Produced by Digital  Multimedia Center Michigan State University Libraries Steve Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamDIRECTIONS FOR COOKERY IN ITS VARIOUS BRANCHESBYMISS LESLIETENTH EDITION WITH IMPROVEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY RECEIPTS1840PREFACEThe success of her little book entitled Seventyfive Receipts inCakes Pastry and Sweetmeats has encouraged the author toattempt a larger and more miscellaneous work on the subject ofcookery comprising as far as practicable whatever is most usefulin its various departments and particularly adapted to thedomestic economy of her own country Designing it as a manual ofAmerican housewifery she has avoided the insertion of any disheswhose ingredients cannot be procured on our side of the Atlanticand which require for their preparation utensils that are rarelyfound except in Europe Also she has omitted every thing whichmay not by the generality of tastes be considered good of itskind and well worth the trouble and cost of preparingThe author has spared no pains in collecting and arrangingperhaps the greatest number of practical and original receiptsthat have ever appeared in a similar work flattering herself thatshe has rendered them so explicit as to be easily understood andfollowed even by inexperienced cooks The directions are given asminutely as if each receipt was to stand alone by itself allreferences to others being avoided except in some few instancesto the one immediately preceding it being a just cause ofcomplaint that in some of the late cookery books the readerbefore finishing the article is desired to search out pages andnumbers in remote parts of the volumeIn the hope that her system of cookery may be consulted with equaladvantage by families in town and in country by those whosecondition makes it expedient to practise economy and by otherswhose circumstances authorize a liberal expenditure the authorsends it to take its chance among the multitude of similarpublications satisfied that it will meet with as much success asit may be found to deservemore she has no right to expect_Philadelphia April 15th 1837_INTRODUCTORY HINTSWEIGHTS AND MEASURESWe recommend to all families that they should keep in the house apair of scales one of the scales deep enough to hold floursugar c conveniently and a set of tin measures as accuracyin proportioning the ingredients is indispensable to success incookery It is best to have the scales permanently fixed to asmall beam projecting for instance from one of the shelves ofthe storeroom This will preclude the frequent inconvenience oftheir getting twisted unlinked and otherwise out of order acommon consequence of putting them in and out of their box andcarrying them from place to place The weights of which thereshould be a set from two pounds to a quarter of an ounce oughtcarefully to be kept in the box that none of them may be lost ormislaidA set of tin measures with small spouts or lips from a gallondown to half a jill will be found very convenient in everykitchen though common pitchers bowls glasses c may besubstituted It is also well to have a set of wooden measures froma bushel to a quarter of a peckLet it be remembered that of liquid measureTwo jills are half a pintTwo pintsone quartFour quartsone gallonOf dry measureHalf a gallon is a quarter of a peckOne gallonhalf a peckTwo gallonsone peckFour gallonshalf a bushelEight gallonsone bushelAbout twentyfive drops of any thin liquid will fill a commonsized teaspoonFour tablespoonfuls or half a jill will fill a common wineglassFour wine glasses will fill a halfpint or common tumbler or alarge coffeecupA quart black bottle holds in reality about a pint and a halfOf flour butter sugar and most articles used in cakes andpastry a quart is generally about equal in quantity to a poundavoirdupois sixteen ounces Avoirdupois is the weightdesignated throughout this bookTen eggs generally weigh one pound before they are brokenA tablespoonful of salt is generally about one ounceGENERAL CONTENTSSoups including those of FishFish various ways of dressingShell Fish Oysters Lobsters Crabs cBeef including pickling and smoking itVealMutton and LambPork including Bacon Sausages cVenison Hares Rabbits cPoultry and GameGravy and SaucesStore Fish Sauces Catchups cFlavoured Vinegars Mustards  PepperVegetables including Indian Corn Tomatas Mushrooms cEggs usual ways of dressing including OmeletsPicklingSweetmeats including Preserves and JelliesPastry and Puddings also Pancakes Dumplings Custards cSyllabubs also Ice Creams and BlancmangeCakes including various sweet Cakes and GingerbreadWarm Cakes for Breakfast and Tea also Bread Yeast ButterCheese Tea Coffee cDomestic Liquors including homemade Beer Wines ShrubCordials cPreparations for the SickPerfumeryMiscellaneous ReceiptsAdditional ReceiptsAnimals used as Butchers MeatIndexMISS LESLIES COOKERYSOUPSGENERAL REMARKSAlways use soft water for making soup and be careful toproportion the quantity of water to that of the meat Somewhatless than a quart of water to a pound of meat is a good rule forcommon soups Rich soups intended for company may have a stillsmaller allowance of waterSoup should always be made entirely of fresh meat that has notbeen previously cooked An exception to this rule may sometimes bemade in favour of the remains of a piece of roast beef that hasbeen _very much_ underdone in roasting This may be_added_ to a good piece of raw meat Cold ham also may beoccasionally put into white soupsSoup made of cold meat has always a vapid disagreeable tastevery perceptible through all the seasoning and which nothingindeed can disguise Also it will be of a bad dingy colour Thejuices of the meat having been exhausted by the first cooking theundue proportion of watery liquid renders it for soupindigestible and unwholesome as well as unpalatable As there islittle or no nutriment to be derived from soup made with coldmeat it is better to refrain from using it for this purpose andto devote the leavings of the table to some other object Noperson accustomed to really good soup made from fresh meat canever be deceived in the taste even when flavoured with wine andspices It is not true that French cooks have the art of producing_excellent_ soups from cold scraps There is much _bad_soup to be found in France at inferior houses but _good_French cooks are not as is generally supposed really in thepractice of concocting any dishes out of the refuse of