Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book - Leslie Eliza

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split peas in a pot by themselves, till they are quite dissolved, and then add them to the ingredients in the other pot.

      Vegetable soups require a large portion of vegetables, and butter always, as a substitute for meat.

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      For summer.—This is a fast-day soup. Pare and slice six cucumbers, and cut up the white part or heart of six lettuces; slice two onions, and cut small the leaves of six sprigs of fresh green mint, unless mint is disliked by the persons that are to eat the soup; in which case, substitute parsley. Add a quart of young green peas. Put the whole into a soup-pot, with as much water as will more than cover them well. Season slightly with salt and a little cayenne, and add half a pound of nice fresh butter, divided into six, each piece dredged well with flour. Boil the whole for an hour and a half. Then serve it up, without straining; having colored it green with a tea-cup of pounded spinach juice.

      When green peas are out of season, you may substitute tomatos peeled and quartered.

      This soup, having no meat, is chiefly for fast days, but will be found good at any time.

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      On the days that you bake bread, you may have a dish of thick soup with very little trouble, by putting into a large earthen jug or pipkin, or covered pan, the following articles:—Two pounds of fresh beef, or mutton, cut into small slices, having first removed the fat; two sliced onions and four carrots, and four parsnips cut in four; also, four turnips, six potatos pared and cut up, and half a dozen tomatos, peeled and quartered. Season the whole with a little salt and pepper. A large beet, scraped and cut up, will be an improvement. To these things pour on three quarts of water. Cover the earthen vessel, and set it in the oven with the bread, and let the soup bake at the same time.

      If the bread is done before the dinner hour, you must keep the soup still longer in the oven.

      Do not use cold meat for this or any other soup, unless you are very poor.

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      This must always be done with the greatest care and nicety. If sent to table imperfectly cleaned, they are disgraceful to the cook, and disgusting to the sight and taste. Handle the fish lightly; not roughly so as to bruise it. Wash it well, but do not leave it in the water longer than is needful. It will lose its flavor, and become insipid, if soaked. To scale it, lay the fish flat upon one side, holding it firmly in the left hand, and with the right taking off the scales by means of a knife. When both sides are done, pour sufficient cold water over it to float off all the loose scales that may have escaped your notice. It is best to pump on it. Then proceed to open and empty the fish. Be sure that not the smallest particle of the entrails is left in. Scrape all carefully from the backbone. Wash out all the blood from the inside. A dexterous cook can draw a fish without splitting it entirely down, all the way from head to tail. Smelts and other small fish are drawn or emptied at the gills.

      All fish should be cleaned or drawn as soon as they are brought in, and then kept on ice, till the moment for cooking.

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      No fish can be fit to eat unless the eyes are prominent and lively, the gills very red, and the body firm and stiff, springing back immediately when bent round to try them. Every scale must be carefully scraped off, and the entrails entirely extracted; not the smallest portion being carelessly left sticking to the backbone. Previous to cooking, fish of every kind should be laid in cold water, and the blood thoroughly washed from the inside. Few fish are not the better for being put on to boil in cold water, heating gradually with it till it comes to a boil. If you put it on in boiling water, the outside becomes boiling hot too soon; and is apt to break and come off in flakes, while the inside still remains hard and underdone: halibut, salmon, cod, and other large thick fish must be boiled slowly and thoroughly throughout, taking nearly as long as meat. Always put salt into the water at the commencement, and a little vinegar towards the last. In every kitchen should be a large oval kettle purposely for boiling fish. This kettle has a movable strainer inside. The fish lies on the strainer. To try if it is done, run a thin sharp knife in it, till it reaches the backbone; and see if the flesh will loosen or separate easily. If it adheres to the bone it requires more boiling. When quite done, leave it no longer in the kettle, or it will lose its flavor and get a woolly look. Take out the strainer with the fish upon it. Drain off the water through the strainer, cover the fish with a folded napkin or fine towel, doubled thick; transfer it to a heated dish, and keep it warm and dry till it goes to table, directly after the soup. In the mean time prepare the sauce to be served up along with the fish.

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      Fish should be fried in very good fresh butter, or nice beef drippings; or else in lard, which last, is the most usual method. A large allowance of lard should be put into the pan, and held over a clear fire, till it becomes so hot as to boil fast in the pan. Till the lard hisses and bubbles do not put in the fish. They must first be dried separately in a clean cloth, and then scored on the back in deep incisions, or gashes, and slightly dredged with flour. Unless the lard is amply sufficient in quantity to cover the fish well, and bear them up towards the surface, they will sink heavily to the bottom of the pan, and perhaps stick there and burn. Also, if there is not fat enough, the fish will absorb the whole of what there is, and become dark-colored and greasy.

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      This is a dish for company. You may bake in the same manner a shad, a fresh codfish, a sheep's head, a white fish, or a blue fish, or a pair of large black fish. Trout also are considered fish for baking. Cut off the head, and split the fish nearly down to the tail. For a stuffing, cut two slices of nice light wheat bread, of shape and size to fit easily into the inside of the fish, and spread them thickly with very new fresh butter. Season them with cayenne and powdered mace, and moisten them with port wine or sherry. Add the juice and yellow rind of a lemon, grated; and sufficient powdered white sugar to take

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