The head and feet being well scalded and cleaned, open the head, taking the brains, wash, pick and cleanse, salt and pepper and parsley them and put bye in a cloth; boil the head, feet and heartslet one and quarter, or one and half hour, sever out the bones, cut the skin and meat in slices, drain the liquor in which boiled and put by; clean the pot very clean or it will burn too, make a layer of the slices, which dust with a composition made of black pepper one spoon, of sweet herbs pulverized, two spoons (sweet marjoram and thyme are most approved) a tea spoon of cayenne, one pound butter, then dust with flour, then a layer of slices with slices of veal and seasoning till compleated, cover with the liquor, stew gently three quarters of an hour. To make the forced meat balls--take one and half pound veal, one pound grated bread, 4 ounces raw salt pork, mince and season with above and work with 3 whites into balls, one or one an half inch diameter, roll in flour, and fry in very hot butter till brown, then chop the brains fine and stir into the whole mess in the pot, put thereto, one third part of the fryed balls and a pint wine or less, when all is heated thro' take off and serve in tureens, laying the residue of the balls and hard boiled and pealed eggs into a dish, garnish with slices of lemon.
Slice off the outside red part of two or three large carrots, and cut them up into small dice not bigger than a quarter of an inch square. Cut up also into similar size a young turnip, and the white, hard part of a head of celery. Fry these very gently in a little butter, taking care that the vegetables do not turn colour. Make some soup exactly in every respect similar to that described in Imitation Mock Turtle. Throw in these fried vegetables, and let the soup simmer gently by the side of the fire, in order for it to throw up its butter, which should be skimmed off. In flavouring the soup, add only half the quantity of wine or lemon juice that you would use were you making Mock Turtle.
Brown two onions in butter, and add a spray of parsley, half a pound of tomatoes and a claret glassful of white wine. Let this simmer for half an hour, and then pass it through the tammy. Then fry half a pound of mushrooms, and add them and their liquor to the sauce, thickening it, if necessary, with a little cornflour. A great improvement is a little liebig. Place your fish in the oven, and cook it gently in butter, with pepper and salt. When it is done, serve it with the sauce poured over it. [Madame Vandervalle.]
Having washed and cleaned the fish, leave out the roe and liver; rub some salt on the inside, and if the weather is very cold you may keep it till next day. Put sufficient water in the fish-kettle to cover the fish very well, and add to the water a large handful of salt. As soon as the salt is entirely melted put in the fish. A very small codfish will be done in about twenty minutes, (after the water has boiled;) a large one will take half an hour, or more. Garnish with the roe and liver fried, or with scraped horseradish. Send it to table with oyster-sauce in a boat. Or you may make a sauce by flavouring your melted butter with a glass of port wine, and an anchovy boned and minced.
Take a leg of veal, take off the thick part and cut in thin slices for collops, beat them with a paste-pin 'till they be very thin; season them with mace, pepper and salt; fry them over a quick fire, not over brown; when they are fried put them into a stew-pan with a little gravy, two or three spoonfuls of white wine, two spoonfuls of oyster-pickle if you have it, and a little lemon-peel; then shake them over a stove in a stew-pan, but don't let them boil over much, it only hardens your collops; take the fat part of your veal, stuff it with forc'd-meat, and boil it; when it is boiled lay it in the middle of your dish with the collops; lay about your collops slices of crisp bacon, and forc'd-meat-balls. Garnish your dish with slices of lemon and oysters, or mushrooms.
Mix together half a pint of port wine, half a pint of strong vinegar, the juice and grated peel of two large lemons, a quarter of an ounce of cayenne, a dozen blades of mace, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered cochineal. Let it infuse a fortnight, stirring it several times a day. Then boil it ten minutes, strain it, and bottle it for use. Eat it with any sort of fish or game. It will give a fine pink tinge to melted butter.
Put them into boiling water, and boil rapidly for ten or fifteen minutes, or until the nails will come out and the black skin rub off-- the time depending upon the size of the fish. After this, put into fresh boiling water, and boil until the under shell cracks, which will be about three-quarters of an hour. Remove the under shell, throw away the sand and gall bags, take out intestines, and put the terrapins to boil again in the same water for an hour. Pick liver and meat from upper shell. Cut the intestines in small pieces, and add to this meat. Pour over all a quantity of the liquor in which the intestines were boiled sufficient to make very moist. Put away until the next day. For each terrapin, if of good size, a gill of cream and of wine, half a cupful of butter, yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, rubbed smooth, salt, pepper and cayenne are needed. Pour over the terrapin, let it come to a boil, and serve,--[Mrs. Furness, of Philadelphia.]
One can of green turtle, such as is put up by the "Merriam Packing Co." Separate the green fat from the other contents of the can, cut into dice and set aside. Put one quart of water with the remainder of the turtle; add twelve pepper-corns, six whole cloves, two small sprigs each of parsley, summer savory, sweet marjoram and thyme, two bay leaves, two leaves of sage. Have the herbs tied together. Put one large onion, one slice of carrot, one of turnip, and a stalk of celery, cut fine, into a pan, with two large table-spoonfuls of butter. Fry fifteen minutes, being careful not to burn. Skim carefully from the butter and put into the soup. Now, into the butter in which the vegetables were fried, put two table-spoonfuls of dry flour, and cook until brown. Stir into the soup; season with salt and pepper and let simmer very gently one hour. Strain, skim off all the fat and serve with thin slices of lemon, egg or force-meat balls, and the green fat. The lemon should have a very thin rind; should be put into the tureen and the soup poured over it Cooking the lemon in this or any other soup often gives it a bitter taste. If the soup is wished quite thick, add a table-spoonful of butter to that in which the vegetables were cooked, and use three table-spoonfuls of flour instead of two. Many people use wine in this soup, but it is delicious without. In case you do use wine there should not be more than four table-spoonfuls to this quantity. If you desire the soup extremely rich, use a quart of rich soup stock. The green turtles are so very large that it is only in great establishments that they are available, and for this reason a rule for preparing the live turtle is not given. Few housekeepers would ever see one. The cans contain not what is commonly called turtle soup, but the meat of the turtle, boiled, and the proper proportions of lean meat, yellow and green fat put together. They cost fifty cents each, and a single can will make soup enough for six persons.
Take a piece of fresh Salmon, and wash it clean in a little Vinegar and water, and let it lie a while in it, then put it into a great Pipkin with a cover, and put to it some six spoonfuls of water and four of Vinegar, and as much of white-wine, a good deal of Salt a handful of sweet herbs, a little white Sorrel, a few Cloves, a little stick of Cinamon, a little Mace; put all these in a Pipkin close, and set it in a Kettle of seething water, and there let it stew three hours. You may do Carps, Eeles, Trouts, &c. this way, and they Tast also to your mind.
Take a piece of fresh Salmon, and wash it clean in a little Vinegar and Water, and let it lye a while in it, in a great Pipkin with a cover, and put to it six spoonfuls of Water and four of Vinegar, as much of white wine, a good deale of Salt, a bundle of sweet Herbs, a little whole Spice, a few Cloves, a little stick of Cinamon, a little Mace, take up all these in a Pipkin close, and set in a Kettle of seething Water and there let it stew three hours, You may doe Carps, Eeles, Trouts, &c. this way, alter the tast to your mind.
