Part 4

2 tablespoonfuls of butter. 2 tablespoonfuls of flour. ¾ cupful of milk. ¾ cupful of stewed and strained tomatoes. ⅛ teaspoonful of soda. 1 pound of cheese. 2 eggs, slightly beaten. Salt, mustard, cayenne pepper.

Cook the butter and the flour together, add the milk, and as soon as the mixture thickens add tomatoes and soda. Then add cheese, eggs, and seasoning. Serve on toasted whole wheat or Graham bread.

Green Corn, Tomato, and Cheese.

1 tablespoonful of butter. 2 cups of grated cheese. ¾ cup of canned or grated fresh corn. 1 ripe pimiento. ½ cup of tomato purée. 2 egg yolks. 1 teaspoonful of salt. ½ teaspoonful of paprika. 1 clove of garlic. 4 slices of bread.

Into the melted butter stir the cheese until it, too, is melted. Then add the corn and pimiento, stir for a moment and add the egg yolks beaten and mixed with the tomato juice and the salt and paprika. Have ready the bread toasted on one side and very lightly rubbed on its untoasted side with the garlic cut in two. Pour the mixture over the untoasted side of the bread and serve at once. A poached egg is sometimes placed on top of each portion, making a very nutritious combination.

Macaroni and Cheese No. 1.

1 cupful of macaroni, broken into small pieces. 2 quarts of boiling salted water. 1 cupful of milk. 2 tablespoonfuls of flour. ¼ to ½ pound of cheese. ½ teaspoonful of salt. Speck of cayenne pepper.

Cook the macaroni in the boiling salted water, drain in a strainer, and pour cold water over it to prevent the pieces from adhering to each other. Make a sauce out of the flour, milk, and cheese. (See p. 23.) Put the sauce and macaroni in alternate layers in a buttered baking dish, cover with buttered crumbs, and heat in oven until crumbs are brown.

Macaroni and Cheese No. 2.

A good way to prepare macaroni and cheese is to make a rich cheese sauce and heat the macaroni in it. (See p. 23.) The mixture is usually covered with buttered crumbs and browned in the oven. The advantage of this way of preparing the dish, however, is that it is unnecessary to have a hot oven, as the sauce and macaroni may be reheated on the top of the stove.

Macaroni with Cheese and Tomato Sauce.

Boiled macaroni may be heated in tomato sauce and sprinkled with grated cheese just before serving.

Italian Macaroni and Cheese.

1 cupful of macaroni broken into small pieces. 2 quarts of boiling salted water. ½ onion. 2 cloves. 1½ cupfuls of tomato sauce. ½ cupful or more of grated cheese.

Cook the macaroni in the boiling salted water with the onion and cloves. Drain, remove the onion and cloves, reheat in tomato sauce, and serve with grated cheese.

Cheese and Macaroni Loaf.

½ cupful of macaroni broken into small pieces. 1 cupful of milk. 1 cupful of soft bread crumbs. 1 tablespoonful of butter. 1 tablespoonful of chopped green pepper. 1 teaspoonful each of chopped onion and parsley. 3 eggs. 1 teaspoonful of salt. ½ cupful of grated cheese.

Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until tender, and rinse in cold water. Cook the parsley, onion, and pepper in a little water with the butter. Pour off the water or allow it to boil away. Beat the egg white and yolk separately. Mix all the ingredients, cutting and folding in the stiffly beaten whites at the last. Line a quart baking dish with buttered paper; turn the mixture into it; set the baking dish in a pan of hot water, and bake in a moderate oven from one-half to three-fourths of an hour. Serve with tomato sauce.

Baked Rice and Cheese No. 1.

1 cupful of uncooked rice and 4 cupfuls of milk; or, 3 cupfuls of cooked rice and 1 cupful of milk.

2 tablespoonfuls of flour. ½ pound of cheese. ½ teaspoonful of salt.

If uncooked rice is used, it should be cooked in 3 cupfuls of milk. Make a sauce with one cupful of milk, add the flour, cheese, and salt. (See p. 23.) Into a buttered baking dish put alternate layers of the cooked rice and the sauce. Cover with buttered crumbs and bake until the crumbs are brown. The proteids in this dish, made with rice cooked in milk, are equal to those of nearly 1¾ pounds of average beef. If skimmed milk is used, the fuel value is equal to nearly 3½ pounds of beef. Whole milk raises the fuel value still higher. Estimated cost (see p. 23), 28 cents.

Baked Rice and Cheese No. 2.

¼ pound of cheese grated or cut into small pieces. 1 cupful of rice. Milk as needed.

Cook the rice; put into a buttered baking dish alternate layers of rice and cheese; pour over them enough milk to come halfway to the top of the rice; cover with buttered crumbs and brown.

If the rice is cooked in milk either whole or skimmed, and one cup of milk is used to pour over it, this dish has as much protein as 1¼ pounds of beef of average composition, and a much higher fuel value.

Baked Crackers and Cheese No. 1.

9 or 10 butter crackers or Boston crackers. ¼ pound of cheese or 1 cupful of grated cheese. 1½ cupfuls of milk. ¼ teaspoonful of salt. Flour.

Split the crackers, if the thick sort are selected, or with a sharp knife cut them into pieces of uniform size. Pour the milk over them and drain it off at once. With the milk, flour, cheese, and salt, make a sauce. (See p. 23.) Into a buttered baking dish put alternate layers of the soaked crackers and sauce. Cover with bread crumbs and brown in the oven, or simply reheat without covering with crumbs.

The above is a very satisfactory substitute for macaroni and cheese, and can be prepared in less time.

Baked Crackers and Cheese No. 2.

9 or 10 butter crackers or soda crackers. 2 cupfuls of hot milk, whole or skimmed. 1 cupful of grated cheese. ¼ teaspoonful of salt.

This is more quickly prepared than the preceding recipe, but as the milk is likely to curdle, it has not so good a consistency.

Soak the crackers in the milk; place them in a buttered baking dish in alternate layers with the cheese; pour the remaining milk over them and bake. This dish may be covered with buttered crumbs. Variety may be secured, in either this recipe or the preceding one, by putting a very small amount of mixed mustard on each cracker.

Cheese Rolls.

A large variety of rolls may be made by combining legumes, either beans of various kinds, cowpeas, lentils, or peas, with cheese of various kinds, and adding bread crumbs to make the mixture thick enough to form into a roll. Beans are usually mashed, but peas or small Lima beans may be combined whole with bread crumbs and grated cheese, and enough of the liquor in which the vegetables have been cooked may be added to get the right consistency. Or, instead of beans or peas, chopped spinach, beet tops, or head lettuce may be used. Homemade cottage cheese, and the soft cream cheese of commerce, standard cheese, or English dairy may be used.

Boston Roast.

1 pound can of kidney beans or equivalent quantity of cooked beans. ½ pound of grated cheese. Bread crumbs. Salt.

Mash the beans or put them through a meat grinder. Add the cheese and sufficient bread crumbs to make the mixture stiff enough to be formed into a roll. Bake in a moderate oven, basting occasionally with butter and water. Serve with tomato sauce. This dish may be flavored with onions, chopped and cooked in butter and water.

Pimiento and Cheese Roast.

2 cupfuls of cooked Lima beans. ¼ pound of cream cheese, commercial or homemade. 3 canned pimientos chopped. Bread crumbs.

Put the first three ingredients through a meat chopper. Mix thoroughly and add bread crumbs until it is stiff enough to form into a roll. Brown in the oven, basting occasionally with butter and water.

Nut and Cheese Roast.

1 cupful of grated cheese. 1 cupful of chopped English walnuts. 1 cupful of bread crumbs. 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped onion. 1 tablespoonful of butter. Juice of half a lemon. Salt and pepper.

Cook the onion in the butter and a little water until it is tender. Mix the other ingredients and moisten with water, using the water in which the onion has been cooked. Pour into a shallow baking dish and brown in the oven.

Cheese and Spinach Roll.

2 quarts of spinach. 1 cupful of grated cheese. 1 tablespoonful of butter. Salt. Bread crumbs.

Cook the spinach in water for 10 minutes. Drain off the water, add the butter, cook until tender, and chop. Add the grated cheese and then bread crumbs enough to make a mixture sufficiently stiff to form into a roll, or leave more moist and cook in a baking dish.

Vegetable and Cheese Rolls.

For the spinach of the above recipe there may be substituted beet tops, Swiss chard, or the outer leaves of lettuce.

Cheese Used in the Stuffing of Meat.

The mixtures in the preceding two recipes may be used for stuffing veal or beef. Eggs may be added if desired, and chopped onions or parsley may be cooked with the greens. In Italy roasts thus prepared are sprinkled with a little finely chopped garlic, and covered with celery tops and thin slices of bacon or fat pork before roasting.

Creamed Cheese and Eggs.

3 hard-boiled eggs. 1 tablespoonful of flour. 1 cupful of milk. ½ teaspoonful of salt. Speck of cayenne. ¼ cupful or 1 ounce grated cheese. 4 slices of toast.

Make a thin white sauce with the flour and milk and seasonings. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Chop the whites and add them to the sauce. Pour the sauce over the toast, force the yolks through a potato ricer or strainer, sprinkle over the toast.

Baked Eggs with Cheese.

4 eggs. 1 cupful, or 4 ounces, of grated cheese. 1 cupful of fine, soft, stale bread crumbs. ¼ teaspoonful salt. A few grains of Cayenne pepper.

Break the eggs into a buttered baking dish or into ramekins and cook them in a hot oven until they begin to turn white around the edge. Cover with the mixture of crumbs, cheese, and seasonings. Brown in a very hot oven. In preparing this dish it is essential that the oven be very hot or the egg will be too much cooked by the time the cheese is brown. To avoid this, some cooks cover the eggs with white sauce before adding crumbs.

The food value of the dish is very close to that of a pound of beef of average composition. The estimated cost (see p. 23) is about 14 cents.

For those who are particularly fond of cheese the amount of cheese in this recipe may be very much increased, thus making a much more nourishing dish. Or the amount may be reduced so as to give hardly more than a suggestion of the flavor of cheese.

Scrambled Eggs with Cheese.

½ pound of cheese grated or cut into small pieces. 8 eggs 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley. A pinch of nutmeg. ½ teaspoonful of salt.

Beat the eggs slightly, mix them with the other ingredients, and cook over a very slow fire, stirring constantly, so that the cheese may be melted by the time the eggs are cooked. In food value the dish is equal to nearly 2 pounds of average beef. The calculated cost (see p. 23) is about 30 cents.

Swiss Eggs.

4 eggs. ½ cupful of cream. 1 tablespoonful of butter. Salt and pepper. ¼ cupful of grated cheese.

Heat the butter and cream together, break in the eggs whole, sprinkle with salt and pepper. When nearly done, add the cheese. Serve on buttered toast. Strain the cream over the toast.

Cheese Omelet No. 1.

Cheese may be introduced into omelets in several ways. An ordinary omelet may be served with thin cheese sauce made in the following proportions:

1½ tablespoonfuls of flour. ¼ cupful of grated cheese. 1 cupful of milk.

This sauce may also be added to omelets in which boiled rice, minced meat, or some other nutritious material has been included.

Cheese Omelet No. 2.

Grated cheese may be sprinkled over an ordinary omelet before it is served.

Cheese Omelet No. 3.

Yolks of 2 eggs. 2 tablespoonfuls of hot water. 1 cupful of grated cheese. Salt and pepper. Whites of 4 eggs. 1 tablespoonful of butter.

Beat the yolks until lemon colored and add the hot water and the seasoning. Beat the whites until they are stiff, and add the cheese. Cut and fold the two mixtures together. Heat the butter in omelet pan and cook the mixture very slowly until it is brown on the underside. If possible, cook the top of the omelet in the oven or by means of a hot plate held over it.

Breakfast Cereals with Cheese.

That cheese combined with cereal foods makes a rational dish as regards the proportion of nutrients it supplies has been pointed out on another page (p. 18). Cheese and some of the crisp “ready to serve” cereal breakfast foods is a combination which is common, the cheese being melted with the cereal food, or simply served with it.

There are many who relish a piece of cheese with the cooked cereal so commonly eaten for breakfast and find such a combination satisfying to appetite and taste. Oatmeal or some other home-cooked breakfast cereal prepared with cheese is palatable, and such dishes have an advantage in that they may be served without cream and sugar. Since such a dish contains considerably more protein than the breakfast cereals as ordinarily served, it has a further advantage in that it may well serve as the principal item of a breakfast menu, instead of a preliminary to other courses. Such a combination as cereals cooked with cheese, toast, fruit, and tea, coffee, or chocolate, makes a palatable as well as nutritious breakfast and one which does not require much work to prepare and to clear away. A recipe for preparing oatmeal with cheese follows. Wheat breakfast foods, either parched or unparched, corn meal, and hominy may be prepared in the same way.

Oatmeal with Cheese.

2 cupfuls of oatmeal. 1 cupful of grated cheese. 1 tablespoonful of butter. 1 level teaspoonful of salt.

Cook the oatmeal as usual. Shortly before serving, stir in the butter and add the cheese, and stir until the cheese is melted and thoroughly blended with the cereal.

The cheese should be mild in flavor and soft in texture. The proportion of cheese used may be increased if a more pronounced cheese flavor is desired.

Cheese with Mush.

Cheese may be added to corn-meal mush or to mush made from any of the corn or wheat preparations now on the market. The addition of cheese to corn-meal mush is particularly desirable when the mush is to be fried.

Fried Bread with Cheese No. 1.

6 slices of bread. 1 cupful of milk. 2 ounces of cheese, or ½ cupful of grated cheese. ½ teaspoonful of salt. ½ teaspoonful of potassium bicarbonate. Butter or other fat for frying.

Scald the milk with the potassium bicarbonate; add the grated cheese, and stir until it dissolves. Dip the bread in this mixture and fry it in the butter. The potassium bicarbonate helps to keep the cheese in solution. It is desirable, however, to keep the milk hot while the bread is being dipped.

Fried Bread with Cheese No. 2.

Cut stale bread into thin pieces. Put two pieces together with grated cheese between them; dip into a mixture of egg and milk and fry in butter or other fat.

Roman Gnocchi.

¼ cupful of butter. ¼ cupful of flour. ¼ cupful of cornstarch. 2 cupfuls of milk. 2 egg yolks. ¾ cupful of grated cheese. Salt.

Melt the butter; cook the cornstarch thoroughly, and then the flour in the butter; add the milk gradually; cook three minutes, stirring constantly; add the yolks and one-half cupful of the cheese. Pour into a buttered shallow pan and cool. Cut into squares; place them on a platter a little distance apart; sprinkle with remaining cheese, and brown in the oven.

The proteid value is that of three-fourths of a pound of average beef, the fuel value that of 1¾ pounds. Calculated cost (see p. 23), 17 cents.

Cheese Soufflé.

2 tablespoonfuls of butter. 3 tablespoonfuls of flour. ½ cupful of milk (scalded). ½ teaspoonful of salt. A speck of cayenne. ¼ cupful of grated cheese. 3 eggs.

Melt the butter; add the flour and, when well mixed, add gradually the scalded milk. Then add salt, cayenne, and cheese. Remove from the fire and add the yolks of the eggs, beaten until lemon colored. Cool the mixture and fold into it the whites of the eggs, beaten until stiff. Pour into a buttered baking dish and cook 20 minutes in a slow oven. Serve at once.

The proteid of this recipe is equal to that of half a pound of beef; the fuel value is equal to that of three-fourths of a pound.

Cheese Soufflé with Pastry.

2 eggs. ⅔ cupful of thin cream. 1 cupful of grated cheese. ½ cupful of Swiss cheese cut into small pieces. Salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg.

Add the eggs to the cream and beat slightly, then add the cheese and seasoning. Bake 15 minutes in a hot oven, in patty tins lined with puff paste.

Cheese Croquettes.

3 tablespoonfuls of butter. ¼ cupful of flour. ⅔ cupful of milk. Yolks of 2 eggs. 1 cupful of cheese cut in very small pieces. ½ cupful grated cheese. Salt and pepper.

Make with a white sauce, using the butter, flour, and the milk. Add the unbeaten yolks and stir until well mixed, then add the grated cheese. As soon as the cheese melts, remove from the fire, fold in the pieces of cheese, and add the seasoning. Spread in a shallow pan and cool. Cut into squares or strips, cover with an egg and crumb mixture, and fry in deep fat.

Fried Cheese Balls.

1½ cupfuls of grated cheese. 1 tablespoonful of flour. The whites of 3 eggs. Salt, pepper, cracker dust.

Beat the whites of the eggs; add the other ingredients; make into balls and roll in cracker dust. If the amount of flour is doubled, the mixture may be dropped from a spoon and fried without being rolled in crumbs.

CHEESE SOUPS AND VEGETABLES COOKED WITH CHEESE.

In these dishes the cheese is used not only to add nutritive value, but also to give its characteristic flavor either to materials otherwise rather mild in taste (as in potatoes with cheese) or to combine its flavor with that of some more highly flavored vegetables (as in cheese and vegetable soup). The ingenious housekeeper whose family is fond of cheese can doubtless think of many desirable ways of making such combinations besides those given in the following recipes:

Milk and Cheese Soup.

3 cupfuls of milk, or part milk and part stock. 1½ tablespoonfuls of flour. 1 cupful of grated cheese. Salt and paprika.

Thicken the milk with the flour, cooking thoroughly. This is best done in a double boiler, with frequent stirrings. When ready to serve, add the cheese and the seasoning.

The proteids in this soup are equal in amount to those in five-sixths of a pound of beef of average composition; its fuel value is higher than that of a pound of beef.

Cheese and Vegetable Soup.

2 cupfuls of stock. 2 tablespoonfuls of finely chopped carrots. 1 tablespoonful of chopped onion. A very little mace. 2 tablespoonfuls of butter. 2 tablespoonfuls of flour. 1½ teaspoonfuls of salt. 1 cupful of scalded milk. ¼ cupful of grated cheese.

Cook the vegetables a short time in one-half of the butter, add the stock and the mace, boiling 15 or 20 minutes. Strain and add the milk. Thicken with flour cooked in the remaining butter. Just before serving, stir in the cheese and cook until it is melted.

Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese No. 1.

Put into a buttered baking dish alternate layers of cheese sauce No. 1 (see p. 22) and cold boiled potatoes, sliced or cut into dice. Cover with buttered crumbs and bake.

Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese No. 2.

Put into a buttered baking dish alternate layers of white sauce and cold boiled potatoes, either sliced or cut into dice. Put over the top a layer of grated cheese and then a layer of buttered bread crumbs. Brown in the oven.

Scalloped Cabbage or Cauliflower with Cheese.

Cauliflower or cabbage may be scalloped according to either of the recipes given for scalloped potatoes and cheese. Sometimes a cauliflower is boiled whole, spread with grated cheese, then with buttered bread crumbs. It is browned in the oven and served with white sauce poured around it.

Cheese with Potato Puffs.

1 cupful of mashed potatoes. ¼ cupful of milk. 1 egg. ½ teaspoonful of salt. ½ cupful of grated cheese.

Beat the potatoes and milk together until thoroughly mixed. Add the egg and the salt and beat thoroughly. Finally add the cheese. Bake in muffin tins in a slow oven 10 or 15 minutes.

A similar dish may be made by scooping out the inside of a baked potato and mixing it with cheese as above. Fill the potato-skin shell with the mixture, return to the oven, and bake until light brown.

Potatoes with Cheese Sauce.

Cut boiled potatoes into cubes and serve with cheese sauce No. 1. (See p. 22.) This is one of the cheese and vegetable dishes most frequently found on restaurant menus.

CHEESE SALADS, SANDWICHES, AND SIMILAR CHEESE DISHES.

Cheese of one sort or another is a very common accompaniment of salads, and the combination is rational as well as palatable, for the constituents of the succulent foods—chiefly water and cellulose—supplement the protein and fat of the cheese. Cheese is often used also as a part of the salad.

A number of recipes are given below for cheese salads and other cheese dishes which may be served with dinner or other regular meals, or served as part of a special lunch or special supper. Many of the cheese dishes discussed in other sections are also commonly used for such occasions when something savory is desired which can be easily and quickly prepared.

Cheese with Salads.

Cheese or cheese dishes are an acceptable addition to salads. Neufchâtel or other cream cheese, either plain or mixed with pimientos and olives, may be passed with lettuce or may be cut into slices and served on lettuce.

Cheese balls are often served with salad. They are made of some soft cream cheese, and are frequently combined with chopped chives, olives, sweet peppers, chopped nuts, etc., for the sake of adding flavor. Cooked egg yolk, spinach extract, etc., are sometimes mixed in for the sake of color. If the balls are rolled in chopped chives or parsley, both flavor and color are supplied.

Plain Cheese Salad.

Cut Edam or ordinary American cheese into thin pieces, scatter them over lettuce leaves, and serve with French dressing.

Olive and Pimiento Sandwich or Salad Cheese.

Mash any of the soft cream cheeses and add chopped olives and pimientos in equal parts. This mixture requires much salt to make it palatable to most palates, the amount depending chiefly on the quantity of pimiento used. The mixture may be spread between thin slices of bread or it may be made into a roll or molded, cut into slices, and served on lettuce leaves with French dressing.

Cheese and Tomato Salad.

Stuff cold tomatoes with cream cheese and serve on lettuce leaves with French dressing.

Cheese and Pimiento Salad.

Stuff canned pimientos with cream cheese, cut into slices, and serve one or two slices to each person on lettuce leaves with French dressing.

Cheese Jelly Salad.

½ cupful of grated cheese. 1 tablespoonful of gelatin. 1 cupful of whipped cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the cheese with the whipped cream, season to taste with salt and pepper, and add to the gelatin dissolved in a scant cupful of water. This may be molded in a large mold or in small molds.

When the jelly begins to harden, cover with grated cheese. The jelly should be served on a lettuce leaf, preferably with a cream dressing or a French dressing, to which a little grated cheese has been added.

Cheese Salad and Preserves.