To dress a Ham a la Braise
Having taken off the skin and clean’d the Knuckle, lay it in water to make it fresh, then bind it about with pack thread; take a pot or kettle of the size of your Ham; garnish the bottom of it with Bards of Bacon, and slices of Beef well beaten, and season’d with savoury Herbs, spice, Bayleaf, onions, Carrots, parsnips, parsley, Chives but no Salt; then lay in your Ham the lean side dosmost, lay over it Beef, etc as under it, cover the pot with its own cover, and close it well up with paste; set it a stewing for ten or twelve hours, keeping a gentle fire both over and under it. Then leave it to cool in its own gravy; when it is cold, take it out of the kettle, untie the pack thread, put it into a pan, strew it over with bread grated very fine, and brown it with a red hot fire shovel, so serve it in a clean napkin, garnish’d with green Parsley. You may likewise serve it warm for first course; but then you must lay it in a dish, and pour upon it a Ragoo of Veal-Sweetbreads, made as directed in letter P. Article Pastry of a Gammon of Bacon to be eaten hot. We sometimes likewise serve it with a Carp-Sauce and sometimes too with a Ragoo of Crayfish.
To roast a Gammon of Bacon
Take off the skin, and lay it in luke warm water to make it fresh; then put it into an earthen pan, pour on it a quart of sack, and let it lie in it ten or twelve hours; spit it, and put some sheets of white paper over the fat side of it; pour the sack in which you soak’d it into the dripping-pan and baste it with it from time to time all the while it is roasting. When it is enough, take off the paper, drudge it well with Bread, crumm’d very fine, and shred Parsley; brown it well before a brisk fire, take it off the spit, and set it by to cool, when it is cold, serve it in a clean napkin, garnish’d with green Parsley. It is proper for second course.
To make Essence of a Ham of Bacon
Take off the fat and cut the lean in slices; beat them well, and lay them in the bottom of a stewpan, with Onions, Carrots, and Parsnips cut in slices. Cover it and set it a sweating over a gentle fire, and when it begins to stick, drudge it with a little flour, and turn it; then moisten it with veal gravy and broth, of each an equal quantity, season it with two or three Truffles and as many Mushrooms, half a dozen Cloves, some Basil, Parsley and a whole Leek; instead of which last, some put a clove of Garlic. Add to it some crusts of bread and let is simmer over the stove for about three quarters of an hour; then strain it through a sieve and set it by to use as directed in many of these Receipts.
To make a Ragoo of a Ham, with sweet Sauce
Take some slices of a raw Ham of Bacon, and toss them up in a saucepan. Make your sauce with Sugar, Cinnamon, a pounded mackaroon, some red wine, and a little pounded white Pepper. When you are ready to serve, put your slices of Bacon to this sauce, and squeeze some juice of Orange.
To make a Gammon of Fish
Take the flesh of Carps, Eels, Tenches and fresh Salmon; together with the Milts of Carps, minc’d and pounded in a mortar with Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg, savour Herbs, and fresh Butter. Then lay the flesh of all these fish, thus mix’d and pounded together , upon the skins of Carps, and form it into the shape of a Gammon of Bacon. Wrap it up in a new linen Cloth, which you must sew up very strait; and then boil it in half water, half Wine, season’d with Cloves, Bayleaf and Pepper. Let it cool in the liquor it is boil’d in, so serve it. You may likewise cut it in slices, as you do a real Gammon of Bacon.
To make a Ragoo of GIBLETS
Blanch them in water, and if among them you have any Cocks-combs boil them by themselves and skin them; then set the whole a simmering in strong broth with high seasonings of Spice and herbs, and when you are almost ready to serve, fricassee your Giblets in melted Bacon, with a little shred parsley and Chives; then set them again to simmer in their own broth, which you may thicken with the yolks of Eggs; so serve them in plates or little dishes.
To stew Giblets
Fist parboil them; then toss them up in a saucepan as you do a fricassee of Chickens; and put them into a stewpan with good strong broth, cover them close and let them stew over a gentle fire till the broth is near wasted away; meanwhile take a couple of French rolls; set them likewise to simmer in strong broth, and when you are going to serve, place them in the middle of a dish, lay your Giblets upon them and all round them, pour on them some good Mutton gravy; so serve them warm.
To make Veal Gravy
Cut a fillet of Veal into slices, and beat them. Lay them in a stewpan and over them some Onions, Carrots and Parsnips cut into slices. Cover your stewpan with a dish; and set it over a stove to sweat at first with a gentle fire, but in a little time add more fire to it, and when the liquor the Veal has yielded is almost wasted, and the meat begins to stick to the bottom of the stewpan and is come to a brown colour, moisten your Veal with strong Broth, season it with a little Parsley, half a dozen Cloves, a whole Leek, and cover the pan again; keep it simmering three quarters of an hour, that the Veal may be thoroughly done, then strain it through a sieve into an earthen pan, and keep it to use in all your soops and Ragoos.
To make Beef Gravy
Cut some slices of a buttock of beef at least an inch thick, beat them very well; take a stewpan large in proportion to the quantity of gravy you would make, and to your stock of Beef put into the bottom of it four or five Bards of Bacon; then lay in your slices of Beef, and upon them three or four Onions cut in slices, with some Carrots and Parsnips; cover your stewpan and set it on the stove to sweat over a gentle fire, look on it from time to time, to see if it had yielded it s gravy, and if it have, set it over a hotter stove; when the gravy is boil’d away, and the meat sticks to the bottom of the stewpan, uncover it, and stir it about that the Onions, Carrots and Parsnips may get undermost, to brown a little; but take care they do not burn. When you see that it has taken colour, put to it some good broth, till you see it to be of the colour would have it, then let it boil for near an hour and put to it a dozen Cloves, a little Parsley and a whole Leek, as it is boiling. When it is thoroughly boil’d strain it through a sieve into an earthen pan. This gravy will serve you when you have none of Veal, for your Soops, as likewise to moisten all sorts of Ragoos and Cullisses.
To make Gravy of a Partridge or of a Capon
Either of them must be somewhat more than half roasted, and then squeez’d in a press to force out the gravy. There are presses made on purpose for this use.
To make Mutton Gravy
Roast your meat a little more than half, then prick it with a knife, and squeeze it in a press to force out the gravy. Take a spoonful or two of good broth, wet your meat with it, and press it a second time. Salt it a little and keep it in an earthen pot to use as you have occasion. These gravies are very useful in a kitchen, to nourish most of our Ragoos and Soops.
To make Fish Gravy
Take some Tenches and Carps, prepare them as for boiling; then take out the gills, and slit the fish in two from head to tail. Put them into a stewpan with sliced Onions, Carrots and Parsnips, and a little Butter. Brown them as directed in the Receipt for Beef Gravy; when they are enough, put in a little flour and brown that too with the rest; then add some fish broth, according to the quantity you have occasion for. Strain all this through a linen cloth, and squeeze it very hard. Season it with a bunch of savoury Herbs, some Salt, and a Lemon stuck with Cloves. It serves you to use in all your Soops as well as Ragoos of Fish.
Are a small freshwater fish, and are commonly fry’d,. but may be stew’d in the following manner.
To stew Gudgeons
Take of wine and water an equal quantity, and put it over the fire in a deep dish; put to it a race of Ginger shred, a Nutmeg cut into little pieces, a large blade or two of Mace, a little Salt, and a bundle of Marjoram, Thyme and Parsley. When they have boil’d a little, put in the Gudgeons with some Butter, and make them boil a pace. They will soon be enough, and then you must pour all the Liquor from them into a Pipkin, which set over the fire with the Spice and Herbs that were in it before. Then boil a handful of Parsley, with a little Thyme and Fennel, all of them minced together, in the Fish broth. Next beat the meat of two middling Crabs, the Carcass of a Lobster, and the yolks of three Eggs, with a ladleful of drawn Butter and some of the Fish Broth; put it into the pipkin, and keep it stirring till it thickens, then dish the Gudgeons on sippets, pour the sauce upon them and so serve them up.
Are a small sea fish that we dress in different manners.
To bake Gurnets
When you have drawn your Gurnets, cut off their heads, rub a silver dish or a tart pan with butter, season’d with Salt, pepper a very little Spice and savoury herbs, some shred Parsley and whole Chives. Lay your Gurnets in the dish or tartpan and season them above as under; sprinkle them with melted Butter, drudge them with bread crumm’d very fine, and set them to bake in an oven or baking cover, and while they are baking, prepare a hash’d sauce for them as follows: shred a few Chives and Parsley, some Truffles and Mushrooms. Take a sauce pan with a little bit of butter, and set it over a stove. The butter being melted, put in your hash’d Chives, parsley, Truffles and Mushrooms, season it with Pepper and Salt, and wet it with a little fish broth; so leave it to simmer over a gentle fire. When it is enough done, thicken it with a Crayfish cullis, and pour it into the dish in which you intend to serve your Gurnets, which must be baked till they are of a fine brown colour; then take them out of the oven, lay them round the dish where is your hash’d sauce, and serve them for the first course.
To broil Gurnets with Anchovie sauce
Having cut off their heads, dip the gurnets in melted Butter and Salt; then broil them over a gentle fire. Make a white sauce as follows. Put into a sauce pan some fresh Butter, a pinch of flours, a whole Leek, let your seasoning be Salt, pepper and Nutmeg; wet it with a little water and Vinegar, put to it a couple of Anchovies, keep shaking it over the stove, and when your Gurnets are broil’d and dish’d pour the sauce upon them, and serve them warm.
Broil’d Gurnets with Crayfish Cullis
Broil the Gurnets above and prepare a sauce as follows: Put into a saucepan a little Butter and a pinch of flour; season it with Salt, pepper, Nutmeg and a whole Leek; put to it a little water and Vinegar, together with a spoonful of Crayfish Cullis and some Capers; keep turning it over the Stove; and when the sauce is ready, dish up your Gurnets and pour it upon them, so serve them for first course.
