artichokes, leaves, stems, and bulbs, as cabbages, spinach, celery, and
onions, roots and flowers, as carrots, parsnips, and cauliflower. These
are very valuable on account of the mineral matter, chief of which are
the potash salts, so necessary to keep the blood in a healthy condition.
Care should be taken in cooking vegetables not to lose the salts.
Steaming is preferable to boiling, by preserving the juices, though it
does not tend to improve the color of green vegetables. A little lemon
juice added to the water in which new potatoes are boiling improves
their color. Mint is sometimes cooked with new potatoes. To secure a
good color in vegetables when cooked, careful cleaning and preparation
before cooking is essential. Earthy roots, such as potatoes, turnips,
and carrots, must be both well scrubbed and thoroughly rinsed in clean
water before peeling. From all vegetables, coarse or discolored leaves
and any dark or decayed spots should be carefully removed before
cooking.
[Illustration]
Potatoes should be peeled thinly, or, if new, merely brushed or rubbed
with a coarse cloth to get the skin off. Turnips should be thickly
peeled, as the rind in these is hard and woody. Carrots and salsify,
unless very old, need scraping only. After the removal of the skin, all
root vegetables (except those of the onion kind) should be put in cold
water till wanted. Potatoes, artichokes, and salsify especially, must
not remain a moment out of water after peeling, or they will turn a
dark color, and to the water used for the two last, a little salt and
lemon juice should be added in order to keep them white.
Root vegetables should be boiled with the lid of the pan on, green
vegetables should be boiled with the lid of the pan off, for the
preservation of the color.
Baked Parsnips
½ cupful Crisco
5 parsnips
Salt and pepper to taste
Peel and wash parsnips and cut into two lengthwise, and steam for one
hour. Remove from fire, lay in greased baking pan, sprinkle with salt
and pepper, spread Crisco over top and bake slowly till tender. Serve
hot.
Brussels Sprouts with Crisco
½ cupful Crisco
2 baskets brussels sprouts
½ cupful grated cheese
Trim sprouts and cook them in boiling salted water till tender, drain
and dry on clean cloth. Heat Crisco hot, then add sprouts, and fry
until very hot. Turn them into hot vegetable dish, sprinkle cheese over
them and serve immediately.
Sufficient for one dish.
Colcannon
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
½ lb. cold cooked potatoes
½ lb. cold cooked cabbage
1 onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Chop onion and cabbage and mash potatoes. Put into frying pan with
Crisco and fry few minutes adding seasonings. Turn into Criscoed
fireproof dish and brown in oven.
Lentils and Rice
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
½ cupful lentils
½ cupful milk
½ cupful water
1 teaspoonful curry powder
1 small onion
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
1 cupful boiled rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash lentils and soak them in milk twelve hours. Melt Crisco, slice
onion and fry a pale brown, add curry powder, milk, water, seasonings,
and lentils, simmer two hours and add lemon juice just before serving.
Serve with rice.
Corn Fritters
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco
1 can crushed corn
1 cupful flour
1 teaspoonful baking powder
2 teaspoonfuls salt
¼ teaspoonful white pepper
3 tablespoonfuls milk
Put corn into bowl, add Crisco, salt, pepper, flour, baking powder, and
milk. Mix well and drop in spoonfuls on a Criscoed griddle. Fire brown
on both sides. These fritters are a palatable accompaniment to roast
chicken.
Sufficient for twelve fritters.
Corn, Okra and Tomatoes
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
6 ears corn
6 okra pods
6 tomatoes
2 cupfuls water
Cut corn from cob, put into saucepan, cover with water and bring to
boil. Scald and skin tomatoes and cut okra into cross sections half
inch long. Add both to corn with Crisco and seasonings. Stir and cook
until tender. Serve hot.
Curried Cauliflower
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cauliflower
1 sliced onion
1 dessertspoonful curry powder
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
¼ teaspoonful salt
1 cupful stock or water
Boil cauliflower in boiling salted water till tender, drain, then
divide into small flowerets. Fry onion in Crisco a few minutes, then
add curry powder, lemon juice and stock or water. Simmer fifteen
minutes, then strain into clean saucepan. Add cauliflower and salt and
simmer fifteen minutes. Serve hot.
Creamed Potatoes au Gratin
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 quart peeled and diced potatoes
2 cupfuls milk
1 tablespoonful flour
1 cupful grated cheese
1 teaspoonful salt
¼ teaspoonful white pepper
Few breadcrumbs
Cut potatoes in about 1½-inch pieces, then boil carefully in boiling
salted water. When done, drain, and pour into Criscoed fireproof dish.
Blend Crisco and flour in saucepan over fire, add milk, stir till
boiling, then add cheese and seasonings. Pour over potatoes; grate a
little cheese over top, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake five minutes
in hot oven.
Eggplant en Casserole
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 large eggplant
3 small onions
2 garlic cloves
3 tomatoes
1 green pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Slice eggplant into thin slices, then slice onions, garlic, tomatoes
and pepper quite thin. Arrange them, alternately, in a Criscoed
casserole, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour in melted
Crisco and cover. Cook over slow fire or in moderate oven till the
eggplant is tender. Serve hot or cold.
Fried Parsley
Crisco
1 bunch parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash, pick and dry the parsley; put into frying basket and immerse in
hot Crisco fifteen seconds or until crisp. Drain and sprinkle with salt
and pepper. It should be a nice green color. If it turns black it has
been too long in the fat.
Green Peas a la Maitre d’Hotel
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 quart shelled peas
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
2 sprigs mint
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 teaspoonful sugar
Shell peas and throw into plenty boiling water containing a teaspoonful
of salt, sugar, and mint; boil fast until tender, then drain. Mix lemon
juice with Crisco and parsley; stir this among peas, reheat them, and
serve at once.
Jerusalem Artichokes
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 lb. artichokes
2 tablespoonfuls flour
1 yolk of egg
2 teaspoonfuls lemon juice
1½ cupfuls milk
2 tablespoonfuls cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
¼ cupful vinegar
1 pint boiling milk
Wash and scrape artichokes, and throw each one in cold water containing
vinegar; when all are done, rinse in water and put into boiling milk,
add cupful of boiling water and teaspoonful of salt. Boil quickly with
lid off, pierce with fork to know if done. Lift into hot dish and cover
with sauce. Blend Crisco and flour in saucepan, over fire, add milk,
salt and pepper, and cook five minutes. Remove from fire, add egg
beaten with cream and lemon juice, pour over artichokes and sprinkle
parsley over top.
Mushrooms au Gratin
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
14 large mushrooms
1 egg
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
2 tablespoonfuls chopped cooked meat
2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
½ cupful stock
1 tablespoonful chopped suet
Beat up egg, add suet, breadcrumbs, meat, parsley, and seasonings.
Wash and remove centers from mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, and
red pepper, also place tiny piece of Crisco in each. Then put heaping
teaspoonful of forcemeat in each one, and cover with crumbs. Lay on
Criscoed tin, add stock, and bake fifteen minutes. Serve on hot dish
with gravy poured round.
Sufficient for fourteen mushrooms.
New Potatoes a la France
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 lbs. new potatoes
2 sprigs mint
1 teaspoonful salt
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
Wash and scrape potatoes. With round vegetable cutter scoop out from
potatoes a number of little balls like marbles; boil these till tender
in water, to which have been added salt and mint. Drain, add Crisco,
parsley, and lemon juice. Toss them about gently in pan a few minutes,
and serve on hot dish.
Potato Pone
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 generous cupful grated raw sweet potatoes
1 cupful molasses
1 cupful milk
1 teaspoonful powdered ginger
½ teaspoonful powdered cinnamon
½ teaspoonful salt
1 tablespoonful chopped candied orange peel
½ cupful sugar
Grate potatoes or put them through meat chopper, add molasses, sugar,
milk, Crisco, salt, spices, and orange peel. Mix well, turn into
Criscoed fireproof dish and bake in moderate oven till firm.
Sufficient for one small pone.
Savory Lentil Dish
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 cupful lentils
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs parsley
1 chopped onion
Salt, pepper, and powdered mace to taste
1 cupful boiled rice
1½ cupfuls highly seasoned tomato sauce
Wash lentils and soak in plenty of cold water four hours. Put into
boiling salt water, add bay leaf, parsley, seasonings and cook till
tender. Chop and fry onion in 3 tablespoonfuls of Crisco, add lentils,
rice and remainder of Crisco, stir and allow to get hot. Turn into hot
dish and pour over tomato sauce.
Stuffed Beets
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
6 beets
2 green peppers
2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
½ teaspoonful onion juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Watercress
Select 6 smooth even-sized beets and boil in boiling salted water until
tender. Peel, remove root end and remove center, leaving shell about
half inch thick. Remove stems and seeds from peppers; cover peppers
with boiling water ten minutes. Dice them with scooped out beet, add
Crisco, breadcrumbs, and seasonings. Mix and divide into beet shells,
dot with Crisco and bake in moderate oven twenty minutes. Serve
garnished with watercress.
Sufficient for six beets.
Stuffed Eggplant
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3 small eggplants
½ cupful breadcrumbs
1½ cupfuls stock
½ cupful chopped cooked chicken or veal
1 egg
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
½ cupful white wine
Criscoed crumbs
1 tablespoonful flour
1 tablespoonful sherry
Cut eggplants in halves and scoop out inside, leaving shell half inch
thick. Soak ½ cupful breadcrumbs in ½ cupful stock ten minutes, then
add cooked chicken, 2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco, egg, well beaten,
and seasoning of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Divide this forcemeat into
eggplants, sprinkle Criscoed crumbs on top, set them in greased pan,
pour in rest of stock and white wine and bake half hour in moderate
oven. Serve on hot dish with following sauce.
Put 1 tablespoonful Crisco and 1 tablespoonful flour into saucepan and
blend over fire, add sherry and 1 cupful liquor from pan in which they
were baked, and cook five minutes.
Sufficient for three eggplants.
Stuffed Potatoes
(_Kate B. Vaughn_)
2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
6 large potatoes
2 tablespoonfuls grated cheese
1 yolk of egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash six well shaped white potatoes and rub skin with Crisco. Bake
until tender, cut slice off one end, and with a teaspoon remove all
potato from shells. Mash the potato, adding Crisco, cheese, seasonings,
and egg yolk. Refill shells and bake fifteen minutes. Serve hot on
napkin.
Sufficient for six potatoes.
Viennese Carrots
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 bunch carrots
1 tablespoonful flour
½ teaspoonful sugar
2 tablespoonfuls vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 cupful cooked peas
Scrape carrots, cut in small pieces, and boil till tender in boiling
salted water. Blend Crisco and flour together in saucepan over fire,
stir in 1 cupful water in which carrots were cooked, boil five minutes,
then add sugar, seasonings, vinegar, parsley, peas, and carrots; simmer
ten minutes and serve hot in vegetable dish.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: SALADS]
Salads are classified into two groups--i.e., the raw, such as lettuce,
endive, radishes, cucumber, celery, etc., and the cooked, such as those
made from cooked vegetables, eggs, cooked cold fish, poultry, and meat.
The raw materials should be washed most carefully and well cleaned
before mixing, and the utensils for cutting and mixing, as well as the
basins or bowls used, should be clean and dry. Every salad, no matter
how plain and simple it may be, should be made to look inviting and
tempting. The method of draining or drying is a very easy performance
so long as the salad leaves, whatever they may be, are almost free from
moisture. This is effected best by putting the leaves, which should be
broken, not cut with a knife, into a wire basket and drying them well,
or else putting them into a cloth lightly folded and shaking well until
the outer moisture of the leaves is well absorbed. The salad then is
ready for mixing.
Any cold boiled vegetables left over from dinner are useful as giving
variety to salads, and help to make a good accompaniment to cold meat
served to luncheon. Thinly sliced cold potatoes--new ones for choice,
green peas and string beans, are especially good for this purpose, and
even Brussels sprouts, carrots, and turnips may be used on occasion in
small quantities. More substantial salads, prepared with cold meat or
fish, form appetizing luncheon or breakfast dishes. Those made with
chicken, lobster and salmon respectively are most widely known, but
fillets of flounder, cold ham or beef, or lamb make very good salads,
and even the humble herring, and dried and salted fish, may be used
with advantage in this way.
[Illustration]
The meat or fish should be cut up into cubes or convenient small
pieces, and piled up in the center of the dish or salad bowl on a layer
of seasoned, shredded lettuce. Over this should be poured half of the
dressing. Round this should be arranged the green constituents of the
salad, cut up rather small, garnished with slices of tomato or beets,
cucumber and hard-cooked egg. The remainder of the dressing should
be poured over this, and the top of the meat or fish pyramid may be
ornamented with a few sprigs of endive or parsley.
Apple, Celery and Nut Salad
For Dressing
1 tablespoonful Crisco
1 teaspoonful mustard
1 teaspoonful sugar
½ teaspoonful salt
¼ teaspoonful white pepper
2 eggs
4 tablespoonfuls lemon juice
1 cupful whipped cream
For Salad
1 quart chopped apples
1 pint diced celery
1½ cupfuls blanched and shredded almonds
⅔ cupful rolled pecan nut meats
_For salad._ Mix apples, celery and nut meats.
_For dressing._ Melt Crisco, add mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, yolks
of eggs well beaten, and lemon juice. Cook in double boiler till it
thickens, then add whites of eggs stiffly beaten. Chill and add whipped
cream just before serving. Dressing should be mixed with fruit.
Asparagus Salad
For Dressing
6 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 teaspoonful salt
¼ teaspoonful paprika
Pinch black pepper
1 tablespoonful tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoonfuls cider vinegar
1 tablespoonful chopped cucumber pickles
1 tablespoonful chopped green peppers
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
1 teaspoonful chopped chives
1 can asparagus or fresh cooked asparagus
Drain asparagus and chill. Mix salt with paprika, add pepper, tarragon
vinegar, cider vinegar, Crisco, pickles, peppers, parsley, and chives,
mix well and pour over the asparagus.
Celery and Almond Salad
1 cupful melted Crisco
1 yolk of egg
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
1 tablespoonful vinegar
1 head celery
½ cupful blanched almonds
1 crisp lettuce
Few drops green color
½ teaspoonful sugar
1 teaspoonful salt
½ teaspoonful mustard
Red pepper to taste
Melt and cool Crisco. Prepare celery and cut into very thin strips and
plunge in ice water until wanted. Blanch and shred almonds; wash and
dry lettuce leaves. Put yolk of egg into bowl, add mustard, salt, and
red pepper and mix well with wooden spoon. Add sugar, teaspoonful lemon
juice, teaspoonful vinegar; beat in Crisco gradually. Remove spoon and
beat with egg beater five minutes, then beat in rest of lemon juice and
vinegar. Add more seasonings if needed and enough green color to make
it look pretty. Dry celery and mix with almonds, then toss them into
dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves.
Fruit Salad
Dressing
1 tablespoonful Crisco
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
2 tablespoonfuls vinegar
2 eggs
½ pint whipped cream
Salad
24 marshmallows
1 can pineapple
2 juicy apples
6 oranges
Lettuce leaves
_For salad._ Cut fruit and marshmallows into small pieces, then mix and
chill.
_For dressing._ Beat up eggs in double boiler, add vinegar, sugar,
salt, Crisco and cook until thick. Cool and add whipped cream. Mix with
fruit and serve on crisp lettuce leaves.
Orange and Tomato Salad
3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
4 tomatoes
4 oranges
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
Tarragon vinegar
Salt
Peel oranges and tomatoes, and slice and arrange alternately in salad
bowl. Mix juice squeezed from “tops and bottoms” of oranges with an
equal quantity of tarragon vinegar, add Crisco and salt to taste. Pour
over fruit and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.
Potato and Nut Salad
For Dressing
5 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 teaspoonful mustard
1 teaspoonful salt
2 teaspoonfuls sugar
2 yolks of eggs
¾ cupful cream or milk
¼ cupful vinegar
For Salad
3 cupfuls sliced cold potatoes
1 cupful broken hickory nut meats
1 teaspoonful chopped onion
Chopped parsley
Cold cooked sliced beets
Sliced lemon
Lettuce leaves
_For dressing._ Mix sugar, salt, and mustard, add Crisco and stir
thoroughly; then add yolks of eggs well beaten, cream, and lastly
vinegar. Cook in double boiler until consistency of cream. If milk is
used instead of cream, add 1 teaspoonful flour to other dry ingredients.
_For salad._ Mix potatoes, nuts, and onion together, and place on crisp
lettuce leaves; pour over dressing and garnish to taste with beets,
lemon, and parsley.
Potato and Pimiento Salad
1 tablespoonful Crisco
4 potatoes
2 hard-cooked eggs
½ can pimientos
1 tablespoonful chopped cucumber pickle
1 teaspoonful salt
Dressing
1 tablespoonful Crisco
2 teaspoonfuls dry mustard
1 teaspoonful salt
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
1 lemon
½ pint vinegar
2 eggs
_For salad._ Boil potatoes and slice them, add Crisco and salt. Now
chop pickles, eggs, and pimientos and add them and set in cool place to
chill.
_For dressing._ Put vinegar into double boiler, add strained lemon
juice, sugar, salt, mustard, then add Crisco and eggs well beaten. Cook
until thick, then cool and use.
Shrimp Salad
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 can shrimps
1 cupful celery cut in cubes
1 cupful tart apples cut in cubes
1 cupful broken Brazil nut meats
½ cupful broken English walnut meats
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon
4 tablespoonfuls vinegar
2 tablespoonfuls water
4 eggs
1 teaspoonful dry mustard
1 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful sugar
½ teaspoonful white pepper
½ cupful thick cream and 1 cupful whipped cream
Crisp lettuce leaves
Break shrimps into pieces, put them into earthenware dish, moisten with
a little melted Crisco, season with vinegar, salt and pepper. Put apple
cubes into a small dish and sprinkle lightly with lemon juice, then put
in celery cubes with a little more lemon juice and toss together. Cover
and set aside. Prepare nut meats. Heat vinegar and water in double
boiler, beat eggs, then gradually add them to vinegar, stirring all the
time. Now add Crisco and cook slowly, stirring constantly. Remove from
fire, and beat till cold, then add mustard, salt, sugar, and pepper.
Add the thick cream just before serving. When ready to serve toss nuts,
celery, apples and shrimps together with a silver fork, and add a
little dressing. Heap on crisp lettuce leaves on individual plates, and
pour over each salad a heaping spoonful of the dressing; and top with
spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream.
[Illustration: PUDDINGS]
Puddings as a rule either are boiled, steamed or baked. For boiled
puddings, care should be taken that the saucepan be kept boiling or the
water will get into the pudding and spoil it. For pudding cloths, use
materials such as linen or cheese cloth. After using, the cloth must be
thoroughly washed in plenty of water with a little washing soda, but
on no account use soap, and see that the cloth is perfectly dry before
putting it away. Many puddings are lighter and better steamed, and
then instead of the cloth only a piece of Criscoed paper is required,
twisted over the top of the basin or mold. Very light puddings, such as
custards, should be placed in a steamer. Most of the steamed puddings
mixed a little softer, are excellent baked in a pudding dish.
In steaming puddings keep them at a uniform heat all the time, and be
careful not to lift the lid off the pan for the first half hour. All
farinaceous puddings should be cooked well, as then they are easier
to digest. Cornstarch must be well cooked, from eight to ten minutes.
Mold for jellies or blanc-manges should be well rinsed with cold water
before using. Barters must be well beaten and allowed to stand for
thirty minutes or longer before cooking, because the starch in the
flour swells, and the batter will therefore be lighter. Batter puddings
should be put into a quick oven. Puddings composed principally of milk
and eggs should be very gently cooked, as strong heat will cause them
to curdle.
[Illustration]
In stewing fruit, prepare syrup first. Bring to boil, lay fruit in, and
simmer gently. Souffles should be very light and spongy. Eggs form a
large part of souffles, more whites than yolks are used and the former
are beaten to a stiff froth. All souffles should be served quickly.
Omelets are composed mainly of eggs. They can be savory or sweet. If
overcooked an omelet will be tough. To prevent milk running over when
it comes to boil, put spoon in saucepan. Never leave spoon in saucepan
if you wish the contents to cook quickly, and in any case a metal spoon
never should be allowed to stand in a boiling saucepan containing fruit
or any acid.
Apple Dumplings
5 apples
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
½ teaspoonful salt
¾ cupful milk
Sugar
Cinnamon
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Work in Crisco with
finger tips; add gradually milk, mixing with knife to a nice dough.
Roll ½ inch thick, cut into squares and lay in center of each an apple,
pared and cored. Fill up centers with sugar and cinnamon and take
corners off the dough and pinch together. Place in Criscoed baking
pan, dot over with sugar and Crisco and bake in moderate oven for
twenty-five minutes or till nicely browned. Serve hot with milk.
Sufficient for five dumplings.
Apple Fritters
1½ cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
¼ teaspoonful salt
1 egg
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco
¾ cupful milk
3 apples cut in quarter inch slices
3 tablespoonfuls sugar
1 lemon
Peel, core and slice apples, then sprinkle 2 tablespoonfuls sugar and
strained juice of the lemon over them. Sift flour, baking powder,
sugar, and salt into bowl, add milk to well beaten egg and stir liquid
gradually into dry materials, beating thoroughly, then add Crisco.
Cover apple slices with batter and drop them into plenty of Crisco
heated so that small breadcrumb browns in sixty seconds. Fry for four
or five minutes. Drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Any other
fruit may be substituted for apples or a combination of fruits makes a
delicious fritter.
Sufficient for twelve fritters.
Baked Rhubarb Pudding
2 cupfuls flour
½ teaspoonful salt
2 bundles rhubarb
½ cupful Crisco
1 lemon
6 tablespoonfuls brown sugar
Water
½ cupful granulated sugar
Put granulated sugar into small saucepan over fire, and when brown,
coat inside of plain pudding mold with it. Sift flour, salt, and baking
powder together, rub Crisco finely into it, then mix whole to a smooth
paste with cold water. Turn out on a floured board, cut off one-third
of it, and put one side for the lid. Roll out remainder until twice
the circumference of the top of the mold, then drop gently into mold,
pressing evenly against sides. Fill center with rhubarb, cut in pieces
an inch long. Add grated rind and strained juice of half of the lemon,
brown sugar and 3 tablespoonfuls water. Roll out pastry that was put on
one side, wet edges of it, lay it on top. Cover with a piece of greased
paper, and bake in moderate oven one hour. Turn out and serve with hot
milk.
Caramel Bread Pudding