Lafcadio Hearn

“ OMELET SOUFFLE PUDDING
Beat the whites of ten eggs to a stiff froth. Beat the yolks with three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar, and the juice and grated rind of a lemon. Mix all together lightly. Butter a thick-bottomed dish which will just hold the pudding; put it immediately in the oven, and bake it fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve it just as it comes from the oven. It should quiver like a golden jelly when served. If baked too long, it will be spoiled. The oven must not be too hot, or it will scorch; the heat should be as usual to bake pies. ”

“ STOCK FOR SOUP
Stock in its composition is not confined to any set rules for any particular proportions. All cook books give particular as well as general directions for its manufacture; but all cooks know that the most economical plan is to have a general stock-pot, where, or into which, you can throw any pieces of beef or any piece of meat from which gravy can be extracted—bones, skin, brisket or tops of ribs, ox-cheek, ham, trimmings [Pg 4] of turkey and other fowls, pieces of mutton, bacon, veal, game, etc., etc. In fact, anything that will become a jelly will assist in making stock. ”

“ To make it, you must select ripe and thin-skinned fruit; squeeze the juice, and to every pint, add a pound and a quarter of white sugar; boil it slowly, and skim as long as any scum rises; you may then take it off, let it grow cold, and bottle it. Be sure to secure the corks well. This is nice for a summer drink for delicate persons; it is also very convenient for pudding sauces, as half a cup of this syrup, mixed with melted butter, is admirable, where wine is not used. The flavor is so fine, it requires very little spicing to make it agreeable. ”

“ Take the oysters from their liquor, let it settle; then strain and add some whole pepper, two blades of mace, and three cloves, and put over a moderate fire in a block-tin covered sauce-pan; mix a little flour with a piece of butter, as large as a hen’s egg for two dozen oysters, and stir in the boiling liquor; remove any scum which may rise, then put in the oysters and let them cook for five minutes. Line a hot oyster dish with toasted, well-buttered bread, and pour over it the boiling oysters. Only rich juicy oysters will stew to advantage. ”

“ In the morning, when the water—enough to cover the ham—is nearly boiling lay the ham in, and keep the water in a simmer. When it has boiled about an hour throw in two carrots, four onions, two heads of celery, a sprig of parsley, two or three blades of mace and four cloves. If the ham is very salty, it is well to change the water before putting in the seasoning. To obtain tenderness and mellowness the ham must not be allowed to boil hard, only simmer. Too much heat hardens all meat, especially salt meat. When the ham is done set it off in its own water, let it cool in it ”

“ All large fish make nice fricassee. Cut the fish into slices and lay it in a gravy made of fried onions, parsley, tomatoes and a little garlic; fry in butter and serve. Add catsup if liked.
TO FRY FISH
The fat from bacon, or salt pork, is much nicer to fry fish in, than lard. After the fish is cleaned, wash it and wipe it dry, and let it lie on a cloth till all the moisture is absorbed; then roll it in flour. No salt is required if fried in bacon or pork fat. There must be fat enough to float the fish or they will not fry nicely, but instead soak fat and be soft to the touch. ”

“ In choosing eggs hold each one up to the light; if fresh, the white will be clear and the yolk distinct; if they are not good, they will have a clouded appearance.
Eggs for boiling must be as fresh as possible; they may be kept fresh for several weeks by packing them in bran. Lay the small end of the egg downward in the box. You may also keep them for months by greasing them with melted lard, or beef fat, or in a weak brine of lime water and salt; strong lime water will eat the shell, and if very strong will cook the eggs. Add to a common bucket of water a pint of salt and a pint of lime ”

“ One cup of molasses, one and a half cups of sugar, one cup of butter, four eggs, a cup of sour milk and heaping-spoonful of soda. If desirable, you may add one pound of seeded and chopped raisins, or the same of currants; grease the pan carefully as molasses cake is liable to stick, and is always more difficult to get out of the pan than sugar cakes. You may add flour to roll it out like biscuit if you wish, or it is better made only as thick as pound-cake batter, and baked in a pan like that cake. Make the batter stiff with flour, as it turns out better than when soft. ”

“ If the turkey is old, or tough, it must be boiled one hour before being stuffed for baking. Then stuff it with oysters, bread and butter, and season with pepper and salt; baste with butter, and the juice of the turkey. Make the gravy by putting in the pan a pint of oysters, or button mushrooms, throw in a cup of cream, or milk, salt and pepper, and send to table hot, with the turkey. ”

“ Shell a quart of green peas for a small mess. Wash them in cold water, and put them on to cook in a stew pan with a pint of boiling water, or enough to cover them. Let them cook half an hour, and then stir in a large lump of butter rolled in flour; let this cook a few minutes, and add a teaspoonful of white sugar, same of salt and pepper, and serve while hot. Do not let them cook dry. Lamb and green peas is a favorite dish in the spring of the year. ”

“ Take a young, fat chicken, cut it up, pepper and salt it, dredge it over with flour, and set it by while you mix a cup of lard, and some slices of fat bacon in a frying pan. Let the lard get very hot, then drop in a few pieces of the chicken, always allowing room in the pan for each piece to be turned without crowding. As fast as you fry the pieces, put them on a dish over hot water to keep the heat in them while you make the gravy. ”

“ Soup must have time to cook, and should always boil gently, that the meat may become tender, and give out its juices. Allow a quart of water and a teaspoonful of salt for each pound of meat. Soup meat must always be put down in cold water. Skim well before it comes to the boiling point, and again skim off superfluous fat before putting in the vegetables. The vegetables most used in soups are carrots, leeks, parsley, turnip, celery, tomatoes, okras, cabbage, cauliflower, peas and potatoes. ”

“ Take one pound of powdered or flour sugar (not the common pulverized) and the whites of four eggs. Put the sugar to the eggs before you beat it at all; then beat till it is stiff. Spread it on the cake with a wet knife, wetting it in cold water each time you use it. Set it in front of the stove to dry, or in an oven with the least particle of heat. The cake must be nearly cold. You can flavor the icing with rose, orange, or lemon; if the latter, add a very small portion of grated rind. It is much nicer to add sugar to eggs before beating than afterward. ”

“ Take some egg-shells that you have broken just the end off in getting out the egg; make a blanc-mange of corn starch; flavor it with vanilla, and sweeten; put this into the shells before it cools and hardens at all; set the eggs on end in a vegetable-dish so that they will stand top up, being careful not to let the blanc-mange run out. Cut some very thin yellow parings off the lemon rind, stew them in a little sugar and water; when cold lay each piece separately in a circle on the jelly, making two or three nests. ”

“ Cook the fruit till tender in a little water; throw off the water, bruise and strain the fruit, and to each pint of the juice add one pound of white sugar. Put it now in a preserving-pan, and boil it rapidly, but do not stir it while boiling, as that breaks the jelly; skim it carefully, and when it jellies, pour it into tumblers or small jars. I have made two pecks of berries into jelly in two hours. This is said for the benefit of young housekeepers who often boil their jelly too slowly and too long, which makes it ropy. ”

“ Brewers’ yeast is given to start with, though too strong for a family bread. Bakers’ is better, but not always to be had. A housekeeper should get a little of any good yeast to commence with, and when she finds it is good, and is well risen and sweet, instead of pouring it into flour, and baking it, it is better to thicken it with cornmeal, cut the cakes out, dry in a cool place, and keep the cakes always on hand for any purpose to which they are suited, i. e., in the making of bread, rolls, pocketbooks, loaf, cake, sally lunn, or any kind of light biscuit. ”

“ Plenty of fast-boiling water should be used in cooking vegetables, as the greater the volume of water the greater the heat. If only a little water is used the whole affair soon cools, the vegetables become tough, and no length of time will render them tender.
In boiling greens, it is best to throw into them soda with the salt, as the soda extracts the oil in them which is injurious to the digestion; from one-half to a whole teaspoonful of soda for a pot of greens is the right quantity. ”

“ The inherited French taste of the greater portion of the population, and the education by contact of the American element, makes claret the universal table wine. The climate, too, renders this wine particularly palatable, and during the long heated term it is seldom absent from the table of even the most economical. At the restaurant it is the exception to see a person dining without a bottle of vin ordinaire, while for breakfast, during hot weather, white wines of the lighter kinds are much used. ”

“ Take three quarters of a pound of raw salt, fat pork, chopped very fine; then pour on a pint of boiling water, one cup of sugar, two cups of molasses, two teaspoonfuls of cloves, one of cinnamon, one nutmeg, two teaspoonfuls of saleratus, one pound and a half of raisins, also a pound of citron and currants if liked, and flour as stiff as can be stirred; bake very slowly an hour, or longer if necessary, as it will burn without great care. This will make three loaves, and will keep well. This is convenient in the winter when eggs are scarce. ”

“ Mix all well and cook ten minutes, stirring all the time to keep it from growing hard. Clean the heads of the fish, throw them in strong salt and water for a few minutes and then drain them. Fill each one with the above stuffing, flour them, and fry a light brown. Set a clean stewpan over a slow fire, put into it three spoonfuls of lard or butter, a slice of ham or bacon, two onions chopped fine; dredge over it enough flour to absorb the grease, then add a pint and a half of boiling water, or better still, plain beef stock. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Economy and simplicity govern “La Cuisine Creole”; and its many savory dishes are rendered palatable more as the result of care in their preparation than any great skill or expensive outlay in the selection of materials. The Creole housewife often makes delicious morceaux from the things usually thrown away by the extravagant servant. She is proud of her art, and deservedly receives the compliments of her friends. ”