Mackenzie's Ten Thousand Receipts

Ten thousand receipts from the great Victorian household compendium — cookery, brewing, dyeing, gilding, fireworks, medicine, farriery and the rest of the useful arts, in one volume.

HomePlain Cookery › Oysters

Oysters

pick cut the eyes, and lay them in salt and water | cracker, and with the back of a spoon pat the all night, then wash and put them on to boil, take out the bones carefully, chop and season them well, and pack it in bowls; they will turn out whole, and may be eaten cold with vinegar, or fried as sausage.

Bouilli.

Take the thin ends of prime ribs; bubble them slowly with a little salt, pepper, 3 bay leaves, 1 onion stuck with cloves, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Remove all the scum, and bubble till a skewer will penetrate without force.

Scrapple.

Take 8 pounds of scraps of pork, that will not do for sausage, boil it in 4 gallons of water; when tender, chop it fine, strain the liquor and pour it back into the pot; put in the meat, season it with sage, summer savory, salt and pepper to taste, stir in a quart of corn meal; after simmering a few minutes, thicken it with buckwheat flour very thick; it requires very little cooking after it is thickened, but must be stirred constantly.

To Stew Oysters.

Put your oysters with all their liquor into a saucepan; no water; to every dozen add a lump of butter size of a walnut, salt, black pepper, a blade of mace, two bay leaves; bubble for five minutes, add a little cream, shake all well together. and turn them out, grating a little nutmeg on each oyster as it lies in the sauce.

Stewed Oysters.

One hundred oysters, a pint of cream, 2 ounces of butter, beat the butter smooth with a little flour. Put the oysters in a pan over the fire; when they become hot, stir in the cream, butter, and flour.

Season to your taste with salt, mace, and pepper.

They should be served as soon as they are taken off the fire.

Oysters Roasted.

Roast your oysters over a quick fire till they are done dry, but not scorched; turn them out on the plate of a brazier, without any of their liquor; add a large lump of butter. Set the plate over the lamp when the butter is melted, add a gill of Madeira, a little salt and Cayenne. Another Mode.

Put the oysters alive in the shell upon a good fire and leave them till their shells open a little; then take them off, open them on a plate, and season with salt and pepper only. Thus they are excellent for delicate stomachs.

Scalloped Oysters.

One hundred oysters, a baker's loaf crumbed, four eggs boiled hard; salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Chop the eggs very fine and mix with the crumbs, which season highly with cayenne and salt. Cover the bottom of a deep pie-dish with the eggs and crumbs; then with a fork, place a layer of oysters with two or three small pieces of butter, and so continue until all are in, reserving sufficient crumbs for the cover. For those who like it, a little mace may be added. Bake in a quick oven three-quarters of an hour. Serve hot.

Fried Oysters.

Take fine large oysters, free them from all the small particles of shell, then place them on a clean towel and dry them. Have ready some crackers made very fine, which season with a little salt, black and cayenne pepper of equal proportions.

Beat as many eggs and cream mixed, as will moisten all the oysters required, then with a fork dip each one in the egg and lay them on the cracker close to the oyster; lay them on a dish, and so continue until are done. Put in a frying. pan an equal portion of butter and lard or sweet oil boiling hot, then put in as many oysters as the pan will hold without allowing them to touch, and fry quickly a light brown on both sides. A few minutes will cook them. Send to table hot.

Panned Oysters.

Take fifty large oysters, remove every particle of shell which may adhere to them, put them in to a colander and pour over a little water to rinse them. After letting them drain, put them into a stewpan with a quarter of a pound of butter, salt, black and red pepper to taste. Put them over a clear fire, and stir while cooking. As soon as they commence to shrink remove them from the fire, dish. and send to table hot in a well (covered) heated Codfish-Cakes.

Wash the fish, and after remaining in water all night, boil it. Take out all the bones, cut up very fine and mix with an equal quantity of potatoes; add a piece of butter, cayenne, and a little more salt, if necessary. Then make it out into small round cakes, and fry in butter or beef drippings, a light brown on both sides.

To Boil Lobsters.

The medium sized are best; put them alive into a kettle of boiling water which has been salted, and let them boil from half an hour to three-quarters, according to their size. When done take them out of the kettle, wipe them clean, and rub the shell with a little sweet oil, which will give a clear red appearance.

Crack the large claws without mashing them, and with a sharp knife split the body and tail from end to end. Send to table and dress as follows: after mincing it very fine add salt, cayenne pepper, mustard, salad oil, and vinegar to taste, observing to mix all well together.

To Pickle Oysters.

Drain off the liquor from one hundred oysters, wash them and put to them a table-spoonful of salt and a tea-cup of vinegar; let them simmer over the fire about ten minutes, taking off the scum as it rises; then take out the oysters and put to their own liquor a tablespoonful of whole black pepper and a teaspoonful of mace and cloves; let it boil five minutes, skim and pour it over the oysters in a jar.

To Spice Oysters.

One hundred oysters, one dozen cloves, two taste. dozen allspice, mace, cayenne pepper, and salt to Strain the liquor through a sieve, put it in a and half a pint of cider vinegar. Place them over saucepan, and add the oysters, spice, pepper, salt, , pepper, salt, a slow fire, and as soon as they boil take them off. Pour them into a large bowl and set them away to cool. When cold cover them close.

Flounders-a la crème.

Scale, clean, and wrap your fish in a cloth, boil it gently in plenty of water well salted; when done drain it carefully without breaking, lay it on your dish and mask it with cream or white onion sauce.

French Stew of Peas and Bacon.

Cut about one-quarter of a pound of fresh bacon into thin slices, soak it on the fire in a stewpan until it is almost done; then put about a quart of peas to it, a good bit of butter, a bunch of parsley, land two spoonfuls of catsup; simmer on a slow fire and reduce the sauce; take out the parsley | paper between each, and keep them in a dry place. and serve the rest together.

New England Chowder.

Have a good haddock, cod, or any other solid fish; cut it in pieces three inches square, put a pound of fat salt pork in strips into the pot, set it on hot coals and fry out the oil; take out the pork and put in a layer of fish, over that a layer of onions in slices, then a layer of fish with slips of fat salt pork, then another layer of onions; and so on alternately until your fish is consumed; mix some flour with as much water as will fill the pot, season with black pepper and salt to your taste, and boil it for half an hour. Have ready some crackers (Philadelphia pilot bread if you can get it) soaked in water till they are a little softened, throw them into your chowder five minutes before you take it up. Serve in a tureen.

Daniel Webster's Chowder.

Four tablespoonfuls of onions, fried with pork; a quart of boiled potatoes well mashed; 1½ pounds of sea biscuit broken; 1 teaspoonful of thyme, mixed with one of summer savory: bottle of mushroom catsup; one bottle of port or claret; of a nutmeg, grated; a few cloves, mace, and allspice; 6 pounds fish (sea-bass or cod), cut into slices; 25 oysters, a little black pepper, and a few slices of lemon. The whole put in a pot and covered with an inch of water, boiled for an hour and gently stirred.

Soup Maigre.

Take of veal, beef cut into small pieces, and scrag of mutton, 1 pound each; put them into a saucepan, with 2 quarts of water; put into a clean cloth 1 ounce of barley, an onion, a small bundle of sweet herbs, 3 or 4 heads of celery cut small, a little mace, 2 or 3 cloves, 3 turnips pared and each cut in two, a large carrot cut into small pieces, and a young lettuce. Cover the pot close, and let it stew very gently for six hours. Then take out the spice, sweet herbs, and onion, and pour all into a soup-dish, seasoned with salt.

Another Soup Maigre.

Quarter of a pound of butter placed in a stewpan, add to it 2 tablespoonsful of flour, pint of milk. Then add cold vegetables chopped very fine, and stew together a quarter of an hour. Before sent up, beat the yolks of two eggs, add of a pint of cream, and a little pepper and salt to taste.

Portable Soup.

Cut into small pieces 3 large legs of veal, 1 of beef, and the lean part of a ham; lay the meat in a large cauldron, with a quarter of a pound of butter at the bottom, 4 ounces of anchovies, and 2 ounces of mace. Cut small 6 heads of clean washed celery, freed from green leaves, and put them into the cauldron, with 3 large carrots cut thin. Cover all close, and set it on a moderate fire. When the gravy begins to draw, keep taking it off till it is all extracted. Then cover the meat with water, let it boil gently for four hours, then strain it through a hair-sieve into a clean pan, till it is reduced to one-third. Strain the gravy drawn from the meat into a pan, and let it boil gently, until it be of a glutinous consistence. Take care and skim off all the fat as it rises. Watch it when it is nearly done, that it does not burn; next season it with Cayenne pepper, and pour it on flat earthen dishes, a quarter of an inch thick. Let it stand till the next day, and then cut it out by round tins larger than a silver dollar. Set the cakes in dishes in the sun to dry, and turn them often. When fully dried, put them into a tin box with a piece of clean white If made in frosty weather it will soon become solid. This kind of soup is exceedingly convenient for private families, for by putting one of the cakes in a saucepan with about a quart of water, and a little salt, a basin of good broth may be made in a few minutes. It will likewise make an excellent gravy for roast turkeys, fowls, and game.

Asparagus Soup.

Put a small broiled bone to 1½ pints of peas, and water in proportion, a root of celery, a small bunch of sweet herbs, a large onion, Cayenne pepper, and salt to taste; boil it briskly for five hours, strain and pulp it; then add a little spinach-juice, and asparagus boiled and cut into small pieces. A teaspoonful of walnut soy, and a teaspoonful of mushroom catsup, answers as well as the bone.

Giblet Soup.

Take 4 pounds of gravy beef, 2 pounds of scrag of mutton, and 2 pounds of scrag of veal; boil them in 2 gallons of water, stew them gently till it begins to taste well, pour it out and let it stand till cold, skim off all the fat. Take 2 pair of giblets well scaled, put them to the broth, and simmer them till they are very tender. Take them out and strain the soup through a cloth. Put a piece of butter rolled in flour into the stewpan, with some fine chopped parsley, chives, a little pennyroyal, and sweet marjoram. Place the soup over a slow fire, put in the giblets, fried butter, herbs, a little Madeira wine, some salt, and Cayenne pepper; when the herbs are tender, send the soup and giblets intermixed to table. This forms a very savory dish.

Charitable Soup.

Take the liquor of meat boiled the day before, with the bones of leg and shin of beef; add to the liquor as much as will make 130 quarts, also the meat of 10 stones of leg and shin of beef, and 2 ox-heads, all cut in pieces; add 2 bunches of carrots, 4 bunches of turnips, 2 bunches of leeks, a peck of onions, 1 bunch of celery, a pound of pepper, and some salt. Boil it for six hours.

Either oatmeal or barley may be put in to thicken it, if thought necessary. This soup may be used at any gentleman's table.

Veal Gravy Soup.

Garnish the bottom of the stewpan with thin pieces of lard, then a few slices of ham, slices of veal cutlet, sliced onions, carrots, parsnips, celery, a few cloves upon the meat, and a spoonful of broth; soak it on the fire in this manner till the veal throws out its juice; then put it on a stronger fire, till the meat catches to the bottom of the pan, and is brought to a proper color; then add a sufficient quantity of light broth, and simmer it on a slow fire till the meat is thoroughly done; add a little thyme and mushrooms. Skim and sift it clear for use.

Beef Gravy Soup.

Cut slices of lean beef, according to the quantity wanted, which place in a stew-pan, upon sliced onions and roots, adding two spoonsful of fat broth; soak this on a slow fire for half an hour, stirring it well; when it catches a proper color add thin broth made of suitable herbs, with a little salt over it.

A Cheap Rice and Meat Soup.

Put a pound of rice and a little pepper and broth herbs into two quarts of water, cover them close, and simmer very softly; put in a little cinnamon, two pounds of good ox-cheek, and boil the whole till the goodness is incorporated by the liquor. Another Cheap Soup.

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