dinner, such as cabbage, parsnips, potatoes, etc.; sprinkle over them
a little pepper, place in a saucepan or frying pan over the fire; put
in a piece of butter the size of a hickory nut; when it begins to
melt, tip the dish so as to oil the bottom and around the sides; then
put in the chopped vegetables, pour in a spoonful or two of hot water
from the tea-kettle, cover quickly so as to keep in the steam. When
heated thoroughly take off the cover and stir occasionally until well
cooked. Serve hot. Persons fond of vegetables will relish this dish
very much.
SPINACH.
It should be cooked so as to retain its bright green color and not
sent to table, as it so often is, of a dull brown or olive color; to
retain its fresh appearance, do not cover the vessel while it is
cooking.
Spinach requires dose examination and picking, as insects are
frequently found among it and it is often gritty. Wash it through
three or four waters. Then drain it and put it in boiling water.
Fifteen to twenty minutes is generally sufficient time to boil
spinach. Be careful to remove the scum. When it is quite tender, take
it up, and drain and squeeze it well. Chop it fine, and put it into a
saucepan with a piece of butter and a little pepper and salt. Set it
on the fire and let it stew five minutes, stirring it all the time,
until quite dry. Turn it into a vegetable dish, shape it into a mound,
slice some hard-boiled eggs and lay around the top.
GREENS.
About a peck of greens are enough for a mess for a family of six, such
as dandelions, cowslips, burdock, chicory and other greens. All greens
should be carefully examined, the tough ones thrown out, then be
thoroughly washed through several waters until they are entirely free
from sand. The addition of a handful of salt to each pan of water used
in washing the greens will free them from insects and worms,
especially if after the last watering they are allowed to stand in
salted water for a half hour or longer. When ready to boil the greens,
put them into a large pot half full of boiling water, with a handful
of salt, and boil them steadily until the stalks are tender; this will
be in from five to twenty minutes, according to the maturity of the
greens; but remember that long-continued boiling wastes the tender
substances of the leaves, and so diminishes both the bulk and the
nourishment of the dish; for this reason it is best to cut away any
tough stalks before beginning to cook the greens. As soon as they are
tender drain them in a colander, chop them a little and return them to
the fire long enough to season them with salt, pepper and butter;
vinegar may be added if it is liked; the greens should be served as
soon as they are hot.
All kinds of greens can be cooked in this manner.
STEWED CARROTS.
Wash and scrape the carrots and divide them into strips; put them into
a stewpan with water enough to cover them; add a spoonful of salt and
let them boil slowly until tender; then drain and replace them in the
pan, with two tablespoons of butter rolled in flour, shake over a
little pepper and salt, then add enough cream or milk to moisten the
whole; let it come to a boil and serve hot.
CARROTS MASHED.
Scrape and wash them; cook them tender in boiling water salted
slightly. Drain well and mash them. Work in a good piece of butter and
season with pepper and salt. Heap up on a vegetable dish and serve
hot.
Carrots are also good simply boiled in salted water and dished up hot
with melted butter over them.
TURNIPS.
Turnips are boiled plain with or without meat, also mashed like
potatoes and stewed like parsnips. They should always be served hot.
They require from forty minutes to an hour to cook.
STEWED PUMPKINS.
See stewed pumpkin for pie. Cook the same, then after stewing season
the same as mashed potatoes. Pumpkin is good baked in the same manner
as baked winter squash.
STEWED ENDIVE.
_Ingredients._--Six heads of endive, salt and water, one pint of
broth, thickening of butter and flour, one tablespoonful of lemon
juice, a small lump of sugar.
_Mode._--Wash and free the endive thoroughly from insects, remove the
green part of the leaves, and put it into boiling water, slightly
salted. Let it remain for ten minutes; then take it out, drain it till
there is no water remaining and chop it very fine. Put it into a
stewpan with the broth, add a little salt and a lump of sugar, and
boil until the endive is perfectly tender. When done, which may be
ascertained by squeezing a piece between the thumb and finger, add a
thickening of butter and flour and the lemon juice; let the sauce boil
up and serve.
_Time._--Ten minutes to boil, five minutes to simmer in the broth.
BAKED MUSHROOMS.
Prepare them the same as for stewing. Place them in a baking-pan in a
moderate oven. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and chopped
parsley. Cook in the oven fifteen minutes, baste with butter. Arrange
on a dish and pour the gravy over them. Serve with sauce made by
heating a cup of cream, two ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of
chopped parsley, a little cayenne pepper, salt, a tablespoonful of
white sauce and two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice. Put in a saucepan
and set on the fire. Stir until thick, but do not let boil. Mushrooms
are very nice placed on slices of well-buttered toast when set into
the oven to bake. They cook in about fifteen minutes.
STEWED MUSHROOMS.
Time, twenty-one minutes. Button mushrooms, salt to taste, a little
butter rolled in flour, two tablespoonfuls of cream or the yolk of one
egg. Choose buttons of uniform size. Wipe them clean and white with a
wet flannel; put them in a stewpan with a little water and let them
stew very gently for a quarter of an hour. Add salt to taste, work in
a little flour and butter, to make the liquor about as thick as cream,
and let it boil for five minutes. When you are ready to dish it up,
stir in two tablespoonfuls of cream or the yolk of an egg; stir it
over the fire for a minute, but do not let it boil, and serve. Stewed
button mushrooms are very nice, either in fish stews or ragouts, or
served apart to eat with fish. Another way of doing them is to stew
them in milk and water (after they are rubbed white), add to them a
little veal gravy, mace and salt and thicken the gravy with cream or
the yolks of eggs.
Mushrooms can be cooked in the same manner as the recipes for oysters,
either stewed, fried, broiled, or as a soup. They are also used to
flavor sauces, catsups, meat gravies, game and soups.
CANNED MUSHROOMS.
Canned mushrooms may be served with good effect with game and even
with beefsteak if prepared in this way: Open the can and pour off
every drop of the liquid found there; let the mushrooms drain, then
put them in a saucepan with a little cream and butter, pepper and
salt; let them simmer gently for from five to ten minutes, and when
the meat is on the platter pour the mushrooms over it. If served with
steak, that should be very tender and be broiled, never in any case
fried.
MUSHROOMS FOR WINTER USE.
Wash and wipe free from grit the small fresh button mushrooms. Put
into a frying pan a quarter of a pound of the very best butter. Add to
it two whole cloves, a saltspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of
lemon juice. When hot add a quart of the small mushrooms, toss them
about in the butter for a moment only, then put them in jars; fill the
top of each jar with an inch or two of the butter and let it cool.
Keep the jars in a cool place, and when the butter is quite firm add a
top layer of salt. Cover to keep out dust.
The best mushrooms grow on uplands or in high open fields, where the
air is pure.
TRUFFLES.
The truffle belongs to the family of the mushrooms; they are used
principally in this country as a condiment for boned turkey and
chicken, scrambled eggs, fillets of beef, game and fish. When mixed in
due proportion, they add a peculiar zest and flavor to sauces that
cannot be found in any other plant in the vegetable kingdom.
ITALIAN STYLE OF DRESSING TRUFFLES.
Ten truffles, a quarter of a pint of salad oil, pepper and salt to
taste, one tablespoonful of minced parsley, a very little finely
minced garlic, two blades of pounded mace, one tablespoonful of lemon
juice.
After cleansing and brushing the truffles, cut them into thin slices
and put them in a baking-dish, on a seasoning of oil or butter,
pepper, salt, parsley, garlic and mace in the above proportion. Bake
them for nearly an hour, and just before serving add the lemon juice
and send them to the table very hot.
TRUFFLES AU NATUREL.
Select some fine truffles; cleanse them by washing them in several
waters with a brush until not a particle of sand or grit remains on
them; wrap each truffle in buttered paper and bake in a hot oven for
quite an hour; take off the paper; wipe the truffles and serve them in
a hot napkin.
MACARONI.
MACARONI Á LA ITALIENNE.
Divide a quarter of a pound of macaroni into four-inch pieces. Simmer
fifteen minutes in plenty of boiling water, salted. Drain. Put the
macaroni into a saucepan and turn over it a strong soup stock, enough
to prevent burning. Strew over it an ounce of grated cheese; when the
cheese is melted, dish. Put alternate layers of macaroni and cheese,
then turn over the soup stock and bake half an hour.
MACARONI AND CHEESE.
Break half a pound of macaroni into pieces an inch or two long; cook
it in boiling water, enough to cover it well; put in a good
teaspoonful of salt; let it boil about twenty minutes. Drain it well
and then put a layer in the bottom of a well-buttered pudding-dish;
upon this some grated cheese and small pieces of butter, a bit of
salt, then more macaroni, and so on, filling the dish; sprinkle the
top layer with a thick layer of cracker crumbs. Pour over the whole a
teacupful of cream or milk. Set it in the oven and bake half an hour.
It should be nicely browned on top. Serve in the same dish in which it
was baked with a clean napkin pinned around it.
TIMBALE OF MACARONI.
Break in very short lengths small macaroni (vermicelli, spaghetti,
tagliarini). Let it be rather overdone; dress it with butter and
grated cheese; then work into it one or two eggs, according to
quantity. Butter and bread crumb a plain mold, and when the macaroni
is nearly cold fill the mold with it, pressing it well down and
leaving a hollow in the centre, into which place a well-flavored mince
of meat, poultry or game; then fill up the mold with more macaroni,
pressed well down. Bake in a moderately heated oven, turn out and
serve.
MACARONI Á LA CRÊME.
Boil one-quarter of a pound of macaroni in plenty of hot water,
salted, until tender; put half a pint of milk in a double boiler, and
when it boils stir into it a mixture of two tablespoonfuls of butter
and one of flour. Add two tablespoonfuls of cream, a little white and
cayenne pepper; salt to taste, and from one-quarter to one-half a
pound of grated cheese, according to taste. Drain and dish the
macaroni; pour the boiling sauce over it and serve immediately.
MACARONI AND TOMATO SAUCE.
Divide half a pound of macaroni into four-inch pieces, put it into
boiling salted water enough to cover it; boil from fifteen to twenty
minutes then drain; arrange it neatly on a hot dish and pour tomato
sauce over it, and serve immediately while hot. See SAUCES for tomato
sauce.
[Illustration]
BUTTER AND CHEESE
TO MAKE BUTTER.
Thoroughly scald the churn, then cool well with ice or spring water.
Now pour in the thick cream; churn fast at first, then, as the butter
forms, more slowly; always with perfect regularity; in warm weather,
pour a little cold water into the churn, should the butter form
slowly; in the winter, if the cream is too cold, add a little warm
water to bring it to the proper temperature. When the butter has
"come", rinse the sides of the churn down with cold water and take the
butter up with a perforated dasher or a wooden ladle, turning it
dexterously just below the surface of the buttermilk to catch every
stray bit; have ready some very cold water in a deep wooden tray; and
into this plunge the dasher when you draw it from the churn; the
butter will float off, leaving the dasher free. When you have
collected all the butter, gather behind a wooden butter ladle and
drain off the water, squeezing and pressing the butter with the ladle;
then pour on more cold water and work the butter with the ladle to get
the milk out, drain off the water, sprinkle salt over the butter--a
tablespoonful to a pound; work it in a little and set in a cool place
for an hour to harden, then work and knead it until not another drop
of water exudes, and the butter is perfectly smooth, and close in
texture and polish; then with the ladle make up into rolls, little
balls, stamped pats, etc.
The churn, dasher, tray and ladle should be well scalded before using,
so that the butter will not stick to them, and then cooled with very
cold water.
When you skim cream into your cream jar, stir it well into what is
already there, so that it may all sour alike; and no _fresh cream
should be put with it_ within twelve hours before churning, or the
butter will not come quickly; and perhaps, not at all.
Butter is indispensable in almost all culinary preparations. Good
fresh butter, used in moderation, is easily digested; it is softening,
nutritious and fattening, and is far more easily digested than any
other of the oleaginous substances sometimes used in its place.
TO MAKE BUTTER QUICKLY.
Immediately after the cow is milked, strain the milk into clean pans,
and set it over a moderate fire until it is scalding hot; do not let
it boil; then set it aside; when it is cold, skim off the cream; the
milk will still be fit for any ordinary use; when you have enough
cream put it into a clean earthen basin; beat it with a wooden spoon
until the butter is made, which will not be long; then take it from
the milk and work it with a little cold water, until it is free from
milk; then drain off the water, put a small tablespoonful of fine salt
to each pound of butter and work it in. A small teaspoonful of fine
white sugar, worked in with the salt, will be found an
improvement--sugar is a great preservative. Make the butter in a roll;
cover it with a bit of muslin and keep it in a cool place. A reliable
recipe.
A BRINE TO PRESERVE BUTTER.
First work your butter into small rolls, wrapping each one carefully
in a clean muslin cloth, tying them up with a string. Make a brine,
say three gallons, having it strong enough of salt to bear up an egg;
add half a teacupful of pure, white sugar, and one tablespoonful of
saltpetre; boil the brine, and when cold strain it carefully. Pour it
over the rolls so as to more than cover them, as this excludes the
air. Place a weight over all to keep the rolls under the surface.
PUTTING UP BUTTER TO KEEP.
Take of the best pure common salt two quarts, one ounce of white sugar
and one of saltpetre; pulverize them together completely. Work the
butter well, then thoroughly work in an ounce of this mixture to every
pound of butter. The butter is to be made into half-pound rolls, and
put into the following brine--to three gallons of brine strong enough
to bear an egg, add a quarter of a pound of white sugar.
_Orange Co., N. Y. Style_
CURDS AND CREAM.
One gallon of milk will make a moderate dish. Put one spoonful of
prepared rennet to each quart of milk, and when you find that it has
become curd, tie it loosely in a thin cloth and hang it to drain; do
not wring or press the cloth; when drained, put the curd into a mug
and set in cool water, which must be frequently changed (a
refrigerator saves this trouble). When you dish it, if there is whey
in the mug, lie it gently out without pressing the curd; lay it on a
deep dish, and pour fresh cream over it; have powdered loaf-sugar to
eat with it; also hand the nutmeg grater.
Prepared rennet can be had at almost any druggist's, and at a
reasonable price.
NEW JERSEY CREAM CHEESE.
First scald the quantity of milk desired; let it cool a little, then
add the rennet; the directions for quantity are given on the packages
of "Prepared Rennet." When the curd is formed, take it out on a ladle
without breaking it; lay it on a thin cloth held by two persons; dash
a ladleful of water over each ladleful of curd, to separate the curd;
hang it up to drain the water off, and then put it under a light press
for one hour; cut the curd with a thread into small pieces; lay a
cloth between each two, and press for an hour; take them out, rub them
with fine salt, let them lie on a board for an hour, and wash them in
cold water; let them lie to drain, and in a day or two the skin will
look dry; put some sweet grass under and over them, and they will soon
ripen.
COTTAGE CHEESE.
Put a pan of sour or loppered milk on the stove or range where it is
not too hot; let it scald until the whey rises to the top (be careful
that it does not boil, or the curd will become hard and tough). Place
a clean doth or towel over a sieve and pour this whey and curd into
it, living it covered to drain two or three hours; then put it into a
dish and chop it fine with a spoon, adding a teaspoonful of salt, a
tablespoonful of butter and enough sweet cream to make the cheese the
consistency of putty. With your hands make it into little balls
flattened. Keep it in a cool place. Many like it made rather thin with
cream, serving it in a deep dish. You may make this cheese of sweet
milk by forming the curd with prepared rennet.
SLIP.
Slip is bonny-clabber without its acidity, and so delicate is its
flavor that many persons like it just as well as ice cream. It is
prepared thus:--Make a quart of milk moderately warm; then stir into
it one large spoonful of the preparation called rennet; set it by, and
when cool again it will be as stiff as jelly. It should be made only a
few hours before it is to be used, or it will be tough and watery; in
summer set the dish on ice after it has jellied. It must be served
with powdered sugar, nutmeg and cream.
CHEESE FONDU.
Melt an ounce of butter and whisk into it a pint of boiled milk.
Dissolve two tablespoonfuls of flour in a gill of cold milk, add it to
the boiled milk and let it cool. Beat the yolks of four eggs with a
heaping teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper and five
ounces of grated cheese. Whip the whites of the eggs and add them,
pour the mixture into a deep tin lined with buttered paper, and allow
for the rising, say four inches. Bake twenty minutes and serve the
moment it leaves the oven.
CHEESE SOUFFLÉ.
Melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan; mix smoothly with it one ounce
of flour, a pinch of salt and cayenne and a quarter of a pint of milk;
simmer the mixture gently over the fire, stirring it all the time,
till it is as thick as melted butter, stir into it about three ounces
of finely-grated parmesan, or any good cheese. Turn it into a basin
and mix with it the yolks of two well-beaten eggs. Whisk three whites
to a solid froth, and just before the souffle is baked put them into
it, and pour the mixture into a small round tin. It should be only
half filled, as the fondu will rise very high. Pin a napkin around the
dish in which it is baked, and serve the moment it is baked. It would
be well to have a metal cover strongly heated. Time twenty minutes.
Sufficient for six persons.
SCALLOPED CHEESE.
Any person who is fond of cheese could not fail to favor this recipe.
Take three slices of bread well-buttered, first cutting off the brown
outside crust. Grate fine a quarter of a pound of any kind of good
cheese; lay the bread in layers in a buttered baking-dish, sprinkle
over it the grated cheese, some salt and pepper to taste. Mix four
well-beaten eggs with three cups of milk; pour it over the bread and
cheese. Bake it in a hot oven as you would cook a bread pudding. This
makes an ample dish for four people.
PASTRY RAMAKINS.
Take the remains or odd pieces of any light puff paste left from pies
or tarts; gather up the pieces of paste, roll it out evenly, and
sprinkle it with grated cheese of a nice flavor. Fold the paste in
three, roll it out again, and sprinkle more cheese over; fold the
paste, roll it out, and with a paste-cutter shape it in any way that
may be desired. Bake the ramakins in a brisk oven from ten to fifteen
minutes; dish them on a hot napkin and serve quickly. The appearance
of this dish may be very much improved by brushing the ramakins over
with yolk of egg before they are placed in the oven. Where expense is
not objected to, parmesan is the best kind of cheese to use for making
this dish.
Very nice with a cup of coffee for a lunch.
CAYENNE CHEESE STRAWS.
A quarter of a pound of flour, two ounces butter, two ounces grated
parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and a few grains of cayenne pepper.
Mix into a paste with the yolk of an egg. Roll out to the thickness of
a silver quarter, about four or five inches long; cut into strips
about a third of an inch wide, twist them as you would a paper spill
and lay them on a baking-sheet slightly floured. Bake in a moderate
oven until crisp, but they must not be the least brown. If put away in
a tin these straws will keep a long time. Serve cold, piled tastefully
on a glass dish. You can make the straws of remnants of puff pastry,
rolling in the grated cheese.
CHEESE CREAM TOAST.
Stale bread may be served as follows: Toast the slices and cover them
slightly with grated cheese; make a cream for ten slices out of a pint
of milk and two tablespoonfuls of plain flour. The milk should be
boiling, and the flour mixed in a little cold water before stirring
in. When the cream is nicely cooked, season with salt and butter; set
the toast and cheese in the oven for three or four minutes and then
pour the cream over them.
WELSH RAREBIT.
Grate three ounces of dry cheese and mix it with the yolks of two
eggs, put four ounces of grated bread and three of butter; beat the
whole together in a mortar with a dessertspoonful of made mustard, a
little salt and some pepper; toast some slices of bread, cut off the
outside crust, cut it in shapes and spread the paste thick upon them,
and put them in the oven, let them become hot and slightly browned,
serve hot as possible.
EGGS AND OMELETS.
There are so many ways of cooking and dressing eggs, that it seems
unnecessary for the ordinary family to use those that are not the most
practical.
To ascertain the freshness of an egg, hold it between your thumb and
forefinger in a horizontal position, with a strong light in front of
you. The fresh egg will have a clear appearance, both upper and lower
sides being the same. The stale egg will have a clear appearance at
the lower side, while the upper side will exhibit a dark or cloudy
appearance.
Another test is to put them in a pan of cold water; those that are the
first to sink are the freshest; the stale will rise and float on top;
or, if the large end turns up in the water, they are not fresh. The
best time for preserving eggs is from July to September.
TO PRESERVE EGGS.
There are several recipes for preserving eggs and we give first one
which we know to be effectual, keeping them fresh from August until
Spring. Take a piece of quick-lime as large as a good-sized lemon and
two teacupfuls of salt; put it into a large vessel and slack it with a
gallon of boiling water. It will boil and bubble until thick as cream;
when it is cold, pour off the top, which will be perfectly clear.
Drain off this liquor, and pour it over your eggs; see that the liquor
more than covers them. A stone jar is the most convenient--one that
holds about six quarts.
Another manner of preserving eggs is to pack them in a jar with layers
of salt between, the large end of the egg downward, with a thick layer
of salt at the top; cover tightly and set in a cool place.
Some put them in a wire basket or a piece of mosquito net and dip them
in boiling water half a minute; then pack in sawdust. Still another
manner is to dissolve a cheap article of gum arabic, about as thin as
muscilage, and brush over each egg with it; then pack in powdered
charcoal; set in a cool, dark place.
Eggs can be kept for some time by smearing the shells with butter or
lard; then packed in plenty of bran or sawdust, the eggs not allowed
to touch one another; or coat the eggs with melted paraffine.
BOILED EGGS.