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To Boil Lobsters.
The medium sized are best, put them alive into a kettle of boiling water which has been salted, and let them boil from half an hour to three- quarters, according to their size. When done take them out of the kettle, wipe them clean, and rub the shell with a little sweet oil, which will give a clear red appearance.
Crack the large claws without mashing them, and with a sharp knife split the body and tail from end to end. Send to table and dress as follows: after mincing it very fine add salt, cayenne pepper, mustard, salad oil, and vinegar to taste) observing to mix all well together.
To Pickle Oysters,
Drain off the liquor from one hundred oysters, wash them and put to them a table-spoonful of salt and a teacup of vinegar; let them simmer over the fire about ten minutes, taking off the scum as it rises; then take out the oysters and put to their own liquor a tablespoonful of whole black pepper and a teaspoonful of mace and cloves; let it boil five minutes, skim and pour it over the oysters in a jar.
To Spice Oysters.
One hundred oysters, one dozen cloves, two dozen allspice, mace, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste. Strain the liquor through a sieve, put it in a saucepan, and add the oysters, spice, pepper, salt, and half a pint of cider vinegar. Place them over a slow fire, and as soon as they boil take them off. Pour them into a large bowl and set them away to cool. When cold cover them close.
Flounders - a la creme.
Scale, clean, and wrap your fish in a cloth, boil it gently in plenty of water well salted; when done drain it carefully without breaking, lay it on your dish and mask it with cream or white onion sauce.
French Stew of Peas and Bacon.
Cut about one-quarter of a pound of fresh bacon into thin slices, soak it on the fire in a stewpan until it is almost done; then put about a quart of peas to it, a good bit of butter, a bunch of parsley, and two spoonfuls of catsup; simmer on a slow fire and reduce the sauce; take out the parsley and serve the rest together.
New England Chowder.
Have a good haddock, cod, or any other solid fish; cut it in pieces three inches square, put a pound of fat salt pork in strips into the pot, set it on hot coals and fry out the oil; take out the pork and put in a layer of fish, over that a layer of onions in slices, then a layer of fish with slips of fat salt pork, then another layer of onions, and so on alternately until your fish is consumed; mix some flour with as much water as will fill the pot; season with black pepper and salt to your taste, and boil it for half an hour. Have ready some crackers (Philadelphia pilot bread if you can get it) soaked in water till they are a little softened; throw them into your chowder five minutes before you take it up. Serve in a tureen.
Daniel Webster’s Chowder.
Four tablespoonfuls of onions, fried with pork; a quart of boiled potatoes well mashed; 1 1/2 pounds of sea biscuit broken; 1 teaspoonful of thyme mixed with one of summer savory: 1/2 bottle of mushroom catsup; one bottle of port or claret; 1/4 of a nutmeg, grated; a few cloves, mace, and allspice; 6 pounds fish (sea-bass or cod), cut into slices; 25 oysters, a little black pepper, and a few slices of lemon. The whole put in a pot and covered with an inch of water, boiled for an hour and gently stirred.
Soup Maigre.
Take of veal, beef cut into small pieces and scrag of mutton, 1 pound each; put them into a saucepan, with 2 quarts of water, put into a clean cloth 1 ounce of barley, an onion, a small bundle of sweet herbs, 3 or 4 heads of celery cut small, a little mace, 2 or 3 cloves, 3 turnips pared and each cut in two, a large carrot cut into small pieces, and young lettuce. Cover the pot close, and let it stew very gently for six hours. Then take out the spice, sweet herbs, and onion, and pour all into a soup-dish, seasoned with salt.
Another Soup Maigre.
Quarter of a pound of butter placed in a stewpan, add to it 2 tablespoonsful of flour, 1/2 pint of milk. Then add cold vegetables chopped very fine, and stew together a quarter of an hour. Before sent up, beat the yolks of two eggs, add of a pint of cream, and a little pepper and salt to taste.
Portable Soup.
Cut into small pierce 3 large legs of veal, 1 of beef, and the lean part of a ham; lay the meat in a large cauldron, with a quarter of a pound of butter at the bottom, 4 ounces of anchovies, and a ounces of mace. Cut small 6 heads of clean washed celery, freed from green leaves, and put them into the cauldron, with 3 large carrots cut thin. Cover all close, and set it on a moderate fire. When the gravy begins to draw, keep taking it off till it is all extracted. Then cover the meat with water, let it boil gently for four hours, then strain it through a hair-sieve into a clean pan, till it is reduced to onethird. Strain the gravy drawn from the meat into a pan, and let it boil gently, until it be of a glutinous consistence. Take care and skim off all the fat as it rises. Watch it when it is nearly done, that it does not burn; next season it with Cayenne pepper, and pour it on flat earthen dishes, a quarter of an inch thick. Let it stand till the next day and then cut it out by round tins larger than a silver dollar. Set the cakes in dishes in the sun to dry, and turn them often. When fully dried put them into a tin box with a piece of clean white paper between each, and keep them in a dry place. If made in frosty weather it will soon become solid. This kind of soup is exceedingly convenient for private families, for by putting one of the cakes in a saucepan with about a quart of water, and a little salt, a basin of good broth may be made in a few minutes. It will likewise make an excellent gravy for roast turkeys, fowls, and game.
Asparagus Soup.
Put a small broiled bone to 1 1/2 pints of peas, and water in proportion, a root of celery, a small bench of sweet herbs, a large onion. Cayenne pepper, and salt to taste; boil it briskly for five hours, strain and pulp it; then add a little spinach juice, and asparagus boiled and cut into small pieces. A teaspoonful of walnut soy, and a teaspoonful of mushroom catsup, answers as well as the bone.
Giblet Soup.
Take 4 pounds of gravy beef, 2 pounds of scrag of mutton, and 2 pounds of scrag of veal; boil them in 2 gallons of water, stew them gently till it begins to taste well, pour it out and let it stand till cold, skim off all the fat. Take 2 pair of giblets well scaled, put them to the broth, and simmer them till they are very tender. Take them out and strain the soup through a cloth. Put a piece of butter rolled in flour into the stewpan with some fine chopped parsley, chives, a little pennyroyal, and sweet marjoram. Place the soup over a slow fire, put in the giblets, fried butter, herbs, a little Madeira wine, some salt, and Cayenne pepper; when the herbs are tender, send the soup and giblets intermixed to table. This forms a very savory dish.
Charitable Soup.
Take the liquor of meat boiled the day before, with the bones of leg and shin of beef, add to the liquor as much as will make 130 quarts, also the meat of 10 stones of leg and shin of beef, and ox-heads, all cut in pieces; add 2 bunches of carrots, 4 bunches of turnips, 2 bunches of leeks, 1/2 a peck of onions, 1 bunch of celery, 1/2 a pound of pepper, and some salt. Boil it for six hours. Either oatmeal or barley may be put in to thicken it, if thought necessary. This soup may be used at any gentleman’s table.
Veal Gravy Soup.
Garnish the bottom of the stewpan with thin pieces of lard, then a few slices of ham, slices of veal cutlet, sliced onions, carrots, parsnips, celery, a few cloves upon the meat, and a spoonful of broth; soak it on the fire in this manner till the veal throws out its juice; then put it on a stronger fire, till the meat catches to the bottom of the pan, and is brought to a proper color; then add a suffi-cient quantity of light broth, and simmer it on a slow fire till the meat is thoroughly done; add a little thyme and mushrooms. Skim and sift it clear for use.
Beef Gravy Soup.
Cut slices of lean beef, according to the quantity wanted, which place in a stew-pan, upon sliced onions and roots, adding two spoonsful of fat broth, soak this on a slow fire for half an hour stirring it well; when it catches a proper color add thin broth made of suitable herbs, with a little salt over it.
A Cheap Rice and Meat Soup.
Put a pound of rice and a little pepper and broth herbs into two quarts of water, cover them close, and simmer very softly; put in a little cinnamon, two pounds of good oxcheek, and boil the whole till the goodness is incorporated by the liquor.
Another Cheap Soup.
Take an ox-cheek, 2 pecks of potatoes, 1/4 of a peck of onions, 3/4 of a pound of salt, and 1 1/2 ounces of pepper - to be boiled in 90 pints of water, on a slow fire until reduced to 60. A pint of this soup with a small piece of meat, is a good meal for a hearty working man. Some of every vegetable, with a few herbs, may be added.
Herring Soup.
Take 8 gallons of water, and mix it with 5 pounds of barley-meal. Boil it to the consistence of a thick jelly. Season it with salt, pepper, vinegar, sweet herbs, and, to give it a gratifying flavor, add the meat of 4 red herrings pounded.
To prepare a Nutritious Soup.
A pound of Scotch barley, with sufficient time allowed in the cooking, will make a gallon of water into a tolerable pudding consistency. A pint basin filled with it will hold a spoon upright, when at its proper degree of warmth for eating. Thoroughly steeped, it will produce a rich pulp, the form of the grains being nearly lost. Five hours’ exposure, in a moderately heated oven, will be sufficient; and it may be improved by an hour or two more.
Amongst other means for such preparation, when a baker’s oven has been emptied of its bread a pan of 1 gallon size may be put in to steep its contents during the preceding night, and then renew the usual baking in the morning. What has been lost by evaporation, may be restored by the addition of warm water. All the seasoning requisite to make it as savory as plain family dishes generally are, will be about 3 large onions, 1 ounce of salt, and 1/4 of an ounce of pepper. This seasoning should be put in before sending it to the oven.
Scotch Broth.
Set on the fire 4 ounces of pearl barley, with 6 quarts of salt water. When it boils skim it, and add what quantity of salt beef or fresh brisket you choose, and a marrowbone or a fowl, with 2 pounds of either lean beef or mutton, and a good quantity of leeks, cabbages, or savoy, or you may use turnips, onions, and grated carrots; keep it boiling for at least 4 or 5 hours, but, if a fowl be used, let it not be put in till just time enough to bring it to table when well done, for it must be served separately.
A Vegetable Soup.
Take l onion, 1 turnip, 2 pared potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 head of celery. Boil them in 3 pints of water till the vegetables are cooked; add a little raft; have a slice of bread toasted and buttered, put it into a bowl, and pour the soup over it. Tomatoes, when in season, form an agreeable addition.
Pea Soup.
Leave 1 pint of peas in the pot with the water they were boiled in; make a thickening of flour, milk and butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley and thyme; toast 2 or 3 slices of bread, cut it up in the tureen; and when the soup has boiled about 10 minutes, pour it over. Children are mostly fond of pea soup, and it seldom disagrees with them. A few slices of fat ham will supply the place of butter.
Corn soup.
To each quart of young corn cut from the cob allow 3 pints of water. Put the corn and water on to boil, and as soon as the grains are tender, have ready 2 ounces of sweet butter mixed with 1 tablespoonful of flour. Stir the flour and butter into the corn and water, and let it boil 10 or 15 minutes longer. Just before the soup is taken out of the pot beat up an egg, and stir into it, with salt and pepper to your taste.
Noodles for Soup.
Beat up an egg, and to it add as much flour as will make a very stiff dough. Roll it out in a thin sheet, flour it, and roll it up closely, as you would do a sheet of paper. Then with a sharp knife cut it in shavings about like cabbage for slaw; flour these cuttings to prevent them from adhering to each other, and add them to your soup whilst it is boiling. Let them boil 10 minutes. Pepperpot.
Cut in small pieces 3 pounds of tripe, put it on to boil in as much water as will cover it, allowing a teaspoonful of salt to every quart of water. Let it boil 3 hours, then have ready 4 calves’-feet, which have been dressed with the tripe, and add as much water as will cover them; also 3 onions sliced, and a small bunch of sweet herbs chopped fine. Half an hour before the pepperpot is done add four potatoes cut in pieces; when these are tender add 2 ounces of butter rolled in flour, and season the soup highly with Cayenne pepper. Make some dumplings of flour and butter and little water - drop them into the soup; when the vegetables are sufficiently soft, serve it. The calves’-feet may be served with drawn butter. Any kind of spicemay be added. If allspice or cloves are used, the grains should be put in whole.
Clam Soup.
Wash the shells and put them in a kettle. Put the kettle where it will be hot enough to cause a steam from the clams, which will open them. To 1 quart of clams put 2 quarts of water, and then proceed as for oyster soup.
Oyster Soup.
To 1 quart of oysters add 1 quart of water. Pour the water on the oysters and stir them. Then take them out one at a time, so that no small particles of shell may adhere to them. Strain the liquor through a sieve, put it in a stewpan over the fire with a little mace, and season with red pepper and salt to your taste. When this boils put in your oysters. Let them boil again; then add 1/2 pint of cream and serve hot.
Chicken soup.
Clean and wash a large fat chicken, put it on to boil in about 4 quarts of water, to which add 1/2 a teacupful of rice, 1 onion cut fine, 4 or 5 turnips pared and cut into small pieces, 1 dessertspoonful of white sugar (a little sugar, not more than a tablespoonful to 3 or 4 quarts, may be added scorched brown, to any soup while boiling, with advantage), a little sweet marjoram, with salt and red-pepper to taste. After boiling over a slow fire for rather more than an hour put in 6 white potatoes, pared, washed, and cut in quarters, which, as soon as done, add a little parsley minced fine. When done, if not sufficiently seasoned, more may be added. Place the chicken on a dish, which garnish with sprigs of double parsley, the soup in a tureen, and send to table hot.
Chicken Broth.
Take a nice tender chicken, and after cleaning it very nicely, cut it into quarters, and put it into a soup-kettle with 3 quarts of water, 2 tablespoonful of rice, or pearlbarley, and salt to taste. Let it boil slowly, and as the scum rises remove it. When thoroughly done place the chicken on a dish, garnish with double parsley, and eat with drawn butter, and serve the broth in a deep-covered china bowl or tureen, and send to table hot.
Mutton Broth.
Take 3 pounds of the scrag of a neck of very fresh mutton, cut it into several pieces, wash them in cold water, and put them into a stewpan with 2 quarts of cold springwater; place the stewpan on the fire to boil, skim it well, and then add a couple of turnips cut into slices a few branches of parsley, a sprig of green thyme, and a little salt. When it has boiled gently by the side of the stove for an hour and a half, skim off the fat from the surface, and then let it be strained through a lawn sieve into a basin and kept for use.
