Duck stuffing should be made in this manner : — Take three Bombay onions the size of Badminton balls, wash, peel, and boil them in two waters to extract the acrid flavour. Whilst these are boiling, take eight tender look- ing sage leaves, and scald them in boiling water for five minutes, take them out, and when the onions are tender, turn them out, drain them dry, and proceed to mince them with the sage leaves, very fine. Add to this, five ounces of bread-crumbs, and dust over the mixture a liberal allow- ance of spiced pepper (which I give later on) and salt : when nicely worked together, add an ounce of butter or ROASTING AND BRAISING. Ill suet cut into dice and bind tlie ingredients with three eggs✪ Duck Stuffing, it will now be ready for use. The proportions of this stuffing may be relied on : it is mild, yet pleasantly flavoured, and, " leaves not a trace of sad memory behind." Goose stuffing is made in a similar way, and the com- position is a pleasant addition to some joints of pork : let my friends on the Hills try a loin, boned, rolled, and stuffed with this, and roasted over a bright fire. In all stuffings, and forcemeats, whether required for roast, boiled, or braised poultry ; for the dainty galantine or the savoury pie, there are few things more useful to have at hand than " 5j92ce(^ _p6?ppe?"." It saves an infinity of trouble, and is an invaluable thing for a thousand dishes. I have been very successful with one that I con- cocted from Gonffe's receipt, which I feel it my duty to tell you of, and urge you to go and do likewise. You can bottle it, and take what you require from time to time. ounce dried thyme leaves, ") do. do. marjoram, >■ from the bottle. do. do. savory, J ounce nutmeg, \ do. cloves, \ do. whole black pepper, I do. Nepaul pepper, pound the above ingredients thoroughly in a mortar, and when ground to powder, pass it through a fine sieve : bottle it, and cork it down securely. If you desire to make what Gouffe calls " spiced salt," mix one ounce of the above with four of salt✪ Spiced Salt. Spiced pepper is constantly wanted, and lends that nice sausage flavour to savoury pies, rolled beef, brawn, savoury pcUes, and all forcemeats. Amongst the many barbarous tricks of Native cooks, 112 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS. there is an especial one which I ought to have brought to prominent notice before. I refer to the method which obtains in the cookroom of removing the feathers from poultry, geese, ducks, and game. I cannot call it " pluck- ing," for, as many of you know, the feathers are got rid of wholesale by plunging the bird into scalding hot-water ! The immediate effect of this ignorant habit is to harden and parch the skin of the fowl, to prevent the proper exudation and admission of moisture during roasting, and to render the flesh dry and tasteless. Birds must be plucked by hand, and their small down must be singed. To ensure this being done in your kitchen, order all birds to be brought for inspection when trussed for cooking, and the smallest experience will enable you to detect the parchment-like skin of the scalded bird, from that of the hand-plucked one, which will be cool and soft, with an unmistakable freshness which the other cannot have. A basket containing the feathers should also be shown, for they will expose scalding in a minute.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Duck stuffing should be made in this manner : — Take three Bombay onions the size of Badminton balls, wash, peel, and boil them in two waters to extract the acrid flavour. Whilst these are boiling, take eight tender looking sage leaves, and scald them in boiling water for five minutes, take them out, and when the onions are tender, turn them out, drain them dry, and proceed to mince them with the sage leaves, very fine. Add to this, five ounces of bread-crumbs, and dust over the mixture a liberal allowance of spiced pepper (which I give later on) and salt : when nicely worked together, add an ounce of butter or suet cut into dice and bind the ingredients with three eggs, it will now be ready for use. The proportions of this stuffing may be relied on : it is mild, yet pleasantly flavoured, and, " leaves not a trace of sad memory behind." Goose stuffing is made in a similar way, and the composition is a pleasant addition to some joints of pork : let my friends on the Hills try a loin, boned, rolled, and stuffed with this, and roasted over a bright fire. In all stuffings, and forcemeats, whether required for roast, boiled, or braised poultry ; for the dainty galantine or the savoury pie, there are few things more useful to have at hand than "spiced pepper"." It saves an infinity of trouble, and is an invaluable thing for a thousand dishes. I have been very successful with one that I concocted from Gonffe's receipt, which I feel it my duty to tell you of, and urge you to go and do likewise. You can bottle it, and take what you require from time to time. ounce dried thyme leaves, ") do. do. marjoram, >■ from the bottle. do. do. savory, J ounce nutmeg, \ do. cloves, \ do. whole black pepper, I do. Nepaul pepper, pound the above ingredients thoroughly in a mortar, and when ground to powder, pass it through a fine sieve : bottle it, and cork it down securely. If you desire to make what Gouffe calls " spiced salt," mix one ounce of the above with four of salt. Spiced pepper is constantly wanted, and lends that nice sausage flavour to savoury pies, rolled beef, brawn, savoury patties, and all forcemeats. Amongst the many barbarous tricks of Native cooks, there is an especial one which I ought to have brought to prominent notice before. I refer to the method which obtains in the cookroom of removing the feathers from poultry, geese, ducks, and game. I cannot call it " plucking," for, as many of you know, the feathers are got rid of wholesale by plunging the bird into scalding hot-water ! The immediate effect of this ignorant habit is to harden and parch the skin of the fowl, to prevent the proper exudation and admission of moisture during roasting, and to render the flesh dry and tasteless. Birds must be plucked by hand, and their small down must be singed. To ensure this being done in your kitchen, order all birds to be brought for inspection when trussed for cooking, and the smallest experience will enable you to detect the parchment-like skin of the scalded bird, from that of the hand-plucked one, which will be cool and soft, with an unmistakable freshness which the other cannot have. A basket containing the feathers should also be shown, for they will expose scalding in a minute.

Records on this page

Duck StuffingSpiced Salt

Culinary jottings