The book, which will be discussed in this essay, had a very happy fate. Judge for yourself - 29 publications in just over half a century, huge popularity among the most diverse segments of the population, the most flattering and numerous responses in the press. We can safely say that most of the "civilized" housewives of Russia in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries comprehended the wisdom of culinary art from the book by Elena Ivanovna Molokhovets "A gift to young housewives or a means to reduce household expenses."
The first edition of the book was published in 1861, and the last, 29th, in 1917. The total circulation was a record for those years - 295 thousand copies. And interestingly, each subsequent edition was invariably supplemented by the author, revised. The difference between the first and latest edition is 325 pages.
For over 40 years, this culinary bestseller has been unrivaled. Many authors tried to imitate E. Molokhovets, to surpass her, but invariably all these attempts ended in failure.
During the Soviet period, neither this nor other books by E. Molokhovets (and her literary heritage is quite large) were not published. And her name was lost in that huge stream of cookbooks that have been published for more than 70 years.
Those lucky ones who inherited this book from their great-grandmothers are rightfully proud of the old tome and keep it as the greatest value. And it's not even that the book is valuable in itself, as it was published in the last century. Anyone who at least once got acquainted with this publication was surprised to note for himself its modernity and practical value.
Yes, many of the products that Molokhovets writes about have completely or partially disappeared from our table, electric and gas stoves have replaced the stove. All this is true, just as it is true that truly traditional Russian cuisine will never become obsolete with its technological methods nurtured over the centuries, recipes that aroused the admiration of many generations of people. All this is in the books of Molokhovets and is presented at a level that no modern most complete cookbook has reached.
It describes more than 2000 different dishes with a detailed indication of all the ingredients included in them. In addition, more than 1000 recipes for preparing all kinds of homemade preparations are given: fruit, vegetable, meat, cookies, jams, liqueurs, wines, cheeses, vinegars, etc. Special sections describe the vegetarian table, as well as lean dishes. Of undoubted interest are materials on table setting and dishes, a detailed list of kitchen utensils and accessories for the dining and tea tables.
Even this cursory, far from complete list of the contents of the book is enough to consider it as an encyclopedia of Russian culinary art.
When you flip through a book, you involuntarily feel full confidence in everything that is written in it. The author talks about his subject in such detail and with knowledge of the matter. There is no neglect of trifles - everything is important.
Of course, Molokhovets' recommendations for determining the quality of food products are also of interest to the modern reader. “The study of culinary art,” writes Elena Ivanovna, “should begin with provisions, and mainly meat and fish, as the most consumed products and at the same time hardly recognizable by slow-witted housewives.”
For example, here are some of her recommendations for recognizing the quality of meat. Good beef should be neither pale scarlet nor deep red, because the former is a sign of illness, and the latter indicates that the animal was not killed, but died with all its blood preserved, or that it suffered from an acute fever.
Good meat should have little or no odor. After standing for a day or so, it should neither spurt liquid nor be covered with moisture, on the contrary, its surface should remain dry.
To find out whether the beef is fresh or not, one has only to buy litmus paper, consisting of pink and blue leaves. If you put a blue leaf on beef, it will turn red. This is a sign that the meat is stale, that acid has already formed in it. If, however, a pink leaf is attached to beef and it turns blue, it is a sign that the meat is completely fresh.
More often we are dealing with frozen pieces of beef and pork. And for this case, Molokhovets has recommendations. “Meat bought frozen,” she warns, “should be in the kitchen. It is only washed before its use, but it should melt already in a saucepan during cooking or frying, but not earlier.
We must beware of buying not frozen, but thawed meat. You can recognize it as follows - here we recommend the reader to be especially careful. - The color of the thaw is bright or brick red. The cut surface is smooth and extremely moist. When touched, such meat abundantly wets the fingers. When pressed with a finger, it goes deep into the meat like dough and leaves behind a hole that does not fill by itself, as is done in fresh meat.
If such meat is put on a dish, then after some time a puddle of a liquid of the color of scarlet blood forms around the meat ... "
But here we would like to draw the reader's attention to something else, namely, to the detail of the exposition. The quote we have cited is just a small excerpt from all the instructions that Molokhovets gives on determining the good quality of meat.
A lot of the book contains useful tips on the use of all kinds of products. Here is some of them.
The most healthy and nutritious thing in the broth is protein, which is removed from the broth in the form of foam and thrown away, but it is done badly - it is better to pour it into a separate saucepan, boil separately, over low heat; at dinner, pour it into a bowl of soup intended for the weak and anemic, or better not to remove the foam at all and just strain the broth through a strainer before dinner.
To color the broth, you need to wipe one onion, along with the husk, wipe it, cut it in two and fry it around, on a hot stove, but watch so that it does not burn. Then dip into the broth and boil it. To color the broth, burnt sugar, or mushroom broth, or just one onion peel is also used. Together with onions, it is necessary, for taste, to fry carrots, parsley and selleri (celery - VK) in the same way on the stove.
Before the holiday, borscht should be tinted with juice from raw grated beets, with which it should be boiled once.
Every soup and roast that is boiled, baked, fried or stewed must first be put on a large fire, and then fried or cooked over a lower fire.
When the beef is stewed in a saucepan, it is necessary to turn it over more often, then, lifting it up, mix the sauce with roots and bread with a spoon so that the roast does not burn. If it burns, then immediately take out the beef, cut off the burnt, pour the sauce into another bowl, clean and wash the pan, and then pour everything into it again for further frying, adding the broth.
When frying: cutlets, steak, zrazy, etc., it is necessary to heat the pan, brown the meat, in a pan or in a saucepan, and then put the oil so that it browns on all sides, and then fry over low heat, turning over and dousing with flowing juice.
Also, roast, smeared with oil and adding 2-3 tablespoons of water, should be placed on a baking sheet immediately in a hot oven so that it is fried around, and then fry in less heat, pouring over the flowing juice every 10 minutes and piercing from top to bottom with two bacon or a fork. This is the whole secret of a good roast; You also need to be careful not to overcook.
If the fish is cooked for fish soup, then it must be lowered into cold water. If it is cooked for serving with sauce or for mayonnaise, then it is dipped into a boiling broth with roots, onions, bay leaves, pepper and salt.
When crayfish are boiled, then wash the remaining shells, dry them, and grind them into cancer oil. When cooking crayfish, they must certainly be lowered into steep, salty boiling water with dill.
Boiled potatoes, as well as boiled cereals and baked apples, intended to be mashed, should be rubbed hot, through a grater, grinder, or through a sieve, because then it is easier to rub them and it is more controversial.
To fry the onion, you need to melt the butter in a saucepan, add the peeled and finely chopped onion, stirring, fry it to a certain extent, depending on the dish in which it is intended. But since not everyone loves onions, then, having chopped it, you can wrap it in a muslin, wash it under a tap with cold water, squeezing it hard, and then use it.
Fresh, i.e., very young roots, like carrots, parsley, potatoes, are not suitable for the main beef broth; it is necessary to put the old ones, which, having boiled in the broth, take out before the holiday and replace them with fresh ones, cooked separately in advance in the broth. Shelled fresh peas should never be boiled with other vegetables, but separately in broth or in salt water, thrown into a colander and ready to be poured into the broth, adding its broth to taste, because its taste is very strong and can drown out the taste of all other vegetables . Fresh cucumbers, for salad, are peeled with a knife and then chopped into slices in a shredder or with a sharp knife.
If the potato is boiled so that its broth is used in soup, as it gives sweetness, then it falls into a small amount of strained and cooled broth. If you need juicy potatoes, then it falls into salted boiling water.
When breaking eggs, you must always break them over a separate cup, see if it is fresh or not, and if it is completely fresh, then separate the proteins to the proteins, and the yolks to the yolks.
Yolks intended for puddings, cakes, etc., are ground in a wooden cup, whitened, with finely sifted refined sugar, in a warm place, that is, in a room.
Proteins, as well as heavy cream, churn into a thick foam in a cool place. It is best to keep them on ice or snow until churning. Beat on a platter with a flat metal beater or wooden fork. Always start knocking lightly and slowly, then harder and harder.
If the rice is being cooked for mashed soup, so rice water is needed, then the washed rice is dipped in cold water and boiled until it is soft.
If you need rice for puddings, for chicken, for broth, etc., then wash it, blanch it in salted boiling water, drain it, put the rice in fresh boiling water or milk, and boil it.
If you need lemon juice, then you need to cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice out of it with your hand, but not with a machine, as it crushes even the whitest peel, which has bitterness. Take out the grains immediately and then carefully filter the juice through a strainer or cloth, since the smallest, almost imperceptible grain is enough to spoil the whole meal, the bitterness contained in them is so strong. One must beware of eating lemons with greenish flesh and a lot of grains, because they are mostly wild lemons, bitter, not giving the food the slightest flavor.
When serving a lemon for tea, the whole lemon is poured with boiling water from a samovar to wash it from dirt and cause a stronger aroma.
If you need the apples to boil soft, you need to take sour varieties, and if you need not to boil soft, choose sweet ones.
If you need to take out the core of apples, then first take it out, and then peel it, otherwise the apple may fall apart.
Each dish is delicious if served freshly boiled or fried, so the general rule is to carefully set the time for dinner so that the fried or cooked dish is served immediately, and does not stand for a long time on the stove.
Dishes should be, in their size, consumed in accordance with the amount of food, otherwise it also turns out ugly.
Beware of oversalting, everyone can add salt to themselves, and sometimes it is impossible to fix oversalting, so it is best to have boiled salted water prepared for soups and sauces.
If flour is mixed with water, or milk, or with any other liquid, then it is necessary not to pour the flour into the liquid, but pour the liquid little by little into the flour, rubbing it until smooth.
After taking the cake out of the oven, you should never cover it with a towel, because this makes the crust soft and tasteless. In order not to catch a cold, bake it on time and then, before the holidays, it is better to leave it in the oven, with the doors open.
Means to find out the admixture of water in milk. It is necessary to lower a steel spoke into it. If the milk is not diluted, then a drop of milk will remain at the end of the needle, but if it is diluted with water, then the needle will be completely clean.
If potatoes are served for breakfast or dinner, then, after peeling and washing them, boil them in a separate saucepan, in a small amount of salted water, and then pour this broth into soup or fish soup. In this case, do not salt before the soup, so as not to oversalt it. A good potato gives it a sweet taste.
If a piece of bread pudding, sago or semolina, etc., remains from dinner, then cut it with a sharp knife into thin slices and, just before breakfast, fry in butter, in a clean frying pan.
If there is a little semolina or millet porridge left, you can make pancakes from it.
If rice is boiled, then its broth can be preserved, It can be drunk by the weak stomach, sweetened with raspberry jam. It is also good to wipe your hands and face with this cooled broth, as it softens the skin.
The remaining dry buns can either be warmed up in the oven for tea, or used for bun pudding. Or, cutting them into slices, brown in the oven for tea and coffee. Or dry them, crush them and store them in a jar for sprinkling forms, cutlets, etc. Or, after soaking them in milk or water, put them in cutlets.
If yolks are used, as, for example, for sabayon or mustard sauce, etc., then either a puff pastry or meringue, etc., must be prepared from the remaining proteins on the same day.
When preparing compote from fresh apples, cut off the apple peel and immediately dip it into 1-2 cups of water, in which boil it with sugar. This decoction may be useful for coughing for someone from the home.
When cooking prunes for compote, drain its broth separately, using it as a medicine, transfer the prunes itself into the prepared syrup, in which to boil again.
If the butter starts to deteriorate, wash it, salt it, add carrot juice or melt it into Russian butter.
If dry cheese remains, then grate it and sprinkle pasta, croutons, pies - buns.
Of course, these and many other tips from Molokhovets' book are up-to-date even today. By the way, we repeatedly had to meet them in many books and magazines.
Readers will probably also be interested in Molokhovets recommendations for table setting. Moreover, modern authors do not indulge us with this information.
Here is one of the options for serving the dinner table.
A revolving tray is placed in the middle of the quadrangular table with 4, 6 or 8 flat salad bowls inserted into it, with various snacks. In the center of this tray is one similar salad bowl with thin slices of bread.
On four sides, in the center of the table, at the edges of the table, four piles of plates are placed, 3 or 6 pieces each.
Napkins folded in quadrangles are placed on two opposite corners of the table, one on? an inch below the middle of the other.
Forks with knives are placed on the other two opposite corners, touching only their upper ends and forming sharp triangles, also one pair below the other, to the end of the table, representing a kind of arrow.
Vodka with shot glasses, in barrels, jugs or decanters, is placed between the revolving tray and the plates.
Between the decanters with vodka, put butter, laid out from the mold, on plates or oil bowls.
Note. Table setting and decoration can be varied, depending on the value of dinner, the number of guests, and therefore the size of the table, as well as the time of year and day. Let's take a formal dinner as an example.
On a table covered with a snow-white tablecloth, a silver or glass shelf with fruits, sweets and flowers is placed in the middle. These bookcases are very luxurious and expensive, but they can be replaced with cheap ones by arranging them as follows.
Take three, more or less, simple, glass or crystal vases, one smaller than the other, but certainly of the same kind. Put them one on top of the other.
Cover the leg of the lower vase with artificial or fresh flowers, roots up, so that the flowers lie on the table, forming an even round plateau. The length of the branches should be 3-4 inches, tie the roots to the stem.
Tie the same flowers to the upper part of the same leg, but two and 2.5 inches long, with the roots down, so that both the upper and lower roots are hidden in the flowers, being tied with velvet or a burgundy-colored ribbon, ending in a bunch of loops.
Lay oranges and tangerines on the lower vase, shifting them with descending branches of grapes.
Put apples, pears, bergamots, etc. on the second vase, shifting them also with descending branches of grapes.
Place candies in the third vase.
Pour water into the upper vase, which should be deep, in the form of a wide glass, and put in it a bouquet of flowers from white or purple lilacs, from lilies of the valley, from a variety of fresh flowers with hanging branches and greenery, or, in the absence of them, insert a bouquet of very good artificial flowers.
On both sides of this whatnot, along the table, one more, two, or three colored vases with flowers are placed, one below the other.
If dinner is given in the evening already, then on both sides of the whatnot are placed candelabra with candles or lamps, and then on a vase of flowers, depending on the length of the table.
In front of each device, opposite the plate, behind the glasses, there is also a kind of vase or tall glass with a bouquet of fresh flowers. These bouquets are placed either in front of everyone, or only in front of the young, if the dinner is made in their honor, or only in front of the birthday girl, in a word, in front of those in whose honor the dinner is given.
There are as many flat plates around the table as there are supposed to be guests, who, if possible, should not be constrained, but should be relied on for each person, an arshin of space.
A napkin is placed under each plate, folded into an even quadrangle and ironed with another triangle; one corner is placed under the plate, and the other, with a rich monogram, descends from the table.
On the left side of each plate, small plates of bread are placed: one kopeck peklevannik, one kopeck French. a bun and a slice of black bread. The pies served with the soup are placed on the same plate.
On the right side of the plate are placed a knife, a fork and above them, obliquely - a spoon.
At large dinners, crystal or silver knife stands are not placed, because it is customary to leave dirty spoons, forks and knives on plates after each meal to change them, so that only clean things are always placed on the tablecloth.
In front of the plate are placed, of different sizes, glasses, glasses and a glass.
If not for one, then for every two devices, a small crystal salt shaker with fine salt or a double salt shaker with salt and pepper is placed.
In the width of the table, on both sides of the whatnot with fruit, vessels are placed with bone, silver or gilded fruit knives inserted into them, petioles up.
Small jugs of water are placed on both sides of these vessels, the more of them, the better, as long as they are of the same size.
In the middle of the table, between the vases, bottles or jugs of wine are placed, in pairs, as one wishes.
Recently, all sweet foods, even ice cream, have been introduced into fashion, eating with a fork, not a spoon, this fashion will probably end soon, because it is not only inconvenient, but also harmful, causing many ice cream lovers to swallow it too cold, because when melt a little, then they will not get anything.
Near the door, from where food is brought in, a table with clean plates and cutlery is covered, as well as a separate table for beer, kvass, honey and various wines.
The footman must quickly remove the plates with dirty spoons, knives and forks, replacing them immediately with clean ones.
Serve food always on the left side, starting with the ladies and ending with the gentlemen.
Wines are served at the table: champagne frozen, Burgundy and Lafitte - warmed up, and the rest - cold.
Wines are heated by placing bottles in hot sand before dinner, and champagne is kept in metal vases with ice.
It is necessary to uncork deftly, without noise and without spraying those who are sitting.
After a sweet meal, cheese is served, cut into thin slices, and after it, fruit and sweets.
Across? hours after dessert, when they have already risen from the table, black coffee is served without any biscuits and washed down with a tiny glass of buttery sweet liqueur.
Well, now it is logical to move on to the recipes that E. Molokhovets regaled her contemporaries with.
Selyanka fish
Issue: 3 f. assorted fish, 1/8 - 1/4 f. butter, 1.5 tablespoons of flour, 1 onion, 10 olives, fresh or sour cabbage with? f., 10 champignons, 2 pickles, bay leaf, pepper, cucumber pickle 1–2 tbsp.,? -1 tbsp. fresh sour cream or heavy cream.
Liquid fish village is prepared as follows: finely chop 1 onion, fry in 2 tablespoons of butter, add 1.5 tablespoons of flour, lightly fry, dilute with water, put raw, into small pieces, chopped three pound fish, such as: sturgeon, beluga and whitefish, all on a flat part, add bay leaf, pepper, 10 olives, 10 finely chopped champignons, 2 pickles and a little fresh or sour cabbage, previously doused with boiling water. Boil several times to cook the fish, add cucumber pickle to taste, boil, put sour cream, sprinkle with herbs, serve.
Fish soup with pickles
Issue: 3 f. small fish: ruffs, minnows, etc.,? Art. cucumber pickle, a spoonful of flour,? -1 tbsp. sour cream, 5 pickles, parsley leaves, 5-10 grains of simple pepper, 1-3 pcs. bay leaf.
Boil a broth with roots and spices, a little salt and 3 pounds of small fish, such as ruffs, minnows, etc.; boil the fish completely, strain; put in broth? cups of cucumber pickle, boil. Dilute a spoonful of flour little by little with cold water, grind so that there are no lumps, dilute with the ear, strain, pour into the common ear, interfering, add? - 1 cup fresh sour cream, sliced, peeled cucumbers, a few parsley leaves, boil, serve. Instead of small fish, fish soup can be boiled from large fish, which can be served in soup, cut into pieces, or served separately as a second dish.
Meatless potato soup
Issue:? carrots, leek, ? sellerea, ? parsley, (onion), 5-10 pcs. green English pepper, 1-2 pcs. bay leaf, 1-2 tablespoons of Chukhon oil,? french bread, ? garn. potatoes, ? tablespoons of flour,? -1 tbsp. sour cream or? Art. cream and 2 yolks, greens.
Boil the broth from the roots, strain, put the potatoes and half a French roll without the crust,? tablespoons of flour, pounded with a spoonful of butter, you can add half an onion fried in butter, boil, rub through a sieve. 2 yolks to break with? cups of cream, strain, dilute with hot broth, stirring vigorously, pour into a common broth, heat to the hottest state, salt, serve.
Instead of cream and yolks, you can put sour cream or greens.
Soup from different fresh berries with sour cream and wine
Issue: 3 f. berries, 1 tbsp. sour cream, 1.5–2 tbsp. lumps of sugar, 1 glass of wine.
Rub 6 cups of sorted strawberries, raspberries, currants or lingonberries through a sieve, pour in? or? pounds of sugar, pour a glass of the freshest sour cream, a glass of wine, boiled water 3-4 cups, stir, heat, and do not boil, serve with crackers.
Jellied apples
Issue: 12 large apples, cinnamon, lemon zest, a spoonful of French wine, 2 bottles. red wine, lemon juice, a spoonful of raspberry or cherry jam,? up to 1 pound of sugar, 3 eggs, 1 five-kopeck bun.
Take ten pieces of large apples, peel them, cut out the core, boil in three glasses of water, adding cinnamon, lemon zest, a spoonful of French wine and a little grated roll. When the apples are boiled, rub them through a sieve into a soup bowl, strain the same water in which the apples were boiled, cool, pour in two bottles of red wine, juice from one lemon, a spoonful of raspberry or currant jam for taste, s? pounds of fine sugar, stir everything together as best you can. This jelly is sometimes served with dumplings: peel 2-3 apples, grate, pour in a spoonful of red wine, a little crushed cinnamon, lemon zest with? a glass of sugar, three eggs, and enough stale grated bread to make a rather thick dough, as usual for dumplings. Pour some of the prepared cold soup, boil it, dip dumplings into it with a teaspoon; when they emerge, set aside, cool, pour into the rest of the cold soup, serve.
Stuffed turnip cabbage
Issue: 2–3 lb. kohlrabi, f. oil, roast or 2 kidneys, a little beef fat, or marrow from the bones, salt, a little pepper, ? French white bread, spoons 2 sour cream. (2 eggs, who wants).
Peel, wash, cut, top slice, carefully choose the middle, chop it finely, fry with a spoonful of butter, add finely chopped roast veal or kidneys, a little beef fat or marrow from the bones, a fried roll grated and in oil, 2 chopped eggs, salt , a little pepper, spoons 2 sour cream, mix everything together. Stuff the kohlrabi with this, cover with a cut slice, tie with a thread, put one by one in a saucepan, pour in broth or water, cook until soft. Before vacation, remove the threads; when serving, pour over the sauce in which it was cooked.
Minced potato
Issue: 2 scots. herrings, French buns, Art. sour cream, 1.5 tablespoons of butter, 3–4 simple grains, 3–4 English grains. pepper, 1 large apple, 1 onion, 6-8 pcs. potatoes, nutmeg, 2 eggs.
Soak 2 Scottish herrings in water or better in milk, remove the skin, remove the bones, add a finely chopped onion, fried in a spoonful of butter,? cups of sour cream, 2 eggs,? French bread, soaked and squeezed, 1 grated raw apple, boiled and mashed potatoes 1 full glass, simple and English pepper, nutmeg, mix, put in a tin or silver saucepan, buttered and sprinkled with breadcrumbs, and bake on? hours.
Serve in the same bowl.
Bechemel potatoes
Issue: ? potato garnza, 3/8 f. oils, Art. flour, a bottle of milk, 2 eggs, greens, ? pounds of cheese.
Wash potatoes, boil, peel, cut into slices. Grease a tin or silver saucepan with oil, put a row of potatoes, put pieces of butter on top, sprinkle with grated cheese, then again a row of potatoes, butter and cheese; pour bechamel, i.e. 1/8 pound of butter to stir with? cups of flour, dilute with 2.5 cups of milk, boil several times, salt, beat in two eggs, put whoever loves greens, pour potatoes, put in the oven to bake.
Can you put it in potatoes? pounds of thinly sliced ham.
Issue 1.5 lb. soft beef, 4 tablespoons finely chopped onion, salt, pepper, bay leaf, ? Art. sour cream, a spoonful of butter, potato squash, ? f. bread or? Art. flour.
Cut a piece of beef from a loin cut or from a thick edge into 6-9 pieces, beat it with a wooden pestle, and then with the blunt side of a knife, salt, leave it like that for two hours. Spread the bottom of the pan with oil, put bay leaves, English pepper, then slices of beef, sprinkling each piece with finely chopped onion and flour or black, grated stale bread, add two spoonfuls of water, simmer under the lid until tender, shaking the saucepan so that it does not burn , and adding broth. Serve, put on a dish, garnish with boiled potatoes. Put in the sauce with a glass of sour cream.
Roast goose stuffed with porridge
Give out: goose, salt, 1 carrot, 1 parsley, 1 leek, 1 onion, 4-6 dried mushrooms, green parsley and dill, 1 tablespoon oil, 1.25 tbsp. smolensk cereals or 2 tbsp. buckwheat, 1 egg,? spoons of flour.
Peel the young goose, rub the outside and inside with salt, carefully remove the spinal bone. Pour the bones and other cut parts with water, put the roots, dried mushrooms. When this broth is boiled down, strain it, finely chop the mushrooms, mix 2 cups of this mushroom broth with chopped mushrooms, a spoonful of oil and a little finely chopped green parsley and dill, boil, pour in immediately, stirring vigorously, Smolensk groats, grated with one egg and dried. Hold this porridge on high heat for 10 minutes; when the porridge thickens and boils down, stir it with a spoon so that there are no lumps, salt, stuff the goose with it, fry it in the oven. Put flour in the sauce, dilute with broth, boil, remove excess fat, pour over the goose.
Or stuff it with steep buckwheat porridge, in which case give goose and 1 pound, i.e. 2 1/8 cups, buckwheat and 4-6 mushrooms. If the goose is not fat, add oil, and if the goose is very fat, then you also need to cut off excess fat from it, which is used for frying donuts, etc.
Pike with sauerkraut
Rinse with water and boil in water until soft 2 pounds of slaw (very thick); meanwhile clean the pike, weighing 2-3 pounds, separate the flesh from the bones, sprinkle with a little fine salt, cut into small pieces, roll in egg and breadcrumbs or flour and fry a little in 1 spoon of oil; then smear a mold or a deep clay dish with oil, put a layer of cabbage, put a few pieces of butter, grate a little cheese, then a layer of pieces of fried pike, pour sour cream on top, and cabbage, butter, cheese, pike, sour cream and so on again until end; at the very top there should be a layer of cabbage, covered with pieces of butter and grated cheese, sprinkled with breadcrumbs; having decomposed everything in this way, they put it in the oven for an hour. Only 2–3 tablespoons of oil, 3–4 crackers, a glass of sour cream,? -? pounds of cheese, 2 pounds of cabbage, 2 eggs.
Carp, boiled in Jewish style
Issue: 4 f. carp, 1 tbsp. beer, a bottle of vinegar, pepper, cloves,? Art. crushed crackers, Art. cinnamon, lemon peel powder with 1/3 teaspoon.
Cleaned carp, from 4-5 pounds, cut into pieces, put in a deep dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put a little cloves and pour enough vinegar so that the fish is almost covered, turning more often, let it lie down with? hours; then dissolve 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan, add 1 glass of beer, put the fish with vinegar, in which it was soaked and Ouse of a cup of crushed crackers, close and cook until tender; before leaving, put the fish on a dish, and add 1 handful of well-washed cinnamon to the sauce and? a teaspoon of grated lemon zest, let it boil and pour over the fish.
An unusually tasty fish dish, especially from sterlet with white table wine
Issue: 3–4 lb. fish, wines with - 1 bottle, 1/8 f. oils, 1 lemon.
Take 3-4 pounds of fish, preferably sterlet, wash it well, wipe it dry with a towel, cut it into pieces, put it in a saucepan, pour white table wine over the fish, no matter what, just not strong, enough to cover the fish up to half, put 1/8 pound of the freshest Chukhon oil and a whole lemon, cut into pieces, as apples are cut, taking out the grains, cover the saucepan with a lid, light alcohol under it and through? hours, this wonderful dish is ready. In this way, sturgeon, beluga, pike perch, and other fish that have few bones are prepared.
Herring cutlets
Issue: 4–5 simple, or dutch. herring, 1 fr. white bread, 2 eggs, 3-4 onions, 2 tablespoons of butter, add 2-3 crackers to the cut crust.
Soak the herrings, remove the bones, finely chop, put 1-3 finely chopped and in? a spoonful of oil fried onions, 1 French. roll, soaked and squeezed out or 12 pcs. boiled potatoes, 2 eggs, 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream, pepper, a little butter, stir, make cutlets, roll in egg and breadcrumbs, fry in oil.
Instead of rolls and potatoes, you can put boiled finely chopped beef.
Yeast dough suitable in cold water
Issue: 2 f. flour, ? f. butter, 6 eggs, 3 gold. or 1 kopeck. dry yeast, st. 2 milk (? Art. Sugar).
Dilute 3 spools (125 g) of dry yeast in the evening with warm water, add 2 teaspoons of flour so that there is only 1 glass, put it overnight, let it rise; the next day in the morning take this glass of the most liquid yeast, 1 glass of milk,? pound of melted butter, add milk so that there is only 1 glass, add 2 pounds of flour, put 5 large eggs, that is, a glass of eggs, add a spoonful of salt, knock it all out as best as possible, knocking out the dough for an hour, shift in a napkin, bandage so that the dough has a place to rise twice, lower the napkin with the dough into a tub of cold water.
When the dough floats to the top after a few hours, knock it out; from half of the dough, make a pie, stuff it, let it rise on a sheet, brush with egg, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake on? - 1 hour.
Excellent yeast pie dough
In the evening, take 2 glasses of the coldest water, 3 spools of dry yeast,? 1 pound of Russian butter, ground to white, 1 egg, a spoonful of salt and too 2 pounds of flour, dissolve and knead, put on the table, cover with a napkin. When it rises, make a pie.
potato pie
On 2 pounds of mashed potatoes, put 1 pound of flour, 3 tablespoons of yeast, 4 whole eggs and one cup of dissolved Chukhon oil, mix everything together well, roll it out, make 2 cakes, put one in a pan, put minced meat on it, and the other cover from above, put in the oven.
Russian kulebyaka with fish
Issue for 6 people for dough: 1.5 lb. flour, 1 tbsp. milk, 3/8 f. butter, 3 yolks, 2 gold. dry yeast.
For minced meat: 1.5 lb. zander, 1 onion, 1 f. sturgeon,? f. salmon, 1.25 st. Smolensk, croup, 1 egg,? f. oils, dill.
Prepare the dough: for 1.5 pounds of flour, put 3/8 pound of Chukhon butter, 3 yolks, 1 cup of milk, 1 tablespoon of good yeast,? a teaspoon of salt. First dissolve the dough, as usual, in milk with yeast; when it rises, put butter, eggs, salt, the rest of the flour and let it rise again. Then prepare the filling: chop 1.5 pounds of pike perch, choose the bones; fry the chopped pieces in a saucepan, in a spoonful of oil with 1 chopped onion, fresh chopped or dried dill, chop everything together with the fish. Take 1.25 cups of Smolensk groats, grind it with 1 egg, dry it, rub it through a sieve. Boil 1.25 cups of water with? a pound of butter, when it boils, pour in the grits, stirring vigorously, salt, put in the oven for a short time to lightly brown; then mix it as best as possible with minced fish. Prepare in advance 1 pound of sturgeon, which is cut into slices and? pounds of salmon. Make a long or round pie, put half of the minced meat with porridge in the middle, chopped sturgeon and salmon on it, on top - the rest of the porridge with minced meat, pinch and give? hours to rise; brush with egg and put in the oven. This is a real Russian kulebyaka.
Potato pate with meat
Issue: 3 f. beef, a full deep plate of raw potatoes, 2-3 onions, 3-5 pcs. cloves, 3/8 f. butter, 6-8 crackers, French roll, 3 eggs, 1 tbsp. milk, a spoonful of cheese.
Cut 3 pounds of soft beef into thin pieces, beat them with a wooden pestle as best as possible. Cut boiled potatoes in salted water into thin slices; take a deep dish, spread butter on the bottom, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, put chopped onion on the bottom, then a row of beef slices, on which sprinkle salt, pepper and crushed cloves, onion again, then a row twice as thick as potato slices, on which put butter in pieces, then again beef, onion, pepper, salt and cloves, and so on until everything fits, then take a French bun soaked in milk, knead it like dough, beat in 3 eggs, a little salt, and cover the whole dish with it, brush with butter, sprinkle breadcrumbs with cheese and bake in a fairly hot oven.
Lemon soufflé
Give out: 7 eggs,? f. sugar, lemon or cinnamon zest, 1/8 tbsp. potatoes flour, 1–1.5 tbsp. jam.
Grind 7 yolks until white with 1 cup of fine sugar, put lemon zest or 5 drops of lemon oil and 7 beaten yolks, add 1/8 cup of potato or maize flour, stir, transfer to a deep dish, on the bottom of which you can put 1–1.5 a glass of jam, insert into the oven for 10 minutes; serve on the same dish.
Waffles are excellent
Issue: ? Art. oils, ? Art. cream, 5 eggs, ? Art. flour, 6 teaspoons of sugar.
Take? a glass of melted fresh butter, slightly warm, 5 yolks, 6 teaspoons of fine sugar, rub everything together until it turns white; pour then? cups of cream, stir well, pour in? cups of coarse flour, stir until smooth and, when you need to start baking waffles, then put 5 whipped proteins into the dough, stir, but do not shake the proteins.
1/8 lb butter whitened, mixed with 3-6 eggs, 2 cups flour, 2 cups milk, stir until smooth; dissolve a spoonful of butter in a frying pan, heat to a hot state, pour in the prepared mass, insert into a hot oven for 20–30 minutes, when the drachena is baked and browned, serve it immediately, sprinkled with sugar. Squirrels can be knocked down into foam.
6 pounds of flour, 5 glasses of milk,? a glass of good yeast, dissolve by preheating the milk to the warmth of a steam room or a little warmer; when the dissolved dough rises, knead it, put 10 yolks, 5 whole eggs, 1 lb. of loose Chukhonsky butter, 2-3 tea cups of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, cardamom, finely crushed? a teaspoon, 10 drops of lemon oil or a lot of vanilla drops, or 10 drops of rose oil, raisins and almonds, one glass each, of which leave a part for decoration, knead everything together and let rise; the dough should be quite thick so that it does not stick to the table at all; when the dough rises well, then begin to break it apart and at the same time flood the oven; having made Easter cakes, leave them to rise in a warm place until the oven is completely ready; there is no need to rush to plant Easter cakes until they rise, which sometimes happens for quite a long time, since the thick dough is difficult to rise; before planting in the oven, garnish with raisins, whole and chopped almonds, smeared with a broken egg and milk. Almost everyone likes these Easter cakes, the dough is completely different from bakery. Easter cake with saffron is made in exactly the same manner, but then you don’t need to put cardamom, but put it on this proportion? a teaspoon of powdered saffron, which must first be dried on a very warm oven, wrapped well in paper so as not to run out of steam and rubbed with oil. Saffron can be added or subtracted to taste.
Cake in a hurry.
3/8 lb butter, beaten white, beat in 2 eggs, ? Art. sugar, zest and juice from? lemon, pounds, i.e. 1.5 tbsp. flour. Mix all this as best as possible, spread it on paper, smeared with oil and laid on an iron sheet, insert into the oven; when half ready, cut into squares with a sharp knife and return to the oven; or knead the dough thicker, roll it out, cut it into different shapes and then insert it into the oven.
Easter ordinary
For the average size of the form, take 7-8 pounds of fresh cottage cheese, put it under a press for a day, then rub it through a sieve, put 1 glass of the freshest sour cream in it,? pounds of the freshest butter, 2 teaspoons of salt, with? a glass and even more sugar to taste, mix everything as best as possible so that there is not a single lump, put it in a wooden form, lined inside with a clean thin napkin, put a plank and a heavy stone on top, put it carefully on a dish in a day.
Pouring early
Put a full pot of berries, namely: cherries, blackcurrants or raspberries, pour good purified vodka on the berries, tie with sugar paper, which is pierced in several places with a rod or fork; when the rye bread is taken out of the oven, put this pot into it and leave it in the oven until the berries are completely firm, which can be seen from their completely brown color, and when the cherries become so soft that the bones will lag behind with the slightest pressure, then put the berries on a sieve, let the juice drain into a bowl, but do not crush the berries on the sieve, but only carefully shake off the sieve; then sweeten the drained juice, who likes it, from? before? pounds of sugar per bottle. This filling can be ready in one day. The berries that remain on the sieve can be poured with water and distilled in a cube, then this water is suitable for vinegar, into which, in this case, you do not need to pour vodka.
A gift for young housewives, or a means to reduce household expenses Elena Molokhovets
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Title: A gift for young housewives, or a means to reduce household expenses
About the book "A Gift to Young Housewives, or a Means to Reduce Household Expenses" Elena Molokhovets
“In emigration, the two most popular authors,” wrote E. Zamyatin, “Elena Molokhovets is in the first place, and Pushkin is in the second.” Indeed, “A Gift to Young Housewives” has become the main Russian cookery book, which was reprinted dozens of times and without which it is impossible to imagine Russia in the 19th - the first half of the 20th century.
A gastronomic symbol of its time, the book by Elena Molokhovets is an excellent guide to housekeeping in our time, and over four thousand of her tips and culinary recipes have withstood the test of time with dignity. This book will help any girl, girl, woman to become a wonderful hostess: generous and hospitable and at the same time economical, teach you to keep track of the family budget, choose and store food correctly, set the table and, of course, cook deliciously for your family and friends the most diverse dishes - both festive and everyday. All the secrets of a happy home - in one book.
On our website about books, you can download the free book “A Gift to Young Housewives, or a Means to Reduce Household Expenses” by Elena Molokhovets in epub, fb2, txt, rtf formats. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and a real pleasure to read. You can buy the full version from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For novice writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and tricks, interesting articles, thanks to which you can try your hand at writing.
> Thematic catalog- Preface 3
- DIVISION I 7
- Table of measures and weights 7
- Table of approximate prices of different products 8
- General rules regarding the amount of provisions, for 6 people 12
- Table of approximate roasting times for different foods in the oven 13
- Roasting table on the stove 14
- Table of approximate cooking times for various foods 14
- Table of measures of pickles 16
- Drawing and analysis of an ox, the quality of meat and its weight 16
- Relative weight of different types of meat, in half an ox carcass, medium size 20
- Meat Quality Recognition 21
- Economic parsing of some large cuts of beef 24
- Meat saving 26
- A list of heterogeneous basic rules when preparing food 26
- Eating leftovers 37
- DIVISION II 40
- Lunch menu 4 divisions 41
- Register of cold snacks 87
- SECTION III. Soups 104
- A) Clear, yellow and red broths 109
- B) White soups with flour dressing 121
- Shchi 124
- Borscht 128
- C) White soups with egg yolks and cream 133
- D) Soups from white, meat broth with cereals and sour cream 135
- D) Meat soups 136
- E) Fish soups 150
- G) Butter soups (i.e. without meat and fish) 160
- H) Milk soups 165
- I) Hot, sweet soups from apples, beer, wine and berries 166
- K) Cold soups 169
- SECTION IV. Soup accessories 172
- Toasts, croutons and tarts 172
- Meatballs 173
- Meat and fish quenelles (minced meat) 174
- Olives, tomatoes 176
- Cereals and noodles 177
- Roots and vegetables 178
- Dumplings 182
- Eggs 184
- Ears for cabbage soup 185
- Pelmeni 185
- Pies 186
- Pie dough 187
- Puff pastries 192
- Pies from crumbly dough, chopped and yeast 195
- Donuts or donuts 198
- Yeast patties deep fried 198
- Cheesecakes 100
- Pancakes and loaves of pancakes 200
- Pies-buns 201
- Pies in tin molds and fried in batter 202
- Minced meat in shells 203
- Porridge for broth, cabbage soup and borscht 205
- Croutons, otherwise croutons from cereals 206
- SECTION V. Gravy or sauces 207
- A) Preparation of various seasonings for sauces 208
- B) Hot, flour sauces for meat dishes 211
- C) hot sauces for vegetables 218
- D) Hot sauces for hot fish and pâtés 219
- E) Cold sauces for cold boiled and fried beef, piglet, game, poultry, ham, mayonnaise, aspic and cold fish 223
- E) Sweet sauces for puddings, cereals, vegetables 224
- SECTION VI. Dishes from vegetables and herbs and various side dishes for them 228
- I-th group. Green vegetables 228
- II group. herbaceous vegetables 234
- III group. roots 250
- IV group. fragrant herbs 270
- V-th group. Mushrooms 272
- SECTION VII. Beef, veal, lamb, piglet, pork, hare 281
- A) Beef 281
- B) Veal 312
- C) Lamb 331
- D) Piglet 339
- D) Pork 342
- E) Ham 346
- G) Wild pig, chamois, venison, fallow deer 347
- H) Hare 349
- SECTION VIII. Poultry and game 351
- A. Poultry 351
- B. Game 375
- Small game 383
- SECTION IX. Pisces 387
- SECTION X. Salads for meat and fish roasts 438
- SECTION XI. Pies and pates 442
- A) Pies 442
- B) Pates 452
- SECTION XII. Aspic, mayonnaise and other cold dishes for lunch and breakfast 466
- A) Jellied, roll 466
- B) Mayonnaise 472
- C) Vinaigrette 481
- D) Marinated fish and poultry served with breakfast or snack 483
- SECTION XIII. Puddings, charlottes, soufflés, air pies and more 484
- A) Puddings that are boiled in a napkin 486
- B) steamed puddings 488
- C) Puddings that are baked in a mould, in an oven 495
- D) Charlotte 505
- E) Souffle baked on a dish or in a charlotte 507
- E) Air pies that are baked and served on the same dish 508
- G) Various sweet hot foods that are baked and served on the same dish 510
- H) Sweet foods that are mostly served cold 512
- SECTION XIV. Apple dishes 516
- SECTION XV. Pancakes, Russian pancakes, croutons. Egg dishes 520
- A) Pancakes 520
- B) Russian pancakes 524
- C) Croutons otherwise croutons 528
- D) egg dishes 530
- SECTION XVI. Sorcerers, dumplings, dumplings, vermicelli or noodles, lazanki, pasta, cheesecakes, dumplings, etc. 533
- A) Sorcerers, dumplings, dumplings 533
- B) Vermicelli noodles 536
- C) Lazanki 538
- D) Italian pasta 539
- E) Cheesecakes 541
- E) Dumplings 542
- SECTION XVII. Kashi 544
- A) Semolina 544
- B) Smolensk groats 545
- B) Buckwheat small groats 547
- D) Large buckwheat "Yadritsa" 548
- E) Rice groats 549
- E) Barley groats 552
- G) Pearl barley 552
- H) Oatmeal 552
- I) Various cereals 553
- SECTION XVIII. Wafers, tubes, wafers, brushwood, pancakes 554
- A) Wafers 554
- B) Ducts 556
- C) Hosts 557
- D) Brushwood 557
- E) Fritters 558
- SECTION XIX. Sweet pies and pies, cheesecakes, petish, donuts or donuts, dracheny, etc. heterogeneous flour dishes 560
- A) Sweet pies, pies and cheesecakes 560
- B) small cheesecakes 567
- B) Petitsha 568
- D) Donuts or donuts 569
- D) Dracena 571
- E) Miscellaneous sweet pies 572
- DIVISION XX. Ice cream, creams, marshmallows, mousses, blamange, kissels, compotes, milk custards 576
- A) Ice cream 576
- B) Cream 582
- C) Marshmallow or cream without glue 587
- D) Whipped cream 588
- E) Plombir 589
- E) Parfait 591
- G) Jelly 592
- H) Mousse 598
- K) Kiseli 601
- L) Compotes 604
- M) Dairy custards 607
- DIVISION XXI. Cakes 610
- A) Glaze 611
- B) Different masses for transferring cakes 612
- C) Cakes 613
- SECTION XXII. Mazurkas and other small cakes 628
- A) Mazurka 628
- B) small cake 630
- SECTION XXIII. Vegetarian table 683
- SECTION XXIV-XXXVI. Lenten table 698
- DIVISION XXXVII. Table setting and dishes 773
- DEPARTMENT XXXVIII. Department of amendments and additions 783
Molokhovets Elena Ivanovna
A gift for young housewives, or a means to reduce household expenses
Publisher: Printing house N.N. Klobukova
Place of publication: St. Petersburg.
Year of publication: 1901
Number of pages: 1052 pages.
The book "A Gift to Young Housewives or a Means to Reduce Household Expenses" is a culinary bestseller of the 19th century. First published in 1861 in Kursk, it went through more than thirty reprints in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and has not lost its relevance today.
This unique collection of Russian cuisine recipes was originally published as a manual to help young housewives manage their household. The book contains recipes for a vegetarian and lenten table, examples of table setting and dishes, and a description of the various supplies needed in the household.
A distinctive feature of this book, in comparison with previous ones, is the exact, and not approximate, indication of the amount of ingredients used. Guided by the goal of reducing household costs, the author in all placed recipes indicated the exact proportion of all ingredients for 6 people.
A graduate of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, Elena Molokhovets strove to help young housewives with a small fortune and moderate expenses to have a constantly delicious, healthy and varied dinner.
Current page: 1 (the book has 43 pages in total)
Molokhovets E I
Modern hostess
FOREWORD
The kitchen is also a kind of science, which, without guidance, and if one cannot devote a few hours exclusively to it, is acquired not in years, but in dozens of years of experience, and this ten years of inexperience is sometimes very costly, especially for young spouses, and one often hears how in the course of time, the disorder of the state, and as a result of this, various displeasures in family life are mostly attributed to the fact that the hostess of the house was inexperienced and did not want to delve into and take care of the household herself.
To prevent these bad consequences, or at least take a step towards avoiding them, is my direct goal and my most sincere desire, and if my book achieves at least half of my desired goal and benefits my compatriots, then I will be completely happy and this will be the best reward for my labors.
I compiled this book exclusively for young housewives, in order to give them a chance without their own experience and in a short time to gain an understanding of the economy in general, and thereby encourage them to take up housekeeping.
This book has been compiled on the following grounds:
Firstly, to introduce the hostesses themselves to the kitchen and the household in general. To do this, I tried to collect a description of various simple foods, as well as descriptions of various supplies needed in the household, such as: biscuits, breadcrumbs, making jams, homemade drinks, various supplies of vegetables and fruits, salting meat, in total up to 2000 Nos. .
Secondly, to reduce household expenses and help housewives themselves to issue provisions from the pantry. To do this, in all the dishes I placed, I tried to assign, as far as possible, the most accurate proportion of all supplies to the composition of the dish, a proportion for 6 people, and under the description of almost every dish, a list of distribution was assigned, because, without having before my eyes a register of everything that is included in the composition of the food, not only the hostess, but even the cook, who is exclusively occupied with this, cannot suddenly recall everything; it follows from this that during the whole morning until dinnertime one has to go to the pantry several times, first for one thing, then for another, which not only soon becomes boring, but also extremely difficult for every housewife, and even impossible in secular life.
Housewives who wish to adhere to the issuance of provisions assigned in this book, please have in your pantry:
First, a tablespoon of silver spoon.
Secondly, a copper or tin collar, that is, ¼ of a bucket, and if possible, ½ of a collar and ¼ of a collar, which will facilitate them when dispensing milk, flour for rolls, etc.
Thirdly, an ordinary glass of medium size, not the largest and not the smallest; there should be 3 such glasses in a large bottle of champagne, i.e., in ¼ garnets, in 1 damask, i.e., in ½ garnets - 6, in 1 garnets, therefore, 12.
In some dishes, sour cream is assigned as follows ½-2 cups, which means: from ½ to 2 cups of sour cream; who does not like a lot of sour cream, or, for example, in winter, when it is difficult to get it, you can put, for example, only ½ cup in sorrel soup No. 37, and in the same soup you can put 1, 1½ and even 2 cups of sour cream, depending on the desire and whenever possible.
To dispense oil, it is most convenient to prepare it as follows: take 5-10 pounds of Chukhonian or Russian butter (if the latter is in a cold place), hang each pound separately, then divide it into two equal parts, roll up half-pound balls. When giving out provisions, count how much butter will come out for food, and then give out one ball, 1½ or 2, etc. When these balls come out, prepare others.
For jellies, creams, marshmallows, mousses, etc. I advise you to buy veal glue called zhilotin; it is also sold by the pound, and consists of the thinnest oblong slices, each of which is about the size of a spool, so that when 3 spools are to be dispensed, dispense 3 or 4 slices.
This glue comes in white and raspberry colors, so that jelly made from raspberry gillotine gets an excellent color.
Zhillotin is much cheaper than fish glue, namely about 1 p. 50k lb, so healthy, extremely tasty and still expensive jelly can now be part of an inexpensive lunch.
To make sure that the proportion I have appointed is sufficient for 6 people, I ask each housewife to choose three or four dishes for testing and order them to be cooked with her.
Since I tried to acquaint the young housewives with the whole urban economy in general, I will add a few more words about the little things, which, however, in the mass make up their own account, namely:
When plucking feathers from birds, then put them in one place; on long winter evenings, order them to be sorted out; they are suitable for pillows for ministers or for the poor; collect feathers and down from geese and ducks separately.
Skins from calves, rams, etc., stretched into sticks, immediately dried and given for leather dressing.
When cattle are slaughtered, their blood is poured under fruit trees.
If dinner is cooked on a stove and it heats up for three or four hours, then order coals to be raked out of it for two or three large samovars.
Veal stomach, well washed and salted, dry; it is used for Dutch and Swiss No. 1460 cheeses.
In every kitchen it does not hurt to have one or two piglets constantly, which can be fed with slops, the remains of roots, bread, etc., but only beware that they do not get pieces of meat and entrails from game.
Soap for washing clothes should be prepared, if not for several months, then at least for several weeks, so that it dries out; give out 1¼ pounds for 1 pood of linen.
In general, every housewife must strictly ensure that the house is clean, tidy, and that nothing is lost, but is used with benefit.
NOTE AND GENERAL VIEW ON THE PLANS AND DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSES
Wishing to encourage young housewives to perform the duties of a good family woman, both morally and economically, I consider it necessary to give them friendly advice, namely: to ask their husbands, if they wish, that their wives strictly fulfill the duties of the mother of the family and that they willingly take care of the household , not in the least upsetting their health, then for their part to take care of delivering them apartments that are comfortable in all respects, which is very rare with us; therefore I hope that the plans of medium-sized houses that I have enclosed may be somewhat useful to those who are going to either build anew or rebuild their house.
When building each house, you must certainly keep in mind the following:
Morally:
First of all. To have a room for prayer, where the whole family could gather once a day, as well as servants for prayer. In many pious families, both in Russia and abroad, this custom is accepted, and I find that it is not only good, but also necessary, especially in our age, and even more so in our time, where the united forces of believers are needed, to support the wavering faith in God, in His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ and faith in the afterlife. In order to establish the worship of God in spirit and in truth, it is necessary that each head of the family, by daily fervent and unanimous prayer and good example, try to inspire and root, both in the family and in his servants, boundless love for God and faith in impartial justice and mercy. Him to the human race.
Secondly. To have one large dining room, where the whole family would gather to work and read, where children could run and play freely in front of their parents. From this dining room there should be a door to a covered balcony, decorated in summer with flowers, with a staircase to the garden.
Thirdly. To make the children's rooms closer to the bedroom.
Fourth. I find that the servants will partly improve morally, that there will be more cleanliness and order in the kitchen if it is on the same floor as the other living rooms and is separated from them only by a small cold, and even better, a warm vestibule.
In economic terms:
First of all. To close the kitchen.
Secondly. So that from the girl's room or buffet there is a passage directly to the pantry, where cereals, flour, eggs, etc. should be stored. There should be wide clean shelves around the walls. So that the hostess does not waste time when issuing provisions, it is necessary that in the pantry every thing should be in its place, flour in tubs covered with linen and a lid with an inscription; cereals, pasta, raisins, peppers, etc., are most conveniently kept in a wide and low simple cabinet with drawers of various sizes; On each box, stick an inscription that is poured into it.
Thirdly. From this pantry, make a hatch and stairs directly to the basement, which would not have other doors. This basement, which may take up the space of the two upper rooms, must be carefully made, dry, and lined all over, both the walls and the floor, with bricks; it should store wines, jams, fruits, roots, milk, butter and meat in cold weather.
This is extremely convenient for the hostess, because, sitting at the table in a warm maid's room or buffet and, due to poor health, not entering the pantry in cold weather, she can dispose of the provisions; nothing superfluous will be carried past her; moreover, when the milk is milked, they must bring it to the same room, immediately pour it on the table; the hostess can sometimes give herself the pleasure of removing the cream or sour cream herself, ordering the butter to be churned, etc.
Under the house, arrange a separate vegetable cellar for sauerkraut, a large amount of potatoes and greens, you can even make beds where you can transplant cauliflower in the fall, etc. (see from No. 1528 to No. 1609). You can also make a cellar for firewood, for oats and husks, that is, buckwheat husks, which are so good for heating stoves, because the husk is warm and it serves as the best way to drain stone houses.
Concerning convenience:
So that every apartment, no matter how small, contains in miniature all the comforts of a vast and rich room, so that each member of the family has his own separate and calm corner. To do this, when drawing up a plan, it is necessary to mentally designate places for the main furniture, such as:
First of all. So that in the hall or living room there is a good blank wall for the sofa.
Secondly. A place for the piano away from windows and stoves.
Thirdly. In order to protect the bedroom and nursery from the through wind, it is necessary that there are good walls for beds, also away from windows and stoves; in a word, that there be every possible comfort and convenience, guarding both the tranquility and the health of the family; do not spare any extra hundred rubles in silver for this; having protected the family from a cold, this excessive expense will pay off in a short time.
DIVISION I
SOUPS
Note. The purpose of this book is to provide a means, with little fortune, at moderate expense, without sometimes having an excellent cook, to have a constantly good, tasty, healthy and varied dinner. This goal can be achieved only by prudent economy, i.e., timely purchase and careful distribution of provisions; at the same time, the measure and weight of not only one provision, such as meat, butter, flour, etc., is needed, but even the water itself; this measure, which we have not yet adopted, will seem strange, even ridiculous and inconvenient to implement, especially for the simple class, i.e. for our servants in terms of cooking. Meanwhile, this measure, when issuing an accurate proportion of provisions, appointed in the book, is necessary. Let's take broth #1 or #3 as an example.
To prepare it for 6-8 people, you need to choose a saucepan in which to constantly boil the soup, pour 6 to 8 deep full plates of water into it, put 4 pounds of beef, measure the height of the water with a clean, smoothly planed stick, make a sign on the stick, then add water, cook the broth over low heat, putting salt, roots and spices, at least 3 hours; boil it so that it is just before the holiday as much as it is assigned on a stick; so prepared broth will be tasty and strong, as much as this amount of meat can be. 1
Exactly such a broth can be cooked even for one person, taking a small saucepan and only a 6th part of both meat, roots, and water.
Meanwhile, it often happens differently, namely: they take beef in proportion, that is, 4 pounds, pour water without measure, cover the broth with a lid, let it boil over a fairly strong fire; shortly before dinner, it turns out that the broth has boiled away - that there is not enough of it; then water is poured according to the eye, which, especially of a commoner, often deceives; pouring the broth into the soup bowl, it turns out that the broth is not 6 or 8 plates, but 12 or even more, of which 7-8 plates will fall on the table, and the rest will remain in the kitchen. The broth, of course, is not tasty, weak; if the soup is with cereals, then these cereals will hardly be noticeable.
As a result, if the hostess gives out provisions for food according to this book, it can easily happen that the food will not taste good; not knowing the real reason for this, the fault must fall on the book, although it is completely unfair; therefore, I ask once again about what has already been said in the preface, so that each housewife chooses at least 2-3 dishes and orders them to be cooked under her supervision, observing everything that is said in the description of the dish, etc., and if the broth prepared as said above, it will seem to her tasty and quite strong according to her taste and her condition, then she can already demand from the cook or cook that the soup is constantly so strong. This warning also applies to all other foods, such as pies for people: for the dough for 4 people, 3 pounds of coarse flour of the 2nd grade are assigned, and exactly 3 glasses of water, along with yeast; if water is poured in according to the eye, then it can easily be 3¼ or 3⅛ cups, in which case there will be no flour.
A) SOUPS HOT, MEAT
(proportion for 6 people)
In order for the soup to be clean, it is necessary to boil it on the lightest fire, removing the scale, so that it boils from only one side, then it will be tasty and so transparent that it will not be necessary to clean it with proteins, but only strain it through a napkin. If it fails, then strain it, cool slightly, put 2-3 proteins mixed with 1 tablespoon of water, put on fire, let it boil slightly; when the broth clears and the boiled proteins rise - strain; if that does not help much, put a piece of ice and boil again.
Broth for 6 people or 6-8 deep bowls is brewed from 10-12 pounds of meat with bones, but this is superfluous; from 6 pounds, that is, assuming 1 pound of beef per person, the broth is excellent. Ordinary very tasty broth for 6-8 people is cooked from 4 pounds of beef, putting half a pound on a plate, and cabbage soup and other soups-puree from 3 and even 2½ pounds.
Soup can be cooked from different parts of beef, depending on the need, such as:
If some cabbage soup is cooked, and you need to serve beef in the cabbage soup, then you can take the brisket.
If a good piece of boiled beef should be served for the second dish, see from No. 308 to No. 325, then take 5-6 pounds of beef from the thigh near the spinal bone, boil the soup for two days, and on the first day serve boiled beef for the second dish, and the next day some kind of sauce or roast.
If you need roast beef for the second course, such as: regular roast beef No. 331, hussar liver No. 327, beef like zrazy and similar roasts, then take 6-7 pounds of beef from the cut or from the edge, cut off the ribs, use them on soup, and the soft part - for roast; you can also take the rump, the bones in the soup, and the soft part for the roast.
If you need cutlets or other dishes of minced beef, and minced meat for pies, etc., then take 6 pounds of beef from the cut or front shoulder, which are cheaper than the edge, cut 2½ pounds of soft beef into cutlets, etc., from the remaining 3½ pounds, cook soup: when this meat is cooked with the bones, remove it, chop it and use it for minced meat for pies, loaves served with soup, for mincemeat, etc., or give it to people.
If the boiled beef is not needed for anything, then it is best to cook the broth from the bulls - this is the name of the part of the ox leg from the knee to the leg. These bulls weigh from 3 to 5 pounds and are (maybe not everywhere) very cheap: from 1½ to 3 kopecks in silver a piece; one such large bulldyshka is enough for broth for 6 people.
On purpose, for soup, you can sometimes not buy beef, but boil it from beef trimmings and bones left over from the roast, from trimmings of bones and veal, turkeys, chickens, etc., which are assigned to the roast, if these trimmings are typed up to 3 pounds .
The roots I have appointed are small, and therefore large parsley or celery, and so on. can be divided into two or three parts.
Onions and bay leaves are mostly printed in parentheses, because not everyone likes them, and therefore you can put them in the soup or not. Butter in cabbage soup and so on. soups are put good Chukhonsky or creamy.
The proportion of soups is assigned to 6 and even 8 people; from 9 to 12 people increase the proportion by 1½ times; from 13 to 18 - 2 times, from 19 to 24 - 3 times.
Therefore, for pure broth No. 1 or No. 3, etc.:
For 6-8 people, 4 pounds of beef is required.
From 9-12 > > > 6 > > >
From 13–18 > > > 9 > > >
From 19–24 > > > 12 > > >
In addition, put in the broth the bones and trimmings from veal, turkeys, chickens, etc., which are assigned to the roast.
Thus, increase the proportion of other soups and cabbage soups.
The proposed drawing of an ox will give young housewives a little idea of what each part of the beef is called, which part is used and which part is worse and better.
The cheapest and worst meat is:
1) Neck, taken for people. After
2) Front shoulder for cutlets and soup also for people
3) Ssec and thigh
4) Brisket in cabbage soup and for people.
5) Rump for small roast beef, zrazy and other roasts; bones for soup.
6) The edge near the spinal bone is used for roasts, such as No. 331, 325, etc., and cut ribs and the lower part of the edge with ribs for soup.
7) Whole fillet with bones for roast beef.
8) Cut fillet, the most expensive, is taken mostly for beefsteak. However, beefsteak can also be made from the edge, along the spinal bone, but it will be worse than from a cut fillet. Buldyshki are used for broth.
The legs and head of an ox are for jelly for people.
Brains - for sauce and pies.
Liver, heart and kidneys - for people.
Tongue for sauce.
In the calf the same parts, but a different use of them, namely:
1) 2 back quarters with kidneys - for roast.
2) 2 front shoulder blades are sometimes used for roasts, but mostly for chopped cutlets, minced meat, minced meat for pies, and bones - in soup.
3) From below, under the front shoulder blades, starting from the neck and to the back quarter, first comes the brisket, which is cut into 2 halves in length and used for soup and sauce; and then the cutlet part, which is also cut into 2 parts, and from each part chops No. 379 with 12 pieces of bones will come out.
4) The head and legs are used for soup, sauce, mayonnaise and aspic. The small tongue is served along with the head.
5) Liver and heart - for sauce and minced meat for pies.
6) The liver is also used for minced meat for pies, for sauces and roasts.
7) Brains - for sauce and minced meat for pies.
1) The broth is clean
Wash 4 pounds of beef thoroughly in warm water, pour in cold water, cook over low heat, removing scale for two hours. Then take out the meat, wash it in cold water, strain the broth, put the roots, salt, English pepper and bay leaf and cook again with the meat on a light fire for an hour or two. Shortly before dinner, strain through a napkin, serving, add finely chopped green parsley and dill.
4 pounds of beef. 2 carrots. 1 celery. 1 parsley. 1 leek. 1 baked onion. 2 dried mushrooms. 2–4 pcs. bay leaf. 10–15 English grains pepper. Green parsley and dill. Salt.
This broth can be varied as follows:
a) Clean with pies.
b) With croutons No. 116, 117, 118.
c) With carrots and sorrel leaves cut in half or better spinach (¼ pound and 2 carrots).
d) With meatballs No. 119, 120, 121, 122, use the fourth pound of beef on meatballs.
e) With dumplings from No. 139 to 145.
f) With porridge from Smolensk cereals No. 126.
g) With vermicelli No. 133.
h) With lasagna No. 134.
i) With manna No. 132.
i) With rice or rice porridge No. 130, or rice cakes No. 306.
j) From sago no. 129.
l) With chiseled roots and pies No. 136.
l) With chiselled roots and potatoes No. 138.
m) With roots and cabbage No. 137.
o) With potato grits (8-9 teaspoons).
o) With pearl barley No. 131.
2) Bouillon for children
This broth is made from ox legs and bulls. Take all the bones from the bull's leg and bull, crush them, cook on low heat for at least 3 hours. If the leg is large, then pour so much water that the whole broth of 5-6 plates comes out. The next day, boil these bones again in fresh water, which is poured half as much as yesterday. After boiling in this way for about two hours, pour yesterday's broth into it, boil everything together for ¼ hours, strain. Minced meat can be prepared from cooked meat and marrows from bones by mixing it with a bun and green parsley. This broth can be boiled for two or three days, kept only in a cold place, in bottles corked with just paper. Before leaving, pour a small teaspoon of rum onto each plate. This broth is especially good for children and even for adults who are in poor health, but who are forced to lead an active life and be in constant motion. This broth is especially great to use in the summer, at breakfast.
3) Red broth
Put 2 chopped onions, 2 carrots and 3-4 pounds of beef in a saucepan with the fat side on the bottom of the pot, fry until red, pour in water, put the rest of the roots and spices, cook over low heat for 3-4 hours, strain through a napkin.
4 pounds of beef. (2 bulbs). 2 carrots. 1 parsley. 1 celery. 1 leek. 10–15 English grains pepper. (2-3 bay leaves). Green parsley and dill.
This broth is served:
a) Clean with pies.
b) With turned roots No. 136.
c) With meatballs from No. 119 to 121.
d) With dumplings from No. 139 to 145.
e) From sago No. 121.
f) With carrots and sorrel leaves (¼ pound, 2 carrots).
4) Strong broth with wine, sometimes served in cups
5 pounds of beef, roast red in a saucepan, putting 1 celery, 1 parsley, 1 tablespoon oil and one carrot on the bottom of it, then pour a full saucepan with water; as it boils, remove the foam, put the chicken, cook for 2-3 hours, removing fat and scale, strain, put separately boiled chiseled roots, pour in ½ cup Madeira.
If this broth is served in cups, then there is no need for chiseled roots, but put them all into the broth, boil, strain; if served on plates, then pour finely chopped green parsley, dill and, who loves, a little nutmeg into a bowl.
5 pounds of beef. 1 chicken. 3 carrots. 2 onions baked. 1 parsley. 1 leek. 1 celery. 1 turnip. 10–15 English grains pepper. 2–3 pcs. bay leaf. Salt ½ cup Madeira or 1 cup table wine. If served in bowls, add green parsley and dill. Nutmeg.
5) Wallachian red broth with roots
Place 1 chopped chicken, 1 carrot, ⅛ or ¼ lb butter, top with 3 lb beef; when the beef is browned on the bottom, then pour in enough water so that it is no longer added and so that the broth, when it is ready, has 6–8 deep full plates; put roots, spices, salt, you can add 1 pound of veal and about 1 pound of smoked ham, cook on low heat for several hours, removing scale, then strain through a napkin, remove fat, if necessary, clean with proteins, strain again, heat, serve, sprinkled with green parsley and dill.
3 pounds of beef. 1 pound veal. 1 pound smoked ham. 1 onion. 2 carrots. ¼ pound butter. 15–20 English grains pepper. 1 turnip. 1 celery. 1 parsley. 1 leek. 2–3 pcs. bay leaf. A little marjoram. Salt.
This broth is served:
a) Clean with pies.
b) In the filtered broth, put boiled chiseled roots separately in the broth: 1 carrot, 1 head of cauliflower, 2 heads of safoy, 12 pieces of asparagus, 1 galarepa (turnip cabbage or kohlrabi).
c) Put chopped and separately boiled 1 carrot and a cut head of cabbage into 6 parts, the leaves of which are shifted with minced meat No. 122.
d) With meatballs No. 120, in this case, pour ½ cup Madeira into the broth.
6) French soup a la Julienne
Boil plain broth from 3-4 pounds of beef and roots, strain as stated in No. 1; ½ pound of rye bread dry red, pour in the broth to cover the bread, cover with a lid, let stand for an hour or an hour and a half, drain and strain. Meanwhile, cut like vermicelli 1 large carrot, 1 galarepa or young turnip, celery, 50 spinach leaves, also cut 6-7 pieces of asparagus, 1 tablespoon of dried green peas, rinse all this, cook for an hour in strained broth; just before the holiday, pour the aforementioned bread broth into it and serve immediately. Chopped roots can first be fried a little in ½ tablespoon of oil, and then put in the broth and boil for half an hour.
3-4 pounds of beef. 2 carrots. 1 parsley. 1 celery. 1 leek. 10–15 English grains pepper. 3–4 pcs. bay leaf. ½ pound rye bread. 1 galarepa, or young turnip. Leaves 50 spinach. 6-7 pieces of asparagus. 1 teaspoon dried green peas. ½ tablespoon of oil.
7) French white transparent soup
Take 3 pounds of beef and ½ chicken, pour water, boil, then put roots, spices, salt, boil over low heat, removing scale. When the meat is ready and the broth has boiled down to 6-8 deep bowls, strain, remove the fat from above, let it settle, pour it carefully into another pan, peel, if necessary, with proteins. Just before the holiday, pour ⅛ cup of white French wine into a bowl and sprinkle with nutmeg.
For a change, you can sometimes put in the broth ½ lemon, cut into slices, without grains, or 1 carrot or toast, sprinkled with Dutch cheese No. 118.
3 pounds of beef. ½ chicken. 1 celery. 1 leek. 1 parsley. 2 carrots. 10–15 English grains pepper. 2–3 pcs. bay leaf. Salt. (3 proteins). ½ cup white French wine. Nutmeg. Green parsley and dill. ½ lemon. Give out on toast or pies.
8) Veal Leg Windsor Soup
Boil the broth from 2-3 pounds of beef and roots, strain; take four veal legs, remove the meat from the bones, wash in cold water, dip into the broth; when cooked, take them out, put in cold water; 2 tablespoons of flour, 1 tablespoon of oil, fry, dilute with broth, boil, removing scale. Carefully cut the legs, dip in the soup, put the chiseled white roots one at a time; boil two or three times, put chopped herbs, 1 glass of Madeira, add, who loves it, coarsely crushed simple pepper.
2-3 pounds of beef. 2 carrots. 1 parsley. 1 celery. 1 leek. 15–20 English grains pepper. 4 small veal legs 2 tablespoons of flour, i.e. ⅔ cup. 1 spoon of oil. 1 glass of Madeira. Greenery. (Simple pepper).
Serve him pies.
9) White soup
Boil plain broth #1 with 3 pounds of beef, roots, spices, salt to make 6-8 deep bowls.
Dissolve 1 tablespoon of oil in another saucepan, fry finely chopped in it until soft: 1 carrot, ½ celery, ½ parsley, (1-2 onions), adding ¼ cup of fat broth, then add 2 tablespoons of flour, stir, fry again, dilute all strained broth, boil, stirring with a spoon two or three times, no more, strain through a fine sieve, then pour ½ cup of cream mixed with 1 yolk into it. Just before the holiday, put 2 small heads of cabbage into the broth, each cut into 4 parts and boiled separately in the broth.
3 pounds of beef. 1½ celery. 2 carrots. 10–15 English grains pepper. 2–3 pcs. bay leaf. 1 leek. ½ parsley. ⅛ pound butter. ⅔ cup flour. ½ cup heavy cream. 1 yolk. 1 medium or 2 small cabbages
10) Bread and wine soup
¾ pound of rye bread crumb, finely chopped, simmer in a saucepan with a lid with two tablespoons of oil, rub through a sieve, dilute with an ordinary broth of 3 pounds of beef and roots, pour in 1 glass of Madeira or sherry before leaving. To make the soup dark in color, then set fire to a piece of fine sugar in a small frying pan, dilute it with broth, and then pour in the wine.
¾ pound rye bread. ¼ pound butter. 3 pounds of beef. 1 carrot. 1 celery. 1 leek. 10–12 English grains pepper. 1 cup Madeira or sherry 1 piece of sugar.
11) Chicken Soup
Take a plucked, gutted 3-pound chicken (if the chicken is smaller, then add ½-1 pound of beef or veal bones), pour in water and cook in a saucepan for ¼ hour, constantly removing scale, then strain through a sieve into a pot in which the broth will be cooked . Wash the chicken in cold water, cut it into pieces, lower it back into the broth, put the roots and spices, add ⅛ pound of oil if you want, cook, removing the scale, on the lightest fire. Pouring into a bowl, add a little dill and green parsley, put boiled rice, pearl barley, Italian pasta or manna separately in the broth. You can serve this soup in a creamer of boiled cream; in this case, along with other roots, boil ¼ pound of rutabaga in the soup.
3 pound chicken. Some beef bones. 1 carrot. 1 celery. 1 parsley. A little bit of parsnips. 8-10 grains English. pepper. (1-2 bay leaves). (⅛ lb butter). Dill and green parsley.
½ cup rice, or ½ cup pearl barley, or ½ cup semolina, or ¼ pound pasta.
(¾ st. cream, who wants, and rutabaga).
Boiled chicken can be served separately with some kind of sauce, such as No. 466.
12) Turkey Soup
Since there is a big difference in the size of turkeys, it is difficult to determine its quantity; for 6 people, however, a rather small turkey the size of a large chicken, and if the turkey is large and fat, then take offal from it, that is, legs, wings, head, etc., and leave the meat or fillet itself for another meal. Turkey soup is prepared in exactly the same way as chicken number 11.
1 small turkey, or offal from a large fat one. 1 carrot. 1 celery. (1 onion). 8-10 grains English. pepper. 1–2 pcs. bay leaf. ⅛ pound butter. Dill and green parsley. ½ st. rice or pearl barley. 1 parsley.
13) Soup a la tortue
This soup should be strong and made from several types of meat, and at least 2 pounds of beef, 1 pound of veal, 1 head of veal, ½ chicken and various roots. Having cooked this broth properly, strain, remove fat from above.
Melt ⅛ lb fresh butter in a saucepan, add 1 finely chopped parsley, 5-6 parsley. cloves, 10-15 grains of coarsely crushed English pepper, fry everything over low heat, then add ⅔ cup of wheat flour and fry again. Half an hour before the holiday, pour strained broth, cook, stirring constantly; when it boils, strain through a fine sieve, put in it the amorets, stuffed olives, evenly sliced meat from the head of the veal, a few truffles and champignons, if any, boil again, pouring in ½-1 glass of Madeira or French wine, and finally put the slices lemon, salt and not very finely crushed simple pepper, depending on taste.
This book opens a new series of books "Cooking. Classic Editions”, which will include well-known and little-known, but significant for their time, authors and books who tried, each in his time, to summarize the experience in the culinary history of Russia and beyond. Here is what Elena Molokhovets wrote about her motivation when creating the book: “Kitchen is a kind of art that, without guidance, is acquired not for years, but for decades of inexperience, sometimes it is very expensive, especially for young spouses ... I compiled this book exclusively for young housewives, in order to give them a chance without their own experience and in a short time to get an idea about the economy in general, and in order to make them feel like doing housework. The book is adapted and presented in modern language and terms, while some of the features of that vocabulary are preserved for the flavor of past times.
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