Today dinner is from the cookery pages of The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner. On the menu for Monday’s dinner:
First course: Maigre or Vegetable Gravy Soup Second course: Baked fowls, Parsley-and-butter, Cauliflower, Mash potato with Onions. Third course: Baked Rice Pudding
FIRST COURSE: MAIGRE, or VEGETABLE GRAVY SOUP. INGREDIENTS: 3oz butter, 4oz onion, I turnip, 1 carrot, head celery, 4 quarts water, crust of bread, berries of allspice, black pepper, mace, cayenne. MODE:
Put into a gallon stew-pan three ounces of butter; set it over a slow fire; while it is melting, slice four ounces of onion; cut in small pieces one turnip, one carrot, and a head of celery; put them in the stewpan, cover it close, let it fry till they are lightly browned; this will take about twenty-five minutes: have ready, in a sauce-pan, a pint of pease, with four quarts of water; when the roots in the stew-pan are quite brown, and the pease come to a boil, put the pease and water to them; put it on the fire; when it boils, skim it clean, and put in a crust of bread about as big as the top of a twopenny loaf, twenty-four berries of allspice, the same of black pepper, and two blades of mace; cover it close, let it simmer gently for one hour and a half; then set it from the fire for ten minutes; then pour it off very gently (so as not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the stew-pan) into a large basin; let it stand (about two hours) till it is quite clear: while this is doing, shred one large turnip, the red part of a large carrot, three ounces of onion minced, and one large head of celery cut into small bits; put the turnips and carrots on the fire in cold water, let them boil five minutes, then drain them on a sieve, then pour off the soup clear into a stew-pan, put in the roots, put the soup on the fire, let it simmer gently till the herbs are tender (from thirty to forty minutes), season it with salt and a little Cayenne, and it is ready.
SECOND COURSE: CAPONS or FOWLS Must be killed a couple of days in moderate, and more in cold weather, before they are dressed, or they will eat tough: a good criterion of the ripeness of poultry for the spit, is the ease with which you can then pull out the feathers; when a fowl is plucked, leave a few to help you to ascertain this. They are managed exactly in the same manner, and sent up with the same sauces as a turkey, only they require proportionably less time at the fire. A full-grown five-toed fowl, about an hour and a quarter. A moderate-sized one, an hour. A chicken, from thirty to forty minutes. STUFFING Mince a quarter of a pound of beef suet (beef marrow is better), the same weight of bread-crumbs, two drachms of parsley-leaves, a drachm and a half of sweet marjoram or lemon-thyme, and the same of grated lemon-peel and onion chopped as fine as possible, a little pepper and salt; pound thoroughly together with the yelk and white of two eggs. Fill the craw of the fowl, &c.; but do not cram it so as to disfigure its shape. PARSLEY and BUTTER Wash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully leaf by leaf; put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water: boil the parsley about ten minutes; drain it on a sieve; mince it quite fine, and then bruise it to a pulp. The delicacy and excellence of this elegant and innocent relish depends upon the parsley being minced very fine: put it into a sauce-boat, and mix with it, by degrees, about half a pint of good melted butter. Cut two ounces of butter into little bits, that it may melt more easily, and mix more readily; put it into the stew-pan with a large tea-spoonful (i. e. about three drachms) of flour, (some prefer arrow-root, or potato starch), and two table-spoonfuls of milk.
do not put so much flour to it, as the parsley will add to its thickness: never pour parsley and butter over boiled things, but send it up in a boat. CAULIFLOWER Choose those that are close and white, and of the middle size; trim off the outside leaves; cut the stalk off flat at the bottom; let them lie in salt and water an hour before you boil them. Put them into boiling water with a handful of salt in it; skim it well, and let it boil slowly till done, which a small one will be in fifteen, a large one in about twenty minutes; take it up the moment it is enough, a minute or two longer boiling will spoil it. MASHED POTATOES with ONIONS When your potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain them quite dry, pick out every speck, &c., and while hot, rub them through a colander into a clean stew-pan. To a pound of potatoes put about half an ounce of butter, and a table-spoonful of milk: do not make them too moist; mix them well together. Prepare some boiled onions by putting them through a sieve, and mix them with potatoes. In proportioning the onions to the potatoes, you will be guided by your wish to have more or less of their flavour. THIRD COURSE: RICE PUDDINGS BAKED, or BOILED Wash in cold water and pick very clean six ounces of rice, put it in a quart stew-pan three parts filled with cold water, set it on the fire, and let it boil five minutes; pour away the water, and put in one quart of milk, a roll of lemon peel, and a bit of cinnamon; let it boil gently till the rice is quite tender; it will take at least one hour and a quarter; be careful to stir it every five minutes; take it off the fire, and stir in an ounce and a half of fresh butter, and beat up three eggs on a plate, a salt-spoonful of nutmeg, two ounces of sugar; put it into the pudding, and stir it till it is quite smooth; line a pie-dish big enough to hold it with puff paste, notch it round the edge, put in your pudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour: this will be a nice firm pudding. If you like it to eat more like custard, add one more egg, and half a pint more milk; it will be better a little thinner when boiled; one hour will boil it. If you like it in little puddings, butter small tea-cups, and either bake or boil them, half an hour will do either: you may vary the pudding by putting in candied lemon or orange-peel, minced very fine, or dried cherries, or three ounces of currants, or raisins, or apples minced fine. If the puddings are baked or boiled, serve them with white-wine sauce, or butter and sugar.
Tomorrow Mary Eaton joins us in the kitchen to deliver a healthy family meal.
It is autumn in Regency England and the weather is starting to turn cooler. Dinner is to consist of mainly hot dishes. As this is just a small family meal there is only three courses, yet some meals could have up to four courses. Mrs. Isabella Beeton joins us today to share just a few of her favourite recipes.
(Please note that all spelling mistakes are those which were in the original copy of the book.)
Today on our menu we have:
First course: A La Julienne Soup
Second course: Roast ribs of Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Horseradish Sauce, French Beans and Baked Potatoes.
Third course: Plum Tart and Vanilla Cream.
FIRST COURSE:
MEDIUM STOCK. – needed for Soup A La Julienne
INGREDIENTS.—4 lbs. of shin of beef, or 4 lbs. of knuckle of veal, or 2 lbs. of each; any bones, trimmings of poultry, or fresh meat, 1/2 a lb. of lean bacon or ham, 2 oz. of butter, 2 large onions, each stuck with 3 cloves; 1 turnip, 3 carrots, 1/2 a leek, 1 head of celery, 2 oz. of salt, 1/2 a teaspoonful of whole pepper, 1 large blade of mace, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, 4 quarts and 1/2 pint of cold water.
Mode.—Cut up the meat and bacon or ham into pieces about 3 inches square; rub the butter on the bottom of the stewpan; put in 1/2 a pint of water, the meat, and all the other ingredients. Cover the stewpan, and place it on a sharp fire, occasionally stirring its contents. When the bottom of the pan becomes covered with a pale, jelly-like substance, add 4 quarts of cold water, and simmer very gently for 5 hours. As we have said before, do not let it boil quickly. Skim off every particle of grease whilst it is doing, and strain it through a fine hair sieve.
This is the basis of many of the soups afterwards mentioned, and will be found quite strong enough for ordinary purposes.
Time.—5-1/2 hours. Average cost, 9d. per quart.
SOUP A LA JULIENNE.
INGREDIENTS.—1/2 pint of carrots, 1/2 pint of turnips, 1/4 pint of onions, 2 or 3 leeks, 1/2 head of celery, 1 lettuce, a little sorrel and chervil, if liked, 2 oz. of butter, 2 quarts of stock
Mode.—Cut the vegetables into strips of about 1-1/4 inch long, and be particular they are all the same size, or some will be hard whilst the others will be done to a pulp. Cut the lettuce, sorrel, and chervil into larger pieces; fry the carrots in the butter, and pour the stock boiling to them. When this is done, add all the other vegetables, and herbs, and stew gently for at least an hour. Skim off all the fat, pour the soup over thin slices of bread, cut round about the size of a shilling, and serve.
Time.—1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 1s. 3d. per quart.
Seasonable all the year.
Sufficient for 8 persons.
Note.—In summer, green peas, asparagus-tops, French beans, &c. can be added. When the vegetables are very strong, instead of frying them in butter at first, they should be blanched, and afterwards simmered in the stock.
SECOND COURSE:
ROAST RIBS OF BEEF
INGREDIENTS.—Beef, a little salt.
Mode.—-The fore-rib is considered the primest roasting piece, but the middle-rib is considered the most economical. Let the meat be well hung (should the weather permit), and cut off the thin ends of the bones, which should be salted for a few days, and then boiled. Put the meat down to a nice clear fire, put some clean dripping into the pan, dredge the joint with a little flour, and keep continually basting the whole time. Sprinkle some fine salt over it (this must never be done until the joint is dished, as it draws the juices from the meat); pour the dripping from the pan, put in a little boiling: water slightly salted, and strain the gravy over the meat. Garnish with tufts of scraped horseradish, and send horseradish sauce to table with it. A Yorkshire pudding sometimes accompanies this dish, and, if lightly made and well cooked, will be found a very agreeable addition.
Time.—10 lbs. of beef, 2-1/2 hours; 14 to 16 lbs., from 3-1/2 to 4 hours.
Average cost, 8-1/2d. per lb.
Sufficient.—A joint of 10 lbs. sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
MEMORANDA IN ROASTING.—The management of the fire is a point of primary importance in roasting. A radiant fire throughout the operation is absolutely necessary to insure a good result. When the article to be dressed is thin and delicate, the fire may be small; but when the joint is large, the fire must fill the grate. Meat must never be put down before a hollow or exhausted fire, which may soon want recruiting; on the other hand, if the heat of the fire becomes too fierce, the meat must be removed to a considerable distance till it is somewhat abated. Some cooks always fail in their roasts, though they succeed in nearly everything else. A French writer on the culinary art says that anybody can learn how to cook, but one must be born a roaster. According to Liebig, beef or mutton cannot be said to be sufficiently roasted until it has acquired, throughout the whole mass, a temperature of 158°; but poultry may be well cooked when the inner parts hare attained a temperature of from 130° to 140°. This depends on the greater amount of blood which beef and mutton contain, the colouring matter of blood not being coagulable under 158°.
ROAST RIBS OF BEEF, Boned and Rolled (a very Convenient Joint for a
Small Family).
BAKED POTATOES
INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes.
Mode.—Choose large potatoes, as much of a size as possible; wash them in lukewarm water, and scrub them well, for the browned skin of a baked potato is by many persons considered the better part of it. Put them into a moderate oven, and bake them for about 2 hours, turning them three or four times whilst they are cooking. Serve them in a napkin immediately they are done, as, if kept a long time in the oven, they have a shrivelled appearance. Potatoes may also be roasted before the fire, in an American oven; but when thus cooked, they must be done very slowly. Do not forget to send to table with them a piece of cold butter.
Time.—Large potatoes, in a hot oven 1-1/2 hour to 2 hours; in a cool oven, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
Average cost, 4s. per bushel.
Sufficient.—Allow 2 to each person.
Seasonable all the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.
BOILED FRENCH BEANS
INGREDIENTS.—To each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt, a very small piece of soda.
Mode.—This vegetable should always be eaten young, as, when allowed to grow too long, it tastes stringy and tough when cooked. Cut off the heads and tails, and a thin strip on each side of the beans, to remove the strings. Then divide each bean into 4 or 6 pieces, according to size, cutting them lengthways in a slanting direction, and, as they are cut, put them into cold water, with a small quantity of salt dissolved in it. Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, with salt and soda in the above proportion; put in the beans, keep them boiling quickly, with the lid uncovered, and be careful that they do not get smoked. When tender, which may be ascertained by their sinking to the bottom of the saucepan, take them up, throw them into a colander; and when drained, dish and serve with plain melted butter. When very young, beans are sometimes served whole: when they are thus dressed, their colour and flavour are much better preserved; but the more general way of dressing them is to cut them into thin strips.
Time.—Very young beans, 10 to 12 minutes; moderate size, 15 to 20 minutes, after the water boils.
Average cost, in full season, 1s. 4d. a peck; but, when forced, very expensive.
Sufficient.—Allow 1/2 peck for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable from the middle of July to the end of September; but may be had, forced, from February to the beginning of June.
HORSERADISH SAUCE
INGREDIENTS.— 4 tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 teaspoonful of salt, 1/2 teaspoonful of pepper, 2 teaspoonfuls of made mustard; vinegar.
Mode.—Grate the horseradish, and mix it well with the sugar, salt, pepper, and mustard; moisten it with sufficient vinegar to give it the consistency of cream, and serve in a tureen: 3 or 4 tablespoonfuls of cream added to the above, very much improve the appearance and flavour of this sauce. To heat it to serve with hot roast beef, put it in a bain marie or a jar, which place in a saucepan of boiling water; make it hot, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle.
Note.—This sauce is a great improvement on the old-fashioned way of serving cold-scraped horseradish with hot roast beef. The mixing of the cold vinegar with the warm gravy cools and spoils everything on the plate. Of course, with cold meat, the sauce should be served cold.
THE HORSERADISH.—This has been, for many years, a favourite accompaniment of roast beef, and is a native of England. It grows wild in wet ground, but has long been cultivated in the garden, and is, occasionally, used in winter salads and in sauces. On account of the great volatility of its oil, it should never be preserved by drying, but should be kept moist by being buried in sand. So rapidly does its volatile oil evaporate, that even when scraped for the table, it almost immediately spoils by exposure to the air.
YORKSHIRE PUDDING
INGREDIENTS.—1-1/2 pint of milk, 6 large tablespoonfuls of flour, 3 eggs, 1 saltspoonful of salt.
Mode.—Put the flour into a basin with the salt, and stir gradually to this enough milk to make it into a stiff batter. When this is perfectly smooth, and all the lumps are well rubbed down, add the remainder of the milk and the eggs, which should be well beaten. Beat the mixture for a few minutes, and pour it into a shallow tin, which has been previously well rubbed with beef dripping. Put the pudding into the oven, and bake it for an hour; then, for another 1/2 hour, place it under the meat, to catch a little of the gravy that flows from it. Cut the pudding into small square pieces, put them on a hot dish, and serve. If the meat is baked, the pudding may at once be placed under it, resting the former on a small three-cornered stand.
Time.—1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 7d.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable at any time.
THIRD COURSE:
PLUM TART
INGREDIENTS.—1/2 lb. of good short crust No. 1211, 1-1/2 pint of plums, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar.
Mode.—Line the edges of a deep tart-dish with crust made by recipe No. 1211; fill the dish with plums, and place a small cup or jar, upside down, in the midst of them. Put in the sugar, cover the pie with crust, ornament the edges, and bake in a good oven from 1/2 to 3/4 hour. When puff-crust is preferred to short crust, use that made by recipe No. 1206, and glaze the top by brushing it over with the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth with a knife; sprinkle over a little sifted sugar, and put the pie in the oven to set the glaze.
Time.—1/2 to 3/4 hour. Average cost, 1s.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable, with various kinds of plums, from the beginning of August to the beginning of October.
VANILLA CREAM
INGREDIENTS.—1 pint of milk, the yolks of 8 eggs, 6 oz. of sugar, 1 oz. of isinglass, flavouring to taste of essence of vanilla.
Mode.—Put the milk and sugar into a saucepan, and let it get hot over a slow fire; beat up the yolks of the eggs, to which add gradually the sweetened milk; flavour the whole with essence of vanilla, put the mixture into a jug, and place this jug in a saucepan of boiling water. Stir the contents with a wooden spoon one way until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil, or it will be full of lumps. Take it off the fire; stir in the isinglass, which should be previously dissolved in about 1/4 pint of water, and boiled for 2 or 3 minutes; pour the cream into an oiled mould, put it in a cool place to set, and turn it out carefully on a dish. Instead of using the essence of vanilla, a pod may be boiled in the milk instead, until the flavour is well extracted. A pod, or a pod and a half, will be found sufficient for the above proportion of ingredients.
Time.—About 10 minutes to stir the mixture.
Average cost, with the best isinglass, 2s. 6d.
Sufficient to fill a quart mould. Seasonable at any time.
VANILLE or VANILLA, is the fruit of the vanillier, a parasitical herbaceous plant, which flourishes in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. The fruit is a long capsule, thick and fleshy. Certain species of this fruit contain a pulp with a delicious perfume and flavour. Vanilla is principally imported from Mexico. The capsules for export are always picked at perfect maturity. The essence is the form in which it is used generally and most conveniently. Its properties are stimulating and exciting. It is in daily use for ices, chocolates, and flavouring confections generally.
I hope you have enjoyed Mrs. Beeton’s dinner, tomorrow I’ll have another guest cook to serve up a wonderful family meal.
So, for the next week I will share with you a week’s menu for a family in Regency England.
First let’s look at some terms used in cooking, these come from Mrs. Beeton’s book on the Project Gutenberg site.
EXPLANATION OF FRENCH TERMS USED IN MODERN HOUSEHOLD COOKERY.
ASPIC.—A savoury jelly, used as an exterior moulding for cold game, poultry, fish, &c. This, being of a transparent nature, allows the bird which it covers to be seen through it. This may also be used for decorating or garnishing.
AU-BLEU.—Fish dressed in such a manner as to have a bluish appearance.
BAIN-MARIE.—An open saucepan or kettle of nearly boiling water, in which a smaller vessel can be set for cooking and warming. This is very useful for keeping articles hot, without altering their quantity or quality. If you keep sauce, broth, or soup by the fireside, the soup reduces and becomes too strong, and the sauce thickens as well as reduces; but this is prevented by using the bain-marie, in which the water should be very hot, but not boiling.
BÉCHAMEL.—French white sauce, now frequently used in English cookery.
BLANCH.—To whiten poultry, vegetables, fruit, &c., by plunging them into boiling water for a short time, and afterwards plunging them into cold water, there to remain until they are cold.
BLANQUETTE.—A sort of fricassee.
BOUILLI.—Beef or other meat boiled; but, generally speaking, boiled beef is understood by the term.
BOUILLIE.—A French dish resembling hasty-pudding.
BOUILLON.—A thin broth or soup.
BRAISE.—To stew meat with fat bacon until it is tender, it having previously been blanched.
BRAISIÈRE.—A saucepan having a lid with ledges, to put fire on the top.
BRIDER.—To pass a packthread through poultry, game, &c., to keep together their members.
CARAMEL (burnt sugar).—This is made with a piece of sugar, of the size of a nut, browned in the bottom of a saucepan; upon which a cupful of stock is gradually poured, stirring all the time a glass of broth, little by little. It may be used with the feather of a quill, to colour meats, such as the upper part of fricandeaux; and to impart colour to sauces. Caramel made with water instead of stock may be used to colour compôtes and other entremets.
DAUBIÈRE.—An oval stewpan, in which daubes are cooked; daubes being meat or fowl stewed in sauce.
DÉSOSSER.—To bone, or take out the bones from poultry, game, or fish.
This is an operation requiring considerable experience.
ENTRÉES.—Small side or corner dishes, served with the first course.
ENTREMETS.—Small side or corner dishes, served with the second course.
ESCALOPES.—Collops; small, round, thin pieces of tender meat, or of fish, beaten with the handle of a strong knife to make them tender.
FEUILLETAGE.—Puff-paste.
FLAMBER.—To singe fowl or game, after they have been picked.
FONCER.—To put in the bottom of a saucepan slices of ham, veal, or thin broad slices of bacon.
GALETTE.—A broad thin cake.
GÂTEAU.—A cake, correctly speaking; but used sometimes to denote a pudding and a kind of tart.
GLACER.—To glaze, or spread upon hot meats, or larded fowl, a thick and rich sauce or gravy, called glaze. This is laid on with a feather or brush, and in confectionary the term means to ice fruits and pastry with sugar, which glistens on hardening.
HORS-D'OEUVRES.—Small dishes, or assiettes volantes of sardines, anchovies, and other relishes of this kind, served to the guests during the first course. (See ASSIETTES VOLANTES.)
LIT.—A bed or layer; articles in thin slices are placed in layers, other articles, or seasoning, being laid between them.
MAIGRE.—Broth, soup, or gravy, made without meat.
MATELOTE.—A rich fish-stew, which is generally composed of carp, eels, trout, or barbel. It is made with wine.
MAYONNAISE.—Cold sauce, or salad dressing.
MENU.—The bill of fare.
MERINGUE.—A kind of icing, made of whites of eggs and sugar, well beaten.
MIROTON.—Larger slices of meat than collops; such as slices of beef for a vinaigrette, or ragout or stew of onions.
MOUILLER.—To add water, broth, or other liquid, during the cooking.
PANER.—To cover over with very fine crumbs of bread, meats, or any other articles to be cooked on the gridiron, in the oven, or frying-pan.
PIQUER.—To lard with strips of fat bacon, poultry, game, meat, &c. This should always be done according to the vein of the meat, so that in carving you slice the bacon across as well as the meat.
POÊLÉE.—Stock used instead of water for boiling turkeys, sweetbreads, fowls, and vegetables, to render them less insipid. This is rather an expensive preparation.
PURÉE.—Vegetables, or meat reduced to a very smooth pulp, which is afterwards mixed with enough liquid to make it of the consistency of very thick soup.
RAGOUT.—Stew or hash.
REMOULADE.—Salad dressing.
RISSOLES.—Pastry, made of light puff-paste, and cut into various forms, and fried. They may be filled with fish, meat, or sweets.
ROUX.—Brown and white; French thickening.
SALMI.—Ragout of game previously roasted.
SAUCE PIQUANTE.—A sharp sauce, in which somewhat of a vinegar flavour predominates.
SAUTER.—To dress with sauce in a saucepan, repeatedly moving it about.
TAMIS.—Tammy, a sort of open cloth or sieve through which to strain broth and sauces, so as to rid them of small bones, froth, &c.
TOURTE.—Tart. Fruit pie.
TROUSSER.—To truss a bird; to put together the body and tie the wings and thighs, in order to round it for roasting or boiling, each being tied then with packthread, to keep it in the required form.
VOL-AU-VENT.—A rich crust of very fine puff-paste, which may be filled with various delicate ragouts or fricassees, of fish, flesh, or fowl. Fruit may also be inclosed in a vol-au-vent.
If you’re interesting in finding out more about the books I mentioned about just visit:
Have you been watching SBS (Australia) lately? They are showing re-runs of their series Supersizers Go… I’ll admit some of it made me a little queasy, but never the less it is very interesting.
My sources are from: Mrs. Beeton’s Household Management, Domestic Cookery by Elizabeth E. Lea, The Cook’s Oracle: and Housekeeper’s Manual by William Kitchiner and English Housewifery by Elizabeth Moxon and a couple of others.
The information below was sourced from:
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches by Mary Eaton. If you would like to have a copy of this book you can down load it free from The Project Gutenberg.
Before we start with recipes and other cooking related posys lets look at what is in season and when.
BILLS OF FARE, or list of various articles in season in different months. January.— Poultry. Game, pheasants, partridges, hares, rabbits, woodcocks, snipes, turkeys, capons, pullets, fowls, chickens, tame pigeons.
Fish. Carp, tench, perch, eels, lampreys, crayfish, cod, soles, flounders, plaice, turbot, skate, thornback, sturgeon, smelts, whitings, crabs, lobsters, prawns, oysters. Vegetables. Cabbage, savoys, coleworts, sprouts, brocoli, leeks, onions, beet, sorrel, chervil, endive, spinach, celery, garlic, potatoes, parsnips, turnips, shalots, lettuces, cresses, mustard, rape, salsify, herbs dry and green. Fruit. Apples, pears, nuts, walnuts, medlars, grapes. February, March.— Meat, fowls and game, as in January, with the addition of ducklings and chickens. Fish. As the last two months, except that cod is not thought so good, from February to July. Vegetables. The same as the former months, with the addition of kidney beans. Fruit. Apples, pears, forced strawberries. April, May, June.— Meat. Beef, mutton, veal, lamb, venison in June.— Poultry. Pullets, fowls, chickens, ducklings, pigeons, rabbits, leverets. Fish. Carp, tench, soles, smelts, eels, trout, turbot, lobsters, chub, salmon, herrings, crayfish, mackarel, crabs, prawns, shrimps. Vegetables. As before, and in May, early potatoes, peas, radishes, kidney beans, carrots, turnips, early cabbages, cauliflowers, asparagus, artichokes, all sorts of forced sallads. Fruit. In June, strawberries, cherries, melons, green apricots, gooseberries and currants for tarts. In July, cherries, strawberries, pears, melons, gooseberries, currants, apricots, grapes, nectarines, peaches; but most of these are forced. July, August, September. Meat as before. Poultry. Pullets, fowls, chickens, rabbits, pigeons, green geese, leverets, turkey poults, plovers, wheatears, and geese in September. Fish. Cod, haddock, flounders, plaice, skate, thornback, mullets, pike, carp, eels, shellfish, except oysters; mackarel the first two months, but are not good in August.
Vegetables. Beans, peas, French beans, and various others. Fruit. In July, strawberries, gooseberries, pineapples, plums, cherries, apricots, raspberries, melons, currants, damsons. In August and September, peaches, plums, filberts, figs, mulberries, cherries, apples, pears, nectarines, grapes, pines, melons, strawberries, medlars, quinces, morella cherries, damsons, and various plums. October.— Meat as before, and doe-venison. Poultry. Game, pheasants, fowls, partridges, larks, hares, dotterels, wild ducks, teal, snipes, widgeon, grouse. Fish. Dories, smelts, pike, perch, holibets, brills, carp, salmon trout, barbel, gudgeons, tench, shellfish. Vegetables. As in January, French beans, runners, windsor beans. Fruit. Peaches, pears, figs, bullace, grapes, apples, medlars, damsons, filberts, nuts, walnuts, quinces, services. November.— Meat. Beef, mutton, veal, pork, house lamb, doe venison, poultry and game. Fish as the last month. Vegetables. Carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, skirrets, onions, leeks, shalots, cabbage, savoys, colewort, spinach, cardoons, cresses, endive, celery, lettuces, salad, herbs. Fruit. Pears, apples, nuts, walnuts, bullace, chesnuts, medlars, grapes. December. Meat. Beef, mutton, veal, house lamb, pork and venison. Poultry. Game, turkeys, geese, pullets, pigeons, capons, fowls, chickens, rabbits, hares, snipes, woodcocks, larks, pheasants, partridges, sea-fowls, guinea-fowls, wild ducks, teal, widgeon, dotterels, dunbirds, grouse. Fish. Turbot, cod, holibets, soles, gurnets, sturgeon, carp, gudgeons, codlings, eels, dories, shellfish. Vegetables. As in the last month; asparagus forced. Fruit. As the last, except bullace.
Tomorrow I’m going to look at some of the cooking terms used, then on Sunday we kick start a week of recipes.
Okay, I’m back. For how long? Only time will tell. I’m not going to make excuses, because if I was honest with myself I could have posted sooner. I will however tell you what I have been up to while I’ve been off the bloggersphere.
I’ve spent time editing the first three chapter’s of my Regency Romance. I won a fantastic critique from, Michelle Styles, of three chapters and synopsis through an online auction. So I’ve been busy whipping that into shape.
I entered the RWAus Emerald Contest for the first time and was pleased with my result. Of course I was also very, very pleased my good friend, Suzanne Hamilton, reached the top three. YAY, Suz. I also entered the RWAus Valerie Parv Contest and waiting the results to come in for that one. Plus, I entered my first ever overseas contest with the Royal Ascot, again waiting for results. But that’s cool I can wait.
I’ve put writing my Contemporary romance on hold for the time being to concentrate on my Regency, I think my voice suits that era better.
Have you ever done a workshop and thought where was this before now? Or why didn’t I know about this? I had that when I did the fabulous Angela James’s ‘Self-editing Workshop’. I cannot rave about this enough it was brilliant. Angela, was brilliant. My head was swimming by the end, but in a good way. The best part is, Angela, is going to have the workshop published. So keep an eye out for that book to hit the shelves.
