The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened, Sir Kenelm Digby [books to read in a lifetime .txt] 📗

Limon or Orange to it. Also season it with Cinnamon, and make the broth stronger of the flesh.

The Queens white Potage is made only of the white flesh of Capon beaten with good broth and strained, and a little juyce of Limon or Orange; but no Almonds.


PRESSIS NOURISSANT

The Queen Mothers Pressis was thus made. Take un Gigot of Mutton, a piece of Veal, and a Capon (or half the quantity of each of these) and put them to rost with convenient fire, till they are above half rosted, or rather, till they be two thirds rosted. Then take them off, and squeese out all their juyce in a press with screws, and scum all the fat from it, and put it between two dishes upon a Chafing-dish of Coals to boil a very little, or rather but to heat well; for by then it is through hot, the juyce will be ripened enough to drink, whereas before it was raw and bloody; then if you perceive any fat to remain and swim upon it, clense it away with a Feather. Squeese the juyce of an Orange (through a holed spoon) into half a Porrenger full of this, and add a little Salt, and drink it. The Queen used this at nights in stead of a Supper; for when she took this, she did eat nothing else. It is of great, yet temperate nourishment. If you take a couple of Partridges in stead of a Capon, it will be of more nourishment, but hotter. Great weaknesses and Consumptions have been recovered with long use of this, and strength and long life continued notably. It is good to take two or three spoonfuls of it in a good ordinary bouillon. I should like better the boiling the same things in a close flagon in bulliente Balneo , as my Lady Kent, and My Mother used.


BROTH AND POTAGE

Mounsieur de Bourdeaux used to take a mornings a broth, thus made. Make a very good broth (so as to gelly, when it is cold), a lean piece of a leg of Veal, the Crag-end of a neck of Mutton, and a Pullet, seasoning it with a little Salt, Cloves and Pepper to your mind. Beat some of it with a handful of blanched Almonds and twenty husked-seeds of Citron and strain it to the whole; put Sugar to it, and so drink it as an Emulsion.

Otherwhiles He would make a Potage of the broth, (made without fruit), boiling and stewing it with some light-bread.


PAN COTTO

To make a Pan Cotto , as the Cardinals use in Rome, Take much thinner broth, made of the fleshes as above (or of Mutton alone) and boil it three hours, gently and close covered in una pignata , with lumps of fine light-bread tosted or dried. Un Pan grattato is made the same way with fine light-bread grated. Season the broth of either lightly with Salt, and put in the Spice at the last, when the bread is almost boiled or stewed enough. You may use juyce of Oranges to any of these. A wholesom course of diet is, to eat one of these, or Panada, or Cream of Oat-meal, or Barley, or two New-laid-eggs for break-fast; and dine at four or five a Clock, with Capon or Pullet or Partridg, &c. beginning your meal with a little good nourishing Potage. Two Poched Eggs with a few fine dry-fryed collops of pure Bacon, are not bad for break-fast, or to begin a meal.


MY LORD LUMLEY'S PEASE-PORAGE

Take two quarts of Pease, and put them into an Ordinary quantity of Water, and when they are almost boiled, take out a pint of the Pease whole, and strain all the rest. A little before you take out the pint of Pease, when they are all boiling together, put in almost an Ounce of Coriander-seed beaten very small, one Onion, some Mint, Parsley, Winter-savoury, Sweet-Marjoram, all minced very small; when you have strained the Pease, put in the whole Pease and the strained again into the pot, and let them boil again, and a little before you take them up, put in half a pound of Sweet-butter. You must season them in due time, and in the ordinary proportion with Pepper and Salt.

This is a proportion to make about a Gallon of Pease-porage. The quantities are set down by guess. The Coriander-seeds are as much as you can conveniently take in the hollow of your hand. You may put in a great good Onion or two. A pretty deal of Parsley, and if you will, and the season afford them, you may add what you like of other Porage herbs, such as they use for their Porages in France. But if you take the savoury herbs dry, you must crumble or beat them to small Powder (as you do the Coriander-seed) and if any part of them be too big to pass through the strainer, after they have given their taste to the quantity, in boiling a sufficient while therein, you put them away with the husks of the Pease. The Pint of Pease that you reserve whole, is only to show that it is Pease-porage. They must be of the thickness of ordinary Pease-porage. For which these proportions will make about a Gallon.


BROTH FOR SICK AND CONVALESCENT PERSONS

Put a Crag-end of a Neck of Mutton, a Knuckle of Veal, and a Pullet into a Pipkin of water, with a spoonful or two of French-barley first scalded in a water or two. The Pullet is put in after the other meat is well skimmed, and hath boiled an hour. A good hour after that, put in a large quantity of Sorrel, Lettice, Purslane, Borage and Bugloss, and boil an hour more at least three hours in all. Before you put in the herbs, season the broth with Salt, a little Pepper and Cloves, strain out the broth and drink it.

But for Potage, put at first a good piece of fleshy young Beef with the rest of the meat. And put not in your herbs till half an hour before you take off the Pot. When you use not herbs, but Carrots and Turneps, put in a little Peny-royal and a sprig of Thyme. Vary in the season with Green-pease, or Cucumber quartered longwise, or Green sower Verjuyce Grapes; always well-seasoned with Pepper and Salt and Cloves. You pour some of the broth upon the sliced-bread by little and little, stewing it, before you put the Herbs upon the Potage.

The best way of ordering your bread in Potages, is thus. Take light spungy fine white French-bread, cut only the crusts into tosts. Tost them exceeding dry before the fire, so that they be yellow. Then put them hot into a hot dish, and pour upon them some very good strong broth, boiling hot. Cover this, and let them stew together gently, not boil; and feed it with fresh-broth, still as it needeth; This will make the bread swell much, and become like gelly.


AN EXCELLENT POSSET

Take half a pint of Sack, and as much Rhenish wine, sweeten them to your taste with Sugar. Beat ten yolks of Eggs, and eight of whites exceeding well, first taking out the Cocks-tread, and if you will the skins of the yolks; sweeten these also, and pour them to the wine, add a stick or two of Cinnamon bruised, set this upon a Chafing-dish to heat strongly, but not to boil; but it must begin to thicken. In the mean time boil for a quarter of an hour three pints of Cream seasoned duly with Sugar and some Cinnamon in it. Then take it off from boiling, but let it stand near the fire, that it may continue scalding-hot whiles the wine is heating. When both are as scalding-hot as they can be without boiling, pour the Cream into the wine from as high as you can. When all is in, set it upon the fire to stew for 1/8 of an hour. Then sprinkle all about the top of it the juyce of a 1/4 part of a Limon; and if you will, you may strew Powder of Cinnamon and Sugar, or Ambergreece upon it.


PEASE OF THE SEEDY BUDS OF TULIPS

In the Spring (about the beginning of May) the flowry-leaves of Tulips do fall away, and there remains within them the end of the stalk, which in time will turn to seed. Take that seedy end (then very tender) and pick from it the little excrescencies about it, and cut it into short pieces, and boil them and dress them as you would do Pease; and they will taste like Pease, and be very savoury.


BOILED RICE DRY

The manner of boiling Rice to eat with Butter, is this. In a Pipkin pour upon it as much water, as will swim a good fingers breadth over it. Boil it gently, till it be tender, and all the water drunk into the Rice; which may be in a quarter of an hour or less. Stir it often with a woodden spatule or spoon, that it burn not to the bottom: But break it not. When it is enough, pour it into a dish, and stew it with some Butter, and season it with sugar and Cinnamon. This Rice is to appear dry, excepting for the Butter, that is melted in it.


MARROW SOPS WITH WINE

Make thin tosts or slices of light French bread, which dry well, or toste a little by the fire, then Soak them in Canary or old Malaga-wine, or fine Muscat, and lay a row of them in a deep dish or bason; then a row of lumps of Marrow upon that; then strew a little fine sugar mingled with some Powder of Cinnamon and Ambergreece (and Nutmeg, if you like it) upon that. Then another row of sops, &c. repeating this, till the dish be full: and more Sugar, Cinnamon and Amber at the top, then on the other rows. If you will, you may put a row of stoned Raisins of the Sun upon every row of Marrow. Then cover the dish, and put it in an Oven to bake for half-an hour; or till the Marrow be sufficiently baked.


CAPON IN WHITE-BROTH

My Lady of Monmouth boileth a Capon with white broth thus. Make reasonable good broth, with the crag-ends of Necks of Mutton and Veal (of which you must have so much as to be at least three quarts of White-broth in the dish with the Capon, when all is done, else it will not come high enough upon the Capon). Beat a quarter of a pound of blanched Almonds with three or four spoonfuls of Cream, and, if you will, a little Rose water; then add some of your broth to it, so to draw out all their substance, mingling it with the rest of your broth. Boil your Capon in fair-water by it self; and a Marrow-bone or two by themselves in other water. Likewise some Chess-nuts (in stead of which you may use Pistaccios, or macerated Pine kernels) and in other water some Skirrits or Endive, or Parsley-roots, according to the season. Also plumpsome Raisins of the Sun, and stew some sliced Dates with Sugar and water. When all is ready to joyn, beat two or three New-laid-eggs (whites and all) with some of the White-broth, that must then be boiling, and mingle it with the rest, and let it boil on: and mingle the other prepared things with it, as also a little sliced Oringiado (from which the hard Candy-sugar hath been soaked off with