Strong Soup

Put a cowheel into a pan with a lean breast of mutton, two ounces of rice, a parsnip, carrot, and turnip; add two quarts of water, and a teaspoonful of ketchup. Allow the whole to simmer for three hours, remove every particle of fat. When a little is required for use, warm it in a stewpan, add a small glassful of sherry or a tablespoonful of brandy. Serve with a tiny plate of slightly browned toast, cut into dice-shaped pieces.

You must know that we had the cowheel served with onion sauce for supper.

We were given hot crab for breakfast that day.

Hot Crab

All the meat was removed from the inside and claws of the crab, it was then mixed with a tablespoonful of cream, a teaspoonful of curry paste, and very fine crumbs of bread fried. The mixture was then put into the crab shell, which was placed on a hot stove, and a red-hot salamander was held over it.

Invalid's Breakfast Dish

For my sister's breakfast on Friday morning my cousin removed the undercut from a sirloin of beef, weighing about four ounces, beat it well, and dipped it into heated dripping. It was then laid on a hot, greased gridiron, over a clear fire, and cooked for ten minutes, being constantly turned. It was then placed on a hot plate, a pinch of finely minced parsley, and the same of salt, scattered over it, and served quickly with thinly cut slices of bread rolled. The dish was garnished with tufts of green parsley.

For our morning meal we had a dish of bloaters, which had been prepared as follows: Fish Cutlets and Boiled Eggs.

Remove the heads and tails from six bloaters, split them down the back, remove the bone, dip them into heated butter, and dust bread crumbs over them. Season the fillets with pepper and salt, screen with minced parsley and mint, then grill them over a clear fire, without turning them. Just before placing on the table in a hot dish, a tablespoonful of ketchup, mixed with the same quantity of Holbrook's Worcestershire sauce, was poured over them. A dish of hot buttered toast was served with the fish, and six new-laid eggs, boiled in their shells, were covered with small tulip-shaped cosies to keep them warm while we did ample justice to the fillets.

My cousin suggested that the juice of a lemon doubed with cayenne would be a great improvement to the fish.

My sister was very much better on Saturday, and came down to breakfast as usual. We had pig's feet in jelly, a dish that was pleasant to the taste, and as great a novelty as could be desired. Here is the recipe given to me.

Pig's Feet In Jelly

Order from the pork butcher six pig's trotters ready dressed for stewing. Set them in a stewpan with just enough water to cover them. When it boils remove them, and lay in a clean saucepan with about two quarts of water, a gill of vinegar, a bundle of herbs, one onion, a blade of mace, a dash of pepper and salt to taste. Skim well the moment it boils, then let all simmer for four hours. Take out the trotters, remove the large bone from each, and set on a dish. Pass the liquor through a hair sieve into a clean jug, add a dash of cayenne, the juice of a lemon, a tablespoonful of ketchup, the same quantity of Holbrook's Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoonful of Liebig Company's extract, and one glass of sherry. Put the jug into a pot of water. When the liquor boils, pour it through a hair sieve into another jug. Let it cool; then pour the jelly into a well-oiled mould, lay in the feet right side down. When nearly set, pour in the remainder of the jelly. Set it on ice for two hours, or in a cold place for twelve hours. Next morning it will turn out perfectly. Garnish with parsley screened with larded lemons.

That night our cousin told us that her stay with us must necessarily be short. I therefore at once made the resolution to learn as much as was possible of the secrets of the Art of Cookery while we had her with us; for I now fully realised what a fitting thing a thorough knowledge of all culinary matters was in one who should take the head of the household, and how much of the comfort of the home, and health of the inmates, depended on the food set before them.

My cousin always laid great stress on the way in which the kitchen utensils were kept; "for," she said, " no matter how carefully a dish is prepared, if the vessel in which it is cooked is not perfectly clean, it will be neither tasty to the palate, nor pleasing to the eye." Another rule she laid down was that, in seasoning, no especial flavour should be allowed to predominate to the detriment of others. " As to salads, garnish, etc.," she said, "you must always wash, pick, and arrange them some time before they are wanted. They will not become stale if you lay a clean damp cloth over the dish, keep it in a dark place, and before using, sprinkle a little fresh water over the salad, then pour it off carefully so that you may not disarrange the dish."

When we came into the kitchen on Monday morning we found our maid Jane looking most sorrow-stricken, and holding a dead fowl in her hand.