Part 2

Drain all the liquor from the oysters; put it into a porcelain kettle, and let it come to a boil; then skim off all the scum. Now turn in the milk, which you have let come to a boil in hot water. (Allow one quart of milk to one pint of oysters.) Stir in also one spoonful of butter or more, salt and pepper to taste. Now put in the oysters, let them boil up once, and serve with a dish of oyster crackers.

Oyster Soup.

Wash one quart of oysters, if they are solid, in one quart of cold water; if not, one pint of water; drain the water through a cullender into the soup-kettle; set the kettle on the fire, and when the liquor comes to a boil, skim it; then add one quart of rich new milk; just before it comes to a boil, turn in the oysters, and thicken with two spoonfuls of cornstarch wet with milk; then stir in half a cup of butter, and season with pepper and salt. Let this boil up once, and serve immediately. Be very careful that they do not burn. A safe way is to boil the milk in a basin, which is set into another of water, and then turn it on the oysters just before removing it from the fire.

Broiled Lobster.

Drop the live lobster into _boiling_ water, and boil three minutes. Take up, drain, and crack the shell, but do not take out the meat. Lay on the gridiron, and boil slowly half an hour.

Serve in the shell.

To Boil Lobster.

Be sure that the lobster is living; if not, it is not fit for use. Have a kettle of _boiling_ water; into this drop the lobster, and boil until the shell turns red. This takes about a half-hour. Take up; and when cold it is fit to eat.

Stewed Lobster.

Take out all the meat from the shell. Chop it, but not fine. Put into a basin with a little salt, pepper, butter, and half a cup of water to a small lobster. Stew about ten minutes.

Curried Lobster.

Prepare the lobster as for stew; when it comes to a boil, add a mixture of a heaping tablespoonful of flour, and half a teaspoonful of Indian curry mixed with cold water. Let this boil eight minutes, then serve.

Lobster Salad.

Lobster salad is made the same as chicken, using lobster instead of chicken, and lettuce instead of celery.

EGGS.

Poached Eggs.

BREAK and beat up two eggs, and stir into them two tablespoonfuls of milk and half a teaspoonful of salt; put them into a basin, with half a spoonful of butter, and set over the fire. Stir until it thickens, and then serve.

Scrambled Eggs.

Beat together four eggs, and then turn into a pan with one spoonful of melted butter. Stir quickly over a hot fire one minute, and serve.

Omelets.

Beat lightly two eggs, and stir in one spoonful of milk and a pinch of salt. Heat the omelet pan hot, and then put in a little bit of butter, and when melted turn in the beaten eggs; set on the fire, shake the pan, cook until a light brown; then fold the omelet and serve on a hot dish. Ham, mushroom, lobster, chicken, and all kinds of omelets are made by chopping up the meat, and laying it between the folds before dishing.

MEATS.

Fried Salt Pork.

CUT salt pork into slices a quarter of an inch thick, cut off the rind, and then pour over them boiling water, in which let them stand ten minutes; then turn off the water, and fry until they are brown on both sides.

Broiled Salt Pork.

Prepare as for fried, and broil ten minutes over clear coals.

Salt Pork Fried in Batter.

Fry the pork as before directed; dip in batter, and fry in the pork fat, to which should be added two spoonfuls of drippings or lard. Make the batter in the following manner: Mix gradually with one cup of flour one cup of milk, and then add one well beaten egg and a little salt.

Fried Ham.

Cut the ham in very thin slices, and cut off the rind. Have half a spoonful of boiling drippings in the frying-pan, lay the ham in this, and fry quickly eight minutes; it will then be brown and crisp. Where the ham is for dinner, have the slices larger and thicker, and if you do not have eggs with it, fry bread, as directed for sausages.

Broiled Ham.

Cut the ham in thin slices; cut off the rind, and broil over clear coals ten minutes. Butter or not, as you please. When the ham is very salt or hard, slice, and let stand in boiling water ten minutes before frying or broiling.

Ham and Eggs.

Fry the ham as before directed, and when the ham is all fried, turn the fat into a basin, and scrape the salt from the frying-pan; turn back the fat, and add to it half a cup of lard. When this comes to a boil, break in your eggs, leaving room to turn them, if you prefer them turned; they look much nicer, however, when they are not turned. If they are not turned, dip up the boiling fat while they are cooking and pour over them; they will cook rare in two minutes, well done in three. Lay them on the slices of ham, and serve.

Breakfast Bacon.

Cooked the same as ham.

Beefsteak Smothered in Onions.

Fry brown four slices of salt pork; when brown take out the pork, and put in six onions sliced thin. Fry about ten minutes, stirring all the while; then take out all except a thin layer, and upon this lay a slice of steak, then a layer of onions, then steak, and cover thick with onions. Dredge each layer with pepper, salt and flour. Pour over this one cupful of boiling water, and cover tight. Simmer half an hour. When you dish, place the steak in the centre of the dish, and heap the onions around it. Serve the same vegetables as for broiled steak.

Broiled Beef Steak.

Cut the steak about three quarters of an inch thick. Have a clear fire and lay the steak on the gridiron, and dredge lightly with flour. If you desire the steak rare, cook ten minutes, if well done, fifteen. Dish and season with butter, pepper, and salt. Serve _immediately_. Never set steak into the oven to keep warm or to melt the butter. The dish must be hot, the butter stand in a warm room long enough to soften, but do not _melt_. If for dinner, serve potatoes, either baked or boiled, and any other vegetables which you choose. Many persons pound tough steak before cooking, but I would not recommend it, as by this means it loses much of its juiciness.

There are some families in the country who have no means of broiling. The next best thing such persons can do is to heat the frying pan very hot, and grease with just enough butter to prevent the steak from sticking; then lay the steak in, and cook, and serve as before directed.

Fried Beefsteak.

For two pounds of steak fry brown four slices of salt pork, then take up the pork and fry the steak in the fat; salt and pepper it. When you dish, add a little butter. To the fat remaining in the frying-pan, after the steak has been cooked, add one tablespoonful of _dry_ flour (be sure to have the fat boiling), and stir until it is brown and there are no lumps, then pour in about half a cup of boiling water. Season well with pepper and salt. Serve in a gravy tureen. This is a more economical, but not so healthy a method as broiling.

Stewed Beef.

Take a piece of beef that is rather tough or pieces of tough beefsteak; rub into it a handful of salt, some pepper and flour; lay in a kettle that you can cover tight, and that has a flat bottom. Cut up an onion, a potato, a _small_ turnip, a carrot, and a parsnip; lay these on top of the meat, and then sprinkle in half a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half of mace, one-fourth of clove, and add cold water enough to cover it. Let them come to a boil, skim off all the scum; then cover tight, and simmer five hours. After it has been boiling four hours, mix half a cup of flour with cold water and add to it. You can then taste it, and add more seasoning if necessary. The spice may be omitted if you choose.

Lamb Chops.

Broil fifteen minutes over clear coals. Season with butter, pepper, and salt.

Broiled Veal.

Cut veal into thin slices, and broil twenty minutes. Season with butter, pepper, and salt. This is the most unsavory method of cooking veal, and I would not recommend it.

Fricassee of Veal.

Fry eight slices of salt pork, brown. Take out the pork, and put in _thin_ slices of veal, which have been cut from the leg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and fry _brown_. When all the veal is fried, mix with the boiling fat two tablespoonfuls of _dry_ flour; stir until there are no lumps, and the flour is brown; then add two cups of boiling water, and season with salt and pepper. Lay the veal in this gravy, and simmer fifteen minutes. Dish, and pour the gravy over the meat. If for dinner, garnish with boiled rice, and serve plain boiled potatoes.

Mutton Chops.

Cut the chops from the loin or the neck; broil as you do beefsteak, and serve in _hot_ dishes.

Mutton Pie with Tomatoes.

Pare and slice six tomatoes; put a layer into a deep pudding-dish, then put in a layer of slices of cold mutton, and dredge in flour, salt, pepper. Have the last layer tomatoes, over which sprinkle two rolled crackers. Bake one hour.

Veal Cutlets.

Fry brown eight slices of salt pork. Take them up, and add to the fat two large spoonfuls of lard or drippings. Have ready thin slices of veal (they are best cut from the leg), dip them in an egg which has been well beaten, then into cracker crumbs, and fry a nice brown. Season them, before dipping in the egg and cracker, with pepper and salt. Serve with the salt pork.

Mutton Cutlets.

The same as veal.

Fried Sausages.

Cut the sausages apart, and wash; then lay them in the pan, and pour boiling water over them; let them boil two minutes, then turn off the water, and prick the sausages with a fork, or they will burst open when they begin to fry. Put a little drippings in the pan with them, and fry twenty minutes. Turn them often that they may be brown on all sides. Cut stale bread into fanciful shape, fry in the sausage fat, and garnish the dish with it. Brown bread is delicious fried in this way. Serve plain boiled potatoes.

VEGETABLES.

Boiled Potatoes.

IF the potatoes are new, wash clean, and put into boiling water; boil thirty minutes, and serve immediately. As they grow older, scrape the skin off before boiling. For old potatoes, have a sharp knife with a _thin_ blade; and pare the potatoes, having the skin as thin as possible. They are very much better if they stand in cold water a few hours before boiling; then put them in boiling water, and boil thirty minutes. When they have boiled fifteen minutes, throw in a handful of salt. When done, turn off the water, and let them stand on the back part of the range three minutes; then, shake them up once, and turn into the dish, and send to the table.

Baked Potatoes.

Be very particular to wash every part of the potato clean, as many persons eat the skin. Put them in a pan (have an old one for this purpose), and bake in a moderate oven fifty minutes. There is such a difference in ovens, that each one must learn for herself what the time will be for each; for some will bake in less time, and some will take much longer than the time designated.

Fried Potatoes.

Pare and slice _thin_ raw potatoes, and let them stand in cold water several hours; if in summer, put a piece of ice in the water. Cut the slices _lengthwise_ of the potato. Have ready a basin with _boiling_ drippings or lard, drain the potatoes a minute in a cullender, and drop them into the boiling fat, and fry a light brown; take them out with a skimmer, and lay them in a dry cullender, which should be placed in a tin pan, and set in an open oven. There should be as much fat as for frying doughnuts, and there should not be any more potatoes put in at a time than will fry brown and not stick together. Have the basin in which you fry quite deep, as there is danger of the fat boiling over when the potatoes are put in. When you take the potatoes up, dredge a little salt over them. When potatoes are cooked in this manner, they will be light and crisp. If they do not get cooked enough at first, they are very much improved by dropping them into the fat for one minute, after they have been standing in the oven a while.

Fried Boiled Potatoes.

Cut the potatoes into slices, and fry in either pork fat or nice drippings. Have just fat enough in the pan to prevent their sticking, and sprinkle with salt while cooking. When these are brown, take them up and put in a little more fat, and fry as before.

Potatoes warmed with Pork.

Cut about eight slices of pork into pieces about half an inch square, and fry a nice brown. Have ready one dozen cold potatoes cut into slices, and turn them into the pan with the fried pork, and dredge in a little salt and pepper, then stir and cut them into small pieces with the knife. When a light brown, serve.

Potatoes warmed in Gravy.

Slice cold potatoes as for frying, and turn them into the frying-pan, and to a dozen potatoes add a pint of cold gravy. Season with pepper and salt, and stir, and cut with a knife, until they are hot and in small pieces.

Fricassee of Potatoes.

Cut cold boiled potatoes into small squares, and put them in a basin with milk, pepper, and salt, allowing half a pint of milk to a dozen potatoes. Set the basin into another of hot water, and when it comes to a boil, add a tablespoonful of butter, and set on the stove, and let it boil up once, then serve.

Boiled Sweet Potatoes.

Wash and boil, with the skins on, forty-five minutes. They are much better baked than boiled, and I would cook them so generally.

Baked Sweet Potatoes.

Wash and wipe dry, and bake one hour. Do not cook squash when you have sweet potatoes.

Boiled Onions.

When new and tender, they will boil in one hour; but after the month of October, they will require two hours. Put them into water before peeling them, and they will not affect the eyes. Peel off all the dark skin, and put them in hot water, and boil as directed. If you have milk plenty, half an hour before they are done, turn a quart into the water in which they are boiling. This makes them white, and is said to prevent in a measure, the disagreeable odor which always follows their being eaten. Boil them in a porcelain kettle. Dish them whole, and season with a little pepper, salt, and butter.

Fried Onions.

Peel and slice thin ten good-sized onions, and put them in a frying-pan with two spoonfuls of drippings. Fry thirty minutes, turning often.

Baked Squash.

Cut the squash in two, take out all the soft, stringy part; if you need the whole squash for dinner, lay the halves together, and put in a baking-pan (the old one you use for baking potatoes in), and bake forty-five minutes. When done, scrape the squash from the shell, and season, and serve as boiled squash. When you cook but half a squash, lay it with the inside downward. This is a nice way to cook watery squash.

Beets.

Wash clean, but do not scrape; if you do they will look white when cooked. When young they will cook in two hours; but old ones will require four or five hours. When done, plunge them into cold water, and the skin will peel off easily. Cut in thin slices.

Pickled Beets.

Cut the beets that are left from dinner into thin slices, and lay them in an earthen vessel, and cover with cold vinegar.

Shelled Beans.

Wash in several waters, and put them in a basin with boiling water. Boil one hour. Do not drain them very dry. Season with butter and salt.

Boston Baked Beans.

Examine and wash one quart of dry beans (the pea bean is the best), and put them in a pan with six quarts of cold water; let them soak in this over night. In the morning wash them in another water, and place them on the fire with six quarts of cold water and a pound of mixed salt pork. If they are the present year’s beans, they will cook enough in half an hour; if older, one hour. Drain them and put half in the bean-pot; then gash the pork, and put in the remainder of the beans, one tablespoonful of molasses, and one of salt, and cover with boiling water. Bake ten hours. Watch them carefully, and do not let them cook dry.

N. B. As the water cooks away, add more.

String Beans.

String and cut into pieces about an inch long; then wash and put into boiling water, and boil one hour. Season with salt and butter.

Green Peas.

Put them into boiling water, and when very young they will cook in twenty minutes; but generally they require thirty. Season with salt and butter.

Boiled Rice.

Wash and pick all the specks from a cup of rice. Let it stand in cold water two hours, and then put it in a deep kettle, with two quarts of water, and boil _fast_ thirty minutes. When it has boiled twenty minutes, throw in a great spoonful of salt. When done, turn into a cullender, and set in the oven a few minutes. When ready to dish, shake lightly and _turn_ into the vegetable dish. Never use a spoon. If these directions are followed, you will have a handsome and healthy vegetable, and every kernel will be separate. The water in which the rice has been boiled makes a nice starch for colored clothes.

The Southern rice cooks much quicker and is nicer than the Indian rice. If possible, always purchase the former.

Boiled Rice, No. 2.

Wash one cupful of rice and put into a tin basin or pail, with three cupfuls of cold water, and a teaspoonful of salt, cover and set in another basin, with hot water, place on the fire, and boil thirty minutes. Rice is very healthy, and should be a common dish on the table.

Boiled Macaroni.

Break up and wash a pint bowl full of macaroni, and put in a shallow basin, and cover with cold water. Set this basin into another of warm water, and place on the fire; after fifteen minutes, add a pint of milk, and a teaspoonful of salt; let it cook ten minutes longer, then add a spoonful of butter, and cook five minutes more, and dish. Be careful not to break the macaroni in dishing. The boiled macaroni which remains from one dinner can be used for the next, by preparing it in the following manner: Butter a shallow dish, and turn the macaroni into it; then grate over it old cheese, and brown.

Boiled Green Corn.

Boil twenty-five minutes, if very young and tender. As it grows older it requires a longer time. Send to the table in a napkin.

Boiled Turnips.

Peel and cut into slices. If they are to be served in slices, boil with a small piece of pork. Boil the pork three hours, and put in the turnips; if they are the white turnip, they will cook in forty-five minutes; but if the yellow, they will require two hours. Serve in slices without any seasoning except what they get by being boiled with the pork.

Stewed Tomatoes.

Pour boiling water over half a peck of ripe tomatoes. Let them stand in it five minutes, and then peel off the skins; cut them into slices, and put in a stew-pan with a little salt, pepper, and a spoonful of sugar. Simmer two hours, stirring often to prevent burning. Two minutes before dishing stir in one tablespoonful of butter. Canned tomatoes are cooked in the same manner, but do not require more than half an hour to stew.

Sliced Tomatoes.

Pour boiling water over them, and then peel and slice thin; lay them on small platters, and serve. Let each person season to his own taste.

Baked Tomatoes.

Scald and peel as directed; have ready a dish, into which lay a layer of tomatoes (whole), then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and cracker crumbs; then another layer of tomatoes, and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Cut a spoonful of butter into small pieces and lay on the tomatoes, and then cover with cracker crumbs. Bake thirty minutes.

Mock Bisque Soup.—Very nice.

Stew one can of tomatoes (one quart can). While the tomatoes are stewing, put three pints of milk on to boil, setting the basin in which the milk is into another of hot water. When the milk comes to a boil, stir in a tablespoonful of flour, which has been thoroughly mixed with a little cold milk. Let this boil ten minutes, and then add butter the size of an egg, salt and pepper to taste. The tomatoes, which were put on at the same time with the milk, are now ready to strain into the mixture. Just before straining, stir a pinch of saleratus into the tomatoes to remove the acidity. Serve immediately.

BREAD.

Corn Dodgers.

TAKE three teacups of Indian meal, one teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of sugar, and pour on boiling water enough to wet it, nearly one quart; then make into small, flat cakes about an inch thick, and fry in _boiling_ fat until brown. They will fry in fifteen or twenty minutes. To be eaten _very hot_.

Baked Corn Cake.

Three teacups of Indian meal, one teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of sugar, one of butter; wet this with _boiling_ water, and then beat in one egg. Spread half an inch deep on buttered tin sheets, and bake brown in a quick oven. This is delicious.

Oat-meal.

Oatmeal, Indian meal, and hominy all require two things to make them perfect; that is, _plenty of water_ when first put on to boil, and a _long_ time to boil.

Have about two quarts of boiling water in a large stewpan, and into it stir one cup of oatmeal, which you have already wet with cold water; boil this an hour, stirring often, and then add half a spoonful of salt, and boil an hour longer. If it should get too stiff, add more boiling water; or, if too thin, boil a little longer. You cannot boil it too much.

The only trouble there is in cooking oatmeal is, that it takes a long time; and surely no one will let that stand in the way when it is so much better for having the extra time. It is also very necessary that there be an abundance of water to begin with; if not, it will never be as good, no matter how much may be added after it has been cooking any time.

Hominy.

Wash in two waters one cup of hominy, then stir it into one quart of boiling water with a little salt, and boil from thirty to sixty minutes. It is better boiled sixty than thirty. Be careful that it does not burn. Hominy can be used more than oatmeal, as it can be eaten with any kind of meat, and should be cooked once a day. It is nice and appropriate for any meal. It is also good eaten warm or cold with milk.

Hominy Griddle-cakes.

To one pint of warm, boiled hominy, add a pint of milk or water, and one pint of flour. Beat up two or three eggs, and stir them into the batter with a little salt. Fry as any other griddle-cake. They are delicious.

Fried Mush.

Into two quarts of boiling water stir one tablespoonful of salt, and one cup of flour mixed with one quart of Indian meal (it may take a little more than a quart of meal to make it stiff enough); beat it well, or it will be lumpy. Boil gently two hours, and then turn into dishes which have been dipped in cold water, and set away to cool. Pans in which you bake loaves of bread are the best to cool it in, as it then makes handsome slices. In the morning cut into slices an inch thick, and fry brown in pork fat. Serve slices of fried pork with it. You can cook enough at one time for several breakfasts. If you do not wish to fry the mush, do not use the flour, and do not make quite so stiff.

Spider-Cakes.

Heat the frypan hot; also a cover for it. While heating, mix with one pint of Hecker’s prepared flour half a pint of milk or water; grease the hot pan with pork, lard, or butter, and pour half the mixture into it. Make smooth with the spoon; cover, and cook four minutes; turn the cake, and cook four minutes longer. Take up, grease the pan again, and put in the remainder of the mixture, which cook as before.

Biscuit.

One quart of Hecker’s prepared flour, one small pint of milk or water. Grease the pans, and drop the mixture by the spoonful on to it; bake in a quick oven from ten to twelve minutes.

N. B. If you prefer, shape into cakes with the hands.

Hecker’s Prepared Graham.

Rye and Indian are nice to take into camp, as all that is necessary is to wet with milk or water, and bake. The buckwheat is nice also.

When you have Hecker’s prepared Graham, rye, or Indian, use one half a cup of sugar to the quart of the preparation.

Milk Toast.