1245. Seven-Bell Pasty.

Shred a pound of suet fine, cut salt pork into dice, potatoes and onions small, rub a sprig of dried sage up fine; mix with some pepper, and place in the corner of a square piece of paste; turn over the other corner, pinch up the sides, and bake in a quick oven. If any bones, &c., remain from the meat, season with pepper and sage, place them with a gill of water in a pan, and bake with the pasty; when done, strain and pour the gravy into the centre of the pasty.

1246. Apple Pie.

Pare, core, and quarter the apples; boil the cores and parings in sugar and water; strain off the liquor, adding more sugar; grate the rind of a lemon over the apples, and squeeze the juice into the syrup; mix half a dozen cloves with the fruit, put in a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a walnut; cover with puff paste.

1247. Cup in a Pie-Dish.

The custom of placing an inverted cup in a fruit pie, is to retain the juice while the pie is baking in the oven, and prevent its boiling over. When the cup is first put in the dish it is full of cold air, and when the pie is placed in the oven, this air will expand by the heat and fill the cup, and drive out all the juice and a portion of the present air it contains, in which state it will remain until removed from the oven, when the air in the cup will condense, and occupy a very small s.p.a.ce, leaving the remainder to be filled with juice; but this does not take place till the danger of the juice boiling over is pa.s.sed.

1248. Excellent Paste for Fruit or Meat Pies.

Excellent paste for fruit or meat pies may be made with two-thirds of wheat flour, one-third of the flour of boiled potatoes, and some b.u.t.ter or dripping; the whole being brought to a proper consistence with warm water, and a small quant.i.ty of yeast or baking powder added when lightness is desired. This will also make very pleasant cakes for breakfast, and may be made with or without spices, fruits, &c.

1249. Pastry for Tarts, &c.

Take of flour one pound; baking powder, three teaspoonfuls; b.u.t.ter, six ounces; water, enough to bring it to the consistence required.

1250. Preparation.

When much pastry is made in a house, a quant.i.ty of fine flour should be kept on hand, in dry jars, and quite secured from the air, as it makes lighter pastry and bread when kept a short time, than when fresh ground.

1251. My Wife's Little Suppers.

1252. Meat Cakes.

Take any cold meat, game, or poultry (if underdone, all the better), mince it fine, with a little fat bacon or ham, or an anchovy; season it with pepper and salt; mix well, and make it into small cakes three inches long, an inch and a half wide, and half an inch thick; fry these a light brown, and serve them with good gravy, or put into a mould, and boil or bake it. Bread-crumbs, hard yolks of eggs, onions, sweet herbs, savoury spices, zest, curry-powder, or any kind of forcemeat may be added to these meat cakes.

1253. Oyster Patties.

Roll out puff paste a quarter of an inch thick, cut it into squares with a knife, sheet eight or ten patty pans, put upon each a bit of bread the size of half a walnut; roll out another layer of paste of the same thickness, cut it as above, wet the edge of the bottom paste, and put on the top; pare them round to the pan, and notch them about a dozen times with the back of the knife, rub them lightly with yolk of egg, bake them in a hot oven about a quarter of an hour: when done, take a thin slice off the top, then with a small knife, or spoon, take out the bread and the inside paste, leaving the outside quite entire; then parboil two dozen of large oysters, strain them from their liquor, wash, beard, and cut them into four; put them into a stewpan with an ounce of b.u.t.ter rolled in flour, half a gill of good cream, a little grated lemon peel, the oyster liquor, free from sediment, reduced by boiling to one-half, some cayenne pepper, salt, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice; stir it over a fire five minutes, and fill the patties.

[THE STEAM ENGINE IS A MIGHTY AGENT OF GOOD.]

1254. Lobster Patties.

Prepare the patties as in the last receipt. Take a hen lobster already boiled; pick the meat from the tail and claws, and chop it fine; put it into a stewpan with a little of the inside sp.a.w.n pounded in a mortar till quite smooth, an ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter, half a gill of cream, and half a gill of veal consomme, cayenne pepper, and salt, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, the same of lemon juice, and a tablespoonful of flour and water: stew for five minutes.

1255. Egg and Ham Patties.

Cut a slice of bread two inches thick, from the most solid part of a stale quartern loaf: have ready a tin round cutter, two inches in diameter; cut out four or five pieces, then take a cutter two sizes smaller, press it nearly through the larger pieces, then remove with a small knife the bread from the inner circle: have ready a large stewpan full of boiling lard; fry the discs of bread of a light brown colour, drain them dry with a clean cloth, and set them by till wanted; then take half a pound of lean ham, mince it small, add to it a gill of good brown sauce; stir it over the fire a few minutes, and put to it a small quant.i.ty of cayenne pepper and lemon juice: fill the shapes with the mixture, and lay a poached egg upon each.

1256. Veal and Ham Patties.

Chop about six ounces of ready-dressed lean veal, and three ounces of ham, very small; put it into a stewpan with an ounce of b.u.t.ter rolled in flour, half a gill of cream, half a gill of veal stock, a little grated nutmeg and lemon peel, some cayenne pepper and salt, a spoonful of essence of ham, and lemon juice, and stir it over the fire some time, taking care it does not burn.

1257. Puff Paste.

To a pound and a quarter of sifted flour, rub gently in with the hand half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, mix up with half a pint of spring water, knead it well, and set it by for a quarter of an hour; then roll it out thin, lay on it in small pieces three quarters of a pound more of b.u.t.ter, throw on it a little flour, double it up in folds, and roll it out thin three times, and set it by for about an hour _in a cold place_. Or, if a more substantial and savoury paste be desired, use the following:

1258. Paste for Meat or Savoury Pies.

Sift two pounds of fine flour to a pound and a half of good salt b.u.t.ter, break it into small pieces, and wash it well in cold water; rub gently together the b.u.t.ter and flour, and mix it up with the yolks of three eggs, beat together with a spoon, and nearly a pint of spring water; roll it out, and double it in folds three times, and it is ready.

1259. Chicken and Ham Patties.

Use the white meat from the breast of the chickens or fowls, and proceed as for veal and ham patties.

1260. Prime Beef Sausages.

Take a pound of lean beef, and half a pound of suet, remove the skin, chop it fine as for mince collop, then beat it well with a roller, or in a marble mortar, till it is all well mixed and will stick together; season highly, and make into flat round cakes, about an inch thick, and shaped with a cup or saucer, and fry of a light brown. The sausages should be served up on boiled rice, as for curry, if for company, you may do them with eggs and bread-crumbs; but they are quite as good without. Or they may be rolled in puff or pie paste, and baked.

1261. Potato Puffs.

Take cold roast meat, either beef, or mutton, or veal and ham, clear it from the gristle, cut it small, and season with pepper, salt, and pickles, finely minced. Boil and mash some potatoes, and make them into a paste with one or two eggs; roll out the paste, with a dust of flour, cut it round with a saucer, put some of your seasoned meat on one half, and fold the other half over it like a puff; pinch or nick it neatly round, and fry of a light brown. This is an elegant method of preparing meat that has been dressed before.

[THE STEAM FROM A KETTLE SUGGESTED THE STEAM ENGINE.]

1262. Fried Eggs and Minced Ham or Bacon.

Choose some very fine bacon streaked with a good deal of lean; cut this into very thin slices, and afterwards into small square pieces; throw them into a stewpan and set it over a gentle fire, that they may lose some of their fat. When as much as will freely come is thus melted from them, lay them on a warm dish. Put into a stewpan a ladleful of melted bacon or lard; set it on a stove; put in about a dozen of the small pieces of bacon, then incline the stewpan and break in an egg. Manage this carefully, and the egg will presently be done: it will be very round, and the little dice of bacon will stick to it all over, so that it will make, a very pretty appearance. Take care the yolks do not harden. When the egg is thus done, lay it carefully on a warm dish, and do the others.

1263. Fish Cake.

Take the meat from the bones of any kind of cold fish, and put the bones with the head and fins into a stewpan with a pint of water, a little salt, pepper, an onion, and a f.a.ggot of sweet herbs, to stew for gravy. Mince the meat, and mix it well with crumbs of bread and cold potatoes, equal parts, a little parsley and seasoning. Make into a cake, with the white of an egg, or a little b.u.t.ter or milk; egg it over, and cover with bread crumbs, then fry a light brown. Pour the gravy over, and stew gently for fifteen minutes, stirring it carefully twice or thrice. Serve hot, and garnish with slices of lemon, or parsley. These cakes aiford a capital relish from sc.r.a.ps of cold fish.

Housekeepers who would know how to economise all kinds of nutritious fragments, should refer to the "Family Save-all," which supplies a complete course of "Secondary Cookery." [1]