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Pies. Part 2 |
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Free Books / Cooking / The American Housewife / | |
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Pies. Part 2 |
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This section is from the "The American Housewife" book, by Experienced Lady. Also available from Amazon: The American Housewife.
The best kind of meat for mince pies is neat's tongue and feet - the shank of beef makes very good pies. Boil the meat till perfectly tender - then take it up, clear it from the bones and gristle, chop it fine enough to strain through a sieve, mix it with an equal- weight of tart apples, chopped very fine. If the meat is not fat, put in a little suet, or melted butter. Moisten the whole with cider - sweeten it to the taste with sugar, and very little molasses - add mace, cinnamon, cloves, and salt, to the taste. If you wish to make your pies rich, put in wine or brandy to the taste, and raisins, citron, and Zante currants. The grated rind and juice of lemons improve the pie. Make the pies on shallow plates, with apertures in the upper crust, and bake them from half to three-quarters of an hour, according to the heat of the oven. Meat prepared for pies in the following manner, will keep good several months, if kept in a cool dry place: To a pound of finely chopped meat, a quarter of a pound of suet, put half an ounce of mace, one ounce of cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, two tea-spoonsful of salt. Add if you like the following fruits: half a pound of seeded raisins, half a pound of Zante currants, a quarter of a pound of citron.
Put in half a pint of French brandy or wine, three table-spoonsful of molasses, and sugar sufficient to make it quite sweet. Put the whole in a stone pot - cover it with a paper wet in brandy. When you wish to use any of it for pies, put to what meat you use an equal weight of apples, pared and chopped fine. If not seasoned high enough, add more spice and sugar. If the apples are not tart, put in lemon-juice or sour cider.
To a quart of boiling water, put a small tea-cup of rice. Boil it till very soft, then take it from the fire, and add a quart of cold milk. Put in a tea-spoonful of salt, a grated nutmeg, five eggs beaten to a froth - add sugar to the taste, and strain it through a sieve. Bake it in deep pie plates, with an under crust and rim of pastry - add if you like a few raisins.
Take mellow, juicy peaches - wash and put them in a deep pie plate, lined with pie crust. Sprinkle a thick layer of sugar on each layer of peaches, put in about a table-spoonful of water, and sprinkle a little flour over the top - cover it with a thick crust, and bake the pie from fifty to sixty minutes. Pies made in this manner are much better than with the stones taken out, as the prussic acid of the stone gives the pie a fine flavor. If the peaches are not mellow, they will require stewing before being made into a pie. Dried peaches should be stewed soft, and sweetened, before they are made into a pie - they do not require any spice.
Sour apples, cranberries, and peaches, all make nice tarts. Stew, and strain them when soft. Peach tarts require a little lemon-juice, without they are sour. Grate in lemon peel, add brown sugar to the taste. Put in each pie one beaten egg, to make it cut smooth. Bake the pies on shallow plates, with an under crust and rim of pastry - ornament the pie with very small strips of pastry. When the crust is done, remove the pies from the oven.
Take the tender stalks of the rhubarb, strip off the skin, and cut the stalks into thin slices. Line deep plates with pie crust, then put in the rhubarb, with a thick layer of sugar to each layer of rhubarb - a little grated lemon peel improves the pie. Cover the pies with a thick crust - press it down tight round the edge of the plate, and prick the crust with a fork, so that the crust will not burst while baking, and let out the juices of the pie. Rhubarb pies should be baked about an hour, in a slow oven - it will not do to bake them quick. Some cooks stew the rhubarb before making it into pies, but it is not so good as when used without stewing.
Take green tomatoes, turn boiling water on them, and let them remain in it a few minutes - then strip off the skin, cut the tomatoes in slices, and put them in deep pie plates. Sprinkle sugar over each layer, and a little ginger. Grated lemon peel, and the juice of a lemon, improve the pie. Cover the pies with a thick crust, and bake them slowly for about an hour.
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