FoodNetArchive

The art of cookery

1899

Page 38 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1899. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
A brown stew can be made by adding the butter de- signed for the gravy to the fowl or meat after it has been stewed and the broth drained from it, and letting it brown in the kettle or sauce-pan, then mixing the flour for the gravy, with cold water, and adding to the broth before it is poured over the browned meat. A stew made in this manner resembles a fricassee somewhat, but is in many respects inferior to it. Stewing. 89 To Fricassee a Chicken. — Prepare a chicken as for stewing. Season the pieces with salt and pepper, roll in flour, fry or saute until light brown in color, then place in the stewing kettle. Put a pint of water in the pan in which the chicken was browned and after it has sim- mered five minutes pour it over the chicken. Cover the kettle closely and let the chicken simmer gently until cooked. Lift into a platter when done, and if there is not sufficient sauce add more water, and more flour, if required, to that in the kettle, cook five minutes, and strain over the chicken. A spoonful of sweet creamTo Fricassee a Chicken added to the sauce improves it for chicken or veal. Lamb, mutton, and veal are prepared and fricasseed in the same manner as chicken. BRAISING. Braising, like fricasseeing, is a combination of frying or sauteing and stewing. It is usually done, however, in an oven, in a braising pan having a close-fitting cover. The advantages of braising over stewing, for certain articles, are that a more uniform temperature can be obtained and the flavors of the food be better preserved on account of there being less evaporation. Braising is an excellent mode of cooking tough meats and poultry. To Braise Poultry or Meats. — Prepare as for stew- ing. Cut in pieces suitable for serving, season lightly with salt and pepper, roll in flour, brown in clarified butter or drippings in a frying pan or spider, then put in a braising kettle with such vegetables, herbs, and spices as are to be used for flavoring, add half as much 90 The Art of Cookery. water as for stewing, cover closely, set in a moderate oven, and let cook slowly for several hours. Simple veal or beef broth may be used in place of water. To Braise a Calf*s Heart. — After the heart has soaked an hour in cold salt water remove the cartilage, fill the opening left by its removal with seasoned bread crumbs or sausage meat, tie up and saute until brown, in clarified butter or drippings, place in a braising pan, add such flavorings as may be desired, and half as much hot water or broth as would be used for stewing, cover closely, put in a moderate oven, and let cook slowly for four or five hours. TO STEW VEGETABLES. Much less water is required for stewing than for boil- ing articles of food. With this exception, the general rule in regard to boiling vegetables is the same as in regard to stewing them, viz. : Put to cook in slightly salted boiling water and keep simmering gently until done. The length of time necessary for boiling or stew- ing vegetables depends so much upon the age and con- dition of the vegetables, and varies so greatly, that it is impossible to give it with any degree of accuracy. All veo-etables, however, cook tender in a much shorter length of time when young and fresh than they do when old and stale.