It is, however, in the entries and joints where the
great saving will be found. First let us roughly guess
the cost of the old dinner : Sirloin of beef, or haunch,
about 14 lb., 14s., taking of course present prices;
two capons, 10s. ; tongue, 6s. 6d. ; small ham, 12s.;
pigeon pie, say 3s. 6d., which would be cheap ; oyster
patties, eight at 6d. each, 4s. ; beef olive, 2 lb. of
steak, &c., 2s. 6d. ; curried rabbit, the rabbit being
is. 6d., 2s. ; stewed kidneys, say is. 6d. Now this all
added up comes to ^2 16s. Next let us take the
other dinner : One fowl, 3s. 6d. ; mushrooms, one tin,
9d. ; cream, 3d.; lobster, 2s.; eggs and spinach, is;
leg of mutton, 8 lb., 8s.; calf’s liver for forcemeat,
3d. ; larks, one dozen, is. 6d. ; about i\ lb. of ham
or bacon, is. 6d. ; which, added up, comes to
17s. Qd.
86
Common-sense Cookery.
Of course it will be said that in the first dinner there
was plenty left to keep the house for several days, and
in the second but very little. This is perfectly true ;
but it is this of which I complain. The old-fashioned
style was, when ten people came to dinner, to cook
enough for thirty. This seems to me to be folly. Of
course some allowance must be made for the character
of the visitors ; the little dinner a la Russe we have
mentioned would be exceedingly unsuited to hungry
schoolboys, or an agricultural labourers’ feast ; but
then one doesn’t ask these sorts of people to late
dinners. The average guest is one who has had a
substantial lunch — in the case of ladies — or one whose
appetite is jaded with worry and anxiety, and requires
a certain amount of tickling. The same dinner would
not do for a dealer on the Stock Exchange, and a
healthy country gentleman, who spends half his time
on horseback, and has not a care in the world. We
mention this, as one of the arts of giving dinners is to
adapt the dinner to the guests, and the guests to one
another.
But we must now turn to the practical part, which
is, how to make the chicken cutlets, & c. First, early
on the morning previous to the dinner, boil the fowl
in some clear stock or some water ; take it out and let
it get cold ; cut off all the meat, cutting the breast
into thin slices ; scrape all the bones, and place the
A Nice Little Dinner.
87
latter back in the stock to boil down. If water has
been used, the usual vegetables must be placed in —
viz., an onion stuck with six cloves, a small head
of celery, a turnip, carrot, a bunch of parsley, and
pepper and salt. When the whole is reduced to
about a quart, strain it carefully off; remove every
particle of fat, and if not clear, clear it with the white
of Wo eggs, by whipping them up with a little cold
water, adding them to the stock, boiling briskly for a
few minutes, and then running the whole through a
jelly-bag. Next, again place the stock in an ena-
melled saucepan, and let it boil down to about a pint.
Take a third of this and put it into a little enamelled
stew-pan for the aspic jelly. Now, this jelly requires
rather a decided flavour ; add therefore a couple ot
beads of garlic, and let these simmer sufficiently long
to give the stock — one-third of a pint — what may be
called a foreign smell.✪ Chicken Cutlets
Page 34 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It is, however, in the entries and joints where the great saving will be found. First let us roughly guess the cost of the old dinner : Sirloin of beef, or haunch, about 14 lb., 14s., taking of course present prices; two capons, 10s. ; tongue, 6s. 6d. ; small ham, 12s.; pigeon pie, say 3s. 6d., which would be cheap ; oyster patties, eight at 6d. each, 4s. ; beef olive, 2 lb. of steak, &c., 2s. 6d. ; curried rabbit, the rabbit being is. 6d., 2s. ; stewed kidneys, say is. 6d. Now this all added up comes to ^2 16s. Next let us take the other dinner : One fowl, 3s. 6d. ; mushrooms, one tin, 9d. ; cream, 3d.; lobster, 2s.; eggs and spinach, is; leg of mutton, 8 lb., 8s.; calf’s liver for forcemeat, 3d. ; larks, one dozen, is. 6d. ; about i\ lb. of ham or bacon, is. 6d. ; which, added up, comes to 17s. Qd.
Common-sense Cookery.
Of course it will be said that in the first dinner there was plenty left to keep the house for several days, and in the second but very little. This is perfectly true ; but it is this of which I complain. The old-fashioned style was, when ten people came to dinner, to cook enough for thirty. This seems to me to be folly. Of course some allowance must be made for the character of the visitors ; the little dinner a la Russe we have mentioned would be exceedingly unsuited to hungry schoolboys, or an agricultural labourers’ feast ; but then one doesn’t ask these sorts of people to late dinners. The average guest is one who has had a substantial lunch — in the case of ladies — or one whose appetite is jaded with worry and anxiety, and requires a certain amount of tickling. The same dinner would not do for a dealer on the Stock Exchange, and a healthy country gentleman, who spends half his time on horseback, and has not a care in the world. We mention this, as one of the arts of giving dinners is to adapt the dinner to the guests, and the guests to one another.
But we must now turn to the practical part, which is, how to make the chicken cutlets, & c. First, early on the morning previous to the dinner, boil the fowl in some clear stock or some water ; take it out and let it get cold ; cut off all the meat, cutting the breast into thin slices ; scrape all the bones, and place the
A Nice Little Dinner.
latter back in the stock to boil down. If water has been used, the usual vegetables must be placed in — viz., an onion stuck with six cloves, a small head of celery, a turnip, carrot, a bunch of parsley, and pepper and salt. When the whole is reduced to about a quart, strain it carefully off; remove every particle of fat, and if not clear, clear it with the white of two eggs, by whipping them up with a little cold water, adding them to the stock, boiling briskly for a few minutes, and then running the whole through a jelly-bag. Next, again place the stock in an enamelled saucepan, and let it boil down to about a pint. Take a third of this and put it into a little enamelled stew-pan for the aspic jelly. Now, this jelly requires rather a decided flavour ; add therefore a couple of beads of garlic, and let these simmer sufficiently long to give the stock — one-third of a pint — what may be called a foreign smell.
Records on this page
Chicken Cutlets