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The girl's own cookery book

1882

Page 72 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1882. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
no The Girl's Own Cookery Book. They will be cheap when veal is cheap, that is about Easter to the middle of August, when, I daresay, you would be able to get them for 4d. or 6d. each ; while at other times you would have to pay perhaps is. each for them, perhaps more. They are sold scalded and pre- pared by the butcher, but we must not suppose that they are quite ready for use when they leave his hands. They may look very white and delicate, but they must be blanched before being used ; for you must remember that the more impurity you can get rid of in these early stages the easier your after task will be. Let your first business be, therefore, to divide each foot into four pieces, cutting first through the joint, then between the hoofs, and sawing through the bone. Put all these pieces into a stewpan with sufficient cold water to cover them, and let them come to the boil. This is blanching them. Take them out, wash them in fresh cold water, pour away the water they were boiled in, rinse out the pan, and put the pieces in again with five pints of fresh cold water. Put this on to boil, skim it well (the clearness of the jelly depends ver)' much on this being done), and let it simmer gently for about six hours, or until the liquor is reduced to a little less than one quart. When this point is reached, put a hair sieve over a basin, strain the stock into it, put it aside, and let it get quite cold. Next day skim off the fat with an iron spoon which has been dipped into boiling water, and afterwards dab it lightly with a cloth dipped in hot water, in order to get perfect freedom from grease. When the stock has been taken up without either fat or the sediment which has settled at the bottom, it is ready to be flavoured and cleared. To do this we put it in a stewpan. We wipe two lemons quite clean, and pare off the rind very thinly, being careful to take none of the white part with the yellow, for, as everyone knows, the white part is bitter, and would spoil the taste of our jelly. The rind we put with the stock, and also the strained juice of three lemons, three ounces of sugar, an inch of stick cinnamon, and three cloves. We break two eggs (one egg for each pint of jelly of this consistency), and throw the whites, with the crushed shells, which have been wiped clean, into the pan. We then whisk all Ill Hmv to Make yelly. briskly over the fire till the jelly boils up to the lop. We draw the pan back, put on the lid half-way, and without touching the crust which will have formed on the surface, we let the jelly stand for twenty minutes. By that time it may be run through the strainer. A wineglassful of sherry and half a wineglassful of brandy may be added after the jelly has run through. Their value would be lost if they were to be boiled with the other ingredients. Calves' Feet Jelly