water for twenty minutes, or until tender, but not broken. Drain in a
colander, and set in an open oven to dry off for five minutes. Have
ready one large, or two small green sweet peppers, seeded carefully and
chopped fine. Put a heaping tablespoonful of butter in a frying-pan;
when it hisses add the minced peppers; toss and stir over the fire
until smoking hot all through. Put the rice into a dish and pour the
contents of the frying-pan all over it, loosening the mass with a fork
to allow the sauce to penetrate it.
Boston baked beans
Soak one quart of beans over night in warm—not hot—water. In the
morning cook them until the skin curls on a bean when you blow upon
it. Pack them in an earthen pot. Score the skin of a pound of streaked
salt pork, and almost bury it in the beans. Pour over this one
dessertspoonful of molasses, mixed with as much vinegar, a good pinch
of pepper and a teaspoonful of mixed mustard. Cover closely and bake
six hours in a good oven.
Baked beans and tomatoes
Soak and boil as directed in the last recipe. Then put the beans into a
deep pudding dish; bury a piece of pork (parboiled) in the center and
pour over them a large cupful of stewed and strained tomatoes seasoned
with pepper, sugar, onion juice and a good lump of butter, but not
thickened. Cover closely and cook for three hours, if the dish be large.
Fried cucumbers
Peel and slice cucumbers and lay in a dressing of equal parts of oil
and vinegar for ten minutes. Drain and dip in beaten egg, roll in
cracker crumbs and fry in deep cottolene or other fat. Drain and serve
hot.
Mushrooms on toast
Peel and broil fresh mushrooms, spread them with butter, dust with
salt and pepper, and serve them on rounds of toast. Or you may cut the
mushrooms in quarters, put them in a double boiler with a tablespoonful
of butter and cook until tender. They may then be seasoned to taste
and poured, sauce and all, on rounds or triangles of crustless toast.
Baked mushrooms
Peel and stem large mushrooms. Line a deep bake-dish with thin slices
of toast, each of which has been dipped for an instant in seasoned
beef stock. Fill the dish with layers of mushrooms, sprinkling each
layer with salt, paprika, and bits of butter. When the dish is full,
pour over all a gill of stock, and bake, covered, for twenty minutes.
Uncover and cook for five minutes before sending to the table.
Dried mushrooms and eggs
Wash the dried mushrooms, boil until tender and drain the water off.
Put into a pan to fry in butter for about ten minutes, sprinkle a very
little caraway seed on them, and salt to taste. Break a few eggs over
them.
Sauté green tomatoes
Select firm, smooth tomatoes that are fully grown, but which have not
begun to redden. Wash, and without paring, cut into disks a quarter of
an inch thick. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar, dust with flour
and sauté in hot butter. Drain and garnish with thin slices of fried
bacon.
SANDWICHES
The day has passed and forever when a sandwich meant two thick slices
of bread, enclosing what the boys call a “hunk” of cold meat. Now the
popular delicacy is made of bread cut to wafer-like thinness and shorn
of all suggestion of crust. The “filling” may be simple or composite,
as taste may dictate, and the ingenious housewife will devise many
delicious combinations to be spread between the two layers of her
sandwiches.
Ham sandwiches
Chop lean ham fine and beat into each cupful of the minced meat a
tablespoonful of salad oil, a teaspoonful of vinegar, a saltspoonful of
French mustard, six olives chopped fine, and a teaspoonful of minced
parsley. Work all to a paste and spread on thin slices of white bread.
Chicken sandwiches
Mince the white meat of a roast chicken and mix it with half a can of
French mushrooms, chopped fine, and a half cupful of chopped English
walnuts. Season to taste with pepper and salt, and moisten with melted
butter. Put the mixture between slices of whole wheat bread.
Brunette sandwiches
Slice Boston brown bread very thin, butter lightly, and spread with
Neufchâtel or with cottage cheese. Have ready crisp lettuce-leaves, dip
each in a bowl of French salad dressing, then lay on the already spread
brown bread. Press another slice of buttered brown bread on this,
and the sandwich is ready. These sandwiches must be kept in a moist
atmosphere until it is time to serve them.
Lamb or mutton sandwiches
Mince cold roast lamb, or tender mutton fine, and season with salt,
pepper and tomato catsup. Add a few minced olives and make all into a
paste with mayonnaise dressing. Spread between thin slices of bread.
Cut these sandwiches into diamond shapes.
Beef sandwiches
Chop rare cold roast beef very fine, taking care to use only the lean
portions of the meat. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a saltspoonful of
horseradish. Mix and make into sandwiches with thinly-sliced graham
bread. These may be eaten by persons of delicate digestion, and are
both appetizing and nourishing.
Egg sandwiches
Mash the yolks of hard-boiled eggs to a powder and moisten with olive
oil and a few drops of vinegar. Work to a paste, add salt, pepper and
French mustard to taste, with a drop or two of Tabasco sauce. Now chop
the whites of the eggs as fine as possible (or until they are like a
coarse powder) and mix them with the yolk paste. If more seasoning is
necessary, add it before spreading the mixture upon sliced graham bread.
Walnut sandwiches
Shell English walnuts. Blanch and chop, and to every tablespoonful of
nuts allow a good half tablespoonful of cream cheese. Rub well together
and spread on thin slices of crustless white or graham bread.
Peanut sandwiches
Shell and skin freshly-roasted peanuts and roll them to fine crumbs
on a pastry-board. Add salt to taste, and mix the powdered nuts with
enough fresh cream cheese to make a paste that can be easily spread on
unbuttered bread. Keep in a cold, damp place until wanted.
Water cress sandwiches
Season water cress with salt, pepper, and a few drops of vinegar,
and chop coarsely. Mix with creamy cottage cheese and spread on
thinly-sliced white bread.
Cottage cheese sandwiches
Cottage cheese, spread upon a slice of buttered bread, and covered
with a leaf of lettuce dipped in oil and vinegar, then with the second
buttered slice, makes a nice relish.
Sardine sandwiches
Wipe the fish, skin, take out the backbone and rub to a smooth paste
with a little butter and lemon juice. Add a dash of cayenne, or a few
drops of Tabasco sauce, and spread between thin slices of brown bread.
Salmon sandwiches
(Contributed)
Remove the skin and bones from a can of salmon, shred with a silver
fork and add the crumbled yolks of six hard-boiled eggs. Season to
taste and add any good salad dressing. Spread on thin slices of brown
bread.
Olive sandwiches
(Contributed)
Take equal parts of large and stuffed olives. Mince fine, mix with a
little thick mayonnaise, and spread on thin slices of buttered bread.
Salad sandwiches
(Contributed)
Take finely-chopped chicken or veal, season with salt, pepper and a
dash of onion juice. Add a little mayonnaise and spread the mixture on
thin slices of bread lined with crisp lettuce leaves.
[Illustration: WHOLE WHEAT BREAD SANDWICHES IN FOLDED NAPKIN
BRUNETTE SANDWICHES
CRESCENT SANDWICHES]
Nasturtium sandwiches
(Contributed)
Butter thin slices of white bread, place between them the petals of
nasturtium flowers or the very young leaves. Place the flowers so that
they will show along the edges of the bread and decorate the plate with
the leaves and flowers.
Raisin sandwiches
(Contributed)
Make a paste of large seeded raisins and candied lemon peel chopped
fine and moistened with lemon juice. Spread on lightly-buttered thin
slices of bread. Serve with a cup of good tea.
Chocolate sandwiches
(Contributed)
Melt a small piece of butter in a saucepan; grate into it bitter
chocolate and season with granulated sugar. When the chocolate is
thoroughly melted take from the fire and cool. Moisten with a little
thick cream and spread on thin slices of slightly buttered bread.
Hash sandwiches
(Contributed)
Cut pieces of bread into uniform sizes, dip them in beaten egg, to
which a little milk and a pinch of salt has been added. Fry to a light
brown in hot butter. Make a highly-seasoned hash of chopped meat and
potatoes. Cook in stock until heated through. Arrange toast on platter,
putting a spoonful of hash on each piece and covering with another
piece of toast.
Date and nut sandwiches
(Contributed)
Remove the stones and the thick skin which surrounds them from the
dates, then chop them fine. Add half as much finely-chopped English
walnut or pecan meats; moisten with creamed butter, add a pinch of salt
and spread between two thin slices of bread.
Fig and nut sandwiches
(Contributed)
For fig sandwiches use the recipe for dates and nuts, substituting figs
for dates.
Ginger sandwiches
(Contributed)
Cut thin slices of plain gingerbread. Spread with soft cream cheese.
Put between the slices a thin slice of preserved ginger.
Marmalade sandwiches
(Contributed)
Toast slices of bread, spread while hot with butter, fill with a thick
marmalade and serve hot.
Cheese and nut sandwiches
(Contributed)
Take equal parts of grated cheese and English walnuts pounded to a meal
and moisten with thick cream. Season to taste and spread between thin
slices of buttered bread.
Lettuce sandwiches
(Contributed)
Lay between two thin slices of buttered bread a crisp lettuce leaf, on
which has been spread a thin layer of salad dressing.
Sweetbread sandwiches
(Contributed)
Put cold boiled sweetbreads through a potato ricer, moisten with half
as much whipped cream, season with salt, cayenne and lemon juice.
Spread on thin slices of buttered bread and cut in fancy shapes.
Lobster sandwiches
(Contributed)
Season the finely-chopped meat of a lobster with a few drops of Tabasco
sauce, lemon juice and oil and spread upon thinly-buttered bread.
Hot ham sandwiches
(Contributed)
Butter thin slices of bread. Broil some very thin slices of ham, put
between the slices of bread and serve hot.
Tongue sandwiches
(Contributed)
Make a dressing one part mustard and five parts butter, add salt
and pepper to taste and a little cayenne. Butter the bread with the
dressing and lay between the slices thin slices of cold tongue.
Mint sandwiches
(Contributed)
Pulverize one tablespoonful of mint leaves; pour over them two
tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Let it stand for about a half an hour.
Soak half an ounce of gelatine in one tablespoonful of water. Dissolve
it over hot water. Strain the mint into the gelatine and when cool
add a pint of rich whipped cream and a pinch of salt. Let this stand
in a mold until perfectly cold and firm. Slice in thin slices and put
between dainty slices of bread.
Anchovy sandwiches
(Contributed)
Spread thin slices of bread with a very little butter. Cover this with
a thin layer of anchovy paste. Mince finely some olives and use for
filling.
Club sandwiches
(Contributed)
Toast slices of bread a nice brown, and while hot spread with butter
and put between the slices a lettuce leaf, some cold baked chicken cut
in thin slices, a few chopped olives and pickles, some slices of hot
crisp bacon, a layer of salad dressing, another lettuce leaf and the
other slice of toast.
These are very nice for Sunday evening supper.
Tomato sandwiches
Slice graham, or, better still, whole-wheat bread, thin, pare off the
crust, butter on one side, spread with minced ripe tomatoes—drain off
superfluous juice and sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Serve at
once. The tomatoes should be ice-cold and minced quickly. They are
delicious and popular.
TEMPTING PREFIXES TO LUNCHEON
Grape fruit
This is among the most popular of appetizers to be served at a
luncheon. Cut the fruit in half, crosswise, and with a sharp knife
remove all the bitter white membrane that divides the lobes. Fill the
space thus left with as much granulated sugar as the fruit will hold.
Set on the ice until very cold.
Fruit baskets
Cut oranges in half so cleverly as to leave a wide strip from the upper
half of the rind attached to the lower, like the handle of a basket, or
the “bale” of a bucket. Should you break it at one side you can, after
filling the cup or basket, put a neat stitch in and tie a bow of narrow
ribbon over the join.
Empty the lower cup entirely to the white inner lining. Set on the ice
while you prepare the filling. Cut the orange pulp into neat, clean
bits; mix with crystallized cherries, atoms of _marrons glacés_ or of
blanched nuts, add fine white sugar and a little liqueur, or if you
prefer, sherry. Fill the baskets and leave half buried in cracked ice
until you are ready to set them on the table.
Set each basket upon a chilled plate, laying an orange spoon beside it.
If you do not care to take the trouble of leaving the handle on, make
bowls of the halved fruit. They are a delicious introduction to a
company luncheon.
Oyster cocktails
Bury small oysters in the ice until needed. Have the tall, slender
glasses in which they are to be served laid in the ice also that
they may be thoroughly chilled. Make a sauce of two tablespoonfuls of
tomato catsup, a dozen drops of Tabasco sauce, the juice of a lemon,
a saltspoonful of grated horseradish and a dash, each, of salt and
paprika. Add two tablespoonfuls of oyster liquor, mix thoroughly and
set on the ice until very cold.
Put five oysters in the bottom of each chilled glass, pour the sauce
upon them, and serve.
Raw oysters
Lay, when opened, on the deeper of the halved shells that the liquor
may not escape. Have a bed of finely-cracked ice in each plate, fix
five oysters in each bed, with a piece of lemon in the middle. Pass
grated horseradish in vinegar with them, and small crackers, or
buttered bars of graham bread.
Raw clams
Are served in the same way.
Caviar crisps
Remove the crusts from slices of white bread and cut into strips
an inch wide and three inches long. Toast to a light brown and set
aside to cool. Open a small can of caviar and rub into the contents a
tablespoonful of salad oil and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. If the
paste is not soft enough add more oil. Spread the crisp toast with this
paste, garnish with sprigs of parsley, and serve cold.
Clam wafers
Chop a dozen soft clams very, very fine, and season with pepper and
a few drops of lemon juice. Add to them the beaten yolk of one egg
and enough finely-rolled cracker crumbs to make a soft paste. Spread
seafoam wafers thickly with this paste, lay them in a baking pan and
set in the oven for five or ten minutes, or until the wafers and paste
are very hot and the batter is quite stiff. Serve at once.
[Illustration: GRAPE-FRUIT PREPARED FOR LUNCHEON
CAVIAR TOAST GARNISHED WITH CELERY AND LEMON
OYSTER COCKTAILS]
Anchovy toast
Cut the crust from a loaf of graham bread and slice, then cut each
slice in half and toast on both sides. Spread lightly with butter.
Open a jar of anchovies and lay one of the tiny fish on each strip of
graham toast, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice upon it, sprinkle with
paprika and set in the oven until very hot.
Anchovy bars
Butter narrow saltine wafers, spread them with anchovy paste, and set
them in the oven long enough to become very hot. Serve two on each
plate.
Deviled crackers
Butter seafoam wafers, sprinkle lightly with paprika, then drop upon
them a very little grated Parmesan cheese, and set in the oven until
they brown delicately about the edges.
Hot-house grapes
Cut the larger bunches into smaller, all of uniform size. Lay on ice
until just before luncheon when, tie a dainty bow of ribbon of a
harmonizing color with the grapes, upon each bunch.
Jack Frost grapes
Divide a large bunch of selected grapes into smaller bunches of even
proportion. With a camel’s-hair brush varnish each grape thoroughly
with the white of an egg. Dust carefully with granulated sugar. Tie to
each cluster a bow of narrow white ribbon.
SALADS
In a Familiar Talk, some pages back, I have alluded to the “Woman with
a Way,” who will not use oil in salad dressing. A story which stuck
to an eminent magazine publisher to the end of his busy career was of
a new cook whose salads won the unqualified approval of her master,
who was a gourmand in a gentlemanly way. She had been serving perfect
mayonnaises and well-adjusted French dressings for a fortnight, when
one of the children fell ill and the doctor prescribed a dose of castor
oil. The mother recollected distinctly the purchase of a bottle not
long before, but it could not be found. Bridget heard the inquiry going
the rounds and came to the front.
“Castor ile—is it ye are wanting? And it is mesilf that was thinking
this morning, as I had a right to spake to yez, mem, to order more. I
put the lasht dhrop inter the castor yisterday. Salad every day uses a
dale of ile.”
Bridget knows better now, and her mistress’s taste is so far cultivated
by much use of salad oil that she insists upon having it “pure.”
An airy waitress, in the second day of her trial week in my household,
complimented me patronizingly upon the judgment which led me to select
“the best brand.”
“There’s no better oil on the market to my way of thinking than the
Borducks!” holding a bottle up to let the light fall through the slow
liquid amber of “Huile de Bordeaux.”
The oil of Bordeaux is good, when not doctored upon this side of
the water. There are olive groves in other foreign lands that send
thousands of gallons of pure oil to America to be mixed with cheaper
oils, returned to the bottles bearing foreign labels, and palmed off
upon the most credulous public upon the globe as the yield of the royal
olive.
Pure salad oil, when it has any perceptible odor, should have a faint
“nutty” perfume; it should taste like the ripe olives from which it was
expressed; in color it should be palest, tenderest green; it should
blend readily and harmoniously with condiments and with the body of the
salad.
French dressing
Rub the inside of a bowl with a clove of garlic. Measure into a bowl
six tablespoonfuls of oil, two of vinegar, two saltspoonfuls of salt,
and one of pepper. Mix thoroughly before pouring over the salad.
Mayonnaise dressing
Into a chilled soup plate drop the yolk of an egg drained free of all
the white, squeeze upon it a teaspoonful of lemon juice and stir in
with a silver fork until well mixed. Now add gradually a few drops of
salad oil, stirring steadily. As the dressing thickens, add the oil
more freely until you have used half a pint. Season with a dash of
paprika, a half teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of mustard, and a
generous tablespoonful of vinegar.
In making your chicken salad allow a cupful of celery cut into bits to
every two cups of the chicken dice, and make a cupful of mayonnaise for
five cupfuls of the salad.
Cream dressing
Beat three eggs, yolks and whites together, until they are very light;
add one teaspoonful of salt, a pinch of red pepper, half a saltspoonful
of mustard mixed with a little water, and, lastly, three or four
tablespoonfuls of rich, sweet cream.
Sour cream salad dressing
Have a cupful of rich sour cream very cold, then beat hard for five
minutes, adding, as you do so, a tablespoonful of powdered sugar and a
half teaspoonful of lemon juice. This dressing is delicious served with
chilled cucumbers, sliced thin.
Boiled salad dressing
Into three well-beaten eggs stir a cupful of vinegar, a tablespoonful
of sugar, two saltspoonfuls of salt, a dash of paprika, and a small
teaspoonful of French mustard. Beat thoroughly, turn into a saucepan,
stir steadily until the boil begins, and add a teaspoonful of butter.
When this melts remove the dressing from the fire. Beat for two minutes
and set aside to cool. When cold put in the ice-box, where it will keep
a week or ten days.
Chicken salad
Cut cold, boiled chicken into small dice. With two cupfuls of this
meat mix a cupful of celery cut into dice. Sprinkle all with salt
and pepper. Into three tablespoonfuls of oil stir a tablespoonful of
vinegar. Pour this over the chicken and celery and toss until well
mixed. Line a chilled bowl with crisp lettuce leaves, fill with the
chicken salad and pour mayonnaise dressing over all.
Turkey salad
Is made in like manner, rejecting the dark meat of the legs, unless it
is very tender.
Lobster salad
Pick out the meat from a fresh, well-boiled lobster. Cut with a sharp
knife into small dice, taking care not to tear the meat. Set on ice
while you make a good mayonnaise, which, in turn, must go on the ice.
Have ready one-third as much celery as you have lobster, cut into
half-inch lengths. Mix together in a bowl, sprinkle with cayenne and
salt and stir lightly into it a cupful of mayonnaise. Line a chilled
bowl with crisp lettuce, arrange the salad within this; garnish with
the lobsters’ claws and hard-boiled eggs cut into lengths lengthwise.
Set on ice until it goes to table.
Crab salad
Is made in the same way, omitting the eggs from the garnish.
Oyster salad
Choose small oysters for this salad. If you can not get these, cut
each oyster in half, but do not chop them. Drain the liquor from the
oysters, and to every cupful of these add a cupful of crisp white
celery cut into half-inch bits sprinkled lightly with salt. Mix and
stir mayonnaise dressing through the mixture. Line a chilled bowl with
lettuce leaves, fill with the oyster salad and pour a rich mayonnaise
over all. Garnish with stoned olives.
Shrimp salad
For this dish you can use either the fresh or the canned shrimps. If
the former, they must be shelled. If the latter, they must be taken
from the can several hours before they are to be used and set on the
ice. Line a salad bowl with crisp lettuce leaves, lay the shrimps upon
these and cover with mayonnaise dressing. Serve at once.
Shrimp and tomato salad
Cut the tops from ripe tomatoes and remove the insides. Fill the tomato
shells with cold boiled shrimps, with their backs up; set each tomato
upon a leaf of lettuce and pour mayonnaise dressing over all. A pretty
salad.
Crab and tomato salad
Carefully strip the skin from six large, firm tomatoes, and remove the
centers. Fill the hollowed vegetables with the chopped and seasoned
meat of six boiled crabs. Set the stuffed tomatoes in the ice for
several hours. Lay on crisp lettuce leaves, and put a spoonful of
mayonnaise dressing upon each tomato.
Shrimp salad and tomato aspic
Strain the liquor from a can of tomatoes through coarse muslin. Put
over the fire, season with salt and paprika and the strained juice of
a small onion. When it boils skim well and pour over half a box of
Coxe’s gelatine, which has been soaked three hours in a cup of cold
water. Set away to form into a jelly.
When ready to use it line a salad dish with lettuce, arrange the
contents of a can of shrimps (strained) upon the leaves, and spoonfuls
of tomato jelly upon the shrimps. Send around French salad dressing
with it.
Salmon mayonnaise
Boil eight eggs hard, throw into cold water; peel and lay in ice. Make
a cup of mayonnaise and rub into it five large clean-cut pieces of
canned salmon. Slice the eggs, lay them on lettuce leaves and pour over
them the salmon mayonnaise.
Sardine salad
Drain the oil from a box of sardines and squeeze three drops of lemon
juice on each fish. Lay crisp lettuce leaves in iced water for half an
hour, then shake free of moisture and lay on a chilled platter. On each
leaf lay a sardine, and upon this pour a spoonful of thick mayonnaise
dressing. Garnish the edge of the platter with cold boiled beets cut
into star shapes. Serve with crackers and cream cheese.
Egg salad with sardine mayonnaise
Boil eight eggs hard, throw into cold water; peel and lay in the ice.
Make a cup of mayonnaise and rub into it four sardines that have been
skinned and mashed to a paste. Halve the eggs, lay them on crisp
lettuce leaves and pour a spoonful of the sardine mayonnaise over all.
Egg salad with boiled dressing