The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened Part 17

Then put more b.u.t.ter upon them, covering the pot with a fit cover, and so set them into a quick oven, that is strongly heated; where they will require three or four hours (at least) baking. When they are taken out of the oven and begin to cool, pour store of melted b.u.t.ter upon them, to fill up the pot at least three fingers breadth above the fish, and then let it cool and harden; And thus it will keep a year, if need be, so the b.u.t.ter be not opened, nor craked, that the air get into the fish.

To eat them presently, They dress them thus: When they are prepared, as abovesaid, (ready for baking) boil them with store of Salt and gross Pepper, and many Onions, in no more water, then is necessary to cover them, as when you boil a Carp or Pike _au Court bouillon_. In half or three quarters of an hour, they will be boiled tender. Then take them and drain them from the water, and serve them with thickened b.u.t.ter, and some of the Onions minced into it, and a little Pepper, laying the fish upon some sippets of spungy bread, that may soak up the water, if any come from the fish; and pour b.u.t.ter upon the fish; so serve it up hot.

TO DRESS STOCK FISH, SOMEWHAT DIFFERINGLY FROM THE WAY OF HOLLAND

Beat the fish very well with a large Woodden-Mallet, so as not to break it, but to loosen all the flakes within. It is the best way to have them beaten with hard heavy Ropes. And though thus beaten, they will keep a long time, if you put them into Pease straw, so thrust in as to keep them from all air, and that they touch not one another, but have straw enough between every fish. When you will make the best dish of them, take only the tails, and tye up half a dozen or eight of them with White-thred. First, they must be laid to soak over night in cold water. About an hour and half, (or a little more) before they are to be eaten, put them to boil in a pot or Pipkin, that you may cover with a cover of Tin or Letton so close, that no steam can get out; and lay a stone or other weight upon it, to keep the cover from being driven off by the steam of the water. Put in no more water, then well to cover them. They must never boil strongly, but very leasurely and but simpringly. It will be near half an hour before the water begin to boil so: And from their beginning to do so, they must boil a good hour. You must never put in any new water, though hot, for that will make the fish hard. After the hour, take out the fishes and untie them, and lay them loose in a colander with holes to drain out the water, and toss them in it up and down very well, as you use to do b.u.t.ter and Pease; and that will loosen and break asunder all the flakes, which will make them the more susceptible of the b.u.t.ter, when you stew them in it, and make it pierce the better into the flakes, and make them tender. Then lay them by thin rows in the dish, they are to be served up in: casting upon every row a little salt, and some green Parsley minced very small. They who love young-green Onions or sives, or other savory Herbs, or Pepper, may use them also in the same manner, when they are in season. When all is in, fill up with sweet b.u.t.ter well melted and thickened; and so let it stew there a while, to soak well into the fish; which will lie in fine loose tender flakes, well b.u.t.tered and seasoned. You may eat it with Mustard besides.

b.u.t.tERED WHITINGS WITH EGGS

Boil Whitings as if you would eat them in the Ordinary way with thick b.u.t.ter-sauce. Pick them clean from skin and bones, and mingle them well with b.u.t.ter, and break them very small, and season them pretty high with Salt. In the mean time b.u.t.ter some Eggs in the best manner, and mingle them with the b.u.t.tered Whitings, and mash them well together. The Eggs must not be so many by a good deal as the Fish. It is a most savoury dish.

TO DRESS POOR-JOHN AND BUCKORN

The way of dressing Poor-John, to make it very tender and good meat, is this. Put it into the Kettle in cold water, and so hang it over the fire; and so let it soak and stew without boiling for 3 hours: but the water must be very hot. Then make it boil two or three walms. By this time it will be very tender and swelled up. Then take out the back-bone, and put it to fry with Onions. If you put it first into hot water (as ling and such salt fish,) or being boiled, if you let it cool, and heat it again it will be tough and hard.

Buckorne is to be watered a good hour before you put it to the fire. Then boil it till it be tender, which it will be quickly. Then b.u.t.ter it as you do Ling; and if you will, put Eggs to it.

THE WAY OF DRESSING STOCK-FISH IN HOLLAND

First beat it exceedingly well, a long time, but with moderate blows, that you do not break it in pieces, but that you shake and loosen all the inward Fibers. Then put it into water (which may be a little warmed) to soak, and infuse so during twelve or fourteen hours (or more, if it be not yet pierced into the heart by the water, and grown tender.) Then put it to boil very gently, (and with no more water, then well to cover it, which you must supply with new hot water as it consumeth) for six or seven hours at least, that it may be very tender and loose and swelled up. Then press and drain out all the water from it; and heat it again in a dish, with store of melted b.u.t.ter thickened; and if you like it, you may season it also with Pepper and Mustard. But it will be yet better, if after it is well and tender boiled in water, and that you have pressed all the water you can out of it, you boil it again an hour longer in Milk; out of which when you take it, to put it into the dish with b.u.t.ter, you do not industriously press out all the Milk, as you did the water, but only drain it out gently, pressing it moderately. In the stewing it with b.u.t.ter, season it to your taste, with what you think fitting.

ANOTHER WAY TO DRESS STOCK-FISH

Beat it exceeding well with a large woodden Mallet, till you may easily pluck it all in pieces, severing every flake from other, and every one of them in it so being loose, spungy and limber, as the whole fish must be, and plyant like a glove, which will be in less then an hour. Pull then the bones out, and throw them away, and pluck off the skin (as whole as you can; but it will have many breaches and holes in it, by the beating) then gather all the fish together, and lap it in the skin as well as you can, into a round lump, like a bag-pudding, and tye it about with cords or strings (like a little Collar of Brawn, or souced fish) and so put it into lukewarm water (overnight) to soak, covering the vessel close; but you need not keep it near any heat whiles it lyeth soaking. Next morning take it out that water and vessel, and put it into another, with a moderate quant.i.ty of other water, to boil; which it must do very leisurely, and but simpringly.

The main care must be, that the vessel it boileth in, be covered so exceeding close, that not the least breath of steam get out, else it will not be tender, but tough and hard. It will be boiled enough, and become very tender in about a good half hour. Then take it out, unty it, and throw away the skin, and lay the flaky fish in a Cullender, to drain away the water from it. You must presently throw a little Salt upon it, and all about in it, to season it. For then it will imbibe it into it self presently; whereas if you Salt it not, till it grow cold in the air, it will not take it in. Mean while prepare your sauce of melted well thickened b.u.t.ter (which you may heighten with shreded Onions or Syves, or what well tasted herbs you please) and if you will, you may first strew upon the fish some very small shreded young Onions, or Sibbouls, or Syves, or Parsley.

Then upon that pour the melted b.u.t.ter to cover the fish all over, and soak into it. Serve it in warm and covered.

TO DRESS PARSNEPS

Sc.r.a.pe well three or four good large roots, cleansing well their outside, and cutting off as much of the little end as is Fibrous, and of the great end as is hard. Put them into a possnet or pot, with about a quart of Milk upon them, or as much as will cover them in boiling, which do moderately, till you find they are very tender. This may be in an hour and half, sooner or later, as the roots are of a good kind. Then take them out, and sc.r.a.pe all the outside into a pulpe, like the pulpe of roasted apples, which put in a dish upon a chafing dish of Coals, with a little of the Milk, you boiled them in, put to them; not so much as to drown them, but only to imbibe them: and then with stewing, the pulpe will imbibe all that Milk.

When you see it is drunk in, put to the pulpe a little more of the same Milk, and stew that, till it be drunk in. Continue doing thus till it hath drunk in a good quant.i.ty of the Milk, and is well swelled with it, and will take in no more, which may be in a good half hour. Eat them so, without Sugar or b.u.t.ter; for they will have a natural sweetness, that is beyond sugar, and will be Unctuous, so as not to need b.u.t.ter.

Parsneps (raw) cut into little pieces, is the best food for tame Rabets, and makes them sweet. As Rice (raw) is for tame Pigeons, and they like it best, varying it sometimes with right tares, and other seeds.

CREAM WITH RICE

A very good Cream to eat hot, is thus made. Into a quart of sweet Cream, put a spoonful of very fine powder of Rice, and boil them together sufficiently, adding Cinnamon, or Mace and Nutmeg to your liking. When it is boiled enough take it from the fire, and beat a couple of yolks of new-laid Eggs, to colour it yellow. Sweeten it to your taste. Put bread to it, in it's due time.

GREWEL OF OAT-MEAL AND RICE

Doctor Pridion ordered my Lord Cornwallis, for his chief diet in his looseness, the following grewel, which he found very tastefull.

Take about two parts of Oat-meal well beaten in a Mortar, and one part of Rice in subtile powder. Boil these well in water, as you make water-grewel, adding a good proportion of Cinnamon to boil also in due time, then strain it through a cloth, and sweeten it to your taste.

The yolk of an Egg beaten with a little Sherry-sack, and put to it, is not bad in a looseness. At other times you may add b.u.t.ter. It is very tasteful and nouris.h.i.+ng.

SAUCE FOR A CARP OR PIKE. TO b.u.t.tER PEASE

Take two or three spoonfuls of the Liquor the Carp was boiled in, and put it into a pipkin; There must be no more, then even to cover the bottom of the pipkin. Make this boil by itself; as soon as it doth so, put to this half a pound of sweet b.u.t.ter, let it melt gently, or suddenly, it imports not, so as the liquor boiled, when you did put the b.u.t.ter in; when the b.u.t.ter is melted, then take it from the fire, and holding the handle in your hand, shake it round a good while and strongly, and it will come to be thick, that you may almost cut it with a Knife. Then squeese juyce of Limon into it, or of sharp Orange, or Verjuyce or Vinegar; and heat it again as much as you please upon the fire. It will ever after continue thick, and never again, upon any heating, grow oily, though it be cold and heated again twenty times. b.u.t.ter done with fair water, as is said above, with the other Liquor, will be thick in the same manner, (for the liquors make no difference in that:)

Put of this b.u.t.ter to boiled Pease in their dish, which cover with another; so shake them very strongly, and a good while together. This is by much the best way to b.u.t.ter pease, and not to let the b.u.t.ter melt in the middle of them, and then stir them long with a spoon. This will grow Oily (though it be good at the first doing) if you heat them again: The other, never; and therefore, is the best way upon all occasions to make such thickened melted b.u.t.ter. You may make sauce for a Pike in the same manner you did for a Carpe; putting Horse-radish to it if you please.

A HERRING-PYE

Put great store of sliced Onions, with Currants and Raisins of the Sun both above and under the Herrings, and store of b.u.t.ter, and so bake them.

A SYLLABUB

Take a reasonable quant.i.ty (as about half a Porrenger full) of the Syrup, that hath served in the making of dryed plums; and into a large Syllabub-pot milk or squirt, or let fall from high a sufficient quant.i.ty of Milk or Cream. This Syrup is very quick of the fruit, and very weak of Sugar; and therefore makes the Syllabub exceeding well tasted. You may also use the Syrup used in the like manner in the drying of Cherries.

b.u.t.tER AND OIL TO FRY FISH

The best Liquor to fry Fish in, is to take b.u.t.ter and Salet Oyl, first well clarified together. This hath not the unsavoury taste of Oyl alone, nor the blackness of b.u.t.ter alone. It fryeth Fish crisp, yellow, and well tasted.

TO PREPARE SHRIMPS FOR DRESSING

When you will b.u.t.ter Shrimps, first wash them well in warm Milk and Water equally mingled together, and let them soak a little in it; then wash them again in fresh Milk and Water warmed, letting them also soak therein a while. Do this twice or thrice with fresh Milk and Water. This will take away all the rankness and slimyness of them. Then b.u.t.ter them, or prepare them for the table, as you think fit.

TOSTS OF VEAL

My Lady Lusson makes thus her plain tosts of kidney of Veal: Cut the kidney with all the fat about it, and a good piece of the lean flesh besides. Hash all this as small as you can. Put to it a quarter of a pound of picked and washed Currants, and as much Sugar, one Nutmeg grated, four yolks and two whites of new-laid Eggs raw; work all these very well together, seasoning it with Salt. Spread it thick upon slices of light white-bread cut like tosts. Then fry them in b.u.t.ter, such quant.i.ty as may boil over the tops of the tosts.

TO MAKE MUSTARD

The best way of making Mustard is this: Take of the best Mustard-seed (which is black) for example a quart. Dry it gently in an oven, and beat it to subtle powder, and sea.r.s.e it. Then mingle well strong Wine-vinegar with it, so much that it be pretty liquid, for it will dry with keeping. Put to this a little Pepper beaten small (white is the best) at discretion, as about a good pugil, and put a good spoonful of Sugar to it (which is not to make it taste sweet, but rather quick, and to help the fermentation) lay a good Onion in the bottom, quartered if you will, and a Race of Ginger sc.r.a.ped and bruised; and stir it often with a Horse-radish root cleansed, which let always lie in the pot, till it have lost it's vertue, then take a new one. This will keep long, and grow better for a while. It is not good till after a month, that it have fermented a while.

Some think it will be the quicker, if the seed be ground with fair water, in stead of vinegar, putting store of Onions in it.

My Lady Holmeby makes her quick fine Mustard thus: Choose true Mustard-seed; dry it in an oven, after the bread is out. Beat and sea.r.s.e it to a most subtle powder. Mingle Sherry-sack with it (stirring it a long time very well, so much as to have it of a fit consistence for Mustard.

Then put a good quant.i.ty of fine Sugar to it, as five or six spoonfuls, or more, to a pint of Mustard. Stir and incorporate all well together. This will keep good a long time. Some do like to put to it a little (but a little) of very sharp Wine-vinegar.

TO MAKE A WHITE-POT