Seasoning

“ Egg seasoning is prepared from crushed hard-boiled yolks of egg, mixed in the salad-bowl with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. The whites of egg, cut into thin strips, are added to the salad. This seasoning may also be a light mayonnaise sauce.
4. Bacon seasoning is used especially for dandelion, red-cabbage, and corn salads. In this case the oil is replaced by the grease of the bacon dice, which are melted and frizzled in the omelet-pan. ”

“ SEASONING FOR STUFFING VEAL, PIG OR TURKEY
When much seasoning is required it is well to keep it prepared on hand. It should always be kept well stopped. Dry a pound of salt; grind an ounce of white or black pepper; dry and powder two ounces of thyme and one of sweet marjoram; grate one ounce of nutmeg, and mix with half a pound of bread crumbs dried in a [Pg 36] slow oven, three eggs, a quarter of a pound of butter or suet, and a cup of finely chopped parsley. ”

“ I beg to observe that here you have the real juice of the meat; but if wanted stronger, put only half instead of one pint of water; seasoning may be introduced, that is, a little salt, sugar, and cloves, but no vegetables, as they would not have time to cook, thus leaving a raw, bad flavor. ”

“ Having prepared your stock according to the foregoing directions, take a sufficient quantity, when soup is required, and season, as taste may dictate, with sweet and savory herbs—salpicant, celery salt, or any other favorite seasoning—adding vegetables cut fine, and let the same boil slowly in a covered vessel until thoroughly cooked. If preferred, after seasoning the stock, it may be thickened with either barley, rice, tapioca, sago, vermicelli, macaroni, farina or rice flour. A roast onion is sometimes added to give richness and flavor. ”

“ While it is cooking, in adding water to stop boiling, be sure that you add enough to supply that wasted in steam, so that when done and strained you will have four quarts of liquid. One quart will be sufficient for the stock for four rich soups.
A less rich stock may be obtained by using less meat and seasoning, or by carefully saving the water in which fresh meat or fowls have been boiled, adding vegetables and seasoning to suit yourself. Let it simmer gently for six hours, skimming it carefully, and then strain and set aside for use. ”

“ Nature seasoning takes so long that it keeps idle a vast amount of capital. By artificial means timber can be dried in fewer days than it takes months by the natural process, consequently improvements in the methods of seasoning are constantly being sought for. A large quantity of deals, battens, planks, etc., receive a first seasoning before being placed on the market. The most effective artificial methods of seasoning are probably of American origin. ”

“ Every garden should contain a little patch of mint, parsley, sage, coriander, while those who have no garden could easily grow these in window boxes or pots. It is not an extravagance to have on hand plenty of pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, kitchen bouquet, and condiments of various kinds. A little of these goes a long way in seasoning, and many a dish which would be very flat and unattractive, by their judicious use is made savory and satisfying. ”

“ No seasoning whatever, except salt, should be given to plain stock, if not to be eaten the day it is made. Thickened soup requires a greater quantity of flavouring ingredients than clear soup, as the thickening material absorbs a portion of the flavouring.—Take care not to over-season, for this is a common fault. ”

“ Some dishes require high and much seasoning, others just the contrary. With a good fire and a good spit, it is not necessary to be a thorough cook to roast a piece well, but the cook is indispensable to mix the gravy or sauce with the proper seasonings.
Simmering.—Simmering differs from boiling only in the amount of heat allowed under the boiler, kettle, or pan. To simmer, is to boil as gently and slowly as possible. ”

“ Wild Boar’s Liver à la Grecque.—Fry it, and serve with a seasoning of pepper, cummin, parsley seed, mint, thyme, savory, and roasted pine nuts; to which add honey, wine, garum, vinegar, and a little oil. [XIX_83]
Wild Boar’s Head à la Cantabre.—Make the seasoning in the following manner: mix well, pepper, alisander, parsley seed, mint, thyme, and roasted pine nuts; add wine, vinegar, garum, and a little oil; afterwards onions and rue; thicken with whites of eggs; boil over a slow fire, and stir gently. ”

“ Do you know that the hardest thing to bear, in the earlier time especially, is the want of seasoning in our dishes. Pepper and spices are forbidden by our rule, and as no salt-cellar has place on our table, we swallow our food just as it is, and it is for the most part scarcely salted. ”

“ Everyone connected with the woodworking industry, or its use in manufactured products, is well aware of the difficulties encountered in properly seasoning or removing the moisture content without injury to the timber, and of its susceptibility to atmospheric conditions after it has been thoroughly seasoned. ”

“ Animals spitted on pointed sticks sputtered and fizzled over a hole in the ground filled with live coals. Mindful attendants shifted the appetizing viands from side to side, seasoning them with salt, pepper, vinegar or lemon as the case might require, and when set forth, offered a feast as close to primitive nature as the trees under which it was served. ”

“ The most effective seasoning is without doubt that obtained by the uniform, slow drying which takes place in properly constructed piles outdoors, under exposure to the winds and the sun. Lumber has always been seasoned in this way, which is still the best for ordinary purposes. ”

“ An essential point in the making of sauces is the seasoning, and it would be impossible for me to lay sufficient stress on the importance of not indulging in any excess in this respect. It too often happens that the insipidness of a badly-made sauce is corrected by excessive seasoning ”

“ If in winter set it near the fire to melt; pour the contents in a stew-pan and twelve times the case full of water over it, hot or cold; add to it two or three slices of onion, a sprig or two of parsley, a leaf or two of celery, if handy, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one of sugar; pass through a colander and serve. If required stronger, eight cases of water will suffice, decreasing the seasoning in proportion. In case you have no vegetables, sugar, or pepper, salt alone will do, but the broth will not be so succulent. ”

“ Lima beans, navy beans, peas, corn, pumpkin and sweet potatoes swell, so pack them within only one inch of the top of the jar.
6. Add seasoning. One teaspoonful salt to every quart jar of vegetables, and an equal amount of sugar to tomatoes, corn and peas if desired.
7. Add boiling water to within a quarter inch of top to all vegetables, except tomatoes and greens. Tomatoes contain ninety-four per cent water, so none should be added. Tomato juice can be used if desired. Greens are canned in just the water that clings to the leaves after the cold-dip. ”

“ Vegetable food is not provocative of thirst to the same extent that animal food is. In most of the recipes, condiments and seasonings are sparingly used; in some they are not used at all. We have, however, in the recipes that follow, added a usual amount of seasoning. ”

“ The fruit, made into a paste with pounded roots, is also used as soap, whilst the young leaves and shoots make an excellent seasoning. The ashes yield a kind of pickle, also employed in their diet, and its wood burns without giving out smoke. ”

“ When the taste is in favour of a stronger seasoning than the above, which occurs we apprehend but seldom, use raw onions for it and increase the quantity: but should one still milder be preferred, mix a handful of fine bread-crumbs with the other ingredients, or two or three minced apples. ”

“ Even that was all consumed after two days, and the patients had to try to choke down fresh fish, just boiled in water, without salt, pepper or butter; mutton, beef and potatoes without the faintest seasoning. ”

“ Take equal quantities of carrots, turnips, potatoes, tomatoes, and French beans—all cut into regular dice; also peas, small stoned olives, capers, anchovy fillets in small dice, and herbs for the seasoning. ”

“ Vegetables should be well washed in cold water to remove insects and dust; if not fresh gathered, leave them some time in cold water, and remember that they take longer to cook than fresh ones. Green vegetables must be put into salted water (one tablespoonful of salt to every two quarts of water) and rapidly cooked over a brisk fire in an open sauce-pan until they are tender. All green vegetables should be removed from the water as soon as cooked, and be well drained before adding the seasoning. ”

“ There is abundant, and to our taste excessive, use of seasonings, not only of salt, vinegar, and pepper, but of oil, thyme, mint, ginger, and the like, The pièce de résistance—a wild boar, or whatever it may be—regularly arrives as the middle of the three services. The substantial meal ends with a small offering to the household deities. ”

“ The vegetables will temporarily cool the water, which should not be allowed to again boil, but should be put over a slow fire and where it will simmer. When the stew is almost done add the salt and other seasonings. ”

“ And besides these seasonings that were found in every kitchen garden, spices were imported in large quantities from the east, and the rich imported vegetables of larger sizes or finer quality than could be raised at home. ”

“ Few plants are so susceptible to the influences of cultivation and it is difficult to recognize its unaristocratic prototype in the tender, white and aromatic stalks of the garden product. It belongs to the parsley family and every portion is useful to the cook, from the daintily curled tops which may be used for both flavor and garnish, the stalks which may be eaten plain, dressed raw in salad or cooked, to the seeds, the flavor of which makes even the poorest of soups relishable. ”

“ In dressing all sorts of kitchen garden herbs, take care they are clean washed; that there be no small snails, or caterpillars between the leaves; and that all coarse outer leaves, and the tops that have received any injury by the weather, be taken off; next wash them in a good deal of water, and put them into a cullender to drain, care must likewise be taken, that your pot or sauce pan be clean, well tinned, and free from sand, or grease. ”

“ Sorrel and succory are prepared as if for daily use. When fresh gathered, [70] plucked, scalded, cooled, squeezed and minced, I put them in bottles, &c. to give them a quarter of an hour’s boiling in the water-bath, &c.
Carrots, cabbages, turnips, parsnips, onions, potatoes, celery, chardoons, (cardons d’Espagne) , red beet, and, generally, all vegetables, may be preserved alike, either simply scalded, or prepared with soup, in order to be used when taken out of the vessel. In the first case, I cause the vegetables to be scalded and half boiled in water with a little salt. ”

“ When wanted for use, soak it all night, next day boil it an hour with a little salt; before it is dished stir in flour, pepper, and butter.
767. To preserve Aromatic and other Herbs.—The boxes and drawers in which vegetable matters are kept should not impart to them any smell or taste; and more certainly to avoid this, they should be lined with paper. Such as are volatile, of a delicate texture, or subject to suffer from insects, must be kept in well covered glasses. Fruits and oily seeds, which are apt to become rancid, must be kept in a cool and dry, but by no means in a warm or moist place. ”

“ Ingredients.—To each 1⁄2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt, turnip-greens.
Method.—Wash the greens well in 2 or 3 waters, pick off all the decayed and dead leaves, tie them in small bunches, and put them into plenty of boiling water, salted in the above proportion. Keep them boiling quickly with the saucepan uncovered, and, when tender, pour them into a colander; let them drain, arrange them in a vegetable-dish, remove the string that the greens were tied with, and serve. ”

“ Their convenience and utility are decidedly of the greatest advantage in a well-organised kitchen; the cook having at all seasons of the year every species of herb used in cookery, which hitherto could only be partially obtained. The flavour is kept in high perfection; and the appearance of these herbs are really pleasing to the sight. Amongst the great variety of them, parsley, sage, tarragon, and winter savoy are particularly useful; the onion, garlic, and eschalot powders, when sprinkled over hot joints, steaks, or chops, impart a most delicious flavour to it. ”

“ Uses.—The green parts, either fresh, dried or in decoction, are used very extensively for flavoring soups, gravies, stews, sauces, forcemeats, sausages, dressings, etc. For drying, the tender stems are gathered after the dew is off and exposed to warm air in the shade. When crisp they are rubbed, the trash removed and the powder placed in stoppered bottles or tins. All parts of the plant are fragrant because of the volatile oil, which is commercially distilled mainly in France. About one per cent of the green parts is oil, which after distillation is at first a reddish-brown fluid. ”

“ It is wrong to soak dry vegetables. If they are of good quality, and the produce of the year, they need only be put into a saucepan with enough cold water to completely cover them, and with one oz. of salt per five quarts of water.
Set to boil gently, skim, add the aromatic garnish, quartered carrots, onions, with or without garlic cloves, and a faggot, and set to cook gently with lid on. ”