1019. Broiling requires a brisk, rapid heat, which, by producing a greater degree of change in the affinities of the raw meat than roasting, generates a higher flavour, so that broiled meat is more savoury than roast. The surface becoming charred, a dark-coloured crust is formed, which retards the evaporation of the juices; and, therefore, if properly done, broiled may be as tender and juicy as roasted meat.

1020. Baking does not admit of the evaporation of the vapours so rapidly as by the processes of broiling and roasting; the fat is also retained more, and becomes converted, by the agency of the heat, into an empyreumatic oil, so as to render the meat less fitted for delicate stomachs, and more difficult to digest. The meat is, in fact, partly boiled in its own confined water, and partly roasted by the dry, hot air of the oven. The loss by baking has not been estimated; and, as the time required to cook many articles must vary with their size, nature, &c., we have considered it better to leave that until giving the receipts for them.

1021. Frying is of all methods the most objectionable, from the foods being less digestible when thus prepared, as the fat employed undergoes chemical changes. Olive oil in this respect is preferable to lard or butter. The crackling noise which accompanies the process of frying meat in a pan is occcasioned by the explosions of steam formed in fat, the temperature of which is much above 212 degrees. If the meat is very juicy it will not fry well, because it becomes sodden before the water is evaporated; and it will not brown, because the temperature is too low to scorch it. To fry fish well the fat should be boiling hot (600 degrees), and the fish well dried in a cloth; otherwise, owing to the generation of steam, the temperature will fall so low that it will be boiled in its own steam, and not be browned. Meat, or indeed any article, should be frequently turned and agitated during frying, to promote the evaporation of the watery particles. To make fried

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things look well, they should be done over twice with egg and stale breadcrumbs.

1022. Bastings.-i. Fresh butter; ii. clarified suet; iii. minced sweet herbs, butter, and claret, especially for mutton and lamb; iv. water and salt; v. cream and melted butter, especially for a flayed pig; vi. yolks of eggs, grated biscuit, and juice of oranges.

1023. Dredgings.-i. Flour mixed with grated bread; ii. sweet herbs dried and powdered, and mixed with grated bread; iii. lemon-peel dried and pounded, or orange-peel, mixed with flour; iv. sugar finely powdered, and mixed with pounded cinnamon, and flour or grated bread; v. fennel seeds, corianders, cinnamon, and sugar, finely beaten, and mixed with grated bread or flour; vi. for young pigs, grated bread or flour, mixed with beaten nutmeg, ginger, pepper, sugar, and yolks of eggs; vii. sugar, bread, and salt mixed.

1024. The Housewife who is anxious to dress no more meat than will suffice for the meal, should know that beef loses about one pound in four in boiling, but in roasting, loses in the proportion of one pound five ounces, and in baking about two ounces less, or one pound three ounces; mutton loses in boiling about fourteen ounces in four pounds; in roasting, one pound six ounces.

1025. Cooks should be cautioned against the use of charcoal in any quantity, except where there is a free current of air; for charcoal is highly prejudicial in a state of ignition, although it may be rendered even actively beneficial when boiled, as a small quantity of it, if boiled with meat on the turn, will effectually cure the unpleasant_taint.

1026. Preparation of 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 afterwards very different, entirely from the careless

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way in which they have been cooked. They are in greatest perfection when in greatest plenty, i. e., when in full season. By season, we do not mean those early days, when luxury in the buyers, and avarice in the sellers about London, force the various vegetables, but the time of the year in which, by nature and common culture, and the mere operation of the sun and climate, they are most plenteous and in perfection. 1027. POTATOES and peas are seldom worth eating before Midsummer. 1028. UNRIPE VEGETABLES are as insipid and unwholesome as unripe fruits.

1029. 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 flavour, 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 vegetables after they are dead. The eye easily discovers if they have been kept too long; they soon lose their beauty in all respects.

1030. ROOTS, GREENS, SALADS, &c., and the various productions 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.

1031. To Boil Vegetables.Soft water will preserve the colour best of such as are green; if you have only hard water, put to it a teaspoonful of carbonate of potash.

1032. TAKE CARE TO WASH AND CLEANSE THEM thoroughly from dust, dirt, and insects, this requires great attention. Pick off all the outside leaves, trim the vegetables nicely, and if they are not quite fresh-gathered and have become flaccid, it is absolutely necessary to restore their crispness before cooking them, or they will be tough and unpleasant; lay them in a pan of clean water, with a handful of salt in it, for an hour before you dress them. Most

vegetables being more or less succulent, their full proportion of fluids is necessary for their retaining that state of crispness and plumpness which they have when growing.

1033. ON BEING CUT OR GATHERED, the exhalation from their surface continues, while from the open vessels of the cut surface there is often great exudation or evaporation, and thus their natural moisture is diminished; the tender leaves become flaccid, and the thicker masses or roots lose their plumpness. This is not only less pleasant to the eye, but is a serious injury to the nutritious powers of the vegetable; for in this flaccid and shrivelled state its fibres are less easily divided in chewing, and the water which exists in the form of their respective natural juices, is less directly nutritious.

1034. THE FIRST CARE IN THE PRESERVATION OF SUCCULENT VEGETABLES, therefore, is to prevent them from losing their natural moisture. They should always be boiled in a saucepan by themselves, and have plenty of water: if meat is boiled with them in the same pot, they will spoil the look and taste of each other,

1035. TO HAVE VEGETABLES DELICATELY CLEAN, put on your pot, make it boil, put a little salt in, and skim it perfectly clean before you put in the greens, &c., which should not be put in till the water boils briskly; the quicker they boil the greener they will be.

1036. WHEN THE VEGETABLES SINK, they are generally done enough, if the water has been kept constantly boiling. Take them up immediately, or they will lose their colour and goodness. Drain the water from them thoroughly before you send them to table. This branch of cookery requires the most vigilant attention.

1037. IF VEGETABLES are a minute or two too long over the fire, they lose all their beauty and flavour.

1038. IF NOT THOROUGHLY BOILED TENDER, they are tremendously indigestible, and much more troublesome

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are

1039. TAKE CARE YOUR VEGETABLES ARE FRESH.-To preserve or give colour in cookery many good dishes spoiled; but the rational epicure, who makes nourishment the main end of eating, will be content to sacrifice the shadow to enjoy the substance. As the fishmonger often suffers for the sins of the cook, so the cook often gets undeservedly blamed instead of the greengrocer.

1040. TO CLEANSE VEGETABLES OF INSECTS.-Make a strong brine of one pound and a half of salt to one gallon of water; into this, place the vegetables with the stalk ends uppermost, for two or three hours: this will destroy all the insects which cluster in the leaves, and they will fall out and sink to the bottom of the water.

1041. Potatoes. We are all potato eaters (for ourselves, we esteem potatoes beyond any other vegetable), yet few persons know how to cook them. Shall we be bold enough to commence our hints by presuming to inform our 66 grandmothers" how

1042. To BOIL POTATOES. - Put them into a saucepan with scarcely sufficient water to cover them. Directly the skins begin to break, lift them from the fire, and as rapidly as possible pour off every drop of the water. Then place a coarse (we need not say clean) towel over them, and return them to the fire again until they are thoroughly done, and quite dry. A little salt, to flavour, should be added to the water before boiling.

1043. POTATOES FRIED WITH FISH. -Take cold fish and cold potatoes. Pick all the bones from the former, and mash the fish and the potatoes together; form into rolls, and fry with lard until the outsides are brown and crisp. For this purpose, the drier kinds of fish, such as cod, hake, &c., are preferable; turbot, soles, eels, &c., are not so good. This is an economical and excellent relish.

1044. POTATOES MASHED WITH

1045. POTATO CHEESECAKES.-One pound of mashed potatoes, quarter of a pound of currants, quarter of a pound of sugar and butter, and four eggs, to be well mixed together; bake them in patty-pans, having first lined them with puff paste. Boil

1046. POTATO COLCANON. potatoes and greens and spinach, separately; mash the potatoes; squeeze the greens dry; chop them quite fine, and mix them with the potatoes with a little butter, pepper, and salt. Put into a mould, buttering it well first: let it stand in a hot oven for ten minutes.

1047. POTATOES ROASTED UNDER MEAT.-Half boil large potatoes; drain the water; put them into an earthen dish, or small tin pan, under meat roasting before the fire; baste them with the dripping. Turn them to brown of all sides; send up in a separate dish.

1048. POTATO BALLS RAGOUT.Add to a pound of potatoes a quarter of a pound of grated ham, or some sweet herbs, or chopped parsley, an onion or shalot, salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg, and other spice, with the yolk of a couple of eggs; then dress as Potatoes Escalloped.

1049. POTATO SNOW. Pick out the whitest potatoes, put them on in cold water; when they begin to crack, strain, and put them in a clean stewpan before the fire till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces; rub them through a wire sieve upon the dish they are to be sent up on, and do not disturb them afterwards.

1050. POTATOES FRIED WHOLE.When nearly boiled enough, put them into a stewpan with a bit of butter, or some clean beef dripping; shake them about often, to prevent burning, till they are brown and crisp; drain 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 bread-crumbs.

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1051. POTATOES FRIED IN SLICES. -Peel large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them into shavings, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that the fat and frying-pan are quite clean; put it on a quick fire, and as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the slices of potato, and keep moving them until they are crisp; take them up, and lay them to drain on a sieve. Send to table with a little salt sprinkled over them.

1052. POTATOES ESCALLOPED. Mash potatoes in the usual way; then butter some nice clean scollop-shells, patty-pans, or tea cups or saucers; put in your potatoes; make them smooth at the top; cross a knife over them; strew a few fine bread-crumbs on them; sprinkle them with a paste-brush with a few drops of melted butter, and set them in a Dutch oven. When nicely browned on the top, take them carefully out of the shells, and brown on the other side. Cold potatoes may be warmed up this way.

1053. POTATO SCONES.-Mash boiled potatoes till they are quite smooth, adding a little salt; then knead out the flour, or barley-meal, to the thickness required; toast on the girdle, pricking them with a fork to prevent them blistering. When eaten with fresh or salt butter they are equal to crumpets-even superior, and very nutritious.

1054. POTATO PIE.-Peel and slice your potatoes very thinly into a piedish; between each layer of potatoes put a little chopped onion, and sprinkle a little pepper and salt; put in a little water, and cut about two ounces of fresh butter into bits, and lay them on the top; cover it close with paste. The yolks of four eggs may be added; and when baked, a tablespoonful of good mushroom ketchup poured in through a funnel. Another method is to put between the layers small bits of mutton, beef, or pork. In Cornwall, turnips are added. This constitutes (on the Cornish method) a cheap and satisfactory dish for families.

1055. COLD POTATOES.-There are few articles in families more subject to waste, whether in paring, boiling, or being actually wasted, than potatoes; and there are few cooks who do not boil twice as many potatoes every day as are wanted, and fewer still who do not throw the residue away as being totally unfit in any shape for the next day's meal; yet if they would take the trouble to beat up the despised cold potatoes with an equal quantity of flour, they would find them produce a much lighter dumpling or pudding than they can make with flour alone; and by the aid of a few spoonfuls of good gravy, they will provide a cheap and agreeable appendage to the dinner table.

AND

1056. MASHED POTATOES SPINACH OR CABBAGE.-Moisten cold mashed potatoes with a little white sauce: take cold cabbage or spinach, and chop it very finely. Moisten with a brown gravy. Fill a tin mould with layers of potatoes and cabbage; cover the top, and put it into a stewpan of boiling water. Let it remain long enough to warm the vegetables; then turn the vegetables out and serve them. Prepare by boiling the vegetables separately, and put them into the mould in layers, to be turned out when wanted. It forms a very pretty dish for an entrée.

1057. Cold Carrots and Turnips.-These may be added to soups, if they have not been mixed with gravies : or if warmed up separately, and put into moulds in layers, they may be turned out, and served the same as the potatoes and cabbage described above.

1058. French Beans.-Cut away the stalk end, and strip off the strings, then cut them into shreds. If not quite fresh, have a basin of spring water, with a little salt dissolved in it, and as the beans are cleaned and stringed throw them in: put them on the fire in boiling water, with some salt in it; after they have boiled fifteen or twenty minutes, take one out and taste it; as soon as they are tender take them up, throw them into a cullender or sieve to

drain. Send up the beans whole when they are very young. When they are very large they look pretty cut into lozenges.

1059. Boiled Turnip Radishes. - Boil in plenty of salted water, and in about twenty-five minutes they will be tender; drain well, and send them to table with melted butter. Common radishes, when young, the in bunches, boiled for twenty minutes, and served on a toast, are excellent.

1060. Asparagus (often miscalled " asparagrass"). —Scrape the stalks till they are clean; throw them into a pan of cold water, tie them up in bundles of about a quarter of a hundred each; cut off the stalks at the bottom to a uniform length, leaving enough to serve as a handle for the green part; put them into a stewpan of boiling water, with a handful of salt in it. Let it boil, and skim it. When they are tender at the stalk, which will be in from twenty to thirty minutes, they are done enough. Watch the exact time of their becoming tender; take them up that instant. While the asparagus is boiling, toast a round of a quartern loaf, about half an inch thick; brown it delicately on both sides; dip it lightly in the liquor the asparagus was boiled in, and lay it in the middle of a dish; melt some butter, but do not put it over them. Serve butter in a butter-boat. 1061. Artichokes.-Soak them in cold water, wash them well; put them into plenty of boiling water, with a handful of salt, and let them boil gently for an hour and a half or two hours; trim them and drain on a sieve; send up melted butter with them, which some put into small cups, one for each guest.

1062. Stewed Water-Cress.The following receipt may be new, and will be found an agreeable and wholesome dish :-Lay the cress in strong salt and water, to clear it from insects. Pick and wash nicely, and stew it in water for about ten minutes; drain and chop, season with pepper and salt, add a little butter, and return it to the stewpan

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until well heated. Add a little vinegar previously to serving; put around it sippets of toast or fried bread. The above, made thin, as a substitute for parsley and butter, will be found an excellent sauce for a boiled fowl. There should be more of the cress considerably than of the parsley, as the flavour is much milder.

1063. Stewed Mushrooms. Cut off the ends of the stalks, and pare neatly some middle-sized or button mushrooms, and put them into a basin of water with the juice of a lemon as they are done. When all are prepared, take them from the water with the hands to avoid the sediment, and put them into a stewpan with a little fresh butter, white pepper, salt, and a little lemon juice; cover the pan close, and let them stew gently for twenty minutes or half an hour; then thicken the butter with a spoonful of flour, and add gradually sufficient cream, or cream and milk, to make the same about the thickness of good cream. Season the sauce to palate, adding a little pounded mace or grated nutmeg. Let the whole stew gently until the mushrooms are tender. Remove every particle of butter which may be floating on the top before serving.

1064. Camp Cookery. The following seven receipts were forwarded to us during the time of the Crimean War, from the Barrack Hospital at Scutari, by, our late personal friend, Alexis Soyer. We may add, that we enjoyed the intimate acquaintance of M. Soyer during the period he was chief cook of the Reform Club, and we are indebted to him for many useful suggestions contained in this volume.

1065. STEWED SALT BEEF AND PORK A LA OMAR PASHA.-Put into a canteen saucepan about two pounds of well soaked beef, cut in eight pieces; half a pound of salt pork, divided in two, and also soaked; half a pound of rice, or six tablespoonfuls; a quarter of a pound of onions, or four middle-sized ones, peeled and sliced; two ounces of brown