A guide to modern cookery

I shall therefore confine myself to the expounding of their fundamental principles and the essential operations relating thereto, a knowledge of which is absolutely necessary for the successful preparation of Kitchen Entremets and Ices. The directions given hereafter are certainly too inadequate to convert an ordinary cook into a pastry-cook, a confectioner, or a “glacier ’’; but they will at least admit of his carrying out a complete dinner, if the necessity so to do should occur. ELEMENTARY PREPARATIONS OF PASTRY WHICH MAY BE APPLIED 2338—VARIOUS ALMOND PREPARATIONS It is important that one should have skinned, splintered, and chopped almonds. To Skin Almonds.—Throw them in a saucepan of boiling water, place the utensil on the side of the fire without allowing the boiling to continue, and let the almonds soak for seven or eight minutes. As soon as the skin slips when pressing them between one’s fingers, turn them out on to a strainer; cool them in cold water, and skin them. This done, wash them in cold water; drain them well; spread them on a very clean tray, and dry them in a mild oven. Splintered Almonds.—Having skinned and washed the almonds, split them in two, and cut each half into five or six splinters. Dry the latter in the drying-box, and place them in the front of the oven for a while to colour slightly. They serve for nougat, and sometimes take the place of pignolis. Chopped Almonds.—Having skinned the almonds, slightly dry them and chop them with a knife; rub them through a canvas sieve, the coarseness of which should be in accordance with that required for the chopped almonds. Spread the latter on a tray covered with a sheet of paper, and dry them in the drying-box, stirring them from time to time the while. Grilled Almonds.—These are either splintered or chopped almonds set to bake on a tray in a moderate oven. Be sure to stir them frequently, that they may colour evenly, and withdraw them when they are of a nice golden shade. Pralined Almonds.—Proceed as for grilled almonds, but sprinkle them frequently with icing sugar, which turns to caramel under the influence of the heat of the oven, and swathes the almonds in a pale-brown coat of sugar. 2339 VARIOUS PREPARATIONS OF FILBERTS AND HAZEL-NUTS ; Filberts are a large kind of hazel-nut, generally covered with red skins. After having cracked and suppressed the shells, set the filberts on a dish, and place them in the front of the oven until their skins are slightly grilled. They need then only be rubbed between the fingers in order to clear them of their skins. Chopped filberts are prepared like chopped almonds, and should be included in the permanent ‘‘ mise en place’”’ of the pastry cook. 2340—VARIOUS BUTTERS Softened Butter.—More particularly in winter, when it is very hard, butter should be softened, 1.e., thoroughly kneaded in a towel, to:— 1. Extract the butter-milk, which is always present in more or less large quantities. 2. Make it sufficiently soft to mix with the various ingredients of which the pastes are made up. Pomaded Butter.—After having well softened it as above, put it in a bowl or basin, previously rinsed with hot water and thoroughly wiped. Work the butter with a spatula or a wooden spoon until it acquires the consistence of a pomade— a necessary condition for certain of its uses. Clarified Butter.—In pastry, clarified butter is used more especially for the buttering of moulds. Put the butter to be clarified into a saucepan, and cook it over a very slow fire until (1) the caseous substances liberated in the cooking process have accumulated and solidified on the bottom of the saucepan; (2) it appears limpid, of a golden colour, and exhales a slight, nutty smell. Strain it through muslin, and put it aside until required. 2341—THE BUTTERING AND GLAZING OF MOULDS