Part 6

3 eggs, 2 oz. of butter, sugar to taste, 1 lemon, and 1/2 a teacupful of new milk. Whip the yolks of the eggs well, adding the grated rind of the lemon, half the butter melted, the milk, and sugar. Just before frying the omelet, add the lemon juice and the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth. Make the rest of the butter boiling hot in an oval omelet pan, the size of the dish on which it is to be served, and fry till lightly browned. Sift sugar over it, and serve immediately.

SWEET OMELET (2).

1/2 pint of new milk, 4 eggs, cinnamon and sugar to taste, 1 oz. of butter, and 1 teaspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal. Smooth the wheatmeal with the milk, and mix with the other ingredients. Make the butter boiling hot in a frying-pan, and fry the omelet till lightly browned. Serve immediately with sugar sifted over it.

SWEET OMELET (3).

5 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of castor sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls of water, 2 oz. of butter, some raspberry and currant jam. Melt the butter in an omelet pan, beat the eggs well, stir in the sugar, and pour the mixture into the hot butter. Fry a pale golden colour, and turn it on to a hot dish. Spread some jam on the omelet, double it, and serve at once. The inside of the omelet should remain creamy.

VEGETABLES

GREEN VEGETABLES (General Remarks).

I have not given recipes for the cooking of plain greens, as they are prepared very much alike everywhere in England. There are a number of recipes in this book giving savoury ways of preparing them, and I will now make a few remarks on the cooking of plain vegetables. The English way of boiling them is not at all a good one, as most of the soluble vegetable salts, which are so important to our system, are lost through it. Green vegetables are generally boiled in a great deal of salt water; this is drained off when they are tender, and the vegetables then served. A much better way for all vegetables is to cook them in a very small quantity of water, and adding a small piece of butter (1 oz. to 2 lb. of greens) and a little salt. When the greens are tender, any water which is not absorbed should be thickened with a little Allinson fine wheatmeal and eaten with the vegetables. A great number of them, such as _Cabbages, Savoys, Brussel sprouts, Scotch kail, turnip-tops, &c., &c._, can be prepared this way.

In the case of vegetables like _asparagus, cauliflower, sea kale, parsnips, artichokes, carrots_ or _celery_, which cannot always be stewed in a little water, this should be saved as stock for soups or sauces. Most of these vegetables are very nice with a white sauce; carrots are particularly pleasant with parsley sauce.

_Spinach_ is a vegetable which English cooks rarely prepare nicely; the Continental way of preparing it is as follows: The spinach is cooked without water, with a little salt; when quite tender it is strained, turned on to a board, and chopped very finely; then it is returned to the saucepan with a piece of butter, a little nutmeg, or a few very finely chopped eschalots and some of the juice previously strained. When the spinach is cooking a little Allinson fine wheatmeal, smoothed in 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls of milk, is added to bind the spinach with the juice; cook it a few minutes longer, and serve it with slices of hard-boiled egg on the top. _Potatoes_ also require a good deal of care. When peeled, potatoes are plainly boiled, they should be placed over the fire after the water has been strained; the potatoes should be lightly shaken to allow the moisture to steam out. This makes them mealy and more palatable. Potatoes which have been baked in their skins should be pricked when tender, or the skins be cracked in some way, otherwise they very soon become sodden. A very palatable way of serving potatoes, is to peel them and bake them in a tin with a little oil or butter, or vege-butter; they should be turned occasionally, in order that they should brown evenly. This is not a very hygienic way of preparing potatoes. From a health point of view they are best baked in their skins, or steamed with or without the skins. A good many vegetables may be steamed with advantage; for instance, _cabbage, sprouts, turnips, parsnips, swedes, Scotch kail, &c._ Any way of preparing greens is better than boiling them in a large saucepanful of water and throwing this away. I may just mention that Scotch kail, after being boiled in a little water, should be treated exactly as spinach, and is most delicious in that way; an onion cooked with it greatly improves the flavour.

ARTICHOKES À LA SAUCE BLANCHE.

2 lbs. of artichokes, 1 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 egg, juice of 1/2 a lemon, pepper and salt to taste. Peel the artichokes, and boil them in water until tender; cut them into slices 1/2 an inch thick and place them on a dish. Make a sauce of the milk and meal with seasoning; when the sauce has thickened, remove it from the fire, beat up the egg with the lemon juice and add both to the sauce, pour it over the artichokes, and serve.

ARTICHOKES À LA PARMESAN.

2 lbs. of artichokes, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 egg, juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 oz. of grated Parmesan or any other cooking cheese. Proceed as in the recipe for "Celery à la Parmesan," add the cheese to the sauce, and serve the same with sauce as above.

ASPARAGUS (BOILED).

Scrape the white parts of the stalks quite clean, and put them into cold water as they are done. Tie them up into bundles, and cut them all the same length. Now put them into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, add a little salt, and boil gently and steadily for 20 to 30 minutes. Take them out of the water as soon as they are tender, and dish on to rounds of toast with the points to the middle. Serve with them rich melted butter in a tureen.

CABBAGE.

Remove the outer coarse leaves, cut the cabbage in four pieces lengthways, and well wash the pieces in salt water. The salt is added because it kills any insects which may be present. Wash the cabbage as often as is necessary in pure water after this to clean it and remove the salt, and then shred it up fine. Set it over the fire with 1/2 pint of water, 1 oz. of butter, a dash of pepper, and a very little salt. Let it cook very gently for 2 hours; when it is quite tender, the liquid can be thickened with a little fine wheatmeal; smooth this with a little milk, or water if milk is not handy; boil it up, and serve.

CARROTS WITH PARSLEY SAUCE.

Scrub and wash as many carrots as are required. Cook them in a little water or steam them until quite tender, then slice them and place them in a saucepan. Make a white sauce as directed in the recipe for "Onions and white sauce," and stir into it a handful of finely-chopped parsley. Pour the sauce over the carrots, and let them simmer for ten minutes. Serve very hot with baked potatoes.

CAULIFLOWER WITH WHITE SAUCE.

Trim the cauliflower, cutting away only the bad and bruised leaves and the coarse part of the stalk. Put it into salt water to force out any insects in the cauliflower. After soaking, wash it well in fresh water and boil quickly until tender, and serve with white sauce.

CELERY (ITALIAN).

2 heads of celery, 1/2 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 1 egg, 1 cupful of breadcrumbs, pepper and salt to taste. Cut up the celery into pieces, boil it in water for 10 minutes; drain it and put it into the stewpan with the milk, 1/2 oz. butter, pepper and salt. Simmer the celery gently until tender, put it aside to cool a little, and add the egg well beaten. Butter a shallow dish, strew it well with some of the breadcrumbs, and pour in the celery, sprinkle the rest of the breadcrumbs over the top, put the butter over it in little bits, and bake the celery until brown.

CELERY (STEAMED) WITH WHITE CHEESE SAUCE.

Prepare the celery as in previous recipe, leaving it in long pieces, and place it in a vegetable steamer, which consists of a large saucepan over which is fitted a perforated top. Add a little pepper and salt, and let the celery steam for 1-1/2 hours. For the sauce you need: 1 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, 1-1/2 oz. of grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the milk with the butter, thicken it with the cornflour smoothed first with a spoonful of water, and last add the grated cheese and seasoning; let the sauce simmer, stirring it until the cheese is dissolved. Have ready some Allinson plain rusks on a flat dish, place the celery on it, pour the sauce over, and serve very hot.

CELERY (STEWED) WITH WHITE SAUCE.

2 or 3 heads of celery (according to quantity required), 2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2 pint of milk, pepper and salt to taste. Remove the outer hard pieces from the celery, saving them for flavouring soups or sauces; wash well and cut up in pieces about 3 inches long. Set over the fire with 1/2 pint of water, the butter and seasoning. Let cook gently until the celery is quite tender, which will take about 1 hour; add the thickening and the milk. Let all gently simmer for a few minutes, and serve.

LEEKS.

Remove the coarse part of the green stalks of the leeks. If the leeks are gritty cut them right through and wash them well, and if necessary use a brush to get out the sand. Tie the leeks in bunches and steam them until tender, which will take about 1-1/2 hours. Make a white sauce as for the cauliflower. Put the leeks on pieces of dry toast on a flat dish, pour the sauce over them, and serve.

MUSHROOMS (STEWED).

1 lb. of mushrooms, 1 oz. of butter, 1/2 pint of water, 1/2 teaspoonful of herbs, 1/2 saltspoonful of nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste, juice of 1/2 a lemon, the yolk of 1 egg, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour. Peel and clean the mushrooms, and wash them in water with a dash of vinegar in it. Wipe them dry with a cloth; have the water and butter ready in a saucepan with the herbs, and seasoning. Stew the mushrooms in this for 10 to 15 minutes. Thicken with the cornflour, then stir in the yolk of egg with the lemon juice, and serve.

ONION TORTILLA.

1 lb. of Spanish onions, 1-1/2 oz. of butter or oil, 3 eggs. Melt the butter in a frying-pan, slice the onions, and fry them for 10 or 15 minutes, beat the eggs, add them to the onions, season with pepper and salt, and fry the whole a light brown on both sides.

ONIONS (BRAISED).

2 lbs. of onions, 2 oz. of butter, vege-butter, or oil, pepper and salt to taste. Peel and slice the onions, and fry them a nice brown in the butter. Then add enough water to make gravy, add pepper and salt, and stew the onions for 20 minutes. Eat with wholemeal toast. This is very savoury, and is much liked.

ONIONS (SPANISH) (BAKED).

Peel as many onions as are required, making an incision crossways on the top, and put in a baking-dish with 1/2 oz. of butter on each large onion, or half that quantity on small ones; dust them over with pepper and salt, and bake them for 3 hours. Keep them covered for 2 hours, and let them brown after that. Baste the onions from time to time with the butter.

SCOTCH OR CURLY KAIL.

Scotch kail is best after there has been frost on it. Wash the kail, and cut away the coarse stalks, boil it for 1-1/2 to 2 hours in a small quantity of water, adding a chopped up onion. Drain it when soft and chop it fine like spinach. Into the saucepan in which the kail was cooked put a piece of butter; melt it, and stir into it 1 tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, and brown it very slightly. Then add some of the drained-off kail wafer and stir it smooth with the browned flour. Return the chopped Scotch kail to the saucepan, add pepper and salt to taste; let it cook for a minute, and serve.

SPINACH.

Wash the spinach thoroughly, and set it over the fire in a saucepan without any water, as enough water will boil out of the spinach to cook it. Heat it gently at first, stirring it a few times to prevent it burning, until enough water has boiled out of the spinach to prevent it from catching. Let the spinach cook 20 minutes, then strain it through a colander, pressing the water out with a wooden spoon or plate. Put a piece of butter in the saucepan in which the spinach was cooked; when melted, stir into it a spoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, and keep stirring the meal and butter for 1 minute over the fire. Return the spinach to the saucepan, mix it well with the butter and meal, and add as much of the strained-off water as is necessary to moisten it; add pepper and salt to taste, and a little lemon juice. Let the spinach heat well through before serving. Have ready 1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs cut in slices, and decorate the spinach with them. Use 1 oz. of butter, an even tablespoonful of the meal, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon to 4 lbs. of spinach.

TURNIPS (MASHED).

Peel and wash the turnips, and steam them until tender. Mash them up in a saucepan over the fire, mixing with them 1 oz. of butter. Pile the mashed turnips on a flat dish, and pour a white sauce over them.

EGG COOKERY.

Eggs are a boon to cooks, especially when dishes are wanted quickly. They enter into a great many savoury and sweet dishes, and few cakes are made without them. They can be prepared in a great variety of ways. Eggs are a good food when taken in moderation. As they are a highly nutritious article of food, they should not be indulged in too freely. Eggs contain both muscle and bone-forming material, in fact everything required for building up the organism of the young bird. The chemical composition of hen's and duck's eggs are as follows:--

Hen's egg. Duck's egg. Water ........ 74.22 71.11 Nitrogen ..... 12.55 12.24 Fat .......... 12.11 15.49 Mineral matter 1.12 1.16 ------ ------ 100.00 100.00

Eggs take a long time to digest if hard boiled. All the fat of the egg is contained in the yolk, but the white of the egg is pure albumen (or nitrogen) and water. Eggs are most easily digested raw or very lightly boiled, and best cooked thus for invalids. The best way of lightly boiling an egg is to put it in boiling water, set the basin or saucepan on the side of the stove, and let it stand just off the boil for five or six minutes. Eggs often crack when they are put into enough boiling water to well cover them, owing to the sudden expansion of the contents. If they are not covered with water there is less danger of them cracking. One can easily tell stale eggs from fresh ones by holding them up to a strong light. A fresh egg looks clear and transparent, whilst stale ones look cloudy and opaque. There are various ways of preserving eggs for the winter; one of the best is by using the Allinson egg preservative. Another very good way is to have stands made with holes which will hold the eggs. Keep these stands in an airy place in a good current of fresh air, and every week turn the eggs, so that one week they stand the pointed end down, next week the rounded end down.

APPLE SOUFFLÉ.

4 eggs, 4 apples, 2 oz. of castor sugar (or more if the apples are very sour), 1 gill of new milk or half milk and half cream, 1 oz. of Allinson cornflour, and the juice of 1 lemon. Pare, cut up, and stew the apples with the sugar and lemon juice until they are reduced to a pulp. Beat them quite smooth, and return them to the stewpan. Smooth the cornflour with the milk, and mix it with the apples, and stir until it boils; then turn the mixture into a basin to cool. Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs; beat the yolks well, and mix them with the apple mixture. Whisk the whites to a stiff froth, mix them lightly with the rest, and pour the whole into a buttered soufflé tin. Bake for 20 minutes in a moderately hot oven, and serve at once.

CHEESE SOUFFLÉ.

8 oz. of Parmesan or other good dry, cooking cheese, 4 eggs, 1 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 gill of milk, 1 oz. of butter, mustard, pepper, and salt to taste. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the wheatmeal, season with mustard, pepper, and salt. Pour in the milk, and stir until the mixture is set and comes away from the sides of the saucepan. Turn into a basin, and let the mixture cool. Grate the cheese and stir it in; separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites, and drop the yolks of the eggs, one by one, into the mixture, beating all well. Whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, mix it lightly with the other ingredients; turn the mixture into a buttered soufflé tin, and bake the soufflé for 15 minutes.

CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉ.

5 eggs, 2 oz. of butter, 3 oz. of castor sugar, 2 large bars of chocolate, 6 oz. of the crumb of the bread, and vanilla essence to taste. Cream the butter, and stir into it gradually the yolks of the eggs, the sugar, and chocolate. Previously soak the bread in milk or water. Squeeze it dry, and add to it the other ingredients. Add vanilla and the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth, and pour the mixture into a buttered pie-dish or cake tin. Bake 3/4 of an hour, and serve immediately. If the soufflé is baked in a cake tin, a serviette should be pinned round it before serving.

CURRIED EGGS.

6 hard-boiled eggs, 1 medium-sized English onion, 1 cooking apple, 1 teaspoonful of curry powder, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 oz. of butter, and salt to taste. Prepare the onion and apple, chop them very fine, and fry them in the butter in a stewpan until brown. Add 1/2 pint of water and a little salt. Smooth the curry and wheatmeal with a little cold water, and thicken the sauce with it. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, then rub through a sieve. Return the sauce to the stewpan, shell the eggs, and heat them up in the sauce; serve very hot on a flat dish.

EGG AND CHEESE.

6 eggs, 1 teacupful of milk, thickened with 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 2 oz. of grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste. Butter a pie-dish, pour into it the thickened milk, break the eggs over it, sprinkle the cheese over them, and season to taste. Bake in a moderate oven until the eggs are just set.

EGG AND CHEESE FONDU.

To each egg 1/2 its weight in grated cheese and a 1/2 oz. of butter (if only 1 egg is prepared 1/2 oz. of butter must be used); mustard, pepper, and salt to taste. Whip up the eggs, add 1 dessertspoonful of water for each egg, as in the previous recipe; mix in the cheese, a little made mustard, and pepper and salt. Heat the butter in a frying-pan or small stewpan. When hot stir in the mixture of egg and cheese. Keep stirring it with a knife, until it becomes a smooth and thickish mass. Put on hot buttered toast, and serve. This is an extremely tasty French dish. The mixture, when cold, is excellent for sandwiches.

EGG AND TOMATO SAUCE.

4 eggs, 1 teacupful of tomato sauce, and 1/2 oz. of butter. Melt the butter in a flat dish; break the eggs carefully into it without breaking the yolks, and place the dish on the stove until the eggs are set. Heat the tomato sauce, which should be well seasoned, and pour it over the eggs. Serve very hot, with sippets of Allinson wholemeal toast.

EGG AND TOMATO SANDWICHES.

4 eggs, 1 teacupful of tinned tomatoes or 1/2 lb. fresh ones, pepper and salt, 1 oz. of butter. Melt the butter in a frying-pan, and cook the tomatoes in it until most of the liquid is steamed away; set aside to cool. If fresh tomatoes are used, they should be scalded and skinned before cooking. Beat up the eggs and stir them into the cooled tomatoes, adding seasoning to taste. Stir the eggs and tomatoes with a knife until set, then turn the mixture into a bowl to get cold, and use for sandwiches.

EGG SALAD WITH MAYONNAISE.

1 lb. of cold boiled potatoes, 6 hard-boiled eggs, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, pepper and salt to taste. Cut the potatoes and eggs into slices, dust them with pepper and salt, add the lemon juice, and mix all well together. Make the mayonnaise as follows; 1-1/2 gills of good salad oil, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 saltspoonful of mustard, lemon juice, pepper, and salt to taste. Take a clean cold basin, and place in it the yolks of the eggs beaten up. Drop the oil into them, drop by drop, stirring with a wooden spoon quickly all the time. Great care should be taken, especially in the beginning, as the eggs easily curdle when the oil is stirred in too fast. When the mayonnaise gets very thick add carefully a little lemon juice to thin it down, then add again oil and lemon juice alternately until all the oil is used up. Smooth the mustard with a little lemon juice, and stir it in last of all with sufficient pepper and salt. Taste the mayonnaise, and add lemon juice or seasoning as required. Vinegar may be used instead of lemon juice if the latter is not conveniently had. The mayonnaise should be made in a cold room, as it may curdle if made in a hot room. Should an accident happen, beat up another yolk of egg and start afresh with a little fresh oil, and when going on well stir in, drop by drop, the curdled mayonnaise. Mix part of it with the eggs and potatoes, and pour the rest over the salad; garnish with watercress.

EGG SALMAGUNDI WITH JAM.

4 eggs, 1 oz. of butter, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 a teacupful of cream or milk, some apricot or other jam. Melt the butter in a frying-pan. Beat the eggs, and mix with them the cream or milk and the lemon juice. Pour the mixture into the butter, and stir it over the fire until it thickens. Stir in some jam, and serve with lady fingers, Allinson rusks, or bread fried in butter.

EGG SAVOURY.

6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and sliced; in summer use 1 large breakfastcupful of boiled and chopped spinach; in winter Scotch kale prepared the same way; some very thin slices of bread and butter, nutmeg, pepper, and salt to taste, 1/2 pint of milk, and some butter. Butter a pie-dish and line it with slices of bread and butter. Spread a layer of spinach and a layer of slices of eggs; dust with nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Repeat the layers, and finish with a layer of bread well buttered. Pour over the whole the milk, and bake the savoury from 20 to 30 minutes, or until brown.

EGGS À LA BONNE FEMME.

4 eggs, 1 Spanish onion, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of vinegar, and 2 tablespoonfuls of breadcrumbs; pepper and salt to taste. Peel and slice the onion, and fry it brown in the butter; add the vinegar and seasoning when done. Spread the onion on a buttered dish, break the eggs over them, dust these with pepper and salt, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place a few bits of butter on the top, and bake until the eggs are set, which will only take a few minutes.

EGGS À LA DUCHESSE.

1 quart of milk, 6 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of Allinson cornflour, sugar to taste, a piece of vanilla 2 inches long. Splice the vanilla and let it boil with the milk and sugar; smooth the cornflour with a spoonful of water, thicken the milk with it, and let it cook gently for 2 or 3 minutes; remove the vanilla. Have ready the whites of eggs whipped to a stiff froth, drop it in spoonfuls in the boiling milk; let it simmer for a few minutes until the egg snow has got set, remove the snowballs with a slice, and place them in a glass dish. Let the milk cool a little; beat up the yolks of the eggs, mix them carefully with the milk, taking care not to curdle them; stir the whole over the fire to let the eggs thicken, but do not allow it to boil. Let the mixture cool, pour the custard into the glass dish, but not pouring it over the snow; serve when quite cold. Half the quantity will make a fair dishful.

EGGS AND CABBAGE.

1 large breakfastcupful of cold boiled cabbage, 3 eggs, 1 teacupful of milk, pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 oz. of butter. Warm the cabbage with the butter and the milk; meanwhile beat up the eggs. Mix all together and season with pepper and salt. Turn the mixture into a shallow buttered pie-dish, and bake for 20 minutes. Any kind of cold vegetables mashed up can be used up this way, and will make a nice side dish for dinner.

EGGS AU GRATIN.