Part 162 (1/2)

1330. INGREDIENTS.--3/4 lb. of suet crust No. 1-1/2 pint of Orleans or any other kind of plum, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar.

_Mode_.--Line a pudding-basin with suet crust rolled out to the thickness of about 1/2 inch; fill the basin with the fruit, put in the sugar, and cover with crust. Fold the edges over, and pinch them together, to prevent the juice escaping. Tie over a floured cloth, put the pudding into boiling water, and boil from 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Turn it out of the basin, and serve quickly.

_Time_.--2 to 2-1/2 hours.

_Average cost_, 10d.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_, with various kinds of plums, from the beginning of August to the beginning of October.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLUM.]

PLUMS.--Almost all the varieties of the cultivated plum are agreeable and refres.h.i.+ng: it is not a nouris.h.i.+ng fruit, and if indulged in to excess, when unripe, is almost certain to cause diarrhoea and cholera. Weak and delicate persons had better abstain from plums altogether. The modes of preparing plums are as numerous as the varieties of the fruit. The objections raised against raw plums do not apply to the cooked fruit, which even the invalid may eat in moderation.

PLUM TART.

1331. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of good short crust No. 1211, 1-1/2 pint of plums, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLUM TART.]

_Mode_.--Line the edges of a deep tart-dish with crust made by recipe No. 1211; fill the dish with plums, and place a small cup or jar, upside down, in the midst of them. Put in the sugar, cover the pie with crust, ornament the edges, and bake in a good oven from 1/2 to 3/4 hour. When puff-crust is preferred to short crust, use that made by recipe No.

1206, and glaze the top by brus.h.i.+ng it over with the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth with a knife; sprinkle over a little sifted sugar, and put the pie in the oven to set the glaze.

_Time_.--1/2 to 3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 1s.

_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.

_Seasonable_, with various kinds of plums, from the beginning of August to the beginning of October.

POTATO PASTY.

1332. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 lb. of rump-steak or mutton cutlets, pepper and salt to taste, 1/3 pint of weak broth or gravy, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, mashed potatoes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POTATO-PASTY PAN.]

_Mode_.--Place the meat, cut in small pieces, at the bottom of the pan; season it with pepper and salt, and add the gravy and b.u.t.ter broken, into small pieces. Put on the perforated plate, with its valve-pipe screwed on, and fill up the whole s.p.a.ce to the top of the tube with nicely-mashed potatoes mixed with a little milk, and finish the surface of them in any ornamental manner. If carefully baked, the potatoes will be covered with a delicate brown crust, retaining all the savoury steam rising from the meat. Send it to table as it comes from the oven, with a napkin folded round it.

_Time_.--40 to 60 minutes. _Average cost_, 2s.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

POTATO PUDDING.

1333. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of mashed potatoes, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 2 eggs, 1/4 pint of milk, 3 tablespoonfuls of sherry, 1/4 saltspoonful of salt, the juice and rind of 1 small lemon, 2 oz. of sugar.

_Mode_.--Boil sufficient potatoes to make 1/2 lb. when mashed; add to these the b.u.t.ter, eggs, milk, sherry, lemon-juice, and sugar; mince the lemon-peel very finely, and beat all the ingredients well together. Put the pudding into a b.u.t.tered pie-dish, and bake for rather more than 1/2 hour. To enrich it, add a few pounded almonds, and increase the quant.i.ty of eggs and b.u.t.ter.

_Time_.--1/2 hour, or rather longer. _Average cost_, 8d.