Lords & Ladles: The Final Menu

First Course

Ox Cheek Soup

Take half an ox head, and cut the cheek clean from the bones, break the bones and lay them in a large pan of water all day to soak the blood out; then wash them clean, and put them in an earthen pan, and cover them with water, and put a spoonful of all-spice, four onions, a carrot, two turnips, four heads of celery, two leeks well washed, a bundle of sweet herbs, some pepper and salt, two or three bay leaves, and a pint of mild ale or beer, not porter, tie it over with strong paper, put it in the oven after dinner, and let it stay all night; in the morning take it out and if it is not tender enough, after you heat the oven put it in again till you think it is done; then take the cheek out of the soup and strain it through a sieve to settle, skim off all the fat, and pour it from the settlings into a pan, and put the cheek to keep hot (if it wants any seasoning put some in); put the cheek in a soup-dish, and pour the soup over it, with a handful of toasted bread. A leg of beef done in the same manner is very good.

To Boil Fresh or Salt Water Trout

Gut your trout, but never scale it, as that takes off the beauty of the fish, wash it well, and tie packthread round the nose of it, and with a large needle or skewer put it through the middle and draw it to the tail, till you make it the figure of an S, tie it in that form to the tail, and put it on a drainer; have ready a kettle of spring water boiling, put in some salt to make it relishing, then put in your fish and boil it gently, (if a middle-sized half an hour) take it out of the water and let it drain a moment, put a folded napkin in your dish, and put the fish whole upon it; garnish with parsley, with shrimp sauce in a boat.

N.B. If your fish is alive gut and wash it, cut it across on both sides, and lay it in spring water one hour to crimp before you dress it, and boil it fifteen minutes.

Shrimp Sauce

Take half a pint of picked shrimps and wash them clean, put them in a stew-pan, with a gill of gravy or water, half a pound of butter, some butter mixed with flour, a spoonful of anchovy liquor, one of ketchup, and half a lemon, boil it till the butter is melted, and till it is thick and smooth; take out the lemon and squeeze the juice in, stir it about and then put it in the sauce boat.

Lumber Pye

Raise your crust, then fill it with minc’d meat, such as minc’d pyes, only chop some spinach and mix with it; lay on the top citron, orange-peel, damsins, white plums, hard eggs; when it is bak’d make a white-wine caudle, and put into it; which is made thus: Half a pint of white-wine, a quarter of a pint of verjuice, some sugar and nutmeg, the yolks of four eggs beaten; stir this over the fire til it thickens; pour this into your pye.

Minc’d pyes (above)

Take a neats’s tongue, parboil and shred a pound of it, with two pounds of beef suet, five or six pippins, and a green lemon peel; season it with half an ounce of sweet spice and a pound of sugar; add two pounds of currans, a quarter of a pound of citron, lemon and orange peel, half a pint of canary, a little orange flower water, half a pint of rose water, the same of verjuice; mix all these together and fill your pyes.

Fricassee Cod Sounds

Take six or eight large sounds and lay them in water to freshen (some will take two days and a night), then wash them well and put them on in milk and water and boil them till they are tender. Cut them in square pieces, put them in a stew-pan with a little pepper and salt, beaten mace and nutmeg, as much cream as will be sauce enough, and a piece of butter rolled in flour, keep shaking the pan well, till the butter is melted, and as thick as you would have it; put them into a hot dish and garnish with lemon and beetroot.

Beef Steaks Rolled

Take three beef steaks cut half an inch thick, about ten inches long, and as square as you can, flat them with a cleaver, and make a forcemeat thus: take a pound of lean veal, the flesh of a large fowl, half a pound of lean ham, a pound of kidney-suet of a loin of veal, or beef-marrow, chop them fine altogether and pound them well in a mortar; boil an ounce of truffles and morels very tender, chop them fine, with some parsley and sweet herbs, and put in, season it with beaten nutmeg, pepper and salt, and mix it up with the yolks of four eggs; rub the steaks with the yolks of eggs, put the forcemeat on them, roll them up tight, tie them with packthread and flour them; put half a pound of butter into a stewpan, and fry them of a fine brown all round; pour out the butter, and put in a pint of gravy, half a pint of red wine, four shallots chopped fine, half a pint of fresh mushrooms, some pepper and salt, a little butter mixed with flour, cover them close, and stew them one hour; then skim the fat off, put in a teaspoonful of elder vinegar, untie the rolls, lay them in a dish, pour the sauce over , and put fried forcemeat balls around them; garnish with lemon and beetroot.

Fried Celery

Take twelve heads of celery, trim off all the green and outside stalks, wash and pare the roots clean; beat up the yolks of three eggs with half a pint of white wine, grate in some nutmeg and a little salt, mix all together with flour into a batter and dip every head into it; put a pound of butter into a pan and make it hot, then put in the celery and fry it brown; when done, put it on a sieve to drain, then put it in a hot dish, with plain butter over it.

Second Course

Stuffed Roast Ox Heart with Gravy

Cut the deaf ear off the heart, and wash out all the blood; make the following stuffing: grate the crumb of a penny roll, half a pound of beef suet chopped fine, some parsley and sweet herbs shred fine, a little lemon-peel and a little grated nutmeg, seasoned with pepper and salt, break in two eggs, mix it altogether, and stuff the heart with it; tie a piece of strong paper over it to keep in the stuffing, split it through the middle, put it down to a good fire, and baste it well all the time it is roasting. If a large one, it will take two hours. When done, take it up and put it in a water dish, with hot gravy in it, and send it away as quick as possible, as soon as it gets cold, with currant jelly and gravy in boats.

Ducks Boiled the French Way

Scald and draw two ducks, lard them on the breast, and half roast them; then put them in an earthen pipkin, with half a pint of red wine, a pint of good gravy, about twenty chestnuts first roasted and peeled, half a pint of large oysters blanched and bearded, an onion, two or three blades of garlic chopped fine, and a little thyme shred; season it with pepper, salt, beaten mace, a little ginger beat fine, and the crust of a French roll grated, cover them close and stew them gently over a slow fire for half an hour; when done, put them in a dish, pour the sauce over them, and garnish with lemon.

Pigs Feet and Ears

Take two pigs feet and two ears, scald them, split the feet in two and put a bay leaf between, tie them up and boil them till they are tender; boil the ears for a quarter of an hour, then cut them in slices about two inches long and as thick as a quill, put them into a stew-pan with a pint of good gravy, an onion chopped fine, and stew them till they are tender; season them with pepper and salt, and put in a piece of butter mixed with flour, a spoonful of mustard and a little elder vinegar, stew them five minutes longer and skim them; rub the feet over with the yolk of an egg, sprinkle breadcrumbs on them and fry them in plenty of fat, or broil them of a nice brown; put the ears in a dish and lay the feet round them.

Chardoons a la Petit Pois

Take three chardoons, pull off the outside leaves, string the white part, cut them in long slips, and then across, about the size of a marrowfat pea, wash them clean, and boil them in water till they are tender; strain them in a sieve, put them into a stewpan, with some good white gravy, a little beaten mace, pepper and salt, a piece of butter mixed with flour, and give them a boil up for a few minutes; mix the yolks of two eggs with a gill of cream, grate in a little nutmeg, put it in, and keep it stirring one way till it is thick and smooth; crisp the top crust of a French roll, lay it in the dish, and pour the petit pois over it.

Sweets

Potato Fritters

Boil about a pound and a half of potatoes, peel and bruise them fine, rub them through a sieve, mix them with a large spoonful of flour, a spoonful of cream, three eggs well beat, a little lemon-peel shred fine, a little nutmeg, and powder-sugar enough to sweeten them to your palate, a glass of mountain wine and one of brandy; mix all well together; have a pan of hogs lard and with a spoon drop them in as fast as you can; fry them on both sides of a light brown, lay them on a sieve to drain, then put them on a dish and sprinkle powder sugar over them.

Note: You must send with all kind of fritters beaten cinnamon and powder sugar, in saucers, the same as for pancakes.

Steeple Cream

Put two ounces of ivory, cut very fine, and six ounces of hartshorn, into a stone bottle, fill it up with fair water to the neck; put in a little gum Arabic and gum dragon, then tie the mouth of the bottle close and set it in a pot of water with hay at the bottom, and let it simmer for six hours; then take it out and let it stand an hour before you open it, for fear it should fly in your face; strain it through a fine sieve into a pan that it may cool; when it is cold, observe that it is a very strong jelly; if it is not, put it into a stew-pan, with two ounces of isinglass, let it simmer till the isinglass  is dissolved; then take half a pound of sweet almonds, blanch and beat them fine in a mortar, and as you beat them, put in a little cream, to prevent their oiling, and afterwards mix them with a pint of thick cream, strain them through a fine sieve into a stew-pan, and put in a pint of jelly; sweeten it to your palate with fine powder sugar, set it over the fire till it is scalding hot, take care that it does not boil; then take it off and put a little amber into it, strain it through a sieve into a bowl and let it stand a few minutes; have your steeple mould ready, pour it in, let it stand till quite cold, and carefully turn it out into a dish. Garnish with currant jelly, sweet-meats or anything you fancy.

To Candy Any Sort of Flowers:

Take the best triple refined sugar, break it into lumps and dip it piece by piece in water; put them into a vessel of silver and melt them over the fire; when it just boils strain it and set it on the fire again and let it boil, till it draws in hairs, which you may perceive by holding up your spoon, then put in your flowers and set them in cups or glasses and when it is a hard candy break it in lumps and lay it as high as you please, dry it in a stove or in the sun and it will look like sugar candy.

To Make a Fish Pond

Fill your large fish moulds and six small ones with flummery; take a china bowl and put in half a pint of stiff clear calves-foot jelly; let it stand till cold and lay two of the small fishes on the jelly, the right side down; put in half a pint more jelly, let it stand till cold, and lay in the four small fishes across one another, that, when you turn the bowl upside down, the heads and tails may be seen; then almost fill your bowl with jelly, and let it stand till cold; lay in the jelly four large fishes, fill the basin full of jelly, and let it stand till the next day; when you want to use it, set your bowl to the brim in hot water for one minute; take care that you do not let the water go into the basin; lay your plate on top of the basin and turn it upside down; if you want it for the middle, turn it upon a salver; be sure you make your jelly very still and clear.

Hartshorn Flummery

Put half a pound of hartshorn shavings into a saucepan with three pints of water, boil it gently till reduced to a pint, strain it into a basin, and set it by to cool; boil a pint of thick cream and let it get cold; put the jelly on, and make it blood-warm; put the cream to it, with a gill of white wine, two spoonfuls of orange flower water, sweeten it with fine sugar, and beat it till well mixed; dip your moulds or cups in cold water, then put in the flummery; when it is cold, turn it out into a dish.