The Healthy Life Cook Book
by
Florence Daniel
Second Edition
1915
A DELICIOUS PORRIDGE CAN BE MADE BY MIXING
ROBINSON'S "PATENT" GROATS "IN POWDER FORM"
::AND::
ROBINSON'S "PATENT" BARLEY "IN POWDER FORM"
IN EQUAL PROPORTIONS AND PREPARING IN THE USUAL WAY.
Preface
This little book has been compiled by special and repeated request.
Otherwise, I should have hesitated to add to the already existing number
of vegetarian cookery books. It is not addressed to the professional cook,
but to those who find themselves, as I did, confronted with the necessity
of manufacturing economical vegetarian dishes without any previous
experience of cooking. An experienced cook will doubtless find many of the
detailed instructions superfluous.
The original idea was to compile a cookery book for those vegetarians who
are non-users of milk and eggs. But as this would have curtailed the
book's usefulness, especially to vegetarian beginners, the project was
abandoned. At the same time, non-users of milk and eggs will find that
their interests have been especially considered in very many of the
recipes.
All the recipes have been well tested. Many of them I evolved myself after
repeated experiments. Others I obtained from friends. But all of them are
used in my own little household. So that if any reader experiences
difficulty in obtaining the expected results, if she will write to me, at
3, Tudor Street, London, E.C., and enclose a stamped envelope for reply, I
shall be glad to give any assistance in my power.
I desire to record my gratitude here to the friends who have sent me
recipes; to the graduate of the Victoria School of Cookery, who assisted
me with much good advice; to Cassell's large Dictionary of Cookery, from
which I gathered many useful hints; to the _Herald of Health_, which first
published recipes for the Agar-agar Jellies and Wallace Cheese; and to E.
and B. May's Cookery Book, from whence emanates the idea of jam without
sugar. Lastly, I would thank Mrs. Hume, of "Loughtonhurst," Bournemouth,
with whom I have spent several pleasant holidays, and who kindly placed
her menus at my disposal.
FLORENCE DANIEL.
Preface to Second Edition
This little cookery book was originally published for that "straiter" sect
of food-reformers who abstain from the use of salt, yeast, etc. But, owing
to repeated requests from ordinary vegetarians, who find the book useful,
I am now including recipes for yeast bread, cheese dishes, nutmeat dishes,
etc. I have put all these in the chapter entitled "Extra Recipes." To go
to the opposite extreme there is a short chapter for "unfired feeders."
Other new recipes have also been added.
The note _re_ Salads has been borrowed from E.J. Saxon, and the Vegetable
Stew in Casserole Cookery from R. & M. Goring, in _The Healthy Life_.
FLORENCE DANIEL.
_Everyday Fitness_
You want food you can eat every day, knowing that it is bringing you
nearer and nearer to real Fitness, the Fitness which lasts all day, and
survives even Sunday or a Summer Holiday.
'P.R.' Foods are Everyday Foods. They take the place of white bread, and
white flour biscuits, of expensive dairy butter, of sloppy indigestible
porridge, and so on. They are the Foods which keep you fit all the
time--you, and your husband, and the children. They are made along
absolutely scientific lines in a factory which is probably unique
throughout the world. They are the standard of pure food production. Their
daily use is the Direct Route to Fitness All the Time.
You ought to know about them, and try them. Send us *6d.* (P.O. or
stamps), and we will post you a splendid lot of samples and a budget of
practical information. Do it now.
Or we can send you our Special Trial Parcel, comprising all the principal
'P.R.' Products, carriage paid (in U.K.) for *5/-*.
The Wallace 'P.R.' Foods Co., Ltd., 81, Tottenham Lane. Hornsey. London, N.
* * * * *
*The Finest Coffee the World Produces--
'P.R.' COFFEE*
Choicest hill-grown berries, the pick of the world's finest plantations,
roasted by Electric Heat. Result: superb favour and freedom from ill
effects. Ideal for dyspeptics. Strongly recommended by the Author of this
Book. 1-lb. post paid 2/2, or
*Free Sample Canister* (to make 2 cups), from
The Wallace P.R. Foods Co., Ltd., 81, Tottenham Lane, Hornsey,
LONDON, N.
[Illustration]
* * * * *
Contents
I. UNFERMENTED BREAD
II. SOUPS
III. SAVOURY DISHES (AND NUT COOKERY)
IV. CASSEROLE COOKERY
V. CURRIES
VI. VEGETABLES
VII. GRAVIES AND SAUCES
VIII. EGG COOKERY
IX. PASTRY, SWEET PUDDINGS, JELLIES, &c.
X. CAKES AND BISCUITS
XI. JAM, MARMALADE, ETC.
XII. SALADS, BEVERAGES, ETC.
XIII. EXTRA RECIPES
XIV. UNFIRED FOOD
XV. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, AND UTENSILS
XVI. MENUS, ETC.
INDEX
* * * * *
_HEALTHY LIFE BOOKLETS
Bound in Art Vellum. 1 s. net each._
1. THE LEAGUE AGAINST HEALTH. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.
2. FOOD REMEDIES. By Florence Daniel.
3. INSTEAD OF DRUGS. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.
4. THE HEALTHY LIFE COOK BOOK. By Florence Daniel.
5. NATURE VERSUS MEDICINE. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.
6. DISTILLED WATER. By Florence Daniel.
7. CONSUMPTION DOOMED. By Dr. Paul Carton.
8. NO PLANT DISEASE. By Arnold Eiloart, B.Sc., Ph.D.
9. RHEUMATISM AND ALLIED AILMENTS. By Dr. H. Valentine Knaggs.
10. RIGHT DIET FOR CHILDREN. By Edgar J. Saxon.
11. SOME POPULAR FOOD STUFFS EXPOSED. By Dr. Paul Carton.
12. UNFIRED FOOD IN PRACTICE. By Stanley Gibbon.
13. THE TRUTH ABOUT SUGAR. By Dr. H. Valentine Knaggs.
14. HOW THE MIND HEALS AND WHY. By Florence Daniel.
15. OSTEOPATHY. By Florence Daniel.
16. A NEW SUGGESTION TREATMENT. By Dr. Stenson Hooker
17. HEALTH THROUGH BREATHING. By Olgar Lazarus.
18. WHAT TO EAT AND HOW MUCH. By Florence Daniel.
_Nos. 14, 15 and 18 are in preparation_.
LONDON: C. W. DANIEL, LTD., Graham House, Tudor Street, E.C.
* * * * *
I.--UNFERMENTED BREAD.
1. COLD WATER BREAD.
1-1/4 lb. fine wholemeal flour to 3/4 pint water.
Put the meal into a basin, add the water gradually, and mix with a clean,
cool hand. (Bread, pastry, etc., mixed with a spoon, especially of metal,
will not be so light as that mixed with a light cool hand.) Knead lightly
for 20 minutes. (A little more flour may be required while kneading, as
some brands of meal do not absorb so much water as others, but do not add
more than is absolutely necessary to prevent the fingers sticking.) Put
the dough on to a floured board and divide into four round loaves. Prick
with a fork on top.
The colder the water used, the lighter the bread, and if the mixing be
done by an open window so much the better, for unfermented bread is
air-raised. Distilled or clean boiled rain-water makes the lightest bread.
But it should be poured backwards and forwards from one jug to another
several times, in order to aerate it.
_Another method_ of mixing is the following:--Put the water into the basin
first and stir the meal quickly into it with a spatula or wooden spoon.
When it gets too stiff to be stirred, add the rest of the meal. Knead for
two minutes, and shape into loaves as above.
BAKING.--Bake on the bare oven shelf, floored. If possible have a few
holes bored in the shelf. This is not absolutely necessary, but any tinker
or ironmonger will perforate your shelf for a few pence. Better still are
wire shelves, like sieves. (This does not apply to gas ovens.)
Start with a hot oven, but not too hot. To test, sprinkle a teaspoonful of
flour in a patty pan, and put in the oven for five minutes. At the end of
that time, if the flour is a light golden-brown colour, the oven is right.
Now put in the bread and keep the heat of the oven well up for half an
hour. At the end of this time turn the loaves. Now bake for another hour,
but do not make up the fire again. Let the oven get slightly cooler. The
same result may perhaps be obtained by moving to a cooler shelf. It all
depends on the oven. But always start with a hot oven, and after the first
half hour let the oven get cooler.
Always remember, that the larger the loaves the slower must be the baking,
otherwise they will be overdone on the outside and underdone in the middle.
Do not open the oven door oftener than absolutely necessary.
If a gas oven is used the bread must be baked on a baking sheet placed on
a sand tin. A sand tin is the ordinary square or oblong baking tin,
generally supplied with gas stoves, filled with silver sand. A baking
sheet is simply a piece of sheet-iron, a size smaller than the oven
shelves, so that the heat may pass up and round it. Any ironmonger will
cut one to size for a few pence. Do not forget to place a vessel of water
(hot) in the bottom of the oven. This is always necessary in a gas oven
when baking bread, cakes or pastry.
It must not be forgotten that ovens are like children they need
understanding. The temperature of the kitchen and the oven's nearness to a
window or door will often make a difference of five or ten minutes in the
time needed for baking. One gas oven that I knew never baked well in
winter unless a screen was put before it to keep away draughts!
ROLLS.--If you desire to get your bread more quickly it is only a question
of making smaller loaves. Little rolls may be cut out with a large egg-cup
or small pastry cutter, and these take any time from twenty minutes to
half an hour.
2. EGG BREAD.
9 ozs. fine wholemeal, 1 egg, a bare 1/2 pint milk and water, butter size
of walnut.
Put butter in a qr. qtn. tin (a small square-cornered tin price 6-1/2d. at
most ironmongers) and let it remain in hot oven until it boils. Well whisk
egg, and add to it the milk and water. Sift into this liquid the
wholemeal, stirring all the time. Pour this batter into the hot buttered
tin. Bake in a very hot oven for 50 minutes, then move to a cooler part
for another 50 minutes. When done, turn out and stand on end to cool.
3. GEM BREAD.
Put into a basin a pint of cold water, and beat it for a few minutes in
order to aerate it as much as possible. Stir gently, but quickly, into
this as much fine wholemeal as will make a batter the consistency of thick
cream. It should just drop off the spoon. Drop this batter into very hot
greased gem pans. Bake for half an hour in a hot oven. When done, stand on
end to cool. They may appear to be a little hard on first taking out of
the oven, but when cool they should be soft, light and spongy. When
properly made, the uninitiated generally refuse to believe that they do
not contain eggs or baking-powder.
There are proper gem pans, made of cast iron (from 1s.) for baking this
bread, and the best results are obtained by using them. But with a
favourable oven I have got pretty good results from the ordinary
baking-tins with depressions, the kind used for baking small cakes. But
these are a thinner make and apt to produce a tough crust.
4. HOT WATER ROLLS.
This bread has a very sweet taste. It is made by stirring boiling water
into any quantity of meal required, sufficient to form a stiff paste. Then
take out of the basin on to a board and knead quickly with as much more
flour as is needed to make it workable. Cut it into small rolls with a
large egg-cup or small vegetable cutter. The quicker this is done the
better, in order to retain the heat of the water. Bake from 20 to 30
minutes.
5. OATCAKE.
Mix medium oatmeal to a stiff paste with cold water. Add enough fine
oatmeal to make a dough. Roll out very thinly. Bake in sheets, or cut into
biscuits with a tumbler or biscuit cutter. Bake on the bare oven shelf,
sprinkled with fine oatmeal, until a very pale brown. Flour may be used in
place of the fine oatmeal, as the latter often has a bitter taste that
many people object to. The cause of this bitterness is staleness, but it
is not so noticeable in the coarse or medium oatmeal. Freshly ground
oatmeal is quite sweet.
6. RAISIN LOAF.
1 lb. fine wholemeal, 6 oz. raisins, 2 oz. Mapleton's nutter, water.
Well wash the raisins, but do not stone them or the loaf will be heavy. If
the stones are disliked, seedless raisins, or even sultanas, may be used,
but the large raisins give rather better results. Rub the nutter into the
flour, add the raisins, which should be well dried after washing, and mix
with enough water to form a dough which almost, but not quite drops from
the spoon. Put into a greased tin, which should be very hot, and bake in a
hot oven at first. At the end of twenty minutes to half an hour the loaf
should be slightly browned. Then move to a cooler shelf, and bake until
done. Test with a knife as for ordinary cakes.
For this loaf a small, deep, square-cornered tin is required (price
6-1/2d.), the same as for the egg loaf. 3 ozs. fresh dairy butter may be
used in place of the 2 ozs. nutter.
7. SHORTENED BREAD.
Into 1 lb. wholemeal flour rub 4 ozs. nutter or 5 ozs. butter. Mix to a
stiff dough with cold water. Knead lightly but well. Shape into small buns
about 1 inch thick. Bake for an hour in a moderate oven.
II.--SOUPS.
Soups are of three kinds--clear soups, thick soups, and purées. A clear
soup is made by boiling fruit or vegetables (celery, for example) until
all the nourishment is extracted, and then straining off the clear liquid.
A little sago or macaroni is generally added and cooked in this. When
carrots and turnips are used, a few small pieces are cut into dice or
fancy shapes, cooked separately, and added to the strained soup. Thick
soups always include some farinaceous ingredients for thickening (flour,
pea-flour, potato, etc.). Purées are thick soups composed of any vegetable
or vegetables boiled and rubbed through a sieve. This is done, a little at
a time, with a wooden spoon. A little of the hot liquor is added to the
vegetable from time to time to assist it through.
1. BARLEY BROTH.
1 carrot, 1 turnip, 4 leeks or 3 small onions, 4 sprigs parsley, 4 sticks
celery, 1 tea-cup pearl barley, 3 qts. water. (The celery may be omitted
if desired, or, when in season, 1 tea-cup green peas may be substituted.)
Scrub clean (but do not peel) the carrot and turnip. Wash celery, parsley,
and barley. Shred all the vegetables finely; put in saucepan with the
water. Bring to the boil and slowly simmer for 5 hours. Add the chopped
parsley and serve.
2. CREAM OF BARLEY SOUP.
Make barley broth as in No. 1. Then strain it through a wire strainer.
Squeeze it well, so as to get the soup as thick as possible, but do not
rub the barley through. Skin 1/2 lb. tomatoes, break in halves, and cook
to a pulp very gently in a closed saucepan (don't add water). Add to the
barley soup, boil up once, and serve.
In cases of illness, especially where the patient is suffering from
intestinal trouble, after preparing as above, strain through a fine
muslin. It should also be prepared with distilled, or clean boiled
rain-water.
3. CLEAR CELERY SOUP.
1 head celery, 2 tablespoons sago, 2 qts. water.
Wash the celery, chop into small pieces, and stew in the water for 2
hours. Strain. Wash the sago, add it to the clear liquid, and cook for 1
hour.
For those who prefer a thick soup, pea-flour may be added. Allow 1 level
tablespoon to each pint of soup. Mix with a little cold water, and add to
the boiling soup. One or two onions may also be cooked with the celery, if
liked.
4. CHESTNUT SOUP.
1 lb. chestnuts, 1-1/2 oz. nutter or butter, 2 tablespoons chopped
parsley, 1 tablespoon wholemeal flour, 1-1/2 pints water.
First put on the chestnuts (without shelling or pricking) in cold water,
and boil for an hour. Then remove shells and put the nuts in an enamelled
saucepan with the fat. Fry for 10 minutes. Add the flour gradually,
stirring all the time, then add the water. Cook gently for half an hour.
Lastly, add the parsley, boil up, and serve.
It is rather nicer if the flour is omitted, the necessary thickness being
obtained by rubbing the soup through a sieve before adding the parsley.
Those who do not object to milk may use 1 pint milk and 1 pint water in
place of the 1-1/2 pints water.
5. FRUIT SOUP.
Fruit soups are used extensively abroad, although not much heard of in
England. But they might be taken at breakfast with advantage by those
vegetarians who have given up the use of tea, coffee and cocoa, and object
to, or dislike, milk. The recipe given here is for apple soup, but pears,
plums, etc., may be cooked in exactly the same way.
1 lb. apples, 1 qt. water, sugar and flavouring, 1 tablespoon sago.
Wash the apples and cut into quarters, but do not peel or core. Put into a
saucepan with the water and sugar and flavouring to taste. When sweet,
ripe apples can be obtained, people with natural tastes will prefer no
addition of any kind. Otherwise, a little cinnamon, cloves, or the yellow
part of lemon rind may be added. Stew until the apples are soft. Strain
through a sieve, rubbing the apple pulp through, but leaving cores, etc.,
behind. Wash the sago, add to the strained soup, and boil gently for 1
hour. Stir now and then, as the sago is apt to stick to the pan.
6. HARICOT BEAN SOUP.
2 heaped breakfast-cups beans, 2 qts. water, 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
or 1/2 lb. tomatoes, nut or dairy butter size of walnut, 1 tablespoon
lemon juice.
For this soup use the small white or brown haricots. Soak overnight in 1
qt. of the water. In the morning add the rest of the water, and boil until
soft. It may then be rubbed through a sieve, but this is not imperative.
Add the chopped parsley, the lemon juice, and the butter. Boil up and
serve. If tomato pulp is preferred for flavouring instead of parsley, skin
the tomatoes and cook slowly to pulp (without water) before adding.
7. LENTIL SOUP.
4 breakfast-cups lentils, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 2 onions, 4 qts. water, 4
sticks celery, 2 teaspoons herb powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 oz.
butter.
Either the red, Egyptian lentils, or the green German lentils may be used
for this soup. If the latter, soak overnight. Stew the lentils very gently
in the water for 2 hours, taking off any scum that rises. Well wash the
vegetables, slice them, and add to the soup. Stew for 2 hours more. Then
rub through a sieve, or not, as preferred. Add the lemon juice, herb
powder, and butter (nut or dairy), and serve.
8. MACARONI SOUP.
1/2 lb. small macaroni, 2 qts. water or vegetable stock, 3/4 lb. onions or
1 lb. tomatoes.
Break the macaroni into small pieces and add to the stock when nearly
boiling. Cook with the lid off the saucepan until the macaroni is swollen
and very tender. (This will take about an hour.) If onions are used for
flavouring, steam separately until tender, and add to soup just before
serving. If tomatoes are used, skin and cook slowly to pulp (without
water) before adding. If the vegetable stock is already strong and
well-flavoured, no addition of any kind will be needed.
9. PEA SOUP.
Use split peas, soak overnight, and prepare according to recipe given for
lentil soup.
10. POTATO SOUP.
Peel thinly 2 lbs. potatoes. (A floury kind should be used for this soup.)
Cut into small pieces, and put into a saucepan with enough water to cover
them. Add three large onions (sliced), unless tomatoes are preferred for
flavouring. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the potatoes are cooked
to a mash. Rub through a sieve or beat with a fork. Now add 3/4 pint water
or 1 pint milk, and a little nutmeg if liked. Boil up and serve.
If the milk is omitted, the juice and pulp of two or three tomatoes may be
added, and the onions may be left out also.
11. P.R. SOUP.
1 head celery, 4 large tomatoes, 4 qts. water, 4 large English onions, 3
tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley.
This soup figures often in the diet sheet of the Physical Regenerationists
for gouty and rheumatic patients, but in addition to being a valuable
medicine on account of its salts, it is the most delicious clear soup that
I know of. To make: chop the ingredients to dice, cover closely, and
simmer until the quantity of liquid is reduced to one half.
12. P.R. BEEF TEA SUBSTITUTE.
1/4 pint pearl barley, 1/4 pint red lentils, 2 qts. cold bran water,
flavouring.
To make the bran water, boil 1 measure of bran with 4 measures of water
for not less than 30 minutes. Simmer together the barley, lentils, and
bran water for 3 hours. To flavour, put 4 ozs. butter or 3 ozs. nutter
into a pan with 1 lb. sliced onions. Shake over fire until brown, but do
not let them burn or the flavour of the soup will be spoilt. Add these to
the stock at the end of the first hour. Any other vegetable liked may be
chopped to dice and added.
Tomato may be substituted for the onion if preferred and no fat used.
Strain through a hair sieve, and serve the clear liquid after boiling up.
13. SAGO SOUP.
6 ozs. sago, 2 qts. stock, juice of 1 lemon.
Wash the sago and soak it for 1 hour. Put it in a saucepan with the lemon
juice and stock, and stew for 1 hour.
14. TOMATO SOUP.
1 qt. water or white stock, 1 lb. tomatoes.
Slice the tomatoes, and simmer very gently in the water until tender. Rub
through a sieve. Boil up and serve.
15. VEGETABLE STOCK.
To 4 qts. water allow 1 pint lentils, or rather less than 1 pint haricots.
In addition allow 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 onion, and 1/4 head of celery.
Clean apple peelings and cores, and any fresh vegetable cuttings may also
be added with advantage. For white stock, use the white haricot beans,
rice, or macaroni in place of lentils or brown haricots. Soak the pulse
overnight, and simmer with the vegetables for 4 hours. Any stock not used
should be emptied out of the stock pot, and boiled up afresh each day.
III.--SAVOURY DISHES.
The recipes following are intended to be used as substitutes for meat,
fish, etc.
The body needs for its sustenance water, mineral salts, [Footnote: I
allude to mineral salts as found in the vegetable kingdom, not to the
manufactured salts, like the ordinary table salt, etc., which are simply
poisons when taken as food.] fats and oils, carbo-hydrates (starch and
sugar), and proteids (the flesh and muscle-forming elements). All
vegetable foods (in their natural state) contain all these elements, and,
at a pinch, human life might be supported on any one of them. I say "at a
pinch" because if the nuts, cereals and pulses were ruled out of the
dietary, it would, for most people, be deficient in fat and proteid.
Wholewheat, according to a physiologist whose work is one of the standard
books on the subject, is a perfectly-proportioned, complete food. Hence it
is possible to live entirely on good bread and water.
Nuts are the best substitute for flesh meat. Next in order come the
pulses. After these come wholewheat and unpolished rice. Both nuts and
pulses contain, like flesh meat, a large quantity of proteid in a
concentrated form. No one needs more than 1/4 lb. per day, at most, of
either. (Eggs, of course, are a good meat substitute, so far as the
percentage of proteid is concerned.)
1. ALMONDS, ROASTED.
Take any quantity of shelled almonds and blanch by pouring boiling water
on them. The skins can then be easily removed. Lay the blanched almonds on
a tin, and bake to a pale yellow colour. On no account let them brown, as
this develops irritating properties. To be eaten with vegetable stews and
pies. (That is, with any stew or pie which contains neither nuts nor
pulse.)
2. CHESTNUTS, BOILED.
An excellent dish for children and persons with weak digestive powers. The
chestnuts need not be peeled or pricked, but merely well covered with cold
water and brought to the boil, after which they should boil for a good
half hour. Drain off the water and serve hot. They may also be boiled,
peeled, mashed and eaten with hot milk.
3. CHESTNUT SAVOURY.
Boil for 15 minutes. Shell. Fry in a very little nut fat for 10 minutes.
Barely cover with water, and stew gently until tender. When done, add some
chopped parsley and thicken with chestnut flour or fine wholemeal. For
those who prefer it, milk and dairy butter may be substituted for the
water and nut fat.
4. CHESTNUT PIE.
1 lb. chestnuts, 1/2 lb. tomatoes, short crust.
Boil the chestnuts for half an hour. Shell. Skin the tomatoes and cut in
slices. Well grease a small pie-dish, put in the chestnuts and tomatoes in
alternate layers. Cover with short crust (pastry recipe No. 3) and bake
until a pale brown. Serve with parsley, tomato, or white sauce.
5. CHESTNUT RISSOLES.
1 lb. chestnuts, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, cornflour and water or 1
egg.
Boil the chestnuts for half an hour. Shell, and well mash with a fork. Add
the parsley. Dissolve 1 tablespoon cornflour in 1 tablespoon water. Use as
much of this as required to moisten the chestnut, and mix it to a stiff
paste. Shape into firm, round, rather flat rissoles, roll in white flour,
and fry in deep oil or fat to a golden brown colour. Serve with parsley or
tomato sauce.
For those who take eggs, the rissoles may be moistened and bound with a
beaten egg instead of the cornflour and water. They may also be rolled in
egg and bread-crumbs after flouring.
6. HARICOT BEANS, BOILED.
1/2 pint beans, 1 oz. butter, water, 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
The small white or brown haricots should be used for this dish. Wash well,
and soak overnight in the water. In the morning put in a saucepan in the
same water and bring to the boil. Simmer slowly for 3 hours. When done
they mash readily and look floury. Drain off any water not absorbed. Add
the butter and lemon juice, and shake over the fire until hot. Serve with
parsley or white sauce.
7. HARICOT RISSOLES.
1/2 pint haricots, 1 oz. butter, 1 medium onion, water, 1 teaspoon lemon
juice, 1 teaspoon mixed herbs, or 1 tablespoon chopped parsley.
Cook the haricots as in preceding recipe. Mash well with a fork, add the
onion finely grated, and the parsley or herbs. (This may be omitted if
preferred.) Form into firm, round, rather flat rissoles. Roll in white
flour. Fry in deep oil or fat to a golden brown colour. Serve with tomato
sauce, brown gravy, or parsley sauce.
8. LENTILS, STEWED.
1 cup lentils, 1-1/2 cups water, butter (size of walnut), 1 teaspoon lemon
juice.
Use either the red Egyptian, or the green German lentils. Wash well in
several waters, drain, and put to soak overnight in the water. Use this
same water for cooking. Cook very slowly until the lentils are soft and
dry. They should just absorb the quantity of water given. (If cooked too
quickly it may be necessary to add a little more.) A little thyme or herb
powder may be cooked with the lentils, if liked. When done, drain off any
superfluous water, add the butter and the lemon juice, shake over the fire
until hot. Serve with baked potatoes and tomato sauce.
9. LENTIL PASTE.
1/2 pint red lentils, 1/2 pint bread-crumbs, 2 ozs. butter or 1-1/2 oz.
nutter, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/2 a nutmeg.
Well wash the lentils and place on the fire with just enough water to
cover them. Simmer gently until quite soft. Add the butter, lemon juice,
nutmeg, and bread-crumbs. Stir well, heat to boiling point, and cook for
10 minutes. Put in jars, and when cold pour some melted butter or nutter
on the top. Tomato juice may be used in place of the lemon juice if
preferred.
10. LENTIL AND LEEK PIE.
2 cups lentils, 12 small leeks, 4 cups water, short crust.
Put the lentils, water, and leeks, finely shredded, into a covered jar or
basin. Bake in a slow oven until done. Put into a greased pie-dish and
cover with short crust. (If lentils are very dry, add a little more
water.) Bake. Serve with boiled potatoes, brown gravy, and any vegetable
in season, except spinach or artichokes.
11. LENTIL RISSOLES.
1 teacup red lentils, 2 teacups bread-crumbs, or 1 teacup kornules,
cornflour or egg, 1-1/2 teacups water, 4 medium-sized onions, 1 grated
lemon rind, 2 teaspoons mixed herbs.
Cook the lentils slowly in a saucepan with the water until they are soft
and dry. Steam the onions. If Kornules are used, add as much boiling water
to them as they will only just absorb. If bread-crumbs are used, do not
moisten them. Add the grated yellow part of the lemon rind and the herbs.
Mix all the ingredients well together and slightly moisten with rather
less than a tablespoonful of water in which is dissolved a teaspoonful of
raw cornflour. This is important, as it takes the place of egg for binding
purposes. Shape into round, flat rissoles, roll in white flour, and fry in
boiling oil or fat until a golden-brown colour.
A beaten egg may be used for binding in place of the cornflour, and the
rissoles may be dipped in egg and rolled in breadcrumbs before frying.
Serve hot with brown gravy or tomato sauce. Or cold with salad.
12. MACARONI AND TOMATO.
1/4 lb. macaroni, 1 oz. butter, 1/2 lb. tomatoes, parsley.
Use the best quality of macaroni. The smaller kinds are the most
convenient as they cook more quickly. Spargetti is a favourite kind with
most cooks. Break the macaroni into small pieces and drop it into fast
boiling water. Cook with the lid off until quite tender. Be particular
about this, as underdone macaroni is not a pleasant dish. (With a little
practise the cook will be able to calculate how much water is needed for
it all to be absorbed by the time the macaroni is done.) When done, drain
well, add the butter, and shake over the fire until hot.
While the macaroni is cooking, skin the tomatoes, break in halves, and put
into a tightly-covered saucepan. (Do not add water.) Set at the side of
the stove to cook very slowly. They should never boil. When reduced to
pulp they are done.
Pile the macaroni in the middle of a rather deep dish, and sprinkle with
chopped parsley. Pour the tomato round and serve.
13. MUSHROOM AND TOMATO.
Many food reformers consider mushrooms to be unwholesome, and indeed, in
the ordinary way, they are best left alone. But if they can be obtained
quite fresh, and are not the forced, highly-manured kinds, I do not think
they are injurious. But the very large variety, commonly called horse
mushrooms, should not be eaten.
Peel and stalk the mushrooms. Examine them carefully for maggots. Fry in
just enough nutter to prevent them sticking to the pan. Cook until quite
tender. Pile on a warm, deep dish. Slice the tomatoes and fry in the same
pan, taking care not to add more nutter than is absolutely necessary. When
tender, arrange the tomato slices round and on the mushrooms. Pour a
tablespoonful or more, according to the amount cooked, of hot water into
the pan. Stir well and boil up. Pour the gravy formed over the mushrooms,
and serve.
14. NUT COOKERY.
For nut-cookery, a nut mill or food chopper of some kind is necessary. A
tiny food chopper, which can be regulated to chop finely or coarsely as
required, may be bought for 3s. at most food-reform stores. It also has an
attachment which macerates the nuts so as to produce "nut butter." The
larger size at 5s. is the more convenient for ordinary use. If only one
machine can be afforded, the food chopper should be the one chosen, as it
can also be used for vegetables, breadcrumbs, etc. The nut-mill proper
flakes the nuts, it will not macerate them, and is useful for nuts only.
But flaked nuts are a welcome and pretty addition to fruit salads, stewed
fruits, etc.
If the nuts to be milled or ground clog the machine, put them in a warm
oven until they just begin to change colour. Then let them cool, and they
will be found crisp and easy to work. But avoid doing this if possible, as
it dries up the valuable nut oil.
15. NUT ROAST.
2 breakfast cups bread-crumbs, 2 medium Spanish onions, or 2 tomatoes, 2
breakfast cups ground nuts, nutter.
Any shelled nuts may be used for this roast. Some prefer one kind only;
others like them mixed. Almonds, pine-kernels, new Brazil nuts, and new
walnuts are nice alone. Old hazel nuts and walnuts are nicer mixed with
pine-kernels. A good mixture is one consisting of equal quantities of
blanched almonds, walnuts, hazel nuts, and pine-kernels; where strict
economy is a consideration, peanuts may be used. Put a few of each kind
alternately into the food chopper and grind until you have enough to fill
two cups. Mix with the same quantity breadcrumbs. Grate the onions,
discard all tough pieces, using the soft pulp and juice only with which to
mix the nuts and crumbs to a very stiff paste. If onions are disliked,
skin and mash two tomatoes for the same purpose. Or one onion and one
tomato may be used.
Well grease a pie-dish, fill it with the mixture, spread a few pieces of
nutter (or butter) on the top, and bake until brown.
_Another method_.--For those who use eggs, the mixing may be done with a
well-beaten egg. The mixture may also be formed into an oblong roast,
greased, and baked on a tin. Serve with brown gravy or tomato sauce.
16. NUT RISSOLES.
Make a stiff mixture as for nut roast, add a tablespoonful savoury herbs
if liked. Form into small, flat rissoles, roll them in white flour, and
fry in deep fat or oil. Serve hot with gravy, or cold with salad.
17. NUT PASTE.
A nourishing paste for sandwiches is made by macerating pine-kernels with
the "nut butter" attachment of the food chopper, and flavouring with a
little fresh tomato juice. This must be used the same day as made as it
will not keep.
_Another method_.--Put equal quantities of pea-nuts and pine-kernels into
a warm oven until the latter just begin to colour. The skins of the
pea-nuts will now be found to rub easily off. Put the mixed nuts through
the macerator and mix to a stiff paste with some tomato juice. Put in a
saucepan and heat to boiling point. Pour melted butter over top. This may
be kept until the next day, but no longer.
18. NUT AND LENTIL ROAST AND RISSOLES.
Proceed as for nut roast or rissoles, but use cold stewed lentils (see
recipe) in the place of bread-crumbs.
19. PINE KERNELS, ROASTED.
Put on a tin in a warm oven, bake until a very pale golden colour. On no
account brown. Serve with vegetable stew.
20. RICE, BOILED.
1 cup unpolished rice, 3 cups water.
Put the rice on in cold water, and bring it gradually to the boil. Boil
hard for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Draw it to the side of the
stove, where it is comparatively cool, or, if a gas stove is used, put the
saucepan on an asbestos mat and turn the gas as low as possible. The water
should now gradually steam away, leaving the rice dry and well cooked.
Serve plain or with curry.
21. RICE, SAVOURY.
Cook rice as in foregoing recipe. Fry a small, finely-chopped onion in
very little fat. Add this to the cooked rice with butter the size of a
walnut, and a pinch of savoury herbs. Shake over the fire until hot. Serve
with peeled baked potatoes and baked tomatoes.
22. RICE AND EGG FRITTERS.
Mix any quantity of cold boiled rice with some chopped parsley and
well-beaten egg. Beat the mixture well, form into small fritters, roll in
egg and bread-crumbs or white flour, and fry to a golden brown. Serve with
egg sauce.
23. TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE.
Grease a pie-dish. Put in it 2 or 3 small firm tomatoes, or some small
peeled mushrooms. Make a batter as for Yorkshire pudding and pour over.
Bake until golden brown.
24. VEGETABLE MARROW, STUFFED.
1 medium marrow, 2 ozs. butter or 1-1/2 oz. nutter, 1 dessertspoon sage, 2
medium onions, 4 tablespoons bread-crumbs, 1 tablespoon milk or water.
Chop the onion small and mix with the bread-crumbs, sage, and milk or
water. Peel the marrow and scoop out the pith and pips. (Cut it in halves
to do this, or, better still, if possible cut off one end and scoop out
inside with a long knife.) Tie the two halves together with clean string.
Stuff the marrow and bake for 40 minutes on a well-greased tin. Lay some
of the nutter on top and baste frequently until done. It should brown
well. Serve with brown gravy or white sauce.
25. VEGETABLE MARROW AND NUT ROAST.
Make a paste as for nut roast (see recipe). Peel marrow, scoop out the
inside, and stuff. Bake from 40 minutes to an hour in a hot oven. Baste
frequently.
26. VEGETARIAN IRISH STEW.
1 lb. tomatoes, 7 small Spanish onions, 8 medium potatoes, 1 oz. nutter or
butter, 2 small carrots or parsnips, or 1 cup fresh green peas.
A saucepan with a close-fitting lid, and, if a gas stove is used, an
asbestos mat (price 3-1/2d. at any ironmongers) is needed for this stew.
Skin the tomatoes, peel and quarter the onions, and put them into the
saucepan with the nutter and shut down the lid tightly. If a gas or oil
flame is used, turn it as low as possible. Put the asbestos mat over this
and stand the saucepan upon it. At the end of 1 hour the onions should be
gently stewing in a sea of juice. Add the potatoes now (peeled and cut in
halves). Also the peas, if in season. Cook for another hour. If carrot or
parsnip is the extra vegetable used, cut into quarters and put in with the
onions. When done, the onions are quite soft, and the potatoes, etc., just
as if they had been cooked in a steamer.
Note that the onions and tomatoes must be actually stewing when the
potatoes are put in, as the latter cook in the steam arising from the
former. Consequently, they should be laid on top of the onions, etc., not
mixed with them. If cooked on the kitchen range, a little longer time may
be needed, according to the state of the fire. Never try to cook quickly,
or the juice will dry up and burn. The slow heat is the most important
point.
27. VEGETABLE PIE.
Cook the vegetables according to recipe for vegetable stew. When cold put
in a pie-dish (gravy and all) and cover with short crust. Bake for half an
hour. If preferred, the vegetables may be covered with cold mashed
potatoes in place of pie-crust. Top with a few small pieces of nutter, and
bake until brown.
28. VEGETABLE STEW.
1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 potato, 1 parsnip, 2 Jerusalem artichokes, 2 onions,
2 tomatoes, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, nutter size of small walnut.
Scrub and scrape the carrot, turnip, parsnip and artichokes. Peel the
potato and onions. Shred the onions and put them into a stew-pan with the
nutter. Shake over the fire, and fry until brown, but do not burn or the
flavour of the stew will be completely spoilt. Cut the carrot and parsnip
and potato into quarters, the artichokes into halves, and put into the
stew-pan with the onions. Barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and
stew very gently until tender. Skin the tomatoes, break in halves, and
cook slowly to a pulp in a separate pan. Add these, with the lemon juice,
to the stew, and slightly thicken with a little wholemeal flour just
before serving.
IV.--CASSEROLE COOKERY.
Casserole is the French word for stew-pan. But "Casserole Cookery" is a
phrase used to denote cookery in earthenware pots. It commends itself
especially to food-reformers, as the slow cookery renders the food more
digestible, and the earthenware pots are easier to keep clean than the
ordinary saucepan. The food is served up in the pot in which it is cooked,
this being simply placed on a dish. A large pudding-basin covered with a
plate may be used in default of anything better. A clean white serviette
is generally pinned round this before it comes to table. Various
attractive-looking brown crocks are sold for the purpose. But anyone who
possesses the old-fashioned "beef-tea" jar needs nothing else. It is
important to ensure that a new casserole does not crack the first time of
using. To do this put the casserole into a large, clean saucepan, or pail,
full of clean cold water. Put over a fire or gas ring, and bring slowly to
the boil. Boil for 10 minutes and then stand aside to cool. Do not take
the casserole out until the water is cold.
1. FRENCH SOUP.
2 carrots, 1 turnip, 1 leek, 1 stick celery, 1/2 cabbage, 1 bay leaf, 2
cloves, 6 peppercorns, 3 qts. water.
Scrape and cut up carrots and turnip. Slice the leek, and cut celery into
dice. Shred the cabbage. Put into the jar with the water, and place in a
moderate oven, or on the top of a closed range. If it is necessary to use
a gas ring, turn very low and stand jar on an asbestos mat. Bring to the
boil slowly and then simmer for 2-1/2 hours.
2. HOT POT.
1 lb. potatoes, 2 carrots, 1 large onion, 1 turnip, 1/4 lb. mushrooms or
1/2 lb. tomatoes, 1 pint stock or water.
Wash, peel, and slice thickly the potatoes. Wash and scrape and slice the
carrots and turnip. Skin the tomatoes or mushrooms. Put in the jar in
alternate layers. Moisten with the stock or water. Cook as directed in
recipe 1 for 1-1/2 hours after it first begins to simmer.
3. STEWED APPLES.
Take hard, red apples. Wash, but do not peel or core. Put in jar with cold
water to reach half way up the apples. Cover closely and put in moderate
oven for 2 hours after it begins to simmer. At end of 1 hour, add sugar to
taste.
4. VEGETABLE STEW.
1-1/2 lbs. (when prepared and cut up) of mixed seasonable vegetables,
including, whenever possible, tomatoes, celery and spinach; one
tablespoonful of water.
Cut up the moist, juicy vegetables such as celery, spinach, onions and
tomatoes, place them with the water in a casserole, put lid on and slowly
cook for about one hour until enough juice is extracted to safely add the
rest of the cut-up vegetables. The whole should now be placed in a
slightly greater heat and simmered until the last added vegetables are
quite tender. The mixture should be stirred occasionally with a wooden
spoon.
V.--CURRIES.
I do not recommend the use of curries. Many food-reformers eschew them
altogether. But they are sometimes useful for the entertainment of
meat-eating friends, or to tide over the attack of meat-craving which
sometimes besets the vegetarian beginner. Of course there are curries and
curries. Cheap curry powders are very much hotter than those of a better
quality. When buying curry powder it is best to go to a high-class grocer
and get the smallest possible tin of the best he keeps. It will last for
years. Those who prefer to make their own curry powder may try Dr.
Kitchener's recipe as follows:--
1. CURRY POWDER.
3 ozs. coriander seed, 2-1/2 ozs. tumeric, 1 oz. black pepper, 1/2 oz.
lesser cardamoms, 1/4 oz. cinnamon, 1/4 oz. cumin seed.
Put the ingredients into a cool oven and let them remain there all night.
Next day pound them thoroughly in a marble mortar, and rub through a
sieve. Put the powder into a well-corked bottle.
A spice machine may be used instead of the mortar, but in that case the
tumeric should be obtained ready powdered, as it is so hard that it is apt
to break the machine. The various ingredients are generally only to be
obtained from a large wholesale druggist.
2. EGG CURRY.
1 large onion, 1 dessertspoon curry powder, 1 oz. butter or nutter, 3
hard-boiled eggs, 1 dessertspoon tomato pulp, 1 teacup water.
Shred the onion, put it in the stew-pan with the butter, sprinkle the
curry powder over, and fry gently until quite brown. Shell the eggs and
cut them in halves. Add the eggs, the tomato pulp, and the water. Stir
well, and simmer until the liquid is reduced to one-half. This will take
about 15 minutes. Serve with plain boiled unpolished rice.
3. GERMAN LENTIL CURRY.
Use the ingredients given, and proceed exactly the same as for egg curry.
But in place of eggs, take 1 breakfastcup of cold cooked German lentils
(see recipe for cooking lentils). Use also 2 teacups water in place of the
1, and only 3/4 oz. butter or nutter.
4. VEGETABLE CURRY.
Use the ingredients given and proceed the same as for German lentil curry,
using any cold steamed vegetables in season. The best curry, according to
an Indian authority, is one made of potatoes, artichokes, carrots, pumpkin
and tomatoes.
_Note_.--A writer in Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery says:--"A spoonful of
cocoanut kernel dried and powdered gives a delicious flavour to a curry,
as does also acid apple."
VI.--VEGETABLES.
Never eat boiled vegetables. No one ever hears of a flesh-eater boiling
his staple article of diet and throwing away the liquor. On the contrary,
when he does indulge in boiled meat, the liquor is regarded as a valuable
asset, and is used as a basis for soup. But his meat is generally
conservatively cooked--that is, it is baked, roasted, or grilled, so that
the juices are retained. If he has to choose between throwing away the
meat or the water in which it has been boiled, he keeps the
liquor--witness "beef-tea." For some unknown reason he does not often
treat his vegetables in the same way, and suffers thereby the loss of much
valuable food material.
The vegetarian--being avowedly a thinker and a pioneer--would, it might be
imagined, treat what is now one of his staple articles of diet at least as
carefully as the out-of-date flesh-eater. But no! For the most part, his
vegetables are boiled, and when the best part of the food constituents and
all the flavour have been extracted, he dines off a mass of indigestible
fibre--mere waste matter--and allows the "broth" to be thrown down the
sink, with the consequence that many vegetarians are pale, flabby
individuals who succumb to the slightest strain, and suffer from chronic
dyspepsia.
The remedy is simple. Treat vegetables as you used to treat meat. Bake or
stew them in their own juice. (See recipe for Vegetarian Irish Stew.) At
the least, steam them. A little of the valuable vegetable salts are lost
in the steaming, but not much. Better still, use a double boilerette. A
very little water is put into the inner pan and soon becomes steam, so
that by the time the vegetable is cooked it has all disappeared.
No exact time can be given for cooking vegetables, as this varies with age
and freshness. The younger--always supposing it has just come to
maturity--and fresher the vegetable, the quicker it cooks.
It should not be forgotten that orthodox cooks put all green and root
vegetables, except potatoes, to cook in _boiling_ water. This rule should
not be neglected when steaming vegetables--the water should be fast
boiling.
I will conclude with a few remarks about preparing greens, cauliflowers,
etc. The general practice is to soak them in cold salted water with the
idea of drawing out and killing any insects. But this often results in
killing the insects, especially if much salt is used, before "drawing them
out." A better plan is to put the trimmed cabbage or cauliflower head
downwards into _warm_ water for about half an hour. As I trim Brussels
sprouts I throw them into a pan of warm water, and the insects crawl out
and sink to the bottom of the pan. It is astonishing how many one finds at
the bottom of a pan of warm water in which sprouts are soaked.
1. ARTICHOKE, JERUSALEM.
Steam until tender, or bake with a small piece of nutter on each artichoke
until brown. Serve with tomato or white sauce.
2. ASPARAGUS.
Tie in a bundle and stand in a deep saucepan with the stalks in water, so
that the shoots are steamed. Serve with melted butter or white sauce.
3. BEETROOT.
Bake or steam. It will take from 2 to 4 hours, according to size.
4. BROAD BEANS.
Steam until tender, but do not spoil by overcooking. Serve with parsley
sauce.
5. BROCCOLI.
This is a rather coarser variety of cauliflower. Cook in the same way as
the latter.
6. BRUSSELS SPROUTS.
These should be steamed for not more than 20 minutes. They are generally
spoiled by overcooking. Serve plain or with onion sauce.
7. CABBAGE.
Steam. Put in vegetable dish, chop well, and add a small piece of butter.
8. CARROT.
Steam until tender. Serve whole or mashed with butter.
9. CAULIFLOWER.
Steam. This may be done in a large saucepan if a steamer is not available.
Support the cauliflower on a pudding basin or meat stand--anything which
will raise it just above the level of the water. Serve with white sauce or
tomato sauce.
10. CELERY.
Stew. Choose a small head of celery, not a large, coarse head which will
be tough. Well wash and cut into about 8 pieces. (Keep any large coarse
sticks, if such are unavoidably present, for soup.) Put in stew-pan and
barely cover with water. Simmer until tender. Lift out on to hot dish.
Thicken the liquor with a little wholemeal flour, add a small piece of
butter pour this sauce over celery, and serve.
11. CELERIAC.
This is a large, hard white root, somewhat resembling a turnip in
appearance, with a slight celery flavour. It is generally only stocked by
"high-class" greengrocers. It costs from 1-1/2d. to 3d., according to
size. It is nicest cut in slices and fried in fat or oil until a golden
brown.
12. CUCUMBER.
Although not generally cooked, this is very good steamed, and served with
white sauce.
13. GREEN PEAS.
Do not spoil these by overcooking. Steam in a double boilerette, if
possible. About 20 minutes is long enough.
14. LEEKS.
Cut off green leaves rather close to the white part. Wash well. Steam
about 30 minutes. Serve with white sauce.
15. NETTLES.