The Laurel Health Cookery
by Evora Bucknum Perkins · English · Gutenberg #43468 · 888,717 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Laurel Health Cookery
Author: Evora Bucknum Perkins
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAUREL HEALTH COOKERY ***
Read the Introduction and the General Directions at the beginning of
the book and at the beginning of each chapter and subject first, for a
better understanding of the recipes.
Universal Crust Recipe, page 437.
The Laurel Health Cookery
A COLLECTION OF
Practical Suggestions and Recipes
For the Preparation of Non-Flesh Foods in Palatable
and Attractive Ways
BY
EVORA BUCKNUM PERKINS
An Instructor of wide experience in Vegetarian Cookery in Various
Homes, Chatauquas and Sanitariums, and the Pioneer in
Hygienic Vegetarian Restaurant Work
THE LAUREL PUBLISHING COMPANY
MELROSE, MASS., U. S. A.
Copyright, 1911, by EVORA BUCKNUM PERKINS.
INTRODUCTION
Several years ago as I was leaving Washington after giving a course of
demonstration lectures in hygienic cookery, I was impressed with the
thought that a cook book (which my friends had been urging me to write)
giving the results of my experience, would be the means of reaching the
greatest number of people with knowledge on health subjects.
As a result of that thought, this book comes with earnest, heartfelt
greeting to all other works of the same nature, not as a rival but as a
co-worker in the great plan of glorifying our Creator. 1 Cor. 10:31.
In its preparation, I have purposed to make the book practical,
avoiding technicalities and to some extent conventionalities, and have
endeavored to “meet the people where they are” by not being extreme or
radical; and at the same time to make principles of truth so clear that
many will be won from “the indulgence of appetite, which places them in
such a condition of health that there is a constant warring against the
soul’s highest interests.”
While there are recipes especially for those who entertain, there is an
abundant variety of directions for carefully prepared simple dishes.
The explicit general directions will not be needed by all, but from my
twenty years of experience in teaching, I know that many will value
them.
The foods richest in proteids are classed as “True Meats” and no flesh
meat names are used in the book.
This collection contains the choicest of those of my recipes which have
been published by others in various books and periodicals at different
times.
I am indebted to an innumerable company of people of all classes for
_ideas_, for which I would be glad to thank each one personally if it
were possible.
Though there is hardly any choice, the recipes marked with a star are
especially practical and desirable.
All unnamed quotations are from “The Ministry of Healing” or other
works by the same author.
That “The Laurel Health Cookery” may bring rich blessings to many
households is my earnest prayer.
Evora Bucknum Perkins
* * * * *
“Many will be rescued from physical, mental and moral degeneracy
through the practical influence of health reform. Health talks will be
given, _publications will be multiplied_.
“The principles of health reform will be received with favor; and many
will be enlightened.”
[Illustration]
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3
GENERAL 9
Cooking Utensils, their Uses and Care
Things to Do Beforehand
Economy
Miscellaneous
Measurements
Flavorings
Garnishings
FRUITS 34
Fresh
Cooked
To Can
Jellies
Jams
TO CAN VEGETABLES 69
TO DRY VEGETABLES 72
SOUPS 74
Suggestions
Water Soups
Cream and Milk Soups
Bisques
Chowders
Purees
Our Famous Soups
Fruit Soups
Soup Garnishes and Accompaniments
ENTREES 109
TRUE MEATS 139
Nuts and Nut Foods
Trumese
Trumese Dishes
Nutmese
Nutmese Dishes
Trumese and Nutmese Dishes
Roasts
Legumes
Eggs
MUSHROOMS 216
STUFFINGS AND DRESSINGS 221
MEAT AND VEGETABLE GRAVIES AND SAUCES 223
VEGETABLES 237
CHESTNUTS 271
SALADS 273
Secrets of Success
Cooked Dressings
Uncooked Dressings
True Meat Salads
Vegetable Salads
Fruit Salads
PUDDINGS WITHOUT EGGS 294
PUDDINGS WITH EGGS 309
PUDDING SAUCES 324
GELATINE--VEGETABLE 335
PIES 347
CAKES 370
Icings and Fillings
ICE CREAM AND FRUIT ICES 402
CEREALS 409
MACARONI 419
BREADS--LEAVENED 424
BREADS--UNLEAVENED, WITHOUT CHEMICALS 445
SANDWICHES 465
MILK, CREAM, BUTTER AND CHEESE 473
DRINKS 479
INVALID FOODS 486
CONFECTIONS 488
MEALS AND MENUS 493
PICNIC AND TRAVELLING LUNCHES 504
GENERAL
COOKING UTENSILS, THEIR USES AND CARE
“A good housekeeper without perfected kitchen conveniences is as much
of an anomaly as a carpenter without a plane, a dressmaker without a
sewing machine.”--_Anonym._
What would we think of the farmer who to-day was cutting his hay with
a scythe and reaping his grain with a cradle because he could not
“afford” a reaper and mower?
While we should be able to adapt ourselves to circumstances, to
improvise double boilers, steamers and ovens when necessary, it is at
the same time true economy to have an abundance of cooking utensils if
possible. A half dozen saucepans will last six times as long as one
used for everything and save much valuable time.
“To many people, anything out of the usual custom is deemed
extravagant.” This I suppose accounts for the fact that many housewives
who have beautifully furnished parlors and wear fine clothing cannot
afford conveniences for the kitchen.
The room in which is prepared the “food to sustain life and nourish
brain, bone and muscle,” should be the most attractive place in the
house, and it will be when arranged and furnished for convenience.
I can think of nothing more interesting than a kitchen with the
frequently used utensils decorating the walls where they can be
reached with few steps; and such little things as spoons, egg beaters,
can openers, spatulas, cork screws, potato mashers, measuring cups,
funnels, soup dippers, wire strainers, pinchers and skimmers, not
forgetting a small cushion with pins, hanging just over the table; the
table having drawers for knives, vegetable cutters and other unhangable
articles.
The best quality of aluminum ware is the cheapest and best for fruits
and for general cooking purposes, except for vegetables.
Never put lye or anything alkaline into aluminum vessels.
Copper and re-tinned vessels are unequaled in some respects (if they
may not be used for acid foods); being flat bottomed, thick and heavy,
milk, legumes, cereals and foods of that nature are not so apt to
stick or scorch in them, and they are almost everlasting. They can be
re-tinned when the lining wears off.
Iron kettles and frying pans are excellent for many things. Some of
the uses of a nice smooth iron frying pan are to bake a round cake or
a thick pie or a pudding in, to scallop corn or potatoes, or to scald
milk.
Use granite, agate, and porcelain lined utensils with care.
Never dry them on the stove as that causes them to crack; and do not
knock the edges of the kettles and saucepans with a spoon, nor strike
any kind of a vessel with an agate spoon, as it causes the little
particles of glazing to flake off. These flakes from agate utensils
often work serious injury to the delicate membranes of the digestive
tract.
One large double boiler holding from 8 to 16 qts. is very desirable
as it furnishes two kettles for fruit canning and other purposes and
can be used as a double boiler when required. Several smaller ones of
different sizes economize time and food material.
To improvise a double boiler, set a close covered pan over a kettle
of boiling water; or set a covered dish into a pail with water in it,
cover and put into the oven; or put a pan or other covered vessel into
a kettle of water on top of the stove with something under it to keep
it from the bottom of the kettle; or set one milk crock into another,
with water in the lower one; or a bowl into the top of the teakettle.
The first double boiler I ever owned was a gluepot.
Use wire strainers or small and large colanders, well covered, over
dishes of boiling water, for steamers; and when a deeper receptacle is
required, turn a basin or pan that just fits, over the top.
Two sizes of flat colanders with pin head holes are to be found at the
5 and 10 cent stores, which are just as useful and durable as more
expensive ones. They answer the purpose of both steamer and colander.
Be sure to have deep kettles or boilers into which the colanders fit
perfectly. I have been in kitchens where, though there was a sufficient
variety of utensils, they were of little use, for no two things fitted;
the steamers and colanders were just a little too large or a little too
small for all the kettles, requiring double the expenditure of time and
strength in using.
Iron rings from small wooden kegs or little rings melted from the tops
of tin cans are great treasures to use on the top of the stove, in
kettles, or in the oven, to set vessels on to keep the contents from
sticking and burning.
“Gunboats”--empty tin cans--of all sizes, have a great variety of uses.
A book of asbestos sheets costing ten cents is invaluable. Each sheet
can be used again and again for laying over bread, cake and other foods
in the oven.
After using an aluminum frying or omelet pan for a time, one would
always feel it to be a necessity.
The uses of timbale molds and custard cups are almost innumerable, and
when you once get them you have them.
A pastry brush saves greasy fingers and much time, in oiling cold or
warm pans. Never use it on a _hot_ griddle.
For dispatch and thoroughness in oiling round bottomed gem pans,
nothing equals a piece of cloth folded in several thicknesses 2½ to 3
in. square, saturated with oil.
A spatula (similar to a palette knife) of medium size will soon pay for
itself in the material it saves from the sides of the pans, as well as
in time.
A large French knife chops vegetables on a board more rapidly than they
can be done in a chopping bowl; it also slices onions, shaves cabbage,
cuts croutons and does many things as no other knife can, while smaller
ones of different sizes all have their uses.
For stirring dry flour and meal into hot liquid, for gravies, and for
beating all batters, nothing can take the place of a strong wire batter
whip.
The “Surprise” beater with fine cross wires makes the whites of eggs
for meringues and cakes lighter than any other. The smaller the wire
around the edge, the lighter the eggs will be. These very delicate ones
are for sale in some of the five and ten cent stores at 3 for 5c. Next
to the “Surprise” beater for beating whites of eggs comes the silver
fork.
The “Dover” revolving beater gives a fine close grain when that is
desired, as in egg creams, the “Holt” coming next and being more rapid
in its work, while the “Lyon” gives a fine, fluffy result. A large
sized beater is more useful.
Eggs can be beaten in a deep bowl, narrow at the bottom (the regular
cooking bowl shape) in half the time that it takes to beat them in
a broad bottomed bowl. The nearer the sides of the bowl are to the
beater, the quicker the work will be done. The same is true of whipping
cream, and as cream spatters at first, a pitcher or a tin can, not so
deep but the handle of the beater can be operated, is best for the
purpose. It is better to set the dish in the sink while whipping cream.
If possible have a good scale, as much more accurate results are
obtained in cooking by weight than by measure. It will be useful in
weighing articles from the grocery and market, for weighing letters and
papers for mailing and many other things.
When you have used a good bread mixer for a time, you would not go
back to the old, laborious way of kneading bread for double its cost.
The mixer also makes better bread than can be made by hand.
[Illustration: SOME COOKING CONVENIENCES]
[Illustration:
PUDDING MOLDS
COPPER SAUCE PAN
TURK’S HEAD MOLD
BORDER MOLD
ALUMINUM OMELET PAN
SURPRISE BEATER]
One of the greatest labor savers is a food cutter. A large sized one,
even for a small family, is most satisfactory. Many now have a nut
butter attachment which is desirable, though a regular nut butter mill
is preferable for nut preparations.
Try to have something for a quick fire. If you are out of the reach of
gas, a well-cared-for two burner oil stove will do good service.
Eternal vigilance is the price of preventing double boilers from going
dry. Add more water before there is the least danger.
Rinse off the egg beater or batter whip and hang it in its place as
soon as you finish using it, before going on with what you are doing,
unless, as in some cakes, it needs to drain, then have ready a pitcher,
tin can or quart measure containing cold water to drop it into after
draining.
The cogs of an egg beater should never be wet; when they are wet once,
its usefulness is impaired.
The “Surprise” beater should never be touched with a cloth.
Always wipe a can opener after using, and hang it in its place.
Wire strainers should always be rinsed as soon as used; colanders also,
unless they require soaking, in which case put them immediately into
water.
Put sticky utensils to soaking as soon as emptied.
Rinse and put to draining everything that can be rinsed; then it will
be ready for use instead of rusting in the sink.
Never put knives, spatulas, egg beaters or whips in the sink; always
rinse them off at once.
Professional cooks never lay a knife down without wiping it off. Clean,
dry cloths or towels should be at hand for such purposes.
A side towel fastened to the waist is almost a necessity.
Never scrape a knife or spoon on the edge of a dish.
It is just as necessary and as satisfactory to keep the inside of the
oven blackened as the top of the stove, and it is very little more work.
Boil strong lye water in a scorched vessel (except aluminum), before
trying to clean it.
I have noticed that if a little water is boiled for a few minutes in
a close covered vessel in which some pasty food has been cooked, the
particles are so loosened by the steam that the vessel washes easily.
I would suggest that instead of hanging the dish cloth on the inside
of the sink door, you put it on a line near the stove or out of doors,
where it will dry quickly.
Wet wooden spoons, chopping bowls and all wooden utensils in cold water
before using, to prevent their absorbing the flavors and juices of
foods.
Put new bread and cake tins into a hot oven and bake them until they
look like old ones, if you wish your bread and cake to be well done on
the bottom and sides.
Do not work in a “mess,” keep your tables wiped up as you go.
Above all, _pick up after yourself_. It is often more work to pick up
after people than to do the work.
THINGS TO DO BEFOREHAND
Wash potatoes and keep in stone crock in cool place.
Have beans, peas and lentils looked over.
Have English currants washed and dried, in jars.
Have seeded raisins stemmed.
Have peanuts and almonds blanched.
Have herbs and flavorings ground and bottled.
Have citron cut, wrapped in waxed paper, in covered jar.
Have flour browned in three shades.
Have dry bread ground.
Have tomatoes strained.
Have lemon juice extracted, standing in a cool place.
ECONOMY
“Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost.” John 6:13.
_True economy consists in using all of a good material, rather than in
buying an inferior quality._
It is poor economy from a financial standpoint (saying nothing of
health) to buy small or specked fruits or vegetables.
It takes longer to pare, quarter and core a specked apple than a sound
one, because the decayed part has first to be cut out and one may have
to cut again and again before it is all removed and when it is finished
there may not remain a quarter of an apple.
I once saw two barrels of apples bought at a great “bargain.” Four or
five people whose time was valuable spent an afternoon in preparing
those apples to stew; when they had finished, there was just a bushel
left and they were so flavorless that it was necessary to add lemon
juice and a good deal of sugar to make them at all palatable.
C. F. Langworthy, Ph. D. in speaking of overripe and partially decayed
fruit says: “In addition to a deterioration in flavor, there is always
the possibility of digestive disturbance if such fruit is eaten
raw.”--_Farmers’ Bulletin 293. U. S. Department of Agriculture._
Inferior, immature fruit, dried, requires a larger proportion of sugar
than well ripened fruit, and then it is neither palatable nor wholesome.
Small prunes with their large proportion of stone and skin are
expensive besides being inferior in flavor.
It takes as long to pare, quarter and core a small apple as a large
one, and a bushel of large apples will yield more pulp than a bushel of
small ones, notwithstanding the spaces, there being a so much larger
proportion of skins and cores in the small ones.
Small pineapples are especially expensive.
“Cheap” flour costs more than the best because it takes a larger
quantity to make the same amount of bread.
Corn starch that costs two or three cents less per package than the
best will sometimes require double the quantity for thickening, besides
imparting a strong, disagreeable flavor.
Cotton seed oil that is not well refined, so that it is clear and
nearly white is not fit for food, and requires more for shortening.
Economy in all things, food, clothing, houses, climate is that which
keeps us in the best condition physically and spiritually.
MISCELLANEOUS
All foods that are suitable should be used uncooked. They are more
nourishing and consequently more satisfying.
Foods containing starch should not be eaten raw.
Next to wholesomeness, make taste and palatability first. There is
nothing more disappointing than to taste of a daintily arranged and
decorated dish and find it flat and insipid.
Seek to develop the natural flavors of foods, of which there are
thousands, rather than to add foreign flavorings.
To stir fruits, legumes and many foods while cooking is just the way to
make them stick and scorch. Shake the vessels instead of stirring.
To brush kettles and saucepans on the inside with oil, helps to keep
milk and other foods from sticking.
Use double boilers as far as possible for reheating gravies, cereals
and legumes, and for heating milk.
When, in spite of all precautions, something burns on, plunge the
vessel without ceremony into a pail or pan of cold water for a moment,
empty the contents immediately into another kettle, add boiling water
and return to the fire to finish cooking. Badly scorched foods often
lose all the scorched flavor by this treatment.
Remove the burnt portion from bread or cake with a grater, when first
taken from the oven.
Dip the knife into hot water to cut butter, warm bread or cake.
Two forks are better than a knife for separating steamed puddings,
fresh cake and many things.
Use pastry flour for gravies, sauces and all thickenings.
To blend flour and liquid for thickening, add only a little liquid at
a time, stirring with a fork or batter whip until a perfectly smooth
paste is formed, then add liquid to make of the consistency of rather
thin cream.
Flour, for thickening, gives a more creamy consistency than corn
starch. Use corn starch for fruit juices, as it leaves them clearer.
Never mix flour or corn starch with eggs to stir into boiling
liquid, as they both require longer cooking than eggs will bear
without separating. Stir the blended flour or corn starch into the
liquid first, let it boil well, then pour the hot mixture gradually,
stirring, into the beaten eggs, return to the fire and cook a moment if
necessary, but do not boil.
In adding yolks of eggs to hot mixtures, put two or three spoonfuls of
the mixture on to the yolks, stirring, then add them, all at once, to
the whole.
Eggs must be added all at once to hot liquids so they will all be
cooked alike and a part will not curdle before the rest is done.
To prevent a raw taste, blended flour should be added to boiling liquid
so slowly as not to stop its boiling.
“Rich milk” means one-fourth to one-third cream.
Cream judiciously used is no more expensive from a financial stand
point than butter, and from a health standpoint it is cheaper.
Being in the form of an emulsion, cream does not hinder digestion as
does the free fat of butter. It should be sterilized before using in
uncooked dishes.
In the recipes in this book, heavy cream is meant unless thin is
specified.
It is cheaper to buy heavy cream than light, when there are two
qualities, and you can make it as thin as you wish.
When cream is scarce do not use it where oil and skimmed milk will do
just as well, but save it for uses where nothing else will take its
place.
Cream with water often gives a better flavor to foods than milk, and is
just as cheap.
For farmers, the use of cream saves the labor of making butter.
When taking cream, use fewer nuts and less butter and other oils.
Nut creams and butters may always be substituted for dairy cream and
butter, with judgment as to flavors.
Peanut butter should be used sparingly and judiciously. No one enjoys,
as one man expressed it, “that everlasting peanut flavor in everything.”
Oil and melted butter may be combined in equal quantities when the
butter flavor is desirable, as in pilau and drawn butter.
Oil makes more tender pastry, raised cakes and universal crust.
“Stale” bread crumbs are those of a two or three days old loaf.
Stale bread is understood for crumbs when no specification is given.
A quick and easy way to prepare stale bread crumbs is to cut very thin
slices from the loaf, lay them together and cut as thin as possible
across one way and then the other with a large sharp knife into tiny
dice.
“Dry” crumbs are those from a loaf dry enough to grate or grind.
Save all pieces of bread not usable for croutons or other things, dry
without browning, and roll or grind, for dry crumbs; sift, leaving two
sizes of crumbs.
When bread crumbs are used for puddings or molds the quantity will vary
with the kind of bread. Fewer will be required with home-made bread
than with baker’s bread.
Bread, cracker or zwieback crumbs, corn meal, flour or browned flour
No. 1, or a mixture of crumbs and brown or white flour may be used for
rolling croquettes or cutlets, or for sprinkling the top of scallops or
gratins.
Nut meal is suitable for the outside of rice croquettes and the top of
many dishes.
Grated or chopped onion is apt to become bitter if prepared long before
using.
To extract the juice from lemons without a drill, cut them in halves
without rolling, the same as for a drill, then holding each half over a
strainer in a bowl, work the point of a spoon from the cut surface in
and around gradually to the rind. This method removes the juice cleaner
than does the drill.
Another way is to roll the lemon and puncture it at one end with a
silver fork, then squeeze the juice out. This leaves the seeds inside.
Dry lemons yield more juice than fresh ones.
Remove the pulp from lemons for pies and other uses by cutting them
lengthwise in the middle of the sections and scraping each side of the
membrane, or by cutting the lemon in halves crosswise and taking the
pulp out with a spoon.
To keep lemons and oranges from molding, spread them on a shelf in a
dry place so that they will not touch each other. They may be covered
with glass tumblers if in a cool as well as dry place.
To core apples, insert a steel fork at the blossom end and turn it
round and round, then repeat from the stem end.
The half shell of an egg will remove bits of shell from broken eggs
much better than a spoon.
My mother taught me to use too little rather than too much salt in
foods, saying it was easier to add it than to take it out.
Salt varies so much in saltness that it is impossible to give definite
rules for its use.
Have a shelf over the stove for zwieback, crackers and toasted cereals
to keep them crisp.
Keep a dish of oil on or near your work table.
Have a small tin of pastry flour on the table to use for thickening
sauces; also a small bowl or tin of sugar, and one of corn starch if
using it frequently, and a box of salt, of course.
If a thickened mixture is allowed to any more than boil up well, after
lemon juice is added, it will become thin.
Finely-sliced, tender, raw celery is much to be preferred to cooked, in
timbales, croquettes, batters and sauces.
Never chop celery; slice it fine instead.
The word “meat” as used in this book refers to true meats, not flesh
meats, but is confined to such foods as are rich in proteids, not being
taken in its broadest sense.
Use soft butter for oiling molds to be decorated, as that holds the
decorations better than oil.
To unmold, dip the mold in hot water a moment.
Both oil and crumb molds for delicate fillings.
Dip molds in cold water, invert and turn quickly right side up without
draining, for gelatine and other fillings to be served cold.
Many foods gain in richness of flavor by being reheated; and for that
reason, left overs often make more appetizing dishes than fresh cooked
foods.
Reheat foods, legumes, vegetables, cereals, or fruits, to preserve
them, before they begin to show signs of spoiling.
Only a small quantity of sugar, proportionately, should be added to
yolks of eggs, or they will gather in small, hard particles and become
useless.
Ice water crisps and freshens such vegetables as lettuce, parsley,
cabbage and cucumbers as that just a little warmer will not.
In multiplying a recipe to make a larger quantity of soup or other
liquid food, use a smaller proportion of liquid; or in dishes
containing thickening take a larger proportion of flour, as the
evaporation is not so great in proportion to the quantity.
The alcohol of yeast or of flavoring extracts goes off in the steam in
cooking.
When eggs are used in cakes, breads, puddings or other dishes, fewer
nuts, nut foods, legumes or other proteid foods will be required.
Bake soufflés and dishes made light with eggs, slowly, as when baked
rapidly they puff up quickly and fall just as quickly; while if baked
slowly, they retain their lightness.
Timbales, puddings and all molds to be served hot should stand 5 or 10
m. in a warm place after removing from the fire, before unmolding.
Place a cold wet towel over pudding molds to loosen, if inclined to
stick.
Do not chop nut meats fine for roasts, cakes or puddings. Sometimes
leave them whole, or just break them a little.
To try vegetables for tenderness, use a sharp pointed knife rather than
a fork.
Batter and plum puddings and brown bread may be steamed in the oven by
setting the mold containing them into a vessel of water with a tight
fitting cover.
To steam in glass, set dishes or jars first into cold water and bring
to boiling, then set into steamer.
Honey attracts moisture, consequently it should be kept in a warm dry
place.
In discarding unwholesome foods be sure to put something wholesome in
their place; in other words, employ a system of substitution rather
than one of subtraction.
For instance, for this book we have taken pains to search out a
variety of harmless flavorings to be used in place of the irritating
condiments, such as mustard, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and
cloves; and instead of the acetic acid of vinegar, we use lemon
juice--citric acid.
“Vinegar--acetic acid, is about ten times as strong as alcohol and
makes more trouble in the stomach than any of the other acids except
oxalic.”--_Dr. Rand._
“Do not eat largely of salt.”
“Very hot food ought not to be taken into the stomach. Soups, puddings
and other articles of the kind are often eaten too hot, and as a
consequence the stomach is debilitated.”
Many people can digest cream better when accompanied by an acid fruit.
While using oil enough to keep the machinery of the body lubricated,
take care not to use too much. People with dilated stomachs can take
very little, and that little best in salad dressings or as shortening
with flour.
Malt gives flesh but not strength; too much is harmful.
Flesh is more often a sign of disease than of health. Good solid firm
muscle is to be cultivated.
Taste is a matter of education. Let us educate ourselves to like the
things that are good for us.
“Perseverance in a self-denying course of eating and drinking will soon
make plain, wholesome food palatable, and it will be eaten with greater
satisfaction than the epicure enjoys over his rich dainties.”
MEASUREMENTS
Flour is always sifted once before measuring and is laid into the
measure lightly with a spoon to just level, without being shaken down;
when measured otherwise, results will not be correct.
The measurements of tablespoons and teaspoons in this book are for
slightly rounded spoons, as granulated sugar would be when the spoon is
shaken sidewise. This seems the natural way of measuring. When level
spoons are specified, the spoon is leveled off with a spatula or the
straight edge of a knife.
The half-pint cup is the standard measuring cup.
A cupful is all the cup will hold without running over.
A speck equals ¼ saltspn.
1 saltspn „ ¼ teaspn.
2 teaspns „ 1 dessert spn.
1½ dessert spn „ 1 tablespn.
3 teaspns „ 1 tablespn.
1 tablespn. sugar or corn starch „ 1½ level tablespn.
3 level tablespns. cracker crumbs „ ¼ cup.
9½ tablespns. granulated sugar „ 1 cup.
15¼ level tablespns. „ „ „ 1 cup.
3 tablespns. liquid „ ¼ cup.
4 tablespns. liquid „ ⅓ cup.
4½ level tablespns. butter „ ⅓ cup.
3 rounded tablespns. butter „ ⅓ cup.
12 tablespns. liquid „ 1 cup.
1 wine glass „ ¼ cup.
1 gill „ ½ cup.
1 cup „ ½ pint.
1 tumbler „ ½ pint.
4 gills--2 cups „ 1 pint.
2 pints „ 1 quart.
4 quarts „ 1 gallon.
2 cups (1 pint) granulated sugar „ 1 pound.
2½ cups powdered sugar „ 1 pound.
3⅔ cups light or medium brown sugar „ 1 pound
2 cups butter „ 1 pound
4 cups good pastry flour „ 1 pound
3½-3⅞ cups good bread flour „ 1 pound
3½ plus, cups rice „ 1 pound
3 cups seeded raisins „ 1 pound
3¼ cups currants „ 1 pound
4 cups desiccated cocoanut „ 1 pound
1 pint milk or water „ 1 pound
1 rounded tablespn. butter „ 1 ounce
Butter size of a walnut „ 1 ounce
Butter size of an egg „ 2 ounces
2 tablespns. oil „ 1⅛ ounce
1 cup of oil „ 6¾ ounces
2 rounded tablespns. flour „ 1 ounce
1 rounded tablespn. sugar „ 1 ounce
1½ level tablespn. table salt „ 1 ounce
8 eggs in shell „ 1 pound
10 eggs out of shell „ 1 pound
12 ears of corn „ 3 cups grated corn
1 ear of corn „ ¼ cup grated corn
18 roots of oyster plant „ 1¼ qt. sliced
1 bunch of oyster plant „ ⅔ qt. sliced
1 bunch of oyster plant „ 1 pt. after cooking
FLAVORINGS
If we heed the injunction of the wise man to eat for strength and not
for drunkenness, we will exclude the burning, irritating condiments
from our dietary, since they by causing a feverish state of the system
and creating “a thirst which water cannot quench,” are among the
greatest causes of inebriety.
When our sense of taste is not benumbed or destroyed by harmful
accompaniments we are in a condition to keenly enjoy the thousands of
fine, delicate flavors that our loving Father has placed in wholesome
foods.
Among the stronger flavors for those who do not at once enjoy the
delicate ones, we have sage, savory, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, bay
leaf, garlic, onion, chives and leeks.
Then come celery salt and seed, leaves and stalks; lemon thyme,
shallots, spearmint, parsley, basil and tarragon.
The flavors of carrots, turnips, cabbage and spinach have their place.
The small leaf buds of sassafras may be dried and ground for soups and
stews.
Celery leaves dried with gentle heat make excellent flavorings. They
may be powdered by rubbing through a wire strainer the same as leaf
sage.
Crush stalks of celery and let them stand in the soup or sauce to be
flavored for 15 m., then remove them.
For a fresh positive onion flavor, let slices of onion stand in the
food for 5 or 10 m.
The flavor of garlic is usually obtained by rubbing the dish in which
the food is to be served or the spoon with which it is stirred with the
cut surface of one of the cloves or sections. Slice it and crush it
with salt when using it in cooked foods. One clove will flavor a large
quantity.
Use bay leaf in the proportion of one large leaf to a quart of liquid.
As far as possible raise your own herbs. If in no other way, plant them
in pots and boxes in the house. Somewhere I have seen the suggestion of
planting parsley in holes in the sides of a barrel which has been sawed
in two, and such plants as sage, thyme, mint, basil and tarragon in the
top.
Gather herbs before flowering, dry in the shade, tie in paper sacks and
hang in a dry place. Powder only a small quantity at a time and keep in
close covered small jars. Fresh herbs, especially mint and tarragon,
when obtainable, are far superior to dry ones.
The fact that raising any oil to a temperature high enough to brown it,
decomposes it and produces a poisonous acid--a powerful irritant--is
one of the best known to science.
Flour is rendered more digestible by browning and when combined with
cream, oil or butter, gives the browned oil flavor without the poison.
To prepare browned flour, sift _bread_ flour into a broad flat pan, let
it stand in a warm oven, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly dry,
then gradually increase the heat of the oven, stirring often, until the
desired degree of brownness is reached.
A delicate cream color, so light that you would hardly know there was
any color except by comparing it with flour that had not been in the
oven, gives a delightfully meaty flavor to some gravies and sauces. A
light or medium brown is convenient to have at times, but the one most
useful is the dark chestnut brown. The darker it is the longer it will
last, as less of it will be required for flavoring.
To obtain this color a very high degree of heat will be required at the
last, with almost constant stirring. As this dark flour lasts so long
(I seldom make it more than once in a year for a large family), it pays
to give it the necessary attention at every stage. Do not try to hurry
it. If you begin browning it before it is thoroughly dry, it will burn.
When done, sift and keep in close covered can or jar.
The lightest shade (which for convenience we call No. 1, and the
others No. 2 and 3) should be prepared oftener as it becomes stale by
standing. No. 3 will keep indefinitely. It is used for flavoring only
as it will not thicken. Where consistency is desired, combine it with
unbrowned flour. No. 1 will thicken nearly as much as though it had not
been in the oven, and No. 2 a little.
When no number is given in recipes calling for browned flour, No. 3 is
understood.
Browned flour, onion and a small quantity of tomato (not enough to
give a tomato taste) combined, form the basis of meaty flavors in foods.
To these, add sometimes a bay leaf, a very little sage and a trifle of
thyme. Again, add bay leaf, grated or chopped carrot and a very few
celery tops, dried or fresh.
Garlic combines well with either of these combinations, and powdered or
soaked dried mushrooms are a delightful addition.
Butter (oil or part oil) and a little onion with parsley seem something
like chicken.
Juniper berries are thought to give the flavor of game. Not more than a
teaspoonful of crushed berries should be used to the quart of stew.
Combine flavors so that no one is prominent but the whole combination
pleasing.
Use herbs and all strong flavorings sparingly. One colored cook of
experience expressed it when she said, “I put in just a trifle of sage,
not enough to make it vulgar.”
Withal, have a variety; do not use the same flavors day after day.
=Brown Onion Flavor=
For sauces, soups and croquettes.
Cook together sliced onions, browned flour and oil with salt and water
until onions are tender; strain, keep in cool place.
FOR SWEETS
Steep peach leaves in water for almond flavor.
Finely-ground coriander seed is a delightful and not unwholesome
flavoring. It is cheaper to buy the seed by the pound. A half pound
will go a long way. Do not grind too much at a time.
Ground anise seed in minute quantities is unequaled for some things,
but is disagreeable when used too liberally.
For sweet dishes to be flavored with lemon or orange, score the rind of
the fruit lightly with a sharp-tined fork. Drop the scored fruit into
the measured sugar and rub it well with the sugar.
Another way of obtaining the flavor, also of grape fruit, is to pour
boiling water over the thinly-pared yellow rind and when cold, strain.
For salads, let that thin rind stand in the lemon or other fruit juices
for a time and then remove.
When obliged to use lemon or orange extracts, use only a few drops
instead of the teaspoonful of the average recipe.
Rose is another of the delightful flavors to be used sparingly.
To flavor with cocoanut, when the fibre is not desired, steep (do not
boil) the cocoanut in milk for 15-20 m., then strain it out.
SALAD FLAVORINGS
To flavor lemon juice for cooked or uncooked dressings, take to each
three tablespns. of lemon juice and one of water, a slice of onion, a
bay leaf, and ¼ teaspn. of celery seed or 1 tablespn. of chopped celery
leaves. Boil a moment, then cool and strain. Tarragon and chives may
be used for the flavorings. Onion, bay leaf, thyme, a trifle of garlic
if liked, and a few thin yellow-slices of orange peel make another
combination.
The salad dish is sometimes rubbed with the cut surface of a clove of
garlic or a slice of onion, or onion may be chopped or grated. Crushed
celery seed is liked by some in salad dressings. Spearmint is very
refreshing. Delicate tender sassafras leaves may be used in fruit and
nut meat salads.
Shredded fresh mint combines well with orange or grape fruit or with
currant juice; tarragon with red raspberries and currants, and basil
with peaches.
In closing the subject of flavorings, I quote the words of a lady
visitor after sampling some of the dishes prepared by a class in
cookery:
“Any one can give a taste to foods by adding condiments and flavorings,
but to develop the flavors of the foods themselves is an art.”
GARNISHING
The saying that “some people eat with their eyes” is true to a great
extent of all of us. I believe that the veriest savage would better
enjoy his dinner, however rude, if somewhere there were tucked into it
a bit of green. The busy farmer’s wife as she goes to the wood pile for
an armful of wood can quickly pick off a spray of May weed, dropping it
into a tin of cold water as she passes the water pail, and her platter
of beans for dinner is transformed, in the eyes of those children, into
a thing of beauty, and what effect may it not have in the formation of
their characters?
Of variety in garnishing there need be no lack with the garden, wayside
and woods abounding in beautiful leaves, vines and flowers.
There are foliage plant, geranium, and autumn leaves, ferns in variety,
with lettuce, endive, spinach, parsley, chervil and carrot tops. The
variegated variety of beet leaves, as also the bright blossoms of
nasturtiums make a brilliant garnish.
Put parsley, ferns, and all of the green leaves and vines into very
cold water as soon as gathered and leave for some time, then keep in
paper sacks in a cold place away from the wind. Repeat the cold water
bath at intervals.
Barberries canned, or preserved in brine, candied cranberries or
cherries, green grapes in brine, designs cut from orange, lemon grape
fruit and tangerine rinds, tomatoes in slices or in lengthwise pieces,
and slices of lemon or orange with the skin on are all suitable
garnishes at times.
Lemon cups, having a slice cut off from the ends so that they will
stand, may be used for mayonnaise or small servings of salad.
Orange and grape fruit halves with tops notched or scalloped or
sometimes cut in deep points rolled down, and orange baskets make a
change of service. All of these fruit cups should be kept in ice water
or chopped ice until serving time, then thoroughly dried with a soft
towel.
Blood oranges and gelatine oranges are novelties for garnishing.
Sprays of maidenhair fern are pretty under grape fruit and orange cups.
All cups or glasses containing salads or creams should be served on
doilies on small plates.
To prepare fringed celery, cut the stalks into two- or three-in.
lengths, then slice very fine from each end to within ¾-1 in. of the
center and leave in ice water for a time. Do not lay in ice water
before preparing. The short tender stalks may have the leaves left on
and be shredded at the opposite end. Celery _leaves_ make a desirable
garnish.
Cut carrots, beets and yellow turnips into slices or sticks, or into
round pieces with an open-top thimble or a round pastry tube, and into
fancy shapes with vegetable cutters, selecting cutters which have not
sharp points or slender stems.
=Radish Lilies=
Get either the turnip or olive shaped radishes, wash them well, trim
off just the slender tips and all but one or two of the smallest
leaves. With a thin, sharp knife cut them into halves from the tip end
almost to the stem, and the same way into quarters and eighths. Then
carefully loosen the rind of each section as far down as it is cut and
throw the radishes into ice water, leaving them there for several hours
or overnight, when they will have bloomed into beautiful lilies. Pure
white or yellow lilies may be made from yellow or white radishes. Serve
directly from the ice water, and the radishes will be crisp and sweet
and easily digested.
Just one radish sometimes, in a spray or two of parsley or chervil is
better than a more elaborate garnish; a red radish sliced or cut into
quarters or sixths is pretty in a little green.
Roll up imperfect leaves of lettuce and slice in thin slices, then pick
up lightly and use for borders or nests or beds.
Dry parsley thoroughly in a towel before chopping. For rolling, spread
the particles out, a little distance apart, so as to just fleck
whatever is rolled in it.
Use nuts chopped or in halves or broken pieces for borders or nests of
fruit or vegetable salads; never put them into the dressing.
=Potato Balls=
Potatoes may be cut into balls with a vegetable scoop, boiled until
just tender, not broken, drained, sprinkled with chopped parsley and
used for garnishing a true meat dish.
=Egg Daisies=
Cut the hard boiled yolks of eggs into round pieces and the whites into
petal shapes for daisies for decorating the tops of small spinach or
other timbales or molds.
The whites and yolks are better poached separately for garnishing. Cut
whites with vegetable cutters sometimes.
=Oxeye Daisies=
Use the end of a small black olive for the center of daisies, and
carrots for the leaves.
Toast points or croutons of different shapes are suitable garnishes for
timbales, eggs, broiled mushrooms and true meat or vegetable stews, or
we may use pieces of bread of different shapes that have been dipped in
egg yolks and milk and baked. Breaded triangles, squares or circles, of
corn meal porridge may be used to garnish the edge of a platter for a
stew.
Serve some creamed dishes or stews in shells of pastry.
Turk’s head and border molds may be decorated with truffles or other
decorations, and used for meat dishes for variety.
Button mushrooms may be used for garnishing individual timbales.
Cut left overs of pie crust or cracker dough into fancy shapes, for
scalloped dishes, salads and some desserts, and into squares, diamonds
or strips for peas and other vegetables.
For legumes or other meat dishes, sometimes use carrots in dice or
slices, sprinkled with chopped parsley or interspersed with sprigs of
parsley.
Lemon Points.--Cut slices of lemon into four or six parts.
=Pastry Bag=
The pastry bag gives variety in garnishing and decorating. The bag
itself may be of rubber, paper or cloth. Cloth for all purposes is the
most practical. To make, take “Indian Head” or other heavy cloth, cut
it into any sized square desired; fold and sew together in cornucopia
shape (the seam is better felled), trim the top evenly and hem; then
cut off a very little from the point and hem that, leaving the opening
just large enough to insert the tubes one-third to one-half their
length.
Paper bags may be used in an emergency, and rubber for some purposes,
but not for anything containing oil.
Mashed peas and potatoes should not be too dry for decorating.
Mayonnaise dressing and whipped cream should be stiff, as also
meringues.
COLORINGS
=Pokeberry--Carmine=
Cover berries with water, boil till the skins break, strain, add 1 cup
of sugar to each pint of juice; boil, bottle, seal.
_For Red_, cook strained tomato to a thick pulp; or slice a bright red
raw beet into cold water and let it stand on the stove where it will
heat slowly to a little below the boiling point and strain.
_For Green_, bruise parsley, spinach, chervil, onion tops, chives,
tarragon or lettuce, with or without lemon, and press out the juice for
coloring.
_For Yellow_, steep saffron in boiling water for ½-1 hour and strain
when cold.
When these colorings are not suitable, the so-called “fruit colors” for
sale at the groceries may be used. Use only enough for delicate shades.
ARRANGEMENT AND GARNISHING OF SALADS
The arrangement and garnishing of salads depends largely upon
individual taste and skill in the use of things at hand, and is a
matter of importance.
The garnish should be a suitable one and should harmonize with the
ingredients of the salad. For example, a dainty flower or vine with a
delicate fruit salad, and slices or fancy shapes of vegetables with
true meat salads.
Red apple, or tomato cups may be used for light colored salads, and
yellow tomato, or green and white apple cups for bright ones.
Juicy fruit salads should be served in dainty glasses or cups; and a
correspondingly dainty doily on the plate underneath the glass with a
delicate flower or leaf by its side, leaves nothing to be desired.
* * * * *
“We do not attain perfection by striving to do something out of the
common.
“Perfection is acquired by doing the common things uncommonly
well.”--_Mowry._
FRUITS
FRUITS--FRESH
“Man has always thrived as he has eaten freely of fruits.”--_H. Irving
Hancock._
“The best food on this planet is ripe fruit. The healthiest people
on the globe are the fruit eaters of tropical countries. The great
muscular Maoris of New Zealand are a frugiverous race. I have seen a
boat crew of these great chocolate colored giants that would outrow the
‘crack’ university crews were they properly trained. The bread fruit
of the Samoan Islands has made a race of giants. I have examined these
men and women on their native soil and finer human specimens never
lived.”--_Dr. Paul Edwards._
“The more we depend upon the fresh fruit just as it is plucked from the
tree, the greater will be the blessing.”
“It would be well for us to do less cooking and to eat more fruit in
its natural state. Eat freely of fresh grapes, apples, peaches, pears,
berries and all other kinds of fruit that can be obtained.”
Fruits supply sugar, acids, mineral matter and bulk. The mineral
elements of fruits are more readily assimilated than those of flesh
meat and vegetables. Acid fruits aid in the digestion of nuts and
other nitrogenous foods. Acid, juicy fruits keep the system clean and
free from germs. They render lime and soda salts soluble, enabling the
system to throw them off. They _allay_ instead of _creating_ thirst.
Alcohol and tobacco cannot stay long with the individual who uses no
flesh foods and partakes freely of ripe juicy fruits. Use more fruit
and fewer vegetables if you would not experience thirst.
Cane sugar is not digested in the stomach but causes fermentation by
hindering the digestion of other foods. The sugar of fruits (grape
and fruit sugar, so-called), and that of honey are all ready for
assimilation, so require less labor on the part of the body and may be
used more rapidly for the repair of muscular fatigue.
The laxative effect of fruit is very important. Very ripe bananas taken
when the stomach is empty often produce immediate effect. Pineapples
after nitrogenous foods, ripe olives, peaches, pears and nearly all
fruits are helpful.
It is better to use the juice and pulp only, of seedy fruits like
blackberries and black raspberries. With many people the seeds produce
hives.
The matter of bulk in the diet is an important one. The whole digestive
tract suffers if there is not a fairly good bulk of food to be handled
by it, yet serious results follow when a large quantity of concentrated
food is consumed; consequently, fruits and green vegetables being
composed largely of water supply just what is needed.
Fruit must be thoroughly ripened, sound and well matured. Many unripe
fruits contain raw starch which causes trouble when they are eaten.
The largest fruit of its kind is usually the cheapest. It is poor
economy to spend money and (if the fruit requires paring) time, for
seeds, skins, and cores. Besides, as a rule the larger fruit is more
perfectly matured, so more wholesome as well as of a finer flavor.
Do not use the skins of fruits much. They are composed largely of woody
fibre and are intended only for a covering to the fruit. In the days
of stomach washes, the skins of fruits were noticeably abundant in the
“unswallowed” food.
For the best effect, fruits should be used without sugar. When one has
accustomed himself to the use of grape fruit and oranges without sugar,
the addition of it will make them positively disagreeable to his
taste, besides causing rebellion in the stomach.
Since acids hinder the digestion of starch, it is better to take acid
fruits at the close of a meal including starchy foods, and we should
especially avoid taking starches and acids into the mouth at the same
time, before the starch has been acted upon by the saliva.
There is great opportunity for the display of artistic skill in serving
fresh fruits, and nothing so well repays a little effort as the
combination of leaves, ferns and vines with fruits. One beautiful dish
that I remember was of plums, grapes and peaches with autumn leaves;
another, with rich branches of foliage plants and a variety of fruits.
Grape leaves combine beautifully with fruits.
One person with whom I am acquainted can use no starchy foods. The
many attempts which she has made to use them invariably result in her
becoming extremely weak, and helpless with rheumatism; but she thrives
on a diet composed almost exclusively of acid fruits and nuts. She
writes--“On my fruit and nut diet I seldom feel thirst, but after
eating even starchless vegetables I suffer exceedingly from it. I find
also that I do not require so much sleep as when living on another
diet.” Her chief fruits are sour apples, grape fruit, oranges and
mealy-ripe bananas with a few raisins, dates and figs occasionally for
dessert. She is at her best when currants are ripe; and takes them
every day as long as they can be obtained.
APPLES
The apple, of which there are said to be over 2000 varieties, has no
equal as an “all-round” fruit; but it is at its best just pared and
eaten raw. It requires thorough mastication both for digestion and
enjoyment.
When you are not feeling quite at par, cut an apple in two from stem
to blossom end and with a round pointed knife scrape it into a fine
pulp from either side. It is most refreshing and easily digested so.
Children and people whose teeth are defective can take it best that way.
The apple is the choicest salad fruit.
BANANAS
The fact that the banana is a serious cause of indigestion when just
turned yellow is quite generally understood, and fruit eaters now buy
them and keep them until they become not just soft, but _mellow ripe_,
which will be after the skins are dark or covered with dark spots. As
long as they have a “pasty” feeling in the mouth they are unfit for
food because the starch is not yet changed to sugar.
Do not try to hurry the ripening process as bananas are better when
ripened slowly. Keep them in the dark, in a not too cold place and give
them plenty of time. Large, plump bananas are far superior to small
slender ones in wholesomeness and flavor, besides being cheaper.
There is no other way of using bananas to compare with eating them “out
of hand” with the skin and fibres removed; but they may be served with
sugar and lemon juice for luncheon or with whipped cream for dessert.
Almond cream is very harmonious with bananas. Peeled bananas with a
little almond butter accompanying each mouthful make a complete and
delightful luncheon. Brazil nut butter and cream are also excellent
with bananas.
BLACKBERRIES
Wild blackberries are sweeter and finer flavored than cultivated ones
and eaten in small quantities from the bush are very enjoyable, but
they should not be taken in large quantities with their seeds. They may
be served with nut, or whipped dairy cream. With a thin syrup of sugar
and water they are delicious.
CANTALOUPE
Wash, drain, chill, cut in halves and remove the seeds with a
round-pointed spoon (not a sharp pointed knife) or with the fingers.
Do not put ice inside as it destroys the flavor. Serve on mat of grape
leaves.
CURRANTS
Wash, drain, serve on the stems plain or around a mold of sugar (made
by pressing not too dry powdered or granulated sugar into a small
glass, and unmolding in the center of the plate), or a spoonful of
sugar, on a dainty dish. Nice, very ripe currants are especially
refreshing and reviving.
=Frosted Currants=
Pick fine even bunches of currants and dip them, one at a time, into
a mixture of frothed white of egg and a very little cold water. Drain
them until nearly dry and roll in powdered sugar. Repeat the dip in
the sugar once or twice and lay them on white paper to dry. Use as a
garnish.
DATES AND NUTS
Serve dates piled on a dessert plate with halves of nuts around, or on
individual dishes with a spoonful of any desired nut butter or meal in
the center of the dish.
DATES AND CREAM
Slice dates and cover with nut or dairy cream. Dairy cream may be
whipped and piled in center of dish with fruit around.
DATES OR FIGS AND MILK
One writer on health subjects recommends dates and milk or figs and
milk as an improvement upon bread and milk. They make an excellent
combination and a satisfying meal.
Nut milk or nut cream are ideal for sweet fruits.
FIGS
Serve figs with nuts and with cream, the same as dates. For Stuffed
Dates and Figs, see Confections.
GOOSEBERRIES
Nice large ripe gooseberries are most enjoyable right from the bushes.
GRAPES
There is perhaps no fruit more highly recommended than the grape. One
says: “It is safe to say that the juice of no other fruit or vegetable
so strikingly resembles blood in its composition as the unfermented
juice of grapes.”
Another: “Grapes eaten exclusively for several days bring about
wonderful results in the system. From one to two pounds should be
consumed daily at first, gradually increasing to eight or ten pounds.”
The “grape cures” in France and Germany are too well known to require
mention. There is said to be “a life giving principle in grapes which
builds tissue and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system.”
These quotations apply particularly to fresh grapes. Cooked grapes and
juice do not agree with every one.
TO PACK GRAPES
Take the late grapes, pick them carefully, spread them in a cool place
in layers on shelves, let them remain two weeks, then pack in barrels
with dry hard-wood sawdust. Bran will answer very well. Packed in this
manner the fruit will keep good through the winter it is said. After
packing, grapes should be kept in a cool, dry place.
GRAPE FRUIT
Cut in halves crosswise, remove seeds with sharp pointed knife, and
separate the pulp from the bitter membrane between the sections. Serve
one half to each person in peel or small glass, or serve halves after
removing seeds without separating pulp. The fruit should not be cut
long before serving as the juice and pulp absorb the bitter of the cut
membrane. Taken at the close of the meal, grape fruit is an aid to
digestion. The effect will be better without sugar. As a dessert, it
is sometimes served with a tablespoonful of thick maple syrup in the
center.
GRAPE FRUIT WITH MALAGA GRAPES
Prepare grape fruit as for salad, combine with halved, seeded Malaga
grapes and sugar; refill cups which have been wiped dry after standing
in ice water. Garnish with candied cherries or blanched almonds.
GRAPE FRUIT AMBROSIA
Mix grape fruit pulp with orange pulp, grated cocoanut and sugar.
Serve, sprinkled with cocoanut, in its own cups or in glasses.
OLIVES
“When properly prepared, olives like nuts supply the place of butter
and flesh meats. Oil as eaten in the olive is far preferable to animal
oil or fat. It serves as a laxative. Its use will be found beneficial
to consumptives and it is healing to an inflamed, irritated stomach.”
The olive contains more protein than any of the other common fruits,
and with the exception of the alligator pear is the only one containing
any appreciable amount of oil. Until within a few years we have been
eating this valuable fruit in its unripe state, but now we get it, both
imported and home grown, ripe. There is just as much difference between
a ripe and green olive as between a ripe and green apple.
The ripe olive is black or dark brown in color (according to where it
was grown) and has its full quota of oil. After one has eaten ripe
olives for a time, the green ones will have a harsh, rank taste to
him. It is also much easier to acquire a taste for the ripe olive. The
large, luscious ones with meat as thick as that of a good sized plum
are truly delightful.
Those hurried on to the eastern market from California before the
holidays are not thoroughly ripened, but there are some growers who
hold them until properly matured before gathering. Olives are better
just soaked a little and eaten in that state than to be used in cooked
dishes; but when used in soups or sauces, add without cooking just
before serving.
Ripe olives are a valuable substitute for butter with bread, giving an
emulsified oil instead of a free fat, with no germs of tuberculosis or
other diseases.
The dried olives sold by Italian grocers require a long soaking and
several changes of water. They, too, become stronger flavored by
cooking. They are considerably cheaper than the bottled ones but much
less delicate in flavor.
ORANGES
“The one thing that quickest revives a human being is orange
juice.”--_Dr. Paul Edwards._
“The orange is a fruit that is distinctly health-giving. Orange juice
aids greatly in reducing the amount of putrefaction in the intestines
of nearly all persons who are submitted to clinical laboratory
tests.”--_H. Irving Hancock, in “Good Housekeeping.”_
The white separating membrane of the orange is rather indigestible, so
in many cases it is better to use the juice or pulp only.
I am going to tell you how to “drink” oranges. First, cut the orange
in halves from end to end, then cut each half in three or four pieces;
place each one of these oblong cups to the lips and extract the juice,
rejecting the seeds and leaving all the membrane. This method is most
refreshing, if not elegant. Eaten with a spoon from the halves cut
across is, next to this, most satisfying, but takes more time.
In Jamaica they peel off the outer yellow skin and cut the orange
across into two unequal portions. They extract the juice and pulp from
the larger stem section first, and reserve the smaller, sweeter section
for the last.
Again, they peel the yellow part of the rind off about one-fourth of
the way down, run the knife into the peeled end and cut away a conical
portion of the pulp, thus opening all of the sections of the orange.
They then suck out the juice, without any burned lips as the result.
One nice way to prepare the pulp is to peel the fruit as you would
an apple, cutting deep enough to remove all the white portion of the
covering; then to cut all around each section of pulp, just inside the
separating membrane, when you can remove the pure pulp. Serve in glass
sauce-dish, or in cups,--orange, glass or china.
Another dainty and satisfactory way of preparing an orange is to “cut
two circles through the skin around the fruit about ½ in. apart and
half way between the two ends. Remove all the rind except the half-inch
band. Just over one of the natural separations between the sections
of the orange, cut the band with a sharp knife. All the divisions
may then be carefully separated one from another, while all remain
attached to the girdle of yellow rind. Oranges may be laid in layers on
a fruit plate, outstretched upon the narrow piece of peeling, or they
may, after the several divisions have been carefully made, be closed
together again. A ribbon tied around the orange over the rind girdle
will preserve the spherical form and be very pretty and ornamental. It
is but the act of a moment to untie this ribbon, when the sections will
all lie before one in perfect readiness to be eaten.”--_Clipping._
PEACHES
Ripe mellow peaches are incomparable both for health and palatability.
They are equally good both for grown people and children, though one
writer says “the ripe mellow peach is really the child’s fruit.”
A friend fold me that an old Indian came to the house when her little
brother was lying at the point of death, and said, “peach juice will
keep him alive.” The mother, anxious to leave nothing untried, began
giving him the juice of stewed peaches, from which time he began to
retain his food (the mother’s milk) and to improve in every way. When
he came to be weaned, peach juice and gradually the soft halves of
peaches were his sole diet for eight months; then other foods were
introduced sparingly, but all his life peaches have formed a large part
of his diet and he is an unusually well man.
Wash and carefully rub peaches in cold water, and rub them well with a
soft cloth in wiping to remove the down, which is irritating.
Peaches should ripen on the trees; the shipped ones are often suitable
for cooking only as they are gathered before they are ripe. Some
varieties are sour and disagreeable, while others are sweet and
luscious.
Few people know how exceedingly delightful rich juicy white peaches are.
PEACHES AND CREAM
Pare peaches just as short a time before they are to be served as
possible. Cut in halves, quarters or thick slices. Do not sweeten but
pass sugar and unwhipped cream with them. Almond or cocoanut cream are
especially suitable for peaches.
PEACH SNOW
Add sweetened cream to stiffly-beaten whites of eggs (⅓ cup to each
white) and pour over peaches just before serving. All must be cold.
Peaches combine nicely with bananas and with red raspberries. The juice
of the berries may be served over the peaches instead of cream.
PINEAPPLES
The pineapple is another of the universal favorites and deservedly. Its
delightful flavor is unequaled and the fresh juice contains bromelin,
a remarkably active principle which aids digestion both in the stomach
and in the intestinal tract. A slice or two of pineapple taken at the
close of a meal gives a marked laxative effect. The use of pineapple
in diphtheria is well known. I knew a very successful physician in one
of our large cities who always had quantities of pineapple canned each
year for use in diphtheria cases. The digestive ferment is not quite so
active in the cooked fruit as in the uncooked.
SHREDDED PINEAPPLE
Use only choice large well ripened sound pineapples. Wash and drain;
give the crown a twist with the hand, when it will come out easily if
the fruit is ripe. Set the pineapple on a board and with a large sharp
knife pare it by cutting slices down from the top all around, cut thick
enough to remove all the woody covering (the fruit in connection with
that has very little flavor), leaving only the deepest eyes.
After removing the eyes, take the pineapple in the left hand with the
base up and shred it by picking up small pieces all around with the
tines of a silver fork. It will come off easily from that end, leaving
the core, which should be wrung to obtain all the juice.
Let the fruit stand in layers with sugar, ¼ to ½ cup, (or ¼ to ⅓ cup
sugar, ½ to 1 tablespn. lemon juice and ¾ cup water) to each pint,
for some time before serving, or, serve plain and pass sugar with it.
Pineapple and strawberries or raspberries or oranges with lemon juice
and sugar are nice alone, or with cake, for dessert.
PINEAPPLE AND GRAPE FRUIT
Equal quantities of prepared pineapple and grape fruit with sugar and
the juice of either poured over.
Peach, orange and pineapple is another nice combination.
PINEAPPLE AND WHIPPED CREAM
Drain finely-shredded pineapple and beat with whipped cream, as much as
can be used and keep the combination stiff. Serve cold in glasses.
PINEAPPLE AND STRAWBERRY AMBROSIA
Equal quantities ripe strawberries, shredded pineapple and cream.
Whip cream, place layer of pineapple in dish, sprinkle with sugar,
cover with cream, then make a layer of strawberries, sugar and cream.
Continue. Have cream on top. Serve cold with sponge cake or cocoanut
crisps.
PINEAPPLE AND ORANGE AMBROSIA
Drained shredded pineapple, orange pulp and juice, grated cocoanut and
sugar, in layers.
RAISINS
Raisins are nutritious and valuable foods, containing sometimes as
high as 61 per cent. of grape sugar and a considerable proportion of
albuminoids. They are suitably combined with all kinds of bread and
nuts. One thing that makes them so satisfying is that they require
thorough mastication.
RASPBERRIES--RED
When necessary to wash, have cold water in a deep pan and turn the
berries in, not more than a quart at a time. (Do not pour the water
over the berries as that bruises them.) Rinse up and down in the
water with the hands and remove quickly to a colander. Drain, pile in
dish and serve at once. Lemon or currant juice poured over makes a
harmonious combination. ⅓ or ½ very ripe currants may be mixed with the
berries. Serve Brazil nuts or blanched almonds with these combinations.
RASPBERRIES--BLACK
Black raspberries have a peculiar spicy flavor not found in any other
fruit and when plump and thoroughly ripened may be used in moderate
quantities in their natural state.
STRAWBERRIES
The perfect way to serve strawberries is the French--with the hulls
on, without washing. Pass sugar with them, or pile the berries
around a mold of sugar on individual plates, or, set a dainty cup
or glass containing sugar in the center of the plate and pile the
berries around. But if the berries are very sandy, wash the same as
red raspberries. Wash berries always before hulling unless obliged
to let stand after hulling, then do not wash until just ready to
serve. The little strawberry hullers snip the hulls out so quickly and
so perfectly without staining the fingers that they seem among the
indispensables of housekeeping.
ORANGE STRAWBERRIES
Put sliced berries into glasses and pour sweetened orange juice over
to more than cover. Let stand in a cool place 3 or 4 hrs. to improve
the color. They may be served with an uncooked meringue garnished with
halves or quarters of berries or a slice of orange.
WATERMELON
The flavor of watermelon is better if cooled in water instead of on
ice. To serve cut the melon in halves across and cut off pieces from
the ends so that they will stand. Serve the pulp by spoonfuls, scooped
out with a tablespoon. If convenient take the pieces out before sending
to the table, remove the seeds and return the pieces to the shell, then
keep in a cool place until serving time.
The watermelon furnishes an abundance of pure distilled water.
Watermelons that are not very sweet maybe served with almond cream and
sugar.
WHORTLEBERRIES
The most desirable of this family is the large purple soft pulpy sweet
juicy berry growing in the swamps, and called in some parts of the
country “blueberry.” It is delightful with nut or dairy cream or with
sugar or in bread and milk. Its juice being so sweet it is one of the
most suitable berries for sauce with cereals. In cakes puddings or pies
it is equally enjoyable.
The so-called “huckleberry,” though more seedy, has a nice flavor when
cooked.
FRUITS--COOKED
APPLE SAUCE
Select nice tart apples; wash, drain, cut out the blossom end of each
so that the little black particles will not get on to the fruit. Pare
as thin as possible. When all are pared, cut into quarters, and core
by cutting from both stem and blossom end downward to the center, just
below the core. After coring, throw enough quarters into the kettle
(granite, porcelain or aluminum) to about cover the bottom, and turn
the quarters core side down. Then arrange another layer in the same way
and continue until all are in. Pour boiling water over to half cover
the apples (more or less according to the juiciness of the apples),
cover kettle and set over hot fire. Cook without removing cover until
apples are perfectly tender; remove from fire at once, stir in a
little sugar if desired and a trifle of salt. This method gives a nice
white well cooked sauce with a fresh apple taste. Placing the apples
as directed causes them to cook tender quickly and evenly. The salt
improves the flavor unless too much is used.
STRAINED APPLE SAUCE
When apples are small or knotty, cook without paring, rub through
colander and add a little sugar.
BAKED APPLE SAUCE
Place quartered apples in pudding dish as for apple sauce. Sprinkle
delicately with sugar between the layers and over the top. Pour water
in at the side of the dish so as to leave the sugar on the top. Cover
and bake for several hours until the apples assume a rich red color.
BAKED QUARTERS OF APPLES
Wash, quarter and core but do not pare apples; lay cut side down in
pudding dish, pour very little if any water over, cover close, bake
until tender. Remove cover and dry out well. Eat from the fingers,
rejecting the skins, or scrape the pulp from the skin with a teaspoon.
The skin imparts such richness and flavor to the pulp that it seems to
have been sweetened with sugar.
BAKED APPLES
To the natural taste, the apple is best just washed, put into a baking
pan with little if any water (depending upon the juiciness of the
apple), covered at first and baked until tender and dry. Some prefer to
have the apples cored with ½-1 teaspn. of sugar (brown sugar sometimes)
placed in the core space.
LEMON APPLES, ORANGE APPLES, AND OTHERS
Core and pare nice large perfect apples. Place in the core space sugar
with a little grated lemon or orange rind. Sprinkle outside of apples
with sugar and turn a little lemon juice over for “Lemon Apples” or
“Orange Apples.” Bake until just tender, with or without a little water.
Use citron, cocoanut, raisins or nuts with sugar for other varieties.
Fill core space with jelly for “Jelly Apples.” Serve plain or with nut
cream or whipped dairy cream, or with cocoanut or custard sauce or with
wafers or nuts for dessert, at a meal without vegetables, especially
starchy vegetables.
Lemon and jelly apples make suitable accompaniments to meat dishes.
BAKED SWEET APPLES
Bake whole with plenty of water at first (covered part of the time)
until perfectly tender and all the water is evaporated. Serve for
dessert, or for breakfast or supper with nuts, or with nut or dairy
cream, or in bread and milk, than which nothing is more delicious.
“MOTHER” CRANSON’S STEWED SWEET APPLES
Put whole apples into preserving kettle, cover with thin syrup of sugar
and water and cook until tender (carefully changing the apples from top
to bottom once or twice) and the syrup just a little thick. Place the
apples on plates and turn the syrup over.
STEWED BANANAS
Slice bananas, stew with a little sugar water and a trifle of ground or
crushed anise seed tied in a piece of cheese cloth.
Prunes may be flavored the same.
BANANAS IN BUTTER
Simmer bananas in butter in an aluminum or agate frying pan covered, on
the top of the stove where it is not too hot. They will not be browned
but simply stewed.
BANANAS AND RAISINS
Cook raisins in a broad flat pan in water for an hour. Slice bananas
over, cover and cook 10 m.
BAKED BANANAS
The simplest way to bake bananas is in the skins. It takes just 20 m.
in a moderate oven. To eat, strip a piece of skin about an inch wide
from the top side and partake of the baked fruit from the remaining
skin in teaspoonfuls.
Bananas may be baked whole with a little water after peeling, and
served with orange or cream sauce.
A little melted butter may be poured over bananas before baking or
they may be rolled in lemon juice and sugar and baked. For a richer
dish, turn mixed melted butter, sugar and lemon juice over bananas in
lengthwise halves in agate pan. Bake 15-20 m. in slow oven. Serve with
meat dishes sometimes.
BAKED CRUMBED BANANAS
Roll peeled bananas in fine granella, cracker or zwieback crumbs mixed
with sugar. Bake in moderate oven till just tender. Serve at once.
BANANAS BAKED WITH TOMATOES
Put a thin layer of stewed or sliced tomatoes in the bottom of a baking
pan. Cover with bananas sliced crosswise. Bake.
CRANBERRIES
Cranberries are said to “promote digestion and purify the blood.”
There is no question but they are a desirable fruit and should be used
freely in their season.
=Stewed Cranberries=
1 qt. berries,
¾ cup sugar,
1-1½ cup water.
Pour boiling water over cranberries, let stand 2 m., or until cold;
drain, add sugar and water, cook covered, until boiling all through.
Rub through colander if the skins are objectionable. 2-3 tablespns. of
lemon juice and more sugar may be added.
=Baked Cranberries.=
Make syrup of 1 pt. of water and 1½ cup of sugar; boil, cool. Pour over
1 qt. of cranberries in baking dish. Bake until clear.
=Cranberries With Raisins=
1 qt. berries
¾-1 cup seeded raisins
1 cup sugar
1 pint water
Stew raisins in water until nearly tender; pour boiling water over
cranberries and drain; cook all together until berries are done.
A larger proportion of raisins and less sugar may be used.
BAKED PEACHES
Whole, pared, cling-stone peaches; sugar, butter and lemon juice. Bake
40 m. May be served with meat dishes, or as dessert.
BAKED QUINCES--Delicious
Wash, pare, halve, core. (Save skins and cores for jelly). Cover with
a large quantity of thin sugar and water syrup. Bake covered, basting
often and turning occasionally until tender and the syrup rich. Uncover
at the last for a short time.
PLAIN BAKED QUINCES
Pare and core quinces, bake with water only, basting. Serve with hard
or creamy sauce or with nut cream and sugar.
RHUBARB
Rhubarb is not a fruit but the stalk of the plant and as its acid is
oxalic, it is a somewhat questionable article of diet. At all events it
should not be used freely.
=Stewed Rhubarb=
1 qt. rhubarb
½ cup sugar
Wash rhubarb, do not peel, cut into ¾ in. pieces; cook with sugar, on
the back of the stove until juicy; then stew till tender.
=Stewed Rhubarb, No. 2=
1 qt. rhubarb
scant ⅔ cup sugar
1 tablespn. lemon juice
¼ cup water
Cook all together.
=Baked Rhubarb=
Put rhubarb in baking dish with sugar and lemon juice as for stewing,
with or without a little water. Cover and bake until tender.
It is said that if young cherry leaves are scalded and the juice added
to cooked rhubarb, it will impart the flavor of cherries to the rhubarb.
STEWED DRIED FRUITS
The flavors of dried fruits are more natural and delicate with
prolonged soaking and short (if any) cooking. Choice dried apples and
apricots are especially enjoyable soaked over night or longer without
any cooking. The juice from them makes an exceedingly refreshing drink.
Pour boiling water over fruit that requires washing to more perfectly
loosen the dirt, then quickly add cold water. Wash thoroughly, cover
with warm water and let stand for from 12 to 48 hrs. When perfectly
swollen and soft, add sugar, if it is to be used, bring to the boiling
point quickly and remove from the fire. These directions if followed
will cause apples, apricots and peaches to seem almost like fresh
stewed fruit.
A few fresh grapes stewed with peaches give them a nice flavor.
Raisins also (previously cooked) are nice with dried peaches.
The most delightful combination with dried apples is ⅓ prunelles.
Raisins are also nice with apples.
=Stewed Dried Apricots=
½ lb. apricots
3½ cups water
½ cup sugar
Follow general directions.
PRUNES--SWEET CALIFORNIA
These require no sugar but will bear a little longer cooking than
peaches and apricots.
¾ prunes and ¼ apricots make a nice combination, also raisins or figs
and prunes.
=Prune Marmalade=
Cook prunes with a small amount of water and rub through colander. This
removes the skins or breaks them up so that many can take them who
otherwise could not. Served with almonds, beaten white of egg or almond
or whipped cream, the marmalade makes a nice dessert.
=Steamed Prunes--par excellence=
Soak large prunes in a very little water, stirring occasionally so that
all will be moistened. Steam ¾ of an hour. Cover as soon as removed
from the steamer. Serve warm for breakfast. They may be steamed an hour
without soaking.
=Stewed Figs=
Wash, soak, cook until tender, reduce liquor to syrup and pour over
fruit. Serve with wafers or nuts or with whipped cream flavored with
vanilla or almond.
=Steamed Figs--best of all=
Wash figs and steam 25-35 m. according to dryness. Long steaming gives
them a strong flavor. Cover, and serve warm. The figs may be soaked the
same as prunes before steaming.
=Fruit Butter=
Stew together 1½ lb. prunes and 1 lb. of dried apricots, no sugar. Rub
through colander and cook to the consistency of butter.
TO CAN FRUITS
Suggestions
The best quality of aluminum is the ideal material for the preserving
kettle; but granite, porcelain or earthenware may be used.
Thorough sterilization of the jars or cans is one of the most important
parts of fruit canning. I always wash and sterilize mine when I empty
them.
After washing the covers of Mason jars, bake them in a moderate oven
for 2 or 3 hours; scrape them on the inside if necessary but do not
wet them, and screw them on to the jars, which should have been well
washed, scalded, wiped with a clean towel and thoroughly dried by
standing right side up in a warm place.
The rubbers should be put on when the covers are, so that the jars will
be all ready for use.
When old rubbers are in good condition they are just as good as new
ones. Sometimes two thin ones may be used together.
There is a certain black rubber that should not be used with delicate
flavored fruits as it injures their flavor. It does not improve the
flavor of any fruit.
New rubbers should be washed and rubbed well in soapsuds and rinsed
before using.
Keep the jars in a dry place and when you come to use them turn them
over once in a pan of boiling water, scalding the covers the same.
Do not waste time, strength, jars or sugar on imperfect, decayed or
unripe fruit. The probabilities are that it will not keep; and if it
does the appearance and flavor will be inferior.
Put the fruit into the jars _boiling hot_ and seal immediately. Do not
try to remove the froth or air bubbles (pure air will do no harm in
cans, and it will be pure when the fruit is at boiling heat all around
it and will remain so if the can is well sealed), because while you are
trying to let the air out the fruit is cooling on top and the germs
from the outside air are settling upon it.
If the fruit gets below the boiling point while filling the jars,
return it to the fire and reheat it. _Fill the jars to overflowing._
Fasten the covers on perfectly tight, press the edges down all around
into the rubber of Mason jars, if inclined to leak. Do not tighten the
covers after the fruit is cold.
With Lightning jars it is sometimes necessary to slip little splinters
of wood (bits of berry boxes) under the wires to make the covers tight
enough.
When the covers are perfectly adjusted, invert the jars and leave them
until cool. This not only shows whether any are leaking or not but
fills any spaces there may be.
Keep canned fruit in a dark place. The light will cause it to lose its
flavor as well as color. Wrap jars in paper if necessary.
The simplest way to fill jars is to set them in a row on a towel wrung
out of cold water and folded so that it is thick. The jars must be cold
also. Or, the towel may be wrung out of hot water and the jars rinsed
in hot water before filling. In either case have the covers warm.
Bear in mind that “sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than
meat.”
Some fruits, rich fine-flavored pears and peaches, whortleberries and
others are excellent canned without sugar. They taste more like fresh
fruit.
I always can whortleberries without water, so as to have them for pies.
For sauce, water may be added after they are opened.
Gooseberries canned without water or sugar make delightful, fresh
tasting pies in winter.
Never fail to secure black currants if possible for pies.
Always label fruit before putting it away, giving the year in which it
was put up.
Canned fruits and vegetables should be opened two hours or more before
serving, to give the fresh taste which comes with the restoration of
oxygen.
There is much work at the best connected with fruit canning, so I have
tried to simplify it as much as possible. The methods given here are
those which I have used for years with good results.
TO CAN SOLID BERRIES
Cherries, whortleberries, red and black currants and all berries that
do not crush easily may be put into the kettle in layers with sugar
(never more than ½ pt. of sugar to 2 qts. of fresh fruit and usually
less), brought to the boiling point slowly and put into jars with very
little trouble. The following is an average proportion of sugar and
water to use with this class of berries:
Blackberries--2 qts. berries, ½-¾ cup sugar, 2 cups water.
Blk. Raspberries--2 qts. berries, ½-¾ cup sugar, 2 cups water.
Gooseberries, green--2 qts. berries, 1-1½ cup sugar, 4 cups water.
Gooseberries, ripe--2 qts. berries, 1-1½ cup sugar, 1-1½ cup water.
Whortleberries,--2 qts. berries, ½ cup sugar (if any), 1 tablespn.
water.
Rhubarb--1 qt. rhubarb in ¾ in. lengths, ½ cup sugar, no water.
TO CAN PEACHES AND FRUITS OF THAT CLASS
=Peaches=
Wash peaches, rubbing well, drain, pare as thin as possible and drop
into cold water to keep them from turning dark. If the peaches are very
ripe, put a few at a time into a wire basket and plunge into boiling
water. Hold them there a moment, then quickly turn them into cold
water; after which the skins will slip off easily.
This is a quicker method and does not waste the peaches, but I have
thought they were more apt to turn dark.
For each rounded quart of peaches, make a syrup of ⅓-½ cup of sugar
and 1-1½ cup of water, the water in which the peaches were standing.
Bring the syrup to the boiling point, drop the peaches in (if in halves
the cut side down), boil until thoroughly heated through, or until
tender; drop the peaches into the jars, pour boiling syrup over, seal,
following “Suggestions” carefully.
=Pears=
1 rounded qt. (8 or 9) pears in halves
⅓-½ cup sugar
1 tablespn. lemon juice
1-1½ cup water
Finish the same as peaches.
The lemon juice gives character to the pears.
I once had some pears that were so flavorless it seemed hardly worth
while to can them, but I tied ground anise seed in small pieces of
cheese cloth and cooked with them, besides adding lemon juice, and
they were excellent. Small pears and those with thin skins may be
canned without paring. They are richer but the skins sometimes cause
flatulence.
Do not can pears while they are hard.
=Plums=
1 qt. plums
¼-⅓ cup sugar
¼-½ cup water
It is a good plan to prick the plums on all sides with a fork before
cooking.
=Quinces and Sweet Apples=
6 qts. quinces in eighths
6 qts. sweet apples in quarters
5 qts. water
4-6 cups sugar
Cook quinces in water until tender, remove with skimmer; cook apples
in same water, remove apples, measure water, adding more if necessary;
dissolve sugar in water, heat to boiling, add fruit, simmer a few
minutes and put into jars.
Quinces are much improved by combining with sweet apples. When the
apples are cooked with them, the quinces become more tender.
Quinces and citron and quinces and pears may also be combined.
=Cranberries and Sweet Apples=
1 qt. cranberries
1½ qt. sweet apples in quarters
⅔ qt. cold water
¾-1 cup sugar
Cook sugar, water and cranberries together, until the cranberries begin
to crack; add the apples and cook all slowly until the apples are soft.
Put into jars and seal.
=To Can Strawberries=
Also red raspberries and all delicate berries.
For each 2 qts. of hulled berries (just enough to fill one quart jar),
use 1 cup of granulated sugar. Put a layer of berries into an earthen
or granite ware dish, sprinkle with sugar, cover with another layer of
berries and so on. (Strawberries are so juicy they will not bear any
water). Let berries and sugar stand together in the ice box or cellar
for several hours. They may be prepared late in the afternoon and put
into the jars the first thing the next morning.
When ready to can the fruit, drain off the juice, heat it to boiling,
turn the berries carefully into it and shake and turn the dish once
in a while to keep the fruit heating evenly. When just boiling all
through, dip carefully into cans with a handled cup. Put the covers
on quickly, no matter how many bubbles of air there are nor how much
froth there is in the jars, and screw down tight with a can opener.
After pressing the edge of the covers down if necessary, lay the jars
on the side (instead of inverting, for strawberries) and turn over
occasionally while cooling.
When perfectly cold, set jars upright and you will find the berries
evenly distributed through the jars and they will never rise to the
top.
Allowing the berries to stand in sugar and afterwards putting them into
boiling syrup hardens them so that they keep their shape. It is better
to heat just enough at once to fill each jar. You can have several
dishes (milk crocks, granite, porcelain and aluminum kettles) on the
stove at once at different stages of heating so that you can fill one
jar after another.
This was my auntie’s method and I have never seen it excelled.
=Pineapple=
¼-⅓ cup sugar
½-1 tablespn. lemon juice
¾ cup water
1 pt. pineapple
Prepare pineapple as for fresh pineapple, put into stone jars or
earthen vessels with layers of sugar; stand in ice box a few hours
(not long enough to ferment), drain off the juice, add lemon juice and
water, heat to boiling, add fruit. Let all just boil up, fill jars,
seal as other fruits. The delicate flavor of pineapple is lost by long
cooking.
Grated pineapple canned with ½ cup of sugar to the quart is suitable
for ices and other uses.
=Rhubarb--cooked=
Put stewed rhubarb into jars as soon as it boils up well.
=Rhubarb Without Cooking--for pies=
A reliable method which gives the natural flavor.
Wash rhubarb and cut into inch pieces without peeling, pour boiling
water over, drain at once, cool, pack in cans and fill with boiled,
strained, ice-cold water. Seal cans, invert in cold place and cover
from the light. Set upright after a few hours. To use, drain, let stand
in fresh cold water ½ hour and drain again.
Cranberries may be canned in the same way.
=Watermelon Rind or Citron=
Pare off the thin green rind, cut into pieces 1 in. square, or into
strips, stand in cold water for two or three hours, changing the water
occasionally; drain thoroughly, make syrup of 1 pt. water to 1 or 1½
pt. sugar, according to the richness desired. (3 or 4 tablespns. of
lemon juice may be used with the larger quantity of sugar). When syrup
is boiling, add rind, simmer until pieces can be pierced easily with a
broom straw, or until they are clear, put into jars and seal.
One part raisins to five or six of the rind gives a nice flavor. Or,
orange flowers, rose leaves or rose water may be used, but the fruit is
nice without any flavoring.
Green melons which did not have time to ripen before the frost, are
excellent prepared in this way.
The rind may be steamed before putting it into the syrup, and less
water used for the syrup.
=Concord Grapes=
2 qts. grapes
¾ cup sugar
½ cup water
Pulp the grapes, run skins through the food cutter and cook for 20 m.
in the water. Boil pulp until tender and rub through colander to remove
the seeds. Add pulp and sugar to skins, heat to boiling and put into
jars. The juice may be strained from the pulp and used to cook the
skins in.
=Barberries=
1 qt. berries
2 cups sugar
½-1 cup water
Very nice for garnishing fruit salads, desserts or cakes.
=Tomatoes=
Select only perfectly fresh, well ripened tomatoes, wash and drop into
kettle of boiling water, remove with skimmer, drop into cold water,
peel, leave whole or slice. Boil well and put into jars the same as
other fruit. Long boiling frees the acid and takes away the fresh,
delicate flavor. When tomatoes are very watery, drain off some of the
liquid and can it separately for use in soups and broths.
=Tomatoes for Soups and Sauces=
Wash and slice tomatoes without peeling. Heat to boiling, rub through
fine colander or sieve to remove skins and seeds. Reheat and put into
jars.
=Whole Tomatoes=
Pack peeled or unpeeled tomatoes in wide-mouthed jars. Cook a few nice
ripe tomatoes, strain and pour the liquid, cold, over tomatoes in jars,
seal, set jars in cold water as in canning vegetables, bring slowly to
boiling point and boil ½ hour. Remove from water, tighten covers and
invert jars as usual.
FRUIT JUICES
Begin with the earliest fruits and can some of the juice of each kind
through the summer until you come to grapes and apples in the autumn.
When diluted with water, these juices are delightful beverages for sick
or well. A little lemon juice gives character to the drink. Without
diluting, they make nice flavorings for fruit salads, egg creams and
pudding sauces. Blueberry, black raspberry and other sweet juices make
excellent dressings for grains instead of milk or cream.
=Grape Juice=
Concords or some of the dark purple grapes are the richest and most
satisfactory for juice. Pick the grapes from the stems, wash and drain,
put into a preserving kettle without water, cover and put on back of
stove on an asbestos pad or a ring so they will heat slowly. When the
skins are broken and the juice is free, bring just to the boiling
point, put into jelly bags and drain without squeezing. To each quart
of juice add from ½ to 1 cup of sugar. Very ripe grapes will require no
sugar. Heat to boiling and can the same as fruit.
Add more water to the pulp that is left in the jelly bag, reheat,
strain, boil and put into large jars for a drink, or, rub the pulp
through a colander, sweeten, heat and can for marmalade.
_To Bottle Juices_--Nearly fill bottles, standing on cloth wrung out
of cold water, with boiling juice, through hot funnel. Press clean
cork into bottle, cut off even with the top of the bottle and cover
immediately with sealing wax made by melting together resin and oil.
Use only enough oil to make the resin soft enough to spread over the
cork and around the edges of the bottle. If too soft, the wax will run
off.
=Condensed Fruit Juices=
Cook apple and other fruit juices rapidly until thick, then simmer
slowly over the fire or in the oven until as thick as desired. Seal in
jars or put into glasses or cups as jelly. Convenient for travelling,
diluted.
APPLES
When apples are plentiful or likely to spoil, make into any of the
apple sauces, put hot into jars and seal.
=Baked Apples=
Bake unpared apples, sweet or sour, in halves or quarters, leaving them
rather juicy, put into jars and seal. On opening, put apples into oven
in baking dish and dry out a little more.
=Combinations of Fruits for Canning=
Red or black raspberries with currant juice.
Red or black raspberries with cherries.
Plums with sweet apples.
Currants or currant juice with pineapple.
Orange, strawberry and pineapple juices with sugar, for strawberries
and pineapple canned together, or for pineapple alone.
Strawberries with pineapple.
Pears and barberries. Cook barberries in water, rub through colander,
add sugar, 1-1½ cup to the pint of pulp. Return to the fire and when
hot, lay in halves or quarters of nice ripe pears. Cook until pears
are tender. If the pears are not quite soft, steam, or cook in pulp
without sugar first. Sweet apples may be used instead of pears.
JELLIES
Because of the large proportion of sugar required in jellies it is not
best to use them freely.
Fruit for jelly should always be a little underripe and should not be
picked just after a rain. Combine the juices of such fruits as do not
jelly easily, or of the more expensive fruits, with apple juice which
jellies the easiest of all. With strong flavored fruits, apple makes
the jelly more agreeable. Jellies may be made in the winter of canned
fruit juices and the juice from apple skins and cores. The addition
of lemon juice to sweet fruits will convert them into jelly-making
products. A few pieces of rose geranium leaves dropped into apple jelly
just before putting it into glasses and removed in a minute, give the
jelly a nice flavor.
Always boil the juice the required length of time before adding the
sugar. It requires longer boiling on damp days.
Heat sugar in flat pan in oven before adding to jelly.
Thorough straining is necessary to make clear jelly. For the finest
jelly, use first a double thickness of mosquito netting; then the same
of cheese cloth, and lastly, one thickness of flannel.
Wet the cloth before putting the fruit in, to save the waste of juice.
Hang in a warm place to drain.
It is said that if a little jelly dropped into cold water falls
immediately to the bottom, the jelly is done; or, if it jellies on the
spoon it is done.
Glasses for jelly may be set cold on a cold cloth, or warm on a warm
cloth. Fill to the brim, as the jelly shrinks.
When the jelly is soft, set in the sun for a day or two, covered with
panes of glass. When ready to set away, turn hot melted paraffine over
the jelly. The heat destroys any germs which may have settled on the
top. Cover with paper or with tin covers and set in a dark place. When
using the jelly, wash and save the paraffine.
If jelly is to be moved or shipped, use a covering of ¼ inch of
powdered sugar instead of the paraffine.
Or, cut rounds of toilet paper, two for each glass, large enough to
overlap an inch; dip one at a time into a saucer of cold boiled milk,
cover glass and press down, then put on the second piece quickly.
One thickness of Manila paper may be used instead of the toilet paper.
When dry, a thick parchment-like cover will be formed and the jelly
will keep well. Some housewives cover jelly while hot, thinking it
keeps better.
=To Make Jelly Tumblers=
Soak a cord in turpentine, tie it tight around bottles and set fire to
the cord.
=Currant Jelly=
Wash and drain currants. They are usually left on the stems but strain
more easily if stemmed. Crush the berries, a few at a time and throw
into the preserving kettle. Do not add any water. Set on back of
range and heat slowly to nearly, not quite, boiling. Strain, measure
juice, return to kettle and set over fire. At the same time put into a
moderate oven in broad bottomed pans, sugar in the proportion of ¾-1
pt. to each pint of juice (¾ is sufficient). After juice begins to
boil, boil 20 m., skimming as the scum rises. Add hot sugar, stir until
sugar is dissolved, remove from fire and put at once into glasses.
⅓ white currants may be used with red.
A thinner jelly to be used with meats and over puddings underneath the
meringue, may be made with ½ pt. of sugar to the pint of juice.
A little celery salt may be added when jelly is to be used with meats.
=Currant and Raspberry Jelly=
⅔ currant juice and ⅓ raspberry or ⅓ currant and ⅔ raspberry makes a
delightful combination.
=Black Currant Jelly=
Prepare stemmed currants as for red currant jelly. Use ¼ to ½ cup of
water to each quart of currants and ¾ pt. of sugar to a pint of juice.
10 m. boiling is sufficient.
½ or ⅔ apple juice will make a more delicate flavored jelly.
=Jelly of Apple Parings and Cores=
Measure skins and cores by pressing firmly into the measure. Add ⅓ (no
more) as much water as of fruit--you will think it is not enough. Boil
20 m., stirring often. Strain. Measure juice, boil 20-30 m., according
to juiciness of apples, skimming. Add ½ as much sugar, hot, as of
juice, boil 5-10 m., or until foamy. Put at once into glasses.
If apple jelly is as thick as desired when it first cools, it will be
too thick after standing a few days. If apples are very juicy, use only
one-half as much water.
=Apple Jelly=
Wash apples and cut into quarters or eighths. Do not pare or core. Add
¼ as much water as of apples in the kettle. Cook, stirring occasionally
until apples are tender, not too soft. Finish as in jelly of parings.
It is difficult to give the exact time for cooking, as apples vary
in jellying properties. Use less water if apples are very juicy. One
quince to every 10 or 12 apples gives a nice flavor. A few green grapes
combined with apples or crab apples make a nice jelly.
Crab and Baldwin apples may be combined.
=Apple and Cranberry Jelly=
Stew 1 qt. of apple parings with 1 cup of cranberries and a pint of
water until tender. Strain. There should be about ¾ of a pint of
juice. Boil 5 m.; add ¾ pt. sugar, boil 2-4 m. Or, use 1 doz. large
tart apples to 1 qt. of berries, or equal parts apple and cranberry
juice. Proceed as in other jellies.
=Elder-berry and Apple Jelly=
Cook elder-berries with ½ cup of water to each quart of berries. Strain
and combine with apple juice in the proportion of ⅓ elder-berry juice
to ⅔ apple juice. Use ¾-1 pt. of sugar to each pint of juice. Finish as
for currant jelly. Elder-berries alone make a strong flavored jelly,
but this combination is delightful.
Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, wild cherries,
pineapple, barberries, peaches, plums and some other fruits, all make
better jelly by combining with apple juice in proportions according to
flavor. Use no water with any of the fruits but the apple.
Currant juice may be combined with these fruits instead of apple juice.
=Green Gooseberry Jelly=
2 qts. berries, ¾ qt. water; stew, mash, strain; boil 20 m. for each
quart of juice, add 1 qt. of hot sugar, boil 2-3 minutes.
=Quince Jelly=
Wash quinces, cut into quarters or eighths, remove part or all of the
seeds, use ⅓-½ as much water as of fruit and ½ as much sugar as of
juice. Cook and finish as apple jelly.
⅓-½ apple juice with quince is better.
=Cranberry Jelly=
Use one cup of water to each 4 qts. of cranberries; cook until the
berries are tender, strain and use equal quantities of sugar and juice.
Boil the juice 10-12 m., add the sugar hot, stir till it is dissolved
and turn the jelly into glasses or a mold. The jelly may be molded in a
shallow pan and when perfectly cold cut into cubes.
=Jellied Cranberry Pulp=
Rub stewed cranberries in the preceding recipe through the colander,
boil 8 m., add sugar, stir carefully until dissolved, mold.
=Jellied Cranberry Sauce=
1 qt. berries, 1 pt. sugar, ½-1 cup water. Pour water over berries with
sugar, in kettle, cover, cook 10 m. without stirring. Put into large or
individual molds. Unmold at serving time.
=Blueberry Jelly=
If berries are very dry, add a little water, heat, strain; use ½-¾ as
much sugar as of juice.
=Blueberry Jelly No. 2=
4 qts. berries, 1 cup water; cook and strain, add 2 tablespns. of lemon
juice to each pint of juice. Cook 20 m., add ¾ as much sugar, hot, as
of juice, boil up well, pour into glasses.
=Grape Jelly=
Wild grapes are preferable, but underripe Concords, Catawbas, and other
varieties may be used.
Proceed as for currant jelly, using only ⅔ as much sugar as of juice.
If necessary, boil 5 m. after sugar is added. Use no water with
cultivated grapes, but with underripe wild grapes, ½ cup of water may
be added to each quart of stemmed grapes.
=Raspberry and Currant Jam=
Take ¾ their weight of sugar to berries. Mash berries in kettle over
fire, add 1 pt. currant juice to each 2 qts. of berries, cook until
thickened, 40-45 m., stirring and skimming, add sugar hot, boil, put
into glasses or seal in jars.
=Strawberry Jam=
Allow ¾ their weight of sugar to berries; cook in a little of the
sugar, stirring, 20-30 m. Add remainder of sugar hot, cook 10-20 m., if
necessary. Small berries may be used for jam.
=Gooseberry Jam=
Press the juice from 3 oranges and shave off the rind, being careful
not to get any of the white part. Remove blossoms and stems from 5 lbs.
gooseberries, seed 2 lbs. of raisins, and chop all together very fine.
Add 3-4 lbs. sugar and the orange juice and cook slowly for an hour.
Turn into jars or tumblers and when cold spread a layer of powdered
sugar on top of glass and seal.
=Mrs. Chandler’s Rhubarb Jam=
3 lbs. (3½ qts.) of rhubarb in inch lengths
1½ lb. (3 cups) sugar
½ lb. of figs or raisins, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup water
Let rhubarb and sugar stand together over night, add other ingredients
and cook slowly for about 3 hours.
=Rhubarb and Pineapple Jam=
6 lbs. (7 qts.) rhubarb in inch lengths
1 large pineapple, grated
3 lbs. (3 pints) sugar
Cook rhubarb and sugar ½-¾ of an hour, add pineapple, boil up, put into
jars, seal.
=Melrose Apple Butter=
7 lbs. pared, quartered and cored apples, 3 lbs. molasses sugar if
obtainable, if not, dark brown sugar. Put apples and sugar in layers in
a kettle, cover tight, let stand 12 hours or over night. Then let come
just to boiling and simmer without stirring, or uncovering for 5-12
hours.
Apple juice made by boiling the skins of apples in ⅓ their bulk of
water, as for jelly, with lemon juice to taste, is a valuable addition.
Finely-ground coriander seed may be added. A little date or prune
marmalade may also be used.
A delightful butter may be made by combining plums and apples.
=Elder-berry and Apple Butter=
To each 2 qts. of elder-berry juice prepared as for jelly take 2 lbs.
brown sugar and ½ peck sour apples. Put juice and sugar on to boil and
add the apples pared, quartered and cored; simmer slowly until thick.
May be put into jelly glasses.
Equal quantities tomato and apple make a nice butter.
=Grape Marmalade=
Pulp the grapes and put the skins through the food cutter. Cook the
pulp and rub through the colander to remove the seeds. Take ½-¾ as much
sugar as there is of fruit, cook 20 m. The skins improve the flavor.
=Lemon Peaches=
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
peaches to fill 3 pint jars
Wash and rub the peaches well, drop into boiling syrup of lemon juice,
sugar and water, cook until tender, put into jars and seal.
=Ripe Cucumber Pickles=
Pare and seed cucumbers and cut into eighths if large. Soak over night
in lemon juice and water; in the morning drain, add to hot syrup and
boil until soft; skim out of syrup and put into jars standing in hot
water. Keep hot. Boil syrup 10-15 m., pour over fruit and seal; let
stand three or four weeks before using.
_Syrup_--
3 cups brown sugar
3 cups lemon juice
1 cup water
½-1 tablespn. salt
Flavor with celery salt or seed, ground coriander or anise seed, and
raisins to taste. (Use anise seed sparingly). The cucumbers may be
steamed tender, put into jars and the reduced syrup poured over.
Watermelon rind may be prepared the same.
=To Dry Blueberries=
For buns, puddings and cakes.
1 qt. berries
⅓-½ cup sugar
1 teaspn. water
Mix, heat in preserving kettle until juice begins to exude. Spread on
buttered plates, dry carefully, stirring often.
I prize this recipe highly, as all will, I am sure, after trying it.
Cherries, peaches and pears are better with sugar sprinkled over them
before drying.
Dried fruits make a pleasant change from canned ones, besides not
requiring jars. Home-dried fruit far excels factory products.
TO CAN VEGETABLES
While vegetables require a little more care than fruit in canning, if
they receive that care one will be rewarded with nice fresh canned
vegetables, free from harmful preservatives, all through the winter.
In the first place, vegetables must be fresh, especially corn and peas.
Corn gathered early in the morning ought to be in the cans and on the
fire before noon, and peas the same day.
If one is alone with all the housework to do, it is better to put up a
few jars at a time.
Always use new rubbers on jars in canning vegetables.
“Blanching”, in this connection, means a short boiling in a weak brine
(¼ cup of salt to 3 qts. of water) and is used with vegetables to
eliminate the acids which they contain.
Place the vegetables in a wire basket or a cloth bag and dip into the
boiling brine, then into cold water.
Prepare nearly all vegetables as for the table, before blanching, (okra
and corn are exceptions).
After blanching, pack as close as possible in jars. Fill jars to
overflowing with water with or without salt, according to special
directions; fasten covers on tight (do not be afraid the jars will
burst), and set into a kettle or boiler with a board containing holes
or with several thicknesses of cloth or with thin tin rings underneath.
Surround jars ¾ their depth with water, cover the vessel close so
that the steam will be retained, bring to the boiling point and boil
rapidly and continuously the required length of time.
Use wrench for tightening covers of Mason jars during the cooking.
If Lightning jars do not seem to be air-tight, thin bits of wood may
be placed under the wires. With corn and peas, it is better to have
the water deep enough to cover the jars, for boiling after tops are
tightened.
Invert jars after removing from the water, cover to exclude light, cool.
Store in dark, rather cool place.
Use cold water to surround jars at first if contents are cold and warm
water if contents are warm.
The length of time given is for cooking quart jars. ½-1 hour less will
be required for pints and 1 hour more for 2 quarts.
_Asparagus_--Prepare asparagus as for the table; blanch tips 3 m.,
other parts 5 m., dip in cold water, pack in jars--the tips in one, the
middle of the stalks in a second, and the inferior ends for soups, in a
third.
Fill jars with cold water to which salt has been added in the
proportion of 1 teaspn. to the quart.
Fasten covers and cook according to general directions for two hours,
tighten covers and cook for one hour longer.
_Asparagus in Full Lengths_--Place stalks in jars, heads up, and pack
as close as possible.
_To Use_--Open jar, add ½ teaspn. salt, set jar in cold or lukewarm
water, heat to boiling, pour water off (save for soups), and draw
stalks out carefully on to slices of prepared toast.
_Shelled Beans_--Follow directions for canning asparagus.
_String Beans_--Prepare as for the table or leave whole, blanch for 2
m., and follow directions for canning asparagus, using water without
salt to fill the jars.
_Greens_--Narrow dock, milkweed, pigweed, purslane or spinach. Wash the
greens thoroughly, drop into boiling salted water and leave just long
enough to wilt. Remove from water with skimmer, pack into jars, cover
with cold salted water and proceed as with other vegetables.
There are no vegetables that we enjoy more in winter than our “greens.”
_Okra_--Wash young tender okra, cut off stems and tops, blanch 10 m.,
dip in cold water, cut in transverse slices or leave whole, and finish
the same as asparagus.
_Peas_--Blanch fresh-gathered, mature, but not old peas, for 5 m. (old
for 8 m.), dip in cold water, proceed as for canning asparagus, using
sugar, 1 teaspn. to quart of water if peas are not sweet. Boil 3-4 hrs.
in all; 1 hr. after tightening covers, with water covering jars if
possible.
_Corn_--Prepare fresh-gathered corn as for drying. Pack at once
(filling all spaces) in clean jars to within an inch of the top, cover
to the depth of a half inch with slightly salted water, fasten covers
on as tight as possible, cook 3 or 4 hours, screw covers down again,
cover jars with boiling water and boil for 1 hour longer. Remove boiler
from fire and let jars cool in the water.
Ears of corn may be boiled in clear water 5 m. and dropped in cold
water before removing kernels.
_Corn No. 2_--Prepare as in preceding recipe and cook for 1 hr. after
the water is boiling; tighten covers, invert and leave until the next
day. Cook for 1 hr. the second day and again the third day, that is, 1
hr. each for three consecutive days.
_Beets_--Boil small dark red beets for 30 m., drop into cold water and
rub the skins off. Place in jars, cover with cold water, fasten covers,
boil 1 hr., tighten covers and boil for 1 hr. longer.
_Mushrooms_--Pour boiling salted water over mushrooms and allow them to
stand in a warm place until withered; cool, drain, pack close in jars
and cover with the water in which they were standing; seal and cook 1½
hr. Tighten covers and cook ½ hr. longer. Invert jars until cool.
TO DRY VEGETABLES
_Corn_--Boil corn 2-5 m., score down the center of each row of grains
with a sharp knife. With a large sharp knife cut off the thinnest
possible layer from each two rows, then with a dull case-knife scrape
out the pulp from the hulls on the cob. Mix pulp with that which was
cut off, spread on plates or granite pans and dry in a warm oven,
stirring often. If the oven is too warm, the corn will turn dark. Corn
may be dried in the sun if it is hot, but must be brought in before the
dew begins to fall and spread out in the house. It is better to dry a
little at a time in the oven and have it out of the way in a few hours.
With proper care it can be done in an afternoon.
When dry, put at once into dry clean jars and seal, or into paper sacks
tied tight so that no insects can get at it.
With care to keep it from souring, the corn may be dried without
cooking.
Any dried corn has a richer flavor than canned corn, but words are
inadequate to express how rich and fine flavored the yellow sweet corn
is when dried.
Corn for drying should be nice and tender; a little younger, if
anything, than for cooking green.
Directions for cooking dried corn are among the vegetables.
_Shelled Beans_--Lima and all green beans may be dried after shelling
by being spread out in a dry, airy place and stirred occasionally, and
are quite different in flavor from dry, ripened beans.
_String Beans_--Cook beans until half done; drain, dry in sun, pack in
paper bags, keep in cool place. To cook--soak over night, cook shorter
time than usual.
_Mushrooms_--String mushroom caps, also stems, on a cord the same as
apples, for drying, hang in sun and wind until just before the dew
begins to fall and finish drying over the stove, or, dry entirely over
the stove.
Put into dry, close covered jars or thick paper sacks. (May wrap in
waxed paper before putting into sacks). Keep in dry place.
When first dried, mushrooms may be pulverized in a mortar and the
powder put into clean, dry jars. It is delightful for flavoring soups
and sauces.
=String Beans in Brine=
Put layer of salt 1 in. deep in bottom of stone jar or cask; then a
layer of nice, tender string beans 3 in. deep; continue layers until
cask is full. Cover beans with a board a little smaller around than
the inside of the cask or jar and put a heavy stone on it so that the
beans will be well covered with the brine. The beans may be put in at
different times, but must be covered with the board from the first.
_To Cook_--Soak over night in cold water, changing the water several
times in the early part of the evening. Cook the same as fresh beans,
changing the water once or twice while cooking.
They are as nice and fresh as when picked.
=Corn in Brine=
Put layers of fresh picked corn, cut from the cob, in crock the same
as string beans except that the layers of corn should be 1 to 2 in.
deep only, and salt ½ in. deep. Have the top layer of salt, and thicker
than the others and keep the corn well under the brine with a board and
stone.
Soak over night for cooking, changing the water 2 or 3 times. Cook in
unsalted water.
SOUPS
“The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the
more difficult it is for the food to digest, for the liquid must first
be absorbed.”
Consequently, the most perfect hygiene in the use of soups, would call
for a few sips only, at the beginning of the meal, which in some cases
stimulates the flow of the digestive juices.
With a hearty dinner of other foods, a small portion of some light soup
or broth should be served, while a legume soup a chowder or a purée may
make the principal dish of the meal.
We seldom make a soup after a recipe. When we serve soups every day, we
purposely cook more than is required for other dishes of such things as
will make good ingredients for soups; or, if used occasionally only,
we make soup at a time when there are left-overs that are suitable. We
get better results from these combinations, both from the variety of
flavors, and because, with few exceptions, reheating develops richer
flavors in foods.
“Our Famous Soups” are some that we have made, at different times,
after this plan.
Under the head of soups are classed, bouillons or consommés, bisques,
purées and chowders; though some of them are not soups in the strictest
sense. For instance, a chowder is often made of the consistency of a
stew, with a small proportion of liquid, and, as Francatelli says,
“a purée is a kind of pulpy maceration of legumes, vegetables, etc.,
which have been passed through a fine colander,” but both of these are
sometimes made with a larger proportion of liquid and served as thick
soups.
The word “bisque” means rich soup, so in using it we do not say “tomato
bisque soup” because the word soup is comprehended in bisque.
Bouillons (_boo-yon´_ or _bool-yon´_) or consommés are broths.
Suggestions
Do not put everything through the colander, (celery and oyster plant,
never). Mastication in connection with soups is an aid to their
digestion as well as being more satisfying.
Use potatoes seldom in any but potato soups; potato water, not at all.
The addition of potatoes to an otherwise wholesome soup might convert
it into a fermentable combination: as well as to remove it from the
dietary of those who cannot use starchy foods.
Cook turnips and carrots by themselves and drain before adding to
soups. The flavor of turnip in soup is often disagreeable.
Utilize the food cutter in preparing vegetables for soups.
As a rule, use oyster plant in slices, ¼ in. thick in the largest part
and a little thicker toward the end; but if desired fine, grind it
before cooking. In this way it retains its characteristic flavor.
Often the best way to thicken a soup is to heat the flour in oil or
butter (without browning) and add some of the hot soup to it as for
gravy, so avoiding a scorched taste.
Dried mushrooms washed well, soaked 2 to 4 hours, simmered 5 m., cut
fine and added, with their juice, give a fine flavor to many soups.
Three or four small pieces are sufficient for 1½ to 2 qts. of soup.
Always keep a quantity of consommé or bouillon on hand, for soups or
sauces, or to pour over hash, or chopped potatoes, or to moisten roasts.
Serve bouillon or consommé in cups with or without the beaten white of
egg in teaspoonfuls on each.
Whipped cream may be added to bouillon just before serving or dropped
by teaspoonfuls on the cups, with a leaf of parsley laid on each.
When soups are lacking in character, the addition of water and salt
will develop a meaty flavor, relieving the “porridgy” taste.
Raw nut butter may be added to any of the combinations of vegetables in
the proportion of 1 or 1½ tablespns. to each quart of soup.
The water drained from boiled peanuts may be used in place of raw nut
butter, taking care not to use too much.
If you should have the thick nut stock, use not more than 2 tablespns.
to each quart of soup.
Use herbs sparingly, some, such as mint and thyme, in minute quantities.
In putting corn through a colander, first crush the kernels in a pan
or grind them through a food cutter, and put a very little into the
colander at a time.
Use poor or top parts of stalks of celery, crushed, for flavoring soups.
Okra is a valuable addition to some soups, tomato soups especially.
When using it, take about ¼ less water for the soup, and add from ¼-½
of a pint can to each pint of soup. Heat carefully and serve at once.
The water from spinach is an invaluable addition to vegetable soups,
and with the addition of a little cream it alone makes a delightful
broth. The water from nearly all greens is desirable in soups.
A little stewed asparagus adds very much to any vegetable soup or
chowder.
If soup has thickened by standing, add water or milk before serving.
WATER SOUPS
=★ Nut Bouillon=
1½ tablespn. raw nut butter
3-4 tablespns. chopped onion
½ cup strained tomato
2-3½ teaspns. browned flour
1-1¼ teaspn. salt
1 qt. water
Rub the nut butter smooth with part of the water, simmer all
ingredients together 1½-2 hrs., strain vegetables out, add water to
make 1¼ qt., heat, serve.
_To Clear_--Add water for one quart only, cool, beat with the white and
shell of one egg, set over a slow fire and stir often until the broth
boils rapidly, then boil without stirring until it looks dark and clear
below the scum. Let stand off the fire about 10 m., strain through 2
or 3 thicknesses of cheese cloth laid over a colander; pour through
wire strainer on to the cheese cloth. Add more water if necessary after
straining, to develop a meaty flavor. Reheat, serve.
=★ Vegetable Consommé=
With or without 2-3 tablespns. raw nut butter or soup stock.
1-2 large onions, sliced
¼ cup dried celery tops pressed down
2 large bay leaves
2 large tomatoes or ½-⅔ cup stewed tomato
¼ level teaspn. thyme
1 level tablespn. browned flour
2-3 cloves garlic, if desired
2½-3 teaspns. salt
2 qts. water
Cook together 1-2 hours, strain, add water to make 2 quarts, more salt
if necessary, heat, serve.
=★ Vegetable Consommé, No. 2=
Omit browned flour and garlic in preceding recipe, substitute celery
salt for celery tops, and add a trifle of sage.
=White Stock=
¼ cup raw nut butter or meal
1 large onion, sliced
1½ level teaspn. celery salt or seed
¼ level teaspn. powdered sage
⅛ level teaspn. thyme
1 medium bay leaf
1½-2 teaspns. salt
2-3 qts. water
Mix dry ingredients, add nut butter which has been stirred with water,
simmer all together 1½-2 hours, strain, and add water to make 2½ pints,
heat, serve.
=Dark Stock=
¼ cup raw nut butter or meal
1 medium bay leaf
1 level teaspn. celery salt
½ level teaspn. powdered sage
¼ level teaspn. thyme
1 level tablespn. salt
1 level tablespn. browned flour
1 cup sliced onion
1 clove garlic
2½ qts. water
½ cup strained tomato
Finish the same as white stock, leaving 2½ pts. of stock.
=Vegetable Stock=
¼ cup each beans and split peas
1 each medium onion and carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery or ¼ cup celery tops or ¼ teaspn. celery seed or salt
1-2 tablespns. chopped parsley
⅛ level teaspn. thyme
½ level teaspn. leaf sage or ¼ powdered
Salt
Simmer all together 3-4 hours; strain, serve. Parsley may be added
after straining soup. Savory, marjoram and other herbs may be used, or
the herbs may be omitted altogether.
Other legumes may be substituted for the ones given. Tomato or browned
flour or both may be added. This stock is excellent for gravies and
sauces. A thick soup may be made by rubbing the vegetables through the
colander instead of straining them out.
=★ Cereal Bouillon=
2½ pts. nice fresh bran pressed down. 2½ qts. boiling water. Simmer
together 2 hours or more; strain, add
1 pint strained tomato
1 bunch celery stalks, crushed
1 large onion, sliced
¼ teaspn. powdered mint in a muslin bag
Simmer together ½-1 hour, strain, salt to taste, heat, serve. This
should make 2½ qts. of soup. Other flavorings maybe used.
In using the bran put up in packages, sift it and use only the coarse
part.
=Tomato Broth=
1 qt. stewed tomato
1 onion, sliced
1 bay leaf
salt
1 pt. water
Simmer all together about 20 m., strain and add water for 1½ qt. of
broth. Use plenty of salt. This broth may be cleared the same as
bouillon, leaving 1 qt. only. 3 or 4 teaspoons of browned flour may be
used.
=Legume Broths=
Cook beans, lentils or whole green peas, until the water looks rich,
but not until the skins begin to break. Strain, making 1 pt. of broth
from each pint of legumes. (The legumes remaining may be used for stews
and soups). Add salt, heat and serve. These broths are very satisfying.
They may be varied by adding different flavorings to legumes while
cooking or to broths after straining. Tomato, celery, onion with or
without browned flour, or thyme are suitable. Brown beans with onion
have quite a different flavor from white beans with onion.
=★ Nut French Soup=
2 tablespns. raw nut butter
2 cups stewed tomato
6 cups water
½ tablespn. browned flour
½ large onion, sliced
1 large bay leaf
¼ teaspn. powdered sage
¼ teaspn. thyme
2½-3 teaspns. salt
Simmer ½-1 hour, strain, reheat, serve. An English woman in sampling
this soup after I had made it up, remarked that it tasted like some of
the French soups, hence its name.
=Egg Soup=
Add salt and butter to water, break eggs into a cup, one for each cup
of water, leave whole and turn slowly into the rapidly boiling water,
beating briskly with fork or wire whip until the egg is in white and
yellow shreds. Boil up well and serve with crackers and celery. This is
an emergency soup. Cream may be added to the water instead of butter,
or part milk may be used.
=★ Nut and Barley Soup=
4 tablespns. raw nut butter
2 qts. water
2½ tablespns. coarse pearl barley
½ bay leaf
2 small sticks celery, or a few celery tops
2½-3 teaspns. salt
Cook barley and nut butter in part of the water for 3-5 hours. Add
water to make 2 qts., with celery and bay leaf. Simmer from 15-20 m.,
no longer. Remove celery and bay leaf, serve. Bay leaf may be omitted.
=★ Cabbage and Tomato Soup=
Cook chopped or finely-shredded cabbage in boiling salted water until
tender; add stewed tomatoes, simmer 15-20 m., add necessary salt and
water, serve. Excellent.
=★ Celery and Tomato Soup=
Use stewed celery instead of cabbage in cabbage and tomato soup. A
delightful combination.
=★ Savory Rice Soup=
4 tablespns. raw nut butter
2 qts. water
2½ tablespns. rice
1 teaspn. chopped onion
⅛-¼ teaspn. sage
2½ teaspns. salt
Blend nut butter and water. Heat to boiling, add rice, onion, sage and
salt. Boil rapidly until rice is tender.
It may be necessary to add 1-2 cups of water after rice is cooked.
=Onion Soup=
Simmer sliced onions in butter without browning; add water, boiling,
cook until onions are tender, thicken slightly with flour, rub through
colander, add salt and a little browned flour, more water if necessary,
and chopped parsley.
May cook raw nut butter with onion instead of using dairy butter.
=Split Peas and Onion Soup=
Split peas, water, salt, raw nut butter and onion, a little tomato
sometimes. Cook all ingredients together until peas and onion are
tender. Strain or not as preferred.
=Potato Soup with Onion or Celery=
Simmer chopped onion in oil or butter, add boiling water, potatoes cut
in small pieces, and salt. Cook until potatoes are tender, add water to
make of the right consistency, salt, and chopped parsley.
Serve with shelled nuts and croutons.
Finely-sliced celery may be cooked with the potatoes, and onions
omitted.
=Vegetable Soup No. 1=
1 cup each carrot, turnip and parsnip in small pieces
2 cups each onion and celery
2 tablespns. raw nut butter
2 qts. boiling water
salt
½ cup rice
Cook all except rice for ½ hour, add rice and cook until it is tender;
add 1 tablespn. parsley, more salt and water if necessary.
=Vegetable Soup No. 2=
Equal quantities carrot and turnip in small pieces, twice as much onion
and celery, with raw nut butter and water. Cook until vegetables are
tender; add salt and necessary water. In their season, asparagus, peas,
and string beans may be added.
=Vegetable Soup No. 3=
Simmer sliced onions, celery or carrots and cabbage in water, with raw
nut butter, until tender. Add browned flour, salt and necessary water;
heat.
Mashed legumes may be used in place of nut butter in these vegetable
soups. Or they may be made into cream soups by using milk instead of
nut butter and water, with or without thickening. Chopped parsley may
be used in any of them.
=Tomato Soup=
1 tablespn. oil or butter
2 tablespns. flour
1 teaspn. salt
1 pt. boiling water
1 qt. stewed tomatoes
Add flour to melted butter in saucepan, pour boiling water over,
stirring, add tomatoes and salt. Boil up well.
Chopped onion may be simmered in the oil before adding flour.
=Nut Gumbo=
3-4 tablespns. raw nut butter
1⅔ qt. water
⅔ cup nutmese in small oblong pieces
⅓ cup trumese in small oblong pieces
⅔ pt. stewed or canned okra
⅔ cup finely-sliced celery, stewed
1 tablespn. rice, cooked
½ tablespn. chopped parsley
salt
Cook raw nut butter in part of the water, add other ingredients, heat
well. Cooked noodles may be used instead of rice.
=★ Tampa Bay Soup=
1 tablespn. oil
1 tablespn. flour
½ tablespn. browned flour
1 cup boiling water
1 cup stewed tomato
3 tablespns. raw nut butter
1-1¼ qt. water
½ cup sliced okra
½ cup sliced onion
½ cup trumese in dice
¼ cup nutmese in dice
chopped parsley
Cook tomato, raw nut butter, the 1¼ qt. of water, okra and onion all
together, rub through colander and add to sauce made with oil, browned
and white flour and the 1 cup of water. Add salt and more water if
necessary, and when boiling, the trumese and nutmese, with chopped
parsley. Throw egg balls into the soup just before serving, or serve
separately in each dish. Or, pass a dish of boiled rice with the soup.
=★ Mother’s Soup=
1 qt. clean wheat bran pressed down in the measure
3 qts. boiling water
2 large onions, sliced or chopped
¼ cup grated carrot
1 bay leaf
1-2 tablespns. browned flour
½ cup chopped turnip
⅛ teaspn. thyme
salt
Cook all except turnip and thyme together 1½-2 hours. About 20 m.
before removing from the fire add the turnip, and in 10 m. the thyme;
after another 10 m., strain, add salt and more water if necessary, heat.
When soup is boiling rapidly, turn in slowly, in a slender stream,
batter for cream noodles, stirring constantly. Boil up well, remove
from fire, serve at once.
3-4 tablespns. raw nut butter may be used for stock instead of bran,
and 1½ teaspn. lemon juice added when soup is done.
=★ Bean Soup=
Put the beans into boiling water and cook rapidly until the skins begin
to break, then simmer until tender and well dried out. The longer and
more slowly the beans are cooked the richer the soup will be. Rub beans
through colander, keeping them where they will remain hot during the
process. Return to the fire, add boiling water and salt, and simmer for
an hour. Stir well and serve.
There are three things essential to the perfection of bean soup: 1st.,
cook the beans without soaking or parboiling, 2nd., dry out well after
they become tender, 3rd., do not let the beans or soup get cold at any
time before serving. Warmed-over bean soup is very good, but there is a
certain meaty flavor lost by cooling and reheating. Left-overs of bean
soup, we usually combine with other ingredients. Brown beans and red
make very rich soups, much better than black. One pint of beans will
make about 3 qts. of soup.
=★ Chick Peas Soup=
Make the same as bean soup (except that peas require longer cooking),
or cook in consommé. Very rich in flavor.
=★ Unstrained Bean Soup=
Cook nice tender white beans until partially cooked to pieces. Add
salt, and water to make of the right consistency, and simmer slowly ½
hour or longer.
=★ Swiss Lentil Soup=
1 pint lentils
1 large onion
2-4 tablespns. browned flour
salt
Cook lentils and sliced onion together until lentils are tender and
well dried out, rub through colander, add the browned flour and salt,
with water to make of the right consistency. (There should be from 2½-3
qts. of soup). Heat ½-1 hour. This makes an unusually meaty-flavored
soup.
The idea of combining onion and browned flour with lentils was given me
by one who had spent some years among the French in Switzerland.
=Swiss Peas or Swiss Bean Soup=--May be made the same.
=★ Canadian Peas Soup=
Cook whole ripe peas with onion and a little garlic, rub through
colander, add salt, a little browned flour and powdered sage, with
water to make like a broth. Unusually good.
=★ Green Peas Soup=
Cook green peas until tender, put ¾ of them through the colander, add
water and salt, boil up, thicken with a little flour and butter rubbed
together, add the whole peas, heat to boiling and serve.
CREAM AND MILK SOUPS
Cream soups do not necessarily contain cream, though the addition of a
little improves their flavor.
The simplest ones consist of milk thickened to the consistency of very
thin cream, salt, and a vegetable or some other ingredient. If the
vegetable is mashed, or is one that does not break to pieces easily,
the milk may be added to it, and the whole brought to the boiling point
and thickened. In a few exceptional cases the ingredient may be cooked
in the milk; nice tender green corn, for instance.
A richer sauce is made by making a roux of 2 level tablespns. of
butter, and 1-1½ level tablespn. flour, with a pint of milk, put
together in the regular way for sauces; but you will be surprised to
see how much better soups (with few exceptions) are without thickening,
being free from the porridgy taste of those thickened a trifle too much.
A little cream with the water in which the vegetable was cooked often
gives a finer flavored soup than milk and is no more expensive.
Sour cream makes a delightful as well as wholesome substitute for sweet
cream in corn, cabbage, tomato, in fact, nearly all vegetable soups.
_The following is a list of soups in which the general directions are
understood when no exceptions are noted. Salt is understood in all._
=★ Cream of Asparagus=--Cook tougher parts and rub through colander.
Throw cooked tips in last unless desired for some other dish. The very
toughest parts only make a nice, delicate flavored soup. This is one
which favors cream and water instead of milk.
=Cream of Bean=--Lima, common white, or colored. Cook as for water bean
soup, rub through colander or leave in broken pieces. Milk, or cream
and water, no flour. 1 cup beans to 1½-2 qts. soup.
=Cream of Bouillon=--¼-½ cup cream salted and whipped, to each quart
bouillon just before serving, either stirred in, or laid on top of each
cup in spoonfuls with a leaf of parsley.
=★ Cream of Cabbage, or Celery and Tomato=--Cabbage or celery, and
tomato soup, with a little heavy cream added.
=Cream of Carrot=--1 cup of ground or grated carrot, cooked, 3 pts.
milk and water, 1½-2 tablespns. butter, 1¼ tablespn. flour; or, 1 cup
strained tomato, ½-¾ cup cream, with water to make 3 pts., and no
butter.
Without the tomato, soup may be flavored with onion or celery, and bay
leaf, with chopped parsley.
=Cream of Celery=--1 pt. finely-sliced celery, stewed, milk and cream
added to make 3 pts., 1-1½ tablespn. flour with or without 1 or 2
tablespns. of butter. Do not strain. When soup is thickened, crushed
stalks of celery may be steeped in it for 15 m., then removed.
=★ Cream of Celery No. 2=--Steep leaves or poor stalks of celery in
milk for 15 m., add cream and flour, or flour and butter, to make of
the consistency of thin cream. Strain. May add a little celery salt.
=Cream of Chestnut=--Mashed boiled chestnuts, milk to thin, cream,
plain or whipped, or, milk and butter. May be flavored with celery or
onion or both.
=★ Cream of Corn=--1 pt. canned or grated corn to 3 pts. rich milk, 1
level tablespn. only, of flour, a very little salt. Do not let soup
stand long before serving. A little onion improves the flavor. If fresh
corn is used, the milk may be heated in a double boiler, the corn
added and cooked 20-30 m., or it may be boiled in a small quantity of
water 6-10 m. The cobs may be boiled in the water for 10 m. before
and removed; or they may stand in the milk while it is heating and be
removed before corn is added.
Fine fresh cracker meal gives a nice flavor to cream of corn soup when
used instead of flour for thickening.
A very little strained tomato imparts a delightful flavor and makes a
different soup.
=Cream of Dried Corn=--Soak corn, grind, add to hot milk, or cream and
water. Heat in double boiler 1 hour, add salt, serve. If necessary,
thicken a trifle.
=Cream of Dried Corn and Carrot=--Add cooked grated carrots to corn and
milk in above recipe and heat. Delicious.
=Cream of Leek=--Boil sliced leeks to pulp or cook only until tender.
=Cream of Lentil=--1 cup lentils cooked and rubbed through colander.
1½-2 qts. soup. No flour. May flavor with celery and onion.
=Cream of Onion=--Cook sliced onions in salted water. Do not strain.
Nice thickened with tapioca instead of flour.
=Cream of Oyster Plant=--Cook sliced oyster plant in water until just
tender, not soft; add salt, simmer 5 m. Add cream and more water if
necessary. Or, grind oyster plant before cooking. May thicken a trifle.
=Cream of Peas, dry=--Canadian, dried green, split or chick; 1 cup
to 1½-2 qts. of soup. Cook, rub through colander; milk, or cream and
water. No flour. Celery or onion flavor or not.
=Cream of Potato, or Sweet Potato=--1½-2 qts. of milk, or cream and
water, for each pint of mashed potato. Flavor with onion, celery salt
or bay leaf.
=Cream of Spinach=--Use a very small proportion of cooked spinach
rubbed through a colander, with rich milk, or with cream and the water
in which the spinach was boiled. Whipped cream may be added just before
serving. Thicken with tapioca sometimes.
=Cream of String Beans=--Cook beans in small pieces, add rich milk,
thicken with flour or tapioca.
=Cream of Succotash Soup=
Use 1 part of beans to 2 parts of corn; put either, neither or both
through a colander; add rich milk and salt.
For variety, flavor the soup with celery or onion or both, and add a
sprinkling of chopped parsley just before serving.
=Cream of Corn and Celery Soup=
Equal quantities cooked celery and corn, rich milk thickened a trifle
if desired, salt.
=Cream of Corn and Peas Soup=
1 cup dried green peas
1 cup canned corn
2 or 3 stalks of celery
milk
Cook peas, rub through colander, corn also if preferred. Add milk to
make of the right consistency. Put over fire in double boiler with salt
and the stalks of celery crushed. Heat for 15 m., remove the celery and
serve. 1 pint of canned green peas may be used instead of dried ones.
=Okra Soup with Cream=
1 pt. canned okra, vegetable consommé to make of the right consistency,
½-1 cup cream, salt. If the okra is in large pieces, cut smaller.
=Cream of Rice Soup=
½ cup rice
1½ teaspn. salt
1½ pint water
1¾ pt. milk
½ cup cream
Cook rice with salt and water in a double boiler or in a pan in the
oven until the water is absorbed, add the milk hot, and cook stirring
often, on top of stove or in double boiler till rice is soft and
creamy. Add cream and more salt and water if necessary. Soup may be
flavored with 2 teaspns. finely-chopped onion, a crushed half clove of
garlic, or ⅛-¼ teaspn. sage, or with a bay leaf, or crushed stalks of
celery. All milk may be used.
=★ Paris Onion Soup=
Cook sliced onion with browned flour in salted water until tender. Rub
through colander, add cream or butter, milk and salt. Thicken a trifle,
heat and add chopped parsley.
=Soup of Peas Pods=
Wash peas pods, stew 3 hours with a small sprig of mint. Rub through
a coarse wire sieve (a few at a time) until nothing is left but the
membrane. Add milk and butter, or cream and water, with a little flour
to thicken if desired, then a few whole peas; season with salt.
=Split Peas Soup=
1 pt. split peas, 1 onion sliced; cook in water till soft. Add milk to
make of the right consistency and salt to season. Good without onion.
=★ Peas and Tomato Soup=
1 cup dried green peas (2 cups after being cooked and mashed)
1¼ qt. water
2-4 cups tomato
½ cup cream
Salt
Cook peas and rub through colander, add water, tomato, cream and salt.
Heat. Serve.
=Cream of Green (or canned) Peas Soup=
1 pt. stewed or canned, well matured green peas, 1-1½ qt. rich milk,
salt. Heat peas, rub through colander, add hot milk gradually,
stirring, then salt. Heat well, serve. If peas are not sweet, 2
teaspoons of sugar may be added. The soup may be thickened with 1 level
tablespn. of flour. It also may be flavored with stalks of celery or
slices of onion, for variety; but nice-flavored peas do not require any
additional flavoring.
=★ Tomato Cream Soup=
1 qt. rich milk
1-1½ tablespn. flour
1 cup strained tomato
1 teaspn. salt
Heat milk, thicken with flour, add tomato, then salt; serve hot.
=Cream of Tomato Soup=
Same as Tomato Cream Soup, with 2½ cups of tomato instead of 1 cup, and
1½-2 teaspns. salt.
=★ Another=
1 tablespn. butter
1 level tablespn. flour
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 cup strained tomato
⅔ teaspn. salt
Heat butter, add flour, then water, milk, tomato and salt, stirring
smooth.
=Cream Broths=
Cauliflower, cabbage or spinach water, with a little cream, make
delightful broths; also barley or rice water or juice of tomato.
=Brazil Nut Soup=
½ lb. (1 large cup) ground Brazil nut meats
1-1½ pt. water
1 cup chopped onion
1½ cup finely-sliced celery (crushed stalks of celery may be used)
2 cups milk
Salt
Cook ground nuts in the water for 2 hrs., add onion and celery, and
cook 15 m., to ½ hr., add the milk, heat, strain, add salt and more
milk or water if necessary, reheat. Other flavorings may be used.
This may be used as a white stock with or without the milk.
=Sister Cooley’s Brown Potato Soup=
1 pt. of potato, in small pieces, cooked, mashed and well beaten, 3
tablespns. butter and oil mixed, 4-6 tablespns. chopped onion, 2 or 3
teaspns. browned flour, 1½ teaspn. white flour, 3 cups milk, salt. Heat
onion in oil, add flour and mashed potato, then milk and salt with a
little chopped parsley. If too thick, add a little more milk or water.
=Sliced Potato Soup=
1 pt. of potato in thick slices, 1 medium sized onion chopped, salt.
Cook until potatoes are tender but not soft; add 1 tablespn. butter,
or 2-3 tablespns. cream with milk to make 1¼-1½ qt. of soup, salt, and
chopped parsley. Finely-sliced celery may be used in place of onion.
For parsnip soup substitute parsnip for half or all of the potato.
=Vegetable Soup--Milk=
1½ tablespn. oil, or 2 tablespns. melted butter
4 tablespns. finely-sliced celery
2½ tablespns. chopped cabbage
2½ tablespns. chopped carrot
2 medium sized onions sliced thin
scant ½ cup stale bread crumbs
2 cups boiling water
1½ cup milk
salt
1 tablespn. parsley
Simmer, but do not brown, vegetables in oil 10-20 m., add boiling water
and bread crumbs and cook till vegetables are very tender. Rub through
colander or not as preferred. Add milk, salt and parsley. Reheat. If
too thick add more milk or water. Soup may be thickened slightly with
pastry or rice flour instead of crumbs.
=Mayflower Soup=
3 level tablespns (¼ cup) raw nut butter or meal
1 cup each tomato, onion and corn
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespn. butter
1-1½ tablespn. flour
1 qt. milk
salt
½ teaspn. celery salt
Cook nut butter, onion and garlic in salted water; when tender add
tomato and corn; heat. Rub butter and flour together, pour hot milk
over gradually, stirring. Boil up well, combine with vegetables, add
salt and celery salt, and if necessary, water to thin.
A little cream may be used in place of butter, but the soup is
excellent without either.
=★ Oyster Bay Soup=
1 qt. sliced oyster plant (about 20 roots, 3 bunches or less)
1-1½ pt. chopped cabbage
1 pt. milk
¼-½ pt. cream
1-1½ tablespn. flour
2-2½ teaspns. salt
½-1 teaspn. olive oil
Cook oyster plant in 1½ pt. water; when nearly tender, add salt. Cook
cabbage till tender (20-25 m.), in so little water that it will be
nearly dry when done. Add milk, heat, strain; add liquid from oyster
plant. There should be 3 pts. of liquid in all. Boil, stir in flour
rubbed smooth with the oil and part of the cold milk. Boil up well.
Add cooked oyster plant. Heat. Do not make too thick. The flour may be
omitted entirely. The oil may be cooked with the oyster plant.
=Milk Stew of Cabbage--White or Red=
1 pt. chopped cabbage
1 tablespn. chopped onion
1 pt. water
2 level tablespns. butter
1½ level tablespn. flour
1 pt. boiling milk
chopped parsley
Cook cabbage and onion in the water 20-25 m. leaving ½ pt. of liquid.
Blend butter and flour and pour hot milk over; boil, add cooked cabbage
and chopped parsley. Heat. Serve.
=Milk Stew of Oyster Plant=
Cook 1 qt. of sliced oyster plant in a small quantity of water. Add
salt when nearly tender; drain, add rich milk to liquor to make 1 qt.
Pour over oyster plant, heat, add salt. Turn into tureen containing ¼
cup heavy cream, or 1 tablespn. butter.
=Cream Stew of Oyster Plant=
Cook oyster plant in water and add heavy cream.
=Oyster Plant and Celery Soup=
Equal quantities sliced oyster plant and celery cooked; water, cream,
with or without a little flour to thicken, salt.
=Oyster Plant and Corn Soup=
⅔ qt. (1 bunch) sliced oyster plant
¼ cup corn
3½ cups water
¾-1 tablespn. flour
½ cup cream, salt
Cook oyster plant, drain, add water to liquor to make 3½ cups. When
boiling, thicken and add corn, oyster plant and cream, with salt. Heat,
serve.
BISQUES
=Bisque of Corn=
1 pt. corn
2½ pts. water
1 tablespn. flour
1-1½ tablespn. butter
½-¾ cup cream, whipped
Heat butter, add flour, then hot water; stir into corn with salt; heat,
turn over whipped cream in soup tureen and send to table at once.
Butter may be omitted, and the water thickened with flour.
=Bisque of Cucumber=
2 tablespns. raw nut butter
1 pt. water, salted
2 small onions, sliced
4 large cucumbers, grated
½-1 teaspn. celery salt
1 pt. rich milk
1 level tablespn. flour
¼-½ cup cream
salt
Cook onion in nut milk (made by blending raw nut butter and water)
until tender, add the cucumbers and cook 5 m., add celery salt and
milk, thicken with flour; rub through colander, add salt, milk or water
to thin if necessary, and cream, whipped or plain. Serve immediately.
=★ Milk and Tomato Bisque=
1 pt. chopped cabbage
1 pt. milk
1 tablespn. butter
2 teaspns. flour
1 qt. stewed tomatoes, strained
1 tablespn. flour
½ cup cream
salt
Cook cabbage 20-25 m., in just enough water to cook it tender. Add
milk, heat, strain. Heat butter and the 2 teaspns. of flour and add
cabbage flavored milk.
Thicken tomato with 1 tablespn. of flour and add thickened milk just
before serving. Add salt the last thing. Turn over whipped cream in
soup tureen or serve the cream by teaspoonfuls on each plate of soup.
Cream may be omitted.
Milk may be flavored with onion instead of cabbage, or not flavored
at all, but the cabbage gives an exceptionally fine flavor to the
combination. Equal quantities of milk and tomato may be used, or twice
as much milk as tomato, remembering to thicken both milk and tomato (if
all the flour is put into the milk it makes it too thick to blend well
with the tomato), to combine just before serving, and to add the salt
last.
=Milk and Tomato Bisque, with Eggs--Starchless=
1½ cup rich milk
½ cup water
½ tablespn. oil or melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup strained tomato
salt
Cook milk, water, oil and eggs the same as a boiled custard. Remove
from fire, add the hot tomato gradually, stirring, then salt. Serve at
once.
=★ Nut and Tomato Bisque=
⅓ cup roasted nut butter
1 cup rich strained tomato
3 cups water
salt
Stir butter smooth with tomato, add boiling water, heat and add plenty
of salt. This soup requires no flavoring, but onion, garlic, mint,
caraway, or a delicate flavoring of thyme, are all nice with it.
=★ Nut and Tomato Bisque No. 2=
2 tablespns. raw nut butter cooked in water ½ to 1 hr., instead of
the roasted nut butter. Flavor with onion, garlic, or delicately with
thyme, if desired.
=Bisque of Spinach=
2 qts. spinach
3 pts. milk
1-1½ tablespn. oil or melted butter
1½ tablespn. flour
1½ tablespn. chopped onion
1-3 stalks celery
¾ teaspn. celery salt
salt
Heat milk, onion and celery in double boiler for 20 m., strain, pour
liquid over oil and flour heated (without browning) in saucepan; add
salt and celery salt and turn on to spinach (which has been cooked and
chopped fine or rubbed through a colander) gradually, stirring. Serve
hot.
CHOWDERS
Many of the chowders are almost a “full meal” in themselves. I can
think of no luncheon more delightful than a nut chowder with finger
croutons, beaten biscuit or whole wheat wafers, with fruit or other not
too rich, dessert.
Raw nut butter may be used in all these chowders in place of butter or
oil, giving a meaty flavor.
A smaller proportion of liquid may be used when desired. The vegetable
strainings left from a consommé, rubbed through the colander, make an
excellent foundation for chowders.
=★ Seashore Chowder--Corn=
1 pt. to 1 qt. milk
1 pt. water
1 pt. corn grated or chopped
2-3 tablespns. oil or melted butter
5 small onions sliced
1 qt. potato in small pieces (not slices)
Heat oil (without browning) in kettle, add onions, simmer 10 m., then
add the water, boiling, with salt and potatoes. Cook until potatoes
are just tender, not soft; add the milk, hot, and then the corn. Heat
to boiling and serve with crackers. When fresh grated corn is used,
of course it should be cooked in a double boiler for 10-15 m. before
adding to chowder.
The chowder may be thickened a trifle if the larger quantity of milk is
used, but the smaller is the usual quantity. Sometimes only one-half as
much potato as of corn is used.
Dried corn chopped after soaking makes an unusually fine chowder.
Water and cream are better than milk.
A little browned flour is thought by some to be an improvement.
Fine chopped trumese gives the chowder a little more of the seashore
effect.
=Corn and Carrot Chowder--Unusually Fine=
1-1½ tablespn. oil or melted butter
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup carrot in small, thin pieces
1 pt. water
¾-1 cup corn
2½-3 cups rich milk
salt
Heat onion and carrot in oil, add water, cook tender, add hot milk, and
corn with salt. Heat.
½-¾ cup of tomato may be added for variety.
=★ Nut Chowder=
2-3 tablespns. raw nut butter
1 medium onion, sliced fine
½ cup carrot in small pieces (fancy shapes if convenient)
½ cup finely-sliced celery
1 cup stewed tomato
1 cup nutmese, shredded or in dice
½-1 cup trumese, shredded or in dice
2 hard boiled eggs, shredded parsley,
chopped or picked into small pieces
½-1 cup cream
water
salt
Rub nut butter smooth with water, add the tomato and more water; cook ½
hour. Cook together carrots and onion and add without draining to nut
butter stock. Cook celery till perfectly tender and add with the water
in which it was cooked; add salt, nutmese and trumese, eggs, parsley
and cream, with more water if required. Let stand a few minutes and
serve.
One cup of oyster plant with the water in which it was cooked is a
great improvement. ½ cup of turnip in dice, cooked by itself and
drained, and a few pieces of cooked red beet, in fancy shapes, may be
added just as the chowder goes to the table.
=Potato and Onion or Celery Chowder=
2 tablespns. raw nut butter
1 pt. potato in small pieces
1 pt. water
2 or 3 onions, sliced
Rub nut butter smooth with water, heat to boiling, add salt and onions,
cook 10 m., add potatoes and cook until tender. Finish with water and
cream, or water alone. 1 cup finely-sliced celery may be cooked with
the potato instead of the onion, and chopped parsley added at the last.
Nut butter may be omitted and cream used.
=★ Tomato Cream Chowder=
2-3 tablespns. oil or butter
2 large onions, sliced
1 pt. stewed tomato
1 pt. thin cream sauce
Salt
Simmer onion, carefully, in oil until tender, add tomato, heat and
add cream sauce with necessary salt. Onion may be cooked in a small
quantity of salted water and oil omitted.
Add stewed celery for Celery and Tomato Chowder.
=★ Oyster Plant Chowder=
1½ tablespn. oil or butter
1 large onion, sliced
1 pt. potato, in small pieces
1 pt. oyster plant, partly cooked
1½ pt. water (including that in which the oyster plant was cooked)
1½ pt. rich milk or thin cream
salt, crackers
Simmer onion in oil, add water, potato and oyster plant, with salt;
cook; add hot milk and more salt if necessary. Pour over split or whole
crackers in tureen.
=★ Another=
Leave out potato and use more oyster plant and onion.
=String Bean and Celery Chowder=
1 part cooked celery and 2 parts string beans with rich milk, thickened
a trifle. Salt.
=Celery, Onion and Corn Chowder=
Equal parts celery and corn. Cook onion and celery in butter (or salted
water only), add water, then milk and cream, corn and parsley. Heat.
Serve.
=Rice and Vegetable Chowder (of things on hand)=
split peas soup
string beans
celery in tomato
tomato and okra soup
hard boiled eggs
boiled rice
Slice hard boiled eggs, mix all ingredients, heat and serve.
=★ Royal Vegetable Chowder=
a few mashed green or yellow split peas
carrot
onion
canned peas
canned asparagus tips
tomato
parsley
milk, a little
cream, a little
A little canned okra when convenient.
PURÉES
The term “purée,” as used in this connection, means a _thick soup_ of
ingredients rubbed through a fine colander. Thicker purées of cooked
nuts, fruits, legumes or vegetables are served as true meat dishes,
entrées, side dishes or relishes, according to their nature.
=Almond Purée--small quantity=
Very nourishing and digestible for invalids.
Rub 2 tablespns. of almond butter smooth with 1-1⅓ cup of water. Just
boil up over the fire (or cook in double boiler till thick), add salt,
serve. The proportion of water may be varied
=Split Peas Purée=
1 cup split peas
3-4 tablespns. raw nut butter
½ large bay leaf
a few celery tops or ¼ teaspn. celery seed in piece of muslin
a pinch of sage
1 small onion, sliced
salt
water
1 tablespn. butter
½ tablespn. flour
1 teaspn. grated onion
Cook peas, raw nut butter, bay leaf, celery tops and onion all together
in salted water, rub through colander, turn on to butter and flour
which have been heated together (or the butter and flour may be rubbed
together and stirred into the purée), add necessary water, salt, sage
and the teaspoon of fresh grated onion; simmer for 5 m. Serve with
strips of bread, or finger croutons. The teaspoon of onion at the last
is very important.
=Purée of Potatoes=
Boil potatoes cut in small pieces, sliced onion, stalks of celery
and a sprig of parsley in plenty of salted water till potatoes are
tender. Rub through colander, reheat, thicken just enough to hold
the ingredients together, turn over whipped cream in the tureen and
sprinkle with chopped parsley. Raw nut butter gives a fine flavor to
this purée, cook it with the potatoes and use less or no cream.
=Purée of Sago=
¼ cup sago
1 pt. water
¼ small bay leaf
1 large stalk of celery, crushed, or a few celery tops
1 medium onion, sliced
a sprig of parsley
1¼-1½ pt. milk
salt
yolk of 1 small egg
¼ cup cream
chopped parsley if desired
Wash sago and cook with bay leaf, celery, parsley and onion in the
water until clear; add hot milk, rub through colander, add salt and
keep hot. Just before serving, beat together the yolk of the egg and
the cream, stir several spoonfuls of hot soup into the mixture, turn
all into the soup, stir well, but do not boil, add chopped parsley,
serve at once.
OUR FAMOUS SOUPS
This is the list of soups, made from left-overs, for which people most
often ask our recipes.
They are from a small institution, with a family of from twenty-five to
thirty members.
The cream is usually a little from the top of the can, but it gives the
finishing touch.
The ingredients are usually heated together and put through the
colander.
No. 1--Seashore chowder with fine trumese and nutmese, and onion and
tomato stew.
No. 2--Nut and tomato bisque, with remains of above, put through
colander.
No. 3--Asparagus on toast put through colander; milk, consommé, a
trifle of tomato,--oyster flavor.
No. 4--Consommé, strainings from consommé, chick peas, trumese and
gravy from trumese pie.
No. 5--Cream of asparagus soup, dry Lima beans and dried corn
succotash, consommé, baked beans, green peas, milk and cream.
No. 6--Baked beans, Lima beans, cream of peas soup, milk.
No. 7--Strainings from consommé, put through colander, thin cream,
tomato.
No 8--Left-overs from above, string beans, lentils, milk; thickened a
little.
No. 9--Consommé of nut butter instead of stock, lentils, water, cream.
No. 10--Left-over from above, tomato, creamed onions.
No. 11--Consommé, spinach water, carrots, onions, garlic, tomato,
chopped parsley.
No. 12--Left-over from above, baked beans, skimmed milk.
No. 13--Carrot water, onions, garlic, tomato, browned flour, beans,
bay leaf. This tasted like beans with tomato sauce.
No. 14--Corn chowder, peas and tomato soup, pilau, milk and water.
No. 15--Baked beans, string beans, milk and cream.
No. 16--Cream of peas soup, lentil, spinach water, tomato, a little
consommé.
FRUIT SOUPS
Served with nuts, nut wafers or popped corn, are very refreshing often,
for luncheon or supper.
And when something must be served in the evening, those not too tart,
may be served with cocoanut crisps, pastry in fancy shapes, cookies or
sponge cakes and nuts.
Fruit soups are served hot, in cups, and cold or slightly frozen, in
glasses.
Sea moss, sago or tapioca (⅓ to ½ cup sago and ¼ to ⅓ cup tapioca to
each 3 pts. of soup) make the most suitable foundations for them.
Honey instead of cane sugar may be used to sweeten.
The white of egg beaten, sweetened a trifle and flavored delicately
with rose, lemon or orange may be put on to each cup in roses with a
pastry tube or dropped on by teaspoonfuls.
Whipped cream may be used with some.
Berries, pieces of orange or slices of banana are sometimes served in
the soup.
Odds and ends of sauces can be utilized, and in the summer, all sorts
of fresh fruits.
Thin slices of Brazil nuts, crisp toasted almonds, English walnuts,
pecans or hickory nuts are suitable accompaniments.
=Strawberry and Pineapple Soup=
⅓-½ cup of sago
or
¼-⅓ cup of tapioca
2½ cups strawberry juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1½ cup pineapple juice
sugar, if necessary
salt
Put sago or tapioca into the inner cup of a double boiler with 1 cup of
warm water. Soak sago 1 hr., tapioca 10 m. to 2 hrs., according to the
kind. When soaked, pour 1 cup of boiling water over, add a little salt
and cook until transparent. Add strawberry, pineapple and lemon juice,
and sugar to make delicately sweet. Heat to just below the boiling
point and serve at once, or cool.
Small pieces of pineapple make a pleasant addition.
Cherry or currant juice may be used in place of the strawberry.
If too thick, a little water or juice may be added.
Other suitable fruit juices may be substituted for the ones given:
with those of strong and positive flavor a larger proportion of water
may be used. Of course, with some tart juices, no lemon juice would be
required.
=Cherry Soup=
¼ cup tapioca, 3 cups water, 1 pt. juice from dark red canned or stewed
cherries. Flavor with oil of lemon or orange rind if desired.
May add some of the cherries just before serving.
=Sea Moss Fruit Soup=
2 cups diluted red raspberry juice
2 level teaspns. sea moss farine if soup is to be served cold,
or 5 if warm
⅓ cup orange juice
3 or 4 teaspns. lemon juice
2 tablespns. sugar flavored with the oil of the orange
Stir moss into cold fruit juice, heat in double boiler 25-30 m.,
stirring often; add lemon and orange juice and sugar, stir till sugar
is dissolved. Serve warm or cold.
=Scandinavian Fruit Soup=
½ cup sago
5 cups water
1 cup cooked prunes in pieces
½ cup stewed raisins
½ cup tart fruit juice
½-1 cup sugar
Soak sago in 1 cup warm water, add the quart of water boiling. with
salt, and cook until sago is transparent. Add other ingredients, heat,
serve.
Dried peaches, apricots or apples may be used sometimes. Grape, currant
or cranberry are suitable juices.
=Grape Juice Cream Soup=
1 pt. water
1 cup Concord grape juice
4 tablespns. raisins
4 tablespns. currants
2 tablespns. finely-sliced citron
2 tablespns. sugar
½ cup cream
Stew raisins, currants and citron together, add other ingredients,
heat, serve.
Excellent without cream.
=Raisin and Almond Broth--small quantity=
Stew 1 tablespn. raisins cut fine, in 1 cup of water ½ to 1 hour. Add
2 teaspns. almond butter stirred smooth with 2 tablespns. of water, a
trifle of salt and a little sugar if desired or allowed.
=Blueberry and Cocoanut Soup=
Steep grated cocoanut in rich blueberry juice in a not too hot place
for 20 m. Strain. Add sugar as required and a little lemon juice if
necessary, with or without dairy cream. Serve cold with sponge cake or
cookies. Rich cocoanut milk may be used instead of grated cocoanut.
=Tomato and Raisin Soup=
1 cup seeded raisins; stew till tender. Drain and add to the liquid,
water to make 1½ cup, 1½ cup strained tomato, salt, 4 tablespns. cream
with 2 teaspns. sugar.
SOUP GARNISHES AND ACCOMPANIMENTS
=Croutons=
Of all the accompaniments to soups, croutons (crusts of bread) are
perhaps the most desirable as well as most practical. To make them, cut
slices of bread, not too fresh, into any desired shapes, dry, slowly
at first, in a warm oven, then gradually increase the heat until they
are of a delicate cream color, for such soups as bean, Swiss lentil or
bouillon; but for cream soups, dry to crispness without browning.
A favorite shape is made by cutting rather thin loaves of bread into
half inch slices, laying 3 or 4 together and cutting them diagonally
across the narrow way of the slice. This gives dainty strips,
convenient and attractive. The most common way is to cut slices
straight across each way, leaving the bread in dice.
=Miscellaneous=
Croutons, however, are not suitable for very delicate flavored soups,
such as cream of corn or cream of rice. For these, there is nothing
equal to dainty cream or nut-shortened sticks, or little soup crackers.
Cook some of the small Italian pastes (you can be sure that they are
Italian only by buying them of the Italian dealer himself), vermicelli,
soprafini, ditalini, acini di pepe, or others, in boiling salted water
until tender (from 10 to 15 m.), drain and add to suitable soups in the
proportion of one ounce to ¾-1 qt. of soup.
Add a few kernels of popped corn to each plateful of corn soup.
Roll lettuce leaves in tight rolls and cut off in slender rings;
pick up with the fingers and drop into hot soup; or cut lettuce with
vegetable cutter, round or in any not too fine shapes and scatter into
plates of soup as served.
Cut left-overs of pie crust into fancy shapes. Bake and drop into each
plate of soup in serving. They must not stand in the soup long or they
will dissolve.
=Dice Royale=
Coat ¾ in. dice of bread with beaten egg. Bake just before serving.
Serve a few in each dish of soup, or throw into tureen just before
sending to table. May roll cubes in finely-chopped onion or parsley.
=Cream Soup Balls=
1 large tablespn. oil
½ cup pastry flour
1 cup boiling water
⅜ teaspn. salt
4 tablespns. finely-sliced celery, or
¼ teaspn. celery salt
2 teaspns. chopped parsley
(parsley may be omitted)
Heat oil in frying pan until hot, not brown. Add half the flour and rub
to a paste, then add boiling water gradually, stirring until smooth.
Stir in remainder of flour dry.
When the sauce is smooth and creamy and well cooked, remove from the
fire, cool a little, and stir in celery, parsley and salt. The mixture
will be very stiff.
Stand in cool place until perfectly cold, then shape into balls 1¼ to
1½ in. in diameter, or cones 1½ in. at the base, or cubes of 1¼ in.,
or sticks 3½ to 4 in. in length by ¾ of an inch in diameter. Roll in
fine zwieback or cracker crumbs, then in beaten egg (add salt and a
tablespoon of water to each egg), then in crumbs again.
Place on oiled tins a short distance apart, and set in cool place till
15 m. before serving, then put into a quick oven and bake until a
delicate brown and cracked a little. Serve immediately.
If baked too long or too slowly, they will not keep their shape.
This makes 12 to 14 balls. ½ a beaten egg may be added when the celery
is, but the balls are more creamy without it.
The balls may be made the day before required, kept in the ice box and
baked at serving time.
Variation No. 1. Use 2 tablespns. of small pieces of hickory or other
nut meats instead of the celery.
Variation No. 2. Use 2 tablespns. of black walnut meal (made by rubbing
meats through a fine colander with a potato masher), and a little onion.
Variation No. 3. Use ¼ to ⅜ teaspn. grated lemon rind, instead of other
flavorings.
Variation No. 4. Use chopped trumese, with sage and onion in place of
the celery.
The savory balls are used with the plainer soups, and vice versa; or if
both soups and balls are highly seasoned, use contrasting flavors; for
instance, the balls with lemon rind in Nut French soup.
The egg balls should be used with care as they destroy the flavor of
many soups. They, poached eggs, and hard-boiled yolks of eggs are
especially suitable for some cream soups.
=★ Soup Balls--Choux batter=
1 cup water
2 tablespns. butter or oil
1 cup pastry flour
4 eggs
Heat water and oil to boiling, stir flour in dry, stirring and beating
well with batter whip. When nearly cold, add eggs, one at a time,
mixing well, until all are in. Beat for 5 m., stand in ice box for from
1 to 12 or more hours. Drop small quantities from point of spoon into
boiling soup, or bake or boil in tiny balls, flattened.
Excellent baked, but unusually fine boiled, so delightfully free from
stickiness or doughiness.
=Egg Balls=
Rub 4 poached yolks of eggs to a paste. Beat with salt and the white
of 1 raw egg. Form into balls ¾ to 1 in. in diameter. Roll in browned
flour No. 1, bake just before serving. May beat white of egg first.
The raw yolk is sometimes used in place of the white. The balls may be
boiled for 5 m. in the soup, instead of being baked.
=★ Royal Paste=
Beat together 4 eggs, ½ cup thin cream, ½ teaspn. salt. Pour into oiled
tin, place in pan of water; bake slowly until firm. Turn from molds at
once.
When paste is to be cut into fancy shapes with vegetable cutters it
should not be over ¼ in. deep in the pans; but if for dice, it may be
any depth.
This quantity is sufficient for 6 qts. of soup.
I often tint parts of paste with vegetable or fruit colors, spinach
green, parsley, carrots or cranberries.
The left-overs from cutting may be chopped for another soup or a roast.
Use 1½ tablespn. of cream for 1 egg.
Royal may be flavored with onion juice. A little very fine chopped
parsley may be added to it before baking.
Consommé is sometimes used in place of cream.
4 yolks of eggs and 1 white may be used instead of 4 whole eggs with
the same quantity of liquid, and rich milk will do instead of cream,
but the paste will not be as tender.
=Spun Eggs=
Break eggs into cup (2 for each quart of soup). Leave whole and turn
slowly into rapidly boiling soup, beating briskly with fork or wire
batter whip, until egg is in white and yellow shreds. Boil up well and
serve soup at once. Or, beat eggs and let them stand until the froth
subsides, then add to the soup in the same way.
=Thickening for Potato Soup=
1 tablespn. flour
½ cup cold water
yolks 2 eggs
Blend flour and water, add to boiling soup, boil up well.
Turn some of the hot soup slowly on to the beaten yolks, stirring, add
them to the soup, do not boil, serve at once.
Whipped cream may be added to potato soup just before serving.
=Rice Timbales=
⅓ cup rice
1 cup water
½ teaspn. salt
½ teaspn. oil or melted butter
Soak rice in water for half an hour, add salt and oil, stir well and
steam without stirring, ¾ to 1 hour. Press into small oiled molds. Set
in a pan of hot water covered, for 10 m. Put one in the center of each
plate of soup, with or without a small leaf of parsley on top. Rice may
be boiled.
=Dumplings=
Cut bread or universal dough into small rounds or make into very small
balls; let rise and steam 20 m. or boil 10 to 15 m. in rich soup just
before serving, or boil in water and add to soup.
=Noodles=
I have had equally good success with all three of the following
combinations:--
4 eggs,
salt,
1¾-2 cups bread flour. (Always use bread flour.)
3 eggs,
2 tablespns. water,
salt,
1 teaspn. melted butter,
about 2 cups flour.
Yolks 4 eggs,
2 tablespns. water,
salt,
about 1¼ cup flour.
Beat eggs a little with salt, add water if used, and flour for stiff
dough. Knead on floured board until dry but not flakey.
Then cut into three or four pieces and knead each piece, without
more flour, until very smooth. Roll each piece as thin and as large
as possible, some say to the thickness of a fifty cent piece, hang
on clothes bars, away from the fire, turning often until dry but not
brittle.
Roll up without flour and cut into fine slices from the end; or fold in
1½ in. accordion pleats and cut fine, or cut into strips of any desired
width and cut these into narrow match-like pieces; or cut into rounds
or fancy shapes with vegetable cutters. If cut in the first two ways,
shake out upon a cloth or board and dry ½ to 1 hour.
Add noodles to boiling consommé and boil rapidly, stirring occasionally
with a fork, for 10 to 20 m., or until tender.
Serve soup at once or noodles will become pasty.
Noodles may be cooked in boiling salted water, drained and added to
soup, or cooked for 5 m. in water and finished in soup, giving a
clearer consommé.
Noodles may be cooked in Mother’s and Nut French soup, as well as in
bouillon or consommé.
Noodles may be dried thoroughly and stored in jars or close-covered
box, almost indefinitely; but will require a much longer cooking.
=★ Cream Noodles=
Beat 1 egg light, add 1 tablespn. milk and a pinch of salt; then beat
in 3-4½ tablespns. flour.
Turn slowly in a slender stream into rapidly boiling soup, stirring
constantly; boil up well and serve at once.
When the mixture is poured slowly from the point of a spoon, it will be
in shreds, and when cooked will be firm enough to hold its shape, but
not hard.
* * * * *
“Cooking is not drudgery--it is an art.... No one who stands by a hot
stove ever cooks. That party only waits. The cook is always on the _qui
vive_. In the exaltation and exhileration of his artistic services, he
forgets that the stove is hot.”
--_Dr. Harvey W. Wiley._
ENTRÉES AND BREAKFAST, LUNCHEON AND SUPPER DISHES
“Entrées are the dishes served between any of the regular courses,” one
writer says. Another, “Entrées--a conventional term for side dishes.”
Entrées proper may or may not have a large proportion of strength
giving elements; but in this book we are placing the foods richest in
proteids under the head of “true meats.”
As many entrées make good breakfast, luncheon and supper dishes and
_vice versa_, it seemed best to group these all together.
CROQUETTES
Egg for dipping croquettes should be slightly beaten with a pinch of
salt and 1 teaspn. to 1 tablespn. of water to each egg.
The whites of eggs alone (beaten just enough to mix with the water),
also yolks alone or crumbs without egg may be used.
Crumbs may be cracker, zwieback, dry bread or granella. Corn meal,
flour, or a mixture of crumbs and flour are used for dipping. For
vegetable and cereal croquettes, the nut meals are excellent.
Mix fine chopped onion and parsley with egg or crumbs sometimes for
croquettes.
Full directions for shaping and baking are given with trumese
croquettes.
Suitable croquettes or patties may be served on beds of pilau, or on
plain boiled rice with gravy, or with macaroni in cream sauce, and some
are used as garnishes or accompaniments for true meat dishes.
=Croquette Sauce=
To be used with different additions.
1-2 tablespns. butter
2-2½ tablespns. flour
1 cup hot milk
¾-1 teaspn. salt
1 teaspn. grated onion may be used when suitable and also 1 egg, but
croquettes are more creamy without the egg.
Rub the butter and flour together, add boiling milk, stirring; boil,
remove from fire, add whatever is to be used for croquettes, cool
thoroughly, shape into cones or rolls, set in cold place until ready to
use.
This quantity is sufficient for the equivalent of 2 cups of fine
chopped meat.
=Corn Croquettes=
1 pt. grated corn, (or 1 can of corn well drained)
1 pt. stale bread crumbs
2 tablespns. flour.
1 egg
salt
Mix, shape, bake. These croquettes may be breaded only. They may be
used as garnish for a timbale if shaped in cones or balls, or served
with cream sauce as a separate course.
=Celery Croquettes=
1 cup mashed potato
¾ cup finely-sliced celery
1-1½ teaspn. butter
2 tablespns. chopped nuts (not too fine)
salt
Do not cook celery. Mix all ingredients while potato is hot. Cool,
shape, egg and crumb. Stand in cold place until ready to bake.
=Rice Croquettes--cold boiled rice=
Add 2 or 3 tablespns. milk to 2 cups cold boiled rice. Heat in double
boiler until softened; then add 1 tablespn. butter, 1 beaten egg and
salt. Cream may be used instead of milk and butter. Cool, shape, roll
in nut meal, bake. Serve as garnish for a ragout, or with stewed green
peas, cream or lentil gravy, or maple syrup or jelly.
=Rice Croquettes No. 2=
Cook 1 cup of rice in a quart of milk with a level teaspn. of salt,
in a double boiler until rice is tender and milk absorbed. Add yolks
of 4 eggs or 2 whole eggs, and 2-4 tablespns. sugar. Cool, shape,
egg, crumb, bake. Serve with strawberry or fig sauce, or with quince,
elderberry, or some not too tart jelly. May cook rice in half milk and
half water, and if desired add a little butter. Sugar may be omitted.
=Rice and Fig Croquettes=
Add 1 cup of fine cut or ground fresh figs to the preceding recipe,
with less or no sugar: 1 teaspn. of vanilla also if desired, and serve
with orange or cream sauce as dessert at luncheon.
=Bread Croquettes=
1 tablespn. butter
2 tablespns. flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
salt
bread crumbs
Heat, do not brown, butter, add flour and stir smooth; pour milk in
hot, when smooth, remove from fire, add salt and egg and enough bread
crumbs to shape. Cool, shape into balls or rolls, bake. Serve as a
garnish or as a separate dish with or without sauce. The mixture may be
flavored with some of the sweet herbs or minced onion.
=Oyster Plant Patties=
1 pt. cooked pulp of oyster plant
2 tablespns. cream, with oyster
liquor to make a large half-cup
(or 1 tablespn. butter with milk
and the liquor)
2 eggs, or about ¼ cup cracker crumbs
salt
Mix all ingredients; sprinkle buttered shells or scallop dishes with
crumbs, put a spoonful of the mixture in each and sprinkle tops of
patties with crumbs. Bake in moderate oven on top grate 5-10 m., serve
at once.
Patties may be served as a second course at dinner, or for a luncheon
dish.
For _pulp_, grind about three bunches of oyster plant through the
medium cutter of a food chopper. Cook in a small amount of water until
just tender, adding salt about 5 m. before removing from the fire.
=Asparagus en Croustade=
Cut the top crust from gems baked in flat oblong, or round gem pans,
and remove the soft inside part. Warm in oven. Have ready one cup hot
cooked asparagus tips.
_Sauce_--
3 tablespns. butter
5-6 tablespns. flour
3 cups hot milk
salt
1 egg
Prepare the sauce as usual, adding beaten egg last, heat without
boiling, carefully stir in the asparagus tips, fill the crusts and
serve. A few tips may be reserved and pressed into the sauce after
crusts are filled, leaving the heads sticking up. Green peas or
stringless beans may be substituted for asparagus. Patty pan pastry
crusts may be used.
=Oyster Plant en Croustade=
Remove soft inside crumbs (they will go into a roast) from gems. Fill
with oyster plant in cream sauce, sprinkle with crumbs and chopped
parsley. Heat in oven, serve with celery plain or fringed.
May use pastry crusts.
=Vegetable Cutlets=
Grate or grind carrots; cook, salt, drain. Cut young tender string
beans into small pieces and cook in salted water. Mix with nicely
seasoned mashed potato, add grated onion, a trifle of crushed garlic if
liked, chopped parsley, and salt if necessary; shape into oblong cakes,
egg, crumb or dip into corn meal or flour. Pour a little melted butter
over them in the pan and brown in a quick oven. Serve with cream sauce,
at once.
The mixture may be enclosed in pastry crust as surprise biscuit.
=★ Squash Cutlets=
Cook young, tender Fordhook or crook-neck squash in ½ in. slices. Dip
in egg and flour or crumbs. Bake, covered at first. on well oiled
griddle or in covered pan in rather hot oven 25-35 m. or until squash
is tender. Serve as soon as done as an entrée or as a garnish.
May soak slices in ice water ½-1 hour; drain and wipe dry before
dipping.
=Cucumber Cutlets=
Slice cucumbers in thick slices across, or if small cut into halves
lengthwise. Wipe dry with a towel if soaked in ice water. Dip in egg
and crumbs or cracker dust. Bake covered in hot oven until tender,
20-30 m. Serve as luncheon dish or as garnish for a meat dish.
A little fine chopped onion may be sprinkled over before baking.
=★ Cutlets of Corn Meal Porridge, or Hasty Pudding=
Make corn meal porridge just thick enough to mold, not stiff. Cook
thoroughly and turn into bread tins or other molds which have been wet
in cold water. When cold, slice, egg and crumb, or dip in flour (No. 1,
browned, best). Brown in hot oven. Serve plain or with mushroom sauce
or maple syrup for supper, breakfast or luncheon. In small round or
square slices it may be used as a garnish for creamed vegetables or
true meat dishes.
For variety, coarse chopped nuts may be stirred into the porridge
before molding.
Porridge may be molded in small egg cups and finished the same as
slices.
=Rice Cutlets=
Put hot boiled rice (cooked in water or part milk) into square mold or
brick shaped bread tin which has been wet in cold water, cover close
and stand in cold place. Slice, dip in oil or melted butter and crumbs
and bake in quick oven. Serve with green peas, mushroom or any desired
sauce, or with jelly, honey or maple syrup.
Dip in egg and crumbs, or in French toast mixture when preferred.
=Corn Cakes=
=Mrs. George S. Hopper=
1 can corn, chopped (or 1 pt. fresh grated)
1 egg
1 cup milk
7-7½ level tablespns. cracker crumbs or enough to thicken
Bake in thick cakes on griddle on top of stove or in oven.
=Corn Cakes No. 2=
2 cups grated corn (about 8 ears)
3 eggs
2 tablespns. milk.
salt
cracker crumbs to thicken
Bake on griddle on top of stove or set in oven on grate after being
dropped on to hot griddle, or bake in shallow gem pans.
=★ Corn Oysters=
2-2½ cups (8 small ears) grated corn not too young
2 beaten eggs
salt
Drop batter in small spoonfuls on hot buttered griddle. Brown
delicately on both sides and serve at once. Fine cut celery may be
added to the batter before baking. Add a few cracker crumbs (not bread
crumbs or flour) if corn is very milky. Canned corn does not make good
oysters.
=★ Oyster Plant Griddle Cakes=
1 cup mixed rich milk and oyster plant broth
2 level tablespns. flour
1½ cup oyster plant cooked in slices
1 egg
salt
about ½ cup rolled cracker
Bake on hot buttered griddle on stove or top grate of oven.
=★ Corn Custards=
½ cup grated corn
1-2 teaspns. sugar
¾-1 teaspn. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Beat eggs and mix with other ingredients, turn into oiled custard cups,
set in pan of water in oven and bake until firm in the center. May
be served in the cups, or turned out carefully after standing a few
minutes. Serve with wafers or as accompaniment to meat dishes.
=★ Celery Custards=
2 eggs
1 cup milk
¾ cup fine cut celery
1 tablespn. melted butter
½ tablespn. chopped onion
½ teaspn. salt
Simmer onion and celery in butter without browning. Beat eggs and mix
all ingredients. Turn into custard cups; bake in pan of water, covered,
until egg is set; after standing a few minutes, turn out of cups on to
individual dishes. Serve with ripe olives and wafers or as a garnish to
meat dish. May turn on to broiled rounds of trumese.
=★ Onion Custards=
2 cups fine sliced onion
a little fine sliced celery
2 eggs
2 tablespns. cream
salt
Cook onions in very little water until tender; drain slightly, add
celery and other ingredients. Bake in custard cups or individual
soufflé dishes until firm in center. Unmold on to platter or chop tray
and surround with green peas in cream sauce. Onions may be rubbed
through colander after cooking.
=Celery and Mushrooms à la Crême=
1¼ qt. celery in inch slices
1 cup mushrooms in quarters or eighths
Cook celery and mushrooms separate and drain.
_Sauce_--
¼ cup oil and melted butter
¼-½ cup chopped onion
¾ cup flour
1 egg or yolk only
1 teaspn. chopped parsley
salt
Simmer onion in oil and add flour, then boiling water to leave stiff
(perhaps about 1 pt.); when smooth remove from fire, add salt, parsley
and beaten egg. Use liquid drained from celery and mushrooms with water
in the sauce. Put layers of sauce, cooked celery and mushrooms in
baking dish with sauce on top. Sprinkle with crumbs or corn meal, heat
and brown in oven. A little garlic may be used and sometimes a small
quantity of cream with a very little strained tomato in the sauce.
=Young Lima Beans à la Crême=
Cook young tender Lima beans and use in place of celery and mushrooms
in above.
=Asparagus Tips à la Crême=
Use cooked asparagus tips with the heads sticking up out of the cream a
little, instead of celery and mushrooms, in Celery and Mushrooms à la
Crême.
=Oyster Plant and Mushrooms à la Crême=
Cook sliced oyster plant (large slices cut in quarters) not too soft in
a small quantity of water. Drain and use in place of trumese in Trumese
and Mushrooms à la Crême, of Trumese Dishes, using oyster plant liquor
instead of water in the sauce.
=Macaroni and Mushrooms à la Crême=
Use one of the smaller varieties of macaroni, one that will make the
desired size when cooked, in place of trumese in Trumese and Mushrooms
à la Crême, of Trumese Dishes.
=Green Corn Pudding=
Accompaniment to roasts, timbales or other meat dishes, or a luncheon
or supper dish.
3 cups (12 ears) grated corn
1 tablespn. sugar if corn is not sweet
2 tablespns. butter if desired
1 qt. milk
1 teaspn. salt
4 eggs
Rub butter and sugar together, add yolks of eggs, beat a little,
add corn and salt, mix; add milk, and when smooth chop in the
stiffly-beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in slow oven about 1 hour.
Cover until near the last.
=Corn Pudding--no milk=
3 cups corn pulp
2-3 tablespns. melted butter
1 tablespn. sugar if necessary
1 egg
salt
If corn is very old a little liquid may be required, or if very milky a
few cracker crumbs. Bake in pie plates or pudding dish to a nice brown.
=Corn Pudding--no eggs=
3 cups corn pulp
1 pt. milk
1 tablespn. melted butter
1 tablespn. sugar if required
1 teaspn. salt.
Bake one hour in moderate oven.
Canned corn may be used in winter. Add ½ cup of sugar and serve as a
dessert sometimes.
=Oyster Plant Pudding--no eggs=
8 large roots of oyster plant (1 pt. after cooking)
2 level tablespns. butter
1 tablespn. cream
1 tablespn. oyster liquor
1 tablespn. milk
salt
Grind scraped oyster plant through medium cutter of food chopper, cook
in as small an amount of water as possible until tender, not soft; add
salt, drain and add the other ingredients. Put into a baking dish,
sprinkle with cracker crumbs or granella and chopped parsley. Turn a
little melted butter over and brown in oven.
=Sweet Potato Pudding=
1 large sweet potato
1 qt. milk
1 tablespn. butter
4 eggs
salt
Peel and grate raw potato. Pour hot milk over and let it boil up.
Remove from fire, add salt, butter and beaten eggs; bake in buttered
pudding dish in moderate oven 20 m. or until firm in center.
This dish (with the eggs and milk) may serve as the meat dish of a meal.
=Squash Pudding=
To each pint of mashed winter squash add 1-1½ tablespn. almond or dairy
cream (and if squash is very dry, a little milk), ¾-1 teaspn. salt, 1
teaspn. sugar and 1 beaten egg. Bake in pudding dish in moderate oven
about 20 m. May sprinkle with bread crumbs. A little minced onion may
be used in the pudding.
=★ Carrot Pudding=
1 cup mashed carrot
½ cup corn
½ cup stewed tomato from which the juice has been drained
1 tablespn. chopped onion
2 eggs
salt
chopped parsley
Mix all ingredients, beating eggs slightly, turn into baking dish,
sprinkle with crumbs and parsley. Bake until firm in the center.
=Scalloped Asparagus=
Make a thin cream sauce of cream and the water in which the asparagus
was cooked, cover the bottom of a serving dish with sauce, put in a
layer of asparagus cooked in short pieces (the tips may have been used
for croustades) and sprinkle with cracker crumbs; continue layers,
cover top with thin or split crackers, pour sauce over, sprinkle with
chopped parsley, bake 15-20 m.
=Sister Ford’s Scalloped Cabbage--Delicious=
Chop a nice head of cabbage or shave it fine and put it into a baking
dish with alternate layers of bread or zwieback crumbs. Turn over it
enough rich milk, to which a little salt has been added, to half cover
it. Let it boil up once and then set where it will stew slowly until
the cabbage is tender, but no longer.
=Scalloped Egg Plant=
Cut egg plant into slices ½-¾ in. thick. Peel and put into a large
quantity of cold water over the fire and bring to the boiling point,
boil 5 m. and drain. Repeat the process, add salt to the third water,
boil 10 m. and drain. Put into scallop dish in layers with bread or
cracker crumbs--just a few, cover with rich milk or thin cream and bake
covered until the slices are tender, ½ hr. or longer. Uncover, brown
and serve. The egg plant may be cut into large cubes.
=Armenian Scallop of Egg Plant=
1 large egg plant
1½-2 cups strained or unstrained tomato
½ cup sliced or chopped onion
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, fine
chopped parsley
salt
2 tablespns. butter or oil
a few bread crumbs
Prepare egg plant as in preceding recipe; mix onion, garlic, salt and
a part of the crumbs. Sprinkle mixture in bottom of baking dish, and
between and on top of layers of egg plant. Turn the tomato over all,
cover with crumbs, sprinkle with parsley, dot with butter or pour oil
over. Cover and bake 1½-2 hours. Brown on top grate of oven.
=Scalloped Onions=
Stew sliced onions until tender, drain and put in baking dish with
layers of bread crumbs; add salt and a little melted butter to each
layer, nearly cover with milk, sprinkle with crumbs and bake until well
browned. The butter may be omitted and a little cream added to the milk.
=Scalloped Raw Potatoes=
Slice potatoes very thin, put in layers into scallop dish, sprinkling
each layer lightly with flour or cracker crumbs and salt until dish is
⅔ full. Nearly cover with milk, sprinkle with crumbs, bake 1 hour or
until potatoes are tender. Cover at first and watch that milk does not
boil over. A very little chopped onion in the potatoes improves them.
When flour is used it is better to mix the milk and flour and pour over
the potatoes.
A quicker way is to cook the sliced potatoes in boiling salted water
for 10 m., before putting them into the scallop dish.
=Potatoes Scalloped--raw nut butter and onions=
Cooked sliced potatoes for 10 m. in boiling, salted water, drain, put
into baking dish in layers with fine chopped onion, and pour a liberal
amount of nut milk (made in the proportion of 4 tablespns. of raw nut
butter, with salt, to each qt. of water) over them. When the potatoes
are tender and the milk just creamy, sprinkle the top with browned
flour No. 1, pour a little oil over, and brown on top grate of oven.
Serve at once.
=Scalloped Cooked Potatoes=
Potatoes cooked in their jackets until nearly done are best for this
purpose and it is a good way to use up small and irregular shaped ones.
Slice or dice the potatoes, put into dish in layers with thin cream
sauce, chopped parsley and onion, have sauce on top, sprinkle with
crumbs, bake 20 m. Without the onion they are called Cottage Potatoes.
=Scalloped Sweet Potatoes=
Prepare and cook the same as scalloped Irish potatoes, without onion.
=Scalloped Squash=
A squash that is not as good cooked in other ways may be used for this
dish. Pare and cut into small pieces, boil or steam until just tender,
not soft. Arrange in layers in oiled baking dish with salt, a little
sugar and if used, a little butter. Pour over a very little milk or (if
no butter is used) thin cream, not more than ½-⅔ of a cup for a good
sized dish. Bake covered at first, then brown. Sprinkle with chopped
parsley before serving. A trifle of ground coriander or anise seed may
be used, but the natural flavor of the squash is best.
=Scalloped Oyster Plant=
1 qt. cooked sliced oyster plant (1½ qt., 2 bunches, before cooking)
⅔ cup cracker crumbs
1¼ cup oyster liquor
1¼ cup milk
2 tablespns. melted butter
1 egg
salt
Mix oyster plant liquor, milk, butter and salt. Put oyster plant into
a baking dish with a sprinkling of cracker crumbs between layers, pour
part of mixed liquid over. Sprinkle crumbs on top and turn the last cup
of liquid over, after beating the egg with it. Bake covered until just
bubbling, then remove cover and brown by setting on top grate of oven.
=Scallop of Oyster Plant=
Cook 1⅓ qt. sliced oyster plant in 1⅓ qt. water, adding salt before
draining. To the water drained off add ½-1 cup heavy cream. Boil and
thicken with flour to the consistency of thin cream; add salt and
pour over oyster plant which has been arranged in baking dish with a
slight sprinkling of stale bread crumbs between the layers and on top.
Be careful not to use too many crumbs. Bake a half hour or until well
heated through and nicely browned. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before
or after baking.
=Oyster Plant Scallop=
1 pt. cooked oyster plant pulp prepared as for patties
2 level tablespns. butter
2 level tablespns. flour
1 cup cream (or ½ cream and ½ oyster liquor)
salt
2 eggs
Rub butter and flour together; add cream hot. Boil, remove from fire,
add beaten eggs, salt and oyster pulp. Put into patty cases, other
individual dishes or baking dish, buttered. Sprinkle with crumbs and
chopped parsley, heat to bubbling and brown, in oven.
=Scalloped Tomatoes=
Place equal quantities of salted stewed tomatoes and delicately browned
croutons in dice as for soup, in layers in baking dish with a little
melted butter poured over each layer. Cover with the croutons and
sprinkle with melted butter. Bake, covered part of the time, 15-20 m.
Crumbs or thin slices of zwieback, or granella may be substituted for
dice.
=Scalloped Tomatoes--onion flavor=
Thin layers of bread or zwieback, or of cracker or bread crumbs, with
thick slices (or double layers) of peeled tomatoes, salt and onion
juice. Cover with crumbs, turn a little melted butter over, sprinkle
with chopped parsley. Bake, covered most of the time.
=Scalloped Celery and Tomato=
1 qt. finely-sliced celery
1½ qt. stewed tomato with a little of the juice drained off
¼-½ cup chopped onion
2-3 teaspns. salt
Put half the celery, onion, tomato, and salt into a baking dish in the
order given, and repeat with the remaining half. Cover with small dice
or coarse crumbs of bread. Turn a little cream or melted butter over
the top, cover and bake 1¼-1½ hr. in moderate oven. The onion may be
omitted.
=Tomatoes Scalloped with Rice and Onion=
Put layers of boiled rice and tomato with thin sliced onion, salt and a
little butter or oil in baking dish, sprinkle with crumbs and parsley.
Bake, covered, in moderate oven, brown on top grate just before serving.
=Creamed Sweet Potatoes=
Cover sliced, cooked sweet potatoes in serving dish with cream or thin
cream sauce. Sprinkle with crumbs and parsley if desired. Heat gently
in oven until a delicate brown.
=★ Baked Creamed Tomatoes=
1 pt. strained stewed tomatoes
1¼ cup stale bread crumbs
¼-½ cup sweet cream
salt
Let crumbs stand in tomato until well softened, rub through a colander,
add cream and salt. Bake in serving dish until delicately browned on
top and well heated through. Let stand in warm place 10-20 m. before
serving.
=Spinach Soufflé=
½ peck spinach (2 cups cooked). Cook; drain very dry and rub through a
fine colander. Add 1 teaspn. oil or melted butter, beat in the yolks of
2 eggs and fold in the whites beaten moderately stiff. Fill well oiled
mold about ¾ full. Set in pan of hot water and bake (covered until
nearly done) in moderate or slow oven until firm in the center, 45-60
m. Do not bake too rapidly or too long. When done, set the mold out of
the water, let it stand a moment to settle, and invert carefully on to
a platter or chop tray. Serve at once with quarters or sixths of lemon
or with one of the cream sauces, or with Sauce Amèricaine.
Baked tomatoes are very suitable for a garnish or accompaniment.
=Individual Daisy Soufflés= make pretty garnishes for timbales and
molds. Small custard cups, or the imported tin molds, being suitable
for them. Oil molds well with cold oil or softened (not melted) butter
and leave in a cool place.
Prepare daisies by cutting a small round piece from a slice of
hard-boiled yolk of egg and six diamond shaped pieces from the poached
white, for each, and arrange like daisies in the bottom of the mold,
the oil holding them in place.
Press the spinach mixture into the molds, taking care not to displace
the daisies, and bake the same as the large mold, only a shorter time,
30-35 m., or until puffed in the center and firm to the touch. Invert
on to rounds of toast and place as desired.
=Mashed Potato Loaf=
Add grated onion to nicely seasoned mashed potato; put into a long,
well buttered tin; brown in hot oven, turn out on to a platter and
serve cut in slices for luncheon or supper.
=Timbale of Carrot--unusually desirable=
2 cups mashed carrot
1 teaspn. salt
2 teaspns. chopped parsley
1 pint rich milk
whites 3 eggs
Add stiffly-beaten whites of eggs to other ingredients which have been
mixed. Bake in buttered mold in pan of water, until firm in center,
about ½ hour. Let stand a moment after removing from oven, unmold on
to platter or chop tray, surround with spinach leaves or garnish with
other green and serve with sour sauce.
=Corn and Egg Timbale=
1¼ qt. milk
3 cups flour
1 pt. corn, drained dry
2 teaspns. salt
4 chopped hard boiled eggs
4 beaten raw eggs
2 teaspns. chopped onion
2 teaspns. chopped parsley
Blend flour with 1 pt. of the milk, heat remainder of milk in oiled
frying pan, stir in flour, remove from fire, add other ingredients,
bake in well oiled mold. Serve with sauce 16, 23, 28, or 31.
=Timbales of Corn--individual=
1½ cup corn (cut from cob) put through fine chopper
2 eggs
salt
1½ tablespn. melted butter
1 pt. hot milk
Set molds in pan of hot water, cover, bake.
=Vegetable Pie=
Prepare vegetables (half or whole quantity) as for Trumese en
Casserole, of Trumese Dishes, use a little more liquid, thickened a
trifle. Cover and bake until vegetables are nearly or quite tender,
1-1¼ hours. Remove from fire, cool to just warm (if universal crust is
to be used), cover with crust, let rise, and bake; or, the crust may
be baked or steamed in a pie plate separately and laid over the baked
filling. If steamed, it will be dumplings.
A combination of equal quantities potatoes, turnips, parsnips, carrots
and onions covered with consommé, or very fresh milk, and baked, may
be used for a pie. Sometimes, when no potatoes are used, lay sliced
tomatoes on top of the vegetables.
Chopped parsley is suitable for all combinations. Garlic, if liked, is
nearly always an improvement.
Cooked instead of uncooked vegetables may be used.
Sliced hard boiled eggs give variety and add to the nutritive value of
pies.
When liquid is not thickened, sprinkle a little fine tapioca between
layers of vegetables.
=Oyster Plant Pie=
1-1¼ qt. sliced oyster plant (2 large bunches)
1½ qt. boiling water
1 teaspn. salt
Cook oyster plant until nearly tender, add the salt, boil up well and
drain.
_Sauce_--
4 tablespns. oil or melted butter
6-6½ tablespns. flour
1 qt. and ¼ cup of oyster plant broth and water
½ cup cream
½ teaspn. salt
Heat oil, add flour, then liquid, and when smooth and well cooked, the
cream and salt, and a little chopped parsley if convenient.
_Crust_--Universal crust of ¾-1 cup of liquid, or one cup of rice
as for rice and trumese pie, or dish lined and covered or covered
only, with pastry crust. Pour part of the sauce into the baking dish,
sprinkle the cooked oyster plant in and pour the remainder of the sauce
over. Cover with the crust. Let rise until very light (if universal
crust). Bake ½-¾ hour.
May make small individual pies.
_Sauce without Cream_--½ cup of raw nut butter maybe rubbed smooth
and boiled up with the oyster broth and the cream omitted. With this,
1 teaspn. of celery salt may be used, or 3 level tablespns. chopped
onion and 1 level teaspn. sage. Chopped parsley with either. 7 or 8
tablespns. of cracker dust may be used for thickening the sauce instead
of flour.
=Oyster Plant Pastry Pie=
Cook oyster plant in small quantity of water, add salt when nearly
tender, boil up well and drain; thicken liquor slightly, add a little
butter and the cooked oyster plant. When cool, put into custard pie pan
lined with pastry, cover, bake. Serve hot with celery stewed in tomato
if desired.
=Mushroom and Celery Pie--Rice or pastry crust=
1¼ qt. celery in inch lengths
1-1½ pt. mushrooms in quarters or eighths
chopped parsley
Cook and drain celery. Cook mushrooms 10-15 m. in salted water and
drain. Arrange cooked celery and mushrooms in baking dish with parsle
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