1 can tuna fish or 1-1/2 lbs. any cold boiled fish
1/2 cup French dressing
1 teaspoon onion juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup finely cut celery
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
Line dish with lettuce; place fish in center; pour over French dressing
to which onion juice has been added and cover with celery; put
Mayonnaise on top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Beverages
How to Make Coffee
The best method of making coffee, as determined by the Better
Coffee-Making Committee of the National Association of Coffee Roasters,
is as follows:
"Fill a kettle with fresh cold water and put it on to boil. Place over
an open china teapot, kept just for coffee, a clean, wet, old linen
napkin, or a new square of unbleached muslin, letting it sag toward the
center. Put into the depression 4 heaping tablespoons (for 4 cups of
coffee) of finely pulverized coffee. This fine pulverization is very
important. Ordinary ground coffee will not do at all, and gives weak
infusions.
"When the water in the kettle is boiling fiercely, pour it through the
coffee slowly until 4 cups have gone through, or a trifle more for 4
cups of coffee.
"Cover and take at once to table.
"Wash the cloth immediately and keep it in a jar of cold water, never
permitting it to get dry, and freshening the water every day. Keeping
the cloth sweet is essential. Every effort should be made to this end.
The least souring ruins the coffee.
"Follow these directions strictly, paying especial attention to having
the coffee very fine, like flour, and the water boiling, and you will
have excellent coffee even though you buy cheap blends."
Boiled Coffee
For 4 cups. Beat half an egg white with 3 tablespoons cold water; add
3/4 cup ground coffee and stir until moistened; put into scalded coffee
pot; add 1 quart boiling water and boil 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup cold
water and allow to stand 3 minutes to settle and serve.
Cocoa
The usual rule is 2 teaspoons cocoa, 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 tablespoon cold
water and 3/4 cup milk to each cup. Mix cocoa with sugar and cold water;
cook over slow fire until thick; add milk, and boil 1 minute.
Cocoa Syrup
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
Stir water and sugar in saucepan until dissolved; boil 5 minutes; mix
cocoa with cold water to make a paste and add to boiling syrup; boil
slowly for 10 minutes; add salt. When cold put into bottle or glass jar
in refrigerator. Take 2 tablespoons of syrup for each glass or cup of
milk. Serve with whipped cream.
Served either hot or iced, this is a nourishing and delicious beverage.
Tea
Water for tea should be freshly heated and just boiling. Teas are of
different strength, but a safe rule is 1 teaspoon dry tea to 1 cup
water. Scald teapot; put in dry tea and cover for 1 minute. Add boiling
water and cover closely. Allow it to stand 3 to 6 minutes and strain off
into a second hot pot.
Chocolate
Cut into small pieces 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate; add 1 tablespoon
sugar and 2 tablespoons hot water. Boil all together till smooth; add
gradually 2 cups scalded milk; cook in double boiler 5 minutes. If
desired add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Serve with whipped cream.
Candies
Cream Candy
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Add a little water to moisten sugar; boil with vinegar and cream of
tartar without stirring, until brittle when tried in cold water. Add
flavoring; turn out quickly on buttered plates. When cool enough to
handle, pull until white, and cut into pieces.
Butter Scotch
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter
Boil without stirring until brittle when tested in cold water. Pour out
on buttered plates to cool.
Butter Taffy
3 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Boil sugar, molasses, water and vinegar. When crisp in cold water add
butter and cook 3 minutes. Add vanilla and cool on buttered pans and
break into pieces.
Chocolate Caramels
2 cups molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup cream or milk
1/4 pound unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons butter
Put all ingredients into kettle. Boil until it hardens in cold water;
add 1 teaspoon vanilla and turn into greased tins. When nearly cold, cut
into small squares.
Creamed Nuts
2 cups confectioner's sugar
white of 1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cold water
walnuts or other nuts
Mix sugar, unbeaten egg white, vanilla and water into a stiff paste.
Shape into little balls, press between halved walnut or other nut meats.
Stoned dates and large seeded raisins may be filled with this cream, or
it may be mixed with chopped nuts, shaped into bars and cut into
squares.
Peanut Brittle
2 cups chopped roasted nuts
3 cups granulated sugar
Put sugar in frying pan. Stir over slow fire. It will lump, then
gradually melt. When pale coffee color, and clear, add nuts and pour
quickly on greased tin. When cold break into pieces.
Candied Popcorn
1-1/2 cups sugar or maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons water
3 quarts popped corn
Boil sugar or syrup with butter and water until it spins a long thread;
pour this on corn and if desired shape into balls.
Pulled Molasses Candy
1 cup molasses
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons butter
Put molasses, sugar, water and vinegar into saucepan and stir; boil
until very brittle when dropped into cold water; add butter and pour on
buttered platter. When cool enough to handle, butter hands and pull
until light brown. Pull into oblong strips and cut with scissors.
Fudge
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk or cream
4 or 5 tablespoon's cocoa or 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put sugar, milk and cocoa or chocolate into saucepan; stir and boil
until it makes soft ball when tested in cold water; take from fire, add
butter and vanilla, cool and stir until creamy. Pour on buttered plates
and cut into squares.
Penuche
2 cups light brown sugar
1/3 cup milk or cream
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put sugar, milk and butter into saucepan. Boil with as little stirring
as possible until it makes a soft ball when tested in cold water. Take
from fire; add nuts and vanilla; beat until thick and pour into greased
tins.
Cocoa Cream Candy
4 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons boiling water
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix sugar and water until smooth; add cocoa and vanilla; mix until
creamy. Dust hands with sugar; take up 1/2 teaspoon of mixture and roll
into ball. Dust a plate with sugar, and lay balls on to dry about 2
hours; then roll in finely chopped nuts.
Stuffed Prunes or Dates
Wash, dry and stone fruit; cut almost in half and fill with a half
marshmallow or blanched almond, or chopped nuts and raisins and roll in
sugar.
Cocoanut Cream Candy
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup grated fresh cocoanut
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter in saucepan; add milk and sugar; stir until sugar is
dissolved, heating slowly; boil 12 to 15 minutes; remove from fire and
add cocoanut and vanilla, beating until creamy. Pour into buttered tins
and cool.
For Chocolate Cocoanut Cream Candy add 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate to
other ingredients before boiling.
Hickory Nut Candy
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
lemon or vanilla extract
1 cup hickory nut meats
Boil sugar and water, without stirring, until thick enough to spin a
thread; place saucepan in cold water; add flavoring and stir quickly
until white; stir in nuts; turn into buttered tin; when cold cut into
squares.
Date and Peanut Paste
1 cup stoned dates
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
Wash and dry dates; put through food chopper; add peanut butter and
salt. Mix and roll into small balls; then cover with sugar. Lay on plate
to dry.
Salted Almonds
Blanch almonds by putting into boiling water for a few minutes. Remove
skins, dry well and brown in heated olive oil or butter in pan on top of
stove stirring continually. Take from fire when very light brown, as
they continue to color after removing from pan. Drain well on brown
paper and sprinkle with salt.
Fireless Cookery
The Fireless Cooker has become an important factor in the home. The
principle employed is the preservation of heat by the use of
non-conducting materials. The device ordinarily used is a rectangular
box lined on all sides with some substance which will prevent escape of
heat, with spaces or wells for the insertion of stone or metal discs or
radiators and vessels containing food to be cooked.
Among the advantages of this method are: the improvement in flavor by
slower cooking with little opportunity for evaporation; improved
appearance of food that is subject to shrinkage when cooked by ordinary
methods; saving in labor, as the cooking practically takes care of
itself. Dinner may be prepared in the morning, placed in the cooker, and
without further attention be ready to serve at any time after 3 or 4
hours. While the time required for cooking is longer than in the usual
methods, the actual time consumed in preparation of a meal is
considerably reduced.
DIRECTIONS
Prepare food for cooking as usual. Place in special vessel, designed to
fit into wells of Fireless Cooker, and heat on range or over gas flame
until ordinary cooking temperature is reached. Put into cooker with one
or more radiators which have been heated for 10 or 15 minutes over hot
fire. For roasting, radiator should be hot enough to brown a pinch of
flour immediately. Close cover, fasten lightly so that the steam may
escape and allow cooking to proceed for time specified in recipes.
For baking cake, apples, etc., proceed as for roasting. The time
required for baking is slightly longer than that specified for regular
ovens. For cake ordinarily baked in a moderate oven, heat radiators hot
enough to brown a pinch of flour in half a minute.
The Fireless Cooker is especially convenient for the preparation of
cereals, meats, vegetables and other dishes that are ordinarily boiled
or roasted. Remember that foods should be thoroughly heated before
putting into cooker.
Cereals
Prepare cereal for cooking in double boiler as usual. Boil over fire for
5 minutes; place in larger vessel of boiling water in cooker and allow
it to remain 4 or 5 hours or longer. If placed in cooker at night it
should remain warm enough to serve for breakfast.
Steaming
For recipes see "Boston Brown Bread," "Steamed Fig Pudding," "Poor Man's
Pudding," "Christmas Plum Pudding," etc. Prepare and mix ingredients as
directed. Put into greased molds and place in shallow pan of boiling
water over very hot radiator in cooker. Fasten cover tight and cook for
5 to 6 hours.
Soups
Place ingredients in vessel; cover with cold water; bring to boil over
free flame and boil 5 minutes. Fasten cover and transfer to cooker,
using one hot radiator in bottom of well. Cook 3 or 4 hours and season
when ready to serve.
For ingredients and special directions for preparing soups, see "Soups."
Roast Meats
Prepare and season meat in usual way. Place in large dry vessel; put
very hot radiator in bottom of cooker well; place vessel containing
roast on radiator, and place another very hot radiator on top. Close
cooker and fasten. Allow it to remain about one-half hour per pound of
meat.
The roast may be browned in a very hot oven before putting into cooker
or just before serving.
Boiled or Stewed Meats
Prepare meat for cooking as usual, searing in frying pan if desired
brown. Place in large vessel and cover or partly cover with boiling
water, boiling with cover fastened tight for 10 or 15 minutes over free
flame. Transfer to cooker, using one hot radiator underneath. Cook 2 or
3 hours, season and serve.
Vegetables
Prepare vegetables as usual. Place in vessel with small quantity of
boiling water. As there is little evaporation in fireless cookers,
allowance does not have to be made for loss by evaporation. Boil over
free flame for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to cooker, using one radiator
in bottom of well. Cook 3 or 4 hours, remove from cooker, season and
serve.
Invalid Cookery
Always prepare food for the sick in the most careful and attractive
manner. In sickness the senses are unusually acute and far more
susceptible to carelessness and mistakes in the preparation and serving
of food than in health.
Barley Water
2 tablespoons pearl barley
2 quarts cold water
Wash barley, soak several hours in cold water and boil gently in same
water for 2 hours; or put into double boiler and cook for 4 hours or
until reduced one-half. Lemon juice and sugar or salt to taste may be
added if desired.
Pineapple Juice
Peel a very ripe pineapple, cut into small pieces and put through fruit
press or potato ricer to extract all juice. Strain and serve with
cracked ice.
Albuminized Orange
1 egg white
juice of 1 orange
sugar
Add orange juice sweetened to taste to egg white and beat well. Chill on
ice and serve cold.
Beef Tea
1 pound lean beef
1 cup cold water
Cut beef up into small pieces or put through meat chopper. Put into
fruit jar; add water and allow to stand 15 to 20 minutes to draw out the
juice. Place on trivet or rack in pan of cold water; heat very slowly
for about 2 hours. The water must not boil. Season, strain, cool and
remove fat. Beef tea may be served hot or cold.
Scraped Beef
Scrape meat with sharp knife from lean beef cut from round until nothing
but connective tissue is left. Form into small balls and broil slowly
for about 2 minutes. Season and serve. For sandwiches do not cook but
spread between thin slices of bread and season.
Spanish Cream
2 cups scalded milk
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons granulated gelatine
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint cream
Pour scalded milk very slowly over egg yolks and sugar which have been
mixed together. Cook slowly in double boiler until thick and smooth.
Pour over gelatine which has been soaking in 1/4 cup of water. Chill,
add vanilla and beat with egg whip until thick. Add the cream which has
been whipped and chill in molds.
Gluten Muffins
2 cups gluten flour
3 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups milk
Sift together flour and baking powder; add beaten egg and melted butter
to milk and add, Mix well and bake in greased muffin tins in moderate
oven about 35 minutes.
In addition to the foregoing, many of the soups, broths, jellies, ices
and plain drop cakes found in the preceding pages are suitable for
invalids and convalescents.
Preserving and Canning
(Material adapted from U. S. Food Administration and N. Y. State
Department of Agriculture.)
General Directions
Test all jars for leakage before using. To do this, fill with water, put
on rubber and cover, seal and invert.
Sterilize all utensils, jars, covers, etc., by covering with cold water,
and boil for 10 minutes. Use only new rubbers and dip in boiling water
just before using.
Use a wide-mouthed funnel when filling jars to avoid loss of material
and keep jar rim clean.
Invert all jars after filling and sealing.
Fruit should be sound, firm and not overripe. All fruit should be
carefully prepared.
Clean fruit, clean hands, clean utensils, and a clean kitchen free from
flies, are essential for safety and success.
Keep products in a cool place. Avoid freezing in winter.
Canning
Canning is the operation of preparing sterilized food so that it will
keep indefinitely.
The custom of canning fruit in syrup is based on the improvement in
flavor and texture which sugar gives to fruit. Sugar is not necessary
for its preservation. Success depends upon thorough sterilization--that
is, killing the organisms which cause food to spoil, and then sealing
carefully to prevent their entrance. Fruit may be canned in water, in
fruit juice and in syrup.
Preserving
The only difference between preserving and canning fruit is that sugar
is always used in preserving, while in canning it is used in smaller
quantity or not at all. In preserving the old rule of equal weights of
sugar and fruit may be followed.
Directions for Canning by Open-Kettle Method
By this method which is generally used, for preserves, jams and
marmalades, food is completely cooked and poured boiling hot into
sterilized jars.
Prepare fruit, which may or may not be peeled, and cut into pieces
depending on the variety. Blanch or scald peaches and similar fruits to
loosen skin and chill by plunging into cold water. Cook slowly in as
little water as possible or in fruit juice or fruit syrup until done.
Fill the sterilized jars, seal and invert.
Directions for Canning by Can-Cooked Method
By this method uncooked or partly cooked food is packed in can or jar,
covered with liquid and both jar and contents sterilized.
Pare fruit if desired or blanch or scald in boiling water a small
quantity of the fruit at a time. (See time table.) Do not blanch
cherries, sour cherries excepted, berries or plums.
Chill outside of the blanched fruit by immersing it for a few minutes in
a vessel of cold water. Remove skin from such fruits as peaches.
Pack firmly in clean, tested jars to within one-half inch of top.
Fill jars to within 1/4 inch of top with boiling water, fruit juice, or
syrup.
Place a new rubber on each jar, adjust cover and partly seal.
Place jars on false bottom of water bath and sterilize for required
time. (See time-table.) If the hot-water bath is used, jars should be
immersed in sufficient boiling water to cover tops to depth of about 1
inch. Do not begin to time the sterilizing until water boils. Keep water
boiling during sterilizing period.
Remove jars from sterilizer. Seal them and invert to cool. Avoid a draft
on jars, but cool as rapidly as possible.
Wash and label jars. Wrap in paper or store in a dark place to prevent
loss of color of red fruit.
Vegetables may also be canned by this method.
A Time-Table for Canning Fruits by the Can-Cooked Method
TIME OF COOKING
If the
If the pressure
Time of hot-water cooker
Blanching bath is is used
used (5 pounds)
FRUIT Minutes Minutes Minutes
Apricots, Peaches 1-2 16 10
Blackberries 16 6
Cherries, Strawberries,
Grapes, Plums 16 10
Fruit Juices 20 10
Huckleberries, Raspberries 16 8
Pears 1-2 20 10
Pineapples 60 40
Quinces 1-2 60 40
Use of Sugar in Canning Fruit
Sugar is used in canning fruit for the purpose of improving flavor and
is not necessary for preservation.
Thin syrup--1 part sugar to 2 parts water for sweet fruits.
Medium Syrup--1 part sugar to 1 part water for berries and medium sweet
fruits.
Thick Syrup--2 parts sugar to 1 part water for sour fruits.
To make syrup add sugar to boiling water. Stir until all sugar is
dissolved, then boil 2 or 3 minutes.
Canned Peaches
Scald sound, firm freestone peaches, a small number at a time, in
boiling water just long enough to loosen skins; dip them quickly into
cold water and slip off skins. Cut peaches in halves, and remove stones.
Have ready a syrup made by boiling sugar and water together until sugar
has dissolved, using 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar to each cup water. Allow about
1 cup syrup for each quart jar of peaches. Put in 1 cracked peach pit
for every quart of syrup.
Can-cooked Method.--Pack peaches in overlapping layers with rounded side
uppermost and blossom end facing glass. Fill each jar with hot syrup and
adjust rubber, cover and upper clamp, thus partly sealing jar. Place
jars on a rack in hot water to cover tops to a depth of 1 inch. Bring
water to boiling point, and boil pint jars 16 minutes, quart jars 20
minutes. Remove jars, seal and invert to cool.
Open-kettle Method.--Cook peaches in syrup until tender; then with
sterilized spoon slip them carefully into sterilized jar; fill jar to
overflowing with syrup. Adjust rubber, cover, seal immediately, and
invert to cool.
Canned Cherries
Wash. Cherries should be pitted before being canned in order to conserve
space. Can sweet cherries as berries. Blanch sour cherries 1/2 minute,
in boiling water. Dip in cold water; drain and pack closely into hot
sterilized jars. Cover with boiling water or boiling medium syrup.
Loosely seal. Sterilize 16 minutes in boiling water bath. Remove jars at
once, tighten covers, invert to test seal and cool.
Canned Pears
Wash and peel fruit and follow directions for canned peaches.
Canned Berries
Blackberries, blueberries, huckleberries, raspberries, loganberries,
gooseberries and strawberries should be canned as soon as possible after
picking. Hull or stem; place in strainer and wash by lifting up and down
in pan of cold water.
Pack into hot sterilized glass jars, using care not to crush fruit. To
insure a close pack, put a 2 or 3 inch layer of berries on the bottom of
jar and press down gently with spoon. Continue in this manner until jar
is filled. Boiling water or boiling thin or medium syrup should be
poured over the fruit at once. Loosely seal. Sterilize 16 minutes in
boiling water. Remove jars, tighten covers, invert to test seal and
cool.
Asparagus
Asparagus for canning must be fresh and tender. Select tips of uniform
size and maturity and wash. Cut into lengths according to containers to
be used. Scrape off scales, tough outer skins and hard ends and tie in
bundles large enough for one jar.
Immerse the lower ends in boiling water and leave them immersed for 5
minutes, then the entire stalks, leaving them in 1 to 3 minutes longer.
Cold dip, drain, pack neatly, tips up, in hot sterilized jars. Add salt
and cover with boiling water. Loosely seal, sterilize two hours in
boiling water bath. Remove as soon as time is up. Tighten covers, invert
to test seal and cool.
Beans
Green String Beans and Wax Beans.--The beans should be tender and fresh,
and graded according to size and washed. Leave whole or break in uniform
pieces. Blanch 5 to 10 minutes until the pod will bend without breaking.
Cold dip, drain well and pack into hot jars. Add salt and cover with
boiling water. Loosely seal and sterilize two hours in boiling water.
Remove when time is up, tighten covers, and invert to test seal.
Corn
Make careful selection of tender, juicy sweet corn, at best stage for
table use. Can as soon as possible after gathering. Remove husks and
silk; blanch tender ears 5 minutes, older ears 10 minutes. Cold dip and
cut from cob but not too close. Pack at once into hot sterilized jars.
As corn swells during sterilization, leave space of 1 inch at top. Add
salt and cover with boiling water. Be sure that water penetrates through
corn to the bottom of jar. Loosely seal and sterilize three hours in
boiling water. Remove when time is up, tighten covers, invert to test
seal and cool.
Jams
Jams are usually made with small fruits or with chopped large fruits.
Cook slowly with an equal weight of sugar until thick; put into
sterilized tumblers or jars and seal.
Raspberry Jam
Pick over berries. Mash a few in bottom of preserving kettle; continue
until fruit is used. Heat slowly to boiling point and add equal quantity
of heated sugar. Cook slowly 45 minutes. Put into sterilized jars.
Blackberry, gooseberry or other berry jam may be made in this way.
Plum Conserve
4 pounds plums
1 cup seeded raisins
2 oranges
sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 pound walnuts
Wash plums; remove stones; add raisins and oranges which have been
sliced very fine. Measure and add 3/4 cup sugar to each cup fruit and
juice. Put into kettle, cook slowly about 45 minutes or until thick like
jam, stirring to keep from burning. Add lemon juice and chopped nuts.
Pour into sterilized jars.
Spiced Currants
3 lbs. white sugar
5 lbs. ripe currants
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon allspice
1/2 pint vinegar
Boil currants one hour, then add sugar, spices and one-half pint
vinegar, boil one-half hour longer. Pour into jars and store.
Jellies