BAKING.
SECT. I.
BUTCHER’S MEAT.
THE only method to be observed previous to this mode of cookery, is to have the pans, or whatever vessels you send your provisions in to the oven, perfectly clean, so that the care you have taken in preparing the article may not be injured from neglect in cleanliness.
Rump of Beef a-la-Braise.
CUT out the bone quite clean, then beat the flesh well with a rolling-pin, and lard it with a piece of bacon cut out of the back. Season your bacon with pepper, salt, and cloves, and lard across the meat, that it may cut handsomer. Season the meat with pepper, salt, and cloves; put it into an earthen pot with all the broken bones, half a pound of butter, some bay leaves, whole pepper, one or two shalots, and some sweet herbs. Let the top of the pan be covered quite close, then put it into the oven, and it will be done in about six hours. When enough, skim off the fat clean, put the meat into a dish, and serve it up with a good ragout of mushrooms, truffles, forcemeat-balls, and yelks of eggs. Let the gravy which comes from the beef be added, nicely seasoned, to those ingredients.
Calf’s Head.
WHEN you have properly cleansed the head, put it into a large earthen dish, or pan, and rub the inside with butter. Put some long iron skewers across the top of the dish, and lay the head on them. Grate some nutmeg all over the head, with a few sweet herbs shred small, some crumbs of bread, and a little lemon-peel cut fine. Then flour it all over, stick pieces of butter in the eyes, and on different parts of the head, and send it to the oven. You may throw a little pepper and salt over it, and put into the dish a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, a blade of mace, some whole pepper, two cloves, and a pint of water, and boil the brains with some sage. When the head is enough, lay it on a dish, and put it before the fire to keep warm; then stir all together in the dish, and put it into a saucepan, and when it is quite hot strain it off, and pour it into the saucepan again. Put in a piece of butter rolled in flour, the sage and brains chopped fine, a spoonful of catsup, and two of red wine. Boil them well together, pour the whole over the head in a dish, and send it to table.
Pigs.
LAY your pig into a dish well buttered, flour it all over, rub some butter on the pig, and send it to the oven. When you think it is enough, take it out, rub it over with a buttered cloth, and put it into the oven again till it is dry; then take it out, lay it in a dish, and cut it up. Skim off the fat from the dish it was baked in, and some good gravy will remain at the bottom. Put this to a little veal gravy, with a piece of butter rolled in flour, and boil it up with the brains; then pour it into a dish, and mix it well with the sage that comes out of the belly of the pig. Serve it up hot to table with apple-sauce and mustard.
A Bullock’s or Calf’s Heart.
TAKE some crumbs of bread, chopped suet, (or a bit of butter,) parsley chopped, sweet marjorum, lemon-peel grated, pepper, salt, and nutmeg, with the yolk of an egg: mix these all well together, stuff the heart with it, and send it to the oven. When done, serve it up with gravy, melted butter, and currant-jelly in boats. The same methods are to be used whether you bake or roast it; but if care is taken, baking it is the best way, as it will be more regularly done than it can be by roasting.
BAKING FISH.
Cod’s Head.
WHEN it is thoroughly cleansed and washed, lay it in the dish, which you must first rub round with butter. Put in a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with cloves, three or four blades of mace, some black and white pepper, a nutmeg bruised, a little lemon-peel, a piece of horse-radish, and a quart of water. Dust the head with flour, grate a little nutmeg over it, stick bits of butter on various parts, and sprinkle raspings all over it, and send it to the oven. When done, take the head out of the dish, and put it into that it is to be served up in. Set the dish over boiling water, and cover it close to prevent its getting cold. In the mean time, as expeditiously as you can, pour all the liquor out of the dish in which it was baked into a saucepan, and let it boil three or four minutes: then strain it, and put to it a gill of red wine, two spoonsful of catsup, a pint of shrimps, half a pint of oysters, a spoonful of mushroom pickle, and a quartern of butter rolled in flour. Stir all well together, and let it boil till it is thick; then strain it, and pour it into the dish. Have ready some toasted bread cut three corner ways, and fried crisp. Stick some pieces of toast about the head and mouth, and lay the remainder round the head. Garnish your dish with crisped parsley, lemon notched, and scraped horse-radish. This method is equally good for roasting.
Salmon
TAKE a piece of salmon, of five or six pounds weight, (or larger according to your company,) and cut it into slices about an inch thick, after which make a forcemeat thus: Take some of the flesh of the salmon, and the same quantity of the meat of an eel, with a few mushrooms. Season it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and cloves, and beat all together till it is very line. Boil the crumb of a roll in milk, and beat it up with four eggs till it is thick; then let it cool, add four more raw eggs to it, and mix the whole well together. Take the skin from the salmon, and lay the slices in a dish. Cover every slice with the forcemeat, pour some melted butter over them, with a few crumbs of bread, and place oysters round the dish. Put it into the oven, and when it is of a fine brown, pour over a little melted butter with some red wine boiled in it, and the juice of a lemon, and serve it up hot to table
Carp.
TAKE a brace of carp, and having greased the pan, in which they are to be baked, with butter, put them into it. Let it be of such a size as will hold them at full length, otherwise they will be apt to break. When you have put them into the pan, season them with a little black and white pepper, mace, cloves, nutmeg, a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, and an anchovy: then pour in a bottle of white wine, cover them close, and put them into the oven. If of a large size they will take an hour baking; but if small, a less time will do. When enough, take them out of the pan, and lay them in a dish. Set it over boiling water to keep it hot, and cover it close. Pour all the liquor in which they were baked into a saucepan; let it boil a minute or two, strain it, and add half a pound of butter rolled in flour. Keep stirring it all the time it is boiling; squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and put in a proper quantity of salt, observing to skim all the fat off the liquor. Pour the sauce over the fish, lay the roes round them, and garnish with lemon.
Eels and Lampreys.
CUT off their heads, gut them, and take out the blood from the bone as clean as possible. Make a forcemeat of shrimps or oysters chopped small, half a penny loaf crumbled, a little lemon-peel shred fine, theyolks of two eggs, and a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Put this into the bellies of the fish, sew them up, and turn them round on the dish. Put flour and butter over them, pour a little water into the dish, and bake them in a moderate oven. When done, take the gravy from under them, and skim off the fat, strain it through a hair sieve, and add one tea-spoonful of lemon-pickle, two of browning, a large spoonful of walnut catsup, a glass of white wine, an anchovy, and a slice of lemon. Let it boil ten minutes, and thicken it with butter and flour. Garnish with lemon and crisped parsley.
Herrings.
SCALE, wash, and dry them well in a cloth, then lay them on a board, and take a little black pepper, a few cloves, and plenty of salt; mix them together, and rub the fish all over with it. Lay them straight in a pot, cover them over with vinegar, put in a few bay-leaves, tie a strong paper over the top, and bake them in a moderate oven. They may be eat either hot or cold; and if you use the best vinegar, they will keep good for two or three months.
Sprats may be done in the same manner, and either of them will furnish an occasional and pleasing relish.
Turbot.
TAKE a dish about the size of the turbot, rub butter thick all over it, throw on a little salt, a little beaten pepper, half a large nutmeg, and some parsley chopped fine. Pour in a pint of white wine, cut off the head and tail, and lay the turbot in the dish; pour another pint of white wine all over, grate the other half of the nutmeg over it, a little pepper, some salt, and chopped parsley. Lay a piece of butter here and there all over, then strew it with flour and crumbs of bread, Being thus prepared, send it to the oven, and let it be done of a fine brown colour. When you take it out, or have it home, put the turbot into the dish in which you mean to serve it up, then stir the sauce in the dish it was baked in, pour it into a saucepan, shake in a little flour, let it boil, and then stir in a piece of butter with two spoonsful of catsup. When the whole boils, pour it into basins, and serve it up with the fish. Garnish your dish with lemons; and you may add what other sauce you fancy, as shrimps, anchovies, mushrooms, &c.
Pike, with forcemeat.
PREPARE your pike thus:—Gut it, without cutting it open, and take care it is well cleaned. Cut a notch down the back from head to tail, turn it round, and fasten the tail in the mouth. Make your forcemeat thus: Take the udder of a leg of veal, or the kidney part of a loin of lamb, some fat bacon cut in dice, the spawn or melt of the fish, some green onions, a mushroom or two, or truffles, parsley and salt, and a little nutmeg and pepper: add a bit of butter to fry it; chop it all well, with the crumb of a French roll soaked in cream or milk. Pound all together in a large mortar, with three or four eggs; try if it is seasoned to your mind, fill the belly of your fish with it, close up that part which was cut in the back, and make it nice and even. Then take two or three eggs, beat them up, daub the fish well over with it, and strew on some crumbs of bread. Put it in a gentle oven, and proportion the time according to the size of your fish. When done use the following sauce: take two or three ladles of good gravy, and add to it three large spoonsful of whole capers, some parsley chopped fine, the juice of two lemons, and a little minced shalot. Pour this into a boat or basin, and serve it up hot with your fish. Garnish with fried parsley. A piper may be baked the same as the pike.
Mackarel.
CUT their heads off, wash and dry them in a cloth, cut them open, rub the bone with a little bay-salt, beat fine: take some mace, black and white pepper, and a few cloves, all beat fine; lay them in a long pan, and between every layer of fish put two or three bay leaves, and cover them with vinegar. Tie writing paper over them first, and then thick brown paper doubled. They must be put into a very slow oven, and will take a long time doing. When they are enough, uncover them, and let them stand till they are cold, then pour away all the vinegar they are boiled in, cover them with some more vinegar, and put in an onion stuck with cloves. Send them to a very slow oven again, and let them stand two hours. When completely done, put them aside, and they will keep good a considerable time. When you take them out, let it be with a slice, as your hands will be apt to break and spoil them. They make a most excellent occasional repast.