FoodNetArchive

Modern cookery, in all its branches

1884

Page 157 · 6 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
which acid is not required. Peel and slice, or bruise, four ounces of eschalots, put them into a bottle, and add to them a pint of sherry ; in a fortnight pour off the wine, and should it not be strongly fla- voured with the eschalots, steep in it two ounces more, for another fortnight ; a half-teaspoonful of cayenneEschalot Wine may be added at first. The bottle should be shaken occasionally, while the eschalots are infusing, but should remain undisturbed for the last two or three days, that the wine may be clear when it is poured otf to bottle for keeping Sweet-basil wine is made by steeping the fresh leaves of the herb in wine, from ten to fifteen days. Eschalots, 4 oz. ; sherry, 1 pint: 15 days, or more. HORSERADISH VINEGAR. On four ounces of young and freshly- scraped horseradish pour a quart of boiling vinegarHorseradish Vinegar, and cover it down closely : it will be ready for use in three or four days, but may remain for weeks, or months, before the vinegar is poured off. An ounce of minced eschalot may be substituted for one of the horseradish, if the flavour be liked. CAYENNE VINEGAR. Put from a quarter to half an ounce of the best cayenne pepper into a bottle, and pour on it a pint of pale vinegarCayenne Vinegar. Cork it closely, and shake it well every two or three days. It may remain any length of time before it is poured off, but will very soon be ready for use. Good cayenne pepper, i to ^ oz. ; vinegar, 1 pint : infuse from 2 weeks to 12 months. LEMON BRANDY. ( For flavouring sweet dishes.') Fill any sized wide-necked bottle lightly with the very thin rinds of fresh lemons, and cover them with good brandyLemon Brandy ; let them remain for a fortnight or three weeks only, then strain off the spirit and keep it well corked for use : a few apricot-kernels blanched and infused with the lemon-rind will give it an agreeable flavour. DRIED MUSHROOMS. Peel small, sound, freshly- gathered flapDried Mushroomss, cut off the stems, and scrape out the fur entirely ; then arrange the mushrooms singly on tins or dishes, and dry them as gradually as possible in a gentle oven. Put them, -when they are done, into tin canisters, and store them where they will be secure from damp. French cooks give them a single boil in water, from which they then are well drained, and dried, as usual. When wanted for table, they should be put into cold gravy, slowly heated, and gently simmered, until they are tender. 154 MODERN COOKERY. [chap. vii. MUSHROOM POWDER. When the mushrooms have been prepared with great nicety, and driedMushroom Powder, as in the foregoing receipt, pound them to a very fine powder ; sift it, and put it immediately into small and perfectly dry bottles ; cork and seal them without delay, for if the powder be long exposed to the air, so as to imbibe any humidity, or if it be not well secured from it in the bottles, it will be likely to become putrid : much of that which is purchased, even at the best Italian warehouses, is found to be so, and, as it is sold at a very high price, it is a great economy, as well 23 a surer plan, to have it carefully prepared at home. It is an excee lingly useful store, and an excellent addition to many dishes and sauces. To insure its being good, the mushrooms should be gathered in dry weather, and if any addition of spices be made to the powder (some persons mix with it a seasoning of mace and cayenne), they should be put into the oven for a while before they are used : but even