Chapter 3

Remove the meat from a 3 lbs. boiled lobster and cut into 2 inch pieces; season with salt and a little cayenne, and set away where it is cold. Heat hot in a frying pan, 3 tablespoonfuls of butter, and then add 2 of flour and 1 small teaspoonful of curry powder. Stir this until browned and then add gradually 1-1/2 cupfuls of stock and season to taste. Add the lobster, cook 6 minutes, then pour over toast arranged on a warm dish. Garnish with parsley. If onion is liked a few slices may be fried with the butter before the flour and curry powder are added.

29.--Champignons en Caisse.

Peel and cut small 12 large mushrooms, put them into well buttered china cases. Add pepper, salt and chopped parsley.

30.--Potato and Meat Puffs.

Take 1 cup cold meat, chopped fine, and season with salt and pepper. Make a paste with 1 cup of mashed potato and 1 egg, roll out with a little flour, cut it round with a saucer, put the meat on 1 half, fold it over like a puff, pinch the edges together in scallops, fry a light brown.

MAY.

1.--Kedgeree (FISH).

Take equal parts of cold fish (free from skin and bone) boiled rice and some hard boiled eggs. Chop the fish and eggs; mix with the rice, add bits of butter, about a tablespoonful in all, season with salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of curry powder. Warm in a saucepan and serve as hot as possible.

2.--Veal Eggs in a Nest a la Turin.

Mince cold veal, season to taste, and wet slightly with a good gravy. To each cupful allow a tablespoonful of finely minced blanched almonds, or the same quantity of chopped mushrooms. Bind the mixture with a beaten egg, stir over the fire one minute and set aside to cool. Flour your hands and form into balls the size and shape of an egg; let them get cold, roll in egg and cracker-dust and fry in deep fat. Arrange upon a platter a border of spaghetti, boiled tender in salted water and drained. Butter plentifully and pour carefully over it a cupful of strained tomato sauce. Heap the eggs in the centre.--From "The National Cook Book," by Marion Harland and Christine Terhune Herrick.

3.--Baked Cheese and Rice.

Make a white sauce with one heaping tablespoonful each of flour and butter, 1/3 of a teaspoonful of white pepper and 1 cupful and a half of milk. In a deep baking dish place alternate layers of rice, sauce, and grated cheese, having the last layer cheese. Place in a hot oven until brown.--From "Table Talk," Phila.

4.--Stewed Trout.

Wash and wipe the fish dry. Lay it in a saucepan with half an onion; cut in thin slices, parsley, two cloves, 1 blade of mace, two bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper, 1 pint of meat stock, a glass of claret or port wine. Simmer gently for 1/2 an hour. Take out the fish, thicken the gravy with a little flour and butter rubbed together. Stir for five minutes. Pour over the fish and serve.

5.--Squash Griddle Cakes.

Mix 1 pt. of flour, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, 1 teaspoonful of salt, and 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar together; sift them; add 2 well-beaten eggs, a pint of milk, and 2 cupfuls of boiled squash that has been strained. Beat until light. Bake on the griddle or add a little more flour and bake in muffin rings.

6.--Jellied Chicken.

Take a fowl, cut it up in joints, and put it in a saucepan with enough water to cover it, a pinch of mace, a teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper. Let it stew until the meat will leave the bones. Then take the meat out, remove the bones and arrange the meat nicely in a mould. Season the liquor with a little more salt and pepper and dissolve in it 1/4 of an ounce of gelatine. Pour over the chicken. The mould may be lined with slices of hard boiled egg.

7.--Jambalayah (A CREOLE DISH).

Take 1 large cupful of cold meat, 1 of boiled rice and 1 of stewed tomatoes. Let these cook well, season highly; fill a baking dish, cover with crumbs and bits of butter, and brown in the oven.

8.--Lobster (SOUTHERN WAY).

Prepare as for salad, only cutting in larger pieces. One tablespoonful of flour, one of butter rubbed together, the yolk of an egg, one teaspoonful of curry powder, salt and pepper and a cupful of cream. Mix and pour over the lobster. To be either baked or stewed.

9.--Rice Balls.

To 1 pt. of boiled rice add, while still hot, 1/2 a cup of thick white sauce, the well-beaten yolk of 1 egg, 1/2 of a teaspoonful of salt, 3 tablespoonfuls of grated cheese and a dash of cayenne. Set aside until cold, then mould into small balls; dip each one into slightly-beaten egg, roll in fine bread crumbs and fry in smoking hot fat.--From "Table Talk," Phila.

10.--Cod Fish Puffs.

Take 4 cups of mashed potatoes, 3 cups of salt cod fish (which has previously been freshened) picked fine, a small lump of butter and 2 well-beaten eggs; beat all together very light, put into a greased baking dish, cover the top with cracker or bread crumbs and bits of butter; brown in the oven and serve hot.

11.--French Toast.

To 1 egg well-beaten, add 1 cup of milk and a pinch of salt. Dip slices of bread into this mixture, allowing each slice to become very moist. Brown on a hot-buttered griddle, spread with butter and serve at once.

12.--Cheese Scallop.

Soak 1 cup of dry bread crumbs in fresh milk. Beat into this 3 eggs; add 1 tablespoonful of butter and half a pound of grated cheese; cover the top with grated crumbs and bake until well-browned. Serve with cold tongue.

13.--Lobster a la Mode Francaise.

Pick out the meat of one boiled lobster; cut into small bits. Put four tablespoonfuls of white stock, two tablespoonfuls of cream, a little pounded mace, cayenne and salt into a stewpan. When hot, add the lobster and simmer for six minutes. Serve in shells. Cover with bread crumbs; place small bits of butter over, and brown.

14.--Beet Salad.

Slice and cut into fancy shapes cold boiled beets; heap them in a salad bowl; cover with a thin sauce tartar. Garnish with young lettuce leaves.

15.--Puree of Dried Beans.

Mash and soak 1 qt. of dried beans in lukewarm water over night. In the morning drain and cover with fresh cold water, boil an hour, drain again; just cover with fresh water; add quarter of a teaspoonful of cooking soda, 1 lb. of ham, a bay leaf, an onion and a carrot; boil until soft. When done, take out the ham and press the vegetables, (onion, carrot and beans) through a sieve. Return them to the kettle, add a tablespoonful of butter and enough milk to make the required thickness. Season with salt and pepper. Let boil once and serve.

16.--Sweetbread Salad.

Take 6 beef sweetbreads, parboil and cut fine. Mix well with mayonnaise dressing, pile on lettuce leaves, garnish with hard boiled egg.

17.--Anchovy Canapes.

Cut stale bread a third of an inch thick and cut out with a small round cutter, and fry a golden-brown in butter or lard; boil two eggs hard, bone and fillet the anchovies and curl two fillets on each piece of toast and fill up the centre with the white of the eggs chopped fine and the yellow rubbed through a sieve.

18.--Beef Bubble and Squeak (ENGLISH).

Fry thin slices of cold roast beef, taking care not to dry them up. Lay them on a flat dish and cover with fried greens. The greens are prepared from young cabbage, which should be boiled until tender, well drained and minced fine and placed until quite hot, in a frying-pan, with butter, a slice of onion and season with salt and pepper.

19.--Planked Shad.

Have a well-seasoned plank about 2 ft. long and 1-1/2 wide, hickory is the best wood. Clean the fish, split it open and tack it to the plank with four good-sized tacks, skin side to the board. Dredge it with salt and pepper. Put the plank before the fire with the large end down. Then change and put the small end down; when done spread with butter and serve just as it is.

20.--Cheese Timbales.

Make a sauce with 2 tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour and half a cup each of thin cream, white stock and milk. Melt in this half a pound of grated cheese, add a dash of salt and paprika and pour over three whole eggs and the yolks of 4 beaten until a spoonful can be taken up. Turn into buttered timbale moulds and bake standing in a pan of hot water (the water should not boil), until the centres are firm. Serve hot with cream or tomato sauce.--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

21.--Angels on Horseback.

Cut the required amount of bacon into little squares (large enough to roll an oyster in), sprinkle over each one some finely chopped parsley, lay on the oysters, season with pepper and lemon juice, roll up and fasten with a skewer and fry in butter until the bacon is cooked. Cut stale bread into squares and fry a golden-brown and lay on each slice an oyster. Serve very hot.

22.--Asparagus Omelet.

Boil a bunch of asparagus and when tender cut the green ends into very small pieces, mix them with four well-beaten eggs and add a little salt and pepper. Melt a piece of butter, about two ounces, in an omelet-pan, pour in the mixture, stir until it thickens, fold over and serve with clear brown gravy.

23.--Beef Collops.

Have two pounds of rump steak, cut thin, and divide it into pieces about 3 inches long; beat these with the blade of a knife and dredge with flour. Put them in a frying-pan with a tablespoon of butter and let them fry for three minutes, then lay them in a small stewpan and pour over them the gravy, add a little more butter mixed smooth with a little flour, and a small onion chopped fine, a pickled walnut and 1 teaspoonful of capers. _Simmer_ for ten minutes and serve in a covered dish.

24.--Fried Bananas.

Cut lengthwise 3 bananas, roll them in flour and fry in butter until a light-brown. Serve with cold duck.

25.--Philadelphia Relish.

Mix 2 cups of shredded cabbage, 2 green peppers, cut in shreds or finely chopped, 1 teaspoonful of celery seed, 1/4 of a teaspoonful of mustard seed, 1/2 a teaspoonful of salt, 1/4 of a cup of brown sugar, and 1/4 of a cup of vinegar.--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

26.--Beignets Souffles.

Boil 3 ozs. of butter in 1/2 a pint of water and add flour enough to make the mixture stiff enough to leave the sides of the pan, then add the yolks of three eggs and beat the mixture well. When cold, add the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, with one dessertspoonful of sugar and a flavoring of vanilla; fry in spoonfuls in hot fat. Serve at once. Grated cheese and cayenne pepper may be substituted for the sugar and vanilla.

27.--Waldorf Salad.

Chop equal quantities of celery and apples, quite fine. Serve on lettuce leaves, with French dressing.

28.--Beef Rissoles.

Mince a pound of cold beef fine and mix with this three-quarters of a pound of bread crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper and 1 teaspoonful of minced lemon peel. Make all into a thick paste with one or two eggs, form into balls and fry a golden-brown. Garnish with parsley and serve a brown sauce with them.

29.--Potatoes Cooked in Stock.

Pare and slice six large potatoes, put in a saucepan, cover with stock, season, cook until potatoes are tender, add tablespoon butter and the same of chopped parsley. Stir carefully and serve with cold meat.

30.--Spanish Rice.

Boil 1/2 a lb. of rice. Dry it well and fry it with a little butter until lightly browned. Stir into it two large toasted tomatoes and a tablespoonful of grated cheese. Season with pepper and salt. Serve very hot.

31.--Clam Chowder.

Take 1 qt. of clams and chop them fine. Fry two slices of salt pork in an iron pot. When the fat is fried out, take the brittle out, put into the fat 2 slices of onion, then a layer of sliced potatoes, then a layer of chopped clams, sprinkle well with salt and pepper, then a layer of onion, then the bits of fried pork, cut into small pieces, add a layer of broken crackers. Do this until all is used. Then add the clam liquor and enough water to cover. Cook 20 minutes. Add 2 cups of hot milk just before serving. Use for this 6 large crackers, 1 onion, 6 potatoes, 1 qt. clams.

JUNE.

1.--Stuffed Fillets of Flounders.

Take fillets from a flounder weighing 2-1/2 lbs., season with salt and pepper, and a few drops of onion juice, if desired. Spread on one half of each fillet a tablespoonful of mashed potato (about 1 cup should be prepared) mixed with the beaten yolk of an egg, and seasoned with 1 tablespoonful of butter, 1/4 of a teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper. Fold the other half of each fillet over the potato, cover with crumbs, dip in the white of egg beaten with 2 tablespoonfuls of water, and again cover with crumbs and fry in deep fat. Drain on soft paper, then insert a short piece of macaroni in the pointed end of each fillet and cover this with a paper frill. Garnish and serve with tomato sauce.--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

2.--Mutton Stew with Canned Peas.

Cut a breast of mutton into small pieces; dredge with flour and sauté to a golden brown in drippings or the fat of salt pork; cover with boiling water and let simmer until tender, seasoning with salt and pepper during the latter part of the cooking. Take out the meat, skim off the fat and add one can of peas drained, reheated in boiling water, and drained again; add more seasoning, if needed, and pour over the mutton on the serving-dish.--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

3.--Potato Souffle.

Bake 4 large potatoes; when soft scoop out the inside and rub through a fine sieve. Boil an oz. of butter and a quarter of a pint of milk; add the yolks of three eggs, one by one, beating well together with a wooden spoon. Beat the whites of the eggs and a pinch of salt in another dish, mix all together carefully, and bake in a well-greased tin, in a hot oven until it rises well, and is a pale brown in color. The tin should be only 1/2 full. If it is desired for a dessert add 15 drops of vanilla, and sugar to taste.

4.--Stewed Kidney with Macaroni.

Take 3 kidneys, skin them, remove the fat and cut into thin slices, season with salt, cayenne, and minced herbs; fry on both sides in butter, then stew in 1/2 a pt. of gravy flavored with tomatoes. Turn in a dish and cover the top with 2 ozs. of boiled macaroni; sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over the top and brown.

5.--Hot Ham Sandwiches.

Spread bread cut for sandwiches with chopped ham, season with a little made mustard and press together in pairs. Beat an egg, add 1/2 a cup of rich milk, and in the mixture soak the sandwiches a few moments. Heat a tablespoonful of butter, and in this brown the sandwiches, first on one side and then on the other. Drain on soft paper and serve at once.--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

6.--Friars' Eggs.

Cook 1/3 of a cupful of stale bread-crumbs in 1/3 of a cupful of milk to a smooth paste. Add to it 1 cup lean ham, chopped fine, 1 teaspoonful made mustard, 1/2 a saltspoonful cayenne pepper, and mix smooth with 1 raw egg. Remove the shells from 6 hard-boiled eggs, and cover them with this mixture. Fry in hot fat until brown, drain, and serve hot or cold on a bed of parsley.

7.--Lobster in a Chafing Dish.

Cut a small boiled lobster into small pieces, pour over them four tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, add salt and pepper, and mix well. Melt 2 tablespoonfuls of butter in the chafing dish, add the lobster and serve hot.

8.--Asparagus a l'Indienne.

Make a curry sauce as in curried macaroni, and heat in it a cup of asparagus tips. Serve with sippets of toast.--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

9.--Chicken Short-cake.

Mix 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder with 1 pt. of flour. Rub it into a half cup of butter, add 1 cup of sweet milk. Bake quickly. Have prepared nice pieces of cold chicken, heat with gravy or a little soup stock, season well. Add some chopped parsley, pour over the short-cake and serve at once.

10.--Newport Tea Cakes.

Sift together 3 cups of sifted flour and a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the yolks of three eggs until very light, add 1 pt. of milk and stir into the dry ingredients. Then beat the whites of three eggs, beaten dry. Bake in small buttered tins in a very hot oven.--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

11.--Veal and Tomato Salad.

Take thick slices of cold veal and remove all the fat. Cut into dice, chop up tomatoes in the same sized pieces. Mix well and cover with mayonnaise.

12.--Fried Lobster.

Take the meat out of a boiled lobster in large pieces. Dip each piece in egg, then in bread-crumbs. Fry in deep, hot fat. Serve with tartar sauce.

13.--Crab Salad.

Boil 6 crabs, pick the meat out carefully, arrange a head of lettuce on a round platter. Put the crab meat in the centre, cover with mayonnaise dressing.

14.--Tongue Toast.

Mince cold boiled tongue fine; mix it well with cream and to every 1/2 pint of the mixture allow the well-beaten yolks of 2 eggs; place over the fire and let it simmer a few minutes. Serve on hot buttered toast.

15.--Spanish Potatoes.

Take two cups of mashed potato, form into balls, dip them into beaten egg, then into bread crumbs; fry in deep fat, stick a piece of the green stem of parsley into each one.

16.--Fried Corn-Meal Gems.

Pour 1 pt. of _boiling_ water on 1 pt. of corn-meal, add 1 teaspoonful of salt and 1 heaping tablespoonful of sugar. Beat well and set away until morning in a cool place. When ready to use add 2 well-beaten eggs and 1 heaping tablespoonful of flour. Drop by spoonful into boiling fat. Cook ten minutes.

17.--Scotch Eggs.

Boil 6 eggs for 20 minutes, take the shell off, and when cold cover with the following: Cook 1/2 a cupful of stale bread crumbs and 1/2 a cupful of milk together until a smooth paste. Add 1 cupful of cooked lean ham chopped very fine, salt and pepper, and 1 beaten egg. Mix well and cover the hard boiled eggs with it. Fry in a frying basket in boiling lard for a minute.

18.--Curried Lobster.

Into a saucepan put the meat from a boiled lobster (broken into small pieces) and 1/2 a cup of gravy and 1/2 a cup of cream or milk, and half a blade of mace. Mix 2 teaspoonfuls of curry powder with one teaspoonful of flour and 1 oz. of butter; add this to the lobster and _simmer_ for 1/2 hour. After it is done add a squeeze of lemon juice and a little salt. Serve hot.

19.--Parmesan Fritters.

Boil together 1/4 of a cup of water and 2 ozs. of butter, then shake in 2 ozs. of flour, stirring all the time; it must be well cooked. Add 2 ozs. of grated Parmesan cheese, salt and cayenne, stir well and mix in by degrees 2 well-beaten eggs. Drop this mixture by the spoonful into hot boiling fat and fry a golden brown and serve at once.

20.--Walnut Salad, No. 2.

Crack 1/2 a pound of English walnuts very carefully, to keep them in halves, make little balls of cream cheese and put half a walnut on each side (like the cream walnut candy) lay them on lettuce leaves, pour a French dressing over and serve with hot toasted crackers.

21.--Benton Beef.

Mix 1 tablespoonful of grated horse radish, 1 teaspoonful of made mustard, 1 teaspoonful of sugar, 4 tablespoonfuls of vinegar; pour over slices of hot roast or broiled beef.

22.--Rice Border with Creamed Fish.

Put one cupful of rice on to boil in 3 cupfuls of water. When it has been boiling for half an hour, add 2 tablespoonfuls of butter and a teaspoonful of salt. Let it just simmer for an hour. Mash it fine with a spoon and add 2 well-beaten eggs, and stir for 5 minutes. Butter a border mould and fill with the rice. Put in the oven for a few minutes. Turn out on a hot dish and fill the centre with creamed fish.

23.--Wigs.

A lb. of flour, 1/4 of a lb. of butter, 2 ozs. of sugar, 3 eggs, 1/2 a pint of milk, 1/2 a gill of yeast. Melt the butter and sugar in the milk and mix several hours before baking. Bake in muffin rings.

24.--Orange Marmalade Sandwiches.

Spread orange marmalade on buttered bread. Put four slices on top of each other. Put under a weight and when well pressed trim off the crusts and cut down in thin slices so they will look like jelly cake.

25.--Fish Salad.

Take cold baked or boiled fish. Pick into small pieces. Cover with mayonnaise dressing. Garnish with sliced cucumber and serve.

26.--Creme de Fromage.

Take 2 tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese and 2 scant ones of cream, a little cayenne and salt. Mix into a smooth cream and spread on rounds of thin puff paste; double it over, press the edges well together, dip them in egg and chopped vermicelli; fry in boiling fat. Serve very hot.

27.--Cauliflower au Gratin.

Boil a cauliflower, drain well and put it on a round platter. Make the sauce. Melt 1 oz. of butter, add 1 oz. of flour and a cupful of milk, and boil; sprinkle in 2 ozs. of grated Parmesan cheese, cayenne and salt to taste. Press the cauliflower together, pour the sauce over, sprinkle a little more cheese on top and put into the oven to brown.

28.--Franklin Eggs.

Take out the yolks from four hard boiled eggs. Pass them and 8 olives and 4 red chillies through a wire sieve; add a little salt. Put this paste back into the whites of the eggs which have been cut lengthwise. Serve on fried bread; hot or cold.

29.--Savory Tomatoes.

Take three large tomatoes and cut them in halves, take out the insides and mix thoroughly with two tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, 1 tablespoonful of grated cheese, a gill of cream, 1/2 a teaspoonful of sugar, salt and cayenne to taste. Fill the tomatoes with this and on top of each piece put a thin slice of bacon. Put into the oven to cook and when the bacon is done, serve each one on a thin slice of toast.

30.--Rhubarb Puffs. One cupful of finely-chopped rhubarb, 1 cupful of sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls of butter, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, 1/4 of a cupful of milk, 2 eggs, sufficient flour to make a thick batter; cream the butter and sugar, add the well-beaten eggs, the milk, flour, rhubarb and baking powder. Half fill well-greased cups and steam 1/2 an hour.

SAUCE.--Cream together 1/2 a cup each of butter and powdered sugar, then add by degrees one beaten egg, beating until perfectly smooth. The last thing before serving stir in 3 tablespoonfuls of boiling water.--"Table Talk," Phila.

JULY.

1.--Cherry Salad.

Take large ripe cherries, stone them and lay them on young lettuce leaves. Sprinkle over them finely chopped blanched nuts, almonds or English walnuts. For the dressing use 2 tablespoonfuls each of lemon and orange juice.

2.--Italian Asparagus.

Boil 1 bunch of asparagus, when cooked lay one layer of the tender part in a baking dish, sprinkle over grated cheese, then another layer of asparagus, so on until the dish is full. Pour over this 2 tablespoonfuls of melted butter, a little onion juice. Cover with a layer of fine dried bread crumbs. Bake a light brown.

3.--Cherry Fritters.

Remove the stems and stones from some ripe cherries. Roll each one in the white of an egg, beaten with a tablespoonful of water; then in chopped blanched almonds; dip them one by one in a thick fritter batter, arrange in a frying basket and plunge into very hot fat. When brown, remove, drain on blotting paper and serve on a folded napkin.--"Table Talk," Phila.

4.--Tomato Ice Salad.

Into a saucepan put 1 white onion sliced, and 1 qt. of sliced tomatoes, 1/4 of a green pepper, 1 sprig of parsley, 4 cloves and a teaspoonful of sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Cook all together until the onion is tender. Then strain through a fine sieve to remove all the seeds. Let it cool, then pour into a mould and freeze. Serve on lettuce leaves, with mayonnaise dressing.

5.--Calf's Brains on Toast.

Boil the brains of a calf, and chop them up with 2 ozs. of ham, 2 gills of cream, salt and cayenne. Serve on fried toast with fried bread crumbs on top of each.

6.--Ham and Asparagus.