The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families

BURNS. In slight cases, the juice of onions, a little ink or brandy rubbed immediately on the part affected, will prevent blisters. The juice of burdock, mixed with an equal quantity of olive oil, will make a good ointment for the purpose, and the fresh leaves of that plant may also be applied as a kind of plaster. Houseleek used by itself, or mixed with cream, will afford quick relief in external inflammations. A little spirit of turpentine, or linseed oil, mixed with lime water, if kept constantly to the part will remove the pain. But warm vinegar and water, frequently applied with a woollen cloth, is most to be depended on in these cases.

BURNT CREAM. Boil a pint of cream with a stick of cinnamon, and some lemon peel. Take it off the fire, and pour it very slowly into the yolks of four eggs, stirring it till half cold. Sweeten it, take out the spice, and pour it into a dish. When cold, strew over it some white pounded sugar, and brown it with a salamander. Or, make a rich custard without sugar, and boil in it some lemon peel. When cold, sift over it plenty of white sugar, and brown the top with a salamander.

BUTTER. No one article of family consumption is of greater consequence than butter of a superior quality, and no one requires more care and management. It possesses various degrees of goodness, according to the food on which the cows are pastured, and the manner in which the dairy is conducted; but its sweetness is not affected by the cream being turned, of which it is made. When cows are in turnips, or eat cabbages, the taste is strong and disagreeable; and to remedy this, the following methods have been tried with advantage. When the milk is strained into the pans, put to every six gallons one gallon of boiling water. Or dissolve one ounce of nitre in a pint of spring water, and put a quarter of a pint to every fifteen gallons of milk. Or, in churning, keep back a quarter of a pint of sour cream, and put it into a well-scalded pot, into which the next cream is to be gathered. Stir that well, and do so with every fresh addition. – To make Butter, skim the milk in the summer, when the sun has not heated the dairy. At that season it should stand for butter twenty-four hours without skimming, and forty-eight in winter. Deposit the cream-pot in a very cold cellar, unless the dairy itself is sufficiently cold. If you cannot churn daily, shift the cream into scalded fresh pots; but never omit churning twice a week. If possible, place the churn in a thorough air; and if not a barrel one, set it in a tub of water two feet deep, which will give firmness to the butter. When the butter is come, pour off the buttermilk, and put the butter into a fresh scalded pan, or tubs, which have afterwards been in cold water. Pour water on it, and let it lie to acquire some hardness before it is worked; then change the water, and beat it with flat boards so perfectly, that not the least taste of buttermilk remain, and that the water which must be often changed, shall be quite clear. Then work some salt into it, weigh, and make it into forms; throw them into cold water, in an earthen pan with a cover. Nice cool butter will then be had in the hottest weather. It requires more working in hot than in cold weather; but care should be taken at all times not to leave a particle of buttermilk, or a sour taste, as is too often done. – To preserve Butter, take two parts of the best common salt, one part of fine loaf-sugar, and one of saltpetre; beat them well together. To sixteen ounces of butter, thoroughly cleansed from the milk, add one ounce of this mixture: work it well, and pot down the butter when it becomes firm and cold. Butter thus preserved is the better for keeping, and should not be used under a month. This article should be kept from the air, and is best in pots of well-glazed ware, that will hold from ten to fourteen pounds each. Put some salt on the top; and when that is turned to brine, if not enough to cover the butter entirely, add some strong salt and water. It then requires only to be covered from the dust, and will be good for winter use. – In purchasing Butter at market, recollect that if fresh, it ought to smell like a nosegay, and be of an equal colour throughout. If sour in smell, it has not been sufficiently washed: if veiny and open, it is probably mixed with stale butter, or some of an inferior quality. To ascertain the quality of salt butter, put a knife into it, and smell it when drawn out: if there is any thing rancid or unpleasant, the butter is bad. Salt butter being made at different times, the layers in casks will greatly vary; and it is not easy to ascertain its quality, except by unhooping the cask, and trying it between the staves.

BUTTER DISH. Roll butter in different forms, like a cake or a pine, and mark it with a tea-spoon. Or roll it in crimping rollers, work it through a cullender, or scoop it with a tea-spoon; mix it with grated beef, tongue, or anchovies. Garnish with a wreath of curled parsley, and it will serve as a little dish.

BUTTERMILK, if made of sweet cream, is a delicious and very wholesome article of food. Those who can relish sour buttermilk, will find it still more light, and it is reckoned very beneficial in consumptive cases. If not very sour, it is also as good as cream to eat with fruit; but it should be sweetened with white sugar, and mixed with a very little milk. It does equally well for cakes and rice puddings, and of course it is economical to churn before the cream is too stale for any thing but to feed pigs. – The celebrated Dr. Boerhaäve recommended the frequent use of sweet buttermilk in all consumptive cases, and that it should form the whole of the patient's drink, while biscuits and rusks, with ripe and dried fruits of various kinds, should chiefly be depended on as articles of food. For this purpose take the milk from the cow into a small churn; in about ten minutes begin churning, and continue till the flakes of butter swim about pretty thick, and the milk is discharged of all the oily particles, and appears thin and blue. Strain it through a sieve, and let the patient drink it as frequently as possible.

BUTTERMILK PUDDING. Warm three quarts of new milk, turn it with a quart of buttermilk, and drain the curd through a sieve. When dry pound in a marble mortar, with nearly half a pound of sugar, a lemon boiled tender, the crumb of a roll grated, a nutmeg grated, six bitter almonds, four ounces of warm butter, a tea-cupful of good cream, the yolks of five and whites of three eggs, a glass of sweet wine and a glass of brandy. When well incorporated, bake in small cups or bowls well buttered. If the bottom be not brown, use a salamander; but serve as quick as possible, and with pudding sauce.

BUTTERED CRABS. Pick out the inside when boiled, beat it up in a little gravy, with wine, pepper, salt, nutmeg, a few crumbs of bread, a piece of butter rolled in a little flour, and some vinegar or lemon juice. Serve it up hot.

BUTTERED EGGS. Beat four or five eggs, yolk and white together; put a quarter of a pound of butter in a bason, and then put that into boiling water. Stir it till melted, then put that butter and the eggs into a saucepan; keep a bason in your hand, just hold the saucepan in the other over a slow part of the fire, shaking it one way, as it begins to warm. Pour it into the bason and back again, then hold it over the fire, stirring it constantly in the saucepan, and pouring it into the bason, more perfectly to mix the egg and butter, until they shall be hot without boiling. Serve on toasted bread, or in a bason, to eat with salt fish or red herrings.

BUTTERED LOAF. Take three quarts of new milk, and add as much rennet as is sufficient to turn it; then break the curd, and drain off all the whey through a clean cloth. Pound it in a stone mortar, add the white of one and the yolks of six eggs, a good handful of grated bread, half as much of fine flour, and a little salt. Mix them well together with the hand, divide the whole into four round loaves, and place them upon white paper. After they are well buttered, varnish them all over with a feather, dipped in the yolk of an egg stirred up with a little beer. Set the loaves in a quick oven three quarters of an hour; while baking, take half a pound of new butter, add to it four spoonfuls of water, half a nutmeg grated, and sugar sufficient to sweeten it. Stir them together over the fire till they boil; when sufficiently thickened, draw the loaves from the oven, open their tops, pour in the butter and sugar, and send them up with sugar strewed over them.

BUTTERED LOBSTERS. Pick out the meat, cut and warm it, with a little weak brown gravy, nutmeg, salt, pepper, butter, and a little flour. If done white, a little white gravy and cream.

BUTTERED ORANGES. Grate off a little of the outside rind of four Seville oranges, and cut a round hole at the blunt end opposite the stalk, large enough to take out the pulp and seeds and juice. Then pick the seeds and skin from the pulp, rub the oranges with a little salt, and lay them in water for a short time. The bits cut out are to be saved. Boil the fruit in fresh water till they are tender, shifting the water to take out the bitterness. In the meantime make a thin syrup with fine sugar, put the oranges into it, and boil them up. As the quantity of syrup need not be enough to cover them, turn them round, that each part may partake of the syrup, and let them remain in it hot till they are wanted. About half an hour before serving, put some sugar to the pulp, and set it over the fire; mix it well, and let it boil. Then add a spoonful of white wine for every orange, give it a boil, put in a bit of fresh butter, and stir it over the fire to thicken. Fill the oranges with it, and serve them with some of the syrup in the dish, with the bits on the top.

BUTTERED ORANGE-JUICE. Mix the juice of seven Seville oranges with four spoonfuls of rose-water, and add the yolks of eight and the whites of four eggs well beaten. Strain the liquor on half a pound of sugar pounded, stir it over a gentle fire; and when it begins to thicken, add a piece of butter the size of a small walnut. Keep it over the fire a few minutes longer, then pour it into a flat dish, and serve it to eat cold. If no silver saucepan for the purpose, do it in a china bason in a saucepan of boiling water, the top of which will just receive the bason.

BUTTERED PRAWNS. Take them out of the husk; warm them with a little good gravy, a bit of butter and flour, a taste of nutmeg, pepper and salt. Simmer them together a minute or two, and serve with sippets; or with cream sauce, instead of brown. Shrimps are done in the same manner.

BUTTERED RICE. Wash and pick some rice, drain, and set it on the fire, with new milk sufficient to make it swell. When tender, pour off the milk, and add a bit of butter, a little sugar and pounded cinnamon. Shake and keep it from burning on the fire, and serve it up as a sweet dish.

C

Cabbage. Wash and pick it carefully, and if very large, quarter it. Put it into a saucepan with plenty of boiling-water, and a large spoonful of salt; if any scum rises, take it off, and boil it till the stalk is tender. Keep the vegetable well covered with water all the time of boiling, and see that no smoke or dirt arises from stirring the fire. With careful management the cabbage will look as beautiful when dressed, as it did when growing. The flavour of an old cabbage may be much improved, by taking it up when half done, and putting it directly into another saucepan of fresh boiling water. When taken up, drain it in a cullender. It may be chopped and warmed with a piece of butter, pepper and salt, or sent to table whole with melted butter. Savoys and greens in general are dressed in the same way.

CAKES. In making and baking cakes the following particulars should be attended to. The currants should be nicely picked and washed, dried in a cloth, and set before the fire. If damp, they will make cakes or puddings heavy. Before they are added, a dust of dry flour should be scattered among them, and then shaken together, which will make the cake or pudding lighter. Eggs should be beaten a long time, whites and yolks apart, and always strained. Sugar should be rubbed to a powder on a clean board, and sifted through a fine hair or lawn sieve. Lemon peel requires to be pared very thin, and with a little sugar beaten to a paste in a marble mortar. It should then be mixed with a little wine or cream, so as to divide easily among the other ingredients. After all the articles are put into the pan, they should be long and thoroughly beaten, as the lightness of the cake depends much on their being well incorporated. Both black and white plumb cakes, being made with yeast, require less butter and eggs, and eat equally light and rich. If the leaven be only of flour, milk and water, and yeast, it becomes more tough, and is less easily divided, than if the butter be first put with those ingredients, and the dough afterwards set to rise by the fire. The heat of the oven is of great importance for cakes, especially large ones. If not pretty quick, the batter will not rise; and if too quick, put some white paper over the cake to prevent its being burnt. If not long enough lighted to have a body of heat, or it is become slack, the cake will be heavy. To know when it is soaked, take a broad-bladed knife that is very bright, and thrust it into the centre; draw it out instantly, and if the paste in any degree adheres, return the cake to the oven, and close it up. If the heat is sufficient to raise but not to soak the baking, a little fresh fuel should be introduced, after taking out the cakes and keeping them hot, and then returning them to the oven as quickly as possible. Particular care however should be taken to prevent this inconvenience, when large cakes are to be baked.

CAKE TRIFLE. Bake a rice cake in a mould; and when cold, cut it round with a sharp knife, about two inches from the edge, taking care not to perforate the bottom. Put in a thick custard, and some spoonfuls of raspberry jam; and then put on a high whip.

CALF'S FEET BROTH. Boil two feet in three quarts of water till reduced to half the quantity; strain it, and set it by. When to be used, take off the fat, put a large tea-cupful of the jelly into a saucepan, with half a glass of sweet wine, a little sugar and nutmeg, and heat it up till it be ready to boil. Then take a little of it, and beat it by degrees to the yolk of an egg, adding a bit of butter the size of a nutmeg; stir it all together, but do not let it boil. Grate a little fresh lemon peel into it. – Another way is to boil two calves' feet with two ounces of veal, and two of beef, the bottom of a penny loaf, two or three blades of mace, half a nutmeg, and a little salt, in three quarts of water, till reduced to half the quantity. Then strain it, and take off the fat.

CALF'S FEET JELLY. Boil two feet, well cleaned, in five pints of water till they are broken, and the water half wasted. Strain it, take off the fat when cold, and remove the jelly from the sediment. Put it into a saucepan, with sugar, raisin wine, lemon juice and lemon peel. When the flavour is rich, add the whites of five eggs well beaten, and their shells broken. Set the saucepan on the fire, but do not stir the jelly after it begins to warm. Let it boil twenty minutes after it rises to a head, then pour it through a flannel bag, first dipping the jelly bag in hot water to prevent waste, and squeezing it quite dry. Run the jelly repeatedly through the bag, until it is quite clear, and then put it into glasses or forms. The following method will greatly facilitate the clearing of the jelly. When the mixture has boiled twenty minutes, throw in a tea-cupful of cold water; let it boil five minutes longer, then take the saucepan off the fire covered close, and keep it half an hour. It will afterwards be so clear as to need only once running through the bag, and much waste will be prevented. – Another way to make jelly is to take three calf's feet, or two cow-heels, that have been only scalded, and boil them in four quarts of water, till it be half wasted. Remove the jelly from the fat and sediment, mix with it the juice of a Seville orange and twelve lemons, the peels of three ditto, the whites and shells of twelve eggs, brown sugar to taste, nearly a pint of raisin wine, one ounce of coriander seed, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, a bit of cinnamon, and six cloves, all bruised and previously mixed together. The jelly should boil fifteen minutes without stirring, and then be cleared through a flannel bag. Take a little of the jelly while running, mix it with a tea-cupful of water in which a piece of beet root has been boiled, and run it through the bag when all the rest is run out. The other jelly being cooled on a plate, this will serve to garnish it. Jelly made in this way will have a fine high colour and flavour. But in all cases, to produce good jelly, the feet should only be scalded to take off the hair. Those who sell them ready prepared generally boil them too long, and they become in consequence less nutricious. If scalded only, the liquor will require greater care in removing the fat; but the jelly will be far stronger, and of course allow more water. Jelly is equally good if made of cow-heels nicely cleaned, and will be much stronger than what is made from calf's feet.

CALF'S FEET PUDDING. Boil four feet quite tender, pick off the meat, and chop it fine. Add some grated bread, a pound of chopped suet, half a pint of milk, six eggs, a pound of currants, four ounces of citron, two ounces of candied peel, a grated nutmeg, and a glass of brandy. Butter the cloth and flour it, tie it close, and boil it three hours.

CALF'S HEAD BOILED. Clean it carefully and soak it in water, that it may look very nice, and take out the brains for sauce. Wash them well, tie them up in a cloth, with a little sage and parsley; put them into the pot at the same time with the head, and scum the water while boiling. A large head will take two hours, and when the part which joined the neck becomes tender it is done. Take up the brains and chop them with the sage and parsley, and an egg boiled hard. Put them into a saucepan with a bit of butter, pepper and salt, and warm them up. Peel the tongue, lay it in the middle of the dish, with the brain sauce round it. Strew over the head some grated bread and chopped parsley, and brown it by the fire in a separate dish, adding bacon, pickled pork, and greens.

CALF'S HEAD COLLARED. Scald the skin off a fine head, clean it nicely, and take out the brains. Boil it tender enough to remove the bones, and season it high with mace, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Put a layer of chopped parsley, then a quantity of thick slices of fine ham, or a beautiful coloured tongue skinned, and then the yolks of six nice yellow eggs stuck here and there about. Roll the head quite close, and tie it up tight, placing a cloth under the tape, as for other collars. Boil it, and then lay a weight upon it.

CALF'S HEAD FRICASSEED. Clean and half-boil part of a head; cut the meat into small bits, and put it into a tosser, with a little gravy made of the bones, some of the water it was boiled in, a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, and a blade of mace. The cockscombs of young cockrels may be boiled tender, and then blanched, or a sweetbread will do as well. Season the gravy with a little pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Rub down some flour and butter, and give all a boil together. Then take out herbs and onion, and add a small cup of cream, but do not boil it in. Serve with small bits of bacon rolled up and forcemeat balls.

CALF'S HEAD HASHED. When half boiled, cut off the meat in slices, half an inch thick, and two or three inches long. Brown some butter, flour, and sliced onion; and throw in the slices with some good gravy, truffles and morels. Give it one boil, skim it well and set it in a moderate heat to simmer till very tender. Season at first with pepper, salt, and cayenne; and ten minutes before serving, throw in some shred parsley, and a very small bit of taragon and knotted marjoram cut as fine as possible. Send it up with forcemeat balls, and bits of bacon rolled round, adding the squeeze of a lemon. – Another way is to boil the head almost enough, and take the meat of the best side neatly off the bone with a sharp knife. Lay this into a small dish, wash it over with the yolks of two eggs, and cover it with crumbs, a few herbs nicely shred, a little pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg all mixed together first. Set the dish before the fire, and turn it now and then, that all parts of the head may be equally brown. In the mean time slice the remainder of the head, peel the tongue and slice it. Put a pint of good gravy into a pan with an onion, and a small bunch of herbs, consisting of parsley, basil, savoury, taragon, knotted marjoram, and a little thyme. Add a small quantity of salt and cayenne, a few truffles and morels, and two spoonfuls of ketchup. Then beat up half the brains, put it to the rest with a little butter and flour, and simmer the whole together. Beat the other part of the brains with shred lemon peel, a little nutmeg and mace, some shred parsley and an egg. Then fry it in small cakes of a beautiful yellow brown. Dip some oysters into the yolk of an egg, and do the same; and also some relishing forcemeat balls, made as for mock turtle. Garnish with these, and small bits of bacon just made hot before the fire.

CALF'S HEAD PIE. Stew a knuckle of veal till fit for eating, with two onions, a few isinglass shavings, a bunch of herbs, a blade of mace, and a few peppercorns, in three pints of water. Keep the broth for the pie. Take off a bit of the meat for the balls, and let the other be eaten; but simmer the bones in the broth till it is very good. Half boil the head, and cut it into square bits; put a layer of ham at the bottom, then some head, first fat and then lean, with balls and hard eggs cut in half, and so on till the dish be full; but great care must be taken not to place the pieces close, or the pie will be too solid, and there will be no space for the jelly. The meat must be first seasoned pretty well with pepper and salt, and a scrape or two of nutmeg. Put a little water and gravy into the dish, cover it with a tolerably thick crust, and bake it in a slow oven. When done, fill it up with gravy, and do not cut it till quite cold. Use a very sharp knife for this purpose, first cutting out a large piece, and going down to the bottom of the dish: thinner slices may afterwards be cut. The different colours, and the clear jelly, will have a beautiful marbled appearance. A small pie may be made to eat hot, and will have a good appearance, if seasoned high with oysters, mushrooms, truffles and morels. The cold pie will keep several days, and slices of it will make a handsome side-dish. If the isinglass jelly be not found stiff enough, a calf's foot or a cow heel may be used instead. To vary the colour, pickled tongue may be cut in, instead of ham.

CALF'S HEAD ROASTED. Wash the head perfectly clean, stew it with oysters, tie it together and spit it, baste it well with butter and flour rubbed smooth. Stew together some of the oyster liquor, gravy, butter and salt, with a few sprigs of marjoram and savoury, adding a little claret, and pour the sauce over the dish.

CALF'S HEAD SOUP. After the head has been thoroughly cleaned, put it into a stewpan with a proper quantity of water, an onion, some sweet herbs, mace and cloves, and a little pearl barley. Boil it quite tender, put in some stewed celery, and season it with pepper. Pour the soup into a dish, place the head in the middle, and send it hot to table.

CALF'S HEAD STEWED. Wash and soak it for an hour, bone it, take out the brains, the tongue and the eyes. Make a forcemeat with two pounds of beef suet, as much lean veal, two anchovies boned and washed, the peel of a lemon, some grated nutmeg, and a little thyme. Chop them up together with some grated bread, and mix in the yolks of four eggs. Make part of this forcemeat into fifteen or twenty balls; boil five eggs hard, some oysters washed clean, and half a pint of fresh mushrooms, and mix with the rest of the forcemeat. Stuff that part of the head where the bones were taken out, tie it up carefully with packthread, put it into two quarts of gravy or good broth, with a blade of mace, cover it close, and stew it very slowly for two hours. While the head is doing, beat up the brains with some lemon-thyme and parsley chopped very fine, some grated nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg mixed with it. Fry half the brains in dripping, in little cakes, and fry the balls. When the head is done, keep it warm with the brain-cakes and balls; strain off the liquor in which the head was stewed, add to it some stewed truffles and morels, and a few pickled mushrooms. Put in the other half of the brains chopped, boil them up together, and let them simmer a few minutes. Lay the head into a hot dish, pour the liquor over it, and place the balls and the brain-cakes round it. For a small family, half the head will be sufficient. A lamb's head may be done in the same way.