MRS. C. S. PEEL’S
  COOK-BOOKS


  DISHES MADE WITHOUT
  MEAT




BOOKS BY MRS. C. S. PEEL IN CONSTABLE’S HOME SERIES


The Simplified Series of Cook-Books.

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  MRS. C. S. PEEL’S COOK-BOOKS

  DISHES MADE
  WITHOUT MEAT

  BY
  MRS. C. S. PEEL

  _Author of “10/- a Head for House Books,” “The Single-handed
  Cook,” “How to Keep House”
  and “The New Home”_

  LONDON
  ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD.
  1907




NOTE


Fish dishes are not treated of in this book, as they will be found in
the Volume of the series--entitled _Fish and How to Cook it_. Also, as
these little cook-books are intended primarily for households where
both time and money must be economized, the recipes are neither over
elaborate nor over expensive.




CONTENTS


                                                 PAGE


  CHAPTER I

  VEGETABLE DISHES                                  7


  CHAPTER II

  VEGETABLE DISHES (_continued_)                   24


  CHAPTER III

  HOW TO COOK CORN, HARICOTS AND LENTILS, AND
    TO MAKE MAIGRE SOUFFLÉS                        41


  CHAPTER IV

  DISHES MADE WITH MACARONI AND SPAGHETTI          52


  CHAPTER V

  DISHES MADE WITH RICE                            59


  CHAPTER VI

  CHEESE DISHES                                    65


  CHAPTER VII

  OMELETTES AND CURRIES                            73


  CHAPTER VIII

  SALADS                                           79




CHAPTER I

VEGETABLE DISHES


There is undoubtedly a great and growing liking for _maigre_ dishes,
not only amongst those people who eat them from religious motives, but
amongst the general public. Nowadays at most of the smart restaurants
vegetable and cereal dishes are a feature of almost every meal, and at
private houses no luncheon and few dinner menus are considered complete
unless a vegetable or cereal dish is included.

But apart from fashion the value of these dishes is great; they are
good for the health and good for the pocket of the housekeeper,
provided they are ordered with discretion.

In the country, where vegetables are plentiful and money is not, I have
often noticed that sufficient use is not made of vegetables, while
where fresh green food is a luxury its place is not taken--as it should
be--by such food stuffs as rice, macaroni, haricot beans and corn.

As the housekeeper whose weekly income is limited knows only too well,
there often comes a day when the supply of meat falls short. Then
comes the question, can it be eked out in a presentable manner or
must more be bought and the desired cost exceeded. Now the woman who
caters carefully will realize how such inexpensive materials as rice or
macaroni, potatoes or cabbage may be pressed into service.

For example, the only available meat dish for luncheon is a hot pot of
mutton and the party is suddenly augmented. Add to the menu a dish of
macaroni au jus, or a rissole or corn curry, and supplement the homely
pudding with a little cheese savoury, and what more can any one desire?

Then if the meat for a veal and ham pie is scarcely sufficient add a
liberal quantity of partly cooked macaroni cut into short lengths,
while should the quantity of minced mutton available seem sadly little,
add an ample border of savoury rice or an extra dish of potato and
cheese balls. If rissoles are required add to them by means of mashed
potato or rice.

Then never allow small quantities of cooked vegetables left over from
lunch or dinner to be thrown away. Place them on clean plates in the
larder; they will prove useful additions to the next day’s bill of fare.

For example, you have two or three young carrots, a cupful of peas,
even a smaller quantity of broad beans. Slice the carrots and arrange
all three vegetables in china shells, mask with mayonnaise sauce,
sprinkle with coralline pepper, and serve with cold meat, or reheat
them by steaming, place them in a hot fireproof dish, cover with
boiling hot maître d’hôtel sauce, and garnish with rolls of bacon, and
serve as a luncheon dish; or add a little onion and use for a vegetable
curry, and serve surrounded by well-boiled rice; or reheat, mix with
parsley and butter sauce, cover with mashed potato, score the top and
brown in the oven, and serve for luncheon in the guise of vegetable pie.

If some new potatoes are left over, slice, fry, and serve with or
without bacon for breakfast; while should you have some old boiled
potatoes to use up they may be mashed and employed in half a score of
ways; incorporated with cabbage, pepper, salt, and a little butter,
formed into cakes, and fried to serve with bacon, grilled chicken or
ham, for instance.

Thus the clever housekeeper economizes and yet does not allow her
economies to be apparent.

Before passing on to the recipes which are the _raison d’être_ of this
little volume, I would say a word on the treatment of vegetables.

It is the habit of gardeners to pick fruit, vegetables, etc., in the
morning, and to bring in the day’s supply at about eleven o’clock, and
on Saturday to provide sufficient for two days’ consumption. Except
in the case of strawberries (which should be gathered, if possible,
on the day on which they are to be eaten) and asparagus (which is
infinitely better when cut just before the time for cooking), there is
no objection to this plan, provided the garden produce is stored in the
best manner. Carrots and turnips, leeks and onions should be placed
in wire racks; and lettuces should be arranged root-end downmost in a
shallow pan of fresh water. Cabbages and cauliflower may be treated
likewise. Parsley should be placed in water as if it were a flower--not
soused head over heels in that liquid. Whether the stalk-end of a
cucumber should be placed in water, or whether the vegetable should
be left dry in a cool, airy place, is a moot point. I do not feel
competent to say which course should be followed, but my cook, who
is clever at cooking vegetables, opines that cucumbers should not be
placed in water; and, in any case, that they should not be kept long
when cut.

Mustard-and-cress should be arranged in a shallow pan of water.

Peas and broad beans should not be shelled unnecessarily long before
eating, and if it is necessary to keep them they should be placed in a
wire rack in a cool, well-ventilated place.

All vegetables should be eaten while young, or they lose considerably
in flavour. When French or runner beans are quite young it is better
merely to remove the strings and to cook them whole; but when old age
approaches they are more palatable when sliced.


To Boil Vegetables

When boiling vegetables remember that all fresh vegetables should
be plunged into boiling salted water, the proportions being 1
tablespoonful of salt to 1 gallon of water.

Dried vegetables should be placed in lukewarm water.

A piece of sugar put into the water in which green vegetables are
cooked helps to bring out the flavour.

Leave the cover off the pan in which vegetables are cooked, or, at all
events, leave it half off, so that the steam can escape easily.

Do not allow vegetables to stay in the water in which they are boiled,
but drain them at once, pressing out all the water possible.

Green vegetables take on an average about 20 minutes to cook, though 10
minutes is often long enough for young peas, while cabbages sometimes
take nearly an hour.

The best way of cooking peas is as follows:--Shell a pint of peas and
place them in a jar with a closely-fitting lid, put in with them a
saltspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of
powdered white sugar, a sprig of mint and a shake of black pepper.
Cover the jar closely and place it in a saucepan of boiling water. Boil
briskly, until done, which should be in ½ an hour to ¾ of an hour.


Peas with Béchamel Sauce (Hot)

Cook the peas as in the preceding recipe, and just before serving pour
over them a small quantity of Béchamel sauce.


Petit Pois au Beurre (Hot)

_Peas with Butter_

Having cooked the peas either by the method described above or having
boiled them in the ordinary way, drain off the water and shake the peas
to dry them well, return them to the hot dry pan they were cooked in,
and at the last moment before serving throw in a pat of butter, let
this just melt, and serve.


French Beans

_À la Crême de Fromage_ (_Hot_)

Cook the beans in the usual way by throwing them in boiling salted
water in which a teaspoonful of sugar has been placed. If young, cook
them whole, only removing the spines and pointed end, or if stock can
be used, place them in a pan which has been buttered, sprinkle them
with salt, and just cover them with stock. When tender place them on a
hot dish, make a white sauce with ½ oz. of butter and ½ oz. of flour
mixed with ½ pint of the stock in which the beans have been cooked, add
a good pinch of salt and stir well, adding one well-beaten egg and two
tablespoonsful of finely-grated cheese. Do not let the sauce boil after
the egg has been added or it will curdle. Pour round the beans and
serve.

French beans can also be served with Béchamel sauce or quite plainly
with a small quantity of butter melted and run over them, with a shake
of pepper and salt, or again with a plain melted butter sauce.


Flageolets

Flageolets are the beans of the kidney bean, French bean, etc., and
when shelled and cooked in various ways are excellent eating. They
should be boiled in the same way as peas, simply omitting the sprig of
mint, and can be served in various ways.


Flageolets au Beurre (Hot)

Having boiled and drained the beans, place a pat of butter in the
saucepan just before serving.


Flageolets au Maître d’Hôtel (Hot)

Make a butter by mixing 1 oz. of butter, the juice of ½ a lemon, a
teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and pepper, mix well
and form into a pat. When the beans are cooked and drained, place this
with them, shake and serve.


Flageolets à la Crême de Fromage (Hot)

(_With Cheese Sauce_)

Follow the directions for French beans, substituting flageolets, and
boiling in the ordinary way.


Cabbage with Cheese Sauce (Hot)

Boil a cabbage, cut it in 8 pieces, then place it in 1 pint of cheese
sauce, make it thoroughly hot, and serve with the sauce poured over it.


Cabbage à la Crême (Hot)

Drain a boiled cabbage, cut it up small, put it into a saucepan with
1 oz. of butter, 1 gill of cream, and a seasoning of pepper and salt,
stir it all together over the fire till thoroughly hot, then turn it
out on to a hot dish, and serve with fried croûtons.


Brussels-Sprouts

can be served in various ways. For au beurre after boiling, drain well,
taking great care to squeeze every drop of water possible from the
sprouts, return to the pan and toss in butter, and dust with pepper and
salt.


Brussels-Sprouts à la Maître d’Hôtel (Hot)

Follow the above recipe, substituting maître d’hôtel butter for
ordinary butter.


Brussels-Sprouts au Jus (Hot) with Stock

Blanch the sprouts, by dipping them in boiling water and letting them
remain in it for a few minutes. Remove them and drain well, placing
them in a pan with just enough stock to cover them. Simmer until
tender, drain and serve.


Boiled Nettles (Hot)

Choose very young nettles, and wash them well in two or three waters;
chop them up very fine, and put them into a stewpan with a little
water, and steam until quite tender. Meanwhile toast as many slices of
bread as required, trim these neatly, lay them on a hot dish, drain the
nettles well, serve on the hot toast, dusted with pepper and salt, and
serve with a beurre fondue sauce, made as follows:--Put 2 oz. of butter
into a clean saucepan with ½ a teaspoonful of salt, and half as much
pepper, and 1 dessertspoonful of lemon juice; stir these all together
over the fire until half melted, take it off the fire and continue
stirring until the butter is all dissolved.


Stewed Nettles (Hot)

Wash the shoots and young leaves of nettles very thoroughly in slightly
salted water, dry well and mince very finely. Put this into a stewpan
with 1 tablespoonful of finely-chopped onion, a suspicion of brown
sugar, season with pepper and salt to taste, pour in a little stock or
water, and stew gently at the side of the fire until quite tender; then
mix together 1 oz. of butter and 1 teaspoonful of salt, till perfectly
smooth, add this to the nettles, with ½ a tablespoonful of thick cream
or new milk, stir it all well together till quite hot, and serve on
slices of hot toast. If liked, the onion may be omitted, when the
nettles are treated exactly like spinach.


Purée of Watercress (Hot)

Wash some watercress well, getting rid of all faded or discoloured
parts, then put it on in plenty of boiling salted water, and boil it
till almost cooked; lift it out, and drain on a sieve or colander to
get rid of as much water as possible. Meanwhile melt about 1½oz. of
butter in a pan, put the watercress on in this, sprinkle it lightly
with flour, and stir it all together over the fire for about 10
minutes, then add about 2 gills of good stock, season with pepper
and salt; cook it for 10 minutes longer, stirring it continuously,
rub it through a sieve and serve very hot, garnished with quartered
hard-boiled eggs, and fried croûtons.


Stewed Lettuce

Treat exactly as in the previous recipe.


Purée of Turnip Tops

Proceed as for watercress or lettuce.


Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce (Hot)

Clean and soak the cauliflower in salt and water for 1 hour, then
plunge it into boiling water, returning it again to cold water. After
this put it in a pan of boiling water slightly salted (½ oz. of salt to
1 gallon of water) and boil it until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. In the
meantime make ½ pint of tomato purée by the following recipe, and when
the cauliflower is cooked place it on a hot dish, pour the purée over
it, sift some finely-grated brown crumbs over it and serve.


Tomato Purée

Six smallish tomatoes. Cut them into slices and place them in an
enamelled saucepan, add 1 oz. of butter, a teaspoonful of chopped
parsley, salt, pepper, and a tiny pinch of cayenne. Pour over one pint
of stock. Boil until quite soft, and then pass through a sieve, add
1 oz. of anchovy essence, thicken with ½ oz. of butter and ½ oz. of
flour previously mixed together in another pan with some of the tomato
mixture. Stir over the fire until the sauce thickens, and it is then
ready for use.


Cauliflower Fritters (Hot)

Break a cooked cauliflower up into neat pieces, dip these in frying
batter till well covered, and fry in boiling fat. Drain them well,
sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and coralline pepper. Serve at
once on a napkin.

This is an excellent way of serving cauliflower which has been left
over.


Cauliflower au Gratin

Boil the cauliflower as before, place it in a fireproof dish, pour over
it an ample quantity of cheese sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and
brown crumbs and bake until slightly brown on the top. For cheese sauce
see the recipe for French beans à la crême de fromage (page 12).


Cauliflower with Soubise Sauce

Boil the cauliflower, place in a fireproof dish. Cover with delicate
onion sauce (Soubise sauce, p. 47), sprinkle with brown crumbs and make
very hot in the oven.


Spinach Patties (Hot)

Take 1 lb. of spinach leaves, pick and wash them well, and after this
blanch them by plunging them for 5 or 6 minutes in boiling water, drain
them and place them in cold water, remove, press, and strain, to get
rid of as much moisture as possible. Chop them up, place in a stewpan a
pinch of salt and sugar, ½ oz. of butter and ¼ oz. of flour, and after
stirring this for a few minutes add the spinach. Stir for 5 minutes
then add ¼ pint of milk, stir for a few minutes longer, and then add
½ pint of milk, stirring steadily until the liquid is almost dried
up. Remove from the pan and pass through a sieve, then return to the
fire and add a small pat of butter and keep very hot. Have ready the
required number of pastry patty cases. Quickly make some buttered egg,
place some of the spinach in each case, with a spoonful of buttered egg
on the top, and serve at once very hot.


Spinach and Tomatoes (Hot)

Prepare the spinach as in the preceding recipe. Bake six small
tomatoes carefully in the oven with a piece of butter on each. When
ready arrange the spinach in a dish in the form of a border, place the
tomatoes in the centre and serve.


Épinards (Spinach) à la Crême (Hot)

Wash the spinach in six or seven waters, so as to prevent its being
gritty; put it in a saucepan on the fire, with a very little water and
salt; when done strain very dry and chop it up very fine. Warm 2 oz. of
butter in a stewpan, put the spinach in, stir till the moisture quite
evaporates, then add a very little salt, a tiny pinch of sugar (a very
little nutmeg, if liked), a pinch of flour, and 1 large tablespoonful
of cream, and let the whole simmer for a quarter of an hour. Then put
through a sieve and keep hot. In the meantime, fry in fat some bread
cut into fingers, about 2½ in. long and ½ in. square, and plant them in
little rows all over the spinach when dished.

Spinach cooked thus is delicious and a very different matter from the
stringy green mass generally served.


Turnip Tops à la Crême

Cook as in the previous recipe for spinach.

Almost any greens, including cabbage and Brussels-sprouts, are
excellent when served thus.


Asparagus.

Asparagus is really almost at its best served plain boiled with oiled
butter; but when it first comes in, the big kind, which is best for
boiling, is rather expensive, and few people seem to know how good the
more “grasslike” kind is if treated properly.


Boiled Asparagus (Hot)

Although every one will at once say they know how asparagus should be
boiled, yet it is a melancholy fact that it is not by any means an
invariable rule to find this vegetable properly treated. If, however,
the following directions are carried out the result is certainly worth
the little extra trouble. Cut the stalks of a bundle of fresh asparagus
evenly and tie them up into a bunch, put them upright into a pan just
large enough to hold them comfortably and with boiling water to within
about 3 in. of the tops. Keep them on the fire for from 30 to 40
minutes, then lift them out, drain well, remove the string, and dish
them on a neatly folded napkin or square of toast. Treated in this way,
the heads are not so apt to come off, and the stalks, instead of being
tough, are quite tender and eatable. Excellent asparagus cookers are
now made, but if one of these is not to hand its lack will not be felt
if the instructions already given are observed. Asparagus should be
served with


Plain Oiled Butter, or Beurre Fondu,

which is made as follows:--Put 2 oz. of fresh butter into a pan with 1
saltspoonful of salt, ½ a saltspoonful of pepper, and ½ a tablespoonful
of lemon juice; stir this over the fire with a clean wooden spoon till
the butter has rather more than half melted; then lift it off the fire,
and continue the stirring until the butter is entirely melted, when
it will have a creamy taste, quite different from the ordinary oiled
butter.


Asparagus au Jus (Hot)

Cut the young, green, small asparagus diagonally into equal lengths
(like French beans), and toss these lightly in bacon fat; when slightly
crisped, season with white pepper, salt, minced parsley, and chervil,
and add a little stock; simmer gently till cooked. Now add a spoonful
or so of good beef or mutton gravy, and serve. The great secret of this
dish is only to put in enough stock in the first instance to cook the
asparagus, for it should all be absorbed by the time you add the gravy.


Asparagus Sprue à la Pompadour (Hot)

Steam the sprue, or small asparagus, in boiling salted water (_see_
p. 21), cut into lengths as above, and let them dry in a well-heated
napkin, in a warm place, to keep hot. Meanwhile stir together some
fresh butter, the yolk of 1 or more eggs, a spoonful of vinegar, a dust
of salt, and some freshly-ground black pepper; stand the pan containing
this in another pan half-full of boiling water, and stir it over the
fire till thoroughly blended. Place the asparagus in the dish, pour the
sauce over it, and serve.


Iced Asparagus

For this the large asparagus is required. When cooked lay on ice
or keep in an ice cave. Serve in an entrée dish and hand very cold
mayonnaise sauce.




CHAPTER II

VEGETABLE DISHES

(_Continued_)


Potatoes

A favourite kitchen superstition is that which forbids the use of
left-over potatoes. For many dishes cooked potato is required. Why then
cook fresh potatoes for the purpose and thereby waste time and money?

The sensible cook keeps all left-over potato, and makes use of it in
some of the ways here described.


Potato Croquettes (Hot)

Take 1 lb. of cold cooked potato and place in a mortar. Mash it until
all the lumps have disappeared, add a pat of butter and enough milk or
cream to make the potato soft, and of the right consistency to form
into balls, add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a very small
quantity of chives (if liked), mix well and form into balls. Coat them
with egg, roll them in finely-grated breadcrumbs, fry a golden brown,
drain and serve.


Potatoes à la Crême (Hot)

Having washed and peeled the number of potatoes required, cut them into
very thin slices and as much the same size as possible. Place them in
cold water for ½ hour, then drain them and dry on a soft clean cloth.
Have ready a fireproof dish with a closely-fitting lid, butter the
bottom and sides of it, and place a layer of potatoes in it, laying
them to overlap each other, and also to stand round the sides, place on
these a layer of soft butter, and a sprinkling of salt, and continue in
this way until the dish is full, ending with a layer of butter. Place
the lid on firmly, and place the dish in a moderate (350 deg.) oven for
¾ of an hour.


Cheese Potatoes (Hot)

Follow the previous recipe, the only difference being that grated
cheese should be sprinkled between each layer of potato in addition to
the butter.


Potatoes à la Crême (Hot)

(_A Method of Using up left-over new Potatoes_)

Put into a pan from ½ to 1 oz. of butter, add a good dessertspoonful
of flour, some parsley and minced chives, with salt, pepper, and a
dust of nutmeg to taste; when the whole is smoothly blended, pour in
sufficient single cream or new milk, and stir it all together till it
boils up, then add as many cold, cooked new potatoes as you want, and
allow them to heat thoroughly in the sauce without actually boiling,
which would break them; serve with a dust of coralline pepper.


Potatoes au Gratin (Hot)

Well butter a gratin dish, and dust it liberally with minced parsley,
white and coralline pepper, and, if liked, a little grated Parmesan;
cover this with a layer of thinly sliced, cold, cooked new potatoes,
moistening them as you do so with a little cream, milk, or, failing
either of these, a little oiled butter, dusting the whole with minced
parsley, pepper, salt, and a very little cheese; repeat these layers
till the dish is full, finishing with a very light sprinkling of fine
white breadcrumbs, a little spice, grated cheese, and, lastly, some
tiny morsels of fresh butter, and bake till the surface is nicely
covered.


Potato and Cabbage Cakes

Take any cold potato and cabbage, mash it smoothly together, adding
beaten egg, white sauce, or melted butter to moisten. Flavour rather
highly with pepper, add a little salt. Form into round cakes, flour,
and bake or fry.


Curried Potato Cakes

Have ready some curry sauce with which to moisten the mashed potato,
and proceed as before.


Potato Cromeskies (with Mushroom)

Have ready some well-flavoured mushrooms stewed in white sauce (the
mushrooms cut into small pieces). Make some smoothed mashed potato and
add to it a beaten yolk of egg. Form balls of the potato. Hollow out a
place in each, fill with the mushroom mixture. Cover with more potato,
egg, crumb, fry and serve very hot.


Potato Mould (Hot)

Mash 1 lb. of well-boiled potatoes with the same quantity of boiled
mashed carrot, pass through a fine wire sieve, mix all well together
with warm milk, and a lump of butter; place in a buttered mould, and
set in a hot oven for 10 minutes, turn out on a hot dish, and brown in
the oven.


Artichokes au Gratin (Hot)

Wash and peel the artichokes and place them in cold salted water, then
put them in a pan full of boiling salted water. Boil for 20 minutes.
(If the artichokes are old they should be put into cold water, which
must be brought to the boil and kept so until they are cooked.) Take
the artichokes out and drain them, cut into pieces, then place them
in a fireproof dish, covering them with a good white sauce. Sprinkle
with grated cheese. Place in a moderate oven, and bake about 10 to 15
minutes until of a golden brown.


Scalloped Artichokes

Cook as in the previous recipe, but omit the cheese and bake in shells
which have been buttered and sprinkled with brown crumbs. Sprinkle the
artichoke mixture with crumbs also, place a little butter on the top
and brown as before.


Artichoke Soufflé

_See_ page 48.


Artichoke Chips

Cook as before; slice, fry in boiling fat. Drain and leave till cold.
Fry, drain, and serve very hot.


Cream of Artichokes (Hot or Cold)

Boil 1 lb. of artichokes until quite tender, then pass them through a
sieve. Make a custard with ½ pint of milk and the yolks of four eggs,
pepper and salt. Whisk up the white of 1 egg, and whisk this into the
custard, mix it with the artichoke and place all in a well-buttered
mould and steam for an hour. Serve hot with anchovy sauce, or set the
mould on ice, and when quite cold turn it out on to a dish and serve
with iced mayonnaise of hollandaise sauce.


Eggs and Artichokes (Hot)

Boil 8 artichokes and cut them into slices, place them in a fireproof
dish. Hard boil 4 eggs. When cold shell them and chop them up, place
the eggs on the top of the sliced artichokes, and pour over the whole
a good white sauce flavoured with Parmesan cheese. Dust over with
breadcrumbs and make thoroughly hot in the oven.


Bouchées d’Artichauts (Hot)

Prepare the green artichokes by cutting off the leaves close down to
the fond and trim off any that may adhere, cut off the stalk as closely
as possible. Plunge the artichoke bottoms into boiling salted water,
and leave them for five minutes, then take them out and remove the
choke. Place in boiling water and boil them until tender. When cooked
take them out, drain them, and put them through a sieve, season with
pepper and salt, moistening the whole with enough white sauce to make a
purée. Have ready some pastry patty cases, ready cooked, fill each with
the mixture, and serve very hot.


Fonds Artichauts au Gratin (Hot)

Boil the artichoke bottoms in the manner described above, mash them and
season with pepper and salt, adding a little cream and butter, place
some of the mixture in china shells or small fireproof dishes, grate
some cheese over each, and bake in the oven until a golden brown.


Stuffed Artichokes.

Take the cooked artichoke bottoms and fill with mashed potato flavoured
with cheese. Brown in the oven and serve with cheese sauce.


Artichokes with Cream Cheese

Fill the artichoke bottoms with cream of cheese (_see_ page 71), and
serve on buttered toast very hot.


Mushrooms au Gratin (Hot)

Peel the mushrooms and cut off their stalks, and place them in a
buttered fireproof dish. Peel the stalks and wash them, add the
peelings, dry them and cut them up. Make a sauce with 1 oz. of
butter, and when melted add ½ oz. of flour, stirring into it ½ pint
of milk. Stir well, bring to the boil, and then throw in the chopped
stalks, a dessertspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of
finely-chopped onion, a dusting of pepper, and ½ a teaspoonful of salt.
Simmer the sauce until it thickens, strain and add some browning. Pour
the sauce over the mushrooms, sprinkle some browned breadcrumbs over
the whole, and bake in a quick oven for 10 minutes.


Mushroom Croûtes (Hot)

Cut some rounds of bread about ¾ of an inch thick and scoop them out
rather thinner in the centre, fry until a golden brown, drain, and keep
hot. Place the required number of mushrooms on a greased baking-tin
with a piece of butter in each, and place in the oven to cook. In the
meantime mince one or two mushrooms and place them in a pan with a
small quantity of good brown sauce. When cooked place a spoonful on
each croûte, and a whole mushroom on the top of each. Serve very hot.


Roes and Mushrooms on Toast (Hot)

Make the necessary number of round croûtons of lightly-fried bread, and
choose a like number of mushrooms the same size as the croûtons. Peel
the mushrooms, rinse them in warm water, to remove any grit, and remove
the stalks. Place them on a greased baking sheet, stalk side uppermost.
Put some small pieces of butter on each mushroom and a little pepper
and salt. Cover with buttered paper and cook in a moderate oven for 10
to 20 minutes. Serve a mushroom on each croûton, and on each mushroom
place a cooked bloater roe curled round.


Stuffed Aubergines (Egg Fruit)

Boil the aubergines until tender (25 to 30 minutes), and then half them
lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp carefully, sieve it, and mix it with
some fine brown crumbs (about a dessertspoonful to each half-pint),
pepper, salt, and some oiled butter. Fill the skins with this mixture,
sprinkle with crumbs and oiled butter, and bake in a moderate oven
until browned.


Tomatoes au Gratin (Hot)

Take four tomatoes as nearly the same size as possible, and a slice
off the top of each. Scoop out the middle of the tomato as much as
possible, leaving the frames for cases. These set on one side. Work
the pulp through a sieve, and mix into it a heaped-up tablespoonful of
finely-grated breadcrumbs, add the yolks of 2 eggs, and mix well. Fill
the tomato cases, heaping the mixture up, grate a layer of cheese over
them, place on a buttered baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.


Tomato Pie (Hot)

Slice a good-sized onion thinly, blanch it, and fry in fat till lightly
browned. Take 1 lb. of ripe tomatoes, skin and cut in slices. Place a
layer of onions in the bottom of the pie dish with a good seasoning
of salt and pepper, then a layer of tomatoes, with white breadcrumbs
scattered over and a few pieces of butter, and so on until the dish is
almost full. Have ready some well-mashed potatoes, and spread thickly
over so as to form a crust, and bake until brown.


Tomatoes à la Crême de Fromage (Cold)

Whip ½ pint of cream until stiff, season it with celery salt and
pepper. Add 3 oz. of grated cheese, then whisk in by degrees ¼ pint of
cool but liquid aspic jelly, which has been flavoured with tarragon
vinegar. Continue to whisk until the mixture begins to stiffen.
Previously peel and halve some small round tomatoes, and remove the
seeds from the halves when cut open, and drain for a little. Place
each piece of tomato, when filled, on a cheese biscuit, and ornament
it round the edge with a piping of cheese cream. Garnish the dish with
cress, and put a tiny bunch into the middle of the cream with which the
tomatoes are filled.


Tomato Canapés (Cold)

Cut some slices of bread 2½ in. in diameter, and ⅛ in. thick. Soak
in milk and then fry a pale colour. Spread when cold with grated
cheese and butter made into a paste. Dip some small tomatoes into hot
water, skin them and put one on each piece of bread, placing some
finely-minced parsley and grated Parmesan on each.


Beignets of Vegetable Marrow (Hot)

Peel the vegetable marrow and strain it without removing the seeds.
When three-parts cooked, take it out of the pan and cut it into neat
pieces, as much one size as possible, remove the seeds, dip each piece
of marrow into batter and fry until a golden brown in boiling fat.


To Make the Batter

Whip two eggs and mix them with about two tablespoonsful of flour. This
is generally sufficient to make a stiff batter. Then add by degrees ⅓
of a pint of milk, salt and pepper, cover and put by for an hour or
two. Be sure that the article to be fried is quite dry before being
dipped in the batter.


Salsify Scallops (Hot)

Boil the salsify for 50 minutes, then place in a mortar and mash to
a pulp, add a few drops of anchovy essence and some milk or cream,
to make it the consistency of a thick custard. Place the mixture in
buttered shells, sprinkle some finely-grated breadcrumbs over it, place
a piece of butter on each and brown in the oven.


Salsify Fritters (Hot)

1½ lb. salsify, 2 oz. beef dripping, lemon juice. Wash and lightly
scrape the salsify roots and put them in cold water. Put the dripping,
a little salt, and the lemon juice in a saucepan with enough water to
cover the salsify. When it boils put in the roots and let them simmer
gently until they are tender. This will take 30 to 40 minutes. Do not
cover the pan. When tender drain off the water and cut the roots into
pieces about 2½ in. long. Sprinkle the salsify with a little pepper,
oil, and vinegar, and then dip the pieces into batter. Fry in boiling
fat until a golden brown, then take out, drain and serve.


Glazed Carrots (Hot)

Blanch some small, young carrots, as much of a size as possible, dry
them well, and if necessary, trim them evenly; put them into a pan,
with just enough stock to cover, and a lump of loaf sugar; boil them
up sharply till the stock is reduced to a glaze, then add to this 1½
oz. of butter and a seasoning of salt, and stir them in this till the
liquid is all absorbed, and the carrots are quite glazed with the
butter.


Carrots à la Flamande (Hot)

Take about 12 young carrots, blanch them in scalding water, and rub
them well. Then put them into a stewpan with about 1 oz. of butter, a
saltspoonful of castor sugar, some finely-minced parsley, a seasoning
of pepper and salt, and sufficient water to cover them liberally;
simmer the carrots in this for about 15 to 20 minutes, when they should
be quite tender, shaking them once or twice in the process. Remove
the pan from the fire, and stir in the yolk of 1 egg beaten up with 2
spoonsful of cream or new milk, and serve very hot.


Glazed Turnips (Hot)

Peel about 1 lb. of young turnips, wash them well, cut into quarters,
and put them on in salted water; bring this sharply to the boil, then
place them in a well-buttered small frying or sauté pan, sprinkle them
liberally with castor sugar, and directly the turnips begin to colour
pour a little stock in, and season with pepper and salt, and a little
more sugar if liked; let them stew slowly till quite tender, and serve
them with the sauce poured over them.


Turnips à la Poulette (Hot)

Peel about 1 lb. of young, fresh turnips, wash them well, trim into
olive or pear shapes; put them on in cold, salted water, and bring them
sharply to the boil; then drain them, rinse in cold water, and dry them
in a clean napkin. Have ready some velouté (i.e. melted butter made
with 1 oz. of butter, 1½ oz. of flour, and about ¾ pint of vegetable
stock instead of water), drop the turnips into this, and cook them till
ready, very gently, for about 20 to 25 minutes according to size. When
ready lift them out, and keep hot. Add a spoonful of castor sugar to
the liquor, boil it up sharply, and just before serving stir in the
yolk of an egg and a little piece of butter cut up small; do not let
the sauce reboil after adding these; season to taste with pepper and
salt, pour the sauce on to the turnips, and serve very hot.


Onions au Gratin

Blanch (by placing in boiling water) 1 lb. of onions, then divide them
into quarters and boil in milk and water until tender. Cut them up,
moisten them with some of the liquid in which they were boiled, mash
them smoothly, add a cupful of cream, or one of milk enriched with the
yolk of an egg, pepper and salt. Place the purée in a fireproof dish,
which has been buttered, strew some grated cheese over, and sprinkle a
little melted butter over all. Bake until hot throughout, and until the
top is coloured.

It is worthy of note that where grated cheese is mentioned, it is quite
unnecessary to buy Parmesan for the purpose. Any dry ends of cheese,
grated, will serve.


Celeri à la Duchesse (Hot)

Cook some celery slowly in equal parts of milk and water, seasoned
with salt and pepper; when cooked, lift out, cut it up, and place a
layer of it in a fireproof dish, seasoning with salt and pepper, and
moistening with some béchamel or any good white sauce, and continue
these layers until the dish is full, taking care to raise it up in the
centre; strew it rather thickly with grated Parmesan cheese; moisten
it with some oiled butter, and put it into the oven for 10 minutes, to
colour nicely.


Fried Celery (Hot)

Thoroughly wash three heads of celery, remove the leaves, and cut into
4 inch lengths, then put in a stewpan with ½ a pint of stock and a
seasoning of pepper and salt. Simmer gently for a quarter of an hour.
Let the celery cool, then take it out, dip it in egg and breadcrumb,
and fry in butter. Serve very hot, and hand tomato sauce with it.

For the following vegetable dishes, _see 10s. a Head for Housebooks_:--

  Potato Cakes, Ribbons, à la Maître d’Hôtel, Balls, Cones, Eggs au
  Gratin, Tomato Savoury, and Cabbage Cakes.

  Cauliflower au Gratin, and Curried.

  Artichoke Chips.

  Tomato Rice.

  Vegetable Marrow au Gratin. Fried.

  Turnip Tops.

  Purée of Green Peas.

  Salsify or Celery au Gratin.

  Onion Purée.

  Haricot Bean Curry, Patties, Croûtons.

  Cabbage and Eggs.


_The Single-handed Cook._

  Scalloped Artichokes.

  Asparagus and Eggs.

  Stewed Cabbage.

  Glazed Carrots.

  Cauliflowers, Aigrettes au Gratin, Croûtons, Fritters.

  Celeriac au Gratin, Purée, with Brown Sauce.

  Croûstades of Broad Beans.

  Beetroot with Parsley Sauce.

  Brussels-sprouts au Gratin.

  Purée of Flageolets, with Parsley Sauce.

  Mushrooms and Tomatoes, Baked, Stewed.

  Parsnip Cakes.

  Peas à la Française, and Carrots à la Crême.

  Potatoes Lyonnaise, à la Donna, Puffed, Soufflé.

  Seakale au Gratin, Curried, Fried, with White Sauce.

  Onions en surprise.

  Tomatoes, with Eggs, Roasted.

  Vegetable Pie.




CHAPTER III

How to Cook Corn, Haricot Beans, and Lentils, and to Make Vegetable
Soufflés.


Of all the cereals none, I think, yields a better result than
corn--known to some people as green, and to others as Indian corn or
maize. Freshly cut, boiled, and eaten with salt, pepper, and oiled
butter, it is delicious; but every one, alas, does not grow it, and
many folk have to be content with the tinned corn, which, nevertheless,
is excellent. It may be bought in tins of two sizes, and is quite
inexpensive.


To Cook Corn

Open a small tin of corn and strain off the liquid, and then simmer
the corn until tender, but not “mashy,” in 3 tablespoonsful of milk, ½
oz. of butter, pepper and salt. About 10 minutes will suffice for the
cooking.


Corn with Buttered Egg

Have ready the buttered egg, and pile it in the centre of a hot
fireproof dish, surround with the cooked corn and garnish with small
circles of fried bread.


Egg and Corn Toast

Prepare the egg and corn as before, stir them together and serve very
hot on buttered toast.


Corn with Poached Eggs

Spread the cooked corn flat on a hot fireproof dish, and arrange the
poached eggs neatly on it, and serve very hot.


Corn au Gratin

Cook the corn as before, and have ready a delicate white sauce as
below. Heat a fireproof dish, butter it, and sprinkle with fine brown
crumbs. Heat the corn in the sauce, and place it in the dish, cover
with grated cheese and crumbs, and bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven.


White Sauce

Melt 2 oz. of fresh butter, and sprinkle into it 1½ oz. of dry sifted
flour. Stir until the sauce will leave a clean place in the pan when
lifted in the spoon. Add quite gradually ½ pint of milk, stirring all
the time. Bring to the boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt
and white pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Half water and half milk
or stock may be used instead of all milk, and a spoonful or two of
cream added just at the last is an improvement. If a


Cheese Sauce

is required add a piled-up tablespoonful of finely-grated cheese,
stirring it in well so that it shall be smooth.


Corn au Gratin with Tomato Sauce

Prepare as before, using tomato sauce instead of white sauce.


Tomato Sauce

Take 6 small tomatoes, slice them and place in a pan with 1 oz. of
butter, salt and pepper, and 1 pint of stock and water, or milk and
water. Boil until soft, sieve, and thicken with 1 oz. of white roux
(flour and butter cooked until smooth, as described in “White Sauce”).
Stir until smooth and very hot.


Corn Fritters

½ tin of corn, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonsful of flour, 1 tablespoonful
finely-chopped parsley, seasoning to taste. Drain the corn into a
bowl; stir in the flour carefully, add the parsley, season, and
lastly, well beat the eggs, and stir those in. Have ready some boiling
fat in a frying-pan, into which the batter should be dropped in
dessertspoonsful. Drain on kitchen paper, and serve at once on a hot
dish.


Corn Rissoles.

Take the cooked corn and beat it in white, cheese, or tomato sauce, and
then leave until cold. Form into rissoles, egg and crumb and fry. Serve
very hot, garnished with fried parsley.


Omelette with Corn

Prepare the omelette as usual, and have ready some corn heated in white
sauce. Just before serving the omelette spread the inner portion with
the hot corn.


Curried Corn.

Prepare the corn as before, and heat in a good curry sauce. Pile in
the centre of a hot dish and surround with boiled rice garnished with
sieved yolk of egg.


Curry Sauce

Slice an onion and ½ a small apple finely, and fry them in 2 oz. of
clarified dripping or butter. Stir in ½ a dessertspoonful of curry
powder and the same of flour. Salt to taste. Add ¼ pint of stock or
milk, cook gently for 30 minutes, then put all through a sieve, add a
few drops of lemon juice, and reheat.


“Humitas”

(_A Chili dish_)

Grate some fresh green corn, add a little sugar and red pepper.

Fry this slightly in clarified dripping. Arrange two leaves from the
sugar-corn, the broad part lapping over the other. Fill this with about
a tablespoonful of the mixture, then fold it up neatly in the leaves,
tying it with a thin strip from another, and bake.

When the fresh corn is not in season, the corn in tins will answer the
same purpose if cooked and passed through a wire sieve and wrapped in
vine leaves.


Corn and Cheese Cream

Cook the corn, mix it into the cheese cream, and serve very hot on
buttered toast. For the Cheese Cream _see_ page 71.

The serving of these recipes may be varied: for instance, instead of
sending corn au gratin to table in one large dish, bake and serve it
in small brown or green earthen pipkins, one to each person, or in the
centre of a croûton of fried bread.

It is worth noting, too, that haricot beans may be substituted for corn
in any of these recipes. They should be soaked for 2 to 4 hours, and
then boiled in stock or water for 3 hours.


Haricot Beans

Haricot beans must be soaked for quite 12 hours in cold water, then put
into a pan with cold water slightly salted, (½ oz. of salt to 1 gallon
of water,) brought slowly to the boil, then drawn aside and simmered
for about 2 hours.


Haricot Beans à la Milanaise (Hot)

Boil the beans as directed and serve with a covering of sauce à la
Milanaise, which should be made in the following manner: Scald 4
onions for 5 minutes in boiling water, then dry them and cut them up,
place them in a saucepan with a pinch of sugar, 1 oz. of butter, and
a saltspoonful of salt. Boil a tablespoonful of rice, and when cooked
add it to the onion; moisten with ½ pint of milk or water, cook slowly,
stirring occasionally; when the onions are soft add 1 tablespoonful of
finely-grated cheese. Mix well and pass through a sieve, add to this ½
pint of white sauce, mix thoroughly, repeat and pour over the beans.


Haricot Beans with Tomato Purée

Cook the beans as before and serve covered with tomato purée (_see_
page 18.)


Haricot Beans with Soubise (Onion) Sauce

Cook the haricots as before and serve with onion sauce poured over and
croûtons of fried bread arranged round.


Soubise Sauce

Take 2 large onions, peel them and put them in boiling water for 5
minutes. Strain, slice, and place in a pan with 1 oz. of clarified
dripping and stew until tender. Lift the pan from the fire and stir
in ½ pint of melted butter sauce. Let it boil, stir for about 7 to 10
minutes, and then rub through a hair sieve.


Lentils

Soak the lentils for at least 12 hours in cold water. Then drain and
place them in a pan with cold salted water (1 gallon of water to ½
oz. of salt), bring them to the boil, then draw aside the pan and
simmer, until the lentils are quite soft, about 1 hour. After having
been cooked like this they can be served in any of the methods advised,
for haricot beans or plain, save for the addition of a pat of butter
melting among them, a sprinkling of chopped parsley, and a shake of
pepper and salt.


Lentils with Curry Sauce

Cook the lentils as before and serve with plenty of curried sauce
poured over. For the curry sauce _see_ page 45.


Maigre Soufflés

There is no nicer way of serving such vegetables as cabbage, spinach,
artichokes, or celery, than in the form of a soufflé, which may appear
as an entrée or second course dish, or as a vegetable to accompany meat
or poultry.

Savoury soufflés of rice and of macaroni are also delicious, and
although all soufflés require care in the cooking, a cook of moderate
abilities will soon master the art of making these delicious dishes.


Vegetable Soufflé

Have ready about ½ lb. of any carefully made and well-flavoured
vegetable purée--spinach, cabbage, turnip tops, Brussels-sprouts,
carrot, turnip (or both mixed) artichoke, tomato, or celery. Then put
1 gill of water and 1 oz. of butter into a pan with a pinch of salt.
Directly this comes to the boil, stir in 1 oz. of flour, stirring it
well with a wooden spoon for 2 or 3 minutes, put in the purée, and just
remove the pan for a little, add the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 at a time,
and 1 whole egg, and finally the whites of 2 eggs beaten to a stiff
froth. Have ready a papered soufflé dish, fill it three-quarters of the
way up, bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes, and serve at once, first
removing the paper and wiping the dish.

The purée may be prepared at any time, but the eggs should only be
added just before the soufflé is to be baked. The dish (china or tin)
in which the soufflé is baked must be well greased and a greased paper
tied round. The mixture rises so strenuously that if the dish is 3
parts full (and it should be to look well when served), the paper is
required to prevent the mixture from falling over, as it rises just
above the edges of the dish. When baking the soufflé do not bang the
oven door, and open it very gently, and, by degrees when taking the
soufflé out. If kept waiting the soufflé will fall and become tough. So
with these dishes the diners must wait for the soufflé rather than the
soufflé for the diners.


Vegetable Purée

This is merely the vegetable boiled in water or stock, and then put
through a sieve so that it forms a preparation resembling a very thick
custard. Spinach à la crême (page 20) and purée of watercress, lettuce,
and turnip tops (pages 16 and 17) are excellent foundations for
soufflés. Such vegetables as artichokes and celery should be treated as
follows:--


Celery Soufflé (Hot)

Wash some celery well, and remove all the outside parts, cut up ½ lb.,
put it on in cold, salted water, bring this to the boil, take out the
celery and drain. Put the celery into a pan with 1½ gills of milk, half
a bayleaf, a blade of mace, a slice of onion, and boil it all till
tender, then sieve the celery, and it is ready for the soufflé.


Savoury Rice Soufflé

Wash 2 oz. of rice and then place it in ¾ of a pint of boiling stock
(fish or vegetable stock), and cook until the rice swells and is soft
without being pulpy. Drain it and let it cool, and then stir into it
1 oz. of fresh butter, 2 or 3 tablespoonsful of tomato purée, salt and
pepper the beaten yolks of 2 eggs and then the frothed whites. Bake in
a soufflé dish prepared as already described.


Mushroom and Rice Soufflé

Proceed as before, but use stewed mushrooms instead of the tomato purée.


Rice and Cheese Soufflé

Proceed exactly as for Savoury Rice Soufflé but add 2 oz. of grated
cheese.


Macaroni Soufflé

Proceed as for Rice Soufflé, using about the same bulk of cooked
macaroni (cut into half inch lengths) as of cooked rice.




CHAPTER IV

DISHES MADE WITH MACARONI AND SPAGHETTI


Macaroni and Spaghetti

_To Boil._--Macaroni or spaghetti should be boiled in the same way as
rice, namely, thrown into boiling salted water, and should never under
any circumstances be soaked or placed in cold water previously. They
should be tested occasionally with a fork, and when tender a teacupful
of cold water should be thrown into the pan to stop the boiling, the
pan should then be lifted from the fire, the macaroni or spaghetti
drained of all liquid and returned to the hot dry pan and kept hot
until wanted. The time for boiling is from 20 to 30 minutes. The
following dishes can be made of either preparation:--


Macaroni à la Napolitaine (Hot)

Boil 3 oz. of macaroni in the manner described above, and after it has
been returned to the pan in which it was boiled, stir into it 2 oz. of
Parmesan cheese finely grated and 1 oz. of butter. The cheese should be
stirred in half at a time and well shaken amongst the macaroni. Season
with black pepper and salt and serve at once very hot.


Macaroni à la Italienne (Hot)

Follow the preceding recipe for boiling the macaroni, and having
returned it to the pan, stir into it 1 oz. of cheese finely grated, 1
oz. of butter, and then ½ pint of tomato purée (_see_ page 18). Mix
well and serve very hot piled on a dish.


Macaroni au Gratin (Hot)

Boil the macaroni by the directions given above, then mix into it 1 oz.
of grated cheese and 1 oz. of butter, stir well and place the mixture
neatly in a fireproof dish, sprinkle over it ½ oz. of grated cheese and
the same amount of dried breadcrumbs. Melt ½ oz. of butter and pour it
over the whole. Place in the oven (until a light brown colour) for 10
minutes, then serve.


Macaroni Cheese (Hot)

Butter a fireproof dish and in it place 3 oz. of macaroni previously
boiled, dust it with pepper and salt. Make a good white sauce and add
to it 2 oz. of grated cheese. Pour this all over the macaroni and
sprinkle the top with grated cheese and a few dried breadcrumbs. Place
in the oven and cook until a golden brown and serve in the dish in
which it is cooked.


Macaroni au Jus (made with Meat Stock) (Hot)

Boil 3 oz. of macaroni for 10 minutes, drain off the water and pour
into the pan ½ to ¾ pint of brown stock, simmer the macaroni until
tender, pour off the stock; but should the macaroni have absorbed it
all, take enough to moisten the whole, thicken it in the usual way, and
add browning to colour it. Place the macaroni on a hot dish--it should
be kept hot in the pan while the sauce is making; pour the gravy over
it and serve.


Buttered Macaroni (Hot)

Boil 2 oz. of macaroni and drain it well. Put 2 oz. of butter into a
thoroughly warmed pie dish, put the macaroni on top of this, and mix
it all well together with two forks, sprinkling in at the same time
freshly-grated cheese and coralline pepper. When thoroughly mixed and
the butter all absorbed, sprinkle it with more pepper and cheese, and
serve at once.


Poached Eggs and Macaroni (Hot)

Break some macaroni up into inch pieces, rinse it well; put 2 oz. of
butter into a fireproof dish, put the macaroni in, and pour enough
milk over it to thoroughly cover it, stirring it now and again. When
three-quarters cooked, lift it out, and put it into another dish,
seasoning it well with pepper and salt, and pour over it ½ pint of
good brown gravy, then put it back in the oven again and leave it till
cooked. When ready lay some poached eggs on it, sprinkle liberally with
Parmesan cheese, coralline pepper, and serve.


Macaroni Cutlets (Hot)

4 oz. macaroni, 4 oz. grated cheese, 1 oz. flour, ½ oz. flour, ½ pint
of milk, 1 teaspoonful French mustard, breadcrumbs, 1 egg, cayenne and
salt. Boil the macaroni in water until it is quite tender, then cut it
into pieces of half an inch in length. Melt the butter in a stewpan,
add the flour gradually, stirring until there are no lumps, add the
milk and stir over the fire until the sauce thickens. Mix the macaroni,
cheese, mustard, pinch of cayenne and salt to taste, with the sauce,
then turn out on to a plate and leave until cold. Form into cutlets or
small rolls, roll in breadcrumbs, then dip in beaten egg, and again
roll in crumbs. Fry the cutlets in boiling fat until they are a golden
brown colour, then serve with a garnish of fried parsley. If the
mixture is formed into cutlet shape place a small piece of raw macaroni
at the thin end to represent the bone.


Fish and Macaroni (Hot)

Cook the macaroni until quite tender, then cut it into small pieces;
meanwhile flake ½ lb. of cooked fish, free from shin and bones, and
make a good stock from the bones and trimmings of the fish. Melt 1 oz.
of butter, stir into this ½ oz. of flour, strain in ½ pint of the fish
stock, and bring it all to the boil; then put in the fish and macaroni,
season to taste with salt and pepper, turn into a buttered fireproof
dish, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.


Macaroni with Tomatoes

Remove the stalks of the tomatoes, cut each one into four pieces, then
put them into a saucepan with a little water, a bayleaf, and a sprig
of basil, and season with pepper and salt to taste; now boil till
thoroughly done, when you turn them out on to a hair sieve, allowing
them to stand for a minute or so, in order that all the water may
drain off and be thrown away; then pass the tomatoes through a sieve
with a wooden spoon, heat up the pulp well with a good lump of butter,
and then dress the previously-boiled macaroni with this, and plenty
of grated Parmesan, or any good, strongly flavoured cheese which will
grate well.


Italian Cake (Hot) (made with Suet)

Boil 2 oz. of macaroni till tender, drain well and cut into small
pieces, then pound it with 2 eggs, 8 oz. of grated Parmesan cheese, 4
oz. mutton suet, and season to taste with pepper and salt; steam in a
basin or mould for 70 minutes. Turn out and serve with tomato or any
other savoury sauce to taste. 2 beaten yolks of egg may be substituted
for the suet.


Spaghetti Pudding (Hot)

Cook 4 oz. of spaghetti as previously directed, drain it and place half
of it in a pie dish, grate 2 oz. of cheese (a good cooking one should
be chosen), and sprinkle some of it over the spaghetti, slice 4 or 5
small tomatoes and place them on the bed of macaroni, sprinkling them
with cheese, pepper and salt, and finish with the remainder of the
macaroni, placing the rest of the cheese on the top. Pour carefully
over this ½ pint of milk and cover the dish with a plate or small dish,
cook in a moderate oven. A fireproof dish with a fitting cover would be
useful for this dish, but if not procurable a pie dish can quite well
be used.


Baked Tomatoes and Macaroni (Hot)

Cut 4 or 5 tomatoes of the same size into halves and place them in a
baking-tin with a small piece of butter on each and dust them with
black pepper and nutmeg. Bake from 15 to 20 minutes. Have ready 6 oz.
of macaroni boiled and hot, place this in a circle on a hot dish,
arrange the tomatoes inside this and pour over the spaghetti a rich
cheese sauce. Serve very hot.


Spaghetti à l’Indienne (Hot)

Make a curry sauce by slicing 2 small onions and frying them in butter
until a light brown, add to them 2 teaspoonsful of curry powder and a
tablespoonful of lemon juice or rather less of vinegar, a tablespoonful
of sugar, a pinch of salt and two raw apples chopped very finely, stir
in 1½ pints of water and simmer until the ingredients have become a
pulp. Place ½ lb. of spaghetti in boiling water, and when partly cooked
remove it, drain, and finish cooking it in the sauce. Serve very hot.




CHAPTER V

DISHES MADE WITH RICE


Rice

_To Boil._--Place the rice in a pan of fast boiling water and be
careful to choose one large enough for it. 1 to 1½ oz. of rice should
be cooked in a quart pan, which should be three-parts full of water,
and have ½ a teaspoonful of salt and a few drops of lemon juice in it,
the latter to preserve the whiteness of the rice. Stir occasionally.
Boil the rice for 10 to 15 minutes, but test it at the former time by
pressing it between the finger and thumb. When the grains feel soft
remove the saucepan from the fire at once and drain off the water;
return the rice to the pan and set it on the corner of the stove to
dry, shaking it occasionally. Some grains of rice will always stick
to the pan, and to remove these put a small pat of butter in the pan,
and as this melts the grains will fall away. The rice will take quite
10 minutes to dry and should never be served until the moisture has
been got rid of and the grains separated. Remember always that rice
swells very much in the cooking process, hence the necessity of the
large pan and amount of water required. Carolina rice swells more than
Patna and so requires rather more water than the latter. If the rice is
boiled too slowly or for too long a time the result will be a sticky
mass. A good plan is to pour in a pint of cold water when the rice
is sufficiently cooked. This stops the boiling at once and helps to
separate the grains; if put close to the stove when the rice is first
put into the pan, the cook will be able to throw it into the pan the
moment the rice is tender. If the rice is to be served with meat in
place of a vegetable, the rice should only be partly cooked and the
water all drained off, and then ½ pint to 1 pint of stock put in the
pan. This should be simmered until quite cooked, drained and served.

Another method of boiling rice, though totally different to the
foregoing, is equally successful. Place the rice in cold water and
allow it to come to the boil. After boiling for a few minutes and when
the grains are tender when pressed between the finger and thumb, throw
in a jugful of cold water, remove the pan from the fire, and pour both
rice and water on to a wire sieve, shake well, and when the water has
run away sufficiently, place the sieve with the rice upon it in the
oven to thoroughly dry it. The grains will fall away from each other
and the rice is ready for use.

Rice is even better as a vegetable if it is cooked some time before
being wanted, covered over, and reheated in the oven before use; the
grains are drier than when only cooked and served at once.


Fried Rice

_Served as a vegetable_

Boil ½ lb. of rice as directed, and when it is thoroughly dried fry it
in 1 oz. of butter until slightly browned. Dust with pepper and salt
and serve piled in a dish.


Devilled Rice

Proceed as for Fried Rice, but mix in a pinch of curry powder with the
hot liquid butter.


Rice à l’Italienne (Hot)

Boil the rice in the manner described on page 60, and to 4 oz. when
cooked and drained, stir in 1 oz. of butter, dust with salt and pepper
and stir well, mixing thoroughly; add sufficient tomato sauce to
moisten the whole, and add 2 oz. of finely-grated cheese. Mix well and
serve very hot.


Risotto à la Milanaise (Hot)

Fry 3 oz. of chopped onion in 2 oz. of butter or clarified dripping
until of a golden brown colour, then add 6 oz. of rice, stir without
stopping for 2 or 3 minutes, add by degrees 1 pint of stock, stir
occasionally and simmer gently until the rice is just soft, add a very
small amount of grated nutmeg and 1½ oz. of grated cheese before the
rice is cooked; after this stir and cook for 3 or 4 minutes until the
rice is quite soft. Take off the pan, add a small pat of butter, stir
well and serve very hot.


Risotto, No. 1 (Hot)

Place in a saucepan ½ pint of milk, a small teacupful of raw rice, 4
small Portugal onions, 6 good-sized tomatoes, these latter ingredients
chopped finely, pepper and salt to taste. Boil all together until
soft, stirring occasionally, and just before serving stir in 1½ oz. of
finely-grated cheese.


Risotto, No. 2, made with Stock (Hot)

Chop half an onion very finely and fry it in ½ oz. of butter. Place 4
oz. of rice in a saucepan with ½ pint of stock, add the onion and cook
until the stock is absorbed. Stir in 1 oz. of grated Parmesan cheese,
pepper and salt to taste. Make very hot and serve.


Stewed Rice and Cabbage, made with Stock (Hot)

Boil in the ordinary way separately equal quantities of rice and
cabbage. The latter cut into small pieces before they are quite cooked,
remove them from their respective pans and place them together in a
stewpan with just as much stock as will cover them, simmer until quite
cooked (probable time, 5 minutes), and serve with a covering of grated
cheese.


Rice Savoury (Hot)

Boil 3 oz. of rice in ½ pint of milk, season with pepper and salt;
butter a pie dish, lay in a layer of rice, sprinkle this with 1 oz. of
grated cheese, add the rest of the rice, sprinkle with another ounce
of cheese, dot some small pieces of butter all over the top; bake in a
quick oven till nicely browned on the top.


Rice Balls (Hot)

Boil 4 oz. of rice in cold water, taking care to let it absorb all
the liquid; to this add 1 tablespoonful of finely-grated cheese,
1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, 1 oz. of finely-grated brown
breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoonful of tomato sauce, pepper and salt to taste;
bind all the ingredients with the yolks of 2 eggs, mixing thoroughly,
form into balls, brush over with white of egg, roll in breadcrumbs and
fry a golden brown.


Rice and Fish Toast (Hot)

Fry an onion, finely-sliced, in butter with a few shrimps or pieces of
lobster, stir into it 1 dessertspoonful of mustard. When thoroughly
hot, add a teacupful of rice previously boiled and dried and a
tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese. Stir and serve very hot on
rounds of buttered toast or fried croûtons.


Savoury Rice Pudding (Hot)

Simmer 2 tablespoonsful of rice in 1 pint of milk until nearly cooked,
then add 1 oz. of finely-grated cheese, ½ oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful
of made mustard, a pinch of salt and a dust of cayenne pepper. Mix
all together and pour into a buttered pie dish, sprinkle ½ oz. of
finely-grated cheese on the top and bake in a moderate oven for ½ hour.




CHAPTER VI

CHEESE DISHES


Welsh Rarebit (Hot)

  _Note._--As a general rule where Parmesan cheese is mentioned, any
  well-dried and finely-grated cheese serves the purpose.

Slice down some good, rich cheese rather thinly, into a delicately
clean stewpan, with some morsels of butter, and 2 or 3 spoonsful of
porter, good ale, or new milk as you please, according to the quantity
of the cheese; flavour to taste with freshly-ground black pepper and
English mustard. Stir it all till thoroughly melted, pour it over hot
buttered toast, browning the surface if you like with a hot shovel, and
serve at once.

This requires careful watching, because if it be in the least
over-cooked it will be leathery.


Irish Rarebit (Hot)

Add a few drops of vinegar and a finely-minced pickled gherkin to
cheese treated as above, and serve very hot.


Baked Cheese Sandwiches (Hot)

Cut some slices of good, rich cheese about a third of an inch thick,
season lightly with freshly-ground black pepper, and a drop or two of
tarragon vinegar; then place them between two slices of brown bread
and butter; trim these neatly, and set them in the oven, serving them
directly the bread is toasted.


Parmesan Puffs (Hot)

Mix 4½ oz. of breadcrumbs, 4 oz. of Parmesan cheese, 2 oz. of butter, ½
a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper and salt, and 2 eggs; pound these all
thoroughly in a mortar, bind them with a well-beaten egg, shape into
balls about the size of a walnut, egg and breadcrumb them, and fry a
golden brown in plenty of boiling fat. Drain well, and serve at once
very hot, garnished with parsley.


Parmesan Eggs (Hot)

Take a flat fireproof dish and put into it the yolks of 2 eggs, a
small pat of butter, some spice, and a tablespoonful of finely-grated
Parmesan cheese. Stir over the stove. Then break into it five or six
eggs and sprinkle the whole with grated cheese. Brown and serve.


Cheese Balls (Hot)

Put 1 pint of water into a pan with 1 oz. of butter when quite hot,
dredge in 4 oz. of flour, and pepper and salt to taste, draw to one
side and when cooled a little add the yolks of 4 eggs and 4 oz. of
grated cheese. Have ready a pan of boiling fat, take the mixture up in
tablespoonsful, drop in and fry a golden brown. Serve very hot.


Cheese Butterflies (Cold)

Take 2 oz. of flour, 1½ oz. of Parmesan cheese, 1 oz. of butter and
the yolk of 1 egg. Make a pastry of the above ingredients and roll out
thin. Then with a crinkled round cutter cut out double the number of
rounds you require to use and bake a light brown. Allow them to become
cold. Mix some grated cheese with a little whipped cream to a nice
thick consistency, season with salt and cayenne pepper, pile lightly
on the rounds of pastry. (Some of the rounds must be cut into halves
_before baking_ to provide the wings for the butterflies.) Dip the
crinkled edges of the halves into carmine to colour them, and arrange
them as wings on the rounds of pastry. Put a piece of stalk of parsley
to form each antennae; also arrange or ornament the back of each
butterfly with a little of the green leaf of the parsley.


Cheese Pudding (Hot)

Place 1 pint of milk in a saucepan and let it become hot, then pour it
on to 1 tablespoonful of ground rice previously mixed with a little
cold milk, return to the pan and stir until the mixture thickens.
Remove the pan from the fire and add 4 oz. of finely-grated cheese, a
pinch of salt and cayenne, the yolks of 2 eggs, and 2 oz. of butter.
Mix all well together and then add the beaten whites of the eggs.
Butter a pie dish and pour the mixture into it, and bake in a moderate
oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top before serving.


Cheese Aigrettes (Hot)

Place 1 oz. of butter in a pan with ½ pint of water; when boiling add
3 oz. of flour. Stir over the fire until the mixture leaves the sides
of the pan quite clean. Remove the pan from the fire and when slightly
cool add the yolks of 3 eggs and the whites of 2, cayenne and salt to
taste. Stir in 2 oz. of grated Parmesan cheese, and place the mixture
on a plate to cool. Take a small piece of the mixture in a spoon and
drop it in hot fat and fry a golden brown; continue this until it is
used up. Serve on a dish paper garnished with parsley and sprinkled
with grated cheese.


Cheese Patties (Hot)

Line some patty pans with puff pastry and fill them three-parts full
with the following mixture. Place 2 oz. of finely-grated breadcrumbs
in a basin and mix into them 1 raw egg and a tablespoonful of milk;
then add 2 tablespoonsful of finely-grated cheese and 2 teaspoonsful of
butter, 1 teaspoonful of made mustard, ½ a teaspoonful of salt and the
same of pepper. Mix very well. Place the patties in the oven and bake
until a pale brown. The mixture will swell slightly in baking. Serve
very hot.


Cheese Mushrooms (Hot)

Take ½ lb. of rich toasting cheese, slice it, place it on a soup plate.
Cover it with flap mushrooms--on each mushroom a nut of butter and a
dust of pepper and salt. Cover with another soup plate and bake in a
moderate oven for half an hour. Dish up on buttered toast.


Cheese Custard Pudding (Hot or Cold)

Put 2 oz. of finely-grated cheese into a basin and add to it 2
well-beaten eggs and ¾ pint of milk. Trim the edge of a pie dish with
cheese pastry and pour in the mixture. Place 2 or 3 pieces of butter on
the top and bake in a quick oven (400 deg.) for 20 minutes.


Cheese Croûtons (Hot)

Take 6 rounds of bread ¾ inch thick and about the size of a five
shilling piece, fry them a golden brown colour, sprinkle over them
a dust of dry mustard, a layer of grated cheese, salt and pepper to
taste. Place them in a quick oven until the cheese is cooked, then
place a spoonful of hot rice on each, garnish with capers and serve
very hot.


Cheese Canapés (Cold)

Grate 2 oz. of cheese and mix it smoothly in a basin with a
dessertspoonful of mustard, the same of anchovy sauce, a shake of
cayenne, a pinch of salt, a dessertspoonful of anchovy vinegar, a
tablespoonful of fresh butter and the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs. Mix
this until it is a smooth paste, then spread it on rounds of buttered
white or brown bread. Chop the whites of the eggs finely or press them
through a sieve on to the paste. Serve cold.


Little Cheese Custards (Hot)

Grate finely 3½ oz. of cheese and mix it with 1 egg, add ¼ pint of
boiling milk, pour the mixture into small fireproof dishes and bake for
10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot in the dishes.


Cheese Patties (Hot)

Line the required number of patty pans with puff pastry. Boil 1 oz.
of macaroni in just as much water as it will absorb. When soft cut it
into tiny pieces, mix with it 1 oz. of finely-grated cheese, a pinch of
salt, a pinch of cayenne, and bind the mixture with a little cream or
cheese sauce. Bake for 10 minutes.


Tomato Cheese Croûtons (Hot)

Stew ½ lb. of tomatoes in butter until tender with onion cut up finely,
put them through a sieve, adding a small quantity of cream, or milk if
the former is not procurable. Replace the tomato in the pan and add
to it enough grated cheese to make it like a thick cream, season with
pepper and place a little of the mixture in croûtons of fried bread.
Serve very hot.


Cream of Cheese

Make some squares of hot buttered toast, place on a hot dish and keep
hot. Melt ½ lb. of cheese in a little saucepan with 1 oz. of butter
and 3 tablespoonsful of cream (or milk), pepper and salt. When of the
consistency of very thick custard pour it over the toast and serve.

For the following Cheese Dishes, _see 10s. a Head for House Books_:--

Cheese Balls, Biscuits (hot or cold), Creams, Croûstades, Croûtons, Egg
Toast, Pastry, Pudding, Ramekins, Straws.


_The Single-Handed Cook:--_

Cheese and Potato Fritters, Cream Croûtons, Cream Tartlets, Custard,
Fingers, Pufflets, Quenelles, Soufflé, Tartlets, Zephyrs.




CHAPTER VII

OMELETTES AND CURRIES


Omelette

Break two eggs into a basin, season with salt, pepper, minced parsley,
and chives, etc., and beat these all together for about 1 minute. Melt
1 oz. of butter in an absolutely clean pan (it is best to keep a pan
on purpose for omelettes), and when this smokes, pour in the eggs, and
do not touch them for a few seconds, till the liquid has set a little
at the bottom of the pan; tilt the pan a trifle to one side, and if
there is a small puff of steam, lift the edge up carefully with a knife
to allow as much of the liquid as possible to run underneath; repeat
this till there is no more egg liquid left, and the top just set,
slip a knife under the omelette, fold it over, and slip it at once on
to a hot dish, and serve immediately. This can be varied, of course,
to any extent, by, just before folding it over, slipping in any kind
of vegetable mixture, such as mushrooms, chopped up and previously
lightly fried in a little butter.


Potato Omelette

To 4 eggs add 2 tablespoonsful of very smoothly mashed potato, add a
tablespoonful of cream, a small piece of butter, pepper and salt, whip
all together and then fry as before.


Green Pea Omelette

Place between the omelette a few green peas, made very hot, and tossed
in butter, salt and pepper.


Asparagus Omelette

Fold the omelette over a few cooked asparagus tops, which have been
made hot.


Tomato Omelette

Make an ordinary omelette, and before serving pour this mixture into
it. Take two or three tomatoes and cut them into pieces, cut an onion
into very thin slices, melt a tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan
and place the onion in it. Cook them, but do not brown, add pepper,
salt and the pieces of tomato. Stir all together for 10 minutes,
take out the mixture, pass it through a sieve, and return to the pan,
thoroughly reheat and it is ready for use.


Cheese Omelette

Add an heaped-up tablespoonful of grated cheese to the ordinary
omelette mixture, sprinkling some over it just before serving.


French Bean Omelette

Heat some cooked French beans in butter and place them between a plain
omelette.

Recipes for omelette made with flour, anchovy, cheese, mushroom, and
sardine omelettes will be found in _Savouries Simplified_, by Mrs. C.
S. Peel.


Some Maigre Curries

There are, of course, many varieties of curry. The recipe for one
of worth is given in my _10s. a Head Cookery Book_, and I here add
another, but before giving detailed recipes let us deal with the broad
rules for curry making, the most important of all being--

Do not attempt to make curry in a hurry.

2 hours is the least in which you can make a vegetable curry worthy of
the name, and it is far wiser to allow 3 or 4 hours.

Do not ask your cook to make curry on a day when she is very busy with
other matters, for it will take an hour or more of undivided attention
as well as a certain amount of attention throughout the time of cooking.

There is, however, no reason that curry should not be made the day
before it is wanted, for it improves by keeping, and by being reheated.


A Delicious Vegetable Curry

Weigh 5 oz. of butter (or if economy must be studied, 3 oz. of
clarified dripping, and 2 oz. of butter). Choose four medium-sized
onions, and chop them very fine. Melt the butter in a stewpan and
add the onions and cook them until they are of a deep golden brown,
stirring often. Meanwhile, put 1 tablespoonful of curry powder in a
saucer in the oven for 10 minutes, then mix it to a smooth paste with
a little cream, or if this cannot be allowed, some milk, and add it to
the onion mixture, and stir well. Cook slowly, stirring frequently for
2 hours in all. During this time the onions will become quite pulpy,
and the butter like oil, and the colour of the mixture will slowly
deepen to a rich mustard yellow. While this “ghee,” as it is called, is
cooking, take 1 small vegetable marrow, cut in squares; ½ lb. of French
beans, strung and broken in half; 2 large tomatoes, quartered; ½ a
small cucumber, peeled and sliced; 1 small apple, peeled and cored and
sliced; ½ a small carrot, sliced. Boil the vegetables as usual, cooking
the larger and firmer longer than those of a more delicate kind. Make
the curry mixture given above, and add the vegetables during the last ½
hour of cooking. Serve with a border of rice.

This recipe does not make a sloppy curry, but one in which the solid
ingredients are coated with the thick sauce.

Other dishes, not properly curries though flavoured with curry powder,
are often termed curry. They provide a quick and easy method of serving
various materials. For these a curry sauce is needed.


Curry Sauce

Chop an onion and a few slices of apple finely and fry them in 2 oz.
of clarified dripping or butter. Stir in ½ a dessertspoonful of curry
powder and the same of flour. Salt to taste. Add ¼ pint of stock or
milk, cook gently for 30 minutes, then put all through a sieve, add a
few drops of lemon juice, and reheat.


Curried Cabbage

Take all the outer leaves off a young cabbage and boil it until it
is half cooked. Drain it and chop it finely, place it in a pan with
some curry sauce and simmer it gently for 1 hour. Serve in a border of
boiled rice.


Curried Potatoes

Slice some hot boiled potatoes and pour over them a curry sauce.


Curried Macaroni

Boil the quantity of macaroni required until tender, drain it and cut
it into pieces 1 inch in length. Place it in the curry sauce already
described for 10 minutes, and serve in a rice border.


Lentil Curry

Take the cooked lentils (_see_ page 47) and heat them in curry sauce.
Serve very hot in a border of rice.


Haricot Bean Curry

Proceed as for Lentil Curry.




CHAPTER VIII

SALADS


The English salad is not as a rule a success, and undoubtedly the chief
fault in its making lies in the inferior quality of the oil used.

Provided with good oil the next point of importance in a green salad
is the condition of the material. If the lettuces, endive, cress or
watercress are faded the salad is ruined. The lettuce, etc., should
of course be freshly cut, if possible, but where this is not feasible
it should be chosen with care, and at once put into water--not soused
into a basin, but placed with its root only in water--as if it were a
flower--in a cool place. In this way a lettuce will keep in perfect
condition for two or three days, if needs be. Cress and endive should
be treated likewise. Let us now consider the making of


French Salad

Choose crisp lettuces, cut off the stalk and remove the outer leaves
(when well washed these may be used for lettuce purée), tear the
lettuce in pieces (on no account cut it), and wash it in a bowl of
cold water. Place it in a clean cloth and swing it round until dry.
This method of drying by centrifugal force gets rid of the moisture and
does not bruise the lettuce.

Now rub the salad bowl very thoroughly with a slice of onion, and if
the flavour is liked place half a small peeled onion in the centre of
the bowl. Mix in the bowl 1 dessertspoonful of the best wine vinegar
and 2 tablespoonsful of oil, and add a little salt and a good dusting
of freshly-ground black pepper. Stir the lettuce round lightly in the
mixture and serve. This quantity of oil and vinegar is sufficient for
about 2 medium lettuces, but only experience teaches the exact quantity
to use. The lettuce should not be swimming in the mixture: the leaves
should merely be coated with it, and no remains of it should be left at
the bottom of the bowl when the salad is mixed.

The chief faults of the average salad, next to the use of inferior oil
and flabby lettuce, are the excess of dressing, the excess of vinegar,
and the use of pepper which is not freshly ground. A salad prepared in
the manner described is as different as chalk is from cheese from the
salad which is generally put before one, and no more difficult to make.
Salads of endive, corn, Batavian lettuce, or cress, should be made in
just the same manner.

For orange salad and orange and cherry salad a similar dressing is
used, and I notice how these fruit salads are growing in favour.


Orange Salad

simply consists of the sections of oranges free from pith and skin,
string and pips, arranged in a bowl and dressed with oil and vinegar.


Orange and Cherry Salad

consists of glacé cherries arranged in the centre of the bowl
surrounded by sections of oranges, and dressed with the same mixture.

Another excellent salad, not very generally known, consists of sliced
apple and shred celery; it is known as


Apple and Celery Salad,

and is dressed with mayonnaise sauce, or with whipped cream flavoured
with salt and pepper. This


Cream Dressing

is newer than mayonnaise, and is generally appreciated. Another
delicious salad on which it is used is


Nut Salad

This is made of Brazil nuts broken into pieces, shred celery, and tiny
dice of bread and butter. This salad is equally good if dressed with
cream or with mayonnaise sauce.

As mayonnaise is generally spoiled by too overpowering a use of
vinegar, I give here an excellent recipe in which the special oil and
vinegar already mentioned are employed.


Good Mayonnaise Sauce

To make mayonnaise sauce, first rinse the basin in very cold water, and
make the sauce in a cool place, if possible keeping the basin on ice
while you mix the sauce. See that the oil is perfectly good, and add
it drop by drop. This is important, otherwise the sauce may curdle.
Use the very best vinegar, as a very little of this will suffice and
prevent the sauce from becoming thin. Put the yolks of 2 raw eggs in
a basin, and add to them a pinch of salt, ½ a saltspoonful of white
pepper, and ½ a teaspoonful of French and English mustard in the dry
state, and a tiny pinch of cayenne. Work these together, then stir in
drop by drop 3 gills of olive oil. When quite thick add ½ a teaspoonful
of lemon juice, and 2 dessertspoonsful of the best vinegar drop by
drop, and set in a cool place, or on ice, until required. In case
the sauce curdles the yolk of another egg must be beaten up, and the
curdled sauce added to it little by little.


Oil and Vinegar Dressing

Mix 1 saltspoonful of salt and a good pinch of black pepper with 1
tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar. Stir until the salt has dissolved,
then add drop by drop 3 tablespoonsful of olive oil.

The other dressings generally used are sauce tartare, salad dressing
and sauce vinaigrette, for which I give the following excellent
recipes:--


Sauce Tartare

Chop 1 shallot very fine, with ½ a tablespoonful of chervil, the same
of tarragon, and 12 capers, also finely minced. Place these ingredients
in a bowl and add ½ a teaspoonful of mustard powder (English), the
yolks of 2 raw eggs, and drop by drop 1 teaspoonful of vinegar; then
a pinch of salt and ⅓ the quantity of pepper. Pour in by degrees,
stirring all the time, a teacupful of oil. If too thick add drop by
drop a little more vinegar, and if too salt a little more mustard and
oil.


Salad Dressing

Beat the hard-boiled yolk of 2 eggs with 1 teaspoonful of dry mustard.
When smooth add by slow degrees 8 dessertspoonsful of oil, 5 of
vinegar, 1½ of sugar, and ½ a teacupful of cream. Beat together with a
silver spoon until smooth. If bottled this dressing will keep for some
days.


Sauce Vinaigrette

Mince very finely 1 shallot, 2 good sprigs of parsley and the same
quantity of chervil and chives. Place with them about 1 tablespoonful
of salt, 1 teaspoonful of fresh black pepper and 3 tablespoonsful of
vinegar. Stir well together, add by degrees, stirring all the time, 4
tablespoonsful of oil.

In salads where chives, onion or garlic are mentioned, it is best,
unless the taste of those about to partake of the dish is known, to
omit them, and either to rub the salad bowl with onion or garlic or to
prepare what is called a chapon:--


Chapon

Cut a neat square of crust from a French loaf, sprinkle it with salt
and rub it with raw onion or with a clove of garlic. Put this at the
bottom of the salad bowl, place the salad on it and mix thoroughly.
Serve immediately.


Vegetable Marrow Salad

Boil or steam the marrow, drain, and when cold cut into neat pieces,
place in a salad bowl with a dressing of oil and vinegar.


Artichoke Salad

Boil the number of Japanese artichokes required for 5 minutes, and when
cold place in a salad bowl with slices of cold boiled beetroot and
celery. Cover with mayonnaise sauce. Garnish with beetroot and celery.


French Bean Salad

Boil the beans whole, drain them, and dry them on a cloth, when quite
cold place them in a bowl and pour over them some salad oil, shake some
black pepper over them and a small amount of salt, then drop over them
a few drops of the best wine vinegar, and if liked a sprinkling of very
finely-minced tarragon and chives.


Lettuce Stalk Salad

Take the stalks from lettuces running to seed, and tie them in bundles,
cutting them more or less the same size. Place in a saucepan and boil
until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Take out and drain them, and allow
them to get quite cold. Then cut up into slices of the same size, place
in a salad bowl and cover with mayonnaise sauce.


Nut and Celery Salad

Crack some Brazil nuts and cut the kernels into 3 or 4 pieces. Take an
equal quantity of crisp cleanly-washed and shred celery. Mix together
and dress with mayonnaise sauce. Pile in the centre of the salad bowl
and garnish with sliced tomato or beetroot.


Winter Salad

Scald and then boil one or two large onions till soft. When cold, slice
the onion, mix it with shred celery and sliced beetroot. Dress with
oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.


Walnut and Celery Salad,

which is simply ⅔ celery to ⅓ walnuts tossed in mayonnaise sauce.


Russian Salad, No. 1

Cut up some beetroot into shapes, add to this a little chopped celery,
some turnip, carrot, potato, all cooked and cut into dice; pour some
mayonnaise over it all, mix well, and garnish with bunches of cress.
If liked, a French vinaigrette dressing may be used instead of the
mayonnaise.


Russian Salad, No. 2

Cut in thin slices a few small cold steamed potatoes, 1 small beetroot
boiled, 1 small carrot, a few cold peas or French beans, 1 little
pickled cabbage, 1 sardine filleted and chopped fine. Mix all well
together. Rub the salad bowl with onion. For the dressing take a
teaspoonful each of raw mustard and salt, a little coralline pepper, a
pinch of curry powder, ½ a wineglass of sherry and the same of Lucca
oil. Mix all well together and pour over the salad.


Haricot Bean Salad

Soak the haricots for 6 or 8 hours and then boil them until tender.
Leave until cold. Pile them in the centre of a salad bowl and surround
with shred tomato or beetroot and some shred celery. Cover with whipped
cream flavoured with salt and white pepper. If liked dip the haricot
in oil and vinegar in addition to the cream. Decorate the cream with a
little coralline pepper, and arrange the beetroot so that it makes a
red border to the white pyramid of cream.


Salade d’Estrées

Take some cold boiled roots of celeriac, some cold potatoes and
beetroot. In the middle of the salad bowl make a heap of endive and
blanched celery stalks, frizzed, in short lengths. Surround with the
vegetables sliced. Pour over the whole a good mayonnaise sauce.


Garnished Salad, with Imperial Mayonnaise

Pound and press through a sieve 4 large anchovies (no bones), boil 6
eggs hard, halve them and neatly remove the yolks, which pound to a
paste with butter, the powdered anchovies, ¼ teaspoonful of mace, a
little pepper. Mix well, and roughly fill the egg cases. Fill almost
to the top the salad bowl with finely-shred lettuce, endive, cooked
beetroot, sliced (very thin) artichoke (cooked), and finally add some
cucumber ribbons. Then arrange with care the egg baskets and pour
round, but not over the halved eggs, the following dressing (imperial
mayonnaise):--Put into a basin ½ pint of aspic, and add 1 tablespoonful
of olive oil, 2 teaspoonsful of vinegar, and a trifle of salt and
pepper. Beat with an egg whisk until all the ingredients are well
blended. Set the salad in a pan of ice water if possible, or in a very
cold place until served.


Celery Salad

Wash some fresh crisp celery and use only the inner sticks. Cut it in
½ inch lengths, place in a salad bowl which has been rubbed with onion
and dress with mayonnaise sauce. Decorate with a little chopped truffle.


Salade d’Asperges à la d’Aumale

This is a way of using cold cooked asparagus with mousseline sauce. Put
½ gill of new milk into a pan with the yolks of 4 eggs, and 3 crushed
long peppercorns; place this all in a bainmarie, or larger stewpan,
half filled with boiling water, and whisk it all together well for a
few minutes; now add 1 oz. of butter, adding it bit by bit, and only
putting in another piece when the first is thoroughly melted and worked
in. Season it as you whisk with a dust of salt and nutmeg, and a tiny
squeeze of lemon juice at the last. When it is finished this sauce
should look like frothed cream.

Another salad which is suitable for hot weather is


Lettuce and Tomato Salad

For this proceed exactly as for a plain lettuce salad, but add a ring
of fresh tomato, peeled, and not too thinly sliced.

Other nice salads are--


French Tomato Salad

Take 6 ripe, sound tomatoes, wipe them, and place them in boiling water
for a minute; drain, peel, let them cool, quarter them (this should
be done while they are in the salad bowl, so that the juice is not
wasted); add a teaspoonful of finely-chopped chives or a chapon; dress
with oil and vinegar.


Tomato and Egg Salad

Proceed as before, but to each tomato add ½ a hard-boiled egg,
quartered, and dress with mayonnaise sauce.

For the following salads _see_

_10s. a Head for Housebooks._

  Green Pea.
  Russian.
  Haricot Bean.
  Tomato.
  Broccoli or Cauliflower.
  Potato.
  Tomato and French Bean.
  Simple Lettuce.
  Mixed.


_The Single-Handed Cook._

  Beetroot and Celery.
  Beetroot and Cauliflower.
  Haricot Bean.
  Tomato Mayonnaise.
  Green Pea.
  Rockstock.
  Beggar Man’s.
  Tomato and Capers.
  Apple and Celery.




INDEX


  Artichoke Chips, 28
    Soufflé, 48

  Artichokes with Cream Cheese, 30
    and Eggs, 29
    au Gratin, 28
    Scalloped, 28
    Stuffed, 30

  Asparagus, 21
    Boiled, 21
    Iced, 23
    au Jus, 22
    Sprue à la Pompadour, 22


  Baked Cheese Sandwiches, 66
    Tomatoes and Macaroni, 58

  Batter, to make, 35

  Beignets of Vegetable Marrow, 34

  Bouchées d’Artichauts, 29

  Brussels-Sprouts, 15
    Sprouts au Jus, 15
    Sprouts à la Maître d’Hôtel, 15

  Butter, Oiled, 22

  Buttered Macaroni, 54


  Cabbage with Cheese Sauce, 14
    à la Crême, 14

  Carrots à la Flamande, 36
    Glazed, 36

  Cauliflower Fritters, 18
    au Gratin, 18
    with Tomato Sauce, 17

  Celeri à la Duchesse, 38

  Celery, Fried, 39

  Chapon, 84

  Cheese Aigrettes, 68
    Balls, 67
    Butterflies, 67
    Canapés, 70
    Custards, 70
    Custard Pudding, 69
    Croûtons, 70
    Mushrooms, 69
    Patties, 69, 71
    Potatoes, 25
    Pudding, 68

  Corn with Buttered Egg, 42
    and Cheese Cream, 45
    to cook, 41
    Curried, 44
    Fritters, 44
    au Gratin, 42
    au Gratin with Tomato Sauce, 43
    with Poached Eggs, 42
    Rissoles, 44

  Cream of Artichokes, 29
    of Cheese, 71

  Curried Cabbage, 77
    Macaroni, 78
    Potatoes, 78

  Curries, Maigre, 75

  Curry Sauce, 77
    Vegetable, 76


  Egg and Corn Toast, 42


  Fish and Macaroni, 56

  Fonds Artichauts au Gratin, 30

  Flageolets, 13
    au Beurre, 13
    à la Crême de Fromage, 14
    au Maître d’Hôtel, 14

  French Beans, 12


  Glazed Turnips, 37


  Haricot Beans, 46
    Bean Curry, 78
    Beans à la Milanaise, 46
    Beans with Soubise Sauce, 47
    Beans with Tomato Purée, 47

  “Humitas,” 45


  Irish Rarebit, 65

  Italian Cakes, 57


  Lentil Curry, 78

  Lentils, 47
    with Curry Sauce, 48


  Macaroni Cheese, 53
    Cutlets, 55
    au Gratin, 53
    au Jus, 54
    à la Italienne, 53
    à la Napolitaine, 53
    and Spaghetti, 52
    with Tomatoes, 56

  Maigre Soufflés, 48

  Mayonnaise Sauce, 82

  Mushroom Croûtes, 31

  Mushrooms au Gratin, 31
    and Roes on Toast, 32


  Nettles, Boiled, 15
    Stewed, 16


  Oil and Vinegar Dressing, 83

  Omelette, 73
    Asparagus, 74
    Cheese, 75
    with Corn, 44
    French Bean, 75
    Green Pea, 74
    Potato, 74
    Tomato, 74

  Onions au Gratin, 38


  Parmesan Eggs, 66
    Puffs, 66

  Peas with Béchamel Sauce, 12

  Petit Pois au Beurre, 12

  Plain Oiled Butter, 22

  Poached Eggs and Macaroni, 55

  Potato Cakes, Curried, 27
    and Cabbage Cakes, 26
    Cromeskies, 27
    Croquettes, 24
    Mould, 27

  Potatoes, 24
    à la Crême, 25
    au Gratin, 26

  Purée of Turnip Tops, 17
    Vegetable, 50
    of Watercress, 16


  Rice, 59
    Balls, 63
    and Fish Toast, 64

  Rice, Fried, 61
    Devilled, 61
    à l’Italienne, 61
    with Savoury, 63

  Risotto à la Milanaise, 62


  Salad, Apple and Celery, 81
    Artichoke, 85
    Celery, 89
    Dressing, 84
    French, 79
    French Bean, 85
    French Tomato, 90
    Garnished, with Imperial Mayonnaise, 88
    Haricot Bean, 87
    Lettuce Stalk, 85
    Lettuce and Tomato, 90
    Nut, 82
    Nut and Celery, 86
    Orange, 81
    Orange and Cherry, 81
    Russian, 87
    Tomato and Egg, 90
    Vegetable Marrow, 85
    Walnut and Celery, 86
    Winter, 86

  Salade d’Asperges à la Aumale, 89
    d’Estrées, 88

  Salsify Fritters, 35
    Scallops, 35

  Sauce, Cheese, 43
    Curry, 45
    Soubise, 47
    Tartare, 83
    Tomato, 43
    Vinaigre, 84
    White, 42

  Savoury Rice Pudding, 64

  Soufflé, Celery, 50
    Macaroni, 51
    Mushroom and Rice, 51
    Rice and Cheese, 51
    Savoury Rice, 50
    Vegetable, 49

  Spaghetti à l’Indienne, 58
    Pudding, 57

  Spinach à la Crême, 20
    Patties, 19
    and Tomatoes, 19

  Stewed Rice and Cabbage, 63
    Lettuce, 17

  Stuffed Aubergines, 32


  Tomato Canapés, 34
    Cheese Croûtons, 71
    Pie, 33
    Purée, 18

  Tomatoes à la Crême de Fromage, 33
    au Gratin, 32

  Turnips à la Poulette, 37
    Tops à la Crême, 20


  Vegetables, to Boil, 11


  Welsh Rarebit, 65


Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.




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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:


  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.

  Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.