Part 4

One bundle or 100 heads of asparagus, 1 pint of milk (or equal quantities of milk and water), 1 head of lettuce finely shredded and cut into short lengths, 1 medium-sized onion par-boiled and finely chopped, 1 bay leaf, one sprig of thyme, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonsful of flour, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, salt and pepper, croûtes of buttered toast or fried bread, chopped parsley, strips of cucumber.

Wash and trim the asparagus, and tie it into 3 or 4 bundles. Bring the milk to boiling point, put in the asparagus, lettuce, onion, bay-leaf, thyme, and salt, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes. Drain the asparagus well, cut off the points and the edible parts of the stalks, and keep them hot. Strain the milk and return it to the stew-pan, add the butter and flour previously kneaded together, and stir until a smooth sauce is obtained. Beat the yolks of eggs slightly, add them to the sauce, and stir until they thicken, but do not allow the sauce to boil, or the yolks may curdle. Season to taste, and add the lemon-juice. Pile the asparagus on the croûtes, cover with sauce, garnish with strips of cucumber, and a little chopped parsley, and serve as a vegetable entremet or as an entrée for a vegetarian dinner.

CELERY CROQUETTES

Two heads of celery, stock, 1 oz. of butter, 1 oz. of flour, 1 shallot, 1 gill of milk, seasoning, 2 yolks of eggs, egg and bread-crumbs, fat for frying.

Trim and wash the celery, and cut into short pieces, blanch them in salted water, and drain, then cook till tender in well-seasoned stock. Drain the cooked celery, and chop it rather finely. Melt the butter in a stew-pan, add the shallot (chopped), and fry a little, stir in the flour, blend these together, and gradually add a gill of milk. Stir till it boils, and put in the chopped celery. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for 15 minutes, add the egg-yolks at the last. Spread the mixture on a dish and let it get cold. Make up into croquettes--cork or ball shapes--egg and crumb them, fry in hot fat to a golden colour, drain them on a cloth or paper, and dish up.

RAGOÛT OF CELERY

Two or 3 heads of celery, 1 pint of white stock, 1/2 pint of milk, 2 tablespoonsful of cream, 1 medium-sized Spanish onion, 24 button onions, 1 dessert-spoonful of finely chopped parsley, 2 ozs. of butter, 2 ozs. of flour, salt, and pepper.

Wash and trim the celery, cut each stick into pieces about 2 inches long, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, and pour the water away. Put in the stock, the Spanish onion finely chopped, season with salt and pepper, and cook gently for about 1/2 an hour. Meanwhile, skin the onions, fry them in hot butter, but very slowly, to prevent them taking colour, drain well from fat, and keep them hot. Add the flour to the butter, and fry for a few minutes without browning. Take up the celery, add the strained stock to the milk, pour both on to the roux or mixture of flour and butter, and stir until boiling. Season to taste, add the cream and 1/2 the parsley, arrange the celery in a circle on a hot dish, pour over the sauce, pile the onions high in the centre, sprinkle over them the remainder of the parsley, and serve. The celery may also be served on croûtes of fried or toasted bread arranged in rows with the onions piled between them. A nice change may be made by substituting mushrooms for the onions.

STUFFED ONIONS

(Italian)

Remove from 6 onions the centres with an apple-corer and fill them up with the following stuffing: One tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese mixed with 2 hard-boiled eggs and chopped parsley. Boil them first, then roll them in flour and fry them in olive-oil or butter. Then put them in a baking-dish with 1/2 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Put them in the oven and bake until golden.

ONIONS

(Venetian style)

Remove the centres of 6 small onions. Boil them for a few moments, drain them, and stuff them with the following: Take a piece of bread, dip it in milk, squeeze out the milk, and mix the bread with 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs. Mix well together, then add some fine-chopped parsley, a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper, and the yolk of 1 raw egg; mix again well, and then stuff the onions with the mixture. Dip them in flour and in egg, and fry them in lard. Put them on a platter and serve with a piquante sauce made as follows: Chop up fine some pickles, capers, and peppers, and 1/2 cup of water. When these are cooked, add 1 tablespoon of butter and cook a little while longer, then pour over the onions and serve.

FRIED PUMPKIN OR SQUASH

(Italian)

Take a slice of pumpkin or squash, remove the rind and the seeds. Cut it into fine strips. Roll in flour and dip in egg, and fry in boiling lard or olive-oil.

If desired as garnishing for meat, cut the pumpkin exceedingly fine, roll in flour, but not in egg, and fry.

CUCUMBERS

(Italian)

Peel and boil 3 or 4 cucumbers in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and cut them into pieces 1 inch thick and put them in a frying-pan with 1 ounce of butter, a little flour, and 1/2 pint of stock; stir well, and add some salt and pepper. Reduce for about 15 minutes, stirring until it boils; add 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, 1/2 a teaspoon of grated nutmeg, 1/2 a cup of cream, and the beaten-up yolks of 2 eggs. Put on the fire again for 3 or 4 minutes. Do not let boil, and serve hot.

SARMA

(Serbian)

Put a cabbage in boiling water. Let it stand while preparing the rest of the dish.

Fry 4 onions in 1 tablespoon of lard. Mix 2 lbs. of chopped pork and 2 lbs. of chopped beef with the onions. Stir into this 4 raw eggs. Add 1/2 lb. of rice, salt and pepper.

Remove the cabbage from the water, tear off the leaves and put into each leaf two tablespoonsful of the meat and rice mixture, wrapping it so that the contents should not come out.

Put a little sauerkraut in a pot, then a layer of the filled cabbage leaves, continue doing this until the pot is filled. Cook slowly about 1 hour.

Make a sauce putting 1 tablespoon of lard in a saucepan on the fire, and add a chopped onion. When a golden brown, add 1 tablespoonful of browned flour and paprika to taste. Add a cup of water. Pour this sauce into the pot and cook about half an hour longer. Some sour cream may be added if liked on serving.

POLENTA PASTICCIATA

(Italian)

Three-quarters of a cup of Indian meal and 1 quart of milk.

Boil the milk, and add the Indian meal, a little at a time, when milk is boiling. Cook for one-half an hour, stirring constantly. Add salt just before taking off the fire. The Indian meal should be stiff when finished. Turn it onto the bread-board, and spread it out to the thickness of two fingers. While it is cooking prepare a meat sauce, and a Béchamel sauce as follows:

MEAT SAUCE

Take a small piece of beef, a small piece of ham, fat and lean, 1 tablespoon of butter, a small piece of onion, a small piece of carrot, a small piece of celery, a pinch of flour, 1/2 cup of bouillon (or water), pepper. Cut the meat into small dice; chop up fine together the ham, onion, carrot, and celery. Put these into a saucepan with the butter, and when the meat is brown, add the pinch of flour, and the bouillon a little at a time, and cook for about one-half an hour. This sauce should not be strained.

BÉCHAMEL SAUCE

Take 1 tablespoon of flour, and 1-1/2 tablespoon of butter. Put them into a saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until they have become a golden-brown colour. Then add, a little at a time, 1 pint milk; stir constantly until the sauce is as thick as custard, and is white in colour.

Now take the cold Indian meal and cut it into squares about two inches across. Take a baking-dish of medium depth, butter well, then put in a layer of squares of Indian meal close together, to entirely cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle over it grated cheese; then pour on the top enough meat sauce to cover the layer (about 2 tablespoons), then on the top of this add a layer of Béchamel sauce. Then put another layer of the squares of Indian meal, sprinkle with grated cheese as before, add meat sauce, then Béchamel sauce, and continue in this way until the baking-dish is full, having for the top layer the Béchamel sauce. Put the dish into a moderate oven, and bake until a golden brown.

FRIED BREAD WITH RAISINS

(Italian)

Take some rather stale bread, cut it into slices, removing the crust. Fry the bread in lard, and then arrange it on a platter; meanwhile prepare the raisins as follows: Take a small saucepan and put into it 2 tablespoons of raisins, a slice of raw ham chopped into small pieces, and a leaf of sage, also chopped up, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Put these ingredients on the fire, and as soon as you have a syrup pour the raisins on the pieces of fried bread, and the sauce around.

POLENTA CROQUETTES

(Italian)

Boil 1/2 cup of corn-meal, and before removing from the fire add a piece of butter and a little grated cheese and mix well. Take it then by spoonfuls and spread it on a marble-top table. These spoonfuls should form little balls about the size of a hen's egg. On each of these croquettes place a very thin slice of Gruyère cheese, so that the cheese will adhere to the corn-meal. Then allow them to cool, and when cold dip into egg; then into bread-crumbs, and fry in boiling lard.

RICE WITH MUSHROOMS

(Italian)

Five or six mushrooms and 3/4 of a cup of rice.

Chop up a little onion, parsley, celery, and carrot together, and put them on the fire with 2 tablespoons of good olive-oil. When this sauce is coloured, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with hot water. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, and add them to the sauce. Cook for 20 minutes over a medium fire. Put on one side and prepare the rice as follows:

Fry the rice with a lump of butter until dry; then add hot water, a little at a time, and boil gently. When the rice is half cooked (after about 10 minutes) add the mushrooms and sauce, and cook for another 10 minutes. Add grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

TIMBALES OF BREAD WITH PARMESAN SAUCE

Soak half an hour 2 cups bread-crumbs in 1 cup thin cream (milk will do with butter added).

To this add grated rind half lemon; 1 tablespoon minced parsley; 1 tablespoon minced chives; 1 teaspoon salt; pepper; yolks two eggs.

Fill buttered timbale moulds or one large mould with this mixture, cover with buttered paper, and bake 20 minutes in moderate oven in a pan half filled with hot water.

Remove from moulds and pour cheese sauce around it.

Sauces

CHEESE SAUCE

Put 2 tablespoons butter on fire. Add 2 tablespoons flour and blend to a paste. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of cayenne. Then add gradually 1 cup milk. Cook five minutes, then add 1 cup grated cheese. Do not allow it to boil after adding the cheese but serve at once.

TOMATO SAUCE

(Italian)

Take 3 chopped shallots, put them in a stew-pan with a tablespoonful of olive oil, salt, pepper, a dash of ground ginger, a very little ground nutmeg. Let the shallots take a good colour without burning; add 6 tomatoes skinned and all the pits well squeezed out. Let them cook very gently until all the moisture has disappeared. They should take the consistency of jam.

This sauce may be eaten hot or cold.

ANOTHER TOMATO SAUCE

Cut in two 5 or 6 tomatoes, squeeze out the seeds, put in a stew-pan with 1 cup of stock; salt and pepper, a bit of tarragon, laurel thyme, parsley, a chopped onion, and a dash of cinnamon. Cook until the moisture has disappeared, then pass through a sieve. Prepare a white thickening with 1 oz. of butter, the same of flour. Add the purée of tomatoes to it; thin the sauce with stock. Let it cook 10 to 15 minutes and finish with a pinch of sugar and 1 oz. of butter.

MUSTARD SAUCE

Two tablespoons of butter, 1-1/2 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup of scalded milk, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar.

Blend the butter and flour in a saucepan and pour on the milk little by little, then add the salt, mustard, and vinegar.

A spoonful of mixed capers is sometimes added.

A MEAT SAUCE

(Italian)

Put into a saucepan 1 pound of beef and 1/2 an onion chopped up with 3 ounces of lard, some parsley, salt, pepper, 1 clove, and a very small slice of ham. Fry these over a hot fire for a few minutes, moving them continually, and when the onion is browned add 4 tablespoons of red wine, and 4 tablespoons of tomato sauce (or tomato paste). When this sauce begins to sputter add, little by little, some boiling water. Stick a fork into the meat from time to time to allow the juices to escape. Take a little of the sauce in a spoon, and when it looks a good golden colour, and there is a sufficient quantity to cover the meat, put the covered saucepan at the back of the stove and allow it to simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Then take out the meat, slice it, prepare macaroni, or any paste you desire, and serve it with the meat, and the sauce poured over all, and the addition of butter and grated cheese.

ANOTHER MEAT SAUCE

(Italian)

Chop up some ham fat with a little onion, celery, carrot, and parsley. Add a small piece of beef and cook until beef is well coloured. Then add 1-1/2 tablespoons of red wine (or white), cook until wine is absorbed, then add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste diluted with water, or 4 fresh tomatoes, and boil 15 minutes.

LOMBARDA SAUCE

Put 2 cups of white sauce and 1 of chicken stock into a saucepan, reduce, and add 3 yolks of eggs mixed with 2 ounces of butter and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Before it boils take the saucepan off the fire and add 1 cup of thick tomato sauce, strain, and just before serving add 1 tablespoon of sweet herbs minced fine.

HORSE-RADISH SAUCE

Cook about half an hour in a double boiler 1-1/2 cups of milk, 1 dessert-spoon of sugar, 1/3 cup of bread-crumbs, and 1/3 cup of grated horse-radish root, 1/4 cup of butter, half a teaspoon of salt.

GNOCCHI DI SEMOLINA

One pint of milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of farina, butter and cheese.

Put the milk on, and when it boils add salt. Take a wooden spoon and, stirring constantly, add the farina little by little. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off the fire and break into the farina 2 eggs; mix very quickly, so that the egg will not have time to set. Spread the farina about on a marble slab about 1/2 inch thick. Allow it to cool, then cut it into squares or diamonds about 2 or 3 inches across. Butter well a baking-dish, and put in the bottom a layer of the squares of farina; sprinkle over a little grated cheese, and here and there a small lump of butter. Then put in another layer of the squares of farina; add cheese and butter as before. Continue in this way until your baking-dish is full, having on the top layer butter and cheese.

Bake in a hot oven until a brown crust forms. Serve in the baking-dish.

Salads

ITALIAN SALAD

Cut 1 carrot and 1 turnip into slices, and cook them in boiling soup. When cold, mix them with 2 cold boiled potatoes and 1 beet cut into strips. Add a very little chopped leeks or onions, pour some sauce, "Lombardo," over the salad, and garnish with watercress. Boiled Jerusalem artichokes cut into slices are a good addition.

LETTUCE SALAD

Mix one spoonful of thick mayonnaise, 1/2 spoonful of chilli sauce, a little finely hashed pimento, a sprinkling of finely hashed chives, add a few drops of tarragon vinegar, 1 teaspoon of A. I. sauce, and a little paprika.

Cut a firm head of tennis-ball lettuce in 4 parts. Put one part on a plate and pour the dressing over it. This recipe is enough for 1 person.

SANDWICH DRESSING

Cream 1/2 lb. of butter and add to it 1 dessert-spoonful of mixed mustard, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, a little salt, and the yolk of 1 egg; one may add to this 1/4 cup of very thick cream. Mix thoroughly and set away to cool. To make sandwiches, spread the bread with this mixture and put in very finely chopped ham, or chicken and celery, or cream cheese and chopped nuts, or green peppers and mustard and cress, or lettuce, or "Indian relish," or cucumber, or tomato or anything else you happen to have and may like.

SALAD DRESSING

(For grapefruit or orange)

Mix well 2 tablespoonfuls of Escoffier Sauce Diable and 1 tablespoonful of Escoffier Sauce Robert and then add olive oil, a little at a time. When it becomes thick, season with salt and pepper and vinegar.

CHEESE DRESSING

One quarter of a lb. of Roquefort cheese and 2 tablespoons of thick cream mixed to a smooth paste; stir in, little by little, enough olive oil to give the consistency of mayonnaise; season with tarragon vinegar, salt, and pepper. This is especially good for string beans, lettuce, or endive. One may fill celery stalks with this dressing made into a thick paste.

Vegetables

POTATO CAKES

(Russian)

Peel and grate 6 raw potatoes, season with salt and pepper, 1 egg. Mix all together. Drop onto a well-buttered griddle, spoonsful of the mixture, leaving space between to flatten them; continue to add a little butter to the griddle. Cook a golden brown on both sides. Arrange in a crown on a dish with a sprig of parsley in the centre.

PETITS POIS

Fry some finely shredded onion in about a tablespoonful of oil, with salt, pepper, and a sprig of tarragon. Lay the heart and best leaves of a head of lettuce at the bottom of a stew-pan with a quart of very young peas. Add a pint of stock. Stew gently. A little sugar is always an improvement to peas.

STRING BEANS

Cut off the ends of the string beans, slice them in three parts, cook them until three quarters done, then put them into cold water and dry them. Cook an onion in butter and put the beans into a pan and simmer half an hour. Shake at intervals but do not stir them. Take out and pour over a little stock thickened with a very little flour and cream.

Peas may be done in the same way.

RED CABBAGE

(Flemish)

Chop 4 onions and cook in 1 tablespoonful of butter, add 1 large red cabbage chopped. Cover this with 6 chopped apples, next add 1 tablespoonful of rice, 2 cups of water, 1 dessert-spoonful of vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of salt, pepper. Do not stir but cook slowly 4 hours or longer removing the cover occasionally to let out the steam.

CABBAGE WITH CHEESE SAUCE

Cabbage, cauliflower, or cucumbers boiled in salted water are excellent served with cheese sauce. (See Sauces.)

GLAZED ONIONS

Boil onions in water until they are half cooked, then strain. Put them in the stew-pan with a piece of butter, a pinch of powdered sugar, salt, and a cupful of stock; let them finish cooking. The liquid will be reduced and the onions coloured. Young carrots are glazed in the same way.

SPINACH SOUFFLÉ

(Italian)

Boil some spinach in salted water. When cooked drain and chop it. There should be about 2 cupfuls when chopped.

Put into a saucepan on the fire 2 tablespoonsful of butter and 1-1/2 level tablespoonsful of flour. When these are blended add the 2 cupfuls of spinach and one cup of cream. Cook five minutes, stirring carefully. Then mix into this the yolks of 3 eggs and remove the saucepan at once from the fire. When the mixture is cool stir into it the 3 whites of eggs, well beaten. Pour into a buttered soufflé dish, or individual dishes, and bake about twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

Puddings, Cakes, Etc.

FRENCH PANCAKES

Mix 1 teaspoonful of flour and 1 teaspoonful of sifted sugar with 1/2 pint of cream or rich milk. Beat 3 eggs separately and stir into the cream. Bake in a quick oven in 3 large saucers. When brown, place one cake on top of the other and spread jam between.

CRÊPES SUZETTE

Mix well 1 lb. of flour, 5 ozs. of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 10 eggs; add 1/4 pint of cream, 1/4 pint of milk, 2 spoonsful of whipped cream, a liqueur glass Curaçoa and a few drops of essence of mandarines. Three or 4 tablespoons of this mixture are enough for one pancake. Cook in a pan and when brown on both sides put in a hot covered dish.

SAUCE FOR CRÊPES SUZETTE

Cream 1/4 lb. of butter, add 1/4 lb. of powdered sugar, 3 liqueur glasses of Curaçoa, 1 liqueur glass of essence of mandarines, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 1/8 of an oz. of hazelnut milk (_Noisette de beurre d'aveline_).

Put one spoonful of the sauce in a chafing dish, and when the sauce is hot, put in a pancake, fold it over twice, turn it in the sauce, and serve very hot. Prepare each pancake separately in this manner.

ANOTHER SUZETTE PANCAKE

Mix 3 cups of flour, 1-1/2 tablespoons of baking powder, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add 2 cups of milk slowly, then a well-beaten egg, and 2 tablespoonsful of melted butter.

Cook in the same manner as the first Suzette pancake with the following sauce: Cream together 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, add the juice of 1/2 orange and 1 pony of Curaçoa and 1 pony of brandy. Serve from the chafing dish as described for the first Crepe Suzette.

KISEL

(Russian)

Mix three cups of any kind of fruit syrup, add a little water if the syrup is very thick, sugar and vanilla according to taste, and 1/2 cup of potato flour. Cook them in a double boiler until a very thick cream. Served hot or cold with cream and powdered sugar.

CARROT PUDDING

Mix 1 cup of grated carrots, 1 cup of bread-crumbs, 1 cup of minced suet, 1 cup of currants, 1 cup of chopped raisins, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 of a teaspoon of soda. Steam 4 hours, the longer the better.

Serve with the following sauce: 1/4 cup of butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup of cream, 2 tablespoons of sherry or 1 teaspoonful of vanilla. The butter must be worked soft before adding the sugar gradually, then the cream and flavouring, little by little, to prevent separating.

OLD ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING

Two lbs. raisins stoned, 2 lbs. currants, 1-1/2 lbs. Sultanas, 1 lb. mixed peel chopped fine, 2 lbs. brown sugar, 2 lbs. breadcrumbs, 2 lbs. chopped suet, 1-1/2 lemons grated with the juice, 4 ozs. chopped almonds blanched, 2 nutmegs grated, 1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice, 1/4 teaspoon crushed clove, pinch of salt, 6 eggs whisked, 1/4 pint (generous) brandy.

Mix all together thoroughly, boil 12 hours, the longer the better on the first day and 2 hours just before serving. This is the secret for making it black and light. This makes about 1 two-quart and 5 one-quart puddings. This recipe makes excellent plum cake, black and rich, by substituting flour for the crumbs and lard for the suet.

BANANA TRIFLE

Put thin slices of bread and butter into a glass dish, then cut 3 or 4 bananas into round slices and place them on the top of bread and butter. Make a pint of sweet custard well flavoured with Madeira and pour over. Beat stiff 1/2 pint of cream and put on top of the trifle when cold.

CREAM TART

Make a puff paste and cut it into 3 round pieces; it must be very thin and a few holes pierced to keep it from rising too high. Make a cream filling and spread over each piece, placing one on top of the other. On the top layer sprinkle chopped pistachio nuts (or any chopped nuts) on the cream as a frosting.

Filling: Mix 2/3 of a cup of fine sugar with 1/3 of a cup of flour, add the yolks of 3 eggs and 1 whole egg, 1 cup of scalded milk, 1/4 of a teaspoonful of salt, cook in double boiler 15 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of either cocoanut or almond macaroons, crumbed, 2/3 teaspoonful of vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoonful of lemon extract.

This may be put between simply two crusts, a bottom and a top, and served in a pie plate.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING

(French)