Lords and Ladles Menu - Tullynally Castle

Here is this week's menu from Lords and Ladles - Tullynally Caste.

Ingredients

Take a scrag of mutton, a knuckle of veal, after cutting off as much meat as will make collops, two or three shank bones of mutton nicely cleaned and a quarter of a pound of very fine gammon of bacon. A bunch of sweet herbs, a piece of lemon peel, two or three onions, three blades of mace and a dessertspoon of white pepper. Boil all in three quarts of water until the meat falls to pieces. Next day take off the fat, clear the jelly from the sediment, and put it in a saucepan. If macaroni is used it should be added soon enough to get perfectly tender, after soaking in cold water. Have ready the thickening: blanch a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds and beat them to a paste in a marble mortar, with a spoonful of water to prevent them oiling. Mince a large slice of veal or chicken and beat it with a piece of stale white bread, add all this to a pint of thick cream, a bit of lemon peel and a blade of mace, in the finest powder. Boil it a few minutes, add it to a pint of soup and strain and pulp it through a coarse sieve. This thickening is then fit for putting it to the rest which should boil for an hour afterwards.

Take a shoulder of mutton cut warm off the sheep and have it all night in the sheep’s blood, next morning season it with pepper and salt, put in about a pound of beef suet, some thyme, savoury and sweet marjoram, mixed small with a little onion. Grate in some bread to thicken it then cut holes in the mutton and stuff it with the blood then spit it and put over it a mutton caul to roll it in. You must baste the mutton with blood, til it be hot upon the spit, it will take three hours roasting, put venison sauce under it.

Take a large fine turkey and dress it very clean, dry and bone it, boil it as you would sturgeon, put into the pot you boil it in one quart of white wine, a quart of water, some vinegar and salt, scum it well and in your turkey, when done enough take it out, let the liquor boil a little longer, when cold pour it over your turkey which will keep many months covering close form the air, tie it up with string like sturgeon and send it up so.

In winter this is made with beautifully blanched endive, washed delicately clean and broken into small branches with the fingers, then taken from the water and shaken dry. Arrange in a salad bowl and strew herbs (tarragon generally, when in season) minced small, the dressing is not added until just before the salad is eaten. (Dressing is salt, pepper, oil and tarragon vinegar)

In a stewpan put as much water as will cover the fish, with two spoonfuls of salt and some whole pepper. When boiled, scum it, put in your fish after being well scaled and washed with the roots of parsley left the long way and some of the green tied in a bunch. Let them boil pretty fast for ten or twelve minutes or according to the size of the fish and serve them on a dish with all the contents of the liquor and with slices of buttered bread the thickness of your finger. Horse radish improves this dish. The best sauce is anchovy sauce or liver sauce served in a boat.

Pick, draw and tress the pidgeons, the lay over it a layer of bacon cut in pretty thin slices. Then wrap it round in beet leaves, then in a caul of veal, and put it into a large saucepan with three pints of water, a glass of Madeira wine, a bunch of sweet herbs, two or three blades of mace, and half a lemon. Stew it till quite tender, take it up and skim off the fat. Make your gravy pretty thick with flour and butter and strain it through a sieve and put to it a pint of oysters, a teacup of thick cream. Keep shaking your pan over the fire and when it has simmered a little, serve up your fowl with bacon, beet leaves, and caul. Garnish with red beetroot.

2 tablespoons port wine, a small stick of cinnamon, bruised, thin rind of a lemon, 1.2lb red currant jelly. Boil all for 5 minutes and strain in to a gravy boat.

Take a pound of feet minced very fine, three quarters of a pound of beef suet, one quarter of a pound of raisins cut small, with a quarter of a pound of almonds blanched and pounded, the rinds of two oranges boiled tender and minced fine, nutmeg, cinnamon, mace and sugar to your taste. Take two apples minced, half a pint of white wine, a noggin of brandy. Squeeze lemon and orange juice into your meat when you put it into the crust.

Blanch half a pound of almonds in cold water; crush them fine with a little rosewater. Take the yolks of seven eggs and beat them well. Add in half pound of powdered sugar and the almonds. Bake in well-butter pans for quarter of an hour. Line the tins with sweet pastry as the cases. This recipe might be improved with the addition of a little melted butter.

Skin the stones and split them. Lay them on a dry cloth with the sweet breads and liver, and dredge them well with flour and fry them in boiling lard or butter a light brown. Then lay them on a sieve to drain. Fry a good quantity of parsley, lay your bits on the dish and parsley in lumps over it. Pour melted butter round them.

Cut three lemons, squeeze them, boil the rind tender, pound then very fine, work 6oz. of butter to a cream, then put in the lemon, 6oz. of sugar pounded very fine, the yolks of nine eggs, one white well beat, lemon juice to your taste, work all well together and put it in your dish with paste around it.

Take twelve large apples. Put them in cold water and set them over a very slow fire and when they are soft put them upon a hair sieve, take off the skin and put the pulp in a basin. Then beat the whites of twelve eggs to a strong froth, beat and sift half a pound of double refined sugar and stir it into the eggs. Beat the pulp of your apples to a strong forth, and then beat them all together till they are like a stiff snow. Then lay it upon a dish and heap it as high as you can, and set round it green knots of paste in imitation of Chinese rails. Stick a sprig of myrtle in the middle of the dish and serve it up. It is a pretty corner dish for a large table.