LIBRT^RY Class \ A 1 1 5 Book J[ia£2 Copfyiight W COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT IN FOUR VOLUMES ^ ^ -er ILLUSTRATED WITH FRONTISPIECES IN COLOR BY W. T. SMEDLEY "^TEW and original treatises on the building, furnishing, and keeping a home ; on home etiquette, and the con- duct of dinner parties, receptions, weddings, etc. ; on food economy and the preparation of both plain and fancy dishes ; on the care of the sick, the hygiene of motherhood, the treatment of infants and young children; on the legal rights of women in the various States of the Union, with advice as to business careers, investments, etc.; and on the manly and ladyhke conduct of young people during the formative period of character. With many illustrations in half-tone. I. THE HOMEMAKER (including Home Etiquette). By Carlotta Norton Smith, late Editor of The Art l7iter change . II. THE HOME COOK BOOK. Practical Receipts by Expert Cooks. III. HOME NURSING — MOTHERHOOD— THE CARE OF CHILDREN. By Harriet Forbes and Harriet Merrill Johnson, Graduate Nurses of General and Maternity Hospitals. IV. AMERICAN WOMEN'S LEGAL STATUS. By George James Bayles, Ph.D., Lecturer in the School of Political Science, Columbia University. LETTERS TO AMERICAN GIRLS. By Sallie Joy White. LETTERS TO AMERICAN BOYS. By Professor William Herbert Carruth, of the University of Kansas. INTERVIEWING THE COOK — The Home Cook Book THE Home Cook Book A COLLECTION OF PRACTICAL RECEIPTS BY EXPERT COOKS "To be a good cook means the knowledge of all fruits, herbs, balms and spices, and of all that is healing and sweet in tields and groves, savory in meats. It means carefulness, inventiveness, watchfulness, willingness, and readiness of appliance. It means the economy of your great-grandmother and the science of modern chemistry ; it means much tasting and no wasting ; it means English thoroughness, French art, and Arabian hospitality ; it means, in fine, that you are to be perfectly and always ladies (loaf-givers), and are to see that everybody has something nice to eat." — Ruskin. WITH FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR BY W. T. S MED LEV PROF USEE Y IL L US TEA TED NEW YORK P. F. COLLIER ^d SON 1905 UBRAHYof OONGKESS Two Copies rlsceivoii MAY 22 !y05 CooyriBiiT £iiiir.v //7/9/ copv a. Copyright, 1905, by P. F. COLLIER & SON V\i biy> CONTENTS I'oreword I.— FRUIT AND SHELLFISH COCKTAILS Banana and Pineapple — Cherry and Orange — Peach — Raspberry and Currant — Strawberry and Grapefruit — Strawberry and Orange — Clam — Oyster, Plain — Oyster with Sherry — Hot Oyster — Oysters in Grapefruit Baskets . 13 II.— CROUTONS AND SOUP-BALLS A Soup Bouquet — Bread Fingers — Bread-and-Cheese Balls — Croutons — Curry Balls — Egg-Balls — Egg-and-Cheese Balls — Meat Balls— Winter Suet Balls . 16 III.— BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS Asparagus Soup — Cream of Asparagus — Bean Soup — Black Bean Soup — Lima Bean Soup — Beef Stew with Rice — Company Bouillon — Vegetable Bouillon — Carrot Cream Soup — Cream-of-Carrot Soup— Celery Cream Soup — Cheese Soup — Chestnut Soup — Chicken Bouillon — Chicken Bouillon with Whipped Cream — Chicken Soup — Chicken Gumbo (i) — Chicken Gumbo (2) — Clam Chowder — Clam Soup — Clear Soup — Corn Soup — Corn Cream Soup — Corned Beef Soup — Egg Soup — Gumbo aux Herbes — Indian Meal Soup — Julienne Soup — Lobster Bisque — Maigre Soup — Milk Soup — Mock Bisque — Mock Oyster Soup — Okra Cream Soup — Okra Gumbo with Crabs or Hali- but — Okra Gumbo — Onion Cream Soup— Oxtail Soup — Oyster Bouillon — Oyster Gumbo — Oyster Stew — Pea-and-Potato Soup — Split Pea Soup — Pot au Feu — Potato Soup — Rice Cream Soup — Salmon Soup — Shrimp Gumbo — Soup Stock — Fast Day Tomato Soup — ^Turkey Soup — Meatless Vegetable Soup — White Soup Stock . . . . . . .19 IV.— OYSTERS AND CLAMS Baked Oysters — Creamed Oysters — Curried Oysters — Deviled Oysters — Oyster • Fricassee — Fried Oysters— Oyster Jambolaya — Oysters or Clams a la New- burg — Oyster Pie — Clam Pie — Pigs in Bankets — -Scalloped Oysters — I'oasted Oysters — Oysters on Toast or Canapes — Clam Toast — Oysters in White Blankets 41 v.— LOBSTERS, CRABS, SHRIMPS Signs of a Good Lobster — Boiling — Preparing — Lobster Baked in the Shell — Lobster Salad in Tomato Ring — Lobster Croquettes — Lobster Melon — Lobster Cutlets — Deviled Lobster — Lobster a la Newburg — Broiled Soft- Shell Crabs on Toast — Creamed Shrimps ...... 47 I Vol. 2 (I) 2 CONTENTS VL— FRESH FISH Buying Fish — Cooking — Baking — Boilinig — Broiling — Planking — Accompanying Dishes — To Bake Fish — Bread Forcemeat for Baked Fish — Potato Force- meat for Baked Fish — Veal Stuffing for Baked Fish — Baked Fish with Oyster Dressing — To Boil Fish — Sauce for Boiled Fish — To Broil Fish — Planked Fish — Scalloped Fish — Steamed Fish — Creamed Cod or Halibut — Creamed Frogs' Legs — Fried Frogs' Legs — Fried Filets of Halibut — Court Bouillon — Kegaree — Baked Mackerel — Mackerel with Vinegar — Fast-Day Pie — Cream Fast-Day Pie — Boiled Red Snapper — Fried Roe — Salmon Croquettes — Salmon with White Sauce — fold Salmon with Vinegar — Fried Smelts — Fried Brook Trout . . . . . . .52 Vn.— SALT FISH Soaking Salt Fish — Baked Salt Cod — Codfish Balls — Creamed Salt Cod — Drawn Butter Salt Cod— Picked Salt Cod— Salt Codfish Pie— Toasted Salt Cod- Salt Cod with Tomato Sauce — Boiled Finnan Haddie — Broiled Smoked Herring — Salt Mackerel with Milk Sauce — Broiled Salt Mackerel . . 67 VIII.— ECONOMY IN MARKETING AND COOKING MEAT Best Time to Market — The Market Basket — Mutton — Soup Meat — Other Cheap Meats — The Cuts of Meat — Making the Most of Meats . . . • 7i IX.— BEEF AND VEAL To Make and Use Aspic Jelly — Browned Flour — To Thicken a Gravy with Flour — Dumplings for Meats — Corn Dumplings for Meats — Dumplings for Boiled Rump of Beef — Brine for Corning Beef— To Boil Corned Beef — Corned Beef Hash— Beef Hash— Baked Beef Hash— Beef a la Mode— To Boil Fresh Tongue — To Boil Pickled Tongue — To Boil Smoked Tongue — ^Boiled Rump of Beef — Spiced Rump of Beef, Including Soup — Daube — Kopa Vieja — To Broil a Beefsteak — Chopped Stewed Beef — Chopped Beef on Toast — Deviled Soup Meat — Meat Fritters — Hamburg Steak — Hamburg Steak Balls — Hamburg Steak Beef Loaf— Beef Loaf— Beef Pie— Baked Meat Pie — Meat-and-Potato Pie — Pot Roast — Roast Beef — Roast Beef Gravy — Roast Beef Stew — Scalloped Beef — To Cook Smoked Beef — Creamed Dried Beef — Stewed Beef or Veal Tongue — Veal Cutlets — Veal Filet — Grillard of Veal — Veal Loaf — Veal Patties — Veal Potpie . . . .81 X.— CALF'S BRAINS, ETC., KIDNEYS, LIVER, SWEET- BREADS, TRIPE Calf's Brain Croquettes — Calf's Brains Fried — Calf's Brains Pickled — Stewed Calfs Brains— Calf's Foot Jelly— Stewed Calf's Head— Stuffed Heart with Oyster Dressing — Lamb Hearts and Livers — Kidney Stew — Kidney Stew with Cream Gravy — Kidney a la Terrapin — Baked Calf's Liver — Liver Balls — Fried Calf's Liver — Fried Calf's Liver and Bacon — Liver Rissoles — To Choose and Prepare Sweetbreads — Creamed Sweetbreads — Sweetbreads Fried — Sweetbreads with Oysters — Sweetbreads with Toma- toes — Sweetbreads Stewed — Tripe Fricassee, an Italian Dish — Tripe Fricassee, a Philadelphia Dish — Fried Tripe ...... loi XL— MUTTON AND LAMB Boiled Mutton — Boiled Lamb — To Boil a Leg of Mutton — Boned Leg of Mutton — To Broil Mutton Chops — Lamb Chops Broiled — Broiled Chops for an Invalid — To Serve Cold Mutton — Mutton Cromeskies — Crown CONTENTS 8 Roast of Mutton — Roast Lamb — Roast Lamb with Kidney — Leg of Mutton Stuffed — Minced Mutton on Toast — Irisli Stew — Scotch Hotchpotch JLamb Stew . . . . . . . . . , ^ .no XII.— PORK Bacon and Eggs — Fried Bacon — Boiled Bacon with Boiled Cabbage — Jowl and Greens — Pork and Beans — To Cure Hams — To Boil a Ham— Ham Boiled in Cider — Jambolaya — Hog's Head Cheese — Holland Meat Pie — ilock Duck — Crown Roast of Pork — Roast Pork with Sage — Roast Tenderloins —Broiled Pork Tenderloins — Fried Salt Pork with Fried Apples — Old- fashioned Salt Pork with Milk Gravy — To Fry Pork Sausages — Sausage and Eggs 117 XIII.— POULTRY AND GAME Baked Chicken with Oyster Dressing — Broiled Chicken — Creamed Chicken — Creamed Chicken for Company — Chicken with Cream Sauce — Chicken Curry — Fricasseed Chicken — Fried Chicken — Chicken Loaf — Chicken and Mushrooms — Aunt Nancy's Smothered Chicken — Panned Breast of Chick«n — Chicken Pie — Chicken Potpie — Plain Potted Chicken — Potted Chicken or Turkey — Pressed Chicken — Chicken with Red Peppers — Remnants of Cold Chicken — Chicken with Rice and Saffron — Spanish Chicken — Stewed Chicken with Dumpling — Chicken Terrapin — To Bone a Turkey — Stuffing for Boned Turkey — Turkey Loaf — Roast Turkey — Turkey Dressing — Duck, Pork, and Other Dressings — Chestnut Stuffing for Tur- key — Sausage Stuffing for Turkey — Roast Duck — Roast Goose with Apples — Broiled Partridge — Broiled Quail — Broiled Pigeons — English Pigeon Pie — Roast Snipe — Game Pie — Jugged Hare — Venison with Gooseberry Jelly 12.S XIV.— SAUCES FOR FISH AND MEAT Apple Sauce — Asparagus Sauce — Beefsteak Sauce — Bread Sauce — Brown Sauce — Drawn Butter — Drawn Butter for Fish — Caper Sauce — Cauliflower Sauce — Celery Sauce — Cheese Sauce — Cranberry Jelly — Cucumber Sauce — An Easy Curry — Egg Sauce — Egg Sauce for Boiled Fish — Horseradish Sauce — Hot Horseradish Sauce — Jelly Sauce — Jelly Sauce for Meats — Maitre d'Hotel Sauce — Mint Sauce — Olive Sauce — Onion Sauce — Sage-and-Onion Sauce — Onion-Juice for Seasoning — Sauce Tartare — Tomato Sauce — White Sauce ............. 141 XV.— SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS Salad Materials — American Beauty Salad — Asparagus Salad — Banana Salad — Baked Bean Salad — String-Bean Salad — New Beet Salad — Cabbage Salad — Cold Slaw — Cream Cold Slaw — Hot Slaw — Carrot Salad — Cauliflower Salad — Celery Salad — Celery and Hickory-Nut Salad — Celery, Apple and Hickory-Nut Salad — Chicken Salad — The Judge's Chicken Salad — Mayon- naise for Chicken Salad — To Pnepare Cucumbers — Cucumber Spirals — Dandelion Salad — Fish Salad— Fish Salad, a New Orleans Dish — French Fruit Salad — Macedoine Salad — Orange Salad — Oyster Salad — Pineapple Salad — Potato Salad — Radishes as Salad — Spinach Salad — Sweetbread Salad — Tomato Salad — Stuffed Tomato Salad — Red and Yellow Tomato Salad — Tomato and Cauliflower Salad — Tomato Jelly — Tuxedo Salad with Dressing —Fancy Vegetable Salad— Cream Salad Dressing— Waldorf Salad— Water- cress Salad — Mild Cream Dressing — Sour Cream Dressing — Frenck Dress- ing — Horseradish Dressing — Mayonnaise Dressing ...... 148 4 CONTENTS XVI.— POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES Bake Potatoes — To Boil New Potatoes — Boiled Potatoes — Creamed Pota- toes — Fried Potatoes — Mashed Potatoes — Mashed Potato with Cheese Relish — Mashed Potato with Onion and Bacon — Mashed Potato and Tur- nip with Sausage — Puffed Potatoes — Ribbons of Potatoes — Scalloped Potatoes — Stewed Potatoes — Stuffed Potatoes — Baked Sweet Potatoes — Boiled or Steamed Sweet Potatoes — Broiled Sweet Potatoes — Browned Sweet Potatoes — Sweet Potato Croquettes — Fried Sweet Potatoes — Sweet Potato Glace — Mashed Sweet Potatoes — Sweet Potato Pie — Sweet Potato Pone — Sweet Potato Puree — Scalloped Sweet Potatoes — Stuffed Sweet Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . i6s XVII.— BEANS, PEAS, AND LENTILS Baked Navy Beans — Boston Baked Beans — Baked Beans with Tomato Sauce — Fresh Lima or Butter Beans — Dried Lima Beans — Lima Bean Cro- quettes — Stewed String Beans — Creamed Strinp: Beans — Creamed Peas — Canned Peas — Stewed Lentils — Lentil Cakes . . . . . .173 XVIII.— VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS Boiled Artichokes — Boiled Asparagus — Scalloped Asparagus — Baked Bananas — Fried Plantain or Banana — To Boil Beets — To Cook Brussels Sprouts — Boiled Cabbage — To Make Sauerkraut — To Cook Sauerkraut — Stewed Carrots — Carrots with Onion — Cauliflower — Stewed Celery — Creamed Cel- ery — Corn Baked in the Husk — Baked Green Corn — Baked Corn — To Cook Canned Corn — Succotash — Corn Oysters — Boiled Eggplant — Eggplant in Creole Fashion — Fried Eggplant — Stuffed Eggplant — Greens — Kale — To Cook Kohlrabi — Stewed Mushrooms — Mushrooms Stuffed with Chicken — Boiled Okra — Fried Okra with Ham — Baked Onions — Boiled Onions — Creamed Onions — Spanish Onions Stuffed — Boiled Parsnips — Fried Pars- nips — Scalloped Parsnips — Stuffed Peppers — Sweet Peppers with Rice- Salsify or Oyster-Plant — Mock Oysters — To Boil Spinach— Frenched Spinach — Spinach with Eggs on Toast — Spinach Mousse — To Cook Squash — Baked Squash— Squash in the Shell — Squash Cakes — Raw Tomatoes — Baked Ripe Tomatoes — Baked Ripe Tomatoes with Corn — Boiled Toma- toes — Fried Tomatoes — Fried Green Tomatoes with Ham — Stewed To- matoes — Canned Stewed Tomatoes — Stuffed Tomatoes — Diced Turnips — Mashed Turnips — Steamed Turnips . . . . . . .178 XIX.— MACARONI, RICE, FRITTERS Baked Macaroni — Boiled Macaroni — Macaroni with Ham — To Cook Rice — Rice Croquettes — To Make Rice Croustades — Curried Rice— ^Rice Fritters — Fritter Batter — Apple Fritters — Fried Apples ...... 200 XX.— EGGS, OMELETS, CHEESE, RAREBITS Egg as a Beverage — Egg Cocktail — Egg Croquettes — Curried Eggs — Fried Eggs — Eggs and Onions — Eggs as Pancakes — Pickled Eggs — Poached Eggs — Scrambled Eggs — Scrambled Eggs with Cheese — Scrambled Eggs and Dried Beef — Stuffed Eggs — Swiss Eggs — Whirled Eggs — To Make Omelets — Sweet Omelets — Corn Omelet — Jelly Omelets — Meat Omelets — Omelet with Peas — Spanish Omelet — Tomato Omelet — Cottage Cream Cheese — Pot or Dutch Cheese — Fondue — Welsh Rarebit — Plain Welsh Karebit — Welsh Rarebit for Sunday Supper — Ramekins .... 204 CONTENTS 5 XXL— SANDWICHES The Science of Sandwich-Making — Almond Sandwiches — Baked Bean — Beef — Raw Beef — Cheese — Cream Cheese — Cheese and Walnut — Chicken — Chicken Curry — Date and Fig — Egg — Egg, Bread, and Sardine — Fish — Ginger — Ham — Ham and Onion — June Rose — Lettuce — Lobster — Mush- room — Mutton — Nut and Cheese — Nut and Fig — Olive and Cucumber — Olive and Mint — Oyster — Peanut — Sardine — Tongue and Tomato . .214 XXII.— YEAST, BREAD, ROLLS, BISCUITS, MUFFINS To Make Dry Yeast — Perennial Yeast — Potato Yeast — Bread — Bread Made with Potatoes — Brown Bread — Boston Brown Bread — Buttermilk Bread — Graham Bread — Rye Bread — Rye and Indian Bread — Salt-Rising Bread — Whole Wheat Bread — Bread Sticks — Hot Cross Buns — Cinnamon Loaf — Rolls — Vienna Rolls — Rusk — Baking Powder Biscuit — Breakfast Bis- cuit — Sour-Cream Biscuit — Buttermilk Biscuit — Maryland Biscuit — Quick Hot Raised Biscuit — Velvet Biscuit — Corn Bread— Soft Corn Bread — Johnny Bread — Sour Milk Cora Cakes — Corn Dodgers — Corn, Gems — Cornmeal Muffins — Graham Gems — Graham Muffins — Gluten Wafers — Oat- meal Cakes — Oat Muffins — Oatmeal Wafers— Supper Popover — Potato Puffs — Puffet — Rice Breakfast Cakes — Rye Drop Calces — Rye Popovers — Sally Lunn — Barley Scones — Cream Scones ....... 224 XXIIL— WAFFLES, GRIDDLE CAKES, TOASTS Waffles— Cream Waffles— Rice Waffles— Fat for Frying Griddle Cakes- Bread Pancakes — Bread Batter Cakes — Wheat Batter Cakes — No-Egg Sour-Milk Pancakes — Breakfast Drop Cakes — Buckwheat Cakes — St. Louis Perfect Corn Cakes — Green Corn Pancakes — Hoe Cakes — Rice Batter Cakes — Rice Pancakes — Cracker Panada — Toast — Creamed Toast — French Toast — Milk Toast — Molasses Toast for Children — Water Toast 242 XXIV.— CEREALS Food Value — Need of Variety — How to Keep Cereals — Need of Thorough Cooking — Table of Leading Breakfast Foods — The Way to Cook a Cereal — A Secret — Another Way to Cook Oatmeal — Another Way to Cook Cracked Wheat — Cornmeal Mush — Fried Cornmeal Mush — Ryemeal Porridge ............. 249 XXV.— FROZEN SWEETS Freezing — Freezing Without a Freezer — Salt in Freezer — Bag for Pounding Ice — To Make Meringue Shells — Ice Cream — Simple Ice Creams for Children — Burned Almond Ice Cream — Almond and Raisin Frozen Pud- ding—Boar's Head — Chocolate Parfait — Chocolate Sauce for Ice Cream — Cafe Frappe — Coffee Parfait — Frozen Eggnog — Frozen Lady Finger Pudding — Lemon Ice — Lemon Sherbet — Maple Cream — Maple Ice Cream — Mapis Parfait — Hot Maple Syrup for Ice Cream — Mint Sherbet — Frozen Peaches and Cream — Peach Custard Frozen — Peach Ice — Frozen Plum Pudding — Pomegranate Ice — Raspberry Ice — Roman Punch — Straw- berry Ice — Vanilla Ice Cream ........ 255 XXVI.— WARM WEATHER SWEETS Angel Food Pudding — Apple Betty — Apple Dumplings — Fried Apples — Apple with Meringue — Apple and Sago Pudding — Apple Snow — Banana Short- cake — Banana Souffle — Barley Jelly — Bavarian Cream — Boiled Blackberry CONTENTS I'udding — Charlotte Russe — Coffee Charlotte Russe — Rose Charlotte — Cherry Tapioca — Chestnut Croquettes — Chocolate Blanc-Mange — Chocolate Custard — Chocolate Pudding — Cornstarch Pudding — Cornstarch Blanc- Mange with Fruit — Cream Puffs— Cream for the Puffs — Currant Shortcake — Baked Custard — Boiled Custard — Custard Tart — Farina Pudding with Sauce — Fruit Glace — Fruit in Jelly — Early Summer Fruit Pudding — Gelatine Pudding — Gooseberry Betty — Gooseberry Fool — Huckleberry Shortcake — Irish Moss Blanc-Mange — Junket — Lemons Creamed — Lemon Jelly — Chilled Oranges — Peach Cobbler — Peach Gelatine — Peach Pudding — Peach Tapioca — Pineapple with Strawberries — Prunes with Whipped Cream — Prune Pudding — Pumpkin Custard — Raspberry Cream — Red Raspberry Sago — Rice Cream — Scalloped Rhubarb or Pieplant — Rhubarb Jelly and Whipped Cream — Snow Pudding — Strawberry Shortcake — Tapioca Pudding — Custard Tapioca Pudding — Fruit Tapioca — Wine Jelly 264 XXVIL— COOL WEATHER SWEETS— PUDDINGS AND PUDDING SAUCES Bread Pudding — Cocoanut and Bread Pudding — Crust and Crumb Pudding — Orange Bread Pudding — Cottage Pudding — Custard and Currant Pudding — Boiled Fig Pudding — Baked Flour Pudding — Boiled Flour Pudding — Fruit Fritters — Farmers' Fruit Pudding — Steamed Fruit Pudding — Ger- man Pancakes — Baked Indian Pudding — Boiled Indian Pudding — Plum Pudding — English Plum Pudding — Plum Graham Pudding — Boiled Prune Pudding — Sponge Pudding — Boiled Suet Pudding — Brandy Sauce — Cara- mel Sauce — Chocolate Sauce — Creamy Sauce — Hard Sauce — Cherry Sauce — Peach Sauce — Frothy Sauce — Sauce of Fruit Juice — Lemon Sauce — Liquid Sauce — Maple Sugar and Cream Sauce — -Molasses Sauce — Sour Cream Sauces — Vanilla Sauce — Whipped Cream Sauce .... 284 XXVIII.— ICING, FILLING, CAKE A Lesson in Cakemaking — Snow Cake — Cakes for Special Occasions — Icing — Icing for Children's Cakes — Almond Ice — Boiled Icing — Clear Icing — Apple Frosting — ^Cream Icing — Royal Icing — Tutti-Frutti Icing — Caramel Filling — Chocolate Filling — Sour Cream Filling — Fillings of Fresh Fruit — Lemon Filling— Maple Filling — Nut Filling — Fruit Filling — Filling for Any Flavor — Angel Cake — Angel Food — Dried Apple Cake — Baker's Cake — A Birthday Cake — ^Bride's Cake — California Cake — Chocolate Cake — Chocolate Loaf Cake — Coffee Cake — Confection Cake — Confection Fill- ing — Cream Cake — Delicate Cake — Fruit Cake — White Fruit Cake — JNevada Fruit Cake — Soft Gingerbread — Soft Ginger Cake — Cider Ginger- bread — Gold Cake — Hickory-Nut Cake — Jam Cake — Jelly-Cream Cocoa- nut Cake — Jelly-Cream — White Layer Cake — Yellow Layer Cake — Lemon Cake — Marg:uerite Cake — Potato Cake — Snow Cake — Spice Cake — Fruit Cake — Sponge Cake — Victory Cake — Colonial Wedding Cake — White Cake — Yule Cake . . . . . . . . . . . • 296 XXIX.— SMALL CAKES Brownies — Caramels — Chocolate Eclairs — Cinnamon Drops — Cocoanut Cookies — Cookies — Cream Cakes — Crullers — Dainty Fingers — Doughnuts — Drop Cakes — Ebony Fingers — Fig Eclairs — Fruit Cookies — Fruit Jumbles — Gin- ger Cookies — Hermits — Improve-with-Age Cakes — Jumbles — Macaroons — CONTENTS 7 Maple Sugar Cookies — Molasses Cookies — New York New Year's Cakes — Noah's Ark Cookies — Oatmeal Cakes — Little Snow Cakes — Snow and Chocolate Balls — Walnut Small Cakes . . . . . . . .us XXX.— CANDY, CANDIED FRUITS, SALTED NUTS French Bonbons — Raw Fondant — Cooked Fondant — Chocolate Creams — Cocoa- nut Creams — Fruit Bonbons — Fruit Creams — Nut Creams — Variegated Creams — Butter Scotch — Chocolate Caramels — Chocolate Puffs — Cocoanut Kisses — Cough Candy — Cream Candies of Different Sorts — Fudges— Maple I'udge — Molasses Candy with Nuts — Nougat — Peanut Candy — Pralines — Popcorn Wafers — Chestnuts Candied or Marrons Glaces — Stuffed Dates — Fruit Candy — Candied Orange Rinds — Salted Nuts ..... 324 XXXI.— PIES AND PASTRIES The Art of Pie-Making — Piecrust — ^Puff Paste — Preparing Fruits for Pie — Apple Pie — Cherry Pie — Cream Pie — Sour Cream Pie — Dried Fruit Pies^ Lemon Pie, Double Crust — Lemon Pie, Under Crust — Lemon Meringue Pie — Chocolate Lemon Pie — Mincemeat — Orange Pie — Potato Pie — Pumpkin Pie — Philadelphia Pumpkin Pie — Raisin Pie — Rhubarb or Pie- plant Pie — Rhubarb Meringue Pie — Green Tomato Pie — Almond Straws or Tarts — Cheese Biscuit — Cheese Straws— Cream Horns — Fig Tarts — Pastry Fruit Cakes — Puff Paste Patties ....... 332 XXXII.— STEWED FRUITS The Boon of an Apple Barrel — The Care of Apples — Cooked Apples — Apples as Salad — Apple Fritters — Apple Sauce — Cider Apple Sauce — Apple Butter — To Bake Sour Apples — To Bake Sweet Apples — Fried Apples — New England Pan Dowdy — Stewed Dried Apricots — Stewed Cranberries — Baked Pears — Stewed Dried Prunes — To Stew Prunes Without Sugar — Stewed Quinces and Apples — Stewed Rhubarb ...... 345 XXXIIL— CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES Selection of Fruit — Boiling — Steaming — Small Fruits — Storing — Winter Pre- serves — Apple Jelly — Apple Ginger — Blackberry Jam — Brandied Clierries — Crab-Apple Jelly — Cranberry Catsup — Spiced Cranberries — Raisin and Cranberry Jam — Spiced Currants or other Fruit — Currant Jelly — Fig Marmalade — Preserved Figs — Spiced Gooseberries — Spiced Grapes— Grape Jelly — Citron Melon Preserve — Orange Jelly — Orange Juice and Yellow — Orange-and-Lemon Marmalade — Mixed Marmalade — Ginger-Root Pears — Spiced Pears — Spiced Peaches — Peach Marmalade — Spiced Blue Plums — To Preserve Pumpkins for Winter Use — Grated Quinces — Raisin Jam — Black Raspberry Jam — Red Raspberry Jam — Strawberry Jam — Sun Pre- serves — Tomato Jam — Tutti-Frutti ........ 352 XXXIV.— PICKLES AND CATSUPS Swieet Pickles — Syrup for Sweet Pickles — Sweet Apple Pickles — Sweet Beet Pickles — Sweet Cantaloupe Pickles — Sweet Peach Pickles — Sweet Pear Pickles — Sweet Damson Plum Pickles — Sweet Prune Pickles — Sweet Strawberry Pickles — Sweet Watermelon Pickles — Home-Made Catsups — Cucumber Catsup — Currant Catsup — Gooseberry Catsup — Ripe Grape Catsup — Mushroom Catsup — Tomato Catsup — Red Tomato Catsup — Wal- 8 CONTENTS mit Catsup— Worcestershire Catsup— To Pickle Cauliflower— Chilli Sauce Chow-Chow — Chow-Chow Pickle — ^'India Chutney — Stuiifed Cucumbers Yellow Cucumber Pickle— Mango Pickles— Pepper Mangoes— Mustard Pickle — Nasturtium Seeds — Piccalilli — Green Tomato Pickle . . . 366 XXXV.— BEVERAGES : HOT AND COLD Boiled Coffee— To Clear Coffee— Drip Coffee— Black Coffee— Turkish Coffee — To Make Tea— Cool Beverages for Summer Days — Iced Coffee — Iced Tea — Summer Cocoa — Iced Cocoa — Lemonade — Apollinaris Lemonade — Sherry Lemonade— Egg Lemonade — The Making of Fruit Syrups or Shrubs —Cherry Syrup— Chocolate Syrup— Currant Shrub — Grape Shrub— Lemon Syrup— Pineapple Syrup— Raspberry Syrup— Strawberry Syrup— Grape- Juice— Flavor and Quality in Grape-Juice- Uses of Grape-Juice — Food Value of Grape-Juice — Grape-Juice and Egg — Grape Nectar — Grape Punch —Grape Wine — My Lady's Wine— Cider Cup— Dandelion Wine — Eggnog —A Child's Eggnog— Egg Wine— Ginger Punch— Milk Punch— Mint Julep —Passover Wine— Root Beer— Royal Shrub— ^Strawberry Punch— Sum- mer Zephyr — Wassail Bowl — Whips . . . . . , .376 XXXVI.— GRUELS, BROTHS, CORDIALS To Make Gruels— Barley Water— Old-Fashioned Beef Tea— Quick Beef Tea- Caudle— Chicken Broth — Mutton Barley Broth— Blackberry Cordial— Flax- seed Tea or Lemonade — Hoarhound Cough Syrup — Jelly Water — Slippery Elm Bark Tea ........... ^g^ XXXVII.— ITEMS OF VALUE Mixing Ingredients One at a Time— The Beneficent Pan of Hot Water- Appearance of Meats — To Make Tough Meat Tender — When Salt Should be Added in Cooking Meat — Advantage of a Variety of Seasonings — How to Dry Herbs — Powders of Savory Herbs — About Pepper— As to Sauces — Ratio of Raw to Cooked Chicken — Milk for Custard — Keeping Milk and Butter— Butter Paddles— To Help in Whipping Cream— Cold Eggs for Beating — To Choose Macaroni — Radishes with Rice — When Pies Overflow— To Prevent Soggy Crust — Do Not Use Melted Butter in Cake — To Prevent Hasty Browning— Frying Doughnuts — To Brown Buck- wheat Cakes without Molasses— Uses of a Pinch of Salt — Bread and Cracker Crumbs — To Save after Scorching— To Destroy Smell of Cooking Cabbage, etc. — Porcelain for Acids — To Clean Decanters and Cruets — About Planking Boards — To Keep Pears for Winter Use — To Pack Eggs— To Make Bread Cloths — Paper on Pantry Shelves — The Use of Wine . 397 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TEXT DRAWINGS PAGE Vegetable Cutters 22 Chinese Furee Sieve ........... 24 Vegetable Sieve ............ 28 A Double-Boiler 38 Small Dish and Shell 42 Bread Grater (also used for Corn, Cheese, and Cocoanut) . . . . s6 Casserole ............. 62 Frying Basket ............ 65 Diagram of Cuts of Beef .......... 78 Diagram of Cuts of \'eal .......... 78 Diagram of Cuts of Pork .......... 79 Diagram of Cuts of Mutton .......... 79 A Larding Needle ............ 86 A Meat Chopper ............ 92 Dripping-Pan with Basting Ladle ......... 95 Skewers for Meat and Poultry ......... 98 A French Kitchen Knife . . . . • . . . . .111 A Cucumber Slicer . . . . . . . . . . . iS5 Quart and Pint Measures . . . . . . . . . .168 A Boston Bean Pot . . . . . . . . . . .174 A Perforated Ladle ........... 207 Patty Pans . . . . . . . . . . . . .213 A Slitted Wooden Spoon . . . . . . . . . .215 Fancy Sandwich Cutters . . . . . . . . . .217 Rolling Pin (even diameter) .......... 227 Boston Brown Bread Mold .......... 228 Biscuit Cutters ............ 232 Gem Pans ............. 237 Popover Cups ............ 239 Waffle Irons ............ 243 Ice Shaver . . . . , . . . , . . . . 2?;s Ice Cream Freezer ........... 256 Ice Cream Molds . . . . . . . . -. . .259 Pudding Molds ............ 262 Charlotte Moid . 268 Small Custard Cups ........... 279 Telly (Gelatine) Molds 283 Layer Tin . . . . . . . . . . , . .311 Lady Finger Pans . . . . . . . . . . , .318 Cherry Pitter ............ 337 Apple Parer 348 French Coffee-Pot and Its Filter 377 Lemon Squeezer ............ 379 Shakers for Mixing Drinks .......... 380 Fig. I — Pressing out Grape-juice by Hand 384 Fig. 2— Cloth or Felt Filter 385 Fig. 3— Drip Bag 385 Meat Press ............. 394 Holly Butter Paddles 401 (9) 10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES ^ ^. PLATE Oyster Pie ............ I Oysters in Grapefruit Basket . . . . . , . .1 Lobster Baked in the Shell . . . . . . . . .11 Lobster Salad in Tomato Ring .....,,. II Lobster Croquettes .......... Ill Lobster Melon ! Ill Three Salted Fish IV Delmonico Steak ........... V Porterhouse Steak . . ; . . . . . . . . .V Flat Bone Sirloin St'eak .......... VI Round Bone Sirloin Steak ......... VI Hip Steak VII Flank, Skirt, and Chuck Steaks ........ VII F'irst Cut of Prime Rib Roast VIII Second Cut of Prime Rib Roast ........ VllI Blade Rib Roast — Seventh and Eighth Ribs . . ' . , . .IX Chuck Rib Roast— Ninth and Tenth Ribs IX Top Round and Bottom Round . . . . . . . .X Lamb Chops ............ X Broiled Lamb Chops .......... XI Holland Meat Pie XI Fanned Breast of Chicken ......... XII Roast Goose with Apples ......... XII English Pigeon] Pie .......... XIII Game Pie XIII Venison in Gooseberry Jelly ......... XIV Jugged Hare XIV String-Bean Salad XV Carrot Salad . XV Fruit Salad XVI Tomato Salad XVI A Tuxedo Salad XVII Fancy Vegetable Salad .......... XVII Stuffed Potatoes XVIII Mashed Sweet Potatoes XVIII Egg Plant — Creole F'ashion ......... XIX Stutfed Mushrooms XIX Spinach Mousse ........... XX Squash in Shell XX Rye Popovers XXI Oatmeal with Dates XXI Boar's Head Ice Cream XXII Rose Charlotte XXII Chestnut Croquettes .......... XXIII Currant Shortcake .......... XXIII Strawberries Served in Pinapple Shell ....... XXIV Rhubarb Jelly and Whipped Cream XXIV English Plum Pudding XXV A Birthday Cake XXV Confection Cake ........... XXVI Jelly Cream Cocoanut Cake ......... XXVI ' Marguerite Cake ........... XXVII Chocolate Lemon Pie .......... XXVII Cream Horns and Cheese Straws ........ XXVIII Puff Paste Patties XXVIII Iced Tea XXIX Mint Juleps XXIX Royal Shrub XXX Summer Zephyr ........... XXX Wassail Bowl XXXI Whips with Strawberries ......... XXXI Class in Cooking: Teachers' College, Columbia University . . . XXXII FOREWORD AN excellent housewife once gave, as a part of her receipt for making gooseberry pie, the following direction : "Put in all the sugar your conscience allows; then shut your eyes and add a double handful." In compiling the present work the editor's conscience has been strained and her eyes have been closed in an opposite process. She had collected far more receipts than could pos- sibly appear in a single volume even of the generous size per- mitted by the plan of The Household Library. By various siftings, such as the elimination of obvious receipts, of alterna- tive ones, of those which would be infrequently used, of those requiring too costly materials for the average housewife, of rich dishes dangerously near the line of unhealthfulness, the material in hand was greatly reduced, yet not to the required dimensions. A Procrustean method had to be adopted. So the editor shut her eyes and took out not one handful, but a number of handfuls, of tried and approved receipts, each as good as the ones that remained, though no better than these. Therefore, if any reader finds that a favorite dish of hers is unrepresented in the work, let her blame the exigencies of publication rather than the intention of the editor. Under these circumstances space was considered too valu- able even for an index. So. as far as possible, the work was made self-indexing. Frequent chapters were formed to per- mit ready reference, and within each chapter the receipts were (") 12 FOREWORD arranged, first, according to logical and practical relation, and then alphabetically. For example, in the chapter on "Candies," the general receipt for "Fondant" is followed by special receipts in which fondant is an ingredient, these being arranged in alphabetical order. Thanks are due the Department of Domestic Science of Teachers' College, Columbia University, for the use of a photograph of the laboratory and of twelve photographs of uncooked meat. Acknowledgment is also made "The Home Science Maga- zine" for the use of the illustration, "Three Salted Fish." THE HOME COOK BOOK FRUIT AND SHELLFISH COCKTAILS Banana and Pineapple— Cherry and Orange— Peach— Raspberry and Currant— Strawberry and Grapefruit — Strawberry and Orange — Clam — Oyster, Plain — Oyster with Sherry — Hot Oyster — Oysters in Grapefruit Baskets SINCE cocktails sometimes take the place of soup, a few of the fruit and shellfish variety are here introduced. They are especially fitted for warm weather, when hot soup is not agreeable to the palate. BANANA AND PINEAPPLE COCKTAIL Cut in thin round slices three ripe bananas. Add the juice and pulp of one grated pineapple, the juice of two oranges and one lemon. Sweeten to taste. Guard against getting the dish too sweet. Set to cool in the ice-box, and serve with a little shaved ice or a small piece of ice dropped in each glass. See also "Banana Salad" on page 150, and "Pineapple Salad" on page 157, which may be used for cocktails. CHERRY AND ORANGE COCKTAIL Cherries canned, with or without the pit, may be treated with orange-juice, sweetened and served as fruit cocktails. Canned strawberries, peaches, tamarinds, and other fruits may be served in the same way as cherries. PEACH COCKTAIL Peel and cut fine ripe peaches in small pieces. Make a strong lemonade by mixing lemon- juice with water which U THE HOME COOKBOOK has dissolved the sweetening. Lay a heaping tablespoon of the cut peaches in a lemonade glass, cover them with the strong lemonade, lay on a tablespoon of shaved ice and serve. RASPBERRY AND CURRANT COCKTAIL Lay a heaping tablespoon of red or black raspberries with a small piece of ice in the bottom of a lemonade glass. Cover with the juice of currants sweetened a little. To get the juice of the currants put them in an earthen bowl and then crush them with a pestle. Put the waste in a bag which has been wet and wrung and squeeze the juice through. STRAWBERRY AND GRAPEFRUIT COCKTAIL Cut the grapefruit in two, and with a spoon and fork dig out the pulp. Be careful not to take the inner skin with the pulp. Cut out the inner skin so that you will have the halves of the fruit in the shape of cups. Mix in equal proportions the pulp of the grapefruit and ripe strawberries. Sugar to your taste, keeping it rather sour, and set in a cool place till you are ready to serve it. Set the cup skins of the grape- fruit where they will be cool. When you serve, pile the cups with the mixed strawberries and pulp, lay in the centre a dessertspoon of ice. One grapefruit makes two portions. STRAWBERRY AND ORANGE COCKTAIL In a punch, lemonade, or other glass put half a dozen strawberries. Squeeze over them the juice of an orange. Add a dessertspoon of powdered sugar and the same quantity of ice, and serve. Each glass should be made separately. The strawberries and oranges may be prepared and set in a cool place till needed. Then add the sugar and ice. See also "Orange Salad" on page 156, which may be used as a cocktail. CLAM COCKTAIL Have twelve small clams opened and free from pieces of shell and from sand. Chill them on ice. Then add two FRUIT AND SHELLFISH COCKTAILS 15 tablespoons of catsup, a teaspoon of horseradish, a teaspoon of minced onion, three shakes of Tabasco sauce, and a little lemon-juice or vinegar. This makes two portions, or cocktails. OYSTER COCKTAIL, PLAIN ' In a wineglass put six small oysters and add a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, a dessertspoon of catsup, two drops of Tabasco sauce, and three or four drops of lemon-juice or vinegar. This is one portion, or cocktail. OYSTER COCKTAIL WITH SHERRY Be sure the glass is cold before beginning. Put in the glass six oysters, and over them a dash of salt, then pour one tablespoon of sherry over the oysters, measuring the wine carefully. Serve with two small, plain crackers. HOT OYSTER COCKTAIL Open a dozen medium-sized Blue Point oysters, and catch their liquor in an earthen saucepan or chafing-dish. Set the dish to heat, and as soon as the liquor begins to bubble take off the scum and mix in two tablespoons of minced celery, and add a little salt, a dash of red pepper, and two tablespoons of butter. When these ingredients are all hot and well blended slip in the oysters. Watch closely until their edges begin to curl, and then add a sherry glass of sherry. Stir well together and serve in hot soup plates. OYSTERS IN GRAPEFRUIT BASKETS Cut grapefruit so as to form a one-side handle basket. Scoop out the pulp and clip edge into points with scissors. Place eight small oysters in each basket and cover them with a sauce made of equal portions of lemon- juice, grated horse- radish, tomato catsup, and speck mustard. Place on shaved ice on plate and serve. [See illustration, Plate I.] 16 THE HOME COOK BOOK II CROUTONS AND SOUP-BALLS A Soup Bouquet— Bread Fingers— Bread-and-Cheese Balls— Croutons— Curry Balls— Egg- Balls— Egg-and-Cheese Balls— Meat Balls— Winter Suet Balls A SOUP BOUQUET TO season soup with a soup bouquet, as it is called, which is another way of naming a bunch of sweet herbs, tie together with a white thread a small sprig of sage, a sprig of summer savory and thyme and parsley and a bay leaf. Drop the bunch into the soup you want flavored and let it cook in the soup for half an hour, if you have a moderate quantity of soup, and less time if you have less soup. The delicacy of the herbs is destroyed by long cooking, and by following that method you lose what you sought in making the bouquet. BREAD FINGERS FOR SOUP Cut off the crusts of stale slices of bread, cut the bread in fingers about four inches long and three-quarters of an inch wide, lay in a dripping-pan and toast a golden brown in a moderate oven. BREAD-AND-CHEESE BALLS FOR SOUP Mix half a cup of fine soft breadcrumbs with half a cup of soft American cheese and half a teaspoon of salt and a dash of cayenne. When thoroughly blended stir to a paste with an uncooked egg. Form into small balls, not larger than a hickory-nut, drop into boiling water and cook two minutes and then transfer to the soup. Or if you don't mind the balls coloring a clear soup, drop direct into the soup two minutes before serving. CROUTONS AND SOUP-BALLS 17 CROUTONS FOR SOUP Take slices a third of an inch thick of stale bread, cut off the crusts, butter, and then cut in half-inch squares, or in pieces the size of a cent, or in triangles, diamonds, or other fancy shapes. Put in a dripping-pan in a moderate upper oven and toast a light brown. Put four or five in a plate of soup when serving. Another way to make them is to cut and then to fry a light brown in hot fat, or to put them in a frying-pan with a little butter and brown. CURRY BALLS FOR SOUP Mix half a cup of fine soft breadcrumbs with the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, a teaspoon of curry powder and half a teaspoon of salt. Pound well together and then stir in a raw egg to form a paste and hold it together. Form into small balls not larger than a hickory-nut and drop into the boiling soup two minutes before serving. EGG BALLS FOR SOUP Boil five eggs till hard — that is, about twenty minutes — and then put them in cold water. Peel, and cut the whites in rings. Mash the yolks with the yolks of two raw eggs, beating the pulverized hard yolks well into the raw yolks. Add half a teaspoon of salt, a few drops of onion- juice, and a dash of cayenne. Form into small balls like marbles and drop into boiling soup two minutes before the soup is taken off the fire. Add also the rings made from the whites of the eggs. EGG-AND-CHEESE BALLS FOR SOUP Mash together the yolks of five hard-boiled eggs and two tablespoons of soft American cheese. Add half a tablespoon of salt and a pinch of cayenne. Blend these all together by mixing in the uncooked whites of two eggs. Form the paste into small balls and drop gently into boiling soup three minutes before serving. 18 THE HOME COOK BOOK MEAT BALLS FOR SOUP Any cold cooked meat may be used for soup balls, but veal is preferred as being most delicate. To one cup of minced meat add half a cup of breadcrumbs, two tablespoons of minced parsley, a tablespoon of thyme or sweet marjoram, and salt and pepper to taste. An egg is to hold these ingre- dients together, and it should be beaten a little and used as a wetting, mixing in till the meat is moist and pasty. Form into balls the size of a hickory-nut, or a little larger, and lower gently in the soup and boil two minutes before taking the soup from the stove. *" WINTER SUET BALLS FOR SOUP Have half a cup of suet chopped fine and freed from skin. To this add half a teaspoon of salt, pepper as you wish, and half a cup of flour. Mix and add ice-water, a few drops at a time, while you stir. When you have a stiff paste, not wet and soggy, but merely sticking together, form in little balls like small marbles, drop in boiling soup and cook from five to seven minutes before serving. BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 19 III BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS Asparagus Soup— Cream of Asparagus— Bean Soup— Black Bean Soup — Lima Bean Soup — Beef Stew with Rice— Company Bouillon — Vegetable Bouillon— Carrot Cream Soup — Cream-of-Carrot Soup — Celery Cream Soup — Cheese Soup— Chestnut Soup — Chicken Bouillon — Chicken Bouillon with Whipped Cream— Chicken Soup — Chicken Gumbo (i) — Chicken Gumbo {2)— Clam Chowder — Clam Soup— Clear Soup — Corn Soup— Corn Cream Soup — Corned Beef Soup— Egg Soup— Gumbo aux Herbes— Indian Meal Soup — Julienne Soup — Lobster Bisque — Maigre Soup— Milk Soup— Mock Bisque — Mock Oyster Soup— Okra Cream Soup— Okra Gumbo with Crabs or Halibut — Okra Gumbo— Onion Cream Soup — Oxtail Soup — Oyster Bouillon— Oyster Gumbo — Oyster Stew— Pea-and-Potato Soup — Split Pea Soup— Pot au Feu— Potato Soup — Rice Cream Soup — Salmon Soup— Shrimp Gumbo — Soup Stock— Fast Day Tomato Soup— Turkey Soup — Meatless Vegetable Soup— White Soup Stock ASPARAGUS SOUP J BOIL until tender in a quart and a quarter of water aspar- agus cut in pieces an inch in length and filling a quart measure and a quarter over. When the asparagus is cooked tender reserve a cup of it, putting the finest tips in the cup. Rub the remainder of the asparagus through a colander or sieve and put back in the water in which it boiled. Heat one pint of milk or, if you prefer it, cream, and pour over one table- spoon of butter and one tablespoon of flour, which have been well mixed together. Let come to boil, add the asparagus and its water, and the cup of asparagus tips. Boil up once more, salt, and serve with toasted bread cut in dice floating on top. CREAM OF ASPARAGUS Boil till tender in enough water to half cover it asparagus of the quantity called a "bunch." When done put the aspar- agus through a colander. Melt a heaping tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, adding gradually two heaping tablespoons of flour. When these are blended pour in slowly, stirring all the time, the hot water in which the asparagus was boiled. Let 20 THE HOME COOK BOOK come to boil, stir in the asparagus pulp and then a pint of cream and half a pint of milk. Add salt and a dash of cayenne as it boils up, and serve with croutons. BEAN SOUP Soak a quart of small white beans overnight. Put them into two quarts of water to which you have added two tea- spoons of soda. Let them boil five minutes, by which time the outer skin of the beans is loosened. Pour off the water from the beans and rub them between the hands in cold water till the hard outer skins are off. Next put the beans in cold water, enough to cover and rise above them, and boil about three hours or till quite soft, adding water if necessary. Twenty minutes before serving stir in rich milk so that the beans break by the stirring and add the milk till you have the soup of the thickness you want. Put in salt and butter and pepper to taste. Boil up the soup a couple of times, and serve with croutons or sippets of bread. BLACK BEAN .SOUP Wash and soak overnight in cold water a pint of black curtle beans. Next morning drop the beans in a quart and a cup of boiling water, cover the saucepan tight and cook slowly two hours and a half or until the beans are tender. Put them through a sieve, add a quart of soup stock, a teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste, set on the stove and bring to boil. Serve with a thin slice of lemon and a thin slice of hard-boiled egg in each plate. LIMA BEAN SOUP Soak a cup of dried Lima beans overnight. Next morning put the beans in two quarts of fresh water over the fire and cook until you can put them through a colander or sieve. Fry till brown two onions in two tablespoons of butter. When the onions are brown add two tablespoons of flour. Brown and thicken by the cooking of the flour. As it thickens add little by little a cup of the beans and water which you have BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 21 put through the colander. Now put all together. Add a cup of cream, or more if you wish the soup thinner, boil up and serve with sippets. BEEF STEW WITH RICE Boil whatever sized piece of rump of beef you prefer. Cover with cold water, after placing in a soup kettle on top of the stove. Boil very slowly four hours. Skim when it boils. The second hour add salt to taste, and pepper very carefully. Scrape three carrots, wash them, and split down the centre. Add two onions cut in half. Boil until very tender. When done set in an earthen dish in a cold place to stand overnight. In the morning skim off all the fat. Take out the meat, rinse it off in the liquor, cut off all fat and gristle and throw aside, and cut the meat in large pieces. Save the carrot, but not the onion. Strain the soup in a large sauce- pan, add the meat and carrot, and, if liked, a little chopped parsley. Set on the stove and heat. Have ready hot boiled rice. Place one tablespoon of rice in the centre of a soup plate, on one side place a piece or two of meat, on the other a carrot. With a ladle pour over this some of the soup and serve hot. COMPANY BOUILLON Take half a shin of beef, a knuckle of veal, and a fowl, cover with cold water and set over the fire. Let come slowly to boil and then skim and set on the back part of the stove, where it will merely simmer all day. Be sure it is tightly covered. At evening pour it in an earthen jar, and the next day take off the fat and strain the soup through a colander. Chop fine two onions, a small carrot, or half a large one, two stalks of celery, and one tomato. Also mince a pound of lean beef, and with this mix the whites of three eggs and their shells. Mix the meat and vegetables and put to the soup. Set all on the stove and bring slowly to boil. Then set back where the heat will merely keep it at a simmer and let it stand till clear. This will not be in less than half an hour. Strain 22 THE HOME COOK BOOK through a cheesecloth bag, add salt and a dash of cayenne or Worcestershire sauce. The bouillon may be set away to keep in a ;cool place. When time to use, heat very hot, and serve with seasoning given above, or give additional flavor by add- ing a cup of white California wine to six cups of the bouillon. VEGETABLE BOUILLON Take four pounds of juicy beef, a knuckle of veal, two small turnips, two carrots, one soup bouquet, a small pod of red peppers, and three white onions. Put the meat in cold water, to well cover it, and let it gradually come to boil. Then add the vegetables cut in small pieces. Do not let boil, but set on the back of the stove where the soup will bubble for six Vegetable Cutters hours, keeping always a tight cover and the steady, bubbling heat. Strain through a sieve into an earthen pot, and let stand all night to stiffen. Next day skim ofif the fat. Half an hour before dinner put in a kettle with the soup bouquet, salt, cook gently till serving-time. Lastly, add sherry to taste, or, if you wish, omit the wine. CARROT CREAM SOUP Slice and cook till soft in a large pint of water three medium-sized carrots. When soft put through a sieve and put them back in the water in which they were boiled, adding a quart of fresh milk. Bring to boil. Add three tablespoons of flour blended with three tablespoons of butter. Cook gently while the flour thickens, add salt and pepper to taste, and the juice of an onion if wished. Serve hot with small pieces of toasted bread. BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 23 CREAM-OF-CARROT SOUP Wash and scrape a quart of young carrots, cut in pieces, put in enough hot water to cover and boil gently till tender. Reserve a cup of the diced carrots and put the rest through a colander or sieve. To a quart of the stock of chicken or veal add the pulp of the carrots and simmer half an hour. Smooth a couple of tablespoons of flour into a tablespoon of butter, add a little of the boiling soup, and stir all together in the soup till it thickens. Add a teaspoon of sugar, a cup of cream, salt and pepper to taste, and the cup of diced carrots which you set aside. The soup should now be as thick as thin cream. Serve hot. CELERY CREAM SOUP Cut celery in small pieces and boil till tender in enough water to cover. Keep it covered tight. When tender mash through a sieve or colander and put back into the water in which it cooked. Add the same quantity of fresh milk, and when all is hot, thicken, allowing a tablespoon of flour mixed with a tablespoon of butter to a pint of the liquid. Add also cream if greater richness is wished. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot with bread sticks or sippets. CHEESE SOUP Mix two cups of milk with two cups of white stock, or white soup of chicken or veal. Mince fine a small onion and add. When the liquid is hot stir in a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon of butter rubbed together smooth. After the flour cooks in and thickens the soup stir in half a cup of grated cheese, adding, to ensure against the curdling of the milk, a small pinch of soda just before the cheese. Lastly, and just as you take the kettle from the stove, stir in a well-beaten egg. Serve hot with little squares of toasted bread. 24 THE HOME COOK BOOK CHESTNUT SOUP Chip off a piece from each shell to help the boiling an boil till tender large French chestnuts. Take off the shell and skins. Set a handful of the meats aside, and break an mash through a sieve the other meats. Have a cream mad by heating a quart of milk or cream and thickening with tablespoon of flour mixed smooth with a tablespoon of buttei Add the chestnuts you have put through the sieve till you hav the cream as thick as you wish it. Season to your taste wit salt and pepper, add the handful of chestnut meats, eac broken in two or three pieces, boil up and serve at once. CHICKEN BOUILLON Clean and disjoint a fowl. Cover with cold water, add on onion, one bay leaf, twelve peppercorns, and a handful c celery and parsley. When the meat is tender, strain, seaso the liquor with salt and paprika. Add a little boiled rice an the white part of the chicken cut into dice. Boil up and serv hot. CHICKEN BOUILLON WITH WHIPPED CREAM Put a chicken or fowl weighing three or four pounds int a quart of cold water with a stalk of :celery, half an onioi and a sprig of parsley. Let the water come slowly to boil, an Chinese Puree Sieve then let it bubble and simmer for six or seven hours. Kee tightly covered all the time. Strain through a sieve into saucepan, season with salt and pepper and add the white c BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 25 an egg beaten into half a cup of cold water. Set on the fire and after the soup has come to boil add a cup of cold water and bring again to boil. Strain through a wet flannel or cheesecloth bag and serve in bouillon cups, capping the bouillon with whipped cream. CHICKEN SOUP Take the carcass of a roast chicken, crack the bones and put them in a kettle with two quarts of water. Cover and boil gently or simmer for two hours. Tip into a colander or sieve to get out the bones. But the soup back in the kettle. It will be about a quart. Add a tablespoon of minced onion, a teaspoon of salt, a dash of pepper, and the dark meat of the chicken cut in small dice or cubes. Bring to boil and serve. CHICKEN GUMBO A NEW ORLEANS RECEIPT Use the carcass of a roast fowl ; chicken is commonly used, but turkey, duck, or pheasant may be used if convenient. Mince the meat thoroughly fine. Crack and boil the bones ; the liquor so obtained makes a good stock for the gumbo. Make one quart. Chop fine six slices of bacon and fry in the bottom of your soup pot. Add two tablespoons of sifted flour. When brown add one large chopped onion and one large, minced, sweet pepper. Next add your chicken, also quarter of a pound of minced raw veal. When all is well browned, add one teacup of canned tomatoes. Next put in the quart of chicken liquor, a pinch of thyme, one bay leaf, one cup of chopped celery leaves and tops, one small pod of red pepper, a pinch of rosemary, one clove of minced garlic, and one tea- spoon of chopped parsley; salt to taste. Boil up and then allow to simmer for an hour, that the veal may be thoroughly cooked. Before removing from the fire add a teaspoon of file. Serve with boiled rice, as in Oyster and Shrimp Gumbo. -, , 2 Vol. 2 26 THE HOME COOK BOOK CHICKEN GUMBO A ST. LOUIS RECEIPT Cut up one chicken, severing all the joints. Place it in a soup kettle on the back of the stove, and cook very slowly, adding one slice of pickled pork, about four inches long, and half a pound or a little more of fresh lean beef. Season highly with pepper and salt. Chop very fine one good-sized onion and one garlic seed. Mash together one heaping teaspoon of lard and one heaping teaspoon of flour. Add this to the onion and garlic and fry a nice brown. This done, pour over it one pint of hot water. Add one bunch of parsley, chopped fine. Cook slowly on the back of the stove one hour. One hour before dinner add the browned onion to the chicken and enough more hot water to stand about two inches above the chicken. Cook slowly. Have the chicken very tender. When ready to serve, take the kettle from the fire and stir in finely sifted file until it begins to rope, which you will discover by pouring it from a spoon. It is then ready to serve at once. Two handfuls of file are generally enough. Add more if needed. File is pul- verized sassafras leaves. If you have no file, okra is very good. By some it is preferred. In case of using okra, take either the dried or the fresh. Half a pint of the dried will be sufficient ; of the fresh, one pint. Slice it quite thin. Okra should be added long enough before the soup is done to cook it tender, which will be about half an hour. To serve have ready hot boiled rice. As each plate of soup is served place a tablespoon of rice in the centre. Ladle the chicken soup over it. CLAM CHOWDER Fry in a pot five slices of fat pork till the fat is half drawn out. Take out the pork and chop it, adding two good- sized onions. Slice three potatoes and have at hand a quart of clams. In the fat that remains in the pot from the fried pork put a layer of clams with a seasoning of red peppers. On the clams put a layer of pork and onions, and then a layer of potatoes. Next put in a layer of crackers broken up. BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 27 Repeat these layers in order till you have used up clams, pork, onions, and potatoes. Cover with water and stew an hour. Add a little milk and boil up before serving. Thicken with a little flour if it is needed. CLAM SOUP Have three dozen clams. Wash, scrub, and rinse the shells. Put them in a kettle. Add three-fourths of a cup of water. Cover and heat. Boil till the clams open. Set off the fire and pick out the shells. Cut the hard part from the clams, tlirow it away, and put the soft parts in a bowl. Add three cups of milk to the liquor of the clams, and stir in a tablespoon of butter blended with a tablespoon of flour. When the flour has slightly thickened the soup, drop in the soft part of the clams. Boil up, add salt, and also a dash of cayenne if your taste wishes, and serve hot. CLEAR SOUP Take two pounds of lean beef, cut in pieces. as big as the end of your thumb, free it from all fat, and pour over it two quarts of cold water. Let it slowly come to boil, set it back to simmer a few minutes, and again let it come to boil. Cool and boil up once more. Each time skim thoroughly. Have scraped a small carrot and two small onions. Stick eight cloves in the onions, and with the icarrot drop in the soup. Let boil slowly, and add a teaspoon of celery seed, two blades of mace, and a few bits of parsley. When the onions are tender clear through, strain the soup through a bag. Put back in the kettle and stir in the well-beaten whites of two eggs. Boil until the eggs gather, stir in a teaspoon of burned sugar to give a delicate brown color, and strain till the soup is clear. Serve hot. CORN SOUP Chop fine one can of corn. Have one quart of milk cook- ing slowly and thickened with one tablespoon of flour stirred 28 THE HOME COOK BOOK into two tablespoons of butter. Stir the chopped corn in the milk, boil up once, season to your taste with salt and pepper, and serve. CORN CREAM SOUP Take a large can of corn, empty the contents in the upper part of a double-boiler, mash with a pestle, and then add a quart of milk. Put hot water in the lower part of the double- boiler and set the corn to cook. While it is coming to boil mince two onions, add a heaping tablespoon of butter and fry in a saucepan with two tablespoons of flour. When the flour and onions are cooked, stir them into the hot corn and let the whole cook for ten minutes. Pour through a sieve, add salt Vegetable Sieve and a dash of cayenne, and just before taking from the fire stir in two well-beaten eggs mixed wdth a little cold milk or cream so that the eggs will not string or separate in the soup. Pour in a tureen in which are croutons or bits of fried bread, and serve at once. CORNED-BEEF SOUP Slice an onion into a quart of the liquor in which you have boiled corned-beef. Set it over the fire, and when it begins to boil drop in the still wet broken shell of an egg. Boil for a moment and pour through a sieve or coarse cloth strainer. Set the soup again on the fire, add a pint of milk, into which you have stirred and dissolved smooth two tablespoons of BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 29 flour, boil a moment till the flour cooks, stir in a beaten Qgg and serve. EGG SOUP Heat the remains of a clear soup made from bones of beef or veal, poach an egg for every plate of soup you wish to serve, and when you serve the soup drop the poached eggs in the tureen ; or if you serve direct by plates lay the poached egg in the soup plate and ladle over it the hot soup. GUMBO AUX HERBES A NEW ORLEANS DISH Chop fine six slices of bacon and fry. Add two tablespoons of flour. When browned add one large minced onion, and one pint of "herbes," which you have minced exceedingly fine. These herbs are one teacup of cold boiled spinach left over, the green tops of two onions, green tops of radishes and mustard, quarter of a teacup of minced celery, and half a teacup of cold kidney beans. Brown slightly, then add one tablespoon of canned tomatoes, half a teaspoon of thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Add one quart of water or beef soup or chicken soup. Cook slowly half an hour. Serve with rice. INDIAN MEAL SOUP Have two quarts of boiling water in a saucepan. Mix eight tablespoons of Indian meal with a cup of cold water and stir into the boiling water. When the meal has swollen, put into a double-boiler and keep the outer dish full of boiling water for two or three hours. Stir now and then. Salt to taste, add a dash of pepper and a cup of cream, and serve with crisp fried croutons. JULIENNE SOUP Cut in small, long pieces a carrot, a turnip, a stalk of celery, two small leeks, a small white onion, and a white cabbage leaf. In a saucepan have a quart of boiling water 30 THE HOME COOK BOOK and cook the vegetables until done, that is about half an hour. Add a quart of beef broth or stock, and when all boils up, a teaspoon of sugar, a cup of cooked green peas or the tops of asparagus cut in small pieces, and just before the soup is served a few lettuce leaves or sorrel leaves cut in small threads. LOBSTER BISQUE Take one can of lobster. Cut the meat in small pieces, cover with one quart of water, and boil in a saucepan twenty minutes. In a separate saucepan put two quarts of milk. Mash together two tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of flour. When the milk comes to boil, add the mixed flour and butter and one teacup of crackers rolled very fine. When the lobster is done add it to the thickened milk. Stir all together, season with red pepper, and salt to taste. Let boil just long enough to thicken. It is then ready to serve. MAIGRE SOUP Take whatever tops you have from a bunch of celery, cut in small pieces and put in a saucepan with a couple of onions and four good-sized potatoes, all sliced. Pour on two quarts of water, cover tight and boil for an hour. Stir and beat well together, add a piece of butter the size of an egg, salt to taste, and serve with toasted pieces of bread cut small. Cream may be added, and a thickening of flour may also be put in if wished. But as pure maigre soup it is made as above. MILK SOUP Heat a quart of milk in a saucepan over a slow fire. Dissolve and work smooth three tablespoons of flour in quar- ter of a cup of cold milk. Dip a little hot milk into the cup, stir about with the cold, and then add gradually to the hot milk. Stir while it thickens and add a teaspoon of salt. Add a couple of hard-boiled eggs coarsely chopped, drop in a few small pieces of butter, and serve hot. Bread sticks and young, tender onions go well with this soup. BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 81 MOCK BISQUE Cook half a can of tomatoes soft enough to strain. If you are using fresh tomatoes take a cup and a half when cooked. In another saucepan cook one tablespoon of flour in one tablespoon of butter and stir in one quart of milk. Season to your taste with salt and when ready to serve stir in a pinch of soda. Lastly, add the strained tomatoes and serve at once. MOCK OYSTER SOUP Wash and scrape ten salsify roots, and as you work put them in cold water to keep the roots from turning black. When they are cleaned, cut in small pieces and cover with boiling water. Boil till tender, which will be in from thirty minutes to an hour. Put the salsify through a colander or sieve and return to the saucepan with three cups of milk, and the water in which the salsify cooked, which will be boiled away to about a cupful. Add a small onion minced, half a teaspoon of salt, and when the soup boils stir in a tablespoon and a half of flour blended with a tablespoon of butter. Serve after the soup thickens with the flour, adding a dash of icay- enne. OKRA CREAM SOUP Have a pint of okra cut in thin slices. Put it in a quart of salted water, boiling in a porcelain kettle, and cook till tender, nearly half an hour. Then add a quart of fresh milk, a large tablespoon of butter mixed with two tablespoons of flour and cook till the soup thickens. Add more butter if your taste demands, and also pepper. Serve hot with wafers or bread sticks, ORKA GUMBO WITH CRABS OR HALIBUT A NEW ORLEANS DISH To a tablespoon of boiling beef dripping add quarter of a pound of minced boiled ham and two slices of minced raw bacon. When browned, add two tablespoons of sifted flour. 32 THE HOME COOK BOOK Brown well. Add two minced onions and brown. Add one dozen thinly sliced spears of okra and fry the whole until the okra begins to brown. Then add one teacup of canned tomato, one pinch of thyme, a dash of cayenne pepper, and one bay leaf. Brown all thoroughly. Add one pint of raw crab meat which you have picked from the shells. Leave the meat of the claws in the claws, put them in the gumbo, and add one quart of boiling water. Allow the soup to boil for half an hour, cook- ing the crab thoroughly. Add two minced cloves of garlic and one teaspoon of minced parsley. Serve with rice. The same rule serves for plain okra gumbo — leaving out the crab meat. Minced halibut makes a fine substitute for crab. The fish must be used raw. OKRA GUMBO Follow the directions for "Gumbo with Crabs," omitting the crab meat. ONION CREAM SOUP Slice a dozen small white onions and fry them brown in a tablespoon of butter or drippings. Add a quart of boiling water, icover tight, and let the onions cook half an hour. Then add a pint of fresh milk or cream, salt and pepper to taste, and thicken with three tablespoons of flour worked smooth in a little cold water. Put all through a sieve. If you have used milk and not cream, add three eggs well beaten into half a cup of cream. If you use thick cream instead of milk, add merely a cup of whipped cream. Boil up once and serve hot with bread sticks or with toast. OXTAIL SOUP Separate the tail at the joints and soak in cold water an hour. In three tablespoons of butter or drippings fry three small sliced onions. When the onions are brown drop in the beef pieces, first rolling them lightly in flour. When the meat fries brown add two quarts of cold water, cover tight, set over a slow fire, or on the back of the stove and cook slowly BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 33 four hours. An hour before serving skim off the fat, add the seasoning your taste directs, whether of mixed herbs in a bouquet, or merely salt, and simmer, tightly covered, till needed. Serve with bread sticks or with sippets. OYSTER BOUILLON Drain from their own liquor and chop fine two dozen large oysters. Put them to heat slowly in a double-boiler. When they have become hot put through a sieve and press from them all their juice. The liquor you get under the sieve add to the liquor you get by first draining the oysters, :and set on the fire in an earthen saucepan. Stir in the beaten white of an egg and let come to boil. Then strain through a cheese- cloth bag, add salt and pepper, and the same quantity of hot creamy milk as you have oyster liquor. Serve hot with [Croutons or bread fingers. OYSTER GUMBO A NEW ORLEANS DISH Have a deep soup pot very hot. Put in a large tablespoon of beef drippings and two tablespoons of flour. Stir con- stantly until brown. Add one large minced onion, a good pinch of thyme, and one good-sized minced sweet pepper without its seed. When these become quite brown add two tablespoons of canned tomatoes. Stir continually till the whole is well cooked, adding a little tomato- juice to keep from burn- ing. Add one quart of juice from which you have drained the oysters that go with the juice. Also one clove of minced garlic, one teaspoon of minced parsley, salt to taste, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Allow the soup to boil five minutes. Add the drained oysters, letting them boil three minutes. Last of all, while the soup boils add a teaspoon of file powder, stirring thoroughly. Remove at once from the fire, and serve with hot boiled rice, a tablespoon to each soup plate, and the soup poured over the rice. 34 THE HOME COOK BOOK OYSTER STEW Take one quart of nice oysters. Pour them into a colander and set over a pan to drain. Look over the oysters to see that there are no shells with them. Put into a medium-sized granite preserving kettle one pint of milk and one pint and a quarter of water. To this add five soda crackers rolled very fine, one rather heaping teaspoon of salt, and a dash of pepper. Now add the liquor that was drained from the oysters. Set the kettle on the stove. Stir occasionally, and as soon as the milk boils up pour in the oysters, which will cool the milk. The moment it boils up again take at once from the fire, and set where it will keep hot without boiling. Add one tablespoon of butter and stir when melted. Let stand ten minutes before serving. The flavor improves by standing a short time. Have the soup plates hot, and break one soda cracker into each plate separately. Ladle the oysters over the crackers and serve. PEA-AND-POTATO SOUP Boil one pint of split peas till soft. Boil also till tender a pint and a half of sliced potatoes, together with one good- sized onion sliced thin. Put the soft peas and the tender pota- toes and onion through a colander, add water till you have the thickness you want your soup to be, salt to taste, boil up once more, stir in a piece of butter, and serve with Httle squares of toasted bread — sippets or croutons — floating in each plate. SPLIT PEA SOUP Soak overnight a cup of split peas. Next morning drain and put in a pot with two quarts of cold water. If you have bones of ham, fowl, or of beef or mutton, put them in to increase the tastiness of the soup. Cover tight, and cook slowly till the peas are soft, which will probably be in three hours. When soft put through a sieve. Add a pint or more of milk, and set over the fire again. Stir in a heaping table- spoon of butter and a heaping tablespoon of flour blended to- BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 85 gather, add a tablespoon of salt and a dash of pepper, and also, if your taste allows it, a minced onion or onion-juice. If the soup seems too thick, thin with a little milk or cream. POT AU FEU THE NATIONAL DISH OF FRANCE The French cook this dish of theirs, which is so tasty and so nourishing, in an earthen pot or pipkin, a pot with a lid that fits close, cooks slowly, and does not hurry the meat. But with a good iron pot the care of the American housewife [can bring about as wholesome and tasty a dish. The pot must surely have a close-fitting cover to hold in the steam and the savor of the meat. And the fire must be slow — or the cooking must, must, must. This soup or stew is made afresh once or twice a week by every family in France who can afford to buy the meat for it. The families who can afford to live well eat it for its own merit; those who can not afford the most substantial foods every day take it in between their vegetable soups to keep up their strength and nourish the body in full force. It has been said that the temperance of Frenchmen is due to the delicious preparation of this dish by their wives. They eat at dinner of the nourishing pot au feu, followed by a vegetable salad or by fruit, and they have had a "square" meal. Their hunger is satisfied. A craving for something more does not lead them to a dram of whiskey, as has happened in unnumbered in- stances in our country. Men have sometimes become drunk- ards because their body is starved by poor cooking at home — their bodies crave substantial food, and they ignorantly stifle the craving with the poison of liquor. Let us have more of the French pot au feu. The French housewife begins to make this great dish of her people soon after breakfast on the day it is to be eaten. She puts the various things that go to make it gradually into the pot, attends to it throughout the day, keeps it simmering over a small fire, and when the good man comes in at night has it smoking hot, ready to dish in a hot bowl or deep platter. 36 THE HOME COOK BOOK On the first day she commonly serves it with shces of bread soaked in it; on the second day with rice, vermicelH, maca- roni, etc. And one more word as to the French housewife's process of making before we give full directions. In the way she goes at it, a great French cook says, she shows the most truly scientific knowledge. She first lays the meat in her pot and pours cold water to it in the proportion of about two quarts of water to three pounds of beef. She then places it upon the fire, where it becomes slowly, very slowly, hot. In this slow heating the heat enlarges the fibre of the meat, dis- solves the albuminoids and gelatinoids which it contains, and diffuses the savory or extractive parts of the meat through the water. From this one fact of bringing to boil slowly and boiling in the gentlest manner, a tasty, nutritious dish is ob- tained. If, however, the housewife had heated the water quickly the albumen of the meat would have been coagulated, the fibres shrunk, the savory parts not diffused, and the result would have been tasteless broth and tough, hard meat. Housewives, do remember this difference between slow heating and boiling and quick heating and boiling of meats. But now as to what to put into the dish. Let us tell it in homely, English terms. Cut up six pounds of good fresh beef — the shin or the leg or the neck will do — and over it pour four quarts of water. Set over the fire, skim as it warms and simmers, and add half a pound of liver cut in small pieces, a teaspoon of salt, and a dash of black pepper. Slice or cut in cubes two or three large carrots and add. Next put in four turnips peeled and quartered, then eight small onions peeled and sliced, two of them roasted, or all fried brown. Next a parsnip, split and sliced, with the pith removed, half a dozen potatoes peeled and quartered, and a head of celery cut in small pieces. Add also a bunch of sweet herbs cut small. Now if you have not all these vegetables take what you have or can get. Tomatoes are always an addition. Let the whole boil slowly and steadily five or six hours. In fact, BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 37 keep it just simmering, bubbling lazily. Serve as above indicated. In the directions given above the meat is cut up in pieces. This dish is also made with the beef cut in one large piece from the rump. When in one piece the beef is tied about with twine to keep it from boiling to pieces, but the making of the dish remains the same. Naturally you will then have a soup — it will not be so thick as with the meat cut in small pieces — and you will have a large piece of boiled beef, which you slice on a platter and serve with horseradish or any piquant sauce. If in making this dish you have beefsteak bones, chicken head or legs, add them, and their natural oils and flavors will increase the nourishing quality and tastiness of your dish. Instead of beef you may use mutton, venison, or buffalo. POTATO SOUP Boil in two quarts of water two small onions, four large or seven small potatoes, two or three stalks of celery cut in small pieces, and a sprig of thyme or parsley. When well cooked pass through a sieve and put back in the kettle. Mix smooth a tablespoon of flour and a piece of butter the size of an egg, stir up with a little of the hot soup and pour gradually into the soup. As it boils and thickens, season with salt and pepper to your taste. Lastly, stir in a cup or rhore of whipped cream and serve at once. RICE CREAM SOUP Wash and cook for ten minutes in a quart of boiling water half a cup of rice. Drain the rice, put it in a quart of milk in a double-boiler, cover tight and cook till soft, which will be in about twenty-five minutes. Fry two small onions in a tablespoon of butter. Put the rice and the onions through a sieve or colander, set them again to heat in the double-boiler, season to your taste with salt, cayenne, and celery seed, and serve hot with sippets. 38 THE HOME COOK BOOK SALMON SOUP Mix a tablespoon of butter and two tablespoons of flour and put in a saucepan to melt, adding also a teaspoon of salt, a dash of cayenne pepper and half a teaspoon of celery salt. Add this thickening to one quart of milk heated in a double- A Double-Boiler boiler. While all is slowly cooking together open a small can of salmon, mince the fish fine, free it from all bone and skin, and stir into the hot, thickened milk. Boil up and serve at once. SHRIMP GUMBO A LOUISIANA DISH Hull the raw shrimps. To one tablespoon of boiling beef dripping add two tablespoons of sifted flour. When browned, add one large minced onion and brown thor- oughly. Add one pint of raw shrimps. Brown, stirring constantly, taking care not to mash the shrimps. When half cooked, add two tablespoons of canned tomatoes, one clove of minced garlic, one bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, and summer savory, salt to taste, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Add one quart of beef tea, or water in which a chicken has been boiled. Water will do if you have not these. Boil until BOUILLONS, SOUPS, GUMBOS 3^ the shrimps are tender. Add a teaspoon of file powder before removing from the fire. Serve with plain boiled rice. SOUP STOCK Put a fifteen-cent neck bone and a ten-cent rose bone in a granite soup kettle. Pour over them six quarts of cold water. Stand the kettle on the back of the stove one hour. Then place it over a good fire. In about thirty minutes the scum will begin to rise and the water to steam. Now place over a moderate fire. Add one teacup of cold water and skim off all the scum. Cover the kettle closely, and set a weight on the cover. Let it simmer (not boil) four hours. Cut an onion in halves and stick twelve cloves in it. Slice another onion. Fry both a light brown in a little butter and add to the soup. Add one stalk of celery cut in pieces, three sprigs of parsley, two carrots cut in pieces, and one bay leaf. After adding these vegetables, let simmer one hour longer. Now strain the stock through a fine wire sieve. Add two tablespoons of salt, and stand in a ;cold place to cool. If kept in a warm place it will not make a nice jelly. When cold take off all the grease from the top. It is ready for use. Put it in a covered stone jar, and keep it in a cold place till used. FAST DAY TOMATO SOUP Slice three onions and fry them brown in their own juice in the bottom of the saucepan in which you make your soup. When the onions have fried pour over them a quart can of tomatoes well mashed, and a quart of boiling water. Cook all well together till the tomatoes are tender, then rub through a colander and put back in the saucepan. Add a cup of boiled rice, salt, and make of the thickness you wish with flour and butter worked smooth together, and in the proportion of one tablespoon of butter to one of flour. Simmer while the flour cooks, add a dash of pepper and serve hot with sippets fried in butter. 40 THE HOME COOK BOOK TURKEY SOUP. To use the remains of a turkey break up the carcass of the bird, keeping all the bones and skin, put in a pot and cover with cold water. Set on the back of the stove and let simmer for hours. Cover tight, but if the water boils low renew it. At night strain through a colander to get out the bones, and set to cool. Next day take ofif the hard fat on the top, put the jellied soup in a pot, stir in a cup of fresh milk when the soup is hot, and serve with a spoon of boiled rice. MEATLESS VEGETABLE SOUP Boil two tomatoes, two potatoes, one onion and one table- spoon of rice in one quart of water one hour. Season with salt, put through a sieve and serve hot with small rounds of toast. WHITE SOUP STOCK Take a shinbone of veal, weighing four pounds, and one small chicken. Add six quarts of cold water, one head of celery and two onions cut fine. Boil slowly four hours. Then add salt and pepper to taste, a piece of cinnamon and a piece of mace. After boiling strain ofif and allow to cool. This should make a solid jelly, and from it any kind of white soup or sauce can be made. OYSTERS AND CLAMS 41 IV OYSTERS AND CLAMS (SEE ALSO FOREGOING CHAPTER ON SOUPS) Baked Oysters— Creamed Oysters— Curried Oysters— Deviled Oysters— Oyster Fricassee —Fried Oysters— Oyster Jambolaya— Oysters or Clams a la Newburg— Oyster Pie- Clam Pie— Pig-s in Blankets— Scalloped Oysters— Toasted Oysters— Oysters on Toast or Canapes— Clam Toast— Oysters in White Blankets BAKED OYSTERS STIR over a moderate fire half a cup of butter and a cup of cream. Add a dash of cayenne, the grated yellow of a lemon-peel, and a few drops of Tabasco or old-fashioned pepper sauce. When the mixture simmers to the bub- bling point pour a third of it in the bottom of a baking dish, lay oysters in thickly, and sprinkle them with bread- crumbs and salt. Next pour in another third of the cream, and put in another thick layer of oysters with bread- crumbs and a little salt on top, and finally pour over your last third of the cream. Bake in a quick oven till thoroughly hot through and through. The cream on top will brown. CREAMED OYSTERS Heat two dozen oysters in their own liquor, seasoning with salt, cayenne, and also with white pepper, if liked. When the oysters fill out, strain. To this liquor add a cup of cream, and boil up and skim. Then stir in two tablespoons of butter creamed with two tablespoons of flour. As the cream thickens add a teaspoon of lemon-juice and the same quantity of celery salt. Lastly, put in the oysters which you have chopped. Let all boil up two minutes and serve. CURRIED OYSTERS Cook in their own juice a quart of oysters till their edges begin to curl. Then put in a tablespoon of butter blended with 42 THE HOME COOK BOOK a tablespoon of flour, a teaspoon of curry powder, salt to taste, and a dash of cayenne. Stir all together and serve at once when the flour has cooked and thickened. DEVILED OYSTERS Drain ofif their juice and chop coarse a pint of oysters. Take a heaping tablespoon of butter, a heaping tablespoon of flour, the yolk of an egg, mix and add salt and cayenne pepper to taste, and three-fourths of a cup of milk. Stir in the pint of oysters and a tablespoon of lemon- juice. Drop upon little individual dishes or shells, sprinkle with cracker or bread- Small Dish and Shell crumbs which have been seasoned with melted butter, and bake fifteen minutes in a hot oven. For ease and expedition set your small dishes or shells in a large pan when ready to go to the oven. OYSTER FRICASSEE Put a quart of oysters in their own liquor over the fire and let come to boil. Tip in a strainer and drain off the juice. Put butter the size of an egg in a saucepan, add two table- spoons of flour, mix well, and then add the oyster- juice and a cup of cream ; also salt and cayenne to taste. Beat the yolks of two eggs and add a full teaspoon of lemon- juice. Stir this into the cream, set again on the fire, add the oysters, heat, but do not boil, and serve hot. FRIED OYSTERS Select large fine oysters. Pour into a colander and drain oflf the liquor. Take them out and lay each one separately on a towel. Lay another towel over, and press gently to dry the OYSTERS AND CLAMS 43 oysters. Roll a quantity of soda crackers very fine and season carefully with salt and red pepper. Beat two or three eggs as needed, allowing to each egg one tablespoon of cold water. Dip each oyster separately, first into the egg, and then turn it over and over in the rolled cracker. Prepare all the oysters at one time in this way, and lay them on platters or plates. Have all ready before you begin to fry them. Put into a frying-pan (use two pans if you have many oysters to fry) half lard and half butter, only just enough to prevent the oysters from sticking. Have the fat hot. Put in only as many oysters as you can easily turn, and use both a knife and fork in turning them. When the oysters are a nice brown they are done. Take them out, and if you fry more oysters wash the frying-pan clean, and again put in fresh lard and butter. Oysters can be fried half an hour or hours before they are needed. Take the oysters from the frying-pan, lay them side by side (never one on top of another) in pans or on pie plates. Set them aside, resting one pan on the rim of another. Half an hour before serving set them in the oven and heat very hot. Serve on a hot dish. OYSTER JAMBOLAYA Proceed as for "Jambolaya," page 120, adding oysters in place of sausage or chicken. Use a little of the oyster- juice, but very little. The oysters must be drained very dry before adding. OYSTERS OR CLAMS A LA NEWBURG Oysters or clams may be prepared a la Newburg, fol- lowing the directions for lobster on page 50 and substituting either one you choose for the lobster. When you use clams take off the hard parts, chop fine, mix with the soft parts and use both together as )-ou use lobster meat. Turkey, chicken, and game, not forgetting sweetbread, may be treated as lobster and dressed a la Newburg. 44 THE HOME COOK BOOK OYSTER PIE Select good oysters. Put them in a colander to drain. Make a pie crust the same as for a fruit pie. Line a pie plate with a crust the same as for an ordinary sweet fruit pie. Season the oysters with salt and pepper before putting them on the pie plate. Mix through them, after they are on the pie plate (according to the size of the pie), eight or ten strips or more of the pastry, one inch long and a quarter of an inch wide, rolled thin. Cut in bits two teaspoons of butter and lay over the oysters. Cover with enough of the oyster liquor to moisten the oysters. Sprinkle flour over the top ; this, with the pastry pieces, will thicken the liquor. Roll a thick upper crust. Lay it double on the pie; turn the upper half over, and dip the knife in flour before trimming the edge of the pie. Cut open the centre with four strokes. Bake the pie until a light brown, and serve hot. [See illustration, Plate L] CLAM PIE Drain, and then cut in three pieces each clam of a quart of hardshell clams. Have at hand three good-sized boiled potatoes and two hard-boiled eggs. In a deep baking dish lay a plain pastry lining, and on the bottom put a layer of clams. Over the clams sprinkle powdered crackers and then put in a layer of slices of boiled potato and hard-boiled egg, salting and lightly dusting with pepper each layer. Alternate the layers till you have used your material. Lay on small pieces of butter. Add half a cup of clam- juice or water, put a pastry cover over the pie, cut holes in the centre for the escape of steam, and bake forty minutes to an hour in hot oven. PIGS IN BLANKETS Drain some large plump oysters, and salt and pepper them. Round each oyster wrap a thin slice of fat bacon, pinning the bacon with a wooden toothpick. Lay in a hot frying-pan and cook until the bacon is a crisp light brown. Lay upon small pieces of toasted white or graham bread and serve hot. OYSTERS AND CLAMS 45 SCALLOPED OYSTERS In a baking dish put a layer of oysters, either medium- sized or large. Over them drop a few small pieces of butter, and also sprinkle pepper and salt. Lay on fine breadcrumbs, and on them pour a little of the oyster liquor. Next put in oysters as above directed and then breadcrumbs as above directed. So fill the dish, covering the upper layer of the bread with pieces of butter. Bake twenty minutes in a hot oven, and serve hot. TOASTED OYSTERS Drain the oysters you wish to toast. Heat their liquor in a saucepan. In another hot saucepan drop the oysters and move them about till they curl and plump. Have hot buttered toast on a hot plate or platter. Lay the oysters on the toast, and over each slice pour the hot oyster liquor, which you have seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, and butter. Serve at once. OYSTERS ON TOAST OR CANAPES Chop two dozen large oysters and mix with a heaping tablespoon of fine breadcrumbs. Melt a heaping tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, add a cup of cream, half a teaspoon of salt and a dash of cayenne, and when all is hot tip in the oysters and breadcrumbs. Have ready four or five slices of bread cut in circles, fingers, or triangles, and fried a golden brown. The bread must not be too thin, say quarter of an inch thick. Put the bread in a hot dish and pour over it the oyster mixture. CLAM TOAST Cut ofH the soft part of two dozen clams and simmer in only enough water to cover. When they have cooked thus twenty or thirty minutes, add a cup of milk into which you have stirred smooth a tablespoon of flour. Let this boil up and the flour thicken, and then stir in a beaten egg. Take 46 THE HOME COOK BOOK from the fire, add a dash of cayenne, and pour over toast which you have just toasted hot and buttered. OYSTERS IN WHITE BLANKETS Use soft, finely-mashed potato and make thin cakes. Cover a cake with an oyster, or if one oyster is not large enough use more than one. Put over the oyster another cake of the same size, pinch together the edges of the cakes, lay in a hot pan well oiled with oil, butter, or sweet drippings, and bake till the potato is a light brown. LOBSTERS, CRABS, SHRIMPS 47 V LOBSTERS, CRABS, SHRIMPS Signs of a Good Lobster — Boiling— Preparing— Lobster Baked in the Shell— Lobster Salad in Tomato Ring — Lobster Croquettes — Lobster Melon— Lobster Cutlets — Deviled Lobster— Lobster a la Newburg— Broiled Soft-Shell Crabs on Toast-^ Creamed Shrimps IT has been said that the first person who ate a lobster must have been either starving or exceedingly brave ; for there is but one other shellfish as forbidding in appearance as the lobster, and that is the crab. Within this uninviting exterior is a delicious white-and- pink flesh, the like of which can hardly be equaled. When broiled and served with hot butter sauce, seasoned with lemon- juice, and garnished with crisp greens, it is delicious. The lobster season extends from March to November. One can, of course, procure lobsters during all seasons, but, like oysters, they have their time, and out of season they are stringy and lack delicate flavor. SIGNS OF A GOOD LOBSTER Always reject a dead lobster; that is, do not buy an un- boiled lobster which is lifeless, as they are unwholesome. When buying ready-boiled lobsters their freshness can be de- termined by the tail, which should be curled tightly under and when drawn out spring quickly back into place. Unless it does this the lobster was boiled when dead and should be rejected. When buying a live lobster see that it is lively when touched. BOILING For boiling a lobster have a deep kettle with enough water to entirely cover the lobster. When the water becomes hot 48 THE HOME COOK BOOK take the lobster by the back and put it in head first; cover tight. When the water boils put in one tablespoon of salt and boil steadily for thirty minutes. PREPARING When cooked and cooled, twist off the claws and legs ; break the tail apart from the body; remove the green sub- stance, which is the fat, and considered the tid-bit by epi- cures, and also the coral, the fine pink eggs. The stomach lies directly under the head and should be removed and thrown away; also the woolly gills. Now pick out all the small pieces of meat which lie under the gills. Crack the claws and remove the meat. Cut the legs open with a pair of scissors and remove the meat. With a pointed, sharp knife or scissors cut open the tail, inside ; re- move the meat in one piece; then open it and take out the one intestine which runs the entire length of the creature. The meat is now ready to be served in any way preferred. LOBSTER BAKED IN THE SHELL Cut the meat into small pieces. Have ready three hard- boiled eggs. In a saucepan place two tablespoons of butter. iWhen melted, stir in two heaping tablespoons of flour and continue stirring until well mixed. Now add one pint of hot milk and stir until thick and smooth. Remove from the fire, and add one teaspoon of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoon of paprika, one teaspoon of lemon- juice, the lobster meat, the eggs chopped very fine. Fill the shell. Cover with fine cracker-crumbs mixed with a little butter. Set in a hot oven to brown. Serve with half-sHces of lemon. [See illustration, Plate II.] LOBSTER SALAD IN TOMATO RING Cut the lobster in small cubes and to each cup add half a cup of crisp, tender celery cut in thin slices. Mix with a mayonnaise in which fold one cup of whipped cream. LOBSTERS, CRABS, SHRIMPS 49 Boil the contents of a two-pound can of tomatoes with one bay leaf, twelve peppercorns, six sprigs of parsley, one onion, one teaspoon of celery salt, half a teaspoon of paprika for twenty minutes; then strain. Add to the liquid two table- spoons of gelatine, stir until dissolved, then turn into a ring mold. Set on ice to chill ; then dip into warm water for an instant, invert on a plate, and the firm jelly will slip out un- broken. Now heap the salad in the centre, and garnish with the legs and under part of large claws, surrounding with parsley or cress. [See illustration, Plate 11. ] LOBSTER CROQUETTES Prepare the white sauce as given in the directions above, seasoning with the pepper, salt, and lemon- juice, omitting the hard-boiled eggs, but adding one raw egg with the lobster meat. Spread on a shallow, buttered pan to cool. Then form into balls, a tablespoon of the mixture in each, by rolling between the palms. Coat with fine breadcrumbs, then dip into raw egg yolk seasoned with salt and pepper. Roll into very fine breadcrumbs again and drop into a kettle of deep, smoking-hot fat. When a delicate brown, remove and drain on unglazed paper. Place on a folded napkin, and garnish with watercress and the legs. [See illustration, Plate IIL] LOBSTER MELON Cook half a cup of milk and half a cup of breadcrumbs together. Add one and a half cups of lobster meat, chopped very fine ; one teaspoon of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoon of paprika, one tablespoon of sherry, the stiffly beaten whites of three eggs. Line a melon mold, well buttered, with this mixture. Cut the tails of two lobsters into small cubes; fill the cavity in the mold and pour into this one cup of the white sauce, to which add the yolks of two eggs and one whole egg well beaten. Stand the mold in warm water and bake until firm. Unmold, garnish with watercress or parsley, and place the lobster head in centre of top. [See illustration, Plate IIL] 3 Vol. 2 60 THE HOME COOK BOOK LOBSTER CUTLETS For this dish canned lobster may be used. Open the can, at once tip out the contents, pouring away the Hquor. Chop the meat in small pieces. To the meat add an equal measure of breadcrumbs. Season with salt, lemon- juice, and cayenne, and moisten with milk until pasty enough to mold into cutlet form. Then dip the cutlets into a mixture of egg and breadcrumbs, and fry till a light brown in deep hot fat. Lay to drain for a moment upon brown paper and serve hot. DEVILED LOBSTER The foregoing receipt may be used for deviled lobster with the following variation in the cooking. When you have made the lobster ready for cooking, instead of forming it into cutlets lay it in individual dishes, put breadcrumbs upon it, pour melted butter over it, and bake in a quick oven until the bread- crimibs are a crisp brown. LOBSTER A LA NEWBURG Melt a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan or chafing-dish, and then stir in half a tablespoon of flour. After these are blended add gradually a cup of cream and see that it is well mixed in. When the cream is steaming and smooth stir in two pounds of lobster meat cut in small pieces, and when this is thoroughly heated through add a teaspoon of salt, quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne, and two tablespoons of sherry. Stir once more thoroughly, add the beaten yolks of two eggs, put in hot dish and serve immediately. BROILED SOFT-SHELL CRABS ON TOAST Choose crabs of good size, wash and clean them carefully. Then brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and lay over a hot fire on a broiler. Broil five minutes on one side, then turn and broil the other side five minutes. Have ready small pieces of white bread nicely browned and hot. LOBSTERS, CRABS, SHRIMPS 51 Lay a ;crab on each piece of bread, and drop upon it a tea- spoon of maitre d'hotel sauce and a silce of lemon. Serve hot and at once, CREAMED SHRIMPS Mince a small onion and brown it in a saucepan with two tablespoons of butter. Stir in three tablespoons of cold boiled rice, three tablespoons of cream, and a cup of fresh or canned shrimps. Cook a minute, add a dash of tomato catsup and a tablespoon of tomato sauce, stir in and serve hot. 52 THE HOME COOK BOOK VI FRESH FISH Buying Fish— Cooking— Baking — Boiling— Broiling— Planking— Accompanying Dishes — To Bake Fish— Bread Forcemeat for Baked Fish — Potato Forcemeat for Baked Fish —Veal Stuffing for Baked Fish— Baked Fish with Oyster Dressing— To Boil Fish- Sauce for Boiled Fish— To Broil Fish— Planked Fish— Scalloped Fish— Steamed Fish — Creamed Cod or Halibut — Creamed Frogs' Legs— Fried Frogs' Legs — Fried Filets of Halibut — Court Bouillon — Kegaree— Baked Mackerel — Mackerel with Vinegar— Fast-Day Pie — Cream Fast-Day Pie— Boiled Red Snapper— Fried Roe— Salmon Croquettes— Salmon with White Sauce— Cold Salmon with Vinegar— Fried Smelts —Fried Brook Trout BUYING FISH THERE is no better lesson on how to choose fish than this: if it is possible in your own neighborhood, or while vacationing in summer, go to see a fishing boat empty its gleaming cargo on the wharf and make an individual study of that cargo. Learn to know the earmarks — not only those called St. Peter's on a haddock, but the signs of perfect fresh- ness on all fish. Do not be afraid of touching them ; fresh smelts have the fragrance of violets, and every fish has a wholesome smell. Turn them over, examine them closely. "An eye like a dead fish" refers to a fish which has lain for weeks in cold storage, not to one just from the water. It will have eyes as full and almost as clear as any living crea- ture. Notice the gills ; they will be beautifully red, the fins will be stiff, the scales shining, and the flesh so firm that it springs right back after the finger has been pressed into it. One can not expect, especially if one's home is some distance from the ocean or the great lakes, to find in market fish as superlatively fresh as when lifted straight from the net. Still, to be fit for human food they should not have lost much of their beauty. The signs to avoid are limp fins, dull eyes, pale, liver-colored gills, flesh in which you leave a dent by an im- pression of the finger, streaks of gray or yellow in the skin and FRESH FISH §3 flesh, and the slightest symptom of a disagreeable odor. If you have to make the choice between salt pork and a fish of this description, choose salt pork ; it is infinitely more health- ful ; it does not contain a possibility of poisoning. When pur- chasing halibut or swordfish, where the head and fins have been removed, the test is pearly white or shining gray skin, firm flesh, and a good odor. It is an excellent rule never to buy fish which is out of season. If you want bluefish in Feb- ruary or shad in November, you can probably obtain it — a fish dealer will produce almost anything from his refrigerator at any time of the year — but you may rest assured it has known a repose of months in cold storage. If not really dangerous to eat, it will be flabby, it will go to pieces before it is cooked and be lacking in flavor. It is an excellent plan to post one's self thoroughly on the fish which is in season all the year round, and purchase that according to the month. A dealer will as- sure you that fish which has been packed in ice ten days is in as excellent condition as when fresh caught. I should say seven or eight days is the limit. After that time it will begin to lose its beautiful mother-of-pearl sheen. Although the old theory that fish is brain food has been exploded, the brain-worker will find what he most requires in a bountiful diet of fish. It is digestible food which is not over- stimulating or over-nutritive. Both the poet and the preacher will do better work on a dinner of broiled bluefish than on rare roast beef. Salmon, mackerel, and eels, which are exceed- ingly oily, are an exception to the digestible rule. They should be severely let alone by people of weak stomachs, while white- fish may be classed as the most digestible of all fish. The shimmering array on a market stall is alluring and confusing, and the fish dealer is apt to be persuasive. It is no economy to be inveigled into buying a five-pound bluefish when two pounds of halibut would have fed your family. Fish left over can be utilized nicely in many ways, as the following pages will show, but it is better not to have any; in summer, cold fish has not remarkable keeping qualities. Decide when you order a fish how you will cook it. The fish dealer can 54 THE HOME COOK BOOK prepare it for planking or broiling better than you can. The cheapest fish is not always the most economical. Five pounds of cod will contain about two pounds of waste in the shape of skin, head, tail, and bone, while two pounds of halibut is solid fish with scarcely an ounce of waste. COOKING The cooking of fish depends very largely on taste, for va- rious methods apply frequently and most appetizingly to the same fish. Take halibut, for instance. It may be baked, broiled, fried or boiled, and be quite as delicious in one way as another. This rule is also true of cod, haddock, and nearly every kind of white-fleshed fish. What a cook or a fish dealer calls dark fish — this class contains bluefish, mackerel, herring, salmon, eels, and shad — are best suited for broiling, baking, or planking. They contain so much oil distributed through the flesh that it requires a dry, intense heat to make them palatable. Salmon is an exception to this rule, being at its best when boiled. An old saying declares, "Small fish should swim twice — once in water, once in oil." It is a good proverb for the cook to remember, because it applies well to every tiny fish. Smelts, brook trout, perch, whitebait, catfish, sun- fish, bullheads, and everything in small finny things, partly for the preservation of the small amount of meat on their bones, should be carefully stripped, cleaned, egged, crumbed, and fried. Sometimes these small fish are sauted, but they are not so good nor so wholesome as when they "swim in oil." BAKING When baking halibut pour milk over and around it before setting it in the oven. It keeps the fish moist, improves the flavor, and makes it brown more thoroughly. BOILING In boiling, if you have no fish kettle, improvise one. Line a wire basket with a cloth, allowing the linen to fall over the FRESH FISH 55 edges ; put in the fish, coiling- it sHghtly if it is large, and drop the basket in the boihng water. This is an easier method for lifting it out whole than if set right in the kettle. In spite of careful watching, a fish will occasionally break in the boiling. Do not try to patch it together into an un- sightly heap of skin, bones, and meat. Flake it quickly and lay in good-sized portions on a large platter. Garnish with mashed potato, and over the fish pour a sauce. This trans- forms an almost hopeless failure into a most attractive dish. BROILING An oily fish, such as mackerel or bluefish, needs no enrich- ment of fat before broiling; a white-fleshed fish does. If it is cut in steaks, saturate it wath oil or melted butter and a good seasoning of pepper and salt, then put between the wires of the broiler. Lay the thickest end in the centre of the broiler over the hottest part of the fire, skin side up. Let it get perfectly crisp and brown on the flesh side before turning. Broil the skin side very carefully; it is apt to burn. Set it in a hot oven for five minutes to thoroughly finish the cooking. An iron fish sheet, with rings at each end for handles, may be made by any tinsmith for twenty-five cents. Grease it well before setting the fish to cook and lay under it strips of salt pork ; then set it in a baking-pan. You will find it very easy to slip a baked fish from this sheet on to a platter. PLANKING The fish which plank to perfection are shad, whitefish, mackerel, bluefish, red snapper, and pompano. There are a number of real advantages to this method of cooking; it is so easy, it may be done in any hot oven of a coal or gas stove ; the wood imparts a flavor to the fish which can be obtained in no other way. Then there is no difficult task of sliding it from a broiler or hake-pan to the platter, because it is the proper thing to send the plank straight to the table laid on a folded towel. If you have to prepare a fish yourself for 56 THE HOME COOK BOOK planking, remember it must be cut down the back instead of down the stomach, the thin portion of the flesh going on the middle of the plank. ACCOMPANYING DISHES Fish of all sorts require the accompaniment of a starch food to make a well-balanced meal ; it may be bread, rice, potatoes or macaroni. TO BAKE FISH Free the fish from scales, and draw it from the gills. Wash it in a quick bath in cold water and lay it in an en- ameled baking-pan. For its stuffing see directions following. Bread Grater. (Also used for Corn, Cheese, and Cocoanut. ) Pour in enough boiling water to cover the bottom of the baking-pan, dust the fish with pepper, sprinkle with salt, lay on a tablespoon of butter, and bake in a quick oven. Baste often and keep hot water supplied to the baking-pan. For a large fish allow from one to two hours ; for small fish, from thirty minutes to an hour. When done push carefully from the pan to a hot platter, garnish with slices of lemon, and serve with drawn butter, white sauce, or some of the sauces found on pages 141 to 147. FRESH FISH 57 BREAD FORCEMEAT FOR BAKED FISH Moisten breadcrumbs enough to fill and plump out th-e fish, and season with salt, pepper, butter, and minced onion. Add fat salt port chopped fine in the proportion of a heaping tablespoon of the chopped pork to one cup of breadcrumbs. Mix all together well, fill the inside of the fish, sew or tie the fish together, and bake as under directions for baked fish. POTATO FORCEMEAT FOR BAKED FISH Peel and boil a quart of potatoes. When cooked chop coarsely. Add three good-sized onions finely minced and browned in a tablespoon of butter. Add, if you have it, two tablespoons of minced parsley. Season with half a teaspoon of salt and a little pepper. Stir in quarter of a cup of butter when you have all the ingredients well mixed, and put inside your fish. If you have any stuffing left over, lay it in a corner of the pan in which the fish is bakedv VEAL STUFFING FOR BAKED FISH Mix a cup of finely chopped cooked v^eal and a cup of breadcrumbs, wet with water and squeeze dry. Add half as much finely chopped salt pork as you have veal. Mix all together, add the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper to taste, and stir in a beaten egg. Stuff the fish, sew or tie it together, and bake according to directions for baked fish. BAKED FISH WITH OYSTER DRESSING A LOUISIANA RECEIPT Use a four-pound fish; any nice firm-meated fish, such as bluefish, redfish, whitefish, or red snapper, may be used. Fry one minced onion in a tablespoon of butter, add one teacup of cracker-crumbs, one teaspoon of salt, one minced garlic clove, one tablespoon of tomato- juice, a pinch of red pepper, and half a teaspoon of thyme. Brown and mix well. Add two dozen drained and chopped oysters. Brown until quite 68 THE HOME COOK BOOK dry. With this stuff the body and head of the fish, sewing the sides of the fish together to keep the dressing in. Dust with flour and lay in the baking-pan. Lay some sHces of fresh tomatoes over the fish, also four thin sHces of bacon. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over, and also sprinkle over a little salt and cayenne pepper. Bake half an hour in a medium heat^ basting with tomato- juice. Serve with icrisp, white lettuce and mayonnaise or French dressing. TO BOIL FISH In getting a fish ready to cook, scale it, draw it, and souse it quickly in cold water. Have ready a kettle holding enough boiling water to cover the fish. Tie the fish in a square of cheesecloth to keep it from dropping apart, and slip into the boiling water. Allow twenty minutes of boiling for each pound when it is a cut from a large fish of the cod or halibut kind ; when the fish is small, or long and whole, allow about ten minutes. When the fish is nearly done add salt. Take it from the pot, slip it from the cheesecloth on a hot platter, and serve with some one of the fish sauces found on pages 141 to 147. In washing the cheesecloth in which the fish was cooked, do not use soap. Wash first in cool water and then in hot till perfectly clean. Dry, fold, and lay aside for next using. SAUCE FOR BOILED FISH Make a drawn butter of two heaping tablespoons of butter and two heaping tablespoons of flour, blended together. Put this in a small saucepan. Pour over it hot water to dissolve, add more warm water until you have one pint. Salt to taste. Set this in another saucepan with a small quantity of hot water in it. Stir constantly as the water underneath boils, and let it boil slowly. Raise it from the under saucepan now and then, and stir hard to prevent lumping. Return it to the water. Do this until the sauce is thick enough to pour easily. It must be perfectly smooth. Take it from the fire, FRESH FISH 59 and add gradually the yolks of two beaten eggs, the juice of half a lemon, a teaspoon of onion- juice, and a tablespoon of chopped parsley. Serve hot. TO BROIL FISH Have your bluefish, trout, mackerel, shad, or whatever fish you have chosen well cleaned of scales, drawn and split down the back. Souse it for a second in clear cold water, have ready a hot broiler, rub the broiler with suet, and lay on the fish. Present first to the fire the flesh, or inside, of the fish, and when that is seared crisp so the juices will stay in, turn and sear the skin side. Now turn the fish from side to side frequently, and continue the broiling till done. Have ready a hot platter, salt the fish just before taking from the broiler, lay on the hot platter, spread on the fish a few pieces of butter, add thin slices of lemon and serve. PLANKED FISH Fish may be planked before a coal fire, but the broiling- oven of a gas stove is more excellent for this sort of cooking. First have your plank of hard, smooth wood. It must be of a size to go easily in your oven; the corners had best be rounded oflf smoothly. Make ready your succulent shad, or indeed whatever fish you choose, by scaling, drawing, split- ting down the back, and a quick, cold plunge, and upon the heated plank lay the fish. Its skin side must be against the board. Set under the broiler, and cook quickly for the first five minutes, more slowly afterward. As the broiling goes on, baste the fish with boiling hot water slightly salted. When it is done, which ought to be, unless it is very thick, in from twelve to seventeen minutes, draw the plank from the oven, set it on a hot platter or a napkin, spread v^ith butter, garnish with thin slices or quarters of lemon and parsley, and serve — the fish on the board and all on the platter or napkin. A word should be added about the care of the plank on which the fish is cooked. Do not wash it with soap. Scour 60 THE HOME COOK BOOK it clean, wash it with boiling water, dry it perfectly, treat it carefully and keep it long, for an old board, that is one upon which fish have been planked, is better than a new one for cooking. SCALLOPED FISH Pick in small pieces two pounds of cold boiled fish. Make a cream by heating a pint of milk and mixing in quarter of a cup of flour and a scant teacup of butter. When the milk thickens season with salt, pepper, thyme, and chopped parsley, and if your taste directs also with a minced onion. Take at once from the fire, and as the ;cream cools stir in the beaten yolks of four eggs. Have a buttered baking dish, and put in a layer of the cream, then a layer of the fish, then of cream, and then of fish, so alternating till the top layer of cream is reached. On the top layer put grated cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake in a moderate oven about forty minutes. STEAMED FISH Have about a two-and-a-half-pound fish, cod or halibut, mashed very fine and raw. Season to your taste with salt, pepper, and onion- juice. Add three eggs beaten together, three tablespoons of flour, and milk enough to moisten. Put the fish in a mold and steam two hours. For a sauce to eat with this fish, follow the directions for a cream sauce. Season the sauce highly with cayenne, and add boiled lobster cut in small bits. CREAMED COD OR HALIBUT Take boiled cod or halibut left from another meal and kept cold. Pick it to pieces, and take out all the bones and skin. To the proportion of about half a pound of the fish take a tablespoon of butter and the same quantity of flour. In a saucepan over a moderate fire stir the butter and flour together, add half a [cup of milk and a pinch of salt, and when the whole boils up a dash of pepper. Stir in the FRESH FISH 61 fish, heat slowly, and put in a hot dish, setting halves of hard-boiled eggs round the edge. CREAMED FROGS' LEGS Use the hind legs. Separate the legs at the joint. Drop in boiling salted water, and cook three minutes. Remove and simmer in enough milk to cover till the meat is thoroughly cooked and tender. Salt and pepper the milk to taste, and thicken with flour, adding enough butter or thick cream to give richness to the dish, in the proportion of a tablespoon of butter to four sets of legs. FRIED FROGS' LEGS Use only the hind legs. Drop them in salted boiling water, and let them boil three or four minutes. Drain and wipe dry. Have a plate of rolled cracker and a plate of eggs beaten a little. Dip the frogs' legs in the egg, then in the rolled cracker. Drop in boiling oil, lard, or butter, and fry a delicate brown. Serve hot. FRIED FILETS OF HALIBUT Choose for halibut to be fried a slice about one and a half inches thick. Cut into your filets, removing carefully the skin and bone. Wipe each piece with a bit of damp cheese- cloth and then dry. Sprinkle with pepper and salt and roll in flour. Dip in egg, then in crumbs, fry in deep fat and drain on brown paper. COURT BOUILLON A NEW ORLEANS RECEIPT Have one tablespoon of boiling drippings in a deep casse- role. In this brown one tablespoon of flour. Add one minced onion, two large boiled potatoes quartered, one teacup of canned tomatoes, a pinch of thyme, a teaspoon of minced parsley, a tablespoon of chopped celery, one clove of minced 62 THE HOME COOK BOOK garlic, half a teaspoon of salt, and one minced red pepper- pod. Allow these to simmer, and add one pound of white halibut, sliced in steaks. Simmer half an hour. Add one teacup of hot water to thin the gravy a bit. When ready to Casserole serve, add one glass of claret. Serve, putting the fish on thin toast and pouring the gravy round. Halibut is mentioned, but any white-meated fish cut in slices may be used. KEGAREE Pick up cold fish, or one Lake Erie whitefish. Add the same quantity of cold boiled rice, two to four soft-boiled eggs, salt to taste, a dash of cayenne pepper and a dash of mustard. Mix well together, fry in butter, like an omelet, till a delicate brown, and serve on a hot platter. BAKED MACKEREL Have the fish cleaned and split, and head and tail cut ofif. Lay it flat in a dripping-pan which has been rubbed with drippings. Pour over the fish a cup of fresh milk, and then sprinkle it with salt, pepper, and a few small bits of butter. Bake in a hot oven about half an hour — judge ex- actly by its brown, flattened, "dull" appearance. Lay the fish on a hot platter and pour over it the hot milk in which it was cooked. FRESH FISH 63 MACKEREL WITH VINEGAR A JEWISH DISH Cut off the heads and tails of the mackerel, clean and wash them. Lay in an earthen baking dish, adding whole pepper, cloves, allspice, and bay leaves to your taste in season- ing, and pouring over the fish equal quantities of water and vinegar almost to cover. Bake in a moderate oven till thor- oughly done, which will be in about an hour. FAST-DAY PIE Take what you have left of cold sole or haddock or cod- fish, take out all the bones, chop or cut in fine pieces, and pound the fish, with bits of butter strewed over it plentifully. Add and pound in a teaspoon of French mustard, a trifle of garlic, a raw onion, and a dash of vinegar. Put in an enamel pie or pudding dish, cover with mashed potato, and cook in a quick oven till the potato is browned over the top. CREAM FAST-DAY PIE For this pie you may boil the fish with salt or take what you have left of codfish, haddock, bass or any fish not too oily. Take out skin and bones, chop or cut the fish in small ■pieces. Then set over to boil a pint of cream or very rich milk, and when this is hot stir in two small tablespoons of flour dissolved in milk, a grated onion, and a teaspoon of salt. Butter a deep enamel dish, and put in a layer of the diced fish, then one of the cream sauce. Alternate the layers of fish and cream sauce till you have used up your material, bring- ing the cream layer the topmost. Lay on a few grated bread- crumbs, dust pepper over the dish, and bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour. This pie may be made richer by adding bits of butter to the fish as the layers are put in the dish. BOILED RED SNAPPER Clean and scale a fresh red snapper that weighs five or six pounds. Wash it in cold water. Wrap it in a cloth and ^ THE HOME COOK BOOK lay it in a fish boiler. Cover it with cold water, to which add one tablespoon of salt. When it comes to boil, set on a part of the stove where it will just bubble, and no more. Upon no account let the water boil. Simmer it in this way forty-five minutes. When done, take it carefully out of the cloth, and la}- it on a hot platter, and serve. To be eaten with sauce directed for boiled fish. FRIED ROE Wash the roe dry with a cloth, roll in corn meal, salt and pepper, and fry in hot fat till a light brown. Serve with slices of lemon. SALMON CROQUETTES Take a one-pound can of salmon, pick out all the bones, and strain the juice, and save it. Chop the salmon fine, and add one teacup of stale breadcrumbs, one beaten egg, and salt and red pepper to taste. Wet the salmon with the liquor, mix well, and have it just moist enough to make into oblong croquettes. Beat one egg, with one tablespoon of cold water. Roll crackers fine, and season with salt and red pepper. Dip the croquettes first in the egg and then in the crackers. Fry in a frying-pan, with just enough hot lard to keep them from sticking. If not needed at once, the croquettes can be warmed over by putting them in a covered pan in the oven. SALMON WITH WHITE SAUCE Take cold boiled salmon, or, if you use the canned salmon, slip it from its can and heat in a saucepan with its own oil. Make a white sauce like that described on page 147, season the sauce with lemon- juice, with pepper sauce, or with Worcestershire as your taste directs. Lay the hot salmon ort a hot platter, cover it with the white sauce, lay round the edge of the dish slices of hard-boiled eggs and sliced lemon, and serve. FRESH FISH «35 COLD SALMON WITH VINEGAR Take one-pound can of salmon, pick out all the bones, strain off the liquor, and do not use it. Chop the salmon very fine, season with salt and red pepper, and add the yolk of one hard-boiled egg rubbed fine. Mix all together and beat with enough drawn butter to allow it to mold. Mold to shape in teacups. Set in a cold place to stiffen. When eating slice it across, beginning at the top, and eat with a little vinegar. This is very delicate. FRIED SMELTS Wash the smelts, split and clean them, and cut away fins and gills. Roll in a mixture of pepper, salt, and fine bread- crumbs, dip in oil and roll again in the breadcrumbs. Put the tail in the mouth and pin together with a wooden tooth- pick. Put a few at a time in the frying-basket, plunge into Frying-Basket hot fat, and fry till they are a crisp brown. When all are fried, put together in the frying-basket, plunge once more into the hot fat, and serve on a hot platter with lemon quar- ters and a tartare sauce. If you serve with the wooden skewers they must be small and out of sight. If they are large, draw them out. FRIED BROOK TROUT Clean, wipe quickly with cold water, and dry the trout. Split to the tail. Put salt, a dash of pepper, and a sprinkle of flour over them. In a frying-pan put salt pork cut in small pieces, or, if you have not pork, use equal quantities of butter (56 THE HOME COOK BOOK and lard. When your pork fries out, and the fat is hot, take out the pork and put in the fish. Fry quickly a delicate brown, turning two or three times. Put on a very hot platter, lay on the crisp pieces of the pork, and send to the table still sizzling. With these delicate fish never serve any sauce or relish, for the same reason one can not add a perfume to the rose. SALT FISH 67 VII S A L T F I S H Soaking Salt Fish— Baked Salt Cod— Codfish Balls— Creamed Salt Cod— Drawn Butter Salt Cod— Picked Salt Cod— Salt Codfish Pie— Toasted Salt Cod— Salt Cod with Tomato Sauce — Boiled Finnan Haddie— Broiled Smoked Herring — Salt Mackerel with Milk Sauce — Broiled Salt Mackerel SOAKING SALT FISH DO NOT soak salt mackerel for next day's breakfast in warm water, or too long. By bad soaking the fish is sometimes spoiled, made flabby and tasteless, and voted a fail- ure, when if properly treated it would be appetizing. Use cold water, or, if milk is plenty with you, cold milk, and keep while soaking in a cool place. [See illustration, Plate IV.] BAKED SALT COD 'Mix a cup of salt codfish picked up fine with twice its quantity of mashed potatoes. Add a pint of milk or cream, and then stir in two well-beaten eggs and half a cup of but- ter. Taste and see if the dish will not be salt enough with- out adding salt. Stir in a dash of cayenne, and put in a baking dish and bake half an hour in a moderate oven. CODFISH BALLS Codfish balls may be made in simpler fashion by using one cup of soft-boiled potatoes, mashed while hot and fresh into half a cup of shredded codfish. Fish and potato should be well mashed together, seasoned with a tablespoon of butter and a beaten egg, dropped into a pan or kettle of boiling hot lard and fried till a delicate brown. When lifted from 68 THE HOME COOK BOOK the fat they should drain a moment on brown paper and go to the table hot. A longer process for the making of the balls — and some claim a better one — is to soak a piece of salt codfish for seven or eight hours in cold water, changing the water once or twice. Then shred the fish, let it cook gently till tender, and put it through a sieve before adding it to hot potatoes. CREAMED SALT COD In the preparation for freshening the fish, proceed as di- rected in the receipt just before, or use the shredded cod bought at grocers'. For a cup of codfish take a pint of fresh milk, and heat in a saucepan over a moderate fire. When the milk be- comes hot stir in two tablespoons of flour wetted with half a cup of cold milk. Stir constantly, that the milk may not scorch, and cook till the flour thickens. Stir in two beaten eggs as you take the creamed fish from the fire. Pour on a hot platter, drop over it tiny lumps of butter, add a dash of pepper, and serve. DRAWN BUTTER SALT COD Cut three-quarters of a pound of nice w'hite codfish. Lay it overnight in cold water enough to cover it. If required for a late dinner, put it to soak in the morning. Pour off half the water and add more fresh water to cover it. Boil until tender, which will be about fifteen minutes. After boiling five minutes taste. If too salt, pour off all the water, add more, and finish boiling. When done, pick out all the bones, and chop fine. Boil and mash potatoes, have nothing with them but a little salt. Add to the chopped fish as much potato as you have fish, and half as much more when mixed together, season with red pepper, and salt to taste, making it slightly hot with the pepper, and enough salt to give it a salt fish flavor, though not too salt. To this add one beaten egg, and enough drawn butter to wet it up, rather stiff. SALT FISH 69 Serve very hot with drawn butter, made as follows: Take two heaping tablespoons of butter and two heaping table- spoons of flour, and mash together in a small saucepan. Set in another saucepan which has a little water in it. Pour over the mixed butter enough warm water to dissolve it. Add more water to make three-quarters of a pint. Add salt to taste. Boil the water in the under saucepan slowly. Stir constantly to prevent lumping, and as it thickens now and then raise the upper saucepan from the water and stir hard that it may be perfectly smooth. When done, let it stand away from the fire, in the water, to keep hot — and cover to avoid a scum forming on top. Have two or three cold hard-boiled eggs. Slice and lay them on a separate small plate. When the fish is served to each person, put on the plate with it two slices of egg, and over the egg and fish pour drawn but- ter. Add also a sprinkle^of red pepper, if wished. This is a very nice and delicate way of preparing salt codfish. PICKED SALT COD Put into a crock, and cover with cold water, three-quarters of a pound of salt codfish. Soak this overnight. If wanted for a late meal put it to soak in the morning. At the end of the time pour off half the water and add enough more cold water to cover it. Boil five minutes, and taste. If too salt, pour off more water, and add fresh warm water to cover it. Taste again. The flavor should be that of salt fish, but not too salt. Boil until tender, which will be about fifteen min- utes. When done, pour off the water, pick out the bones, and break the fish into pieces little less in size than the bowl of a teaspoon. Place the fish in a granite saucepan and cover it with cold milk. Season with salt if necessary, and red pepper to taste. Having been salted, the fish will require little. Add one beaten egg, and one tablespoon and a half of flour dissolved in cold water. Stir all together. Set the saucepan in another saucepan with hot water in it. As the water boils the milk will gradually thicken. Stir constantly, and when it is creamy and moderately thick it is done. Add at this time 70 THE HOME COOK BOOK two teaspoons of butter, and stir it through until melted. Move it from the hot part of the stove and leave it standing in the hot water to keep warm. Cover it until ready to serve. SALT CODFISH PIE Make a crust by sifting together four cups of flour, three heaping teaspoons of baking powder and a teaspoon of salt. Mix in half a cup of drippings or lard, and add milk till you have a soft dough — it will probably take about a pint of milk. Roll out, and for the upper crust roll in a little butter. Line a deep baking dish with the crust. Freshen some picked-up codfish by pouring tepid water over it and letting it stand five minutes, then draining. Put on the baking dish bottom .crust a layer of the codfish, sprinkle with cracker or bread crumbs, lay next some bits of butter, and spread a cream sauce made by thickening a pint of boiling milk with two tablespoons of flour. Next break three or four uncooked eggs on the cream, salting and peppering the eggs. Make the next layer of the codfish, and proceed as directed in the layers till you have used your material and have a full dish. Lay on the top crust, slit its centre two or three times and bake the pie about three-quarters of an hour till the icrust is a delicate brown. TOASTED SALT COD Tear the fisb in thin strips and freshen by standing in tepid water five minutes. Press the strips on a cloth to dry them and then broil a light brown over a fire. Lay on a hot platter and spread each strip with butter. SALT COD WITH TOMATO SAUCE Pick about half a poimd of salt cod in small pieces and freshen it by letting it stand five minutes in enough tepid wa- ter to cover it. Or take the shredded codfish bought in pack- ages and ready for use — although you may find it a little too salt without freshening by rinsing in cold water. Grate or SALT FISH 71 chop an onion fine, add it to half a cup of melted butter and two tablespoons of flour. Brown onion, butter and flour to- gether, add pepper to your taste, and a cup of tomatoes cooked and beaten or put through a strainer till they form a smooth pulp. Cook together. Press the water from your cod, and when the sauce boils stir it in. Serve hot. BOILED FINNAN HADDIE In choosing the fish be sure its preservation is good. Not infrequently it may be found bad in some part. Wash and skin and lay in cold water enough to cover. Set over a fire, cover tight, and keep just to simmering point. In half to three-quarters of an hour the flesh can be raised free from bone — which is a sign the fish is done. Have a hot platter, lay the fish on it, spread it with butter and serve at once. BROILED SMOKED HERRING Let the herring lie in hot water for a quarter of an hour. Wipe, rub ofif the skin, lay on a broiler over a hot fire and broil, turning both sides to the fire. Lay on a hot platter and spread with butter or with maitre d 'hotel sauce, given on page 145. SALT MACKEREL WITH MILK SAUCE Wash the mackerel and soak overnight in cold water in a cold place. If you have plenty of milk cover the fish over- night with that for freshening. Next day rinse rapidly with cold water and put on its back in a dripping-pan. Pour over it fresh milk enough to rise to the upper surface as it lies in the pan, and bake half an hour in a good oven. About ten minutes before the fish is done mix together two even table- spoons of butter and two even tablespoons of flour. Stir this in the hot milk round the fish, and leave it to finish cooking. Lay the fish on a hot platter, stir the thickened milk thoroughly, add a dash of cayenne and pour over the fish. 72 THE HOME COOK BOOK BROILED SALT MACKEREL Follow the directions for soaking given in the foregoing receipt. Wipe the fish dry, brush it Hghtly with oHve oil, lay it on the broiler with skin side up first, then broil quickly. Lay on a hot platter, squeeze half a lemon over it, and send it to the table at once. A few sprigs of watercress or crisp red radishes go well with broiled mackerel. ECONOMY IN MARKETING AND COOKING 73 VIII ECONOMY IN MARKETING AND COOKING MEAT Best Time to Market— The Market Basket— Mutton— Soup Meat— Other Cheap Meats— The Cuts of Meat— Making the Most of Meats IN all parts of the country, whether in city, town, or village, every housewife who looks carefully to the matter of cur- rent expenses makes complaint that the rise in the price of meat adds a few dollars each month to her accounts. The meats which have gone up most alarmingly in cost are the staple roasts, stews, and broils of every creature, and if one must have these regularly the bills will necessarily be larger. Yet there is a possibility of setting very tempting dishes each day before your family with a quite infrequent appearance of roast beef, lamb chops, or porterhouse steak. When nicely cooked, the meats which appear as a substitute will be so well relished that the expensive cuts will not be missed. Besides knowing how to cook, the woman who would economize along this line must know how to market. It is not the marketing which can be done over the telephone, or by orders given to a clerk. There are exemplary butchers and exemplary clerks, I have no doubt ; but it pays, even if it cost ten cents carfare, to visit the market yourself. A study of the counters will be sure to reveal something good and cheap which would not have been thought of in the kitchen or at the telephone. BEST TIME TO MARKET Except in hot weather, marketing trips need not be made every day. With a good refrigerator or well-chilled store closet at hand, meat may be purchased . which will not only keep but prove better for being kept several days. In the depth of the winter market trips may be well arranged for 4 Vol. 2 74 THE HOME COOK BOOK Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Except in large cities the markets of Monday are not altogether attractive ; they sug- gest that the careful vender is trying to dispose to the best ad- vantage of Saturday's left-overs. It is an excellent thing to market at the earliest hours of the morning. At that time there is the largest choice of meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables ; besides, you are apt to receive more attention than later in the forenoon when the place grows thronged. THE MARKET BASKET If you have good common-sense you will carry a market basket. I am not of so doubting a humor as one housewife I know, who markets accompanied by a rubber stamp, brand- ing her name upon a convenient part of all fish, flesh, or fowl she purchases. I feel sure, however, with a market basket on my arm, I am receiving what I have selected. This plan has another advantage : in summer you will not receive meat or fish slightly tainted from long exposure to the sun in a de- livery wagon, or in winter frozen almost to the very point of being spoiled. In the coldest weather if I can not carry home such tender vegetables as lettuce, cress, parsley, or celery I do not buy them. I have been taught this lesson by the ap- pearance of too many wilted, frost-bitten vegetables. There is a third good reason for the housewife's market basket. With her purchases carried straight home, there is no waiting for an erratic delivery wagon. I am not the only housewife who can tell of afternoons spent in watching for the butcher's wagon and the roast or leg of lamb for which a hot oven anxiously yawned. The dinner which followed was frequently made memorable by a makeshift dish of frizzled beef or ham and eggs! MUTTON When it comes to the subject of reasonable priced meats which provide nourishing and appetizing dishes they are many and of large variety. A leg of mutton might be placed in the front rank as a wise purchase for a large family. Where ECONOMY IN MARKETING AND COOKING 75 . there are only two or three at the family table the mutton would grow tedious by virtue of its many visits. If it can be used, however, in a few meals it is excellent boiled very slowly and served with caper sauce. It also provides a pot of excellent stock, which, with barley and vegetables, makes a tureen of the best mutton broth. Usually a good leg of nuitton — remember, it is of mutton I am speaking, not lamb — can be purchased for ten or twelve cents a pound. Another good way to cook a rather tough leg of mutton is by braizing it. Brush the meat over with butter, sear it quickly over a hot fire, then put with three cups of boiling water in a closely covered soup pot. It should be well sea- soned with cloves and peppercorns, carrots, turnips, celery and onions cut in dice, also parsley and a bit of bay leaf. Fasten the lid on the soup pot with a thick paste of flour and water, and allow it to cook for five or six hours in an oven about at the temperature required for baked beans. Mutton prepared in this fashion is tender and delicious. SOUP MEAT There is a knack in knowing how to choose a good soup bone as well as in knowing how to cook it. It ought to be about two-thirds meat and one-third bone and fat. In the winter it is an excellent plan, provided you have a large enough soup kettle, to purchase two bones for soup — one the knuckle, which seldom costs over four or five cents a pound, the other a solid flesh piece, costing perhaps seven or eight cents. When the meat is cooked to the point where, if it were a stew, you would take it from the fire, lift out with a skim- mer on a large platter the meaty soup bone and cut away from it the nicest pieces of beef. You can often obtain two or three pounds of this meat, well seasoned and tendered by slozv cooking. Return the bone to the soup kettle and allow it to simmer until the bones drop apart. The meat which has been taken out may be utilized in a number of ways. It makes excellent hash. When well seasoned it is not to be de- spised in the shape of croquettes. With a cup of the stock 76 THE HOME COOK BOOK and a few parboiled vegetables you have a savory stew, or in hot weather it may be inclosed in an aspic jelly. When used in this way soup bones costing forty cents may be made to yield two or three meals of good variety for a large family. OTHER CHEAP MEATS Sheep's or a beef heart, with a good bread stuffing, is a cheap and very appetizing dish. Sheep's liver, which in Eng- land is esteemed as highly as kidneys, is almost given away in American markets. Try it larded and baked, then covered with a rich brown gravy, if you would know how good it can be made. Many cheap cuts of beef can be converted into ex- cellent meats by pot-roasting. Among them may be mentioned the lean, juicy cross-rib, or a solid piece from the lower part of round or face of the rump. Two pounds of flank, which costs from nine to ten cents a pound, make a very savory dish. The meat is rolled, sauted brown, highly seasoned, then braized slowly for two hours with just enough water to make a good gravy. The flank rolled makes a good soup, lifting the meat out when cooked and serving with vegetables and horseradish sauce. The stock left may be utilized next day as a rice or julienne soup. Remember when buying meat for a stew, braize or pot- roast, it is better economy to pay twelve cents a pound for solid, juicy meat than it would be to pay seven cents for a larger piece which is half bone and fat. It is the same economy that makes the good housewife choose a pound and a half of solid halibut at twenty cents a pound rather than a five- pound cod with skin, head and tail included at six cents a pound. Among the cheap and nourishing meats yet to mention one might include corned beef, with its cabbage accompani- ment, and boiled tongue, which in small towns and villages can be bought very cheap. The aitchbone sells generally at ten to twelve cents a pound and is the best bit of beef for a stew. Next to it come several pounds from the middle cut of the skin, the flank of a large sirloin roast or the upper part of ECONOMY; IN MARKETING AND COOKING 77 the chuck rib. Good pieces of the round, which accumulate in small, unsightly portions on every butcher's counter, cost little and, by the aid of the household meat chopper, can be converted into Hamburg steak. I have something of a preju- dice against market Hamburg steak, preferring to see with my own eyes the meat which goes through the chopper. It costs less and adds a relish to sausage when it, too, is homemade. Odd pieces of pork can be had for the watching and at low cost in every market. For the people who like it, tripe provides an occasional good and cheap meal. Three or four pounds of lamb from the forequarter costs ten cents a pound, and is nutritious as a fricassee with brown gravy or as an Irish stew. Nothing makes a nicer stew or broth than a neck of mutton, one of the cheapest cuts of the sheep. Then in pork there is the old-fashioned, savory dish of spare ribs stuffed, while in veal rich stews may be made from the knuckle when cooked for a soup after the method suggested in the making of beef stock. THE CUTS OF MEAT The method of dividing up the carcasses of slaughtered animals varies considerably in different localities. The ac- companying diagrams illustrate the cuts generally made. On Plates V to X inclusive will be found illustrations of all the principal steaks and roasts of beef and lamb chops. MAKING THE MOST OF MEATS A famous chef once described tersely the slow, simmer- ing process required by a stew or soup. He said: "Never allow the water to laugh, let it smile — smile slightly." If every cook could be made to understand what "smiling" means, we would have cheap, tough meat appearing before us made so tender that it would scarcely require a sharpened knife. Instead of this we have expensive cuts which carve with the consistency of shoe leather simply because they have boiled at a broad grin. 78 THE HOME COOK BOOK If meats which have been boiled be left with the lid off, to cool in their own stock, they will be much more tender and juicy than if lifted from the boiling pot liquor to the platter. Corned beef is much improved by being cooked the day ^jM/^(y^'l Diagram of Cuts of Beef before it is to be used. Let it cool oflf in its liquor, then cover, and when needed reheat slowly. Do not allow the liquor to boil, simply allow it to continue at the simmering point until the meat is heated through. Diagram of Cuts of Veal Do not pour the corned beef liquor away. Save it to keep the meat in until the last morsel has been used for hash. Corned beef cold which is kept in the liquor does not seem ECONOMY IN MARKETING AND COOKING 79 like a piece of the same creature as when it is left to become dry and hard on an uncovered platter. A piece of corned beef, even when rolled, frequently pre- sents a ragged, unsightly appearance. Take a pair of sharp, clean scissors, such as ought to hang in every pantry, and Diagram of Cuts of Pork trim the meat into presentable shape. Set the trimmings away to be used as hash. When a smoked ham is about half used up, steam what is left on the smaller end. Wash, and soak it in cold water for an hour, then steam for five or six hours, setting the meat cut side down on a plate in the steamer. If it is to be served hot, the ham will be improved by browning it in the oven after steaming. A leg of mutton, when boiled, ought to cook rather quickly Diagram of Cuts of Mutton for ten or fifteen minutes, then set it where the liquor will scarcely bubble, until it is tender. An ordinary leg of mut- ton, about eight or ten pounds in weight, requires about two hours to simmer. If there is a scant amount of meat for a braize or stew, add a few cups of tiny potato balls about half an hour before taking from the oven. They improve the appearance of a 80 THE HOME COOK BOOK dish and taste delicious. The shells of potato left over when the balls are cut may be put in cold water until required, then boiled and mashed. A brown gravy adds much. to the appetizing flavor of pork chops. Pour off the greater portion of the pork fat in the spider and put in two tablespoons of flour. Stir till quite brown, then add very slowly a cup and a half of boiling water. Season with salt and paprika and beat till creamy with a wire whisk. If not brown enough add a tablespoon of kitchen bouquet and strain over the chops. A steak which from its looks raises disturbing thoughts of toughness may, in the course of twenty-four hours, be changed to something of the texture of tenderloin. Mix four tablespoons of oil with two tablespoons of vinegar and pour over the steak, laid on a platter. See that the mixture wets every portion of the meat, then allow it to marinate in a very cold place. In the cold-storage room of great hotels one might (if admitted) find steaks which would be scarcely fit to chew marinating for days before they are required. They appear under all sorts of steak appellations and pass very easily with the uninitiated as tenderloin. Never broil the flank end of a sirloin steak; it is impos- sible to eat it as steak. Cut it off before the steak is cooked. It may be slowly simmered and make a nice little stew ; it can be boiled and used as hash or chopped raw for a breakfast Hamburg steak. When there are children in a household who care more for gravy than meat, as most children do, a few pounds of tough, juicy meat carefully cooked till tender will yield plenty of excellent gravy. With the gravy, baking-powder biscuit may frequently be served. It goes especially well with veal stew or a cream gravy, which may be had in abundance when stew- ing a somewhat tough old fowl. I always prefer biscuit to dumplings. It takes a very careful cook to make light dump- lings ; almost before a second helping they will grow cool and heavy. Besides, for cold dumplings one can find no possible use, while baking-powder biscuit is as good cold as hot. BEEF AND VEAL 81 IX BEEF AND VEAL To Make and Use Aspic Jelly— Browned Flour — To Thicken a Gravy with Flour — Dumplings for Meats — Corn Dumplings for Meats — Dumplings for Boiled Rump of Beef — Brine for Corning Beef — To Boil Corned Beef — Corned Beef Hash — Beef Hash — Baked Beef Hash— Beef k la Mode— To Boil Fresh Tongue— To Boil Pickled Tongue — To Boil Smoked Tongue — Boiled Rump of Beef— Spiced Rump of Beef, Including Soup— Daube— Ropa Vieja — To Broil a Beefsteak — Chopped Stewed Beef — Chopped Beef on Toast — Deviled Soup Meat — Meat Fritters — Hamburg Steak — Hamburg Steak Balls— Hamburg Steak Beef Loaf — Beef Loaf — Beef Pie— Baked Meat Pie — Meat-and- Potato Pie— Pot Roast— Roast Beef— Roast Beef Gravy— Roast Beef Stew— Scalloped Beef— To Cook Smoked Beef— Creamed Dried Beef— Stewed Beef or Veal Tongue- Veal Cutlets— Veal Filet— Grillard of Veal— Veal Loaf— Veal Patties— Veal Potpie TO MAKE AND USE ASPIC JELLY THIS jelly is a pretty setting out of meats and it requires little skill and costs but little. Lately it has had popular- ity. Soak half a box of gelatine in half a cup of cold water for half an hour. Take a pint of consomme or stock, or, if you do not have either, a teaspoon of beef extract in a pint of water. With this simmer a teaspoon of onion- juice, a bay or thyme leaf, and a stalk of celery while the gelatine is soak- ing. Add the gelatine, season with salt and pepper, and set away to cool if you wish to cut it in blocks and use it to garnish salad. If you wish to inclose in it pieces of chicken, turkey, beef, slices of tongue, or fish, pour the liquid jelly little by little about the meat until it is inclosed, giving time for each layer to harden. Keep the mold in the ice-box until ready to serve. Then dip the mold in warm water, cover it with the face of a platter, turn over, having the mold upside down, and the jelly will slip out. Parsley, lettuce, etc., may be inclosed with the meat. BROWNED FLOUR Put the flour to be browned into a pie pan or skillet. Set on the stove and as the flour begins to brown stir constantly 82 THE HOME COOK BOOK and brown evenly. Let it become a light brown. It is well to keep this browned flour in a small glass jar or covered tin can and have it ready for use. TO THICKEN A GRAVY WITH FLOUR Mix flour with water, making a smooth paste. Thin to the consistency of cream and be careful to have no lumps. While the gravy boils pour in this flour and water. Allow it to boil up a moment, and remove from the fire to serve. DUMPLINGS FOR MEATS Sift two teaspoons of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt into two cups of flour. Wet with a ;cup of milk, stirring and beating lightly and quickly with a spoon. Do not put on a board or roll, but drop from the spoon in spoon- fuls into the boiling chicken or beef liquor. Put on the kettle cover at once, set a weight on it, and boil rapidly, if the dump- lings are small, twelve minutes. Lay on a hot dish and serve at once. Cold air makes the dumplings fall, therefore if you have to keep them a second for the meat, set them in the oven. CORN DUMPLINGS FOR MEATS Upon half a cup of corn meal pour a pint of boiling milk, stirring rapidly. Put in a double-boiler and let cook and thicken for half an hour. Then stir in half a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of baking powder, and two eggs. Form into small balls, using flour on the hands, and drop into your kettle of boiling beef, corned beef, or mutton ten minutes before taking off the fire. Skim out of the broth with a skimmer, and serve with the meat. The dumplings may be tied, with room for swelling, in small cloths, wetted, and floured. If you use the cloths you are sure none will dissolve in the meat liquor. Allow more time using the cloths, twenty minutes to half an hour. BEEF AND VEAL «3 DUMPLINGS FOR BOILED RUMP OF BEEF Mix a heaping teaspoon of lard lightly through a pint and a half of sifted flour, using the ends of the fingers for mix- ing. Add an even teaspoon of salt, two heaping teaspoons of baking powder, a beaten egg, and two tablespoons of hot water. Beat thoroughly. Add more hot water, little by little, until you have the dough stiff enough to work into oblong pieces, dipping your spoon constantly into the flour and shaping with it. Drop the pieces in the hot liquor, cover close, and boil slowly fifteen minutes. Do not fork or turn. Serve the moment they are done, put in a hot dish to keep them from chill and falling. BRINE FOR CORNING BEEF When you have your beef ready for corning be sure it is perfectly cold and free from animal heat. It should lie pro- tected from flies or any attacking insect and become solid. Two full days of cool weather should be allowed for this. Have your corning firkin or barrel of clean, sweet, firm wood. Then have it perfectly scoured, and set upon logs so that air can pass between its bottom and the cemented floor of the cellar. Have also flat, square, scoured boards to put in over the meat to keep it from floating. Smooth, large, clean stones should be at hand for weights on the boards. In making the brine use a big kettle, or take the wash- boiler, scour it perfectly, and use that. Weigh out twenty pounds of coarse salt, two pounds of sugar (or two quarts of pure New Orleans molasses), and use half a pound of saltpetre. Measure fourteen gallons of water. Put all these ingredients into the kettle or boiler, set over the fire, and when the scum begins to rise begin to skim. By the time the brine boils you will have it clear. After it boils a few minutes set it from the fire to cool. Pack your beef in the barrel so that the brine may run easily between the pieces of meat, lay on top your boards and stones, and pour over the cold brine. 84 THE HOME COOK BOOK If after a week or two a scum appears on the brine, take out the meat, scald the brine, and pack anew. TO BOIL CORNED BEEF Corned beef is often spoiled through ignorance of the right way to cook it. In the first place it is well to note that small and moderate-sized pieces require about the same time for cooking. Wash off the brine from your piece, and into a kettle having enough boiling water to well cover it drop the beef. When the scum begins to rise, as the meat heats through, skim it off, and after the meat has begun to boil, move the kettle to the back part of the stove. Keep it gently boiling four or five hours — usually the longer time — and when the meat is done lift it into an earthen jar or wooden bowl, pour over its liquor, and let it grow cold. This treat- ment makes a great difference in the taste of cold corned beef. The beef that is taken from its liquor and allowed to grow cold in the air is apt to be dry and tasteless, when the same piece would be sweet and wholesome if kept in its liquor and allowed to absorb the juices its liquor contains. If the meat is to be pressed, it can be as easily pressed in its liquor, by laying a plate and weights upon it, as out of its liquor. If some of the corned beef is to be eaten hot, serve it hot and then place to cool the remainder in its liquor. An authority of to-day insists that by putting an un- peeled onion in the water in which corned beef is boiling, the meat is made more juicy and tender. CORNED BEEF HASH Chop cold corned beef quite fine, and chop, not so fine, potatoes cooked the day before, and therefore firm and cold. Take two pint cups of chopped meat and three and a half pint cups of chopped potatoes. Put them in a saucepan with enough hot water to show through the hash, add a piece of butter the size of an egg, also salt and pepper to taste, and BEEF AND VEAL 85 cook gently, allowing the hash to brown upon the bottom of the iron saucepan and scraping up the browned hash to let other parts brown. When done add one slightly heaping teaspoon of mustard, which has been mixed rather thick with water, salt, and a little sugar. Serve very hot and quite dry. BEEF HASH Beef hash is not best made from cold roasts and other cold meats. To succeed you need to have a fresh round steak and prepare as follows: Cut off some of the fat, put into a hot iron frying-pan. When the fat has fried out take out the suet remnants and put the steak in the frying-pan. Season a very little with salt and pepper, and have enough fat to prevent the meat sticking to the pan. Turn the steak from side to side until done. Be careful not to let the juice burn. If there is too much juice the meat will not brown. Pour off the juice and save it to add to the chopped meat. Brown the steak lightly and cook just done. Take it from the fire, cut all gristle and fat off, and chop quite fine. Turn into a pan until you have chopped the potatoes, which should have been cooked tender the day before. To chop, they must be cold and firm. Chop the potatoes rather coarse. When ready set the frying-pan on a table. It is a mistake to prepare food over a heated stove. Take two pint cups of chopped meat, put into the frying-pan, add three pint cups and a half of chopped potatoes. Next three pint cups and a half of cold water — about enough water to be even with the chopped hash. Stir with a spoon. Next add carefully pep- per and salt. In seasoning you will find the taste does not come for a second. Wait a moment, and have just enough pepper to slightly sting the tongue and just enough salt to have a good flavor. Add to this a piece of butter one inch wide cut across a one pound roll of butter. Now set your frying-pan on the top of the stove, let it boil rather hard at first. This done for about ten minutes, set it back and cook steadily for one hour and a half, scraping up the hash with 86 THE HOME COOK BOOK the point of a large iron spoon to keep the meat from stick- ing or burning. Cook until rather dry, simply moist. To keep hot set an asbestos plate under it, and cover. Hash is good warmed over next day. Put it in a saucepan, if needed ; add a little warm water. Set this saucepan in an- other of hot water, cover, and heat. BAKED BEEF HASH Grease a pie plate with butter ; use the cold hash you have left over. Put it on the plate, and make it in a round shape with a spoon, and have it two or three inches high. Pour over this a very little melted butter, sprinkle a very little flour from a flour dredge, and brown in the oven. When brown, slip on a hot plate with the griddle turner. BEEF A LA MODE Take a round of beef and make a great many holes through it. Roll strips of raw salt pork in a seasoning made of half a teaspoon each of thyme, salt, pepper, and cloves. Then draw A Larding Needle these strips through the holes in the beef, or lard with a lard- ing needle. Put six onions, two tablespoons of milk, and one- quarter of a pound of butter in a saucepan. Stew the onions tender. Put beef, onions and all into a pot, with water just enough to cover them, and cook slowly five hours. Just before taking up, add a pint of claret if you choose, or omit the claret. TO BOIL FRESH TONGUE Follow the method given under "To Boil Corned Beef," with one exception — add three tablespoons of salt after the tongue has boiled an hour. .:'■ f BEEF AND VEAL -87 TO BOIL PICKLED TONGUE Follow the directions for boiling corned beef. TO BOIL SMOKED TONGUE Use the receipt "To Boil a Ham" on page 119. Omit, however, the spice, sugar and thyme, and do not brown it in the oven. BOILED RUMP OF BEEF Take six pounds of fat beef rump, place in a pot, cover with cold water, and set over a moderate fire. When it boils skim, and then boil four hours very slowly. Do not add salt until it has boiled two hours. Boil very tender. When done, take up the meat, lay it in a colander and set it over a saucepan of hot water to keep it moist. Next strain all the liquor, take out two cups for gravy, and put in a sauce- pan. Dissolve two teaspoons of flour, stir smooth, and stir gradually into the gravy until it is thick as cream. If the flour lumps, strain through a strainer. Serve in a pitcher. If you want dumplings, make according to the receipt given on page 83. Put the liquor remaining after that used for the gravy in a large saucepan to boil the dumplings. If you have :cold meat left, set it away in the liquor in an earthen jar and it will not become hard. SPICED RUMP OF BEEF, INCLUDING SOUP Put six or seven pounds of the rump of beef into a flat- bottomed porcelain or granite kettle. Set on top of the stove. Povir over this just enough water to cover it. Let it slowly come to boil. Skim well. Scrape two large or four small carrots and split them down the centre. Add these and two large onions cut in half, and one red pepper. Tie up, in a small square piece of cloth, allspice, a few cloves, sweet mar- joram and thyme, and throw into the water. Boil very slowly four hours until tender. The second hour add salt to taste. When done, take out some of the liquor and make a gravy as 88 THE HOME COOK BOOK thick as cream. Thicken with two teaspoons of flour dis- solved in cold water. If the flour lumps, strain through a wire strainer. Pour the liquor off into a stone crock, and set in a cold place. Next day skim off the grease. The liquor will have jellied. Take some of this, put into a saucepan set in another of hot water, and heat, and you have a delightful clear soup. Worcestershire sauce can be added. Serve with salt crackers, slightly heated. DAUBE A NEW ORLEANS DISH Have three pounds of round of beef cut short and thick. Lard it with long thin pieces of fat pork, slipping in a thin sliver of garlic clove with each piece of pork. Peel and slice thin two white turnips, two white onions, and scrape and slice four carrots. Mix one tablespoon of salt with half a teaspoon of cayenne and two tablespoons of sugar. Rub the meat thoroughly with this. Place in a large yellow bowl a layer each of the sliced vegetables until half are used. Next place in the meat. Lay over this the remainder of the vegetables. Pour over this half a pint of cider vinegar and the remaining salt, pepper, and sugar. Cover with a cloth and plate, placing a weight on the plate. Let stand over night in a cold place. In the morning remove the meat from the liquor which has formed during the night, roll it in flour, brown it in a deep pot (a stone casserole is best) in which you have two tablespoons of boiling drippings. Add your vegetables, which you have strained and chopped fine, also half a pint of strained canned tomatoes. Add the juice of the meat from the bowl for gravy. If not enough to cover the meat add sufficient water to make it. Season with thyme, one pod of red pepper, one large bay leaf, the juice of half a lemon, a couple of allspice, and one or two cloves. Let come to boil, and then allow to simmer about six hours. Slow cooking is the secret of the success of this dish. If any be left over, put the meat in the centre of a mold, add BEEF AND VEAL 89 some melted gelatine to the gravy, boil it up once or twice, pour over the meat, and set aside to jelly. You have a delicious mousse which is used with crisp white lettuce and mayonnaise dressing. Boiled rice is usually served with hot daube. Daube is a dish much used among Spanish Creoles in Louisiana and considered an economical one. ROPA VIEJA A SPANISH DISH COOKED IN LOUISIANA Boil two pounds of shin of beef, the liquor will do for soup stock. When the shin is cold cut off the best part of the meat in thin slices. Season with salt and red pepper, ^ut the gristle and remaining meat in a separate dish. Slice and slightly fry two onions in a tablespoon of butter. Stir in two tablespoons of flour. When brown add one quart of tomatoes. To this add the remaining meat and gristle, which you have cut as fine as possible. Cook slowly for one hour. Add the sliced meat, also a dash of English mustard. Cook quarter of an hour longer. Just before dishing add a teaspoon of minced parsley, a little garlic, and one minced sweet pepper. Dish half for immediate use; put the rest in a mold to jelly. TO BROIL A BEEFSTEAK Choose a steak one inch thick at least, and better an inch and a half thick. The sirloin or tenderloin is the best. See that the steak is clean, and wipe it with a damp cloth. If you have a wood or coal fire let it be in the form of a bed of hot coals, and over it heat your broiler. When the broiler is hot rub it with a bit of suet and lay on it the steak. As soon as one side has seared over the glowing coals, turn and sear the other side. By this quick searing at first you keep the juices of the meat from flowing out and wasting. After this first quick searing turn the steak often till cooked. Do not dry up the steak; Allow about ten minutes for the cooking of a thick steak and less time if the steak is thinner. When 90 THE HOME COOK BOOK the steak is cooked sprinkle lightly with salt on each side, and lay on a hot platter. A few pieces of butter may be laid on it, or not, as the taste directs. Over a gas flame a beefsteak may be broiled in a hot iron saucepan. This is called a pan broil. Be sure your pan is hot, and then proceed as if over coals, first rubbing the pan with suet and then laying the steak in the pan. A complete gas stove has a broiling oven where the flame plays upon the meat, and proves an excellent broiler. Light the gas and heat the broiler before you rub it with suet, and put in the steak. Proceed then as directed for broiling over coals. CHOPPED STEWED BEEF Have two pounds of round steak. Heat a frying-pan, lay in it pieces of the fat of the steak and fry out the grease. Take out the fat, lay the steak in the frying-pan, pepper and salt a very little, and brown, turning from side to side until cooked a little rare. When done take out the meat, cut off the gristle and fat that is left, chop very fine, season with more pepper and salt, add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon of tomato catsup, a dessertspoon of melted butter, and some sprigs of chopped parsley or a little chopped celery, or both. Cover with water, stew slowly and steadily for one hour and a half. A little more water can be added, if required. When the meat is done mix one tea- spoon of flour in cold water, smooth, stir it in the meat, and let boil a moment to thicken. If wished, half a teaspoon of onion-juice may be added. CHOPPED BEEF ON TOAST A SOUTHERN DISH Chop fine pieces of roast of beef, or steak, or veal, left over. To one tablespoon of boiling dripping add as much flour. When this is browned put in two minced onions. To this add the minced meat, adding also a good tablespoon of minced boiled ham. Then put in half a pint of cold mashed BEEF AND VEAL 91 potato. Stir constantly. Moisten with canned tomato- juice to keep from burning. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, or summer savory. When it commences to brown on the bot- tom, stir in one egg. Serve on thin slices of toast. DEVILED SOUP MEAT A LOUISIANA RECEIPT Slice hot soup meat and lay it in a deep dish. To one pint of boiling milk add one minced onion, one minced garlic clove, one teaspoon of minced parsley, and cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Thicken with flour, and add one even tablespoon of French mustard. Pour this hot sauce over the soup meat. Sprinkle over all two minced cucumber pickles. MEAT FRITTERS Take one pint of cold meat minced or ground fine and two eggs. Mix together, add half a pint of water and one pint of flour into which a teaspoon of baking powder lias been sifted. Salt and pepper to taste, drop in deep fat, and fry to a golden brown. HAMBURG STEAK Qioose a pound of round beef, remove all gristle, etc., and chop very fine, or run through your meat chopper. Or have your butcher run it through his meat chopper when you buy. Mix in a little salt, a bit of minced onion or onion- juice if your taste so directs, and also a dash of pepper. Dip your hands in cold water, and then shape the meat cakes with your fingers. Lay the cakes in a hot iron saucepan and broil, searing them first, to keep the juice in, and later turning from side to side. Do not have a fire hot enough to burn. Serve hot with a tomato sauce. HAMBURG STEAK BALLS Mix into one pound of raw meat chopped very fine, red pepper and salt to taste, half a teaspoon of onion-juice, two 92 THE HOME GOOK BOOK teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, one tablespoon of tomato catsup, chopped parsley, and one teaspoon of melted butter. Make in round cakes, and fry in butter, lard, and a table- spoon of water, turning the balls over and over, cooking slowly until done and nicely browned. Pour the gravy over them and serve. HAMBURG STEAK BEEF LOAF Mix red pepper and salt to taste into two pounds of un- cooked round steak which has been chopped fine. Add one A Meat Chopper beaten egg, four rolled crackers, one tablespoon of melted butter, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, two table- spoons of tomato catsup, one teaspoon of onion juice, half a green pepper chopped fine (if the green ones are out of season take a small red chilli pepper), two small :carrots chopped fine and boiled tender, several sprigs of chopped parsley. After mixing these in with the hands, make into an oblong loaf, lay in a baking-pan, and pour round some of the carrot water. Lay in several sprigs of parsley, a piece of green or red pepper, and several pieces of butter. After the meat begins to brown baste with the water every ten minutes BEEF AND VEAL 93 until done. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a moderately hot oven. When cold take it out of the pan. To be eaten with tomato catsup, BEEF LOAF Put a pound of raw lean beef through a meat chopper, add and mix in half a teaspoon of salt, a minced onion, a dash of cayenne, thyme and sweet marjoram, half as much in cup measure of fine breadcrumbs as you have meat, and a beaten egg. Mix these together well, shape in a loaf, and bake half an hour, basting with hot water and melted butter in the proportion of a tablespoon of butter to four table- spoons of hot water, BEEF PIE Chop cold roast beef rather coarse. Put it in a sauce- pan. For a moderate-sized pie add two uncooked chopped onions, one cooked carrot chopped fine, several sprigs of parsley chopped fine, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, two tablespoons of catsup, and salt and pepper to taste. Add any cold gravy you may have left from the beef. Put all together on the stove in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and cook three-quarters of an hour. If you have small quantity of gravy add a tablespoon of butter, for richness. Thicken with flour dissolved in water, let boil a little thick, set back, and it is ready for the pie. Make a pie or biscuit crust, roll a moderately thick piece, line a pudding dish, and pour into it the meat. Roll the upper crust half an inch thick, roll again, sprinkle with flour, and fold the four sides over. Roll again, and cut strips half an inch thick and the same in width. Lay each way over the pie like a lattice ; or, if you prefer it, make a whole cover of paste and cut several holes in the centre. Bake to a nice brown in a quick oven, BAKED MEAT PIE Cut pieces of cold meat the size of dice. Lay them in a baking or pudding dish, and add two or three chopped 94 THE HOME COOK BOOK onions, pepper, salt, and a tablespoon of dry pulverized sage or some other tasteful garden herb. Take the gravy you have left of the meat or the remains of a soup, thicken with flour and pour over the meat, and then cover all with potatoes cut in thick slices. The potatoes may be half- boiled for the pie or cold boiled the day before. Bake for an hour in a moderate oven. MEAT-AND-POTATO PIE Mince cold meat, either boiled or roast beef or mutton ; season to taste with salt and pepper, add the gravy you have left, and lay in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Take mashed potato, either that left over or fresh made; mix thoroughly with -hot milk and a seasoning of butter, salt, and pepper, form into a crust to fit over the meat, spread on and bake in a well-heated oven till the potato has a crust of brown. POT ROAST Rib, sirloin, or rump can be used, as preferred. Have the beef bone taken out and the meat rolled, and skewered to hold it in shape. Put it into a round-bottom pot. Brown the beef first on one side and then on the other, then add one pint of boiling water and a piece of suet. Salt when the meat is half done. Cover very tight and cook very tender. Add no more water. When done pour out the liquor, and thicken with browned flour, a tablespoon, perhaps, or more stirred into the gravy, to which you may have to add some water. When thickened, strain and add a little pepper. ROAST BEEF The best pieces for roasting are the porterhouse, rib, and sirloin. Place the meat in a baking-pan on a wire frame which comes for that purpose, and sprinkle it lightly with peppers Have salted water in the bottom of the pan and an onion cut in half. Turn the meat two or three times while BEEF AND VEAL 95 roasting, baste every ten minutes, in order to have the meat juicy, and allow fifteen minutes to every pound. Serve with gravy. ROAST BEEF GRAVY Brown some flour a light color, dissolve two tablespoons or more of the browned flour in cold water, stir smooth, and add to the gravy water used in basting. Boil slowly, stirring Dripping-Pan with Basting Ladle constantly until the gravy is slightly thick. If there be any lumps, strain through a strainer. It is then ready for use. ROAST BEEF STEW Slice cold roast beef in thin pieces. Cut oflf all the fat except a very little that may cling to the pieces. Slice, wash, and lay in an iron frying-pan four or five medium-sized onions cut in thin slices. Cover with enough water to boil tender. When done, put in the beef, add whatever cold gravy you have left from the roast beef. Add water enough to cover the meat. Pepper and salt carefully to taste, add one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and three of tomato cat- sup. Let this boil slowly one hour, then thicken it with flour dissolved in cold water stirred very smooth. Pour into the middle of the stew some of the mixed flour. Stir very quickly with the back of a large spoon to prevent lumping. Boil up and serve hot. SCALLOPED BEEF Meat for scalloping may be either minced or cut in small slices. Put a layer in a greased baking dish and season it 96 THE HOME COOK BOOK to your taste with salt and pepper, adding minced onion if you wish and covering the layer with gravy. Next strew fine breadcrumbs and lay over them small bits of butter, and sprinkle grated cheese. If you have material repeat the layers. Bake in a hot oven till the top layer of breadcrumbs is brown, and serve with a tomato sauce, with pickles or with horseradish. TO COOK SMOKED BEEF Have the smoked beef cut very thin. Put the quantity needed in a granite frying-pan. Cover with cold water. As soon as it comes to boil, pour off the water. Cover with milk, add a little salt and a very little pepper. Taste for seasoning. Have ready flour and water mixed smooth, allowing a tablespoon of flour to a cup of milk. Pour gradu- ally into the middle of the hot milk. Stir well with the back of the spoon at first, and stir again to mix. Let boil slowly, stirring constantly until the milk thickens. When thick enough take off the fire and add a tablespoon of butter. Serve in a hot dish. CREAMED DRIED BEEF Have half a pound of dried beef sliced thin. Break it in small bits. Let it stand five minutes in cold water which is gradually growing lukewarm, then drain. Put it in a sauce- pan and add a pint of milk. As the milk heats add slowly two large spoons of flour dissolved in half a cup of cold water. Cook till the milk thickens. Take from the fire, stir in a beaten tgg, tip on a hot platter, drop small pieces of butter over the whole, sprinkle with pepper, and serve hot. STEWED BEEF OR VEAL TONGUE A NEW ORLEANS DISH Use one large fresh beef tongue or two or three veal tongues. Boil the tongue half an hour. Strain the water BEEF AND VEAL 97 for gravy. Remove the skin and gristle from the tongue, leaving any pieces of sweetbread which may be attached. Roll the tongue in flour and brown it in a deep saucepan or casserole in which }0u have two tablespoons of boiling drip- pings. Add two teacups of canned tomatoes, one minced onion, three sliced carrots, four sliced potatoes, and six small white onions. Fill the casserole with the strained water, add one bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, one red pepper pod, and half a teaspoon of salt. Allow to simmer three hours. Serve with the vegetables placed around the tongues, and the gravy in a separate dish. The dish may be varied by the addition of a teaspoon of mustard mixed into the gravy. VEAL CUTLETS Have the cutlets cut a little more than half an inch thick. Roll soda crackers very fine. Beat one egg or more. To one egg add a tablespoon of cold water. Lay the rolled cracker on a pie plate, the egg in a smaller pan. Season the cracker highly with salt to taste, and red pepper. Cut the veal in pieces ready to serve. Dip each piece first in the egg and then roll over and over in the cracker. Put in a frying- pan a number of pieces of pickled pork cut in thin slices. Fry out the fat, and brown on both sides. When brown take out, and lay on a hot platter. Now put the veal in the fat and add a large lump of butter. Cook very slowly, turn as it browns lightly, and do not allow it to brown enough to be hard. Cook until well done. If more fat is needed, add butter and a little lard. When done lay the pieces of veal on the hot platter, and pour the fat over it, without any thickening at all. VEAL FILET Have your butcher take out the bone and make a deep cut, or you can do it yourself. Fill the cut with dressing made as follows: Two cups of breadcrumbs, one-half cup of 5 Vol. 2 98 THE HOME COOK BOOK chopped pork, a little lemon peel grated, the juice of a lemon, and pepper, salt, onions, and sage to taste, wetting all with cold water. Then bend the veal into a round form, fasten with skewers, sprinkle over salt and pepper and set in a well-heated oven for a two to three hours' roast. Baste well and often with butter and water. Just before it is done, sprinkle over a little flour and baste again. When done, add to the gravy a little thickening and some lemon- juice, if liked. Skewers tor Meat and Poultry Strain the gravy, remove the grease that rises to the top, and serve in a gravy dish. Broiled or boiled ham cut in small pieces serves well with this meat. GRILLARD OF VEAL A NEW ORLEANS DISH Cut in pieces like cutlets and beat two pounds of round steaks of veal. Lay in a deep china plate and pour over one tablespoon of cider vinegar, a teaspoon of salt and black pepper mixed in the vinegar. Have a deep saucepan or skillet very hot, and put in one large tablespoon of drippings. When this is smoking hot, throw in the cutlets, and be careful to make them lie flat. Cook quickly. When browned ^BEEF AND VEAL 99 take the cutlets from the skillet. To the hot drippings add an even tablespoon of sifted flour. When brown add one small minced onion, and to the browned flour and onion return your cutlets, adding one teacup of strained canned tomato, a pinch of summer savory, a little minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook very slowly for half an hour. Serve the cutlets on slices of thin toast; pour gravy over all. VEAL LOAF Take a pound weight of cold pieces of veal — it matters not if the meat is coarse — and mince as fine as possible. Take also the last shavings of a boiled ham or fat part of the ham, and chop small. Mix the ham and veal well to- gether, add half a cup of grated breadcrumbs, the juice of half a lemon, and half a cup of the thick gravy of the veal. Add also a little salt and cayenne to taste, and a dust of powdered mace. Mix thoroughly again, and press into a mold or bowl upon which you can set a weight. Keep cool, and serve next day after you have tipped the meat from the mold. If you wish to serve the veal loaf hot and at once, do as follows : After you have mixed the ingredients thoroughly, make the meat in the form of a loaf, strew bread or cracker crumbs over it, and heat it through thoroughly in a slow oven. Send the loaf to the table in a deep dish, and after you have poured round it gravy left from the first cooking of the veal. VEAL PATTIES Chop fine some scraps of cold roast veal — the remains of a fillet are often convenient — and add, chopping with it, bits of cold ham or cold smoked tongue. Add also yolks of hard-boiled eggs, the two or three of which you have used the whites for some other cooking. Season with salt, a little pepper, and moisten a little with the cold gravy of the veal. Roll out thin some puff paste, and cut it in circular form LofC. 100 THE HOME COOK BOOK about the size of a teaplate. Upon one-half of this round piece thickly spread the meat mixture, fold over the other half, and pinch the edges of the pastry together. Cut one or two small openings in the top, lay the patties on a floured pan, and bake in a moderately quick oven. Served with drawn butter and mashed potatoes, these patties are deli- cious. VEAL POTPIE Allow three pounds of veal, of either the leg or loin, to half a pound of salt pork. Cut the veal in pieces about two inches square, and the pork in thin slices. In the bottom of the pot in which you cook the potpie lay a few slices of pork. Next put in a layer of pieces of veal, and again pork, and next veal, till you use your material. Cover the meat with lukewarm water, and bring it very slowly to boil. Boil slowly about an hour and a half — perhaps it will take more time, perhaps less ; it depends upon the condition of your veal. When the meat is slightly tender and needs about twenty minutes more to be perfectly done, drop dumpling dough (see page 82) from a spoon into the boiling liquor. Do not let the boiling stop, but boil steadily for fifteen minutes or perhaps twenty if your dumplings are large. Then on a hot platter lay the meat with the dumplings about it. Boil the gravy liquor hard, and for thickening stir in flour worked smooth in a little cold water. Season to taste. Pour gravy over the meat and put what is left in a gravy bowl. Serve the whole hot and as fast as you can. The dumplings should be eaten at once. A couple of onions and a head of celery may be added to the veal in the first part of its cooking if the taste is for such seasoning. CALF'S BRAINS 101 X CALF'S BRAINS, ETC., KIDNEYS, LIVER, SWEET- BREADS, TRIPE Calf's Brain Croquettes— Calf's Brains Fried — Calf's Brains Pickled— Stewed Calf's Brains— Calf's Foot Jelly— Stewed Calf's Head— Stuffed Heart with Oyster Dressing — Lamb Hearts and Livers — Kidney Stew— Kidney Stew with Cream Gravy — Kid- neys ^ la Terrapin— Baked Calf's Liver — Liver Balls — Fried Calf's Liver — Fried Calf's Liver and Bacon— Liver Rissoles — To Choose and Prepare Sweetbreads — Creamed Sweetbreads — Sweetbreads Fried — Sweetbreads with Oysters^Sweetbreads with Tomatoes — Sweetbreads Stewed — Tripe Fricassee, an Italian Dish — Tripe Fricassee, a Philadelphia Dish — Fried Tripe CALF'S BRAIN CROQUETTES BOIL two pounds of veal until tender. Let it cool in its broth, aiid have as little broth as possible. Chop the veal fine. Put two sets of calf's brains in cold water to stand for one hour. Then drain carefully and take off all the skin and stringy part. Put them in hot water to boil, and boil until nice and firm. When partly cool chop them fine, and add to the veal. Make into oblong croquettes. Have one egg beaten, with one tablespoon of cold water. Roll soda crackers fine. Season the cracker with salt and red pepper carefully. Dip the croquettes in the egg, and roll them in the rolled cracker. Get all the croquettes ready before frying. Fry in hot fat a nice brown, and use just enough lard to prevent them sticking. CALF'S BRAINS FRIED Brains should be well soaked in water, to remove the blood. Afterward cut in small pieces the size of an oyster, and fry in butter till well done. They make a delicate and choice dish. CALF'S BRAINS PICKLED After the brains are soaked cut them in pieces and gently boil them in milk twenty minutes. Strain off the milk and 102 THE HOME COOK BOOK pour over them delicately sour vinegar. They taste much like pickled oysters. STEWED CALF'S BRAINS Lay the brains in cold water for a short time and take off the skin. This done, put the brains in a granite stewpan, cover with cold water, and set on the back of the stove. Add a piece of onion the size of a nutmeg, and stew slowly until tender. When done pour off the water and leave out the onion. Now cover the brains with milk, season with red pepper and salt to taste, and stew fifteen minutes longer. Mash together a dessertspoon of butter and a dessertspoon of flour, add this to the milk, and stir while boiling slowly until it thickens. Lastly grate in this a very little nutmeg and two sprigs of chopped parsley. / CALF'S FOOT JELLY The quantities here given are small, but you can easily double or quadruple them. Take a calf's foot, have it split in two and the bone cracked in several places so that the juices will easily cook out. Souse it freely in cold water, and set it over the fire in a pot of cold water — about a quart and three-quarters. Cover well, and bring to boil very slowly in order to draw the sweetness from the bone. When it boils skim and set where it will sleepily bubble and simmer for three or four hours. Take from the fire, pour through a colander, and set to cool. When cold take off the fat which rises to the top, and any coarse sediment at the bottom, heat in a porcelain saucepan, and add the grated yellow of half a lemon, the juice of the lemon, a small blade of mace, a short stick of cinnamon, and a cup of sugar. If you wish their flavor, add also a little ginger and a clove, but the jelly is as well without them. Lastly stir in the beaten white of an egg, cook together gently six or seven minutes, and strain twice through a jelly bag. Pour into molds or into small glasses from which the jelly may be eaten. Cool thoroughly, and serve. CALF'S HEAD, HEART 103 STEWED CALF'S HEAD Have the butcher prepare the head for use. When it comes to you, wash it thoroughly and remove the brains, which may be cooked separately according to the directions following or may be included in the stew }ou are about to make. Put the head in a pot, cover it with cold water, take off the scum that rises as the meat heats, and boil it gently for one or two hours, until it is tender. Take it from the fire, let it cool, and carefully take out all the bones. Put back all the meat in a pot or stewpan, add the brains if you wish to stew them, add also a little salt and cayenne pepper, and the liquor in which it was boiled, and let it stew slowly for an hour. You may serve the meat without further addi- tions, merely thickening the gravy with a little flour or corn- starch if it seems thin. If, however, }ou wish to make the meat a little less simple, add half an hour before serving a pint of mushroom buttons. If you do not have the mushrooms, a handful of finely minced sage is a pleasant addition. Or if you prefer capers or green nasturtium seed pickled, they also are good. Forcemeat balls are also an agreeable accompaniment to meat of the calf's head. STUFFED HEART WITK OYSTER DRESSING A NEW ORLEANS DISH Use veal or lambs' hearts ; four are sufficient. Remove the muscle from the centre of each heart. Boil them in salted water for one hour. To make the dressing: In a sauce- pan have one tablespoon of boiling butter. Add a tablespoon of flour, and when browned one minced onion, allowing it to brown slightly. Add one teacup of oyster- juice and two teacups of cracker crumbs. Season with a pinch of thyme, some cayenne pepper, and half a teaspoon of salt. Stir con- stantly to prevent burning. Last of all add one dozen chopped oysters. Allow the dressing to cook until quite dry. StuflF the hearts with this dressing, and lay them in a ,104 THE HOME COOK BOOK baking-pan. Dust a little flour over each heart and lay across each one a slice of bacon. Bake fifteen minutes, bast- ing with tomato- juice. LAMB HEARTS AND LIVERS Wash, clean, cut in small pieces, and gently stew till done two lamb hearts and livers. Take them from the liquor in which they have stewed, chop fine, and add a few bread- crumbs, a flavor of parsley and onion, and salt to your taste. Put back into their liquor and stew them till the liquor is boiled down to a gravy. Then put in a baking dish and set in a moderate oven half an hour. Serve in the baking dish and garnish with rings or slices of hard-boiled eggs. KIDNEY STEW Wash very thoroughly two beef kidneys and remove the fat. Cut them in thin slices and put in a quart of cold water. Parboil, throw away the water, put in fresh water, and boil gently two hours. Then season with salt and pepper, and thicken with flour to form a smooth gravy. Serve on a platter surrounded by a wall of mashed potato, or ladle upon pieces of toast. KIDNEY STEW WITH CREAM GRAVY A SOUTHERN DISH Use lamb or veal kidneys. Boil two pairs of kidneys until tender, changing the water twice. To one pint of boiling milk or cream add one minced onion, one teaspoon of minced parsley, one clove of minced garlic, some red pepper and half a teaspoon of salt. Add one tablespoon of butter and the kidneys, which you have sliced thin. Thicken with two tablespoons of flour stirred smooth in water, and serve on thin toast. KIDNEYS A LA TERRAPIN Use six lamb kidneys, or half a beef kidney. First wash and then put in cold water enough to cover them, and bring CALF'S LIVER 105 the water to boil. Repeat this. Then boil gently till the kidneys are tender. If you use the small lamb kidneys they will cook tender in less than an hour. Chop the kidneys till they are small dice, and to them add one hard-boiled egg, minced. Now make a sauce by blending a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of flour and adding it to a cup of hot milk in a double-boiler. Let the sauce cook till it thick- ens, and then salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the chopped kidney and egg, and just before serving on small pieces of brown toast stir in two tablespoons of wine or one of lemon- juice. BAKED CALF'S LIVER A SOUTHERN DISH Dust with flour two pounds of liver, which you have bought whole. Lay it in a deep earthen baking-pan. Sea- son with pepper and salt and one minced onion, and lay across the top half a dozen slices of bacon. Add two cups of tomato- juice, with which you baste the liver while it is baking. Bake in a moderate oven until the liver is tender enough to pierce with a fork. Before serving squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the whole. LIVER BALLS Parboil half a pound of liver. Chop fine, chopping with it a slice of bacon. Mix in a teaspoon of chopped capers or nasturtium seed, a teaspoon of chopped cucumber pickles, a tablespoon of chopped onion, a teaspoon of salt, and a little pepper. Add a beaten egg to serve to hold all the ingredients together, mold into balls, roll in cracker crumbs and fry in a hot saucepan in which you have already fried crisp three or four slices of bacon. With this there may go well a salad of lettuce dressed with French dressing. FRIED CALF'S LIVER Select tender calf liver, and wash in cold water. Pour the water off, and put the liver in a pan. Over it pour boil- 106 THE HOME COOK BOOK ing water. Take it out and wipe dry. Cut in slices and season each slice separately with salt and pepper. Sprinkle lightly with flour, and lay on a pan, ready to fry. Have the frying-pan hot, put into it pieces of bacon, and brown. When done take out and lay on a hot platter. Now drop the liver into the hot fat, turn often, and cook slowly until done, being careful not to cook long enough to harden or burn. If more fat is needed, add a little butter and lard. Lay the liver in the centre of the platter, the bacon around it, and pour the hot fat over it, without any thickening. FRIED CALFS LIVER AND BACON Put in a frying-pan thin slices of bacon, and let them fry quickly in their own fat. Having carefully washed the calf liver, cut slices not too thin, say a third of an inch — for if liver is cut too thin it will fry dry and hard. Take out the bacon as soon as it is crisp, putting it in a hot dish. Lay the slices of the liver in the fat left in the frying-pan, and cook over not too hot a fire till thoroughly done. Then dish with the bacon, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Onions are sometimes served with fried liver. They may be parboiled and then sliced into the pan, seasoned with pepper and salt, and fried with the liver. Lay the bacon and onions on the liver as a garnish in serving. LIVER RISSOLES Take a pound of calf liver, put it in hot water enough to cover, and boil it till tender. Take from the water, cool, and mince it fine, adding and mincing with it quarter of a pound of beef suet. Add quarter of a pound of fine or grated breadcrumbs, a pinch of cayenne, a little salt, and two eggs thoroughly beaten. Shape the meat in the form of corks or small eggs or large walnuts, and drop into boiling hot lard. As the rissoles brown skim them from the fat, lay them a minute to drain upon brown paper or a colander, and send to the table hot. SWEETBREADS 107 TO CHOOSE AND PREPARE SWEETBREADS In picking out sweetbreads choose the larger, plumper> fleshier. Also be careful that they are perfectly fresh, for of all meats they stand keeping least well. Rinse and put them in lukewarm water to lie fifteen minutes. Then cover with slightly salted cold water, set on the fire, and bring to boil. When the water begins to boil drop them suddenly in a pan of cold water. The sudden change of temperature blanches them. Cut the sweetbreads apart, cut out the pipe, and take ofif the skin. They are now ready for creaming or other cooking. CREAMED SWEETBREADS Carefully choose a pair of fresh sweetbreads, trim oflf their fat, and follow the above directions for parboiling. Cut them in small pieces, and simmer twenty minutes in only enough water to make a steam. Then add a cup of rich milk, rub smooth a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon of butter, moisten \vith some of the milk from the saucepan, add a pinch of salt, and stir all together over a moderate fire until the flour cooks and thickens. SWEETBREADS FRIED Wash and trim the sweetbreads, lay in a pan, and pour boiling water over them. Let stand for fifteen minutes. Beat one egg with one tablespoon of water, and have some cracker rolled fine and seasoned with salt and red pepper. Dip the sweetbreads first in the egg, and then in the cracker. Fry in just enough hot lard to cook, and brown nicely a light brown. SWEETBREADS WITH OYSTERS Wash free from skin and pipes and blanch the sweet- breads according to directions given above. Have at hand three dozen oysters. Put the sweetbreads in a saucepan, add the liquor from the oysters, add also two 108 THE HOME COOK BOOK tablespoons of butter and set to simmer till the sweetbreads are done. When done pour in half a cup of cream into which a teaspoon of flour has been stirred. Bring to boil, drop in the oysters, and heat through or until the edges curl. SWEETBREADS WITH TOMATOES* Stew a quart of tomatoes in a porcelain saucepan. When the tomatoes are thoroughly cooked, put them through a sieve and you will have a thick sauce. Have four sweet- breads cleaned, blanched, cut a.part and ready for use, ac- cording to foregoing directions. Lay them in the tomato sauce, add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to your taste, and set over the fire. As the sauce heats add half a cup of butter into which you have stirred a tablespoon of flour. Let the sweetbreads cook in a gentle simmer in the tomatoes about forty minutes. Serve with buttered toast or without, as you prefer. SWEETBREADS STEWED Sweetbreads are stewed according to directions for "Stewed Calf's Brains." Cut them in half to cook, and before the milk is added cut them in pieces a little smaller. TRIPE FRICASSEE AN ITALIAN DISH Cut into dice one pound of boiled tripe and lay in vinegar for ten minutes. Make boiling hot one tablespoon of butter in a deep casserole. Roll the tripe in flour and brown in the boiling butter. Add one minced onion, a pinch of rosemary, a dash of cayenne pepper, and half a teaspoon of salt. Add also two cups of strained canned tomatoes, also one teacup of beef or chicken soup, or water. Allow to simmer for ten minutes. Serve in a flat dish, and sprinkle over all two tablespoons of grated cheese. The Italians add one tablespoon of Marsala wine to the sauce when the dish is removed from the fire. TRIPE 109 TRIPE FRICASSEE A PHILADELPHIA DISH To one pint of boiling milk or cream add one pound of boiled tripe which has been cut in pieces one inch square. Season with one minced onion, a teaspoon of minced parsley, a teaspoon of celery seed, a dash of cayenne pepper, half a teaspoon of salt, and three or four pieces of mace. Allow to simmer fifteen minutes. Thicken with two tablespoons of flour, stirred in one tablespoon of butter. Serve on thin toast. FRIED TRIPE Select only the coarse honeycombed tripe. It is sold already boiled, but it is not tender. Put it in a saucepan, cover with cold salted water, and boil very tender. When done cut it into pieces three inches and a half long and two inches wide. Roll four soda crackers fine, and season with salt and red pepper to taste. Beat one egg with one table- spoon of cold water. Dip the tripe into the egg and then turn it over on both sides in the cracker. Have ready a frying- pan with hot lard and butter mixed, enough to cook the tripe slowly and a light brown. When done, lay the pieces on a hot platter, and pour three tablespoons of vinegar into the hot fat that is left. Pour this over the tripe, and serve. no THE HOME COOK BOOK XI MUTTON AND LAMB Boiled Mutton— Boiled Lamb— To Boil a Leg of Mutton— Boned Leg of Mutton— To Broil Mutton Chops— Lamb Chops Broiled — Broiled Chops for an Invalid — To Serve Cold Mutton — Mutton Cromeskies— Crown Roast of Mutton— Roast Lamb — Roast Lamb with Kidney— Leg of Mutton Stuffed— Minced Mutton on Toast— Irish Stew — Scotch Hotchpotch — Lamb Stew BOILED MUTTON USE any part of the mutton }'OU wish ; the shoulder is good. Put it in a granite soup kettle, cover with cold water, and skim when it boils. Boil slowly until done very tender, which may be three hours or more. Peel and cut in half, and add four large onions. Add also salt and pepper to taste, and a teacup of stewed and seasoned tomatoes. When done, take out the mutton and thicken the liquor with flour and water mixed smooth to the thickness of cream. Use this for gravy. BOILED LAMB Select the hindquarter. Wash in cold water, and wipe dry. Put into a granite kettle with salted water, enough to cover it. Boil gently until perfectly tender, which you will discover by probing with a fork, in the thickest part. It may take two hours. Be sure it is perfectly well done. Serve with drawn butter and eggs, or with caper sauce. TO BOIL A LEG OF MUTTON Take a "hung" but perfectly, sweet leg of mutton. Wash, but do not soak it; put in a kettle in which it will fit well — one neither too large nor too small — and little more than cover it with cold water. Set the kettle over a moderate fire, and as the scum rises take it off. Next put in a table- ■ MUTTON AND LAMB '111 spoon of salt, and add three onions and a bouquet made of thyme, summer savory, and parsley. Next put in four or five carrots, and after these have been heated through add as many peeled turnips. Now set the kettle on a spot where its contents will boil gently — simmer, merely gurgle slug- gishly — and let it stand with uninterrupted heat for two hours and a half. If it stews gently the mutton will be deUcious. If it boils hard it will be leathery, tasteless rag, like all fast-boiled meats served up by ignorant, careless, or uneconomical housekeepers. Serve the leg of mutton on a hot platter with caper sauce, or oyster sauce, or nasturtium sauce. From the liquor in which the leg is cooked an excel- lent soup or bouillon is made. If in boiling the mutton you have any bones of mutton, veal, beef, put them in the pot and they increase the strength and tastiness of the soup. Let the liquor cool and remove the fat that rises to the top before you try to use for soup. BONED LEG OF MUTTON You can yourself cut the bone out of the leg, using a sharp, thin-pointed knife and scraping the flesh from the bone; or have it done at the market before the leg is sent to you. To fill in where the bone was removed, make a stuffing of breadcrumbs and chopped hard-boiled eggs, A French Kitchen Knife chopped salt-pickled pork, chopped onions if your taste allows, a sprinkling of powdered sage leaves, and a few pickled olives or capers. Salt and pepper must be at your discretion. Force this dressing in the leg, tie it firmly, and roast in moderate oven several hours, not forgetting to baste the meat. 112 THE HOME COOK BOOK TO BROIL MUTTON CHOPS Choose thick chops, or have them cut thick — an inch or, better still, an inch and a half thick. Meat dealers will french chops for you if you wish ; that is, they trim off the narrow meat from the rib, cut off the rib-bone so that only a part of it remains, and the large muscle rounding and nestling in the double-bone forms the chop. With your chop frenched or in ordinary form, proceed as in the directions for broiling beefsteak on page 89. In serving omit the butter, because the chop carries natural fat with it. LAMB CHOPS BROILED Trim from six lamb chops the fat and membrane on the edge — it is apt to impart a disagreeably woolly taste to the meat. Melt some butter in a pie plate and dip the chops in it, covering every bit of the meat with the butter, dredge with flour, salt and pepper, lay in the broiler, and keep turning over a clear hot fire until the meat is done. Set the chops on their ends about a bouquet of parsley and serve immediately. [See illustration, Plate 11. ] BROILED CHOP FOR AN INVALID French a rib chop by scraping the long part of the bone until all fat is removed. Lay on a clean buttered paper the shape of the chop and cut double. Fold the edges of the paper over and together, thus forming a case. Place on a gridiron, broil six minutes, transfer from the case to a hot platter, and serve at once. TO SERVE COLD MUTTON While you are frying in a saucepan some hashed potatoes, cut large, thin slices from a piece of cold mutton. Lay the mutton round the centre of a platter, letting the pieces over- lap one another, and upon each piece drop a teaspoon of currant jelly. Tip the hot hashed potatoes in the centre of the platter and serve. MUTTON AND LAMB 113 A good variation from the plain currant jelly is to whip half a glass of currant jelly with a teaspoon of made mus- tard until all is a froth, and drop this from a spoon upon the pieces of mutton. Easier than a fork for the beating is a regular egg-beater, MUTTON CROMESKIES Mince cold mutton and season it to your taste with minced onion, salt and pepper. On thin slices of bacon lay as much of the minced mutton as each slice will hold, in other words wrap spoonfuls of the mutton with thin slices of bacon. Fasten the bacon by using wooden toothpicks as skewers, thus forming cromeskies. Dip each of the cromeskies in a frying batter, or in a saucer of raw egg, and then into pow- dered cracker, drop in deep hot fat, and fry a delicate brown. Serve hot with mashed potato or with plain boiled rice. CROWN ROAST OF MUTTON The rack of mutton or lamb is used for this, and the roast is cut from a loin, curled, and tied in the form of a crown. Or the crown form is obtained from corresponding ribs on either side of the animal being tied together and curled out- ward. The ribs are chopped apart at the backbone. The chops are frenched — that is, freed from meat toward the sharp end of the rib. The meat at this point may be cut off or scraped to fall over into the centrepiece of the crown. In the centre of the round roast lay chopped mutton or lamb well seasoned and mixed with breadcrumbs in the proportion of one-third crumbs to two-thirds meat. Salt the roast and bake, basting often and allowing an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. Serve with green peas and mashed potatoes. ROAST LAMB Select the fore or hind quarter, if the lamb is young (which it should be), to roast. Wash in cold water, and dry with a cloth. Lay on a frame in the baking-pan, pepper and 114 THE HOME COOK BOOK salt it, lightly rubbing the salt on. Set in a hot oven. Turn the meat from side to side as it cooks. Baste every ten minutes, and let it cook well done. Lamb should never be at all rare. Allow about twelve minutes to a pound in roasting. Serve with gravy or mint sauce. For gravy, strain the water the meat is cooked and basted with, and thicken with flour mixed with water and added before setting the pan on the stove. Stir constantly until the gravy pours nicely, and strain if at all lumpy. ROAST LAMB WITH KIDNEY Have the bone cut out of leg of a lamb, and fill in the hollow with kidney cooked tender, minced, mixed with bread- crumbs and well seasoned. If you have mushrooms, add a few to the stuffing. Roast in a hot oven and add nasturtium seeds or capers to the gravy. LEG OF MUTTON STUFFED Boil two or three white onions until tender. Chop them in a bowl with breadcrumbs and season with sage, pepper, and salt. Slit the leg of mutton at the sinews, pack in the .stuffing, and roast, basting the leg frequently. MINCED MUTTON ON TOAST Chop fine the yolks of two or three hard-boiled eggs. To them add half a teaspoon of mixed mustard, a pinch of salt, and a dash of cayenne. When well stirred together, mix in a cup of cold cooked mutton well minced, and half a cup of cream. Set over the fire, and when hot spread upon toast of white bread cut in triangles, circles, squares, or fingers. Some cooks add to this dish a tablespoon or two of sherry. But the mince is good without the wine, and we do not encourage the use of such flavorings for simple, everyday cooking. MUTTON AND LAMB 115 IRISH STEW When you buy your mutton for the stew have the butcher cut in between the joints, giving the effect of chops. It is useless for you to buy the loin — a waste of money and not so good a piece because of its fat. It is the scrag or neck piece you want for Irish stew, for a small stew two pounds. Slice three or four onions in a hot iron pot and let them fry in their own juice till they are light brown. Don't burn them. Then add slowly a quart and a half of cold water and lay in the meat. Let the water slowly come to boil, and after it has boiled up and you have skimmed it, set it back upon the stove, where it will merely bubble and simmer — not boil. Let it stay for two hours, adding a teaspoon of salt, and keeping it tightly covered. Peel as many potatoes as you want to use. Slice two in thin slices for dissolving and thickening the gravy. The water will be pretty well boiled out, but don't mind that; you want only enough for a gravy, not enough for a broth. Cut the potatoes in two if they seem too large, and put them all, the sliced and halved, over the mutton. Set the pot for- ward over a little brisker fire. Be sure to fit the cover tight on, to keep in steam and preserve the flavor. Allow three- quarters of an hour for the potatoes to cook, and serve the stew smoking hot upon a hot platter. SCOTCH HOTCHPOTCH Wash and :cut in small pieces two pounds of the scrag or neck of mutton. Put it over tlie fire with three cups of water, bring it slowly to boil, and cook it slowly and gently for an hour and a half, keeping it covered tight. Then cut into dice a small carrot, two onions and a turnip, and add to the meat. Add also half a can of fine marrowfat peas and a teaspoon of salt. Cook till all the vegetables are thoroughly tender, and twenty minutes before serving add the other half of the can of peas. If the liquid is fat after you take up the meat, skim it. The peas and vegetables will have thickened 116 THE HOME COOK BOOK the gravy, but you may need a dessertspoon of flour for thickening in addition. Serve on a platter, the mutton in the centre and the vegetables surrounding it. LAMB STEW Slice four good-sized onions thin, rinse in cold water, and cook in an iron frying-pan, with enough cold water to cover them. Slice the cold lamb in thin slices and pieces. When the onions are done put in the meat, season with salt and pepper, and add a half-teacup of stewed tomato and any cold gravy you may have left from the lamb. Have enough water to cover the meat. Stew slowly one hour. Thicken with flour dissolved and stirred smooth in cold water. Pour this into the middle of the stew, and stir with the back of the spoon to prevent lumping. Cover and keep hot. PORK 117 XII PORK Bacon and Eggs— Fried Bacon— Boiled Bacon with Boiled Cabbage— Jowl and Greens — Pork and Beans — To Cure Hams— To Boil a Ham — Ham Boiled in Cider — Jambolaya — Hog's Head Cheese— Holland Meat Pie — Mock Duck — Crown Roast of Pork— Roast Pork with Sage — Roast Tenderloins— Broiled Pork Tenderloins — Fried Salt Pork with Fried Apples— Old-fashioned Salt Pork with Milk Gravy— To Fry Pork Sausages- Sausage and Eggs BACON AND EGGS HAVE a saucepan well heated, and in it lay thin slices of bacon. Fry on both sides till crisp. Put on a hot platter, and into the hot fat remaining in the saucepan slip eggs, one at a time, from a saucer. Cook till slightly browned on one side, then turn and brown on the other side. Lay the eggs on the platter, put a slice or two of bacon on each egg and ' serve at once. FRIED BACON Bacon is best cooked not in an iron frying-pan, but on tin or granite. Heat hot an omelet pan or a tin pie-plate. Cook rather slowly, turning the bacon from one side to the other, until a nice brown without being hard. Serve on a hot dish, and pour over it whatever quantity of the fat is wished. BOILED BACON WITH BOILED CABBAGE Choose a piece of bacon sufficient for the number re- quired. Put it in a pot and cover it with cold water. Skim when it comes to boil, and boil until tender, which will be one hour or one hour and a half. When done lay it on a platter and surround it with hot boiled cabbage. JOWL AND GREENS The jowl of the hog salted and cured is delicious and appetizing when cooked with young spring dandelion, beet, 118 THE HOME COOK BOOK or other fresh, tender greens. Wash the jowl and set it over a. brisk fire in a kettle. There should be enough cold water to cover it. When the water comes to boil, skim and set the kettle where the water will gently bubble. Allow three td four hours for its cooking. The greens you cook with it should be thoroughly washed through several waters, and added in time to cook through and be perfectly done by the time the jowl is cooked. If you use cabbage as the vegetable, or turnips, or young dan- delions, or young beets, allow for their cooking an hour at least; two hours is better. For potatoes allow half or three- quarters of an hour. Cut the cabbage into quarters, and examine it closely for creeping things, PORK AND BEANS Soak a quart of white beans overnight. Next morning « drain off the water, cover with fresh water and bring to boil. Pour off this water, cover again with cold water, and add a square piece of pork weighing about half a pound. Score the skin of the pork before putting it in with the beans. Boil slowly until the beans are growing soft, then stir in a heap- ing tablespoon of brown sugar or a half of a small cup of molasses. Put all in a dripping-pan, with the pork in the centre, and bake an hour or more, till the top of the beans has a brown crust. See also "Baked Beans," Chapter XVII. TO CURE HAMS After they are thoroughly cold and free from animal heat, pack the hams in a barrel or cask, laying them skin-side down. Make carefully the following brine: Weigh out twenty pounds of coarse salt, two pounds of sugar or two quarts of New Orleans molasses, and half a pound of salt- petre. Measure fourteen gallons of water. Put all in the big kettle or wash-boiler you wish to make the brine in, set over the fire, and when the scum begins to rise begin to skim» • PORK 119 By the time the brine boils you will have it clear. When it has boiled a few minutes, set it off the fire to become cold. After the hams have lain in the brine from three to six weeks you will want to smoke them. If you have no smoke- house, improvise one by getting a barrel or, if a barrel is not large enough, a hogshead. Across its bottom nail poles, and on the poles string your hams, having tied a cord loop into each. Take an old iron pot half full of ashes and build a fire of green hickory chips or of corncobs in it. Don't have more than a double handful of fuel, for you must avoid heat. Smoke is what you want, not heat. To make the fire put live coals on the ashes, and then lay on the coals your cobs or chips. The fire must smoulder and smoke, not burn to make heat which would cook and spoil your hams. Set the pot of smudge on the ground, and over it the hogshead, up- side down, with the hams hanging from its bottom. If smoke leaks from the hogshead cover it with things you have at hand — papers, old carpets, etc. When the hams are suffi- ciently smoked, put each one in a paper sack or in cloth bags. To rub the flesh side and the end of the leg with bladlc, cayenne or red pepper before smoking is thought by some to be a preventive against the attack of insects and to save putting the hams in bags. TO BOIL A HAM First wash and scrape the ham and soak it all night in plenty of cold water. In the morning put it in a kettle and cover it with gold water. You may add if you wish a table- spoon of brown sugar, a sprig of thyme, and a few allspice, but many prefer the ham cooked in water to which no flavor has been added. When the water begins to boil, skim and set the kettle on the back of the stove where the water will boil gently. In this way let it boil five or six hours, when the ham will be well cooked. Tip it from the kettle, or lift it out to an earthen jar or wooden bowl, and leave the ham in the liquor in which it was boiled, to get cold. Then take off the skin and cover with rasped breadcrumbs. 120 THE HOME COOK BOOK If you wish to add browning also to the ham — which some Hke — skin the ham while hot, place it in a dripping- pan, sprinkle over it sugar and breadcrumbs, and bake an hour. But if the ham is left to cool in its own liquor, it seems to have an especially fine and juicy flavor. HAM BOILED IN CIDER Wash a ham thoroughly clean. Soak overnight in clear, cold water. Next morning bring to boil a kettle of cider. Be sure you use a porcelain-lined kettle, so that the cider will not be affected by the metal. Do not poison the ham by using tin. In the boiling cider lay the freshened ham and boil it slowly from five to eight hours, according to the size and needs of the ham. Set to cool in the liquid in which it boils. If you wish a spice taste to the ham, while it is boil- ing throw in the cider a little cinnamon, mace, and cloves tied in a thin muslin bag. JAMBOLAYA A NEW ORLEANS DISH Mince fine all pieces of ham you can get off a well-cut- from bone. Fry these with four slices of raw bacon chopped very fine. Add one onion minced fine, and two or more cups of cold boiled rice. Add enough strained tomatoes to give liquid and keep the rice from burning. Stir constantly and season with thyme, salt, and one pepper pod chopped fine. If you have a few cold sausages, or cold chicken or turkey, chop fine and add. Fry until all seems quite dry, remove from the fire, add two eggs, beat in, and then turn the whole into a porcelain dish and baste over with a little butter. Set in the oven to form a crust over the top. HOG'S HEAD CHEESE Have your butcher split the head and clean it. Wash it thoroughly and put it into a kettle of boiling water, the water being enough to completely cover it. Cover the kettle PORK 121 tight and boil gently till the meat separates freely from the bones. Take the head in a pan and pick out all the bones. Next put it in your chopping bowl and chop fine. While in the bowl season, to a pint of meat a tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of finely powdered sage, and also a saltspoon of pepper. Mix thoroughly and moisten with the thick liquid left from the boiling head, half a cup to a pint of the meat. Taste to see if the seasoning is right. If not, add what you think is lacking. Set on the fire when you have completed the seasoning, cook slowly half an hour, pour into molds or bowls, and set to cool. A little melted lard poured over the top of the head cheese after it cools shuts out the air and helps to preserve it. Keep in a cold place. Serve the cheese cut in smooth slices. HOLLAND MEAT PIE Take one pound of raised bread dough and roll it to one- eighth of an inch thick and six inches wide, and just as long as possible without breaking the dough. Then lay along the centre a mixture made of two pounds of lean sausage meat highly seasoned with sage, thyme, and summer savory. Then bring the long edges of the dough over and pinch them to- gether, using water to make them adhere. Pinch the ends together also. Now brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with caraway seeds and coil on a greased pan. Bake until the dough is risen and richly browned. Garnish with fried parsley and serve either hot or cold. [See illustration, Plate XL] MOCK DUCK Split down its length a pork tenderloin. In the opening stuff a forcemeat such as you make for duck. Sew the opening together to inclose completely the stuffing, put in a dripping-pan, rub the meat with flour, salt, and pepper, add a cup of boiling water, and roast, frequently basting till the meat is thoroughly cooked. Draw out the thread and lay ^ 6 .Vol. 2 122 THE HOME COOK BOOK on a hot platter. Serve with it apples cooked till soft, and without sugar. CROWN ROAST OF PORK A dozen pork chops should be tied round in crown form for this dish. The ribs rising at the top should be trimmed free from meat and all be cut till of the same height. The centre of the crown fill with sausage meat well seasoned and lightened by one-third its quantity of breadcrumbs. Roast in a moderate oven till thoroughly done, allowing three full hours. Serve the meat with apples cooked without sugar, and also with plain boiled onions and mashed potato. ROAST PORK WITH SAGE Rub a loin roast with flour, salt, and generously sprinkle with pulverized sage. Put in a dripping-pan with a cup of hot water and set in the oven. Baste often with the little water and the fat from the meat and the sage on the bottom of the dripping-pan. Allow two and a half to three hours for a six-pound loin roast. When done put the meat on a hot platter, pour off much of the fat in the dripping-pan, set the pan on the stove, add a teacup of hot water, stir in a tablespoon of flour dissolved in cold water, and cook till thick. This gravy will be seasoned with the sage remaining in the dripping-pan. ROAST TENDERLOINS Split two tenderloins lengthwise, or direct your market man to do so when you purchase. Make a stuffing or force- meat of breadcrumbs, and season well with onions and sage and salt. Fill the tenderloins with the forcemeat, salt and pepper the outside of the meat. Set in a dripping-pan with a little hot water, and roast in a hot oven two or three hours — the time you must judge by the size of the loin. An added flavor is gained by fastening two or three slices of bacon with wooden toothpicks to the tenderloin. Eat hot or cold. PORK 123 BROILED PORK TENDERLOINS Split pork tenderloins open lengthwise, and season highly with salt and pepper. If cooked on a gas stove (which is best), broil on a wire frame set in a shallow pan, under the flame. Cook slowly. Have a pie-pan with a tablespoon of butter dissolved in two or more tablespoons of hot water. Take out the tenderloins, and turn them over and over in the butter and water while cooking. Baste them in this way every five minutes to make them juicy. Cook thoroughly and a light brown, and avoid cooking them hard. Lay on hot dish and pour over melted butter seasoned with salt and pepper. If cooked with coal or wood stove, use the oven and follow same directions. FRIED SALT PORK WITH FRIED APPLES Pour boiling water over slices of salt pork. Have care that the rind is clean. Put the pork in a hot iron saucepan and fry both sides till it is crisp. Lay the slices on a hot platter. Have ready some quick-cooking, tart apples, not peeled but washed, wiped, and sliced m thin slices straight across the apple. Slip these into the hot fat left from the fried pork, cover tight, stir occasionally, and cook the apples till they are tender. Lay in a circle round the pork and serve all hot. OLD-FASHIONED SALT PORK WITH MILK GRAVY Cut the pork in thin slices, put it in a frying-pan and cover with fresh cold water. When the water begins to steam pour it off. Set the pan back on the fire and fry the pork till crisp in its own fat. Take out the slices and lay on a hot platter. Pour off the grease in your drippings jar, keeping about a tablespoon in the pan. Put back the pan on the fire, and stir a couple of tablespoons of flour in the fat. Then pour in a cup of milk. The milk will cook and thicken with the flour. Stir well and pour on the platter 124 THE HOME COOK BOOK with the pork. Serve this pork with unsweetened apple- sauce and mashed potatoes. TO FRY PORK SAUSAGES In a hot saucepan put a teaspoon of butter or drippings, and in the fat brown a chopped onion or two. When the onion is brown squeeze in the juice of half a lemon or of a whole lemon if you have several sausages. Then put in your sausages and cook through, keeping the saucepan covered. Lay the sausages on a hot platter, shake a tablespoon of browned flour in the saucepan, add two or three tablespoons of boiling water, boil up, and pour the gravy on the platter beside the sausages. SAUSAGE AND EGGS If you have a sausage or two left over, utilize them with scrambled eggs. Cut the sausage in small circles and heat in a saucepan. When heated through the sausage has left a little fat in the pan. Pour in three well-beaten eggs to which two tablespoons of milk or cream have been added. Stir the eggs till they cook thick and smooth. Season with salt while they cook, and serve at once. POULTRY AND GAME 125 XIII POULTRY AND GAME Baked Chicken with Oyster Dressing — Broiled Chicken — Creamed Chicken — Creamed Chicken for Company — Chicken with Cream Sauce^Chicken Curry — Fricasseed Chicken— Fried Chicken — Chicken Loaf — Chicken and Mushrooms — Aunt Nancy's Smothered Chicken— Panned Breast of Chicken— Chicken Pie— Chicken Potpie— Plain Potted Chicken — Potted Chicken or Turkey — Pressed Chicken— Chicken with Red Peppers — Remnants of Cold Chicken — Chicken with Rice and Saffron- Spanish Chicken— Stewed Chicken with Dumpling — Chicken Terrapin — To Bone a Turkey —Stuffing for Boned Turkey — Turkey Loaf— Roast Turkey— Turkey Dressing — Duck, Pork, and Other Dressings— Chestnut Stuffing for Turkey — Sausage Stuffing for Turkey— Roast Duck--Roast Goose with Apples — Broiled Partridge— Broiled Quail — Broiled Pigeons— English Pigeon Pie— Roast Snipe— Game Pie— Jugged Hare — Venison with Gooseberry Jelly BAKED CHICKEN WITH OYSTER DRESSING A NEW ORLEANS DISH TO a tablespoon of boiling butter add one minced onion, a good pinch of rosemary, the same of thyme, and one small minced red pepper. When these are browned, add one cup of oyster- juice. Let all simmer five minutes, and then add two cups of boiled rice and one cup of minced lean of ham. Brown a little and then add two dozen chopped oysters. Stir until it all becomes quite brown, remove from the saucepan, and stuff the fowl. Under each pinion and between each thigh and the body lay a thin slice of bacon. Tie down the drum-bone knuckles and fasten the wings, dust the bird with flour, and lay some thin slices of bacon over the breast. Lay the bird in a roasting-pan, and use two teacups of tomato- juice and one of oyster-juice to baste with. Add the giblets boiled tender and chopped to the gravy formed in the pan. Bake one hour, basting often. BROILED CHICKEN A chicken weighing about two pounds when dressed should be prepared for broiling by being split down the back. 120 THE HOME COOK BOOK Spread out the bird and la} it in a baking-pan in which you have poured half a cup of boiling water. Cover tight, set over the fire or in a brisk oven, and let the chicken cook in the steam till the meat is nearly done. If the hot water cooks away add a little more. Just before the chicken is wholly cooked put it on your gridiron or broiler and finish the cooking over a direct fire, buttering it a little as it broils. Lay the broiled chicken on a hot dish, spread upon it maitre d'hotel sauce and serve. CREAMED CHICKEN Clean and cut up in neat pieces two chickens. Put them on to boil and before they are done pare some potatoes, cut them in two, lay them on top of the chicken and let them boil till done. Then take up the potatoes carefully on a plate by themselves. Pour a pint of cream upon the chicken, let it heat, then thicken with a scant tablespoon of flour dis- solved in a small half cup of milk. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh butter. If you have no cream milk will answer, but more butter will be required. CREAMED CHICKEN FOR COMPANY Take the meat of two chickens which have been roasted or boiled and cut into small pieces. Mix half a pint of milk with one pint of cream, heat in a double-boiler, and pour over three tablespoons of flour which have been stirred into a piece of butter the size of an egg. Add salt and cayenne to taste. Stir the cream until it thickens. Into an earthen baking dish put a layer of the cut chicken. Over this a, layer of cream. Then a layer of chicken. Then cream. So do till the dish is full with a cream layer on top. Sprinkle with fine breadcrumbs and bake an hour in a moderate oven. If you use all milk, allow more butter. And if you use small individual dishes instead of a large baking dish allow less time for tlie baking, say twenty minutes. For conven- ience you may put together the cream and chicken in the POULTRY AND GAME 127 morning, and not bake till the later hour of the day in which you want the dish; but in that event be sure t«o keep the chicken in a cool place so that the cream will not sour. CHICKEN WITH CREA'M SAUCE For one chicken boiled and cut as for salad, make a sauce of one pint of rich milk, two tablespoons of flour, and one tablespoon of butter. Heat the milk in a double-boiler, and then add the flour and butter. Take half a can of mush- rooms, cut them in pieces, and boil them gently five minutes in their own liquor. Add them to the hot milk sauce, boil three minutes, stir in the chicken, and serve either in a large dish or in small hot shells. CHICKEN CURRY Chop two large onions and put in a kettle with three- fourths of a cup of butter, and cook the onions till brown. Add a young, tender chicken of three or four pounds, the chicken having been cut in small pieces. Add also half a tablespoon of curry, three fresh tomatoes, or one cup of canned tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover tight and simmer an hour or longer. Then add a cup of milk and boil up once. About the rim of a platter bank fresh boiled rice, pour the hot curry in the middle so the walls of rice will hold it, and serve hot. FRICASSEED CHICKEN Separate all the joints of the chicken and wash in cold water. Then put in a granite kettle. Add two large onions cut in half, and two slices of salt pickled pork. Cover two inches above the chicken with cold water. When it begins to boil add pepper and salt, and season carefully and highly. Cook until very tender. Cut slices of stale bread into ob- long pieces two inches wide. Lay these on a hot platter. Take out the chicken and place it on the bread. Mix flour and water together smoothly, pour this into the gravy, taste. 128 THE HOME COOK BOOK and boil until it thickens. Then pour over the bread and chicken. It commonly takes about four heaping tablespoons of flour to thicken, FRIED CHICKEN Wash and cut the chicken, separating each joint. Sprinkle the pieces with salt, pepper, and flour before you begin to fry. Have ready the frying-pan with hot lard. Fry the meat slowly until well cooked and a nice brown, being careful not to burn it. When done, pour off nearly all the fat. Then add milk or milk and cream for a gravy. Mix about two table- spoons of flour smoothly in cold water, put into the milk, stirring constantly until it thickens. Pour the gravy over the chicken. CHICKEN LOAF Boil a fowl till the meat is ready to fall from the bones. Salt while boiling. Take from its liquor, and while you are picking out the bones let the liquor boil down so that it measures not more than three cups. To this add quarter of a box of gelatine which you have already soaked and softened. Round the bottom of a mold or bowl lay two hard-boiled eggs sliced in circles. Upon this put a layer of dark meat, then a layer of light meat, and so alternate till you have used up the chicken. Do not pack the meat tight, but leave space for the liquor to fill in. See that the seasoning is right, add pepper if wished, and then pour the liquor over the meat, seeing first that the gelatine is well dissolved. Set away to chill, and the liquor will harden to a jelly. Tip on a platter when served. A nice dish for Sunday evening supper. CHICKEN AND MUSHROOMS In a saucepan melt two tablespoons of butter, and when hot add two tablespoons of minced onion and half a can of mushrooms chopped. Let cook for five minutes, and add a cup of milk into which a tablespoon and a half of flour has POULTRY AND GAME 129 been stirred. Cook all together, and when thick and smooth add a cup of chicken meat cut inlto small pieces or dice. Heat through, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve all together in a hot dish, or on pieces of toast of a golden brown, or in shells of pastry of the individual patty-pan size. AUNT NANCY'S SMOTHERED CHICKEN Have tender chicken for this dish, and cut in pieces as for fricassee. Roll the chicken in flour in which is mixed salt and pepper needful for seasoning, and put in a skillet (saucepan) in which is a little cream. Cover close. Turn the chicken often and add cream or milk when necessary to keep from burning. Cook sloivly one hour, and just before it is done add a little butter. PANNED BREAST OF CHICKEN Place the breast in a small baking dish with a little boil- ing water. Cook till brown, basting frequently. Season nicely and serve on a hot plate with a border of rice and olives. [See illustration, Plate XII.] CHICKEN PIE Take two fat young fowls, cut them in pieces, put in a pot, nearly cover with boiling water, and cook slowly. After they have cooked three-quarters of an hour add a pint of raw potatoes cut in slices, and cook ten minutes from the time they began again to simmer. Salt to taste. Have a deep pan lined with a biscuit crust, that is a dough made after baking powder biscuit receipt. The dough should be rolled thicker than the common fruit-pie crust. Lay cooked chicken in the pan, then put in a Ia}er of potato, and so alternate till you have used your material. Thicken the water in which the chickens cooked by stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour dissolved in a little cold water and boiling up the liquor. Pour this over the chicken and potato in the deep pan, add a tablespoon or two of butter — more or less, according to the 130 THE HOME COOK BOOK fatness of your chickens — two or three hard-boiled eggs, sliced, and taste again to see that salt and pepper are right. Cover with a top crust, score the centre of the top so that steam may escape, pinch down the edges tight, and bake two hours in a moderate oven. Two ingredients not mentioned above may be included, if one's taste wishes. One is a cup of stale breadcrumbs with the gravy, and another is a cup of chopped boiled ham. CHICKEN POTPIE Singe, draw, wash, and cut up two fat fowls. Lay them in a pot with quarter of a pound of salt pork cut in slices, and cover with tepid water. Bring slowly to boil, and cook slowly till the meat is about to separate from the bone. No time can be set, because the flesh of the fowl may be tender or may be tough. It is best to allow two hours and a half or three hours. If your fowls are tough, then you have time to cook tender ; if they are tender and the meat gets done before you are ready for it, hold up the cooking by setting the pot in a warm place. Twenty minutes before serving bring the chickens to a quick boil and drop from a tablespoon pieces of dumpling dough (described on page 82). Do not let the boiling stop, but keep it up for fifteen minutes or perhaps twenty minutes. Then lift your meat to a hot platter and lay on also the dumplings. Into the boiling gravy stir flour worked smooth in a little cold water. Season to taste, and when the flour thickens ladle some of the gravy over the meat and dumplings. Serve the rest of the gravy in a bowl. PLAIN POTTED CHICKEN Boil the chicken till tender and ready to fall from the bone, using as little water as possible and putting in season- ing of salt and pepper while the chicken is cooking. Drain off the liquor or gravy and take out the meat. Separate the white meat from the dark and chop both separately and very fine. In the dish in which you wish to mold the chicken lay POULTRY AND GAME 131 the white meat, completing a layer on the bottom of the mold and pile the dark on top, or press the white meat to one side and the dark to the other side. Moisten the meat by pouring over it a little of the liquid in which it was cooked, lay a saucer, plate, or small board upon it, put on a weight and set away till the meat is cold and solid. Serve the chicken turned upon a platter. POTTED CHICKEN OR TURKEY Free the roast meat of a fowl from all bones. To every pound of meat add quarter of a pound of butter, pounding it in, and add little by little one teaspoon of mace, half a nut- meg, and cayenne pepper and salt to your taste. When you have worked all to a smooth paste, pack it in small glass or earthenware pots, and cover with clarified butter. Exclude all air by sealing the pots if you wish to keep the meat for any length of time, and set in a dry, airy place. A little boiled ham minced and oounded with the chicken gives added flavor, PRESSED CHICKEN Cook a fowl in just water enough to keep it from burn- ing until the meat loosens from the bones. After it has cooled pick it to pieces and mix the light and dark meat. Boil till hard two eggs, slice thin and add to the picked-up chicken. Boil down the water in which the chicken was cooked till it fills a small teacup. Add a little butter, pepper and salt. Mix all with the picked-up chicken, put in a mold or bowl, put on a weight to press, and set in a cool place. When time to serve, tip the chicken on a platter. CHICKEN WITH RED PEPPERS This is a Spanish receipt. It is good for using up left-over chicken. Boil three large red peppers until tender. Take out and throw away the seeds in which lie the strength of the peppers, add an onion, and chop fine with the peppers. 132 THE HOME COOK BOOK Mix two teaspoons of flour with two of butter, thin with half a cup or a small cup of milk. Bring to boil together with the minced peppers and add a cup of chicken chopped fine. Serve hot. REMNANTS OF COLD CHICKEN Cut the meat in small pieces as if for a salad. Rub a tablespoon of flour in a tablespoon of butter, add a table- spoon of minced onion and the same amount of parsley or minced celery, and stir all into a cup and a half of new milk heated in a double-boiler. When the milk thickens salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the diced chicken and let it heat through. Have small pieces of toast, put the chicken on the bread and serve. CHICKEN WITH RICE AND SAFFRON AN ITALIAN DISH Boil a six-pound chicken with two minced onions, one minced red pepper, and two minced sweet peppers. Boil until the jchicken is very tender. After removing the chicken add one pound of rice to the boiling broth. Boil for thirty minutes until the rice absorbs almost all the broth. Stir in one tablespoon of butter, one can of French mushrooms, and the minced cooked giblets. Add one heaping tablespoon of saffron powder, stirring through the rice. Pile the rice in a mound on a flat dish. Carve the chicken and lay in a bor- der about the rice. SPANISH CHICKEN Cut up as for fricassee a fowl, and put on to cook in hot water to cover it. Take a dozen dry red peppers, cut out the seed, and then jcut up and boil twenty minutes or half an hour till tender. When cooked moisten them with a little of the chicken broth and put through a sieve. In a saucepan in which you have a large spoon of hot lard slice two good-sized onions and let them fry. When brown add POULTRY AND GAME 133 the peppers, and the chicken, which you have salted in its cooking and wliich must be thoroughly cooked and tender, and also add half a cup of the chicken broth. Thicken the rest of the broth, pour in the saucepan, and let the whole simmer over a gentle fire for fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve on a hot platter, STEWED CHICKEN WITH DUMPLING A NEW ORLEANS RECEIPT Cut the chicken for stewing, roll each piece in flour and brown in two tablespoons of hot dripping in a deep sauce- pan or casserole. Add quarter of a pound of lean boiled ham which you have cut in small pieces, one large minced onion, one bay leaf, two minced bell peppers, one minced red pep- per, half a teaspoon of rosemary, half a teaspoon of thyme, and a clove of minced garlic. Fill the 'casserole with water and allow all to simmer about two hours, until the water has cooked down to a rich gravy. Make the dumplings by creaming one teaspoon of butter with two beaten eggs. Add one teacup of flour and one teaspoon of baking powder. Mix to a soft dough, as soft as may be to roll out on the board. Roll and cut the dough in cubes one inch in size. Drop these cubes in the boiling stew fifteen minutes before serving. They will rise to cubes two inches in size. CHICKEN TERRAPIN A WASHINGTON DISH FOR FESTIVAL DAYS Boil two fowls until they are so tender that the meat parts readily from the bone when you stick in a fork. When the meat is cold cut it in small dice or squares. Heat a pint of milk in a double-boiler and to it add half a pound of butter into which you have rubbed and beaten two table- spoons of flour. Stir the butter and milk till boiling hot, take from the fire, and stir in half a teaspoon of salt, a dash of cayenne, a dash of nutmeg, and the yolks of six eggs. 134 THE HOME COOK BOOK which you have previously well beaten. Put the diced chicken meat in a saucepan, pour the mixture over it, heat, but do not boil, and just before serving stir in a pint of sherry. A dish to go well with this is creamed potatoes. TO BONE A TURKEY Have a tender turkey, singe, draw, wash, and wipe it dry. Lay it before you, and have a sharp, narrow-pointed knife. Scrape the flesh from the bone ; do not cut it. Begin by going round the neck and shoulders and wings, taking off all the flesh from the bone, and pushing it before the knife as you proceed. Work the knife slowly and gradually, and do not break the skin. When the flesh has been completely cut from the bone, pull the neck and draw the whole skeleton out, leaving the flesh, which will be shapeless. Fill out the bird to its own size by stuffing the legs and wings, and then the body, with the following forcemeat. Tie and truss it for cooking, and follow the directions given under "Roast Turkey" for the roasting. STUFFING FOR BONED TURKEY Chop to a mince five hard-boiled eggs. To them add five slices of a ham which you have minced, and the slices of a whole tongue. Put in a few pieces of salt pickled pork and finish out with breadcrumbs. For seasoning you will need butter, salt and cayenne. If your taste permits it, use onions, thyme, sweet marjoram, celery seed, sweet basil, parsley, or other seasoning. TURKEY LOAF Cold turkey may be made up with cold ham, as described under "Veal Loaf.'' ROAST TURKEY Choose a fat turkey, draw and singe it. Save the giblets, that is the heart, liver and gizzard. Wash and clean them. POULTRY AND GAME 135 and set over to boil. While they are cooking make the force- meat or stuffing. A common forcemeat for turkey is made of breadcrumbs, broken tine, well seasoned with salt and pepper, and, if your taste is pleased with it, also with sage. Butter should be added to give smoothness. When the gib- lets are tender — they may take some time to cook — take them from, the saucepan, put them in a chopping bowl, and mince. Add them to the breadcrumbs, and add also the little liquor in which they have been cooked. When you have thoroughly mixed the ingredients named above you have a good turkey stuffing or forcemeat. Now take your turkey, which has been washed in a little clear water and wiped dry, and fill the hole at the neck where the crop came out, and also the whole body of the turkey. Sew up the slits, using a large needle made for such pur- poses, or a large darning needle. Wind a clean white cord about the body to hold it in shape, and push up the legs close and high against the body. Press the neck gently down into and under the back. Rub the turkey over with butter, dredge it with salt and flour, set it in a dripping-pan, pour into the pan a pint of boiling water, and push it in a hot oven. With the liquor in the pan baste the turkey every fifteen minutes. Let it cook two hours and a half to three hours. The heat of the oven should be greater the first hour of the cooking. When the bird is cooked set it on a hot platter, and with the liquor which remains in the pan, seasoned as it is b}' the stuffing that has oozed out during the cooking and the juices of the meat, make a gravy by thickening with flour. Put the gravy in a separate dish. If the water cooks out of the pan during the roasting, add more water, always boiling hot. A turkey may be stuffed with forcemeats given on page 137- Oysters stuff turkeys admirably. They should be well seasoned before being put in. Again, chestnuts boiled, peeled and mashed with butter make a good stuffing. In the South boiled sweet potatoes mashed with butter have been used. 136 THE HOME COOK BOOK But the best all-round forcemeat is that of breadcrumbs seasoned and mixed with minced giblets. It is an old-fashioned country notion that a turkey gains in sweetness by being frosted after it is ready for stuffing, and in New England and the North generally it used to be the custom to prepare the bird the day before it was to be eaten — at Thanksgiving and Christmas — and hang it outdoors to be stiffened by the freezing air. TURKEY DRESSING A nine-pound turkey will require nearly two baker's loaves of bread for dressing. Cut off the crust from the four sides of the loaf. Crumble it coarse. Season with salt and pepper, being careful of the salt, as there is salt in the bread. Season high. Add one large beaten egg, and one heaping tablespoon of melted butter. Mix lightly with the hands. Add thyme for further seasoning. Thyme that comes in packages is bet- ter than that prepared in bottles. After the turkey is drawn, and the lights taken out and wiped dry, put in the dressing lightly by the handful without squeezing the bread. The open- ing should then be covered with pieces of the crust from the bread to keep the dressing dry. Fasten the opening together with skewers which come for thus purpose or sew it up. When the turkey is served take away the pieces of bread, and the dressing will be light and moist. No water should ever be used in this dressing. Water makes it soggy. All the moistening required will be found in the egg and melted butter. Turkey gravy should be thickened with browned flour, mixed in cold water: for a pint of gravy two heaping table- spoons of lightly browned flour mixed with water and made rather thick and smooth. Boil until the gravy thickens, and no more. Strain through a tin strainer or a tin skimmer. DUCK, PORK, AND OTHER DRESSINGS See under receipt headed "Turkey Dressing" about an ex- cellent receipt for dressings of all kinds. To duck dressing POULTRY AND GAME 137 made after this direction add a slice of chopped pickled pork and chopped onion and sage or thyme. To pork dressing, add sage and onions. CHESTNUT STUFFING FOR TURKEY Shell two or more quarts of large chestnuts — those called French chestnuts. The quantity must accord with the size of your turkey. Drop them in boiling water and let them cook till the skins are loosened. Rub off the brown skins, drop into boiling salted water and cook till tender. Take from the water and rub at once through a colander. With the mashed nuts mix a handful or two of fine breadcrumbs, moisten to a paste with cream and melted butter, season with salt and pep- per and pack in your turkey. The forcemeat will swell, and therefore do not pack it in too tight. SAUSAGE STUFFING FOR TURKEY Crumble the bread with which you wish to stuff your turkey, moistening it with a little cold water. Add and mix in three- quarters of a pound of home-made or country-made sausage, a couple of tablespoons of melted butter, the juice of an onion, or the onion itself finely chopped, and three tart apples chopped fine. The sausage will have sage, but if you wish add a little more. Stir all together thoroughly, and force into the turkey. ROAST DUCK Singe, draw, and proceed as for "Roast Goose." Orange marmalade is a proper accompaniment for roast domestic duck. Serve with duck a rich brown sauce, into which, at the last moment, a tablespoon of orange marmalade has been stirred. ROAST GOOSE WITH APPLES A bread dressing seasoned with butter, pepper, salt, onions and sage can be used, or mashed potatoes seasoned with but- ter, salt, pepper and fried onions is favorably recommended. 138 THE HOME COOK BOOK Dredge the skin of the bird with flour and baste frequently. When serving, garnish with sUced apples stewed in salted water and pickled walnuts, oHves, or preserved oranges. [See illustration, Plate XII.] BROILED PARTRIDGE Singe and clean the birds and wipe dry with a cloth. Split up the back and press the breast bone flat. Rub the broiler with drippings and lay on the birds. Dip them in a sauce of melted butter several times while they are broiling. Allow twenty minutes for their broiling. Serve on a hot platter, laying maitre d'hotel sauce upon each bird. BROILED QUAIL Dress and rinse the quail in cold water, and wipe dry. Open them down the back. Lay them on a wire frame, set in a shallow pan, with the breast turned down. Cook on a gas stove, under the flame, and cook slowly. Dissolve two or three tablespoons of butter, with half a teacup of hot water, in a tin pie plate. While the quail are cooking turn them in this melted butter every five minutes, in order to baste and make them juicy. When cooked through, turn the birds over, and brown the breast a nice brown. Serve on a hot platter, and pour melted butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, over them. If served on toast, sprinkle a very small pinch of salt over the toast, and pour a little melted butter over it before laying the quail on it. If the quail are cooked on a stove, lay them on a wire broiler over the coals, with the breast turned up. Baste, and cook in the same way. BROILED PIGEONS Cut out the breasts of the pigeons, dip them in melted but- ter, then dip in breadcrumbs, and broil on a broiler over a clear fire. When done sprinkle with salt and pepper, and lay on pieces of brown toast. Serve with watercress. POULTRY AND GAME 139 ENGLISH PIGEON PIE Clean four pigeons, then split in two down the back. Cut one pound of tenderloin pork into small cubes, arrange in a baking-dish with layers of onions, tomato catsup, parsley, pep- per and salt, a sprinkling of flour. Lay the pigeons on this so that the feet of two will protrude from the centre of the crust, dusting the birds with salt, pepper, and flour. Pour over half a pint of beef stock ; put a puff-paste cover on ; brush with beaten egg and bake about an hour and a half. This can be served either hot or cold. The legs of the birds must be scrubbed perfectly clean and the nails cut off close to the flesh. [See illustration, Plate XIII.] ROAST SNIPE After drawing and cleaning the birds, fill each one with a piece of well-buttered bread, seasoned with salt and pepper. Fasten a small piece of salt pork around each bird, catching it together with the bill. Place the birds on an earthen or en- ameled dripping-pan and very nearly cover with California port wine. To this add a tablespoon of butter. Baste every ten minutes, and bake half an hour in a steady oven. GAME PIE Stew one pound of venison cut in small pieces, one prairie chicken, one quail and two partridges until tender. Remove the meat from the bones, cutting in small pieces. Place these in browned butter and saute until browned on all sides, dredg- ing with flour. Strain the liquor and let stand in a cold place so the grease will rise and cake. Then remove it and return the liquor to a stewpan, add the meats, one tablespoon each of minced parsley and grated onion, twelve peppercorns, a quarter of a teaspoon of paprika and one teaspoon of salt. Stew until thick, then add one tablespoon of browned butter. Turn this mixture into a deep short-crust-lined dish, which has been previously baked, and set away until cold. The game mixture will be found jellied. Garnish with either watercress 140 THE HOME COOK BOOK or parsley, and pickled walnuts are to be placed over the top. To be served cold. [See illustration, Plate XIII. ] JUGGED HARE Clean, skin and cut up one rabbit or hare into small pieces. Fry or saute. Brown in butter with one sliced onion. Then put into a wide-mouthed jar with one glass of port wine, twelve slices of bacon browned, a pinch of cinnamon, six cloves, one bay leaf, minced parsley and celery, and the juice of one lemon. Cover tightly and set in moderate oven for four hours. Half an hour before removing place forcemeat balls in jar and finish cooking. [See illustration, Plate XIV.] VENISON WITH GOOSEBERRY JELLY Put one venison steak through a mincer. Add the yolks of three eggs, salt, pepper and dry mustard to taste. Form into balls. Roll in flour and saute in hot butter. Heap on a hot dish and surround with gooseberry jelly. [See illustration, Plate XIV.] SAUCES FOR FISH AND MEAT 141 XIV SAUCES FOR FISH AND MEAT Apple Sauce — Asparagus Sauce — Beefsteak Sauce— Bread Sauce— Brown Sauce — Drawa Butter— Drawn Butter for Fish— Caper Sauce — Cauliflower Sauce — Celery Sauce — Cheese Sauce— Cranberry Jelly— Cucumber Sauce— An Easy Curry— Egg Sauce- Egg Sauce for Boiled Fish— Horseradish Sauce— Hot Horseradish Sauce— Jelly Sauce— Jelly Sauce for Meats— Ma?tre d'Hotel Sauce— Mint Sauce— Olive Sauce- Onion Sauce— Sage-and-Onion Sauce — Onion-Juice for Seasoning— Sauce Tartare — Tomato Sauce — White Sauce APPLE SAUCE SEE directions for making apple sauce under "The Boon of an Apple Barrel," page 345. ASPARAGUS SAUCE Cut asparagus tips into cubes, boil till tender in salted water, and add to white sauce in the proportion of one cup of the asparagus cubes to one cup of white sauce. Eaten with fish and fowl. BEEFSTEAK SAUCE A JEWISH RECEIPT In a hot saucepan put a piece of fat the size of an egg, and three sliced onions. Brown all together. Put half a cup of beef stock to the onions, thicken with a tablespoon of flour, add a tablespoon of mustard, a teaspoon of vinegar and a dash of cayenne, cook till the gravy thickens and serve with the steak. BREAD SAUCE Cook together in a double-boiler half a cup of fine white breadcrumbs, a small onion and a pint of milk. When smooth add a tablespoon of butter, half a teaspoon of salt, and a dash of white pepper. 142 THE HOME COOK BOOK BROWN SAUCE Together in a saucepan stir two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of flour until dark brown. Then add a pint of hot water, or a pint of brown stock, if you have it. Boil till thick and smooth. If the browning of the flour has made it lose its strength for thickening, add a tablespoon of unbrowned tlour to give the right thickness. Season to your taste with salt and black pepper, and add lemon-juice, catsup, or currant jelly, according to the flavor you wish. DRAWN BUTTER Mash together two large heaping tablespoons of butter and two heaping tablespoons of flour in a saucepan. When mixed, pour over and stir in half a pint of hot water. Dissolve and add salt to taste. Set this saucepan in another of hot water. Set over the fire and boil the water in the under saucepan very slowly, never fast at any time. Stir constantly to prevent lumping. The sauce must be perfectly smooth. Every now and then raise the upper pot from the water and stir hard. If more water is needed, add it. When the sauce is a creamy thickness to pour easily, take the saucepans from the fire and let them stand to keep the sauce warm until ready for use. Keep covered so no scum will form. Serve in a pitcher or gravy tureen. DRAWN BUTTER FOR FISH This sauce is made like "Egg Sauce" on page 144, leaving out the eggs. CAPER SAUCE Add one large spoon of capers to the "Drawn Butter" given above. CAULIFLOWER SAUCE Break in small pieces the tiny flowers of boiled cauli- flower and add a cup of the broken cauliflower to a cup of white sauce. SAUCES FOR FISH AND MEAT 143 CELERY SAUCE Cut celery in small cubes, boil in salted water till tender, and add to white sauce, one cup of the cooked celery to one cup of white sauce. This is used for fowl, fish, and meat. CHEESE SAUCE Mix together a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of corn- starch, a large half cup of milk, and set to heat over a moderate fire, or in a double-boiler. When thoroughly hot, stir in half a pound of grated American cheese, quarter of a teaspoon of mustard, and quarter of a teaspoon of salt. When the cheese melts, stir in an egg well beaten, and serve at once. This sauce is eaten with boiled fish. CRANBERRY JELLY Put a quart of cranberries in a porcelain kettle after you have looked them over and washed them. Add a cup of water and cook till the berries are soft. Put in a jelly bag to strain. Squeeze the bag to get out all the juice, add three- quarters of a pound of sugar, boil ten minutes, and pour in the dish from which it is to be served, or in an earthen mold. Set away to chill and stiffen. See also under "Stewed Cran- berries," page 350. CUCUMBER SAUCE Peel and cut in cubes two medium-sized cucumbers. Set in a colander and while they are draining stir into six table- spoons of whipped cream a dash of cayenne, half a teaspoon of salt, six or eight drops of onion- juice and as much vinegar. Mix this sauce with the cucumbers and serve cold with fish or meat. AN EASY CURRY Slice six onions in a pint or more of whatever stock you have. Slice in also a sour apple and half a clove of garlic. Wet a teaspoon of curry powder with water and stir this in 144 THE HOME COOK BOOK the stock, adding salt and cayenne to taste. Cut any kind of cooked meat into small cubes or pieces, and simmer it till hot in the sauce. Serve in hot dish and on hot plates. A dish of rice may be served with this curry, or rice may be banked about a platter's edge and the curry of meat poured in the centre. EGG SAUCE To make egg sauce, have the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs crumble into small pieces, and add to the "Drawn But- ter" given on page 142. EGG SAUCE FOR BOILED FISH Boil two eggs from eight to twelve minutes. Then lay them in a pan of cold water. When they are cold peel off the shells and chop the eggs quite fine. Beat two heaping table- spoons of butter into one tablespoon of flour and one teaspoon of salt. When the butter and flour are well mixed pour over them a coffee-cup of boiling water. Cook the sauce two or three minutes till the flour thickens, stir in the chopped eggs and serve. Pepper may be dusted over the sauce when it is ready to serve. HORSERADISH SAUCE Wash clean roots of horseradish and scrape off the outside. Grate the roots on a large grater. Put the grated horseradish in a china or glass — not a metal — dish and moisten with good cider vinegar. Do not add enough vinegar to make it liquid. This sauce is most excellent with plain boiled beef. HOT HORSERADISH SAUCE In an earthen dish put four tablespoons of fresh grated horseradish and four tablespoons of finely powdered cracker or bread crumbs. Add half a cup of cream, a teaspoon each of sugar and of salt, two dashes of pepper, two teaspoons of vinegar and a teaspoon of made mustard. Set over a kettle SAUCES FOR FISH AND MEAT 145 of boiling water when you have stirred all together. Heat and serve hot with plain boiled beef or corned beef. JELLY SAUCE Another receipt follows the "Brown Sauce," given on page 142. When you have made a brown sauce stir in a third of a cup of currant jelly. JELLY SAUCE FOR MEATS In an earthen or porcelain saucepan melt over a slow fire a tumbler of some jelly — either currant or grape — and when it is melted and warm stir in a tablespoon of butter. Let all come to boil, pour into the hot dish in which it is to be served, add a tablespoon of claret or other red wine and serve at once. The sauce goes well with mutton and lamb. MAITRE D'HOTEL SAUCE Beat three tablespoons of butter till it creams. Add the juice of a small lemon, quarter of a teaspoon of salt, a dash of cayenne, and three teaspoons of minced parsley. This sauce is an agreeable addition to broiled chicken, fish, etc., and is referred to under various receipts. MINT SAUCE This is a relish with roast lamb — with which meat alone it is eaten. By some tastes it is much liked. Not every one agrees with the Englishman who, when mint sauce was passed him, said, "Thank you, I never eat smells." Be sure your mint is fresh and green and fair. Wash it, strip the leaves from the stems and mince them fine. Put the mince in a bowl and mix with it gradually clear cider vinegar not too strong. If the vinegar is very strong, it is better to dilute it, even to using half water, for sharp vinegar destroys the mint aroma. Add also a teaspoon of sugar to a tablespoon of the minced mint. Have your sauce about as thick as horse- radish when all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed in. 7 Vol. 2 146 THE HOME COOK BOOK Serve from a small dish with a teaspoon or ladle. A spoon of this sauce is laid on the rim of the plate and a pinch of it taken with the meat. OLIVE SAUCE Add to "Brown Sauce," on page 142, three-quarters of a cup of pickled olives, stoned and chopped. ONION SAUCE First peel and then chop fine a quart of onions. Melt in a saucepan a heaping tablespoon of butter and into the hot but- ter drop the minced onions and gently cook till tender. Season with white pepper and salt, and stir in two tablespoons of fiour. Last, add a cup of cream, bring to boil and put through a sieve. This same sauce may be served with cold mutton, and as a delicious relish for many other meats. SAGE-AND-ONION SAUCE Take a bunch of fresh sage leaves picked from the stems. Wash and put in boiling water with just enough water to cover them. Boil ten minutes. Then drain and chop small. Meanwhile, have boiling in another pan two good-sized onions. When they are tender mince them and mix with the minced sage. Stir together with a tablespoon of fresh butter and serve with roast goose, roast duck, or roast pork. Into the sauce may be stirred some of the gravy of the meat with which it is served. This moistens the sauce and improves it. ONION-JUICE FOR SEASONING Peel, cut the onion in small pieces, and press in a lemon squeezer which you use for no other purpose but squeezing onions. Only a few drops of onion- juice are needed at a time in salads, meat sauces, etc., and with a little glass squeezer at hand it is readily obtained. If the pieces of the onion squeeze out, tie the onion in a piece of damp cheesecloth. SAUCES FOR FISH AND MEAT 147 Or if you have not a squeezer, use this method of expressing the juice: Take the dry layers off the onions, hack the juicy layers with a dull silver knife. Press the onion hard with the blade, and the juice will drip from the blade. Or this method : Hold a tin grater over your salad, and on it turn about an onion you have peeled. Press hard and the juice will drip. SAUCE TARTARE After you have made a mayonnaise, add a tablespoon of chopped cucumber pickle, a few capers, a few chopped olives, stir or beat, and if too thick thin with vinegar. TOMATO SAUCE Take a pint of canned tomatoes, add an onion well scraped or minced, half a teaspoon of salt and half as much pepper as salt, and put together in a saucepan over the fire. After cook- ing gently fifteen or twenty minutes, add two tablespoons of butter into which you have cooked a heaping tablespoon of .flour until it has become smooth. Add the butter to the toma- toes slowly, let it cook gently for a few minutes, rub through a sieve or fine colander and serve hot. WHITE SAUCE To a tablespoon of melted butter beat a tablespoon of flour, half a teaspoon of salt and an eighth of a teaspoon of white pepper. A quarter of a teaspoon of onion- juice, or half a teaspoon of chopped onion, may also be added, but is not an essential. Over all well mixed pour a cup of creamy milk, or stock, adding it little by little over a hot fire, as the sauce thickens. The sauce should be smooth. If it is not, strain it. 148 THE HOME COOK BOOK XV SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS Salad Materials — American Beauty Salad — Asparagus Salad— Banana Salad— Baked Bean Salad — String-Bean Salad — New Beet Salad — Cabbage Salad — Cold Slaw — Cream Cold Slaw — Hot Slaw — Carrot Salad— Cauliflower Salad — Celery Salad— Celery and Hickory-Nut Salad — Celery, Apple, and Hickory-Nut Salad— Chicken Salad— The Judge's Chicken Salad— Mayonnaise for Chicken Salad — To Prepare Cucumbers — Cucumber Spirals— Dandelion Salad — Fish Salad — Fish Salad, a New Orleans Dish— French Fruit Salad— Macedoine Salad— Orange Salad— Oyster Salad— Pineap- ple Salad— Potato Salad— Radishes as Salad — Spinach Salad— Sweetbread Salad- Tomato Salad —Stuffed Tomato Salad— Red and Yellow Tomato Salad— Tomato and Cauliflower Salad— Tomato Jelly— Tuxedo Salad with Dressing— Fancy Vegetable Salad— Cream Salad Dressing— Waldorf Salad— Watercress Salad— Mild Cream Dressing— Sour Cream Dressing— French Dressing — Horseradish Dressing— Ma- yonnaise Dressing SALAD MATERIALS THE salad maker has a wide range of materials from which to compound her appetizing and wholesome dish. Its possibilities include not only nearly all vegetables and fruits, but also flesh, fish, fowl, and nuts in great variety. For the hot days the limit should extend no further than the succulent vegetables and fruits. The other foods are too rich in heat-producing properties for this purpose. If one keeps comfortably cool during warm weather the diet must be cut down, at least that part of it which contributes to the animal heat of the body. Nothing of questionable quality should enter into the com- position of a salad. The vegetables or fruit, as the case may be, should not only be fresh and without the slightest blemish to mar the flavor and looks, but crisp, cold, and refreshing. When uncooked vegetables are used, after being thoroughly cleansed with very cold water, they should be dried in a soft towel without crushing and kept in a cold place until needed. For the dressing, genuine olive oil should be used ; and the vinegar must be pure, that made from tarragon herbs being SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 149 best for the purpose, furnishing, in addition to the acid neces- sary for the eniulsification and assimilation of the oil, an agree- able flavor to the dressing. A summer salad should never be dressed with any more elaborate preparation than a mixture of oil and vinegar or lemon- juice, seasoned with salt and pepper — a very simple compound ; yet, according to the Spanish proverb, requiring four persons to make it : a spendthrift to bring the oil, a miser the vinegar, a man of judgment the seasoning, and a madman to do the stirring when mixed with the salad. Very good proportions for this dressing — French dressing, it is called — are : Four tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of vinegar, half a teaspoon of salt, and one-eighth of a teaspoon of white pepper. To blend these ingredients properly, that all may be incor- porated, yet no peculiar flavor predominate, mix the salt and pepper ; add one tablespoon of oil ; mix well ; add half a table- spoon of vinegar; blend. Then add the remainder of the oil, a few drops at a time, alternately with the vinegar. Variety may be furnished by the addition of a little lemon-juice or a few drops of the essence of anchov}^ If onion flavor is liked, rub the salad bowl while empty with a garlic clove or a bit of onion. Use only a wooden spoon for salad dressings. To those who prefer tickling the palate to catering to the digestive apparatus of the inner man, this French dressing does not appeal, something more elaborate being demanded. In such homes the housewife will do well to become familiar with the following formula, for two reasons — it is a really good dress- ing; then, too, it will keep indefinitely in a cool place. AMERICAN BEAUTY SALAD Soak one ounce of gelatine half an hour in enough cold watisr to cover it. Bring to boil one slice of onion, a bay leaf, and half a teaspoon of celery seed in one pint of cold water. Add half a cup of rich stock, two table«poons of lemon-juice, season with salt and pepper, add gelatine, and strain. Half fill individual molds with cold cooked beet. 150 THE HOME COOK BOOK turnip, and potato cubes. Fill up with the jelly colored red with vegetable coloring. Garnish with green and serve with mayonnaise. ASPARAGUS SALAD Boil asparagus till tender, or use canned asparagus, some of which is excellent. Cut off all the hard and inedible portion, lay the asparagus in a salad bowl, having the tips all one way ; pour over a French dressing, and serve thoroughly cold, put- ting each individual portion on a lettuce leaf if you have the lettuce at hand. BANANA SALAD Red bananas are preferable to the yellow for all uses, and especially for this salad. Peel and cut the fruit in small pieces and, if you have it, add pineapple cut in small pieces, and also strawberries. Squeeze out and mix the juice of two oranges and one lemon, add sugar to t'aste — not enough to make it sweet — and pour over the cut bananas and other fruit., Chill and serve cold. The fruit juice is daintier if flavored with a tablespoon of wine and a teaspoon of brandy, but the everyday use of such flavorings we do not recom- mend. BAKED BEAN SALAD Take two cups of baked beans and put over them a mixture made of one tablespoon of vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, one tablespoon of oil, two tablespoons of minced onion and one tablespoon of chopped celery. STRING-BEAN SALAD String and break young beans and their pods into half-inch lengths. Cook tender in salted water. Drain, add a little chopped onion, pile in lettuce cups, dress with French dressing, and garnish with tiny beet cubes. [See illustration, Plate XV.] NEW BEET SALAD The new beets must be thoroughly boiled — nothing is worse in the wav of food than a half -cooked beet. When done cut SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 151 them while hot in rather thin sHces and marinate them — that is, let them lie for an hour or two in a mixture of two table- spoons oil, one spoon vinegar, and a small pinch of salt. More than this must be used if there is to be a large dish of salad. When ready for serving put them in the salad dish with some very young and tender leaves of uncooked dandelion. Dress with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper of the French dressing. CABBAGE SALAD Chop white cabbage fine and mix it with a thin mayonnaise dressing. Set it where it will keep cool, and serve on a lettuce leaf with or without chopped nuts. Pass cheese wafers with this salad. COLD SLAW Select a firm white head of cabbage. Cut out the core, chop it even and quite fine. In chopping take out the hard pieces. This slaw should always be chopped, not shaved. For the dressing break two eggs into a small saucepan. Put into them one heaping teaspoon of salt, one heaping teaspoon of sugar, not quite half an even teaspoon of mustard and two dashes of black pepper. Stir this together and beat the egg a little. In order not to cook the egg, add gradually (stirring all the time) a little less than half a teacup of vinegar. If the vinegar is sharp, weaken it by pouring in a little water. Stir all together. Set the saucepan into another containing warm water. Let the water gradually come to boil. Stir constantly with a tablespoon, to prevent the eggs curdling. Cook until it is quite thick. This done, take it from the water. Add one dash of cayenne pepper if you like it, and one scant tablespoon of olive oil, one teaspoon of butter, and one tablespoon and a half of rich milk or cream. Stir all together. Pour this dress- ing over two full teacups of chopped cabbage, and mix. Celery is a very nice addition, for variety. Take about four stalks of nice white celery, scrape, wash in cold water, and dry it. Slice in thin slices, and mix with the cabbage. This dish is better if it stands a few hours before serving. 152 THE HOME COOK BOOK CREAM COLD SLAW Soak in cold water, to ensure its crispness, a head of cab- bage, shave in small strips, and pour over, mixing in well, a dressing made in the following way. Beat together two eggs, a tablespoon of mustard and two tablespoons of sugar. Add a tablespoon of butter, two tablespoons of vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and four tablespoons of sour cream at the last. Stir vigorously, and when you pour over the cabbage mix it in well. HOT SLAW Select a hard white head of cabbage. Cut it in half. Shave it ofif with a slaw-cutter or a sharp knife in very trim strips. Make the dressing as follows : In a small saucepan put one egg, into w'hich beat one even teaspoon of salt, one even tea- spoon of sugar, one-quarter (scant) of a teaspoon of mustard and one dash of red pepper to taste. Mix together and beat a little. Set the saucepan in another in which there is warm water. Let it :come gradually to boil. Stir constantly to prevent lumping. When it thickens a very little take it off and add one tablespoon of cream. Pour it over the slaw hot. This may be eaten cold as well as hot. CARROT SALAD Cook richly colored carrots in boiling water till soft. Cut into thin strips. Arrange in lettuce cups, sprinkle with sifted sugar, dress with French dressing, and garnish with sliced lemon. [See illustration, Plate XV.] CAULIFLOWER SALAD Cold boiled cauliflower may be made into a deHcious salad. Break the head into small pieces, keeping the flower-like look as much as possible, and serve with a French dressing or a mayonnaise. If you have lettuce leaves, serve the cauliflower on them. SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 153 CELERY SALAD In keeping celery overnight, do not wrap it in wet paper or set it in a bowl of water. Put it where the air is pure and cool. To prepare it for serving, break oflf the stalks from the root, wash each one clean in cold water, scrape off the yellow brown where the stalk is abraded, lay in a dish with pieces of ice, and keep cold till served. The root of the celery should be preserved for soups, for which it is most desirable. CELERY AND HICKORY-NUT SALAD Cut in small dice the white stem of the celery. Add a few broken meats of the hickory-nut, and serve with a French dressing. CELERY, APPLE, AND HICKORY-NUT SALAD Use tart apples, and equal quantities of the apples, celery, and hickor}'-nut meats. Serve with a mayonnaise or French dressing. CHICKEN SALAD Split two chickens down the back. Wash them thor- oughly in cold water, wipe dry. Put them in a granite pre- serving kettle, cover with boiling water slightly salted. Boil until very tender. Cut or pull the chicken from the bones. Cut off all gristle and take away the skin. Chop the meat very coarse and even. Add to the chicken white cabbage chopped very fine, finer than for slaw, and in the proportion of one-third of cabbage. Take one bunch or one bunch and a half of white celery. Scrape, wash, and lay in cold water a short time. For the dressing, break six eggs into a sauce- pan. Mix three heaping teaspoons of salt, three heaping teaspoons of sugar, four dashes of black pepper, and one even teaspoon of mustard dissolved in cold water and stirred smooth. Stir these together and add to the egg, heating a little. Pour very gradually over the egg one teacup and one-quarter of vinegar, stirring constantly to prevent the 164 THE HOME COOK BOOK egg from cooking. If the vinegar is sharp, weaken it with a little water. Now set the saucepan in another containing water. Let the -mixture gradually come to boil. Stir con- stantly to prevent the egg curdling, and lift often from the water and stir hard to prevent it so doing. Let the mixture be very smooth. When quite thick take the saucepan from the water. Add one tablespoon and a half of butter to the thickened dressing, three tablespoons of very rich cream and two dashes of red pepper. Cut the celery into pieces one- quarter of an inch thick. Wipe the celery dry before slicing it. Mix it through the chicken. Pour the dressing over the chicken, and make it moist and creamy. If it stands some time it will absorb the dressing and be a little dry. Keep any dressing left to add, if needed. After the salad is mixed with the dressing, add three tablespoons of olive oil. Stir again and taste ; if more red pepper, cream, or oil is needed, add it. Let stand a few hours before serving. THE JUDGE'S CHICKEN SALAD , . Free from skin and fat the meat of two large boiled chickens. Cut the meat in cubes or dice and mix with it the same quantity of crisp celery cut in similar pieces. Add five minced olives and three teaspoons of capers. Make a dressing of six tablespoons of oil, two tablespoons of vine- gar, two teaspoons of salt, and a dash of cayenne. Mix the dressing with the chicken and celery and set in the refrige- rator several hours to chill. Prepare the mayonnaise given below, make a smooth pile of the chicken in a salad bowl, pour the mayonnaise over and serve at once. MAYONNAISE FOR CHICKEN SALAD To the yolks of two eggs add drop by drop a pint of olive oil, stirring with a silver fork one way all the time. When the dressing thickens, thin with lemon-juice, keeping jt all the time about as thick as thick cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 155 TO PREPARE CUCUMBERS Select only medium-sized and well-shaped cucumbers. Half an hour before they are required, peel and slice them evenly, and not too thin. Lay in a tin pan, cover with cold water, add no salt, as it wilt's the cucumber, and put a large piece of ice A Cucumber Slicer into the water. Set the pan on the ice until ready for the table. Then pour off the ice and water, and serve. You will find them crisp and nice, prepared in this way. CUCUMBER SPIRALS Peel cucumbers and throw into ice water. Cut the chilled cucumber with a sharp knife, going round and round it till you have thin, long spirals. Lay in a salad bowl with cracked or shaved ice, and serve with the spirals French dressing. DANDELION SALAD Early in the spring young dandelions, very tender and fresh, are by many deemed a delicious and wholesome salad. The early root leaves are mostly white. Wash the leaves, separate them, and serve with a French dressing. See also "Dande- lion Greens," page i86. FISH SALAD Sometimes you have a piece of fish left from dinner, such fish as fresh cod, halibut, bass, red snapper. On such occa- sion keep it cold near ice till next day and make a delicious salad in this way: Free it from bone and skin, break it in small pieces, and in a bowl which you have rubbed with a juicy onion put a layer of the fish. Over this sprinkle salt 156 THE HOME COOK BOOK and lemon- juice, and lay on crisp white lettuce leaves. Dress the lettuce as you have the layer of fish, and then add more fish, which again you treat as you treated the first layer. So proceed till you have used your material. Spread over the top a layer of tartare sauce, chill, and serve. FISH SALAD A NEW ORLEANS DISH Made from two pounds of cold boiled fish, or fish left over. Pick the meat free of bones, lay it in a china bowl, add four cloves, as many allspice, one minced red pepper, half a teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of minced parsley. Also add the juice of one lemon, one teacup of olive oil, stirring this in slowly, half a teacup of cider vinegar, one teaspoon of French mustard, and one small white onion minced exceedingly fine. Let this stand near ice overnight^ and serve cold with lettuce or any salad green. FRENCH FRUIT SALAD Peel and cut into small pieces three oranges, three bananas, and an equivalent amount of pineapple. Fill lettuce cups with alternate layers of fruit. Dress with salad dress- ing, garnish with English walnut meats, and serve with cheese wafers. [See illustration, Plate XVI.] MACEDOINE SALAD Cut cooked turnips, carrots, and celery into small pieces. Add cooked peas, beans, and cauliflower, also broken in small pieces. Moisten with mayonnaise and let stand two hours. Scoop out small turnips, cook, and fill the shells with the salad. Serve on lettuce leaves. Cheese wafers are served with this salad. ORANGE SALAD Choos'e large, juicy, clean-skinned oranges. Cut each orange through the middle, and with a teaspoon scoop out SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 157 the pulp carefully, breaking it as slightly as possible. Lay the pulp on ice. With a sharp knife pare out the white pith on the inner part. Cut a thin slice from the end of each half to allow it to set firmly on the plate. When ready to serve sprinkle the pulp with powdered sugar, add a table- spoon of sherry to each tablespoon of orange-juice, and pour over the orange pulp. Heap the halves of the oranges full of the salad, garnish with white grapes and serve. OYSTER SALAD Beat together half a cup of cream and three eggs. Add a saltspoon of made mustard, salt and cayenne to taste, and two tablespoons of butter. Heat in a double-boiler, stir con- stantly, and when at boiling point two minutes add two tablespoons of vinegar. Cook two minutes more, and you then have a smooth sour cream. Have a quart of oysters merely brought to boil in their own liquor and cooled. Have also a pint of chopped celery. Mix the celery and oysters, pour over and mix in the cream dressing, and keep the salad cool till served. PINEAPPLE SALAD Be sure your pines are ripe and tender. Shred them thoroughly. Then add orange and lemon juice in the pro- portions given in the foregoing. Sugar to taste, and set away to chill. POTATO SALAD Boil six medium-sized potatoes until very tender, with salt in the water. Take each from the saucepan with a spoon to prevent breaking. Put them in a colander, and set aside until cold. When cold, cut them in somewhat thin slices across the potato. Lay in an earthen dish and sprinkle with parsley chopped very fine. Make the following dressing: Mix in a small saucepan four eggs, two heaping teaspoons of salt, two heaping teaspoons of sugar, one small teaspoon of mustard, and four dashes of pepper. Stir this together, 158 THE HOME COOK BOOK and heat a little to mix well. Add gradually three-quarters of a teacup of vinegar. Set the saucepan in another con- taining water. Let the water come gradually to boil. Stir constantly with a tablespoon until the dressing is qaite thick. Be careful not to let the egg curdle. Lift it now and then from the hot water, and stir, to prevent the curdling. When done take from the water and add two dashes of red pepper, one tablespoon of butter, three tablespoons of sweet milk or cream, and one-quarter of a teaspoon of onion- juice. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and carefully mix through. When done, the dressing should look creamy. If this quan- tity of dressing is not enough to make the salad moist, make more in the same proportion. Let the salad stand a few hours before serving, RADISHES AS SALAD Wash young, tender radishes in cold water, and cut off the tops to within an inch or three-quarters of an inch of the root. Sometimes one or two leaves are left about two and a half inches long to save a stubby appearance and to take hold of the radish by. Put the radishes in ice water to cool and crisp, and serve lying on small pieces of ice in a flat' dish. Do not peel the small button radish, but the long, large radish should be peeled and sliced in long slices. Dip the radish in salt, or a mixture of salt and pepper, as you eat. SPINACH SALAD After you have thoroughly washed the spinach, cook it in just enough water to keep it from sticking. Drop it into boiling water for the cooking. After it has boiled fifteen minutes salt the water, let boil five or ten minutes longer till it is tender, then tip into a colander to drain. After it has drained chop very fine and season with a little butter, pepper, and salt if your taste needs it, and pack in individual shells or cups. Chill in the ice-box and serve with a French dressing. If you pack it in shells vou will not wish to disturb it, but serve it in its SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 159 dish. If packed in cups as a mold, tip out on a lettuce leaf, and serve with the French dressing. SWEETBREAD SALAD After you have trimmed off the fat from fresh sweet- breads, wash in cold water and drop in boiling water enough to cover. Let them simmer till thoroughly parboiled, which will take about half an hour. Take from the water, cool, use a silver or wooden fork, and break in small pieces. Lay on crisp white lettuce leaves, and serve with a French dressing. TOALATO SALAD Strain one pint of tomato- juice, add one teaspoon of salt, a saltspoon of pepper, and one teaspoon of onion- juice. To this add a quarter of a box of gelatine. Put aside for half an hour to dissolve. Stir all together, put on the stove, let come to boil, take ofif, and pour into small cup (glass, or any other, that would be about the size of a tomato). Set it in a cold place to harden. Arrange two or three small lettuce leaves on a plate, turn the tomato jelly in the centre of the leaves, and use French or any other dressing. [See illustration, Plate XVL] STUFFED TOMATO SALAD Carefully scald and remove the skins from medium-sized, firm tomatoes. Stand them in pouiided ice until thoroughly chilled. Take out the seeds without breaking the fruit. Fill the tomatoes with chopped cucumber and cress; dress with Frenich dressing and serve on lettuce leaves. RED AND YELLOW TOMATO SALAD ' Peel red and yellow tomatoes, slice, and lay in alternate layers, and serve with French dressing or with a mayonnaise. TOMATO AND CAULIFLOWER SALAD Peel and slice ripe tomatoes. In a salad dish or bowl lay a slice of tomato and on this a few crumbs of scraped onion. 160 THE HOME COOK BOOK Next lay in pieces of cold boiled cauliflower and upon this put a little scraped onion. So make the layers till the dish is full. Over all pour a French dressing and set in ice-box to chill before eating. TOMATO JELLY In an earthen saucepan put a fine-chopped onion. Let it brown, then open a small can of tomatoes and pour in. Add also a stalk of celery broken in small pieces, a bay leaf, a large spoon of wine or cider vinegar, half a teaspoon of salt, and a dash of pepper or paprika. In quarter of a cup of cold water have dissolved half a cup of gelatine. Add this to the toma- toes, stir till all is thoroughly blended, and strain into a mold. If you mold the jelly so that it has an open centre, you can fill it in with a salad of cabbage, with nuts, or with any vegetable salad which will go well with it. TUXEDO SALAD WITH DRESSING Place one can of tomatoes in a saucepan over the fire, add one teaspoon each of butter, salt, and sugar, one-quarter of a teaspoon of pepper, and cook ten minutes. Then pour the tomatoes into a sieve, rub them through, and return them to the saucepan. Soak one ounce of gelatine in half a cup of cold water until soft. Add this to the tomatoes, stir over the fire until dissolved, then pour into a mold and set in a cool place until firm. Make a mayonnaise by putting the yolks of two eggs into a small double-boiler; add two tablespoons each of salad oil and white vinegar. Stir over the fire until this thickens, then remove at once, and when cold add slowly two more tablespoons of oil, stirring constantly. Add half a teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, and three-quarters of a cup of whipped cream. Put one cup each of fine-cut white celery and fine-cut fresh pineapple into a bowl. Cook one cup of pecan meats ten minutes in salted water; drain, break the meats into small pieces, and add them to the mixture in the bowl. Mix SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 161 this with half the mayonnaise, iinmold the tomato into a round dish, put the salad in the centre, and garnish with pineapple leaves and thin slices of pineapple, cut with a scalloped cutter into crescent shapes. [For illustration, see Plate XVIL] FANCY VEGETABLE SALAD WITH DRESSING Scrape, wash, and cut into long slices one good-sized carrot ; lay several slices over one another, and cut them into small strips like straws. Place the carrots in a saucepan, cover with boiling water, add half a teaspoon of sugar and cook until tender. Drain and set aside to cool. Cook half a pint of green peas in water with a little salt ; when done, drain and add them to the carrots. Add to these half a pint of fine-cut boiled potatoes, half a pint of finely shaved cab- bage, two fine-cut boiled beets, and three fine-cut hard- boiled eggs. Make the salad dressing as follows : Put the yolks of three eggs into a bowl, set in cracked ice, stir three minutes, adding slowly one cup of oil while stirring con- stantly. Then add one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of English mustard, and, as the dressing thickens, add slowly one tablespoon of white vinegar, one tablespoon of fine- chopped onion and capers, one tablespoon of tarragon vine- gar, and half a pint of whipped cream. IVIix half of this dressing with the vegetables, dress the salad in the centre of a salad dish, cover it with the remaining dressing, and garnish with fine-Chopped beets, the whites of hard-boiled eggs, caviare, and put a small bunch of chives in the centre. [For illustration, see Plate XVIL] WALDORF SALAD This is one of the cheapest of all salads. It requires sour, crisp apples, cut in thin slices, and finely chopped celery. Blend lightly with a fine oil mayonnaise, garnish with the blanched feathery tops of the celery and scatter with halves of English walnuts. See "The Boon of an Apple Barrel," page 345- 102 THE HOME COOK BOOK WATERCRESS SALAD Pick out sprightly, young cresses. Break off the bruised and yellowed leaves, and wash in several waters, so that it is freed from all dust, sand, clinging insects, and also from any typhoid fever germs. Remember that watercress grows in small country streams, where the water is sometimes sluggish, and there is chance of its being contaminated by bad drainage. Drop the cress lightly in a salad bowl and pour over it French dressing. Toss it with a wooden fork and spoon till all parts of the cress have taken up the dressing and serve cold. CREAM SALAD DRESSING Bring to boil in an earthen dish half a cup of vinegar, a tea- spoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper. Beat well the yolks of two eggs, gradually add the hot vinegar, stir, and also add three tablespoons of oil or butter, half a tablespoon of mustard, a teaspoon of sugar, and, lastly, six tablespoons of cream. Keep up a vigorous stirring as each ingredient is added. MILD CREAM DRESSING A mild cream dressing adds a relishing finish to vegetable salads and is preferred by many persons to a more piquant one. To make it, heat one cup of cream almost to boiling ; stir in one teaspoon of flour, wet up with a little cold milk or water ; boil two minutes, stirring constantly ; add two table- spoons of powdered sugar, stir well, then take off the fire. When half cold, beat in the whipped whites of two eggs; set on ice until quite cold; then season with one teaspoon of salt, half as much black pepper, and a small quantity of prepared mustard. Beat the whole thoroughly ; then whip in two table- spoons of salad oil or soft butter. Just before pouring the dressing over the salad add, gradually, three tablespoons of vinegar. Unless salads are mixed at table — which is often done when SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 163 the French dressing is used — they present a more inviting ap- pearance if arranged at once for individual serving instead of being dished the second time. Next in importance to the making of a salad ranks its gar- nishings. How a dish looks exerts a wonderful influence upon the appetite. For this purpose one may use fringed celery stalks, fresh lettuce leaves, hard-boiled eggs, blood beets (boiled, then cut into various shapes), nasturtiums, powdered tarragon leaves, and the kernels of English walnuts. SOUR CREAM DRESSING To a cup of fresh sour cream allow a tablespoon of lemon- juice. Add to the juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and dry mus- tard to your taste. Stir these four ingredients together and then beat into the cup of cream till the cream puffs. Pour over the cold salad green and serve at once. FRENCH DRESSING Select a small bowl for the table, put into it one saltspoon of salt, a dash of pepper, a little dry mustard, and one saltspoon of sugar. To this add, gradually, a tablespoon of olive oil, stirring, to dissolve the ingredients. Stir smooth, and add two more tablespoons of olive oil, and one tablespoon of vinegar. Red pepper can be used if preferred, also more seasoning, if the taste requires. HORSERADISH DRESSING Mix three tablespoons of fresh grated horseradish with a tablespoon of vinegar or of lemon- juice and a pinch of salt. Then stir in three tablespoons of whipped cream and a dash of cayenne. MAYONNAISE DRESSING Take two ice-cold eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Into the yolks stir a third of a teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper, and, drop by drop, olive oil, stirring continu- 164 THE HOME COOK BOOK onsly. You have now a thick mass ; add a few drops of lemon- juice or vinegar, and stir ; then oil again and stir, then lemon- juice or vinegar, till you have the quantity and consistency you wish. If it is to your taste, add onion-juice or half a tea- spoon of made mustard, or a drop or two of mint. The lemon- juice or vinegar is the thinning ingredient, and constant stir- ring is essential to successful making of the dressing. Set on the ice, and just before serving add a tablespoon of whipped or plain thick cream. The yolk of a hard-boiled egg may also be beaten in with the cream. To make the yolk smooth rub it first through a sieve, and then stir into the dressing. This dressing is dropped with a small spoon on peeled tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus, chicken, and is a heartier salad dressing than French dressing. POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES 165 XVI POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES To Bake Potatoes— To Boil New Potatoes— Boiled Potatoes— Creamed Potatoes— Fried Potatoes— Mashed Potatoes— Mashed Potato with Cheese Relish— Mashed Pota- to with Onion and Bacon— Mashed Potato and Turnip with Sausage — Puffed Potatoes— Ribbons of Potatoes— Scalloped Potatoes— Stewed Potatoes— Stuffed Pota- toes—Baked Sweet Potatoes— Boiled or Steamed Sweet Potatoes — Broiled Sweet Potatoes— Browned Sweet Potatoes— Sweet Potato Croquettes— Fried Sweet Pota- toes—Sweet Potato Glac^— Mashed Sweet Potatoes— Sweet Potato Pie— Sweet Potato Pone — Sweet Potato Puree- Scalloped Sweet Potatoes — Stuffed Sweet Potatoes TO BAKE POTATOES CHOOSE smooth potatoes, of equal size so far as may be, and large, for a small potato baked is apt to be nothing but skin. Wash the potatoes clean, dry with a cloth, chip off the skin at either end to allow the steam to escape and help to the potatoes' mealiness, put in a hot oven and bake, allowing from forty to sixty minutes for the roasting. The difference in the quality of potatoes, and difference in size, and also in the temperature of the oven, require considerable latitude in the time for cooking. TO BOIL NEW POTATOES Use a coarse cloth for rubbing off the skin of the pota- toes. While washing, cut a small piece from the ends of each potato to help to their boiling. Drop them in boiling water without salt and boil till done. They may be served whole and plain to eat with butter, or a cream dressing may be made by pouring new milk on the cooked potatoes, and thickening the milk with a tablespoon or two of flour — the flour used according to the quantity of the milk, a tablespoon to a pint of milk. To the milk add salt to your taste. BOILED POTATOES After you have peeled and rinsed in cold water potatoes of moderate size put them in a kettle of boiling water. Have Xm THE HOME COOK BOOK enough water to cover the potatoes and put them in about three-quarters of an hour before they are to be served. Cover the pot close and cook half an hour. Ten minutes before the half hour is up add salt in the proportion of a teaspoonful to every four potatoes. After they have boiled half an hour pour off the water and set them on the back part of the stove. If you keep the metal cover on the pot, slip it a little to one side to allow the steam to escape and save the potatoes from becoming soggy. A cloth spread over the pot while the potatoes are steaming is better than the metal cover. Serve in a hot dish. CREAMED POTATOES Follow the directions given above to the instant of setting the pot on the back of the stove. Instead, after pouring off the water, add enough sweet cream to half bury the potatoes and set over the fire till the cream is brought to boil. Then take from the fire, let stand on the back of the stove for five minutes so that the potatoes will melt into, or absorb, the cream, and serve in a hot vegetable dish. Sprigs of green parsley may be laid on the potatoes, or they may be dusted with black pepper. FRIED POTATOES Slice across and not too thin cold boiled potatoes. Spread out, and salt and pepper them. Put in a frying-pan with hot lard enough to heat and brown them. Cover, because they brown better when covered. Set over a moderately hot fire. Turn the potatoes every now and then, or rather, stir them over with a large broad-bladed knife. Brown slowly, care- fully, and a light brown. When done, put them in some place for a short time for the grease to dry off. Serve hot. Raw potatoes are cooked in the same way, but are cut differently. Cut them lengthwise in thin pieces. Before fry- ing, soak them in cold water half an hour. Cold sweet potatoes are very nice fried in this same way, POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES 167 but they require more grease and do not dry off as much. Serve very hot. MASHED POTATOES Peel and boil the potatoes tender, tip off the water in which they were cooked and have them dry in the pot or sauce- pan. Sprinkle salt to taste and mash them thoroughly with a masher. Drop in a lump of butter to your taste and add cream of fresh milk, never water, for a softener and binder. Then beat mashed potatoes, milk, and butter together vigor- ously till they are white and foamy. Put in a hot vegetable dish and do not mash the potatoes down with a knife, but sprinkle with pepper, drop a small lump of butter in the middle and serve hot and at once. 'MASHED POTATO WITH CHEESE RELISH After you have boiled and mashed the potatoes you wish to use, soften them with a plentiful supply of milk so that addi- tional cooking will not harden, and smooth them lightly in a baking dish. Through the centre of the potatoes make a deep, broad X. Glaze the potato with the white of an egg and set in the oven. Stir four tablespoons of cheese grated or cut in small bits into a saucepan holding four tablespoons of hot butter. Mix well, and pour slowly upon the yolks of two eggs which you have already well beaten. Season with salt and pepper, and pour the mixture in the broad X of the mashed potato. Let it run thoroughly through the channels so that taking a spoonful of the potatoes you will get some of the cheese sauce. After pouring in the sauce, spread bread- crumbs over, brown for a moment in the oven, and serve hot. MASHED POTATO WITH ONION AND BACON Cut bacon into thin slices, not much thicker than a knife blade. Cut the slices across, in small pieces. Slice one medium-sized onion very thin. Cut this in small pieces, like the bacon. Have a frying-pan with a trifle of hot lard to fry 168 THE HOME COOK BOOK the onion and bacon a nice brown. Fry the fat of the bacon all out, so that the meat will be crisp. Have ready a hot vege- table dish of mashed potato. Smooth it over the top. Shape it higher in the centre. With a spoon press down a place in the middle. Pour into it the bacon, onion, and fat. A spoon is used to serve this dish. The mixture will penetrate it and give a savory flavor to the mashed potato. MASHED POTATO AND TURNIP WITH SAUSAGE Peel and cut in small pieces enough potatoes to fill a quart measure and enough turnips to fill a pint measure. Cook the turnips longer than the potatoes, for they are a tougher vege- table. After they have become a little tender, add the potatoes Quart and Pint Measures and boil till done. Drain off the water, salt, add a tablespoon of butter, mash, and beat till soft and white, and serve hot with fried pork sausages as a meat. PUFFED POTATOES Boil and mash through a sieve six large mealy potatoes. Add one tablespoon of butter, one teaspoon of salt, one small white onion minced fine, one teaspoon of minced parsley, and one teacup of sweet cream or milk. Stir briskly, adding two raw eggs separately. Roll a tablespoon of this in flour and fry in a deep pan of boiling lard to make the puffs. Do not put in too many puffs at a time or they will stick together. The puffs must float in the lard and brown eve«fly. When crisp, remove to a dish and dust with a little fine salt. POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES 169 RIBBONS OF POTATOES Peel the skin from the potatoes, and then peel round and round, making a thin spiral ribbon of the potato. Let the ribbons lie in cold water an hour, drain, put in a frying basket and plunge into hot fat. Drain the fat from the ribbons by laying them a minute on blotting paper, sprinkle with salt and serve hot. SCALLOPED POTATOES Slice raw potatoes in thin slices. Lay them in cold water for one hour. Put them in a pudding dish in layers, season- ing each layer highly with salt, pepper, and lumps of butter. Fill the dish in this way, and cover with cold milk. Set in a hot oven. Put a pan of warm water in the upper oven above it. Cook until the potatoes are very tender. Give them time to cool a little before putting on the table. Use plenty of butter for this dish to make it successful. STEWED POTATOES Chop fine, potatoes that have been cooked the day before. Put them into a saucepan. Pour over enough milk to alniost cover, salt to make a good flavor, and add a large piece of butter (probably an iron spoonful), according to the quantity you may have. Set the saucepan into another containing water, being careful to have but little water. Boil hard one hour until creamy. Stir occasionally. STUFFED POTATOES Choose rather large sized potatoes and all about of the same size. Wash clean and bake till mealy in a moderate oven. Split each potato in two, scoop out the inside and with it mix salt, butter, milk, and a little pepper — all to your taste. Stir in the beaten white of an egg to each three potatoes, tuck back the seasoned potato in the skins, press the halves of the skins clo'se together, and brown in the oven. Serve the pota- ^ « Vol. 2 170 THE HOME COOK BOOK toes in a vegetable dish and lying on a napkin. [See illustra- tion, Plate XVIII. ] BAKED SWEET POTATOES A SOUTHERN DISH Cut cold baked sweet potatoes into slices and put into an earthen dish ; add sugar and butter to each layer and bake until slightly browned. BOILED OR STEAMED SWEET POTATOES Boil or steam like white potatoes and without breaking the skin. If boiled, pour off the water as soon as done, cover the pot with a cloth and let it stand on the back part of the range a few minutes before serving. BROILED SWEET POTATOES Steam, pare, and cut in slices three-eighths of an inch thick; lay the slices in a double-broiler; salt, cover with melted butter, and broil over a slow fire. Serve in folded napkins. BROWNED SWEET POTATOES Cut cold, boiled, or steamed sweet potatoes into slices one- fourth of an inch thick; add butter, sugar, pepper, and salt, and put into a hot oven to brown. SWEET POTATO CROQUETTES Take two cups of mashed, boiled, steamed, or baked sweet potatoes ; add the beaten yolks of two eggs and season to taste ; stir over the fire until the mass parts from the sides of the pan. When cold form into small croquettes, roll in egg and breadcrumbs, and fry in hot lard to an amber color. Serve on napkins. The croquette mixture may be made into balls inclosing minced meat. When used in this way serve with sauce. POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES 171 FRIED SWEET POTATOES Cut in slices lengthwise and fry in deep grease, same as white potatoes. SWEET POTATO GLAC^ Boil and cut in halves medium-sized sweet potatoes, lay evenly in braizing pan, baste with syrup and butter warmed together, sprinkle lightly with brown sugar, put in hot oven till brown, and serve in the syrup. MASHED SWEET POTATOES Boil six large potatoes until tender. Peel and mash. Add salt, butter and cream to make palatable. Heap into a dish. Score the top and brush with beaten egg-yolk to which have been added one teaspoon of sherry wine and one tablespoon of sugar. [See illustration, Plate XVHL] SWEET POTATO PIE Boil in skins ; when tender remove skins, mash and beat until light; to each pint add a pint of milk and four eggs. Season and bake as pumpkin pie. SWEET POTATO PONE A SOUTHERN DISH Boil and mash through a sieve six medium-sized yam pota- toes. Add one teacup of cream and one tablespoon of butter. Beat in the yolks of two eggs. Add the beaten whites, a tea- spoon of sugar, and grate in quarter of a nutmeg. Bake in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes. SWEET POTATO PUREE Mash boiled, steamed, or baked sweet potatoes, season, and add enough hot milk to moisten; serve like mashed white potato; or put in pudding dish, dress the top with egg, and brown in the oven. Serve with sauce. 172 THE HOME COOK BOOK SCALLOPED SWEET POTATOES Peel the potatoes, put them into boiling water and let them boil fifteen or twenty minutes. Take from the water, slice to get round slices, and thickly cover the bottom of a baking dish with the circles. Upon this layer of sweet potatoes drop small pieces of butter and sprinkle sugar and a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg. Then put in another layer of the potatoes, then butter, sugar and spice till the dish is full, having the butter and sugar on top. Before setting in the oven pour in half a cup of boiling water. Bake till the po- tatoes are soft and tender. STUFFED SWEET POTATOES Bake ; then cut ofif one end and scoop out the inside ; season with butter, pepper and salt ; beat until light ; replace in the skin ; close with the piece cut ofif , and put into the oven to heat through. Serve in napkins. Suitable for luncheon. BEANS, PEAS, AND LENTILS 173 XVII BEANS, PEAS, AND LENTILS Baked Navy Beans— Boston Baked Beans— Baked Beans with Tomato Sauce— Fresh Lima or Butter Beans— Dried Lima Beans — Lima Bean Croquettes— Stewed String Beans — Creamed String Beans— Creamed Peas — Canned Peas — Stewed Lentils— Lentil Cakes w BAKED NAVY BEANS ASH thoroughly. Put in a crock to soak overnight. Three pints of beans will make two average-sized bak- ing dishes of baked beans. In the morning put the beans in a granite soup kettle. Pour over them the water in which they have been soaked and add warm water enough to come a little more than two inches above the beans. After they have cooked an hour add three-quarters of a pound of fat salt pork. Season with salt and pepper to taste and one tablespoon of white sugar. Boil slowly and steadily five hours. After they begin to thicken, set the pot on an asbestos plate to prevent burning. Stir occasionally, and taste as to seasoning of salt and pepper. If the beans are needed for an evening meal, after they have boiled the given time, set them where they will keep hot without cooking any more. One hour before they are needed turn them into a colander. Drain ofif the liquor, of which there will be very little, as the beans will be soft. Put them in the pudding dish to within one inch or less from the top. Pour over a little of the liquid. Score the pork three or four times and put it in the middle of the beans. Set in the upper oven of the stove and brown lightly, and serve. The next day make into cakes the same as potato cakes. Dip your hands in cold water and mold the beans into shape. Put them in a frying-pan with just enough lard to brown. Cover while browning. They should be slightly crisp. In browning potato cakes or beans, or anything of that sort, never turn them until they are thoroughly brown, or they will lose 174 THE HOME COOK BOOK their shape and not be satisfactory. In cooking this quantity of beans you will probably have a dish ready for the next day. BOSTON BAKED BEANS Soak overnight one quart of small white beans. Next morning cover with water and let come to boil, but do not boil. Set back and simmer a few minutes and pour off the water. Have a bean pot ready; put in the beans; stir in salt to taste, and two tablespoons of molasses ; place in the centre A Boston Bean Pot a piece of scored, fat salt pork weighing three-quarters of a pound ; add enough water to rise to the top of the beans ; cover tight and bake all day, with an even, slow heat. BAKED BEANS WITH TOMATO SAUCE Proceed as in the foregoing directions until you put the beans in the pot. At that point, instead of adding the water, add a quart of stewed and strained tomafoes, seasoned with a teaspoon of salt and a heaping tablespoon of sugar. Pour this over the beans and pork ; open here and there with a fork for the tomato sauce to run down and season the beans; cover the pot tight and bake slowly all day. FRESH LIMA OR BUTTER BEANS Put the beans in cold water for half an hour. Pour off the cold water. Put them in a saucepan and cover with hot water. After a few minutes' boiling, season with salt and pepper. Salt the beans carefully, as it is very easy to spoil BEANS, PEAS, AND LENTILS 175 them. They will require a little more pepper than other vege- tables. When nearly done, and when but little water is left on them, add a large tablespoon of butter, and finish cooking. Do not have too much liquor over them when served. If you find you have too much water when they are finished, pour them into a colander and drain. Put them back in the sauce- pan and add whatever liquor you need. In this way you will not waste butter. DRIED LIMA BEANS Wash the beans in three cold waters. Put them into a crock, cover with cold water, and soak overnight. Next day cover with warm water. When they have boiled five minutes, pour off the water, and add fresh warm water. Do this twice more. Let the last water you cover them with be hot. Season carefully with salt and pepper. Allow two hours for the cook- ing. When nearly done add one large tablespoon of butter. If you are not ready to use them set them aside, and heat when needed by setting them in a saucepan of hot water. In cooking beans, or any vegetable likely to stick, set an asbestos plate underneath and it will need no watching. Almost any vegetable for evening use can be cooked in the morning and heated in this way. Some dishes are even better by standing. LIMA BEAN CROQUETTES Put left-over Lima beans through a colander, and to every cup of the bean pulp stir in an egg, a tablespoon of onion-juice, and, if you have it, a tablespoon of tomato sauce. Make little round croquettes, or flat cakes if you prefer. Dip each cake in a raw egg on a plate and then into rolled cracker-crumbs and fry an even brown in hot fat. Serve hot. STEWED STRING BEANS Be sure the beans are young, crisp, and tender. Break the stem end and pull it back, thus removing the string. Cut the bean pods into three pieces with a knife. As you cut, 176 THE HOME COOK BOOK throw them into a pan of cold water. When they are ready, throw them into boiUng water slightly salted, and cook gently about forty-five minutes. Tip them in a colander to drain. Put back in the saucepan and mix in butter ; salt and pepper to taste. Let them stand in a gentle, even heat for a few minutes to gain taste from the seasoning. CREAMED STRING BEANS From two quarts of beans, take off the strings and cut the pods, as directed in the foregoing receipt. Throw into a pan of cold water as you cut them. Have enough boiling water slightly salted to cover and boil gently till tender, which will be in about forty-five minutes. Pour the beans in a colander. In the saucepan pour a cup of fresh milk and w^hen it boils stir in a tablespoon of flour mixed with a tablespoon of butter. As this thickens to a cream stir in the drained beans. Stir the beans about in their cream and let them stand in a gentle, even heat a few minutes before serving. A dash of cayenne may be added if agreeable to the taste. CREAMED PEAS This is a delicate way of serving canned peas ; but fresh peas are served in the same way, and they very often were by our grandmothers before canned peas were known. In using fresh peas boil the peas till done. In using canned peas take a can of peas, pour off their liquid and pour over cold water to rinse them. Now in a saucepan cook a tablespoon of flour in two tablespoons of butter, add the drained peas, and then two-thirds of a cup of milk. Heat and stir and add also a tablespoon of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Instead of butter and milk, pure rich cream may be used. This was formerly the country fashion. The cream was slightly thickened by stirring in a tablespoon of flour as it boiled. BEANS, PEAS, AND LENTILS 177 CANNED PEAS It is unsafe to leave anything in the way of canned goods in the can after it is opened. The contents should be poured out at once. Select the finest brand of peas, open a quart can and pour the peas into a colander. Drain of? the liquor and throw it away. Pour cold water over the peas until they are well rinsed. It is easiest to put them under running water if that water is pure. Next put them in a saucepan. Add three iron spoons of cold water, one even teaspoon of sugar, and one teaspoon of salt. Taste as to seasoning and make as near as possible that of a sweet pea. Add one full table- spoon of butter. Set this saucepan in another pan contain- ing hot water. Do not cover the peas as the added steam will make too much liquid. Stir every now and then, or the peas will turn black. Cook half an hour, and no more, and be particular there is always water in the under saucepan. If you are not ready to serve at once set where the peas will keep hot. STEWED LENTILS Wash a pint of lentils, cover with fresh water and soak all night. In the morning pour ofif the water; have enough water boiling in the pot to cover the lentils. Drop them in and slowly boil an hour and a quarter. Tip them from the pot in a colander and drain. Put back in the pot; heat slowly, adding a heaping tablespoon of butter, a teaspoon of salt, and a tablespoon of onion- juice, and serve. LENTIL CAKES Press through a colander cold, left-over lentils, stewed according to the preceding receipt. Season to your taste with salt and pepper and then add to help hold the cup of pulp to- gether an egg or a little thick cream. Make into cakes with the hand ; dip in a raw egg broken on a plate, then into rolled cracker-crumbs and fry till brown in hot fat. Serve hot. 178 THE HOME COOK BOOK XVIII VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS Boiled Artichokes— Boiled Asparagus— Scalloped Asparagus— Baked Bananas— Fried Plantain or Banana — To Boil Beets — To Cook Brussels Sprouts — Boiled Cabbage— To Make Sauerkraut— To Cook Sauerkraut — Stewed Carrots — Carrots with Onion— Cauliflower— Stewed Celery— Creamed Celery— Corn Baked in the Husk— Baked Green Corn— Baked Corn — To Cook Canned Corn— Succotash— Corn Oysters— Boiled Egg- plant—Eggplant in Creole Fashion— Fried Eggplant— Stuffed Eggplant— Greens— Kale— To Cook Kohlrabi— Stewed Mushrooms— Mushrooms Stuffed with Chicken —Boiled Okra— Fried Okra with Ham— Baked Onions — Boiled Onions— Creamed Onions— Spanish Onions Stuffed— Boiled Parsnips— Fried Parsnips— Scalloped Pars- nips—Stuffed Peppers— Sweet Peppers with Rice— Salsify or Oyster-Plant— Mock Oysters— To Boil Spinach— Frenched Spinach — Spinach with Eggs on Toast— Spinach Mousse— To Cook Squash— Baked Squash— Squash in the Shell— Squash Cakes— Raw Tomatoes— Baked Ripe Tomatoes — Baked Ripe Tomatoes with Corn— Boiled Toma- toes—Fried Tomatoes— Fried Green Tomatoes with Ham— Stewed Tomatoes— Canned Stewed Tomatoes— Stuffed Tomatoes— Diced Turnips— Mashed Turnips— Steamed Turnips T BOILED ARTICHOKES RIM the artichokes neatly and cut away the stems and outer leaves, which are tough. Soak half an hour to free from any insect which may have crept in the leaves. Have boiling enough salted water to cover the artichokes. Add a few drops of vinegar to the water and lay in the vegetables. Boil nearly or quite two hours. When thoroughly done drain and serve with drawn butter. BOILED ASPARAGUS Wash the asparagus in cold water and cut off the tough ends. Scrape the white part which remains and throw into cold water for thirty minutes. Tie in small bundles and put into a kettle of boiling water. A tin kettle is the best, for the reason that thicker vessels do not boil fast enough. Tin asparagus boilers come for this purpose. Boil until tender, adding a little salt to the water. Now have ready slices of toast, which should be cold. If the loaf of bread is small, VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 179 use the whole slice ; if large, half a slice. Heat as many plates as you have tied bunches, and melt butter enough for all. Dip the toast quickly into the hot asparagus water, lay a piece on a plate, sprinkle a very little salt on this, and pour over it a small quantity of the melted butter. Lift a bunch of the asparagus from the water with a fork, cut the string with scissors and draw it away. Sprinkle more salt on the asparagus and pour over it melted butter. Serve hot, a bunch and a piece of toast to a plate. SCALLOPED ASPARAGUS Wash a large bunch of asparagus, cut in inch lengths, drop in boiling water and boil ten minutes. Have five eggs boiled hard and chopped fine. In a baking dish put a layer of the asparagus, over this sprinkle the chopped egg and add salt, pepper, and small bits of butter. Again put on a layer of asparagus, and again the chopped egg and seasoning. Have the top layer of the vegetable. Into a cup and a half of hot milk stir two tablespoons of flour which has been wet with a little of the milk. When the milk thickens pour it over the vegetable in the pudding dish, add a topping ofif of breadcrumbs, and bake in a hot oven from ten to twenty minutes. BAKED BANANAS A CUBAN DISH Remove one section of peel from each banana, and lay the bananas lengthwise in an earthen baking dish with this ex- posed side up. Stick the fruit with a fork. Squeeze over each banana the juice of quarter of a lemon, and on each banana lay one teaspoon of sugar and a lump of butter the size of a pea. Grate a little nutmeg over each banana. Add some water in the bottom of the pan to keep from burning, and bake half an hour in a moderate oven. For special occasions it is recommended to add one teaspoon of sherry or marsala to each banana. 180 THE HOME COOK BOOK FRIED PLANTAIN OR BANANA A LOUISIANA RECEIPT If plantain is not available, use the large bananas that have green ends. Slice the fruit lengthwise, dip the slices in v^^hite of egg, dust them with flour, and fry in a deep pan of boiling lard. When brown, remove to a flat dish, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with the roast. TO BOIL BEETS Wash the beets and cook till soft. The time for cooking is difficult to say. Sometimes when young and tender the beets will cook soft in an hour. Again they need four hours. And not cooked soft they are tasteless and indigestible, and should be tabooed. When cooked slip off the skin, slice and serve hot with butter spread upon them. TO COOK BRUSSELS SPROUTS Let the sprouts lie for half an hour in cold water strongly salted, so that any insects which have burrowed in them will come to the surface. Then drop them in boiling water, allow- ing a quart of water to a pint of sprouts. After they have boiled fifteen minutes add a small tablespoon of salt for the quantity named above, and boil till tender. The time will be twenty minutes or half an hour. Do not cook them till they mush. After they have boiled the sprouts may be served in three forms. First, they may be served plain-boiled, as directed above. A second way is to drain off the water in which they were boiled, and to add a dash of pepper, a cup of cream in which a teaspoon of flour has been stirred, and to simmer ten minutes, and serve. A third way is to drain off the water in which the sprouts are boiled, to place them in a saucepan with a tablespoon of butter, a dash of celery salt, and a minced red pepper, to brown a little, and serve. VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 181 BOILED CABBAGE Select a firm head of cabbage. Cut in large pieces. Cut out the core and lay the cabbage in cold water for half an hour. At the end of that time put into a granite kettle with enough boiling water to cover, and cook until very tender. Drain well before serving. Another nice way to prepare cabbage after boiling is to put it in a saucepan, chop it with a strong knife, rather coarse, season it with salt and a little red pepper to taste, half a cup of vinegar and two tablespoons of melted butter. Mix this together and cook five minutes and serve, very hot. TO MAKE SAUERKRAUT Choose large cabbages with white heads, take ofif the outer leaves and shred the cabbages very fine. Lay the outer leaves round the sides and bottom of a cask or tub. Then put in the shredded cabbage in layers about three inches deep, sprinkling each layer with a handful of salt. Press down the layers and repeat the cabbage and salt till you have used your material. Then put on a layer of outer leaves, spread a cloth over the top and also a cover smaller than the top of the cask. Put a heavy weight on the cover — for instance, a perfectly clean stone. .Set the cask in a warm place till the cabbage begins to ferment, then set it in a cool place. In making the change skim off the scum, wash the cloth, and wash or replace the outer leaves. Let the fermentation go on between two and three weeks. The sauerkraut is then ready for use. TO COOK SAUERKRAUT Wash the sauerkraut well in water, drain and put in a pot holding boiling water. Cook till the sauerkraut is tender, which will be in from two to three hours. If the water boils out add boiling water. Sauerkraut is eaten with fresh and salt pork, with corned beef, with smoked sausage, and with similar hearty dishes. 182 THE HOME COOK BOOK STEWED CARROTS Have your carrots tender and young, not hard and pithy, as they grow with age. Wash, scrape, and cut them in small dice, or cut in slices and the slices again in halves and quar- ters. So prepare a quart. Cover with boiling water and boil for nearly or quite an hour. Carrots are not apt to be tender with less cooking. Test to see, and boil longer if necessary. When tender, pour off the water, add a small pint of milk, a small teaspoon of salt, and stir in a heaping tablespoon of flour mixed with a heaping tablespoon of butter. Cook up and stir till the flour thickens the milk. Then serve. CARROTS WITH ONION Wash and scrape young carrots and cut them in slices and the slices again in halves and quarters. Cover with boiling water and boil an hour or until tender. Then pour off the water, put the carrots in a saucepan and to every pint of car- rots stir in a tablespoon of butter blended with a tablespoon of flour and a pinch of salt. Let the carrots cook gently with this mixture, add a tablespoon of onion-juice or of minced onion and a dash of cayenne, allowing this quantity to a pint, and then serve hot. CAULIFLOWER Pick off all the outer leaves. Cut off some of the stalks, leaving enough to hold the cauliflower together while boiling. Wash it thoroughly in cold water. Put in a granite pot and cover with boiling water. Salt to taste, which will be near a tablespoon. Boil it steadily. It takes about fifteen minutes' steady boiling for a good-sized head of cauliflower, and ten minutes' for a small one. When done, take from the pot and carefully cut it apart. Lay it on a napkin in a hot vegetable dish. Turn the corners of the napkin over it. Serve with drawn butter. VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 183 STEWED CELERY Scrape and wash the stalks of a large bunch. Cut into pieces one inch long. Lay in cold water fifteen minutes. Put in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Add one tea- spoon of salt, and boil until tender. When done, put in a colander and drain. Save the water. Again put the celery in a saucepan. Nearly cover it with milk. Add three table- spoons of the water in which the celery boiled. Mash together one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flour. As the milk begins to heat, stir in the mixed butter and flour. Stir continually until it thickens a little. Season with salt if needed and white pepper, and serve. CREAMED CELERY Wash the celery, cut in small pieces, and put in a saucepan with enough cold water to cook and steam it. Cover tight and boil till the celery is tender. There should be little water re- maining. Pour on cream in the proportion of a cup to two cups of the celery. Salt to taste ; boil up and thicken the cream by adding a tablespoon of flour to two cups of cream, dissolv- ing the flour in a little milk. Cook till the cream thickens, pepper to taste, and serve hot. CORN BAKED IN THE HUSK Lay ears of green corn in their husks in a hot oven and bake twenty to twenty-five minutes. Take off the husks and silk, with a sharp knife run down every row of kernels, so that the inside will come out when pressed by the teeth and the hard hull stay on the corn. Serve hot and eat with salt and butter. BAKED GREEN CORN A MISSISSIPPI DISH S:core eight ears of corn and scrape into a baking-pan. Add one cup of sweet cream, one tablespoon of butter, half a teaspoon of salt, and a dash of red pepper. Beat in the 184 THE HOME COOK BOOK yolks of two eggs. Add the beaten whites of the eggs, and bake in a moderate oven one hour. Be careful to score and scrape the corn from the cob ; do not cut it off. BAKED CORN Chop fine two cups of canned corn. Beat an egg and stir it in, add a tablespoon of butter, pepper and salt to taste, and half a cup of milk. Beat all together, pour in a buttered pudding dish and bake till the whole is firm. TO COOK CANNED CORN Select the best canned corn. Turn it out the moment the can is opened, and put the corn in a saucepan. For a one-pound can of corn, add about one even teaspoon of salt and one even teaspoon of sugar. Mix this through the corn, and taste for seasoning. It should be salted to slightly taste of the salt, and just enough sugar to give a sweet corn flavor. Add three iron spoons of cold water. If, after cooking for a short time, a little more water is needed, add it. Put into the corn a large tablespoon of butter, and no pepper. Set the saucepan in another, with water underneath, not having too much water in the under saucepan. Set on the stove, without covering, and boil half an hour. If you cover, the steam from the cover will make the corn watery. SUCCOTASH Succotash is generally better made from the best canned corn. Cook the corn as described under "Canned Corn" above. Also cook the beans as directed under "Dried Lima Beans." When the beans have been cooked tender, pour them into a colander and drain off the water, and stir them into the corn. For a one-pound can of corn it will take about one pint of Lima beans. After the beans are added, it may require a little more water and butter to make them sufficiently juicy. If so, add it. Corn and beans should be cooked separately for succotash. Use no pepper, and no more seasoning, as VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 185 both corn and beans are seasoned. If you wish to make this dish of canned Lima beans, add them in the same manner and the same quantity after you have drained off the Hquid in which they are canned, and rinsed and seasoned them. CORN OYSTERS Take fresh, sweet corn and with a sharp knife cut down the centre of each row of kernels. Scrape out the pulp, leaving the kernels on the cob. Hold your cobs over a bowl as you scrape out the pulp. Allow the yolk of an egg to one cut of pulp. Season to taste with butter, salt and pepper, and just before you begin to fry add the white of the egg beaten to a stiff froth. Have ready a griddle or frying-pan heated hot and covered with melted butter. Drop the corn batter from a spoon and it will form in the shape and size of oysters. Fry a light brown and serve hot on a hot plate. BOILED EGGPLANT Cut the eggplant in two and boil till soft. Take the pulp out of the shells. Have ready two or three slices of bacon and an onion or two minced together. Mix with the pulp, add a few grated breadcrumbs, pack back in the shells, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, put on bits of butter or a few drops of olive oil and set in the oven to brown. EGGPLANT IN CREOLE FASHION . Put a large fresh eggplant in boiling water, cook five minutes, remove and drain. When cold, cut off the top and scoop out the inside. Cook one tablespoon of fine chopped white onion in one tablespoon of butter. Add two tablespoons of chopped mushrooms and two tablespoons of chopped green peppers. Cook a few minutes without browning; then add three slices of stale bread that have been soaked in water, stir and cook five minutes. Remove from fire, season with half a teaspoon of salt, one-quarter of a teaspoon of pepper, and add two whole eggs. Mix this filling into the eggplant and re- 186 THE HOME COOK BOOK place the top as a cover. Lay a square piece of cheesecloth on the table, and place a few thin slices of larding pork on the cloth. Put the eggplant on top and roll it in the cloth. Tie the cloth on both ends and put it in a deep round pan. Add half a can of tomatoes, one ounce of butter, half a teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, a little pepper, half a tablespoon of fine-chopped onions and green peppers, and half a cup of stock or sour cream. Cover the pan tightly, place it in a medium hot oven to bake one hour. Shortly before serving, remove the eggplant, free it from the cloth, place it on a warm dish and garnish with baked tomatoes and potato balls. Rub the tomatoes in which the eggplant was cooked through a sieve and serve them with the eggplant. If mushrooms are not to be had, they may be omitted. [See illustration, Plate XIX.] FRIED EGGPLANT A NEW ORLEANS RECEIPT Salt the slices of eggplant and lay them in a china dish. Cover with a cloth and lay a weight on the cloth to press out the bitter juice and make the vegetable tender. Let stand half an hour. Then wash off the salt and dry the slices in a fresh cloth. Dip them in white of egg and then in flour, and fry in a deep pan of boiling lard. STUFFED EGGPLANT Boil an eggplant half an hour. Then cut it in two hemi- spheres and scrape out the pulp. Mash with two tablespoons of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Beat the seasoned pulp, put it back in the skins, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and brown in the oven a few minutes before serving. GREENS Wash young spring dandelions, or beet tops, or purslane, or sourdock, in several waters before putting in boiling water. Cook for an hour or more — that is, cook till tender. The time VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 187 varies with the condition of the greens. Add salt half an hour before they are done. When done, drain, press in bowl or mold, and serve with some such fat meat as boiled ham and a dash of vinegar. Cooked dandelions may also be made into a salad, served with a French dressing or mayonnaise. KALE Strip ofif the leaves and wash them thoroughly. Then cook till tender in boiling water. Drain, season with salt, butter, and pepper, and serve with hard-boiled egg cut in slices and laid over the pressed kale. A jowl of the pig or a ham end is sometimes cooked with the kale for the flavor it gives the vegetable and for a meat to eat with it. TO COOK KOHLRABI Follow rules for cooking turnips. STEWED MUSHROOMS Be sure you have the edible mushroom, not the poisonous toadstool. Scrape the stem and cut oflf the earthy part. Wash in cold water and take the skin from the top. Put them in a porcelain saucepan, half cover with water and stew till tender, which will be in about twenty minutes or half an hour. Salt, thicken, allowing a tablespoon of flour stirred in a tablespoon of butter to a pint of the mushrooms. Pepper may be added if wished. Canned mushrooms are stewed in the same way, requiring less cooking. MUSHROOMS STUFFED WITH CHICKEN Procure eight or ten good-sized fresh mushrooms of an even size, cut off the stems, remove the gills, peel neatly, drop them as soon as peeled in a bowl of cold water, to which one gill of lemon- juice has been added. Chop the mushroom stems fine and place a saucepan with a small fine-chopped 188 THE HOME COOK BOOK white onion and one tablespoon of butter over the fire. Cook two minutes. Add the chopped mushroom stems. Cook slowly five minutes, season with one-quarter of a teaspoon of salt, a little pepper, and fine chopped parsley. Remove, and when cold divide this mixture among the well-drained mushrooms. Chop fine the breast of a chicken and rub it through a sieve, then weigh it; there should be four ounces, good weight. Put the meat in a bowl, add, in small portions, two and a half ounces of butter, stirring continually with a potato masher. When this is well mixed, add slowly the whites of two eggs and mix well. Season with half a tea- spoon of salt, a little nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Place for one hour on ice, then add half a pint of whipped cream. Fill the mushrooms with this forcemeat. Set the mushrooms in a buttered pan, place them in the oven with good bottom heat, cover the top with buttered paper (but in a way that the paper will not touch the forcemeat) and bake till the force- meat is firm to the touch. Serve with cream sauce. [See illustration, Plate XIX.] BOILED OKRA Wash young okra and cut the spears in slices about half an inch thick. Have boiling in a porcelain saucepan enough salted water to almost cover the okra. Drop in the slices, cover and boil gently till tender, which will be in from twenty-five to forty minutes. The water will be almost boiled away. To a quart of okra stir in a heaping tablespoon of butter, a table- spoon of vinegar, and, if you like it, a dash of catsup and cayenne. Serve hot. This vegetable is oftenest eaten with chicken. FRIED OKRA WITH HAM A LOUISIANA DISH In a porcelain saucepan fry half a pound of minced boiled ham in a tablespoon of butter and add two minced onions. When browned add two dozen sHced spears of okra. Stir constantly until the okra browns. Add one teacup of tomato^ VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 189 juice, allow it to simmer down until all the juice is absorbed and the vegetables begin to brown again, when the okra will be done. Serve in a vegetable dish. BAKED ONIONS Peel white onions and have a Boston bean pot for their baking. Put a layer of onions in the pot and sprinkle in half a teaspoon of salt and lay in a tablespoon of butter. Add half a cup of boiling water. Repeat this layer with the salt and butter, and as many times as you wish to make the quan- tity of onions. Set the cover of the pot on tight and bake in a moderate oven four or five hours. The closed pot does not allow the fumes to escape and annoy people, and no one knows you are cooking a most wholesome vegetable. Onions may be cooked this way without water or butter, in their own juice. Do not have the oven too hot. BOILED ONIONS Peel good-sized white onions, taking off the thick outer skin. Lay in cold water half an hour, and then put them in a tin saucepan of boiling water. Boil ten minutes, then pour off the water and cover again with fresh boiling water. Add a little salt. Boil until tender enough to allow a straw to run through. When done, turn out carefully into a colander. Lift each one with a spoon and lay into a hot vegetable dish. Sprinkle over each a good deal of salt and pour over a small quantity of melted butter ; no pepper. CREAMED ONIONS Peel the onions, cover with salted boiling water and cook till they are quite tender all through. Onions of average size commonly take one hour or at times one hour and a half to cook through thoroughly. Pour oflf the water that remains — much will have boiled away — and add enough sweet cream to rise through the onions and half cover them. Boil up and taste. If they need salt, add a little. Take each onion 190 THE HOME COOK BOOK separately from the saucepan and lay it in the serving dish in order to keep its form perfect. Pour over the hot cream and serve. SPANISH ONIONS STUFFED A NEW ORLEANS DISH Remove the hearts from the onions. Boil the outer part fifteen minutes, taking care they remain firm. Fry the minced hearts of the onions in a tablespoon of butter. Add one teacup of cracker-crumbs and one teacup of sweet cream, a teaspoon of celery seed, a dash of cayenne pepper, and half a teaspoon of salt. Beat in one egg. Stuff the outer parts of the onions with this, lay in a baking dish, spread over the top any stuffing you have left, and pour around the onions one cup of sweet milk. Then bake slowly one-half hour. BOILED PARSNIPS Select medium-sized parsnips. Scrape and lay them in cold water for half an hour. At the end of that time, pour oflf the water. Put them in a saucepan. Cover with boiling water, slightly salted. Keep covered with water while boiling, and add more water when needed. Boil the parsnips very tender, which will take one hour or more. When done, lay in a hot dish. If they are large, split them lengthwise. One way of dressing parsnips is to sprinkle each parsnip separately with salt and pepper, and pour over a quantity of melted butter. Another is to sprinkle them with pepper, and pour over drawn butter, which is made as follows : One heaping tablespoon and a half of butter, one heaping tablespoon and a half of flour mashed together in a small saucepan. Pour over one teacup and a half of hot water and stir to dissolve. Salt to taste. Set this saucepan in another containing water. Let the mixture come to boil. Stir constantly until it thick- ens, keep very smooth, and have just thick enough to pour easily. Pour over the parsnips, and serve. . . VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 191 FRIED PARSNIPS Split and scrape parsnips. Lay them in cold water for half an hour. Put in a saucepan of boiling water, and boil until tender. When done, drain. Roll- crackers very fine, and season with red pepper and salt. Beat one egg with one tablespoon of water. Dip the parsnip in the egg, and roll in the cracker. Fry them a light brown and serve in a hot dish. SCALLOPED PARSNIPS Wash and scrape the parsnips and cut them the long way in halves. Have enough boiling water to cover and boil gently about forty-five minutes, till tender. Drain and cut each half into small pieces. In a baking dish put a layer of the cut parsnips with a seasoning of salt and minced onion. Over this a thin layer of breadcrumbs, well spread with but- ter. Repeat the parsnips and then the breadcrumbs. Have the top layer of the crumbs. Pour over the dish milk cooked to a creamy thickness with flour. Let the milk rise almost to the top of the scallop, set in a moderate oven and bake twenty minutes to half an hour. STUFFED PEPPERS Take six or seven good-sized peppers, remove the seeds and inner pith, and set over the fire in boiling water for fifteen minutes. Pour two tablespoons of melted butter over a cup of fine breadcrumbs. Add an egg and half a teaspoon of salt, mix thoroughly, and lastly add a cup of chopped cold meat softened with stock or water. Mix all again, stufif the forcemeat into the hollow peppers, set in a pan with a little hot water, and bake in a moderate oven till the peppers are thoroughly cooked through — allowing an hour for the baking. SWEET PEPPERS WITH RICE A NEW ORLEANS RECEIPT Boil four large peppers until they are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork, then remove the stems and seed. 192 THE HOME COOK BOOK Into a deep hot saucepan put one teacup of beef dripping. When this is at boiling point add one large cup of minced small green onions. Brown thoroughly, and add one teacup of canned tomatoes. Cook three minutes, stirring constantly to keep from burning. Add a good pinch of thyme, two minced garlic cloves, a good pinch of red pepper, and salt to taste. When browned, add two teacups of cold boiled rice. Brown the whole, moistening with cold soup stock or any gravies you may have left over. Cook slowly for five minutes. Stuff the peppers with this rice mixture. Be careful not to break them. Lay them in a shallow pan and bake for ten minutes in a moderate heat. Serve hot. SALSIFY OR OYSTER-PLANT Scrape the roots and throw each one into cold water as you scrape, or it will turn black. Put into a saucepan, cover with boiling water and stew about three-quarters of an hour until tender. When done, turn off nearly all the water and add enough milk to cover. Thicken with one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flour stirred together, and put in the milk after it has boiled ten minutes. Boil gently until the milk thickens. MOCK OYSTERS Scrape salsify roots and throw each one as you scrape it into cold water. Cover with boiling water and boil gently three-quarters of an hour. They will then be tender. Mash the roots and put through a colander. Then season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in beaten eggs, allowing one egg to two heaping tablespoons of the salsify pulp. Have on a griddle or in a saucepan hot fat. Drop the mixture from a spoon and fry. When one side is brown turn the salisfy icake and brown on the other side. Serve hot. TO BOIL SPINACH Spinach is a most wholesome vegetable, carrying of all vegetables the greatest amount of iron, and it is a pity it is not VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 193 more commonly eaten by Americans. It gains in taste by a little added care. Wash the spinach thoroughly and put it in a pot of boiling salted water. A pinch of soda is sometimes added to keep the spinach green. Let it boil from twenty to thirty minutes. When tender pour in a colander or sieve and drain. After the water is out, serve ; or see next receipt. FRENCHED SPINACH Proceed exactly as the foregoing receipt directs. After your spinach has drained, put it in a bowl and chop it fine. Next put in a saucepan, add butter and a dash of pepper, and serve smoking hot as a vegetable. SPINACH WITH EGGS ON TOAST Proceed exactly as in the two foregoing receipts, except the serving. Have ready thin slices of buttered toast and lay a spoonful of spinach on each slice. Upon each spoonful of spinach slip an egg which has been poached. Or if hard- boiled eggs are preferred, halve the eggs and push the halves in the spinach, leaving the gold and white side uppermost, and dusting the whole with pepper. SPINACH MOUSSE Put half a peck of well-washed spinach in a saucepan of boiling water. Add half a tablespoon of salt, and cook three minutes from the time it begins to boil. Remove, drain, and chop the spinach fine, then weigh it. There should be two pounds. Melt two tablespoons of butter, add one heaping tablespoon of flour, stir and cook two minutes. Add one cup of milk, and cook to a thick, smooth sauce. Remove from the fire, pour the sauce into the spinach and add four well- beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper, mix all well to- gether, pack the spinach in a well-buttered melon mold ; place this in a steamer and cook for one hour. Shortly before serving, turn the mousse on to a warm dish. Rub the yolks 9 Vol. 2 194 THE HOME COOK BOOK of two hard-boiled eggs through a sieve and decorate the top of the spinach with it. Garnish with hard-boiled eggs cut in half. [See illustration, Plate XX.] TO COOK SQUASH The small crookneck summer squash is the best. All kinds are cooked the same way. Cut the squash apart and take out the seeds. The crookneck does not require peeling. Lay the pieces in cold water. Squash is best steamed. Set the steamer over a kettle of boiling water. Cook until tender, which will be from one-half to three-quarters of an hour for the softer squashes. When done, put in a saucepan, mash fine and smooth, add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and serve very hot. BAKED SQUASH Cut a winter squash in two down its length. Take out the seeds and filaments and set the halves in a dripping-pan. Put water in the pan and cover the squash, and in a moderate oven bake from an hour and a half to two hours. A quarter of an hour before the squash is done take from the oven, empty the water from the pan, and sprinkle salt and spread butter round the upper or pulp portion of the two halves. Set back in the oven to brown, and serve, setting the halves on a platter and dipping the squash from its own shell. SQUASH IN THE SHELL Select a well-shaped cymling, cut a thick slice from the stem end and scoop out seeds and fibre. Fill up with force- meat and breadcrumbs highly seasoned. Stand in a shallow baking-pan in a larger pan of boiling water. Bake four or five hours. Garnish with fried sausages. [See illustration, Plate XX.] SQUASH CAKES This is an excellent way to utilize squash left from a meal. Put it through a colander or sieve. Mix in half as much fine VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 195 bread rolled or crumbed as you have squash. Season to your taste with salt, pepper, butter and a dash of onion- juice. It is a good proportion to allow about a tablespoon of butter to two cups of the mashed squash. Mix all together and form into cakes or croquettes. Have upon a plate a raw egg, or the white of an egg whipped with a tablespoon of cold water. Also have rolled cracker or bread crumbs. Dip the squash cakes in the egg, then in the crumbs, and fry in hot fat until brown. RAW TOMATOES Take firm, ripe, good-sized tomatoes. Have a pan in which is boiling water. Put a fork into the tomato, turn it over and over a moment in the boiling water. With a small sharp knife peel off the skin. Scoop out the piece above the core, and cut off any rough pieces, so that the tomato may be smooth. Continue to peel one at a time until you have the number required. Lay on an earthen plate, and set on the ice in the morning. By evening they will be firm and refreshing. Serve whole, with French dressing. If you pre- fer them sliced, cut them half an hour before the meal, and cut thin strips of green pepper and lay between them. The flavor is very nice. BAKED RIPE TOMATOES Select good-sized, smooth tomatoes. Wash in cold water, and wipe dry. Cut out the core, and any rough places on top and lay in a pudding dish. In place of the core, put quite a teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, nearly a teaspoon of butter, and pepper to taste. A large tomato would require a heaping teaspoon of sugar. Fill the space between the toma- toes with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over them salt and pepper. Set the dish in a moderately hot oven. Put a pan of water in the oven above it. Bake steadily one hour and a quarter. When done (and do not let them burn at all), set them aside to cool a short time before putting on the table. 196 THE HOME COOK BOOK BAKED RIPE TOMATOES WITH CORN Select smooth, fine, large tomatoes. Wash them in cold water, and wipe dry. Take out the cores. Sprinkle bread- crumbs in the bottom of a shallow pudding dish, and season them with pepper and salt. Put the tomatoes in the pud- ding dish. Have ready very fine sweet sugar corn, cut care- fully from the cob, and scrape the pulp ofif with the back of a knife. Season this corn with salt, a little red pepper, and sugar to taste. Stufif the cored tomatoes with the corn. Put a large piece of butter on top of each tomato, and over this some fine breadcrumbs. Season with a little salt and pepper. Bake in a moderately hot oven, with a pan of warm water in the oven above. Bake steadily one hour and a quarter. Let cool a short time before serving. BOILED TOMATOES Choose smooth tomatoes of nearly the same size. Drop into salted boiling water and boil until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Lift and put on hot buttered toast. Score the top of each, place on it a little ball of butter mixed with salt, a trifle of sugar and pepper if you like, and serve at once and hot. FRIED TOMATOES Choose firm tomatoes, not too ripe. Wash in cold water and wipe dry. Cut in two halves. Season them separately and highly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of sugar over each piece. Have a frying-pan with some hot lard and butter. Lay the tomatoes in it and cook slowly until done, which will be nearly one hour. Take up with a cake turner, lay on a hot platter, pour over them melted butter, and serve. FRIED GREEN TOMATOES WITH HAM Cut green tomatoes in halves if they are small ones ; if large, cut in four pieces. Dredge the pieces lightly with flour and fry in drippings in a saucepan. Lay on a VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 197 hot platter round broiled ham or broiled bacon. Make a sauce or gravy by pouring off nearly all the fat of the drip- pings, and then pouring into the saucepan half or three-quar- ters of a cup of milk. Let boil up and pour over the tomatoes. STEWED TOMATOES Take fine red tomatoes all of a size and pour over them boiling water to loosen their skins. Slip off the skins and lay the tomatoes in a dish with a little butter, salt, and pepper sprinkled over them. Set them in the oven and cook fifteen minutes. Then turn the tomatoes, add a little more butter, a dredging of flour, a small cup of milk to seven or eight toma- toes, and cook slowly till the tomatoes are done. The later cooking may be either in the oven or on the back of the stove. CANNED STEWED TOMATOES Pour the contents of a quart can of tomatoes in a saunce- pan. Season with one full teaspoon of salt, one full teaspoon of sugar, and two dashes of pepper. Tomatoes vary as to acid. Taste as you season. They must not be at all sweet, merely a blending of all three seasonings. They require enough salt for a lively flavor, just enough pepper to taste after waiting a second, the right flavor not coming at once. Add one large tablespoon of butter. Set the saucepan on a cooler part of the stove, where in boiling the tomatoes will not stick to the bottom. Boil steadily, and slowly, half an hour, uncovered, stirring and watching carefully. At the end of that time put the saucepan in another with hot water in it. Add two slices of stale bread crust broken in coarse pieces. Stir in. Cover, and cook steadily again for another half hour. If not ready to serve, more cooking will do no harm. After setting them in the hot water, no more watching will be needed. Tomatoes require very thorough cooking to be per- fect. If there are any left for next day, add a little water, if too thick, and heat, standing in the water. They are quite as good as when fresh cooked. 198 THE HOME COOK BOOK STUFFED TOMATOES A NEW ORLEANS DISH Select large, round, firm tomatoes. From four of these remove the hearts, taking care not to break the shells or skins. Have a tablespoon of boiling butter in a saucepan and to this add one minced onion and the minced hearts of the tomatoes. Add one teacup of minced cold meat, also one cup of cracker crumbs. Brown these well, seasoning with minced garlic, a teaspoon of minced parsley, a pinch of thyme and rosemary, half a teaspoon of salt and some red pepper. When browned, stir into it two raw eggs. Stuff the tomatoes, lay them in a shallow baking dish, pour round them some canned tomato- juice, and bake one-half hour in a moderate oven. DICED TURNIPS Cut the turnips before cooking into dice, or with a vege- table scoop into little balls the size of a small marble. Boil till tender. Serve hot in a dish after pouring over the dice or balls melted butter seasoned with paprika or cayenne and chopped parsley. MASHED TURNIPS Pare carefully from the turnips the thick, hard rind, cut them in halves or quarters, put in boiling water and cook till tender. Allow fifteen or twenty minutes longer than for boiling potatoes. When they are done pour off and press out the water, using a large plate for pressing them. Mash them as you mash potatoes, and to make sure they are free from lumps mash them in a colander or sieve, pressing them through with the masher. Put in a saucepan, set over the fire and stir constantly for some minutes, adding salt and butter. Serve in a vegetable dish, dust over them pepper and drop on pieces of butter the size of acorns. STEAMED TURNIPS Select medium-sized turnips. Slice across the turnip, in slices not quite three-quarters of an inch thick. Wash in VEGETABLES— MISCELLANEOUS 199 cold water, lay in a steamer, and set over a pot of boiling water. Put the lid on, and set a weight or flatiron on top to keep it firmly covered, and keep the water boiling hard. Boil until the turnips are tender, which will be in about two hours. Have ready three tablespoons of melted butter. Take out half of the turnips and lay them in a vegetable dish. Sprinkle them with a good deal of salt and pepper, and pour over them half of the melted butter. Now put the remainder of the turnips in the dish, and proceed as before, pouring the other half of the butter over them. This done, take a silver fork and lightly turn them over, to mix the butter through them. 200 THE HOME COOK BOOK XIX MACARONI, RICE, FRITTERS Baked Macaroni — Boiled Macaroni— Macaroni with Ham — To Cook Rice— Rice Croquettes —To Make Rice Croustades— Curried Rice— Rice Fritters— Fritter Batter— Apple Fritters— Fried Apples BAKED MACARONI BOIL quarter of a pound of macaroni until tender. When done, put it in a colander and drain. Have ready a shallow pudding dish buttered. Put a layer of macaroni in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle over it salt, a little red pepper carefully, one tablespoon of melted butter, one iron spoon of tomatoes stewed and seasoned, one iron spoon of cream, and one table- spoon of grated cheese. Prepare the second layer in the same way. When done, turn this over lightly with a fork to mix well. In a separate dish season some of the boiled macaroni with salt, white pepper, one teaspoon of melted butter, and one teaspoon of grated cheese. 'Mix. Spread this over the top of the first dish of macaroni. Brown lightly in an upper oven. BOILED MACARONI Select the best macaroni, in which there is great choice, some being very tough. Have ready a large tin saucepan, as it requires a great deal of water and a very hard boiling, which granite will not give. Fill the pot three-quarters full of water. Break the macaroni into pieces two inches long. It will re- quire twenty-two sticks of the macaroni for a large vegetable dish. Have the water boiling hard, and drop it in, a Uttle at a time, and add a teaspoon of salt. With a large meat fork, move it now and then so it will not stick to the bottom. Add hot water as the water boils away, and keep plenty over the macaroni until done. It is not done until perfectly tender, MACARONI. RICE, FRITTERS 201 which will be one hour or one hour and a quarter. When done, pour it into a colander and drain off the water. Have ready in a tin cup two or three tablespoons of melted butter. Put half the macaroni into a hot vegetable dish, sprinkle a good deal of salt, a very little red pepper, a quarter of a teaspoon of dry mustard, a heaping tablespoon of grated cheese, and part of the melted butter. Now, add the rest of the macaroni the same as before. Put over the seasoning, and when done turn it over twice with a silver fork, so that the butter is well through it. Serve very hot. MACARONI WITH HAM Mince fine a slice of raw ham, add a minced onion, and brown all together in a saucepan. Moisten the ham with tomato sauce, lay it over half a pound of macaroni which you have cooked in boiling water. Sprinkle with four or five teaspoons of grated cheese and serve. TO COOK RICE EAST INDIA RECEIPT Wash thoroughly a cup and a half of the best rice. Set over the fire a pot holding four quarts of cold water. Put in the rice and bring to boil and ke^ep boiling until you can mash the rice kernels between thumb* and finger. Salt five minutes before this point is reached. Take off the pot, throw in it a quart of cold water, tip the rice on a sieve or colander to drain thoroughly, set in the oven to dry out, and serve hot. Each kernel will be separate and flaky when cooked in this way. RICE CROQUETTES Wash one teacup of rice in cold water. Pour it in a double- boiler, and pour over it a little more than one quart of hot water. Add one heaping teaspoon of salt. Boil until very soft. When done, which will be one hour or more, take out the rice, put it in a pudding dish, and cover while hot to prevent its becoming hard on top. It is better to cook this the 202 THE HOME COOK BOOK day before using it. To make the croquettes, mash the rice with a heavy spoon. Stir into it, and mix well, one beaten egg. Have a bowl of flour. Make the rice into oblong cro- quettes, dipping the hands into flour to shape them, and using the flour freely. When all are made, put them on a plate and set on the ice to harden. Fry, in hot lard, just enough lard to prevent them from sticking. Turn them from side, and brown a nice brown. In frying, have ready melted lard to add if needed. When eaten, they should be split open length- wise, and eaten with butter. This is a very delicate and nice way of preparing rice. TO MAKE RICE CROUSTADES A help to use up cold meats may be found in rice crou- stades. To make the croustades take a cup of boiled rice, season it, stir into it a beaten egg, and beat with a spoon till all becomes a paste or pasty. Then press it into little molds — patty pans or hollow cup forms. Next bake in a moderate oven till the rice takes on a shade of brown. Into these crou- stades may be put creamed fish, creamed chicken, a mince of chicken and ham, a mince of beef and onions, and other meats, according to methods of cooking left-over meats which are given in this book. CURRIED RICE Boil rice, pour off the water, and put into a hot vegetable dish. Take half a cup of hot cream and mix in it a tablespoon of butter and one or two teaspoons of curry powder, accord- ing to taste. Pour over the rice enough to moisten it well and serve at once. RICE FRITTERS Take a cup of boiled rice, a tablespoon of butter, half a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of sugar, and a cup of milk. Put in a double-boiler and heat to boiling point. Stir in one egg and the yoke of another. Take from the fire and set to MACARONI, RICE, FRITTERS 208 cool. When cold add the white of the second egg beaten to a froth. Mix together, drop in large spoonfuls in deep, hot fat ; fry to a golden brown ; drain on brown or blotting paper and serve at once. FRITTER BATTER Beat the yolk of an egg and add half a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of melted butter, and half a cup of milk. Have a cup of flour sifted and stir it in the milk and egg. Then add the beaten white. Always mix some time before frying, to allow the flour grains to swell. The batter must be very light. This batter may be used for clam fritters, oyster fritters, and pineapple and banana fritters. Many tastes prefer the batter unsweetened even with fruits. It may be made sweet, however, by adding a heaping tablespoon of sugar. Use deep fat and, if you have it. a frying basket, draining carefully. A greasy fritter is one of the most indigestible compounds known to the dietary. Inclose your fruit or other filling in a small spoonful of batter, drop into deep hot fat and fry till the fritter is a golden brown. APPLE FRITTERS Use one small pint of sweet milk, three eggs, one teaspoon of salt, and flour enough to make a pancake batter. Add one cup of chopped apples. Drop from a spoon into boiling lard. Put on a hot dish to drain a moment, and serve hot. FRIED APPLES Choose fine tart apples, wash and wipe them dry. Do not peel. Cut in thin circular slices. In an iron or porcelain saucepan have drippings or lard hot, and enough to cover the bottom well. Slip in the apples and fry till they are cooked soft. Turn them with a knife, and watch that they do not burn. Serve smoking hot when thoroughly done. 204 THE HOME COOK BOOK XX EGGS, OMELETS, CHEESE, RAREBITS Egg as a Beverage— Egg Cocktail— Egg Croquettes— Curried Eggs— Fried Eggs— Eggs and Onions — Eggs as Pancakes — Pickled Eggs — Poached Eggs — Scrambled Eggs — Scrambled Eggs with Cheese — Scrambled Eggs and Dried Beef — Stuffed Eggs — Swiss Eggs— Whirled Eggs— To Make Omelets — Sweet Omelets — Corn Omelet— Jelly- Omelets — Meat Omelets— Omelet with Peas — Spanish Omelet— Tomato Omelet — Cottage Cream Cheese — Pot or Dutch Cheese — Fondue — Welsh Rarebit — Plain Welsh Rarebit— Welsh Rarebit for Sunday Supper— Ramekins EGG AS A BEVERAGE Beat one egg very light, not separating the yolk and white. Add two or three tablespoons of rich milk, a little nutmeg if preferred, and one tablespoon of sherry wine, or whiskey, but preferably no flavoring at all. There is said to be as much nourishment in one egg taken in this way as there is in one pound of beef. EGG COCKTAIL Make each cocktail separately. Use a few drops of wine or cider vinegar, a tablespoon of lemon- juice, a pinch of horse- radish, and a teaspoon of tomato ketchup, mixing all together. Beat a perfectly fresh egg and pour it over the mixture. Two or three drops of Tabasco sauce may be added, but it is best not to drive the appetite. EGG CROQUETTES Boil four eggs till they are perfectly hard. Then rub through a fine sieve, add three tablespoons of cream, a dash of pepper, a saltspoon of salt, and stir well all together. Add also a teaspoon of butter. Stir thoroughly and thicken with pulverized cracker stiiiP enough to form into balls. Make up in little balls, roll each ball in cracker dust and drop into deep, hot fat. When the croquettes are brown, take out with a per- EGGS, OMELETS, CHEESE, RAREBITS 205 forated or wire spoon and drain. Serve with crisp, hot bacon, or cold with a lettuce salad. CURRIED EGGS Wet two large spoons of flour with half a cup of milk which you take from a scant quart. Add half a teaspoon of salt and mix in two teaspoons of curry powder. Put the rest of the scant quart of milk in a flat saucepan over a moderate fire. When it becomes hot stir in your flour and curry mix- ture and cook till the milk thickens. Carefully break half a dozen eggs so that neither yolk nor white is broken — to break them into a saucer is the surest way. Slip the broken eggs into the bubbling milk and let them cook till the white sets. It will take two and a half or three minutes. Carefully remove the eggs with a large spoon or ladle, lay each egg on a piece of golden brown toast, just toasted, pour over the toast enough of the curried milk to soften the toast, and serve at once. FRIED EGGS Eggs fried in lard are more delicate than those fried in bacon fat. Put just enough lard in a granite frying-pan to keep the eggs from sticking. Break the eggs in a saucer, sprinkle a little salt over each one separately, and when the lard is hot pour them in to cook. Cook slowly over a moderate fire. They should be white on the underside, and not brown, when done. If preferred folded, use a broad knife, and fold them over from both sides when half set, holding with the knife a second to prevent their turning back. Sprinkle no pepper over them. Serve on a hot platter. EGGS AND ONIONS Boil six eggs for twenty minutes, then drop in cold water. When cool enough to handle, peel, and slice four and the whites of the other two. Set to fry in a tablespoon of butter or drippings six white onions of average size, sliced. Let the onions fry slowly, keeping in their steam with a tight cover. 206 THE HOME COOK BOOK When they are browned, salt, and put on a flat hot dish. Lay the sHced eggs over them. Mix the two hard-boiled yolks you reserved, mashing with three tablespoons of cream. Mix slowly. Boil up the cream, add a dash of cayenne, pour over the onions and eggs, and serve. EGGS AS PANCAKES Have the griddle used in cooking pancakes and flapjacks heated to a smooth, gentle heat. Rub it with a swab of suet fat or of salt pork, and slip from a saucer one by one the eggs you wish to cook. When the whites of the eggs cook to a golden brown underneath, turn them with a broad knife or pancake turner, and let the white brown on the other side. Sprinkle with salt and serve on a hot dish. Muffln rings may be oiled and set on the griddle, and the eggs dropped within them are kept from spreading. PICKLED EGGS First boil the eggs half an hour. Drop them in cold water to cool, remove the shells and put the eggs in an earthen or glass jar. Cover them with hot vinegar. Or if you wish to give them a spiced flavor pour over them vinegar in which peppers, allspice, cardamom seeds, and cloves have been boiled. But the plain pickled eggs are to most tastes the best. Let them stand twenty-four hours before serving. POACHED EGGS Cook in a utensil that comes for poaching eggs (which keep the shape better), or in a granite saucepan. Break the eggs, one at a time, in a small saucer, and slip them carefully into the poacher. Then set the poacher in a pan of salted water which has come to boil. Boil gently until the eggs are set, which will be about three minutes. If you poach in a saucepan, salt the water, let it boil, and keep it hot. Break the eggs in a saucer, and slip them care- fully in the water. Then set the saucepan forward, and boil EGGS, OMELETS, CHEESE, RAREBITS 207 gently until done. Take the eggs out with a perforated ladle. Have ready toast that has been browned, buttered, and cov- ered for a short time with a pan so that it will be moist. Lay A Perforated Ladle each egg on a slice of toast. Pour melted butter over the eggs. Serve on separate plates, or all on one dish, very hot. SCRAMBLED EGGS Beat six eggs very light. When beaten add about one- quarter of an even teaspoon of salt and one-third of a cup of sweet milk. Stir together. Melt butter enough in a granite saucepan to prevent the egg sticking. When hot pour in the eggs. When they are set about the edge and begin to cook, take an iron spoon (it requires a large spoon), slip it under and pile up the egg toward the middle. Never stir the eggs, and break them as little as possible. Cook to look soft on the top, and cook over a very moderate fire. When done, slip a cake turner under the eggs, and slide them into a hot vege- table dish. Serve hot and immediately, as they become heavy by standing. SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH CHEESE The mixture for scrambling is made by allowing to one egg one tablespoon of milk and one tablespoon of grated cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Beat the eggs, add the other ingredients and scramble quickly in a hot saucepan. Do not cook until hard and dry, but take from the fire while still soft and serve in a hot dish. SCRAMBLED EGGS AND DRIED BEEF See that the beef is broken or cut in small pieces. Freshen it by letting it stand in boiling hot water a minute. Take 208 THE HOME COOK BOOK about a quarter of a pound of the meat. Beat slightly four eggs, add quarter of a cup of milk and tip in the dried beef from which you have pressed the water. In a saucepan melt a couple of tablespoons of butter ; when the butter is hot put in the eggs and meat, stir lightly, and keep the eggs from stick- ing to the saucepan. Do not cook till the eggs are hard and dry, but take from the fire while soft and serve at once in a hot dish. STUFFED EGGS Boil six eggs hard. Some hours after, when cold, cut them neatly in half and take out the yolks. Cut a small piece from the bottom of the whites so they will stand. Put the yolks in an earthenware dish or bowl, mash and make them into a stiff paste, seasoning with salt, a little red pepper, a pinch of mus- tard, a little sugar, vinegar, cream, and olive oil, being careful not to add too much vinegar. No rule as to quantity can be given, as the size of eggs varies. The seasoning must be guided by the taste. Fill the whites and pile on top. These are nice as a relish and very good laid on two or three crisp lettuce leaves which have been moistened with French dressing. SWISS EGGS Rub butter over the bottom of an earthen baking dish or plate and lay in the dish as many thin slices of cheese as you use eggs, upon each slice of cheese placing an Qgg which you have broken as if for poaching. Sprinkle the eggs with a seasoning of salt and pepper ; then sprinkle with grated cheese, and bake till the whites are set. WHIRLED EGGS Have crisp, buttered toast, brown and hot. Have also a quart of salted boiling water in a deep saucepan or kettle. Have the water boiling hard. Stir it one way round and round with a large spoon till it whirls rapidly. One by one break eggs in a cup and drop in the centre of the whirling water. EGGS, OMELETS, CHEESE, RAREBITS 209 Keep the water whirling and the egg will roll up in a round ball. Take the egg from the water with a perforated spoon or ladle and lay on a piece of toast. Salt, pepper, and serve hot. TO MAKE OMELETS Use an iron, not a tin or earthen saucepan, and have it scoured perfectly clean and smooth. Break in a bowl four' eggs and beat them not more than fifteen beats, but these give with vigor. If you beat the eggs too much and have too many air cells, the air expands in the saucepan and con- tracts when the eggs are put on a cooler plate, and so the omelet is heavy. To the four eggs beaten fifteen strong strokes add lightly a tablespoon of hot water to each egg — four tablespoons of hot water. In the iron saucepan put a piece of butter as large as the yolk of an egg. In the four eggs drop a piece half as large. As soon as the butter in the saucepan melts and is hot pour in the eggs. Set over a hot fire and as the eggs stiffen slip carefully under them a thin pliable knife so that the liquid egg on top will run under and form another layer of set eggs. Sprinkle over all about half a teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper, and if there is any more liquid egg lift again, let it run down to the hot saucepan and set. When the egg is set, cooked, but not hard and not brown, put your knife under the part of the omelet nearest you, and roll it over on the part furthest from you. Have ready a hot plate, slip the omelet on the plate and serve at once. Omelets should not stand, but should be eaten at once ; they should not be cooked till those to eat them are ready. Milk toughens omelets. Salt, except at the last, or flour for stiffening also toughens omelets. SWEET OMELETS Beat six eggs according to the foregoing directions "To Make Omelets." Have an omelet or frying pan hot, and melt 210 THE HOME COOK BOOK in it a tablespoon of butter. Pour in your mixture. Do not stir or shake the pan till the omelet sets. To keep it from scorching take a long-bladed knife and slip under the omelet and loosen it from the pan. Allow five minutes for its cooking. Take it from the fire, spread over it preserved plums, peaches, cherries, or tart apples, or whatever fruit you choose, fold it over once in the form of a turnover, slip it on a hot platter, sift over it a little fine sugar and serve at once. An omelet becomes heavy if it stands. CORN OMELET A tasty omelet is made by using the two or three ears of green corn left from the dinner the day before. Cut the upper part of the kernels from the cob, set to warm, and when your omelet is done fold in the hot corn. In making, use the receipt for a plain omelet. JELLY OMELETS Omelets spread with jelly, such as crab-apple jelly, currant jelly, grape jelly, are all alike tasty and wholesome. MEAT OMELETS Chicken omelets are made by spreading minced chicken upon the lower half of the omelet before folding over. Tongue omelets, ham omelets, and oyster omelets are also prepared in the same way. OMELET WITH PEAS Beat the yolks of two eggs lightly, add two tablespoons of cold water, fold in the whites, beaten dry, turn into a small omelet pan slightly greased with olive oil, and stand over the fire till set. Then dry in the oven, dust with salt, fold and turn out on a hot platter. Garnish with a rim of stewed peas. Do not overcook the omelet. The centre should be soft and creamy. EGGS, OMELETS, CHEESE, RAREBITS 211 SPANISH OMELET Add a little fine-chopped onion, or onion- juice, to a plain omelet — allowing four or five drops of juice to an egg. TOMATO OMELET Make a plain omelet, and just before folding over spread hot cooked tomatoes on the lower half. Fold, pour hot tomatoes round the omelet and serve at once. If this dish is made for an invalid the tomatoes should be put through a colander or sieve, and freed from seeds. COTTAGE CREAM CHEESE Having first skimmed the milk, set it in its pan upon the back of the stove, or over a kettle of boiling water. Stir the milk gently while it is getting hot. When the whey is too hot to hold the finger in — as it heats the curd and whey separate — pour into a cheesecloth bag or a strainer and let it drip till the curd is drained. Put the curd into a bowl and season with salt and cream, giving one teaspoon of salt and a small teacup of cream to a milk pan of milk, and stirring well. This cream cheese is prettily served piled high in a dark blue or green bowl, or in glass. POT OR DUTCH CHEESE Put a panful of loppered milk on a slow fire, or over a kettle of hot water. Heat slowly, until the curd and whey separate. Stir, and do not scald or the curd will become tough. When the curd and whey entirely separate, pour into a cheesecloth bag and drain. Stir into the curd enough but- ter, sweet cream, and salt to make it moist. Add pepper, if you like, then mound on lettuce leaves, or make into tiny soft balls not much larger than an English walnut. FONDUE Mix together seven ounces of cheese cut fine, two ounces of rolled cracker or bread crumbs, and two ounces of softened 212 THE HOME COOK BOOK butter. Pour over this one pint of sweet milk, which has come to boil, and stir. Next, add the yolks of three beaten eggs and a little salt. Keep warm until all is dissolved, then add the whites of the eggs, which have been beaten to a stiff froth. Stir in lightly with a silver fork. Grease a pudding dish, pour the mixture into this, and bake twenty minutes in an upper oven, as the lower one melts the cheese. Serve hot as soon as done. WELSH RAREBIT Into a saucepan or chafing dish put one tablespoon of butter, half a teaspoon of dry mustard, quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne, and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. Melt and stir, and then add a small cup (one gill) of milk. When well blended, stir in a pound of soft American cheese which has been grated or cut in small dice. Let the cheese melt, stir all the time and blend well, and then pour over small pieces of golden brown toast, and serve at once. If the cheese should by some quality thicken too much, add a little more milk. Beer may be used in place of milk, but milk is here recommended. PLAIN WELSH RAREBIT To one large cup of finely grated cheese, add one well- beaten egg and enough milk to make the three a cream. If you like any other seasoning, add it. Pour into a saucepan, let it boil up once and then pour over hot buttered toast WELSH RAREBIT FOR SUNDAY SUPPER To a tablespoon of hot butter in a saucepan add four tablespoons of good American cream cheese. Stir till the cheese is melted, and then add a cup of cream, quarter of a teaspoon of salt, a dash of cayenne or paprika, and two eggs well beaten. Stir all thoroughly. Have crisp, hot toast, cut in triangles or fingers. Spread the cheese mixture over the toast, and serve at once. EGGS, OMELETS, CHEESE, RAREBITS 213 RAMEKINS A JEWISH RECEIPT Beat three eggs into an ounce of butter warmed, not to melt, but to be pliable. Then add two ounces of grated Ameri- Patty Pans can cheese. Bake in small, individual pans — little patty pans- and serve hot in the pan. 214 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXI SANDWICHES The Science of Sandwich-Making — Almond Sandwiches— Baked Bean — Beef — Raw Beef — Cheese^Cream Cheese — Cheese and Walnut — Chicken — Chicken Curry— Date and Fig — Egg — Egg, Bread, and Sardine— Fish — Ginger— Ham— Ham and Onion — June Rose — Lettuce — Lobster — Mushroom — Mutton — Nut and Cheese — Nut and Fig — Olive and Cucumber — Olive and Mint — Oyster — Peanut — Sardine— Tongue and Tomato THE SCIENCE OF SANDWICH-MAKING THE old-fashioned sandwich — two thick wedges of bread, erratically buttered, hard of crust, exuding mustard, and with frills of ham or corned beef about the edge — has been rele- gated to the past by the arrival of the meat-chopper. The only places where it seems to linger is at railroad lunch coun- ters; occasionally, too, it reappears at a Sunday-school picnic. The sandwiches of the past were of half a dozen varieties, the filling of a modern sandwich is limited only by what you have on hand. Fish, flesh, fowl, vegetables, eggs, nuts, fruit, cheese, and pickles may be utilized alone, or combined, and the result, when prepared by a skilful cook, is a dainty and delicious morsel. The first subject, when one takes up sandwich-making, is bread. If many sandwiches are required, as for a reception or picnic, I prefer to bake the bread specially for them ; there is less waste and the work is so much easier. For this pur- pose I keep on hand plenty of baking powder cans, one-pound and half-pound sizes, and also a few oblong tins which have held one pound of cocoa. Nothing can excel these as molds for baking bread for picnic sandwiches ; it is tender, almost crustless, it needs no trimming to make two slices accord in size and it bakes or steams much more quickly than in larger tins. Make the bread twenty-four hours before it is required and try to have it fine-grained. Fill the cans half full of dough SANDWICHES 215 and set to rise. When almost at the top of the tins put to bake with the Uds off. When you have brown bread mixture, fill three-quarters full — it does not rise so much as bread which has yeast in it. Slip the small loaves out of the tins as soon as taken from the oven or steamer and set on a wire stand to cool ; then wrap in towels and put away in the bread-box until required. The next consideration is the butter. Put a pound of butter (if you have many sandwiches to make) in a mixing bowl and with a slitted wooden spoon beat it thoroughly to a fine, light cream, exactly as for cake making. The butter is much easier to spread, it is more economical, then it is ready to divide into portions and blend with anything to make what is called a flavored butter, the most delicate of all fillings. Before preparing the sandwiches, if they are to be used at a luncheon or entertainment where other dishes accompany A Slitted Wooden Spoon them, be careful that the flavoring is different from the salad with which they are served. It is really in better taste to offer nothing with a salad or cold meat except plain sandwiches of bread and butter ; still, fashion seems to demand a flavored nibble as a salad accompaniment. Fish, lobster, or shrimp salads are most appetizing with sandwiches of Boston brown bread holding a tender lettuce-leaf or a sprig of watercress dipped in mayonnaise. Serve sandwiches of mild cheese flavored by mustard or vinegar with green salads. White bread sandwiches holding tender young nasturtium leaves be- tween the buttered folds go well with salads of meat or fish. Garnish a plateful of this variety with a few nasturtium leaves and blossoms. Finely cut peppergrass, chives, endive, or celery are all fitting accompaniments to sandwiches, which are offered with a meat or chicken salad. Cucumbers and to- 216 THE HOME COOK BOOK matoes thinly sliced and spread with mayonnaise make a delicious bite between buttered bread. Cut with a small cookie cutter rounds of bread, slightly larger than the slice of tomato or cucumber, and put the vegetable between them. These, as well as the herb sandwiches, must not be made until imme- diately before serving. Cheese, which is generally the first course in a sandwich menu, may be spread between folds of white, graham, or en- tire wheat bread or delicate crackers. Roquefort, fromage de Brie, or any of the stronger cheeses, may be flavored with finely chopped chives or parsley and creamed butter. Combine with a milder cheese, chopped olives, walnut meats, anchovy essence and a dash of mustard, paprika, and salt. Grate hard cheese and mash soft cheese with a spoon, afterward rub to a paste with mayonnaise or butter and flavoring. The delicious little cream or Neufchatel cheeses may be blended with chopped walnuts, given a bit of seasoning by Parmesan cheese, also a hint of lemon- juice and paprika. Under the head of sandwiches is a long list of possibilities. They include meat, fish, egg, as well as fillings obtained from chopped olives and pickles, or some strong seasoning, curry, caviare, or anchovy. For all sorts of meat use a chopper, grind- ing with the finest knife. It provides a paste which, blended with mayonnaise, is as easy to spread on bread as butter. Scores of receipts might be ofifered to direct this blending process, but the clever cook, with her own palate as criterion, can easily adapt a few suggestions to the materials on hand. Chicken combines well with celery, chopped nuts, and olives. The most delicate chicken sandwich I know is seasoned with celery salt and moistened with thick whipped cream instead of mayonnaise. Ham paste is blended with mayonnaise, mustard, chopped olives, and gherkins. Veal paste may be seasoned like chicken — indeed one can scarcely tell the difference be- tween the two fillings. Roast beef, corned beef, lamb, and poultry paste make good sandwiches. If you have not enough of one meat add to it another which harmonizes in flavor; for instance, veal goes well with any sort of poultry, while tongue SANDWICHES 217 and ham make a good mixture. If remains of roast beef, lamb, or corned beef are small, chop and blend each separately ; nothing seems to assimilate well with red-blooded meats. Use mustard, a few drops of onion extract, and chopped pickles as flavoring. They are better moistened with creamed butter than with mayonnaise. Put lobster, shrimp, or crab meat through the chopper. Cold fish or canned salmon is better delicately picked to flakes with a fork. Sardines, anchovies, and salt fish make tasty picnic sandwiches. Pound them to a paste and give a touch of acidity by lemon- juice or chopped pickle. Eggs should be hard-boiled; allow to become thor- oughly cold, then put through a chopper, mix with mayonnaise or butter and season well. Then one comes to sweet sandwiches — the variety is almost unlimited. Figs, dates, prunes, raisins, nuts, preserved ginger, Fancy Sandwich-Cutters and candied peel are some of the fruits which may be chopped, sweetened, moistened with whipped cream, lemon, orange, or pineapple juice and spread between folds of white bread. When preparing them for an entertainment, cut heart, dia- mond, or club shaped, and on top of each lay something which suggests the filling — an English walnut meat, a shred of green citron peel, or half a maraschino cherry, dipped in icing to make them stick. When you wish to roll sandwiches, use fresh bread, spread very lightly with the filling and pin into shape with a fine toothpick. It is quite easy to keep sandwiches fresh some hours be- fore they are required. Wring a napkin as dry as possible from hot water — a good plan is to put it through the wringer — wrap the sandwiches in it very carefully, then cover in a stone jar or something which will exclude the air. ^ 10 Vol. 2 218 THE HOME COOK BOOK ALMOND SANDWICHES Chop to a mince half a pound of blanched almonds. Add half a teaspoon of salt, and mix in a small cup of thick cream till you have a paste. Spread on buttered slices of graham or whole wheat bread, BAKED BEAN SANDWICHES Take thin slices of graham bread, butter, and spread with baked beans which you have slightly mashed and dampened with their own liquor. Add a little finely minced or sliced onion, a drop or two of vinegar or lemon- juice, and a dash of salt. Press the bread together. BEEF SANDWICHES A beef sandwich may be made from cold roast beef as a filling, or from cold boiled beef. The natural accompaniments of beef are onions, tomatoes, and horseradish. If you use onion with the beef, scrape or chop it fine, add a little salt and pepper and spread over the beef after it has been laid on the bread, and before the second slice is added. If you use sliced tomato, also have that well seasoned with salt, pepper, and a drop of lemon- juice or vinegar before laying on the beef. If you use grated horseradish follow the Russian custom and mix the horseradish with thick cream, a little salted, spread on the lightly buttered bread, lay in the trim and filling of beef, and press on the upper slice. RAW BEEF SANDWICHES Mince the beef you use very fine. Free it from filaments or threads, mix in finely minced onion to the proportion your taste directs, and season with salt. vSpread on graham or white bread, set in the ice-box, and serve cold, CHEESE SANDWICHES Make into a paste quarter of a pound of American cheese, a heaping tablespoon of butter, a teaspoon of mustard and a SANDWICHES 219 few drops of wine or cider vinegar. Spread on thin slices of bread. CREAM CHEESE SANDWICHES These are made hke the foregoing, and the pot or cream cheese is spread before the lettuce leaves are put on. Chopped olives wet with a little cream and paprika are sometimes used instead of lettuce leaves. CHEESE AND WALNUT SANDWICHES Slice thin whole wheat bread, or graham or white bread. Butter, and spread with cream cheese in which you have mixed or pounded English walnut meats, and a dash of cayenne. CHICKEN SANDWICHES Chop fine the meat of a chicken — for sandwiches the white meat is preferable — and with it a few olives as a savory. Stir in a mayonnaise to hold all together and spread on but- tered bread. CHICKEN CURRY SANDWICHES Mince cold chicken, pound to a paste with its curry sauce, and spread on buttered slices of bread, DATE AND FIG SANDWICHES Chop fine either dates or figs, moisten with cream or hot water, add a few drops of lemon or orange- juice, and spread upon thin buttered slices of either graham or white bread. EGG SANDWICHES Rub to a paste the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs. Mix in a teaspoon of made mustard, a little salt, and a few drops of vinegar. Chop fine the whites of the eggs, add to the yellow paste and spread on thin slices of buttered bread. 22U THE HOME COOK BOOK EGG, BREAD, AND SARDINE SANDWICHES Chop hard-boiled eggs not very fine, and with them half as many skinned sardines. Season with salt and pepper, and when well mixed spread thick on thin slices of brown or graham bread. Press the sandwiches together firmly. FISH SANDWICHES Fish sandwiches offer a happy way of utilizing remains of boiled fish, such as salmon, lobster, sole, etc. They may be made of the fish minced, or of the fish still kept in solid form. If the fish is minced, season it well, make it to a paste with butter, and spread on buttered slices of whole wheat or graham bread. Between the slices of bread a little scraped onion may also be added, or, if the taste prefers, cool slices of cucumber which have been soaked in a French dressing. If the fish is not minced, but kept in solid meat, soak the meat well in a French dressing before it is laid between buttered slices of graham or whole wheat bread. Here again scrapings of onion or slices of cucumber are not amiss. GINGER SANDWICHES Chop the ginger fine, soften it with thick cream, and spread on either whole wheat, graham, or white bread. Candied fruits, such as cherries, pears, orange peel, may be used in the same way. HAM SANDWICHES Cut pieces of cold boiled ham, keeping some of the fat. Chop fine, and mix it in a small quantity of mustard which has been mixed up with water, a little sugar, and salt. Add to the ham a small quantity of chopped cucumber pickle, and stir all together. Slice two pieces of white bread thin, turn so that the pieces match, butter the bread, and spread the ham on one slice thickly. Turn the other slice over it, and cut in one or two pieces, according to the size of the slice. SANDWICHES 221 HAM AND ONION SANDWICHES Between thin slices of buttered rye bread lay a thin slice of boiled ham, touch the ham lightly with made mustard, and press the bread together. A very thin slice of Bermuda onion may be laid on the ham, if the taste so directs. JUNE ROSE SANDWICHES New made and unsalted butter when packed overnight with fragrant rose leaves absorbs their perfume. Cut deli- cate slices of white bread in fingers or dollar sizes, spread with the butter, lay on a few petals, and press together. LETTUCE SANDWICHES These sandwiches are made of slices of white bread but- tered and holding between them two or three crisp, white lettuce leaves on which a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon-juice or a spoonful of mayonnaise have been placed. Or graham bread is used. The lettuce leaves are sometimes cut in ribbons instead of being kept whole. LOBSTER SANDWICHES Mince a boiled lobster. Season it to your taste with minced onion, salt, pepper, and lemon- juice. This may be put on the under slice of bread, and have for its upper part a slice of bread and butter holding a small lettuce leaf. MUSHROOM SANDWICHES Cook the mushrooms, cut small, and when tender add a little cream and a seasoning of crisp bacon cut in small pieces. Season also with salt and pepper and spread on thin slices of bread. MUTTON SANDWICHES Like beef sandwiches, these may be made from either the roast or boiled meat. Again arises the question of what is a 222 THE HOME COOK BOOK natural savory herb or vegetable to accompany the meat. Chopped olives may be laid on the slice of mutton, or capers minced and mixed with a little cream, or thin slices of tomato which have soaked in a French dressing, or slices of crisp cucumber which have had the same saturation. NUT AND CHEESE SANDWICHES For these you may use pecans, English walnuts, almonds, or our own hickory nuts. Pound to a paste or chop fine half a cup of the nut meats. Mix thoroughly with a roll of Neufchatel cheese, add half a teaspoon of salt in the mixing and spread on thin slices of whole wheat, graham, rye, or white bread. NUT AND FIG SANDWICHES Take equal parts of English walnut meats and figs. Chop the walnuts fine. Also chop the figs and set them to cook slowly with a little water. When they have dissolved into a paste add the chopped nut meats, squeeze in a flavoring of lemon or orange juice and spread between thin slices of graham bread. OLIVE AND CUCUMBER SANDWICHES For these use graham or white bread. Chop together equal parts of olives and small cucumber pickles. Stir them together with a mayonnaise dressing and spread on slices of bread. OLIVE AND MINT SANDWICHES Use equal quantities of chopped mint and olives, and let them stand a few hours in a French dressing. Take thin slices of graham bread, butter, spread with the mint and olives, and press together. OYSTER SANDWICHES Take two dozen oysters, chop fine, add salt and cayenne, and heat in a saucepan. Drop in a tablespoon of butter and SANDWICHES 223 three tablespoons of fine breadcrumbs. Cook three or four minutes and cool for spreading on thin slices of buttered bread. PEANUT SANDWICHES Take fresh-roasted peanuts, chop fine, mix with a ma- yonnaise dressing and spread on thin slices of graham, whole wheat, or white bread. SARDINE SANDWICHES Take boneless sardines — or if the more common sardine, scrape oflf oil and skin, open lengthwise, sprinkle with a few drops of lemon- juice, and lay between slices of thinly buttered graham or white bread. TONGUE AND TOMATO SANDWICHES Upon a thin buttered slice of white bread lay cold boiled tongue cut in delicate slices, and upon each slice of tongue a thin slice of tomato sprinkled with a dash of salt and pep- per. Cover with another buttered slice and press together. 224 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXII YEAST, BREAD, ROLLS, BISCUITS, MUFFINS To Make Dry Yeast— Perennial Yeast— Potato Yeast — Bread — Bread Made with Pota- toes—Brown Bread— Boston Brown Bread— Buttermilk Bread — Graham Bread — Rye Bread — Rye and Indian Bread — Salt-Rising Bread— Whole Wheat Bread — Bread Sticks— Hot Cross Buns— Cinnamon Loaf— Rolls— Vienna Rolls— Rusk— Baking Powder Biscuit— Breakfast Biscuit— Sour-Cream Biscuit— Buttermilk Biscuit— Mary- land Biscuit— Quick Hot Raised Biscuit — Velvet Biscuit— Corn Bread — Soft Corn Bread — Johnny Bread- Sour Milk Corn Cakes — Corn Dodgers — Corn Gems — Cornmeal Muffins — Graham Gems — Graham Muffins — Gluten Wafers — Oatmeal Cakes — Oat Muffins — Oatmeal Wafers — Supper Popover — Potato Puffs — Puff et — Rice Breakfast Cakes — Rye Drop Cakes — Rye Popovers — Sally Lunn — Barley Scones — Cream Scones H TO MAKE DRY YEAST AVE one heaping coffee saucer of flour. Boil one cup of hops in enough water to scald this flour. Mix the water with the flour. Let cool. Stir in a cup of dry yeast, wet with enough water to soak it. Set to rise in a warm place till light. Then stir in cornmeal till it is thick enough to make into small cakes and dry, but do not heat in drying. In making this begin the work in the morning so that you can see it all accomplished before night. PERENNIAL YEAST A simple and effective yeast of home brew is called peren- nial because it may be made to last some time. To dwellers remote from groceries it is of considerable value. When once you have started it, keep it by renewing it each week. To start it dissolve a cake of compressed yeast in two tablespoons of the water in which you cooked your potatoes for dinner. Do not use the water when it is hot ; let it become lukewarm. Next fill half full of lukewarm potato water a glass preserving jar — a quart jar. Add half a cup of granulated sugar, and when it is dissolved in the potato water add the dissolved YEAST 225 yeast. Stir together, and set the can, loosely covered, in a warm but not hot place, where the yeast can work. When the contents of the jar have become light, seal up the can and set it away. The day before you want to make bread fill up the can with lukewarm potato water, add half a cup of granulated sugar, and let stand for twenty-four hours, when you will have a can full of foaming white yeast. Beat and use half a can of the yeast for making three loaves of bread. Mix the bread at once and use as much lukewarm water as yeast. Seal up the can from which you took the yeast and set it away. When again you want to make bread take the day before for filling again with lukewarm potato water and half a cup of granulated sugar, and allow fermentation for twenty-four hours, as above directed. POTATO YEAST Take one quart of sliced potatoes. Wash in cold water and put in a large tin saucepan. Tie up in a square cloth a bunch of loose hops, as many as you would gather in your fingers. If the pressed hops are used (which are not quite as good) take half a package. Cover the potatoes with two quarts of hot water, in which put the hop bag. Boil slowly until the potatoes are soft enough to mash. Place a colander over a large crock. Put into it a full teacup of flour. Pour over the flour the boiling water and potatoes — to scald it. Mash all through the colander with a potato masher. Wash the saucepan in which the potatoes boiled and have it ready for use. Move the colander from the crock to the saucepan while the potato is being pressed through. Add one pint of warm water for that which has boiled away. When all is pressed through in the saucepan, wash the colander, potato masher, and crock. Set the colander over the crock. Press the potato water through again. Have ready two cakes of compressed yeast dissolved in cold water. Now add to the potato three-quarters of a teacup of white sugar, in which mix one teaspoon of ground ginger and one iron spoon, heap- ing, of salt. When this is mixed and all is cool to lukewarm. 226 THE HOME COOK BOOK stir in the yeast. Set in a warm place (but not hot) to rise. Cover. When very light put away in Mason glass jars with covers. Fill the jars three-quarters full, as at first. The yeast will rise more. Set away in a cold place or in an ice-box. When yeast is made again use one yeast cake and half a tea- cup of potato yeast. BREAD Dissolve two cakes and a half of the ounce yeast cakes of Fleischmami's make. To dissolve them put in three table- spoons of cold water. Take a quart of blood-warm water and a heaping teaspoon of salt, and add the dissolved yeast cakes. Have flour sifted into a pan or bowl, and stir the yeast mix- ture in till you have a dough stiff enough to lift from the bowl. Lift the dough to your bread board, having first floured it well, and knead the dough thoroughly, putting to it more flour until it does not stick to your fingers or to your bread board. With hot drippings grease a warm bowl, set the dough in the bowl and grease over the top of the dough. Cover to protect from cold and set in a warm place to rise — not hot, merely warm. In about three hours the dough will have risen. Form it into loaves, brush the loaves with hot drippings, set to rise in a warm place for an hour, and bake till a golden brown. BREAD MADE WITH POTATOES Boil three large potatoes. Mash them while hot, adding a piece of butter half as big as an egg, one teaspoon of sugar, and half a teaspoon of salt. Mash all together perfectly smooth. Take a pint of warm water, half of it pour over the potatoes, moisten a teacup and a half of flour with the other half. Beat the flour batter well to remove all lumps, and add it to the potato batter. Then add half a teacup of yeast, or one-third of a cake of compressed yeast dissolved in half a cup of warm water. Add also half a teaspoon of soda dis- solved in half a cup of warm water. Beat together this thin batter and set in a warm place, where the bottom of its dish will BREAD 227 be kept warm overnight. Next morning sift into your bread tray a quart and a half of flour and half a teaspoon of salt. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and pour in the sponge. If the risen sponge is good it will be full of bubbles. Knead well — five or ten minutes — with both hands, but keep the dough soft, and use on your hands only as much flour as is necessary. After sprinkling flour all round, over and under the Rolling Pin (even diameter) dough, cover with a cloth and set in a warm place. It should rise to double its size in about an hour. Knead again and divide into two loaves. Set the pans in a warm place until the loaves have risen to the top. Bake in a quick oven about half an hour. If you wish to make biscuits, after the first kneading take about half the dough and roll out the biscuits. Let them rise a few minutes in a warm place and bake in a quick oven. BROWN BREAD Mix together one cup and a half of cornmeal, one scant cup of wheat flour, one cup and a half of graham flour, one cup of New Orleans molasses, one teaspoon of salt, and two teacups of buttermilk. Beat well together and add two tea- spoons of soda dissolved in cold water. Mix again. Bake in one-pound baking-powder cans in a rather hot and steady oven. Set the covers on the cans. BOSTON BROWN BREAD Thoroughly mix together two cups of sour milk, one cup of sweet milk, two cups of Indian meal, two cups of graham flour, three-fourths of a cup of molasses, one teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of soda. Pour in a greased brown bread mold, fasten the cover on tight, bake in a moderate or slow oven three or four hours or longer. 228 THE HOME COOK BOOK BUTTERMILK BREAD Bring to boil two quarts of buttermilk. Have in an earthen jar or crock which is perfectly sweet from washing and scouring one teacup of sifted flour. Over this flour pour and stir in the hot buttermilk. When cooled to blood-heat stir in half a cup of fine yeast and flour enough to make a stiff batter. Stir thoroughly and beat thoroughly and set in a warm place. Next morning sift flour in your bread bowl or pan, pour in the batter and let stand an hour. Then mix and knead long and thoroughly. Set to rise, and when light quickly make into loaves ; let stand a few minutes and bake in a mod- erately heated oven. GRAHAM BREAD Mix into three pints of graham flour one heaping teaspoon of salt, one scant teacup of molasses, and one cup and a half of buttermilk. Beat well together and add one heaping tea- Boston Brown Bread Mold spoon of soda dissolved in cold water. Grease the pans well and bake in separate loaves. Bake slowly for two hours. Set a pan of warm water in the upper oven above the bread. RYE BREAD Mix a large spoon of butter with a large spoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Over this pour a pint of boiling milk, cover and set to cool. When lukewarm add a teacup of lively yeast — or one yeast cake dissolved in a cup of warm water. BREAD 229 Add also wheat flour till you have a thin batter. Set over- night. Next morning- stir in rye flour to make a soft dough and set to rise. When the dough is light, add rye flour enough to make a firm dough. Set to rise again. Again knead well, make into loaves, and bake in an even oven. RYE AND INDIAN BREAD Dissolve a yeast cake in a cup and a half of water and add enough wheat flour to make a sponge. Set to rise over- night well covered in a warm place. Next morning scald together a quart of water and a pint of molasses and stir in four pints and a half of cornmeal. When this has cooled to lukewarm stir it in the sponge, and then add a heaping pint of ryemeal, a pint of wheat flour breadcrumbs soaked in water and mashed smooth, and lastly a teaspoon of soda dis- solved in two tablespoons of warm water. Stir alt^together thoroughly and set in a warm place to rise. When light, separate into loaves, let rise again, and bake in a sure, mod- erate oven three hours. SALT-RISING BREAD Scald one cup of fresh milk, and when it is slightly cooled, pour it over two tablespoons of cornmeal in a pitcher. Beat well together, cover the pitcher with a saucer and stand it overnight in a pan or bowl of warm water in a warm place. Next morning add a cup of warm water, one teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of soda and flour to make a batter. Set in a pan of warm water and in a warm place till light, which will probably be in two or three hours. Put one quart of flour in a pan, add a tablespoon of lard and one of salt, pour in the batter and knead well. Make into loaves, let rise, and bake. Keep this kind of bread very warm all the time it is mak- ing, but do not spoil the ferment by scalding it. The fermenta- tion is supposed to be from germs or bacteria the sponge absorbs from the air. 230 THE HOME COOK BOOK WHOLE WHEAT BREAD Mix through one quart of entire wheat flour one teaspoon of salt, two tablespoons of molasses, and one-quarter of a cake of compressed yeast dissolved in cold water. Mix and knead four or five minutes. Set to rise at night in a warm place. In the morning knead five minutes more. Divide in two parts and put in greased pans. Let rise until light, which will take almost an hour. Bake one hour in a rather brisk, steady heat. BREAD STICKS When you are making yeast bread, leave out a small por- tion of the dough. Cut from this small pieces, roll out till twice as long and about the thickness of a common lead pencil. Set to rise for half an hour, and bake in a hot oven about a quarter of an hour. A long, narrow dripping-pan will serve for a pan. The sticks should be a soft crust brown all round. HOT CROSS BUNS Mix together one pound of flour, quarter of a pound of sugar, a pinch of cloves and of mace, quarter of a teaspoon of cinnamon, and half a pound of currants which have been washed and dried. Next dissolve a yeast cake in a cup of warm water, and add a cup of scalded milk. Make a hole in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid. Grad- ually work in the flour, and after thoroughly mixing, cover and set in a warm place to rise. When very light, work in two heaping tablespoons of butter, knead and again set to rise. If on this kneading the dough is not soft, work in a little scalded milk. After the second rising, form your buns, and set the pan in a warm place for half an hour. Mark the top of each bun with a cross, using a knife. Afterward brush with the white of an egg and sprinkle with sugar. CINNAMON LOAF On a breadmaking day, when your dough has risen and is light, take out a lump weighing two pounds. Cut up quarter ROLLS 231 of a pound of butter, slightly warmed, in a cup of milk and beat in three eggs. Stir this mixture gradually into the dough and mix thoroughly, also adding half a teaspoon of soda dis- solved in a tablespoon of lukewarm water. In one cup of sugar have mixed one tablespoon of powdered cinnamon. Form the bread in the shape of a loaf, make deep incisions in the top of the loaf, and press the cinnamon and sugar into the cuts, pulling up the dough over the little pockets of sea- soning. Put the loaf in a greased pan and bake with the other bread. It is nice eaten warm for supper or lunch. Do not cut in pieces. Cut the crust and then break irregularly. ROLLS Mix through one pint and a half of flour one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, one beaten egg, one pint of luke- warm milk, and three-quarters of a compressed yeast cake, or half a teacup of potato yeast. Beat all together thoroughly. Set to rise in a warm place and cover. When very light, knead well, adding enough more flour to make a delicate dough for biscuit. Set to rise again. When light, make into rolls oblong in shape. Put in greased pans and when the rolls rise almost even together they are ready to bake. Dust the top with a piece of soft paper dipped in melted butter. Bake in a steady oven for half an hour until a light brown. VIENNA ROLLS Mix a cup of lively yeast in a quart of lukewarm milk. Then stir in a quart of flour and set to rise in a warm place. In two or three hours, add flour enough to make a stiff dough, add also a tablespoon of sugar and the same of salt. Set to rise again, and after four or five hours take on a board and roll in thin sheets, not more than quarter of an inch thick. From these sheets cut triangles. Roll up the triangles from the base so that the apex will come in the centre of the roll. Bend them in quarter-moon shape, brush with melted butter, let 232 THE HOME COOK BOOK rise for half an hour, and bake. Instead of forming the dough from triangles the rolls may be made in ordinary form. RUSK Make a sponge overnight of one teacup of flour, half a teaspoon of salt, and half a pint of lukewarm water or milk. Dissolve a compressed yeast cake in cold water. Add this to the sponge, and beat very hard. Cover well and set to rise in a warm place overnight. In the morning, add half a teacup of melted butter (not hot), half a teacup of sugar, and two beaten eggs. Stir all together and beat thoroughly. If more flour is needed to make a delicate soft dough which you can knead a little, add it. Roll out half an inch thick and cut with biscuit cutter, or make into oblong rolls. Put in a deep, greased pan. Let rise nearly to the top of the pan. Rusk needs to be lighter than bread rolls. When ready to bake, dip a soft piece of paper in egg and sugar beaten together and dust the top with the mixture. Bake in a steady oven about half an hour. If they bake too fast, set a pan of warm water over them in the upper oven. A small sifting of grated nutmeg on top the rusk is liked by many. BAKING-POWDER BISCUIT Measure one quart of sifted flour and three heaping tea- spoons of baking powder. To this add one tablespoon of lard and mix quickly through the flour with the tips of the Biscuit Cutters fingers. Wet with one teacup of milk and water mixed or all milk, or all water. Of course, milk is the best. Wash the dough off the hands before mixing, and sprinkle the pastry board lightly with flour. Also dip the hand into the flour to prevent any sticking to the board or the hands. Now turn BISCUITS 233 the dough on the board, turn it over, knead just twice to have it smooth; then flour the rolling-pin and roll out half an inch thick. Cut the biscuit with a cutter the size you prefer and put into pans that are neither floured nor greased. Let them stand fifteen minutes before baking, and bake a light brown in a quick oven, which will take about fifteen minutes. BREAKFAST BISCUIT Beat two eggs, half a teaspoon of salt, a heaping tablespoon of butter, and a pint of milk with two pounds of flour. Stir in three-fourths of a cup of yeast or a cake of compressed yeast dissolved in a little water. Set to rise overnight. In the morning form into small biscuits and bake. SOUR-CREAM BISCUIT Take two cups of flour, half a teaspoon of salt, and a tea- spoon each of sugar and of baking-powder and sift together. Dissolve half a teaspoon of soda in a tablespoon of cold water and beat it into half a cup of sour milk and half a cup of cream. Put the cream mixture to the flour when the soda is thoroughly worked in it. Stir fast with a spoon and put the dough on a molding board which you have spread with flour. Pat into a cake. Do not use much flour except to keep the dough from sticking to the hand. Cut in small biscuit, lay in a hot greased pan, and bake in a hot oven. If you wish to use all sour milk instead of cream and milk, mix a kitchen spoon of lard or drippings with the flour before putting in the sour milk. BUTTERMILK BISCUIT Follow the foregoing directions, using a tablespoon of but- ter, lard, or drippings, and mixing this in the flour before adding the buttermilk. MARYLAND BISCUIT Sift one teaspoon of salt with one quart of flour. Work into half of this two tablespoons of the best leaf lard, cutting 284 THE HOME COOK BOOK the lard into little bits and rubbing- into the flour. Mix in also one cup of warmed milk. Add by degrees, a spoonful at a time, the other half of your flour. By this time the dough is thoroughly worked up. Lay the dough upon the board and beat it hard with the end of the rolling-pin for about five minutes. Roll out very thin, cut in shape, stick with a fork, and bake in a hot oven. QUICK HOT RAISED BISCUIT If you wish to get hot biscuit for a meal for three or four persons and only five hours ofif, take quarter of a cake of compressed yeast and rub it into a tablespoon of sweet milk until perfectly smooth. Add this to a pint of flour, a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of butter, all of which you have first rubbed thoroughly together. Then a^ milk enough to soften and combine all the ingredients into a biscuit dough. Shape into biscuit, set in a warm place for three or four hours to rise, and when they are light and pufTy, bake from half to three-quarters of an hour. VELVET BISCUIT Into a pint of warm milk put two well-beaten eggs, half a cake of compressed yeast, a teaspoon of melted butter, and flour enough to make a soft dough. Set to rise. When light, work down, adding flour and salt. When Hght again, make into small biscuit, and set them close together in pans. When light, bake twenty minutes in a hot oven. If the rising is kept warm, it will take about six hours to make the biscuit. CORN BREAD Mix into one pint and a half of cornmeal one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, and two eggs not beaten. Beat the batter hard to lighten the eggs. Add not quite two pints of buttermilk, one small teaspoon of butter, one small teaspoon of lard, melted ; and, last, one even teaspoon of soda. Stir all together. Have ready an oblong granite pan, into which put one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of lard. Set this CAKES 235 on the stove to heat. Melt the butter and lard in it. When the pan is hot and the grease melted, pour in the mixture and lightly whip the grease through with a fork. Bake in a mod- erate oven three-quarters of an hour. If the oven is too hot the bread will crack on top. After the bread is browned and done, set a pie-pan upside down under it in the oven. Over it in the upper oven put a pan of hot water. Cold water would cool the oven at once. Leave the bread in the oven about ten minutes longer. The overbake to corn bread is what gives the sweet corn flavor. This will not be found if the bread is taken from the oven as soon as it is done. SOFT CORN BREAD Heat two cups of milk in a double-boiler, and when hot stir in slowly two-thirds of a cup of cornmeal. The heat of the milk will expand the meal and you will have a mush. Take from the stove and add half a teaspoon of salt and the yolks of three eggs. Stir together thoroughly and, lastly, add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Have ready a hot baking-pan well greased, tip in the mixture and bake twenty to twenty-five minutes. Serve at once, not in square cut pieces, for the pressure of the knife might make the bread fall, but in irregular pieces as it breaks in Hfting. Eat with butter, and if you like it sweet add maple syrup. JOHNNY BREAD Mix three cups of Indian meal with one cup of white flour. Also mix one-third of a cup of molasses, a teaspoon of salt, a pint of sour milk or buttermilk, and two well-beaten eggs, and beat into the meal and the flour. Dissolve in a couple of tablespoons of the milk a teaspoon of soda, add to the batter, mix in thoroughly, spread on a baking-pan and bake in a hot oven. Eat with butter and syrup or molasses. SOUR MILK CORN CAKES Sift together three-fourths of a cup of flour, three-fourths of a cup of cornmeal, a tablespoon of sugar, three-fourths of 230 THE HOME COOK BOOK a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a tablespoon of cold water, and half a teaspoon of salt. Pour over the mixture a cup of sour milk and a tablespoon of melted lard or drippings. Beat well together, stir in a well-beaten egg, and bake in well- greased hot popover cups or gem pans. CORN DODGERS Measure one pint of cornmeal. Mix into it one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of sugar. Scald the meal, pouring over it about three-quarters of a pint of boiling water. Add one beaten egg and one heaping teaspoon and a half of baking powder. Stir well together. Add very carefully a very little more hot water, so that the batter will be just stiff enough to drop from a spoon and keep its shape. The Vv/^ater will have to be added slowly, as the batter can easily be made too thin. Have ready a frying-pan with just enough hot lard to keep the dodgers from sticking. Drop in tablespoons full. Do not put too many dodgers in at one time. Cook slowly in order to have them well done. Turn them from side to side, and brown a light brown. Keep some melted lard ready in a cup to add more as you need it. When the dodgers are done, set where they will keep hot. This quantity will make about fourteen dodgers. CORN GEMS Mix through two cups of cornmeal one teaspoon of salt. Put the meal in a bowl, a piece of butter the size of an egg in the centre, and pour over it one cup of boiling milk. Stir well. Then add one teacup of cold milk, three beaten eggs, one teaspoon of salt, and one cup of flour. To this stir in two teaspoons of baking powder. Beat well, mix thoroughly. Pour into hot greased gem pans, and bake in a quick oven half an hour. CORNMEAL MUFFINS Mix into two tin pint cups of cornmeal one heaping tea- spoon of salt, one heaping teaspoon of sugar, and two eggs not MUFFINS 2'67 beaten. Measure one tin pint cup and a half of buttermilk, add enough of this to the meal to make a batter, stirring hard in order to beat the eggs. Next add one heaping teaspoon of melted butter, and then stir in the remainder of the butter- milk, and lastly, one even teaspoon of soda dissolved in cold water. Have the muffin pans very hot, grease well, fill and bake slowly a light brown in a moderate oven. GRAHAM GEMS Mix through three teacups of graham flour one teaspoon of salt, the beaten yolks of three eggs, one tablespoon of melted butter, and one pint of milk. Next put in the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth and two teaspoons of baking powder. Mix carefully. Bake in well-greased gem pans thirty minutes in a quick oven. GRAHAM MUFFINS Sift two teaspoons of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt into one cup of flour. Add a cup and a half of graham flour. Stir in a cup of fresh milk and then a beaten egg, and beat well till the mixture is smooth. Have your muffin tins warm, drop in the batter till they are little more than half full, and then bake in a well-heated oven till done — twenty or twenty-five minutes. GLUTEN WAFERS Put in a bowl a cup of tepid milk, sprinkle in gluten flour till you have a dough. Knead well, take on your floured board 238 THE HOME COOK BOOK and roll very thin. Cut out with a biscuit cutter and bake brown upon floured baking-pans in a moderate oven. OATMEAL CAKES Mix into cold oatmeal a small quantity of milk and enough white flour to soften, so that it can be made in small, flat cakes. Put in a greased pan, and bake in the oven to a light brown. OAT MUFFINS Pour over two-thirds of a cup of rolled oats, one cup of scalded milk. Let stand five minutes, then add three table- spoons of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of melted butter. Sift in one and a half cups of flour with four teaspoons of baking powder, beat well, stir in a well- beaten egg and bake in greased hot muffin tins. OATMEAL WAFERS Take what oatmeal you wish to use, add a little salt and stir in boiling hot water till you have a thick batter or dough. Flour your board, put on the dough, knead it dry, roll as thin as possible, and cut in round cakes, first dipping your biscuit cutter into flour. Then on a hot griddle cook the wafers till they are brown and crisp. When they are browned on one side turn and brown on the other. SUPPER POPOVER Sift three cups of flour with a teaspoon of salt. Little by little add three cups of milk, and when you have a smooth batter stir in three eggs and a tablespoon of melted butter. Now beat the batter hard for three or five minutes, fill pop- over cups half full, or if you have not such cups, use your gem pans. Be sure your cups or pans are well greased before putting in your batter. They need not be heated. Set in a quick oven and bake from twenty minutes to half an hour — the time being varied by the size of the cakes you are baking. The cakes will puff up over the edges of the cups, and bake PUFFET 239 a golden brown. Serve with maple syrup, or with cream and fruit, or merely with butter. POTATO PUFFS Boil and mash three large potatoes. Add one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of sugar. Mix together. Add one tablespoon of melted lard and one beaten egg. Dissolve half a yeast cake in nearly a teacup of lukewarm milk. Stir this into the potatoes, and add enough flour to make a stiff dough ; that is, about one cup and a half, perhaps a little more. Set Popover Cups the dough to rise at two o'clock in the afternoon if you want the puffs for an evening meal. When light, roll out thin. Cut with a large biscuit cutter. Set to rise for two hours more, and bake in a quick oven a very light brown. PUFFET Melt one cup of butter into one quart of warm milk. Add one teaspoon of salt. Beat four eggs very light. Add them to the milk when it cools enough to be lukewarm, and also put in half a teacup of homemade yeast, or one cake of com- pressed yeast dissolved in cold water. Have in another pan one pint and a half of flour. Pour the mixture into the flour, gradually stirring in well. Continue to add more flour till you have a batter that will let a spoon stand. After beating hard, put the dough in square greased pans. Set to rise, covered, in a warm place. When light, bake in square, deep pans 240 THE HOME COOK BOOK RICE BREAKFAST CAKES Bring to boil one pint of milk. Set to cool, and when cool add two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of butter, quarter of a yeast cake, a large cup of boiled flaky rice, half a teaspoon of salt, and flour to make a stiff batter. Set to rise in a place where it will be warm all night. To prepare for breakfast, stir the mixture vigorously and drop from a spoon into small hot muflin rings or gem pans, and bake in a hot oven. RYE DROP CAKES Beat the yolks and whites of five eggs till they are a fine froth. Then stir in a pint and a half of rye flour, adding with it a pinch of salt, a pinch of soda, and a pint and two tablespoonfuls of fresh milk. Have hot popover cups. Oil them well, drop in the rye batter and bake. RYE POPOVERS Sift together one cup of pastry flour, one and a half cups of ryemeal, one teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of sugar. Whip three eggs till very light, add two cups of milk and pour gradually into the flour, then beat till frothy. Pour into buttered popover cups, which ought to be hissing hot, and bake in a hot oven for thirty minutes. [See illustration, Plate XXL] SALLY LUNN Mix into one quart of flour one teaspoon of salt. Add one teacup of warm milk and one teacup of warm water, half a cup of melted butter, half a teaspoon of soda dissolved in cold water, and four eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Stir this to a smooth batter, and add four iron spoons of potato yeast. Beat hard after the yeast is added. Grease a tin pan with butter. Pour the mixture into it to rise. Set in a warm place. It will not be light under six hours. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a steady oven. When done, turn it out to send to the table. CREAM SCONES 241 BARLEY SCONES Bring a pint of milk to boil in a saucepan, adding a tea- spoon of salt. Mix in fresh barley meal till you have a stiff paste. Then proceed as in making cream scones. Roll out the paste and cut it in cakes — these cakes are very often tri- angular. Bake on a greased hot griddle or in a pan in a quick oven. Serve hot. CREAM SCONES In a saucepan bring to boil a pint of cream. Sift in enough flour to make a thick batter, while sifting keeping the cream hot, but not boiling. Add a teaspoon of salt. Flour your board and put the dough upon it. Roll out till about quarter of an inch thick, cut in small cakes, and cook on a hot griddle, slightly greased, till a golden brown, turning the cakes when one side has browned and then browning the other side. Serve hot II Vol. 2 242 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXIII WAFFLES, GRIDDLE CAKES, TOASTS Waffles — Cream Waffles— Rice Waffles — Fat for Frying Griddle Cakes — Bread Pancakes- Bread Batter Cakes— Wheat Batter Cakes — No-Egg Sour-Milk Pancakes— Breakfast Drop Cakes— Buckwheat Cakes — St. I.ouis Perfect Corn Cakes — Green Corn Pancakes — Hoe Cakes— Rice Batter Cakes — Rice Pancakes — Cracker Panada — Toast — Creamed Toast — French Toast— Milk Toast — Molasses Toast for Children— Water Toast WAFFLES STIR oiie pint of sour milk into one heaping pint of flour. Add a tablespoon of melted butter and the yolks of three eggs and beat well. Next put in a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a little warm water. Stir together rapidly and add the whites of the three eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Cook in greased, hot waffle-irons till a golden brown, and send to the table hot. CREAM WAFFLES Add two eggs beaten light to a pint of sour cream in which a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a tablespoon of cold water has been beaten. Then put in flour to make a thin batter, and also half a teaspoon of salt. Have your waffle-irons hot and well greased. Cook to a golden brown, and serve hot with maple syrup, sugar, butter, or honey. RICE WAFFLES Into two cups of flour stir a teaspoon of baking powder and a cup and a half of soft-boiled rice. Add three eggs beaten, half a teaspoon of salt, and wet with enough fresh milk to make a muffin batter. Beat the batter well, drop in hot greased waffle-irons, and cook a fine golden brown. FAT FOR FRYING GRIDDLE CAKES Take two pounds of beef suet, cut in large pieces, and put in an iron frying-pan. Stand this in a hot oven and, as the suet WAFFLES, GRIDDLE CAKES, TOASTS 243 melts, with a fork take out the pieces for a moment and pour off the fat into a tin pan. Replace the pieces in the frying- pan and return to the oven for further melting. Pour off the fat as long as it fries out. Have care not to burn it. Stand the pan of fat in a cold place. Keep a cup ready with a piece of this pan suet in it. Have a smooth stick with a piece of cloth wound on one end with which to grease your griddle. Set the cup of suet on the stove to melt the fat before be- Waffle-Irons ginning to bake cakes ; then grease the griddle with it. This is superior in every way to any other fat for greasing griddles, and more wholesome than others. BREAD PANCAKES Break stale bread into small crumbs and soften in milk till you have a smooth batter. To every pint of batter stir in two eggs and half a teaspoon of salt. Beat firmly, and then bake on a griddle, browning both sides. BREAD BATTER CAKES Soak one pint and a half of coarse, stale breadcrumbs in one pint of milk. This can be done overnight. Mash the soaked bread with a potato masher until smooth. Add one 2U THE HOME COOK BOOK teaspoon of salt and two beaten eggs. Stir well. Put into one pint of flour two heaping teaspoons of baking powder. Add to the breadcrumbs and stir thoroughly. Bake on a hot griddle, greased with beef suet which has been tried out. These bread cakes take a little longer to bake than ordinary batter cakes. If preferred, the yolks and whites can be di- vided. The yolks put in with the flour, and the stiffly beaten whites the last thing before baking. WHEAT BATTER CAKES Mix through one pint of wheat flour half a teaspoon of salt, one even teaspoon of baking powder, and the yolks of two eggs not beaten. Measure one pint of buttermilk, and beat into the flour enough to form a batter and to beat the eggs thoroughly. Then add the rest of the buttermilk, one teaspoon of melted butter, and three-quarters of an even tea- spoon of soda dissolved in cold water. Last, put in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs and mix them gently through the batter with a fork. When baking, lay the spoon on a plate ; that is, do not put it in the batter, as it makes the cakes heavy. Grease the griddle with beef suet which has been tried out. NO-EGG SOUR-MILK PANCAKES Dissolve half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of soda in a tablespoon of cold water and mix with a pint of sour milk. Then slowly stir in flour to make a batter of the right thickness for baking. Grease your hot griddle lightly with suet or a piece of salt pork, drop the cakes in even form, and cook till a soft brown. Serve at once on a hot plate. BREAKFAST DROP CAKES ]\Iix one tablespoon of sugar with one egg and a pinch of salt. Add a cup of sour milk, a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a little water, and flour enough to make a stiff batter. Drop from a spoon into hot lard, fry a delicate brown, and drain WAFFLES, GRIDDLE CAKES, TOASTS 245 on brown or blotting paper a moment before sending to table hot. BUCKWHEAT CAKES Mix together one pint of buckwheat flour and three- quarters of a cup of graham flour. Into this put one heaping teaspoon of salt, half a cup of potato yeast, and one pint and a half of tepid water. Mix and beat very hard and smooth. Set to rise overnight near a fire, or in some very warm place. Buckwheat being a heavy flour, breakfast cakes should be put to rise as early as eight a'clock in the evening, and kept covered. For convenience, mix in a tin saucepan with a handle. In the morning, before baking, add a good pinch of soda dissolved in cold water and one tablespoon of molasses. Grease the griddle with suet that has been tried out. ST. LOUIS PERFECT CORN CAKES Mix into one pint and a half of cornmeal one teaspoon of salt. Scald it with one pint and a half of boiling water. Add one tablespoon of molasses and two eggs not beaten. Beat hard together to lighten the eggs. Add to this half a pint of but- termilk, one even teaspoon of soda dissolved in cold water, and half a pint of white flour in which is mixed half a teaspoon of baking powder. Last, put in one dessertspoon of melted but- ter. Do not make the cakes too small in putting them on the griddle. Grease the griddle with beef suet that has been tried out. In stirring up the cakes, use a tin saucepan for lightness ; it is easier to manage. GREEN CORN PANCAKES Have sweet, tender green corn. Ciit down the middle of each row of kernels, and with the dull edge of the knife scrape out the pulp of the corn. To a pint of the scraped-out pulp add half a cup of milk, two eggs beaten, salt and pepper to taste, and flour enough to make a pancake batter. Heat a pancake griddle, and cook as you cook buckwheat or wheat cakes. 246 THE HOME COOK BOOK HOE CAKES Put in a pan a teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons of sugar, and with these stir a pint of yellow cornmeal freshly ground. Over this pour boiling water to wet it to a soft dough thick- ness, not a thin batter, but a soft dough. Be sure the water is boiling hot, and stir fast, so that the meal will absorb and swell. Have a hot griddle well greased. Drop from a spoon and gently flatten the cake till it is about half an inch thick. Brown it till it is a golden hue on both sides. Serve hot, and eat with butter, or with butter and molasses, or with cream and scraped maple sugar. RICE BATTER CAKES Mash one teacup of rice already boiled soft. Mix into it two or three beaten eggs, one even teaspoon of salt, one table- spoon of melted butter, two teacups of flour, in which two heaping teaspoons of baking powder have been mixed. Stir well together, and add one pint of milk. Bake on a hot grid- dle greased with beef suet which has been tried out. Mix the cakes in a tin saucepan with a handle for convenience. RICE PANCAKES Wash and boil a cup of rice till the kernels are perfectly tender. If water remains with the rice, drain it ofif, for the rice should be dry. Into a cup of flour sift a heaping tea- spoon of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt. Stir the flour gradually into one pint of milk, add three eggs well beaten, and last of all, the cooked rice. Beat well together, and bake on a hot greased griddle. Put the batter on with a large spoon, and since the rice prevents a ready spreading of the batter, help it lightly with the spoon. Brown on both sides. CRACKER PANADA Toast to a golden brown four or five crackers, pour over them boiling water enough to soak them ; pour oil the water, sprinkle with sugar and dust with nutmeg. WAFFLES, GRIDDLE CAKES, TOASTS 247 TOAST Have either white, graham or other breads a day old. Cut slices half an inch thick, and lay in a pan in the oven till the bread is crisp and dry, not dried hard and inedible, however. When dry and crisp, brown it to golden tint over or before fire and on both sides. Send to the table hot, where the eater butters it as he eats it. CREAMED TOAST Toast eight slices of bread as directed under "Toast." Heat a quart of milk in a double-boiler and thicken till it is a creamy thickness by stirring and cooking in three tablespoons of flour wetted with half a cup of cold milk. Add half a teaspoon of salt. Butter the toast and lay a slice in a deep dish. Over it ladle the hot creamy milk. Lay in another slice and spread that with the milk. So proceed, keeping your toast in a pile, and pouring over the remainder of the milk when you have used up the toast. Serve at once. Graham bread is better than white for this toast. FRENCH TOAST Beat together two eggs, add half a cup of milk and half a teaspoon of salt. Dip slices of bread in this mixture till both sides are covered. Brown in hot fat, or lay upon a greased griddle and toast till a golden brown. Serve hot and at once. MILK TOAST Put one pint of milk in a saucepan. Set it in another con- taining hot water. Salt the milk enough to taste slightly salt. Dissolve one even teaspoon of flour in a little cold water and stir it through the milk while cold. Stir the milk while heat- ing, to prevent the flour lumping. When it comes to boil, set back, still standing in the water to keep hot, cut ofif the crust, and brown six slices of stale bread from a baker's small loaf. Lay in a vegetable dish. Melt one tablespoon and a half of 248 THE HOME COOK BOOK butter in the hot milk. Pour the milk over the toast, which should be cold before the milk is added. Serve at once. MOLASSES TOAST FOR CHILDREN Toast the bread as directed under "Toast." Butter a slice, lay it in a shallow bowl, and pour over it molasses pre- pared in the following manner: Take a small cup of pure molasses, not that heavy with glucose, but pure West India molasses, and mix with it the same quantity of boiling water and a teaspoon of ginger. Pour over the hot toast, let stand in a warm place for a moment and eat while warm. WATER TOAST Having browned slices of bread according to foregoing directions, have ready a hot plate and a pan holding salted boiling water an inch deep. Take the slices of toast singly, submerge each, holding with a knife and fork in the salted boiling water for a second. Lay on the hot plate, and butter. A pile of four or five slices may be made, on a large plate, and should be served as soon as buttered. CEREALS 249 XXIV CEREALS Kood Value — Need of Variety — How to Keep Cereals— Need of Thorough Cooking — Table of Leading Breakfast Foods — The Way to Cook a Cereal — A Secret— Another Way to Cook Oatmeal— Another Way to Cook Cracked Wheat — Corameal Mush- Fried Cornmeal Mush— Rye meal Porridge FOOD VALUE DURING cold weather, when the body requires all the warmth possible to be obtained from heat-giving foods, one important addition to the day's menu is a perfectly cooked breakfast cereal. Two of the best foods for this purpose are oatmeal and cornmeal, which are richer in fats than the other grains. Oatmeal is the richer of the two in food material, but plenty of exercise is required for its perfect digestion. For the strong, hardworking laborer it is one of the best and most economical of foods. For people who lead sedentary lives, the lighter wheat foods, of which there is an abundance in the market, are better suited. NEED OF VARIETY The housekeeper who studies the family health ought to familiarize herself thoroughly with the subject of breakfast cereals ; it is one of large importance. Having found what foods are best liked by the household, she might lay in for the winter's needs a good assortment and use the cereals alternately; a wheat preparation one morning, oatmeal an- other, and cornmeal the next morning perhaps. There will be no palling on the appetite with such a routine, besides the cereals may be served in a varied style day by day. Baked apples are a delicious accompaniment to any of the oatmeal or wheat cereals, as are also sliced peaches, well-ripened 260 THE HOME COOK BOOK bananas, dates, or flavored apple sauce. [See illustration, Plate XXL] Serve with cream. Never spoil a good cereal by serving poor milk with it. Cereals are deficient in the fats contained in cream and in the salt found in fruits, therefore the combination, which is as delicious as it is healthful. A preparation like farina is much improved by having stirred into it, just before serving, figs, dates, or cooked prunes, cut in pieces. HOW TO KEEP CEREALS When cereals arrive, empty them at once into glass jars, and screw the lids on tight. Frequently the manufacturer or the grocer is blamed for a poor, wormy cereal, which has really been ruined by the treatment accorded it on the pantry shelves. It is left in the paper case in which it was packed, with the cover torn off. Mice regale on it, moths inhabit it, dust settles on it, damp induces mould, and presently it is spoiled. The manufacturer seals it with care, the grocer stores it on dry, clean shelves. Then comes the housewife who thinks any sort of treatment is good enough for groceries. NEED OF THOROUGH COOKING Cereals are infrequently accorded the right of proper cooking. An indigestible pasty-looking mess meets with the most unfavorable verdict, when, if cooked as it ought to be, nothing could be more nutritious or appetizing. The direc- tions which accompany a cereal seldom give time enough for cooking, unless it be set to boil in a vessel right over the fire, which is far from satisfactory. Steaming for hours in a double-boiler gives very different results. The method for cooking cereals is the same, although measurements differ, one cup of cereal absorbing more or less liquid than an- other. After some study and tests of cereals and the time they need for thorough cooking, I have compiled the following table : Cereal Indian Meal .... Coarse Oatmeal . . . Fine Hominy . . . Coarse Hominy . . Cracked Wheat . . Vitos Wheat Germ Meal . Malt Oats Flaked Oats .... Mother's Oats . . . Steamed Cooked Oats Pettijohn Banner Oats .... Wheatlet Rolled Wheat . . . Quaker Oats .... Gluten Grits .... California Wheatine . Ralston Barley Food Hominy Grits . . . Health Food .... 5 Minute Food . . . CEREALS DING BREAKFAST FOODS Quantity Water Time I cup 3/^ cups 4 6 " 4 hours 3 5 " 4 4 " 5 " \% " 4 " 4 " 2 " 4 " I «' I " I " 2 " I " 2 " I «' 2 " I " 2 " I " 3 " 2X " 6 " 40 minutes 40 " I hour I " z cups I cup (( << 3 " 5 " 8 " 2 " 6 " 40 minutes I hour 30 m. (soak over night) 30 minutes S 251 THE WAY TO COOK A CEREAL To cook any of these cereals, set the upper half of a double- boiler over the fire and bring the water to boil. Add one teaspoon of salt for one quart of water. For any coarse- grained cereal, the Scotch method of adding the meal — "mirlin' it in," as it is called — can scarcely be improved upon. Measure the oatmeal into a bowl, hold it in the left hand, and slowly with the right hand sprinkle it into briskly boiling water. Until every grain of the meal separates stir con- stantly. In five minutes the cereal will have begun to thicken slightly. Now set the upper half in the lower part of the double-boiler half filled with hot water. Put on the lid and allow the cereal to steam till the grains are perfectly swollen. Do no stirring after the steaming process begins, or the cereal will be starchy, the grains broken and the fine nutty flavor destroyed. In cooking a small-grained cereal, such as farina, wet it with cold water, add to the boiling water, tben cook like the oatmeal except that it may be stirred occasionally. 252 THE HOME COOK BOOK Indeed, before it is fully cooked a brisk beating with a wire whisk will improve it, breaking any lumps which may have formed. A SECRET One secret of making a cereal as delicious as possible lies in proper measurements of the grain and the water. Always use the same cup for measuring, and follow directions ex- actly. Adding water to thin a cereal when it is half cooked or pouring it off to thicken it will ruin the flavor completely. When a cereal has cooked the required time and is still too moist, it may be thickened in ten minutes by taking off the lid of the boiler and allowing evaporation to thicken it. The flavor of many cereals is much improved by using half water and half milk in the cooking. Any one who has tasted the milk porridge of Scotland will realize this. When the milk is used the cereal must be very carefully cooked ; it will burn readily if set over the fire. Hominy, farina, and oat- meal are especially improved by the addition of milk. Cracked wheat is delicious eaten cold. It thickens con- siderably while cooling, therefore add one-third more water than if it is to be served hot. Pour it in a wet mold and allow it to jelly. Serve with cream, sugar, and raw or stewed fruit. Hominy may be used as a vegetable as well as for a foundation for various delicious puddings. This cereal re- quires somewhat different treatment from wheat or oatmeal preparations. Soak the hominy for several hours in cold water, strain and put it in salted boiling water. Cook for three or four hours. If used as an accompaniment to meat, instead of potatoes, as it is commonly served in the South, drain away when cooked all superfluous moisture, add a table- spoon of butter and a dash of pepper. Send to the table in a hot vegetable dish. Farina, Ralston food, cream of wheat, or any of the finely ground wheat preparations make de- licious puddings cooked in milk. Add a dash of salt, steam till tender, pour into a wet mold and chill. Serve with sweet- ened cream or a boiled custard, and any fruit that is in season. CEREALS 253 ANOTHER WAY TO COOK OATMEAL Put into a double-boiler one quart of boiling water, one heaping teaspoon of salt, and one even teacup of oatmeal. Stir well, and as it thickens stir again, and every little while until done. Cook two hours and a half, and when done, turn it out into a bowl or crock, and cover at once. When required for use, take out the quantity needed, and as it will be rather stiff, add a quarter of a cup of warm water. Place this in a granite saucepan, cover, and set this saucepan in another, in which put hot water. Stir well until softened, and keep water in the lower pan. Serve very hot. ANOTHER WAY TO COOK CRACKED WHEAT Put into a double-boiler one quart of boiling water, one even teacup of cracked wheat, one teaspoon of salt. Have water boiling in the lower boiler. Stir at intervals, and boil four hours. Pour out into a crock and cover. When wanted for use, put the quantity needed in a granite pot, add water if re- quired to soften it, set this saucepan in another, in which have boiling water, cover and heat, breaking up carefully with a spoon. Eat with cream. CORNMEAL MUSH Put one quart of boiling water into a double-boiler, add one heaping teaspoon of salt and one pint and a half of commeal. Mix the meal with cold water, soft enough to pour into the boiling water. Stir well with a wooden spoon, and stir often. As it thickens, continue to stir every little while until it is done. Boil two hours, and keep plenty of hot water in the lower pan. FRIED CORNMEAL MUSH After the mush is boiled, heat water in a two-quart tin pan, pour the mush in while hot, and cover it with a plate to prevent a scum forming on the top. When perfectly hard and cold, turn it out on a plate, and cut into slices half an 254 THE HOME COOK BOOK inch thick. Turn the sHces over and over in a plate of corn- meal, and fry in enough lard to keep from sticking to the pan, and no more. Cover while frying, and fry a nice light brown. Serve very hot, and with maple syrup, if sweet is wished. RYEMEAL PORRIDGE Put a teaspoon of salt in a quart of water and bring it to boil. Then stir in little by little, so that it will not lump, a half- pint of ryemeal. Cook gently for an hour either in a double- boiler or on the stove, but off the direct heat of the fire. FROZEN SWEETS 265 XXV FROZEN SWEETS Freezing— Freezing Without a Freezer— Salt in Freezer— Bag for Pounding Ice— To Make Meringue Shells— Ice Cream— Simple Ice Creams for Children— Burned Al- mond Ice Cream— Almond and Raisin Frozen Pudding— Boar's Head— Chocolate Parfait— Chocolate Sauce for Ice Cream— Cafd Frapp€— Coffee Parf ait— Frozen Eggnog — Frozen Lady Finger Pudding— Lemon Ice — Lemon Sherbet — Maple Cream — Maple Ice Cream— Maple Parfait— Hot Maple Syrup for Ice Cream— Mint Sherbet— Frozen Peaches and Cream— Peach Custard Frozen— Peach Ice— Frozen Plum Pudding— Pomegranate Ice — Raspberry Ice — Roman Punch— Strawberry Ice — Vanilla Ice Cream FREEZING Patented freezers sometimes carry with them directions for their use. In breaking the ice for freezing, a duck or canvas bag and hammer or mallet should be used. Or the ice may be chopped or shaved. When the ice is in small pieces, pack it in the pail or tub about the can which holds the mixture to be Ice Shaver frozen, putting in alternate layers of ice and rock salt. The proportions of ice and salt depend a little upon what you are going to freeze and the quality of the ice — commonly the less salt the slower the freezing. Ice cream takes a shorter time than water ices. But you want ice cream smooth, while fruit and water ices are granulated. Therefore, since the slower the freezing the smoother, the best general rule for proportion is one-third of rock salt to two-thirds of ice. Of different kinds of ices, the wet, porous snow ice is best, because its dampness 256 THE HOME COOK BOOK and porous quality allow an easy union with the salt. Ice cream is smoother if stirred during the first part of its freez- ing, allowing an hour and a half to two hours for the whole process. Guard against any salt getting into the can. Until the stirring is over, pack the ice to within an inch of the top of the freezer. After the stirring, tie a firm band of cloth about the rim of the can and cover the top with ice and salt, to corn- ice Cream Freezer plete the freezing. While this is finishing, lay a piece of blanket or carpet over the freezer. In packing a mixture to keep it frozen, or to chill thor- oughly, use less salt than the proportion named above. FREEZING WITHOUT A FREEZER If one is without a freezer, cream or sherbet may be frozen in a tin pail covered and set in a larger pail or tub packed with three parts of cracked ice and one part rock salt. The cream in the pail should be scraped from the sides toward the middle and beaten together during the first of the freezing. The pail should also be turned round from side to side several times at intervals. FROZEN SWEETS 257 SALT IN FREEZER Do not throw away the salt which remains in the freezer after ice cream has been made. The salt will do for the next freezing. If it is slushy and wet, use it for top layer in the next freezing, and thus hasten the chilling. BAG FOR POUNDING ICE White duck makes a good bag. Cut it about fourteen inches long ; one width of duck, one yard wide, will make two bags. Stitch the bag together with a sewing machine. Make a hem on the top one inch wide. Cut a strip of the duck two inches wide. Double and stitch it together. This is for the handle. Fasten it tight on either side of the bag, in the centre. TO MAKE MERINGUE SHELLS Beat the white of an egg with a knife to a stiiif froth. Add little by little a teacup of granulated sugar. Lay a clean, strong paper on an inverted dripping pan, and on the paper drop the meringue with a large spoon. Set the pan in the top of the oven and leave the door open. In half or three-quarters of an hour the shells will dry out. These meringue shells are filled with ice cream and served one on a plate to each guest. ICE CREAM Dissolve thoroughly quarter of a box of gelatine in a little water. To it dissolved, put two quarts of cream, the beaten whites of two eggs, a cup and three-fourths of sugar, and half a teaspoon of salt. Flavor with what is to your taste, and freeze. SIMPLE ICE CREAMS FOR CHILDREN A simple way to make ice cream for children is to mix a cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, and two and a half tablespoons of flour, and pour over the mixture a pint of hot milk. Set the whole in a double-boiler and cook a full quarter of an hour, 258 THE HOME COOK BOOK at the end adding a beaten egg, a cup of cream, and a pint of milk with whatever flavoring you choose. If vanilla, add a full tablespoon and a half. If strawberry or raspberry, crush a box of berries, sprinkle with sugar till quite sweet, stand long enough to draw out some of the juice, and then add to the cream before freezing. If peach, peel and stone a large quart of peaches, sugar well, crush and add to the cream before freezing. If banana, skin three or four bananas, crush, add a sprinkle of sugar and the juice of half a lemon, and put in the cream before freezing. If chocolate, add scraped chocolate to the boiling plain ice cream till you have the quantity suited to your taste. In the event of adding unsweetened chocolate, extra sugar should be put in. BURNED ALMOND ICE CREAM Sweeten to your taste a custard of four eggs and a pint of milk. Take half a pound of blanched almonds and brown them in a saucepan with six tablespoons of sugar. Pound to a paste and add little by little a quart of cream. Mix with the custard and put in the freezer. After it is frozen pack it in a mold or serve without molding. ALMOND AND RAISIN FROZEN PUDDING Boil one cup of sugar in a cup of water till the sugar begins to thread. Move where it will merely simmer, and stir in gradually the yolks of four eggs which have been beaten. Let boil till quite thick. Take from the fire and beat till cool. Then add a tablespoon of gelatine soaked in two tablespoons of water and beat till thick. Stir in a pint of boiled cream, a cup of ground almonds, half a cup of seeded raisins, pack in a freezer and freeze. Instead of raisins candied orange peel may be used, or preserved pineapple. This pudding may be served plain, or with a sauce of whipped cream flavored to the taste. FROZEN SWEETS 259 BOAR'S HEAD Boar's head for Christmas is formed by lining a boar's head mold with chocolate ice cream, then filling in with a white cream of any desired flavor, using strawberry cream for the tongue and a candied strawberry for each eye. When serving, surround with Christmas holly. [See illustration, Plate XXII.] CHOCOLATE PARFAIT Add a cup of thick boiled chocolate and half a cup of sugar to a quart of thick cream. Whip to a froth, pour into a mold and freeze. Ice Cream Molds CHOCOLATE SAUCE FOR ICE CREAM Scrape or powder one ounce of unsweetened chocolate and melt in half a cup of hot water. Stir in gradually a cup of sugar, and when the mixture boils take from the fire and beat it with half a cup of cream. In using, pour the hot sauce, not over, but round the pieces of ice cream as they are served on small plates. CAFfi FRAPPE Strain a quart of strong, black cofifee into a quart of cream, sweeten to taste, and freeze half stiff. Serve in glasses with a tablespoon of whipped cream on top. 260 THE HOME COOK BOOK COFFEE PARFAIT To a cup of sugar add five tablespoons of strong liquid coflfee. Heat, and add the yolks of four eggs, and then one pint of cream whipped. Freeze. FROZEN EGGNOG Separate the yolks and whites of four eggs. Beat the yolks with one cup of sugar, add a pint of cream, and freeze. When partly frozen, add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, four tablespoons of sherry, one tablespoon of brandy, and one of maraschino. Finish the freezing and serve. FROZEN LADY FINGER PUDDING Beat together three heaping tablespoons of granulated sugar and the yolks of six eggs. When beaten to a froth, beat in one pint of cream, and add a dozen lady fingers cut in pieces half an inch long and sprinkled with or dipped rapidly in some wine like sherry. When all are stirred together, put in a mold, cover tight and freeze. LEMON ICE In one quart of water put the juice of four lemons and two cups and a half of sugar. Add the beaten whites of tw^o eggs and freeze. LEMON SHERBET Boil together twenty-five minutes one and a half pints of sugar and three pints of boiling water. Add the juice of ten lemons. Cool and freeze. MAPLE CREAM Whip stiff a pint of cream. Add a cup of cold maple syrup of about molasses thickness. Beat thoroughly into the cream, adding, or not, as your taste directs, a few drops of lemon. Pack in a mold and freeze. This may be served in claret or lemonade glasses. FROZEN SWEETS 261 MAPLE ICE CREAM Boil two cups of maple sugar over, a slow fire. Beat the yolks of four eggs, stir in the hot syrup, and oook till it thickens. Whip two cups of cream, add to the eggs and syrup after you take from the fire. Set to cool and then freeze. 'MAPLE PARE AIT Stir the yolks of four eggs into one cup of boiled maple syrup. Add one pint of cream whipped. Cool and freeze. HOT MAPLE SYRUP FOR ICE CREAM A hot sauce of maple syrup is served with ice cream. After the portions of the ice cream are laid upon the plates, pour two or three tablespoons of hot maple syrup round the ice cream and drop on the top three or four halves of walnuts. MINT SHERBET Soak a handful of fresh mint for at least an hour in a cup filled with brandy and sherry in equal parts. Strain. Add two teaspoons of dissolved gelatine, the whites of four eggs beaten stiff, and a syrup made of three cups of water and two cups of sugar. Freeze hard. You may omit the brandy and sherry and soak the mint in strong lemon water. FROZEN PEACHES AND CREAM Free from skin and stones six large ripe peaches and cut into very small pieces with a silver knife. Beat together four eggs and a cup of sugar, add to the peaches, and then add a quart of cream. Put in the freezer and beat smooth as it freezes. PEACH CUSTARD FROZEN In a double-boiler heat a quart and a half of rich milk, and when hot stir in a cup and a half of sugar and the beaten yolks of six eggs. When the custard thickens, set aside to cool. 262 THE HOME COOK BOOK From a quart of fine ripe peaches take the skins and stones, crush with sugar to sweeten to your taste, stir into the cool custard and freeze. PEACH ICE Peel and slice two quarts of peaches, cover with a pound of sugar and let stand a couple of hours. Then mash them to a pulp, add a quart of cold, clear water, and freeze. FROZEN PLUM PUDDING Put a cup of sugar to a cup of water and boil till the syrup begins to thread. Then set to cool. Meanwhile have soaking a tablespoon of gelatine in two tablespoons of water. Scald and cool a pint of cream. When the syrup is cool stir Pudding Molds in the beaten yolks of four eggs, and set over the fire till it thickens. Stir till cool, add the gelatine and beat till thick. Next stir in the cream and add half a cup of raisins Avhich you have seeded and a cup of chopped almonds. Freeze. When you take it out to pack in the mold add half a pound of candied fruit — putting it in in layers. This pudding needs no sauce, but it is sometimes served with one of whipped cream to which a wine or almond flavor has been added. POMEGRANATE ICE Make a syrup from two cups of sugar and one quart of water. Cool. Then add two cups of the strained juice of blood oranges, four tablespoons of lemon-juice, and the grated FROZEN SWEETS 263 rind of two oranges. Strain and freeze quite hard. Serve in cocktail glasses. RASPBERRY ICE Crush and press the juice out of one box of raspberries. To the juice add one pound of sugar, one quart of water, the juice of two lemons, and the beaten whites of two eggs. Freeze smooth. ROMAN PUNCH Boil a pound of sugar in one quart of water for ten minutes and then set away to cool. When cool, add the juice of eleven or twelve lemons, pouring in through a cheesecloth strainer, and add also a tumbler of Jamaica rum. Put in a freezer and chill thoroughly, and then add the whites of half a dozen eggs beaten stiff. Stir thoroughly and freeze. STRAWBERRY ICE Dissolve a sheet of gelatine in a quart of water. Add two cups of sugar, the juice of two small or one large lemon, and a box of ripe strawberries well crushed. Freeze. VANILLA ICE CREAM Cook in a double-boiler one quart of rich milk, half a tea- spoon of salt, a cup of sugar, and add four beaten eggs when you have stirred in the other ingredients. Set the custard to cool, and when cold, add a tablespoon of vanilla. Whip a pint of cream, sweeten to taste, flavor with vanilla, stir into the custard, and freeze. 264 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXVI WARM WEATHER SWEETS Angel Food Pudding— Apple Betty— Apple Dumplings— Fried Apples— Apple with Meringue— Apple and Sago Pudding—Apple Snow— Banana Shortcake— Banana Souffle— Barley Jelly— Bavarian Cream— Boiled Blackberry Pudding — Charlotte Russe— Coffee Charlotte Russe— Rose Charlotte— Cherry Tapioca— Chestnut Cro- quettes—Chocolate Blanc-Mange— Chocolate Custard— Chocolate Pudding— Corn- starch Pudding— Cornstarch Blanc-Mange with Fruit— Cream Puffs— Cream for the Puffs— Currant Shortcake— Baked Custard— Boiled Custard— Custard Tart— Farina Pudding with Sauce— Fruit Glac€— Fruit in Jelly— Early Summer Fruit Pudding- Gelatine Pudding— Gooseberry Betty— Gooseberry Fool— Huckleberry Shortcake- Irish Moss Blanc-Mange — Junket— Lemons Creamed— Lemon Jelly— Chilled Oranges —Peach Cobbler— Peach Gelatine— Peach Pudding— Peach Tapioca— Pineapple with Strawberries— Prunes with Whipped Cream— Prune Pudding— Pumpkin Custard- Raspberry Cream— Red Raspberry Sago— Rice Cream— Scalloped Rhubarb or Pie- plant—Rhubarb Jelly and Whipped Cream— Snow Pudding— Strawberry Shortcake —Tapioca Pudding— Custard Tapioca Pudding— Fruit Tapioca— Wine Jelly WHEN the warm days of spring come the sweets we eat should be delicate and light. Such sweet dishes lessen the housemother's labors if she will but make them from fresh growths. We greet the spring acids with delight — our sys- tems crave them — and in early spring and summer we have rhubarb, pineapples, gooseberries, strawberries, cherries, cur- rants, and other delicious new growths. ANGEL FOOD PUDDING Use a cake of medium-size of angel food. Cut it through in an upper and under half. For a filling to spread upon these halves — as you spread strawberries on a shortcake — whip stiff one pint of cream. Into it stir half a cup of chopped and seeded raisins, half a cup of almonds and walnut meats mixed, half a cup of soft candies or marshmallows, or any candied fruits you may have in small bits. Flavor with wine, or brandy, or vanilla. Spread the cream and fruit over the lower half of the cake, lay on the upper half with the crust side down, spread this also with the cream and fruit, and serve. WARM WEATHER SWEETS 265 APPLE BETTY Break up small pieces of stale bread with its crust. Put into the bottom of a pudding dish nice-flavored, sliced apples. Over this strew a good deal of sugar, several lumps of butter, and sprinkle well with ground cinnamon. Next a layer of apples, again sugar, butter, and ground cinnamon. Then an- other layer of the broken bread, more sugar, butter, and cin- namon. Fill the dish in this manner, and have the bread the top layer, and on it also put butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour cold water down the side of the dish until it comes al- most to the top. To succeed this must be made rich with but- ter, and very sweet, and baked thoroughly. Set into a mod- erately hot oven, with a pan of warm water above it in the upper oven to prevent the bread burning, and bake a light brown and until the apples are very soft. When done, serve with rich cream. APPLE DUMPLINGS Peel and core nice flavored apples. Take out the core with a corer. Make the dough the same as for baking-powder biscuit, using more or less milk as the flour may need to roll out nicely. Lay the dough on a pastry board, and roll out each dumpling the size of a small saucer. Lay one apple in each piece of dough, and sugar where the core has been taken out. Carefully fold the dough over the apple. To steam dumplings put a perforated pie-plate upside down in the steamer, and on this set a thin plate with the dumplings on it. Set the steamer over a pot of boiling water, and have ready a double piece of muslin a little larger than the top of the steamer. Cover it first with this and then with the lid, on top of which lay a heavy weight to keep it closely covered. Steam forty minutes. If you prefer to boil the dumplings, grease a cloth with a little lard, and sprinkle flour over it, then put the dumpling in and tie it. Drop into a pot of boiling water and boil half an hour. Serve hot with hard sauce, or simply open 1^ ■ Vol. 2 2G6 THE HOME COOK BOOK the dumpling and lay a piece of butter on to it, and add rich cream. To my taste this latter sauce is the best. FRIED APPLES A JEWISH DISH Peel and cut in halves five tart apples. Dip the halves in a beaten egg, then in powdered sugar, and fry in hot butter in a saucepan. When done lift out, strew with sugar, and serve. APPLE WITH MERINGUE Cook a tart, juicy apple till soft. Put through a colander, sweeten and flavor to taste ; then fold in lightly the white of an egg beaten dry. Heap the mixture in a pretty dish. APPLE AND SAGO PUDDING Wash half a pint of sago, cover with a pint and a half of cold water, soak an hour, and then cook in a double-boiler till the sago is clear and transparent. Have peeled and cored half a dozen tart apples of the sort which easily cook soft. Put them in a baking dish, pour the sago over and round them, cover, and bake till the apples are tender. Serve with sugar and cream. APPLE SNOW Pare and quarter six finely flavored tart apples. Cover with cold water and sweeten just enough to be slightly acid. Cook slowly until rich and clear, pressing out all the lumps. Beat the whites of two eggs to a stifif froth. Put the apple in the dish in which it is to be served. Turn the whites lightly through the hot apple with a silver fork. Stand in a cold place, and serve with cream. BANANA SHORTCAKE Make a good biscuit crust, according to the directions under "Strawberry Shortcake." Then proceed as in short- cake making. Split open and butter the crust while hot — WARM WEATHER SWEETS 267 buttering on the cut side. Peel three or four well-ripened bananas. Shred the bananas till they are finely broken. Spread thick on the buttered crust, sprinkle lightly with salt and add sugar if the taste directs. Then lay on the second buttered crust and another thick layer of bananas, which again salt and sugar to taste. The juice of an orange may be added also if the taste directs. Serve the shortcake with cream, or with a plain boiled custard. BANANA SOUFFLfi Peel first, then mash with a wooden punch stick or with a silver fork three ripe bananas. Add three tablespoons of sugar and afterward the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Put in a buttered baking dish and set in a well- heated oven for ten to fifteen minutes. Serve hot with cream as a sauce. Other fruits, such as peaches, soft apples, prunes, dates, etc., may be used instead of bananas for such a souffle. But fruits with a fibre, tough skin, or any harsh ingredient should be put through a sieve before adding the sugar and beaten whites. BARLEY JELLY A JEWISH RECEIPT Put a cup of pearl barley in a quart of cold water and bring to boil. Pour oflf the water, add another quart, and simmer gently over a slow fire for three hours, stirring fre- quently. Strain, sweeten to taste with white sugar and the juice of a lemon; add quarter of an ounce of isinglass dis- solved in a little water, and pour into a mold. BAVARL\N CREAM Scald two cups of thin cream, and pour it slowly over one tablespoon of granulated gelatine, which has been dis- solved in half a cup of cold water. Add the slightly beaten yolks of two eggs. Put in a double-boiler and cook till the mixture coats the spoon. Put through a strainer. When 268 THE HOME COOK BOOK cold add one cup of whipped cream, the whites of the two eggs beaten very stiff, and one teaspoon of vanilla. Pour into a mold and leave on ice for three hours. Serve with a boiled custard or with whipped cream. This cream may be flavored with coffee, chocolate, or fruit juice. You may add to it chopped nuts, mashed bananas, macaroons, strawberries, or candied cherries. BOILED BLACKBERRY PUDDING Mix through one quart of flour one teaspoon of cream of tartar and one teaspoon of salt, three beaten eggs, one pint of milk, and one teacup of sugar. Add half a teaspoon of soda dissolved in cold water and two quarts of blackberries. Mix all together. Add more flour to make the batter stiff enough for a spoon to stand up in it, as the berries will thin the batter. Grease a pudding cloth (a square piece of un- bleached muslin is best) lightly with lard. Sprinkle flour over it. Lay the cloth over a colander and pour in the pud- ding. Tie it, leaving a little room for the pudding to swell. Put in a pot of boiling water. Fasten the ends of the pud- ding cloth with the cover of the pot. Set a weight or a flatiron on it. Keep the pudding covered with water and boil hard without stopping for two hours. When done, turn it out on a large plate, and serve with hard sauce. CHARLOTTE RUSSE Upon the bottom of a mold lay a sheet of white paper and about the sides range lady-fingers close together. To make 'WMM Charlotte Mold the filling, dissolve two teaspoons of gelatine in quarter of a cup of cold water. Add a pint of hot milk and three- quarters of a cup of sugar. As it cools stir in a teaspoon WARM WEATHER SWEETS 269 of vanilla, a pint of cream whipped to a froth, and lastly the beaten whites of two eggs. Pour into the mold and set in the ice-box for an hour or two while it stiffens. Serve by tipping the mold upside down, slipping out the contents, and deco- rating the top of the charlotte with powdered lady-fingers, a puff of cream, candy, or candied fruit. COFFEE CHARLOTTE RUSSE Line a mold with lady-fingers. Whip two cups of cream and set in the ice-box to chill. In a quarter of a cup of cold black coffee soften a tablespoon of gelatine. In a double- boiler heat three-fourths of a cup of milk and three-fourths of a cup of sugar. Stir in two beaten eggs and the gelatine dissolved in the black coffee. Beat, strain, and cool. When it begins to stiffen fold in the cold whipped cream, and pour into the mold lined with lady-fingers. Set away to stiffen. In serving, invert the mold and have your charlotte standing on a low dish. ROSE CHARLOTTE Soften an ounce of gelatine in cold water. Boil slowly until dissolved in one pint of sweetened cream. Beat four eggs light. Add to the jelly mixture, stir well, take from fire, flavor with rose extract and pour over slices of sponge- cake. When cold cover with pink frosting. [See illustration, Plate XXIL] CHERRY TAPIOCA Soak a cup of tapioca overnight. Next morning simmer in a saucepan with one pint of boiling water and a pinch of salt till the tapioca is clear. Add a pound and a half of cooked cherries without their pits, a cup of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil, and then set away to cool. Serve cold with sugar. CHESTNUT CROQUETTES Boil one quart of chestnuts. Shell, remove brown skin and pound fine. To each two cups of chestnut meats allow two 270 THE HOME COOK BOOK beaten yolks, one and one-half tablespoons of butter, half a teaspoon of grated nutmeg, and half a teaspoon of salt. Form 'into croquettes ; egg and crumb, and fry in deep fat. Garnish with chestnuts glazed with caramel. [See illustration, Plate XXIII.] CHOCOLATE BLANC-MANGE Melt three tablespoons of chocolate in a double-boiler. Add a pint of fresh milk and half a cup of sugar. Stir smooth three tablespoons of cornstarch in half a cup of cold milk, and slowly pour into the hot milk in the double-boiler. When the cornstarch thickens the milk and is smooth, flavor with a teaspoon of vanilla and pour into small individual molds, first wetting them with cold water, or into one large mold and cool. Serve with cream and sugar. CHOCOLATE CUSTARD Melt in a double-boiler with half a cup of milk two table- spoons of grated chocolate. When the chocolate is smoothed in the milk, add a cup and a half of milk and let all heat. Beat two eggs with half a cup of sugar. Pour the hot milk and chocolate over the eggs and sugar, put back in the double- boiler and cook till the custard thickens. Add a teaspoon of vanilla, pour in the dish in which you wish to serve it and set away to cool. / CHOCOLATE PUDDING Put in a double-boiler a large pint of milk and add three tablespoons of grated chocolate. Heat and then add two tablespoons of cornstarch which you have blended with a little cold milk. Have ready a dish for baking puddings. Take the milk mixture from the fire, stir in the yolks of four eggs beaten into a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, and half a teaspoon of salt. Pour all in the baking dish, set in a pan of hot water and then in the oven. Bake until the eggs are set and the pudding stifif. Beat stifif the whites of the four eggs, add a cup of sugar and a little vanilla, spread over the top of the pudding and brown in a moderate oven. WARM WEATHER SWEETS 271 CORNSTARCH PUDDING Salt to taste a quart of milk. Add three well beaten eggs. Dissolve in some of the milk three tablespoons of cornstarch, stirring it smooth. Put the milk in a saucepan, stir con- stantly, and when near boiling add the dissolved cornstarch. Stir hard, and boil four minutes. Wet a quart pan or tea- cups with cold water, pour the pudding in to harden. When perfectly cold turn it out, and serve with a cold boiled custard flavored with vanilla for a sauce. CORNSTARCH BLANC-MANGE WITH FRUIT Put a quart of milk in a double-boiler and heat, keeping one-half a cup from the quart. Take half a cup of sugar, four tablespoons (or quarter of a cup) of cornstarch, a pinch of salt and wet with the half a cup of milk you reserved. When the milk in the double-boiler boils, stir in the sugar mixture and stir till all is cooked smooth and the cornstarch thickens the milk. Beat to a froth the whites of two eggs, and as you take from the fire stir them in the blanc-mange. Set to become a little cool. In the serving dish put a layer of preserved fruit. Pour the cooled blanc-mange over. Set away to chill, and serve with cream. CREAM PUFFS Melt half a teacup of butter in a teacup of boiling water with a pinch of salt. When thoroughly melted and boiling, pour it gradually over one rounded cup of flour, stirring rapidly until smoothly mixed. When cool add four beaten eggs. Beat smooth till free from lumps. Drop a tablespoon of the batter on buttered tins and bake from thirty to forty minutes in a moderate oven. Put the pufifs close together, so they will not spread out. CREAM FOR THE PUFFS For the cream mix together one teacup of cream and half a teacup of boiling water. When boiling stir in half a 272 THE HOME COOK BOOK teacup of sugar. Beat three eggs into one tablespoon of flour. Pour the boihng cream and sugar gradually over the eggs, stirring hard. This done, set the saucepan in another of hot water, stir constantly and let the cream gradually thicken rather thick. Flavor it with vanilla extract. When the puffs are cool cut each puff near the top with a sharp knife, and cut enough to admit a teaspoon. With a spoon put the cream in each puff. CURRANT SHORTCAKE Sift one teaspoon of salt, three teaspoons of baking powder and one quart of flour; then rub into it four table- spoons of butter. Add enough sweet milk to work into a soft dough. Divide into two parts, and pat out so as to fit two oblong pans and bake in hot oven. When done, split and spread with butter. Have ready one quart of currants stripped from stems. Put in a bowl and add one pint of sugar and crush. Spread between the layers of the shortcake. Sift pulverized sugar over the top and arrange stems of red and white currants on top and stemmed currants about the base. One seldom sees currants served except when converted into jam, but a currant shortcake is as delicious as the famous and favored strawberry. When stripped from the stem and heaped in a crystal glass and served accompanied with pul- verized sugar, they make one of the most appetizing fruit dishes to serve for breakfast. [See illustration, Plate XXHL] BAKED CUSTARD Stir into a quart of milk four heaping tablespoons of sugar. Put in a saucepan and let come to boil. When cooled, pour over six well-beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture into a deep earthenware bowl, and grate nut- meg thickly over the top. Set the bowl in a pan of warm water. Put in a moderate oven. Set a pan of warm water in the upper oven above it, and bake until a thin knife thrust WARM WEATHER SWEETS 273 into the custard will come out without the custard sticking to it. In making puddings or custards, boiling the milk before adding other ingredients will prevent the dish being watery. While nutmeg is valuable as a flavoring, it is not generally known that it is also an opiate, and in large quantities poisonous. BOILED CUSTARD Beat very light five or six eggs with one teaspoon of corn- starch. Mix this into one quart of milk, keeping out two whites. Sweeten with four tablespoons of sugar. Pour into a granite or porcelain-lined saucepan. Set the saucepan in another holding warm water. Let the water gradually come to boil, and boil slowly. Stir constantly to prevent the egg from curdling. When creamy thick, take from the fire and flavor with extract of vanilla or lemon. Beat the whites of the two eggs to a stiff froth. Turn them over lightly in the hot custard with a silver fork. Prepare this in the dish it is to be served in. If boiled custard is required for a sauce, leave in the whites, and use two eggs to a pint of milk. CUSTARD TART Peel, core, and boil in an earthenware dish, using as little water as possible, seven or eight large tart apples of the kind that cook soft. When the apples are tender, put them through a colander or sieve and add a small cup of granulated sugar. Add also the grated rind of a lemon, if you wish, or half a nutmeg. Make a custard of four eggs, reserving the whites of two, a quart of milk and a teacup of sugar. Heat the milk and sugar together in a double-boiler, add a teaspoon of salt, and then the eggs, stir till the custard thickens, and then remove it to cool. When it is cold pour over the apples. The whites of the two eggs whip to a froth, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, and spread over the custard. 274 THE HOME COOK BOOK FARINA PUDDING WITH SAUCE Beat the yolks of three eggs till thick and lemon-colored. Add gradually half a cup of sugar, a third of a cup of soft breadcrumbs, and a scant half cup of farina. Fold in the whites of three eggs beaten stiff and half a cup of nut meat broken in pieces. Bake in three-layer cake tins in a slow oven for half an hour and put together with this creamy sauce. Cream a fourth of a cup of butter, add gradually half a cup of powdered sugar, two tablespoons of milk, drop by drop, and one tablespoon of brandy, or a teaspoon of vanilla. FRUIT GLACfi First be sure your fruit is ripe and perfect, without spot or blemish. Wipe it carefully. Boil in a porcelain kettle a pound of sugar with half a teacup of water until the syrup is covered with large bubbles. At this juncture add an even tablespoon of clear white vinegar. When the sugar has boiled to the point of snapping in cold water take it from the fire. Quickly dip in the fruit, and then lay on a dish rubbed with a little olive oil. Clusters of grapes may be so glaced, and then rolled in coarse granulated sugar. Quarters of oranges and lemons also are treated the same way. Be sure the skin of the fruit is not broken. FRUIT IN JELLY Soak half a box of gelatine in half a pint of cold water for fifteen or twenty minutes. Add a pint of boiling water, one large orange and one banana peeled and sliced, a pint of chopped English walnut meats, half a teaspoon of salt, and sugar to your taste. Pour in a mold and set where it will cool and stiffen. Tip from the mold, and serve with cream and sugar. EARLY SUMMER FRUIT PUDDING This pudding is made with currants, cherries, blackberries, or gooseberries. Soak in a quart of milk on the back of the WARM WEATHER SWEETS 275 stove one pint of breadcrumbs. Add a pinch of salt, a cup of sugar, and beat in three eggs. If your taste likes it, add also such flavoring as nutmeg, or the yellow of a small lemon. Have ready fruit you are going to use. In a pudding boiler or mold put a layer of the breadcrumb batter. Then a layer of the fruit. Alternate these layers till you use up the batter. Cover the pudding boiler tight and plunge into hot water, or steam. Allow two hours and a half for the pudding to cook, and serve with hard or liquid sauce. GELATINE PUDDING Separate the whites and yolks of four eggs. Make a boiled custard of the yolks and a pint of milk by bringing the milk to boil in a double-boiler and stirring in the yolks and sweetening to taste. Set the custard to cool. Have one-third of a box of gelatine soaked a few minutes in a little cold water. Pour over and dissolve it with three-fourths of a cup of boiling water. When the custard has cooled add the gelatine and the beaten whites of the eggs. Stir all to- gether, flavor, and put in a mold to chill. GOOSEBERRY BETTY Have stewed or canned gooseberries. Cut slices of bread, and toast a light brown. Dip some of the slices in fresh milk and spread with butter. Then lay them in a pudding dish and cover with the stewed or canned berries which have been sweetened to your taste. Put in another layer of the toast, and again another layer of the fruit. So continue with alternate layers till the dish is full. Cover tight and cook in a moderate oven half an hour. Serve with whatever pudding sauce your taste directs, or with whipped cream. GOOSEBERRY FOOL Top and stalk a quart of green gooseberries and stew them with a little water in an earthen dish till they are tender. Mash them through a sieve or colander and make the 276 THE HOME COOK BOOK jam very sweet with either brown or white sugar. Have ready in a large bowl a quart of cold boiled custard. When the jam is cold mix it thoroughly with the custard and serve cold. HUCKLEBERRY SHORTCAKE Mix together one cup of sugar and quarter of a cup of butter. Beat two eggs and stir them with the sugar, adding a cup of milk, and afterward gradually three cups of flour into which two teaspoons of baking powder have been sifted. Reserve a tablespoon of flour for dredging the cup of huckleberries, which you stir in last. Have square tins but- tered or oiled, and bake the shortcake in these about half an hour. The cake should be little more than an inch thick when done. Cut in squares, split and eat with butter or thick cream. IRISH MOSS BLANC-MANGE Wash and clean a heaping tablespoon of Irish moss, drop it in a cup of hot milk in a double-boiler and let it simmer till it thickens when dropped on a plate. Salt and flavor to taste, and put through a strainer into molds. This will make portions for two. Serve with cream and sugar. JUNKET In a couple of tablespoons of cold water dissolve a junket tablet, or use a little liquid rennet. In a double-boiler heat a quart of milk lukewarm, stir in the dissolved tablet, pour into the dish in which the junket is to be served, dust it with nutmeg, cover and let stand where it is Avarm till the milk "sets." Then cool, and serve with cream and sugar. LEMONS CREAMED From two good-sized lemons grate the rind and squeeze the juice. To this juice and yellow rind add two cups of sugar and two beaten eggs. Beat up two tablespoons of flour with a little cold water and add to it a cup of boiling water, WARM WEATHER SWEETS 277 stirring all the time. Turn this upon the sugar, eggs, and juice mixture, and then simmer over a fire till smooth, the flour being thoroughly cooked. Set to cool, and when luke- warm add a cup of cream which has been whipped. Chill and serve cold in a glass dish. LEMON JELLY Dissolve half a box of gelatine in cold water. Add one pint of boiling water, the juice of two lemons, two cups of sugar, and strain. Make the day before using, and set away to harden. CHILLED ORANGES Cut six oranges in halves. With a silver spoon take out the pulp and mix with half a cup of sugar and the juice of half a lemon. Set in the ice-box with the halves of the skins in cups. When ready to serve, fill the cups, put a tablespoon of whipped cream on each, and allow two cups to each plate. PEACH COBBLER Cut peaches in half, cover with water, sweeten very sweet, and stew slowly until rich, adding a few stones to improve the flavor. When done lay in good quantity in a square baking-pan, and almost cover with the juice. Sprinkle flour thickly over the peaches and cover with a piecrust quarter of an inch thick. Bake a nice brown. When done lift the piecrust and turn it over on a platter. Pile the peaches on the upturned crust, and add the juice about the crust. Serve hot with rich cream. PEACH GELATINE Dissolve half a box of gelatine in half a teacup of cold water. Boil a pint and a half of milk with half a cup of sugar. Pour a little of the hot milk over the gelatine to dis- solve it thoroughly, and then simmer all together ten minutes and set to cool. Peel and slice half a dozen large, fully ripe peaches, or if your peaches are small, use a larger number. 278 THE HOME COOK BOOK When the gelatine mixture is cool, but not stiff, stir in the sliced peaches and set to chill. Serve with cream ; and also sugar if wished. PEACH PUDDING Peel enough peaches to fill the average pudding dish — do not take out the pits. Add about two cups of water, cover tight and bake till the peaches are tender. Take the water in which the peaches have cooked and to it add a mixture made as follows : Beat well four eggs, add a cup of milk, a cup of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of butter, and a cup of flour into which a teaspoon of baking powder has been sifted. Stir together. There should be a thin batter. Pour over the peaches, set in the oven and bake till brown. Serve with cream. PEACH TAPIOCA Wash and soak overnight a cup of tapioca. Next morning set the tapioca to boil in a pint of boiling water. It is best to use a double-boiler. Boil slowly until the tapioca is clear. Then stir in a can of peaches. Put in a dish and serve cold with cream and sugar. PINEAPPLE WITH STRAWBERRIES When selecting pineapples pull the centre spines from the crown. If they come out easily the fruit is ripe and in con- dition to use. If sliced first, the peel can be removed much easier than paring the fruit whole. Slice with a sharp knife; then, after paring, with a pointed knife remove the eyes. Shredding is done by placing the sliced fruit on to a platter and picking it with a silver fork. It is popular to serve this fruit in the shell. Cut the crown about one inch from the top. With a sharp-pointed spoon remove all of the pulp, leaving the shell perfect. Shred the pulp, discarding the hard centre; add to this pulp halved strawberries, enough sugar to sweeten, and put back into the shell. Stand on ice until wanted. Then heap whipped cream WARM WEATHER SWEETS 279 or ice cream, flavored with pineapple, on top. Serve on a dish with the spines about the base. [See ilktstration, Plate XXIV.] PRUNES WITH WHIPPED CREAM Stew till tender half a pound of prunes. Drain off the water, take out the pits, mash the prunes, and stir in sweet- ened whipped cream — a pint or half a pint, as your taste and convenience directs. Put into small cups, chill in the ice-box, and drop a spoon of whipped cream in each cup as the sweet is served. PRUNE PUDDING After thoroughly washing one pound of prunes, stew them till tender. Put them through a colander and add two cups of sugar. Beat to a stiflf froth the whites of five eggs and stir in the prunes. Pour into a pudding dish and bake ten minutes. For the sauce to the prunes heat a pint of milk in a double- boiler, add a little sugar to your taste, the yolks of the five eggs and a dash of vanilla. Cook a moment after the yolks are in. Instead of this sauce cream may be used. PUMPKIN CUSTARD The old-fashioned red pumpkins are apt to be the best. Cut new-moon shaped pieces from a ripe pumpkin and free the pieces from seed and rind. Cut in small squares or dice, put them in a steamer over a kettle of boiling water and steam Small Custard Cups till tender. Next press through a sieve or colander. To a quart of milk add five beaten eggs, two cups of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt and half a nutmeg. If you beat into the sugar before it is added a piece of butter the size of an egg the dish 280 THE HOME COOK BOOK is improved, but the butter is not necessary. Next stir in enough of the cooked and sifted pumpkin to make the custard creamy. Pour into small custard cups and bake slowly till well cooked through, and serve cold, capped with whipped cream. RASPBERRY CREAM Soak half an ounce of gelatine in quarter of a pint of water. Set in a saucepan over the fire and dissolve, stirring all the time. When it boils add one heaping tablespoon of sugar and the juice of half a lemon. Put a teacup of rasp- berry jam through a sieve, softening with half a teacup of milk or water. To this add the gelatine, and then beat in half a pint of thick cream you have previously whipped stiff. Put in the whipped cream little by little. Stir or beat till it begins to set, then pour in a bowl or other mold, and chill near ice. RED RASPBERRY SAGO Wash half a pint of sago, cover with a pint and a half of cold water, soak an hour, and then cook in a double-boiler till the sago is clear and transparent. Have carefully looked over red raspberries half filling a glass dish. When the sago is cool, almost cold, pour it over the raspberries, and set away to cool. Serve with sugar and cream. Other fruits, such as pineapple and ripe peaches cut in small pieces, and strawberries, may be prepared with sago by these rules. RICE CREAM Boil four ounces of rice ten minutes. Pour ofif the water, add a quart and a half of fresh milk and cook slowly till the rice is tender. Reduce the rice to a pulp by putting through a sieve or press. Dissolve an ounce of gelatine in a little water and add it to the rice. Stir all together, the milk, rice, and gelatine over the fire and sweeten to taste carefully, not mak- ing too sweet. When mixed set to cool, and when cool stir WARM WEATHER SWEETS 281 in the stiff whites of two eggs. Flavor with vanilla or sherry or brandy, or what your taste directs ; pour in a bowl or mold and chill for eating. SCALLOPED RHUBARB OR PIEPLANT For this breadcrumbs may be used or slices of bread but- tered. If you use breadcrumbs allow two tablespoons of melted butter to a cup of fine crumbs. Cut rhubarb into small cubes or dice and in a pudding dish spread a layer of the but- tered bread or breadcrumbs. Over this put a layer of the rhubarb dice, a plentiful sprinkling of sugar, and, if you like their addition, a few stoned raisins. Repeat the layer of bread and the layer of rhubarb and sugar until you com- plete your dish, and have a bread layer on top. Pour in enough boiling water to cook the plant with steam, cover tight and bake in a moderate oven three-quarters of an hour. Serve with a hard sauce of sugar and butter mixed and flavored with nutmeg or lemon. RHUBARB JELLY AND WHIPPED CREAM There are many ways to prepare rhubarb, each one de- licious and not extravagant. When tender the plant should not be stripped, as the red skin imparts a delicate flavor and temptingly rich appearance to the food. Should the plant be tough, strip off the skin, and clip the tough ends at the bottom. Wipe each stalk with a damp cloth before peeling. Allow one pound of sugar and one box of gelatine to one quart of prepared rhubarb. Stew the sugar and plant to- gether, only add one tablespoon of water. Soak the gelatine in one cup of cold water. Then add it to the hot sauce, stirring until dissolved. Press through a sieve ; pour into a mold or a deep bowl and set on ice to stiffen. When ready to serve dip the bowl in hot water a moment, invert on to a cold dish and garnish with whipped cream. [See illustration, Plate XXIV.] 282 THE HOME COOK BOOK SNOW PUDDING Soak two teaspoons of gelatine in a little cold water. Dis- solve a cup of sugar in a pint of boiling water and pour over the gelatine, stirring all the time. Next add the juice of two lemons, and set to cool. Beat the whites of two eggs and add when it is cool, and then beat half an hour. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE Mix thoroughly with one quart of flour three teaspoons of baking powder, an ounce or a tablespoon of butter, and a pinch of salt. Wet this mixture with a pint of milk. Stir it with a spoon, not with the hand, and spread on pie or layer- cake tin, making the dough even and about half an inch thick. Set in a moderate oven and increase the heat after the shortcake has begun to bake. It will be done in about twenty-five minutes. When the cake is thoroughly baked slip a sharp, thin knife quite through it, leaving upper and under halves. Spread each half with butter on its soft inner side. On a deep dish lay one half with butter side up. and over it spread thick strawberries which have been sugared, crushed a little with a potato masher or punch stick and mixed with cream. Next lay on the upper half of the crust with the butter side up, and this in turn cover with the sugared, crushed and creamed strawberries. You must work fast, for the shortcake must be eaten in its first state. Do not dally, but send it to the table at once. Sweeten the strawberries before you make your dough, an hour before use in the cake is none too early, and have them ready for instant work. TAPIOCA PUDDING Soak till soft in cold water — overnight is best — a cup of tapioca. Add a quart of milk and half a teaspoon of salt. Boil all together till the tapioca is transparent. Put in molds to cool, and serve with maple sugar and cream, or with canned peaches and cream, or with any tasty fresh or preserved fruit as a sauce. WARM WEATHER SWEETS 283 CUSTARD TAPIOCA PUDDING Soak overnight in cold water a cup of tapioca. Drain off the water, add to it a cup of sugar, a quart of milk and half a teaspoon of salt. Put in a double-boiler and cook till the tapicoa is transparent. Add two beaten eggs and a tea- spoon of vanilla. Take from the fire and pour into the glass or other dish in which it is to be served. Serve cold. FRUIT TAPIOCA Soak overnight two tablespoons of small tapioca. Next morning drain and put in a double-boiler with four cups of boiling water. Cover close and boil until the tapioca is trans- parent. Then add half a teaspoon of salt, one pound of dates stoned, one cup of raisins seeded, half a pound of figs, and one cup of sugar. Cook one hour, and fifteen minutes before the cooking ends add half a teaspoon of vanilla. Pour in a mold, and serve cold with cream or with whipped cream. WINE JELLY Put half a box of granulated gelatine into enough cold water to cover it. Grate the yellow off the rind of a lemon, add to it a cup and a half of water, put in half a cup of sugar, and Jelly (Gelatine) Molds boil up. Pour hot over the dissolving gelatine, set in a pan of hot water over the fire, and stir till all is dissolved. Strain through a sieve or cheesecloth, add a cup of sherry and set away in molds for a couple of hours to get cold and to jelly. Serve cold with cream. 284 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXVII COOL WEATHER SWEETS— PUDDINGS AND PUDDING SAUCES Bread Pudding-— Cocoanut and Bread Pudding— Crust and Crumb Pudding — Orange Bread Pudding — Cottage Pudding— Custard and Currant Pudding— Boiled Fig Pudding— Baked Flour Pudding— Boiled Flour Pudding— Fruit Fritters— Farmers' Fruit Pudding— Steamed Fruit Pudding— German Pancakes — Baked Indian Pud- ding — Boiled Indian Pudding — Plum Pudding — English Plum Pudding — Plum Graham Pudding— Boiled Prune Pudding— Sponge Pudding— Boiled Suet Pudding —Brandy Sauce— Caramel Sauce— Chocolate Sauce— Creamy Sauce — Hard Sauce- Cherry Sauce — Peach Sauce — Frothy Sauce— Sauce of Fruit Juice — Lemon Sauce —Liquid Sauce— Maple Sugar and Cream Sauce— Molasses Sauce— Sour Cream Sauces— Vanilla Sauce— Whipped Cream Sauce WE group the following puddings for cool weather be- cause they are heartier than the fruits, jellies, and far- inaceous sweets going before this note. In cool weather our systems crave more substantial foods and readily digest what in warm weather might prove difficult. The bread puddings following may be used all the year round, but suet, plum, and other similar combinations should be reserved for the cool days. BREAD PUDDING Mix into two cups of stale, fine breadcrumbs two table- spoons of melted butter, the beaten yolks of four eggs, and quarter of a teaspoon of soda dissolved in cold water. Let one quart of milk just come to boil, take it off, cool, and add to the other ingredients. Add nutmeg to taste, and last the whites of the four eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Stir the whites in lightly with a silver fork. Bake in a greased pudding pan a light !:rown. Test it by slipping in the pudding a thin knife. If the pudding does not stick to the knife it is done. Serve with hard sauce. / COOL WEATHER SWEETS 285 COCOANUT AND BREAD PUDDING Take one quart of breadcrumbs and a cup of grated cocoanut. Butter a baking dish and put in layers of bread- crumbs and cocoanut till the dish is nearly full. Upon the crumbs drop a few pieces of butter. Beat two whole eggs and the yolks of two eggs together, add a small cup of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, and a pint of milk. For flavoring use the juice of an orange or a teaspoon of vanilla. Pour this custard over the breadcrumbs and cocoanut, and bake in a moderate oven till the custard is set, but not watery. The two whites you have reserved from the yolks beat till stiff, add two tablespoons of sugar and the grated rind of the orange you used for the pudding, or, if you like, almond or vanilla flavoring. Spread upon the cooked pudding, return to the moderate oven for a lisrht brown, and serve. /- CRUST AND CRUMB PUDDING Put your crusts and crumbs of bread into a bowl and cover them with milk. Set on the warm water tank or in the dish oven to soak for half an hour. Then mash the bread with a fork till all is a fine pulp. To two quarts of the pulp add a small cup of raisins, a small cup of currants, a large cup of milk, a couple of eggs well beaten, a teaspoon of salt, and sugar to taste. Guard against making it too sweet. Stir well, pour it into a buttered pudding dish and bake in a mod- erate oven one hour and a half, and serve hot. ORANGE BREAD PUDDING Soak a heaping teacup of fine breadcrumbs in a cup of cold water till the crumbs are soft. Grate over the bread- crumbs the yellow off the rind of three oranges. Take the soft broken pulp of five large oranges, or of six small ones, and stir in the crumbs. Stir together quarter of a cup of butter, a cup and a half of sugar, and the yolks of four eggs. Stir in the breadcrumbs and bake half an hour in a moderate oven. Beat the whites of the eggs stiff, add sugar to make a 286 THE HOME COOK BOOK meringue, put on the pudding and let stand in a moderate oven ten minutes to brown. COTTAGE PUDDING Beat two eggs and stir well into them one teaspoon of butter, one cup of fresh milk, one pint of flour, and one and a half teaspoons of baking powder. Bake in a shallow, square tin, and serve fresh from the oven with a hot liquid sauce, or with "Sour Cream Sauce." CUSTARD AND CURRANT PUDDING Put in the bottom of a well-buttered pudding dish a layer of thin slices of bread and butter. Sprinkle over this some well-washed currants, and if you have it a few bits of candied orange peel. Lay in again thin slices of bread and butter and repeat the layer of the fruit. So continue to alter- nate till your dish is full, topping ofif with the currants. Over these layers pour a plain custard made from two or three eggs to a quart of milk, and sweetened and flavored to your taste. Pour gently in order not to disturb the layers of the pudding. Set in a moderate oven and bake half an hour, or until the custard is set, but not until it becomes watery. . BOILED FIG PUDDING Add to half a pound of suet half a pound of stale bread- crumbs, half a pound of sugar, and half a pound of figs chopped fine. Mix together. Next put in three beaten eggs and half a teaspoon of soda dissolved in one teacup of milk. Grate into this one small nutmeg. Add one wineglass of brandy (California), and last one teaspoon of cream of tartar. Grease a square pudding cloth lightly, sprinkle it with flour. Lay the cloth over a colander. Pour into it the pudding. Gather up the cloth and tie firmly, allowing a little space for the pudding to swell. Put it in a pot of boiling water. Fas- ten the ends of the cloth down with the coyer of the pot. Set COOL WEATHER SWEETS 287 a weight on top of it. Boil without stopping three hours. Serve with Hquid or hard sauce. The latter is preferred for this pudding. BAKED FLOUR PUDDING Put into one pint of sifted flour one teaspoon of salt and seven well-beaten eggs. Stir hard, and add to this one quart of milk, mix well. Grease a pudding dish, and pour the mixture in it. Bake in a moderate oven about one hour. If it browns too fast set a pan of warm water in the upper oven above it. Serve as soon as done, or the pudding will fall. For this use liquid sauce. BOILED FLOUR PUDDING Put into one pint of sifted flour one teaspoon of salt and seven well-beaten eggs, and stir hard. Add to this one quart of milk and mix well. Grease a square cloth, sift flour lightly over it, lay it over a pan, pour the pudding into it, gather up the cloth, tie it, leaving room for the pudding to swell. Have ready a pot of boiling water, put the pudding in, leaving the end of the cloth outside to prevent the pud- ding turning over. Put on the cover and lay a weight or flatiron on the top to hold it down. Keep the pot boiling steadily for one hour. Never let the boiling stop, or there will be a heavy streak in the pudding. When done turn out on a plate, and serve with hard sauce, and serve at once. FRUIT FRITTERS Beat the yolks of two eggs with a teacup of flour and a pinch of salt. Add one tablespoon of olive oil, two table- spoons of Jamaica rum, or lemon- juice, and cold batter enough to make a creamy batter. When ready to fry, stir in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs. Dip any kind" of fruit, pared and sliced, in this batter. Fry in deep boiling fat. Serve with liquid sauce. 288 THE HOME COOK BOOK FARMERS' FRUIT PUDDING Take a piece of butter the size of an egg and a cup of sweet milk. Add flour enough to make a batter that will spread easily with a spoon. Add also three teaspoons of baking powder. Butter a baking dish. Put in a layer of batter, then a layer of fruit, such as blueberries, blackberries, then a layer of batter, then fruit, and so on till you have used your batter. Have the top layer of batter. Bake in a hot oven half an hour or more, or until done. Serve with a hard sauce or a liquid sauce, as you choose. STEAMED FRUIT PUDDING Take half a teacup of New Orleans molasses, one teacup of suet chopped very fine, little more than half a teacup of hot water, and one teaspoon of salt. Next two beaten eggs, one heaping teaspoon of soda dissolved in cold water, two teaspoons of allspice, two teaspoons of cinnamon, three- quarters of a teaspoon of cloves, half a nutmeg, three table- spoons of vinegar, one teaspoon of pure ammonia (from a druggist), one cup and a half of dried currants, and one cup and a half of raisins stoned, and chopped moderately fine. Now stir in three teacups of flour, and in one of the tea- cups of flour (the first one) stir two heaping teaspoons of cream of tartar. Set a steamer over a pot of boiHng water, lay a perforated tin pie plate upside down in the bottom of the steamer. Grease a cake pan thoroughly, put your pud- ding in it and set it on the pie pan. Lay over the top of the steamer a piece of thick cloth (or two pieces), cut round, to fall a little below the steamer. Put on the lid, and set a heavy weight or a flatiron on top. Boil steadily without its stopping a moment for three hours. At the end of that time take out the pan from the steamer and serve. If you wish to keep it, set aside to get cool. When almost cold, turn it on a plate, leaving the under side on top. This pud- ding will keep for two weeks or more. It can be reheated and steamed soft by laying an old napkin or a piece of soft COOL WEATHER SWEETS 289 muslin in a large colander, setting in the pudding, turning the cloth ends over it and covering the whole with a cover. Set the colander over a large saucepan of water and keep boil- ing until the pudding is soft, which will be in about an hour. Serve with liquid sauce, page 294. GERMAN PANCAKES A nice dessert is a very light wheat flour batter cake, baked the diameter of a coffee saucer. When baked a light brown lay it on a hot plate. Put in the centre a tablespoon of rasp- berry, blackberry, or any other sweet jam. Fold one-half of the cake over the other half. Sift thickly with powdered sugar, and serve hot. This is for one person only. BAKED INDIAN PUDDING Mix half a pint of water and one pint of milk. Scald, and while boiling hot pour little by little upon six tablespoons of Indian meal. Stir in a piece of butter the size of an egg, a little salt, three tablespoons of sugar, two tablespoons of molasses, and one egg. Beat all together and bake in a very slow oven three or four hours. BOILED INDIAN PUDDING Mix through a teacup of flour one heaping teaspoon of baking powder and one heaping teaspoon of salt. Add one pint of milk, two tablespoons of melted butter, or four table- spoons of sour cream, three beaten eggs, one small pinch of soda, and one pint of cornmeal to make a stiff batter. Pour this into a greased one-pound baking powder can, or any can of convenient size (a small tin bucket is good). Set the can on a plate in a pot in which there is enough boiling water to come nearly to the top of the can or bucket. Place a weight upon it to keep it upright. Boil two hours. To be eaten vv^ith maple sugar shaved into a bowl of sweet cream. Sour cream also may be used as a sauce. y , ^ 290 THE HOME COOK BOOK PLUM PUDDING Put three-fourths of a pound of stale breadcrumbs into a bowl. Add one pound of seeded and chopped raisins, one pound of beef suet minced, one-fourth of a pound of brown sugar, the grated rind of one lemon, one-fourth of a pound of flour, one teaspoon of grated nutmeg, one pound of dried currants, half a cup of shredded almonds, half a pound of shredded candied orange and lemon peel, one-fourth of a pound of shredded citron, half a pint of brandy, and five eggs. Mix. Pour into a greased, covered mold and boil for six hours. The day you serve it reboil for six hours longer. Serve on a platter. Surround the pudding wath loaf sugar, pour brandy over it, ignite the brandy, and send the pud- ding to the table with the brandy burning. Serve with a hard sauce flavored with lemon- juice or brandy. ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING Clean, wash and dry one pound of currants and stone one pound of raisins. Chop fine one pound of suet. Mix these wath quarter of a pound of flour and three-quarters of a pound of fine breadcrumbs. Grate in half a nutmeg, the rind of one lemon, and add quarter of a pound of brown sugar and half a pound of shredded and candied orange peel cut in small pieces. Have all these ingredients well mixed. Then beat five eggs, pour them into half a pint of brandy, stirring all the time, and pour over the ingredients you have previously mixed. Stir all together thoroughly. You will have six pounds. Put in small, well-greased molds and boil six hours. When you Avant the puddings for use, boil an- other six hours. [See illustration, Plate XXV.] PLUM GRAHAM PUDDING Have a cup of raisins seeded, chopped, and lightly dredged, and one cup of molasses into which two teaspoons of soda dissolved in a tablespoon of water have been beaten. Add the raisins and molasses to a cup of fresh milk, and a COOL WEATHER SWEETS 291 teaspoon of salt, and stir in two cups of graham flour. Work quickly to catch the molasses in its foam. Pour into a but- tered pudding mold, cover tight, and plunge in a kettle of boiling water to boil three hours without let up. When cooked tip the mold upside down, slip out the pudding, and serve steaming hot with liquid sauce. BOILED PRUNE PUDDING Chop fine six ounces of suet and mix in six ounces of breadcrmnbs. Free from the pits and chop half a pound of prunes and add them to the suet. Add also a heaping table- spoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Beat three eggs and mix with a gill of milk. Pour this over the other in- gredients and let stand. Oil or grease a pudding boiler, pour in the pudding, set in a saucepan of boiling water so that the water will reach three-quarters of the way to the top of the pudding boiler, and cook for three hours. Twist over the top of the pudding boiler a piece of oiled or greased paper to keep out water and steam while cooking. SPONGE PUDDING Mix quarter of a cup of sugar w'ith half a cup of flour. Wet with a little cold milk from a pint of fresh milk. The rest of the pint heat in a double-boiler. Stir in the hot milk the sugar and flour and cook till thick and smooth. Add half a cup of butter, and w^hen well mixed stir in the well-beaten yolks of five eggs. Afterward add the whites of the eggs beaten stiff. Pour in well-buttered cups or in a shallow dish, set in a pan of hot water in a hot oven and bake about thirty minutes. Serve hot with creamy sauce. BOILED SUET PUDDING Have a cup of finely chopped suet, and a cup of seeded raisins lightly dredged. With these stir a cup of molasses, a cup of milk, one egg, a teaspoon of ginger, and three and a half cups of flour into which two teaspoons of baking powder 292 THE HOME COOK BOOK have been sifted. Butter a mold for steaming puddings, pour in the batter, cover tight, and steam for three hours. Serve with a hquid or brandy sauce. BRANDY SAUCE Mix together a heaping tablespoon of flour and a cup of sugar. Over this pour gradually a pint of boiling water and cook in a pan of hot water till the flour thickens, which will be in about fifteen minutes. Then gradually stir in half a cup of butter and half a cup of brandy. Vanilla and the grated rind and juice of a lemon may be used for flavoring instead of the brandy. CARAMEL SAUCE Put half a cup of sugar in a saucepan and stir over the fire till brown. Add half a cup of boiling water and simmer ten or fifteen minutes. CHOCOLATE SAUCE Dissolve two ounces of chocolate in a pint of milk in a double-boiler. Thicken with a tablespoon of cornstarch dis- solved in two tablespoons of milk, and then sweeten with three-fourths of a cup of sugar. Add a flavoring of vanilla, if your taste so directs. Put through a sieve if you are not sure it is smooth. CREAMY SAUCE Blend in a saucepan over a slow fire three tablespoons of butter with one heaping tablespoon of flour. Add half a cup of sugar and a cup of rich milk. Take from the stove when all is creamy, and add the juice of a lemon and an orange. Serve cold. This sauce may be flavored with wine or rum instead of orange and lemon. HARD SAUCE Cream together half a cup of butter and a cup of sugar, adding the sugar in four separate divisions. When well COOL WEATHER SWEETS 293 mixed together stir in gradually the white of one egg, and drop by drop whatever flavoring you wish to use. Some- times nutmeg alone is used; again vanilla, or California claret, or brandy. Also the juice of strawberries, currants, or raspberries. CHERRY SAUCE Make the foregoing "Hard Sauce" and mix in it a cup of stoned and mashed cherries. ' PEACH SAUCE Follow the directions for "Hard Sauce" and mix in a cup of peach pulp. FROTHY SAUCE Beat one egg to a stiff froth. Add three-quarters of a cup of sugar and the juice of half a lemon, or lemon extract to taste. Just before sending to the table, beat in half a cup of scalded milk. SAUCE OF FRUIT JUICE Add half a cup of water to a quart of crushed cherries or berries — either strawberries or currants, or red or black rasp- berries, or stewed gooseberries — and boil gently twenty min- utes. Put in a cheesecloth bag and drain. To one pint of juice add half a cup of sugar (put in a little more sugar if your fruit is very sour, but have care not to get it too sweet)- Add also to a pint of juice a heaping tablespoon of corn- starch. Bring to boil, cook ten or fifteen minutes, and serve hot. LEMON SAUCE Cream half a cup of butter and a cup of sugar. Then gradually beat in the whites of two eggs. Set over a kettle, or in a pan of hot water, and stir in half a cup of boiling water and the juice and grated rind of a small lemon. Serve hot. 294 THE HOME COOK BOOK LIQUID SAUCE Take two heaping tablespoons of flour and two heaping tablespoons of butter, mash together and dissolve in two tea- cups of hot water poured gradually over them. Add two heaping tablespoons and a half of sugar, a little grated nut- meg, and two slices of fresh lemon. Mix in a small sauce- pan. Set in another containing water. Let the water gradually heat until boiling. Stir constantly with a table- spoon to prevent lumping and to have it perfectly smooth. Let it be rather thick when done, and add three tablespoons of California brandy. Stand in the hot water to keep hot until ready to serve, and take out the lemon before serving. MAPLE SUGAR AND CREAM SAUCE Shave off in fine shavings the maple sugar you wish to use, and stir it into half its quantity of thick cream. Stir so that the sugar stands through the cream. Sour cream is sometimes used instead of sweet cream. Either combines deliciously with the sugar. MOLASSES SAUCE Cook together in a saucepan a cup of molasses, a table- spoon of butter, and two tablespoons of cream. Boil slowly until a little thick, and then add the grated rind and juice of a lemon. Or the lemon may be omitted, and in its stead a tablespoon of ginger added. SOUR CREAM SAUCES Delicious sauces are made from cream that has turned sour. One sauce is made by beating scraped maple sugar into the cream, allowing a good deal of the rich cream to the sugar. The sauce is used for hot boiled Indian pudding. Another sauce made from sour cream is to beat in granu- lated or pulverized sugar, and to add the rind and juice of a lemon — for enough sauce for six persons. This may be eaten with bread puddings or with "Cottage Pudding." COOL WEATHER SWEETS 295 VANILLA SAUCE Stir water in a tablespoon of cornstarch slowly until you have used a cup. x\dd a cup of sugar and cook in a double- boiler till the cornstarch is cooked through and thickens — this will take ten or fifteen minutes. Add an even tablespoon of butter and half a teaspoon of vanilla, stir these in quickly, and serve hot. WHIPPED CREAM SAUCE Beat together the yolks of three eggs and two heaping tablespoons of sugar. Add the juice of a lemon. Heat in a saucepan, stir well, but do not boil. Take from the fire and beat in a pint of whipped cream. Chill and serve. 296 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXAaiT ICING, FILLING, CAKE A Lesson in Cakemaking — Snow Cake — Cakes for Special Occasions — Icing— Icing for Children's Cakes — Almond Ice — Boiled Icing— Clear Icing — Apple Frosting — Cream Icing— Royal Icing— Tutti-Frutti Icing— Caramel Filling— Chocolate Filling— Sour Cream Filling — Fillings of Fresh Fruit — Lemon Filling — Maple Filling — Nut Filling — Fruit Filling— Filling for Any Flavor — Angel Cake— Angel Food— Dried Apple Cake— Baker's Cake— A Birthday Cake— Bride's Cake— California Cake— Chocolate Cake — Chocolate Loaf Cake— Coffee Cake — Confection Cake — Confection Filling — Cream Cake — Delicate Cake — Fruit Cake — White Fruit Cake — Nevada Fruit Cake — Soft Gingerbread — Soft Ginger Cake— Cider Gingerbread— Gold Cake — Hickory- Nut Cake— Jam Cake — Jelly-Cream Cocoanut Cake— Jelly-Cream— White Layer Cake — Yellow Layer Cake — Lemon Cake— Marguerite Cake — Potato Cake— Snow Cake —Spice Cake— Fruit Cake— Sponge Cake— Victory Cake— Colonial Wedding Cake — White Cake — Yule Cake A LESSON IN CAKEMAKING TO begin with the first steps in the science of mixing, I will choose for the lesson a snow cake, one of the simplest, most delicate and inexpensive of cakes. This receipt makes a good-sized loaf or a large layer cake, using only the whites of two eggs, a very satisfactory item in these days of high prices. No cake in the great assortment of cakes I might choose from is so tender of grain, so delicious, so crisp of crust or so all round satisfactory as this is. The receipt is one in everyday use in my own household, because it is capable of infinite variation in the hands of an adaptive cook. Here it is : SNOW CAKE Cream together quarter of a cup of butter and one cup of sugar, then add half a cup of milk and one and two-thirds of a cup of flour sifted with two and a half teaspoons of baking powder, adding flour and milk alternately in small quantities. When perfectly smooth and white, fold in the whites of two eggs beaten to a stifif froth. Flavor with half a teaspoon of vanilla. ICING, FILLING, CAKE 207 Before beginning the work, let me impress on you that poor materials will never make good cake. One needs good sugar, the best of tub butter, perfectly fresh eggs and pastry flour to have delicate tasting, fine-grained, crisply crusted cake. If poor cooking butter or eggs of a doubtful age are used, it is of no avail tr}'ing to disguise the fact by adding a double portion of vanilla ; the strongest taste is uppermost. Before beginning work, get all your materials ready. Sift the flour and lift from it one and two-thirds level cups, smoothing off the top with a knife ; for in this receipt, and in all others I give, the measurements are level, unless other- wise stated. Put the flour and baking powder in the sifter. Butter the cake pans with a bristle brush and sift flour into it till a coating of wdiite covers the inside of the tin. This gives a fine crust ; it is easier than lining a tin w' ith buttered -paper, and the cake is not liable to burn. Measure the butter, sugar, and milk, separate the egg, and see that the oven is in good condition. If you bake in a gas stove, light both oven burners ; it takes about as long for the oven to heat as it does to mix the cake. If the w^eather is cold and the butter is hard, warm an earthen bowd by allowing hot w^ater to stand in it for a few minutes. Pour it out, dry the bow'l, then put the butter to soften, but never to melt. Butter which has melted will never produce a smooth white cream. Take a wooden slitted spoon and beat the butter till creamy ; this process allows of a per- fect blending with the sugar, which add gradually, beating constantly all the time. When the cream mixture is light and snowy white, sift in a few spoons of flour to keep the butter and sugar from separating, as would happen if the milk went in first. By the way, always use a slitted spoon when making cake. The air, wdiich you are endeavoring to beat into the cake, is caught and driven through the slits and a perfect blending of ingredients can be quickly accom- plished. With the ordinary bowlspoon this process is arrived at very slowly. Few cooks realize what an important factor quickness is in the beating of cake. The w^oman of slow. 298 THE HOME COOK BOOK deliberate motions will invariably turn out a heavy cake ; the quick, energetic cook will have a light, delicious cake. I have seen this result many times in cooking school, where the same materials, the same utensils, the same well-tempered stove were at the disposal of women of different temperaments. To turn again to the cake, which we left at the stage of thoroughly creamed butter and sugar, with a small amount of flour sifted in. Add now a few tablespoons of milk, and beat; then sift in half a cup of flour till it is all in and you have a snowy, light batter. If you are making the cake alone, stop now and beat the whites of the eggs. If some one can help it would be better, at the time you begin the creaming of the butter, that she commence to beat the eggs. When they reach the light, dry, frothy condition which is a necessity, the cake mixture would be ready to have them folded in. If you have to beat the white of egg yourself, it is better to allow the cake to wait for it than to let it wait for the cake. No matter how well whipped it has been, the air will escape from it and it will go back to a condition from which it can never again be beaten stiff. When it is thoroughly whipped, fold it into the batter. By folding I mean put the spoon in edgewise, lift the batter, and turn it over. Repeat until thor- oughly mixed. At this point the batter holds millions of little air cells obtained by beating, and the bubbles formed by whipping air into the whites of the eggs. If at this point the batter is subjected to further beating, the imprisoned air bubbles would be liberated and the cake would be heavy. Therefore, put it immediately into the oven for the air cells to be set by the heat. There is a certain knack in pouring cake batter into the pans, which results in a perfectly flat, well-shaped cake. Smooth the batter after it is all in with a spatula, having the mixture come well to the corners and sides of the pans, leaving a slight depression in the centre. Never scrape batter from a knife or spoon on the edge of the pan. If you do, the cake will not rise on that side. Fill the pans three-quarters full if vou wish the cake to reach the top of the tins. ICING, FILLING, CAKE 299 As to the time and temperature for the baking of cake, consider its thickness. Small patty-pan cakes and layer cakes require a much hotter oven than loaf cake. If you are using a gas range, turn on both burners for the small or thin cakes ; they ought to bake in twent}- or thirty minutes. A loaf cake requires a slower heat. Both demand the heat at the begin- ning coming from below, while all the tiny air-cells are swell- ing larger and larger. If the heat were to come from above, a crust would form, the rising process would end in the bubbles bursting and the mixture settling down heavy as lead. Allow the cake to stand on the lower shelf of the oven till the pan is full, then very carefully move it to the highest shelf, if it does not seem to be hot enough below. Here it will brown more evenly. Always keep the pans as far as pos- sible from the sides of the oven ; if not hot enough to burn cake, they will likely be hot enough to make it rise unevenly. When the following receipts call for the butter to be creamed before adding the sugar, this should always be heeded. The creaming consists in beating and working the butter until it becomes like thick cream. In this way the oil cells are broken and the texture of the cake made finer in consequence. Sifting the flour makes it lighter, and, unless stated other- wise, should be measured after sifting. It is safer to test the cake batter by dropping a little on a small pan and baking. If it spreads and is flat, the batter needs more flour. If tough, it needs a little more milk. Some flour thickens more readily than others, so the exact amount can not be judged. When using bicarbonate of soda, a level teaspoon is meant unless otherwise stated. CAKES FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS Many housekeepers look aghast when the question of decorating cakes comes up, and it arises quite often in a family where there are young folk. Every housekeeper may 300 THE HOME COOK BOOK try her hand at this feature, which does not involve much extra trouble and needs very little skill. Once in a while a prettily decorated cake brought to the table when there are no guests other than one's immediate family will elicit many encomiums and also tempt the appe- tite. To write the name on a birthday cake no expensive ap- paratus is required: just a couple of cornucopias made of thick writing paper and sewed up the side. When the cake is ready, cover thickly with icing and set until firm. Fill the cornucopia with whatever icing the decoration is to be of, then, holding steadily in the left hand, commence to press from the larger end toward the smaller, pressing the icing out in a slender line from the opening. Roses and other flowers and geometrical designs and fancy tracings may be made. Unless accustomed to this work, it is better to trace with a sharp-pointed skewer the design on to the icing first, then following it out with the colored. ICING Beat stiff the white of one egg, stir in a cup of confec- tioners' sugar, two teaspoons of cold water, and the flavor you choose. Spread the icing upon the cake with a broad- bladed knife, constantly dipping the knife in cold water to spread the icing smooth. ICING FOR CHILDREN'S CAKES Put three tablespoons of boiling water on a hot plate and stir in icing sugar or confectioners' sugar till you have a soft paste. Add as you stir a few drops of the flavoring you wish, such as vanilla or lemon. Spread the soft paste on the cakes. ALAIOND ICE Mix half a pound of finely powdered almonds with a pound of sugar. Moisten with a dash of orange water and the whites of enough eggs to make a paste. With this coat the ICING, FILLING, CAKE 301 cake. Over the almond icing a second icing is sometimes laid, prepared in the following way: Work a pound and a half of fine sugar into the whites of eight eggs, adding, now and then a dash of lemon- juice. You will have a thick, glisten- ing mass. Coat the cake, and dry in a warm, clear air. BOILED ICING Boil together a cup of sugar and half a cup of water till the syrup hairs ofif a spoon. Take from the fire, and while cooling beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth. Stir the whites and the syrup together, beating the syrup in with the movement you have beaten the eggs. Use whatever flavor you choose, or whatever fruits. CLEAR ICING Stir together half a pound of powdered sugar and the whites of two eggs. Then add the juice of half a lemon, and stir till clear. Use at once. APPLE FROSTING Follow the directions for "Clear Icing," but instead of adding the lemon add a cup of grated apple — having peeled and grated fine, juicy, tart apples. CREAM ICING Mix together a small half of a cup of thick cream and two cups of powdered sugar. Flavor with vanilla, or what- ever you prefer. ROYAL ICING Put the white of an egg in a bowl and add a tablespoon of water, and the same quantity of lemon-juice, or other flavoring if you wish. Beat a moment, and then stir in powdered sugar until the icing is of the thickness that will spread upon a warm cake. Beat hard five minutes, and then 302 THE HOME COOK BOOK pile in tlie centre of the cake and with a wet knife blade smooth round and down the sides of the cake. TUTTI-FRUTTI ICING Boil a pound of sugar in a gill of water until the syrup will hair off the spoon. Take from the fire, add slowly the beaten whites of two eggs and beat all together, adding also half a pound of blanched and chopped almonds, quarter of a pound of fine raisins swelled in hot w-ater, and quarter of a pound of citron cut in little pieces. CARAMEL FILLING Mix two cups of heavy brown sugar with three-fourths of a cup of butter and add half a cup of cream. Boil in a saucepan until it becomes ropy, and then add one tablespoon of vanilla. Put the saucepan in cold water and stir until the filling thickens. Spread between layers of cold cake. To use the above as candy spread it on a cold, buttered platter. When cold and hardened somewhat cut in cubes, and allow to harden more before using. CHOCOLATE FILLING Mix the yolks of four eggs with one square of chocolate grated, one tablespoon of cream or milk and one cup of sugar. Boil till it grows hard. SOUR CREAM FILLING Add the white of one &gg to a cup of thick, sour cream to keep the cream from turning to butter while whipping. Whip the cream, sweeten to taste with pow^dered sugar and flavor to your taste wath vanilla. Spread upon cool layers of cake. Chopped nuts, such as butternuts, pecans, or hickory- nuts, are sometimes added to this cream filling. FILLINGS OF FRESH FRUIT Fillings of fresh fruit are made by putting layers of the sugared fruit between the layers of cake, and spreading ICING, FILLING, CAKE 303 whipped cream over the fruit. Take for instance straw- berries. Mash the strawberries, and sugar to taste. If the juice is too plentiful let it drain off and use it for flavoring- on ice. On a layer of cake spread the strawberries. Have whipped a cup of cream with tw^o tablespoons of sugar. Spread over the strawberries some of this cream, then put on the other layer and repeat the fruit and cream. Peaches may be used in this way. Raspberries also, and pineapple grated. LEMON FILLING Mix two cups of sugar, two teaspoons of butter, the grated rind and juice of two lemons, and two eggs. Stir together and put in a saucepan. Set the pan in another of hot water, and boil until the mixture is quite thick. When cool, spread on the layers of cake. MAPLE FILLING Boil a cup of maple syrup till it threads from the spoon, and then beat till cool, beating in the white of an egg. NUT FILLING Boil together half a cup of water and a cup of sugar until it makes a heavy thread. Take from the fire and add little by little and with constant stirring the whites of two eggs. Beat till cool, stirring in a cup of chopped nuts, either walnuts, hickory nuts, or mixed nuts. FRUIT FILLING Follow the directions above, using candied fruits or chopped and seeded raisins instead of nuts. FILLING FOR ANY FLAVOR A soft filling to which may be added any flavor is made by following the directions for "Nut Filling," substituting a flavoring for the nuts. 304 THE HOME COOK BOOK ANGEL CAKE Beat to a very stiff froth the whites of eleven eggs. To this add a tumbler of white sugar and about two teaspoons of vanilla to taste. Mix one scant even teaspoon of cream of tartar into one tumbler of flour. Sift it four times, the last time sift into the eggs and sugar and mix together. Put in a round pan with circular metal rising in the centre. The pan should not be greased. Bake in a moderate oven until a straw thrust in will come out clean — that is, twenty or twenty-five minutes. Bake a very light brown, and delicately. ANGEL FOOD Sift together four times a cup of flour (measure after sift- ing) and a teaspoon of cream of tartar. Beat the whites of eleven eggs to a stiff froth, and then beat in gradually a cup and a half of granulated sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla. Next put in the flour which you have sifted with the cream of tartar and beat lightly. Bake slowly forty minutes in a pan lightly dredged with flour, or in an earthenware dish. The cake should bake gradually. DRIED APPLE CAKE Put to soak overnight a cup and a half of evaporated apples. Stew them soft in half a cup of molasses the next day, and set away to cool. Stir together half a cup of butter and one cup of sugar. Add two-thirds of a cup of sour milk, the stewed apples, two well-beaten eggs, a teaspoon each of cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and three cups of flour into which you have sifted a teaspoon of finely pulverized soda. Stir hard. Have at hand a cup of seeded raisins, two-thirds of a cup of currants, and some thin slices of shredded citron. Spread a layer of the cake batter in your cake tin, then put in a layer of your mixed raisins, currants, and citron. Next a layer of batter and then a layer of fruit, and so on till you cap the cake with a layer of batter. Bake carefully in a moderate oven. ICING, FILLING, CAKE 805 BAKER'S CAKE Cream together one cup of butter with two cups of granulated sugar. Add the yolks of six eggs, beating in one yolk at a time. Add little by little one cup of sweet milk, which you have warmed. Then put in three cups of sifted flour little at a time, stirring constantly until all is well mixed. Add the whites of the eggs which you have beaten to a stiff froth, folding them in gradually, and last of all three teaspoons of baking powder. Flavor with two tea- spoons of vanilla, or the juice of one lemon. Bake in a quick oven, either as a loaf cake or in jelly cake tins. The secret of having the cake light is in the stirring. A BIRTHDAY CAKE One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, four eggs, two tablespoons of molasses, one cup of boiled coffee, three and a half cups of pastry flour, five level teaspoons of baking powder, one teaspoon of powdered cinnamon, half a teaspoon of powdered cloves, half a teaspoon of powdered mace, three- quarters of a cup of seeded and chopped raisins, half a cup of shredded figs and citron, two tablespoons of brandy. Mix all together in the order given. Bake in a loaf pan. When cool, ice with any preferred frosting. Place candles in paste roses about and edge with flowers. The candles correspond or harmonize with the icing and flowers. [See illustration, Plate XXV.] BRIDE'S CAKE "^ Cream a pound of sugar with half a pound of butter. Beat to a stiff froth the whites of sixteen eggs. To the creamed butter and sugar add the whites and a pound of flour, beating strongly all one way and putting in the flour and white froth little by little. Butter white paper, lay it in the cake tin, and bake the cake in a quick oven, having care not to jar the stove or oven during the baking. 306 THE HOME COOK BOOK CALIFORNIA CAKE Stir together two cups of sugar and one of butter till you have a cream. Take the yolks of six eggs, beat them light, and add to the creamed butter and sugar. Stir in also half a teaspoon of cinnamon and the same quantity of nut- meg. Then dissolve a teaspoon of soda in a cup of cold water and add that. Next beat the whites of the six eggs to a stiff froth and lightly fold in, using first the whites and then some of the flour from the four cups you have measured out and thoroughly sifted together with two teaspoons of cream of tartar. When the whites and flour are all in, add a pound of raisins, which you have seeded, chopped, and dredged with flour, and a cup of walnut or hickory-nut kernels, which you have also dredged. Stir all together and bake in two or three loaves in a moderate oven. CHOCOLATE CAKE Dissolve two ounces of chocolate in five tablespoons of boiling water. Blend four eggs with half a cup of butter and a cup and a half of sugar. Add half a cup of milk, the dis- solved chocolate, one and three-quarters of a cup of flour, one heaping teaspoon of baking powder, and a teaspoon of vanilla. Bake in a moderate oven. CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE Blend half a cup of butter with one cup of sugar. Add one whole egg and the white of another, one cup of milk, two and a half cups of flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, and one teaspoon of vanilla. For the other part of the cake boil together in a double-boiler one cup of grated chocolate, half a cup of milk, one cup of sugar, and the yolk of the egg of which you have just used the white. When this chocolate mixture boils, stir it into the white dough and bake in loaf form. COFFEE CAKE Mix one cup of sugar and one scant cup of butter. Add one cup of molasses, one cup of cold coffee, one tablespoon ICING, FILLING, CAKE 307 each of cloves and cinnamon, one teaspoon of soda, four cups and a half of flour, into which two teaspoons of baking powder have been sifted, and one cup of raisins and one cup of currants lightly dredged with flour. CONFECTION CAKE Half a cup of butter, three-quarters of a cup of milk, one cup of fine granulated sugar, three eggs, two rounding tea- spoons of baking powder, two cups of sifted pastry flour. Cream the butter, then add the sugar gradually and cream while adding ; then beat in the beaten egg-yolks, the milk, and one tablespoon of dry sherry and one teaspoon of vanilla. Then add one cup of flour in which has been sifted the baking powder. Fold in the stiffly beaten whites ; then the other cup of flour. Bake in layers. When cool put together with the following : CONFECTION FILLING Stir one and a half cups of sugar and half a cup of water until the sugar is dissolved. Boil until it spins a thread when dropped from a spoon. Have ready the whites of two eggs beaten stiff and dry; then, while beating constantly, pour the hot syrup on them and beat until cold and rather stiff. Add one cup of chopped nut-meats, shredded figs and candied fruit, one teaspoon of vanilla, and a quarter of a teaspoon of lemon extract. Decorate the top with currant jelly and whole candied cherries; a ring about the base. [See illustration, Plate XXVI.] CREAM CAKE Take two eggs, one cup of sugar, one cup of thick sour cream, half a cup of butter, and two cups of flour. Beat to- gether, and beat in also one teaspoon of soda. This cake ma}' be without fruit, or you may add raisins, citron, etc., lightly dredging the fruit. For flavoring use spices, half a teaspoon of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. 308 THE HOME COOK BOOK DELICATE CAKE Blend well together two cups of sugar and three-fourths of a cup of butter. Stir in one cup of milk and the whites of eight eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Stir together three cups of flour and two teaspoons of baking powder. Flavor to your taste. Beat ten minutes after putting all the ingredients in. Pour in a loaf tin in which you have laid buttered white paper and bake one hour in a carefully heated oven. FRUIT CAKE Brow^n one pound of flour. Cream together a pound of sugar and a pound of butter, and then add eight beaten eggs and a cup of molasses, half a cup of whiskey, one cup of sour cream, and a tablespoon each of mace, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and grated nutmeg. Stir in your pound of browned flour and half a teaspoon of soda dissolved, and gradually add a pound of seeded raisins, a pound of washed and dried currants, and a pound of citron cut in pieces — all the fruit being lightly dredged. Bake in well-buttered paper laid in deep pans, for this cake should be in large loaves. Be careful your oven is not too hot. WHITE FRUIT CAKE Mix three cups of unadulterated powdered sugar with one cup of butter. Add the whites of ten eggs beaten to a stiff froth, half a cup of milk, a dash of bitter almond flavor- ing, and four cups of flour into which three teaspoons of baking powder have been sifted. Put in two pounds of seeded raisins dredged and half a pound of citron cut in pieces and dredged. Bake in a moderately quick oven. NEVADA FRUIT CAKE Mix one pound of sugar with one pound of butter and add the yolks of ten eggs, half a pint of molasses, into which a teaspoon of soda has been stirred, one glass of currant jelly, a cup of chopped prunes, a cup of walnut meats, and a ICING, FILLING, CAKE 309 teaspoon of mixed spices. Dredge the fruit with flour and add a pound of currants which you have well washed and dried, three pounds of raisins which you have seeded, three-quarters of a pound of citron which you have shredded, and a quarter of a pound of candied orange peel. Fold in the beaten whites of the ten eggs, stir in a pound of flour, divide into two or three loaves, and bake in a slow oven two and a half or three hours. SOFT GINGERBREAD WITH OR WITHOUT FRUIT Take one teacup of dark brown sugar, one large iron spoon heaping of butter, and one large iron spoon heaping of lard. Cream these smoothly together. Then add one scant teacup of hot water, three beaten eggs, one heaping teaspoon of soda, one large iron spoon of vinegar, two even tablespoons of ground ginger, two teaspoons of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of cloves, one teaspoon of salt, and three- quarters of a teaspoon of pure ammonia (from a druggist). Last, add three cups and a half of flour. Beat thoroughly for five minutes. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a mod- erate, steady oven. Set a pan of warm water in the upper oven. Do not turn the cake round until partly baked, and move it slowly. Be careful to close the oven door gently, or the cake will fall. Never leave the door open to cool an oven. If fruit is wished, use one teacup of raisins chopped and one teacup of currants, floured well. If you use fruit, bake one hour. This gingerbread with fruit makes a nice dessert steamed and eaten with liquid sauce. SOFT GINGER CAKE Mix a cup of sour cream, a cup of molasses, and half a cup of sugar. Add salt and ginger to your taste, and also cinnamon and cloves if you wish them. Stir in a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a little warm water and flour enough 310 THE HOME COOK BOOK to make a dough like ordinary cake. Bake in a moderate oven. CIDER GINGERBREAD Mix one cup of sugar and one cup of molasses with two well-beaten eggs. Add half a nutmeg, two teaspoons of ginger, half a teaspoon of salt, and a large spoon of lard or butter. Take a cup of cider and pour three-fourths of it into the above mixture and stir well. Then add gradually, beating thoroughly, three cups of flour. After you have put in the last of your flour add the remaining one- fourth cup of the cider into which you have stirred and dissolved one teaspoon of soda. Beat all together and pour into a well- buttered, shallow pan, and bake about a half an hour in a moderately hot oven. Do not have the oven too hot. Anything with molasses in it burns easily, and a quick or hot oven is not the best for baking molasses cakes. GOLD CAKE Cream together a cup of sugar and a scant half of a cup of butter. Add to this the yolks of eight eggs whicl\ you have beaten stiff, stirring all together thoroughly. Next put in half a cup of sweet milk, and next a cup and a half of flour into which you have sifted two teaspoons of baking powder. Lastly stir thoroughly all ingredients together, and bake in a mod- erate oven. HICKORY-NUT CAKE Stir together two cups of sugar and one cup of butter, and add four eggs, the whites and yolks of which have been beaten stifif separately. Put in a grated nutmeg and one large cup each of seeded raisins and chopped hickory-nut meats. The raisins and nuts should have been dredged in the pound of flour which you stir in last and add little by little. Bake in a moderate oven. ICING, FILLING, CAKE 311 JAM CAKE Mix one cup of sugar with three-fourths of a cup of but- ter. Add the yolks and whites of three eggs beaten sepa- rately; then a cup of jam and two cups of flour. If you like spice put in spice to taste, and lastly add a teaspoon of soda dissolved in three teaspoons of sour milk. Bake in small layer tins and put the la^^ers together with icing. JELLY-CREAM COCOANUT CAKE One and a quarter cups of granulated sugar boiled with a quarter of a cup of water until it spins a thread. Beat seven egg-yolks until lemon color, then pour on to them grad- Layer Tin ually the hot syrup, beating constantly the eggs, until cold. Then, add one cup of pastry flour, a pinch of salt, one tea- spoon of lemon extract, and then the whites beaten very stiff. Bake in layers. JELLY-CREAM Place one pint of milk in a basin and set in hot water. When hot, add a pinch of salt, two tablespoons of sugar and the yolks of three eggs. Cook a few moments ; then stir in one table- spoon of gelatine dissolved in a little cold water. Remove from hot water; set on ice and stir until it begins to thicken. Then add the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs, one teaspoon of vanilla and one cup of grated cocoanut. Spread between layers and cover top and sides with a boiled icing; then coat thoroughly with the cocoanut. [See illustration, Plate XXVL] WHITE LAYER CAKE Mix two cups of sugar with half a cup of butter. Add a cup of milk, the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth, and 312 THE HOME COOK BOOK three cups of flour, blended with three teaspoons of baking powder. Bake in layer tins. YELLOW LAYER CAKE Beat three-quarters of a cup of butter with one and a half cups of sugar. Add three eggs, half a cup of milk, a cup and a half of flour, and a teaspoon of baking pow^der. LEMON CAKE Beat to a cream one cup of butter and three cups of powdered sugar. Add the yolks of five eggs well beaten, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, and a cup of milk with one teaspoon of saleratus or two teaspoons of baking powder. Then add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth and sift in four cups of flour. MARGUERITE CAKE Cream half a cup of butter, add one and a half cups of sugar, and cream again. Then add half a cup of milk, two cups of pastry flour sifted with one and a half teaspoons of baking powder and one teaspoon of almond extract. Fold in the whites of five eggs beaten very stiffly. Bake in a loaf. When cool, ice with the following': Beat into the yolk of one egg and juice of half a lemon as much confectioners' sugar as it will take up; then ice the cake. Trim with mar- guerites. [See illustration, Plate XXYIL] POTATO CAKE Mix one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, and one of cold, mashed unseasoned potato. Add half a cup of grated choco- late, four eggs, one cup of chopped walnut meats, half a cup of milk, and a teaspoon each of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Sift two teaspoons of baking powder with two and a half cups of flour and stir all together. Bake the cake in square tins. SNOW CAKE Beat one cup of butter to a cream, add one and a half cups of flour and stir together thoroughly. Next add one ICING, FILLING, CAKE 313 cup of cornstarch, and next one cup of milk in which three teaspoons of baking powder have been dissolved. Have beaten the whites of eight eggs to which two cups of sugar have been added, stir this well into the first mixture, and put in whatever flavoring your taste directs. Bake in layers and put together with icing. SPICE CAKE Stir together a cup and a half of brown sugar, a cup of butter, three eggs, a cup of molasses, and a cup of sour milk. Add the grated rind of a lemon and a teaspoon each of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Also a teaspoon of soda. Put in a cup of seeded raisins and half a cup €ach of currants washed and dried, and citron cut in small slices — all the fruit lightly dredged. Stir in four cups of flour, and bake in loaf form in a moderate oven till thoroughly done. FRUIT CAKE A plain fruit cake is made by using the foregoing receipt, merely doubling the c[uantity of fruit and adding a tablespoon of brandy. SPONGE CAKE Take by exact weight one pound of eggs and one pound of sugar. Beat the yolks and sugar to a stiff froth, adding the juice of a lemon and its grated rind. Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff, add them to the mixture, and then gradu- ally, by spoonfuls, add half a pound of flour. Bake in a well- heated oven about forty minutes. VICTORY CAKE Cream together one pound of sugar and one pound of butter. Beat separately the yolks and whites of a pound of eggs — you may allow ten eggs for the pound. Put the yolks with the creamed butter and sugar, quickly add a wine- glass of brandy and a wineglass of rose water, stir in lightly a pound of flour and the whites of the eggs, alternating a ^4. Vol. 2 314 THE HOME COOK BOOK little of each, add a pound of almonds blanched, cut and lightly dredged, a pound of seeded raisins lightly dredged, and three-quarters of a pound of citron cut in small pieces and dredged. Stir all one way while making. Use no baking powder or soda. Bake in a moderately hot oven, and do not jar while baking. COLONIAL WEDDING CAKE Mix half a pound of sugar and half a pound of butter to a cream. Wash a pound and a half of raisins and boil them till tender in enough water to make half a pint when cooked. To the creamed sugar and butter add the half pint of raisin water, two and a half pounds of flour, and half a pint of yeast. Beat all together, protect from cold draughts, and set to rise during the night. Next morning add half a pound of butter creamed with half a pound of sugar, half a pint of wine or brandy, half an ounce each of nutmeg and mace, and five eggs beaten to a froth. Also dredge the raisins and add. Mix thoroughly and set to rise again. When light cut in loaves and bake. WHITE CAKE Mix one cup of sugar with half a cup of butter. Add the beaten whites of two eggs, half a cup of milk, two cups of flour, a dash of bitter almond flavoring, and two teaspoons of baking powder. Bake in a quick oven. YULE CAKE Cream two pounds of butter and two pounds of fine sugar, adding one teaspoon each of cinnamon, mace, ginger, and allspice. Then add slowly twenty eggs, the yolks and whites beaten separately. Beat this ten minutes. Add two pounds of flour, four pounds of currants, half a pound each of candied orange and lemon peel, shredded almonds, quarter of a pound each of citron and dates, one wineglass of brandy. Line a pan with paper, pour in the batter and bake slowly for five hours. SMALL CAKES 315 XXIX SMALL CAKES Brownies— Caramels — Chocolate Eclairs — Cinnamon Drops— Cocoanut Cookies — Cookies —Cream Cakes— Crullers— Dainty Fingers— Doughnuts— Drop Cakes— Ebony Fin- gers—Fig Eclairs— Fruit Cookies — Fruit Jumbles— Ginger Cookies— Hermits— Im- prove-with-Age Cakes — Jumbles — Macaroons — Maple Sugar Cookies — Molasses Cookies — New York New Year's Cakes — Noah's Ark Cookies— Oatmeal Cakes — Little Snow Cakes— Snow and Chocolate Balls— Walnut Small Cakes BROWNIES BEAT together till light quarter of a pound of butter, quarter of a pound of granulated sugar, and two eggs. Grate the yellow off the rind of a lemon and add, stirring in also four ounces of grated chocolate, half a cup of milk, and a pinch of salt. Next put in a pound of flour which you have sifted three or four times. Stir briskly together, roll out and cut in brownie or other shapes and bake in a well-warmed oven. These little cakes take on a lustre if brushed over with the white of an egg. CARAMELS The homemade caramel too often lacks the chezving quality, which to many constitutes its chief charm. To ob- tain this quality, confectioners use glucose, a tasteless, color- less, and, contrary to popular belief, harmless thick syrup. Herewith is given a receipt for making caramels that may be chewed. Place one pint of cream, four cups of granulated sugar, a half pound of glucose, two ounces of butter, two ounces of paraffine, quarter of a teaspoon of cream of tartar, and one cup of shaved chocolate over the fire. Mix thor- oughly. Bring slowly to boil, and stir constantly until the mixture will harden in ice water. Pour half an inch thick into greased pans, and when partly cooled mark with a greased knife into squares. Instead of using chocolate, 316 THE HOME COOK BOOK chopped nuts or grated cocoanut may be added just before turning into the pans. CHOCOLATE feCLAIRS Measure half a pint of cold water into a saucepan. Add two ounces of sugar, four ounces of butter, and a pinch of salt. When boiling take from the fire and add five ounces of flour and stir till smooth. Put over the fire and stir till the paste leaves the sides of the saucepan. Cool, and when nearly cold drop in three raw eggs, adding and beating in one at a time. With a spoon roll the eclairs about four inches in length and about half an inch in diameter, brush them with white of egg, and bake in a moderate oven twenty minutes to half an hour till golden brown. Cool, split, and fill with sweetened whipped cream. Put together and glaze with choc- olate made in the following way: Boil half a gill of water with one ounce of finely powdered chocolate. When smooth stir in eight ounces of icing sugar, and a tablespoon and a half of water. Beat all together and glaze each eclair. CINNAMON DROPS Stir half a pound of brown sugar with two eggs till well blended, and add an ounce of powdered cinnamon, quarter of a teaspoon of salt, and then flour which you have sifted three or four times — enough of the flour to make the dough stand. Stir all together thoroughly, and drop from a small spoon upon the bottom of a pan which you have dredged with flour. Bake a few minutes in a well-heated oven. COCOANUT COOKIES Blend a cup of sugar and half a cup of butter, one egg, and a third of a cup of milk. Add a heaping cup of grated cocoanut and a cup and a half of flour into which you have sifted two teaspoons of baking powder. Stir together. Flour your molding board and roll and cut out a few of the cakes at a time, adding only flour enough to make them roll SMALL CAKES 317 thin. Bake in a quick oven a light brown and sprinkle with gianulated sugar while hot. COOKIES Mix one cup of butter, or refined beef drippings, with two cups of sugar. Add one or two eggs, half a cup of sour milk, a teaspoon of dissolved soda, and as much flour as is necessary to make a dough to drop off a spoon or roll out well. To these cookies a tablespoon of caraway seeds may be added with the flour. When cooked they may be sprinkled — while hot — with white granulated sugar for a pleasant change in looks. CREAM CAKES Take a cup of boiling water in which is melted one heap- ing tablespoon of butter. In this stir eight heaping table- spoons of flour and heat over a gentle fire until it is in a ball. Let it cool, and when cold add four eggs, putting in one at a time and stirring each one in before the next is added. Separate in cakes and bake in a hot oven. CRULLERS Mix into two cups and a half of sugar a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Next add three eggs not beaten. Beat hard, and stir well to lighten the eggs. Next add a little salt and one small* teaspoon of soda dissolved in cold water, one grated nutmug and extract of lemon, to taste. Stir all together and add two small teaspoons of cream of tartar, mixed into one cup of flour. Stir again, and add enough flour to make the dough stiff enough to roll out easily. Use plenty of flour on the board and rolling-pin. Roll about quarter of an inch thick. Cut into oblong pieces, score each one in the centre, and give it a slight twist after dipping the hand in flour. Roll all before beginning to fry, as they stiffen by standing and are easier to fry. Fry in a deep porcelain or granite kettle (a round bottom is best) and turn often while cooking. Use plenty of lard and brown a light brown. 318 THE HOME COOK BOOK Lift out with a flat skimmer, and while hot sift over pow- dered sugar. When the lard becomes brown, set it aside and use fresh lard. Before frying try a small piece of dough in the fat to see if it is the right heat. If too hot the calces will be too brown. Keep the crullers in a stone pot. DAINTY FINGERS Beat together half a pound of sugar and half a pound of butter. Add five eggs, the whites and yolks of which have been beaten separately, one teaspoon of mace, half a wine- Lady Finger Pans glass of brandy, and half a pound of flour. Stir thoroughly together and drop in lady-finger pans for baking to a deli- cate brown. When done and while warm fasten the fingers to- gether, painting with the white of an egg upon the flat side. DOUGHNUTS Mix one cup of sugar with butter the size of an egg. Add three eggs, half a teaspoon of salt, and one cup of milk. Mix two teaspoons of baking powder with the flour you use and stir in flour till you have a dough stiflf enough for rolling and cutting in shape. Fry in deep, hot lard, and turn often, DROP CAKES Stir together a cup of sugar and a cup of butter. Instead of butter you may use lard or drippings. Dissolve two tea- spoons of soda in two tablespoons of cold water, and stir into a cup of New Orleans molasses and a cup of sour milk mixed together. Add the sugar and butter, a cup of currants lightly dredged, and half a teaspoon each of ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. Stir in sifted flour until the dough is as stiff as fruit cake, and then drop from a spoon upon a greased paper laid in a pan. Bake in moderate oven. SMALL CAKES 819 EBONY FINGERS Use the receipt for "Coffee Cake," bake in lady-finger pans, and put the flat sides of the cakes together with an icing made by stirring powdered sugar into orange- juice and beating thor- oughly before using. FIG ECLAIRS Steam one pound of figs over hot water one hour. Then chop fine and add a pint and a half of Catawba wine (or less of sherry) and half a cup of sugar, and cook until like a jelly. Bake yellow or white cake in sheets. Split the sheets and spread the fig mixture between. Press together, cut in lady-finger size pieces, and ice on three or four sides. FRUIT COOKIES These ought to be made a week or two before they will be eaten, as they are greatly enriched by keeping in a tightly covered jar. Cream one cup of butter, gradually add a cup and a half of sugar, then when light and creamy add three well-beaten eggs and one teaspoon of soda dissolved in one and a half tablespoons of hot water. Stir in two cups of flour with which has been sifted half a teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Add one cup of coarsely chopped hickorynut meats, half a cup of currants, half a cup of raisins seeded and chopped with another cup and a quarter of flour. Butter a large baking sheet and drop the cookie mixture in small spoonfuls one inch apart. Bake in a moderate oven. FRUIT JUMBLES Blend one cup of sugar with a third of a cup of butter. Add two eggs, half a cup of milk, and one and two-thirds of a cup of flour into which one teaspoon of baking powder has been sifted. Stir in a cup of lightly dredged raisins, spread thin in buttered pans and bake in a quick oven. Cut in squares while hot. 820 THE HOME COOK BOOK GINGER COOKIES Mix together one teacup of dark brown sugar, one teacup of lard and butter mixed (more butter than lard), add one egg not beaten. Beat and stir hard to lighten the egg. Add one teacup of New Orleans molasses, two even teaspoons of soda dissolved in cold water, one tablespoon of vinegar, a little salt, one tablespoon of ginger, two teaspoons of cinna- mon, three-quarters of a teaspoon of cloves, three-quarters of a teaspoon of allspice, and four teacups and a half of flour. Flour the board and rolling-pin well to prevent sticking. Roll thick or thin, as you like. Bake quickly if you do not want the cookies hard. Use a greased pan in baking. HERMITS Blend a :cup and a half of dark-brown sugar with half a cup of butter, and afterward add three well-beaten eggs. Next put in half a nutmeg grated, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a cup of raisins, seeded, chopped, and dredged. Add a teaspoon of soda dissolved in hot water and flour enough to make the dough roll out in a soft blanket. Cut with cookie cutters into any shape you please — animals, letters, or geometrical de- signs. Bake in a moderate oven. IMPROVE-WITH-AGE CAKES Mix half a cup of butter and half a cup of lard with one and a half cups of sugar. Put in three eggs beaten together, salt, cinnamon, and cloves to taste, half a teaspoon of soda dis- solved in a tablespoon of warm water, and two and a half cups of flour. Add a pound of English walnut meats, a pound of stoned dates, and a cup and a half of seeded rasins — all the fruit having been chopped medium fine. Stir well together, drop from a spoon on tins and bake in a medium hot oven. Keep the cakes in a stone jar in a cool, dry place, and thev are better after a little time than at first. SMALL CAKES 321 JUMBLES Cream together one heaping teacup of shortening (three- quarters of which should be butter, the rest lard) and two even teacups of sugar. To this add five well-beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly. Next put in one teacup of sweet milk, half a teaspoon of salt, half a nutmeg, the grated rind of a lemon, and two tablespoons of lemon extract. Beat well together. Stir in four teacups of sifted flour. This done, knead in two more teacups of flour. Roll out on the pastry board not quite a quarter of an inch thick, cut with a small biscuit cut- ter, and bake in a floured pan. With a feather or a very small brush dust the top of each one lightly with the white of an egg not beaten, and sift over them (with a small tea strainer) granulated sugar. Bake in a quick oven a very light brown. MACAROONS Home-made macaroons cost much less than when bought in a bakery — then you know they are fresh. On a large plat- ter put three-eighths of a pound of powdered sugar (sifted), half a pound of almond paste and add gradually the whites of three eggs slightly beaten. With the hands work this mix- ture into a perfectly smooth paste. Line a large baking pan with buttered paper and drop the paste from a teaspoon in tiny balls half an inch apart. The macaroon mixture slightly spreads in baking. They require from fifteen to twenty min- utes in a slow oven. After baking, turn the paper to which the macaroons stick upside down, wet it with a cloth wrung from cold water, and they will come oflf easily, MAPLE SUGAR COOKIES Mix a cup of butter with three cups of maple sugar. Add two beaten eggs, a cup of sour milk, and then stir in flour and one teaspoon of dissolved soda. Make the dough stiff enough to separate in lumps off a spoon, roll out and bake. 322 THE HOME COOK BOOK MOLASSES COOKIES Have half a cup of lard or butter and till up the cup with cold water. Mix with two cups of molasses and one table- spoon each of salt, vinegar, and ginger. Stir in flour and add two teaspoons of soda dissolved in two tablespoons of hot water. Put in enough flour to roll the dough in a soft blanket, cut in shapes and bake in a slow oven. NEW YORK NEW YEAR'S CAKES Cream together a pound of sugar and a pound of butter and then add a small cup of milk. Gradually stir in three pounds of flour into which three heaping teaspoons of baking powder have been sifted, and then add three tablespoons of caraway seeds. Roll out the dough in sheets half an inch thick, and cut into cakes about four inches long and two inches broad. Prick the top with a fork, lay in greased pans, and bake a light brown. NOAH'S ARK COOKIES Take a cup of butter, or of butter and drippings mixed, and cream it with two cups of sugar. A couple of table- spoons of cream may also be added with good effect. Work in also the beaten yolks of four eggs, and then stir in, using first a little of the flour and a little of the whites, four cups of flour and the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth. Be- fore using the flour sift into it four teaspoons of baking powder. Grate over the dough quarter of a nutmeg, roll out thin, and with the little tin cutters, made after various shapes of birds and beasts, cut out the cookies. Bake in a hot oven. The cookies may be glazed by brushing with white of an egg and then set back in the oven for a moment. Or white or colored sugars may be sifted over them for a child's birth- day party. But for the child's common use serve them plain. OATIMEAL CAKES Stir one cup of butter in one cup of sugar and add a beaten egg and a teaspoon of salt. Stir in gradually two cups SMALL CAKES 323 of white flour and two cups of oatmeal, adding also a teaspoon of soda dissolved in two tablespoons of milk. When you have the dough well mixed roll it thin, cut into shapes and bake in a moderate oven. LITTLE SNOW CAKES Little snow cakes are made from plain snow-cake batter baked in patty pans. See directions for "Snow Cake" on page 312. When the cakes are cool, dip each one in an icing flavored with orange extract and slightly colored by adding some of the grated rind of a fine yellow orange. SNOW AND CHOCOLATE BALLS Cut a large sponge cake into balls about an inch and a half in diameter. Half of the balls dip in chocolate icing, and the other half dip in white icing and then in grated cocoanut. Dry the icings and then pile together for serving. WALNUT SMALL CAKES Stir together one cup of butter and one cup and a half of sugar. Then stir in three eggs and two cups of chopped walnut meats which have been dredged with flour. Lastly add a cup and a half of flour into which a heaping teaspoon of baking powder has been sifted. Stir together, and from the spoon drop the dough upon buttered paper laid in tins, allow- ing room for the cakes to run as they heat. 324 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXX CANDY, CANDIED FRUITS, SALTED NUTS French Bonbons — Raw Fondant — Cooked Fondant — Chocolate Creams — Cocoanut Creams-i-Fruit Bonbons— Fruit Creams— Nut Creams— Variegated Creams— Butter Scotch— Chocolate Caramels— Chocolate Puifs— Cocoanut Kisses— Cough Candy — Cream Candies of Different Sorts — Fudges — Maple Fudge — Molasses Candy with Nuts — Nougat— Peanut Candy — Pralines — Popcorn Wafers — Chestnuts Candied or Marrons Glaces— Stuffed Dates— Fruit Candy— Candied Orange Rinds— Salted Nuts FRENCH BONBONS BEFORE attempting this variety of sweets, it is imperative that one master the art of making fondant, which is the basis of all French candies. With this knowledge, the possible changes and combinations are almost limitless ; without it, nothing can be done. There are two popular ways of making fondant; but as both produce, practically, the same results, which shall be used is a matter of choice. RAW FONDANT To the white of one egg add an equal quantity of ice water (this may be exactly ascertained if the white of egg is first measured in a glass) and a teaspoon of extract. Beat until the mixture is light, then add, gradually, one pound or more confectioner's XXX sugar. Work with a spoon until smooth and firm. COOKED FONDANT Place over the fire four cups of XXX sugar and one cup of water; stir with a wooden spatula until the sugar is dis- solved, no longer. Boil ten minutes, or until it "threads." Remove the saucepan to the table and test the fondant by rubbing a little of it between the fingers. If it balls, turn into a CANDY, CANDIED FRUITS, SALTED NUTS 325 bowl. When partly cooled, add flavoring, then beat with the spatula until stiff enough to knead with the hands like bread. The fondant resulting from either of these mixtures may be shaped into balls, squares, small cubes, disks, and many other forms. A little experience will enable one to do this readily. If vegetable colorings — which are harmless — be used, the French candies may be more perfectly imitated. For flavoring, use extracts or fruit juices. CHOCOLATE CREAMS Dip plain creams, shaped from fondant, into melted sweet chocolate and they become chocolate creams. This dipping must be done quickly. Nothing is better for holding the creams while dipping than a long hatpin. Harden on oiled paper. COCOANUT CREAMS Add grated cocoanut to the fondant, shape into cones, brush over with beaten white of egg and roll gently in grated cocoanut. FRUIT BONBONS Stone candied cherries, white grapes, or dates and fill with small rolls of fondant flavored with vanilla. FRUIT CREAMS Add chopped fruit to the fondant and shape to suit the fancy. Or form into a loaf and cut into small square slices. By substituting chopped nuts for the fruit one has delicious nut loaf. NUT CREAMS Pecan, peanut, almond, hazelnut, or English walnut meats are converted into nut creams by rolling them in fondant and then dipping in melted chocolate. Or press the meats into little cakes of the fondant. Thus one combination suggests another equally delicious, and from even a small amount of fondant a great variety of 326 THE HOME COOK BOOK bonbons may be evolved. It is wiser to make the fondant in small quantities. If more is needed, make again. The results w^arrant this expenditure of time and trouble. VARIEGATED CREAMS Divide the fondant into three or more parts. Color and flavor each differently. Mold into flat cakes, pile one upon the other, press firmly but carefully together, trim the edges neatly, then cut into squares, cubes, or strips. BUTTER SCOTCH To four tablespoons of sugar and six tablespoons of mo- lasses add two tablespoons of water and four tablespoons of butter. Melt all together slowly and cook slowly, stirring often, till it hardens when dropped in cold water. CHOCOLATE CARAMELS Boil together three cups of sugar, one cup of milk, one- fourth of a cake of Baker's chocolate, and butter the size of an egg. Have care about your fire. This dish will burn easily, and the fire must be moderate and the mixture well w^atched in the cooking. Drop a spoonful in water to test; if it hardens it is do»e. Pour in buttered pans and cool. CHOCOLATE PUFFS Beat stifif the whites of two eggs, and then beat in half a pound of powdered .sugar. Scrape fine an ounce and a half of chocolate and dredge it with flour. Add gradually to the eggs and sugar, and beat all together hard. Upon the bottom of baking pan lay a sheet of paper, and upon the paper lay powdered sugar in spots about as big as a silver half dollar. Upon these powdered sugar spots pile the chocolate mixture, smooth with a wet knife dipped in cold water, sift over a little sugar, and bake in a hot oven a few minutes. Cool and loosen from the paper with a thin knife. CANDY, CANDIED FRUITS, SALTED NUTS 327 COCOANUT KISSES Beat the white of an egg and add half a cup of sugar. Stir constantly until it will not drop from a spoon. Add three tablespoons of grated cocoanut. Drop on buttered paper and bake lightly. COUGH CANDY In one dish put a gill of whole flaxseed and pour over it half a pint of boiling water. In another dish put a cup of slippery elm broken in small bits and cover it with boiling water. Let both stand and macerate two or three hours. Then put them in a cheesecloth and strain by squeezing into an earthenware saucepan. Add a pound and a half of sugar and boil slowly fifteen minutes. Then add the juice of two lemons. Cook till it candies easily, pour on buttered paper or plates and cool. CREAM CANDIES OF DIFFERENT SORTS Melt four cups of granulated sugar in a cup of cream and boil together five to seven minutes. Set the saucepan in cold water, put in a teaspoon of vanilla, and stir the cream till it is hard enough to make into balls. To make chocolate creams, dip the balls in melted chocolate. To make walnut creams, press into two sides of a small ball 'two perfect half meats of the walnut. To make date creams, press into two sides of a small ball the halves of dates freed from the stone. FUDGES Measure two cups of granulated sugar and one cup of milk. Set this on the fire to heat. After it is warm, add a piece of butter the size of an egg and three heaping table- spoons of grated chocolate. Boil twenty minutes. To judge whether it is done, drop a little into ice water, and if it stiffens, remove from the fire, and add a teaspoon of vanilla and beat until almost cold. Have ready buttered pans. Pour 328 THE HOME COOK BOOK the mixture into them, and mark tliem off in squares. Set away to cool. MAPLE FUDGE Take a cup and a half of maple sugar broken into very small pieces and half a cup of granulated sugar. Add a cup of milk, set over the fire, and add two heaping tablespoons of coarsely grated or scraped unsweetened chocolate and a table- spoon of butter. Boil all together carefully for half an hour. To test if it is done put a little in a saucer ; if it hardens, it is done. Take from the fire, stir in a teaspoon of vanilla and a cup of walnut meats, keep on stirring till the fudge begins to stiffen, and then pour into shallow buttered tins. Mark off in squares and set in a cool place to chill. MOLASSES CANDY WITH NUTS Put one tablespoon of butter, two tablespoons of water, and one cup of sugar in a kettle. Stir and watch when the mixture boils. Then add half a cup of molasses of the best sort — not the adulterated which floods the market, but pure New Orleans molasses if you can get it. Boil fifteen minutes, watching carefully, and then test. If the mixture candies in cold water, it is done. Have on the bottom of buttered tins rows of hickory-nuts or other meats you have picked out while the syrup is boiling. Pour the syrup over the meats and cool. NOUGAT To make this most delectable of candies, melt over the fire in a porcelain-lined vessel one pound of fine white sugar with two tablespoons of water. Have ready a half pound of sweet almonds, blanched and chopped. When the syrup be- gins to turn yellow, add the nuts, stir for five minutes, add a little grated lemon-peel, and pour at once into a well-oiled flat pan. When partly cooled, mark with a greased knife into bars. CANDY, CANDIED FRUITS, SALTED NUTS 829 PEANUT CANDY Melt slowly in a saucepan a pound of heavy wet brown sugar — add no water. Shell a quart of fresh roasted peanuts and chop them a little. When the sugar is cooked to a thick syrup, shake a little salt over the peanuts and stir them in. Pour in shallow buttered tins and cool. PRALINES The fame of these delicious sweetmeats has come north from New Orleans, where you find them sold on the streets. Boil together two scant cups of powdered sugar, one cup of maple syrup, and half a cup of thick cream. When this mixture can be dipped into cold water and forms a soft ball it is ready to take from the fire. Beat it till smooth and creamy, then stir in two cups of broken pecan meats and drop from a teaspoon in small piles upon paraffine paper. POPCORN WAFERS Make a receipt of boiled icing. Stir in fresh popcorn that has been buttered and salted. Have long wafers. Pile on the corn till it is nearly an inch thick ; set in the oven and brown to a light color. CHESTNUTS CANDIED OR MARRONS GLACES Parboil eighteen or twenty large French chestnuts till the skins rub off easily. Then put in hot water and simmer till tender. Dissolve a cup of sugar in a cup of water, and add the tender chestnuts. Move them carefully so they will not break. Let them cook in the hot syrup till clear, then take them out. Next boil the syrup till it hardens on being dropped in cold water, take from the fire, and add half a dozen drops of lemon-juice. Put in the chestnuts, turn them about till they are coated with the syrup and drain on oiled paper. 880 THE HOME COOK BOOK STUFFED DATES Purchase the finest dates for this sweetmeat, and after separating them wipe each one careful!)' with a bit of damp cheesecloth. Make a cut the entire length of a date and re- move the stone. Fill the cavity with a blanched almond or an English walnut. Sprinkle the palms of the hands with pow- dered sugar and roll the date to its original form. Leave the dates in powdered sugar until ready to serve. FRUIT CANDY Cut half a pound of figs in small pieces, add a tablespoon of grated chocolate and two pounds of sugar and enough water to dissolve the sugar. Cook all together till it creams, and then add, after taking from the fire, three-quarters of a pound of seeded dates and the meats of a pound and a half of En- glish walnuts. Stir all together till grains appear, and then spread in oiled pans and set to cool. Cut in squares when cold. CANDIED ORANGE RINDS Orange rinds left from breakfast you may convert into a dainty confection. Cut them in strips, carefully removing the bitter white part. Boil them in hot water till quite tender. To a cup of sugar add four tablespoons of water, cook to the crackling point and drop in the orange strips and cook five minutes longer. Set away to cool, leaving the rinds in the syrup. When cool drain the rinds on a sieve, dip in granu- lated sugar, and dry on oiled paper. SALTED NUTS Almost any large-meated nuts — pecans, almonds, filberts, peanuts, or English walnuts — may be salted. Buy pecans and walnuts shelled, as it is very difficult to remove them from the shells entire. A pound of shelled walnuts at forty cents a pound is really cheaper than when unshelledvat twenty cents. Peanuts and almonds are more economical purchased un- / CANDY, CANDIED FRUITS, SALTED NUTS 331 shelled. Obtain peanuts that are unroasted. Remove the skins by pouring boiUng water over them — a process which is called blanching — then dry thoroughly. For a pound of nuts pour half a cup of olive oil in a spider. When hot, put in one cup of the nuts and shake gently over a brisk fire till they begin to brown delicately. When all are evenly browned, lift the nuts on a skimmer, drain as much oil from them as possible and toss on a sheet of white blotting paper. Dust liberally with fine salt. Do not salt nuts longer than twenty-four hours before they are eaten. 332 TPIE HOME COOK BOOK XXXI PIES AND PASTRIES The Art of Pie-Making'— Piecrust— Puff Paste— Preparing Fruits for Pie— Apple Pie— Clierry Pie— Cream Pie— Sour Cream Pie — Dried Fruit Pies — Lemon Pie, Double Crust— Lemon Pie, Under Crust — Lemon Meringue Pie — Chocolate Lemon Pie — Mincemeat— Orange Pie — Potato Pie— Pumpkin Pie— Philadelphia Pumpkin Pie — Raisin Pie— Rhubarb or Pieplant Pie— Rhubarb Meringue Pie— Green Tomato Pie —Almond Straws or Tarts— Cheese Biscuit — Cheese Straws — Cream Horns— Fig Tarts— Pastry Fruit Cakes— Puff Paste Patties THE ART OF PIE-MAKING ALTHOUGH many esteemed authorities on dietetics have placed their ban of displeasure upon the pie-eating habit, declaring it to be at all times conducive to ill health, yet the fact remains that in many homes pies are freely consumed. It is not the purpose of this article either to extol or to con- done the consumption of pastry, but to give explicit directions for making the very best quality of this, if questionable, nevertheless delectable, variety of sweets. To make crisp, palatable pastry the work must be done in a cool place, the materials which enter into its composition must be of the best, thoroughly chilled, put together quickly, with as little contact during the whole process with the hands and fingers as is prac- ticable. All hard kneading must be avoided if light paste is desired. The best paste is obtained by using equal portions of butter and lard for shortening. When butter alone is used, except for puff paste, the crust will be tough. All lard produces ten- der paste, but it is white and tasteless. When freshly made butter can not be had, wash the butter thoroughly and knead in several successive waters. To mix properly the dough for pastry, first sift the salt — of which very little shoulci be used— with the flour, then by means of a knife cut the shortening into the flour. To one PIES AND PASTRIES 333 accustomed to use the hands for this purpose the operation will be awkward ; but experience will overcome this, and the result justifies the extra trouble. When the flour and shortening are incorporated, add, a few drops at a time, just enough ice water or very cold water to cause the ingredients to adhere, being careful to avoid hav- ing wet streaks. Do not knead, but turn the dough, which has been lightly gathered into a round heap, on to a well-floured doughboard, or marble slab if procurable, and divide into two parts, one for the upper, the other for the lower crust. Flour the rolling-pin, which should be straight — that is, the same size at the ends as in the middle — then, with light but effectual strokes, roll into shape. The strokes must always be fro7n the worker, and the pressure must be even. The top 'crust must have airholes in it, else it will burst. The paste will be lighter if, after mixing, it is stood in the ice-box or other cold place for two hours or more before baking. One of the banes of the pie-maker is the soggy under crust. To prevent this, bake, but do not brown, the bottom crust before putting in the filling. Further, upon removing from the oven do not take out of the baking tin until ready to serve. In- stead, stand on an inverted teacup. The air will circulate be- neath and dry the under crust. A trial of this method will convince the sceptical. Perforated pie-tins are the most satis- factory. If these can not be had use granite ware. Perhaps, after all, the success of the pie depends more upon the baking than upon any other step in the whole process. The materials may be the choicest and skilfully combined, yet if the oven be too slow the paste will not rise, but become white and clammy. In this many cooks may find an answer to the puzzle, why their pies never look fresh and flaky. On the other hand, if the heat be too brisk and the paste browns before it has time to rise, it will have a rancid taste. It will, therefore, be seen that the temperature of the oven is a matter of much moment to the successful pastry cook. The fire should be made long enough beforehand for the 334 THE HOME COOK BOOK heat to have a "body." Test before putting hi the pies by baking a bit of crust. A good formula for proportions for family pastry is : To three cups of sifted flour, to which a Httle salt is added, use one cup of shortening. If half a teaspoon of baking powder is .used three-fourths of a cup of shortening will suffice. This is sufficient for four ordinary pies. The amount may be in- creased or diminished provided the proportions are kept. PIECRUST Before making your piecrust, put some lard into a bowl, on this lay a good-sized piece of ice and cover with water. Set on the ice, or in some very cold place, for twenty min- utes or half an hour. At the end of that time put into a pan a slightly heaping teaspoon of salt and one small pint cup of sifted flour. To this add two heaping tablespoons of the lard you have in the ice water. Cut this lard through the flour with a knife, or mix quickly with the tips of the fingers. Pour over enough of the ice water to roll easily (which you can ascertain by pressing your finger on the pastry), mix with a spoon, turning over and over until all is mixed. Then sprinkle the pan you have mixed it in with flour, lay your paste back in it, and set on the ice, or in some very cold place, twenty minutes. Have your pie-plate ready, grease very lightly, then sprinkle flour over it. Then sprinkle flour rather thickly on the pastry board, flour the rolling-pin, cut a piece of dough and lay on the board. Sprinkle flour over the dough, give it one roll out flat, beat it once, fold over the four cor- ners, sprinkle with flour and roll again quite thin. Double the piece you have rolled just in the middle, lay it double on the pie-plate, then turn the folded half back, fit it to the pie- plate, giving plenty of room for it to fall into place. Trim the edges with a knife that has been dipped into the flour. Put the fruit on the pastry. Now roll the upper crust in the same way. Fold, flour, roll, and beat twice. Roll the upper crust thicker than the under [crust. Double it exactly half over PIES AND PASTRIES 335 and cut several gashes in the centre. Lay this in the same position on the pie, turn over the upper half, giving room for it to fit, and trim the edge as before. Handle the pie- crust as little as possible, as the heat of the hand will make it heavy. In rolling, roll from you — and roll only one way. The baking is the most important. Heat the oven hot. Judge of the heat by trying a small piece of the dough. If the crust is baking too fast, set a pan of cold water in the upper oven to cool it at once. Turn the pie around two or three times that it may bake evenly. When done, and perfectly cold, sprinkle powdered sugar over the upper crust. The quantity directed will make one large pie. PUFF PASTE To make pufif paste that is light and flaky requires, be- sides the knowledge hozv, an infinite amount of patience and a certain adroitness or, one might say, sleight of hand, which only comes with experience. The secret lies in securing the greatest number of alter- nate layers of butter and dough. To accomplish this there must be sufficient butter to form these layers before it is ab- sorbed into the dough. If too much butter is used it will not be absorbed ; consequently the paste will be heavy, greasy, and unpalatable- Many cooks allow equal weights of flour and butter for puff paste. Experience has proved that equally good results may be had by using three-fourths of a pound of butter to one pound of flour. The butter, which must be fresh and sweet, should harden in ice water before it is used, and then be divided into four equal parts. Sift the flour into a bowl which has been thoroughly chilled, cut up one of the lumps of butter in it, then wet with a little ice water. When a dough is thus formed, turn upon a marble slab, dust with flour and roll into a strip about twelve by six inches. Flour the remaining portions of butter and roll into strips eight by five inches. Mix half a teaspoon of 336 THE HOME COOK BOOK cream of tartar with twice its bulk of flour. Sprinkle each strip of butter with the mixture, lay one on the strip of dough and roll up. Let stand fifteen minutes in a cold place to prevent the butter from oiling, then roll out, lay on an- other butter strip, roll up, set aside to chill, and so proceed until all the butter is incorporated with the dough ; then roll into shape. This variety of paste is especially suitable for tarts and pies having no top crust. In summer, it should be made the day before baking, then put into a closely covered pail and stood in the ice-chest. PREPARING FRUITS FOR PIE Apples should be peeled, sliced thin and sugared to taste before being put in the piecrust. Peaches should also be peeled and sugared. But if the peaches are small they may be cooked in the pie with their pits, which give an added flavor. Raspberries, blackberries, cherries, currants should be dusted with flour as well as sweetened before being put in the crust. Gooseberries and cranberries should be stewed and sweetened before being put in their piecrust. To all these fruits a tablespoon or two of cold water should be added. In the fruit pies use fruit generously. That is, have plenty of the fruit filling, w^iich wholesomely serves as an antidote to the rich pastry. ^ APPLE PIE Peel and slice good flavored tart apples. Judge of the quantity you will need by slicing them into the pie plate you will use, heaping them to allow for loss in cooking. After slicing rinse quickly in cold water, put in a saucepan with a little water and two tablespoons or more of sugar. Cook until the apples are a little tender. Take them off, put the apples on the lower crust, and whatever juice is required. Then put on the upper crust, and bake. When done, take out the pie and with a broad-bladed knife loosen the upper PIES AND PASTRIES 337 crust, and lay over entirely on to the table. Put into the pie a tablespoon of butter, and sugar to taste, and gently mix the ingredients through the apple with a silver knife. Nut- meg may be added if liked, but no other spice. Be careful not to touch or break the under crust. Return the cover to the pie, and when cold and ready for use sift powdered sugar over the top crust. If you serve the pie hot, pour cream over it; or serve it plain. CHERRY PIE Have sour, ripe cherries pitted. Pits may be left in a few to give their flavor. Prepare your crust on the pie plate, pinching the edge up high. Then lay in very gen- Cherry Fitter erously the cherries, putting in first a layer of the fruit and then sugar till you use a cupful. Over the top sprinkle a tablespoon of flour and lay on the upper crust. Pinch it down well round the edges, for cherries are juicy, and the juice boils over. Cut the upper crust in the middle to give vent to steam, and bake in a hot oven. CREAM PIE Blend a cup of sugar with one pint of cream. Stir in the beaten whites of tour eggs and a quarter of a nutmeg grated- This pie should have but a lower crust. lo Vol. 3o8 THE HOME COOK BOOK SOUR CREAM PIE Beat one egg into a cup of sour cre^m. Add one cup of chopped and seeded raisins, and bake between two crusts. DRIED FRUIT PIES Dried peaches, apricots, prunes, cherries, apples, and other fruits are used for pies. In getting the dried fruit ready, wash quickly in warm water three times. Then cover the fruit wath fresh cold water and let it stand and soak over- night. Next morning stew in the water in which it soaked till tender. Then sweeten and spice to taste, and lay upon the piecrust. A tablespoon of butter spread over the fruit improves its flavor. Dried fruit pies are commonly baked with an upper crust. Sometimes they are without an upper crust and are covered with a meringue — which is made by beating to a froth the whites of two eggs, adding and beat- ing in two tablespoons of sugar, and setting in a moderate oven to brown after it is spread over the pie. LEMON PIE— DOUBLE CRUST Grate the rind and take out the pulp of one lemon and extract the seeds. Carefully chop the pulp fine in a granite pan, as a wooden chopping bowl would absorb the juice. Add the juice to the chopped lemon. Mix in a saucepan one teacup of sugar, one teacup of water, and one tablespoon of flour dissolved in water, and stirred smooth. Set the saucepan In another of hot water, and stir constantly until the mixture boils, stirring until it thickens. Then take off and pour over the lemon. Stir all together, and when cool add one beaten egg. Bake in a deep pie plate, with both an upper and under crust. This will make one pie. LEMON PIE— UNDER CRUST From two large lemons grate the rind and squeeze the juice. Blend with the juice the yolks of four eggs, three PIES AND PASTRIES 339 cups of sugar, five tablespoons of flour or cornstarch, and two cups of water. Add the grated rinds and stir in the beaten whites just as you pour into the crust. Bake with only an under crust. LEMON MERINGUE PIE Stir one heaping teaspoon of flour into one cup of sugar. Into the yolks of three eggs stir the juice and grated yellow of a lemon. Mix the lemon and sugar parts and add half a cup of cold water. Put in the crust and bake, and when baked cover with a meringue made of the whites of the eggs beaten with a little sugar. After putting on the meringue let the pie stand a few moments in a moderate oven. CHOCOLATE LEMON PIE Bake two crusts. Into one put a rich lemon filling. Next put on the other crust, right side up, and fill with a mixture made by cooking until thick and creamy one and one-half cups of powdered sugar, five tablespoons of grated chocolate, and vanilla extract to flavor. Cover with white and chocolate meringue. [See illustration, Plate XXVII. ] MINCEMEAT Boil until tender a fresh beef tongue of good size. For this mincemeat use half of it. The half you use free from skin and chop very fine. Also chop fine a pound and a half of fresh beef suet and a pound and a half of good tart baking apples. To these ingredients add two pounds of currants washed clean and dried, half a pound of raisins seeded, half a pound of sugar, quarter of an ounce of mace, quarter of an ounce of grated nutmeg, an eighth of an ounce each of cinnamon and cloves, and half a pint of brandy. When you put this meat in the crust lay on top of it before putting on the upper crust little pieces of candied citron and orange. 3i0 THE HOME COOK BOOK ORANGE PIE Grate two good-sized oranges, yellow, pulp, all except the leathery centre skin. Add to them a cup of sugar, the yolks of three eggs, and three tablespoons of thick cream. Bake with only one crust. Make a meringue of the whites of the eggs beaten stiff with a little sugar, spread over the fire and set in a moderate oven for a few minutes. POTATO PIE Rub through a colander one pound of potatoes. Let the hot potato fall from the colander on quarter of a pound of butter. Mix and add one pound of sugar beaten together with the yolks of six eggs. Stir this into the potato, and add the grated rind and juice of one lemon. Last stir lightly through the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Line two deep pieplates with the piecrust, pour in the filling and bake. PUMPKIN PIE To prepare the pumpkin peel and cut it in pieces about an inch square. Pour into a granite or porcelain kettle one pint of cold water. Add the pumpkin and cook slowly for five hours, to allow^ some of the water to cook away. Have ready a crock, set a colander over it and pour in the pumpkin. Let this drain off overnight. Next day press the pumpkin through the colander with a potato masher. It takes half a large pumpkin to prepare this. For the pies take three cups and a half of pumpkin, one full teaspoon of salt, three beaten eggs, two even teaspoons of ginger, half of a grated nutmeg, one iron spoon of molasses, one heaping tablespoon of butter, one cup of milk, and half a cup of cream. In preparing pumpkin for a pie, the quantity of milk needed will vary according to the quality of the pumpkin. A good pumpkin will thicken as the milk is added. A poor one will be thinner, and so much milk can not be used. The receipt here given is for a good pumpkin. It is always well PIES AND PASTRIES 341 in any case to make the mixture for the pie thick. This given quantity will make two pies. Line a pieplate with pie- crust, trim off the edge with a knife dipped in flour. Pour in the mixture full to the top. Bake in a moderately hot oven, and slowly, as pumpkin pies need to be very well done. If the pastry is baking too brown, set a pan of warm water over the pie in the upper oven, PHILADELPHIA PUMPKIN PIES To one pint of stewed pumpkin which you have mashed through the sieve or colander add two pints of cream, the beaten yolks of twelve eggs, and two grated nutmegs. Add also one teaspoon of mixed powdered spices, two cups of sugar, the juice of two lemons, and the whites of eggs beaten to a froth. This is for Thanksgiving and Christmas pies. RAISIN PIE Stem and cleanse a pound of raisins and let them simmer one hour in water enough to cover them. Take from the fire, cool and stone. Add the grated rind and juice of one lemon, a cup of sugar, two tablespoons of flour dissolved in a little of the raisin water, and the rest of the raisin water. These pies have an upper and under crust. RHUBARB OR PIEPLANT PIE Unless you have stalks young and exceedingly tender, begin by stripping off the skins of the stalks. Then cut the stalks in pieces half an inch long. Cover a pie tin with crust, pinching the edge up high. Strew over it thick pieces of pieplant mixed with sugar, allowing to a cup of the rhubarb a cup of sugar. Sprinkle over all a tablespoon of flour and add a tablespoon of cold water. Lay on the upper crust after you have cut centre vent holes, pinch down well to keep the juice in, and bake in a well-heated oven about half an hour. 342 THE HOME COOK BOOK RHUBARB MERINGUE PIE Cut rhubarb into thin sHces ; measure a coffee cup heap- ing full. Beat the yolks of two eggs with half a cup of sugar, one tablespoon of flour, and one-fourth of a cup of water. Mix with the rhubarb. Turn into a pastry-lined pie tin and bake in a moderate oven until the crust is done and filling well set. Beat the whites of the eggs until stiff, add two tablespoons of .pulverized sugar and beat again. Heap roughly over the top of the pie while hot. Set back in the oven to brown delicately. Serve cold. GREEN TOMATO PIE Slice green tomatoes, put in an earthen saucepan, and sweeten with equal quantities of sugar and New Orleans molasses, and no water. Cook over moderate heat until the tomatoes are clear. Line a pie plate with paste, lay the to- matoes in it, and cover them with the syrup. Cut two slices of lemon in small pieces, and mix in with the tomatoes. Sprinkle flour thickly over the top. Put a rather thick crust over and bake. When the pie is cold sprinkle over with powdered sugar. ALMOND STRAWS OR TARTS Sift together and thoroughly mix one pound of pastry flour, one teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of baking powder. Blanch and pulverize half a pound of almonds. Mix the almonds with the flour ingredients and work in half a cup of shortening made half of butter and half of lard. Mix with ice water as in making common pastry, cut in the shapes you wish, and bake in a hot oven. CHEESE BISCUIT Roll puff paste thin and grate a fine American cheese upon it until it is thickly covered. Over the cheese dash cayenne. Fold the paste on itself and roll out thin. Cut in the form PIES AND PASTRIES 343 you wish, brush with a brush dipped in the beaten white of an egg, and bake a hght brown in a quick oven. CHEESE STRAWS Mix together with your hand half a pound of flour, five ounces of butter, five ounces of grated American cheese, two eggs, a pinch of mustard, and salt and pepper to your taste. When you have this in a smooth dough, lay it on your pastry board and roll it out thin, have it say a fifth or a sixth of an inch thick. Cut it in straws four or five inches long, and bake on tin plates in a quick oven till a golden brown. CREAM HORNS Roll out puff paste until it is very thin. Then cut it in long strips and wind it round floured irons or sticks, which must be round. Wind the paste so that its edges will meet. Or if you prefer wrap it so that it will have a corkscrew form. Bake until thoroughly done, and when the paste is cold slip it from the forms. Fill in with flavored whipped cream, or with preserves or jellies. To glaze the horns brush with the white of an egg, dust with sugar, and set in the oven till the glaze forms. [See illustration, Plate XXYHL] FIG TARTS Put one pint of figs in a pint of hot water and let them gently stew almost three hours and a half. Use an earthen- ware or porcelain-lined saucepan. If the water boils out add enough hot to keep the figs stewing. When nearly cooked add a cup of sugar, and when you take from the stove add the juice of a good-sized lemon. Have ready some tiny shells of puff paste and into these drop the figs. If you wish to cap the figs with whipped cream, drop a spoonful on each fig filling. But the tarts will be rich enough without the cream. PASTRY FRUIT CAKES Roll pastry scraps left from making pies or puffs into a thin sheet and spread thick with chopped dates, raisins, nuts. 344 THE HOME COOK BOOK figs, or any such fruits you have at hand. Lay another thin sheet of the pastry over the filHng, press Hghtly, cut into shapes with a biscuit or sandwich cutter, and bake till a golden brown. PUFF PASTE PATTIES [See Illustration, Plate XXVIII.] Wash half a pound of butter in a bowl of ice water till it becomes elastic and creamy. Put it into a long strip and lay it on ice- Sift half a pound of flour three times, adding half a teaspoon of salt, and then add gradually half a cup of ice water. Mix well. Work the dough by slapping it on your mixing board or marble paste slab, and use your rolling- pin to pound it till it blisters. Chill the dough by laying it near ice for fifteen or twenty minutes. Next put it on your board and make it in a form a trifle larger and wider than the strip of cold butter. Lay on the strip of butter evenly and fold the flour dough over upon it, folding all four sides of the dough upon the butter. Upon a little sprinkled flour turn over the dough so that the butter side will be down, and roll out carefully. Do not break the dough and let the butter out. Fold the flat sheet threefold and set it by ice a quarter of an hour to chill. Next roll twice, fold again, and again put by ice to chill. Repeat the last directions. Finally roll out and chill before cutting into patties. Brush the under piece of the patty with ice water. Cut a piece the size of a half dollar out of the second piece, then lay the piece on the first and brush all with the yolk of a beaten egg. Set the patties near ice for an hour. Then bake in the lower part of a hot oven from twenty to thirty minutes. Puff paste scorches easily, and must be carefully baked. It is put in the hot oven thoroughly chilled, and the sudden change of temperature helps to puff it up. But if the oven is too hot, the paste browns before it puffs, and so becomes heavy and not puff paste at all, but a brown, greasy crust. This paste is used for holding all kinds of fruit preserves, and also creamed oysters, sweetbreads, and chicken. STEWED FRUITS 345 XXXII STEWED FRUITS The Boon of an Apple Barrel— The Care of Apples— Cooked Apples— Apples as Salad — Apple Fritters— Apple Sauce — Cider Apple Sauce — Apple Butter — To Bake Sour Apples — To Bake Sweet Apples — Fried Apples — New England Pan Dowdy — Stewed Dried Apricots— Stewed Cranberries— Baked Pears— Stewed Dried Prunes — To Stew Prunes Without Sugar— Stewed Quinces and Apples— Stewed Rhubarb T THE BOON OF AN APPLE BARREL 'HE housewife who has been careful to add to her winter 1 stores a barrel of apples, for all winter long — almost till strawberries are cheap — has the wherewithal for most whole- some and appetizing dishes. It is better economy, no matter if the family is large, to purchase only one barrel in the fall. At intervals during the winter, when another barrel is re- quired, it may cost more, only one has to take into considera- tion the fact that in the ordinary furnace-heated cellar the lasting quality of apples is impaired. Better pay the cold stor- age man fifty cents for having kept them safely than throw away a dollar's worth of rotten fruit. If you are lucky enough to possess a cool vegetable cellar, it is economy to store away several barrels of apples late in the fall, when they are at their cheapest. New clean barrels and a cool calcimined cellar, with plenty of ventilation, are necessities, however. THE CARE OF APPLES The fruit should be examined once a week, being handled very carefully to prevent bruising. It is an excellent plan to keep an empty barrel for this purpose. Two or three decaying apples will speedily taint the flavor of a whole barrel, or make them rot. The fruit which is only slightly spoiled may be culled out, heaped in a peach basket and cooked at the earliest convenience. If you are a house- 346 THE HOME COOK BOOK holder of the East, buy greenings, Baldwins, or russets ; they are the best-keeping winter apples. The Ben Davis and wine saps are two varieties most successfully stored in Western cellars. The professor, skilled in the science of food chemistry, tells us that apples contain gluten, albumen, pectine, fibrine, sugar, starch, malic acid, tannic acid, as well as water and traces of free salts. This all means little to the housewife un- skilled in chemistry; she only realizes that, in some subtle fashion of her own. Nature has stored away in the apple such a wealth of healthfulness and spicy flavors as is bestowed on few of the fruits of the tropics. It is full of the elements es- sential to the building up of sound tissues and the making of good blood. When eaten raw it is at its best. Every day pick the choicest apples from the barrel, polish with tissue paper, and pile in a pretty dish. Accustom the children of your house- hold to apple eating ; as a rule it is an easy task. When a meal is over, remove the apples to a cool pantry; they lose much flavor and crispness when left standing in a heated dining- room. The old adage, which said "Apples are gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at night," has been set aside by latter- day authorities on nutrition. They assure us that apples eaten raw are gold at night, because they excite the action of the liver, promote sound and healthy sleep, and prove excellent brain food. COOKED APPLES When one turns to the cooking of apples, first of all we think of wholesome apple sauce and delicious baked apples. For tried and true receipts for such wholesome fare, see the following pages and apple receipts among "Puddings." This is but a glance at the manifold uses of our most useful of fruits. APPLES AS SALAD Besides making most appetizing desserts, apples serve to help out the daily menu in many ways. Cut in cubes mixed with shredded celery and a few walnut meats and smothered STEWED FRUITS 347 with a boiled dressing, sour apples form the base of the ex- cellent Waldorf salad. [See "Salads," page 161.J APPLE FRITTERS Sliced, dipped in a batter, fried in deep fat, and served with a sweet sauce, they are delicious as fritters. APPLE SAUCE Of necessity, apple sauce does not always await the en- trance of roast pork. It is good all winter long, for breakfast, luncheon, or supper, and it proves a most welcome variation to the housewife who sees her canned fruit supply running low. Apples for any cooking purpose should always be pared with a silver knife ; steel will spoil their color. For apple sauce, cook them in a tightly covered granite or white-lined saucepan. Take it from the fire as soon as the fruit is tender, sweeten, and serve warm. Do not sweeten if the sauce is to be served with pork. If you would have the finest possible flavor, put the apples with a very little water and sugar in a clean bean pot, set it in a hot oven, and bake. The sauce will have a rich red color and a most excellent taste. CIDER APPLE SAUCE Sometimes toward the approach of spring apples grow flavorless. Add to them — in any way they are cooked — a dash of lemon or orange juice, half a cup of grated pineapple or a few spoons of quince preserve. The addition of raisins, halved dates, or a little finely chopped orange peel often transforms plain apple sauce into a very attractive dish for the children's table. We must not forget the spicy, old-fashioned cider apple sauce, which is a good standby all winter long. Simmer down to a pint one quart of cider and add to it four quarts of sliced apples. Cook till tender, flavor with a bit of lemon peel, if desired; beat to a smooth cream, pour into stone jars, cover when cool, and set away in a dry cold place. This sauce may 348 THE HOME COOK BOOK be made in a large quantity. It will keep perfectly till warm weather. See also "Apple Butter" following. APPLE BUTTER In a porcelain kettle boil clown six quarts of cider till it measures four quarts. Have half a peck of fine, easy cooking, juicy, sweet apples. Peel, core, and slice as many of the apples as the cider will cover and drop them in the boiling cider. When the apples are tender, take them out with a Appie Parer skimmer, and lay in a stone crock. Do exactly the same with the rest of the half peck of apples. Pour the cider over, stir up from the bottom, and let stand overnight. The next morning put all together in the kettle, and slowly cook down till you have a jam or butter consistency. Be sure your heat is only moderate, for the butter must not burn. Put in bottles or jars and seal. TO BAKE SOUR APPLES When baking apples do not remove the skins, even if it does not give the dish so sightly an appearance. Next to the skin lies the aromatic portion of the fruit. It is lost in paring. Choose the largest apples for baking. Wipe them clean, ar- STEWED FRUITS 349 range in a granite or earthen dish, pouring a Httle water over and sprinkling with brown sugar. Bake in a moderate oven till soft, and cook to the core. Allow two or three hours if necessary. Turn occasionally during baking so they will cook evenly. TO BAKE SWEET APPLES Proceed as in the foregoing receipt, omitting the sugar. To turn a dripping-pan or other dish over the dish in which the apples, whether sweet or sour, are baking, helps them to cook by keeping in the steam, and gives an added flavor. Baked sweet apples are delicious served with sweet cream poured over them. FRIED APPLES Fried apples add zest to a dish of sausage or pork chops. See "Fried Apples and Pork," page 123. Wash the apples, slice them without peeling, and put them in a frying-pan, the bottom of which is liberally covered with hot drippings or butter. Cover tight, and let them cook till soft over a mod- erate fire. Stir occasionallv. Serve hot. NEW ENGLAND PAN DOWDY Years ago, when eggs were a luxury — not even obtainable at sixty cents a dozen — the apple desserts of our grandmothers called for no eggs, yet their goodness can scarcely be sur- passed to-day by the woman whose pride is fancy cooking. Pan dowdy was always made in a deep yellow baking dish. The dish was liberally buttered, the bottom and sides were lined crust-fashion with slices of buttered bread. It was filled with sliced apples, dusted with nutmeg or cinnamon, moistened with half a :cup of hot water, one cup of brown sugar, and two tablespoons of molasses. Finish with a top crust of liberally buttered bread, cover with a plate, bake slowly for an hour and a half. Serve turned out on a platter and with cream or hard sauce. 350 THE HOME COOK BOOK STEWED DRIED APRICOTS Wash in three cold waters one pound of dried apricots. Put into a crock and cover them with cold water, which will be near one quart. Soak overnight. Next morning put into a good-sized preserving kettle with the water in which they have soaked. Add three pints more of cold water and one heaping teacup of sugar. After they begin to boil, stew them steadily and slowly one full hour and a half. The richness of fruit comes by slow boiling. Dried fruits are improved by stewing a long time, and gently. These directions may be followed and the sugar omitted if a sour apricot sauce is wished. STEWED CRANBERRIES Take one quart of cranberries, wash them in cold water, pour this off and put them in a porcelain-lined saucepan and pour over enough cold water barely to cover them. Stir in one small teaspoon of soda, without dissolving it in water. When the berries boil the soda will foam. When it stops foaming, add one teacup of sugar. Boil slowly, and when the cranberries are half done, mash them with the back of a spoon. Let them continue to boil about one hour, and when clear and rich they are done. Pour out into a crock or large bowl, and stir once in a while to prevent a scum forming over the top. BAKED PEARS A JEWISH RECEIPT Peel the pears and stick a couple of cloves in each pear. Put in an earthenware baking dish, sweeten to your taste, add water to afford plentiful juice in baking, and bake in a moderate oven till the pears are tender. Dip up the water in the pears now and then as they are baking. STEWED DRIED PRUNES Select a pound of medium-sized prunes. Wash them in three cold waters. Put them in a crock and cover with cold STEWED FRUITS 351 water overnight. In the morning put them in a preserving kettle with the water they were soaked in. Add two more quarts of cold water, one full teacup of sugar, one sliced lemon. Cook slowly until there is more than enough juice to cover them, as they will absorb the juice after they are done. It will take two hours to cook them slowly. TO STEW PRUNES WITHOUT SUGAR Wash the prunes thoroughly in several waters, cover with cold water and boil or simmer slowly until tender. They will have a thick syrup juice, and if of a good quality will have considerable sugar in themselves and be quite sweet enough for some tastes. STEWED QUINCES AND APPLES Peel and cut three quinces in small sections. Cover them with plenty of water (without sugar) and cook until nearly tender. Save the peeling and cores, put them in another saucepan, cover well with water, and stew until the flavor of the quince has cooked into the water. Cut good flavored apples in small sections and add to the stewed quince. Strain and add the water in which the peelings and cores have boiled. Cover the mixed apples and quinces with water, sweeten to taste, and cook until the apples are rich and clear. Another way of flavoring apples is to boil ginger root with them, taking out the root when they are sufficiently flavored and adding several slices of lemon. STEWED RHUBARB Peel the rhubarb and cut it in inch pieces. Lay it in a large crock, wash quickly in cold water, and then cover with boiling water. Let it stand fifteen minutes, and pour off this water. Put it in a preserving kettle, and add a teacup of sugar to four cups of the fruit. Add no more water, as rhu- barb is very juicy. Let it stew steadily until clear and rich. Taste carefully, and sweeten only just enough to leave a slight acid. 352 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXXIII CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES Selection of Fruit— Boiling — Steaming-— Small Fruits— Storing— Winter Preserves— Apple Jelly— Apple Ginger— Blackberry Jam— Brandied Cherries— Crab-Apple Jelly— Cran- berry Catsup— Spiced Cranberries— Raisin and Cranberry Jam— Spiced Currants or other Fruit— Currant Jelly— Fig Marmalade— Preserved Figs— Spiced Gooseberries —Spiced Grapes— Grape Jelly— Citron Melon Preserve— Orange Jelly — Orange Juice and Yellow— Orange-and-Lemon Marmalade— Mixed Marmalade— Ginger-Root Pears— Spiced Pears— Spiced Peaches— Peach Marmalade— Spiced Blue Plums— To Preserve Pumpkins for Winter Use— Grated Quinces— Raisin Jam— Black Rasp- berry Jam— Red Raspberry Jam— Strawberry Jam— Sun Preserves— Tomato Jam— Tutti-Frutti SELECTION OF FRUIT IN canning fruit, if the work be done successfully, there are three important considerations : the condition of the fruit, the process employed, and the storing. The fruit must be fresh, of fine flavor, without bruise or blemish, and not over-ripe ; for, contradictory as it may ap- pear, the moment fruit reaches the point of perfect maturity it begins to deteriorate in quality. It is a prevalent but mis- taken notion which man}' economy-loving women hold, that the canning season should be delayed until fruit is at its cheapest. If taste is valued, first fruits should always be obtained for this purpose. As the acme of flavor and the highest nutritive properties lie nearest the rind, the most delicious fruits and those which keep longest are canned without being pared, after a careful washing and whisking with a stiff brush made for the pur- pose. If pared fruit is preferred, the thinnest possible rind should be removed with a silver knife, which does not dis- color, and the fruit plunged at once into a wooden or earthen vessel of cold water, as exposure to the air will darken it. CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES 353 BOILING Such fruits as peaches, pears, and the like, which harden when dropped into boiling syrup, should be cooked in clear boiling water until tender, then transferred, using a wire spoon, to glass jars — standing conveniently to hand in a pan of warm water — and the boiling syrup, clear as crystal, poured over them. Only enough fruit to fill one can should be cooked at a time. Fruit put up in this manner retains both flavor and shape, thereby being delicious to eat and good to look upon. Of course, it necessitates a little more time than to dump the fruit wholesale into a kettle and cook all at once, but to the woman who is satisfied with none but the best re- sults in her culinary work, it is time well spent. A very good proportion for the syrup is a pint of granu- lated sugar to a quart of water. Use only a porcelain-lined or granite kettle. Put in the sugar, pour over the water, stir until dissolved, then put to cook. Bring slowly to boil, and skim thoroughly before adding to fruit. Make only enough for two jars at one cooking. STEAMING Another method of canning the firmer sorts of fruits, one which ensures satisfactory results, is steaming. Line the bottom of a steamer with a clean white cloth, then put in a small quantity of prepared fruit; cover closely, and stand over a kettle of boiling water, which must be kept boiling without cessation until the fruit is tender, but not soft; then lift out, a piece at a time, and drop into boiling syrup ; cook a moment, fill cans, pour over syrup and cover closely, but do not seal. Let stand a moment to settle, uncover, fill up with boiling syrup, wipe away all moisture from lids and rim; then seal at once, taking pains to have the rubbei* show an even edge all around. On no account should berries intended for canning stand overnight. They ferment rapidly, even when kept in a cool place, become soft and mash in cooking'. To the neglect of 854 THE HOME COOK BOOK this precaution may be traced many a failure. If such fruit must be utiHzed, make it into jam. Unless necessary, do not wash berries. Pick off stems and leaves with care to avoid bruising — for when the skin of the fruit is broken the syrup wall be discolored. As berries are by nature soft and mash easily when cooking, they should be cooked with the sugar, which has a tendency to make them firm. SMALL FRUITS The finest way to put up berries and other small fruits is as follows: Sprinkle with sugar in the proportions of half a pound of sugar to one pound of fruit. Then fill into glass jars. Put on the lids of the jars, but not the rubber rings. Fit a board into the bottom of a w^ash-boiler ; wrap each jar in a clean towel or cloth, to prevent touching, then stand them in rows in the boiler. Fill the boiler with cold water to within half an inch of the tops ; bring the water to boil and continue boiling for fifteen minutes. Remove jars, wipe dry, fill up from a can set apart for the purpose, and seal without delay. Berries canned in this way will be whole, firm, and retain their natural flavor. Having selected one's fruit with care, then complied with the rules governing the cooking and sealing, the last but by no means least weighty consideration is the storing. STORING The fruit closet has three arch-enemies which, singly or combined, will play havoc with its stores. These are heat, light, moisture. The closet must have a dry situation, for moisture induces mould ; light working on the fruit genders an acid which no amount of sugar will overcome, and heat will cause fermentation. WINTER PRESERVES In mid-winter, empty fruit jars and jelly tumblers begin to accumulate, and the housewife looks with dismay at gaps CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES 355 on the shelves of her preserve closet. The stock, which must be made to spin out till fresh fruit is in plenty, may be added to occasionally, however, even when the markets display noth- ing but apples, oranges, grapefruit and cranberries. The pos- sibility for mid-winter preserves is by no means limited, and the result is sometimes quite appetizing. The British cook realizes the goodness of oranges as a preserving fruit ; the orange marmalade set before one with hot rolls at a real Scotch breakfast table is a combination not readily forgotten. APPLE JELLY If you own a barrel of apples and they begin to spot slightly, as even the best apples will do during the winter, it is economy to pick them over frequently and use all the specked apples for jelly. Pick out with a sharp knife every morsel of decay, then w^ash the apples w^ell in cold water, rubbing them with a cloth; for winter stored apples have a faculty for ac- cumulating dirt. Cut the fruit into thin slices, using both cores and skins. To each quart of apples add one pint of cold water, and set in a kettle over the fire in a large preserving kettle. If the apples are rather flavorless, add one lemon, finely sliced, to two quarts of apples. Stir frequently to pre- vent the fruit from burning. When it is reduced to a mush, pour it into a jelly bag of crash or flannel which has been wrung from hot water. Hang it to drain for twenty-four hours in as warm a place as possible. There is a large amount of gelatinous substance in apples. When gelatine is chilled, of course it solidifies, so if a jelly bag cools before the juice has run out quite an amount of it is lost. An excellent winter method for jelly making is to keep the bag suspended as near as possible to a hot register. Allow for each pint of juice one pint of sugar. Set the juice to boil for twenty minutes and put the sugar to heat in a moderate oven. After the boiling- down process is done, pour in the heated sugar, when the babbling will scarcely be interrupted. Pour it in heated tum- blers after five minutes' cooking. Leave it to cool, then cover §56 THE HOME COOK BOOK with paraffine. One secret of quick and perfect jellying is to have everything which comes in contact with the juice quite hot. APPLE GINGER Pare two and a half pounds of sour apples, core and chop them coarse. Put in a saucepan with a pound and a half of brown sugar, the rind and juice of one and a half lemons, half an ounce of ginger-root and one cup of cold water. Let the fruit come to boil, then set back on the stove where it will merely simmer for four or five hours. Stir occasionally to keep it from burning. Put hot into jars and seal. BLACKBERRY JAM Blackberry jam is made after the same receipt. Take one quart of berries from each gallon. Heat them and strain the juice, adding it to the berries and thus avoiding too many seeds. BRANDIED CHERRIES AND OTHER FRUITS Have perfectly ripe, but not over-ripe, sound, sweet cherries. Keep their stems by cutting them short, or carefully free the fruit wholly from stems. Drop the cherries, a few at a time, in a boiling syrup made of a pint of water and half a pound of sugar. When they have boiled three to five minutes, lift out and lay them on plates. Allow to cool and to dry as they cool. They should be perfect in form. Make a second syrup twice as sweet as the first; that is, use a pound of sugar to a pint of water. After the syrup boils clear, set it aside to cool. Carefully pack the cherries in glass jars. To the cooled second syrup add its same liquid measure of the best brandy. Pour the mixed syrup and brandy over the cherries in the jars, seal, and set in a dry, dark, cool fruit closet. Other fruits may be brandied by this receipt. CRAB-APPLE JELLY Choose red-skin crabs. Wash, cut off all spots and blem- ishes, and quarter, keeping the peel and the cores. Put in a CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES cloT preserving, kettle with enough water to rise in sight. Boil gently till the apples are tender and falling to pieces. Put in a jelly bag — preferably a flannel bag — and let the juice drip into an earthen bowl. If you squeeze the pulp the jelly will be cloudy. Measure the juice by pints and allow a pound of sugar to each pint. Simmer at the bubbling point a full twenty minutes. Then put in the sugar, which you have weighed and heated. Cook five minutes at a bubbling point. If you test on a saucer you will find the syrup a jelly. If by any inad- vertence or inaccuracy it is not a jelly, cook longer. Finally put in jelly glasses while hot. After the jelly hardens, lay on top brandied paper and cover tight. Keep in a cool, dry, dark place. CRANBERRY CATSUP If the catsup supply is running low, replenish with a de- licious substitute made from cranberries. Cook together ten pounds of the berries, one quart of vinegar, five pounds of brown sugar, three tablespoons of cinnamon, two tablespoons of allspice, one tablespoon each of cloves and salt, and quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne. Boil slowly till thick, then strain and bottle. SPICED CRANBERRIES This abundant winter fruit makes an excellent relisli when spiced. Boil together three and a half pounds of brown sugar, two cups of vinegar, two tablespoons each of ground cinnamon and allspice, and one tablespoon of ground cloves. When this has been cooked to a syrup, add five pounds of cranberries. Simmer slowl}- for two hours. Put away in a covered stone jar. RAISIN AND CRANBERRY JAM Seed one cup of fine plump raisins, put them to stew in a granite saucepan wnth one quart of cold water. When the liquid is reduced to one pint, add four cups of cranberries and two and a half cups of sugar. Simmer very slowly till the cranberries are thoroughly cooked, then can and seal. •358 THE HOME COOK BOOK SPICED CURRANTS OR OTHER FRUIT To eight pounds of the fruit take four pounds of sugar and one pint of vinegar. In an earthen preserving kettle heat together the vinegar and sugar. Add a tablespoon each of powdered cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Have your fruit in perfect condition and cleanliness. Stir in the syrup and cook till done. Set in tumblers or jars and seal. CURRANT JELLY Free the currants from leaves, but do not take from the small stems. Examine carefully for insects and then wash in cold water. Drain thoroughly, and afterward stew the cur- rants in a porcelain preserving kettle till they are cooked to a soft mass. Tip into a colander. Press through, and then strain twice through a thick bag — preferably a flannel bag. Boil fifteen minutes, and then to each pint of juice add a pound and a quarter of granulated sugar which you have well warmed. Do not plump the sugar in all at once, but stir in a little at a time. When the sugar is thoroughly stirred in, the juice is at the jelly point. If you have doubts, test it; and if necessary, cook a little more. Pour into glasses and set to cool. When cold, cover with brandied paper or paraffine, and also glass or metal cover. FIG MARMALADE To every two pounds of fresh ripe figs allow a pound and a half of sugar and the grated yellows and juice of a large lemon and a large orange. Cut the figs in small pieces and boil with the orange and lemon, often stirring them, till you have a thick, smooth marmalade. Put away in jelly glasses and jars with paraffine covering over the top. PRESERVED FIGS This preparation is more of a confection than a preserve. It is delicious, and affords at a moderate price a dainty which costs extravagantly when bought at a grocery. Buy the finest CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES 359 dried figs, pull them apart and wipe each one with a piece of wet cheesecloth. Weigh them and set aside their weight in granulated sugar. Soak the figs overnight in cold water, then simmer very slowly in just enough water to cover thenv Lift them out carefully and set to cool. Make a syrup from the water in which they were cooked and the sugar. Put the figs back in the syrup, adding a few bits of green ginger, the juice of two lemons and the rind of one to one pound of figs. Simmer for ten minutes, drain ofif the figs, set them to dry slightly in a moderate oven, and boil the syrup till quite thick. Put the figs in glass jars, pour the syrup over them and seal while hot. SPICED GOOSEBERRIES ' Head and tail three quarts of gooseberries. With a little water to cover the bottom of the kettle stew them a few minutes till their fibre is relaxed. Then add one pint of vinegar, a quart and a half of sugar, a teaspoon of ground cloves, two tablespoons of ground cinnamon, half a tea- spoon of white pepper, and half a teaspoon of salt. Use a porcelain kettle, and boil the fruit and the syrup thirty or forty minutes over a slow fire. Seal in bottles or glasses for use. SPICED GRAPES Pulp the grapes. Boil up the pulp fill the fibre softens and loosens the seeds. To every three quarts of skins and pulp add the syrup described in the foregoing receipt, namely, a pint of vinegar, a quart and a half of sugar, a teaspoon of ground cloves, two tablespoons of ground cin- namon, half a teaspoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of white pepper. In a porcelain kettle gently boil all these ingredients, allowing thirty to forty minutes for a complete, slow cooking. Put in bottles, seal, and set in the fruit closet for use. GRAPE JELLY Choose grapes just turning ripe. Pick from the stems and cook in a preserving kettle, allowing a cup of water to each 860 THE HOME COOK BOOK pound of grapes. When the grapes are cooked soft, put in a jelly bag and let the juice drip in an earthen bowl. If you squeeze the bag the jelly will be cloudy. Cook the strained juice about twenty minutes. Then add a pound of warmed sugar to each pint of juice. Simmer at a bubble five minutes, ^kim and put in jelly glasses while hot. After the jelly cools, lay over paper dipped in brandy, and seal. CITRON MELON PRESERVE Peel and slice the melon thin, or in small quarters. To every pound of citron allow one pound of sugar and quarter of a pound of ginger-root. Put the melon in water enough to cover, add to this water two teaspoons of soda, boil until just tender, and set to cool. When cold, soak in a strong alum water one hour. Make a syrup of one pint of water and two pounds of sugar. Beat the white of one egg to a stiff froth, add this to the sugar and water, stir, let it boil, and skim off the egg. As the egg clears the sugar and water add the ginger-root and melon and cook in this syrup until clear. Put in glass jars (not too full), and cover with the syrup. ORANGE JELLY Slice oranges very thin. Put in preserving kettle and cover with cold water. Boil for two hours. A delicately tart jelly will be obtained. After boiling the water and pulp, pour it into a strainer lined with cheesecloth and let the liquid drip. To one pint of juice add one pint of heated sugar. Boil till a drop will jelly when poured on a cold plate. Put into glasses and cover with paraffine. ORANGE JUICE AND YELLOW First be sure your oranges are clean, then wash and wipe them dry. From a quarter of them grate ofif the yellow skin. Roll them all upon a board under the hand, halve them, and squeeze out all the juice. Put the grated yellow, and measure the orange- juice, into a porcelain-lined fruit kettle. Set over CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES 361 the fire, and when it begins to boil, add as much sugar as you measured of the juice. Cook slowly till the juice thickens and put in glasses and seal. ORAXGE-AND-LEMON MARMALADE Wash in cold water, scrubbing the skins with a vegetable brush, one dozen sour oranges and six lemons. Dry them and cut off the ends, then slice very thin on a vegetable gutter. Pick the seeds from this pulp and put them to soak in two cups of cold water. Put the pulp in a large preserving kettle, cover with one gallon of cold water and let it stand for thirty- six hours. Then strain the seeds, add the water from them to the shredded fruit and set the kettle to boil slowly for two hours. Add ten pounds of sugar and boil for another hour or till it jellies. Pour into tumblers, and when cool cover with melted paraffine. This marmalade, if made when oranges sell for twenty-five cents a dozen, costs about four cents a tumbler. If you desire a more decided tang of acid to this preserve, use four grapefruits instead of six oranges, and make the marmalade after exactly the same rule. AIIXED MARMALADE Crush two pounds and a half each of currants and pitted cherries. Add two pounds of seeded raisins, the yellow peel of four oranges chopped fine, and three pounds of sugar. Cook gently till the fruit is a marmalade, adding a little water if needed. Add the juice of the oranges just before the marma- lade is ready to le^ve the stove. Cook ten minutes after putting in the juice. GINGER-ROOT PEARS In a preserving kettle steep in two cups of water quarter of a pound of green ginger-root, or half a pound of candied ginger-root, after cutting it in small pieces. Add eight pounds of sugar and let boil to a syrup. Cut the inside of four lemons in small pieces and add to the syrup. Cut also and add the lemon rinds — not the white part, but strips of the thin yellow io Vol. 2 3G2 THE HOME COOK BOOK skin. Take eight pounds of peeled pears, slice the fruit, and add. Cook very slowly until all is thick like a jelly. SPICED PEARS Take one teaspoon of whole cloves, one tablespoon of all- spice and one tablespoon of cinnamon. Crush them slightly, and boil one minute in a quart of vinegar and a pint of sugar mixed. Select a fine variety of pear, halve, taking out the seeds, and boil in water until nearly tender. Finish the cook- ing in the spiced syrup, cooking them not too soft. Place them in small stone jars and cover well with the syrup. Tie a cover over the jar. SPICED PEACHES Spiced peaches are made the same as spiced pears, except they are not boiled in water. The syrup will cook them sufficiently. PEACH MARMALADE For marmalade, take half a peck of very ripe yellow free- stone peaches and half a peck of white freestones. Pare, stone, and weigh them, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Put one pint of water in the bottom of the kettle before the fruit is added. Add the peaches and stand on the stove where it is not too hot, to draw their juice, stirring from the bottom wath a w^ooden spoon. Set an asbestos plate under to keep from scorching. When the juice is well drawn out, boil hard until the mixture pops and sinks. Then add the sugar which has been heated quite hot. Boil until thick and not too stifif, which will be from half to three- quarters of an hour. Put in glasses or jars and cover over with brandied paper or paraffine, SPICED BLUE PLUMS Rinse in cold water, and wipe dry, two pounds of blue plums. Prick each one. Boil one minute one pint of vinegar, CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES 363 with one pound of sugar, one tablespoon of whole allspice, one tablespoon and a half of stick cinnamon, and one dessertspoon of cloves, having crushed the spices slightly and tied them in a lace bag. Lay the fruit in a stone jar. Pour the hot vinegar over it for nine mornings, heating it each day. The last morning, boil the plums in the spiced vinegar twenty minutes. Damsons are spiced in the same way. TO PRESERVE PUMPKIN FOR WINTER USE Wipe off and cut open the pumpkin and take out the seeds and soft network within. Cut into half moons, and trim off the hard outside rind. Then cut the meat in small pieces, put in a steamer over a kettle of boiling water, cover tight by laying a weight on the cover, and steam slowly three or four hours, or until the pulp or meat is perfectly tender. Then put through a colander. Next put the pumpkin pulp in a kettle, set it over a very slow, gentle fire — in this have care, for pumpkin burns easily — and heat the pumpkin hot, and dry it out. While it is still hot put it in glass bottles or cans, seal tight, and set it in the fruit closet for use. GRATED QUINCES Grate your quinces, and to each cup of grated fruit add two and a half cups of sugar and two cups of water. Boil slowly for an hour or more and seal in jelly glasses. RAISIN JAM Wash seedless raisins. To each pound allow one cup of cold water, and simmer gently over the fire for an hour. Then add a cup of sugar to each pound of raisins, and also a sliced lemon. Simmer again for an hour, put in glasses, cover with paraffine, and set away for use. BLACK RASPBERRY JAM Crush half of your berries, heat in a preserving kettle, and then put through a sieve. Add the juice to the other whole 364 THE HOME COOK BOOK berries, let come to boil, add quarter of a pound of sugar to each box of berries, and simmer till the jam is thick. Put in small glasses or jars, cover with paraffine, and set in a dry, cool, dark place for use. RED RASPBERRY JAM To six boxes of red raspberries add five pounds of sugar and the juice of four lemons. Cook slowly together in a pre- serving kettle and put away in small glasses or jars, sealed or covered with paraffine. STRAWBERRY JAM For every pound of fruit allow half a pound of sugar. Put the berries in a preserving kettle. Stand the kettle back on the stove where it is not too hot, to draw out the juice. When the juice is well drawn, bring forward and let boil until the berries pop and sink, stirring occasionally. Have the sugar hot, add to the berries, and stir almost constantly with a wooden spoon. Let boil until quite firm without being stiflf, which will be from half to three-quarters of an hour. Set an asbestos plate under to prevent the fruit burning. Put away in jelly glasses or jars, cutting a paper to fit the top and wetting it with brandy. SUN PRESERVES For cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, red raspberries, currants, etc., take two pounds of fruit to two pounds of sugar. Prepare the fruit and have it in perfect condition. Melt the sugar in a preserving kettle by adding just enough water to moisten it and let it boil up clear. Then add the fruit and let boil two minutes. Pour into platters and shallow earthen dishes, and set in the hot sunshine two or three days. Bring in the preserve each night ; that is, do not let dew or dampness get to it. Put away in jelly glasses or jars. TOMATO JAM Peel seven pounds of tomatoes and let them lie in a jar in one quart of vinegar overnight. Next morning put them in an CANNED FRUITS AND PRESERVES 365 earthen preserving kettle and boil. When nearly done, add three and a half pounds of sugar, two teaspoons of cinnamon, one teaspoon of cloves, and two teaspoons of mace. TUTTI-FRUTTI Put into a large stone jar or crock with a closely fitting cover one quart of good preserving brandy. For every pound of fruit which you use as you proceed you must add three- quarters of a pound of granulated sugar. You must use only the best of dry, good fruit in sound condition and of choice flavor. Every kind of fruit may be usfed, commencing with strawberries. The mixture must be stirred every day with -a large wooden spoon in order that the sugar may be well dis- solved. The jar must be kept in a dry, cool place. Use as much of any kind of fruit as you may desire, remembering the proportionate quantity of sugar. Beginning with strawberries and the sugar, follow on with cherries, pineapples, currants, raspberries, apricots, plums, peaches, grapes, peeling and seed- ing all of the fruits except the berries. Use at least one pound of black cherries as a dark coloring, always remembering ac- curacy as to the proportionate amount of sugar and the daily stirring. BOG THE HOME COOK BOOK XXXIV PICKLES AND CATSUPS Sweet Pickles— Syrup for Sweet Pickles— Sweet Apple Pickles— Sweet Beet Pickles- Sweet Cantaloupe Pickles— Sweet Peach Pickles — Sweet Pear Pickles — Sweet Damson Plum Pickles— Sweet Prune Pickles— Sweet Strawberry Pickles — Sweet Watermelon Pickles— Home-Made Catsups— Cucumber Catsup — Currant Catsup — Gooseberry Catsup— Ripe Grape Catsup — Mushroom Catsup— Tomato Catsup — Red Tomato Catsup— Walnut Catsup— Worcestershire Catsup — To Pickle Cauliflower- Chilli Sauce — Chow-Chow — Chow-Chow Pickle — India Chutney— Stuffed Cucumbers — Yellow Cucumber Pickle — Mango Pickles — Pepper Mangoes— Mustard Pickle — Nasturtium Seeds— Piccalilli— Green Tomato Pickle SWEET PICKLES EVERY Storeroom should have an assortment of sweet pickles. They are boons to the housewife ; not only be- cause they are such acceptable appetizers for lunch-basket, luncheon, and tea tables, but also because the}^ may be trans- formed into many delightful emergency dishes suitable for an entree or a dessert. A pickled peach or pear, or a bunch of pickled cherries in a pastry shell, dressed with a little spiced liquor, makes a most toothsome morsel. Plain cake and sweet pickled fruit combine so agreeably that they seem made for each other. Several varieties of pickled fruit may be served together as a spiced fruit salad. These are but three of the many dishes which may be concocted by using the sweet pickle as a basis. Others will suggest themselves. SYRUP FOR SWEET PICKLES Any fruit or vegetable that can be preserved may be made into sweet pickle. A very good proportion for the syrup is three pints of "coffee C" sugar to one quart of good cider vinegar. The spices commonly used for this variety of pickle are cloves and cinnamon, and the proportion two teaspoons PICKLES AND CATSUPS 867 of the former and four tablespoons of the latter to each gallon of fruit. The appended receipts if followed to the letter can not fail to give satisfactory results. SWEET APPLE PICKLES Sweet apples may be prepared in the way directed for "Sweet Pear Pickles," and are especially nice. SWEET BEET PICKLES Cook the beets till tender ; slip ofif the skins and cut into slices ; place in glass jars, fill up with spiced syrup, boiling hot, and seal. SWEET CANTALOUPE PICKLES Select melons that are not quite ripe ; open, scrape out the pulp, peel, slice, and lay in a weak brine overnight. Next morning boil in a weak alum water till transparent ; lift out, drain, wipe dry, then drop into boiling spiced syrup and cook twenty minutes, SWEET PEACH PICKLES Take four quarts of peaches of a gentle acid flavor and tender fibre. Peel, but do not stone. In a porcelain kettle boil a quart of cider vinegar with four pounds of sugar, a tablespoon of mace, a tablespoon of cloves, and a tablespoon of cinnamon broken small. Tie the spices in a bag of thin muslin, or if you prefer, tie the other spices and stick the cloves through the meat of the peaches. When the cider boils, drop in the peaches, and when they all boil up, skim and boil six minutes. Gently take the peaches from the s)Tup, lay them in the bottom of a crock. Boil the syrup fifteen minutes longer, pour over the peaches, cool and cover tight, and keep in a cool place. 368 THE HOME COOK BOOK SWEET PEAR PICKLES Pare and halve the fruit; then drop it into boiling syrup, and cook until tender enough to pierce with a silver fork. Transfer to a stone jar, sprinkle with spices, cover with boiling syrup, let stand overnight; next morning finish as directed for "Sweet Peach Pickles." SWEET DAMSON PLUM PICKLES Scald together the vinegar and sugar; skim, add spices, boil up once, then turn over fruit. Draw off and scald the vinegar twice more at intervals of three days, the last time boiling the fruit twenty minutes. SWEET PRUNE PICKLES Soak a day in cold water after washing thoroughly two pounds of prunes. Then steam them till they are soft and tender. In an earthen kettle make a syrup of a pound of sugar, half a pint of vinegar, half an ounce of cinnamon and cloves, and a couple of pinches of ginger if your taste directs, but the ginger may be omitted. When the syrup boils, add the prunes and boil together fifteen minutes. SWEET STRAWBERRY PICKLES Place the berries in layers In a jar with spices between. Pour over them the boiling syrup. Let stand twenty-four hours closely covered ; then draw off the syrup, boil and pour over the fruit again. Let stand as before, then turn the whole into a preserving kettle and cook slowly, without stirring, for thirty minutes. Pickle other small fruits in the same manner. SWEET WATERMELON PICKLES Select a fine ripe melon ; pare off the outer green rind and red core. Cut into inch squares, and place in a preserving kettle with two teaspoons of salt for each gallon of rinds. Nearly cover with water and boil until tender. Drain in a colander; then proceed as directed for "Sweet Peach Pickles." PICKLES AND CATSUPS 369 HOME-MADE CATSUPS The various catsups are highly appreciated by the good cook, who not only employs them for the purpose of impart- ing an agreeable flavor to meats and other solid foods at table, but also as a piquant seasoning for soups, gravies, meat sauces, hashes, stews, and similar dishes. To buy these condiments ready prepared and of a de- sirable quality one must needs pay a fancy price ; but when manufactured at home, their cost is insignificant. Use only perfect fruit for catsups ; cook in a porcelain kettle ; bottle in glass or stone. To prevent mould, do not fill the bottles quite to the top with catsup, but fill up with hot vinegar. CUCUMBER CATSUP Peel and chop three dozen cucumbers and half as many onions very fine. Add one teacup of mustard-seed, a quarter of a teacup of black pepper, and one ounce each of cloves and allspice. Mix well and cover with vinegar. CURRANT CATSUP Cook together until thick six quarts of currant- juice and five pounds of sugar. Then add one quart of vinegar, three tablespoons of cinnamon, two of allspice, one each of cloves, nutmeg and salt, and half an ounce of cayenne. Boil twenty minutes, bottle and seal. GOOSEBERRY CATSUP Scald, mash and put through a colander nine pounds of ripe fruit. Add five pounds of sugar, three tablespoons of cinnamon, and half a tablespoon each of cloves and allspice. Boil twenty minutes, add one quart of cold vinegar, bottle, and seal without delay. RIPE GRAPE CATSUP Make ripe grape catsup by the same formula as "Goose- berry Catsup." 37U THE HOME COOK BOOK MUSHROOM CATSUP Wipe, but do not wash, freshly gathered mushrooms; put in layers in an earthen dish, sprinkling each layer with salt. Cover with a damp cloth of several thicknesses, let stand in a warm place thirty-six hours, then mash and strain. To each quart of juice add one ounce of peppercorns. Boil thirty minutes. Add one ounce each of whole cloves and allspice, half an ounce of ginger-root, and one blade of mace. Simmer fifteen minutes. When cold, strain and bottle. TOMATO CATSUP Wipe with a damp cloth and core one bushel of fine ripe tomatoes. Place over the fire with three pints of water, two handfuls of peach leaves and a dozen onions cut fine. Boil two hours, strain, add half a gallon of vinegar, two ounces each of ground allspice, black pepper and mustard, one ounce of ground cloves, two grated nutmegs, two pounds of brown sugar, and one pint of salt. Boil two hours longer, stirring constantly. Bottle cold. RED TOMATO CATSUP Mash very ripe tomatoes to a pulp, put them in an earthen jar, cover, and stir them twice each day. They will ferment. After three days, rub them through a sieve and put the part that goes through the sieve to cook in a porcelain-lined pot. Let it boil till of a creamy thickness. To each gallon of cook- ing pulp add half a pound of sugar, half a cup of salt, one teaspoon of cayenne, and half a pint of vinegar. Boil fifteen minutes, fill the bottles while hot, and seal tight. WALNUT CATSUP Gather the walnuts when green and soft. Grind or pound in an earthen or marble mortar; then turn into a stone jar, sprinkle with salt and cover with vinegar. Let stand a week, stirring well each day ; then strain through a coarse cloth. To each gallon of the liquor add one ounce each of whole PICKLES AND CATSUPS 371 cloves, peppercorns, ginger, mace, and celery seed, half a nut- meg broken fine, one clove of garlic, and half a teaspoon of cayenne. Boil all slowly till reduced one-half. Strain, and bottle when cold. WORCESTERSHIRE CATSUP Mix thoroughly half a gallon of vinegar, one ounce of cayenne, eight cloves of garlic, one dozen anchovies (mashed), one tablespoon of whole cloves, and two blades of mace. Let stand closely covered for eighteen hours. Strain, add two gills of walnut catsup and two tablespoons of prepared mustard. Turn into a jug. At the end of two weeks bottle it. TO PICKLE CAULIFLOWER A JEWISH RECEIPT Wash, soak, and take ofif the leaves of the cauliflower. Break the flower into small twigs, parboil the twigs in brine, drain, lay in a crock and pour over boiling, spiced vinegar. CHILLI SAUCE Chop together one white onion, one green pepper, and six large ripe tomatoes. Add half a tablespoon of salt, twenty- four tablespoons of brown sugar, and half a teaspoon each of ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Boil all together two hours, put in bottles, and seal. CHOW-CHOW A NEW ORLEANS RECEIPT (To be put in quart jars for winter use.) Chop fine four Spanish onions and one dozen large green tomatoes. Add one large cauliflower cut in small pieces, not the leaves, only the heart or flower. Add fifty very small onions and twenty-four small cucumbers. Mix in two teacups of salt, put in a deep stone jar, and let stand twenty- four hours. Then cover with a mixture of vinegar and water for two days. Drain off all 872 THE HOME COOK BOOK liquor and add the following, mixing in thoroughly: Half a pint of grated horseradish, half a pound of white mustard seed, half a pound of celery seed, four tablespoons of cayenne pepper, half a dozen minced dried red peppers, two and a half tablespoons of tamarack, one teacup of white sugar, two bottles — about two cups — of French mustard, one gallon of cider vinegar. Mix thoroughly, put in jars, and seal for use. CHOW-CHOW PICKLE Have four large cabbage heads, one peck of green toma- toes, one quart of onions, one dozen cucumbers, and three green peppers. Chop fine. Mix in two handfuls of salt, tie in a strong cheesecloth bag and drain overnight. Next morn- ing add one ounce of celery seed, one ounce of mustard seed, half a box of mustard, one pound of sugar. Put in a preserv- ing kettle, cover with cider vinegar, put over the fire, and cook slowly till the pickles are tender — but not till they lose form. li needed, add more vinegar while cooking. INDIA CHUTNEY Put together two quarts of chopped apples, two quarts of green tomatoes, one pound of raisins, three cups of brown sugar, one cup of lemon- juice, one small onion chopped, three cups of vinegar, half a cup of salt, one teaspoon of cayenne, and one tablespoon of ginger. Mix and let stand in an earthen dish overnight and next morning boil till tender. STUFFED CUCUMBERS Pack medium-sized cucumbers in dry coarse salt. They caH be left any length of time in the brine, or in two weeks can be taken from the brine. Soak them in tepid water three days, changing the water each day. Without paring cut them in two halves lengthwise. Cut out of each half a small strip. Fill the space with black and white mustard seeds, wet with olive oil. In each one put some pieces of very thin PICKLES AND CATSUPS 373 strips of horseradish. Tie the halves together with small strips of cheesecloth. This done, divide the quantity in half. Put half in a preserving kettle. Sprinkle horseradish finely shaved through them. Allow two red (chilli) peppers to a kettleful. In the centre put one sliced onion, one teaspoon of pulverized alum, and a small bag holding one tablespoon of allspice and one teaspoon of whole cloves. Put in the rest of the pickles. Add horseradish, one teaspoon of alum, and one small teacup of brown sugar. Cover the whole with cold vinegar. Set on the stove, gradually heat, and when it comes to boil the pickles are done. Put away in small stone jars. Tie a cloth over the top. YELLOW CUCUMBER PICKLE Cut yellow cucumbers in slices (crosswise) not quite half an inch thick. Pack them in a stone jar in layers, with coarse salt between. Lay a plate on top with a weight on it. Let stand overnight. Next day pour off the water. Put them in a granite preserving kettle in layers and mix through the fol- lowing ingredients : Six large onions chopped fine, one teacup of brown sugar, two tablespoons of dry mustard, two table- spoons of celery seed, two tablespoons of white mustard seed, one tablespoon of ground cloves, two tablespoons of ground cinnamon, two tablespoons of black pepper and of horse- radish chopped fine, four small red peppers, two tablespoons of turmeric powder, and one dessertspoon of pulverized alum. Cover with cold vinegar. Set it on the stove to gradually :come to boil. As soon as it bubbles, take it from the fire. Put away in sealed glass jars. MANGO PICKLES Take out the inside of green peppers and soak the peppers overnight in strong salt water. Next morning simmer the peppers in fresh water made slightly acid with vinegar. When they are tender, fill each pepper with chow-chow, put them in a crock, and cover with hot weak vinegar. 874 THE HOME COOK BOOK PEPPER MANGOES Select the long sweet peppers. Cut a long slit in the side of each. Very carefully cut out the centre with a small pen- knife, not touching the seeds. Rinse in cold water and lay in strong salt and water twenty-four hours. Rinse in cold water at the end of that time, drain, and wipe dry. Fill the peppers with the following dressing: Cabbage and onion chopped fine, and separately. Use twice as much cabbage as onion. Season with black and white mustard seeds, celery seed, and chopped horseradish, moistened with a small quantity of vinegar and olive oil. After filling, sew together the opening. Put in a jar, and cover with cold vinegar. MUSTARD PICKLE Peel and cut large cucumbers in pieces from half an inch to three-quarters of an inch in length until you have one quart. Add one quart of w^iite onions cut small, one quart of green tomatoes, four large sweet peppers, one quart of small cucumbers, and one large head of cauliflower. All these, except very small cucumbers, are cut in small pieces. Put into a brine made of one gallon of water and a cup of salt, and stand twenty-four hours. Then scald in the same brine, and drain w^ell. For the mustard dressing, mix one cup of flour with two cups of sugar, six tablespoons of ground mustard, one tablespoon of tamarack, and two quarts of cider vinegar. Scald all together, and the pickles are ready for use. NASTURTIUM SEEDS Keep a glass jar of cider vinegar in a cool place, and drop in the seeds of your nasturtium flowers — when the seeds are full formed and green, but not when they have become hard and yellow. These pickled seeds are an excellent sub- stitute for capers in making sauce for boiled mutton. PICCALILLI Take as many green tolnatoes as you wish, and one-fourth as many onions. Slice and put in layers, sprinkling two PICKLES AND CATSUPS 375 tablespoons of salt over every third layer. Let stand over- night and drain. Add one-third as much chopped cabbage, and then chop all together. Add whole mustard, ginger-root, peppers — either green or red — cloves, allspice, cinnamon, horse- radish if you have it, and a little brown sugar — all these to your taste for hot things and judgment. Cover with the best vinegar in a porcelain preserving kettle, scald thoroughly, and seal air-tight till used. GREEN TOMATO PICKLE Slice green tomatoes one-quarter of an inch thick. Put them in a stone jar overnight in layers with coarse salt sprinkled between. Lay a plate on top with a weight on it. Next morning drain off the water (without rinsing). Put the tomatoes in a preserving kettle, in layers, and mix through the following ingredients : Six onions chopped fine and four green peppers freed from their seeds and chopped, almost all of one root of horseradish chopped fine, four small red pep- pers (not chopped), two tablespoons of black pepper, one tablespoon of ground cloves, two tablespoons of allspice, one tablespoon of dry mustard, and one teacup and a half of brown sugar. Cover with cold vinegar. Set the kettle on the stove. Let the vinegar slowly heat, and boil until the tomatoes are partly tender. Put them away in glass jars covered. 876 THE HOME COOK BOOK XXXV BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD Boiled Coffee— To Clear Coffee— Drip Coffee— Black Coffee— Turkish Coffee— To Make Tea— Cool Beverages for Summer Days— Iced Coffee— Iced Tea— Summer Cocoa- Iced Cocoa— Lemonade— Apollinaris Lemonade— Sherry Lemonade- Egg Lemonade —The Making of Fruit Syrups or Shrubs— Cherry Syrup— Chocolate Syrup— Curraat Shrub— Grape Shrub— Lemon Syrup— Pineapple Syrup— Raspberry Syrup— Straw- berry Syrup— Grape-Juice— Flavor and Quality in Grape- Juice— Uses of Grape- Juice— Food Value of Grape-Juice— Grape-Juice and Egg— Grape Nectar— Grape Punch— Grape Wine— My Lady's Wine— Cider Cup — Dandelion Wine— Eggnog —A Child's Eggnog— Egg Wine— Ginger Punch— Milk Punch— Mint Julep— Pass- over Wine— Root Beer— Royal Shrub— Strawberry Punch — Summer Zephyr— Wassail Bowl— Whips BOILED COFFEE PUT into the coffee-pot three-quarters of a teacup of ground coffee. Mix this with one teacup of cold water. For settUng it, use a piece of dried codfish skin two inches square, or one-quarter of an egg, the yolk and white mixed together (not beaten). Stir in a piece of the shell. Add two teacups of boiling water. Set it on the stove and boil hard ten minutes, covering the pot tight. Stir the coffee down from the sides as it rises. When it is done, it will no longer rise. After boiling it quickly, set it back on the stove and boil ten min- utes more. When this is done, pour in one-quarter of a tea- cup (scant) of cold water to settle it. Keep hot to serve, and boil no more. A good way to keep anything hot is to set an asbestos plate underneath, back from the fire. Otherwise the cooking will continue. TO CLEAR COFFEE Two things are good for clearing coffee, one is egg, the other is the skin of a salt codfish. The codfish clears coffee much better than egg. Take a salt codfish, peel off and dry the skin in a warm place. When dried, cut into pieces about BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD 377 two inches square. When you have mixed your coffee with cold water, throw into it a piece of the skin, and add the boihng water, and boil. There will not be any flavor of the salt fish in the coffee. DRIP COFFEE Allow one tablespoon of ground coffee to one cup of boil- ing water. Put the ground coffee in the strainer of a French coffee-pot. Slowly pour the boiling water, half a cup at a French Coffee-Pot and its Filter time, over the ground coffee. Cover the pot tight between the half cups. When the water is filtered through, pour through a second time. Take the strainer from the pot. Carry the coffee to the table boilinsf hot. BLACK COFFEE In the strainer of a drip coffee-pot put finely ground coffee, allowing two tablespoons of coffee to one cup of boil- ing water. Pour fresh boiling water over the coffee, let stand a moment and then serve. To ensure getting the strength of the coffee, be sure the coffee is finely ground and the water is boiling hot. TURKISH COFFEE Have fresh-roasted coffee ground to a fine powder. In a small coffee cup put a heaping teaspoon of the ground coffee 378 THE HOME COOK BOOK and a lump of sugar, or sugar to your taste. Fill up the cup with boiling water, stirring as you pour in the coffee, so that the boiling water will touch all the powder. The grounds are drunk with the liquid. The strength of this cup may be increased by doubling the quantity of the ground coffee. TO MAKE TEA Scald an earthen teapot and put in one teaspoon of tea for each cup you will need, allowing one teaspoon for the teapot. Pour in fresh boiling water, not water that has boiled some time, but water that has just begun to boil. Stand in a warm place five minutes for the leaves to steep, not on a hot stove, but on a water tank or other warm place where the teapot is kept warm. Serve a slice of lemon with each cup, or cream or milk. COOL BEVERAGES FOR SUMMER DAYS One always associates tinkling ice and crystal with warm weather, and there is nothing more appreciated by the weather-worn and thirsty than a homemade, cooling, non- intoxicating beverage. Summer drinks should be served from crystal pitchers and in thin glasses. One can buy such pretty articles in pressed glass nowadays that heavy earthenware receptacles and thick, inartistic glasses are out of place and inexcusable. The simplest lemonade tastes better when sipped through straws. A box of one hundred straws may be purchased for a small sum, and they are well worth the investment. Iced tea is a favorite beverage for summer tables, but the receipt given here is as unlike that usually masquerading under this title as black is from white. ICED COFFEE For icea coffee to serve in the afternoon or evening make the coffee in the morning. Sweeten to taste, and set to cool. BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD 379 Put a tablespoon of cracked ice in each glass in which the coffee is served, and drop a spoonful of whipped cream on top of each glass of the beverage. ICED TEA Fill thin glasses full of shaved ice, placing a thin slice of lemon on top of each and also one teaspoon of powdered sugar. Make a pot of strong tea and pour into the glasses over the ice. There will not be any danger of breaking them, as the ice cools the tea immediately, and herein lies the secret of the delicious flavor obtained. [See illustration, Plate XXIX.] SUMMER COCOA Mix a heaping teaspoon of cocoa with the same quantity of sugar in enough boiling water to dissolve both cocoa and sugar. Fill the tumbler with fresh cold milk or with thin cream. ICED COCOA Boil a heaping teaspoon of cocoa in half a pint of boiling water for five minutes. Sweeten to taste and add after it is cool half a cup of cream. Beat light with an egg beater, and serve in tall glasses half filled with powdered ice. LEMONADE To every glass allow one small lemon, or a large lemon to two glasses. Squeeze the juice, add a glass of water for Lemon Squeezer each glass, and sugar to taste. Put the pitcher on ice and serve thoroughly cold, but not with ice in the glass. 380 THE HOME COOK BOOK APOLLINARIS LEMONADE Use ice-cold apollinaris water instead of common water follow the directions just given, and serve as soon as made. SHERRY LEMONADE Take a large-sized tumbler, fill three-quarters full o pounded ice,- add the juice of one large lemon, two teaspoon and a half of sugar, one tablespoon of sherry, and fill up wit! water. Stir all well together. EGG LEMONADE Squeeze a small lemon in a tumbler. Add sugar to you taste, being careful to keep the drink a little sour. Break a] egg into the tumbler. Fill the glass three-fourths full of co.L Shakers for Mixing Drinks fresh water, cap the tumbler with a shaker, hold very firm to gether, and shake vigorously. When the egg is broken com pletely and mingled with the liquid, the lemonade is read; to drink. THE MAKING OF FRUIT SYRUPS OR SHRUBS Appreciation of delicious fruit flavors proves a strong in centive to the zealous housewife in providing herself agains BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD '6Sl the day when the possibiUt}- of securhig the fruit itself shall have passed. The making of fruit syrups entails no excess of time, labor, or expense, and the syrups are valuable in autumn and winter desserts, flavoring home-made ice creams, sherbets, jellies, Bavarian and other creams, sauces for puddings, and also flavorings for punches and other beverages. But especially they are in this division given as serving for wholesome and delicious flavoring in a glass of fresh water. In using the syrup for such simple beverages, use it precisely as our grand- mothers did — have a tumbler of fresh water and stir in a table- spoon of the syrup, or "shrub," or "vinegar." as those dames of other days used to sa}' in speaking of such sweets. CHERRY SYRUP Have ripe, juicy acid cherries. Stone them, and one-eighth of the stones pound and break. Cook all together till the cherry pulp is soft and the juice free. Then squeeze through a bag. To every pint of juice add a heaping cup of sugar and boil fifteen minutes. Put in bottles or jars and seal for use. Keep in a cool, dry place. CHOCOLATE SYRUP Add to three tablespoons of chocolate one pint of boiling water. Let boil up, then add one pint of sugar and boil three minutes. When cold add one tablespoon of vanilla. In using the s}'rup put two tablespoons in a tumbler, add two table- spoons of cracked ice. two tablespoons of whipped cream and fill up the glass with milk. Stir well together, and serve. CURRANT SHRUB Allow a pound of sugar to every pint of currant- juice and boil slowly in a porcelain kettle. When it has boiled ten minutes set to cool, and when barely lukewarm add a wine- glass of pure brandy to every pint of syrup. Bottle and seal and keep in a cool, dark, dry place. 382 THE HOME COOK BOOK GRAPE SHRUB Crush ripe grapes in a stone jar, and cover with good cider vinegar. Cover the jar tight and leave overnight. Every day for three or four days stir and press the grapes and the vinegar together. Finally, strain through a cheesecloth folded three times, and to every three quarts of juice allow five pounds of sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Then boil, skim, and bottle while very hot. LEMON SYRUP Grate the yellow off eight fine lemons. Squeeze out the juice and put in a porcelain kettle with two cups of water, the grated yellow, and four pounds of sugar. Boil all to- gether five minutes. Then strain through a bag to get out the yellow. Boil up once more, and then bottle and seal for use. PINEAPPLE SYRUP Make a syrup of three pounds of sugar to which has been added the white of an egg beaten up and gradually blended with a pint of cold water. Let boil and skim until the whole is very clear. Put aside to cool. Carefully pare and grate pine- apples of the best quality, obtaining three pints of juice, and strain the same through a flannel jelly-bag. Put the syrup on to boil for about ten minutes, adding gradually at the end of this time the pineapple- juice. Let all [come to boil together, skim well, and place aside to cool. When thoroughly cold, bottle, cork, and seal. RASPBERRY SYRUP Mash gently freshly gathered raspberries and put into a stone crock with half a pint of the best white wine vinegar to every pound of fruit. Cover carefully and place on a shelf in the cool cellar for a couple of days. At the end of this time allow all the juice to drain off thoroughly through a very fine puree sieve, without any attempt, however, to wash the BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD 383 pulp of the berries through the sieve ; this may be used for making jam. Add to every quart of juice a pound and a half of the best granulated sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar is wholly dissolved, when stir in briskly the well-beaten white of an egg to which has been added a table- spoon of cold water. During this process the mixture may be heated, but not allowed to come to boil, and then set aside to cool. Then again put over a more brisk flame of the gas range and allow to boil for about five to ten minutes. Skim well as the scum rises, and, when removed from the fire, stir until cool. When cold, bottle and seal. STRAWBERRY SYRUP Put on over a moderate flame of the gas range a porcelain- lined kettle, containing three pounds of sugar and one and a half pints of water. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to come to boil, skim, and set aside to cool. Mash fresh ripe strawberries and strain through a cheesecloth bag to produce three and a half pints, or a scant two quarts of juice. Put the kettle containing the boiled sugar and water over a flame of greater intensity, and let boil rap- idly, watching for the moment when a spoonful of this syrup dropped into cold water and rubbed between the thumb and finger will form a small ball. Add at once the strawberry juice. Let all come up to boil, skim, and set aside to cool. When cold, bottle and seal. GRAPE-JUICE Use only clean, sound, well-ripened but not over-ripe grapes. If an ordinary cider mill is at hand, it may be used for crushing and pressing, or the grapes may be crushed and pressed with the hands. If a light-colored juice is desired, put the crushed grapes in a cleanly washed cloth sack and tie up. Then either hang up securely and twist it or let two persons take hold, one on each end of the sack (Fig. i), and twist until the greater part of the juice is expressed. Then gradu- 384 THE HOME COOK BOOK ally heat the juice in a double-boiler or a large stone jar in a pan of hot water, so that the juice does not come in direct con- tact with the fire, at a temperature of i8o° F. to 200° F. ; never above 200° F. It is best to use a thermometer, but if there be none at hand, heat the juice until it steams, but do not allow it to boil. Put it in a glass or enameled vessel to settle for twenty-four hours; carefully drain the juice from the sedi- ment, and run it through several thicknesses of clean flannel, or a conic filter made from woolen cloth or felt may be used. This filter is fixed to a hoop of iron, which can be suspended wherever necessary (Fig. 2). After this fill into clean bottles. Do not fill entirely, but leave room for the liquid to expand when again heated. Fit a thin board over the bottom of an ordinary wash boiler, set the filled bottles (ordinary glass Fig. I. — Pressing Out Grape-Juice by Hand fruit jars are just as good) on it, fill in with water round the bottles to within about an inch of the tops, and gradually heat until it is about to simmer. Then take the bottles out and cork or seal immediately. It is a good idea to take the further precaution of sealing the corks over with sealing wax or paraffine to prevent mould germs from entering through the corks. Should it be desired to make a red juice, heat the crushed grapes to not above 200° F., strain through a clean cloth or drip bag, as shown in Fig. 3 (no pressure should be used), set away to cool and settle, and proceed the same as with light-colored juice. Many people do not even go to the trouble of letting the juice settle after straining it, but reheat and seal it up immediately, simply setting the vessels away in a cool place in an upright position where they will be undis- BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD 385 turbed. The juice is thus allowed to settle, and when wanted for use the clear juice is simply taken off the sediment. Any person familiar with the process of panning fruit can also pre- serve grape juice, for the principles involved are identical. One of the leading defects so far found in unfermented juice is that much of it is not clear, a condition which very much detracts from its otherwise attractive appearance and is due to two causes already alluded to. Either the final steriHza- tion in bottles has been at a higher temperature than the pre- ceding one, or the juice has not been properly filtered or has not been filtered at all. In other cases the juice has been sterilized Fig. z.— Cloth or Felt Filter Fig. 3.— Drip Bag at sufih a high temperature that it has a disagreeable scorched taste. It should be remembered that attempts to sterilize at a temperature above 195° F. are dangerous, so far as the flavor of the finished product is concerned. Another serious mistake is sometimes made by putting the juice into bottles so large that much of it becomes spoiled before it is used after the bottles are opened. Unfermented grape-juice properly made and bottled will keep indefinitely, if it is not exposed to the atmosphere or mould germs; but when a bottle is once opened it should, like canned goods, be used as soon as possible, to keep it from spoiling. ■17 Vol. 2 386 THE HOME COOK BOOK FLAVOR AND QUALITY IN GRAPE-JUICE In the making- of unfermented grape-juice a great deal of judgment can be displayed and many variations produced so as to suit almost any taste by the careful selection of the varie- ties of grapes. From the Mission grape, for instance, when fully ripe, a juice would be obtained that would be delicate and simply sweet, without any other taste ; from the Muscat we would get that rich musky flavor found in our leading raisins ; in the Concord that sprightly foxy taste so well known; in the Catawba or Isabella that fragrance so peculiarly their own, and in the lona a pleasing, mild, yet pronounced aroma and taste. Thus we might continue along the list. Equally as pronounced variations in color can be had, as, for instance, almost colorless, yellow, orange, light red, red, and a deep purple. The richer, sweeter, and better in quality the fruit we use, the richer, sweeter, and better will be our unfermented juice. If, on the other hand, the fruit is sour, green, and insipid, the juice will be likewise. USES OF GRAPE-JUICE The uses are indeed many. It is used in sickness, con- valescence, and good health ; as a preventive, restorative, and cure ; by the young, by persons in the prime of life, and by those in old age. It is used in churches for sacramental pur- poses; at soda fountains as a cool and refreshing drink; in homes, at hotels, and at restaurants as a food, as a beverage, as a dessert, and in many other ways. When people become accustomed to it they rarely give it up. When properly pre- pared, unfermented grape- juice can be made to please the eye by its color and attractive appearance, the sense of smell by its aroma or fragrance, the palate by its pleasant flavor. It is food and drink, refreshment and nourishment, all in one. Not a by-product, but made from fruit going to waste — one of the blessings given us, that some are too careless, others too ignorant, to make use of. BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD 387 FOOD VALUE OF GRAPE-JUICE The effects of nnfennented grape-juice on the human sys- tem have been studied for a number of years, especially at the so-called grape cures so long in vogue in Europe. A smaller number of investigations have been made in laboratories. It is quite generally claimed that using a reasonably large amount of un fermented grape-juice with an otherwise suitable mixed diet is beneficial and that digestion is improved, intes- tinal fermentation diminished, and that gains in body weight result. It should not be forgotten that the abundant diet and hygienic methods of living practiced at the grape cures play an important part, but even taking all this into account it seems fair to conclude that some of the good results can be directly attributed to the unfermented grape-juice. Grape- juice contains the same kinds of nutrients as other foods. The percentage of water is high, and thus it resembles liquid foods more closely than soHd foods. It is sometimes compared with milk, the most common liquid food. It con- tains less water than milk, more carbohydrates, and less pro- tein, fat, and ash. Carbohydrates, largely present in the form of sugar, are the principal nutritive ingredients. It is evident, therefore, that grape- juice is essentially an energy-yielding food, and may help the body to become fatter, though it can not materially assist in building nitrogenous tissue. Sugars in moderate amounts are wholesome foods, and grape- juice offers such material in a reasonably dilute as well as palatable form. Undoubtedly the agreeable flavor increases the appetite, a by no means unimportant consideration. Besides the receipts given below many more are enumerated, such as grape lemonade, grape- juice plain, grape soda water, etc. GRAPE-JUICE AND EGG Put in the bottom of a wineglass two tablespoons of grape- juice. Add to this the beaten white of one egg and a little chopped ice; sprinkle sugar over the top and serve. This is often served in sanitariums. 388 THE HOME COOK BOOK GRAPE NECTAR Take the juice of two lemons and one orange, one pint of grape-juice, one small cup of sugar, and a pint of water. Serve ice cold. If served from a punch bowl, sliced lemon and orange add to the appearance. GRAPE PUNCH Boil together one pound of sugar and half a pint of water until it spins a thread. Take from the fire and when cool add the juice of six lemons and a quart of grape- juice. Stand aside overnight. Serve with plain water, apollinaris, or soda water. GRAPE WINE Stem the grapes, mash thoroughly, and set away for twenty-four hours. Then squeeze through a bag. To each quart of juice add one quart of water. To every quart of the mixture put three pounds of sugar. Set all away in stone jars and skim daily till it stops bubbling. Then bottle. MY LADY'S WINE Take fine grapes of any good variety — the common Con- cord, the musky Delaware, the Muscatel, or Diana. Lay them in a dampened, strong straining cloth, then fold up the cloth in bag shape, lay the bag in an earthen bowl or jar, and break the grapes by mashing with a wooden pestle or masher. Hang up the bag to drain, and squeeze out all the juice. The colored part next the skin carries a pretty color and also has much of the fine aroma of the grape. In the matter of sweeten- ing be careful not to take too much sugar, but keep the juice so it wall retain quite a degree of acidity. Instead of putting the sugar directly in the grape- juice, melt it in fresh cold water before adding, and let the proportion be one glass of sweetened water to two parts grape-juice. Stir all together and set on ice. Serve in a pitcher with pieces of ice in the pitcher, and pour into small glasses, for instance, lemonade glasses. BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD 389 CIDER CUP Have in a pitcher cracked ice. Over the ice pour a quart of sweet cider and a bottle of club soda. Drop in a few pieces of mint, and if you have them a few thin slices of such fruit as bananas, apples, pears, etc. Serve at once. DANDELION WINE Put four quarts of dandelion flowers in a jar, pour over them a gallon of boiling water, cover, and let stand for three days. Then put over the fire, add the juice and grated yel- low of the peel of three oranges and one lemon. Simmer all together fifteen minutes. Strain through a thin bag and pour over three pounds of sugar in an earthen crock. When lukewarm, add three tablespoons of yeast, cover and set away in an airy, clean place for from seven to ten days. Then skim, strain, and bottle. EGGNOG Beat the yolk of one egg very light. Add one wineglass of whiskey, drop by drop, until the egg is cooked. Next put in one tablespoon of rum, one glass of rich milk or cream, and lastly the white of the egg beaten to a stiff froth. Nut- meg to taste. A CHILD'S EGGNOG Beat an egg till foamy, add two tablespoons of milk, one tablespoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a dust of nutmeg, and serve in a small wineglass. EGG WINE In a tumbler break a perfectly fresh egg. Beat till smooth and thick. Add a tablespoon of pulverized sugar and then a wineglass of port wine. If wine is not allowed, fill up the glass with fresh milk and put a dash of nutmeg on top. 390 THE HOME COOK BOOK GINGER PUNCH Chop one pound of Canton ginger, then add two cups of sugar and one pint of water. Boil together fifteen minutes. When cool add a cup of orange- juice and strain. This will flavor eight or ten cups of water, MILK PUNCH To a pint of new milk add two tablespoons of sugar. Stir and dissolve the sugar in a little of the milk as you add. Lastly, stir in two tablespoons of wine. MINT JULEP The original concoction from which this drink derives its name was first invented in the South. It was made of rum and brandy undiluted, excepting for a little fine ice. The receipt given here can be partaken of without serious results. Place one tablespoon each of red raspberry, lemon, orange juices and dry sherry in glasses filled with shaved ice. Ar- range sprigs of mint in each one and serve with straws. The amount given is for small glasses and should be increased according to the size of glasses used. If the ice does not dilute this mixture quite sufficiently, water can be added. [See il- lustration, Plate XXIX.] PASSOVER WINE Remove from their stems a pound and a half of fine raisins. Bruise them with a masher, then chop them coarse, put in an earthen crock, add a small sliced lemon, and pour over three quarts of fresh water just boiling. Cover the crock in a cool place. Next day take a silver spoon and stir all together thoroughly. Cover. Repeat the stirring next morning and for two following mornings. Then strain through a thick bag and bottle or use. ROOT BEER Root beer is a wholesome drink, as our American fore- fathers realized when in the springtime they took their chil- BEVERAGES: HOT AND COLD 891 dren into the woods and taught them how to choose roots and herbs for it. In those days that was one of the "object-les- sons" in Nature. What did they choose in those fields and skirting forests? Dandelion and burdock and yellow dock roots, the bark of the wild cherry also, and birch bark. They had hanging in the garret a bag of hops of the last year's picking from the wild vine that ran over tree and fence. Then out in the fields again they found sarsaparilla and elecampane and spikenard. In making the beer wash the roots very clean. Then bruise them so that their peculiar virtue or quality will readily yield itself. Take an ounce of each ingredient to two gallons of water. Be sure the big kettle you boil in is per- fectly scoured and clean. Put in the cold water and your roots, etc., set over the fire and bring slowly to boil. Simmer for about half an hour, adding toward the end and to the pro- portion cited above a pound of sugar and twenty to twenty- five drops of the oil of sassafras or spruce. Put slowly into an earthen crock and cool to lukewarm. Then add the yeast, which to the above proportion is eight tablespoons of liquid yeast, or a dry yeast cake dissolved in a cup of tepid water. Stir in the yeast, cover and set away to ferment. In from three to six hours it will be drinkable. It may be kept in the jar for immediate drinking, or it may be bottled and the working delayed. ROYAL SHRUB For one glass use three tablespoons of strained red currant- juice, two tablespoons of pineapple- juice, produced by cooking the fruit in sugar and water. Fill with seltzer water. Add one tablespoon of sugar and put a tablespoon of whipped cream on top. The fruit juices and seltzer must be ice cold, otherwise a tablespoon of shaved ice must be placed in each glass. [See illustration, Plate XXX.] STRAWBERRY PUNCH Make tea by pouring a quart of fresh boiling water on three teaspoons of tea. In a punch bowl lay a four-inch square 392 THE HOME COOK BOOK of ice, add the juice of four lemons and one orange, two cups of sugar, and a box of small strawberries — the field straw- berries are nicest, but if they are not to be had, use the large cultivated berries and cut them in quarters or eighths. Now pour in your tea, and add two pint bottles of apollinaris, or the same amount of clear spring water. Stir about and ladle into cups when served. SUxMMER ZEPHYR Cut a pound and a half of rhubarb into thin slices, cover with water, and add one bay leaf and one stick of paper-bark cinnamon. Simmer until the rhubarb is tender, then strain. Add to the juice one cup of sugar and simmer ten minutes. Then add one pint of orange-juice, the juice of three lemons, half a cup of preserved ginger-juice. Put shaved ice in a pitcher and add the cooled concoction. In each glass place a halved strawberry or cherries, or any seasonable fruit. [See illustration, Plate XXX.] WASSAIL BOWL Mix half a pound of brown sugar, one pint of ale, half a nutmeg grated, half a teaspoon of ginger, a pinch of cin- namon. Heat, but do not boil. Then add half a pint of Malaga wine, one quart more of ale, and the grated rind of one lemon. Turn into a punchbowl and add as many cored and baked apples as there are guests. Serve while hot. [See illustration, Plate XXXI.] WHIPS Sweeten to your taste a pint of thin cream and beat in a wineglass of wine and a tablespoon of the extract of lemon. Set in a cool place. Beat to a stiff froth the whites of three eggs. Stir them rapidly into the cream. Pour in wineglasses and serve. [See illustration, Plate XXXI.] GRUELS, BROTHS, CORDIALS 393 XXXVI GRUELS, BROTHS, CORDIALS To Make Gruels— Barley Water— Old-Fashioaed Beef Tea— Quick Beef Tea— Caudle- Chicken Broth— Mutton Barley Broth— Blackberry Cordial— Flaxseed Tea or Lemon- ade— Hoarhound Cough Syrup— Jelly Water— Slippery Elm Bark Tea TO MAKE GRUELS GROUND rice flour, cornmeal, oatmeal, arrowroot, and other flours are used for gruels — nourishing, healing food for stomachs temporarih' disabled and unable to digest any- thing more substantial. Mix two tablespoons of the meal or flour with cold water till you have a smooth paste. Then stir the paste gradually into a pint of water boiling in a double- boiler. Stir in slowly so there will be no lumps, and add quarter of a teaspoon of salt. Cover and let cook thoroughly — if cornmeal or oatmeal three hours at least ; if arrowroot and other lighter flours half to three-quarters of an hour. Stir occasionally while cooking. BARLEY WATER To a quart of cold water in a porcelain saucepan allow two ounces of mashed pearl barley, two ounces of seeded raisins, and the grated rind and juice of a lemon. Cover with an earthen plate and boil till the water is reduced one-half. Strain and sweeten as the taste demands. Serve either warm or cold. OLD-FASHIONED BEEF TEA Take a piece of lean meat irom the round and free it from fat, etc. Cut in small pieces, or have the butcher run it through a meat-chopper. Put the meat in an earthen or strong glass jar. cover with a quart of cold water, cork or seal tight, and set in a pot of cold water. Set over a slow 394 THE HOME COOK BOOK fire, and slowly bring the water in the pot to boil. Move the jar now and then so that all the meat in it will have the same exposure to heat. Cook gently for two or three hours. Strain, season with salt, and serve in a hot bowl with toast or breadsticks. QUICK BEEF TEA Cut the steak into small pieces. Heat it thoroughly in a hot saucepan. Squeeze the little pieces one by one in a hot Meat Press meat press or lemon squeezer, and let the juice flow into a bowl which is standing in hot water. Salt to taste. CAUDLE Beat a fresh egg till it is a froth and stir it with a cup of hot gruel. Sweeten to taste, and serve with a dash of nut- meg over the top. CHICKEN BROTH Wash and cut up a full-grown fowl. If you wish a small quantity of broth for a sick person, use only the dark meat, reserving the white meat of the breast and wings for some other small dish. Put the dark meat and broken bones in a pot with a quart of water and bring it slowly to boil, and boil slowly till cooked to rags. Strain, put back and thicken with a tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot stirred smooth in a little cold water. Let the flour cook for a few minutes, and serve hot, slightly salted. GRUELS, BROTHS, CORDIALS 395 MUTTON BARLEY BROTH Take two pounds of the scrag or neck of mutton — using that part because it is lean and gives the sweetness of the bone to the cooking. Wash it, cut it in bits, put it in the pot with two quarts of cold water and bring it slowly to boil. When it boils, skim, drop in four ounces of washed pearl barley, cover tight, and cook slowly two or three hours. Strain, add salt to taste, and serve hot. BLACKBERRY CORDIAL Heat the blackberries and press through a sieve. Strain the juice through a piece of cheesecloth. Take three pints of blackberry juice (it should not be too sweet) and add one pound of loaf sugar. Tie up a small bag of whole cinnamon, allspice, and a smaller quantity of cloves. Boil together the spices and juice twenty minutes slowly. Take off the stove, and flavor with California brandy enough to give a strong flavor. Bottle and cork tight. FLAXSEED TEA OR LEMONADE Blanch two tablespoons of flaxseed and then boil two hours in a quart of water. Keep close covered while boiling. Strain, and add lemon- juice and sugar to taste. HOARHOUND COUGH SYRUP Make one pint of strong hoarhound tea and strain. Dis- solve one ounce of gum arable in hot water, add to the tea. Add also one pound of white sugar. Boil to a syrup, skim when you take it from the fire, and add one teaspoon of the tincture of lobelia. JELLY WATER Stir a tablespoon of currant jelly in a tumbler of fresh, cold water. Drop in a small bit of ice and serve. Other jel- lies may be used — as tart apple jelly, grape jelly, barberry jelly. 390 THE HOME COOK BOOK SLIPPERY ELM BARK TEA Break the bark in small pieces, rinse quickly, and then cover with, fresh, boiling water. Set the bowl in a warm place, put a cover upon it, and let the bark steep or infuse for half an hour. Then set where it will cool. Sweeten to taste, and drop bits of cracked ice in the cup from which it is drunk. ITEMS OF VALUE 397 XXXVII ITEMS OF VALUE Mixing Ingredients One at a Time— The Beneficent Pan of Hot Water— Appearance of Meats— To Make Tough Meat Tender— When Salt Should be Added in Cooking Meat^Advantage of a Variety of Seasonings — How to Dry Herbs — Powders of Savory Herbs — About Pepper — As to Sauces — Ratio of Raw to Cooked Chicken — Milk for Custard- Keeping Milk and Butter— Butter Paddles— To Help in Whip- ping Cream — Cold Eggs for Beating— To Choose Macaroni— Radishes with Rice — When Pies Overflow— To Prevent Soggy Crust— Do Not Use Melted Butter in Cake — To Prevent Hasty Browning — Frying Doughnuts— To Brown Buckwheat Cakes without Molasses — Uses of a Pinch of Salt — Bread and Cracker Crumbs — To Save after Scorching— To Destroy Smell of Cooking Cabbage, etc.— Porcelain for Acids —To Clean Decanters and Cruets— About Planking Boards— To Keep Pears for Winter Use— To Pack Eggs— To Make Bread Cloths— Paper on Pantry Shelves— The Use of Wine MIXING INGREDIENTS ONE AT A TIME IF you have ever seen a druggist compound a prescription yon noticed that he did not put in two or three things to mix at one time with what he had in his mortar, but blended each ingredient with what he was making before he added another. The same rule has fine results in cooking. If you have three or four or five ingredients, do not mix them all at once, but stir two together, then add the third, then the fourth, then the fifth, stirring each time. THE BENEFICENT PAN OF HOT WATER A pan of hot water set in the upper oven evens the baking. If the oven becomes overheated, the pan filled with cold water reduces the temperature in the best possible way. In cooking canned vegetables, such as corn, if the saucepan holding the corn is set in a pan of hot water, the moderated heat develops the taste of the corn and also saves constant watching that the corn does not burn. Cereals are best cooked in this way, al- though we call the equipment a double-boiler when we use the pan of hot water and saucepan for such grains. Finally, a a98 THE HOME COOK BOOK pan of hot water is ever ready for making sauces and gravies, and saves the burning both of food and saucepans. APPEARANCE OF MEATS Good beef is of a bright red color and moderately fat. Good mutton is deep red and close-grained. Good pork is close-grained, and the rind is smooth and thin. TO MAKE TOUGH MEAT TENDER A tablespoon of vinegar added to the water in which meats or fowls are boiling helps to make the flesh tender. WHEN SALT SHOULD BE ADDED IN COOKING MEAT To put salt on meat when it is raw makes it hard. Do not salt your meat till it is almost cooked, at the point where it is beginning to get tender. ADVANTAGE OF A VARIETY OF SEASONINGS A French chef is authority for the statement that the most economical cook is a woman who keeps her pantry lavishly supplied with all sorts of seasonings, both the cheap and the expensive. His argument is that a tough piece of meat, care- fully cooked and most alluringly seasoned, may result in a dish of even finer flavor than filet of beef at one dollar a pound. Among the seasonings which it is good to have constantly in stock are bay leaves, whole mace, peppercorns, cloves, all- spice, berries, sage, summer savory, thyme, sweet marjoram, cayenne, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, kitchen bouquet, curry, mushroom, tomato and walnut catsup, celery salt, and, I might add, a box of green parsley growing in a sunny win- dow of the kitchen. This list may sound formidable and expensive to the house- wife who places her whole dependence on pepper and salt. Experience will teach her, however, that it is cheap. If the seasonings are put in tightly closed cans, or bottled, they ITEMS OF VALUE 399 will keep perfectly for almost any length of time. Buy herbs — such as sage, bay leaves, etc. — in the smallest quantities, and be sure they are fresh. The advantage of having a goodly array of seasonings at hand is that you can find a different flavor for meat dishes every day. A variety may be given to meats which would almost fail to be palatable if they were not excellently seasoned. HOW TO DRY HERBS In drying herbs from your garden, do not cut and dry them in the sun. Neither tie them in bunches and hang the bunches up under cover. In the first instance, you dry out the herb's peculiar oil or virtue. By the second method, the leaves dis- color by their own dampness, mould, or fermentation. The right way in drying herbs for your kitchen and possible medicinal use is to gather them as soon as they begin to open their flowers, and to lay them on some netting in a dry shed or room where the air will get at them on all sides. Be sure they are dry and not moist when you cut or pick them, and free them from dirt and decayed leaves. After they are entirely dried out, put them in paper bags upon which you have written the name of the herb and the date of tieing it up. Hang them where the air is dry and there is no chance of their moulding. POWDERS OF SAVORY HERBS Strip the leaves from the stalks, pound, sift out the coarse pieces, put the powder in bottles, and cork tight. Label with exactness every bottle. If, for the convenience of instant use in gravies, soups, etc., you wish different herbs mixed, pound the leaves together when you make them into powders. Celery seed, dried lemon-peel, and other spicy things can thus be combined and ready for the moment's call. ABOUT PEPPER Of peppers, the white and cayenne are thought the most harmless. In cooking for the sick, or for persons of weak digestion, it is well to leave out the pepper altogether. If, 400 THE HOME COOK BOOK however, you think )ou must use some kind, take the more harmless white, or cayenne. Black pepper is the dried fruit of an East Indian shrub. White pepper comes from the same plant and is made from the black pepper by taking off the outer scale. It is not so strong as the black, but has a finer flavor. Cayenne is a preparation from the dried fruit of cap- sicum, and when pure and taken in slight quantities, a stimulant to digestion. Paprika is a Hungarian red pepper, and is not so strong as the cayenne. AS TO SAUCES Every cook should know how to make three or four simple sauces, for nothing adds more to the appetizing qualities of a meat. The French cynic who said that the reason why the English considered it bad form to dip their bread in their sauces was because they had no sauces worth dipping bread into, had a slight foundation for his remark. A thick mayonnaise is the basis for sauce tartare. Add to it a tablespoon of chopped cucumber pickle, chopped olives, a few capers, and a dash of onion-juice, season rather highly, and toss lightly. A sauce little used in this country is horseradish mixed with cream, which is a favorite in Russia, with plain boiled meat. RATIO OF RAW TO COOKED CHICKEN Thirteen pounds of raw chicken make three quarts of cooked chicken — enough to serve thirty people. One quart of chicken salad serves eight people liberally. MILK FOR CUSTARD The success of a custard is much increased if the milk Is scalded and cooled before being made into the custard. KEEPING MILK AND BUTTER The air where milk and butter stand should be the purest. Both milk and butter absorb smells, and they will be con- ITEMS OF VALUE 401 taminated and unwholesome, and also taste of any bad air to which they are subject. Milk readily absorbs and develops bacteria of the air. No article of food requires more care and concern in its wholesome keeping. In traveling in New Mexico I once saw a milk room open- ing into the cows' stables ! There, surrounded by the noxious air, the milk stood while the cream rose. The cream and milk tasted of the stable disgustingly and were unusable except to the strong stomachs of the people who lived under such conditions. BUTTER PADDLES The little paddles of hollywood used for making butter Holly Butter Paddles into balls for table use should be scrubbed, rinsed, sunned, and laid in the ice-box till their next use. TO HELP IN WHIPPING CREAM If the cream seems thin, add a pinch of finely powdered gum-arabic mixed with double its quantity of powdered sugar. COLD EGGS FOR BEATING The colder eggs are the sooner you can beat them to a froth. TO CHOOSE MACARONI The best macaroni is yellowish in color, should not break easily while cooking, and in cooking swells to three or four times it size when dry. RADISHES WITH RICE It is a gastronomic fact that with rice something should be eaten that offers a little resistance to digestion. People 402 THE HOME COOK BOOK who eat rice daily are aware of this. The Chinese, for in- stance, takes radishes with his rice. WHEN PIES OVERFLOW Fruit pies made from juicy fruits sometimes lose half their finest part by the juice overflowing, or pushing through the crust where upper and under crusts meet. The escaping juice, moreover, soaks the crust. Our grandmothers overcame the difficulty by tieing round the pie when ready to bake a strip of stifif damp linen. TO PREVENT SOGGY CRUST In making the filling for a cocoanut or custard pie, there will be less chance of having a soggy crust if the milk is brought to the scalding point and the eggs, sugar, and seasonings stirred in before putting in the crust. This will shorten the time of cooking by half. DO NOT USE MELTED BUTTER IN CAKE In cakemaking, do not melt butter ; it spoils the cake. TO PREVENT HASTY BROWNING Keep in a pantry drawer sheets of clean brown paper to slip over a dish that is browning too rapidly. A sheet of asbestos paper, or of oiled or greased paper, may be used in the same way and will serve the purpose quickly. FRYING DOUGHNUTS In the first place, have the lard hot and quiet, not boiling and bubbling. Drop in the doughnuts. They will disappear a second and then rise to the top. Have a long fork and turn them, not piercing, while they cook. Do not let them soak fat, as they do while lying cooking only on one side, or in a fat not hot enough. When they are browned all round, pick them up with the fork, which does not take so much of the fat as a skimmer, and lay in a colander standing near in a ITEMS OF VALUE 403 warm place and lined with brown paper. The warmth from the colander keeps the fat on the cakes melted and allows the brown paper to absorb it. TO BROWN BUCKWHEAT CAKES WITHOUT MOLASSES Using molasses to make buckwheat cakes brown you in- troduce a sweetening into the cakes. This many people dislike. It is well to know you can get the brown color by putting a handful of Indian meal in the batter. The meal will also help make the cakes light, while the tendency of molasses is to make them heavy. USES OF A PINCH OF SALT It is said that a pinch of salt added to a pot of coffee or of tea just before pouring will increase the natural aroma of the dish. A pinch of salt added to a dish too sweet will help conceal the sweetness. BREAD AND CRACKER CRUMBS It is sound economy to have a glass jar with a tight cover for rolled and crisp cracker or bread crumbs. Into it you can drop the powdered crumbs which )'0U make from crusts and scraps of bread and crackers, and have always on hand the crumbs so necessary in frying, in cooking meats, vegetables, cheese, pudding, and other dishes. TO SAVE AFTER SCORCHING If milk scorches — it is best to heat it in a double-boiler, but sometimes for haste it is set immediately over the fire — lift the saucepan off the fire and set it in a pan of cold water till the bottom of the saucepan is cool. Then pour oft* the milk, keeping back the scorched part clinging to the bottom of the saucepan. This same method will be found effective in the scorching of vegetables, meats, and all articles of food. 404 THE HOME COOK BOOK TO DESTROY SIVIELL OF COOKING CABBAGE, ETC. In cooking cabbage or anything having strong odors, set on the back of the stove a granite cup one quarter full of vinegar. Keep this hot. Do not let it boil, or burn, and it will absorb all the odor. A piece of coal put in the pot when cabbage or cauliflower is boiling destro3's all unpleasant smell through the house. Burned sugar is a deodorizer. Sprinkle the sugar on a few live coals on a shovel and leave in the room for five minutes. PORCELAIN FOR ACIDS In cooking fruit, or in using any acid preparation in cook- ing, be sure your saucepans and kettles are porcelain or en- ameled or earthenware. If you use metal ware you run the risk of having the acid of the fruits combine with the metals and form deadly poisons. All fruits and vegetables holding any acid whatever should be cooked in porcelain, earthenware, or best enameled saucepans and kettles. Never cook anything ACID IN TIN OR COPPER. TO CLEAN DECANTERS AND CRUETS Such glassware as decanters, carafes, and vinegar cruets sometimes become so discolored that shot or fine charcoal will not wash them clean. Try this remedy, which has worked satisfactorily: Fill the bottle with finely chopped potato skins. Cork tight, and let the bottle stand for three days. Empty and rinse thoroughly. ABOUT PLANKING BOARDS A board for planking fish should be made of hard, well- planed wood, either hickory or oak. If it is to be used in a gas stove, measure the broiling chamber before ordering the plank. Have it one inch smaller than the oven, to allow of its being easily slipped in and out. Have the board about four inches narrower than its length, and slightly rounded, ironing board ITEMS OF VALUE 405 fashion, at one end, to accommodate the tail of the fish. The older and blacker the board becomes the finer flavor it imparts to a fish. Never wash it with soap ; scrub with a brush and boiling water immediately on removing- the plank from the table. Occasionally give it a good rub with sandpaper. TO KEEP PEARS FOR WINTER USE Lay the pears on a shelf in a dry, cool place. Set them stems up and so far apart that they do not touch one another. Allow the air to move freely in the room in which they lie. Layers of paper or of straw make a soft bed, but the less the pear touches the shelf or resting-place the better for its keeping. TO PACK EGGS Put into a butter firkin a thick layer of coarse dry salt, then a layer of eggs, with the small end down, another layer of salt, then eggs, and so on until the firkin is full. Cover and keep in a dry place. These eggs will keep put up in this way almost any length of time. TO MAKE BREAD CLOTHS Cloths for breadmaking, to put over sponge at night to preserve its even temperature, and to lay over rising bread to save it from chill, are nicely made by taking a good quality of cheesecloth, folding double, thus making a square of about three-quarters of a yard or a yard, and laying a thin layer of cotton batting in between. Quilt the batting in coarse quilt- ings so that it will not lose its place in the frequent washings the cloths must have. PAPER ON PANTRY SHELVES There used to be an old custom — which was thought a good one by some housekeepers — of covering pantry shelves with paper. Indeed, there were fancy-colored papers with lace bor- ders made for such use. But the sanitary housekeeper and 406 THE HOME COOK BOOK cook of the present clay who places cleanliness and simplicity before all else, has seen that these paper-covered shelves har- bored dirt and gave hiding-places for dust. She has, therefore, abolished the paper. Pantry shelves should be painted a fair white, and if there are several coats of paint, so much the easier to wash them off clean. The utensils and dishes upon a well-painted shelf can be moved about easily, and the shelf often wiped with a cloth wrung out of hot water — this quite aside from the scrubbing of regular scrubbing days. THE USE OF WINE This book does not advise or encourage the use of wine in simple, every-day cooking. Now and then some of our receipts include it as a flavoring. But it may always be omitted. We certainly advise against its common use. Its constant presence may stimulate a depraved or morbid appetite for drink. Oyster Pie Oysters in Grapefruit Basket PLATE I Lobster Baked in the Shell Lobster Salad in Tomato Ring PLATE II Lobster Croquettes Lobster Melon PLATE III Delmonico Steak Porterhouse Steak PLATE V Flat Bone Sirloin Steak Round Bone Sirloin Steak PLATE VI Hip Steak Flank Steak Skirt Steak Chuck Steak PLATE VII First Cut of Prime Rib Roast Second Cut of Prime Rib Roast PLATE VIII Blade Rib Roast — Seventh and Eighth Ribs Chuck Rib Roast— Ninth and Tenth Ribs PLATE IX Top and Bottom Round Rib Lamb Chops (Frenched) Loin Lamb Chops Rib Lamb Chops Blade Shoulder Chop Round Bone Shoulder Chop PLATE X Broiled Lamb Chops Holland Meat Pie PLATE XI Panned Breast of Chicken Roast Goose with Apples PLATE XII English Pigeon Pie Game Pie PLATE XIII Venison in Gooseberry Jelly Jugged Hare PLATE XIV String-Bean Salad Carrot Salad PLATE XV Fruit Salad Tomato Salad PLATE XVI A Tuxedo Salad Fancy Vegetable Salad PLATE XVII Stuffed Potatoes Mashed Sweet Potatoes PLATE XVIII Egg Plant — Creole Fashion Stuffed Mushrooms PLATE XIX Spinach Mousse Squash in Shell PLATE XX Rye Popovers Oatmeal with Dates PLATE XXI Boar's Head Ice Cream P Pl 1 j 1 1 ft. -'^'If m^^M i p#) H ^^^K ^ f II ^ ^^J .■*.-y* 5f > gw. i-'^W 1 1 ^ E '""'-< ''i? ■^ ■■i ^^ " i 1 ' -. * .—-.-if/ •?«'•'_ . -.— ** » -^JS- -v ., ,-r-.^i,«i^^»'- .. >'• »--^»«ir ».*.-'-'»- I- nv*.T» ^-^ -- ^^^ Rose Charlotte PLATE XXII Chestnut Croquettes Currant Shortcake PLATE XXIII Strawberries Served in Pineapple Shell Rhubarb Jelly and Whipped Cream PLATE XXIV English Plum Pudding A Birthday Cake PLATE XXV Confection Cake Jelly Cream Cocoanut Cake PLATE XXVI Marguerite Cake Chocolate Lemon Pie PLATE XXVII Cream Horns and Cheese Straws [The "lady lock" irons on which the horns were baked lie in the foreground] PufF Paste Patties PLATE XXVIIl Iced Tea Mint Juleps PLATE XXIX Royal Shrub Summer Zephyr PLATE XXX Wassail Bowl Whips with Strawberries PLATE XXXI WAY S2 1905 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 485 455 A 4 fSiii mm m