Virginia Cookery-book

When this stewpan is set on let there be another set on with a quart of veal broth ; this will boil by the time the sweetbreads are ready for it, and it must then be poured gently into the pan ; let this be covered up and set over a very gentle fire to stew for two hours ; then uncover the pan and take out the sweetbreads ; strain off the gravy, that will now be very fine ; skim off the fat, and boil it till there is not more than half a pint left. When it is thus rich put in the sweetbreads; let them stew in it five minutes, that all may be hot together ; then take them out, lay them regularly in a dish, and pour gravy over them; garnish the dish with quarters of lemon cut thin. To MAKfl A Handbomb Dish out of an Old Hbn. Take an old hen and boil it in water till the bones drop out ; spread it upon a dish, and remove all the bones carefully; chop the meat up fine ; put it back again in a ket- tie of the water in which it was boiled, with half a box (that is, one ounce) of gelatine, first dissolved in a little cold water ; season very highly with what you like — pepper, celery salt, and powdered thyme, for instance — and boil for a few minutes ; put away in a mould, and when cold it will have jellied and be a very appetizing dish. Brunswick Stew. This stew is famed for its excellence throughout the State, and takes its name from the county where it originated and is found in perfection. Squirrel forms its basis, and hence it is especially the huntsman's dish, and seen most often during the early fall, when the squirrels throng and fatten in the corn-fields, and vegetables are still plentiful. For eight or ten persons allow four squirrels, skinned and well cleaned ; cut them up into six pieces each, and as early in the morning as possible put them on the fire in a covered stewpan, with a seasoning of salt and pepper, both red and black, and an onion chopped up fine. After the meat has cooked for several hours withdraw it from the fire, and extract as many of the bones as it is practicable to do ; then return it to the fire, adding some of every vegetable that you can get, except rice — there must be none of that. Especially see that there is a pint of green corn, cut from the cob, a quart of tomatoes, half a pint of Lima beans, a pint of Irish potatoes, one cucumber, one cymling, one carrot, and half a pint of okra. Cut them all up into small pieces ; cover your stewpan up closely, and, adding a good table-spoonful of butter, let the stew cook gently, without burning, until dinner is to be dished, when it should have cooked until the ingredients of which it is made cannot be distinguished the one from the other. When done the gravy should be nearly absorbed. Serve in a regular plated stew-dish that is kept heated by an alcohol-lamp ; but if you have not this convenience, arrange the stew in the centre of a meat-dish, and garnish with rings of carrot and sprigs of any green herb you fancy. A Brunswick stew may also be concocted in a similar fashion from a cold joint of mutton, beef, or veal, and is a very popular dish wherever introduced. It has been served at gentlemen's dinner-parties instead of soup. Stewed Pigeons.