wendys-llc/domestic-receipts huggingface dataset:
Veal Soup

Take the knuckle and put it into salted water, enough to cover it, and
also put in a pound of ham. When it is boiled very tender take up the
meat, and strain the soup, and add a head of celery, cut small, one
onion, a turnip and carrot sliced, four sliced tomatoes, a dozen corns
of pepper, and salt to your taste. Thicken with three great spoonfuls
of rice, or vermicelli, or a thin flour paste. Simmer it gently till
all the vegetables are done.

Almost any kind of meat can be made into soup, by taking the broth, and
adding various kinds of seasoning and thickening; such as tomatoes,
ochra, vermicelli, sweet herbs, and vegetables, and in such proportions
as each one likes best. The preceding kinds of soup will be a guide as
to proportions.
Macaroni Soup (Mrs. F.’s Receipt)

Take six pounds of beef, and put it into four quarts of water, with
two onions, one carrot, one turnip, and a head of celery. Boil it down
three or four hours slowly, till there is about two quarts of water,
and let it cool. Next day take off the grease, without shaking the
sediment, and pour it off into the kettle, half an hour before dinner
(leaving the sediment out), and add salt to suit the taste, a pint of
macaroni, broken into inch pieces, and a tablespoonful and a half of
tomato catsup.
Southern Gumbo (Mrs. L.’s Receipt)

This is a favorite dish at the South and West, and is made in a variety
of ways. The following is a very fine receipt, furnished by a lady, who
has had an extensive opportunity for selection.

Fry one chicken, when cut up, to a light brown, and also two slices of
bacon. Pour on to them three quarts of boiling water. Add one onion and
some sweet herbs, tied in a rag. Simmer them gently three hours and a
half. Strain off the liquor, take off the fat, and then put the ham and
chicken, cut into small pieces, into the liquor. Add half a tea-cup
of _ochre_, cut up; if dry, the same quantity; also half a tea-cup of
rice. Boil all half an hour, and just before serving add a glass of
wine and a dozen oysters, with their juice. Ochre is a fine vegetable,
especially for soups, and is easily cultivated. It is sliced and dried
for soups in winter.
Giblet Soup

Take the feet, neck, pinions, and giblets of two fowls, and add a pound
and a half of veal, and a slice of lean ham. Pour on three quarts of
cold water, and boil gently till the meat is very soft. Strain off the
liquor, and, when cold, take off the fat. Cut the giblets and meat into
half-inch pieces; add a tablespoonful of flour with one of butter, and
some of the soup to thin it. Then put into the soup the butter and
meat, with some sweet herbs tied in a bag, with salt to your taste.
Boil it half an hour and it is done.
Directions for making Chowder

The best fish for chowder are haddock and striped bass. Cut the fish
in pieces of an inch thick, and two inches square. Take six or eight
good-sized slices of salt pork, and put in the bottom of an iron pot,
and fry them in the pot till crisped. Take out the pork, leaving the
fat. Chop the pork fine. Put in the pot a layer of fish, a layer
of split crackers, some of the chopped pork, black and red pepper,
and chopped onion, then another layer of fish, split crackers, and
seasoning. This do till you have used your fish. Then just cover the
fish with water, and stew slowly till the fish is perfectly tender.
Take out the fish, and put it in the dish in which you mean to serve
it; set it to keep warm. Thicken the gravy with pounded cracker; add,
if you like, mushroom catsup and Port wine. Boil the gravy up once,
and pour over the fish; squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and garnish
with slices of lemon.

If not salt enough from the pork, more must be added.
To Fry Fish

Fry some slices of salt pork, say a slice for each pound, and when
brown take them up, and add lard enough to cover the fish. Skim it
well, and have it hot, then dip the fish in flour, without salting it,
and fry a light brown. Then take the fish up, and add to the gravy a
little flour paste, pepper, salt; also wine, catsup, and spices, if you
like. Put the fish and pork on a dish, and, after one boil, pour this
gravy over the whole.

Fish are good dipped first in egg and then in Indian meal, or cracker
crumbs and egg, previous to frying.
To Boil Fish

Fill the fish with a stuffing of chopped salt pork, and bread, or bread
and butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sew it up. Then sew it
into a cloth, or you cannot take it up well. Put it in cold water, with
water enough to cover it, salted at the rate of a teaspoonful of salt
to each pound of fish, and about three tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Boil
it slowly for twenty or thirty minutes, or till the fin is easily drawn
out. Serve with drawn butter and eggs, with capers or nasturtions in it.

Fish can be baked in the same way, except sewing it up in a cloth.
Instead of this, cover it with egg and cracker, or bread crumbs.
To Broil Fish

Salt fish must be soaked several hours before broiling. Rub suet on
the bars of your gridiron, then put the fish flesh side down (some say
skin side down, as it saves the juices better), and broil till nearly
cooked through. Then lay a dish on it, and turn the fish by inverting
the gridiron over the dish. Broil slowly, and never pile broiled fish
one above another on the dish.
Baked Fish

Cod, bass, and shad are good for baking. Stuff them with a seasoning
made of bread crumbs or crackers, butter, salt, pepper, and, if you
like, spices. Put the fish in a bake-pan, with a tea-cup of water, and
a bit of butter, and bake from forty-five to sixty minutes.
Cod Sounds and Tongues

Soak them four hours in blood-warm water, then scrape off the skin, cut
them up, and stew them in a little milk till tender. Just before taking
up stir in butter, and a little flour paste, and scatter cold boiled
eggs cut up over them.
To Cook Salt Codfish

Soak the fish in a pailful of water all night. Then hang it in a good
deal of water where it will be kept warm. Put one even great spoonful
of saleratus in the water. (This last softens it as nothing else will
do.) Change the water an hour before dinner, and hang it where it will
get scalding hot. It must not boil, but only simmer. Take it up into a
napkin, so as to keep it dry and hot.
To Cook Cold Codfish

Mash boiled potatoes, mash the fish and mix with them, adding some
cream or milk, and a little pepper, make them into round cakes an inch
thick, and fry them in fresh lard.
To Cook Oysters

Oysters are best roasted in the shell, convex side downward, to hold
the juices, and cooked till they will open well. They are good also
cooked in a batter made by adding wheat flour to the juice till it is
a batter, and adding two eggs and a salt spoonful of salt. Fry in hot
lard to a light brown.
Lobsters

These must never be cooked after they are dead. Put them alive into
boiling water, and boil them till the small joints come off easily.
Scolloped Oysters

Take the oysters from the liquor, and place some at the bottom of the
dish, then grate some bread over them, a little nutmeg, pepper, salt,
and cloves. Add another laying of oysters, and the seasoning, a little
butter, and a glass of wine. Cover the whole with grated bread, and
bake half an hour, or perhaps a little more. There will be liquor
enough without adding any water or oyster broth.
Pickled Oysters

After taking out the oysters, to each quart of liquor put a teaspoonful
of pepper, two blades of mace, three tablespoonfuls of white wine, and
four of vinegar, also a tablespoonful of salt. Simmer the oysters in
this five minutes, then take them out and put in jars, then boil the
pickle, skim it, and pour it over them.
To Crimp Fresh Fish

Cut in slices and lay them for three hours in salt and water, and a
glass of vinegar, then fry or broil them.
To Cook Eels

Dress them, lay them open flat, rub them with salt and pepper, cut them
in short pieces, and broil them. Small ones are best skinned and fried.
To Cook Scollops

Boil them, take out the hearts (which is the only part used), dip them
in flour and fry brown in lard, or stew with butter, pepper, salt, and
a little water.
A Good Way of Using Cold Fresh Fish

Take cold cooked fish, chop it with bread crumbs, pepper, salt, and
boiled salt pork, or ham; season with salt, pepper, catsup, or wine.
Mould into balls with egg and bread crumbs, and fry in lard.
To Cook Clams

Thin-edged clams are the best ones. Roast them in a pan over a hot
fire, or in a hot oven, placing them so as to save the juice. When they
open, empty the juice into a sauce-pan, and add the clams with butter,
pepper, and very little salt.

To boil them, put them in a pot with a very little water, and so as to
save their juices. Proceed as above, and lay buttered toast in the dish
when you take them up. Clams are good put into a batter and fried.
To prepare Gravy for a Cold Beef Hash, or Steak Hash

For a small dish for six persons, put a tea-cup and a half of boiling
water into a small sauce-pan, and make a thin paste with a heaping
teaspoonful of flour, wet with a great spoonful of cold water. Stir it
in, and boil it three minutes. Then put in half a teaspoonful of black
pepper and rather more salt, and let it stand where it will be kept
hot, but not boiling, till fifteen minutes before it is to be used.

Then cut the beef into half-inch mouthfuls and take as many mouthfuls
of cold boiled potato, and half as many of cold turnip. Put these all
together into a tin pan the size of a dining plate. Then stir in two
great spoonfuls of butter into the gravy till melted, and, if you like
tomato catsup, add a great spoonful, and pour it over the hash, and
cover it with a plate and let it heat on the stove, or trivet, ten
minutes, and then serve it.

If the hash is made without vegetables, take only a tea-cup full of
water, and a teaspoonful of flour, and a little less pepper and salt.

If you have the beef gravy of yesterday, use it instead of butter, and
put in less pepper, salt, butter, and water, and only one spoonful of
butter.

If tomatoes are liked, peel and slice two large ones, and add with the
potatoes and turnips.

Let a housekeeper try this, and then vary it to her own taste, or the
taste of her family, and then write the exact proportions for the use
of all the future cooks of her family.
Gravy for a Mutton Hash, or Venison Hash

For a dish for six persons, take a tea-cup and a half of boiling water,
and slice fine one small onion (say one an inch in diameter) into it,
to give a slight flavor of onion, and thus hide the strong mutton
taste. Mix a thin paste made with a heaping teaspoonful of flour, wet
with a great spoonful of water, stir it in, and let it boil three
minutes, adding a half a teaspoonful of black pepper, and rather more
salt. Then set it where it will keep hot, but not boil, till wanted.

Cut the mutton into half-inch mouthfuls, leaving out most of the fat.
Cut up the same number of mouthfuls of cold boiled potatoes, and half
as much cold boiled turnips, and slice in two large peeled tomatoes,
or cold boiled parsnip, or both. Mix them in a tin pan the size of a
dining plate, stir two great spoonfuls of butter into the gravy, and,
if you like, a great spoonful of tomato catsup, and pour it on to the
hash. Cover it with a plate, and set it to heat ten minutes on the
stove, or on a trivet over coals.

If you do not put in vegetables, take less water, salt, and pepper. If
you do not put in onion, put in a wine-glass of currant, plum, or grape
jelly, or squeeze in some lemon juice when you add the butter, and
leave out the catsup, or not, as you like. Modify to suit your taste,
and then write the proportions exactly, for all future cooks of your
family.
To prepare a Veal Hash

Take a tea-cup of boiling water in a sauce-pan, and mix in an even
teaspoonful of flour wet with a spoonful of cold water, and let it boil
five minutes. Then add, not quite half a teaspoonful of black pepper,
as much salt, and two great spoonfuls of butter, and set it where it
will keep hot, but not boil.

Chop the veal very fine, and mix with it, while chopping, half as much
stale bread crumbs. Put it in a tin pan and pour the gravy on to it,
and let it heat on a stove or trivet ten minutes.

Toast some bread and cut it into triangular pieces, and lay it on the
bottom of a dish. Spread the hash over, and pour on the gravy. Cut
slices of lemon to lay on the top and around the edge of the platter.

If you like a seasoning of sweet herbs with this hash, the nicest way
is to tie some in a rag and boil it in the water of the gravy when you
first mix it.
Common Gravies

Pour out the drippings of the tin roaster through a gravy strainer,
into a pan, and set it away till cold. Next day, scrape the sediment
from the bottom and then use it to make gravy in place of butter, for
hashes. Mutton drippings must never be used for cooking.

It is not fashionable to have gravy made for roast beef or mutton, as
the juice of the meat is preferred, which, on the plate, is mixed with
catsup or whatever is preferred.

Gravies for poultry are made as directed in the article on roasting
meats.

_Drawn butter_ is the foundation of most common gravies, and is to be
prepared in either of the two ways described below.
Drawn Butter, or Melted Butter

Rub in two teaspoonfuls of flour into a quarter of a pound of butter.
Add five tablespoonfuls of cold water. Set it into boiling water and
let it melt, and heat until it begins to simmer, and it is done. Never
simmer it on coals, as it fries the oil and spoils it. Be careful not
to have the flour in lumps. If it is to be used with fish, put in
chopped eggs and nasturtions, or capers.

If used with boiled fowl, put in oysters while it is simmering, and let
them heat through.
Another Mode of preparing Drawn Butter

Make three teaspoonfuls of flour into a thin batter, and stir it
into a tea-cup of boiling water in a sauce-pan, and let it boil five
minutes. Then take it off, and cut up a quarter of a pound of butter
into pieces, and put in and keep it hot till it is melted. This is
the easiest way, and if it is for very rich cooking more butter may be
added.
Drawn Meat Gravies, or Brown Gravies

Put into a sauce-pan fresh meat cut in small pieces, seasoned with salt
and pepper and a bit of butter, and heat it half an hour, till brown,
stirring so that it shall not stick.

Pour on boiling water, a pint for each pound--simmer three hours and
skim it well. Settle and strain it, and set it aside to use. Thicken,
when you need it, with brown flour, a teaspoonful to a half pint.
A Nice Article to use for Gravy, or Soup

Take butter the size of an egg, add a tablespoonful of sugar, put it in
a skillet, and stir it till a dark brown, then dredge in flour, and use
it to darken gravy or soup.
Burnt Butter for Fish, or Eggs

Heat two ounces of butter in a frying-pan, till a dark brown, then add
a tablespoonful of vinegar, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a
dozen shakes from the pepper box.
Sauce for Salad, or Fish

Take the yolk of two eggs boiled hard, mash them with a mustard
spoonful of mustard, a little black pepper, a little salt, three
tablespoonfuls of salad oil, and three of vinegar. A tablespoonful of
catsup would improve it for many.
Wine Sauce for Mutton, or Venison

Take half a pint of the liquor in which the meat was cooked, and when
boiling, put in pepper, salt, currant jelly, and wine to your taste;
add about a teaspoonful of scorched flour, mixed with a little water.
Oyster Sauce

Take a pint of oyster juice, add a little salt and pepper, and a stick
of mace, boil it five minutes, and then add two teaspoonfuls of flour,
wet up in half a tea-cup of milk. Let this boil two minutes, then put
in the oysters and a bit of butter the size of an egg; in two minutes
take them up.
Lobster Sauce

Mix in six tablespoonfuls of vinegar, the yolks of two boiled eggs,
some of the lobster spawn, a mustard spoonful of mustard, two
tablespoonfuls of salad oil or melted butter, and a little salt and
pepper.
Apple Sauce

Boil peeled and quartered tart apples, and put in butter and sugar to
your taste. If boiled in cider with quinces, it will keep a long time.
The fresh-made is best.
Celery Sauce for Boiled Fowls

Take four or five celery heads, and cut up all but the green tops into
small pieces, and boil it in half a pint of water till tender. Mix
two teaspoonfuls of flour with a little milk and put in, with a salt
spoonful of salt, and butter the size of an egg. When it boils, take it
up.
Celery Vinegar

This is fine to keep in the castor stand. Pound two gills of celery
seed, and add sharp vinegar. Shake every day for a week or two. The
flavor of sweet herbs and sage can be obtained by pouring vinegar on to
them, and for three successive days taking them out, and putting in a
fresh supply of herbs. It must be kept corked and sealed.
Essence of Celery, to flavor Soup

Bruise celery seed, and steep it in brandy for a fortnight. An ounce to
half a pint of brandy is enough. Half a teaspoonful will flavor soup.
Herb Spirit

It is convenient sometimes to use herb spirit instead of the herbs.
It is made thus. Take all the sweet herbs, as thyme, marjoram, sweet
basil, and summer savory, dry, pound, sift, and steep in brandy for a
fortnight; an ounce to half a pint.
Soup Powder

The following is a very convenient article for soups. Dry, pound, and
sift the following ingredients together. Take one ounce each, of lemon,
thyme, basil, sweet marjoram, summer savory, and dried lemon peel, with
two ounces of dried parsley, and a few dried celery seeds. Bottle it
tight. Horseradish can be sliced thin, dried and pounded, and kept in
a bottle for use. Mushrooms can be dried in a moderately warm oven,
then powdered with a little mace and pepper, and kept to season soup or
sauces.
Soy

One pound of salt, two pounds of sugar, fried half an hour over a slow
fire, then add three pints of boiling water, half a pint of essence of
anchovies, a dozen cloves, and some sweet herbs. Boil till the salt
dissolves, then strain and bottle it.
Tomato Catsup

Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, let them stand until you can rub
off the skin, then cover them with salt, and let them stand twenty-four
hours. Then strain them, and to two quarts put three ounces of cloves,
two ounces of pepper, two nutmegs. Boil half an hour, then add a pint
of wine.
Mushroom Catsup

Put the mushrooms in layers, with salt sprinkled over each layer, and
let them stand four days. Then mash them fine, and to every quart add
two-thirds of a teaspoonful of black pepper, and boil it in a stone jar
set in boiling water two hours. Strain it without squeezing, boil the
liquor, let it stand to cool and settle, then bottle, cork, and seal
it, and set it in a cool place.
Walnut Catsup

Bruise ten dozen young walnuts, add a quart of vinegar, and
three-fourths of a pound of fine salt. Let them stand two weeks,
stirring every day. Strain off the liquor, and add half an ounce of
black pepper whole, thirty cloves, half an ounce of bruised nutmeg,
half an ounce of ginger, and four sticks of mace. Boil the whole an
hour, then strain and bottle tight.
Potatoes

The great art of cooking potatoes is, to take them up _as soon_ as they
are done. Of course it is important to begin to cook them at the proper
time.

When boiled, baked, fried, or steamed, they are rendered watery by
continuing to cook them after they reach the proper point. For this
reason, potatoes, to bake or boil, should be selected so as to have
them nearly the same size. Begin with the largest first, and continue
to select the largest till all are gone. Be careful that the water does
not stop boiling, as thus the potatoes will be watery. Never boil them
very hard, as it breaks them.
Boiled Potatoes

Wash, but do not cut them. Put them in boiling water, having only a
small quantity more than enough to cover them. Put salt in, say a great
spoonful to half a pailful of potatoes. Boil them moderately; when
nearly done, let them simmer slowly, and when cooked (as is discovered,
not by their cracking, but by a fork) pour off the water, and let them
stand till dry. Medium-sized potatoes, when young, will cook in from
twenty to thirty minutes; when old, it requires double the time. When
peeled they boil fifteen minutes quicker. Old potatoes, in the spring,
are improved by soaking in water all night.
Other Modes of Cooking Potatoes

After boiling and peeling them, divide them and lay them on a gridiron
to brown. Or when cold, the day after boiling, cut them in slices, and
cook them on a griddle, with just enough lard to make them brown, or
you can brown them on a gridiron.

Another pretty mode for a fancy dish is, to peel large potatoes and
then cut them round and round in shavings, as you pare an apple. Fry
them with clean sweet lard in a frying-pan, till brown, stirring them
to brown alike, drain them on a sieve, and after sprinkling a little
fine salt over them, place them on the table.

Another tasteful mode is, after boiling and peeling them, to flour
them, then dip them in the yolk of an egg, and roll them in fine bread
crumbs. Then fry them till brown and they look very handsomely, and are
excellent to the taste. Fry them without this preparation and they are
very nice.

When potatoes become old, mash them fine, season with salt and butter,
and a little cream or milk, place them in a dish, smoothing and shaping
the top handsomely, and making checks with a knife; then brown them in
a stove, or range-oven, and they are excellent. These can also be made
into balls, dipped in egg and crumbs, and fried as directed above, and
they look very handsomely.

Potatoes, when roasted, should be very carefully washed and rinsed, and
then roasted in a Dutch oven, or stove oven. Notice, lest they be put
in too soon, and thus be made watery by cooking too long.

The following is a very nice way of preparing potatoes for breakfast.
Peel them, and cut them in very thin slices into a very little boiling
water, so little that it will be evaporated when they are cooked.
At this point, add salt to your taste, some cream, or if you have
not cream put in a _very little_ milk and a bit of butter. A little
practice will make this a very favorite dish in any family. The art
is, to cook the potatoes with very little water, so that it will be
evaporated at the time the potatoes are done. They must be stirred
while cooking occasionally.

Another mode is, to mash the potatoes and add salt, butter, and a
little cream, and set them away. Then cut them in slices, and fry for
breakfast.

Many think the following the best way of boiling potatoes. Peel them,
and soak in cold water two hours. Boil in just enough water to cover
them. When about done, pour off the water, and let them steam five
minutes uncovered.
Turnips

Boil turnips in a vessel by themselves. Try them with a fork, and
if sweet and good, send them to the table when taken up. If watery,
mash them, wring them in a cloth, and add salt and butter, and if the
sweetness is gone, add a little white sugar, and they will be as good
as new. Boil them in a good deal of water, with salt in it. If they
boil too long, they lose their sweetness and become bitter. An hour is
the medium time required.
Asparagus

Keep it cool and moist on the cellar bottom till wanted.

Throw it into cold water, cut off all that is tough, tie it in small
bundles, salt the water when boiling, and then put them in and let them
boil from fifteen to twenty-five minutes. When done, take it up with a
skimmer, lay it on buttered toast, and put butter on to it. Drain it
well on the skimmer before putting it on the toast, or it will spoil
the dish.
Beets

Beets must not be cut, as this makes them lose their sweetness. Salt
the water, and boil them in summer an hour, and in winter three hours.
Parsnips and Carrots

Parsnips and carrots must be split, or else the outside is done too
much before the inside is cooked sufficiently. Salt the water, and boil
them when young half an hour, and two hours when old. Boil enough to
have some to slice and fry for the next day’s dinner or breakfast, as
they are much the best cooked in this way.
Onions

Select the white kind, peel them and put them in boiling milk, a little
salted, and boil them from half to three quarters of an hour. When
taken up, drain in a colander, pour a little melted butter over them,
or put on cold butter.