Wash 2 cups of lentils, soak them two or three hours, and drain them
before using. Put them into boiling water well salted, cook until
tender, about forty minutes, then drain again. Put 2 tablespoons of
butter into a saucepan, and when melted add 1 large onion finely
chopped; cook over a very slow fire for ten minutes, then add the
lentils and 2 scant cups of boiled rice, and stir all together with
a large fork until very hot; dredge well with salt and pepper before
serving.
GERMAN LENTILS
Cover 2 cups of lentils with cold water and let them soak two or three
hours; drain them and put them in boiling salted water with 1 leek
(or 1 onion) and let them cook half an hour, or until tender but not
broken. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan, and when melted
stir into it 2 tablespoons of flour, and let brown; then add 2 finely
chopped onions and 2 or 3 tablespoons of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of
the water in which the lentils cooked. Mix this sauce with the drained
lentils, put them in a double boiler with salt, pepper, and a dash of
nutmeg, and serve after they have steamed slowly for fifteen minutes.
LEEKS
Cut leeks into three-inch lengths, using the tender green part as
well as the white; wash the pieces thoroughly in cold running water,
then put them in a small saucepan and cover them with boiling salted
water, and let them boil for twenty minutes.
Make a sauce by melting 1 tablespoon of butter and thickening it
with 1 tablespoon of flour, and then adding, 1 tablespoon at a time,
enough of the water the leeks were cooked in (about 1 cup) to make
the sauce of the right consistency; season with pepper and salt,
drain the leeks, and serve the sauce over them.
MUSHROOMS
Mushrooms should only be used when perfectly fresh and firm; in
peeling them take a small knife, and, holding the delicate fringe at
the edge of the mushroom between the edge of the knife and the thumb,
peel the paper-like skin off, pulling it toward the centre of the
mushroom. The stems should be cut or broken off without breaking the
cup, and if sound should be scraped and used. When the mushrooms are
white and small and freshly picked they can be quickly washed and
used without peeling.
STEWED MUSHROOMS
Peel about 1 pound of mushrooms, put them in a saucepan with 2
tablespoons of butter, 1 saltspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt,
and 1/4 cup of milk, into which 1 tablespoon of flour has been mixed;
cover and let cook for five or six minutes, then add 1 cup of cream,
stir all well together, replace the cover, and let cook gently for
ten minutes. These mushrooms can also be cooked and served in an
Italian casserole.
GERMAN STEWED MUSHROOMS
Peel 1 pound of mushrooms and put them in a saucepan, sprinkle with the
juice of 1 lemon, add 1 cup of milk, cover, and let simmer gently for
ten minutes. Thicken with 1 heaping teaspoon of flour dissolved in a
little milk, and add 1 tablespoon of butter and a grating of nutmeg,
and let simmer gently for ten minutes more before serving. Instead
of lemon juice and milk a cup of sour cream is often used in Germany,
and is an acceptable substitute.
MUSHROOM AND CHESTNUT RAGOUT
Use an equal quantity of peeled mushrooms and boiled Italian chestnuts,
and heat in a rich brown sauce. Serve, garnished with toast, or in
cases, or use in a deep pie with a top crust of biscuit dough.
MUSHROOMS NEWBURG
Peel 1 pound of mushrooms, cover them with 2 cups of milk, and let
them simmer gently for ten minutes. Lift the mushrooms out with a
strainer, and make a sauce of the milk by adding 1 tablespoon of flour,
1 tablespoon of butter, the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, 1 wineglass of
sherry, and some salt and paprika. When the sauce thickens replace
the mushrooms in it, let them heat for two minutes, and serve on
toast or in patty cases.
BAKED MUSHROOMS ON TOAST
Select as many large mushrooms as are required, and, after peeling
them, lay each one, cup upward, on rounds of toast which, after
toasting, have been dampened by being plunged quickly into hot water;
place the toast with the mushrooms upon it into a shallow buttered
pan, put a little bit of butter in the cup of each mushroom, sprinkle
with salt and pepper, cover with another pan the same size, and let
cook eight or ten minutes. Serve at once, with a garnish of parsley
or watercress.
GRILLED MUSHROOMS
Peel or wash the mushrooms, and put them, cup upward, on a fine wire
broiler and let them broil over a hot fire for five or six minutes,
putting a pinch of salt in each cup. As soon as hot, remove them from
the broiler and serve on hot plates, taking care not to spill the
juice which has formed in the cups. Garnish with watercress or parsley.
MUSHROOMS SUR CLOCHE
Place carefully cleaned mushrooms, cup upward, on individual gratin
dishes, salt each, and place a bit of butter in the cup, and set in a
hot oven for ten minutes. To serve, place over each a glass "bell,"
which can be bought for this purpose. The heat is thus retained in
the mushrooms during service.
MUSHROOMS IN CASSEROLE
Put into a French or Italian casserole 1/2 cup of good butter, and when
melted stir into it 3/4 of a pound, or a pound, of peeled mushrooms,
and dredge well with pepper and salt. Cover the casserole and set it
in the oven; after five minutes' cooking stir the mushrooms, mixing
them well with the butter, replace the cover, and repeat the process
in another five minutes; let cook ten minutes more, and serve from
the casserole on rounds of toast.
FILLED MUSHROOMS
Select 10 of the largest, most cup-shaped from 1 1/2 pounds of
mushrooms. Peel and lay in a shallow pan, cup side up. Take the cleaned
stems and the remaining mushrooms and chop fine and put them in the
cups; add 1 teaspoon of melted butter, some pepper and salt to each,
and let bake ten minutes or until done. Serve on toast garnished with
watercress, or under the glass bells already mentioned.
MUSHROOMS WITH TRUFFLES
Toss truffles in butter in a hot frying pan for five minutes,
sprinkle the cups of mushrooms with pepper and salt, fill them with
the truffles, and cook for ten minutes in a covered pan in a hot oven;
serve on crisp lettuce leaves, with parsley butter.
MUSHROOMS WITH PEAS
Fill the cups of large mushrooms with French canned peas, which
have been tossed for five minutes in hot butter. Season and set in
a covered pan in a hot oven for ten minutes, and serve on toast with
white or brown sauce, as preferred.
MUSHROOMS WITH ONIONS
Peel 2 medium-sized onions and chop them fine, and put them in a
casserole, or saucepan, with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Let them
cook slowly for ten minutes, then add 1 pound of mushrooms, which have
been carefully washed or peeled, and another tablespoon of butter,
and cover, letting cook for ten minutes. Season well with salt and
pepper and serve very hot.
Mushrooms thus prepared may be put in a deep baking dish, covered
with crust and baked in a pie.
MUSHROOMS WITH EGG
Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a porcelain casserole, or in a saucepan,
and when melted put with it 1 pound of peeled or washed mushrooms;
let simmer gently for ten minutes, then add to them 2 hard-boiled
eggs, cut in slices, and half a cup of cream. This recipe also is
available for a deep pie; put in a baking dish, cover with crust,
and bake until slightly browned.
CANNED MUSHROOMS
Drain the mushrooms from 1 can, and cut them in half. Use the liquid
from the can augmented with water, if necessary, to make brown or
German sauce. Put the mushrooms in a saucepan with the sauce, season
with pepper and salt, and serve very hot on toast.
Button mushrooms can also be cooked by simply draining and tossing
in parsley butter until hot; season with salt and pepper and serve
on toast.
Mushrooms cooked in these ways are suitable for filling peppers
or tomatoes. Canned mushrooms can be bought which are put up with
truffles, and add variety to these different dishes.
CANNED MUSHROOMS CZARINA
Open a can of button mushrooms, drain them, and cut the buttons in
half, if very large, and reserve the liquid. Put 1 tablespoon of butter
in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 tablespoon of grated onion, 2 bay
leaves, 2 cloves, 2 peppercorns, and 2 allspice. Let all cook together
slowly for five minutes, then pour on the liquid from the mushrooms,
with enough milk added to make 2 cups, season with salt, and let
simmer for ten minutes; then add 1 tablespoon of flour creamed with 1
tablespoon of butter, let boil up once, and strain. Put the sauce and
the button mushrooms in an Italian casserole, set this in the oven to
heat for five minutes, and serve from the dish on triangles of toast.
MUSHROOM LOAF
Pour good clear, well-strained boiling vegetable stock onto dissolved
vegetable gelatine or arrowroot, using about 1 tablespoon to every
2 cups of liquid. Season well with salt and pepper, and add 1 can
of button mushrooms, halved, when the jelly is somewhat set so that
they will remain in place evenly dispersed. Line a mould with chopped
parsley and slices of pickled walnuts, pour the jelly into it, and
serve, when set, ice-cold, with any savoury cold sauce or pickles. A
few chopped nuts may be added if desired.
STEWED OKRA
Cut the ends off the pods of young okra, boil for one hour in salted
water, then drain and reheat in a saucepan with some melted butter.
The okra can be used as a garnish to boiled rice. Canned okra needs
only to be boiled five minutes, drained, seasoned, and tossed about
in hot butter in a frying pan for two or three minutes before serving.
OKRA AND GRILLED TOMATOES
Cut good firm tomatoes in half, season well and broil, then serve
with a garnish of stewed okra.
STEWED OKRA WITH TOMATO SAUCE
If fresh okra is used prepare as in stewed okra recipe, and if
canned okra is used drain and heat in boiling salted water. Put 1
tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted lift the okra
from the boiling water and place it in the frying pan; season well
with salt and pepper and then cover with 1 cup of tomato sauce, and,
when thoroughly heated through, serve.
OKRA AND TOMATO ESCALLOP
Arrange alternate layers of sliced canned okra and tomato in a well
buttered baking dish, separating them with layers of boiled rice
well seasoned with salt and pepper and dotted with butter. Cover the
top with fine crumbs and cook for fifteen minutes, or until browned,
in the oven.
BOILED ONIONS
Peel onions under cold water and they will not bring tears to the
eyes. They should then be put in rapidly boiling water, and this
changed after the first five minutes of cooking; then put in fresh
boiling water, salt added, and cooked for from half an hour to forty
minutes. If onions are not covered when boiling the odour will be
less noticeable.
Serve boiled onions with parsley butter, or, after draining, cover
with milk, add butter, pepper, and salt, and let boil up once before
serving.
CREAMED ONIONS
Use onions which have been boiled until tender but not broken, and,
after draining, serve with white or parsley sauce, made with equal
quantities of milk and the stock in which the onions cooked.
BOILED ONIONS WITH BROWN SAUCE
Serve small boiled onions, which have cooked until tender, but not
broken, with any hot sauce,--tomato, brown, mushroom, etc.
ONIONS AU GRATIN
Prepare as for creamed onions, making a white sauce of the milk, or
milk and water, in which the onions have been boiled. The onions can
be left whole, or somewhat broken up in the sauce. Fill a buttered
baking dish with onions and sauce, dust the top with grated cheese,
and let heat in the oven five or six minutes. The bottled Parmesan
cheese is convenient, but is never as delicate to the taste as fresh
cheese grated.
ONIONS WITH CHEESE
Arrange boiled onions, which are not broken at all by boiling, in a
buttered baking dish, baste well with melted butter, and dredge with
grated cheese, and set in the oven a few moments to brown; serve in
the same dish or remove to a small platter and garnish with green,
or use as a garnish to a dish of other vegetables. Mashed potatoes
piled high (browned on top with salamander or under flame in gas oven)
surrounded with these onions makes an attractive dish.
ESCALLOPED ONIONS
Escalloped onions are made like Onions au Gratin, except that the
cheese is omitted and replaced by a layer of fine bread crumbs.
BAKED ONIONS WITH CHESTNUTS
Peel as many onions as required and parboil them for ten or fifteen
minutes in salted water. Drain and dry, and when cooled somewhat
remove the inside and fill with chopped chestnuts which have been
tossed in hot butter for fifteen minutes; season well with salt and
pepper, and, if liked, a little sage; arrange in a buttered baking
dish, and bake for half an hour, covering them for the first fifteen
minutes. If they seem too dry, baste with a little cream or onion
stock and melted butter.
ONION SOUFFLÉ
Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1
tablespoon of flour, stir until smooth, and then add gradually 1 cup of
milk, and season with paprika and salt. Let boil, then add 1/2 cup of
stale bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, 1 1/2 cups of cold
boiled onions chopped fine, and the yolks of 2 eggs well beaten. Mix
thoroughly, then add the stiffly beaten whites of the 2 eggs, and mix
them gently through the onion mixture with a fork. Put in a buttered
baking dish, or in individual cases, sprinkle fine crumbs on top,
and bake about fifteen minutes to slightly brown before serving.
BORDEAUX ONIONS
Peel 6 or 8 small onions, and parboil them for fifteen minutes
in salted water. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan or a
baking dish, with 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon
of chopped celery, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 of a cup of claret,
1 cup of brown sauce, the juice of 1 lemon, pepper and salt. Set the
onions in this, cover, and let cook very gently for half an hour or
until tender. Remove the bay leaf and serve with the sauce.
ONION AND TOMATO ESCALLOP
Place alternate layers of fresh onions, sliced, and fresh tomatoes
in a buttered baking dish, covering each layer with crumbs, butter,
pepper and salt. Put 1 1/2 cups of water over and bake for about
an hour in a slow oven. Or use boiled onions and canned tomatoes,
dampen with the juice from the tomatoes, and cook twenty minutes.
ONIONS BEATRICE
Fill a large bean-pot (or a high earthenware covered jar marmite)
with small Bermuda onions, two inches in diameter. The onions should
be left whole, but a sharp knife can be used to make two cuts in
the shape of a cross in the top of each, as this insures the cooking
of the centre. While arranging the onions in the jar, sprinkle them
well with salt, also with black pepper (or use 1/2 dozen peppercorns
instead), put in 3 bay leaves, and distribute 1 teaspoon of mixed
herbs. Cover with hot water, put the lid on, and set on the back of
the stove or in a slow oven. The onions should not cook to pieces,
and with the proper heat will be cooked through in about two hours;
this time is named not as a rule but as a guide. Serve in the marmite
in which they were cooked.
STUFFED ONIONS
Boil the onions fifteen or twenty minutes and then remove the hearts,
leaving the outsides as cases for a filling. Make the stuffing of bread
or cracker crumbs mixed with the chopped centres of the onions, plenty
of salt and pepper, and a little chopped tomato (or tomato sauce), or
some chopped green peppers, or canned pimentos, or use both tomato and
peppers. Fill the onion cases, and arrange in a buttered baking dish;
sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, set the pan in water,
and bake half an hour; the baking dish should be covered until the
last five minutes, and the onions should not be allowed to go dry;
more butter can be added, or a little hot water or vegetable broth,
if they cook dry. Serve in the baking dish, or remove to a small
platter and garnish with sprigs of parsley.
FRIED ONIONS
Peel the onions and cut into thin slices, and when a generous
tablespoon of butter has slowly melted in a frying pan, put the
onions in and let them simmer over as low a fire as will keep them
cooking; stir them frequently and serve when transparent and turning
a golden brown.
Fried onions can be served alone or as a garnish to heaped up
mashed potatoes. They are saved from their extreme commonplaceness
by being arranged in a gratin dish, not over an inch high, dusted
with a sprinkling of crumbs or grated cheese, and given three or four
minutes in the oven.
FRENCH FRIED ONIONS
Peel medium-sized onions, and slice crosswise carefully; then separate
the slices into rings. Drop these into smoking vegetable fat or oil,
and let fry four or five minutes until crisp and a rich brown. Lift
with a strainer onto brown paper to drain a moment before serving.
ONIONS IN POTATO CRADLES
Make potato cradles as directed, dredge with salt, and fill with
fried or French-fried onions.
SMALL ONIONS
Peel small, round, pickling onions, parboil them ten minutes, drain,
roll in flour, and fry in deep fat. Serve as a garnish to other
vegetables or in stews.
GLAZED ONIONS
These are nice used either as a garnish to another dish (vegetable
croquettes, mashed potatoes, etc.) or alone. Small onions should
be used, or onion hearts, and taken from the water before they are
quite cooked; then put in an enamelled pan in which is 1 tablespoon
of butter which has been slowly melted; toss them about in this,
and sprinkle with powdered sugar. When they begin to brown add 1
tablespoon of the water in which they were boiled, and as this is
taken up add a little more, and pepper and salt. The onions will be
browned and glazed. Serve very hot.
ONIONS AND APPLES
Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted put in
3 sliced onions and 3 sliced apples; let fry slowly until browned,
and serve on toast.
BOILED PARSNIPS IN SAUCE
Wash and scrape 6 or 7 parsnips, cut them in half, lengthwise, and
put them in cold water for half an hour. Drain them, and put them
in a saucepan of boiling water containing 1 teaspoon of salt, and
let them boil for about three quarters of an hour. While they are
finishing cooking, prepare a sauce with 1 tablespoon of butter and
1 tablespoon of flour rubbed together, and put in a saucepan over a
slow fire. When melted and smooth add, a spoonful at a time, some of
the stock in which the parsnips are cooking, until about 2 cups have
been used; stir until well thickened but not paste-like, season with
salt and pepper, and pour over the parsnips after draining them.
PARSNIPS IN BUTTER
Scrape and wash the parsnips, and cut them in eighths, lengthwise,
and then in half. Put them in boiling water, salt well, and let them
cook for about three quarters of an hour. Drain and serve with 1/2
cup melted butter poured over them, which contains 1 tablespoon of
chopped parsley.
FRIED PARSNIPS
Slice cold boiled parsnips lengthwise, dredge with salt, and fry
in buttered pan or griddle until a golden brown, turning with a
pancake turner.
FRENCH FRIED PARSNIPS
Use cold boiled parsnips, cut in any shape desired,--balls, or long
strips,--and put them in a frying basket, and fry in hot fat until
brown. Drain, and dredge with salt to serve.
BROILED PARSNIPS
Use boiled parsnips, cut each in 3 slices, lengthwise, dip in melted
butter, broil until brown, and sprinkle with salt before serving.
GREEN PEAS
Newly picked green peas should be shelled and put in a double-boiler
with a little salt, and 1 teaspoon or more of sugar, and no
water. Cover closely and keep water in under pan boiling for about
three quarters of an hour. Add a little butter before serving.
GREEN PEAS PAYSANNE
Cook peas as in the above recipe adding a few lettuce leaves which
have been washed and cut in strips. Drain them before adding butter
and salt.
CANNED PEAS
Canned peas should be slowly cooked in their own stock for ten minutes,
drained, and seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, and a little milk
or cream added to them.
CANNED PEAS WITH ONION
Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1
tablespoon of chopped onion; let simmer for five minutes, then add
1 can of peas, drained of their juice, and 1/4 of a cup of cream or
milk; season well with salt and pepper, and serve after ten minutes'
slow cooking.
STUFFED PEPPERS
Slice the stem-end from sweet peppers, cut out the insides, and fill
with a mixture made of 1 cup of fine crumbs, 1 grated onion, 1/2 cup
of chopped nuts, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of melted
butter. Set in a pan containing a little water and melted butter,
and bake from twenty minutes to half an hour, basting occasionally.
Peppers can be parboiled for ten minutes before stuffing, but though
softer they lose their colour to some extent.
PEPPERS STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS
Cut the stem-end from sweet peppers, remove the inside, and fill with
mushrooms Czarina, or mushrooms in tomato sauce, and bake twenty to
thirty minutes, basting with a little butter and water, which should
be in the pan in which they are cooked.
PEPPERS WITH RICE
Cut the stem-end from sweet green peppers, remove the inside, fill
with boiled rice and chopped tomato in equal proportions, and season
well with pepper and salt. A few chopped mushrooms, olives, or boiled
eggs may be added to the filling. Bake from twenty to thirty minutes,
basting with butter and water.
GREEN PEPPERS WITH EGG
Parboil 6 green peppers for five minutes, first having cut off the
stem-end and removed the seeds. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a
frying pan, and when melted add 1 finely chopped onion, and let it
cook slowly for ten minutes; then stir in 3 tablespoons of fine bread
crumbs, and season with salt, pepper, and catsup. Upon removing the
peppers from the boiling water set them up cup-like in a shallow pan,
and put 1 tablespoon of this mixture into each; break into each pepper
1 egg, cover with some more of the prepared crumbs, and bake for ten
minutes if the eggs are liked soft, for fifteen if liked hard. Serve
on toast with 1 1/2 cups of white sauce containing 2 tablespoons of
grated cheese.
PEPPERS WITH CORN
Cut a slice from the end of sweet peppers, remove the inside, and
fill with canned corn, well salted; replace the ends and bake.
Peppers, like tomatoes, may be filled in so many ways that it is
useless to endeavour to enumerate them, for the ingenious cook can
multiply them without end.
ESCALLOP OF PEPPERS AND CORN
Cut enough sweet corn from the cob to make 3 cups. Take 2 or 3 sweet
green peppers and remove the insides, then slice them in very thin
circles and arrange a layer of the corn in a buttered baking dish,
salt it, and then place some rings of the peppers, then another
layer of corn, and so on, until the dish is filled, finishing the
top with peppers. To a cup of cream (or milk) add 1 beaten egg and 2
tablespoons of melted butter; pour this over the whole, and bake for
half an hour in a hot oven. Canned corn may be used, in which case
less cream will be needed.
FRIED PEPPERS
Remove the seeds from 6 sweet green peppers, cut the pods in squares
about half an inch across. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan,
and when melted add 1 sliced onion, and let simmer for two or three
minutes; then put into the pan the cut-up peppers, and fry for ten
minutes. Add 1/2 cup of brown or tomato sauce and serve on toast with
boiled rice, or on flat rice cakes.
CREAMED PIMENTOS
Put the pimentos from 1 can into 2 cups of white sauce, and let cook in
a double boiler for ten minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley,
some pepper and salt, and serve on toast.
ROLLED PIMENTOS
Remove the pimentos from the can, and with a sharp knife cut them
open on one side and open them out. Arrange the flat pieces thus made
on a large plate or board, with the inner part up, and spread with
finely chopped onion, sprinkle with salt and celery salt, and roll
into firm rolls. Place these in a well-buttered tin, add a little hot
water, cover, and set in a hot oven for ten minutes; then uncover,
add 1 tablespoon of butter, and when it melts baste the pimentos with
it. Let them cook five minutes more, and serve with the melted butter
poured over them, or with parsley butter.
PIMENTOS WITH OKRA