Plain cookery recipes

Put the well-skimmed stock, gelatine, white and shell of egg into a saucepan. Stir over the fire until the gelatine is dissolved, then whisk until nearly boiling. Stop whisking and boil up the stock well. Let it settle a few minutes, then strain through muslin, and let it cool. Boil the egg hard, then cut into fancy shapes. Chop the parsley finely. Remove any skin, fat, or gristle from the meat, and cut it into small dice. Rinse a plain tin with cold water, then cover the bottom of the tin with a little of the cold stock. When this is set, decorate with some pieces of egg and a little parsley. Cover the decoration with some stock, and let it set Mix the meat, seasonings, the rest of the parsley and egg chopped roughly, and put these ingredients into the tin. Fill to the top with the rest of the stock. Put in a cool place until set. Dip the tin through warm water ; turn the shape on to a dish. Garnish with parsley, and serve. Note. — If the stock is jellied, the gelatine can be omitted. Shepherd's Pie. Half a pound cold cooked meat. One small cooked onion. Half an ounce dripping. Quarter-ounce flour. One gill stock or water. One pound cooked potatoes. One tablespoonful milk. Pepper and salt. Make the dripping hot in a small pan, and in it brown the onion (chopped) and the flour. Add the stock by degrees. Season well, and boil three or four minutes. Cut the meat into neat slices ; or if scrappy, chop it, keeping back skin and fat. Add the meat to the sauce, mix well, and pour it into a pie-dish. Mash the potatoes, and add the milk, pepper, and salt. Beat this over the fire till hot and smooth. Place it evenly over the meat, and mark it with a fork or knife. Brown the pie in the oven or in front of the fire. The top may be glazed by brushing it over with milk or beaten egg before browning it. Curry of Cold Meat* One pound cooked meat. Small onion. Apple. One ounce butter Half an ounce curry powder. Half an ounce rice flour. Quarter a teaspoonful curry paste. Few drops lemon juice. Half a pint stock. Chop the apple and onion finely. Make the butter hot in a stewpan, fry the onion lightly, add the apple, curry powder, rice flour, and cook for a few minutes. Add the stock by degrees. Season with salt ; add the curry paste and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, and skim. Simmer the sauce about thirty minutes. Cut the meat into small square pieces, and remove any fat or skin. When the sauce is well cooked put in the meat, and reheat in the sauce, without boiling, for about half an hour. Put the curry on a hot dish, and on a separate dish serve some well-boiled rice. Note. — A good substitute for stock for curry is cocoanut milk. To prepare this, pour half a pint of boiling water over one tablespoonful of desiccated cocoanut; let it infuse for fifteen minutes. Strain off the liquid, and use instead of stock. Potted Meat. Six ounces cooked meat. Four ounces clarified butter. Pinches of salt and pepper. Powdered allspice. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.