LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

641 o 5

Ow2m

I.H.S.

If*

ADVERTISEMENT.

The undersigned having examined the manuscript copy of Mrs.
T. J. V. OWEN'S " ILLINOIS COOK BOOK," heartily recommend it
to the patronage of all housekeepers. The original and selected
receipts are the choicest we have ever seen, and the materials
called for are within the reach of all, and can be had, as a general
thing, in any of our western towns. The greatest objection to the
cook books now published is that the receipts call for material
rarely to be obtained outside of the larger cities.

Mrs. B. S. EDWARDS, 'Springfield, Illinois.

" JACOB BUNN, "

" CHARLES RYAN, "

" J.- C. ROBINSON,

" VIRGIL HICKOX, "

" N. M. BROADWELL, "

" JOHN S. BRADFORD, "

" J. A. McCLERNAND, " "

" WM. A. TURNEY, " "

" W. F. KlMBER, " "

" J. A. CHESNUT, "

" CHAS. D. HODGES, Carrollton, "

" Dr. WHITE, Bloomington,

" ALEX. MOREAN, Brooklyn, New York.

Miss CARRIE HURST, Jacksonville, Illinois.

Mrs. P. B. PRICE,
" JACK WRIGHT, Petersburg, "

orders addressed to Mrs. T. J. V. OWEN, Springfield,
Illinois, will receive prompt attention. PRICE, $2if$per copy.

MRS. OWEN'S

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK,

BY MRS. T. J. V. OWEN,

A PRACTICAL HOUSEWIFE.

"Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well."

SPRINGFIELD, ILL.:

JOHN H. JOHNSON, PRINTER
1871

PREFACE.

IN coming before the public with the " ILLINOIS
COOK BOOK" I do so because years ago I felt the
necessity of a book of this kind; one that would be a
guide to young housekeepers, as well as a great con-
venience to older ones. There are a great many
receipts published from time to time, that in all proba-
bility are very good; but we are often loth to try any-
thing entirely new, through fear, not only of the
disappointment, if it should not prove good, but the
waste of material, which by a careful housekeeper
should be a first consideration. Taking this into
consideration, I have been careful of preserving all
well-tried receipts, and in collecting such as, in my
\ own judgment and the judgment and experience of my
friends, would reach the necessities of all who may
desire a good practical receipt book. In all general
directions I have tried to be explicit, making them so
plain that the most inexperienced can understand.
Let all remember that care must be taken in order to
produce nice dishes; so that with care and a liberal
amount of good material we may all live well at least.

VI PREFACE.

To the ladies of Springfield I owe much for their
extreme kindness in supplying me with receipts from
time to time, and for their voluntary recommendation
of the book to the public. Allow me here to express
my heartfelt thanks to all those who have shown me
this kindness, and let me here say that I have KNOWN
the truth of the adage that "a friend in NEED is a
friend INDEED.

MRS. T. J. Y. OWEK

SPRINGFIELD, ILL., 1871.

ADVICE TO HOUSEKEEPERS.

To young beginners in housekeeping the following
brief HINTS ON DOMESTIC ECONOMY in the management
of a moderate income may perhaps prove acceptable.

"Whenever anything is bought, a bill of the goods
and a receipt should be required, even if the money be
paid at the time of purchase ; and to avoid mistakes
the goods should be compared with these when brought
home ; if the money is to be paid at a future period, a
bill should be sent- with the articles and regularly tiled.

An inventory of furniture, linen and china, should
be kept, and the things examined frequently, especially
if there be a change of servants often; the articles
used by servants should be entrusted to their care with
a list, as many persons do with silver.

In the purchase of glass and crockeryware, either
the most customary patterns should be chosen, in order
to secure their being easily matched, or, if a scarce
design be adopted, an extra quantity should be bought
to guard against the annoyance of the set being spoiled
by breakage, which, in the course of time must be
expected to happen. There should also be plenty of
common dishes, that the table set may not be used for
putting away cold meats, etc.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

The cook should be instructed to be careful of coals
and cinders. Small coal wetted makes the strongest fire
for the back of the grate, but must remain untouched
until it cakes. Cinders lightly wetted gives a great
degree of heat, and are better for furnaces, ironing
stoves and ovens.

The most durable linens for sheeting are the Eussia,
German or Irish fabrics; a good stock of which, as
well as of table linen, should be laid in to avoid the
necessity of frequent or irregular washing. When
linen cannot be afforded, always buy the best muslin
sheeting. Sheets that have a seam in the middle wear
the best, as the seam strengthens that part ; and as the
sheets begin to wear, sew the two outside seams and
open the middle seam, and they will wear twice as
long.

A STOKE ROOM is essential for the custody of articles
in constant use, as well as for others which are only
occasionally called for. These should be at hand when
wanted, each in separate drawers, or on shelves and
pegs, all under the lock and key of the mistress, and
never given out to the servants but under her inspec-
tion. It is altogether a mistaken idea of letting serv-
ants have full sway over what is provided for the
household ; however honest they may be, their want of
judgment often proves destructive ; and every woman
who considers her own and her husband's interest, will
see that care is taken of what he works hard to pro-
vide. Pickles and preserves, prepared and purchased
sauces, and all sorts of groceries, should be placed in

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 9

the store room ; spices pounded, bottled and corked
tight; sugar in readiness for use; lemon and orange
peel put in bags and stored away; thyme, parsley and
all sorts of sweet herbs should be dried, rubbed throwgh
a sieve and bottled tight; the small bits of tongues
saved and dried for grating into omelets; and care
should be taken that nothing be wasted that ca^ be
turned to good account.

BKEAD is so heavy an article of expense that all
waste should be guarded against. Be careful to cut
no more than will be wanted at a time ; it is better to
replenish the plate than to have a box full of dry
bread going to waste; bread keeps better in earthen
than in wooden ware. Make dry or dip toast of the
dry bread, or use the receipt in this book for frying
bread, which is delightful.

SUGAR being an article of considerable expense in
all families, the purchase demands particular attention.
The cheap sugar does not go so far as that more
refined, and there is a difference even in the degree of
sweetness. The close heavy, shining white sugar
should be chosen. The best sort of brown has a bright
crystalline appearance, as if mixed with salt; and, if
feeling coarse when rubbed between the fingers, is
better than when more powdery. Loaf should be cut
in pieces when first purchased, and kept out of the air
two or three weeks ; for if it dries quickly it will crack,
and when wet will break. Put it on a shelf with a
space between each piece, and let it gradually dry, and
it will save a full third in the consumption.
2

10 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Soda, by softening the water, saves a great deal of
soap. It should be melted and put in a large jug and
corked tight for use. If you soak your clothes over
night use a little, and also in boiling.

The best starch will keep good in a dry place for
years. Everything should be kept in the place best
suited to it, as much waste may thereby be avoided.

Grreat care should be taken of jelly bags, which, if
not properly washed and scalded, will give an unpleas-
ant flavor when next used.

There are comparatively few among the middle
classes of society who can afford to keep professional
cooks, their wages being too high, and their methods
too extravagant. In such cases a plain cook is alone
attainable, who knows little beyond the commonest
operations of the kitchen.. The mistress, therefore,
ought to make herself so far acquainted with cookery
as to be competent to give proper directions for pre-
paring a meal and having it properly served up.

Perhaps there are few points on which the responsi-
bility of a man is more immediately felt than the style
of dinner to which he may accidentally bring home a
visitor. If the dishes are well served, with the proper
accompaniments, the table linen clean, and all that is
necessary be at hand, the comfort of both husband
and friend will be greatly increased by the usual
domestic arrangements not having been interfered
with.

Hence, the DIRECTION OF A TABLE is no inconsider-
able branch of a lady's duty, as it involves judgment

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 11

in expenditure, respectability of appearance, and the
comfort of her husband as well as of those who partake
of their hospitality. Inattention to it is always inex-
cusable, and should be avoided for the lady's own sake,
as it occasions a disagreeable degree of bustle, and
evident annoyance to herself, which is never observable
in a well regulated establishment.

The mode of setting out a table differs according to
taste. It is not the multiplicity of dishes, but the
choice, the dressing, and the neat looks of the whole,
which gives an air of refinement to a table. There
should always be more than the necessary quantity of
plate or plated ware and glass, to afford a certain
appearance of elegance; and these, with a clean cloth
and neatly dressed attendants, will show that the
habits of the family are those of gentility. Castors
should be looked to and carefully wiped; cruets filled
always before dinner time; and much trouble and
irregularity are saved, when there is company, if
servants are TRAINED to prepare the table and side-
board in a similar manner every day. Too many or
too few dishes are extremes not uncommon: the former
encumbering the dinner with a superfluity which par-
takes of vulgarity, whilst the latter has the appearance
of poverty or penuriousness.

The mistress of a family should never forget that
the welfare and good management of the house depends
on the eye of the superior; and consequently that
nothing is too trifling for her notice, whereby waste
may be avoided, or order maintained. If she has

12 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

never been accustomed, while single, to think of family
management, let her not upon that account fear that
she cannot attain it; she may consult others who are
more experienced, and acquaint herself with the neces-
sary quantities, qualities, and prices of the several
articles of expenditure in a family in proportion to the
number it consists of. The chief duties of life are
within the reach of humble abilities, and she whose
aim is to fulfil them will rarely ever fail to acquit her-
self well. United with, and perhaps crowning all the
virtues of the female character is that well-directed
ductility of mind which occasionally bends its atten-
tion to the smaller objects of life, knowing them to be
often scarcely less essential than the greater.

TO YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS.

Be satisfied to commence on a small scale. It is
too common for young housekeepers to want to begin
where their mothers ended. Buy all that is necessary
to work skillfully with; adorn your home with all that
will render it comfortable. Do not look at richer homes
and covet their costly furniture. If secret dissatisfac-
tion is ready to spring up, go a step farther and visit
the homes of the suffering poor; behold dark cheerless
apartments, insufficient clothing, and absence of all the
comforts and refinements of social life, and then return
to your own with a joyful spirit. You will then be
prepared to meet your husband with a grateful heart,
and be ready to appreciate the toil and self-denial which

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 13

he has endured in the business world, to surround you
with the delights of home, and you will co-operate
cheerfully with him in so arranging your expenses
that his mind will not be constantly harrassed lest his
family expenditures may encroach upon public pay-
ment.

Be independent ; a young housekeeper never needed
greater moral courage than she does now, to resist the
arrogance of fashion. Do not let the A's and B's
decide what you shall have ; neither let them hold the
strings of your purse. You know best what you can
and ought to afford. It matters but little what people
think, provided you are true to yourself, to right and
duty, and keep your expenses within your means.

HOUSE FURNISHING.

If you are about to furnish a house do not spend all
your money, be it much or little. Do not let the
beauty of this thing, and the cheapness of that, tempt
you to buy unnecessary articles. Dr. Franklin's
maxim was a wise one " Nothing is cheap that we do
not want." Buy what you can get along comfortably
with at first. It is only by experience that you can
tell what will be the wants of your family. If you
spend all your money, you will iind that you have
purchased many things that you do not want, and have
no means left to get the articles you really need. If
you have enough, and more than enough, to get every-
thing suitable to your situation, do not think you must

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

spend it all, merely because you happen to have it.
Begin plainly and humbly. As riches and prosperity
increase it is easy and pleasant to increase in comforts ;
but it is always painful and inconvenient to decrease.
After all, these things are viewed in their proper light
by the truly judicious and respectable. Neatness,
tastefulness and good sense may be shown in the
management of a small household, and the arrange-
ment of a little furniture, as well as upon a larger
scale; and these qualities are always commendable.
The consideration which many purchase, by living
beyond their income, and of course, living upon others,
is not worth the trouble it costs. The glare there is
about this false parade is deceptive ; it does not procure
to any one valuable friends or extensive influence.
The friends who flock around us in our prosperity, are
generally the farthest from us when the clouds of
adversity gather around us.

ADVICE TO MOTHERS.

I would here give a few words of advice to mothers,
those who are training up families of daughters, and
w r ho wish not only to discharge well their own duties
in the domestic circle, but to train up their daughters
to make at a later day happy and comfortable firesides
for their families; that they should watch well, and
guard well, the notions which they imbibe and with
which they grow up. There will be so many persons
ready to nil their young heads with false notions and

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 15

vain fancies; and there is so much afloat in society
opposed to duty and common sense, that if mothers do
not watch them well, they may contract ideas fatal to
their future happiness and usefulness, and hold them
till they grow into habits of thought or feeling. A
wise mother will have her eyes open, and be ready for
every case. A few words of common, downright,
respectable, practicable sense, timely uttered by her,
may be enough to counteract an erroneous idea, whilst
if it be left unchecked, it may take such possession of
the mind that it cannot later be corrected. One main
falsity abroad in this age is the notion that women,
unless compelled to it by absolute poverty, are out of
place when engaged in domestic affairs. Now, mothers
should have a care lest their daughters get hold of this
conviction as regards themselves. There is danger of
it; the fashion of the day endangers it, and the care
that an affectionate family take to keep a girl, during
the time of her education, free from other occupations
than those of her tasks or her recreations, also endan-
gers it. It is possible that affection may err in pushing
this care too far; for as education means a fitting for
life, and as a woman's life is much connected with
domestic and family affairs, or ought to be so, if the
indulgent consideration of parents abstains from all
demands upon the young pupil of the school not con-
nected with her books or her play, will she not naturally
infer that the matters with which she is never asked
to concern herself, are, in fact, no concern to her, and
that any attention she may ever bestow on them is not

16 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

a matter of simple duty, but of grace, or concession,
on her part? Let mothers avoid such danger. If they
would do so, they must bring up their daughters from
the FIRST with the idea that in this world it is required
to give as well as to receive, to minister as well as to
enjoy; that every person is bound to be useful, practi-
cally, literally useful in their own sphere ; and that a
woman's first sphere is the house, and its concerns and
demands. Once really imbued with this belief, and
taught to see how much the happiness of woman her-
self, as well as her family, depends on this part of her
discharge of duty, and a young girl will usually be
anxious to learn all that her mother will teach her, and
will be proud and happy to aid in any domestic occu-
pations assigned to her, which need never be made so
heavy as to interfere with the peculiar duties of her
age, or its peculiar delights. If a mother wishes to
see her daughter become a good, happy and rational
woman, never let her admit of contempt for domestic
occupations, or even suffer them to be deemed second-
ary. They may be raised in character by station, but
they can never be secondary to a woman.

MODERN COOKERY AND HOUSEHOLD
MANAGEMENT.

THE average of human felicity may not be much
higher now than it has been; the world will most
likely deserve its title of a " vale of tears " to the end
of time ; but one consolation, and that by no means a

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 17

small one, has become stronger and of more general
circulation in the present day there is the possibility
of getting good dinners OFTENER. Good dinners!
excellent dinners ! super-excellent dinners ! have been
cooked in all ages. Thanksgiving day, Christmas and
New Years have secured good cheer for Christendom.
Sunday dinners retain a comfortable superiority over
the rest of their brethren ; but their very association
with plenty of good things suggests the "spare fast"
of intermediate seasons, when a household was on
salted meat for months ; the frugal housewife being
careful to use first the portions which were a "little
touched " and going on with the remainder, as it stood
in the most urgent need of being cooked. Certainly
all that has been changed for the better. Set dinner
parties are less thought of than the comfort of the
family. The idea has been set forth and cherished
that the HUSBAND and CHILDREN are entitled to as much
consideration as occasional guests ; and that the table
ought to be set out as carefully and neatly every day
as on special occasions. There is a self-respect in such
a fact that goes deeper than the clean table-cloths and
dinner napkins. One of the latest attainments of
civilization is COMFORT. People are beginning to make
themselves comfortable with such things as they have.
The one point insisted upon in all works on household
management ought not to be a love of show or extrav-
agant expenditure; but the necessity of having every-
thing that depends on personal thought or care done
as well as possible.

3

18 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

The table linen must not of necessity be fine, but to
be clean and well spread is indispenssble. The dinner
may be of scraps, but those scraps may be made
savory; and certainly the receipts and directions for
turning stale crusts into delicate puddings, morsels of
cold, dry meat into delicious ENTREES, leave cooks and
wives without excuse for "banyan days" or hungry
dinners. Cookery is the art of turning every morsel
to the best use; it is the exercise of skill, thought,
ingenuity, to make every morsel of food yield the
utmost nourishment and pleasure of which it is capa-
ble. A woman who is not essentially kind-hearted
cannot be a comfortable housekeeper. A woman who
has not judgment, firmness, forethought, and general
good sense, cannot manage her house prudently or
comfortably, no matter what amount of money she
may have at her command. A woman who has not
an eye for detecting and remedying disorder and
carelessness, cannot keep her house fresh and pleasant,
no matter how much money she may spend on furni-
ture and upholstelry. It is not money but management
that is the great requisite in procuring comfort in
household arrangements. But the woman with limited
means may make her things as perfect after their kind
as the woman with ample means, only she will be
obliged to put more of HEKSELF into the management ;
and that element of personality has a charm which no
appointments made through the best staff of servants
can possess. The luxury of completeness must always
depend on the individual care and skill of the mistress.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 19

That a thing should be perfect after its kind is all that
can be required. We are all so much creatures of
imagination, that we think more of the signified than
of the actual fact. When a man sees his table nicely
set out, he believes in the goodness of his dinner in a
way that it would be impossible with the self-same
dinner on a soiled table cloth.

FOUR GOOD POINTS

Essentially necessary for the management of house-
hold concerns. These are

1st. Punctuality.

2d. Accuracy.

3d. Steadiness.
* 4th. Dispatch.

Without the first, time is wasted. Without the second,
mistakes, fatal to our own interest and that of others,
may be committed. Without the third, nothing can
be well done. Without the fourth, opportunities of
good are lost which it is impossible to recall.

FOUR IMPORTANT RULES.

1st. A suitable place for everything, and everything
in its place.

2d. A proper time for everything, and everything
done in its time.

3d. A distinct name for everything, and everything
called by its name.

4th. A certain use for everything, and everything
put to its use.

20 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

REMARKS.

It may not be considered out of place to make a few
remarks on the art of, as also on the principles of
cookery. For nearly all will acknowledge cooking not
only to be an art, but a science as well. To know how
to cook economically is an art. Money making is an
art. Now is there not more money made and lost in
the kitchen than any where else? Does not many a
hard-working man have his substance wasted in the
kitchen? Does not many a shiftless man have his
substance saved in the kitchen? A careless cook can
waste as much as a man can earn, which might as
well be saved. It is not what we earn, as much as
what we save, that makes us well off. A long and
happy life is the reward of obedience to natural laws ;
and to be independent of want,* is not to want what
we do not need. Prodigality and idleness constitute a
crime against humanity. But frugality and industry
combined with moral virtue and intelligence, will
insure individual happiness and national prosperity.
Economy is an instinct of nature, and enforced by-
Bible precept : " Gather up the fragments that nothing
may be lost." Saving is a more difficult art than
earning. Some put dimes into pies and puddings,
where others only put in cents; the cent dishes are
generally the most healthy. Almost any woman can
cook well, if she have plenty with which to do it; but
the real science of cooking is to be able to cook a good
meal or dish with but little out of which to make it.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 21

This is what the few receipts I have given will assist
you in doing.

As to the principles of cooking, remember that
water cannot be made more than boiling hot no
matter how much you hasten the fire, you cannot
hasten the cooking of meat, potatoes, &c., one moment.
When meat is to be boiled for eating, put it into boiling
water at the beginning, by which its juices are pre-
served. But if you wish to extract these juices for
soup or broth, put the meat into cold water, and let it
simmer slowly. The same principle holds good in
baking also. Make the oven the right heat and give
it time to bake through, is the true plan; if you
attempt to hurry it, you only burn instead of cooking
it done.

There is one other process to which I must yet
allude the process of

SPOILING.

Many cooks know how to produce a good dish, but
too many of them know how to spoil. They leave fifty
things to be done just at the critical moment, when the
chief dish should be watched with an eye of keenness,
and attended by a hand thoroughly expert. Therefore
too much care cannot be given to any dish we may
prepare, remembering that it is but half done until it
is taken from the stove or oven well cooked.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

SOUPS.

Fresh meat of any kind is better for soups, for the
reason that meats or fowls that have once been cooked
have lost much of their sweetness.

Soups should never be allowed to boil too hard, as
it has a great tendency to make the meat very tough.
Many persons hold to the opinion that meat should
always be boiled the day before it is wanted, so that
the liquor may be set aside to cool, and let the grease
rise to tiie top and be skimmed off. But very tine
soup can be made the day it is to be used. A beef
shank, or a knuckle of veal either, make splendid soup.
Proper care should always be taken to have your soups
well seasoned and flavored, as all depends upon this.
One receipt for seasoning and flavoring soups will not
suit for all, as there is such a diversity of tastes ; but
for those who like herbs, it is well to get such as they
like; for instance, thyme, summer savory, sweet mar-
jorem, sweet basil, sage, or such as suit their tastes;
(they can be bought in ten cent packages at any drug
store;) rub them well together, and then rub them
through a sieve, and bottle them ready for use at any

24 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

time. I have found this a very good plan. You can
keep yourself supplied at a trifling cost, and always
be ready to make a palatable soup.

Beef Soup.

Take the shin bone of the beef, wash it, and put it
in a pot of cold water; put very little salt in, and let
it boil; skim well. Have ready such vegetables as
will suit the taste, such as carrots, onions, turnips,
cabbage, potatoes, a little celery root; of course it
takes but little of each. If the vegetables are not
intended to be left in the soup, the meat should be
taken out and the soup strained. If dumplings are
liked, a little milk and flour, well beaten up, and a
spoonful of butter, made stiifer than for batter-cakes.
Drop these dumplings in the boiling soup, let them boil
from five to ten minutes ; flavor to suit the taste.

Mutton Soup. f1 *-

A piece of forequarter of mutton is the best for a
soup piece; throw a little salt into the water, just
enough to raise the scum ; let it simmer slowly ; then
prepare such vegetables as suit the taste ; turnips, car-
rots, a little cabbage and onion, are very nice; a grated
carrot or very little tomatoes give the soup a rich taste
and color; this soup may be thickened with pear}
barley or rice. Summer savory or thyme flavor any
soup nicely.

Portable Soup.

Boil down any kind of meat to a jelly, season it

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 25

highly with salt, pepper and spices or herbs ; let it set
away till partly cold, then pour it into a clean, new tin
or earthen vessel, and set it away to congeal ; it can
be used as you want to make soup by cutting a portion
of the jelly and adding boiling water. Vegetables can
be added and as much more seasoning as is required
to make it palatable.

Mock Turtle Soup.

Take a nicely skinned and cleaned calf's head, soak
it in a little salt and water over night, rinse it before
putting it on the iire ; have a large dinner pot of cold
water with a little salt, put in the head and let it boil
till tender ; before putting the head in the pot remove
the brain, which should be thrown into a little salt and
water to whiten them; after the soup has been well
boiled and skimmed, add pepper, salt, a little mace and
cloves, and sweet herbs,, tied up in a thin piece of
muslin. If you wish a dark soup brown the flour you
use to thicken the soup with. Before taking it up for
the table add the juice of two lemons, the yolks of
eight eggs boiled hard and chopped. Take up the
head, cut out the tongue, which must be skinned and
dressed with egg and butter sauce, and served on a
dish with a garnish of fresh parsley. Chop some of
the meat from the head and season, mixing a little
milk and flour and raw egg. Mix well, roll into balls
and fry in hot lard, and drop with the brains into the
soup.

4

26 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Veal Soup.

Put a knuckle of veal into a pot of salted water with
about a pound of ham. When the meat is cooked
very tender take it out, and have a small head of chop-
ped celery, one onion, one turnip, a carrot sliced very
fine, four chopped tomatoes, a small piece of red
pepper pod, black pepper and salt to suit your taste.
Thicken with rice, vermicelli, or a thickening made of
flour and butter. Noodles are very nice in this soup,
if the vegetables are removed from the soup before the
noodles are dropped in. Twenty minutes are sufficient
to let them boil.

Giblet Soup.

A very nice soup is made from the neck, feet and
giblets of fowls, with a little veal or nice beef bone
added; put these all into a pot of cold water and boil
gently. The giblets can be removed and chopped fine
and put back into the soup ; season like any other soup.
Flavor to suit the taste.

Chicken Soup.

Have a fine large chicken, it can be put into the
water whole, and then dressed for dinner, or it can be
cut as for frying; in either case the chicken can be
served on the table. Put in very little salt at first;
remove all scum before putting in anything to flavor
the soup; have a cup of rice well washed and soaked,
and any sweet herbs, a small onion, and one or two
potatoes cut fine. Chicken soup is much better if a

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 27

little parsley is chopped and added; season with pepper
and salt. Noodles may be substituted in place of the
rice, , or dumplings made of a little milk, flour and
butter, and one egg ; beat all well together, and make
thicker than batter; drop in by the spoonful. Pearl
barley is very nice in chicken soup, but should be well
washed and put into the soup when it is first put on.

Gumbo Soup.

This is a Southern soup, and can be made in differ-
ent ways. If made as it should be, it is one of the
finest soups that can be made. If it is made of okra
the chickens should tie young and fried a delicate
brown, with a few slices of nice bacon; when fried
put them in a pot with boiling water. One must be
governed by the quantity of soup that will be needed.
Let the soup simmer slowly, skim well, and add pepper,
salt, sweet herbs and rice a half teacupful; if the
okra is green about half at eacupful of that. If this
is made in the winter it will take a little more of the
dried ; it is nice with a few oysters added just before
taking the soup from the fire. The best gumbo is
made of young chickens, cut up as for frying, and put
in a pot of cold water, and let them come to a boil;
when boiled till very tender add salt and pepper to the
taste. The gumbo is made of dried and powdered
sassafras leaves, which should be gathered in the fall
before the frost. One tablespoonful of the powder
with the same quantity of flour, well rubbed together
arid dropped in the soup just before it is taken up. A

28 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

nice pot of well cooked mush should be made to eat
with this soup, serving a tablespoonful in each soup
plate.

Noodles for Soup.

If you wish noodles for an ordinary pot of soup one
egg is sufficient; have your flour sifted, make a hole
in the centre, add one teaspoonful of salt, break in one
egg, and with one hand stir them gently till the egg is
well broken and mixed in a smooth dough ; then work
it quite stiff and roll out as thin as a wafer, keeping
the board well floured; after it is rolled rub flour over
the top and let it remain till it begins to dry, then roll
it up tight and with a sharp knife cut (beginning at
the end) into small shreds, and open them out as soon
as you cut them, sprinkling flour over them.

Oyster Soup.

In making oyster soup great care should be taken
not to have it made too long before it is used, as the
oysters become hard and tough, and have an insipid
taste. The water should be boiling; have a clean
bright vessel; put in the water and a pint of new
milk or good sweet milk ; about one pint of milk to a
gallon of boiling water ; let it boil, then add the liquor
from the oysters, butter, pepper and salt ; have a dozen
nice butter crackers rolled flne ; if you can get it add
one pint of good sweet cream, then the crackers, and
last the oysters ; as soon as they are heated through
the soup is ready for use. In making oyster soup for

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 29

company it should not be made in large quantities ; if
convenient it should not be made in larger quantities
than one gallon, as it becomes tasteless and the oysters
are hard and unfit to eat.

Veal Broth.

Stew a knuckle of veal of four or five pounds in
three quarts of water, with two blades of mace, an
onion, a head of celery, and a little parsley, pepper and
salt ; let the whole simmer very gently until the liquor
is reduced to two quarts ; then take out the meat when
the mucilaginous parts are done, and serve it up with
parsley and butter. Add to the broth either two
ounces of rice separately boiled, or of vermicelli, put
in only long enough to be stewed tender.

Winter Soup.

Take carrots, turnips, and the heart of a head of
celery, cut into dice, with a dozen button onions ; half
boil them in salt and water, with a little sugar in it;
then throw them into the broth; and, when tender
serve up the soup ; or use rice, dried peas, and lentils,
and pulp them into the soup to thicken it.

With many of these soups, small suet dumplings,
very lightly made, and not larger than an egg, are
boiled either in broth or water and put into the tureen
just before serving, and are by most persons thought
an improvement, but are more usually put in plain
gravy soup than any other, and should be made light
enough to swim in it.

30 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

FISH.

Fish should be examined very carefully, as it is one
of the most unhealthy things that can be eaten unless
it is perfectly fresh. In selecting them examine the
eyes; if they have a life-like appearance they are
fresh; if the eyes are sunken and dark colored they
are unfit to eat. A good way to test them is to exam-
ine the gills.

Crabs should be of a dark green color, and when
fresh from the water are always lively; the same
remark holds good with regard to lobsters.

Never buy a clam or oyster if the shells are parted.
If the valves are tightly closed the oyster is fresh.

Boiled Fish.

Scale your fish first, take out the eyes and gills,
draw and wash it well. Flour a cloth, wrap the fish
in it, and boil in plenty of water strongly salted. A
common sized fish of any kind requires about half a
teacupful of salt. Put your fish kettle over a strong
fire, and when the water boils put the fish in it. The
fish can be stuifed with a stuffing made like turkey
stuffing, and seasoned very much the same; it must be
sewed up with a strong thread; let it boil 20 to 30
minutes. Take the fish out of the cloth carefully,
place it on your dish and send it to the table. Have
egg sauce served with it; garnish with parsley.

If any of the boiled fish is left from dinner it can
be picked in small pieces, spiced and put into vinegar ;
it makes an excellent relish for breakfast or tea.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 31

Boiled Cod Fish.

Soak a dried cod fish over night in cold water, scrape
and wash it clean, then put in on to boil in as much
cold water as will cover it.

Let it boil one hour. Drain it on your first dish and
serve it with mashed potatoes, drawn butter, and hard
boiled eggs.

Baked Fish.

Secure any nice fresh fish, such as fresh cod, trout,
white fish, or any of -the fresh or salt water fish; scale
them and wash them clean, and let them remain in a
little salt and water for a short time. Have a stuffing
made of the crumbs of nice light bread a baker's loaf
is preferable for its lightness put salt, pepper, butter,
ad sweet herbs in; with a spoon, as the hand makes
it heavy, (as it does all stuffing,) fill your fish, sew it
up, put bits of butter over the top, pepper, salt, flour;
put in water enough to keep it from burning, and baste
it often. For a fish of four pounds it will take about
one hour to bake. If fish is left in any quantity from
a meal it makes a splendid chowder. Make egg sauce.

Fish Sauce.

Take large tablespooiiful of butter in as much flour,
mix together and melt in a teacup of milk; beat the
yolk of an egg, stir it in the butter and place it on the
fire, stirring it all the time. Chopped parsley may be
added.

32 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. ^

Cod Fish Cakes.

Soak as much cod fish as will be required for a meal ;
after it is fresh enough pick it, removing all the bones ;
mash it with equal quantities of mashed potatoes, and
season with salt and pepper to your taste, adding butter
and two or three hard boiled eggs, chopped very fine,
one raw egg helps to hold it together. Make it into
cakes, flour and fry them in hot lard. Fry them a
light brown.

Spiced Fish.

Fish of any kind, either boiled or baked, that has
been left from a meal, is very nice spiced. Take salt,
black pepper, a little cayenne pepper, two tablespoon-
fuls of whole allspice, mix through the fish and cover
with good vinegar. This can be made by soaking a
fresh shad, or other fish, and boiling it, and when cold,
picking and spicing it; but it is a very nice way to
use up cold fish.

Fried Fish.

Clean your fish well, wipe it with a dry cloth, split
down the back, and fry it in halves, unless the fish is
too large, then make four pieces of it ; pepper, salt and
flour, or rub on corn meal, and have your frying-pan
with .your lard in it very hot, and fry a nice light
brown.

It is useless to enumerate the different kinds of fish,
as this manner of frying holds good for all fish that is
to be fried. It is fried as nicely by setting your

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 33

skillet or frying-pan in the oven as it is on the top of
the stove; 'many think it improves the taste.

Broiled Fish.

Cleanse them, of course, thoroughly, split them
down the back, season with salt and pepper. Have
your gridiron heated and well greased ; put your fis'h
on and let it broil slowly. It should be nice brown on
both sides ; have it well basted with butter, and lay the
two sides together that it may assume its original
shape.

Cat Fish.

This must be scalded with boiling (not hot) water,
and the skin removed; cut down the back and cut in
pieces as large as the hand ; salt, pepper and flour each
piece, and fry in hot lard to a nice brown. Some per-
sons like it dressed with beaten egg and bread crumbs,
or dipped in a batter and fried a nice brown.

Fried Oysters,

Select the largest for frying. Take them out of their
liquor with a fork, being careful not to disfigure them,
let them drain in a colander; when well drained put
them in a dish, salt and pepper them well, have ready
some nice butter crackers, rolled fine, and about one-
third as much corn meal, mix them well together, and
dip each oyster separately into the crackers ; by putting
two oysters together and frying them it will be found
quite an improvement. Fry them in equal quantities

5

34 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

of lard and butter. Have the lard hot and fry a nice
light brown. Do not let them burn.

Stewed Oysters*

Put your oyster liquid in a stew-pan and add water
according to the quantity to be stewed; put in salt,
pepper, and a little butter ; let this begin to boil, and
then add a half-pint of good sweet cream, a little rolled
cracker, if liked; then throw in your oysters, let it
boil up once, and take it immediately to the table.
This way is splendid if you have the cream.

Scalloped Oysters.

Take a nice tin or earthen baking dish and grease it
well. Have ready good butter or pic-nic crackers well
rolled, cover the bottom of the dish or pan first with
the crackers, then the oysters, then lumps of butter
over the top, then pepper and salt, next crackers and,
so on, till all your oysters are in, putting butter, pepper
and salt in each layer, put last a layer of crackers,
with butter on top ; put the oyster liquor in as you are
putting it in the pan ; put in water, not too hot, suffi-
cient to cook them, set the pan in the oven and let it
bake; for two cans of oysters it will take about one
hour.

Fried Cod Fish.

(SENATOR SAMUEL CASEY'S RECEIPT.)
Take one pound of cod fish, four large potatoes, four
eggs, one teaspoonful salt, and one of black pepper;
cook fish and potatoes at the same time, (but in diifer-

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 35

ent vessels,) take the bones out of the fish, peel the
potatoes, hot right out of the water, mash them and
the fish well together, with a tablespoonful of flour;
have the eggs well beaten, and add them to the mix-
ture with a piece of butter as large as a walnut; mix
all well together, and fry in cakes, in hot lard; send
to the table hot. This mixture will be soft and must
be dropped into the lard with a spoon, as it cannot be
made out into balls. It is the nicest way I have ever
prepared codfish for a breakfast dish. The water on
the fish must be changed while it is boiling; once
changing will perhaps be sufficient.

Boiled Fish.

( SENATOR SAMUEL CASEY'S WAY. )

Take cat fish, or any good kind of fish. After clean-
ing it well, rub it with salt, and wrap it in a cloth not
too tight; have ready a kettle with boiling water well
salted ; drop your fish in and let it boil well, the length
of time must be governed by the size of the fish, for a
good-sized fish, (say three quarters of an hour,) pour
melted butter over it.

To Make Stewed Oysters Tender.

Turn the oysters with the liquor into a convenient
dish. With a fork remove each oyster into another
dish, passing it as you do so through the oyster liquor,
in order to wash off any bits of shell, etc. When all
have been removed, strain the liquor through a fine
sieve, which will retain the bits and yellow crabs. Some

36 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

people eat these little crabs, but I reject them from the
oyster stew, as they suggest carelessness. Put the
strained liquor into the kettle with the quantity of water
or milk you think proper, and set to boil. Add rolled
cracker and salt. A little mace (only a little) is a great
addition, as it brings out the oyster flavor ; I do not
put in pepper as some guests do not like it, and the
color of the soup is not so good. Each person can suit
his own taste by using either the black or cayenne.
The clearer and whiter a soup appears, the better it
will be relished. I omit cracker in a dinner soup;
each guest must be supplied, however, at the table.
Keep out the oysters until all the ingredients of the
soup are added, and until it thoroughly boils. Now
add the oysters. As soon as it comes to a good boil,
the soup is ready to serve. If you have a very rich
stew a great many oysters and little soup it may be
well to put only part of the oysters in at a time, waiting
until the first lot have had a good scald before adding
the remainder. The idea is to give each oyster a good
scald on the outside surface ; it cooks them sufficiently
and avoids the toughness that comes from overcooking.
Treated according to these directions the oysters in a
stew will be as tender as raw ones. It is very easy to
spoil oysters by overdoing them.

French Stewed Oysters.

Wash fifty large oysters in their own liquor; strain
the liquor into a stew pan, putting the oysters into a
pan of cold water; season the liquor with a half pint

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.' 37

of sherry or madeira, the juice of two lemons, and a
little mace. Boil this liquor, and skim and stir it well ;
when it comes to a boil, put in the oysters well drained,
let them get heated through, but do not boil them.
Many people consider this the nicest way of stewing
oysters.

Clam Fritters.

Put a sufficient quantity of clams into a pot of boil-
ing water; when the shell opens wide take out the
clams from the shells, and put them into a stew pan.
Strain the liquor, and pour about half of it over the
clams, adding a little black pepper ; they will not need
salt. Let them stew slowly for half an hour; then
take them out. Drain off all the liquor, and mince the
clams as line as possible, leaving out the hardest parts.
You should have as many clams as will make a pint
when minced. Make a batter of seven eggs beaten
till very light, mix with these gradually a quart of
milk and a pint of sifted flour; make it perfectly
smooth and free from lumps ; mix gradually the minced
clams with the batter, and stir the whole very hard.
Have ready in a frying pan some boiling lard ; put in
the batter with a spoon, so as to form fritters, and fry
them a light brown. Drain them well when done, and
serve hot. Oyster fritters are made the same way,
only they must be minced raw and mixed with the
batter without having been stewed.

Potted Shad.

Take the backbone out of the shad, cut it in small

38 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

pieces, then put one layer of shad, one small piece of
butter, some salt, pepper, and a very small piece of
mace, clove, and allspice whole; cover with vinegar.
Bake in an earthen pot, well sealed, eight hours. Six
whole cloves and the same of allspice is enough for
three shad; seal the cover with dough, so as to keep
the air out.

Oyster Omelet.

s Strain the liquor from twenty-five large oysters or
forty small ones, chop them fine, leaving out the hard
part. Break into a shallow pan, six, seven or eight
eggs, according to the quantity of oysters, leaving out
half the whites. Having beaten the eggs well, mix
in the chopped oysters, adding a little cayenne pepper
and nutmeg, if you like that spice. Put three ounces
of the best butter into a frying pan, let it come to a
boil, pour in the omelet mixture, stir it till it begins to
harden; fry it a light brown, lifting from the edge
several times by slipping a knife under it. Take care
not to cook it too much, or it will be tough; serve
immediately. This quantity will make one large, or
two smaller omelets.

To Pot Trout.

Take from six to eight trout, from a quarter to half
a pound in weight each. Gut, scale and wipe them
dry in a clean cloth. Then dispose of them in a shallow
dish, about two and a half inches in depth, containing
a very small portion of water at the bottom, enough to

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 39

supply a sufficiency of steam to pass through them.
Add to them a supply of ground mace, ground black
pepper, salt, and two or three bay-leaves, covering the
dish over with a tin protection, and consign the same
to a slow oven, to admit of the fish being steamed
through. When the prongs of the fork will pass readily
into them, they will be done and may be taken up.
When cold, remove the bay-leaves, and let them be
well covered with clarified butter.

Lobster Rissoles.

Extract the meat of a boiled lobster, mince it as fine
as possible ; mix it with the coral pounded smooth, and
some yolks of hard-boiled eggs, pounded also. Season
it with cayenne pepper, powdered mace, and a very
little salt. Make a batter of beaten egg, milk and
flour. To each egg allow two large tablespoonful of
milk and a large teaspoonful of flour. Beat the
batter well, and then mix the lobster with it gradu-
ally, till it \9 stiif enough to make into oval balls
about the size of a large plum. Fry them in the best
salad oil, and serve them up either warm or cold.
Similar rissoles may be made of raw oysters minced
fine, or of boiled clams. These should be fried in lard.

Champlain Chowder.

To four pounds fish, one pound fat pork to fry. Fry
the pork gently in a bake kettle until the fat is out.
Have ready the fish to put in when the scraps of pork
are taken out, one quart boiling water to every four

40 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

pounds of fish. Put in with the fish at the same time,
pepper, salt, and a few sliced onions. Let it stew over
a quick fire twenty minutes. Take off the cover then,
and add one gill of milk. In five minutes take it up,
and add crackers and oysters just before the chowder
is done, if you wish.

Stewed Halibut.

Cut the fish into pieces about four inches square,
leaving out the bone ; season it slightly with salt, and
let it stand half an hour. Take it out of the salt, put
it' in a deep dish, and scatter over it cayenne pepper,
ground white ginger, and grated nutmeg ; add a pint of
vinegar, and a little butter rolled in grated bread. Put
the dish in a slow oven, and let it cook till well done,
basting it frequently with the liquid. When nearly
done, add a tablespoon of capers.

Codfish Cakes A Yankee t

Take salt codfish that has been cooked slowly;
simmered, not boiled, the day before. Remove the
bones and mince it. Mix it with WARM mashed pota-
toes, mashed with butter and milk, in the proportion of
one-third codfish, and two-thirds mashed potato ; add
sufficient beaten egg to make the whole into a smooth
paste. If it seems dry, add a little butter. Make into
cakes an inch thick, and as large round as a teacup.
Fry in salt pork, and serve the slices with the fish
cakes. These are very nice, if we]l made.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 41

A Codfish Helish.

Sliver the codfish fine, pour on boiling water till it is
freshened; then drain off water, add butter, pepper,
and heat it a few minutes on the stove, but do not let
it fry.

Fried Perch.

Egg and bread crumbs, hot lard. Scale and clean
the fish, brush it over with egg, and cover with bread
crumbs. Have ready some boiling lard ; put the fish
in, and fry a nice brown. Serve with melted butter or
anchovy sauce.

JEgg Sauce for Salt Fish.

Four eggs, half a pint of melted butter ; when liked,
a very little lemon juice. Boil the eggs until quite
hard, which will be in about twenty minutes, and put
them into cold water for half an hour, strip off the
shells, chop the eggs into small pieces, not, however,
too fine. Make the melted butter very smoothly, and
when boiling, stir in the eggs, and serve very hot.
Lemon juice may be added at pleasure.

Curry Fish.

Put into the pot four onions and two apples, in thin
slices, some thyme, or savory, with a quarter of a
pound of fat or dripping, three tablespoon fuls of salt,
one tablespoonful of sugar, and fry for fifteen minutes ;
then pour in three quarts of water and one pound of
6

42 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

rice; boil till tender; add one tablesoonful of curry-
powder, mixed in a little water ; cut up six pounds of
cheap fish the size of an egg; add to the above, and
boil for twenty or thirty minutes, according to the kind
of fish. If salt fish is used, omit the salt. If no herbs,
do without, but always use what you can.

Fish Sauce.

Take half a pint of milk and cream together, two
eggs well beaten, salt, a little pepper, and the juice of
half a lemon ; put it over the fire, and stir it constantly
until it begins to thicken.

MARKETING.

CARE AND USES OF MEATS. MANNER OF COOKING
DIFFERENT PARTS OF MEATS AND FOWLS.

Beef Steaks.

The sirloin and porter-house steaks should always
be broiled and broiled quickly. They should never be
put on the gridiron till your meal is ready to serve up.
Steaks should not be used the day they are cut ; but if
possible kept on ice a day or two, they then become
tender; be governed of course by the weather in such
matters. Always put your meat in a vessel of some
kind, and set that on the ice. If the meat is put in
contact with the ice it becomes white looking, and
loses all its richness.

Hoasting Pieces.

The sirloin roast is considered the best; the next
piece forward of the sirloin is also a good roasting
piece. The rib pieces of the forequarter are preferred
by many ; by removing the ribs and rolling the piece
it makes a nice roast, and can be stuffed with bread
crumbs and such seasoning as is used for any ordinary
dressing for fowls.

44 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Corned Beef Pieces.

The rump and round and etch bone are used
expressly tor corning. The flank and brisket are also
good corning pieces ; very many prefer the brisket, as
it has a portion of the fat that is very sweet in boiled
meat. It is well for persons who can do so, to select
such pieces as they prefer, and have a large jar or keg,
and make their own corned beef; they will find it
much nicer. I have given a well tried receipt for
corning beef, one that I have used for years, and one
that cannot fail to please. Corned beef must be boiled
tender; if used hot for dinner, take what is left and
put it in some flat bottomed vessel and put a heavy
weight over it ; put a clean board or flat coyer on, then
the weight, and set it away till perfectly cold, and
slice thin for supper; by pressing it it becomes firm
and is more like tongue.

A Stuffed Flank.

Take a toge, nice, well trimmed flank, put it in salt
and let it remain over night. Then wash it in cold
water, and wipe it dry. Have a stuffing made as for
turkey or goose, and spread it well over the meat, put-
ting on occasionally nicely cut strips of salt pork;
season this dressing highly ; roll your meat up and sew
it very tight in a piece of strong muslin ; put it in to
boil as early as possible in the morning, and boil six
hours. This is delightful. Put it in a vessel and press
it, leaving the cloth on till cold ; put a heavy weight
on, let it remain till cold. Slice very thin. In winter

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 45

when meat is firm and nice this makes a splendid
supper dish.

Time for Boiling Meat.

The old rule of fifteen minutes Jto a pound of meat,
is rather too little, I think; the slower it boils the ten-
derer, the plumper, and whiter it will be. For those
who choose their food thoroughly cooked, (which all
will who have any regard for their stomachs,) twenty
minutes or more to a pouud will not be found too much
for gentle simmering over a good fire; allowing more
or less time, according to the thickness of the joint;
always remembering the slower it boils the better.
Without some practice it is difficult to teach any art;
and cooks seem to suppose they must be right if they
put meat into a pot and set it over the fire for a certain
time, making no allowance whether it simmers without
a bubble, or boils at a gallop.

FRESH KILLED MEAT

Will take much longer time boiling than that which
has been kept till it is what the butchers call ripe, and
longer in cold than in warm weather. If it be frozen
it must be thawed before boiling as before roasting; if
it is too fresh killed it will be tough and hard. The
size of the boiling pots should be adapted to what they
are to contain; the larger the pot the more room it
takes upon the fire; and a larger quantity of water
requires a proportionate increase of fire to boil it. In
small families I would recommend block tin sauce
pans, &c., as the lightest and safest. If proper cave is

46 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

taken of them, and they are well dried after they are
cleansed, they are far the cheapest. Take care that
the covers of your boiling pots tit close, not only to
prevent unnessary evaporation of the water, but that
the smoke may not get under the edge of the lid, and
give the meat a bad taste.

If you let meat or poultry remain in the water after
it is done enough, it will become sodden and lose its
flavor.

It is very important in boiling meats to keep the
water constantly boiling, else it will cause the meat to
soak the water up; if it is necessary to add more
water, be sure to have it boiling, skim carefully ; salt
thrown in raises the scum ; always put your meat into
cold water, and let it gradually heat and boil at first ;
never let meat remain longer in the water than you can
help, better to take it up and place it in a heater, if
possible. The broth in which meat is boiled makes a
most delicious soup by adding vegetables chopped fine,
carrots, especially, give a fine flavor to soup. Bunches
of mixed vegetables and parsly can be procured at the
market, generally.

TAKE CARE OF THE LIQUOR*,

In which you have boiled meat or poultry; in a few
minutesyou may convert it into a most palatable soup.

IF THE LIQUOR IS TOO SALT,

Use only one half, saving the other half for the next
day; people's tastes vary so much in regard to the
flavor of soups. Add sufiicient boiling water to the
portion of broth you wish made into soup, then put in

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 47

such vegetables and herbs as will suit the taste. Ver-
micelli, macaroni, or our home-made noodles may be
added.

Soiled Ham.

If the ham is large, and to be boiled, it is much
better to soak it in clear water over night, put it on to
boil in cold water ; when water is to be added to any-
thing cooking, always add boiling water. Some persons
think a boiled ham is much improved by setting it into
the oven for a short time after you have removed the
skin and before it has time to get cold. If you boil a
whole ham, let it remain in the liquor in which it was
boiled over night, it is a great improvement.

Tongues.

They are much better put in brine, and then smoked.
Make an ordinary brine ; use a little brown sugar and
a small piece of saltpetre. Two weeks in the brine is
sufficient ; when taken out let them be washed off in
clear, cold water, wiped dry, and hung up in a cool,
dry place, for about two days ; then they may be smoked.

Mutton Hams To fickle for Drying.

First take a weak brine and put the hams into it for
two days, then pour off and apply the following, and let
it remain on from two to three weeks, according to size :
For each 100 pounds take six pounds salt; saltpetre,
one ounce; saleratus, two ounces ; molasses, one pint;
water, six gallons ; will cover these, if packed closely.
The saleratus will keep the mutton from becoming

48 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

hard. These, if properly selected and properly cured,
are, according to my experience, equal to any dried
venison I ever ate. I prefer the " corned beef brine "
receipt, although there is but little difference between

them.

\

For Corned IBeef.

(MKS. WM. A, TURKEY.)

Take a large dinner pot ot rain water and put in it

One pint salt.

One pint molasses,

One pint brown sugar,

Five cents worth saltpetre.

Boil all together, skim till clear; let it cool. If it
will bear an egg, it is all right. This will cover about
27 or 28 pounds of beef. Next, take

One tea cup brown sugar,

One tea cup of salt,

Five cents worth saltpetre.

Beat them and mix them well together, and rub each
piece of the meat well with it ; put the meat into your
jar or keg, let it stand 24 hours ; then pour over it the
brine, which should be made the night before. In two
weeks it is ready for use. This makes the finest corned
beef I have tasted.

Sugar Cured Hams.

( MRS. S. FERGUSON. )

For eighteen or twenty hams
Fifteen ounces saltpetre,

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 49

Four ounces saleratus,

Four pounds brown sugar,

Eight quarts tine salt,

Two quarts molasses.

Mix well together in a tub, rub the mixture well on
the face of the hams, putting it all on ; put them in a
tight barrel. Let them remain four days. Make a
strong brine that will bear an egg, and pour over the
hams. Let them remain in the brine from live to six
weeks, or till well salted ; changing them once in that
time, putting those that are in the bottom of the barrel
on the top, so that they will not have the juice pressed
out of them. When they are sufficiently salted, take
them out of the brine, wash them well in warm (not
hot) water, wipe them quite dry and hang them up a
day or two, before being smoked. When smoked, put
black pepper on the joints, wrap them up in strong
brown paper. You can wash them with common
white-wash, colored with any of the common yellow
colors, or pack them in a large dry box and cover each
ham thoroughly with good dry ashes.

Beef and Mutton

A little under-done, (especially very large joints,)
which will make the better hash or broil, is not a great
fault, by some it is preferred; but lamb, pork and veal,
are uneatable if not thoroughly boiled, but do not
overdo them. A trivet, or fish drainer, put in the
bottom of the boiling pot, raising the contents about an
inch and a half from the bottom, will prevent that side
7

50 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

of the meat which comes next the bottom frorp being
done too much, and the lower part ot the meat will be
as delicately done as the other part; and this will
enable you to take out the contents without sticking a
fork into your meat, which is no benefit to it.

Ribs of Beef

The three first ribs make an excellent roasting piece,
many prefer it to the sirloin for roasting ; if the ribs are
taken out and it is rolled and skewered, it will be
round, and can be filled with a stuffing of bread
crumbs, seasoned and flavored to suit the different
tastes. As the meat is more in a solid mass, it will
require more time to roast it. A piece of ten or twelve
pounds weight will not be well roasted in less than four
or five hours. Salt, pepper and flour it well before
putting in to roast.

M^ltton Chops.

Mutton chops are better broiled than cooked in any
other way, and should be broiled over a rather alow
fire, as the fat that cooks from them usually increases
the fire.

Leg of Mutton.

The leg of mutton is very nice boiled or roasted
plainly, or can be stuffed and roasted. The loin is a
roasting piece. The leg is often cured as you would
cure beef to dry ; it has a much finer grain than the

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 51

beef, and is more like venison. I have cured mutton
legs in the corned beef receipt, and found them so like
venison that you could scarcely tell the difference ; they
chip nicely, the meat is close and firm, and looks
beautiful on table.

Pork Steaks.

The best steaks are off the shoulder; the first ham
steaks are considered too dry for steaks.

Spare Hibs.

Spare ribs are nice if broiled well, broiled without
burning. They are also nice cut up and stewed, or
roasted; a pan can be well filled with the spare ribs as
they are cut from the hog pepper and salt, and a
very little well powdered sage, sprinkled over each
layer, and then nicely roasted, occasionally changing
the pieces so that each piece can be a little browned.
Many persons like this dish cold.

Sausage Meat.

Take about two-thirds of nice lean pork, and one-
third of fat, chop them nicely, and season with salt,
black pepper, sage, and a little summer savory. The
best way is to make out a little cake and fry it, adding
such seasoning as is needed to give it the right taste.
There are nice little sausage grinders now in use,
which are a great convenience, and not costing over
three or four dollars ; with a little trouble and care
every family can grind their own sausage and season
it to the taste.

52 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Tender-Loin.

During the slaughtering season families can live
very much cheaper. The tender loin is a very nice
breakfast dish, nicely fried, with a well made gravy.
The backbone, or chine, salted down for a few days,
and then washed and boiled till tender, makes a good
dinner. Some persons boil cabbage, turnips and pota-
toes with it ; it is very relishable, and makes a good
wash-day dinner, giving you a sufficient variety, and
very little labor in cleaning after it.

figs Feet.

They should be thoroughly cleaned, washed, and
thrown into salt water over night, then boiled till they
are almost to pieces ; a little red pepper pod is nice
thrown in, and a few whole cloves and allspice.
When they are done, have a jar sufficiently large to
hold them ; put the feet one by one into the jar, (let
them well drain first,) then have good, clear vinegar,
and cover the feet with it ; do not disturb them for a
day or two, and then they are fit to eat. A nice dish
for breakfast is made by cutting the feet into halves,
dipping them into a nice batter, and frying till they are
a nice brown; the grease for frying anything should
always be hot.

Shoulder and Ham.

These are salted and smoked. Some rub them well
with dry salt and let them remain till they are suf-

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 53

ficently salted, and have them smoked ; others prefer a
brine to the dry salt. The weather has considerable
to do with the length of time they remain in either
salt or brine, if they freeze it takes longer for them to
take the salt.

Curing, Smoking and Keeping Ham.

To a cask of hams, say from 25 to 30, after having
packed them closely and sprinkled them slightly with
salt, let them lie thus for three days; then make a
brine sufficient to cover them, by putting salt into
clear water, making it strong enough to bear hip a
sound egg or potato ; then add one-half pound of salt-
petre k and a gallon of good molasses ; let them lie in
brine for six weeks they are then exactly right.
Take them out and let them drain; while damp, rub
the flesh side and the end of the leg with finely pul-
verized black pepper, with a little cayenne pepper ; let
it be as fine as dust, and rub every part of the flesh
side, then hang them up for a few days before smok-
ing. They can then be kept well, after being well
wrapped in strong brown paper and whitewashed, or
they can be wrapped and packed in dry ashes ; a little
well pulverized charcoal mixed through the ashes is a
great improvement. My own experience has taught
me that it is very much cheaper, and certainly much
safer, to have your hams and all meat to smoke marked
so that you will always get your own meat, and then
get your butcher to smoke them for you.

54 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Packing Beef.

It is a very important thing to know how to keep a
large quantity of beef. If you have a hind quarter of
beef to put away, have it cut into steaks and roasts ;
take such pieces as you wish for dried beef and corned
beef, put them into your brine. Have a nice, clean
box, sufficient to hold your steaks and roasts, put this
box into a larger box and pack that with ice or snow,
first put a quantity in the bottom of the large box,
pack the sides tight, cover it closely ; let no ice or snow
touch your meat, as it draws the blood out and renders
the meat tasteless ; it should be kept in some dry, cool
place, smoke house, or any place where it is cold and
dry, a cellar is too warm and would melt the ice.

To Try Out Lard.

It is much better in trying out lard, if you have a
sufficient quantity to justify you doing so, to render-
out the leaf fat separately from the other fat; cut
the fat into small pieces, put it into a clean pot
over a slow fire, adding at first a little water to keep it
from burning; let it cook till the cracklings are of a
reddish brown ; add a little salt, then strain into tin
cans or stone jars; try out the other fat in the same
way.

Mutton.

As beef requires a large, sound fire, mutton must
have a brisk, sharp one ; if you wish to have mutton

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 55

tender, it should be hung as long as it will keep, and
then good eight-tooth four years' old mutton is as good
eating as venison. The leg, haunch and saddle will
be the better for being hung up in a cool, airy place,
for four or five days at least; in temperate weather a
week, in cold weather, ten days. A leg of eight pounds
will take about two hours, let it be well basted. A
chine or saddle, the two loins, of ten or eleven
pounds, two hours and a half. A shoulder of seven
pounds, an hour and a half; they should be well
watched and often basted. Potatoes, peeled, are
very nice, roasted with any of the roasting pieces.

Shoulder of Mutton.

May be dressed in various ways, but the most usual
is to roast it nicely, and send it up with onion sauce.
It is an unsightly joint, but the appearance may be
improved by cutting off the knuckle, when it may be
called a shield ; it has more different sorts of meat in
the various cuts than the leg. The bone may also be
taken out, and the mutton stuffed; it is very good
baked, and is frequently served upon a pudding.

Leg of Mutton Soiled.

To prepare a leg of mutton for boiling, trim as for
roasting; soak it for a couple of hours in cold water;
then put only water enough to cover it, and let it boil
gently for three hours, or according to its weight.
Some cooks boil it in a cloth; but if the water be

56 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

afterwards wanted for soup, that should not be done ;
some salt and an onion put in the water are far better.
When nearly ready, take it from the tire, and, keeping
the pot well covered, let it remain in the water for ten
or fifteen minutes.

Cooking a Loin of Mutton.

From an hour and a half to an hour and three-quar-
ters. The most elegant way of carving this is to cut
it lengthwise, as you do a saddle. A neck about the
same time as a loin. It must be carefully jointed, or
it is very difficult to carve.

The Neck and Breast

Are, in small families, generally roasted together.
The cook should crack the bones across the middle
before they are put down to roast. If this is not done
carefully, they are very troublesome to carve. A
breast piece about an hour and a quarter to roast.

The Haunch.

The leg and part of the loin of mutton. Send to the
table two sauce-boats of gravy; one of rich, drawn
mutton gravy, seasoned high, and bruised mint to
flavor; the other with plain gravy. Roast slowly and
thoroughly.

Mutton 9 (Venison Fashion.)

Take a neck of good four or five year old wether

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 57

mutton, cut long in the bones; let it hang a few days,
it will improve it. Two days before you dress it,
take allspice and black pepper, ground and pounded
fine, a quarter of an ounce each; rub them together,
and then rub your mutton well with this mixture twice
a day. When you dress your mutton to cook it, wash
off the spice with warm water, rub salt and a little
fresh black pepper over it, dredge on flour, and put it
into the stove ; put hot water in the roasting pan, baste
frequently.

IBeef a la Mode.

In making a la mode beef the round is generally
preferred. I can only give directions for preparing it.
The size of the meat must be selected according to the
number to eat it. Every family knows about the num-
ber of pounds it will take. Select young and tender
meat, cut holes entirely through the thick part, have
long strips of salt fat pork, cut and rolled in a season-
ing of thyme, sweet majorum, sweet basil, cloves,
pepper, salt, half a teaspoonful of each ; then open the
holes already made in the beef, and draw the strips of
fat through them. Some like onions; they can be
used or not, as taste dictates. Put your meat in your
pot, (or, if cooked in a stove, put it in a covered pan,)
add sufficient water to cover it, and let it cook slowly
three or four hours ; make a rich gravy, and just before
taking it out of the pan or pot, add a pint of either
claret or port wine If boiled it can be taken out and
set in the oven a short time ; sprinkle over the top
powdered crackers.

58 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Beef Patties.

This is a nice way to use cold roast beef. Chop tine
the lean, and a -little of the fat ; season it with pepper,
and mace, if you like, or sweet herbs. If you have
any gravy left, moisten the meat with it. Make a nice
plain paste, and cut it round about the size of a plate ;
do not roll it too thin ; cover half of each sheet of paste
with the mash, but do not get it too near the edge; fold
the other half of the paste over, so as to form a half
moon; wet your tinger in cold water, and pinch
together the two edges of the paste. Prick the patties"
with a fork, put them in a baking pan and bake a nice
brown, or fry in hot fat, as you prefer. Serve hot.
Cold veal or cold chicken make nice patties.

To Hash a Calf's Head.

Clean the head thoroughly, and boil it for a quarter
of an hour. When cold, cut the meat into thin, broad
slices, and put them into a pan with two quarts of
gravy; and, after stewing three-quarters of an hour,
add one anchovy, a little mace and cayenne, one spoon-
ful of lemon pickle, and two of walnut catsup, some
sweet herbs, lemon-peel, and a glass of sherry. Mix
a quarter of a pound of fresh butter with flour, which
add tive minutes before the meat is sufficiently cooked.
Take the brains and put them into hot water, skin
them, and pound them well. Add to them two eggs,
one spoonful of flour, a little grated lemon-peel, and
finely chopped parsley, thyme and sage; mix well
together with pepper and salt. Form this mixture into

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 59

small cakes ; boil some lard, and fry them in it until
they are a light brown color, then lay them on a sieve
to drain. Take the hash out of the pan, and lay it
neatly on a hot dish, strain the gravy over it, and lay
upon it a few mushrooms, forcemeat balls, the yolks of
four hard-boiled eggs, and the brain-cakes. Garnish
with slices of lemon and pickles.

Spoon Meats.

Calf's feet or mutton shanks make mild nourishing
broth, but have but little richness or flavor of meat.
To clean them, have a kettle of boiling water on the
iire, and throw in the feet all at once, or in succession,
as the size of the vessel allows. Let them boil about
three minutes, then take one out, when the hoofs and
hairs will easily come off; loosen the hoof at the root
and turn it back, scrape the hairs, carrying the knife
upwards. This must be done immediately on taking
out of the boiling water, therefore only one at a time
must be taken out. Feet, and all gristly parts, require
long boiling, or baking, and consume a large quantity
of water in the process.

Minced Beef.

Cut into small pieces the remains of cold meat; the
gravy reserved from it, on the first day of its being
served, should be put into the stew-pan, with the addi-
tion of warm water, pepper, salt, and a little butter.
Let the whole simmer slowly for an hour. A few
minutes before it is served, take out the meat ; add to

60 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

the gravy some walnut catsup, or a little lemon or
walnut pickle. Boil up the gravy once more, and pour
over the meat. This is a very nice way to use up any
kind of cold meats or fowl. A little curry powder
may be used by those who love high seasoning.

Beef and Mashed Potatoes.

Mash some well cooked potatoes, add a little cream
or sweet milk, butter, salt and black pepper. Slice
cold beef and lay it at the bottom of a deep pie dish,
with salt, pepper, butter, and a little beef gravy, which
should always be saved ; cover the whole with a layer
of the potatoes, then another quantity of the meat, and
then potatoes, and seasoning, having potatoes reserved
for the top; make it higher in the middle of the dish
than at the edges ; put butter on the top and bake a
light brown.

Beef's Heart.

Get a heart of a nice young ox, wash it carefully,
and with a sharp knife remove from the inside of it all
sinews ; lay it in salt and water, and let it remain over
night ; put it on very early in the morning, and boil
till quite tender; then take out, put strips of ham fat,
as in a la mode beef, cut the holes with a long, slim
knife, or make them with a table steel; make a dress-
ing with bread crumbs and a little onion, pepper, salt,
and any herbs preferred; fill the heart, and roll it in a
dough made as for soda biscuit; roll about an inch

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 61

thick, and secure the edges with flour, that it will not
come open ; put in a pan, add water, and cover with
butter, baste well while roasting. This way is very
nice. It can be pinned in a cloth and boiled, if pre-
ferred. Make a nice gravy.

Beef Collops.

Cut the inside of a sirloin, or any other convenient
piece, into small circular shapes, flour and fry them ;
sprinkle with pepper, salt, chopped parsley, and shalot ;
make a little gravy in the pan; send to table with
gherkin or tomato sauce. Or : Cut thin slices of beef
from the rump, or any other tender part, and divide
them into pieces three inches long, beat them with the
blade of a knife, and flour them. Fry the collops in
butter two minutes ; then lay them into a small stew-
pan, and cover them with a pint of gravy, add a bit of
butter rubbed in flour.

Beef a la Mode.

Take a nice piece of round of beef, the size must be
regulated to the size of the family, cut holes about an
inch and a half apart, all through the meat ; have nice
long narrow strips of pork fat, and draw through the
holes, (that from the fat of ham is nicest ;) salt your
meat and let it remain an hour or two ; then put it into
vinegar, (not too strong,) let it remain 24 hours ; then
have in a. stove pot a nice large piece of butter, let it get
hot; put in your meat and let it brown nicely in this
butter, turning it often, and watching it carefully that

62 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

the butter does not scorch, (attention must be paid to
this to have it nice;) then set the pot on the back of the
stove, and pour in the vinegar in which the meat
had stood over night, and add pepper and spices,
(whole) cloves and allspice; let this simmer slowly
several hours till done tender ; strain the liquor it has
boiled in, and make gravy of it. In cutting slices of
the meat, cut it so you will have the bits of pork all
through the slice of meat. This is very nice for tea

cold.

Beefsteak fie.

Take rump steaks that have been well hung, cut in
small scallops ; beat them gently with a rolling pin ;
season with pepper, salt, and a little shalot, minced
very tine ; put in a layer -of sliced potatoes, place the
slices in layers with a good piece of fat and a sliced
mutton kidney; till the dish; put some crust on the
edge, and about an inch below it, and a cup of water
or broth in the dish. Cover with rather a thick crust,
and set in a moderate oven.

Staffordshire Beefsteak.

Beat them a little with, a rolling pin, flour and season,
then fry with sliced onion of a fine light brown; lay
the steaks into a stew pan, and pour as much boiling
water over them as will serve for sauce; stew them
very gently half an hour, and add a spoonful of catsup,
before you serve.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

To Mince Beef.

, Shred the underdone part fine, with some of the fat ;
put it into a small stew pan, with some onion, (a very
little will do,) a little water, pepper and salt ; boil it till
the onion is quite soft, then put some of the gravy of
the meat to it, and the mince ; don't let it boil. Have
a small hot dish with bits of bread ready, and pour the
mince into it, but first mix a large spoonful of vinegar
with it.

Potted Beef.

Take three pounds of beef well salted, pick out any
gristle or skin that may be in it ; pound the meat care-
fully in a stone mortar, with a little butter, until it
becomes a fine paste ; season it by degress as you are
beating it, with black pepper, allspice, or pounded
cloves, mace, or grated untmeg. Put in pots, pressing
it down as closely as possible, and covering it about a
quarter of an ii\ch thick with clarified butter.

To Stew a Brisket of Beef.

Put the part that has the hard fat into a stew pot,
with a small quantity of water; let it boil up, and
skim it thoroughly ; then add carrots, turnips, onions,
celery, and a few pepper corns. Stew till extremely
tender ; then take out all the flat bones, and remove all
the fat from the soup. Either serve that and the meat
in a tureen ; or the soup alone, and the meat on a dish,
garnished with some vegetables. The following sauce

64 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

is much admired, served with the beef: Take half a
pint of the soup, and mix it with a spoonful of
ketchup, a teaspponful of made mustard, a little flour,
a bit of butter, and salt; boil all together a few min-
utes, then pour it round the meat.

Beef Balls,

Mince very fine a piece of tender beef, fat and lean ;
mince an onion, with some boiled parsley; add grated
bread crumbs, and season with pepper, salt, grated
nutmeg and lemon peel ; mix all together and moisten
it with an egg beaten ; roll it into balls, flour and fry
them in boiling fresh dripping. Serve them with fried
bread crumbs.

Beef Steak Smothered with Onions.

Cut up six onions very fine ; put them in a saucepan
with two cupsful of hot water, about two ounces of
good butter, some pepper and salt; dredge in flour.
Let it stew until the onions are quite soft, then have
the steak broiled, put into the saucepan with the
onions; then simmer about ten minutes, and send to
the table very hot.

Head Cheese.

Take a nice hog's head; have it nicely quartered
and washed well; let it remain in salt water a few
hours ; then put on to boil, throw in a little salt at first,
it will bring up the scum which must be removed ; boil

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

65

till the meat will drop from the bones; throw in, while
boiling, cloves, allspice, and some red pepper pod.
When done, remove from the tire, take out the meat
with a ladle, carefully remove all bones ; then with a
spoon or stick mash up all the meat, and mix well ;
put in a bag, and tie, then put a weight on it, and press
it; when cold remove a portion of the bag and cut
into thin slices, and serve with vinegar. The ears
should be cut off closely, and very carefully washed
before it is put on to cook.

Hoast Pig.

Take a pig that the weight is from seven to twelve
pounds, let it be about five weeks old. Have your
butcher kill and clean it ; a great deal depends on the
way it is dressed. "Wash it thoroughly inside and out-
side. Take some nice salt pork and chop it fine ; take
bakers loaf bread, pour cold water on it ; have some
potatoes boiled and mashed fine, one large chopped
onion, plenty of pepper, salt and butter, one raw egg,
and thyme, sweet basil, summer savory and sweet
marjoram ; mix all well together ; salt and pepper your
pig; fill it with the stuffing, and sew it up; bend the
knee joints up to the body, and tie the feet close, so
they will appear well when it comes to the table. Put
it in your dripping pan, salt and pepper and flour ; cut
nice large pieces of the fat of a raw ham and cover
over the top, it prevents its browning too fast. It
should be well basted, and often. It will take about
from mree to four hours to roast it well. Have the

66 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

liver, lights, and heart boiled tender and chopped for
the gravy. Put a lemon in its mouth before putting it
on the table.

Tripe Stewed.

Cut tripe into strips, put them in rich gravy, with a
lump of butter size of a hen's egg, rolled in flour;
shake until the butter is melted. Add a tablespoonful
of white wine, some chopped parsley, pepper, salt,
pickled mushrooms, and a squeeze of a lemon. Shake
well together, and stir until tender.

Lamb to Fry.

Fry slices of lamb in lard till they are a nice brown.
They are nice served on a dish of spinach, or on slices
of nicely toasted bread.

Calf's Head Pie.

Boil the head an hour and a half, or even longer;
put it into cold water, pepper, salt, and add a part of
a red pepper pod while boiling, remove the meat from
the bones. Boil the bones again in the same liquor
for an hour longer ; then strain it off, and set it away
till the next day. To make the pie, boil two eggs for
five minutes ; let them get cold, then lay them in slices
at the bottom of a pie dish, and put alternate layers of
meat and currant jelly, with pepper and chopped
lemon alternate, till the dish is full, sprinkling each
layer with pepper, salt and butter. Cover with a

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 67

crust, and bake, adding the liquor ^that was strained
the day before. This makes a delicious pot pic.

Mock Venison.

( MRS. DR. .PRICE, KY. )

Boil a quarter of mutton until tender. (For even-
ing companies.) Take a quarter of a pound of butter,
a pint of tomato cutsup, two tumblers of blackberry or
plum jelly, half tea cup of mixed mustard, (more if
it is not very strong,) one bunch of celery chopped
tine, (if you cannot get the celery, use the seed,) one
teaspoonful of black pepper, a fourth of a teaspoonful
of cayenne pepper, half pint Madeira wine or any
good cooking wine, a tablespoonful of sugar, more if
the jelly is acid; stew the whole well together; slice
the mutton -in thin slices in a chating dish, pour the
sauce over it, and serve hot. This will be sufficient
for a dinner or an ordinary evening party.

Mutton Sash.

Cut cold mutton into small pieces, fat and lean to-
gether ; make a gravy with the bones that you have
taken the meat from ; put on a little water, add pepper,
salt, an onion, butter, and a few potatoes cut up raw ;
let it boil till these are cooked ; take out the bones ;
take a little of the gravy up and thicken it with flour ;
put in your meat and let it boil up once, stirring it well,
and it is ready to be served up.

68 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Veal

Requires particular care to roast it brown and nice.
Let the fire be the same as for beef; it should cook
slowly at first, and requires to be well cooked. When
first put in the oven it should be well basted. It should
be salted and peppered, a little flour and pieces of but-
ter put over the top ; as veal is seldom fat, it requires
either butter or any nice fryings.

A FILLET OF VEAL,

Of from ten to twelve pounds, will require from four
to five hours at a good fire ; some make a stuffing, or
forcemeat, and put it under the flap ; it is nice left to
eat cold or to make into a hash ; in cooking it, let it
brown nicely.

A LOIN

Is the best part of the calf, and will take about three
hours roasting ; cover the kidney fat with heavy, brown
paper; some cooks send kidneys to the table on but-
tered toast, which is eaten with the kidney and the fat,
which is much more delicate than any marrow. Take
care to keep up a good fire, so that your meat may
brown well.

A SHOULDER OF VEAL

Will take from three to tjiree and a half hours to
roast ; stuff it with the forcemeat, as you would a fillet
of veal.

NECK,

Best end, will take two hours. The scrag part is best
made into a pot pie or into broth ; season same as any

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 69

of the other pieces. If cut up nicely, it makes a nice
dish of curry ; put in potatoes, salt and pepper ; let it
boil till quite tender, and just before taking up, rub
together a little butter and flour to make a nice gravy;
a teaspoonful of curry powder is a great improve-
ment.

The hock and shin are used for soups. The legs, too,
are good soup pieces.

The chump end of the loin and the loin are roasting
pieces.. The hind leg and flank are used for cutlets, or
can be used to stuff and roast. Neck pieces are gen-
erally used for stews, pot pies and curries. There are
few dishes nicer than a nice dish of curried veal.

Curried Veal.

\

Cut your veal into small pieces, say three or four
inches long, just as you would for any other stew;
wash nicely, put into a clean iron pot or saucepan,
with water enough to cover it ; add pepper, salt, a few
pieces of nice salt pork, half a teacup of well washed
rice, butter the size of a hen's egg, and any kind of
herbs, if you like their flavor ; let it cook slowly you
can put in a few potatoes, they help to thicken the
gravy; if it should not be thick enough, wet up a little
flour, (be sure there are no lumps in it,) and turn in ;
then add a little curry powder, and you have a most
palatable dish. You can make nice curries frequently
of cold meats, such 'as are too often thrown into the
swill bucket.

70 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Veal Patties.

( MRS. N. W. BROADWELL. )

Three pounds veal, chopped very fine; one slice of
salt pork; one onion, all chopped very fine; six crack-
ers, rolled fine; a piece of butter the size of an egg;
two eggs ; one teaspoonful salt, and one of pepper; half
a nutmeg; mix well together, form into a round loaf;
sprinkle bread crumbs, or rolled cracker, over the top,
with butter ; bake three hours, baste while baking. It
is very nice cold, sliced for supper ; the pork can be
left out, and more butter added, if you like.

A Plain Veal Pie.

Cut the meat from an uncooked breast of veal, and
stew it in a little water. Have ready a pie dish lined
with paste. Put in a layer of stewed veal with its
gravy, and a layer of sausage meat; then veal again,
and then sausage meat. Repeat till the dish is full.
Cover with paste, and bake it brown. A cheap and
good family pie.

Southern Stewed Veal.

Peel and boil a half dozen fresh spring onions, drain
them and slice thin and comely. Put the veal in a
stew pan, season with salt and a little cayenne; cover
the veal with the onions, and lay on them some bits of
fresh butter rolled in flour. Flavor with nutmeg and
lemon, if you like. This stew is very nice, and lamb
or chicken will make an equally nice one.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 71

Veal Cutlets To Stew.

Cut them about half an inch thick, flatten them with
a chopper, and fry them in fresh butter or dripping.
When brown on one side turn and do them on the
other, continuing to do so till they are thoroughly
done, which will be in about a quarter of an hour.
Make a gravy of some trimmings, which put into a
stewpan with a bit of soft butter, an onion, a roll of
lemon peel, a blade of mace, some thyme, parsley, and
stew the whole over a slow fire for an hour, and then
strain it; put one ounce of butter into another pan,
and when melted mix with as much flour as will dry it
up ; stir this for a few minutes, then add the gravy by
degrees till the whole is mixed ; boil it five minutes,
then strain it through a sieve and put it to the cutlets.
Some browning may be added, together with mush-
room or walnut cutsup, or lemon pickle.

Fricandeau of Veal.

(MRS. R. E. GOODELL. )

Three pounds and a quarter of raw veal; three-
fourths of a pound of salt pork, chopped very fine;
one teaspoonful salt; one teaspoon black pepper ; a
little sweet marjoram, rubbed fine; four soda crackers,
powdered very fine ; three eggs, (raw,) mix well to-
gether with the hands, to make adhere ; form into a
large ball or roll, rub with butter, strew pounded
cracker over it, place it in a pan and bake slowly two
and a half hours. Slice, when cold, for tea. This is
used for evening parties.

72 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Veal Sweatbread.

Trim a fine sweetbread (it cannot be too fresh) ; par-
boil it for five minutes, and throw it into a basin of
cold water. Roast it plain, or beat up the yolk of an
egg, and prepare some fine bread crumbs. When the
sweetbread is cold, dry it thoroughly in a cloth ; run a
lark-spit or a skewer through it, and tie it on the ordin-
ary spit; egg it with a paste brush, powder it well
with bread crumbs, and roast it. For sauce, fried
bread crumbs round it, and melted butter, with a little
mushroom catsup and lemon juice, or serve them on
buttered toast, garnished with egg sauce or with gravy.

Veal and Oyster IPie.

Make a seasoning of pepper, salt, and a small
quantity of grated lemon peel. Cut some veal cutlets,
and beat them until they are tender; spread over them
a layer of pounded ham, and roll them round ; % then
cover them with oysters, and put another layer of the
veal fillets, and oysters on the top. Make a gravy of
the bones and trimmings, or with a lump of butter,
onion, a little flour, and water ; stew the osy ter liquor,
and put to it, and fill up the dish, reserving a portion
to put into the pie when it comes from the oven.

Veal Loaf.

Take a cold fillet of veal, omit the fat and mince as
fine as possible, mix with one-fourth pound of fat ham,
chopped fine ; a teacup grated bread crumbs, a grated

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 73

nutmeg, two beaten eggs, a saltspoon of salt, and a
half saltspoon cayenne ; mix well together in the form
of a loaf. Glaze over with the yelk of egg, and strew
over pounded cracker. Set the dish in an oven, and
bake half an hour. Make a gravy of the trimmings of
veal, or some of the gravy left when the meat was
served the first day. Heat up the gravy, thickened
with the yelk of an egg dropped in just before taken
up, and serve the loaf with the gravy poured round it.

Veal Pie.

Take a shoulder of veal, cut it up and boil one hour,
then add a quarter pound of butter, pepper and salt,
cover the meat with biscuit dough, cover close and
stew half an hour, and it will be ready.

Veal Stuffing.

Chop half a pound of suet, put it in a basin with
three-quarters of a pound of bread crumbs, a tea-
spoonful of salt, a quarter of pepper, a little thyme,
three whole eggs, mix well. A pound of breadcrumbs
and one more egg may be used, it will make it cut
firmer.

Minced Veal.

Chop fine the pieces of cold roast veal; heat over

the gravy, or if none is left, melt a piece of butter the

size of an egg in a gill of hot water, stir till it is

melted, lest it become oily; when it boils, put in the

9

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

veal and cover it, stir it several times while cooking;
season with pepper and salt. Toast a few slices of
bread and lay on the dish, put the veal on the toast.

Veal Patty.

( MRS. HERVEY ELLIOTT. )

Four pounds of veal,

One pound and a half of pickled pork,

Three eggs,

Six crackers.

Chop the pork and veal about as iine as mincemeat;
then add the eggs, well beaten, and the crackers finely
rolled; season with salt and pepper to suit the taste.
Bake about two hours, occasionally basting it.

Breast of Veal.

Cover it with the caul, and, if you retain the sweet-
bread, skewer it to the back, but take off the caul
when the meat is nearly done ; it will take two and a
half to three hours' roasting; serve with melted butter
and gravy.

Veal Dressed with White Sauce.

Boil milk, or cream, with a thickening of flour and
butter; put into it thin slices of cold veal, and simmer
it in the gravy till it is made hot without boiling'
When nearly done, beat up the yolk of an egg with
any nice table sauce that suits the taste ; pour it gently
to the rest, stirring all the time ; let it just come to a
boil, and it is done.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 75

Sandwiches, (Very Fine.)
. Chop the ham or tongue very fine ; add mustard,
pepper, extract of celery, and melted butter to taste,
and hot water enough to make it spread. Have fresh,
light bread, (or beaten biscuits,) cut thin, butter, and
then spread on the prepared meat.

Veal Minced.

Cut veal from the bone into small pieces; put in
veal or mutton gravy, pepper, salt, a little butter, cat-
sup, if it is liked. Put it into a saucepan, and simmer
it slowly; when nearly done thicken with a little flour
rubbed up with butter, stir in, giving it time to thicken
well.

Fricasseed Chicken.

Cut up chicken, and boil with a slice or two of pork
in sufficient water to cover, till quite tender. Fry some
pork, and when cooked a little, drain the chicken and
fry with the pork till quite brown. Then take out, and
pour the broth into the frying pan, with the pork fat,
and make a gravy thickened with browned flour; season
well with butter, and put the chicken into the gravy.
Be sure and have the fat quite hot when the chicken
is put in, so it will brown readily.

Roast Turkey.

See that your turkey is washed and free from all
small feathers; examine the inside well that nothing is
left there that ought to be removed ; remove the craw

76 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

and wind pipe, that is often carelessly left in. Make
a stuffing as for " roast pig," if it is liked, if not, any
plainer dressing will do ; fill your turkey, and sew it
up. Salt and pepper to your taste, dredge on flour ;
put bits .of butter on the top. A turkey of ten pounds
will take about three hours to cook. It should be well
basted and kept from blistering, if it blisters it is cook-
ing too fast. Turkey should be cooked very thoroughly,
if it browns to rapidly, put a paper of three or four
thicknesses over it. The giblets should be put on
early and boiled very tenderly, and then chopped as
fine as it can be chopped and the gravy made of it.
To make the gravy, take the giblets after they have
been chopped, put pepper, salt and butter, and dredge
in sufficient flour to make it thick enough. When
your turkey is removed from the pan, pour in sufficient
gravy from the pan on the giblets, and boil it.

Hoast Goose.

A goose should be roasted in the same manner as a
turkey. It is better to make the stuffing with some
mashed potatoes ; always an onion, as a goose is' not
good without it, (the onion can be omitted in a turkey.)
Put salt, pepper, butter, and a little sage; stuff and
roast well. Some like goose a little rare, that is a
matter of taste. Apple sauce is good to eat with goose.

Roast Ducks.

Ducks should be, as well as all other fowls, washed
with great care ; they should be wiped dry and singed

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 77

well, then wiped again. They should be stuffed with
a stuffing as for goose. A pair of ducks will cook in
about an hour. Baste them well, and dredge them
well with flour to make them brown. Canvass back
ducks are generally cooked without stuffing.

Egg Frizzle.

Pour boiling water on to dried beef, that has been
slivered very tine; change the water a time or two, if
the beef is too salt, then pour off the water, and frizzle
the beef in butter. When done, break in two or three
eggs, and stir till the egg is hardened. This may be
done without the egg, if preferred.

Sauce for Roast Beef or Mutton.

Grate horseradish on a bread grater into a basin ;
then add two tablespoonsful of cream, with a little mus-
tard and salt; mix them well together; then add four
tablespoonsful of the best vinegar, and mix the whole
thoroughly. The vinegar and cream are both to be
cold; add a little powdered white sugar. This is a
very line sauce, it may be served in a small tureen.

Croquettes.

These are a sort of mince meat dumpling. Take
some cold veal, chicken, lobster, or tender cold beef,
chopped tine. Put a half tablespoon butter in a sauce-
pan on the tire. When melted, put in a piece of onion
chopped tine; fry a little; add half a tablespoon of

78 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

flour. When it browns put in the minced meat ; stir
it steadily, and add salt and pepper. Then add a gill
and a half of broth, and set the pan a little off the tire
to simmer. Chop three stalks of parsley fine, and
mix it on the fire, stirring all the time. Then break in
two eggs, stirring faster; in two or three minutes take
it from the fire and set it to cool. Thus far has occu-
pied about ten minutes. When the meat is cold, sift
some flour on the board; take a lump of the mince the
size of an egg, or larger, roll it in the fine flour, dip it
in a cup of beaten eggj drain and roll it in bread
crumbs ; have a quantity of boiling suet, or drippings
in a frying pan, and fry the croquettes in them for a
couple of minutes, till brown. Put in a colander, and
let the fat drain off.

An Economical Dish.

Steam or boil some mealy potatoes ; mash them to-
gether with some butter or cream, season them, and
place a layer at the bottom of the pie dish ; upon this
place a layer of finely chopped cold meat, or fish of
any kind, well seasoned; then add another layer of
potatoes, and continue alternating these with more
chopped meat until the dish is filled. Smooth down
the top, strew bread crumbs upon it, and bake until it
is brown. A very small quantity of meat serves in
this manner to make a nice, presentable little dish. A
sprinkling of chopped pickles may be added, if con-
venient, and when fish is employed, it eats better if
first beaten up with raw eggs.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 79

French Stew.

Cut into pieces two or three pounds of the lean of
fresh, tender beef, veal or pork, and peel and slice a
quarter of a peck of ripe' tomatoes ; season the whole
with a little pepper and salt. Put the whole into a
stew pot, and cover it close, opening it only occasion-
ally to see how it is cooking. Put no water to stew,
the juice of the tomatoes is enough liquid. When the
tomatoes are dissolved, stir in a piece of fresh butter
dredged with flour. Let it stew about a quarter
of an hour longer. When the meat is done through,
have ready some bits of very dry toast cut in a three-
cornered shape, leaving the crust off. Dip the toast
for a moment in some hot water, butter it, and stand it
up around the inside of a deep dish. Fill in the stew
and serve hot.

Potatoes Roasted under Meat.

Half boil large potatoes, drain the water from them,
and put them into an earthen dish or small tin pan,
under meat that is roasting, and baste them with some
of the dripping. When they are browned on one side,
turn them and brown the other, send them up round
the meat, or in a small dish.

For a French Pot an Feu.

Put into a large earthen pot or pipkin six pounds of
good fresh beef, and four quarts of water. Set it on a
slow fire, skim it when it simmers, and when nearly

80 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

boiling add one teaspoonfnl salt, half a pound of liver
cut in pieces, and some black pepper ; add two or three
large carrots sliced, four turnips pared and quartered,
eight young onions peeled and sliced thick, two onions
roasted whole, a head of celery cut up, a par snip sliced,
and six potatoes pared and quartered ; also a bunch of
sweet herbs. Let all boil slowly and steadily, skim-
ming well; let it simmer live or six hours. Lay some
large slices of bread in the bottom of a tureen, pour
the soup upon it. This is a very good, plain dish.

9 Plain Family Irish Stew.

Take about two pounds of scrag or neck of mutton ;
divide it into ten pieces, lay them in the pan ; cut eight
large potatoes and four onions in slices, season with
one teaspoonful and a half of pepper, and three of
salt ; cover all with water ; put it into a slow oven for
two hours, then stir it all up well, and dish up in deep
dishes. If you add a little more water at the com-
mencement, you can take out when half done a nice
cup of broth.

Sow to Cut a Chicken to Fry.

Have a sharp knife to begin with; then cut the
wings off first; then the legs, cutting them carefully
and neatly; throw each leg toward the back of the
chicken and sever it from the body through the hip
joint; next cut the chicken through the back; remove
the lower portion of the back, then the neck piece,

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 81

cutting it off through the rib joints ; this leaves the
breast piece, which should be cut in two lengthwise. A
chicken cut up in this way looks much neater than to
cut it in any other way. The leg can be cut in two
pieces, making it more handy to serve at the table.
With care, and a little practice, this art may be easily
learned.

Stewed Habbits.

Cut the shoulders of the rabbits, and throw them
into a little salt and water to draw out the blood ; when
ready, cut them in pieces and put them in a pot with
water enough to cook them; wash and peel some nice
potatoes and cut them in pieces, and put in with the
rabbit ; let it stew till the rabbit is cooked very tender ;
then take flour and butter and rub them well together,
and stir in ; let it boil up till it makes a nice gravy ;
pepper and salt to suit the taste.

Rabbit Pot Pie.

Prepare the rabbits by cutting them up and putting
them into a little salt and water ; let them remain till
cleansed from all blood spots. Make a dough, not too
short, and if you wish a boiled pot pie, put in your
rabbits and potatoes intermixed with pieces of the
dough, that should be rolled out about half an inch
and cut in oblong pieces ; put in the dough alternately
with the potatoes and rabbits ; put salt, pepper and but-
ter, and water enough to cook it and make the gravy ;

82 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

put a crust on the top of the pot ; let it boil slowly, and
if you wish the top crust browned, heat a griddle or
cover and put on till it is brown. When your dinner
is ready to serve, have your dish or platter ready,
take off the top crust, and with a ladle dip up the
rabbits ; the gravy will be thick enough, unless there
was too much water put in. When all. is out, pour in
your gravy and put on the top crust. Pot pies are
made the same way to be baked.

Chicken, veal, pigeons, squirrels and quails are
made into pot pies, the same directions answering for
all. Care should be taken not to put to put too much
water, and there should be quite enough to cook the
pie, leaving enough to make enough gravy or the pie
will be very dry. All such pies or stews should be well
seasoned.

Broiled Rabbits.

Take the hind quarters of the rabbit and v pound
them well; salt and pepper, and have your gridiron
well greased and heated ; put them on and let them
broil slowly. When done, butter and send to the
table hot. The butter should be melted in a pan, with
a little sprinkle of flour and a good deal of pepper.
Put the rabbits in a piece at a time, and with the
pounder mash them into the butter.

Broiled Quails.

These are the nicest of birds, and require great care
to have them nicely cooked. They are considered

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 83

best when nicely broiled. Each quail should be picked
over carefully, then they should be pounded slightly
with the steak pounder, to break the bones and give
them an opportunity to broil. A very nice way to
serve them is to toast bread a light brown, and butter
each piece well; lay a bird on each piece of the toast,
and pour the butter in which they were dipped over
the whole. If the toast is not liked, serve without.

Potted Rabbit.

Take very young fat hares or rabbits ; wash and soak
them in salt and water ; then take them out of the
water and wipe each piece quite dry; pepper, salt,
and flour them well, and fry them nicely in hot lard;
then take them from the stove and put them in a stone
jar; pour the gravy, which should be made like
chicken gravy, over them, adding one pint of boiling
water; set this jar, which must be covered tight, in the
oven, and let it remain about an hour and a half.
The English think this a choice dish, and add one
tumbler of good port wine.

Stewed Prairie Chidden.

Out the chickens in pieces, wash and pick off all
small feathers ; put them in a pot, with just enough
water to cook them, with salt, pepper and butter.
Make a nice gravy of flour and butter, and stir in just
before taking them up. Prairie chickens, if young,
are splendid broiled.

84 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Fried Chickens.

This is one of nicest ways that chickens can be
cooked, and there is no way that requires more
attention. If chickens are killed and picked at home,
they should not be allowed to remain in the boiling
water in which they are scalded; they should be
picked as quick as possible, and then as soon as they
are thoroughly cleaned, throw them into cold water
till you are ready to cut them up ready for frying.
Each piece should be salted and peppered, and dredged
with flour ; have the lard hot, and after all the pieces
are in, cover with a tight fitting cover, let it fry
slowly. Make a gravy by putting a little flour in
the skillet, (after you have taken up the chickens.)
Pour in boiling water and then a little milk or cream ;
pour gravy over the chickens, or serve in a gravy boat.

Chicken Salad.

For two chickens, take

The yolks of eight hard boiled eggs,

One small teaspoonful of salt,

One-half of a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper.

One-half a wine glass made mustard,

One wine glass and a half of vinegar,

Two wine glasses of sweet olive oil.

As much celery as there is chopped chicken.

The chicken can be chopped very tine, or in larger
pieces, as taste may dictate; chop celery tine; chop
eggs very tine, mix with the chicken ; then add the

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 85

celery and other ingredients ; add more vinegar, if too
dry, and black pepper. To tins quantity about eight
good sized pickles may be chopped tine and added,
many think them an improvement.

Mayonaise.

A SUPPEK DISH.

Six hard boiled eggs, (yolks only,)

Four tablespoonsful mixed mustard,

One teaspoonful salt,

One teaspoonful sugar,

Ten tablespoonsful of vinegar,

Ten tablespoonsful of rich cream,

One teaspoonful celery seed.

Slice cold fowl, or other delicate meat, and lay in
the above mixture two or three hours before tea ; wash
lettuce and put on ice; just before tea is ready lay al-
ternate layers of meat and lettuce, leaving lettuce for
the top. Pour dressing over the whole.

Smothered or Baked Chickens.

Your chickens should be large and fat; split them
down the back and put them in your dripping pan;
salt and pepper, with plenty of butter put over the
top ; set them in the stove, with water sufficient to cook
them. This is baked chicken. If you wish them
smothered, cover a closely fitting pan over them, and
let them cook slowly; put flour over the top before
you put them in the stove. Make gravy with flour in
the dripping pan in which they are cooked.

86 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

To Cook Calf's or Beef's Liver.

Cut the slices half an inch thick ; put in a pan and
pour over them some boiling water till it becomes
white ; pour off the water ; salt, pepper, and flour each
slice, and fry in hot lard ; turn often, that it may not
become hard when done ; take up on your dish ; shake
flour into skillet; add a little salt and pepper, and
sweet milk enough to make a nice, thick gravy ; let it
boil up once and pour over your liver. Always
remove the skin from the li ver before frying it.

VEGETABLES

There is nothing in which the difference between an
elegant and an ordinary table is more seen than in the
dressing of vegetables, more especially of greens.
They may be equally as fine at first, at one place as at
another, but their look and taste are afterward very
different, entirely from the careless way in which they
have been cooked. They are in greatest perfection
when in greatest plenty when in full season. By sea-
son, we do not mean those early days, that luxury in
the buyers and avarice in the sellers, force the various
vegetables ; but the time of year in which, by nature
and common culture, and the mere operation of the
sun and climate, they are in most plenty and perfection.

Potatoes and peas are scarcely worth eating before
mid-summer.

Unripe vegetables are as insipid and unwholesome as
unripe fruits. As to the quality of vegetables, the middle
size are preferred to the largest or the smallest; they
are more tender, juicy, and full of flavor just before
they are quite full grown; freshness is their chief
value and excellence, and I should as soon think of
roasting an animal alive as of boiling a vegetable after
it is dead. The eye easily discovers if they have been

88 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

kept too long. They soon lose their beauty in all
respects.

Roots, greens, salads, etc., and the various produc-
tions of the garden, when first gathered, are plump
and firm, and have a fragrant freshness no art can give
them again ; though it will refresh them a little to put
them into cold spring water for some time before they
are dressed.

TO BOIL THEM

In soft water will preserve the color best of such as
are green. If you only have hard water put to it a
teaspoonful of soda.

TAKE CARE TO WASH

t

And cleanse them thoroughly from dust, dirt and in-
sects. This requires great attention. Pick off all the
outside leaves ; trim them nicely ; lay them in a pan of
clear, cold water, with a little salt in it, and let them
remain an hour at least before cooking.

TO HAVE VEGETABLES DELICATELY CLEAN,

Put on your pot with sufficient water and a little salt ;
make it boil and skim it perfectly clean before you put
on greens of any kind to cook. They should not be
put in till the water boils briskly. The quicker greens
boil the greener they will be.

WHEN VEGETABLES SINK

to the bottom of the pot they are generally done
enough, if the water has been kept boiling Take
them up immediately or they will lose their color and
goodness; drain off all the water before sending to the

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 89

table. This branch of cooking requires the most vigi-
lant attention. If vegetables are a minute or two too
long over the tire, they lose all their beauty and flavor.
If they are not thoroughly boiled tender, they are very
indigestible.

TO PRESERVE OR GIVE COLOR

in cookery, many good dishes are spoiled; but the
rational epicure who makes nourishment the main end
of eating, will be content to sacrifice the shadow to
enjoy the substance. Once for all, take care that your
vegetables are fresh; for the fishmonger often suffers
for the sins of the cook, so the cook often gets unde-
servedly blamed instead of the green grocer. -

Potato Cakes.

Peel enough good sized potatoes for a meal for the
family ; grate on a coarse grater, and stir in from three
to five eggs ; then add a little flour more eggs will not
hurt them; stir. well, and fry in hot lard, and, if tried
once, my word for it, they will be tried again and often.

Potatoes.

There are few articles in families more subject to
waste, both in paring, boiling, and being actually
thrown away, than potatoes ; and there are few cooks
but what boil twice as many potatoes every day as are
wanted, and fewer still that do not throw the residue
away as totally unfit, in any shape, for the next day's
10

90 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

meal ; and yet, if they would take the trouble to heat
up the despised cold potatoes in many or any of the
various dishes recommended, they would find a cheap
and very agreeable appendage to either the breakfast
or dinner table. We are all potato eaters, (and esteem
them beyond any other vegetable,) yet few know how
to cook them well.

Plain Boiled Potatoes.

Put them into a saucepan with scarcely sufficient
water to cover them. Directly the skin begins to
break, lift them from the fire, and as quick as possible
pour off every drop of the water. Then place a coarse
(we need not say clean) towel over them, and return
them tcrthe fire again until they are thoroughly done
and quite dry. A little salt should have been added
to the water before boiling. Care should, of course,
be used that they do not scorch or burn.

Potatoes to Mash.

These should be boiled in the same manner as the
above directions ; peeled, and mashed till there are no
lumps of the potato left ; salt to the taste ; butter the
size of an egg for about a dozen potatoes ; a little good
sweet cream or new milk; mash well together and
serve while hot.

Mashed Potatoes

May be put into a pie plate of tin or earthenware,

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 91

smoothed over the top till quite round; make a hole
in the centre, put in a lump of butter, and set it in
the stove and let it brown nicely. Some persons beat
up the yolk of an egg and put over it, this is a
matter of fancy altogether.

Baked Potatoes.

Wash very clean your potatoes, cutting a small piece
from each end, by so doing the steam or heat escapes,
and the potatoes are more dry and mealy. Do not let
let them remain in the oven to get too hard and dry ;
judgment should be used to have them just done in
time to serve, as they will be spoiled if they remain
long in the oven.

Potatoes Fried Whole.

When nearly boiled enough, put them into a stew
pan with a bit of butter or some clean beef drippings ;
shake them about often to prevent burning, till they
are brown and crisp ; clear them from the fat. It will
be an improvement if they are floured and dipped into
the yolk of an egg, and then rolled in finely sifted
crumbs.

Tomato Omelet.

Select your tomatoes ; pour over them boiling water
to remove the skins ; then chop them, and put them in
a saucepan without any water; put one or two onions
chopped fine, a lump of butter the size- of an egg, pep-

92 ILLINOIS COOK -BOOK.

per and salt to the taste ; cook slowly, and till they are
pretty well cooked; then have ready the yelks of two
eggs, well beaten, with half a teacup of sweet cream,
and pour this into the cooked tomatoes, just before you
take them from the stove, stir well; do not leave this
on the stove after the eggs are stirred in, else the eggs
and cream will curdle.

Potatoes Escolloped,

Mash potatoes in the usual way ; then butter some
nice, clean scollop shells, patty pans or saucers; put
in your potatoes ; make them smooth at the top, strew
some bread crumbs over them; rub, or pour, over each
a little melted butter ; set them in the oven to brown ;
when done, take them out and turn them over, and if
the under side is not browned, set them again into the
oven a few minutes.

Saratoga Fried Potatoes.

Peel and slice large, nice potatoes, slice them very
thin ; have a kettle with lard, and when it boils, put in
a portion of the potatoes, and fry them a light brown ;
keep moving them about till they are crisp ; take them
from the lard with a skimmer, let them drip free of the
lard ; send them to the table hot ; salt may be added
after they are taken up, or they can be salted before
frying. When they are used in winter for breakfast,
they should be prepared over night and thrown into
salt water; in the morning, dip them from the water;
lay them in a clean, dry cloth, and wipe off all the

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

water, then fry them as above. This way of prepar-
ing them over night in winter is better, as the mornings
are so very short, and it takes considerable time to pre-
pare them. This way is preferred to almost any other
way of frying potatoes. It would not do for an every
day dish, as it takes considerable lard, and would be
rather expensive at the end of a year.

Potato Fritters.

( MBS. RYAN. )

Three eggs, one quart sweet milk, and a little flour ;
rub in the flour with the eggs, salt to the taste. The
batter must not be too thin. Then add well mashed
potatoes ; have a little lard in a skillet, it must be hot,
and drop the mixture in by spoonsful in small cakes ;
fry a light brown. They must be eaten hot.

Plain Fried Potatoes.

Potatoes can be par-boiled, and the skins removed ;
then sliced and fried, for either breakfast or dinner;
and the potatoes left from dinner, put away carefully,
are nice sliced and fried.

French Batter for Frying Vegetables.

Moisten a little flour with water, and add to it a
small quantity of salt, a tablespoonful of olive oil, and
a spoonful and a half of French brandy ; beat up the
mixture thoroughly, and when you are ready to use it,

94 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

beat into it the white of an egg previously beaten to a
strong froth. This batter may be used for frying
sweet entremets, in which case sugar must be put
instead of salt.

Potato Snow.

Pick out the whitest potatoes, put them on in cold
water ; when they begin to crack open, pour off the
water and put them in a clean saucepan before the fire
till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces ; rub them
through a wire sieve on the dish they are to be sent to
the table in, and do not mash them, but let them
remain as they fall from the sieve. They should be
salted, of course, while they are boiling.

Squash.

Gather the summer squashes when young and ten-
der. If the scallop, the seeds will do no harm ; cut it
in quarters, and boil in a bag until tender ; squeeze out
all the water, and season with salt and butter ; pepper
can be added at the table.

Turnips

Should always be boiled whole, and put in much after
either carrots or parsnips, as they require less boiling.
When used in stews, they are cut into small pieces the
size of dice, or made into shapes with a little instru-
ment to be found at all cutlery shops. They may be
mashed in the same manner as parsnips, but some per-

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 95

sons add the yelk of a raw egg or two. They are also
frequently made into a puree to thicken mutton broth.

String Beans.

Gather them while young enough to break crispy ;
break off both ends, and string them ; break in halves,
and boil in water with a little salt, until tender; drain
free from water, and season with butter.

Succotash, or Corn and Beans.

If old beans are used, they must be soaked over
night, and parboiled in two waters before putting in
the pork. The corn should be added to the beans and
pork about fifteen minutes before the hour for serving
the dinner. It is well to boil the cobs with the beans
and pork in the last water. Remove them before
adding the corn. For using beans not fully ripe, one
change of water is sufficient ; the pork can be parboiled
at the same time. Beans for succotash should remain
whole ; care must be taken that they boil gently, so as
not to break them. Considerable water is generally
used in boiling the beans, that no more need be added
when the corn is put in ; most persons like consider-
able soup in this dish. Families can be governed by
taste in this. Dish the corn and beans in a deep dish
with the broth, and season with butter and a very little
salt; use no pepper, if any person desire it, it is easily
added. Serve the pork on a platter, after taking off
the skin and dotting it with pepper, by dipping the

96 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

little finger in ground pepper and pressing it on the
pork.

Tomato Stew.

Take large, ripe tomatoes, scald, peel and quartei
them, and sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper.
Put in a stewpan some thin, tender beef steaks, lamb
or mutton chops. Bury the meat in the tomato, and
add bits of fresh butter rolled in flour and sugar, if
you do not like the acid of the tomatoes ; add a chopped
onion or two, if you like it. Cook slowly till the meat
is done and tomatoes all dissolved to a pulp. Add no
water to this stew. A very wholesome dish.

Sweetbreads and a^llifiowers.

Take four large sweetbreads and two cauliflowers.
Split open the sweetbreads and remove the gristle.
Soak them awhile in lukewarm water ; put them into
a saucepan of boiling water, and set them to boil ten
minutes. Afterward lay them in a pan of cold water
to make them firm. The parboiling is to whiten
them. Wash, drain and quarter the cauliflowers.
Put them in a broad stewpan with the sweetbreads on
them ; season with a little cayenne and a little nutmeg
add water to cover them. Put on the lid of the pan
and stew one hour. Take a quarter of a pound of
fresh butter and roll in two tablespoons of flour;
add this with a teacup of milk to the stew, and give it
one boil up, and no more. Serve hot, in a deep dish.
This stew will be found delicious.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 97

To Stew JRed Cabbage.

Slice a small, or half a large red cabbage, wash and
put it into a saucepan with pepper, salt, no water but
what hangs about it, and a piece of butter; stew till
quite tender, and when going to serve, add two or
three spoonsful of vinegar, and give one boil over the
fire. Serve it for cold meat, or with sausages on it.

Fried Egg Plant.

Peel the egg plants, slice them thin, sprinkle a little
salt over them,* and let them remain half an hour ;
wipe the slices dry, dip them into beaten yelk of egg,
then into grated cracker, and fry them a light brown
in boiling lard, seasoning them slightly with pepper
while they are cooking. Another way is to parboil the
egg plants, after they are peeled, in water with a little
salt, then slice thin, dust them with corn meal, flour,
or corn starch, and fry them brown.

Green Corn Dumplings, '

A quart of young corn grated from the cob,
Half a pint of wheat flour sifted,
Half a pint of milk,
Six tablespoonsful of butter,
Two eggs,

A saltspoonful of salt,
A saltspoonful of pepper,
Butter for frying.
Having grated as tine as possible sufficient young fresh

98 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

corn to make a quart, mix with it the wheat flonr, and
add the salt and pepper. Warm the milk in a small
saucepan, and soften the butter in it. Then add them
gradually to the pan of corn, stirring very hard, and
set it away to cool. Beat the eggs light, and stir them
into the mixture when it has cooled. Flour your
hands and make it into little dumplings. Put into a
fryingpan a sufficiency of fresh butter, (or lard and
butter in equal proportions,) and when it is boiling hot,
and has been skimmed, put in the dumplings, and fry
them ten minutes or more, in proportion to their thick-
ness. Then drain them, and send them hot to the din-
ner table.

Green Corn in Winter.

Take tender green corn, (sweet corn is best,) boil it
ten minutes. Then cut it from the cob and dry it in
the sun. Corn preserved in this way will keep for
years, and will be perfectly fresh when brought on the
table. To prepare for use, cook it until tender in as
little water as possible. When nearly done, add milk,
butter and salt to taste.

Tomato Pudding.

Pour boiling water on tomatoes, remove the skins ;
put in the bottom of the pudding dish some bread
crumbs, them slice the tomatoes on them, season with
sugar, butter, pepper and salt; add some more bread
crumbs, then the sliced tomatoes and seasoning; and if

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 99

the tomato does not wet the bread crumbs, add a little
water. Then, for a small pudding, beat up two eggs,
and pour over the top. Bake about twenty minutes.

To Broil Tomatoes.

Wash and wipe the tomatoes, and put them on the
gridiron over live coals, with the stem down. When
that side is brown turn them and let them cook
through. Put them on a hot dish and send quickly to
table, to be there seasoned to taste.

To Bake Tomatoes.

Season them with salt and pepper; flour them over,
put them in a deep plate with a little butter, and bake
in a stove.

Fricasseed Egg Plant.

Having peeled and sliced the egg plants, boil them
in water with a saltspoonful of salt, until they are
thoroughly cooked. Drain off the water, pour in suf-
iicient milk to cover the slices, and add a few bits of
butter rolled in flour ; let it simmer gently, shaking the
pan over the fire till the sauce is thick, and stir in the
beaten yolks of two or three eggs just before it is
served.

Beets.

These should be, as all other vegetables should be,
fresh gathered, carefully selected, well washed, and

100 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

they should be put into cold water. In cutting off the
tops, do not cut too closely, or you will lose the rich,
red color. They should be salted while boiling, and
when done, taken up and thrown a few moments
into' clear, cold water, the skin will then slip off easily ;
slice them thin, and dress with butter and pepper;
vinegar, if it is preferred.

Parsnips.

These are a nice winter vegetable, and are very nice
boiled and 'dressed with butter, pepper and salt. They
should be sliced lengthwise. A very nice way is to
have butter hot in a skillet, and lay each piece nicely
in the butter, and fry, turning over, that both sides
may be browned.

Cabbage.

The Early York is a nice summer cabbage, and
should be boiled with nice salt pork or corned beef, or
a piece of brisket, either is nice, and makes a good
family dinner.

Asparagus

Should be young, and freshly cut; boil in a litt)^
salted water; they should be tied carefully before put-
ting in the water ; (have nice bread toasted, if it is
liked that way;) when done, take up, cut off the
string, pour over the toast, if used, and if not, dress it
with melted butter.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 101

~Peas.

Boil peas in salted water, and dress with butter.
Some make a drawn butter, and some put cream and
butter; all tastes are not alike. In the manner of
cooking, that must be left to the tastes of those who
are to eat them; but one thing should always be looked
carefully to, that is to be sure they have not lain in
the market for a week or more; they are not only
unfit to eat, but are very unhealthy.

String Beans.

These should always be gathered fresh ; string them,
by breaking oif both ends and pulling off the string
that is on either side ; they should then be broken.
Always boil bacon with these.

To Preserve Mushrooms.

To each quart of mushrooms allow three ounces of
butter, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of one lemon,
clarified butter. Peel the mushrooms, put them into
cold water, with a little lemon juice ; take them out
and dry them very carefully in a cloth. Put the but-
ter -into a stewpan capable of holding the mushrooms ;
when it is melted, add the mushrooms, lemon juice,
and a se