Use only the breast of the chicken. Make the same as veal force-meat, using cream, however, with the bread crumbs, instead of milk. This force-meat is for the most delicate entries only. Either the chicken or veal can be formed into balls about the size of a walnut and fried or poached for soups.
Fish Force-Meat.
This can be made the same as veal force-meat. Salmon and halibut will be found the best kinds of fish to use for it. The force-meat is for entrees of fish.
Force-meat is sometimes formed into a square or oval piece for the centre of the dish. It should be about an inch and a half thick. Place on a buttered sheet or plate and steam two hours. When cooked, slip on to the centre of the dish. Arrange the entree on this, and pour the sauce around the base. Delicate cutlets, sweetbreads, etc., can be used here. Veal or chicken force-meat is the best for all light entrees.
Jelly Border.
Make one quart of aspic jelly. Set the plain border mould (see rice border, under Entries) in a pan with a little ice and water. Pour enough of the liquid jelly into the mould to make a layer half an inch deep. Let this get hard. When hard, decorate with cooked carrot and beet, and the white of a hard-boiled egg. These must all be cut in pretty shapes with the vegetable cutter, and arranged on the jelly.
Very carefully add two table-spoonfuls of jelly, and let it harden.
Fill with the remainder of the jelly, and set away to harden. At serving time put the mould for half a minute in a pan of warm water.
Wipe it, and turn the jelly on a cold flat dish. Fill the centre with salad, boned fowl, or anything else you choose.
Marinade for Fish.
One quart of cider, two slices of carrot, one large onion, four cloves, a bouquet of sweet herbs, two table-spoonfuls of butter, two of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper and the same quantity of mustard. Cook the onion and carrot in the butter for ten minutes, and add the other ingredients. Cover the sauce-pan, and simmer one hour and a half. This is for stewing fish. It should be strained on the fish, and that should simmer forty minutes.
Cold Marinade.
A bouquet of sweet herbs, the juice of half a lemon, two table- spoonfuls of oil, six of vinegar, one of onion juice, a speck of cayenne, one teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one-tenth of a teaspoonful of ground clove. Mix all together.
Sprinkle on the meat or fish, which should stand ten or twelve hours.
This is particularly for fish, chops, steaks and cutlets which are to be either fried or broiled. Any of the flavorings that are not liked may be omitted. When cooked meats or fish are sprinkled with salt, pepper and vinegar, as for salads, they are said to be marinated.
To Get Onion Juice.
Feel the onion, and grate on a large grater, using a good deal of pressure.
To Fry Parsley.
Wash the parsley, and wipe dry. Put in the frying basket and plunge into boiling fat for half a minute.
To Make Spinach Green.
Wash a peck of spinach. Pour on it two quarts of boiling water. Let it stand one minute. Pour off the water, and pound the spinach to a soft pulp. Put this in a coarse towel and squeeze all the juice into a small frying-pan. (Two people, by using the towel at the same time, will extract the juice more thoroughly than one can.) Put the pan on the fire, and stir until the juice is in the form of curd and whey.
Turn this on a sieve, and when all the liquor has been drained off, scrape the dry material from the sieve, and put away for use. Another mode is to put with the juice in the frying-pan three table-spoonfuls of sugar. Let this cook five minutes; then bottle for use. This is really the more convenient way. Spinach green is used for coloring soups, sauces and creams.
Points of Lemon.
Cut fresh lemons in thin slices, and divide these slices into four parts. This gives the points. They are used as a garnish for salads and made dishes.
To Make a Bouquet of Sweet Herbs.
Put two sprigs of parsley on the table, and across them lay two bay leaves, two sprigs of thyme, two of summer savory, and two _leaves_ of sage. Tie all the other herbs (which are dry) with the parsley. The bouquet is for soups, stews, game, and meat jellies.
When it can be obtained, use tarragon also.
VEGETABLES.
All green vegetables must be washed thoroughly in cold water and dropped into water which has been salted and is just beginning to boil There should be a table-spoonful of salt for every two quarts of water. If the water boils a long time before the vegetables are put in it loses all its gases, and the mineral ingredients are deposited on the bottom and sides of the kettle, so that the water is flat and tasteless: the vegetables will not look green, nor have a fine flavor.
The time of boiling green vegetables depends very much upon the age, and how long they have been gathered. The younger and more freshly gathered, the more quickly they are cooked. The following is a time- table for cooking:
Potatoes, boiled. 30 minutes.
Potatoes, baked. 45 minutes.
Sweet Potatoes, boiled. 45 minutes.
Sweet Potatoes, baked. 1 hour.
Squash, boiled. 25 minutes.
Squash, baked. 45 minutes.
Green Peas, boiled. 20 to 40 minutes.
Shell Beans, boiled. 1 hour.
String Beans, boiled. 1 to 2 hours.
Green Corn. 25 minutes to 1 hour.
Asparagus. 15 to 30 minutes.
Tomatoes, fresh. 1 hour.
Tomatoes, canned. 30 minutes.
Cabbage. 45 minutes to 2 hours.
Cauliflower. 1 to 2 hours.
Dandelions. 2 to 3 hours.
Beet Greens. 1 hour.