Butter Turned to Oil Recovered. From Mrs. M. N.
There are some Lands, as well as some Treatments of Butter in the Dairy, that makes the Butter so very fat and greasy, that it is hard to melt, without running to Oil; while, on the other hand, there is a sort of Butter, which cuts as firm as Wax; and even this will sometimes turn to Oil in the melting, but very seldom. However, when it so happens, pour your oil’d Butter into a Porringer, and letting it stand a little, melt a little fresh, and as soon as it is liquid, pour into it, by gentle degrees, at times, some of the Butter that was oil’d before, keeping your Sauce-pan shaking all the while; and if you find it any way difficult to be recovered, pour in a little Milk, and shake them together, and it will recover. Memorandum, A Sauce-pan that is very thin at the Bottom is apt to oil Butter, let it be ever so good.
Orange or Lemon-Cakes. From the same.
Take some preserv’d Orange or Lemon-Peels, wash’d from their Syrup; then beat them, in a Marble Mortar, to a Pulp, adding a little Orange-Flower Water to them, and a very little Gum-Arabic to it powder’d, this will become a Paste; then mould it into Cakes, with double-refined Sugar beaten fine, and dry them; they must then be laid in Boxes, between sheets of white Paper, and kept in a dry Place.
To dry Plums, of any sort, without Sugar. From the same.
Take a Wyre Sieve, and gather your Plums, not too ripe, nor in the heat of the Day; run a Needle through the Skin of each of them, and lay them on the Sieve, so as not to touch one another. Put your Sieve then into a declining Oven, and let it stand twelve Hours; then set it by, and repeat the same the second and third time, and if the Plums are large, then it may be they will require the fourth or fifth time; but turn them every time, when you are going to put them in the Oven. They will dry by this Means so well, that you may keep them all the Winter, for use, in Boxes, in a dry Place. Memorandum, Some of them will candy on the Outsides. The Mussel-Plum is a very good one for this use.
The Shropshire and Worcestershire-Dish. From the same.
Sir,
If you would please all People, by the several Receipts you publish, you ought to have the particular Dish that is the Favourite of every County. In Worcestershire and Shropshire, the following is in esteem, and I believe you will oblige several Gentlemen and Ladies of these Parts, if you would insert it in some of your Works.
Take some good middling Bacon, and fry it; then put in some Calf’s Liver, and cut it in thick Pieces, pepper it, and salt it; and when it is enough, for it must not be fry’d hard, have ready prepared some Cabbage-Lettuce, some white Beet-Cards, or Beet-Leaves, and some Spinach-Leaves, and chop them together, with some Parsley, but not too small; then chop some Onion, and mix with the rest; then throw them into your Frying pan, with a piece of Butter, when the Bacon and Liver is out, and fry them till they are tender, and as brown as may be; putting in a spoonful of Verjuice, or the Juice of a Lemon, a little before they are enough. And having kept the Liver and Bacon hot all the while, pour these Herbs over them, which ought to be in good quantity.
Fine Cakes to keep. From the same.
Take a Pound of fine Sugar powder’d, and somewhat less than a Quart of Flour. Rub these with a Pound of fresh Butter, and mix it with three or four Yolks of Eggs, with some Orange-Flower-Water, and a little Ale-Yeast: set this Paste before the Fire to rise, and roll out your Cakes thin, while the Paste is hot; then cut them into what Shapes you please, and prick them on the top, and bake them in a gentle Oven. They will keep a long time and are very good.
To make Penzance-Cakes. From the same.
Take the Yolks of Eggs well beaten, put to them some Mace finely powder’d, with a few spoonfuls of Wine, a little Salt, and as much Sugar as you please; then add as much Flour as is necessary, and a small quantity of Ale-Yeast, and work your Dough pretty stiff; then add some fresh Butter, broken in little bits, and work it in till all the Paste has partaken of it, and the Dough becomes as stiff as at first. Make your Cakes then, and bake them. They will keep some time.
To make Crystal candy’d Sweet-meats. From the same.
When we propose to make these candy’d Sweet-meats, we must first know what Fruits, Flowers, &c. are proper for them, and how those ought to be gathered and prepared.
First of all, to begin with the Flowers. Take Orange-Flowers, or Lemon, or Citron-Flowers; gather them, when the Dew is upon them, in the Morning, because the Leaves of them will be then full, and then they are best to use, when the Leaves are pick’d off, and then the Dew will be gone; but if they lie a Day, they will shrink, turn bitter, and of a yellowish brown Colour. Take these Leaves fresh pick’d, and pour the following Composition upon them.
You may take also some Orange, or Lemon, or Citron, preserved, and dry’d, and cut them in small pieces. Or Apricots dry’d and cut into small pieces, or such sorts as are a little hard in themselves will do. If one was to cut some Pine-Apple, or Ananas, simply or preserv’d, and cut that in pieces, it would be entomb’d in a Rock of Sugar; or Currans preserv’d upon their Stalks may do, if you think it worth while; but Orange-Flower-Leaves do very well. It is a fine Candy to carry in the Pocket.
Then to begin your Business. Take one Pound of double-refined Loaf-Sugar beat small, and finely sifted; mix this with four or five spoonfuls of Orange-Flower-Water, and about half a Drachm of Gum-Arabic finely beaten; then put three spoonfuls of White Wine, and mix all together, and boil them in a glazed earthen Vessel till the Liquor will hardly run, or at least run in Ropes; then have small Jars of earthen Ware glazed, and put into each of them the several sorts of Fruits, and Flowers, you would inclose in candy’d Sugar, making those Jars very hot, and immediately pour the Liquor upon them, and stop them close; then put the Jars into a Stove, for a fortnight or more, and you may then break the Jars, and your several Fruits and Flowers will be inclosed in a crystal like Candy, such as white Sugar Candy. And then with a slight blow of an Hammer, break these Candies into Pieces of about a Finger’s length, and keep them in Glasses stopt close, in a dry Place, and they will remain good several Years. The little Pots must be broken of course.
To make a Hackin. From a Gentleman in Cumberland.
Sir,
There are some Counties in England, whose Customs are never to be set aside; and our Friends in Cumberland, as well as some of our Neighbours in Lancashire, and else-where, keep them up. It is a Custom with us every Christmas-Day in the Morning, to have, what we call an Hackin, for the Breakfast of the young Men who work about our House; and if this Dish is not dressed by that time it is Day-light, the Maid is led through the Town, between two Men, as fast as they can run with her, up Hill and down Hill, which she accounts a great shame. But as for the Receipt to make this Hackin, which is admired so much by us, it is as follows.
Take the Bag or Paunch of a Calf, and wash it, and clean it well with Water and Salt; then take some Beef-Suet, and shred it small, and shred some Apples, after they are pared and cored, very small. Then put in some Sugar, and some Spice beaten small, a little Lemon-Peel cut very fine, and a little Salt, and a good quantity of Grots, or whole Oat-meal, steep’d a Night in Milk; then mix these all together, and add as many Currans pick’d clean from the Stalks, and rubb’d in a coarse Cloth; but let them not be wash’d. And when you have all ready, mix them together, and put them into the Calf’s-Bag, and tye them up, and boil them till they are enough. You may, if you will, mix up with the whole, some Eggs beaten, which will help to bind it. This is our Custom to have ready, at the opening of the Doors, on Christmas-Day in the Morning. It is esteem’d here; but all that I can say to you of it, is, that it eats somewhat like a Christmas-Pye, or is somewhat like that boil’d. I had forgot to say, that with the rest of the Ingredients, there should be some Lean of tender Beef minced small.
The Northampton-Cake.
Take a Peck of Flour, and a Pound of fine Sugar beaten well into Powder, and sifted; then add a quarter of an Ounce of Cloves, half an Ounce of Cinnamon, and a large Nutmeg, and beat them to powder; put to this some Orange-Flower-Water, or Rose-Water; then take five or six Pounds of Currans well pick’d, and rub’d dry with a coarse Cloth, but not wash’d. Put these with your Fruit, and a little Salt into the Flour; then take as much Cream as you think proper: then melt two Pounds of Butter, to mix with it, and add a Pint of Canary-Wine, and kneed it with some fresh Ale-Yeast, till it rises under your hand. Have your Oven hot before you put it in the Hoop for Baking.