Saucepan

“ In a saucepan or bowl rub to a cream one half cupful of butter; add the yolks of four eggs, and beat well together; then the juice of half a lemon, one half teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of cayenne; then add slowly one cupful of hot water; mix well, and set it into a saucepan of hot water. Stir constantly until the sauce becomes like a thick cream. Do not let it boil. Remove from the fire, and continue to stir for a few minutes. It should be creamy and consistent. It is one of the best sauces to use with fish. It is also good cold with cold fish or meats. ”

“ Take 2 lb. any kind of fish, such as skate, plaice, flounders, small eels, or the trimmings of soles that have been filleted, pack them into a saucepan with a head of parsley including the root, a head of celery, 2 blades of mace, a few cloves, some white pepper, salt to taste, and a bay leaf; put in as much cold water as will cover the contents of the saucepan, and set it to simmer gently for 2 hours, then strain off the liquor and it is ready. A small onion may be put in with the other vegetables. ”

“ A spoonful or two of sugar and water while maman makes the tisane. Madame has herbs, no doubt," she added, turning to the landlady. "I could make it soon myself at this good fire if I had a little casserole: a--what you call it?--saucepan."
Mrs. Bent promised the herbs, for she had a store-room fall of different kinds, and the saucepan. ”

“ If the proportion of flour is greater than that of the butter it will be better to add a little of the soup to the flour and butter in a separate saucepan as for making white sauce, and when enough has been added to make a smooth sauce, it may be poured into the soup. ”

“ Hence they are popped into the saucepan or steamer, just when it happens to suit, and are left doing, not for the time they require, but till it is convenient to take them up; when perhaps their nutricious qualities are all boiled away, and they taste of nothing but water. ”

“ Put the following ingredients into a saucepan to boil on the fire:—four onions and six tomatoes, or red love-apples, cut in thin slices, some thyme and winter savory, a little salad-oil, a wine-glassful of vinegar, pepper and salt, and a pint of water to each person. When the soup has boiled fifteen minutes, throw in your fish, cut in pieces or slices, and, as soon as the fish [64] is done, eat the soup with some crusts of bread or toast in it. All kinds of fish suit this purpose. ”

“ When fish is to be boiled, it should be rubbed lightly over with salt, and set on the fire in a saucepan or fish-kettle sufficiently large, in hard cold water, with a little salt, a spoonful or two of vinegar is sometimes added, which has the effect of increasing its firmness. ”

“ The exact quantity of liquid needed in making soup cannot, speaking generally, be given, so much depends on the rate of cooking, and whether the lid of the saucepan is kept on to prevent waste by evaporation. ”

“ There are few kinds of meat or fish which the Saucepan will not receive, and dispose of in a satisfactory manner; and few vegetables for which it is not adapted.
When rightly used, it is a very economical servant, allowing nothing to be lost; that which escapes from the meat while in its charge forms broth, or may be made the basis of soups. Fat rises upon the surface of the water, and may be skimmed off ”

“ If you want the quickest possible circulation of hot water, fit a perpendicular syphon through a saucepan lid, seal the lid down waterproof and fireproof, insert a small tube at the top of the syphon, and through that tube fill the whole concern with water, and then put the saucepan on the fire. ”

“ When it is cold remove the skin and bones. For sauce put some thick cream in a porcelain saucepan, and thicken it with corn- flour which has been mixed with cold water. When it begins to boil, stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs. ”

“ Add a pint of cold water, and heat gently in an enamelled saucepan. As it becomes warm, it should be stirred from time to time, and when it begins to boil it should be continually stirred for about five minutes. ”

“ The culinary water bath. It is a large open vessel, half filled with hot water, in which saucepans containing sauces, etc. are kept so that their contents are nearly at the boiling-point without burning or reducing. ”

“ The cut at the commencement of the chapter exhibits a vessel called a bain marie, in which saucepans are placed when it is necessary to keep their contents hot without allowing them to boil: it is extremely useful when dinners are delayed after they are ready to serve. ”

“ Above all, study well your sauce; if it fail, disaster is inevitable; if it succeed, place laurel leaves in your hair, for you will have conquered. "A woman who has mastered sauces sits on the apex of civilisation."
Without fear of anti-climax, pass suavely on from œufs aux saucissons to rognons sautés. In thin elegant slices your kidneys should be cut, before trusting them to the melted butter in the frying pan; for seasoning, add salt, pepper, and parsley; for thickening, flour; for strength, a tablespoonful or more of stock ”

“ Some fish furnish their own sauce in a still simpler manner, of which an illustration no less striking is at hand in the easiest but best mode of cooking a red mullet, viz., baking it, and securing the gravy of delicious flavor which issues abundantly from the fish, chiefly from the liver, as its only sauce. ”

“ If you require to warm up the remainder of the above, put it into a basin, which stand in a stewpan in which you have placed a little water, put the cover over, and let it boil gently, by which means the contents of the basin will get warm without turning the sauce; when hot, dish up and serve. The same plan ought to be adopted to warm up any remains of dishes in which a liaison has been introduced; it prevents its turning, which is unavoidable in any other way. ”

“ Too much cooking will spoil the flavor of some fish, the salmon for instance, or the lake trout. Serve with some sauce.
Fish Sauce:—Have a quart of water boiling in the stew pan or the fry pan. Put in two tablespoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of salt. Mix in a cup three tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed up in a little cold water till the lumps are all broken, and it is of the consistency of cream. Stir this into the boiling water slowly, so it will not form lumps, and the sauce will thicken. Milk in place of the water is preferable, or half milk and half water. ”

“ One-half cup of medium cream sauce,
Two tablespoons of white wine vinegar,
Yolk of one egg,
One teaspoon of mustard,
One teaspoon of salt,
One-half teaspoon of paprika.
Beat thoroughly to mix and then heat to the boiling point.
In no other part of cookery does the skill of the cook show to advantage as in the way in which the various sauces are prepared and served. To make a perfect sauce is an art in cooking. Many plain foods, as well as the use of leftovers, may, by the addition of a good sauce, be turned into palatable and attractive dishes. ”

“ Their methods they disclose without reservation, though alas! their genius they may not so easily impart. First of all, then, see to your sauce: oil, pure and sweet, is its foundation; upon ail and herbs of the most aromatic it depends for its seasoning. In this, place your fish selected and mixed as fancy prompts; a whiting, a sole—filleted of course—a small proportion of turbot, and as much salmon, if solely for the touch of colour it gives—the artist never forgets to appeal to the eye as to the palate. ”

“ Various appetizing mixtures intended to give relish to meats, fish and soups, and composed of vegetables, fruits and divers spices, are known as sauces. “Roots, herbs, vine fruits and salad-flowers, they dish up various ways and find them a very delicious sauce to their meats, both roasted and boiled, fresh and salt.” No other sauce made compares with genuine East Indian chutney. It is a thick sauce, made from the mango apple, chilies, spices, lemon juice, raisins, figs, salt and sugar. ”

“ Under an infinity of circumstances, a cook [69] may be in want of the substances necessary to make sauce; the above composition of the several articles from which the various gravies derive their flavor, will be found a very admirable extemporaneous substitute. By mixing a large tablespoonful with a quarter of a pint of thickened melted butter, or broth, five minutes will finish a boat of very relishing sauce, nearly equal to drawn gravy, and as likely to put your lingual nerves into good humor as anything I know. ”

“ Make up a big fire. Set the sauce-pan on it and let the contents boil violently for twelve to fifteen minutes. Then add a table-spoon of chopped parsley. Let it continue boiling for a minute.
In a warmed soup tureen put a number of [Pg 83] slices of roll or bread. Pour the liquid over them. See that they become thoroughly soaked with it. Add the best of the fish and serve.
The best fish to use for Bouillabaisse are cod, whiting, mullet, sole, turbot and langouste. It is absolutely essential that all the fish used should be perfectly fresh. ”

“ Vols-au-vent of Chickens, Shrimps, Salmon, Mushrooms, Veal, Game, etc.
Fill the vols-au-vent with almost any kind of meat or fish cut into dice, pouring over them a very little sauce. Do not add too much sauce, as it would run through the sides. For chicken, a Bechamel or a cream sauce is good; for shrimps, a shrimp-sauce; for salmon or any other kind of fish, Hollandaise, shrimp, pickle, or any fish sauce; for veal or lamb, a little thickened gravy. This is a very good way of using up remnants of any kind of fish or meat. ”

“ FISH AND MEAT SAUCES The French chef keeps always on hand four sauces,—White, Brown, Béchamel, and Tomato,—and with these as a basis is able to make kinds innumerable. Butter and flour are usually cooked together for thickening sauces. ”

“ If you have not liquor enough, add a little melted butter, or cream (see No. 388) , or milk beat up with the yelk of an egg (this must not be put in till the sauce is done) . Some barbarous cooks add pepper, or mace, the juice or peel of a lemon, horseradish, essence of anchovy, Cayenne, &c.: plain sauces are only to taste of the ingredient from which they derive their name. ”

“ SAUCE FOR BOILED MEAT. The sauces usually sent to table with boiled meat, not poured over the dish, but put into boats, are the following. Gravy, parsley and butter, chervil, caper, oyster, liver and parsley, onion, celery, shalot, and curry. The ingredients for compound sauces should be so nicely proportioned, that no one may be predominant, but that there may be an equal union of the combined flavours. All sauces should be sent to table as hot as possible, for nothing is more unsightly than the [338] surface of a sauce in a frozen state, or garnished with grease on the top. ”

“ Sauce Pan continued: It is somewhat the same way with
No. 10.—Hard-boiled Eggs.
1. Put eggs in sauce pan.
2. Cover them with boiling water.
3. Place on fire where the water will boil but very gently 20 minutes.
[62]
"Thinks he knows it all," grumbled Coffee Pot; "he'll be like the frog; he'll burst with pride if he keeps this up."
"Well, well, well!" said Mary Frances, "I certainly am surprised at what you know."
"A Sauce Pan is a funny thing,
Needed by every lassie,—
Although it may be full of sauce
It may not yet be sassy,"
sang the little fellow, dancing on the stove. ”

“ Drain it well on the fish-plate as it is lifted out, and dish it on a napkin, the white side upwards, and serve it quickly with anchovy, shrimp, or lobster sauce. It may also be sent to table thickly covered with the Cream Fish Sauce, Caper Fish Sauce, or Lady’s Sauce, of Chapter VI.; though this is a mode of service less to be recommended, as the sauce cools more speedily when spread over the surface of the fish: it is, however, the continental fashion, and will therefore find more favour with some persons. ”

“ Sauce′pan, a pan in which sauce or any small thing is boiled; Sauce′pan-fish, the king-crab.—Poor man's sauce, hunger; Serve one with the same sauce, to requite one injury with another, to make to suffer. ”

“ Fillet a sole, butter a sauté-pan, lay in the fillets, season with pepper, salt, and the juice of a lemon, place them over a slow fire and when done lay them flat on a dish, place another dish on them, upon which put a four pounds weight, when cold cut them in pieces with a cutter the size of a shilling, prepare oyster sauce as above, dip each piece in the sauce and proceed exactly as before. ”

“ Pork, potatoes, butter, crackers, sauce, salt, pepper, vegetables, and meat, if any can be had, clams or fish, or both, are covered with water, placed in a close vessel, and stewed slowly till patience is exhausted, appetite insists upon indulgence, or the mess threatens to burn. ”

“ To this plain diet, prepared with so much simplicity, salt water is the universal sauce; those who live at the greatest distance from the sea are never without it, keeping it in large bamboos set up against the sides of their houses. ”

“ Use of Sauces and Gravies.—Each sauce must possess a distinct flavour and character of its own, and add either richness, piquancy, or flavour without losing its own identity; but unless purposely employed to disguise the absence of flavour in some insipid substance, they should never be allowed to overpower the natural flavour of dishes of game, poultry, meat, etc., with which they are served. The excellence of many entrées depends almost entirely on the sauces which enter largely into their composition. Boiled fish would be insipid without an appropriately flavoured sauce. ”