All vegetables should be thoroughly cleansed just before being put on to
cook.
Green vegetables; such as cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts,
should be soaked heads down in salted cold water, to which a few spoons
of vinegar may be added.
To secure the best results all vegetables except beans, that is the
dried beans, should be put in boiling water and the water must be made
to boil again as soon as possible after the vegetables have been added
and must be kept boiling until the cooking is finished.
In cooking vegetables, conserve their juices.
The average housewife pours down the sink drainpipe the juices from all
the vegetables which she cooks; she little realizes that she thus drains
away the health of her family. Cook vegetables with just sufficient
water to prevent them from burning, and serve their juices with them;
else save the vegetable "waters" and, by the addition of milk and butter
convert them into soups for the family use. Such soups, derived from one
or several vegetables, alone or mixed together, make palatable and
healthful additions to the family bill-of-fare.
Cut off the woody part, scrape the lower part of the stalks. Wash well
and tie in bunches. Put into a deep stew-pan, with the cut end resting
on the bottom of the stew-pan. Pour in boiling water to come up to the
tender heads, but not to cover them. Add one teaspoon of salt for each
quart of water. Place where the water will boil. Cook until tender,
having the cover partially off the stew-pan. This will be from fifteen
to thirty minutes, depending upon the freshness and tenderness of the
vegetable. Have some slices of well-toasted bread on a platter. Butter
them slightly. Arrange the cooked asparagus on the toast, season with
butter and a little salt and serve at once. Save the water in which the
asparagus was boiled to use in making vegetable soup.
Open one end of the can, as indicated on wrapper, so tips will be at
opening. Pour off the liquid and allow cold water to run over gently and
to rinse. Drain and pour boiling water over them in the can and set in a
hot oven to heat thoroughly. When ready to serve, drain and arrange
carefully on hot platter and serve same as fresh asparagus, hot on toast
or cold with salad dressing, or with "Sauce Hollandaise", poured over.
French artichokes have a large scaly head, like the cone of a pine tree.
The flower buds are used before they open.
The edible portion consists of the thickened portion at the base of the
scales and the receptacle to which the leaf-like scales are attached.
When the artichoke is very young and tender the edible parts may be
eaten raw as a salad. When it becomes hard, as it does very quickly, it
must be cooked. When boiled it may be eaten as a salad or with a sauce.
The scales are pulled with the fingers from the cooked head, the base of
each leaf dipped in a sauce and then eaten.
The bottoms (receptacles), which many consider the most delicate part of
the artichoke, may be cut up and served as a salad, or they may be
stewed and served with a sauce. To prepare the artichoke remove all the
hard outer leaves. Cut off the stem close to the leaves. Cut off the top
of the bud. Drop the artichokes into boiling water and cook until
tender, which will take from thirty to fifty minutes, then take up and
remove the choke. Serve a dish of French salad dressing with the
artichokes, which may be eaten either hot or cold. Melted butter also
makes a delicious sauce for the artichokes if they are eaten hot.
This vegetable is in season in the fall and spring, and may be cooked
like kohl-rabi and served in a white cream or sauce. The artichoke may
also be cooked in milk.
When this is done, cut the washed and peeled artichoke into cubes, put
in a stew-pan, and cover with milk (a generous pint to a quart of
cubes). Add one small onion and cook twenty minutes. Beat together one
tablespoon of butter and one level tablespoon of flour, and stir this
into the boiling milk. Then season with one teaspoon of salt and
one-fourth teaspoon of pepper, and continue the cooking one-half hour
longer. The cooking should be done in a double boiler. The artichoke
also makes a very good soup.
Pick off from the solid green globes the outer tough petals. Scoop out
with a sharp-pointed knife the fuzzy centres, leaving the soft base,
which is the luscious morsel. Cut each artichoke in halves, wash, drain
and fry brown on each side in olive oil Make tomato sauce and cook
thirty minutes in that mixture. Then serve.
Beets are usually thickly sowed, and as the young plants begin to grow
they must be thinned out. These plants make delicious greens, and even
the tops of the ordinary market beets are good if properly prepared.
Examine the leaves carefully to be sure that there are no insects on
them; wash thoroughly in several waters, and put over the fire in a
large kettle of boiling water. Add one teaspoon of salt for every two
quarts of greens; boil rapidly about thirty minutes or until tender;
drain off the water; chop well and season with butter and salt.
Carefully wash any earth off the beets, but every care is needed to
avoid breaking the skin, roots or crown; if this is done much of their
color will be lost, and they will be a dull pink. Lay them in plenty of
boiling water, with a little vinegar; boil them steadily, keeping them
well covered with water for about one and one-half to two hours for
small beets and two to three and one-half hours for large ones. If they
are to be served hot, cut off the roots and crown and rub off the skin
directly, but if to be served cold, leave them until they have become
cold and then cut into thin slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper and
pour some vinegar over them. If to be eaten hot, cut them into thin
slices, arrange them on a hot vegetable dish and pour over white sauce
or melted butter, or hand these separately.
Boil large beetroot about two hours, being careful not to pierce it.
When cold mash very smooth, add a little drippings, pepper, salt and
stock. Place in a greased pan and bake one hour.
Wash as many beets as required and cook in bailing water until tender.
Drain and turn into cold water for peeling. Remove the skins, slice and
sprinkle with as much salt as desired. Melt one-half cup of butter in a
large frying-pan and add two tablespoons of strained lemon juice. Stir
the butter and lemon juice until blended, keeping the fire low. Now turn
the beets into this sauce, cover the pan and shake and toss until the
sauce has been well distributed. Serve hot at once.
This vegetable is also known as "knot celery" and "turnip-rooted
celery." The roots, which are about the size of a white turnip, and not
the stalks are eaten. They are more often used as a vegetable than as a
salad.
Pare the celeriac, cut in thin, narrow slices, and put into cold water.
Drain from this water and drop into boiling water and boil thirty
minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. The celeriac is now ready to
be prepared and served the same as celery.
Boil as directed above and press through a sieve. To one quart take two
tablespoons of butter blended with two tablespoons flour and cooked
until smooth and frothy, add the strained celeriac and cook five
minutes, stirring frequently. Add one teaspoon of salt and a half cup of
cream, cook five minutes longer and serve hot on toast or fried bread.
Trim off the outside leaves and cut the stalk even with the flower. Let
it stand upside down in cold salted water for twenty minutes. Put it
into a generous quantity of rapidly boiling salted water and cook it
uncovered about twenty minutes or until tender, but not so soft as to
fall to pieces. Remove any scum from the water before lifting out the
cauliflower. If not perfectly white, rub a little white sauce over it.
Serve with it a white, a Bechamel, or a Hollandaise sauce; or it may be
served as a garnish to chicken, sweetbreads, etc., the little bunches
being broken off and mixed with the sauce.
Finely chop one medium-size onion and a small bunch of parsley. Melt one
tablespoon butter in a pan and fry the onion until it is brown. Season
with celery salt. Blend in one tablespoon flour, add one cup boiling
water and let simmer for half an hour. Carefully clean the cauliflower
and boil for one-half hour. Drain the onion sauce, add three tablespoons
tomato catsup, drain the cauliflower, turn into a baking-pan, pour over
the sauce, place in a moderate oven for five minutes and serve hot.
Drain and place the hot cauliflower in serving dish, and pour over it
two tablespoons fine bread crumbs browned in one tablespoon of hot
butter or fat. Serve hot. Asparagus may be served in this style.
Cook in salt water until tender. Spread with bread crumbs and butter.
Pour some sour cream over the vegetable and bake until the crumbs are a
golden brown.
Boil and drain off the water, grease a baking-dish, line with a layer of
cauliflower, add a layer of toasted bread crumbs, another of cauliflower
and so on alternately, letting the top layer be of bread crumbs. Over
all pour one cup of boiling milk, dot the top with butter and bake in a
moderate oven for twenty minutes.
Brown a minced onion, add cauliflower cut in pieces with a small
quantity of water; stew, add salt, white pepper, a little sour salt and
red tomatoes; when half done add one-fourth cup of rice. Cook until rice
is done. The onion may be browned either in butter, fat or olive oil, as
desired.
Remove the leaves from the stalks of celery; scrape off all rusted or
dark spots; cut into small pieces and drop in cold water. Having boiling
water ready; put the celery into it, adding one-half teaspoon of salt
for every quart of water. Boil until tender, leaving the cover partly
off; drain and rinse in cold water. Make a cream sauce; drop the celery
into it; heat thoroughly and serve.
If lettuce has grown until rather too old for salad, it may be cooked,
and makes a fairly palatable dish.
Wash four or five heads of lettuce, carefully removing thick, bitter
stalks and retaining all sound leaves. Cook in plenty of boiling salted
water for ten or fifteen minutes, then blanch in cold water for a minute
or two. Drain, chop lightly, and heat in stew-pan with some butter, and
salt and pepper to taste. If preferred, the chopped lettuce may be
heated with a pint of white sauce seasoned with salt, pepper, and grated
nutmeg. After simmering for a few minutes in the sauce, draw to a cooler
part of the range and stir in the well-beaten yolks of two eggs.
Cover the shelled beans with boiling water; bring to a boil quickly;
then let them simmer slowly till tender. Drain and add salt, pepper and
butter or hot cream or cream sauce.
Scrape the carrots lightly; cut them into large dice or slices and drop
them into salted boiling water, allowing one teaspoon of salt to one
quart of water. Boil until tender; drain and serve with butter and
pepper or with cream sauce.
Old carrots may be used for this dish, and are really better than the
new ones. Pare and cut into dice, and simmer in salted water until
tender, but not pulpy. Drain, return to the fire, and for one pint of
carrots add one teaspoon of minced parsley, a grating of loaf sugar,
one-half teaspoon of paprika, one tablespoon of butter and the juice of
half a lemon. Heat through, shaking the dish now and then, so that each
piece of the vegetable will be well coated with the mixture or dressing.
Wash, scrape and slice one quart carrots roundwise. Put them in a
saucepan with one tablespoon of butter or drippings, three tablespoons
of sugar and one teaspoon salt. Cover closely and let simmer on a slow
fire until tender.
Scrape, slice and cook one quart of carrots in one quart of boiling
water to which has been added one teaspoon of salt, until tender; drain.
Heat two tablespoons fat, add one small onion, brown lightly, add the
carrots, season with one teaspoon of sugar, one-quarter teaspoon of
salt, one-eighth teaspoon of white pepper and shake well over the fire
for ten minutes, add one and one-half cups of soup stock, cover and
simmer for one-half hour, then add one teaspoon chopped parsley and
serve hot.
Salt and pepper two pounds of fat brisket of beef and let stand several
hours. Wash and scrape two bunches of carrots and cut in small cubes.
Place in kettle with meat, cover with boiling; water and cook several
hours or until the meat and carrots are tender, and the water is half
boiled away. Heat two tablespoons of fat in a spider, let brown
slightly, add two tablespoons of flour and gradually one cup of carrot
and meat liquid. Place in kettle with meat and carrots and boil until
carrots become browned.
Make a syrup of one cup of sugar and one cup of water by boiling ten
minutes. To this syrup add two cups of carrots diced, which have
previously been browned in two tablespoons hot fat or butter. Cook all
together until carrots are tender. Brown in oven and serve.
Free the corn from husks and silk; have a kettle of water boiling hard;
drop the corn into it and cook ten minutes (or longer if the corn is not
young). If a very large number of ears are put into the water they will
so reduce the temperature that a longer time will be needed. In no case,
however, should the corn be left too long in the water, as overcooking
spoils the delicate flavor.
Corn is frequently cut from the cob after it is cooked and served in
milk or butter; but by this method much of the flavor and juke of the
corn itself is wasted; It is better to cut the corn from the cob before
cooking. With a sharp knife cut off the grains, not cutting closely
enough to remove any of the woody portion of the skins. Then with a
knife press out all the pulp and milk remaining in the cob; add this to
the corn; season well with salt, pepper and butter; add a little more
milk if the corn is dry; cook, preferably in the oven, for about ten
minutes, stirring occasionally. If the oven is not hot, cook over the
fire.
Mix equal parts of corn, cut from the ear, and any kind of beans; boil
them separately; then stir them lightly together, and season with
butter, salt, and pepper and add a little cream if convenient.
To one can of corn take one tablespoon of butter, one-half cup milk;
sprinkle one tablespoon of flour over these; stir and cook about five
minutes, until thoroughly hot. Season to taste and serve hot.
Wash one peck of dandelions; remove roots. Cook one hour in two quarts
of boiling salted water. Drain, chop fine; season with salt, pepper and
butter. Serve with vinegar.
Cut four cucumbers in half lengthwise; remove the seeds with a spoon,
lay the cucumbers in vinegar overnight; then wipe dry and fill with a
mixture made from one cup pecans or Brazil nuts chopped, six tablespoons
of mashed potatoes, one well-beaten egg, one teaspoon of salt, two
tablespoons of chopped parsley, one saltspoon of white pepper, dash of
nutmeg and two tablespoons of melted butter. Bake in a buttered dish
until tender. Serve hot with one cup of white sauce, dash of powdered
cloves, one well-beaten egg, salt and pepper to taste.
Daintily prepared fried cucumbers are immeasurably superior to fried egg
plant and are especially nice with boiled chicken.
Peel and slice the cucumbers lengthwise in about the same thickness
observed with egg plant. Lay these slices in salt and water for about an
hour, then dip in beaten egg and cracker dust, and French fry in boiling
fat, taking care to carefully drain in a colander before serving.
Take a firm, white head of cabbage; cut it in halves; take out the heart
and cut as fine as possible on slaw-cutter. Cut up one onion at the same
time and a sour apple. Now sprinkle with salt and white pepper and a
liberal quantity of white sugar. Mix this lightly with two forks. Heat
one tablespoon of goose oil or butter, and mix it thoroughly in with the
cabbage. Heat some white wine vinegar in a spider; let it come to a
boil and pour over the slaw, boiling. Keep covered for a short time.
Serve cold.
Take brisket of beef weighing about two or three pounds. Set it on to
boil in two quarts of water, a little salt and the usual soup greens.
When the meat is tender take it out, salt it well and put on to boil
again in a porcelain-lined kettle, having previously removed all the
bones. Add about a cup of the soup stock and as much sauerkraut as you
desire. Boil about one hour; tie one tablespoon of caraway seed in a bag
and boil in with the kraut. Thicken with two raw potatoes, grated, and
add one tablespoon of brown sugar just before serving. If not sour
enough add a dash of vinegar. This gives you meat, vegetables and soup.
Mashed potatoes, kartoffelkloesse or any kind of flour dumpling is a
nice accompaniment. Sauerkraut is just as good warmed over as fresh,
which may be done two or three times in succession without injury to its
flavor.
Cut a small head of cabbage into four parts, cutting down through the
stock. Soak for half an hour in a pan of cold water to which has been
added one tablespoon of salt; this is to draw out any insects that may
be hidden in the leaves. Take from the water and cut into slices. Have a
large stew-pan half full of boiling water; put in the cabbage, pushing
it under the water with a spoon. Add one tablespoon of salt and cook
from twenty-five to forty-five minutes, depending upon the age of the
cabbage. Turn into a colander and drain for about two minutes. Put in a
chopping bowl and mince. Season with butter, pepper, and more salt if it
requires it. Allow one tablespoon of butter to a generous pint of the
cooked vegetable. Cabbage cooked in this manner will be of delicate
flavor and may be generally eaten without distress. Have the kitchen
windows open at the top while the cabbage is boiling, and there will be
little if any odor of cabbage in the house.
Cut one medium head of cabbage fine, soak ten minutes in salt water.
Drain, heat three tablespoons of fat (from top of soup stock preferred),
add cabbage, one sour apple peeled and cut up, caraway seed to taste,
salt, paprika and one-half onion minced. Cover very closely and cook
slowly for one hour.
To one pint of boiled and minced new cabbage add one-half pint of hot
milk, one tablespoon of butter, one teaspoon of flour, one-half teaspoon
each of salt and pepper, one teaspoon finely minced parsley and a
generous dash of sweet paprika. The butter and flour should be creamed
together before stirring in. Let simmer for about ten minutes, stirring
occasionally to keep from burning. Serve hot on toasted bread.
Cut the cabbage into thin shreds as for cold slaw. (Use a plane if
convenient). Boil it until tender in salted fast-boiling water. Drain it
thoroughly, and pour over it a hot sauce made of one tablespoon of
butter, one-half teaspoon of salt, dash of pepper and of cayenne, and
one-half to one cup of vinegar, according to its strength. Cover the
saucepan and let it stand on the side of the range for five minutes, so
that the cabbage and sauce will become well incorporated.
Pare the carrots and cut them into finger lengths, in thin strips. Put a
breast of lamb or mutton on to boil, having previously salted it well.
When boiling, add the carrots and cover closely. Prepare the cabbage as
usual and lay in with the mutton and carrots; boil two hours at least;
when all has boiled tender, skim off some of the fat and put it into a
spider. Add to this one tablespoon of flour, one tablespoon of brown
sugar and one-half teaspoon of cinnamon. Keep adding gravy from the
mutton until well mixed, and pour all over the mutton and vegetables.
Serve together on a platter.
Clean and drain cabbage, cut in small pieces and boil until tender.
Drain and rinse in cold water; chop fine, heat one tablespoon of
drippings in spider, one-fourth of an onion cut fine and one tablespoon
of flour; brown all together, add one-half pint of soup stock, add
cabbage and cook ten minutes longer. Salt and pepper to taste.
Take a large, solid head of cabbage; take off the large top leaves, and
scoop out the centre of the cabbage so as to leave the outside leaves
intact for refilling. Chop your cabbage fine as for slaw; take a quarter
of a loaf of stale bread, soak it in water and squeeze very dry. Heat
two tablespoons of drippings in a spider, add a large-sized onion
chopped fine, do not let the onion get too brown; then add the bread,
one pound of chopped beef well minced and the chopped cabbage and let it
get well heated; take off stove and add two eggs, pepper, salt, nutmeg,
a little parsley and a little sage, season very highly. Use a little
more cabbage than bread the filling. Put this all back in the cabbage,
and cover this with the large leaves, put into small bread-pan and bake
for two hours, put just enough water in to keep the pan from burning;
don't baste. It doesn't harm if the leaves scorch.
Boil cabbage whole for ten minutes. Let it cool and boil the rice. Mix
chopped meat, rice, and salt and pepper. Separate the cabbage leaves;
put about three tablespoons of the meat and rice in the leaves, roll up
and tie together with string. Then fry in fat until brown. Boil for half
an hour in a little water. Make brown gravy and pour over.
Boil cabbage whole for five minutes; drain, separate the leaves after it
has cooled. Mix one cup of boiled rice with three dozen raisins, pinch
of salt, one teaspoon of cinnamon and two tablespoons of drippings. Put
two tablespoons of this mixture in three or four leaves, roll them and
tie together with string. Place in pan and let cook for an hour until
done. This dish is just as good warmed up a second time.
There must be sufficient fat and gravy to prevent the cabbage rolls from
sticking to the bottom of the pan which must be kept closely covered.
Put two or three sticks of cinnamon, salt and pepper, one-half teaspoon
cloves, one onion sliced thin, one bay leaf, two cups of water, three
tablespoons of drippings in saucepan, then add five or six greening
apples, peeled and cut in quarters. Lastly, put in one medium-sized red
cabbage, cut in halves and then sliced very thin. Cook three hours and
then add two tablespoons each of sugar and vinegar; cook one minute
more.
Cut fine on slaw-cutter, put cabbage in a colander, pour boiling water
over it and let it stand over another pan for ten minutes; salt, mix
well, and cut up a sour apple in the cabbage. Heat one tablespoon goose
or soup drippings, brown in this an onion cut fine, add the cabbage and
stew slowly, keep covered. Add a little hot water after it has boiled
about five minutes. When tender add a few cloves, vinegar, brown sugar
and cinnamon to taste, and serve. White cabbage may be cooked in this
way.
Clean cabbage and cut off outside leaves, cut on cabbage-cutter—blanch
as above. Take one tablespoon of butter, put in kettle and let brown,
add cabbage, let simmer about ten minutes, stir and let simmer ten
minutes more. Add about one cup of water, one-fourth cup of vinegar, and
one tablespoon of sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Add one-fourth cup of
raisins and blanched chestnuts and cook until tender, adding to cabbage
just before serving. Take one tablespoon of flour smooth with cold
water, add to cabbage, let cook a few minutes and serve.
Hash may be made with one or many vegetables and with or without the
addition of meat and fish. Potato is the most useful vegetable for hash,
because it combines well with meat or other vegetables. The vegetables
must be chopped fine, well seasoned with salt and pepper, and parsley,
onion, chives or green pepper if desired, and moistened with stock, milk
or water, using a quarter of a cup to a pint of hash. Melt one-half
tablespoon of butter or savory drippings in a pan; put in the hash,
spreading it evenly and dropping small pieces of butter or drippings
over the top. Cover the pan; let the hash cook over a moderate fire for
half an hour; fold over like an omelet and serve. If properly cooked
there will be a rich brown crust formed on the outside of the hash.
Parboil eggplant until tender, but not soft, in boiling salted water.
Cut in half crosswise with a sharp knife. Scrape out the inside and do
not break the skin.
Heat one tablespoon of butter, add a minced onion, brown, then scraped
eggplant, bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste and an egg yolk. Mix
well together, refill shells, place in dripping pan in oven—baste with
butter or sprinkle cracker crumbs on top with bits of butter—baste
often and brown nicely.
For preparing eggplant, either to fry or boil, use small eggplant as
they are of more delicate flavor than the large ones. Do not cook too
rapidly.
Slice the eggplant and drain it as for frying; spread the slices on a
dish; season with salt and pepper; baste with olive oil; sprinkle with
dried bread crumbs and broil.
Arrange in oiled pan in layers: one layer of sliced eggplant, one layer
of chopped meat seasoned with egg, chopped parsley, salt and pepper; as
many layers as desired, add a little olive oil, cover with water. Bake
one-half hour.
Brown onion, peel eggplant raw, cut in quarters, put in when onions are
brown with a little water and stew; add salt, white pepper, sour salt,
red tomatoes; when half done add one-fourth cup of rice, cook until rice
is tender.
Pare eggplant, cut in very thin slices. Sprinkle with salt, pile slices
on a plate. Cover with a weight to draw out juice; let stand one hour.
Dredge with flour and fry slowly in a little butter until crisp and
brown, or dip in egg and cracker and fry in deep fat.
Shell the peas and cover them with water; bring to a boil; then push
aside until the water will just bubble gently. Keep the lid partly off.
When the peas are tender add salt and butter; cook ten minutes longer
and serve. If the peas are not the sweet variety, add one teaspoon of
sugar.
Sugar peas may be cooked in the pods like string beans. Gather the pods
while the seeds are still very small; string like beans and cut into
pieces. Cover with boiling water and boil gently for twenty-five or
thirty minutes or until tender. Pour off most of the water, saving it
for soup; season the rest with salt and butter and serve.
Wash, scrape and cut one pint of carrots in small cubes, cook until
tender, drain and reserve one-half cup of carrot water. Mix carrots
well with one pint cooked green peas. Sprinkle with two tablespoons of
flour, salt, pepper and sugar to taste, add two tablespoons of fat or
butter, one-half cup of milk or soup stock and carrot water, boil a
little longer and serve.
Make the pfärvel. Heat one-quarter cup of butter or other fat, add the
pfärvel and when golden brown, add one quart of boiling water, one-half
cup of sugar, one-half teaspoon of salt, aid one can or one-half peck of
green peas strained. Set in moderate oven and bake one-half hour or
until every kernel stands out separately. Serve hot.
Shell one-half peck of green peas and wash them well; if canned peas are
used pour off liquid and rinse with cold water. Heat one-fourth cup of
butter or other fat in a spider, add one cup of rice and let simmer,
stirring constantly until rice is a golden brown; add one quart of
boiling water, then the drained peas and one-half teaspoon of salt, and
one-half cup of granulated sugar. Place in pudding dish, set in the oven
and bake until rice is tender. (Serve hot.)
Sweet green peppers, within the last ten years have gained a place in
cookery in this country. Their flavor is depended on for soups. They are
used in stews. They are used for salad, and they are used much as a
separate vegetable in dozens of different ways.
Select six tender, sweet peppers. Soak in water bread crumbs sufficient
to make one pint when the water is pressed out; mix with one-fourth
teaspoon basil, herbs and two teaspoons of salt, add two tablespoons of
butter.
Cut off the stem end of each pepper; carefully remove the interior and
fill the peppers with the prepared dressing. Place in a shallow
baking-pan and pour around them white sauce thinned with two cups of
water. Bake about one hour, basting frequently with the sauce.
Cut a slice from the blossom end of each pepper, remove seeds and
parboil ten minutes. Chop one onion fine and cook in fat until straw
color; add one-fourth cup of cold cooked chicken or veal, and 1/4 cup
of mushrooms; cook two minutes, add 1/2 cup of water and two tablespoons
of bread crumbs. Cool, sprinkle peppers with salt and a pinch of red
pepper. Fill with stuffing, cover with crumbs and bake ten minutes.
Take sweet green peppers, cut off blossom end; prepare the following: To
one pound of chopped meat take one egg, grate in one onion, a little
salt, citric acid (size of bean dissolved in a little water), mix all
together. Place this mixture in the peppers, but do not fill too full.
Set the entire top of peppers in place. Melt one tablespoon of fat in a
saucepan, add sliced tomatoes, then the stuffed peppers and 1/2 cup of
water; let steam 1/2 or 3/4 of an hour. Make sweet sour with a little
citric acid and sugar to taste. Thicken gravy with 1/2 tablespoon of
flour, browned with 1/2 tablespoon of fat.
Brown large white onions, add 1/2 cup of uncooked rice, a little salt,
piece of citric acid (size of a bean dissolved in a little water), fill
peppers, stew with tomatoes like Arday-influs. Or fill peppers with red
cabbage which has been steamed with onions and fat, and add moistened
rice.
Another good way to stuff peppers is to parboil them and then stuff them
with a forcemeat made of chopped nuts and bread crumbs moistened with
salt and pepper. Bake, basting occasionally with melted butter for
twenty minutes.
Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds, stems and pith. Then cut
them in neat, small pieces and throw into boiling salted water. Boil for
half an hour. Drain them and then add salt to taste, one tablespoon of
butter and four tablespoons of cream—to four peppers. Heat thoroughly
and serve.
Broil on all sides; place the broiled peppers in a dish of cold water so
that the skin can be easily removed. When the peppers are all peeled put
in a bowl or crock, add French dressing, and cover closely. These
peppers will keep all winter.
There are many varieties of radishes, round and long, black, white, and
red. The small red radish may be obtained all year. They are served
uncooked, merely for a relish. The large varieties are peeled, sliced
and salted for the table.
To serve the small ones for table, remove tip end of root, remove the
leaves and have only a small piece of stem on radish. They may be made
to look like a tulip by cutting into six equal parts from the root end,
down three-quarters of the length of the radish.
Wash the mushrooms; remove the stems and peel the caps. Place them in a
broiler and broil for five minutes, with the cap side down during the
first half of broiling. Serve on circular pieces of buttered toast,
sprinkling with salt and pepper and putting a small piece of butter on
each cap.
First wash them thoroughly in cold water, peel them and remove the
stems, then cut them in halves or quarters, according to their size.
Melt one tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over the fire then add the
mushrooms and let them simmer slowly in the butter for five minutes;
season them well with salt and black pepper, freshly ground. After
seasoning, add a gill of cream and while it is heating sift one
tablespoon of flour in a bowl, add one-half pint of milk. Stir these
briskly till flour is all dissolved, then pour it gradually in the
saucepan with the mushrooms and cream, stirring the whole constantly to
keep it from lumping. Let it just bubble a moment, then add another
tablespoon of butter and pour the creamed mushrooms over hot buttered
toast on a hot platter and serve.
Cooked like this mushrooms have more nutritive value than beef.
Sauté mushrooms and prepare two cups of white sauce for one pound of
mushrooms, add one teaspoon of onion juice. Into a well-greased baking
dish place one-quarter of the mushroom, then one-quarter of the sauce,
and one-quarter of the bread crumbs, continue in this way until all the
sauce is used, pour one cup of cream over this and sprinkle the
remaining crumbs over the top. Bake fifteen minutes in a moderate oven,
or until the crumbs are browned.
Wash, peel caps and stems of one pound of mushrooms, drain dry between
towels. Place in spider with two tablespoons of butter and one-quarter
teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook twenty minutes, tossing them. Serve on
hot slices of toast.
Wash and cut off the ends of young pods, cover with boiling salted water
and cook about twenty minutes, until tender. Drain, add cream (a scant
cup to a quart of okra), a tablespoon of butter, and salt and pepper to
taste. Another way of stewing is to cook it with tomatoes. To a pint of
okra pods, washed and sliced, allow a dozen ripe tomatoes, peeled and
sliced, and one medium-sized onion. Stew slowly for an hour, adding one
tablespoon of butter, a scant teaspoon of salt and pepper to season. No
water will be required, the tomato juice sufficing. In the West Indies
lemon juice and cayenne are also added to stewed okra.
Peel the onions and cut off the roots; drop each into cold water as soon
as it is peeled. When all are ready, drain and put in a saucepan well
covered with boiling water, adding a teaspoon of salt for every quart of
water. Boil rapidly for ten minutes with the cover partly off; drain and
return to the fire with fresh water. Simmer until tender; add pepper and
butter and serve, or omit the butter and pepper and pour a cream sauce
over the onions.
Boil two large onions until very soft, drain, chop, and return to the
saucepan with a small piece of butter. Add milk, salt, pepper, a dash of
tabasco sauce, one teaspoon of prepared mustard; one-half cup of grated
cheese. Stir until of the consistency of custard.
Cut boiled onions into quarters; put them in a baking dish and mix well
with cream sauce; cover with bread crumbs and bits of butter and place
in the oven until the crumbs are browned.
Peel squash, cut in quarters, put on to boil in cold water, and cook
until tender. Drain, mash fine and smooth, add one-half cup of milk or
cream, one tablespoon of butter, pinch of salt and pepper and put back
on stove to keep hot. Beat well with a spoon to make light and smooth.
First scrape parsnips, then boil in weak salt water until tender; drain,
and put in white sauce. Oyster plant may be prepared same way.
Spinach with large leaves is best. It is richest in mineral matter and
is less liable to conceal insects that are difficult to dislodge. Buy
the crisp, green spinach that has no withered leaves or stalks. That is
the freshest and healthiest.
Cut off the roots and pick it over carefully, cutting off all the
withered leaves and stems, put the leaves in cold salt water to soak for
half an hour. That refreshens them, and makes any minute insects crawl
out and come to the surface. Shake the leaves about and turn them over
several times, drop them in a large pan of water; rinse well; lift them
out separately and drop back into a second pan of water. Continue
washing in fresh water until there is not a grain of sand to be found in
the bottom of the pan.
In cooking be careful not to put too much water in the pot. That is the
trouble with most spinach. It is drowned in water; a cup is plenty for
one quart of spinach. Let the water come to a boil. Then lift the
spinach out of the pan with the cold water dripping from it and put it
into the pot, into the boiling water. Put the lid on the pot. Turn the
fire a little low and let it cook slowly for fifteen minutes, stirring
every now and then to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Just before taking up the spinach put some salt in it; then drain off
the water and put a big tablespoon of butter and one-quarter teaspoon of
pepper in it. Take it out of the pot and place it in a long, flat dish.
Slice some hard-boiled eggs and place the slices all around the spinach
for a kind of border.
Cook as directed, drain through colander, and grind through machine,
make a rich cream sauce. Stir spinach in this sauce, add pepper, salt,
nutmeg to taste, and garnish with slices of hard-boiled egg.
Boil a quart of spinach about fifteen minutes, drain thoroughly through
a colander and chop extremely fine. Heat one tablespoon of drippings in
a saucepan, rub one tablespoon of flour in it, add salt, pepper and
ginger to taste. Add one cup of soup stock to the whole or some beef
gravy. Put the spinach in the sauce, let boil for five minutes. Garnish
with hard-boiled eggs or use only the hard-boiled whites for decoration,
rub the yolks to a powder and mix through the spinach.
Cut off the faded outside leaves and hard part of the stalk, and wash
the vegetable well. Cook in boiling salted water. Drain, chop very fine
and proceed as with spinach in the foregoing recipe.
Remove any wilted leaves from the outside of the sprouts, and let them
stand in cold salted water from fifteen to twenty minutes. Put the
sprouts into salted, rapidly boiling water and cook, uncovered, fifteen
or twenty minutes or until tender, but not until they lose their shape.
Drain them thoroughly in a colander; then place them in a saucepan with
butter, pepper and salt, and toss them until seasoned; or mix them
lightly with just enough white sauce to coat them.
Wash, scrape and put at once in cold water with a little vinegar to keep
from discoloring. Cut one-half inch slices and cook in boiling, salted
water until soft. Drain and serve in white sauce. Or boil in salted,
boiling water until tender and cut in four pieces lengthwise, dredge
with flour and sprinkle with a little salt and fry in hot butter or fat
until nicely browned.
Boil and slice the salsify as in preceding recipe. Butter a baking dish;
fill it by adding alternate layers of salsify and small bits of cheese.
Season with salt, pepper and butter. Pour over it a sufficient quantity
of milk or cream to moisten thoroughly. Bake one-half hour. Bread crumbs
may be added if desired.
Wash one pound of prunes or plums and put on to boil with one pound of
brisket of beef or any fat meat; when the meat is tender add five
medium-sized sweet potatoes which have been pared and cut in small
pieces. Place the meat on top, add one-half cup of sugar and a piece of
sour salt (citric acid). Cover and bake until nicely browned. If gravy
should cook away add some warm water.
Take equal portions of parboiled spinach and sorrel, season to taste
with ground nutmeg, pepper and salt, and add sufficient drippings to
make all moist enough. Place in a covered dish in a slow oven.
This is prepared on Friday and left in the oven to keep hot until needed
for Shabbas dinner. All green vegetables may be prepared in the same
way.
Do not spoil turnips by overcooking. The flat white summer turnip when
sliced will cook in thirty minutes. The winter turnip requires from
forty-five to sixty minutes.
Have the turnips peeled and sliced. Drop the slices into a stew-pan with
boiling water enough to cover generously. Cook until tender, then drain
well. They are now ready to mash or chop. If they are to be served
mashed, put them back in the stew-pan; mash with a wooden vegetable
masher, as metal is apt to impart an unpleasant taste. Season with salt,
butter, and a little pepper. Serve at once.
Chop the drained turnips into rather large pieces. Return to the
stew-pan, and for one and one-half pints of turnips add one teaspoon of
salt, one-fourth teaspoon of pepper, one tablespoon of butter, and four
tablespoons of water. Cook over a very hot fire until the turnips have
absorbed all the seasonings. Serve at once. Or the salt, pepper, butter,
and one tablespoon of flour may be added to the hashed turnips; then the
stew-pan may be placed over the hot fire and shaken frequently to toss
up the turnips. When the turnips have been cooking five minutes in this
manner add one-half pint of meat stock or of milk and cook ten minutes.
When meat or soup stock is used substitute drippings for the butter in
the above recipe.
Strip off the young leaves and boil in salt water. Then peel the heads
thickly, cut into round, thin slices, and lay in cold water for an hour.
Put on to boil a breast of mutton or lamb, which has been previously
well salted, and spice with a little ground ginger. When the mutton has
boiled one-half hour add the sliced kohl-rabi, and boil covered. In the
meantime, drain all the water from the leaves, which you have boiled
separately, and chop them, but not too fine, and add them to the mutton.
When done thicken with flour, season with pepper and more salt if
needed. You may omit the leaves if you are not fond of them.
Kohl-rabi is fine flavored and delicate, if cooked when very young and
tender. It should be used when it has a diameter of not more than two or
three inches.
Wash, peel and cut the Kohl-rabi root in dice and cook in salt water
until tender. Cook the greens or tops in another pan of boiling water
until tender, drain and chop very fine in a wooden bowl. Heat butter or
fat, add flour, then the chopped greens, and one cup of liquor the
Kohl-rabi root was cooked in or one cup of soup stock. Add the
Kohl-rabi, cook altogether, and serve.
Use same quantities as for turnips.
Remove all the old or tough leaves; wash the kale thoroughly and drain.
Put it into boiling water to which has been added salt in the proportion
of one-half tablespoon to two quarts of water. Boil rapidly, uncovered,
until the vegetable is tender; pour off the water; chop the kale very
fine; return it to the kettle with one tablespoon of drippings and two
of meat stock or water to every pint of the minced vegetable. Add more
salt if necessary; cook for ten minutes and serve at once. The entire
time for cooking varies from thirty to fifty minutes.
The leaves are sweeter and more tender after having been touched by the
frost. The same is true of Savoy cabbage.
This vegetable is a variety of beet in which the leaf stalk and midrib
have been developed instead of the root. It is cultivated like spinach,
and the green, tender leaves are prepared exactly like this vegetable.
The midribs of the full-grown leaves may be cooked like celery.
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes; remove the skins; cut into small
pieces and place in a saucepan over the fire. Boil gently for twenty or
thirty minutes and season, allowing for each quart of tomatoes one
generous teaspoon each of salt and sugar and one tablespoon of butter.
If in addition to this seasoning a slice of onion has been cooked with
the tomatoes from the beginning, the flavor will be greatly improved.
Salt, pepper; add a lump of butter the size of an egg and add one
tablespoon of sugar. Thicken with one teaspoon of flour wet with one
tablespoon of cold water, stir into the tomatoes and boil up once.
Cut large, sound tomatoes in halves and flour the insides thickly.
Season with a little salt and pepper. Allow the butter to get very hot
before putting in the tomatoes. When brown on one side, turn, and when
done serve with hot cream or thicken some milk and pour over the
tomatoes hot.
Cut into thin slices large green tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and dip
into cornmeal, fry slowly in a little butter till well browned; keep the
frying-pan covered while they are cooking, so they will be perfectly
tender. These are very delicately flavored, and much easier to fry than
ripe tomatoes. They make an excellent breakfast dish.
Scald the tomatoes, take off the skins carefully and stew with one
teaspoon each of butter and sugar; salt and pepper to taste. This is
enough seasoning for a quart of tomatoes. When the tomatoes are very
soft strain through a coarse sieve and if necessary thicken with one
teaspoon of flour.
Drain off part of the juice from one quart of tomatoes and season with
pepper, salt, and onion juice. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with
rolled crackers, dot over with dabs of butter, pepper, and salt, then
another layer of tomatoes, then of crumbs, and so on until a layer of
crumbs covers the top.
If fresh tomatoes are used bake one hour, if canned, 1/2 hour.
If the crumbs begin to brown too quickly cover the dish with a tin
plate.
Select tomatoes of uniform size, cut a slice from the stem end and scoop
out a portion of the pulp. Have in readiness a dressing made from grated
bread crumbs, parsley, a slice of minced onion, a high seasoning of salt
and paprika and sufficient melted butter to moisten. Fill this into the
tomatoes and heap it up in the centers. Place a bit of butter on top of
each and bake in a quick oven until the vegetables are tender and the
tops are delicately browned.
Take six large tomatoes, pour boiling water over them and skin them.
Scrape all the inside out with a spoon, put in saucepan together with
two onions, a tablespoon of butter, one pint of water; let this boil for
a little while; strain, place back on stove, pour into this one-half
pound of rice, let it cook tender; add salt, pepper, a tablespoon of
butter and a little grated cheese. Fill the tomatoes with this mixture,
dip them in egg and bread crumbs, then fry till nice and brown.
Simmer for fifteen minutes in a covered saucepan four cups chopped
tomatoes, four eggs, one sliced onion, one bay leaf, and sprig of
parsley. Strain and if there be not two cups of liquid, add water. Beat
four eggs and add to liquid. Pour into greased baking cups, and stand
them in a pan of water and bake until firm—about fifteen minutes. Turn
out and serve with cream sauce containing green peas.
Take a deep earthenware dish, pour into it a cup of cream; cut several
slices of eggplant very thin, salt well, and line the dish with them;
slice two large tomatoes, place a layer of these on the eggplant, next a
layer of spaghetti (cooked); sprinkle with grated cheese, pieces of
butter, salt, and pepper; cover this with layer of tomatoes; salt well
and sprinkle with chopped green pepper, and a top layer of eggplant,
which also salt and pepper well. Cook gently an hour and a half in slow,
hot oven.
Take one small onion and half a green pepper, chop them fine and cook
until tender in a tablespoon of butter. Cut six tomatoes in half,
sprinkle with a little sugar, season on both sides with salt, pepper and
a little flour, and put them into the pan with skin-side down to cook
partially, then turn them once; they must cook over a slow fire. Then
sprinkle one tablespoon of chopped parsley over them, pour in one cup of
thick cream and when this has become thoroughly hot, and has been
combined with the other ingredients, the tomatoes are ready to serve.
They have not been disturbed since the first turning and have retained
their shape. Half a tomato is placed on a slice of toast, with
sufficient gravy to moisten. At the season of the year, when tomatoes
are hard and firm, they may be peeled before cooking. Later they will
likely fall to pieces unless the skin is left on. This is one method of
cooking tomatoes in which they lose the sharp acid taste, disagreeable
to so many persons.
Cut off both ends of the beans, string them carefully and break into
pieces about an inch in length and boil in salt water. When tender drain
off this brine and add fresh water (boiling from the kettle). Add a
piece of butter, three or four large potatoes cut into squares, also
four large tomatoes, cut up, and season with salt and pepper. Melt one
tablespoon of butter in a spider, stir into it one tablespoon of flour,
thin with milk, and add this to the beans.
Take a small breast of lamb, two large onions, one-quarter peck of beans
(string and cut in long thin pieces); skin six large tomatoes, and add
two cups of water. Cook until the beans are tender, then add one
tablespoon of flour to thicken.
Put the beans into sufficient boiling water to just cover them; cook for
one hour and a half to two hours, depending upon the tenderness of the
beans. Meanwhile, prepare for each quart of beans five sour apples;
peel, core and cut in pieces. When the beans are done, add the apples,
the thin peel of one lemon, the juice of one and one-half lemons, a
small teaspoon of salt, and two tablespoons of cider vinegar. Let the
apples cook on top of the beans until they are thoroughly done, then mix
well with a good quarter cup of granulated sugar. This dish will be
better by being served the next day warmed up.
If you use canned string beans, heat some fat in a spider and put in one
tablespoon of flour; brown slightly; add one tablespoon of brown sugar,
a pinch of salt, some cinnamon and vinegar to taste; then add the beans
and let them simmer on the back of stove, but do not let them burn. The
juice of pickled peaches or pears is delicious in preparing sweet and
sour beans.
Cut off the tops and bottoms and "string" carefully; break the beans in
pieces about an inch long and lay them in cold water, with a little
salt, for ten or fifteen minutes. Heat one tablespoon of drippings in a
stew-pan, in which you have cut up part of an onion and some parsley;
cover this and stew about ten minutes. In the meantime, drain the beans,
put into the stew-pan and stew until tender; add one tablespoon of flour
and season with salt and pepper (meat gravy or soup stock will improve
them). You may pare about half a dozen potatoes, cut into dice shape,
and add to the beans. If you prefer, you may add cream or milk instead
of soup stock and use butter.
Potatoes are valuable articles of food and care should be taken in
cooking them. The most economical method is to cook them in their
"jackets" as there is not nearly as much waste of potato or of the salts
that are valuable as food.
Potatoes should be well brushed and put on to boil in a saucepan of
boiling water; they should continue boiling at the same degree of heat
until they are done, when a fork will easily pierce them. This will take
from twenty-five to thirty minutes. Drain, draw the saucepan to a low
flame, place a clean cloth folded over the top of the saucepan and press
the lid down over it. This dries the potatoes and makes them a good
color. Hold the potatoes in a cloth and peel them, then reheat for one
minute and serve.
New potatoes, if well brushed or scraped do not require peeling.
To serve twenty people one-half peck of potatoes is required.
Peel six or eight potatoes, and put them on in boiling water to which
has been added one teaspoon of salt. Boil as above.
The saucepan used for cooking potatoes should be used for no other
purpose.
BAKED POTATOES, No. 1
Select fine, smooth potatoes and boil them about twenty minutes. Drain
off the water, remove the skins and pack in a buttered dish. Lay a small
piece of butter on each potato, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and
sprinkle fine bread crumbs over all, with a few tablespoons of cream.
Bake until a nice light brown. Serve in the same dish. Garnish with
parsley.
BAKED POTATOES, No. 2
Wash large potatoes and bake in a quick oven until soft, which will take
about three-quarters of an hour. This is the most wholesome way of
cooking potatoes.
Pare very thin, medium potatoes as near a size as possible. Have ready a
pot of boiling water, salted, drop in the potatoes and keep them at a
quick boil until tender. Serve with a batter made by beating to a cream
two tablespoons of butter, one-half tablespoon of lemon juice and one
tablespoon of finely minced parsley; add salt and a dash of cayenne
pepper; spread over the hot potatoes, and it will melt into a delicious
dressing. This is especially nice to serve with fish.
Brush and scrape off all the skin of six potatoes and boil for half an
hour in salted boiling water, drain, salt and dry for a few minutes, and
then pour melted butter over them and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Old potatoes may be used. Pare as many potatoes as required. Boil in
salt water, drain thoroughly when done and mash them in the pot with a
potato masher, working in a large tablespoon of butter and enough milk
to make them resemble dough, do not allow any lumps to form in your
dish. Garnish with parsley.
SCALLOPED POTATOES, No. 1
Grease a pan with butter. Choose the potatoes that are so big or
misshapen you wouldn't want to use them for boiling or baking. Cut them
in thin slices. Spread them in the pan in a layer an inch thick.
Sprinkle with pepper and salt to taste. Dot with butter here and there,
perhaps a half teaspoon for each layer. Four or six bits of butter
should be sprinkled over each layer. Repeat the layers of the raw
potatoes until the pan is full. Cover them with milk. Place in the oven
and cook for one hour.
SCALLOPED POTATOES, No. 2
Cut two cups of cold potatoes into cubes; mix well with two cups of
cream sauce, adding more seasoning if necessary; pour into a baking
dish; cover with one cup of bread crumbs and dot with small pieces of
butter and bake for about half an hour.
Take either sweet or Irish potatoes, or both; pare, wash, and salt them,
and lay them around the meat, and let them roast for about
three-quarters of an hour. Turn them about once, so they will be nicely
browned.
Make a cream sauce, a little thinner than usual by adding a little extra
milk. Cut two cups of boiled potatoes into small cubes and mix them
thoroughly with the same. Cook in a double boiler until the potatoes are
thoroughly hot, add a little chopped parsley if desired, and serve.
Slice two cups of cold boiled potatoes and add them to two cups of hot
cream sauce. Bring all to a boil; remove and add three tablespoons of
grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Pour all into a baking dish,
sprinkle buttered bread crumbs over the top and set in the oven to
brown.
Cut up some raw potatoes quite thin, salt and pepper and drop in boiling
fat. Cover up at first to soften them. Turn frequently to prevent
burning and then remove the cover to brown slightly.
Proceed as above; but do not cover and do not take as many potatoes at
one time.
Finely hash up six cold boiled potatoes and keep on a plate. Heat one
tablespoon of butter in a frying-pan, add a finely chopped onion, and
lightly brown for three minutes, then add the potatoes. Season with
one-half teaspoon of salt and two saltspoons of white pepper, evenly
sprinkled over, then nicely brown them for ten minutes, occasionally
tossing them meanwhile. Give them a nice omelet form, brown for eight
minutes more, turn on a hot dish, sprinkle a little freshly chopped
parsley over and serve. These potatoes may be prepared with fat in place
of butter.
Melt two tablespoons of fat in a frying-pan; add one onion chopped fine
and cook until straw color. Add two cups of boiled potatoes, cut in
dice, one-half cup of stock, and one tablespoon of curry powder. Cook
until the stock has been absorbed; then add one-half teaspoon of salt, a
dash of red pepper, and one teaspoon of lemon juice.
Take cold mashed potatoes or cold baked or boiled potatoes that have
been mashed and seasoned; roll into balls, dusting the hands well with
flour first. Flatten into cakes and sauté in butter, or place on a
buttered tin with a small piece of butter on the top of each and bake in
a hot oven until golden brown.
Butter well a deep baking dish, holding a quart or more. In the bottom
place a layer of potatoes, sliced thin, then a layer of corn, using
one-half the contents of a can. On this sprinkle a little grated onion
and season with salt, pepper and bits of butter. Add another layer of
potatoes, then the rest of the corn, seasoning as before, and cover the
whole with a layer of cracker crumbs. Dot well with butter, pour on milk
until it comes to the top, and bake three-quarters of an hour. Use
cooked potatoes, having them cold before slicing.
Pare the potatoes and throw them into cold water until needed. Dry them
with a towel; cut into small pieces lengthwise of the potato; drop them
into hot fat and remove when lightly browned. It is better to fry only a
few at a time, letting those done stand in a colander in the oven to
keep hot. When all are done, sprinkle with salt and serve at once.
For variety; and for use in garnishing, cut the potatoes into balls,
using the vegetable cutter which comes for this purpose.
Boil medium-sized potatoes in their jackets until tender, peel while
hot. Put two tablespoons of butter or fat in spider, when hot add
potatoes, brown well all over. Drain, sprinkle with salt and one
teaspoon of caraway seeds and serve hot.
Heat two tablespoons of fat, add chopped onion and two tablespoons of
flour; when flour is brown, add 1-1/2 cups of water, stir and cook until
smooth, add salt, brown sugar and a little cinnamon to taste. Quarter
four medium-sized cooking pears, but do not peel, cook them in the brown
sauce, then add six medium, raw potatoes, pared, and cook until tender.
Buy a potato cutter at a first-class hardware store, and with it cut the
potatoes to the size of a hickory nut, and then fry or steam them. When
cooked they look just like new potatoes. They are especially nice to
garnish meats. You may also parboil and brown in fat, or boil and add
parsley as you would with new potatoes. The remainder of the raw
potatoes may be boiled and mashed or fried into ribbons.
Pare and lay in cold water (ice-water is best) for half an hour. Select
the largest potatoes, then cut round and round in one continuous
curl-like strip (there is also an instrument for this purpose, which
costs but a trifle); handle with care and fry a few at a time for fear
of entanglement, in deep fat.
Take small potatoes, pare and wash them very clean, use one onion to
about ten potatoes, add goose-oil (in fact any kind of drippings from
roast meat will answer) and put them in a pot or spider. When hot cut up
an onion very fine and add to the boiling fat. Then add the potatoes.
Salt and pepper to taste. Pour some water over all, cover up tight and
let them simmer for about 3/4 of an hour.
Put a tablespoon of drippings in a kettle, and when it is hot cut up an
onion fine and fry in the hot fat, cover closely. Put in potatoes, which
have been previously pared, washed, quartered and well salted. Cover
them tight and stew slowly until soft, stirring them occasionally. Then
heat in a spider a little drippings. Brown in this a spoon of flour and
add some soup-stock, vinegar and chopped parsley. Pour this over the
potatoes, boil up once and serve.
Pare and quarter, and put on to boil. When almost done drain off the
water, add one cup of milk, one tablespoon of butter, a little chopped
parsley and cook a while longer. Thicken with a little flour (wet with
cold water or milk), stir, and take from the fire.
Take as many potatoes as are needed; when done, cut off one end and take
out inside; mash this and mix with it one tablespoon of butter, a sprig
of parsley, pepper, salt, and enough milk to make quite soft. Put back
in tine potato skins and brown in oven and serve very hot.
If so desired the open end of each may be dipped in beaten egg before
being put in oven.
Pare, wash and boil potatoes until soft enough to mash well. Drain off
nearly all the water, leaving just a little; add one teaspoon of salt
and return to the stove. It is better to boil the potatoes in salt water
and add more salt if necessary after mashing. Sift one-half cup of flour
into the potatoes after returning to the fire and keep covered closely
for about five minutes. Then remove from the stove and mash them as hard
as you can, so as not to have any lumps. They must be of the consistency
of dough and smooth as velvet. Now put about two tablespoons of
drippings or goose-fat in a spider, chop up some onions very fine and
heat them until they become a light-brown, take a tablespoon and dip it
in the hot fat and then cut a spoonful of the potato dough with the same
spoon and put it in the spider, and so on until you have used all. Be
careful to dip your spoon in the hot fat every time you cut a puff. Let
them brown slightly.
Wash, pare and cut potatoes in one-third inch pieces, there should be
three cups; parboil three minutes, and drain. Add one-third cup of
butter, and cook on back of range until potatoes are soft and slightly
browned. Melt two tablespoons of butter, add a few drops of onion juice,
two tablespoons of flour, and pour on gradually one cup of hot milk,
season with salt and paprika, then add one well-beaten egg yolk. Pour
sauce over potatoes and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
Take two cups of cold mashed potatoes and stir into them one tablespoon
of melted butter, beating to a white cream before adding anything else.
Then put with this two eggs beaten extremely light, one cup of cream,
and salt to taste. Beat all well and pour into a deep dish, and bake in
a quick oven until it is nice and brown. If properly mixed, it will come
out of the oven light, puffy, and delectable.
Take large potatoes, parboil without peeling, cut a small piece of one
end of the potato and scoop out the inside. Mince two ounces cooked
mutton, season with pepper and salt, mix with the potato pulp and a
little gravy. Return end of potato to its place and bake for about
twenty minutes with a little fat on top of each potato.
Put on in boiling water, without any salt, and boil until a fork will
easily pierce the largest. Drain off the water and dry.
Boil, peel and cut lengthwise into slices a quarter of an inch thick.
Fry in sweet drippings or butter (cold boiled potatoes may also be fried
in this way).
Wash and cut small uncooked sweet potatoes into quarters; dry them and
lower them into boiling hot fat. Brown thoroughly; remove with a
skimmer; drain and dry on paper; sprinkle with salt and serve.
These are commonly called "baked" sweet potatoes. Select those of
uniform size; wash, and roast in the oven until done, which you can
easily tell by pressing the potatoes. If done they will leave an
impression when touched. It usually requires three-quarters of an hour.
Serve in their "jackets."
Pare, cut lengthwise, salt and put them around roast meats or poultry of
any kind. Roast about three-quarters of an hour, or until brown.
Wash and pare long sweet potatoes. Cook in boiling salted water until
almost soft; drain and cut slices crosswise, two inches high. Core, pare
and cut apples in one-half inch rounds. Into a spider, place the
potatoes upright, with a slice of apple on top of each. Pour over
one-half cup of maple syrup, one-fourth cup of water and two tablespoons
of butter. Baste frequently until apples are soft. Then pour one
teaspoon of rum over each section, place a candied cherry in the center
of each apple and bake ten minutes. Remove to platter and if desired,
pour more rum over and around. Light the liquor and bring to the table
burning.
Boil sweet potatoes, peel and cut into long slices; place in an earthen
dish; place lumps of butter or chicken-fat if desired on each side, and
sprinkle with sugar. A little water or juice of half a lemon may be
added. Bake until the sugar and fat have candied and the potatoes are
brown.
Look the beans over carefully to remove all dirt and pebbles, then wash
clean. Soak them overnight in plenty of cold water. In the morning pour
off the water and put them in a stew-pan with cold water enough to cover
them generously. Let them come to the boiling point in this water, then
drain. If the beans are old and hard, for each quart put a piece of soda
about the size of a large bean in the water in which they are soaked
overnight, also in the first water in which they are boiled.
The scalded and drained beans should be put back in the stew-pan and
covered generously with boiling water. Add one tablespoon of salt for
one quart of beans. They should now cook slowly, with the cover
partially off the stew-pan until they have reached the required degree
of tenderness. For stewed and baked beans the cooking must stop when the
skins begin to crack. For beans served with a sauce they should cook
until perfectly tender, but they must not be broken or mushy. For purées
and soups they should be cooked until very soft.
Soak overnight and drain the beans, boil in salted water until tender;
drain and prepare by adding salt and pepper to taste, thicken with one
tablespoon of drippings in which has been browned one tablespoon of
flour and some soup stock. If the beans are to be made sweet sour add
two tablespoons of vinegar and two tablespoons of brown sugar; boil for
a few minutes and serve.
Wash, pick over and soak overnight in cold water, two cups of navy
beans. In the morning, drain and cover with fresh water, heat slowly and
let cook just below the boiling point until the skins burst. When done,
drain beans and put in a pot with one and one-half pounds of brisket of
beef. Mix one-half tablespoon of mustard; one teaspoon of salt, one
tablespoon of molasses, two tablespoons of sugar, one-half cup of
boiling water and pour over beans, and add enough more boiling water to
cover them. Cover pot and bake slowly six or eight hours.
Wash two cups of haricot beans and leave them covered with two pints of
water overnight. Next day brown one coarsely chopped onion in a little
fat and put it with the beans and their water into a casserole or
stew-jar.
Cook closely covered and rather slowly in the oven or by the side of the
fire one hour, then put in a pound of beef in fairly large pieces.
An hour later add one carrot cut into dice, half as many dice of turnip,
and salt and pepper to taste. Continue the slow cooking until these
vegetables are tender, and a few minutes before serving thicken the stew
with pea meal or flour previously baked to a fawn color. Flavor with
vinegar.
Owing to its concentrated nutriment this stew should be served sparingly
with an abundance of potatoes and green vegetables.
Soak one-half cup of navy beans in cold water overnight. Drain and cook
in one quart boiling water with one teaspoon of salt until tender but
not broken, add one-half cup of barley and let cook slowly until barley
is tender, about one-half hour. Add fat soup stock as the water
evaporates. Season to taste and bake in medium oven about one-half hour
or until dry but not browned.
Wash one pound of dried Lima beans, let soak overnight. Drain, add fresh
water, bring quickly to the boiling point, then let simmer until
tender. Add salt and paprika. Heat two tablespoons of poultry or beef
fat in a spider, add two tablespoons of flour, when brown add one cup of
bean liquid, and the beans. Let simmer and bake in casserole one-half
hour. Reserve the bean broth and add more if necessary.
Soak the large, very hard Lima beans overnight. To a pound of beans take
two large onions. When the beans are soft add the onions browned in fat,
salt, pepper, a tablespoon of sugar, a quarter cup of rice, and let all
simmer until the rice is done.
Soak dried Lima beans in cold water overnight. Drain, put on with very
little water, add one tablespoon of fat, peel of lemon or orange. When
beans are half done, add a tablespoon of sugar which has been browned in
a pan, stew slowly until the beans are tender.
Soak one pound medium-sized white beans overnight. Put on to boil in
cold water, when soft, mash, adding a little warm water while mashing.
Add salt and mashed garlic to beans and one or two teaspoons of sugar.
To a pound of beans take a pound of onions. Brown the onions in oil and
add water so they do not become too brown or greasy. When beans are
tender serve on platter with browned onions poured over them. May be
served either hot or cold. This dish is served with Carnatzlich. (See
Meats.)
Pick and wash one-half pound of lentils and soak them in cold water
overnight. In the morning put them over the fire in a large saucepan
with about a quart of water. As soon as the water begins to boil, the
lentils will rise to the top. Remove them with a skimmer, put them in a
baking dish with one small onion and three or four ounces of smoked fat
meat in the centre, and pour over them a pint of boiling water, in which
one-half teaspoon of salt and one-quarter teaspoon of pepper have been
mixed. Bake in a moderate oven four or five hours. The lentils must be
kept moist and it may be necessary to add a little water from time to
time.
The following recipes contain as much nourishment as any meat dish and
can readily be substituted for meat at a meal.
For each person soak one tablespoon of lentils overnight. Then drain and
leave them spread on a dish for a day.
When ready to use, chop them finely and cook gently in a covered jar in
an outer vessel of water for about one hour, adding from time to time
just as much water as they will absorb.
When fully cooked, stir in about twice their bulk in bread crumbs
(preferably whole wheat), a slight flavoring of very finely chopped
onion, powdered mixed herbs and nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, and
drippings to make the whole fairly moist.
When cool, shape into sausages (or cutlets or round cakes for luncheon),
coat them with egg and bread crumbs or seasoned flour, and brown them in
a little fat in a frying-pan or in a fairly hot oven.
Gravy or diluted meat extract should be served with them. They are no
less good when fried overnight and reheated in the gravy.
Pick over and wash two cups of kidney beans, soak in one quart of water.
Next morning bring to a boil in fresh water, drain, cover beans with
boiling water and cook until tender. Half an hour before beans are to be
served, put one tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, chop and add four
green, peppers, one small red pepper, one onion, one pint of tomatoes,
one teaspoon of salt, cook fifteen minutes, add to beans with three
tablespoons of uncooked rice, simmer until thick.
Soak two cups of beans overnight. Drain and boil until the skin cracks,
and let one cup of water remain on the beans. Chop fine one onion and
two cloves of garlic and fry a light brown in one tablespoon of olive
oil; then add one-half can of tomatoes, one teaspoon chili powder
dissolved in a little cold water, salt to taste and half a dozen olives
chopped. A piece of smoked beef or tongue improves the flavor.
Pick over and wash two cups of dried peas. Soak them over night or for
several hours in cold water. Put them on to boil in three pints of
fresh, cold water and let them simmer until dissolved. Keep well scraped
from the sides of the kettle.
When soft, nib through a strainer, add a little boiling water or soup
stock, add one and one-half teaspoons of salt, one-half teaspoon of
sugar and a speck of white pepper, and beat the mixture well.
Put hard brisket fat chopped in small pieces, about one-eighth of a
pound will be sufficient, into a spider and cook until a light yellow,
add a large onion, cut in dice and continue cooking with the fat until
brown. Serve the purée like mashed potatoes. Pour the onion and fat over
it before serving. Serve hot.
Pick over and wash one pint (two cups) of kidney beans let soak
overnight in cold water. Drain and cook in fresh salted water till
tender. Drain; shake in saucepan with one teaspoon butter three minutes.
Add one cup of brown sauce and simmer five minutes.
Place one pound Russian peas in granite kettle, add one tablespoon of
salt and hot water to more than cover and let soak twelve hours or more.
Drain, return to the kettle, cover with boiling water, let cook fifteen
minutes, add one-quarter teaspoon of soda and one pound of brisket of
beef or back or neck of fat chicken and let cook slowly until peas are
tender. Melt two tablespoons of fat, add two tablespoons of flour and
two tablespoons of brown sugar, let brown, add one cup of the liquid
from the peas, cook until thick and smooth. Pour over the peas, cook
thoroughly, then place in casserole and bake in a moderate oven one-half
hour.
Boil the chestnuts a few minutes; drain and remove the shells and skins.
Boil again until tender, adding sufficient salt to make them palatable.
Drain again; shake over the fire until dry; cover with cream sauce and
serve at once. If allowed to stand the chestnuts become heavy and
unappetizing.
Put one pound of chestnuts, which have been shelled and skinned, on to
boil in two cups of milk and cook until tender, then mash smooth. If
necessary add more milk while boiling. Strain and season with salt and
pepper and one teaspoon of fresh butter. Serve hot.
With a sharp knife cut across on the flat side of each chestnut; put
them in a wire pan and shake constantly over a hot fire until the shells
split. Serve at once.
Clean and cut table celery and some celery root. Take roasted chestnuts,
season with two tablespoons of olive oil; put on to boil with the celery
and one tablespoon of lemon juice; boil all until celery is tender,
season with salt and pepper and serve hot.
Peel one pint of chestnuts and skin, then boil until tender. Boil one
pint of prunes till tender. Mix chestnuts and prunes together, leaving
whatever of sauce there is oil the prunes. Season with sugar, cinnamon,
and lemon juice, and cook all together.
Remove the outer shells from one quart of chestnuts. Then pour boiling
water over them and remove the skins; put in cold water for half an
hour, then drain and put on in a boiler with cold water and boil until
tender. Do not add any salt as it toughens them.
In another boiler put one cup of raisins which have been stemmed and
cleaned, cover with cold water, add two bay leaves and some stick
cinnamon; boil until tender, then pour them into the boiler containing
the chestnuts. Add a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of butter and
continue until chestnuts are done, then add two tablespoons of white
wine, two tablespoons of sugar, one-half teaspoon of vinegar and thicken
with one tablespoon of flour dissolved in water. More sugar or vinegar
may be added to suit taste. Boil a few minutes, then serve.
Mash one pound of cooked kidney beans and put them through a food
chopper, add one-half pound of grated cheese, salt and red pepper to
taste and sufficient bread crumbs to make the mixture stiff enough to
form into a ball. Bake in a moderate oven, basting occasionally with
butter and water. Serve with tomato sauce.
Mix two cups of soft bread crumbs and one cup of chopped walnut meats
with six tablespoons of butter or any butter substitute, one-half cup of
hot water, one and one-half teaspoons of salt, one-quarter teaspoon of
pepper, one tablespoon of chopped onion, a sprig of parsley chopped, and
bind with one egg; shape into a loaf. Place in a greased baking-dish and
bake in a moderate oven one hour. As the liquor boils out of the loaf it
may be used for basting. A brown sauce may be made in the dish in which
the loaf is cooked.
Soak one-half cup of lentils overnight; in the morning drain, cover with
fresh water and bring to a boil. Drain again, put in fresh water and
cook until tender. Drain once more, throw away the water, and press the
lentils through a colander. To them add one-half cup shelled roasted
peanuts, either ground or chopped, one-half cup of toasted bread crumby
one-half teaspoon of salt and one-half saltspoon of pepper, and milk
sufficient to make the mixture the consistency of mush. Put into a
greased baking-dish; bake in a moderate oven for an hour; turn out on a
heated platter; garnish with parsley or watercress and serve.
Soak one-half cup of Lima beans overnight; in the morning let them boil
rapidly for one-half hour. Drain, slip the beans from their skins and
split them in halves. Blanch one-quarter cup of almonds and chop them
with one-quarter cup of peanuts. Boil four potatoes, and when done cut
two of them into small cubes. Mash the remaining; two and use them for a
dough, adding four tablespoons of hot milk, a little salt and
one-quarter cup of flour. Put a layer of beans in the bottom of the
baking-dish, a sprinkling of nuts, a little hard-boiled egg, then the
potato blocks and one-half tablespoon each of chopped parsley and
chopped onion, one-half teaspoon of salt and one-half saltspoon of
pepper and so on until the material is all used. Roll out the potato
dough the size of the baking-dish; put it over the dish, brush with milk
and bake half an hour in a moderately quick oven.