is often said by thoughtless housekeepers that cooking-books are of little use, because the recipes always call for something that is not in the house. This is a habit of mind only, for the very women who say it keep their work-baskets supplied with everything necessary for work, not only the everyday white and black spools, nor would they hesitate to undertake a piece of embroidery which required quite unusual combinations [12] of color or material, and to be obtained only with difficulty. ”

“ Nevertheless there are certain rudiments of cooking which are not dwelt on usually in books. They are taught in the cooking-schools, and those of my readers who have had the advantage of attending them will not need the instruction here given. But I meet with many women who devote much time to the art of cooking, and who have taught themselves by book and experiment all they know, who yet, when told to chop a small quantity of herbs very fine, will struggle and chop almost leaf by leaf in their faithful endeavor to carry out the direction. ”

“ It has been explained before, but I repeat it here, that there must never be too much sauce, however good, to any dish, and that the consistency is most important: it must be thick enough to mask a spoon, yet run from it freely. Nothing can be worse than a dab of white mush being served as sauce, unless it be a quantity of thin, milky soup floating on every plate. This is where the happy medium must be struck. It is perfectly easy to give exact proportions to produce certain degrees of thickness, and this has been done in the chapters on sauces ”

“ It seems to me just here that before giving further recipes for fried articles I had better make sure that all my readers understand the process of frying in deep fat. I have used the word sauté too, and although no doubt both these processes are familiar to most readers who would be likely to practise “Choice Cookery,” for those who are not adepts many of the recipes would be impossible to execute. Frying, once understood, is so easy a process one wonders that so few should excel in it. To those who are not sure of themselves I recommend practice. ”

“ Instead of giving recipes for cooking fish whole, for which excellent directions are to be found in several modern cookery books, recipes for fish entrées will be substituted. They are now frequently served at the fish course, and by their convenience and economy, as well as the variety they afford, are likely to grow in favor. Another point for them is that they can often be made hours before, and simply heated when needed, thus relieving the cook of the most critical part of her work at the time when she needs her attention free. ”

“ A great many will very likely have delayed trying to make the sauces until the dish for which they will be required is given. This is a mistake, because it is less annoying to fail with a sauce with no dish depending on it, than, say, when you have decided to have sole à la Villeroi, the soles being ready, and fail with the sauce.
I hope that no failure will come to any one trying the recipes here given, but in some cases, especially in sauces thickened with eggs, a second’s diverted attention may cause failure without fault of the cook. ”

“ Take half as much butter as you have of chicken, and half the quantity of paste (technically called panada) that you have of butter. Put the paste into a mortar; pound it well; add the butter; pound again till smooth; add the chicken, cut up very small, and pound until the whole forms a smooth pulp. Add one whole egg and the yolks of three, the third of a saltspoonful of white pepper (salt must depend on whether the butter seasons sufficiently) . Work all well together, stir in half a gill of thick cream, and pass the whole through a wire sieve. Put the whole on ice to get firm. ”

“ In winter, fruit jams, and especially jellies, are very pleasant in ice-cream; they always require a little lemon juice to restore some of the natural sharpness of fresh fruit. A tumbler of red currant jelly turned into a pint of ice-cream is delicious, and gives a pretty, faint [251] pink tint. The method is just the same whether for custard and cream or cream alone.
The méringue paste alluded to as used by foreign confectioners is made by beating the white of an egg with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar until stiff. ”

“ Many families enjoy giving little dinners, or otherwise exercising hospitality, but are debarred from doing so by the fact that anything beyond the ordinary daily fare has to be ordered in, or an expensive extra cook engaged. And although we may regret that hospitality should ever be dependent on fine cooking, we have to take things [iv] as they are. It is not every hostess who loves simplicity that dares to practise it. ”

“ To sauté—although every Bridget or Gretchen fancies she can do it—requires nicety and care to do it well, and is far more difficult than “frying in deep fat.” The pan requires to be hot, also the fat or butter used, which should cover the bottom of the pan; a bright fire is required. Things that take long to cook require more fat than those that require but a short time. Effort must be made to adjust the proportion, as adding cold fat prevents browning. Veal cutlets and many other things are far better sautéd than fried. ”

“ It is absolutely necessary to prepare it on ice. Put half a pint of stiff aspic jelly into a bowl set in cracked ice, whisk it with an egg-beater until it is a white froth (usually the motion will melt it, but to save labor it may be set in lukewarm water to soften, then beaten, but no oil must be added until it is again ice-cold froth) ; then beat in very gradually a quarter of a pint of olive oil and a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, proceeding with the same care as for the usual mayonnaise; add a saltspoonful of salt, a pinch of pepper, and the same of powdered sugar. ”

“ Take care that all the finest fruits are used to form the outer rows. When the mould is almost full, with a layer or two of each kind of fruit, fill it up with jelly and set on ice.
Creams are a favorite sweet in Europe, and eaten ice cold are delicious. Too often they are confounded here with blanc-mange, which may mean anything from corn-starch and milk to gelatine and cream, but seldom is improved by the confectioner’s art into a really handsome and dainty dish.
[224] Ginger Cream.—Make a custard of a gill of milk, an ounce of powdered sugar, and the beaten yolks of three eggs. ”

“ Ordinary brown sauce, like ordinary white, is often made without stock—simply an ounce of flour, one of butter, browned together, and half a pint of boiling water added, then boiled till thick and smooth. But it may be safely said that in high-class dark sauces water should play no part; its place must be taken by stock of good quality, which is often enriched by reducing or adding glaze. ”

“ Yet for those families who depend upon the caterer for everything in the way of fine soups, entrées, or sauces, because the cook can achieve only the plain part of the dinner, it will be found a great economy as well as convenience to be independent of this outside resource, which is always very costly, and invariably destroys the individuality of a repast. Many new recipes will be given, and others little known in private kitchens, or thought to be quite beyond the attainment of any but an accomplished chef. ”

“ If fresh fruit is used for jelly, the juice must be expressed, and well-sweetened gelatine added in the proportion of an ounce to the pint. If jam or marmalade is used, a pint of water is added and the same amount of gelatine, with the juice of half a lemon to the pint. Water, jam, and dissolved gelatine must be mixed quickly and passed through a sieve; either must be stirred in a bowl set in ice till quite cold and beginning to thicken; then stir in gently and quickly three-quarters of a pint of cream whipped solid; pour the mixture into the mould, which must be set in ice. ”

“ One word here about uneatable decorations, never admit them at a children’s party; they are the very part of the feast the little people will most crave; red leaves for them must be of red currant-jelly, yellow of white, etc.
[197] “Forced butter” is another form of garnish which adds much to the appearance of glazed ham or tongue. It is butter beaten to a white cream, then put in a forcer, and a pattern traced on the ham, which must be followed just as in icing a cake. ”

“ The only advantage in a private family of making it thus thick is when, perhaps, two or three sauces are needed for a dinner; for example, a plain white sauce for a vegetable, caper, lobster, or cardinal for other purposes, and perhaps poulette, d’Uxelles, or other pale sauce for an entrée; but when one sauce only is required, it is best to make that one from the beginning ”

“ If too stiff, they will be dry and only a superior sort of hash ball. What you have to aim at is a croquette or cutlet that will ooze out of the thin shell of egg and crumb when pressed with a fork. Success in attaining this can always be secured by taking care to moisten the minced meat with a sauce made of very stiff jelly in the proportion of half a pint of liquid (the melted jelly and cream) and one ounce each of flour and butter. This will mix a pint of sweetbread and mushrooms, or rather less of dry meat, such as the breast of chicken, veal, etc. ”

“ The fruit is only intended as an ornament. A jelly that is quite as pretty may be made by using clusters of red and white, or red, white, and black currants. The red and white ones should have two or three young leaves attached, and each cluster be perfect; no black-currant leaves must be used, as they have a strong flavor.
Jelly with Candied Fruits.—Make a quart of maraschino jelly, which is done by omitting the rum, lemon, and cinnamon from the last recipe, and using in place of rum a gill of maraschino, and water in place of lemon juice. ”

“ Now the fat into which they are plunged must be so hot that it sets the coating of egg and crumbs, which forms a thin shell, as it were, before the jelly has had time to melt; the shell once formed, the interior cooks in the intense heat very quickly. If the fat were not hot enough, croquettes would go all to pieces, and articles [93] coated with sauce would lose the better part of it.
To fry, you require a stewpan or iron kettle; those called Scotch kettles are best, as they set into the range readily. A frying-pan is only useful for sautéing in little fat. ”

“ Boil a pound of sugar with a gill of water to the crack—that is, until a teaspoonful dropped in ice-water will crack between the teeth. Oil a fork and a large dish, and use the fork to drop the pieces of marmalade into the candy; lift them out quickly, and lay them on the dish, which will be better if it is set on ice. When they are cold, dish them in a pyramid, the pink to contrast with the white effectively. Pour a little liqueur-flavored syrup round the base of the fruit. ”

“ If you have any pretty-shaped little tin dishes, without fluting, to mould and bake them in, they are very little trouble to make. Take the yolks of two eggs, two small tablespoonfuls of sherry, and one of rose-water, beat together only enough to mix, then use as much fine flour as will make a firm paste that can be rolled out exceedingly thin. Cover some nicely shaped little tins slightly buttered, press to the form, be careful the paste fits without creases, and bake in a cool oven. When the paste is crisp, with very little change of color, they are done. ”

“ If the patties are just right, the inside you remove should be of a custard-like texture, not like sopped bread: indeed, in eating them, the bread should not be easily detected. These patties are very delicious filled with any of the usual fillings, or, for dessert, with stiff preserve. They have no covers, consequently the filling should be piled high without allowing the sauce to run over, and garnished with parsley or water-cress.
Sweetbread Patties.—Soak two very white sweetbreads in salt and water one hour; parboil for twenty minutes; then let them cool; remove the skin, fat, and gristle ”

“ It must never be forgotten that in thickening with eggs the sauce or soup must not boil after they are added, or they will curdle. Yet if they do not reach the boiling-point they will not thicken. Only keen attention to the first sign of thickening will insure success. If a failure is made the first time, look upon it as the first step to success, for you have learned what the danger looks like. ”

“ To have stock in the house at all times is by no means easy in a small family, especially in summer; with glaze, which is solidified stock, one is independent of it.
Six pounds of lean beef from the leg, or a knuckle of veal and beef to make six pounds. Cut this in pieces two inches square or less; do the same with half a pound of lean ham, free from rind or smoky outside, and which has been scalded five minutes. Put the meat into a two-gallon pot with three medium-sized onions with two cloves in each, a turnip, a carrot, and a small head of celery. ”

“ Let all cook carefully ten minutes: nothing must burn or get very brown. When cooked, pound well in a mortar, pass through a sieve, then add three truffles chopped; stuff each quail into shape, butter some paper cases known as “quail cases,” put a quail into each case, a few drops of olive oil on each breast. Then put them in a quick oven for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. For the gravy, put the bones of the quails in a stewpan, add a tablespoonful of glaze and [141] a gill of brown sauce, with one tablespoonful of water. ”

“ Galantines are so useful and handsome a dish in a large family, or one where many visitors are received, that it is well worth while to learn the art of boning birds in order to achieve them. Nor, if the amateur cook is satisfied with the unambitious mode of boning hereafter to be described, need the achievement be very difficult.
Experts bone a bird whole without breaking the skin, but to accomplish it much practice is required ”