Stewing

“ The most proper sorts of animal food for stewing, are such as abound in fibrine, and which are too dry or too tough for roasting. When beef or mutton is rather old and too coarse flavoured, and not tender enough for the spit or the gridiron, it may, by stewing, be not only rendered tolerably palatable, but even sometimes savoury and good. But the stewing process is not confined to flesh of this sort; for veal and other young flesh which abounds in gelatine, when properly stewed, is much relished. ”

“ Put plenty of dripping in a frying pan; when very hot drop in the rissoles, and fry till a nice brown.
STEWING AND BRAISING.
VERY few so-called cooks make any difference between stewing and boiling. To make a stew they cut up the meat, add an onion, season with pepper and salt, and then pour in a good share of water, so that they won't have to bother again about it burning, put it over the fire and leave it till ten minutes or so before dinner, when they mix some flour and water, stir it into the stew and serve. ”

“ But if preparations which ought only to stew, are permitted to boil, the process is destroyed, and a premature effect produced, that cannot be corrected by any future stewing. In order to have vegetables in the best state for the table, they should be gathered in their proper season, when they are in the greatest perfection, and that is when they are most plentiful. ”

“ Stewing is the common form of dressing made dishes, and is the best mode of cookery for dry and harsh meats, and for dry salted fish. The process ought to go on with extreme slowness, and the vessel containing the meat to be kept perfectly close. The lid of the stew-pan should seldom be removed, and shake it frequently, to prevent the meat adhering to the bottom and sides. ”

“ One of the great faults of English cooks is that they cook too quickly, and it is particularly necessary in stewing to cook slowly, because we want to extract and blend all the different flavours of the various substances, which are necessary for a good and savoury stew. ”

“ Obs.—Some cooks thicken the liquor the fish has been stewing in with flour and butter, and flavour it with white wine, lemon-juice, essence of anchovy, and catchup; and boil down two or three flounders, &c. to make a fish broth to boil the other fish in, observing, that the broth cannot be good unless the fish are boiled too much. ”

“ Pears, no doubt, are capricious, like our seasons, but given a good average year, soils and stocks which suit them, a light, warm, airy aspect, and good culture, a great number of varieties formerly only good enough for stewing are now elevated, and most deservedly so, to the dessert table. ”

“ And a man might live a hundred years and have a new variety of stew every day, so great are the possible permutations and combinations of vegetables and meats.
More savory results can often be secured by stewing than by any other process of cooking. It is well-known that the "sweetest" (that is, the most highly flavored) meat is that near a bone. Moreover, the bone itself, thoroughly cooked, yields most agreeable flavors of its own. ”

“ As we wish some of the juices to flow out, we put food to be stewed into cold water. When it has been brought gradually to the boiling point, the heat should then be lowered to the simmering point and the food allowed to simmer for a long while. Stewing is a slow method of cooking but it makes digestible and appetizing meat and coarse vegetables which otherwise would be hard fare. To food which is neither coarse nor tough, it imparts a particularly delectable flavour. ”

“ In using the term “dried fruits,” you will notice, I hope, that I am dealing with what may be called stewing fruits; for, though we stew, or can stew, raisins, figs, and even currants, I believe the first treatment of these fruits is not to cook them in that manner. Raisins and currants speak to us more distinctly of our Christmas mince-pies and plum puddings, and of a regular dessert dish throughout the year in some houses, than of any other kind of cooking. ”

“ One of the great advantages of stewing is that it affords a means of obtaining a savory and very wholesome dish at a minimum of cost. A small piece of meat may be stewed with a large quantity of vegetables, the juice of the meat savoring the whole. ”

“ The appearance and odor of this stew are so pleasing as often to overcome the prejudices of those who “Wouldn’t touch an eel for the world! They look like snakes!” And those who have tasted them rarely enter a second demurrer. [56]
Fried Eels.
Prepare as for stewing; roll in flour, and fry, in hot lard or dripping, to a light brown.
Chowder (No. 1.) ”

“ Methods of Cooking Meat.—Roasting, baking, boiling, stewing, braising, frying and grilling are the usual methods of cooking animal food. To explain the philosophy of these simple operations, we must notice the effects that are produced by heat on the principal constitutents of flesh. When finely chopped, mutton or beef is soaked for some time in a small quantity of water, and then subjected to slight pressure, the juice of the meat is extracted, and there is left a white, tasteless residue, consisting chiefly of muscular fibre. ”

“ As for this stalling and over-feeding, what is it all to a sweet rational mouthful of summer grass, with now and then a cabbage or two, a gentle walk about the pastures, and at the heat of noon a foot-bath in the pond, away from the flies under the shade of a willow? That’s wholesome life; and makes good, honest beef—beef that’s a credit to the plum-pudding and horse-radish. ”

“ I have before described the preparation of their food, which usually consists of a stew “of abominable things.” They eat salt and fresh fish, dried fish, seaweed, slugs, the various vegetables which grow in the wilderness of tall weeds which surrounds their villages, wild roots and berries, fresh and dried venison and bear; their carnival consisting of fresh bear’s flesh and saké, seaweed, mushrooms, and anything they can get, in fact, which is not poisonous, mixing everything up together. They use a wooden spoon for stirring, and eat with chopsticks. ”

“ Day after day rising to feed the cattle, night after night bending over the sooty stove listening to the ceaseless voice of the wind as it beat and brushed, whispered, moaned, and piped or screamed around the windows and eaves—this was their life, varied with an occasional visit to the store or the post-office, or by the call of a neighbour. ”

“ From time to time the cook should take a look at the stew and see that it does not dry. It will be necessary to add a small quantity of water [Pg 81] from time to time, and in about an hour and a quarter the stew will be ready, and after a long hike in the woods it is a dish that is fit for a king.
While Dick superintended the cooking of the stew, Phil and Garry replenished the wood supply. The stew put on the fire, Dick searched until he found a piece of sapling about an inch and a half in diameter. ”

“ Almost three weeks passed away before Adolpho told me the rest of the tale and it was a cold night in June when he did. After supper he commenced, perhaps because it was the kind of stew that he liked best. For the most of the stew was fish. I said “the most of the stew,” because our stews were different from those you have. If on Monday we had a piece of huanaco meat, we put it in the iron pot to stew. There would be something left over, for we always made a little more than we required and we never wasted food. So, supper being done, the iron pot with the remains of the stew was put aside. ”

“ While, also, the practical cook may find copious receipts in English cookery books for the boiling of turbot, cod-fish, john-dorey, and salmon, in the English and Dutch fashion, the sturgeon cutlets of the French, and their filets and béchamels of fish should be also introduced to English favour and attention from French cookery books. Our barons of beef, our noble sirloins, our exquisite haunches, saddles, legs, and loins of Southdown mutton, our noble rounds of boiled beef, and those haunches of British venison, the envy and admiration of the world, are worthy of the highest praise. ”

“ He gazed as if it were strange and wonderful to see a woman washing dishes, sweeping, and cooking at her own hearth. He saw her leg-rope and bail the cow, lead the cow and calf to the fenced paddock on the top of the hill after the milking, and carry buckets of water from the creek to the house, the sunlight touching her bare head and flashing from the water in her pails. ”

“ He is told, 'You are a cook.' He does his best to be. Usually he roasts or bakes to begin with, guessing when the joint is done, afterwards he hacks up what is left of his joints and makes a stew for next day. A stew is hacked meat boiled up in a big pot. It has much fat floating on the top. After you have eaten your fill you want to sit about quiet. The men are fed usually in a large tent or barn. We have a barn. It is not a clean barn, and just to make it more like a picnic there are insufficient plates, knives and forks. ”

“ The night that Huggie and I slept down at Ciry, the rest of the despatch riders, certain that we were taken, encamped at Ferme d'Epitaphe, for the flooded roads were impassable. There we found them in the morning, and discovered they had prepared the most gorgeous stew of all my recollection.
Now, to make a good stew is a fine art, for a stew is not merely a conglomeration of bully and vegetables and water boiled together until it looks nice. First the potatoes must be cut out to a proper size and put in; of potatoes there cannot be too many. ”

“ The meat and vegetables for stews should, when it is possible, be browned in a little fat, and hot water should then be added. As soon as the stew comes to the boiling point, skim it, and set back where it will just simmer, not boil, the given time. The pieces of meat in a stew should come to the table whole and tender and juicy, and they will be in this condition only with slow cooking. ”

“ Night drawing on, the boys prepared their supper. The night's meal consisted of a real stew, for since they were so near to a place to purchase provisions they were able to indulge themselves a little more than when they were at their first station, so far away from a base of supplies.
Canned beef was used, and then a few potatoes and carrots were peeled and cut into small cubes. A good meat stew is one of the easiest things to make in the woods, provided one has a variety or two of vegetables. ”

“ When your Fish are gutted and well wash'd: put them upon your Fish-Plate; the Jacks or Pikes, whether small or great, must have their Tails skewer'd into their Mouths, so that they make a round figure, which is the Fashion. Then put your Fish into the Kettle, into as much Water as will cover them. Put into this Water, an Onion, with some Cloves stuck in it, some Mace, some whole Pepper, a little bunch of sweet Herbs, a stick of Horse-Radish, and half a Lemon. When your Liquor boils, add a little Vinegar, or Verjuice; and when your Fish are boiled enough, let them drain before the Fire. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A stew may be made with crackers or flour, with celery, cheese, or milk, and with or without sauces; but in every instance the juice must be separated from the oysters and well cooked before the latter are added, or they will be over-done, shrivelled, and ruined. The simplest mode is to put some pepper, salt, and butter in the juice, boil it five minutes, add the oysters, and cook for one minute longer. ”

“ Apples in great clusters hung down around the necks of horses tethered in the orchards. With their keepers they were enjoying a respite from their hard fatiguing exertions.
Here and there among the groves, or along the wayside, was a contrivance that looked like a tiny engine; smoke curled out of its chimney and coals blazed brightly in the grate. They were the kitchen-wagons, each making in itself a complete, compact cooking apparatus. Some had immense caldrons with a spoon as large as a spade. In these the stews, put up in dry form and guaranteed to keep for twenty years, were being heated. ”

“ Now, as for your stews, the care of feeding is best instructed to a butler or gardener, who are or should be always at home, because the constancy and regularity of serving the fish, conduce very much to their well eating and thriving; for [61] they will expect their meat as duly as horses, and appetite in any creature wastes by disappointment.
Any sort of grain boiled is good to feed with, especially malt coarse ground. Pease boiled a turn or two are as good as any other grain. The grains after a brewing, while they are good and sweet, are very proper ”

“ Put a couple on the cow!—Put one on the cook!—scatter them all over the persecuted place till it looks like a zinc-plated, spiral-twisted, silver-mounted cane-break! Move! Use up all the material you can get your hands on, and when you run out of lightning-rods put up ram-rods, cam-rods, stair-rods, piston-rods—anything that will pander to your dismal appetite for artificial scenery, and bring respite to my raging brain, and healing to my lacerated soul! ”

“ A great event is to happen to-night, a horse must die, and Mr. "Buckeye" must be sacrificed to the insatiable appetites of your explorers. The nag was soon caught and killed, and the heart, liver, kidneys, etc., made into a stew without salt. We had a small spoonful of pepper which we added. It was not so bad, and a steak or two not to be despised. We shall camp here two or three days and jerk him. It is a very cold-looking country about here. ”

“ There is a certain charm in making a stew, especially to the unaccustomed cook, because of the excitement of wondering what the result of such various ingredients will be, and whether any flavor save that of onions will survive the competition in the mixture. ”