All green vegetables must be washed thoroughly in cold water and
dropped into water which has been salted and is just beginning to boil
There should be a table-spoonful of salt for every two quarts of
water. If the water boils a long time before the vegetables are put in
it loses all its gases, and the mineral ingredients are deposited on
the bottom and sides of the kettle, so that the water is flat and
tasteless: the vegetables will not look green, nor have a fine flavor.
The time of boiling green vegetables depends very much upon the age,
and how long they have been gathered. The younger and more freshly
gathered, the more quickly they are cooked. The following is a time-
table for cooking:
Potatoes, boiled. 30 minutes.
Potatoes, baked. 45 minutes.
Sweet Potatoes, boiled. 45 minutes.
Sweet Potatoes, baked. 1 hour.
Squash, boiled. 25 minutes.
Squash, baked. 45 minutes.
Green Peas, boiled. 20 to 40 minutes.
Shell Beans, boiled. 1 hour.
String Beans, boiled. 1 to 2 hours.
Green Corn. 25 minutes to 1 hour.
Asparagus. 15 to 30 minutes.
Tomatoes, fresh. 1 hour.
Tomatoes, canned. 30 minutes.
Cabbage. 45 minutes to 2 hours.
Cauliflower. 1 to 2 hours.
Dandelions. 2 to 3 hours.
Beet Greens. 1 hour.
Onions. 1 to 2 hours.
Turnips, white. 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Turnips, yellow. 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Parsnips. 1 to 2 hours.
Carrots. 1 to 2 hours.
Nearly all these vegetables are eaten dressed with salt, pepper and
butter, but sometimes a small piece of lean pork is boiled with them,
and seasons them sufficiently.
Potatoes.
No other vegetable is in America so commonly used and abused. The most
inexperienced housekeeper takes it as a matter of course that she or
her cook cannot fail of boiling potatoes properly. The time of cooking
the potato, unlike that of nearly all other vegetables, does not vary
with age or freshness; so there need never be a failure. In baking,
the heat of the oven is not always the same, and the time of cooking
will vary accordingly. The potato is composed largely of starch.
Cooking breaks the cells and sets this starch free. If the potato is
removed from heat and moisture as soon as this occurs, it will be dry
and mealy, but if it is allowed to boil or bake, even for a few
minutes, the starch will absorb the moisture, and the potato will
become soggy and have a poor flavor.
Boiled Potatoes.
Twelve medium-sized potatoes, one table-spoonful of salt, boiling
water to cover. Pare the potatoes, and if old, let them stand in cold
water an hour or two, to freshen them. Boil fifteen minutes; then add
the salt, and boil fifteen minutes longer. Pour off _every drop_
of water. Take the cover from the sauce-pan and shake the potatoes in
a current of cold air (at either the door or window). Place the
saucepan on the back part of the stove, and cover with a clean coarse
towel until serving time. The sooner the potatoes are served, the
better. This rule will ensure perfectly sweet and mealy potatoes, if
they were good and ripe at first.
Mashed Potatoes.
Twelve potatoes, one and a half table-spoonfuls of salt, one table-
spoonful of butter, half a cupful of boiling milk. Pare and boil as
directed for boiled potatoes, and mash fine and light. Add the salt
and butter. Beat well; then add the milk, and beat as you would for
cake. This will give a light and delicate dish of potatoes. The
potatoes must be perfectly smooth before adding the other ingredients.
Purée of Potato.
Prepare the potatoes as directed for mashed potatoes, except use a
generous cupful of milk and half a teaspoonful of pepper. If the puree
is to serve as a foundation for dry meats, like grouse, veal or
turkey, use a cupful of rich stock instead of the milk. This
preparation, spread on a hot platter, with any kind of cold meat or
fish that has been warmed in a little sauce or gravy, heaped in the
centre of it, makes a delightful dish for lunch or dinner.
Potato Puffs.
Prepare the potatoes as directed for mashed potato. While _hot,_
shape in balls about the size of an egg. Have a tin sheet well
buttered, and place the balls on it. As soon as all are done, brash
over with beaten egg. Brown in the oven. When done, slip a knife under
them and slide them upon a hot platter. Garnish with parsley, and
serve immediately.
Riced Potato.
Have a flat dish and the colander hot. With a spoon, rub mashed potato
through the colander on to the hot dish. Be careful that the colander
does not touch the potato on the dish. It is best to have only a few
spoonfuls of the potato in it at one time. When all has been pressed
through, place the dish in the oven for five minutes.
Potato à la Royale.
One pint of hot toiled potatoes, a generous half cupful of cream or
milk, two table spoonfuls of butter, the whites of four eggs and yolk
of one, salt and pepper to taste. Beat the potato very light and fine.
Add the seasoning, milk and butter, and lastly the whites of the eggs,
beaten to a stiff froth. Turn into a buttered escalop dish. Smooth
with a knife and brush over with the yolk of the egg, which has been
well beaten. Brown quickly, and serve. It will take ten minutes to
brown. The dish in which it is baked should hold a little more than a
quart.
Potatoes à l'Italienne.
Prepare the potatoes as for serving _à la royale_. Add one table-
spoonful of onion juice, one of finely-chopped parsley, and half a
cupful of finely-chopped cooked ham. Heap lightly in the dish, but do
not smooth. Sprinkle on this one table-spoonful of grated Parmesan
cheese. Brown quickly, and serve. The cheese may be omitted if not
liked.
Thin Fried Potatoes.
Pare and cut raw potatoes _very thin_, with either the vegetable
slicer or a sharp knife. Put them in cold water and let them stand in
a cold place (the ice chest is best) from ten to twenty-four hours.
This draws out the starch. Drain them well. Put about one pint in the
frying basket, plunge into boiling lard, and cook about ten minutes.
After the first minute set back where the heat will decrease. Drain,
and dredge with salt. Continue this until all are fried. Remember that
the fat must be hot at first, and when it has regained its heat after
the potatoes have been added, must be set back where the potatoes will
not cook fast. If the cooking is too rapid they will be brown before
they have become crisp. Care must also be taken, when the potatoes are
first put in the frying kettle, that the fat does not boil over. Have
a fork under the handle of the basket, and if you find that there is
danger, lift the basket partly out of the kettle. Continue this until
all the water has evaporated; then let the basket remain in the
kettle. If many potatoes are cooked in this way for a family, quite an
amount of starch can be saved from the water in which they were soaked
by pouring off the water and scraping the starch from the bottom of
the vessel. Dry, and use as any other starch.
French Fried Potatoes.
Pare small uncooked potatoes. Divide them in halves, and each half in
three pieces. Put in the frying basket and cook in boiling fat for ten
minutes. Drain, and dredge with salt. Serve hot with chops or
beefsteak. Two dozen pieces can be fried at one time.
Potatoes à la Parisienne.
Pare large uncooked potatoes. Cut little balls out of these with the
vegetable scoop. Six balls can be cut from one large potato. Drop them
in ice water. When all are prepared, drain them, and put in the frying
basket. This can be half full each time--that is, about three dozen
balls can be put in. Put the basket carefully into the fat, the same
as for thin fried potatoes. Cook ten minutes. Drain. Dredge with salt,
and serve very hot. These are nice to serve with a fillet of beef,
beefsteak, chops or game. They may be arranged on the dish with the
meats, or served in a separate dish.
Potato Balls Fried in Butter.
Cut little balls from cooked potatoes with the vegetable scoop. After
all the salt has been washed from one cupful of butter (chicken fat
will do instead), put this in a small frying-pan. When hot, put in as
many potato balls as will cover the bottom, and fry until a golden
brown. Take up, drain, and dredge with salt. Serve very hot. These
balls can be cut from raw potatoes, boiled in salted water five
minutes, and fried in the butter ten minutes. When boiled potatoes are
used, the part left after the balls have been cut out, will answer for
creamed or Lyonnaise potatoes; but when raw potatoes are used, the
part left should be put into cold water until cooking time, and can be
used for mashed or riced potatoes.
Potatoes Baked with Roast Beef.
Fare rather small potatoes, and boil for twelve minutes in salted
water. Take up and put on the grate with roast beef. Bake twenty-five
or thirty minutes. Arrange on the dish with the beef, or, if you
prefer, on a separate dish.
Broiled Potatoes.
Cut cold boiled potatoes in slices a third of an inch thick. Dip them
in melted butter and _fine_ bread crumbs. Place in the double
broiler and broil over a fire that is not too hot. Garnish with
parsley, and serve on a hot dish. Or, season with salt and pepper,
toast till a delicate brown, arrange on a hot dish, and season with
butter.
Lyonnaise Potatoes.
One quart of cold boiled potatoes, cut into dice; three table-
spoonfuls of butter, one of chopped onion, one of chopped parsley,
salt, pepper. Season the potatoes with the salt and pepper. Fry the
onions in the butter, and when they turn yellow, add the potatoes.
Stir with a fork, being careful not to break them. When hot, add the
parsley, and cook two minutes longer. Serve immediately on a hot dish.
Duchess Potatoes.
Cut cold boiled potatoes into cubes. Season well with salt and pepper,
and dip in melted butter and lightly in flour. Arrange them on a
baking sheet, and bake fifteen minutes in a quick oven. Serve _very
hot_.
Housekeeper's Potatoes.
One quart of cold boiled potatoes, cut into dice; one pint of stock,
one table-spoonful of chopped parsley, one of butter, one teaspoonful
of lemon juice, salt, pepper. Season the potatoes with the salt and
pepper, and add the stock. Cover, and simmer twelve minutes. Add lemon
juice, butter and parsley, and simmer two minutes longer.
Potatoes à la Maître d' Hôtel.
One quart of cold boiled potatoes, cut into dice; one scant pint of
milk, one table-spoonful of chopped parsley, three of butter, one
teaspoonful of lemon juice, salt, pepper, the yolks of two eggs, one
teaspoonful of flour. Mix the butter, flour, lemon juice, parsley and
yolks of eggs together. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Add
the milk, and put on in the double boiler. Cook five minutes; then add
the other ingredients, and cook five minutes longer. Stir often.
Stewed Potatoes.
One quart of cold boiled potatoes, cut into little dice j one pint and
a half of milk, one table-spoonful of parsley, one of flour, two of
butter, salt, pepper. Put the potatoes in the double boiler, and
dredge them with the salt, pepper and flour. Add the parsley, butter
and milk. Cover, and put on to boil. Cook twelve minutes. Serve very
hot.
Creamed Potatoes.
One quart of cold boiled potatoes, cut in very _thin_ slices; one
pint of cream sauce, salt, pepper. Season the potatoes with salt and
pepper, and turn them into the sauce. Cover the stew-pan, and cook
until the potatoes are hot--no longer. Serve immediately in a hot
dish. They will heat in the double boiler in six minutes, and will not
require stirring.
Escaloped Potatoes.
Cut one quart of cold boiled potatoes in _very thin_ slices, and
season well with salt and pepper. Butter an escalop dish. Cover the
bottom with a layer of cream sauce, add a layer of the potatoes,
sprinkle with chopped parsley, and moisten with sauce. Continue this
until all the material is used. Have the last layer one of cream
sauce. Cover the dish with fine bread crumbs, put a table-spoonful of
butter in little bits on the top, and cook twenty minutes. It takes
one pint of sauce, one table-spoonful of parsley, half a cupful of
bread crumbs, one teaspoonful of salt and as much pepper as you like.
This dish can be varied by using a cupful of chopped ham with the
potatoes. Indeed, any kind of meat can be used.
Potato Soufflé.
Six large, smooth potatoes, half a cupful of boiling milk, one table-
spoonful of butter, the whites of four eggs, salt and pepper to taste.
Wash the potatoes clean, being, careful not to break the skin. Bake
forty-five minutes. Take the potatoes from the oven, and with a sharp
knife, cut them in two, lengthwise. Scoop out the potato with a spoon,
and put it in a hot bowl. Mash light and fine. Add the seasoning,
butter and milk, and then half the whites of the eggs. Fill the skins
with the mixture. Cover with the remaining white of the egg, and brown
in the oven. Great care must be taken not to break the skins.
Sweet Potatoes.
Sweet potatoes require from forty-five to fifty-five minutes to boil,
and from one hour to one and a quarter to bake. The time given will
make the potatoes moist and sweet If, however, they are preferred dry
and mealy, fifteen minutes less will be enough.
French Fried Sweet Potatoes.
Prepare and fry the same as the white potatoes. Or, they can first be
boiled half an hour, and then pared, cut and fried as directed. The
latter is the better way, as they are liable to be a little hard if
fried when raw.
Cold Boiled Sweet Potatoes.
Cut cold boiled sweet potatoes in thick slices, and season well with
salt and pepper. Have the bottom of the frying-pan covered with
either butter, or pork, ham or chicken fat. Put enough of the sliced
potatoes in the pan to just cover the bottom. Brown one side, and
turn, and brown the other. Serve in a hot dish. Cold potatoes can be
served in cream, cut in thick slices and toasted, cut in thick slices,
dipped in egg and bread crumbs and fried brown, and can be fried in
batter.
Plain Boiled Macaroni.
Two quarts of boiling water, one table-spoonful of salt, and twelve
sticks of macaroni. Break and wash the macaroni, throw it into the
salt and water, and boil _rapidly_ for twenty-five minutes. Pour
off the water, season with salt, pepper and butter, and serve.
Macaroni in Gravy.
Twelve sticks of macaroni, one and a half pints of stock, one scant
table-spoonful of flour, one generous table-spoonful of butter, salt,
pepper. Break and wash the macaroni. Put it in a sauce-pan with the
stock. Cover, and simmer half an hour. Mix the butter and flour
together. Stir this and the seasoning in with the macaroni. Simmer ten
minutes longer, and serve. A table-spoonful of grated cheese may be
added.
Macaroni with Cream Sauce.
Boil the macaroni as directed for the plain boiled dish. Drain, and
serve with half a pint of cream sauce.
Macaroni with Tomato Sauce.
Boil and drain as directed for plain boiled macaroni. Pour over it one
pint of tomato sauce.
Macaroni with Cheese.
Prepare the macaroni with the cream sauce. Turn into a buttered
escalop dish. Have half a cupful of grated cheese and half a cupful of
bread crumbs mixed. Sprinkle over the macaroni, and place in the oven
and brown. It will take about twenty minutes.
Macaroni à l'Italienne.
Twelve sticks of macaroni (a quarter of a pound), half a pint of milk,
two table-spoonfuls of cream, two of butter, one of flour, some salt,
white pepper and cayenne, and a quarter of a pound of cheese. Break
and wash the macaroni, and boil it rapidly for twenty minutes in two
quarts of water. Put the milk on in the double boiler. Mix the butter
and flour together, and stir into the boiling milk. Add the seasoning,
cream and cheese. Drain, and dish the macaroni. Pour the sauce over
it, and serve immediately. One table-spoonful of mustard can be
stirred into the sauce if you like. If the sauce and macaroni are
allowed to stand long after they are put together the dish will be
spoiled. If they cannot be served immediately, keep both hot in
separate dishes.
Stuffed Tomatoes.
Twelve large, smooth tomatoes, one teaspoonful of salt, a little
pepper, one table-spoonful of butter, one of sugar, one cupful of
bread crumbs, one teaspoonful of onion juice. Arrange the tomatoes in
a baking pan. Cut a thin slice from the smooth end of each. With a
small spoon, scoop out as much of the pulp and juice as possible
without injuring the shape. When all have been treated in this way,
mix the pulp and juice with the other ingredients, and fill the
tomatoes with this mixture. Put on the tops, and bake slowly three-
quarters of an hour. Slide the cake turner under the tomatoes and lift
gently on to a flat dish. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
Stuffed Tomatoes, No 2.
Twelve tomatoes, two cupfuls of bread crumbs, one of stock, four
table-spoonfuls of butter, one of flour, salt, pepper, one teaspoonful
of onion juice. Cut slices from the stem end of the tomatoes. Remove
the juice and pulp with a spoon, and dredge the inside with salt and
pepper. Put two table-spoonfuls of the butter in a frying-pan, and
when hot, stir in the bread crumbs. Stir constantly until they are
brown and crisp, and fill the tomatoes with them. Cover the openings
with fresh crumbs and bits of butter. Bake slowly half an hour.
Fifteen minutes before the tomatoes are done, make the sauce in this
manner: Put one table-spoonful of butter in the frying-pan, and when
hot, add the flour. Stir until brown and smooth; then add the stock,
tomato juice and pulp. Stir until it boils up, and add the onion
juice, salt and pepper. Simmer ten minutes, and strain. Lift the
tomatoes on to a flat dish, with the cake turner. Pour the sauce
around, garnish with parsley, and serve. Any kind of meat, chopped
fine and seasoned highly, can be used in place of the crumbs.
Escaloped Tomatoes.
One pint of fresh or canned tomatoes, one generous pint of bread
crumbs, three table-spoonfuls of butter, one of sugar, one scant
table-spoonful of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper. Put a
layer of the tomato in an escalop dish. Dredge with salt and pepper,
and dot butter here and there. Now put in a layer of crumbs. Continue
this until all the ingredients are used, having crumbs and butter for
the last layer. If fresh tomatoes have been used, bake one hour, but
if canned, bake half an hour.
Broiled Tomatoes.
Cut the tomatoes in halves. Sprinkle the inside of the slices with
_fine_ bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Place them in the double
broiler, and broil over the fire for ten minutes, having the outside
next the fire. Carefully slip them on a hot dish (stone china), and
put bits of butter here and there on each slice. Put the dish in the
oven for ten minutes, and then serve. Or, if you have a range or gas
stove, brown before the fire or under the gas.
Fried Tomatoes.
Slice ripe tomatoes and dip them in well-beaten eggs, which have been
seasoned with salt, pepper and sugar (one teaspoonful of sugar to each
egg), and then, in fine bread or cracker crumbs. Have two table-
spoonfuls of butter in a frying-pan, and when hot, put in as many
slices of tomato as will cover the bottom. Fry for ten minutes, five
for each side. Serve on thin slices of toast.
To Peel Tomatoes.
Put the tomatoes in a frying basket and plunge them into boiling water
for about three minutes. Drain, and peel.
Baked Onions.
Peel large onions, and boil one hour in plenty of water, slightly
salted. Butter a shallow dish or a deep plate, and arrange the onions
in it. Sprinkle with pepper and salt, put a teaspoonful of butter in
the centre of each onion, and cover lightly with crumbs. Bake slowly
one hour. Serve with cream sauce.
Stuffed Onions.
Boil as for baking. Cut out the heart of the onions, and fill the
space with any kind of cold meat, chopped fine, and highly seasoned.
To each pint of meat add one egg and two-thirds of a cupful of milk or
cream. When the onions are filled put a bit of butter (about a
teaspoonful) on each one. Cover with crumbs, and bake one hour. Serve
with cream sauce.
Parsnips Fried in Butter.
Scrape the parsnips, and boil gently forty-five minutes. When cold,
cut in long slices about one-third of an inch thick. Season with salt
and pepper. Dip in melted butter and in flour. Have two table-
spoonfuls of butter in the frying pan, and as soon as hot, put in
enough parsnips to cover the bottom. Fry brown on both sides, and
serve on a hot dish.
Parsnips Fried in Molasses.
Have one cupful of molasses in a large frying-pan. When boiling, put
in slices of parsnips that have been seasoned with salt, and cooled.
Fry brown, and serve hot.
Parsnip Balls.
Mash one pint of boiled parsnips. Add two table-spoonfuls of butter,
one heaping teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, two table-spoonfuls
of cream or milk and one beaten egg. Mix all the ingredients except
the egg. Stir on the fire until the mixture bubbles; then add the egg,
and set away to cool. When cold, make into balls one-third the size of
an egg. Dip them in beaten egg and in crumbs. Put in the frying basket
and plunge into boiling fat. Cook till a rich brown.
Escaloped Parsnip.
Prepare the parsnips as for the balls, omitting the egg. Turn into a
buttered dish, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the
oven.
Asparagus with Cream.
Have the asparagus tied in bundles. Wash, and plunge into boiling
water in which there is a teaspoonful of salt for every quart of
water. Boil rapidly for fifteen minutes. Take up, and cut off the
tender heads. Put them in a clean sauce-pan with one generous cupful
of cream or milk to every quart of asparagus. Simmer ten minutes. Mix
one tablespoonful of butter and a generous teaspoonful of flour
together. When creamy, stir in with the asparagus. Add salt and pepper
to taste, and simmer five minutes longer.
Green, Peas à la Française.
Boil green peas until tender, and drain. For every quart, put in a
sauce-pan two table-spoonfuls of butter, one of flour, and half a
teaspoonful of sugar. Stir until all are thoroughly mixed. Add the
peas, and stir over the fire for five minutes. Add one cupful of white
stock or cream, and simmer ten minutes. The canned peas can be
prepared in the same manner.
Minced Cabbage.
Drain boiled cabbage in the colander. Put it in the chopping tray and
chop fine. For each quart of the chopped cabbage, put two table-
spoonfuls of butter and one of flour in the frying-pan. As soon as
smooth and hot, put in the cabbage, which season well with salt,
pepper, and, if you like it, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar. Stir
constantly for five or eight minutes. When done, heap on a dish. Make
smooth with a knife, and garnish with hard-boiled eggs.
Minced Spinach.
Boil the spinach in salt and water until tender. Drain in the
colander, and chop fine in the tray. Season well with pepper and salt.
For each quart of the chopped spinach, put two tablespoonfuls of
butter and one of flour in a frying-pan. When this has cooked smooth,
and before it has become browned, add the spinach. Stir for five
minutes; then add half a cupful of cream or milk, and stir three
minutes longer. Arrange in a mound on a hot dish. Garnish with a
wreath of slices of hard-boiled eggs at the base, and finish the top
with another wreath. Serve hot. Lettuce can be cooked and served in
the same manner. It must be boiled about twenty minutes to be tender.
Cauliflower with Cream Sauce.
Take off the green leaves and the stalk of the cauliflower. Wash, and
put on to cook in boiling water. Boil gently for half an hour. Turn
off the water, and add one pint of milk, one pint of boiling water and
one table-spoonful of salt. Simmer half an hour longer. Take up with,
a skimmer, being careful not to break it. Pour over this a cream
sauce, and serve.
Escaloped Cauliflower.
Cook the cauliflower one hour in salt and water. Drain, and break
apart. Put a layer of the cauliflower in an escalop dish, moisten it
with Bechamel or cream sauce, and sprinkle in a little grated cheese.
Put in another layer of cauliflower, and continue, as directed before,
until all of the vegetable is used. There should be two tablespoonfuls
of grated cheese and one pint of sauce to each head of cauliflower.
Cover with bread crumbs and cheese, and dot with bits of batter. Bake
half an hour in a moderate oven.
Stewed Celery with Cream Sauce.
Wash and scrape the tender white part of two heads of celery. Cut them
in pieces about two inches long. Cover with boiling water and simmer
gently half an hour. Season well with salt. Drain off the water in
which the celery was cooked. Add a pint of cream sauce, and serve.
Celery Stewed in Stock.
Scrape, wash and cut the white part of two heads of celery. Put in a
stew-pan with one pint of stock, and simmer half an hour. Mix together
two table-spoonfuls of butter and one of flour. Stir this in with the
celery. Season with salt, and simmer five minutes longer.
Stewed Okra.
After the ends of the pods have been cut off, wash, and put on with
just enough water to prevent burning (about a cupful to a quart of the
okra) and a teaspoonful of salt. Simmer gently thirty minutes. Season
with pepper and butter, and with more salt, if necessary.
Okra Stewed with Tomatoes.
Cut the okra in thin slices, and pare and slice the tomatoes. Have one
pint of tomatoes to two of okra. Put the vegetables in a stew-pan with
one teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper. Simmer half an hour. Add
one table-spoonful of butter, and more salt, if needed.
Scalloped Okra and Tomatoes.
Prepare the same as stewed okra and tomatoes. When they have been
stewing fifteen minutes add the butter and pepper, and turn into a
deep dish. Cover with bread or cracker crumbs, dot with butter, and
bake half an hour.
Fried Egg Plant.
Cut the plant in slices about one-third of an inch thick. Pare these,
and lay in a flat dish. Cover with boiling water, to which has been
added one table-spoonful of salt for every quart of water. Let this
stand one hour. Drain, and pepper the slices slightly, and dip in
beaten egg and bread crumbs (two eggs and a pint of crumbs for a good-
sized plant). Fry in boiling fat for eight or ten minutes. The slices
will be soft and moist when done. Or, the slices can be seasoned with
pepper, and fried in just enough pork fat to brown them. The egg plant
is sometimes stewed, and sometimes baked, but there is no other mode
so good as frying.
Boiled Rice.
One cupful of rice, one quart of boiling water, one scant table-
spoonful of salt. Wash the rice in three waters, and put in the double
kettle with the salt and boiling water. Boil rapidly fifteen minutes;
then pour off _all_ the water. Cover tightly, return to the fire,
and cook twenty minutes longer. The water in the under boiler must
boil rapidly all the time. Rice cooked in this manner will have every
grain separate.
Corn Oysters.
One cupful of flour, half a cupful of melted butter, three table-
spoonfuls of milk, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one-fourth of a
teaspoonful of pepper, one pint of grated corn. Pour the corn on the
flour, and beat well; then add the other ingredients, and beat rapidly
for three minutes. Have fat in the frying-pan to the depth of about
two inches. When smoking hot, put in the batter by the spoonful. Hold
the spoon close to the fat and the shape of the oyster will be good.
Fry about five minutes.
New Bedford Corn Pudding.
Twelve ears of corn, four eggs, a generous pint and a half of milk, a
generous teaspoonful of salt, four table-spoonfuls of sugar. Grate the
corn, beat the eggs with a spoon, and mix all the ingredients
together. Butter a deep earthen dish, and pour the mixture into it.
Bake slowly two hours. Serve hot. When the corn is old it will take
one quart of milk. If very young and milky, one pint of milk will be
sufficient.
Pickled Beets.
Cut boiled beets in slices. Lay these in a large glass jar or earthen
pot. For every beet, put in one slice of onion, one table-spoonful of
grated horse-radish, six cloves, and vinegar enough to cover. The
beets will be ready to use in ten or twelve hours. They will not keep
more than a week.
Baked Beans.
Pick one quart of beans free from stones and dirt. Wash, and soak in
cold water over night. In the morning pour off the water. Cover with
hot water, put two pounds of corned beef with them, and boil until
they begin to split open, (the time depends upon the age of the beans,
but it will be from thirty to sixty minutes). Turn them into the
colander, and pour over them two or three quarts of cold water. Put
about half of the beans in a deep earthen pot, then put in the beef,
and finally the remainder of the beans. Mix one tea-spoonful of
mustard and one table-spoonful of molasses with a little water. Pour
this over the beans, and then add boiling water to just cover. Bake
_slowly_ ten hours. Add a little water occasionally.