was treated in the same manner.ITALIAN SAUCE (Brown).
453. INGREDIENTS.--A few chopped mushrooms and shalots, 1/2 pint of stock, No. 105, 1/2 glass of Madeira, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
Mode.--Put the stock into a stewpan with the mushrooms, shalots, and Madeira, and stew gently for 1/4 hour, then add the remaining ingredients, and let them just boil. When the sauce is done enough, put it in another stewpan, and warm it in a bain marie. (See No. 430.) The mushrooms should not be chopped long before they are wanted, as they will then become black.
Time.--1/4 hour. Average cost, for this quantity, 7d.
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Sufficient for a small dish.
ITALIAN SAUCE (White).
454. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 pint of white stock, No. 107; 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, 1 dessertspoonful of chopped shalots, 1 slice of ham, minced very fine; 1/4 pint of Bechamel, No. 367; salt to taste, a few drops of garlic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, a squeeze of lemon-juice.
Mode.--Put the shalots and mushrooms into a stewpan with the stock and ham, and simmer very gently for 1/2 hour, when add the Bechamel. Let it just boil up, and then strain it through a tammy; season with the above ingredients, and serve very hot. If this sauce should not have retained a nice white colour, a little cream may be added.
Time.--1/2 hour. Average cost, for this quantity, 10d.
Sufficient for a moderate-sized dish.
Note.--To preserve the colour of the mushrooms after pickling, throw them into water to which a little lemon-juice has been added. TO PICKLE LEMONS WITH THE PEEL ON.
455. INGREDIENTS.--6 lemons, 2 quarts of boiling water; to each quart of vinegar allow 1/2 oz. of cloves, 1/2 oz. of white pepper, 1 oz. of bruised ginger, 1/4 oz. of mace and chilies, 1 oz. of mustard-seed, 1/2 stick of sliced horseradish, a few cloves of garlic.
Mode.--Put the lemons into a brine that will bear an egg; let them remain in it 6 days, stirring them every day; have ready 2 quarts of boiling water, put in the lemons, and allow them to boil for 1/4 hour; take them out, and let them lie in a cloth until perfectly dry and cold. Boil up sufficient vinegar to cover the lemons, with all the above ingredients, allowing the same proportion as stated to each quart of vinegar. Pack the lemons in a jar, pour over the vinegar, &c. boiling hot, and tie down with a bladder. They will be fit for use in about 12 months, or rather sooner.
Seasonable.--This should be made from November to April.
THE LEMON.--In the earlier ages of the world, the lemon does not appear to have been at all known, and the Romans only be-came acquainted with it at a very late period, and then only used it to keep moths from their garments. Its acidity would seem to have been unpleasant to them; and in Pliny's time, at the commencement of the Christian era, this fruit was hardly accepted, otherwise than as an excellent antidote against the effects of poison. Many anecdotes have been related concerning the anti-venomous properties of the lemon; Athenaeus, a Latin writer, telling us, that on one occasion, two men felt no effects from the bites of dangerous serpents, because they had previously eaten of this fruit.
TO PICKLE LEMONS WITHOUT THE PEEL.
456. INGREDIENTS.--6 lemons, 1 lb. of fine salt; to each quart of vinegar, the same ingredients as No. 455.
Mode.--Peel the lemons, slit each one down 3 times, so as not to divide them, and rub the salt well into the divisions; place them in a pan, where they must remain for a week, turning them every other day; then put them in a Dutch oven before a clear fire until the salt has become perfectly dry; then arrange them in a jar. Pour over sufficient boiling vinegar to cover them, to which have been added the ingredients mentioned in the foregoing recipe; tie down closely, and in about 9 months they will be fit for use.
Seasonable.--The best time to make this is from November to April.
Note.--After this pickle has been made from 4 to 5 months, the liquor may be strained and bottled, and will be found an excellent lemon ketchup.
LEMON-JUICE.--Citric acid is the principal component part of lemon-juice, which, in addition to the agreeableness of its flavour, is also particularly cooling and grateful. It is likewise an antiscorbutic; and this quality enhances its value. In order to combat the fatal effects of scurvy amongst the crews of ships at sea, a regular allowance of lemon-juice is served out to the men; and by this practice, the disease has almost entirely disappeared. By putting the juice into bottles, and pouring on the top sufficient oil to cover it, it may
be preserved for a considerable time. Italy and Turkey export great quantities of it in this manner.
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LEMON SAUCE FOR BOILED FOWLS.
457. INGREDIENTS.--1 small lemon, 3/4 pint of melted butter, No. 380.
Mode.--Cut the lemon into very thin slices, and these again into very small dice. Have ready 3/4 pint of melted butter, made by recipe No. 380; put in the lemon; let it just simmer, but not boil, and pour it over the fowls.
Time.--1 minute to simmer. Average cost, 6d.
Sufficient for a pair of large fowls.
LEMON WHITE SAUCE, FOR FOWLS, FRICASSEES, &c.
458. INGREDIENTS.--3/4 pint of cream, the rind and juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoonful of whole white pepper, 1 sprig of lemon
thyme, 3 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1 teacupful of white stock; salt to taste.
Mode.--Put the cream into a very clean saucepan (a lined one is best), with the lemon-peel, pepper, and thyme, and let these infuse for 1/2 hour, when simmer gently for a few minutes, or until there is a nice flavour of lemon. Strain it, and add a thickening of but-ter and flour in the above proportions; stir this well in, and put in the lemon-juice at the moment of serving; mix the stock with the cream, and add a little salt. This sauce should not boil after the cream and stock are mixed together.
Time.--Altogether, 3/4 hour. Average cost, 1s. 6d.
Sufficient, this quantity, for a pair of large boiled fowls.
Note.--Where the expense of the cream is objected to, milk may be substituted for it. In this case, an additional dessertspoonful, or
rather more, of flour must be added.
[Illustration: LEMON THYME.]
LEMON THYME.--Two or three tufts of this species of thyme, Thymus citriodorus, usually find a place in the herb compartment of the kitchen-garden. It is a trailing evergreen, is of smaller growth than the common kind (see No. 166), and is remarkable for its smell, which closely resembles that of the rind of a lemon. Hence its distinctive name. It is used for some particular dishes, in which the fragrance of the lemon is desired to slightly predominate.
LEAMINGTON SAUCE (an Excellent Sauce for Flavouring Gravies, Hashes, Soups, &c.).
(Author's Recipe.)
459. INGREDIENTS.--Walnuts. To each quart of walnut-juice allow 3 quarts of vinegar, 1 pint of Indian soy, 1 oz. of cayenne, 2 oz. of shalots, 3/4 oz. of garlic, 1/2 pint of port wine.
Mode.--Be very particular in choosing the walnuts as soon as they appear in the market; for they are more
