Chowders And Soups.[edit | edit source]
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 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 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; 11/2 pounds of sea biscuit broken; 1 teaspoonful of thyme mixed with one of sum- mer 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 mut- ton, 1 pound each; put them into a saucepan, with 2 quarts of water, put into a clean cloth 1 ounce of bar- ley, 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 ex- tracted. 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 pep- per, 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 be- come 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 wa- ter 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 tea- spoonful of mushroom catsup, answers as well as the bone.
Giblet Soup
Take 4 pounds of gravy beef, 2 pounds of scrag of mut- ton, and 2 pounds of scrag of veal; boil them in 2 gal- lons 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 gentle- man'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 incorpo- rated 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 11/2 ounces of pep- per - 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 re- stored by the addition of warm water. All the seasoning requisite to make it as savory as plain family dishes gen- erally 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
Sot 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 marrow- bone or a fowl, with 2 pounds of either lean beef or mut- ton, 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 1 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 addi- tion.
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 dis- agrees 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 ad- hering 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 spice may 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 stew- pan 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 boil- ing, 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 pearl- barley, 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 mut- ton, cut it into several pieces, wash them in cold wa- ter, 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.
Drawn Butter
Half pint of boiling water, 2 teaspoonful of flour, and 2 ounces of butter. Mix the flour and butter together until they are perfectly smooth. Stir this into the boiling water, and add salt to taste. If made with milk in place of water, leas butter will answer.
Common Sauce
Soak slices of veal, ham, onions, parsnips, 2 doves of gar- lic, 2 heads of cloves, then add broth, a glass of white wine, and 2 slices of lemon; simmer it over a slow fire, skim it well, and sift it.
Miser's Sauce
Chop 5 or 6 large onions, mix a little verjuice, or vinegar, pepper, salt, and a little butter; serve it up either warm or cold.
Parson's Sauce
Chop lemon-peel very fine, with 2 or 3 pickled cucum- bers, a bit of butter, salt, and coarse pepper, a little flour, with 2 spoonful of catsup, and stew it on the fire without boiling.
Nonpareil Sauce
Take a slice of boiled ham, as much breast of roasted fowl, a pickled cucumber, a hard yolk of an egg, one an- chovy, a little parsley, and a bend of shallot, chopped very fine; boil it a moment in good catsup, and use it for meat or fish.
Nivernoise Sauce
Put in a smell stewpan a couple of slices of ham, a clove of garlic, 2 cloves, a laurel-leaf, sliced onions, and roots; let it catch the fire a little. Then add a small quantity of broth, 2 spoonful of catsup, and a spoonful of the best vinegar. Simmer it for an hour on the side of the stove, then sift it in a sieve, and serve it for a high flavored sauce.
Gravy Cakes
Chop 2 legs of beef in pieces, put them into a pot of wa- ter, stew it over a slow fire a day and a night; then add onions, herbs, and spices as for gravy; continue stewing it till the meat is off the bones, and the gravy quite out; then strain the liquor into a milk -pan, to which quan- tity it should be reduced; when cold, take off the fat, put it into a saucepan, and add whatever is required to fla- vor it; simmer it on a slow fire till reduced to about 12 saucers twothirds full, put them in an airy place till as dry as leather, put them in paper bags, and keep in a dry place.
Sailor's Sauce
Chop a fowl's liver with a or 3 shallots, and a couple of truffles or mushrooms; simmer these in a spoonful of oil, 2 or 3 spoonful of gravy, a glass of wine, a little salt and coarse pepper, simmer it about half an hour, and skim it very well before using.
Queen's Sauce
Simmer crumbs of bread in good gravy, until it is quite thick, take it off the fire, and add a few sweet almonds pounded, 2 hard yolks of eggs, and a breast of fowl roasted, all pounded very fine; boil a sufficient quantity of cream to your sauce, and sift all together, then add pepper and salt, and warm it without boiling.
Tomato Catsup
Boil tomatoes, full ripe, in their juice, to neatly the con- sistence of a pulp, pass them through a hair sieve, and add salt to the taste. Aromatize it sufficiently with clove, pepper, and nutmegs.
Catsup for Sea-stores
Take a gallon of strong stale beer, a pound of anchovies washed from the pickle, the same of shallots peeled, 1/2 an ounce of mace, 1/2 an ounce of cloves, 1/4 of an ounce of whole pepper 3 or 4 large races of ginger, and 2 quarts of large mushroom flaps, rubbed to pieces. Cover these close, and let it simmer till half wasted. Then strain it through a flannel bag; let it stand till quite cold, and then bottle it. This may be carried to any part of the world; and a spoonful of it to a pound of fresh butter melted, will make a fine fish sauce, or will supply the place of gravy sauce. The stronger and staler the beer the better will be the catsup. Another. - Chop 24 anchovies, having first boned them; put to them 10 shallots cut small, and a handful of scraped horse-radish, 1/4 of an ounce of mace, a quart of white wine, a pint of water, and the same quantity of red wine, a lemon cut into slices, 1/2 a pint of anchovy liquor, 12 cloves, and the same number of peppercorns. Boil them together till it comes to a quart, then strain it off cover it close, and keep it in a cold dry place. Two spoonful of it will be sufficient for a pound of better. It is a good sauce for boiled fowls, or, in the room of gravy lowering it with hot water, and thickening it with a piece of butter rolled in flour.
Fish Sauce
Take 1 pound of anchovies, a quart of claret, of a pint of white wine vinegar, 1/2 an ounce of cloves and mace, 2 rages of ginger sliced, a little black pepper, the peel of a lemon, a piece of horseradish, a large onion, a bunch of thyme and savory; set all these over a slow fire to simmer an hour, then strain it through a sieve; when cold put it in a bottle with the spice, but not the herbs. To a large coffeecupful cold, put a pound of butter; stir it over the fire till it is as thick as cream; shake the bottle when used, and put no water to the butter.
Cream Sauce for a Hare Run the cream over the hare or venison just before froth- ing it, and catch it in a dish; boil it up with the yolks of two eggs, some onion, and a piece of butter rolled in flour and salt. Half a pint of cream is the proportion for two eggs.
Apple Sauce
Pare and core tart apples, cut them in slices, rinse and put them in an earthern stewpan, set them on the fire, do not stir them until they burst and are done: mash them with a spoon, and when perfectly cool sweeten with white sugar to taste.
Sweet Sauce
Mix 2 glasses of red wine, one of vinegar, 3 teaspoonful of cullis, a bit of sugar, 1 sliced onion, a little cinnamon, and a laurel-leaf; boil them a quarter of an hour.
Nun's Butter
Four ounces of butter, six ounces of sugar; as much wine as the butter will take. Beat the butter and sugar to- gether, and gradually add the wine and a little nutmeg.
Brown Sauce Mix together one tablespoonful of moist sugar, two of French vinegar, three of salad oil, a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, some pepper and salt, end serve.
A Dish of Macaroni
Boil 4 ounces of macaroni till it is quite tender, then lay it on a sieve to drain, and put it into a stewpan with about a gill of cream, and a piece of butter rolled in flour; stew it five minutes and pour it on a plate. Lay Parmesan cheese toasted all over it' and send it up in a water-plate.
Cole-Slaw
Get a fresh cabbage, take off the outside leaves, out it in half, and with a sharp knife shave it into fine slips. Put it into a deep dish, and pour over it a dressing prepared in the following manner: Beat up 2 eggs, add to it 1 gill of vinegar and water mixed; place it on the range; when it begins to thicken stir in a piece of butter the size of a small walnut, a little salt, when cold pour it over the cabbage and stir it to- gether; and before sending to table sprinkle with a little black pepper.
To boil Peas
Early peas require about half an hour to boil and the later kinds rather longer, the water should boil when they are put in; when they are tough and yellow, they may be made tender and green by putting in a little pearl-ash or ashes tied up in a bag, just before they are taken up, this will tender all green vegetables, but do not put too much; when done dip them out; drain and season them with butter, pepper and salt; put a bench of parsley in the middle of the dish.
String Beans
These, to be tender, should be boiled from three to four hours, after the strings have been very carefully re- moved. Add a little butter, salt and black pepper when they are dished.
