Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery. Mrs. Beeton
with Parmesan Cheese (Entremets, or Side-dish, to be served with the Second Course).
Ingredients.—2 or 3 cauliflowers, rather more than ½ pint of white sauce, 2 tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, 2 oz. of fresh butter, 3 tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs. Mode.—Cleanse and boil the cauliflowers by the preceding recipe, drain them, and dish them with the flowers standing upright. Have ready the above proportion of white sauce; pour sufficient of it over the cauliflowers just to cover the top; sprinkle over this some rasped Parmesan cheese and bread-crumbs, and drop on these the butter, which should be melted, but not oiled. Brown with a salamander, or before the fire, and pour round, but not over, the flowers the remainder of the sauce, with which should be mixed a small quantity of grated Parmesan cheese. Time.—Altogether,½ hour. Average cost, for large cauliflowers, 6d. each. Sufficient.—3 small cauliflowers for 1 dish. Seasonable from the beginning of June to the end of September.
CAYENNE CHEESES.
Ingredients.—½ lb. of butter,½ lb. of flour,½ lb. of grated cheese,⅙ teaspoonful of cayenne, ⅓ teaspoonful of salt; water. Mode.—Rub the butter in the flour; add the grated cheese, cayenne, and salt, and mix these ingredients well together. Moisten with sufficient water to make the whole into a paste; roll out, and cut into fingers about 4 inches in length. Bake them in a moderate oven a very light colour, and serve very hot. Time.—15 to 20 minutes. Average cost, 1s. 4d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable at any time.
CAYENNE VINEGAR, or Essence of Cayenne.
Ingredients.—½ oz. of cayenne pepper,½ pint of strong spirit, or 1 pint of vinegar. Mode.—Put the vinegar, or spirit, into a bottle, with the above proportion of cayenne, and let it steep for a month, when strain off and bottle for use. This is excellent seasoning for soups or sauces, but must be used very sparingly.
CELERY.
CELERY, IN GLASS.
With a good heart, and nicely blanched, this vegetable is generally eaten raw, and is usually served with the cheese. Let the roots be washed free from dirt, all the decayed and outside leaves being cut off, preserving as much of the stalk as possible, and all specks or blemishes being carefully removed. Should the celery be large, divide it lengthwise into quarters, and place it, root downwards, in a celery-glass, which should be rather more than half filled with water. The top leaves may be curled, by shredding them in narrow strips with the point of a clean skewer, at a distance of about 4 inches from the top. Average cost, 2d. per head. Sufficient.—Allow 2 heads for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable from October to April.
Note.—This vegetable is exceedingly useful for flavouring soups, sauces, &c., and makes a very nice addition to winter salad.
CELERY SAUCE, for Boiled Turkey, Poultry, &c.
Ingredients.—6 heads of celery, 1 pint of white stock, 2 blades of mace, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs; thickening of butter and flour, or arrowroot,½ pint of cream, lemon-juice. Mode.—Boil the celery in salt and water until tender, and cut it into pieces 2 inches long. Put the stock into a stewpan with the mace and herbs, and let it simmer for ½ hour to extract their flavour. Then strain the liquor, add the celery, and a thickening of butter kneaded with flour, or, what is still better, with arrowroot; just before serving, put in the cream, boil it up, and squeeze in a little lemon-juice. If necessary, add a seasoning of salt and white pepper. Time.—25 minutes to boil the celery. Average cost, 1s. 3d. Sufficient, this quantity for a boiled turkey.
Note.—This sauce may be made brown by using gravy instead of white stock, and flavouring it with mushroom ketchup or Harvey’s sauce.
CELERY SAUCE (a more simple Recipe).
Ingredients.—4 heads of celery,½ pint of melted butter made with milk, 1 blade of pounded mace; salt and white pepper to taste. Mode.—Wash the celery, boil it in salt and water till tender, and cut it into pieces 2 inches long; make ½ pint melted butter by recipe; put in the celery, pounded mace, and seasoning; simmer for 3 minutes, when the sauce will be ready to serve. Time.—25 minutes to boil the celery. Average cost, 6d. Sufficient, this quantity for a boiled fowl.
CELERY SOUP.
Ingredients.—9 heads of celery, 1 teaspoonful of salt, nutmeg to taste, 1 lump of sugar,½ pint of strong stock, a pint of cream, and 2 quarts of boiling water. Mode.—Cut the celery into small pieces; throw it into the water, seasoned with the nutmeg, salt, and sugar. Boil it till sufficiently tender; pass it through a sieve, add the stock, and simmer it for half an hour. Now put in the cream, bring it to the boiling-point, and serve immediately. Time.—1 hour. Average cost, 1s. per quart. Seasonable from September to March. Sufficient for 8 persons.
Note.—This soup can be made brown instead of white, by omitting the cream, and colouring it a little. When celery cannot be procured, half a drachm of the seed, finely pounded, will give a flavour to the soup, if put in a quarter of an hour before it is done. A little of the essence of celery will answer the same purpose.
CELERY, Stewed, à la Crême.
Ingredients.—6 heads of celery; to each ½ gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt, 1 blade of pounded mace, ⅓ pint of cream. Mode.—Wash the celery thoroughly; trim, and boil it in salt and water until tender. Put the cream and pounded mace into a stewpan, shake it over the fire until the cream thickens, dish the celery, pour over the sauce, and serve. Time.—Large heads of celery, 25 minutes; small ones, 15 to 20 minutes. Average cost, 2d. per head. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable from October to April.
CELERY, Stewed (with White Sauce).
Ingredients.—6 heads of celery, 1 oz. of butter; to each half gallon of water allow 1 heaped teaspoonful of salt,½ pint of white sauce (see White Sauce). Mode.—Have ready sufficient boiling water just to cover the celery, with salt and butter in the above proportion. Wash the celery well, cut off the decayed