In foreign kitchens

Beefsteak Pudding. — Sussex. For this a good suet crust is made with milk, rolled in a sheet half an inch thick, and used to line a Sussex pudding-dish, which is merely a large, shallow, flaring bowl, holding about three pints. Preserve enough crust for cover. To fill it take two pounds of good steak from the round and cut in small pieces, two kidneys, each cut in eight pieces, half a can of mushrooms, and a dozen or so oysters. Put in a layer of steak; dredge with flour and season with salt and pepper; for the entire pudding, a large teaspoonful of salt and half a one of pepper. Fill the dish in this way. Moisten the edge of the crust and press down the cover firmly; tie the bowl up in a cloth which has been wrung out from hot water and floured; put it in boiling water and boil for not less than four hours. Send to table in the dish with a napkin pinned around it. Oysters and mushrooms may be omitted, and a minced onion sprinkled between the layers. Pigeon or Game Pasties. — Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire, For these pasties, which are baked in meat-pie moulds which open and allow the form to be taken out, make a crust of one pound of flour, half a pound of butter, half a pint of water, the yolks of two eggs, and a teaspoonf ul of salt. Work all this into a firm paste, and line the buttered mould, reserving part for the cover. For a pie of this size, remove the larger bones from four pigeons ; season the inside of each one well with a mixture made of one large teaspoonf ul of salt, half a one each of pepper, clove, and mace. Spread on each a layer of good forcemeat and lay in the mould, filling' in with more forcemeat and bits of veal and ham. Wet the edges and pinch together, ornamenting the top with a cluster of pastry leaves placed over the hole made in the centre of the crust. Put in a moderate oven, after brushing it over with yolk of egg, and bake four hours. In the mean time boil the bones and trimmings in one quart of water till reduced to half a pint, seasoning it highly, and pour it into the pie through the hole in the top. These pies are eaten cold, and often truffles or mushrooms are added. Small ones are made with one pigeon and forcemeat, and game of any sort can be used, enormous ones being often served. Banbury Cakes. — For the old manuscript rule as made three hundred years ago, set a sponge with one pint of sifted flour, one teacupful of warm milk, and half a cake of yeast, or two spoonfuls of liquid yeast with half a teaspoonful of salt. Let it rise in a warm place till very light, then add half a pound of strained honey, one pound of currants, washed and dried, half a pound of candied orange and lemon peel cut fine, half an ounce each of powdered cinnamon and allspice. Beat all together thoroughly. Roll a sheet of puff paste a little more than an eighth of an inch thick, and cut in oval shapes about four inches long, putting a large teaspoonful of the mixture on each. Flatten with the rolling-pin when the edges have been well pinched together, dust with sugar, and bake in a hot oven to a pale brown. Queen Charlotte's Cake. — Make a sponge precisely as above, and when very light add half a pound of butter beaten to a cream, with quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, four eggs, and a cup of flour, with half a pound of candied peel cut fine, and a teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon. Add a small cup of blanched almonds cut in bits ; let it stand half an hour, and then bake for one hour in a moderate oven. While still hot, prick holes with a sharp knife and pour in a syrup made of one cup of sugar and a large tablespoonful of water, boiled together five minutes. Cover the top of the cake with harlequin comfits, or dust it thick with powdered sugar, the comfits, however, being the old way.